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Wondering if there's another way out there to save money on income taxes? If you're like many small-business owners I know, you're ignoring a tax-saving strategy that's eating food at your dinner table — and maybe plotting how to stay out late with friends.
Putting your children to work in your business, even if only for the summer, is one of the most underutilized tax-saving strategies today. I've found that many business owners simply don't realize placing children under 18 on the payroll, or even grandchildren or adult children, is an excellent strategy to minimize tax liability.
Beyond the tax savings, you'll teach your kids a work ethic, money-management skills and a concept of entrepreneurship.
So get them involved in the business.
Related: Is the Health Care Tax Credit a Dud?
By placing them on your payroll, you'll save money on taxes in two ways:
- You don't have to withhold any income taxes or payroll taxes if you're paying your children under 18 to work for you. This also applies to workers' compensation insurance programs. You don't need to cover your children — the assumption being that your children won't sue you for getting hurt on the job. They're probably on your health-insurance plan anyway, so you already have them covered in case of injury.
- All of us including our children don't pay federal income taxes on the first $5,950 of income this year. It's called the Standard Deduction. Pay someone who isn't a relative to work for you, and they take that $5,950 of tax-free income home with them. Hire your child, and you keep it in the family. Plus, you can still claim your children on your tax return as a dependent and take the exemption, even the child tax credit.
Pay your children for services they perform for your business, and you'll actually generate an expense for your income taxes by pushing income to your children.
I want to be crystal clear that I'm not advocating you create some sham job for your kids to shield income from taxes. They have to be legitimately involved in the business. If the Internal Revenue Service audits you, you'll have to produce records of their time worked, and you'll have to demonstrate that the wages paid were reasonable. No $25 an hour store-clerk jobs allowed.
Related: Four Ways to Write Off Health-Care Expenses (Video)
There are specific procedures you need to follow if you hire your children, and it is important you follow the right procedure or it could backfire on you.
- The IRS allows any sole proprietorship or partnership (LLC) that is wholly owned by a child's parents to pay wages to children under age 18 without having to withhold the payroll taxes. However, if you have an S- or a C-corporation you do not receive this benefit of avoiding payroll taxes when paying your children. If you pay your children out of a corporation, you'll have to withhold payroll taxes.
- To sidestep the problem, I recommend you pay children out of a family management company paid a management fee from the corporation, or simply pay them out of a sole-proprietorship or LLC with independent income and operations.
- Some business owners ask: "What about the "kiddie tax? Aren't the kids going to end up paying taxes on their income at our rates (the parent's) anyway?" The answer is no. The kiddie tax applies only to unearned or "portfolio" income.
- Do not hire your children simply to do "family chores." The chores will not qualify as a valid deduction, and you could set yourself up for an audit.
- If you are paying children over age 18 or grandchildren, you have the option of treating them as either as subcontractors or employees. You will have to withhold FICA and other typical payroll fees if they are employees.
I have seen this strategy not only save clients thousands of dollars in taxes, but literally change the lives of their families. Children begin to learn a work ethic, and it can draw a family together in ways never fathomed by small business owners. Talk to your accountant, and get your kids to work for you before it's too late.
Related: Three Tips for Maximizing the Meals Write-Off (Video)


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Sometimes a small incident such as a scratch or a dent can be handled between a driver and owner. If a mutual agreement is made, we suggest using the messaging service to serve as a record for that agreement.
In other cases:
All claims will be handled directly by AXA. In the event of an accident or damage during a rental period, the driver must:
- Notify the Gardai/Police at the time of the accident.
- Exchange details with any other drivers involved in the accident.
- Notify Fleet and the vehicle Owner.
- Call the AXA claims line on 01 892 7890 immediately and report the accident or damage.

subset: commoncrawl


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(Houston, May 29, 2020) - GeoTree Solutions has signed an agreement with Owens Corning Infrastructure Solutions, LLC to distribute AslanTM 200 Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) bars for structural strengthening of concrete structures.
GeoTree is a division of ClockSpring|NRI, a leading high-performance critical infrastructure solutions company. GeoTree is already a distributor of Aslan™ 200 and has now secured agreement to hold distribution rights across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
GeoTree President, John Hepfinger said: "This product is an important part of our offering to our customers and we are delighted to have secured distribution rights. This agreement means we will be able to introduce our range of other products and services to a wider group of companies and organizations offering them additional and complementary support. We secured this agreement as we offer second-to-none engineering expertise, project-level support and installation experience.
"The AslanTM 200 CFRP bars in NSM installations are used to structurally reinforce, strengthen, and uprate concrete structures and are well-suited to GeoTree's RenewWrap® structural strengthening portfolio of engineered carbon and glass fabric-based, epoxy and urethane-saturated composite reinforcement systems."
Owens Corning is a pioneer in the field of FRP concrete reinforcement and strengthening. The company has been instrumental in the development of steel-free, glass and carbon concrete reinforcement bars. Owens Corning has worked with authorities to set global codes and standards. AslanTM 200 CFRP Bars have a tensile strength greater than steel, are one-fifth the weight of steel rebar and are impervious to chloride ion and chemical attack.
Chad Fenbert, General Manager, Rebar at Owens Corning, said: "GeoTree has a strong track-record of providing customers with engineering and in-field support. This agreement will further serve the needs of customers using our product and those who wish to do so."
Hepfinger added: "Our customers continue to approach us with complex problems. Working with respected companies like Owens Corning allows us to provide unique and robust solutions to their needs."
About ClockSpring|NRI
ClockSpring|NRI is shaping the future of critical infrastructure through innovative composites, valves, and concrete solutions. Based in Houston, the company manufactures high-performance critical infrastructure construction and repair products and provides associated engineering support and training services. ClockSpring|NRI solutions are used to construct, maintain, strengthen, protect, and rehabilitate pipelines, natural gas distribution lines, high-consequence industrial pipework, tanks, storm and sanitation assets, and civil structures. These industry-leading products have been used in more than 75 countries. ClockSpring|NRI products are easy to install, cost-effective to deploy, and durable for decades.
About GeoTree Solutions
GeoTree Solutions is a leading global provider of highly engineered solutions for repairing, rehabilitating, strengthening and protecting critical infrastructure spanning the water and wastewater, energy, industrial, and civil sectors. GeoTree's premium geopolymer solutions, geosynthetic cementitious composite mats, and onshore/offshore structural strengthening products can be applied to culverts, sewers, slopes, berm and tank containment areas, or civil structure repairs. The GeoTree portfolio is unmatched—offering unique, robust and versatile products for a multitude of applications.


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Trailers Weekly is a feature in which we bring you the most popular and talked about trailers of the week. Sharing trailers is a classic viral practice, and trailers are still the most mainstream way for people to learn about movies. We've got trailers from Wish I Was Here, Planes: Fire And Rescue, 22 Jump Street, Chef, and Neighbors. Hit the jump to see them all.
Wish I Was Here
Directed by Zach Braff from a screenplay he wrote with his brother, Adam; and stars Zach Braff along with Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, Joey King and Pierce Gagnon. Wish I Was Here tells the story of a thirty-something man who finds himself at a major crossroads, which forces him to examine his life, his career, and his family. Wish I Was Here was produced by Stacey Sher, Michael Shamberg, and Zach and Adam Braff. Christopher Woodrow, Molly Conners, Maria Cestone, Sarah E. Johnson and Hoyt David Morgan executive produced. In addition to North America, Focus has acquired the distribution rights to film in Poland and South Africa.
Planes: Fire And Rescue
When world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper (voice of Dane Cook) returns to hometown Propwash Junction after another victorious racing season, the former crop duster revels in his new career success until a fateful training run changes his course with a career-ending injury. Forced to shift gears, Dusty decides to train with the Aerial Fire Fighters at Piston Peak Air Attack Base as a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT). The heroic, often life-threatening efforts involved are admirable—but seemingly impossible to master—particularly if you're a crop duster-turned-racer with an injury that can't be ignored.
Thunder – Planes: Fire & Rescue Trailer on Disney Video
22 Jump Street
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now they don't have to just crack the case – they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.
Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and Rose Byrne, lead the cast of Neighbors, a comedy about a young couple suffering from arrested development who are forced to live next to a fraternity house after the birth of their newborn baby. Neighbors is directed by Nick Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek).
When Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman), he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), his friend (John Leguizamo) and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen—and zest for life and love.
Which was your favorite? Do you agree with the Internet buzz? Of course, every week there are a lot more trailers, teasers, TV spots, and clips that we can't cover, so go to TrailerAddict.com to see your favorites. You can also download trailers in HD at Apple.com, or the new iTunes Movie Trailers App on your iPhone or iPad.


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Help us get to know your organizationThank you for taking the next step in making sure your network is secure and running smoothly. Capital Data Service can help you budget IT costs, increase productivity and stress less knowing your network and data are protected. To request your free analysis, submit the form below.
During our first meeting...To kick things off together, I would like to perform our 57-Point IT Systems Security and Performance Assessment - a system that's taken me over 20 years to perfect. There's no charge for this assessment and only requires about 30-60 minutes of your time. After conducting this free analysis, we'll be able to answer your top questions, such as:
- Are your IT systems truly secured from hackers, viruses and rogue employees?
- Are your backups configured properly to ensure that you could be back up and running again fast in a disaster
- Are you unknowingly exposing your company to expensive fines and litigation under new Georgia data-breach laws?
- Could you utlize cheaper and more efficient cloud-computing technologies to lower IT costs and make it easier to work remotely?
- Are your systems optimized for maximum speed and performance? (I can tell you 99% of the computer networks we review are NOT.)
- show you how to eliminate every single nagging problem
- enable you to work faster and easier; and
- lower IT costs wherever possible.


