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Neural networks hallucinating text
I've always been a sucker for algorithmic creativity, so when I saw the machine generated Obama speeches, I immediately wanted to try the same method on other texts. Fortunately, that was easily done by simply cloning the char-rnn repository by Andrej Karpathy, which the Obama-RNN was based on. Andrej has also written a long and really very good introduction to recurrent neural networks if you want to know more about the inner workings of the thing.
I started by downloading an archive of all the posts on this blog and trained a network with default parameters according to the char-rnn instructions. In the training phase, the network tries to learn to predict the next character in the text. Note that it does not (initially) know anything about words or sentences, but learns about those concepts implicitly with training. After training, I let the network hallucinate new blog posts by sampling from the network state (this is also described on the GitHub page). The network can be "primed" with a word or a phrase, and a temperature parameter controls how conservative or daring the network should be when generating new text. Essentially a low temperature will give a repetitive output endlessly rehashing the same concepts (namely, the most probable ones based on the training data) while a high temperature will output more adventurous stuff such as weird new "words" and sometimes imaginary hyperlinks (if links were included in the input).
Here are a few samples from the Follow the Data RNN. You'll be the judge of how well it captures the blog's spirit.
Temperature 1:
predictive pullimation; in personal ining the find of R crition Large Liforrsion Sachelity Complents have bio carristed in software predictions on yenogic data is to first general revalumated by people of cholescologion, slides of programs where pluding this onlines it a hagn to be step-nature for genomes with onlowed data data set that from the system that me personito of the being prediction of pacen".
perhoul what yeverope informatation will likely moveling in langup genetic paring how health reed masses disease out its mames by (I've not, one would PDAscoprometain, this proop whothem the astimate all talks be a single wike this blogpors high tho out that company around and brarting provide nest potential cervel gods a sall sult of they are it is now laned to write can be used metagenome have not probable to the imail, the pettoling in an, described
Temperature 0.2:
articles are and self-tracking and company that the command the starts to see that the results of the prediction in the prediction contests about the prediction contests in the contest at the command the data sets of statistics and prediction contests about the presentation of the data set of both say that the results of the presentation is an interesting problems in the concept of the prediction data sets of both samples of data sets of the problem is that is a predictive analysis and some sequences and sense for the talk may be a set of the paper and the sequence profiles are an experience and probably the statistical analysis of analysis statistics and provides and prediction contests in the contests and company that the command the starts of the paper in the prediction probably and better that all the company that the (etc …)
OK, that was not great. Let's raise the temperature to 0.7 and seed the net with "deep learning":
maker the runion following how build on our related in atther are algorithms in scientific movement is sequence of the paper in a lot more and results of data posting to see in genetal sequence of discussion in the software completely (with Manalay will be all cantrusualing indelation and know possistration and simplement caper is the lately and the lately of the entroagh the clinical replot on what thoughts in the related network. The currently in the here.
In such as well be a new up some notes stall more results to release which can be used on the process of biolity (or because the problem is to have been every booking the clinical resomm that build of the paper is on the web company relation to me that it up a preteors, machine learning teams. It are blogging index, the exterment). I've lidel sentiment methods to call contain variant public.
The interview quarthyre of they asseance in the prediction methods.
A multiple possible to such fut to this sequence data sets are both the facural statistics of courses where can be complenes and inpreserver the allow predictive results are and more scale some the paper is that the build betted examples are signity.

You'll note that the net has invented many interesting new words, which is a consequence of the fact that it is generating one character at a time.
For my next experiment, I couldn't resist putting the collected short stories of JG Ballard (one of my favourite writers) into the network. Here, I used 256 nodes, but perhaps should have trained a bit longer as the results are still a bit shaky (although they have a distinctly Ballardian feel at times). In particular, I am missing words like "canopy", "perimeter", and of course the drained swimming pools. Here are some samples:
US DAY, counterlahes to face the films, one programme demolishiking science prison erecting out of the solar aircraft on my mind.
Television made him for itself his pieces of published telescope.
A simple motion of Kennedy heard your legs through the suit within a fortuna from Beach. Angel and London Hinton's gas. A single tenant of the succession of all the transition limbs ultil to me that three overlooking the space–craft has been insilent.
An assocations of 112–hour long water in front of them all sweak, as if he was saying, his coming at the statue. Its still bays rated like a large physician from the watch–tobe. The ancient birds were simply to embrace her for a long wholly self–conscious police. Nothing two days, children before the cities, Charles Wallari Street calps our overhead, efforts gives up the drums.
Ward shook his head sadly. 'I don't felt some due.'
Mongable was like my people seems my fear–spinding beach–car. Yet, but you an overhead time, they're going to do with the summer not.ly seems only in trister held of? I didn't wasn't already get to do. If the prayer has questioned much, however, as soon as selfables exhilaration of peaced Franz. Laster had lost impuly as wousen much wave. Perhaps if they meaning on flatper. 'Let's go outstands.' He listened up in the lounge, a acut shifting in and out of the grass and hands. Ryan stood by her mask velvet, neutral on the darkened bedroom. Waist doldent helicopters whisky to stopped the chauffeur on to the water. Simulator was convinced the sculptor of the suffiring moonlight.
At the like the woman stopped and he could pany when it raised the emptines and lined themselves from the stairs, hoods would soon realize the tiled sand–rays of them, like the fourth houses were hidden from the streets, and then spotted in a small features of path Aselage.
At three of the speeding expirsm, Traven returned to me. Once, as I looked at his wife and shields. All afternoons the bel
Or with the max temperature:
Wind's speaking, Halloway began to climb into the distant. The Sign of the crest of his treasure, like the hidden profile on one of the clocks, rost in the blockhen flourish.
For years before the soared assemble, their fragmented pen with a jewelly confused sector with Bayliss and London on either side with slow he had learned off the sleep. Surprised by the display's optical relief than there. Accorring you, over–grey manner, the idleg to make on the abandoned gaps of magnine air, welephoring on their rough and owners during myself.
I didn't have ask pressed to its professional record libbariards and reverse, creatively and given a single–washing suit that had slumped.
As he watched him he left her away from him, presumably slightly old but prismatic apparation of the air, turned back among the beaches.
As we sat down, Slept asleep again, and was sufficioned about in patiently. Taking his fingers, pantic season flew overrounds and satisfied him to lie–accaling with noise. As she sitused, slung at his feet in custom of letters turned on never at falles. Gunfir felt in one hand, he moved away at my carded grass. Her personante stepped off his chest, seemed to have passed. He was in advance with a survoinnes' crawl. Quickly he regretted to receive while Mrs Osmond – survived the softly steps, pushing abandone in the stone bird. Drill as the houses opposite, whose side–struggle of down–thems alerts prepared to take part of the sea.
Ryker quickly waved him down to his mouth overlooking the raw building, and watched him into a valley behind it. When an interval of hundreds of its impact the Vicionic pores, however, first waiting for my moving palls, for the visual minor curved and shakes test of the town centre. Averything again even he was out of to the building, and by the timewinds like metal landmarsh fingers technique unlimited silk like the few ratts of heels, the unique light from the wheels and speedback on the wound, and continue the s
Using a low temperature (0.2 in this case) we get a lot of stations, statues and chauffeurs:
(the station we have been able to see me to the sound of the station and an essentian of some sort of conscious the sense of a starting concentration of the station and his last few days and the sea and the sea and the sea and set out the station and a series of conscious of the sea. The computers the statue was the special morning the station that had been a million disasted and set off in the corner of the car park. The statue had been transformed into a series of space complex and anti–games in the sun. The first stage of the station was a small car park in the sunlight. The chauffeur was being seen through the shadows of the sky. The bony skin was still standing at the store and started to stand up and down the staircase. He was aware of the chauffeur, and the car park was almost convinced that the station was a small conclusion of the station and a series of experiments in the sense of the sea. The station was almost to himself. He had been a sudden international art of the station that the station was the only way of world was a series of surface. An area of touch with a strange surge of fresh clock and started to stay here to the surrounding bunker. He stood up and stared at her and watched the statue for the first time the statue for the first time and started to stand up and down the stairway to the surface of the stairway. He was about to see me with a single flower, but he was aware of the continuous sight of the statue, and was suffered by the stars of the statue for the first time and the statue for the first time of the sight of the statue in the centre of the car, watching the shore like a demolish of some pathetic material.
That's it for this time!


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Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Monmouth Gas located at 105 N Broadway in Long Branch, NJ services vehicles for Gas Stations, Convenience Stores. Call (732) 870-0093 to book an appointment or to hear more about the services of Monmouth Gas.
Be the first NJ.com user to add photos or videos of Monmouth Gas
Monmouth Gas, Inc. was founded in 1991, and is located at 105 N Broadway in Long Branch.
Monmouth Gas can be found at N Broadway 105. The following is offered: Gas Stations. The entry is present with us since Sep 7, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 12, 2013. In Long Branch there are 2 other Gas Stations. An overview can be found here.

subset: commoncrawl


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personal wholeness/business success
Weekly ColumnsAugust 10, 2008: Coach's Corner--August 11, 2008
Three tips for creating a leadership development plan
Build your plan by clarifying your legacy, your strengths, and your intended actions. This blog post from Mike Pegg shows you how.
Creating a personal development plan
Follow this link for a template that helps you define both what you want to do and how you're going to accomplish it.
Writing a development plan
This approach, used by a public sector agency, includes an example to illustrate how to complete the template.
How to create a personal leadership development plan
This article advocates a values-based approach to moving from management to leadership.
Using individual development plans (IDPs) to leverage strengths
This approach recommends building on strengths to develop effective development plans, laying out an employee-driven (and supervisor-supported) process.
Creating personal development plans
As this post says, the best plans are created by the employee, not the manager. The approach suggested here starts with a long range goal, and works backward on steps to achieve that goal.
Creating a professional development plan
This approach is geared more to entrepreneurs and sole proprietors--people without the benefit of a large organization's development resources.
Resources Homepage


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Are Jen and Gerard Having a Romantic Rendezvous in London?
The Bounty Hunter costars arrive at London's Heathrow Airport today within hours of each other!
Just this morning we were telling you about the sexy W magazine cover featuring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, and now HollywoodLife.com has discovered that the two co-stars recently arrived at London's Heathrow Airport within hours of each other for the premiere of The Bounty Hunter tomorrow, March 11 at the West End Vue cinema near Leicester Square. Although Gerard was recently seen partying with Madonna at a private post-Oscars bash on March 7 — with eyewitnesses saying that she was "all over him" — will this be an opportunity for a romantic one-on-one with his costar? Oh Jen, don't let your heart get broken by a shameless flirt again!
Get More on Gerard and Jen:
- Jennifer Aniston, Your Hot Exes Were Presenters At The Oscars! Together!
- Jen Aniston- Why Aren't You Goingto the Oscars with Gerard!?
- EXCLUSIVE: Is Gerard Butler Taking Olivia Wilde To The Oscars?
- EXCLUSIVE! Holly-Who Knew Madonna And Zachary Quinto Were New BFF's?
- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO! Madonna's PDA With New Younger Man- Not Jesus!


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This extremely popular spice is used regularly in kitchens from Mexico to China.
Normally a commodity spice, we import the best grade cumin from the markets of India. Cumin is used in nearly every type of cuisine. In Spain, cumin is paired with paprika. In Mexico, with chiles and oregano. In China, with ginger and garlic. In Indonesia, with coriander and cardamom. In India, with practically every spice.


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And with the four core girls in the shot at the same time for the first time this series, Blake blows out the light on the episode!
That was a very good one. Blake rose in my estimation while Weiss wavered very slightly in mine. Ruby continues to be adorable and relatable, and as for Yang – well, I have the least amount of opinion on her so far. I don't have much experience with the "flirty and fanservice" archetype because I watch more western animation than anime (who am I kidding, I love Ouran Host Club, you gotta have general knowledge after that).
We also saw more Jaune – by which I mean he got thoroughly humiliated several times – and saw a quick flash of a new girl, who has me quite intrigued…even though she shares similar colors with Ruby, which is not OCD-friendly if you're gonna make each character represented by colors, yeesh.
…wait, Yang and Jaune are both the yellow ones. Dang!
I'm still praying that the book Blake read was some form of foreshadowing.
Anyways, thanks for tuning in and I'll see you all next time!


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This section contains 780 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)
Encyclopedia of World Biography on Gabriel Garca Mrquez
Gabriel García Márquez (born 1928) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, and journalist whose works earned him the reputation of being the greatest living writer of Castilian in Spain and Latin America.
Born in Aracata, Magdalena, Gabriel García Márquez received his early education and baccalaureate degree from the Liceo Nacional of Zipaquirá in 1946. That year he started working as a newspaper editor for El Universal in Cartagena. In 1948 he moved to Barranquilla, where he was editor of El Heraldo until 1952. Then he became editor of the liberal newspaper El Espectador in Bogotá during repressive eras of the conservative dictators Laureano Gómez and his successor, General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.
Between 1955 and 1960 several short stories and a novella had begun to establish García Márquez's fame in the Spanish-speaking world. La hojarasca (1955), a short novel, is...
This section contains 780 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)


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Our goal is to help kids experience the same joy through music that Drew experienced.
Our Mission
Our mission is to celebrate the life of Drew Joseph Boswell by providing musical instruments to children, expose them to local musicians, and support clinical research into SUDC (Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood).
SUDC Research
Immediately following Drew's memorial we were put in touch with Sudden Unexplained Death in Children (SUDC) Program. SUDC is a community of over 1,000 affected families, and is pioneering clinical research that may lead to determining the cause(s) and someday the prevention of these childhood deaths. The SUDC Foundation provides a centralized resource for information, support and advocacy, in addition to complimentary support to parents including the services of a LCSW. All research is privately funded and expanding: A study is currently underway at the NYU Langone Medical Center with the ultimate goal of determining what is causing these beautiful and healthy children to pass away so suddenly.
Supporting SUDC research is one of the primary goals of Drew's Tunes. There are SUDC parents all over the world whose healthy, happy, children slipped away with no warning or reason. We will not rest until no family has to experience such an unfathomable loss.
What We've Achieved
- Thousands of children have benefitted from the musical resources (instruments, classes and performances) provided by Drew's Tunes.
- Over $50,000 was donated to Anna's Arts for Kids. These funds allowed Anna's Arts to host a music summer camp, help fund multiple After School Programs and hire an experienced vocal coach.
- Over $138,000 has been donated to support our mission, including $40,000 donated towards SUDC (Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood) research.
- Over 2,000 instruments have been purchased and donated to local music programs.