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Coming back for its 28th season, Alliance Française French Film Festival will be returning to Palace Cinemas in 2017 throughout the Autumn months of March and April. The festival will offer a broad range of films and documentaries among the French Film industry as a way to celebrate the talent for those on-and-off camera. Alliance Française French […]Read More
ABC announced on Monday that they will be releasing three new 6 x 5 minute narrative comedy web series, Goober, Almost Midnight and Lost in Pronunciation. ABC and the South Australian Film Corporation have collaborated together to launch the three comedies via streaming site ABC iView during the Christmas/New Years period. The purpose of the series is to […]Read More
Bubble-gum filled with quirky moments here and there, there's a lot to digest in the newest trailer for Despicable Me 3, the third installment of the Despicable Me franchise. Gru (Steve Carell) and his minions are back in style and are up against new nemesis Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker). Teaming up with his wife Lucy Wilde (Kristen […]Read More
Next March, Mov'In Bed will be hosting a unique outdoor cinema experience, giving people the chance to lie comfortably in bed while watching their favourite films on the big screen. This is the second season of the program, and it will be held at The Crescent, located at the heart of Parramatta Park, west of […]Read More
The first full length trailer of Christopher Nolan's upcoming film Dunkirk was released today, giving Nolan fans a taste of what the filmmaker has done this time round. Known for his work in The Dark Knight and Interstellar, Nolan reveals a sharp and heart-thumping introduction to Dunkirk. The title has been shot using a mixture of IMAX® and […]Read More
From Monday 19 December, fans who are unable to attend this year's BINGEFEST at the Sydney Opera House can tune in to Red Bull TV and stream some highlights from the event. This program (titled The Best of BINGEFEST) will be hosted by Marc Fennell and Ash London and it will feature some of the […]Read More
It's been announced today that both ABC and Screen Australia will be joining forces to bring back the initiative Fresh Blood. First introduced in 2013, the initial Fresh Blood call-out resulted in 72 new comedy sketches created by 24 teams. From those teams, five were selected to make their own TV Pilots for the ABC […]Read More
Now in their 6th year, and formerly known as the AFI Awards, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (or, AACTA Awards) recognises the talent of some of the nation's best up-and-coming performers and creatives in the film and TV industry, alongside our most established stars. Last night, the winners of this year's […]Read More
Although fans have to wait a while until the Twin Peaks revival becomes available, this is good news for those that love to collect geeky merchandise to display all over the house. Company Citizen Brick has made it available to print out custom-made LEGO mini-figures of some of the most iconic characters of the series. […]Read More
Today Stan Australia launched an exclusive sneak peek of Sherlock's highly-anticipated fourth season, offering only 15-seconds of a scene creating hype for fans. With Stan being home to the popular BBC series, Sherlock's fourth season will be available for streaming on January 2, 2017. It will contain three feature-length episodes. Its episode premiere ("The Six […]Read More
On Monday (November 28) morning, HOYTS cinemas witnessed a huge uptake on ticket sales as soon as presales became available for highly-anticipated film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Due to high demand, HOYTS have been putting together additional sessions for the film title. HOYTS Belconnen are up to their fourth midnight session to keep […]Read More
Making the announcement yesterday, both Australian Writer's Guild (AWG) and Scripted Ink. will be receiving an enterprise funding from Screen Australia to put towards their screenwriting development initiative, The Writer's Room Project. This initiative will give support for the new generation of experienced Australian showrunners, script producers and script editors. Up to 20 experienced and […]Read More
The highly anticipated Monster Fest begins today at Melbourne's Lido Cinemas and will be running until November 27. Jam-packed with insightful Q&A events and films to choose from, this festival has a little something for everyone. We have chosen 5 films you should see at Monster Fest to make the most of your experience. The […]Read More
For those that have fond memories of their childhood watching the animated version of Beauty and the Beast, can now officially experience the magic of its first feature-length version starring the talented Emma Watson as Belle. In this adaptation, there are elements to the trailer that make it such a cinematic and magical experience. We […]Read More
If you're not too sure what you're going to do once Summer comes around, then your best bet is to attend this year's national Moonlight Cinema program. For those that love film and want to do something different outside of traditional cinema, this outdoor event caters to all people who want to soak up the […]Read More
It's been announced that Michael Miller, screenwriter of Indigenous superhero series Cleverman, has won the 2016 John Hinde Award for the Science Fiction category. The award includes $10,000 from the Australian Writers Guild too. Miller has won the richest sci-fi screenwriting prize in Australia for episode five of the series. It was aired on ABC TV […]Read More
For fans that haven't had the opportunity to suit up as their favourite Overwatch's 22 heroes, now's your chance! Next weekend (November 19 – 22 AEDT), Overwatch will allow fans to round up their own team and take part in the Overwatch Free Weekend. During this time, players will have access to 13 maps and […]Read More
It's a blast from the past for fellow Nintendo users as the new The Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System made its launch today in both Australia and New Zealand. Newcomers and NES veterans alike are now able to play past games using the new system while also experiencing new and exclusive features such as […]Read More
It's been announced that the upcoming Ocean's 8 has commenced its production. Directed by Gary Ross with an all-star cast including the likes of Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter. The film's plot will explore eight women planning on executing a heist in New York […]Read More
ABC have just made a couple of announcements in regards to their Television content and the hosts that will start to appear in the beginning of next year. In 2017, audiences of Australia can expect appearances from actors including Claudia Karvan, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Tapsell, Xavier Samuel, Ian Thorpe, Anh Do and Rob Collins. In addition, […]Read More
Today ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) announced the winners for this year's Screen It competition. Screen It is the largest Australian moving image competition and has allowed school-aged filmmakers, animators and game makers to participate. On Friday November 18, students nationwide will have the opportunity to attend a red carpet awards ceremony at ACMI. […]Read More
Most acclaimed for his work in The Sixth Sense and Signs, director M. Night Shyamalan knows a thing or two on how to give people a scare while also twisting people's minds. Written and directed by Shyamalan himself, it really goes to show his enthusiasm for the psychological-thriller genre and how much chaos a story […]Read More
It was announced yesterday that The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) will partner up with Sydney's Ritz Cinema and will present a digital restoration of 1991 film Proof. The film will be screened on Wednesday November 9 with all box office proceeds going towards the NFSA Restores program. After the film screening, […]Read More
After Netflix's announcement of making Gilmore Girls available to stream in every single country possible, it made sense to why they came to the decision of it available for everyone. With the highly-anticipated four-part series of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Netflix launched the trailer on Tuesday, creating hype for fans of the […]Read More
Creating some early hype for the Marvel fandom, the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 teaser trailer and the official movie poster were unveiled yesterday on the Official Franchise's Facebook. With the teaser trailer leading viewers with the classic tune of Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling", the trailer doesn't reveal too much (as with any teaser, […]Read More
The SBS network have revealed some exciting news as a new channel, SBS VICELAND will be installed on free-to-air TV next month on November 15th. The channel will be broadcasting programs, particularly aimed towards younger audiences, broadening their scope on the cultural diversity of the world through unique content they can either watch on TV […]Read More
Directed by Academy Award winner Gore Verbinski (The Ring, Pirates of the Carribean), A Cure For Wellness deems to be dark and mysterious in the first trailer of the upcoming psychological thriller title. The film stars Jason Isaacs, Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth and Adrian Schiller. The story of the film follows an ambitiously bright, young executive […]Read More
Producer David Heyman and StudioCanal made the announcement yesterday that Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson have been recruited to join the cast for sequel film based on the book written by Michael Bond, Paddington 2 (directed by Paul King). Grant and Gleeson will be joining follow actors Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter […]Read More
Reported yesterday by Variety, it was announced that actress Eiza Gonzalez has officially joined the cast for James Cameron's Alita: Battle Angel, the film based on Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita manga. Gonzalez will be joining fellow actors Rosa Salazar, Jackie Earle Haley, Ed Skrein, and Christoph Waltz. Alita: Battle Angel will be directed by Robert Rodriguez (From […]Read More
Reported by Variety yesterday, Tessa Thompson (Creed, Selma), Naomi Scott (Power Rangers) and Zoe Kravitz have all tried out for the leading female role in upcoming Han Solo film spin-off. Although the project remains untitled, the actresses all auditioned for the role of the female character in London this week. Directors of the film, Phil […]Read More