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Raptors Forum | Toronto Raptors Forums & Message Boards - View Single Post - Amanda Todd
Amanda Todd
View Single Post
is the baby faced assassin
Join Date: May 2008
Location: YO MAMMA
Posts: 81,104
Wow, it's amazing the lengths this guy went to follow her from school to school and ruin her life.
Now Carol wants to tell her story. It is a story no mother wants to tell.
"Amanda was a very caring individual. She would help others who needed help," Carol told The Vancouver Sun during an exclusive interview Friday at her home, where she was surrounded by friends and family. "One of Amanda's goals was to get her message out there and have it used as a learning tool for others."
As a teacher in the Coquitlam school district and a specialist in assistive technologies, Carol is comfortable around computers and knows well the dangers the online world can hold. Still, she wasn't able to protect her child.
"I have lost one child, but know she wanted her story to save 1,000 more."
Amanda was 12 years old when she made a mistake that would haunt her until her death three years later.
Her ordeal started while she was fooling around online with friends. She probably didn't think it was risky behaviour when she lifted her top to flash the person who was flattering her at the other end of the webcam.
Amanda's moment of indiscretion was not unusual for someone her age: Sexting and using webcams to share sexual photos is a growing trend among children, some so young they are still in grade school.
"The Internet stalker she flashed kept stalking her," said Carol. "Every time she moved schools he would go undercover and become a Facebook friend. What the guy did was he went online to the kids who went to (the new school) and said that he was going to be a new student — that he was starting school the following week and that he wanted some friends and could they friend him on Facebook."
"He eventually gathered people's names and sent Amanda's video to her new school."
The video and photos went to teachers, to parents, to Facebook friends, which lead to repeated taunts: "Oh, there's the porn star."
"It increased her anxiety and she couldn't go to class," Carol said.
In putting together her video, which Amanda did on her own, Carol said her daughter wanted to help other young people who are being bullied and to bring attention and education to the problem in the hope of seeing it eradicated.
"Amanda wanted to tell her story to help other kids. I want to tell my story to help parents, so they can be aware, so they can teach their kids what is right and wrong and how to be safe online," she said. "Kids have iPads, they have smartphones, technology is much more accessible than it was even five years ago — that is the dangerous factor."
When Amanda's story and video went viral this week, the outpouring of grief from local teens left Carol unable to distinguish Amanda's true friends from those who may have helped drive her to suicide.
Carol has launched a trust fund in Amanda's memory to raise money for anti-bullying awareness education and for support programs for youth with mental health issues.
Amanda was the victim of unrelenting blackmail. And the cyberspace stalker was aided by people in Amanda's real-world life — kids who would share the photos on their cellphones, kids who would gang up to hurl first verbal abuse and then fists at her.
"Everything she said in the video happened over the past two years," said Carol. "It was horrendous. I think about it now and I think, 'Oh my God. How did she survive this long with the pain?' "
She also posted this on youtube awile ago...
Amanda Todd: Cover of Outside Looking In by...
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Thanks To The Following
Get the name of your organisation on our Thanks page by giving us something we need......we like anything from cake to computers especially if it's free.
- Edita Riley At Bradford Council for providing us with a swimming pool for Transgender only swimming in Bradford and the staff at the pool who have been brilliant.
- Yorkshire Mesmac for giving us a home, support and a meeting place.
- Dr Curtis, GIRES and PRESS FOR CHANGE.
- 9thwave for providing the website design and web development.
- Switalskis Solicitors namely Lisa Mann.
- Shipley College for giving endless support to a few transgender people on their courses.
- Magic Maggi Stratford for excellent voice coaching, with class. Email at: email@example.com
- Liz Johnson from Sheffield Health and Social Care.
- PC Jones and Sergeant Hargreaves at West Yorkshire Police Hate Crime Team.
- The Prime Minister of New Zealand....shes a Trans woman!...wahay lets all move there!


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"For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper. He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save."
(Psalm 72: 12-13)
Cumberland Hope is a benevolence of believers in Christ, helping the poor and needy in the Middle Tennessee, Cumberland region.
Our mission is centered in Jesus Christ, to extend ourselves as His Family, share our lives with and suffer alongside the poor and needy in our local Cumberland community. We endeavor to demonstrate Jesus Christ incarnate, as Head and Center of our community, in order to bring healing, hope, and to guide hearts to Him. As one Family in Christ, we desire to represent the love and hope of Jesus Christ by making disciples to further establish His Kingdom on earth.


text: 04 May 2010A number of factors increasing the UK's bust size, including the continuing popularity of breast surgery, have led to the official introduction of a new cup size for Britain's high street stores.The Daily Mail reports that the new KK cup, which was previously only available through specialist retailers, will soon be going on sale in Debenhams on London's Oxford Street, and aims to provide sufficient support for women with larger breasts who may have previously struggled to find the perfect bra. Ruth Attridge of luxury brand Panache, which manufactures the Harmony bra, said: "We have seen demand for larger bra sizes soar. More women are being measured and most tend to go up two cup sizes as they have been buying bras that are too small. "Also in our city stores we've seen ladies with larger busts due to the popularity of cosmetic surgery. Often when they're measured they have a bigger cup size than they think due to the implants being measured by weight and not cup size." The average bra size in the UK is evidently increasing, with the 36D cup currently being the most popular bra size compared to the 34B ten years ago. The rise of breast sizes in the UK is believed to be not only due to plastic surgery however, with Ms Attridge explaining that the pill and improved nutrition could also be factors in increasing bust sizes among women of all ages. This means that an increase in the number of women considering breast reduction surgery could also be on the cards, with women searching for ways to minimise a bust that could prove too large for their frame. The KK cup bras measure 20 inches and are expected to retail for �25.