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A newly discovered form of immunity helps explain how bacteria fight off viruses
When seeking to protect themselves from viruses, some bacteria use a seemingly risky strategy: They wait until the invading virus has already begun to replicate. Research at The Rockefeller University shows how the microbes use two newly identified enzymes to fight off an infection even after delaying action.
"A viral infection can kill a bacterial cell—or in some cases, the viral genetic material can provide benefits, such as protection against other viruses. Harmful viruses immediately begin replicating, but beneficial ones implant themselves into the bacterial genome," says Luciano Marraffini, assistant professor and head of the Laboratory of Bacteriology. "By using a wait-and-see approach, and tolerating the initial phase of the infection, the bacteria are able to make an intelligent choice."
The research, published this week in Cell, helps explain how bacteria manage to clear a harmful infection in spite of their slow response. In the future, it might inform the development of new ways to combat infectious disease, among other potential applications.
A last-minute defense
The study zeroes-in on two enzymes, Csm3 and Csm6, which are part of a bacterial immune system known as CRISPR-Cas. When these enzymes swing into action during the late phase of infection, they cut up viral RNA.
The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats) system is a type of adaptive bacterial immune response that relies on sections of DNA containing sequences matching those in viral genetic code. CRISPR-associated genes use these sequences as guides to target invaders for destruction.
Typically, CRISPR defense systems attack and destroy the viral DNA within minutes after it has been injected into the bacterial cell, so the invading virus doesn't get a chance to replicate. However, the specific type of CRISPR investigated in the study—called type III CRISPR-Cas system—waits for the virus to replicate and mounts its attack during a later phase of the infection, after the viral DNA has been copied and is being transcribed into RNA.
"It appears that type III CRISPR-Cas actually needs the virus to produce RNA before it can target and destroy the viral DNA," says first author Wenyan Jiang, a graduate student who is the paper's first author. "As a result, the system has to deal with hundreds of viral DNA strands instead of one, and can take up to nine hours instead of minutes to clear the infection."
An extra safeguard
There is an inherent peril in waiting until this point, and because of the large number of viral genomes present, the typical DNA-cutting enzymes employed by CRISPR-Cas systems can't stop the infection alone. So, type III CRISPR-Cas also uses the enzymes Csm3 and Csm6 to target the viral RNA, the researchers found.
To observe this RNA-focused defense in action, Marraffini, Jiang, and Poulami Samai, a research associate in the lab, generated a mutated form of Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria that lacked the Csm3 and Csm6 enzymes. When they infected both the mutant and the normal bacteria with a virus, the mutant population succumbed to it.
The research clarifies how this CRISPR-Cas strategy functions, and also has potential implications for biotechnology and medicine. Because it can make precisely targeted cuts on genomes, CRISPR's DNA-cleaving abilities have proved useful in developing genetic engineering techniques. Understanding how CRISPR RNA-cutting enzymes work may be useful to manipulate the RNA content of human cells, Marraffini says.
"The study also advances our knowledge about how bacteria interact with their viruses, which is essential for understanding bacterial pathogenesis," says Marraffini. "The viral genetic material can increase the virulence of pathogens, and at the same time viruses can be used to kill pathogenic bacteria in the clinic. Understanding the molecular mechanisms at play in the bacteria-virus interactions can help us combat infectious disease."
Journal information: Cell
Provided by Rockefeller University