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Trad Music & bars in Dublin
Dublin is quickly evolving into one of Europe's premier nightlife destinations. It features a heady mix of traditional pubs, laid-back lounges and high-energy dance clubs. Revellers are spoilt for choice.
Most of the pubs and bars close at around midnight, give or take 30 minutes. A few are licensed to stay open later. Dance clubs generally close down at 3:00 a.m. or shortly thereafter.
Temple Bar. Image credit: infomatique
Irish Trad Music & CultureMost visitors are eager for a taste of the traditional Irish pub culture. You'll find public houses across the city, some more authentic than others. The atmosphere is lively but easygoing. Draught beer flows freely, and live music plays in some venues. Some of the most authentic pubs in Dublin are found along Merrion Row, Stephen's Green and Baggot Street.
For the full-on traditional ('trad') music experience, consider booking the Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl. It's hosted by two musicians and takes guests to several of Dublin's best pubs for traditional music.
Irish traditional music (aka 'trad' music) is world-famous. It has been around for centuries, but it was only in the last two decades that it achieved worldwide recognition. Trad music is an essential part of the Ireland tourism experience.
Trad music evolved from music brought over by the Celts some 2,500 years ago. It has plenty in common with ancient musical traditions around the world. In fact, Historians believe that the Irish harp may have originated in Egypt. During medieval times, Irish chieftains employed professional harpists under a system of patronage, and the instrument remains a key component of the traditional music played in today's pubs and performance venues.
Wherever you go in Ireland, you'll encounter plenty of traditional music. In major cities, it's well-promoted and a bit touristy 'Äď though that doesn't detract from the enjoyment. That said, there's plenty of authentic music playing in backwater pubs across the countryside. County Galway is particularly well-known for its trad music scene.
Traditional Irish Music Pub CrawlIreland's most famous trad music experience is located right in Dublin. It's a high-energy tour hosted by two local musicians who take guests to a sampling of the best Dublin pubs for traditional music and performance.
Each venue that you visit in the course of this tour has been privately booked by the tour operator, so you'll have good seats throughout the experience. Tours last 2 hours, 30 minutes and set out from the Temple Bar area. You can book tickets through the Dublin Tourist Office located on Suffolk Street, or just pop in to Oliver St John Gogarty's before 7:30 p.m. It's located on the corner of Anglesea and Fleet streets.
Temple BarThe most popular area for tourists is Temple Bar. Revellers come to this district for high energy and the chance to mix and mingle with other travellers. The action spills out of Temple Bar onto Grafton Street, as well, with an impressive line-up of restaurants, bars and cocktail lounges. You'll also find a few pubs in this area that have been in business for decades and attract a local following.
Late-Night ClubsDublin's club scene is constantly in motion, and the venues that are trending one month might not be as popular the next. To further confuse matters, many of the dance clubs in Dublin rent out their premises to different promoters from one night to the next. So a club that plays house techno one night could very well be hosting a themed 80s event the next time you stop by. To get an idea of what's going on while you're in town, check the Dublin Events Guide online.
Things to do in Ireland related articles:


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ERIC Number: ED451172
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2001-Mar-3
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
Reference Count: N/A
Collegians, Community Kids and Computers.
Wolpert, Gloria; Fitzpatrick, Corine
This paper describes a pilot mentoring/tutoring program which paired undergraduate and graduate students with homeless, at-risk, urban elementary students. The project addressed students' poor school performance and disparities in access to technology for minority and disadvantaged students. It purchased computer software and established a computer lab. Tutors provided weekly computer sessions and individualized attention in order to influence tutees' attitudes toward math, reading, and science and improve academic achievement. To improve the consistency of support networks for students, parents and teachers were involved. The goal for college students was to increase knowledge of assessment issues and techniques, practice using tests, write and implement individualized remediation outcomes based on tutee needs, write psychoeducational evaluations, and collaborate to design a Webquest project. Elementary students completed various assessments at the beginning of the project and were compared to their peers. Parents received a final progress report showing individualized program gains and recommendations for future instruction. Reports were forwarded to classroom teachers. Tutees made between 3- and 8-month gains toward grade equivalency. Though students made greater academic gains in reading, greater attitude change was made toward math. There was no difference according to tutee age or gender. (SM)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Attitude Change, College School Cooperation, College Students, Computer Uses in Education, Elementary Education, Elementary School Students, High Risk Students, Higher Education, Homeless People, Mentors, Minority Group Children, Partnerships in Education, Student Attitudes, Teaching Methods, Tutorial Programs, Tutoring, Urban Schools
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A


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PATH was recently honored for pioneering interactive street theater aimed at preventing HIV. For ourmagnet theater intervention, the African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) gave PATH the award for best folk media inititaitve at a ceremony to celebrate excellence in HIV and AIDS communication in Africa.
Magnet theater was further recognized among the six winning entrees for being the only tool that has been adapted for use beyond its country of origin. It currently reaches audiences in Eritrea, Tanzania, Uganda, and India, as well as Kenya, where it was first developed.
AfriComNet is an association of communication practitioners working on HIV and AIDS, health, and development who reside, work, or have a primary interest in Africa. With more than 500 members in 35 countries, AfriComNet's mission is to strengthen capacity in and commitment to strategic communication for health and development in Africa.
The AfriComNet Awards for Excellence were created to recognize outstanding contributions made by individuals or organizations in the field of strategic HIV and AIDS communication and to encourage innovation and the highest standards of quality in strategic communication in Africa.
Oluoch Madiang of PATH receives the Best Folk Media Initiative award from Professor Alfred E. Opubor, Secretary General, West African News-media and Development Centre, during the AfriComNet Awards for Excellence in HIV and AIDS Communication in Africa ceremony.
Learn more about PATH's magnet theater.
Posted June 18, 2007.