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Three cities, two serious relationships, one child, 200,000 frequent flier miles, at least seven jobs, 14,500 posts, six designs, and ten years ago, I started "writing things down" and never stopped. That makes kottke.org one of a handful of the longest continually updated weblogs on the web...something to be proud of, I guess. The only thing I've done longer than kottke.org is sported this haircut. (Perhaps not something to be proud of...the hair-in-stasis, I mean.)
Being a digital packrat, I have screenshots of all the past designs the site has had. When I started, the posts were actually hosted on another site of mine, 0sil8, that I'd been doing since 1996. I didn't know at the time that kottke.org would eventually kill 0sil8. This was the first design (full size):
It's a little misleading because there's only one post shown on the page...there were usually more, displayed reverse chronologically. The stars were a rough rating of how well that day had gone called the fun meter.
When I moved the site to its own domain after a few months, I redesigned it to look like this (full size):
The aesthetic was influenced by the pixel grunge style of Finnish designer Miika Saksi...you can see some of his older work here. The font in the navigation is Mini 7...Silkscreen was still several months away at that point. The fun meter is still present as is the all-lowercase text, a house style I thankfully dropped a few months later. The cringeworthy writing took a few more years to iron out...if it ever fully was.
This one's still my favorite; it turned a lot of heads back in the day (full size):
With dozens of spacer gifs and five concentric tables, it was a bitch to code. There was also a capability to modify the look and feel of the site...you could choose between this design, the older design pictured above, and a text-only version. Inline permalinks were introduced on kottke.org in March 2000 and subsequently the idea was spread across the web by Blogger.
But it only lasted for about a year. In late 2000, I swapped it for this one (full size):
The familar burn-your-eyes-out yellow-green makes its first appearance. I never really meant to keep it or for it to become the strongest part of the site's identity. After this design launched, I cycled through a few colors (the old yellow, blue, red) before getting to the yellow-green...and then I just got lazy and left it. For 8 years and counting. The post style underwent several changes with this design. In June 2002, I switched to Movable Type after updating the site by hand for four years. Soon after that, I added titles to my posts. In late 2002, I added a frequently updated list of remaindered links to the sidebar. In late 2003, the remainders moved into the main column and have become an integral part of the site. I also started reviewing movies and books around this time...kottke.org became a bit of a tumblelog.
In July 2004, I refreshed the design a bit...tightened it up (full size):
After about a year, I changed it again to the current look and feel (full size):
Sorry, that got a little long...there's a lot I didn't remember until I started writing. Anyway, I didn't intend for this to become a design retrospective. Mostly I wanted to thank you very sincerely for reading kottke.org. Over the last ten years, I've poured a lot more of myself than I'd like to admit into this site and it's nice to know that someone out there is paying attention. [Cripes, I'm choking up here. Seriously!] Thanks, and I'll see you in 2018.
Reader comments
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:07AM
Ten years already?
I only wish I'd been reading since way back when.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:08AM
happy blog birthday. you're so blog-old.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:09AM
Love it love it love it!
Keep it up for another 10 years!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:09AM
Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the effort you've put in over the last decade. Teh intertubes wouldn't be the same without kottke.org. :)
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:10AM
Been reading for 8 of those. Thanks for your hard work, Jason.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:11AM
Congratulations, Dan. Seems I've been reading your thoughts for a mighty long time, now!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:11AM
We should be thanking you for providing one of the most continually interesting sites on the Web.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:11AM
You're awesome Jason. Keep it up.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM
Yeah, that makes me look like an ass now, right, how about "Congratulations, Jason. Seems I've been reading your thoughts for a mighty long time, now!"
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM
I haven't been with you since the beginning, but faithfully for about four years now. You were the first subscription in my first reader (NetNewsWire, which I stopped using in favor of Google Reader).
Happy birthday, and please don't dream of stopping ...
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM
A lot can happen in a decade. Happy anniversary.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM
Ah, I remember (and still love) the old concentric tables one! I think that's when I started reading. Congratulations Jason, and thanks for eight years (for me) of great posts!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:17AM
Quite a feat to be proud of Jason. I've been dropping by for a few years, but certainly not all 10. I think we all have the feeling that if we bumped into you on the street we'd already feel as if we know you. Interesting to see kottke.org evolve as well as the kottke family. Regards from Indonesia.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:18AM
I still remember the atomic bomb. Though not it was a blog then ;-)
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:18AM
congratulations, dan.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:21AM
I'm a new(ish) reader of about 1.5 years, so it's good to see the Kottke retrospective. I for one really appreciate all the hard work you put into the site. Happy anniversary!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:22AM
I've been reading for about 7 years now and have always enjoyed your posts/links. Congrats on the 10th anniversary! :)
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:24AM
Big ups from Minneapolis-town!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:25AM
Happy happy birthday. And thanks.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:26AM
happy deciversary!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:27AM
I'm a newish reader too. At some point in conversation, people have asked me where I get all the interesting things I seem to have on the tip of my tongue. "On Kottke," is the reply.
The designs are nice, but the content and tone are most endearing to me. Keep up the good work.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:28AM
Thanks for ten years posts. I have been around for four, and they were amazing.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:30AM
Very Cool! I think that some should be directing your personal documentary; now THAT would be amazing.
Thank you for all your hard, and entertaining, work
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:32AM
Nothing to say except Congrats & Good Job! The web would be a whole lot suckier without kottke.org.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:34AM
Very, very cool, Jason (and not too long at all... it was very interesting, in fact). I started in 1999, and although I recently took down my original blog and started over, I do sort of hate myself for not making it to that ten-year milestone.
Anyway, good job! Keep up the good work.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:36AM
Congrats, and thanks, Jason. I never miss a day...
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:36AM
Congratulations. I appreciate the work you put into filtering the web for people like me who have similar interests. I doubt we'll ever meet but you've become familar enough that I'd be happy to buy you a few pints should we ever cross paths.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:40AM
Read it every day. Thanks.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:40AM
Well done! Always a pleasure to read.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:41AM
Thanks for pouring Jason - its been well worth paying attention to.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:42AM
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:45AM
What they said. Kottke is one of the first sites I remember reading. Thank you for the linkage all these years.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:45AM
0sil8 4 lyfeeee
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:46AM
Of the many, many blogs in my reader, Kottke.org is one of three I overly and obsessively check. Damn you for making me less productive, but thank you(!) for providing an almost NPR-on-the-internet type of experience (lots of random things that I didn't think I cared about, but find really, really interesting).
Nice work and congratulations.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:49AM
Happy anniversary. I started reading your blog about a year ago, and have visited almost every day since. Your retrospective has helped me reflect on some of my own adventures over the last 10 years(especially the 7 jobs in 10 years --to which something I can definitely relate). Thanks for an informative and entertaining blog.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:49AM
congrats not only on the longevity but the quality as well!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:52AM
thanks for your work, Jason. Congrats!!
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:53AM
Congratulations. I look forward to another ten years.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:54AM
The yellow made me stop by..the writing kept me coming back.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:56AM
Congratulations !
Ten years and one of the world's most powerful blogs. It's still a great place for the serious and the fun items and one of the best reads on the Net.
Thanks for those years and here's to the next ten.
Mar 14, 2008 at 11:58AM
The concentric tables layout is still my all-time fave.
When's the next 0sil8 coming out?
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:00PM
Fads come and go. I subscribe and unsubscribe to dozens of blogs. Robot Wisdom fades into madness and obscurity, and Slashdot into irrelevance. The shine wears off of new fads like reddit and Digg. But kottke soldiers on!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:06PM
Thanks for all the good times! Congrats!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:09PM
Kottke and plasticbag were two of the first blogs I discovered in 2001 and I've been reading daily ever since. Thanks for 7 years of really interesting stuff :-)
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:10PM
Congrats! Kottke.org is the 1 site that has never left my rotation; I see I am far from the only one for whom this is true. Thank you Jason.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:11PM
I wish I could give you back all the things that by sharing on this site you have given me. Nothing short of my deepest gratitude.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:11PM
Thanks for the congratulations, all. I can't believe some of you have been reading for 7 or 8 years...that's amazing. Thanks for sticking around.
The next episode of 0sil8...hmmm, probably sometime after 2018.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:16PM
Heaven knows if you'll be able to wade through all of these comments, but I'll put mine out into the aether anyhow, because I've never said it before: I started reading this site when I was 15 years old and it has shaped my appreciation of the world around me more than anything other single thing I can think of.
Kottke.org is the reason I read (and love) the New Yorker (in its print version, even), the reason I'm _always_ reading giant blobs of text in my browser instead of doing the stereotypical online mindless clicking... heck, I check kottke before I even check my own website. Having come through high school and college reading kottke, I feel as though it has taught me how to think, and endowed me with tenacious curiosity -- and I feel indebted to you for that.
The post I've told _everyone_ about: the one about the unicorn tapestry.
A giant chunk of my online experience and a surprising portion of my life can be traced through the portal (excuse the negative connotations of that word) of your website. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:17PM
Thanks for all the fantastic work. Somehow you come up with the perfect mix of content to keep things fresh.
My employer probably wouldn't appreciate how much your posts distract me each day but I sure do. Congrats.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:18PM
From one old man to to another, happy anniversary.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:18PM
I think I've been following for about 4 and it's been great, congrats!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:21PM
I remember most of those designs :) Happy b'day! Its also PI day ...
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:28PM
Congratulations!!! Is amazing to know about somebody blogging in 10 years!!!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:31PM
Thanks for sharing your great links with us. Even with all the amazing technological strides that have been made on the web, I still look to your blog because of its human touch.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:32PM
Happy Birthday! Thank you for getting us through each day!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:35PM
I fell in love with osil8 in 98 - perhaps even 97, it's a little hazy now. I remember the first layout! It feels... Wow.
I'm kind of choking up too, I guess. I never expected that my own online presence would be so scattered and lost and multi-pseudonymic over the years, so that in the end I'd have nothing to show or look at. I wish I had the inner qualities necessary to do something with the sheer beautiful persistence you've shown! It's never been boring, and I am grateful to you for it. Very, very much so.
Joyeux Anniversaire!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:36PM
Congrats! I look forward to the next 10.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:39PM
Thanks for all your writing over the last 10 years. Kottke was the first "blog" I ever read and I haven't stopped.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:41PM
Congratulations, Jason! Thank you for all these years of being a must-read. So very pleased you're looking forward to the next 10, because I certainly am.
I started reading kottke.org in late 1999. Here's my first link to you: http://www.metagrrrl.com/metagrrrl/1999/11/another_really_.html
I refer to your site in that post as Jason Kottke's log, which I seem to recall being due to your lack of fondness for the term "blog" around that time. (Otherwise my use of the term goes back to May 1999).
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:42PM
Happy Birthday. Heres to another 10!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:42PM
^_^ kottke is my favorite weblog. Been coming back since 2003.
I find it hard to blog, because I really look up to this site. I doubt I can emulate this. So I end up micro-blogging on twitter instead. Trying an experiment with tumblr, but so far it's just re-blogging.
And finally, I struggle with managing my identities (online persona, and myself).
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:50PM
My workday always starts with a click on my Kottke web site bookmark on my browser. You're too good for a mere RSS feed.
Congrats on 10!
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:51PM
I remember that spacer-gif layered design well - seeing that design was what inspired me to get into web design, as i realized that you could do a lot more with HTML than boring old sites (never mind the coding horror!). Thanks for posting these screenshots.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:52PM
Thanks jason for exposing me to more great things in the last 5 years than I could possibly count. It would be difficult to overstate the impact you've had on the world by bringing people and ideas together. Having said that, best post ever? Tater Tot Hotdish.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:57PM
thank you jason. you are amazing.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:57PM
Happy Birthday.
God. Now I feel old.
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:58PM
You're the best!! Let's go for ten more...
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:02PM
Ten years is a long way to come in this modern digital world. Congratulations on reaching this milestone. I'd also add "keep up the good work", but I take it you already know this by now. Although it's not your official birthday today, I'm still going to wish you a nice day!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:02PM
I loved 0sil8 - it's pretty much what inspired me to get into this whole web world to begin with, so thanks for that. I remember every one of these iterations - keep up the good work and congrats on 10 years.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:04PM
Wow, I remember the 2000 design, so I've been reading you for a lot longer than I thought... probably since 2002. Crikey, it puts things into perspective. Thank you Jason! Always a pleasure, never a chore.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:04PM
I think I have been reading for about 8 years and this is the only blog I consistently read. Thanks so much for all of the interesting visuals and information over the years
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:06PM
At the time, I will have been 8 years old. Congratulatiosn, both for 10 years, and also for making it to number 4 on the top 50 websites list.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:07PM
Seeing the '99 design again reminds me of studying up on all the latest tricks at Webmonkey.com. Nice retrospective.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:11PM
I've been here for the past 7 years Jason, and I'm glad you've been around for so long.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:13PM
Thanks for doing what you do. I've been coming for at least 7 years (while technically it now comes to me with RSS). Google, IMDB, CNN, ESPN and Cockeyed are the only other sites I can say that about.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:16PM
Thanks, Jason, for editing out the vast expanse of crap that is the internet and making it seem like a supremely interesting and literate neighborhood.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:16PM
You were my first... was it almost eight years ago? Wow. Thanks for consistently making our lives more well-rounded.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:18PM
Still one of the best weblogs around, and I'd love to see a return to Osil8-style experiments. Happy birthday!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:19PM
two serious relationships?
i've only been reading kottke since design #4, but i echo the sentiments of the other commenters: congratulations on 10 years! you rock! thank you for being kottke!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:19PM
This is my favorite site and required daily reading. Congrats on 10 years!!!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:23PM
Wow... Cool gallery. Happy birthday from Italy. :-)
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:27PM
Happy blog birthday! Feeds come and go in my reader, but kottke.org is always a must read. Thanks for all the fun and well wishes for many more.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:27PM
I read your post on the Google OS an odd 4 years ago...and never left.
Here's to another 10 years!!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:31PM
Congrats from the Netherlands! It's daily reading for me too, though only since a few months. Look forward to the next anniversary.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:31PM
You're a living fossil on the web, congratulations on the decade mark. Thanks for the inspiration.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:33PM
awesome. stick around another 50. then when our brain-machine interfaces allow for RSS feeds to directly input data into our neurons, you can directly feed us rather than these cumbersome visual webpages.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:40PM
I have been reading since 2001. Thanks for giving me a place to go on the web all of these years. Your site is fantastic!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:41PM
You've been a constant enjoyment for me over the last 9 years. I miss some of your contemporaries dearly, but I'm really glad you've stuck with it. Thanks for doing what you do.
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:45PM
(Also, oh dear me I've been reading the internet for too long)