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Beer Notes
Biere Mag
Beer Passion
Brew Your Own
Cream City Suds
Beer Me!
Eric's Beer Page
Hop Page
to Belgian Beer
NM Virtual Brewpub
Northwest BrewPage
Will Anderson
Stephen Beaumont
Dan Bedell
Bobby Bush
Tom Ciccateri
Horst Dornbusch
Janet Eldred
Sal Emma
Kurt Epps
Donald Gosselin
Robert Hughey
Michael Jackson
Alan Moen
Gary Monterosso
Marty Nachel
John Palmer
Craig Pinhey
Don Scheidt
M. Sauter
Gregg Smith
Richard Stueven
Adrian Tierney-Jones
Glen Tinseth
February, 2002
By Bobby Bush
For the first time in its six year history, I did not attend
the annual Beerdrinker of the Year contest. This event is America's premier
competition for beerdrinkers and draws contestants from many states. It is not about
chugging. The contest identifies people who have a wide knowledge of, and appreciation
for, beer. Hosted by Wynkoop Brewing in the Lo-Do section of Denver, the concept for
this nationwide beer talent search belongs to John Hickenlooper, owner of the three-story
brewpub. The program is the work of Lew Cady, who handles public relations for
At the initial BDOY Bar Exams in 1997, I was a runner-up to Jack McDougall of
Cranford, NJ. The following year, fate handed me the crown and all the spoils that go
with it. Along with a little fame and dubious notoriety came eight cases of Wynkoop's
Railyard Ale. My name was engraved on a plaque just below McDougall's. That
monument to beerdrinking's elite, hangs permanently in Wynkoop's main bar. To it have
been added the names of more recent winners: the late James Robertson of Pomona, CA
(1999), Steve Pawlowski of Roselle Park, NJ (2000) and the 2001 winner, Cornelia Corey
of Clemmons, NC.
The 2002 BDOY finals were delayed two weeks for owner Hickenlooper's
wedding. Held on February 2, the three contestants hailed from opposite points of US
geography. Tom Ciccateri, a 45-year-old Honeywell employee from Kansas City, MO,
was a contestant last year, as was Gary Steinel. A White Plains, NY high school math
teacher, Steinel (49) runs 50-70 miles a week. Newcomer John Marioni is 38 and a high
tech operative (huh?) from Bothell, WA. He recently appeared, fully clothed, on the cover
of Brew Your Own magazine.
The BDOY program has evolved through the years into a show of sorts. Starting
at noon, director Cady explains the application and screening process and then introduces
the esteemed judges, adorned in black robes and white wigs, and three Final Finalists.
Each of the contestants is allowed 90 seconds for an opening statement before The Oral
Exam begins. Judges fire questions, some straight forward, most obtuse, at the beer
knowledgeable trio. Some of this year's beauts include: If beer was an Olympic event,
what would the rules be? What beer is the weakest link? Do you accept and understand
the fact that when people hear the name Michael Jackson, they don't think about beer? In
the late 50s, what cartoon character was used in advertising for Stag Beer? Several
rounds of judges questions were followed by questions from the audience and previous
winners (by mail) and Closing Statements from the weary threesome. The judges
deliberate the outcome in their chamber, parading out before the nervous finalists to
deliver the verdict.
A new event was added this year. Beer Whispering requires that each contestant
whisper - loud enough for the judges to hear - to his beer. Marioni took a romantic bent.
An excerpt of his quiet musings goes thusly: "Hi there. I couldn't help but notice the
scent that you're wearing. Is that Cascade? Your name? Let me guess. Your name is
Amber. Would you hold it against me if I said you had a great body and incredible
mouthfeel?" Ciccateri was more aggressive in his beer whisper approach: "I have a rather
extensive glassware collection. Maybe you could come over and get out of that bottle and
into something more comfortable."
And this year's Beerdrinker of the Year, Gary Steinel, used prose to seduce his
beer prey, quoting Edgar Allen Poe, he concluded his appeal with "Quoth the beer maven,
pour me more." Gary demonstrated the range and depth of his beerosity by singing beer
jingles from the past and - when asked to compare himself to a beer style - said he most
resembles a Belgian Lambic: "A little bit odd, a little bit eccentric, maybe not for
everyone. But the people who like it really like it. And it ages well."
Gary wins free beer for life at Wynkoop, $100 worth of beer at his hometown
brewpub and, the best part of all, his name is added to the BDOY plaque, four spaces
below mine. Congrats Gary!
See www.wynkoop.com for photos and more information on the Beerdrinker of
the Year contest.
This article first appeared in Focus, a weekly paper published in Hickory, North Carolina.
© Bobby Bush
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Brewpub reviews
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Brewpub reviews
- Travel to 100s of brewpubs across the U.S. and beyond.
Festival reviews
- Large and small, with beer in common.
Table of contents
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text:
FEMA Section 106 Notices for Louisiana
Comment on "
Public Notice Regarding Historic Review of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church, 5500 Paris Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana with linked PDF attachments
Click here to close this window
Marcia Williams
Austin, TX
Cabrini, Paris Ave
As a Texan and a former hostess to refugees from Katrina I resent very much the implication that we have no say in this. We fed, clothed, sheltered and sent donations to the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Some of my neighbors drove to Houston to help out at the Astrodome, One friend drove in from San Antonio to help install the massive number of phone lines for communication. We pitched in because we cared.
Some of us care about Cabrini. Cabrini has been the victim of benign neglect. That is not to say that it is beyond help. Cabrini deserves to be saved.


text:
ROME, GA. - A five-run rally in the fourth inning and three more runs in the seventh lifted the Charleston RiverDogs to a 9-2 win over the Rome Braves in the rubber game of a three-game series Friday night at State Mutual Stadium in South Atlantic League action.
Charleston improved to 18-15, while Rome dropped to 10-24. Friday's contest marks the final first-half meeting between these teams. The RiverDogs have a 4-2 edge in the season series.
Tyler Wade put the RiverDogs in front with a go-ahead single in the third inning. Eduardo de Oleo began the frame with a walk before moving to second base on a walk by Gosuke Katoh. After de Oleo advanced on an Abiatal Avelino fly out, Wade produced a single for a 1-0 Charleston lead as de Oleo scored.
In the fourth inning, Charleston exploded for a five-run rally and stretched its lead to 6-0. Katoh's one-out single brought in Brandon Thomas to open the scoring. Avelino loaded the bases with a walk ahead of Wade, who cleared the bases with a triple and knocked Rome's Carlos Salazar out of the contest. Wade added to the advantage when he scored on Mike Ford's two-out double.
Charleston's shutout bid was spoiled by Rome in the bottom of the fifth. The Braves put runners on the corners and had two outs when the RiverDogs brought in Omar Luis for Ian Clarkin. Seth Moranda singled off Luis to score Jacob Schrader and bring Rome within 6-1. In a no decision, Clarkin allowed just three hits and was charged with the run that was scored by Schrader.
The momentum quickly swung back to the RiverDogs as their lead grew to 9-1 in the seventh. Aaron Judge led off with a solo shot over the left-center field scoreboard for his third career home run. Following a Ford walk and a wild pitch, Michael O'Neill tripled and scored on a throwing error for two more runs.
Rome was able to add a run in the ninth and cut the deficit to 9-2, but the RiverDogs closed the inning and the series with no further damage. Luis would earn his first professional victory in relief of Clarkin, while Wade finished with a career-high four runs batted in.
Friday's win moved Luis to a 1-0 record this season. Salazar is 1-3 after the loss, allowing six earned runs and six walks in 3.1 innings pitched.
A seven-game homestand will begin at 6:05 p.m. Saturday with the RiverDogs hosting the Savannah Sand Gnats. Charleston LHP Caleb Smith (3-1, 0.66 ERA) opens against Savannah RHP John Gant (3-1, 2.79 ERA) at Joe Riley Park. The first 1,000 fans through the gates receive a Tony the Peanut Man singing bobblehead, courtesy of WCSC Channel 5, and all fans have a chance to personally enhance their ballpark experience on Social Media on Saturday.


text: Roads and Maritime Services are pleased to support the Bridge Ahoy initiative. It is a great opportunity to get up close to these grand engineering structures, to see them from a different angle and to discuss how they were designed, the role they have in shaping and connecting Sydney; supporting a productive, liveable city; and also raising the profile of the city globally. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the history of the bridges and the actions needed to look after them and keep them in good shape for the people of NSW.