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:49PM
Judging from the comments, I'm one of the newest readers, having started only in 2007. But since then, I've been a regular. Yours is one of the best sites out there.
Thank you!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:50PM
I turned 23 on Sunday and I've been visiting you since 2000, so you've probably made a significant impact on my life. Thank you for being so consistent; the web wouldn't be the same without you!
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:59PM
been following you since 0sil8...
solid work! all around
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:01PM
I now feel, very, very old indeed. Happy birthday.
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:06PM
I've been reading you for many years and kottke.org is more or less the only text blog I read daily now. I particularly enjoy your elegant avoidance of politics.
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:07PM
Wow! Can't really remember how long I've been reading Kottke.org...anyway, coming up with new things daily for ten years, that deserves praise!
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:10PM
I'm proud to say that you were my first (and still my favorite) bookmark! I look forward to another 10!
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:17PM
Happy Birthday!
I've been reading the blog for 2-3 years now and I'm learning something new everyday. It's a luck to have you on the web!
Congrats and I'm wishing for another 10 years!
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:18PM
You're still the cheese-hater to us
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:21PM
I'm throwing my congratulations in the birthday ring.
Ten year?! And I thought I felt old at almost five.
Happy Birthday, Grandpa.
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:24PM
No! Thank you, Jason! I read everything you post every single day of the week. I link so many interesting things to my husband and we discuss them. Your site is filled with Innumerable stacks of coolness.
I always think of you as Curator of New Media, King of the Bloggosphere. The fact that you found romance and made a new sweet baby along the way... well, you're living the revolution.
Viva! le Kottke!
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:29PM
Congrats Jason!
I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:30PM
Congrats Jason!
I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:31PM
Congrats, Jason! I've been reading kottke.org since late 2000 and have had the site in my bookmarks bar (and now Google Reader) ever since. Here's to 10 more!
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:33PM
Congrats... remember you were one of the first bloggers to go 'PRO', may have even donated to the cause at the time, who knew...
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:35PM
I've only been reading for the past year, but I've become an addict. I find myself checking the site multiple times a day for a new tangent to distract me for a few minutes or hours. Thank you and congratulations!
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:36PM
Happy birthday.
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:38PM
Happy birthday, kottke.org!
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:51PM
10 years is a loooong time. Congratulations and happy birthday.
Thank you.
Mar 14, 2008 at 2:52PM
Hip Hip Hurray!
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:02PM
Happy Birthday!
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:03PM
Bring back the mid 2000 layered orange!
Fond memories :)
sylloge, harrumph, k10k, zannah, zeldman...
those were the bright young days...
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:06PM
I've always liked the simple and clean design.
Why have you not extended the width of the top yellow/green header to the same width of the main content/columns? I've always thought that would "frame" the content more effectively from a design perspective.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:08PM
Ten years is a long time. I struggle managing to post something ten days in a row. you're an inspiration to many, Jason. And you have taught people more than you will ever know, by simply sharing.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:08PM
Wow, flashback. I remember the shock of seeing the switch to those concentric tables.
So happy birthday and all, but surely this isn't the only post of the day. Back to work! Internet Donger hungry! Need food!
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:11PM
Yeah, good stuff. I've ripped a few of your steez off for my own quote-unquote blog, so thanks for that, too. Ten! More! Years! Ten! More! Years!
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:26PM
I found this site by happy accident back in 2000 through a google search for Leo Kottke. Ever since, I have visited pretty much every day. Happy blog birthday!
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:28PM
I wish I was cool enough to have known about you 10 years ago. Sadly, I've only been around for the past 3... but I'm definitely around for keeps now!
House of Jules
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:29PM
OMG! 10 years online already.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:31PM
You have been an inspiration and a wonderfully fluent and prolific source. I am a novice, but a devoted one and your insights on culling the best of the internet have fueled the focus of my endeavors since the beginning. (7 months). I don't remember how it was I found you, but I knew yours was a presence to be reckoned with and you've not proved me wrong. I think of you as a kind of Aristotle of the Blogosphere -- peripatetic, wise, informed and generous in sharing what you know.
Congratulations on what can only be described as a remarkable journey.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:39PM
The fact that I must be following kottke.org for almost 8 years left me speechless for a while. Congrats, it has been a great ride! And I'm sure it will continue for quite some time.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:39PM
Thank you, Jason for ten years of excellence.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:44PM
Congratulations, Jason. Yours was one of the first blogs I "discovered" back in 2000, before I (and most people) even knew what blogging was. I was fascinated by the whole notion of it, and found yours really interesting...and still do! Just the simple fact of keeping a discipline for 10 years is inspiring. My usual is about ten minutes.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:48PM
Thank YOU.
Been with you all the way.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:49PM
You are the bees knees.
Mar 14, 2008 at 3:56PM
Ah, the days when we wrote everything in Verdana 11 because it was so, so much more awesome than the Arial/Times combo that we'd grown to despise, and so much more sexy than the Verdana 10/12 that we used for small/normal type.
Mar 14, 2008 at 4:08PM
Congratulations Jason. I've been following Kottke.org for 3-4 years now, and you keep getting better at it :)
Mar 14, 2008 at 4:11PM
You inspired me to start mine in 2000 -- in fact, you are the first post. Mazel tov!
Mar 14, 2008 at 4:57PM
thank you for daily excellence and congrats!
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:01PM
congrats jason & many mahalos for years of interestingness
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:03PM
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:04PM
Congratulations! If the internet had a park, you'd have your own statue by now.
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:06PM
That Kottke! Why, I knew him way back when he was a young whippersnapper running around in Minneapolis, starting interactive design mailing lists and whatnot... congrats on a decade on the Web, which has to be something like a full career in normal years.
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:15PM
happy birthday! absolutely germany loves your weblog, too! ;-)
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:19PM
Congrats on 10 years man.
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:33PM
still the best.
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:41PM
Congratulations. I remember reading this weblog when I was just out of high school. In all that time, I don't think it's left my toolbar bookmarks.
Thanks for the inspiration and the excellent links.
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:47PM
Happy Birthday Jason!
cheers from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
Mar 14, 2008 at 5:58PM
I remember stumbling onto osil8/kottke in high school (class of 2001)! It was one of the first blogs I ever read regularly, though that admittedly didn't last forever. Kottke being 10 years old kind of makes me feel like an informed and active member of the internet community. Or something. Which I'm not. Whatever that means.
Happy anniversary! Thanks for making me feel cool!
Mar 14, 2008 at 6:22PM
Hi, that's cool - ten years!
By the way, I put in some of your favorite web sites into the recommendation engine Web inSuggest, and got some interesting results. Now we can actually see the web sites you didn't mention, but probably like:
Quite cool, right?
Mar 14, 2008 at 6:40PM
I like cats.
Mar 14, 2008 at 6:45PM
Echoing the thoughts of others, congratulations on such a milestone and long may it continue!
Mar 14, 2008 at 6:57PM
Thanks, and I'll see you in 2018.
...which is, on visuals alone, the obvious year to revive 0sil8.
Congrats, sir. You earned your testimonial.
Mar 14, 2008 at 7:06PM
Congratulations, Jason!
Mar 14, 2008 at 7:11PM
Just started reading your blog (although I had it in my google homepage for a few months). Had a good laugh at the top 10 worst song lyrics on a site you mentioned. Nice blog. You kool!
Mar 14, 2008 at 7:16PM
kottke.org is like an old friend I met in the first stages of my life on the web.
happy birthday!
Mar 14, 2008 at 7:25PM
Jason, thanks for the past 8 years or so of reading pleasure!
Mar 14, 2008 at 7:33PM
Congrats and thanks for all the fine hypertext products!
Mar 14, 2008 at 7:42PM
Congratulations and thanks for all the links :)
Mar 14, 2008 at 7:57PM
Congratulations! I have only been reading kottke.org for the last year or so, but it feels like much longer when I think of how many fascinating links you've brought to my attention that I might otherwise never have seen.
Thank you, and best wishes for another ten years!
Mar 14, 2008 at 8:07PM
Well played. Yours is the only site worth checking daily :-)
Mar 14, 2008 at 8:14PM
Best wishes Jason. Ten years in internet-land is how many in dog years? ;) Keep up the great job.
Mar 14, 2008 at 8:41PM
Great job for the last ten years, Jason. You're the reason I'm OCD. I check your site compulsively every day. Thanks!
Mar 14, 2008 at 8:57PM
I've been reading since roughly 2000, I remember that bright yellow-green tag :)
Although I'm not a good daily reader of anything but the news, your website is one I always remember to go back to.
Mar 14, 2008 at 9:00PM
Congratulations Jason and Happy Ten from the Dominican Republic! I've been a constant reader since the second design onwards. I remember how I used to consult your HTML source code whenever any doubt arose in my coding. I wish you all the best.
Mar 14, 2008 at 9:03PM
Somewhere while design 3 was the default I started reading you. I never stopped. Happy birthday!
Mar 14, 2008 at 9:13PM
Yesterday was my 40th birthday on the planet; today is your tenth on the web, probably my 5th or 4th reading you every day. I think I should go buy us diamonds, rubies, and silverware, what do you say? Keep it up, Jason, we love you.
Mar 14, 2008 at 9:28PM
Consistently the first blog I read every day, you have introduced me to Daft Punk, Sigur Ros, and lately, The Wire. Kudos on 10 years!
Mar 14, 2008 at 10:09PM
if I can't have 0sil8 back... along with Word and Suck and Swanky... then I guess this here weblog will have to suffice. Ideally, every day.
Happy ten, and many more.
Mar 14, 2008 at 10:20PM
I remember back in 1999 when we started working together I thought it was so odd that I could read your "diary" and you were sitting 10 feet away from me (I know it was never a diary but you know what I mean.) I still don't understand half of what you talk about, but I'm glad I've been able to keep track of you and watch your exciting life unfold over these years. Congrats.
Mar 14, 2008 at 10:25PM
Hey, I like retrospective analyzation! The birth and evolution of a blog: Kottke has been through the thick and thin, and is still here! You should be VERY proud.
Mar 14, 2008 at 10:34PM
you're awesome, man, keep it up!
Mar 14, 2008 at 10:40PM
Hey Hi - I've read you on and off since the pixel grunge/mushroom cloud design onwards (so wonderful to see those designs again - had completely forgotten your yellow boxes inside boxes design until I saw it again!)
You're ten years old too this year? well done us.. Fox and I are celebrating our 10th blog anniversary in August - we both posted our first entries to a shared blog on August 1st 1998. We collaborated on that site for a couple of months until Diaryland (and other blogging tools and communities sprouted) was born and we each bought our own domains and continued in different directions.
So from one blogger to another, well done you. Congratulations and if you want to keep writing, these eyes are happy to keep reading.
thejamjar.com papermilk.com
Mar 14, 2008 at 10:40PM
Keep up the good work, here's to another 10 years!
Mar 14, 2008 at 10:55PM
Wonderful! Happy anniversary and thanks for keeping me plugged in for at least a couple of years now.
Mar 15, 2008 at 12:48AM
Happy 10th! Thank you for creating a fantastic site!
Mar 15, 2008 at 2:04AM
Congratulations! I can only get an idea of how you must be feeling. People start these things and conclude somewhere down the line and forget about you. You stayed, built your online presence and reputation and today are in the rarest of rare group of bloggers who have stayed for over 10 years. Kudos. Enjoy the day.
Mar 15, 2008 at 2:21AM
Wow, 10 years?
I feel old, and so does my web site.
Mar 15, 2008 at 3:26AM
Happy anniversary! I've been reading you since early 1999 (I was in grad school and needed excitement), and daily since probably 2001. Thanks for all the entertainment you've provided me!
Mar 15, 2008 at 4:30AM
Thanks Jason.
Mar 15, 2008 at 9:34AM
Congrats! Thanks for bringing the fine hypertext products, because they're ever so much more delightful than those feeble ones.
(In 2018, Ollie will be at the great age where he's old enough to be low maintenance, but too young to be in the throes of adolescent angst. 2023 will really be the kicker...)
Mar 15, 2008 at 10:01AM
Thanks Jason. I've been reading for five years.
Mar 15, 2008 at 11:27AM
10 years? Wow! Thank you for great posts!
Mar 15, 2008 at 11:35AM
Fantastic work Jason. We're longtimers. And 10 years makes you a veteran!
I experienced some kind of weird dotcom 1 flashback when I saw that yellow concentric tables design... ; )
Onwards is upwards, duder. Here's to the next decade.
Mar 15, 2008 at 1:10PM
Congratulations Jason. I remember visiting this site for the first time when it had the concentric table design. When every other site seemed to be horribly bloated with Flash and awkward UI design, the beautiful simplicity of this site blew me away. Later that day I set up a Blogger blog.
Mar 15, 2008 at 2:19PM
Return to the early pink and blue style; You know you want to!
Congratulations on your site's longevity, from a daily reader.
Mar 15, 2008 at 2:25PM
Been reading for 5 years now (and even that seems like a long time). Keep up the great work.
Mar 15, 2008 at 5:18PM
I turned twenty yesterday, and have been following your blog since 2002 -- what a wonderfully strange coincidence; I had no idea. Thanks for the many years of top-notch content and congratulations on such a long and successful run. A design change would be fun, but no pressure.
Mar 15, 2008 at 5:55PM
I must have been following your site since around 2000, because I remember that yellow, table-y layout.
I found Kottke.org and Osil8 not long after I got online at home, and they were really my introduction to blogs and the world beyond imdb and the geocities homepages which seemed to be all that I looked at back then. Through kottke I found a lot of other cool sites - harrumph, metafilter, boingboing, lightningfield, and through them a hundred more. I guess a lot of my daily reading habits today stem back to the day I first read kottke.org.
Still checking back most days, and I'm not really sure why. I guess kottke.org is consistent and maybe also reassuringly lowkey. Gentle even. No red-faced rants, posturing or other nonsense. There is definitely a comparison to be made between the blog and the ever present sensible haircut.
Mar 15, 2008 at 6:14PM
Mar 15, 2008 at 7:11PM
thanks to you jason. i'd echo loisir's post - my daily online reading habits started when i first discovered this site...
the other day i was thinking it would be really nice to have a handmade compendium of kottke.org pages - a book to keep, something like one of tufte's beautiful books, or a mcsweeney publication. you defined your blog as the table of contents for a magazine you wished existed. the book would be a collection of successive tables.
Mar 15, 2008 at 8:56PM
where does the multi-colored line come from, may we borrow it??
Mar 15, 2008 at 11:32PM
Thank you for the music, Jason.
I've been lurking on here since 1999 and have enjoyed the ride. Keep it up!
Mar 16, 2008 at 3:11AM
i have read this site for a very long time and never really realized it. really no emotional involvement with this site at all or any strong opinions about it. somehow keeps showing up in my list of favorites and i am bored enough to check it quite often. this is a compliment.
Mar 16, 2008 at 6:53AM
"Hi, my name is Rak and I'm an addict."
My first visit was 8/17/99 after reading about 3Com's 0sil8 cease and desist. Reading on, I became a fellow Iron Giant fan-boy, used Silkscreen, registered my first domain and Remaindered away many hours. The clincher was the how-the-hell-did-he-do-that-redesign -- I haven't stopped visiting since.
Thanks for inspiring, discovering, educating and, most of all, letting us share in your journey.
Happy Anniversary Jason!
ps. thanks for the Megway too!
Mar 16, 2008 at 9:37AM
Yes I like to. Well done. I am nearly three, so can't even ride a bike. Keep it up.
Mar 16, 2008 at 10:37AM
Happy birthday
Mar 16, 2008 at 3:11PM
My internet world would be lost without you Jason. Please keep it up for another 10 years!
Mar 16, 2008 at 7:01PM
Top of the news reader for longer than I care to remember.
Thanks for everything and Happy Birthday, Jason!
Mar 16, 2008 at 9:39PM
Congratulations Jason - keep up the good work!
Mar 16, 2008 at 11:49PM
I learned about blogs when you and Meg came up to Anchorage to teach us about them at a local IT group meeting. You both were not only interesting but very gracious to us all, most of whom were older than you both. I've been following ever since. Thanks.
Mar 16, 2008 at 11:50PM
I learned about blogs when you and Meg came up to Anchorage to teach us about them at a local IT group meeting. You both were not only interesting but very gracious to us all, most of whom were older than you both. I've been following ever since. Thanks.
Mar 17, 2008 at 1:24AM
Thank you, Jason, for sharing the links and thoughts over the last decade (!) and making us all a bit smarter for it in the process.
I hope the new Cut Copy album makes a good 10th-ish bday present, not long now until it's finally released!
Mar 17, 2008 at 4:30AM
Happy blogversary! ;-)
I drop a look here from time to time... Always interesting:)
Wishing you another 10, and more! :)))
Cheers, M.
Mar 17, 2008 at 4:40AM
Still my favourite blog after 8 years. Thanks for keeping at it for so long!
Joerg, Cape Town
Mar 17, 2008 at 5:05AM
i came by kottke.org by way of osil8 - thank you for everything you have shared!
Mar 17, 2008 at 10:57AM
I show your site in my Tech Comm classes. You are a master. Thank you so much for constantly turning out such a deliciously delivered, insightful and thought provoking product :)
Mar 17, 2008 at 4:10PM
I miss the episodes of Osil8! As a faithful reader who has been clicking in since damn near the beginning I want to wish you a grand blog birthday!
Mar 18, 2008 at 12:21AM
I can't believe it... I've been reading your site for the past 8 years. Congrats on the milestone! I hope you've got some champagne flowing
Mar 18, 2008 at 1:27AM
Happy Birthday Brother Jason!
Blessings 'pon The Good Ship Kottke
and all who sail in her!
Le Rev Dr
(fan from way back in oscil8 days)
Mar 18, 2008 at 4:45AM
cripes! i choked up too! thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you...okay, you get the point.
Mar 18, 2008 at 5:34AM
wow - ten years already.
time flies.
Mar 18, 2008 at 7:40AM
Yeah, fresh blog this is. Always interesting info. Peace out from the UK.
Mar 18, 2008 at 10:47AM
Thanks again everyone for your kind words. I'm gonna close the thread down now because the comment spammers are on to us! But first, a few manual trackbacks for my future reference:
Michael Sippey
Merlin Mann
Tim Shey
Adam Lisagor
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.


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Melania Trump's Heels Definitely Match Both Her Coat and Her Sense of Style
After facing backlash for wearing heels on both trips to Texas to visit victims of Hurricane Harvey, the first lady continued to show off the designer section of her wardrobe. She joined the president to attend a church ceremony on Sunday in Washington, D.C., after Trump declared a national day of prayer for those affected by the storm.
Melania was swathed in pastels. She covered a pink sheath dress with a powder blue coat, highlighted by a trusty pair of Christian Louboutins. The sky-high pumps featured a pixel python print, and they retail for $1,295. Melania's dark visor top sunglasses, perhaps just as essential as a pair of striking shoes, were the final touch.


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Hello there! So… you've landed on my site, looked around a bit, and are wondering, "Who in the world is this gal?" Well, allow me to tell you a little about myself.
1. Hi! My name is Danielle. I am 37 years old, married to the best man on this earth for me, and I have 4 children (three boys and a girl). Right now we live in and love Arizona. We don't know how long we will be here, but we are enjoying it so much. Like, pinch me. Sometimes I do feel like it's all a dream.
2. I am extremely efficient. . . er, maybe it's just lazy. Ha. I'm always trying to come up with shortcuts to simplify the way things are done. I'm one of those strange people who always tries to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it works, but many times I fail, bigtime. The discoveries that work for me are shared here for you, in hopes of helping your life become simpler in some way. I'll probably share my failures with you too, honestly, because sometimes fails are funny. 😉
3. The blogging experts tell you that in order to have a successful blog, you have to present yourself as an authority in your field. Well, what I have to give you is all I know and what I have experience with. I encourage you to do lots of searching to find what fits best for you, whatever the topic. But I will give you the best of what I do know.
4. Our children were all born with food allergies/eczema. Some of our most painful memories are those of my infant son, screaming as we put eczema cream on his little body each night before bedtime. Finally, after a bitten-through-cheese-package incident when he was nine months old, we started piecing together the puzzle and realized his eczema stemmed from food allergies – through his food and also through the food I was eating while nursing. I started spending hours searching online, trying to figure out some remedy or healing method for him. I stumbled upon the Weston A. Price Foundation, Nourishing Traditions, and a whole slew of real food blogs who gave me a crash course in traditionally prepared foods.
It was, and is, so fascinating. I learned about home fermentation, soaking grains, organ meats like liver, (and so much more), and I was sold. We've tried to eat a real food diet as best as I can manage. A few years ago, we went through the GAPS diet for six months, and because of it my children were able to start eating ghee, a dairy product, and my oldest lost his allergy to egg yolks. (We're still not sure about the whites.) Right now I struggle with the balance of feeding my family real food and the burnout that seems to tag along with that. Still not sure we've found our balance yet. We use essential oils, homeopathy, and other various means of natural healing in our day to day lives – and in that area I wouldn't look back, even for a moment.
Right now I struggle with the balance of feeding my family real food and the burnout that seems to tag along with that. Still not sure we've found our balance yet. We use essential oils, homeopathy, and other various means of natural healing in our day to day lives – and in that area I wouldn't look back, even for a moment.
5. I kind of just started this blog one day as a way to document all the new things I was learning about nutrition, food preparation, a simple life, and my Christian walk. Whenever I would learn a new skill – say, dehydrating for example – I would imagine teaching and training my daughter how to do it. She was an infant at the time and found my lectures a total snoozefest.
So I just started a blog one day. It was and is a release for me, a way to spill out some (not all, Lord help us) of the thoughts running around in my head. It's been hard work but so fun! I never would dared to dream it would grow as it has and sometimes I want to pinch myself when I think about where it began and where it's going. If it's a good fit for you, I would love to have you along! <3
6. I promise to keep it real with you. My kitchen seems to always be in a state of chaos. Under the table always needs a good sweep AND mop. And once that finally happens, fifteen minutes later it needs it again. My kids can be whiny, and I myself have been known to whine a time or two. Shocking, I know. I'll keep it real.
7. Why the name, It's a Love/Love Thing? Well, I started the blog wanting to share about the things I loved. But even more so, we've had several difficult life lessons in the past few years, and I just didn't want my life to be something I tolerated, something I loved sometimes and hated other times: a love/hate thing. I wanted to embrace the bad as much as the good, and learn to love it all. The bitterness and sweetness of the journey. Love/love is super hard though. You know? I'm trying, but it is just so hard.
8. I really try my best not to judge people. By nature I am very discerning and analytical, always trying to classify people, events, and behavior. But I have learned some lessons during my time on this earth, and one of the biggest lessons was that I don't have enough logs removed from my own eyes to start zeroing in on everyone else. I'm just not there yet. If others are, that's great! Maybe one day I will be. But for now, my aim is to treat others with compassion, understanding, and love. I want to see what God sees when I look at people – and God is full of hope for all of us.
9. I truly believe we need to find out what our purpose is on this earth and get to work doing it. You are unique in all of creation – have you figured out why? What are you here for? A successful life, in my opinion, is a life lived to the best of our unique abilities, bringing to this world what we were brought to it for, in love. Our gifts and talents aren't random or mistakes – they are full of purpose and I wholeheartedly believe we should be using them every day. 😉 [freebie]
10. I am not perfect. Never have been. I do not have a perfect life. My kids aren't perfect. I am not the perfect Christian, wife, mother, daughter, friend, or neighbor. My house isn't perfect, my car isn't perfect, my attitude isn't perfect, my theology isn't perfect, and my blog isn't perfect. Yes, I truly love to keep things light, uplifting, and happy around here, but keep in mind, this blog is an edited extension of me.
Every day I am reminded of my intense need for a perfect Savior. He's the only perfect thing in my life. If you like and prefer perfection, I will most likely disappoint you. 🙂 But if you want to read some tips and recipes from a mom who's just trying to make it day to day the best she can, then come along with me! You can share your tips too, and we can learn from one another.
Essentially, my blog will cover topics such as:
- healthy recipes made from scratch (or mostly made from scratch)
- healthy kitchen how-to's
- healthy living
- essential oils
- natural beauty & hair
- Beautycounter
- natural remedies
- homeschooling
- parenting
- the Christian journey of walking in faith, hope & love
- and anything else that grabs my attention.
I would love to have you stick around! You can follow me:
on my Facebook page –
on Pinterest
Visit Danielle {It's a love/love thing}'s profile on Pinterest.
on Twitter
on Google Plus
on Instagram – a more laid-back social network that I love.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Have an amazingly wonderful, love-filled day. <3