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Perks Gets One-Day Entertainment License Suspension
By: William F. Galvin
HARWICH PORT — The selectmen have issued a disciplinary action against Perks Coffee Shop and Beer Garden in Harwich Port for violating its entertainment license. Selectmen supported a recommendation made by Town Administrator Christopher Clark to suspend the weekday license for one day next June.
The suspension is related to two violations on Aug. 19 at the establishment along Route 28 in the center of the village. Clark was charged by selectmen with conducting a hearing on the complaints identified as two incidents of noise clearly audible from greater than 150 feet.
"I further recommend that the disciplinary letter issued to Perks should indicate that the board recognizes that they previously issued a warning letter to Perks in 2016 and that the board intends to follow a progressive course of discipline, if needed, up to and including revocation of entertainment license and/or liquor license for future violations," Clark's recommendation stated.
Over the past few years, as some restaurants in the village have expanded to outside settings featuring live music, selectmen have sought to contain the volume and time at whuch music can be played. For several years they wrestled with the impact of music from the Claddagh Inn in West Harwich, holding several hearings to contain music wafting into surrounding neighborhoods.
But the focus has now shifted to Harwich Port, where music is played outside at various restaurants. Selectmen heard the complaints of neighbors over music emanating from restaurants the summer before last and took steps to put in place new regulations curtailing the time music could be played and the distance at which it could be heard from the premises.
Music in the village is not an unusual occurrence. The chamber of commerce and local businesses have been sponsoring what is now known as Port Summer Nights, a music festival on Wednesday nights during the summer months. As many as five bands are located on various business properties throughout the village, many playing amplified music from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Perks was initially cited for a noise complaint on Wednesday, July 5. That was a Port Summer Nights festival evening, but the police pointed out that the complaint came in after 9 p.m., outside the time frame for the chamber-sponsored event. Lt. Kevin Considine issued a warning to Perks manager Taylor Powell cautioning that any further complaints would be reported to selectmen.
According to the minutes of the disciplinary hearing, officer Tegan DeBaggis responded to a complaint from a homeowner of very loud music early in the evening of Aug. 19, but the home was well inside the 150-foot plainly audible distance allowed in the regulation. Inside the house, the minutes state that the music could be heard slightly.
But Sgt. Paul Boorack, who also responded, reported hearing the music farther up Sea Street at a distance greater than 150 feet. Officer DeBaggis asked employees at Perks to turn the music down and they did. DeBaggis stated there was another call around 9 p.m. from the neighbor reporting that the music had been turned up once again. She visited Perks and requested the music be turned down again. They did so.
Attorney Matthew Fitzsimmons, representing Perks, questioned whether the officers examined the potential for that music to be coming from the adjacent Port restaurant, which also had outside music that evening. But DeBaggis stated in the minutes that it was "apparent it was from Perks."
When deliberating the disciplinary action with Police Chief David Guillimette, Clark agreed not to suspend the entertainment license in the busy July or August period and settled on a one-day suspension on June 18, a Monday, considered a slow business day.
The minutes cite a comment by the police chief that "the problem is not going to go away and it is directly related to outside entertainment."
A few weeks ago, the board received a letter from William Vranos, a Sea Street resident, stating that the Port restaurant and Perks were competing with each other with amplified music. Vranos stated he hears amplified music from both businesses, but complains only when the music continues past the time set by selectmen; he was not aware of the provision that prohibits entertainment being audible 150 feet from its source.
"The 150-foot rule is broken every night," Vranos stated in the letter. "At the very least, amplifiers should be banned. One hundred and fifty feet is not far. An acoustic performance can certainly be heard at 50 yards...The stop times and noise limits need to be strictly enforced and real punishments, not warnings, need to be given out."
The Port restaurant has not been cited for entertainment violations since a new entertainment license allowing outside music was issued to the establishment in May.
However, both businesses received notification last week that they are pushing the boundaries of where they are allowed to serve alcohol. That determination was made upon a visit to the locations by Clark and Building Commissioner Raymond Chesley.
The letters also states: "In order to serve on these extended premises, you must apply and be approved for an Alteration of Premises to your liquor license which requires abutter notification, legal advertising and public hearing, as well as approval by the board of selectmen and Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission."


text:
To celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, Microsoft has partnered with Paramount to add Klingon to the languages available on its Bing translation services.
The service will be able to translate any of the 41 available languages into Klingon and vice versa. Phrases such as "nuqDaq 'oH puchpa' 'e'" - "Where is the bathroom?" - will be converted into essentially any language you like.
Microsoft engineer Eric Adeen has helped to create the translator. As well as be a technology expert at the company, he can also speak fluent Klingon.
"We have people who understand the deep science of linguistics and we also have people who are passionate about the Star Trek franchise," Craig Beilinson, director of communications for Bing, told LA Times. "This was a labour of love from a lot of different avenues."
The Klingon functionality for Bing Translator will go live later today, Tuesday 14 May.


text:
The Snapshots tab lists all snapshots. As a master user/power user/normal user, you can find a particular snapshot or snapshots by using the filter option. The option to filter is visible in the CPBM UI only if the Accelerite CloudPlatform Connector version supports filter operation for snapshots.
- Log in to CloudPortal Business Manager UI as master user/power user/normal user.
- Either click My Services and then click the desired Accelerite CloudPlatform service instance tab or click Manage Resources and then click the desired Accelerite CloudPlatform service instance link.
- Click the Snapshots tab.
- In the Filter box, specify the snapshot type (either volume or virtual machine) and click Enter.


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Visit us in Victoria, BC for great Chinese food and outstanding service.
When it comes to excellent service and delicious Chinese food, Wing's Restaurant has you covered. We pride ourselves in our dedication to great taste through fresh ingredients and a huge menu.
Wing's Restaurant offers free delivery on orders over $20. Delivery starts every day at 4:30pm until 9:30pm. Check our delicious menu here and give us a call at 250-385-5564 to order. We look forward to hearing from you!
Come to Wing's Restaurant to enjoy our all you can eat lunch and dinner buffets. We offer a large array of fresh, delicious entrees, sides and deserts. We offer our buffet daily and discounts are available for children 10 years old and under.


text:
Welcome to Penelope Red, featuring women's dresses, tops, blouses, skirts, pants, jackets and coats all designed with a unique eye for vintage styling in a modern world. My designs are to be worn by women who are not afraid to stand out in the crowd!
Quality, unique designs, created personally for you. Handmade in Sydney, Australia.
Find out where my Penelope Red designs will be showcased next on my Markets and Events page here.


text:
- Home
- Nissan
- Nissan 350Z & G35
- Nissan 350Z
- Intake
- AAM Competition Angled Intake Plenum Spacer - 350Z/G35
The AAM Angled Plenum Spacer for the G35, 350Z & FX35 is the ultimate upgrade in the quest for more power. THIS IS OUR MOST POPULAR UPGRADE FOR THE VQ35DE - AND THE BIGGEST HORESPOWER GAIN FOR THE MONEY! The billet aluminum spacer sits between the factory upper and lower plenum, creating a larger volume to rush towards the cylinders. Power gains across the board. The upper RPM range opens up considerably. You get to keep your factory engine cover, your factory strut bar (350Z) and gain 10-15HP in under an hour. 2006 350Z/G35 gain between 6-10hp on average.
Features of the AAM Comp Angled Plenum Spacer
Proprietary ANGLED Design Provides Additional Air Flow to the Front Cylinders
Retains Factory Strut Bar (350Z) and Engine Cover
Stock-like Appearance
Custom Cut In House on Our CNC Mill
Easy Install and Removal
Built with Strong and Lightweight 6061-T6 Aluminum
Package Contents
AAM Spec Angled Plenum Spacer
All Bolts Required for Securing the Plenum
Modified OEM Gasket to Reseal the Top Plenum
Spacers for the Strut Tower Brace
Detailed Directions
Recommended Install Time: 1 hour


text:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --Actress Claire Danes has been named this year's Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
Thursday, the Golden Globe winner was treated to a very colorful parade through the streets of Cambridge.
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals group is known for its wacky getups and bawdy humor.
It honors actors and actresses who have made a positive mark in the arts.