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CELEBRATE This Week XVII
I'm glad you are here to celebrate! For more information, check out the CELEBRATE This Week page. Please use #celebratelu to share.
I'm glad to understand a little more about my current writing life as I reflected on the word WRITE in this post.
|{Click the link below in order to get a quality print.}
With the snow day last week, I learned how to create chalkboard art. I've been trying to think of a way to give a gift to our community. Here it is! Simply click this link in order to get an 8×10 image. Print it and hang it (either framed or unframed) in a place you could use a reminder of the power of celebration.
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Right, it's been a long half term and it's cold outside, so let's start with a joke:
After a lovely day out in the countryside, a tourist is driving back to his hotel when he realises he's lost. There's no mobile phone signal and his satnav isn't working either. He drives up and down the same country lanes, growing crosser and crosser. Eventually he spots a man leaning against a gate, so he pulls over to ask for directions. The local man gives the matter some thought before replying, 'Well if I were you, I wouldn't start from here.'
I said we'd start with a joke, but I didn't say it was a very funny joke.
I was a Year 6 teacher in London for many years and at this time of year, when the national tests are beginning to loom large, I'd often find myself thinking about the range of different starting points in my class.
For one week in May, Year 6 children across the country are tested on their reading, mathematics, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. They'll also have their writing assessed. The national tests don't provide a definitive answer about how good a child is at a particular subject or how good they'll be at it in the future. They don't tell us how accomplished they are in other important areas of the curriculum such as art, sport or music. What they do is give a snapshot of where the children are in these core areas of the curriculum on that particular day. Regardless of their starting point, every child sits the same tests.
In an ideal world, every child would approach the national tests from the very best starting point possible. With the reading test, ideally every child would start from a point where they were already a keen and confident reader, having read and discussed a wide range of rich and engaging texts. They'd be able to talk with confidence about the books and poems they'd read, and respond articulately to a text in writing. They would have had seven years of studying the curriculum they were going to be tested on, and all they'd need in Year 6 would be the chance to go out and show what they could do. In the real world, that isn't the case. Unfortunately circumstances mean that not every child arrives in Year 6 at that perfect starting point. Because of their starting point, some children (and indeed some classes) need a bit of support if they're going to do the best that they can. What's important is that the support we give children in Year 6 is focused on improving children's reading rather than simply on their scores in the tests. Like every Year 6 teacher, I wanted the children I taught to do the best that they could in the tests. I wanted them to succeed and leave primary school feeling confident in their abilities. But what was more important was helping children to develop the skills and knowledge that the tests are supposed to measure.
Thankfully, there are some things we can do as teachers to help the children we teach to become better readers and to show this through their performance in the Key Stage 2 reading test.
To help anyone who's not starting from the perfect place, I've worked with Oxford University Press to create a Key Stage 2 Reading Test Toolkit. The toolkit brings together advice and free resources to help Year 6 teachers to help their class to succeed in the Key Stage 2 reading test. The toolkit outlines five practical strategies for busy teachers to help the children they teach to become keen and confident readers:
- Focus on key comprehension strategies
- Support children's vocabulary development
- Build children's fluency and reading stamina
- Teach children to respond to texts in writing
- Draw on and focus parents' support
For each of the strategies, there are additional resources including documents, films and practical activities to use with children in class.
My time as a Year 6 teacher taught me that reading at primary school is about more than the national tests. That's why the ideas and resources in the toolkit have been developed to support children to achieve their best in the Key Stage 2 reading test, but more importantly, to become confident lifelong readers, with all of the benefits that brings.
You can access the films and all of the other resources for free on Oxford Owl. If you haven't already, you'll simply need to register for free at www.oxfordowl.co.uk to access the resources.
James Clements is a member of the Advisory Board for Oxford Owl, Oxford Primary's platform, home to online subscriptions and free teaching and learning resources. For ten years, James worked as a teacher and senior leader at a successful primary school in London. For seven of those years he taught Year 6. James is now an education writer and researcher, working with schools and academics trying to find out what makes great English teaching. James is the founder of the education website Shakespeare and More.
You can follow James on Twitter: @James_ShMore


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Join Our Team!
Are you a social person who enjoys interacting with a variety of people and personalities? Do you have a meticulous nature that thrives on getting something just right? Are you a team player with a passion for providing quality products to customers with great service and a smile? If so, consider applying for a Retail Associate (Barista) position at Sacred Grounds Café where we are always on the lookout for new talent to join our team!
For additional job opportunities available at the Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, please visit the CCTHITA website at http://ccthita.org/services/employment/jobs/index.html.
Tlingit & Haida conducts background checks, pre-employment and random drug tests as a condition of employment. Alaska Native/American Indian Preference applies for all positions.


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DETROIT, Mich -- The Western Michigan football team has come a long way from 1-11 in 2013, head coach P.J. Fleck's first in Kalamazoo.
Friday night the undefeated Broncos will meet Ohio University (8-4) at Ford Field in the MAC Championship Game.
A win likely means a berth in a New Years Six Bowl.
Through it all WMU has managed to stay positive.


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A website dedicated to the history of the 106th Infantry Division during WWII. Offers history, research, remembrance and guided tours of the Battlefield of the Golden Lions.
HISTORY OF THE 106th INFANTRY DIVISION
Activation and Training
The 106th Infantry Division was activated in a formal ceremony on 15 March 1943 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The cadre for the Division was supplied by the 80th Infantry Division.
In January 1944 the Division moved to Tennessee for extensive maneuvers before being posted at Camp Atterbury, Indiana on 30 March 1944 for advanced training. It was during the Tennessee Maneuvers that the Gi's of the Division nicknamed the 106th as 'The Bag Lunch Division'.
NCO's of the newly formed 106th Division present the company guidons during the activation ceremony at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. (Signal Corps)
Major General Alan Jones explains his tactics to Tennessee Governor Prentice Cooper and Lieutenant General Lloyd Fredendall during 2nd Army maneuvers in Tennessee. 8 March 1944 (Signal Corps)
The European Theater of Operations
Vehicles of the 106th Infantry Division close in on St. Vith, Belgium in December 1944. Note the snow on the ground. Photo by George Hayslip of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion.
The Division crossed the Atlantic on troop carriers such as the Queen Elisabeth and the USS Wakefield. Upon arrival in England, the soldiers of the 106th Division were billeted in small English villages in the Cotswolds. A brief period of training was held and the 106th crossed the English Channel to enter the European Theatre of Operations at Le Havre in early December 1944.
After wading through the surf and setting foot on France, a cold rainy night in a muddy field nd an exhausting truck ride through France and Belgium brought the men to the area of St. Vith, Belgium on 9 December 1944.
Attached to the US First Army, VIII Corps under General Troy Middleton, the Golden Lion Division was ordered to relieve the 2nd Infantry Division in the Schnee Eifel sector, just across the border in Germany. This area, a symbolic breech of the Siegfried Line, had been captured in September 1944 and was considered to be a quiet sector. The terrain consisted of densely wooded hills and open rolling terrain, intercut with steep valleys.
The GI's of the 106th Division had been ordered to take over the positions on a 'man for man, gun for gun' basis, and in many cases this order was carried out to the letter. Old German bunkers were now command posts and storage areas while the infantrymen were in log shelters and outposts. Reserve units had the luxury of staying in dry farmhouses in Belgium and Germany. The veterans of the 2nd Division reassured them that this was the 'Ghost Front', and that they would have an easy life in the Eifel.
The strength of the 106th consisted of three Regimental Combat Teams - the 422nd, 423rd and 424th. Attached to the Division was the 14th Cavalry Group, holding the Losheim Gap with one Mechanized Reconnaissance Squadron, a Battalion of towed Tank Destroyers spread out along the Division sector and three VIII Corps heavy artillery Battalions providing fire support. To the south, the 106th made contact with the 28th Infantry Division.
The 422nd RCT - consisting of the 422nd Infantry Regiment, the 589th Field Artillery Battalion, Company "A" of the 81st Engineer Battalion and Collecting Company "A" of the 331st Medical Battalion, was responsible for the sector around the villages of Auw bei Prüm and Schlausebach. Regimental commander Colonel George L. Descheneaux Jr. headed his Regiment from a command post in Schlausenbach. The 423rd RCT, commanded by Colonel Charles C. Cavender, was located in the area of Oberlascheid, Bleialf and Winterscheid. This RCT consisted of the 423rd Infantry Regiment, the 590th Field Artillery Battalion, Company "B" of the 81st Engineer Battalion, Collecting Company "B"of the 331st Medical Battalion and Troop "B"of the 18th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. The 424th Regimental Combat Team, headed by Colonel Alexander D. Reid, formed the right flank of the Division, holding a sector from Grosslangenfeld to Lützkampen. The unit consisted of the 424th Infantry Regiment, the 591st Field Artillery Battalion, Company "C"of the 81st Engineers and Collecting Company "C"of the 331st Medical Battalion.
The 592nd Field Artillery Battalion, armed with 155mm Howitzers, also provided general fire support in the Schnee Eifel. The Division Headquarters was set up at St. Vith, some twelve miles to the rear. VIII Corps Headquarters was situated in Bastogne.
All things considered, the 106th Division was responsible for a front of 27 miles. Army doctrine at the time envisioned that a Division could only adequately hold a front of 5 miles. The Schnee Eifel sector was therefore a considerable risk, made even more so by the salient position of the 422nd and 423rd RCT's.
The Battle of the Bulge
The German Fifth Panzer Army launched its assault against the 'Ghost Front' on the morning of 16 December 1944. The costly battle that ensued would become known as the Battle of the Bulge.
In the week prior to the German breakthrough, the men of the 106th had observed enemy troop movements and sounds of tanks, trucks and heavy equipment being assembled behind the German lines. This information was sent up to higher echelon but it was discarded as they believed that the Germans were tricking the newly arrived Americans.
German troops and vehicles negotiate the difficult terrain in the Eifel. The capture of paved roads and bridges were vital for the success of their offensive (Bundesarchiv)
The troops were told that the Germans were playing phonograph records to give the impression that activity was going on in their sector. This sense of complacency ultimately led to the largest loss of materiel and manpower ever experienced on the Western Front.
On the morning of the 16th, thousands of German artillery pieces and rocket launchers opened up and heavily shelled the US lines. Communications were severed but initial losses were light. Soon thereafter German troops of the 18th and 62nd Volksgrenadier Divisions began their assault on the positions of the 106th Division. The 14th Cavalry Group in the Losheim Gap was quickly overrun by German armored and paratroop units. Their withdrawal to the Belgian border exposed the left flank of the 422nd Infantry. Another German breakthrough in Bleialf on the morning of the 17th allowed for a German pincer movement which trapped the two Regimental Combat Teams on the Schnee Eifel. To the south, the 424th suffered heavy losses in the Battle for Winterspelt but was able to regroup on the opposite bank of the Our River and escape encirclement.
A promised counterattack by the 7th Armored Division and an air drop with supplies to the besieged 422nd and 423rd Infantry Regiments on the Schnee Eifel never happened and by 18 December 1944 the two units - still holding their original positions despite being surrounded - reversed their battle lines and were ordered to attack and capture the Belgian village of Schönberg and its vital bridge across the Our River. A cross-country march brought the 423rd Infantry to the outskirts of Schönberg, where a final attack on the morning of 19 December 1944 led to many casualties. Out of ammunition, water, food and medical supplies, the remnants of the Regiment were surrendered by Colonel Charles C. Cavender. An hour later, some five miles north of them Colonel George L. Descheneaux Jr. of the 422nd Infantry Regiment reached the same conclusion. Some 500 men of various units held out in a perimeter defense near Laudesfeld until noon of 21 December 1944. This was the last organized American defense to fall in the Eifel sector. In total approximately 8,000 men became prisoners of war.
A 1944 Illinois newspaper reports of the fate of the encircled troops.. Approximately 8,000 troops were forced to surrender after four days of vicious fighting and after running out of ammunition, food, water and medical supplies. (Author's Collection)
That same day the town of St. Vith was captured by the Germans, after a valiant fight by members of the 81st and 168th Engineer Battalions on the Prümerberg Ridge. They were assisted in their defense by units of the 7th Armored Division, which began arriving in St. Vith on 17 December 1944.
Fighting back
The destroyed café Laurent-Jacquet on Baraque de Fraiture after the battle. A destroyed Sherman tank of the 3rd Armored Division stands nearby. (Photo Francis Aspinwall)
The units that were able to escape the Schnee Eifel pocket also fought back.
Small groups of men were able to make their way out of the encirclement in the Schnee Eifel and infiltrate back to their own lines. Lieutenant Ivan Long was succesfull in bringing back his entire I&R Platoon of the 423rd Infantry Regiment. They were eventually the last unit to leave St. Vith on 21 December 1944 after defending the An der Linden crossroads. The defenders of St. Vith filtered back across the Salm River bridges at Rencheux and Salmchâteau.
Under the command of Major Arthur C. Parker III, three remaining 105mm howitzers and the remnants of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion put up a perimeter defense on the crossroads of Baraque de Fraiture, neat Werbomont, Belgium. Assisted by units of the 3rd and 7th Armored and a company of Glider Infantry of the 82nd Airborne Division they held the vital crossroads from 19 till 23 December 1944. The 2nd SS Panzer Division was successful in capturing the crossroads but the delaying action of Major Parker allowed the 82nd Airborne to deploy its units in the sector, which eventually stopped the German advance towards the Meuse River.
The 424th Infantry Regiment participated in the fighting for the St. Vith pocket, known as the "Battle of the Fortified Goose Egg". On Christmas Day 1944 they were ordered to attack the Belgian villages of Manhay and Grandmenil to stop the German 2nd SS Panzer Division. Units of the 7th Armored and 82nd Airborne joined the fight. During two consecutive days of attacking many men of the 424th Infantry were killed. The Battles for Manhay and Baraque de Fraiture proved to be turning points in the Battle of the Bulge.
Troops of Company "A", 424th Infantry Regiment clean their weapons after the assault on La Vaux, 13 January 1945. (Signal Corps)
Division commander Alan W. Jones Sr. suffered from a heart attack on 20 December 1944 and we was succeeded by Brigadier-General Herbert T. Perrin. Perrin led the Division through the brunt of the Allied Counteroffensive in January and February. Moving east from Stavelot, the 424th Infantry recaptured the key villages of Wanne, Spineux and Ennal. General Perrin personally led the charge into Ennal, after Regimental commander Alexander Reid had been wounded. On 25 January 1945 the 7th Armored Division recaptured St. Vith and just to the north the 424th Infantry took the key strongholds of Medell and Meyerode.
In February 1945, General Donald Stroh took command of the division. After breaching the Siegfried Line the 106th drove onto the Simmer River and handled a series of mopping up operations there. In late March, they were withdrawn to the St. Quentin area in France, where the 3rd and 159th Infantry Regiments reconstituted the 422nd and 423rd Regiments along with the 589th and 590th Field Artillery Battalions. A reconstitution ceremony was held in April at the St. Jacques Airfield near Rennes. There, surviving members of the original units lost in the early stages of the Ardennes Offensive presented their colors to the new members of the 422nd and 423rd. A similar ceremony was held by the 424th regiment in Germany with their Regimental colors which had been lost in the Ardennes and retrieved on a German prisoner in Czechoslovakia.
The end of the war
Men of the 422nd Infantry Regiment parade at Langenbrücken, Germany on 8 April 1945 after being awarded the Combat Infantry streamer for their participation in the Battle of the Bulge. (Signal Corps)
In April and May the advancing Allied Armies liberated many POW camps in Germany and Poland, releasing the men of the 106th who had been captured during the German drive in the Ardennes.
Ironically the 106th Division was given the task to guard and process many thousands of German prisoners of war. An estimated 1,100,000 German Prisoners passed through the 106th enclosures. Some units of the Division participated in the siege of the port cities of Lorient and Saint Nazaire in France, where the Germans were still resisting. Meanwhile the reconstituted units of the division moved to a training area near Mayen, Germany, named Camp Jones in honor of their former Commanding General. There they completed field training and were ready for action when Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.
The 106th saw no further combat action. But they could be proud of their efforts during the Battle of the Bulge, they had held out against all odds and stalled some of the fiercest German units. In October 1945 the Division was officially deactivated at Camp Shanks, New York.
The men who had fought with the 106th could wear their "Golden Lion" with pride.
Last update 18 July 2016


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