text:
Nicki Minaj has broken a tie with Taylor Swift to become the second most prolific female in Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
The hip-hop star has landed her 70th Hot 100 hit by debuting Black Barbies, her reworking of rap brothers Rae Sremmurd's hit Black Beatles, at 65 on the new countdown.
That's one more than Swift and just three behind Aretha Franklin.
Black Barbies is also the new chart's highest debut this week.


text:
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text:
Public service is also called civil service or civil servants, a job to serve the people. Some stay for awhile while some serve for life. Political leaders too are in the act of serving the people, as long as they are not self serving. Some serve a few years, some serve for life too. Some may argue whether they are serving the people or serving themselves.
One thing for sure, the people will have to serve the retired politicians for life, and to live in abundance. Serving for life is taking on a new meaning.
Serving for Life!
3 comments:
Sounds like the politicians don't owe us a living, but we owe the politicians a living.
Public service really is taking on a new meaning. Who is serving who?
- July 29, 2011 1:51 pm
Well said.
It's amazing how these Political Leaders and their families can live this life without shame.
Whatever happened to ethics, morality & integrity ?
- July 30, 2011 2:10 am
What is shame to shameless people?
'li e lian ci'(rites, ethics and propriety as in old day China) are no more mores of society.
- July 30, 2011 11:08 pm
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text:
Members of Calgary's culinary community are mourning after a local chef was killed in a crash.
Jonathan Sobol, 33, was identified as one of the victims of a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 9 near Irricana, Alta. on Tuesday.
Sobol was the head chef at Starbelly restaurant in south Calgary.
Beloved member of the community
He graduated from SAIT before heading to the U.K. to train at the Michelin Star-awarded The Fat Duck.
"Jonathan was deeply committed to his community using his many talents to educate and support children and youth. His tireless work with the Alberta Children's Hospital, South Health Campus, and Haysboro School touched many lives. He was an advocate for supporting local farmers and producers, a passion that could be found both in and out of the kitchen," said Alex Fraser of Starbelly in a statement posted to Facebook.
Local chefs and food writers took to Twitter to share their condolences.
The news of @StarbellyYYC's chef @JonathanSobol passing suddenly is heartbreaking. RIP to a passionate #yyc chef. :( pic.twitter.com/oXzoAMd0BW— Dan Clapson (@dansgoodside) August 31, 2016
My condolences to the family of @JonathanSobol & @StarbellyYYC team. One of our solders has fallen & is a loss to our community.— Cam Dobranski (@ChefCamD) August 31, 2016
Shocked and saddened to know Calgary lost a kind and talented chef in Jonathan Sobol. Condolences to his family, friends and @StarbellyYYC.— gwendolyn richards (@gwendolynmr) August 31, 2016
Starbelly announced it would be closed on Wednesday.


text:
In a fortnight from their fifth-round Football Association Cup clash with Hull, Arsenal travel to Tottenham Hotspur for the first time since their supporters pulled down the hoardings during the third-round League Cup fixture.
The Gunners will have faced Manchester United and Swansea in the Premier League, besides Barcelona.
Title contenders and congested schedule
North London derbies always feature a plethora of drama but have failed at being called a crunch fixture in the Premier League, with the result seldom catalyzing the position where either team finish. Arsenal hardly appeared to be missing out on Champions League qualification, though it had only been about the same in most campaigns, and Tottenham perennially pursued European football with little success. Neither team had gone all in for a certain prize in the recent past, but either team will hope to nudge the other out of the title race when they lock horns with each other in March.
Arsenal last managed to lift the title back in 2004, and the future of their most successful gaffer largely depends upon whether they blow away their best chance to end the title drought. On the other hand, the shock, yet deserving title contenders in Tottenham are striving to take the English title to White Hart Lane after a 55-year hiatus. Neither team will get a better chance to etch their name on the trophy as regular title-contenders in Chelsea, Manchester United or perhaps, Manchester City are already out of the title scene.
With Arsenal and Tottenham both facing the same team (Swansea) and equally difficult opponents – Tottenham visit Upton park two days prior to NLD and the Red Devils entertain Arsenal next week – the two sides could still be separated only by goal difference on March 2. The fact that both teams will play two cup games before facing off against each other only adds to buildup.
Able personnel and contradicting principles
Danny Welbeck made a fairy-tale return to action with a last-gasp winner against Leicester on matchday 26 while big-game players such as Alexis Sanchez and Francis Coquelin marked their return only recently; Arsenal suddenly seem the imposing side they were during the first few months.
With the Gunners again creating numerous chances every game, it will not be long before their strikers put on their goalscoring boots again. In addition, Francis Coquelin offers a different level of protection to the back four whilst also effectively linking the defence with the attack, and makes Arsenal a strong defensive unit.
Tottenham, on the other hand, have taken the English top-flight by the storm with their passion, industry and strong attitude. Given their wealth of options, fatigue has hardly been an issue at the Lane and the fantastic professionalism showcased by their second string players, who can be as impressive as automatic starters, has helped Mauricio Pochettino mount a title bid with limited resources.
While Arsenal bank on their players' undoubted prowess, Spurs have proven that being workhorses pays dividends.
Yet another title decider
Premier League has witnessed many a title decider this season, with every top-four clash widely touted as a potential title decider. Arsenal only recently played one such title decider against the Foxes but will again be embroiled in another one next month.
However, the tag might suit this fixture – at least, more than the previous ones – as the Citizens could be out of the title race by that time, given they play Liverpool and Chelsea away from home in their next two league games.
Leicester play host to Norwich and West Bromwich Albion – two easy wins – before the kickoff in north London, and Arsenal and Tottenham will hope to claim all three points to remain within the sights of shock leaders.
A north London derby has never held such significance in the recent past.
Written by Praveen Paramasivam
Follow Praveen on Twitter @49Praveen
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Blog | As Tintin turns 85, we look back at his Scouting origins
10/01/2014 Blog
Today marks the 85th birthday of Tintin, Hergé's world-famous comic book character. But Tintin has much to thank the Scout Movement for…
Honest, resourceful and compassionate: in many ways, Tintin is the archetypal Scout. Through his quick thinking, heroic actions and good turns, the intrepid boy reporter is always able to solve the mystery and save his friends.
Created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi under the pen name Hergé, Tintin first appeared in 1929. His first comic strip adventure paved the way for 23 more dramatic, action-packed tales in which Tintin hacked his way through jungles, crossed deserts, landed on strange islands, trekked across mountain ranges, descended beneath the waves and even voyaged to the Moon. Tintin has also starred in video games, a television series and numerous feature films including Steven Spielberg's 2011 blockbuster The Adventures of Tintin.
Hergé join the Scouts
The key link between Tintin and Scouting is his creator, who was a keen Scout in his youth. Hergé joined the Scouts of Belgium in 1919 at the age of 12. It was a revelation. 'My childhood seemed to me very grey,' Hergé said in 1973. 'Of course I have memories, but these do not begin to brighten, to become coloured, until the moment I discovered Scouting.' It is clear that the fun, challenge and adventure he found there brought out something wonderful in the young artist.
As a Scout, Georges was a natural leader, with a quick sense of humour, a gift for inspiring others and an insatiable appetite for adventure. He soon became Patrol Leader of Squirrel Patrol, assuming the name 'Curious Fox', an apt moniker, for he had an inquisitive nature and keen powers of observation.
An eye for detail and a big break
Hergé sketched obsessively in the Scouts, often squirreling away details for later use. Some of this material later became the visual inspiration for the Tintin adventures. A sketch of the St. Boniface Scouts roped together on a 1923 expedition climbing in the Pyrenees for example, would later be transformed into an illustration for the 1959 adventure Tintin in Tibet. 'The Pyrenees,' he said, 'discovered with the St. Boniface Scouts, was the Tibet of my youth.'
As well as providing Hergé with a love of the outdoors and a chance to experience the wider world, Scouting gave him his first opportunity to be a professional artist. His illustrations for the St. Boniface Scouts' magazine caught the eye of Rene Weverbergh, the Scouter responsible for the Brussels Scout District. Before he knew it, aged just 17, Georges had landed himself a job on Le Boy Scout (later Le Boy Scout Belge), the national magazine.
Tintin and Totor
One of his early cartoon creations for the magazine was a Scout Patrol Leader named Totor, who became the prototype for Tintin. Modelled on Remi's own experiences, Totor bore a passing resemblance to the young reporter and was also accompanied by a faithful 'Snowy-esque' dog. Hergé later described the two characters' relationship as that of 'little brothers', and always maintained that Tintin forever kept 'the spirit of a Boy Scout.'
The Belgian Scout magazine proved to be a stepping stone towards even greater things, as Hergé's mentor Rene Weverbergh subsequently recommended him to Le Vingtième Siècle, where he worked initially in the subscriptions department before getting a break in the art department. As an illustrator, his creative impulses were given free rein, giving rise to the first appearance of Tintin in a full-length adventure on 10 January 1929.
The year before, in 1928, Hergé had been aware of the travels of a 15-year-old Danish Scout called Palle Huld, who went around the world in 44 days. Palle's experiences may also have helped to shape Tintin's own globe-trotting adventures as Hergé remembered newspaper reports and contemporary accounts of the young Scout's epic voyage.
Shared ideals
Renowned Tintinologist Michael Farr has summed up the special relationship between Tintin and the Scouts. 'As a young man, Scouting was Herge's main preoccupation; even passion. Its code, principles and enthusiasm were his and were to be embodied in Tintin, as much a Scout as a reporter.'
Although Hergé died in 1983, his character continues to thrive and today, Tintin books have sold more than 200 million copies in 70 different languages. The eponymous hero's 85th birthday will be marked with events across the globe, including festivals in Belgium and a special academic symposium for Tintinologists in London.
Scouting has a similarly global reach, with more than 40 million members in 162 countries. Get involved and become part of this worldwide Movement. You can find out more amazing facts about Scouts here.
Win Tintin treasures!
Scouting magazine also has five copies of a new Tintin book to give away. Hergé and the Treasures of Tintin by Dominique Maricq (RRP £30), with illustrations from Hergé's personal archives, delves deep into Tintin's world with more than 20 removable documents. For your chance to win a copy, email your contact details to email@example.com with the subject line 'Tintin giveaway' before 31 March. Scouts can also save £10 on each copy ordered until 30 April – just call 0844 576 8122, quoting code AD196.
Many thanks to Michael Loomes for his help with this blog; Michael is curator of The Story of Scouting Museum at Waddecar Scout Activity Centre, in Lancashire.
Most read
- Blog | 42 days of summer: week one 15/07/2013
- Blog| 30 amazing facts about Scouts 28/06/2013
- New badges launched 14/04/2014


text:
A city with a robust selection of food options will offer an opportunity to eat like a prisoner.
Eastern State Penitentiary will host Prison Food Weekend this Saturday and Sunday. Guests can sample meals provided to prisoners over the course of the facility's history.
Tickets are available at the door, or visit www.easternstate.org.


text:
Erosion Tables
Lesson 9 of 17
Objective: SWBAT conduct experiments to analyze the effects water has on the environment.
Big Idea: Using water tables with sand, students will use two different types of cups to show what occurs during a regular rainstorm and one where there is heavy rain. They will compare their results.
Erosion 411
We have studied the impacts of erosion, weathering, and deposition before this lesson. Students are now going to help me review what we have learned and observed. I want them to think of the effects erosion has already made to our playground when we talk. They have a lot to say and many remember quite a bit.
Resources (1)
Setting up Sand
Students are ready to to get their experiments ready. Most of the time I set up as much as possible before beginning to save time, but in this case it does not require a lot of set up so having them do it makes sense. I randomly create groups of four to five. They are to assign job roles and wear the necklace that gives their job description. I then use the document camera to show the list of materials the class will need for the experiment. Each group will need a water tray, sand bag, L shaped piece of wood, ruler and the two different cups that have holes poked int he bottom. I used materials that were available in the Landform Foss Kit to help me conduct this lesson.
Once the materials are retrieved, I walk the class through the set up of the water trays. They start by placing the sand in one end of the table and I ask them to pile it up, filling up 1/4 of the table with sand. They can make it into a hill, but the sand can not be over the edge. Then students needs to take the L shaped piece of wood and divide the sand in half. The materials specialist is now ready to get a piece of paper for their notes. I ask them to fold it in half. One side will record notes from the right side of the L shape piece of wood and the left will record the other side.
Resources (1)
Rainstorm Effects
With the set up complete, I walk around and give each group a small pitcher of water. I ask the class to look at the left side of their sand first. I then have them get the cup/bowl that has the smallest hole in the bottom for the first experiment. I tell them to choose a recorder, a holder, and the other two will carefully help each other pour.
They do this, and I explain that they will need to hold their cup over the sand and pour water into it until it is almost full. They need to then just observe what happens. While observing they need to take notes. This is a bit slow and students need about five minutes to get all the water out.
Next, they will follow the same steps. I ask that they switch turns for the next experiment. This time they will use the cup with a larger hole. They fill the water, observe, and take notes on what happens. This cup is the flooding cup and the water will drain much faster.
Measurement and Conclusion
Using their observations, students need to collect one last piece of data. Students need to measure the amount of sand that was moved down their tray. They need to do this for both sides and record it into their notes.
It is now time to come with a good conclusion to what they did and observed. Instead of each student writing a conclusion for me, I am going to have them complete this as a group. I ask that they include a couple of details from each side of their notes in their writing. I give the suggestion that they can do a Venn Diagram before they write so that they can compare them easy.


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Frick finished seventh in the field of 37. He now awaits word from the Swedish Olympic Committee and swimming federation as to whether he will be named to the Olympic team or if the spot goes to another diver.
"Magnus showed that he deserves to be among the world's best divers at the Olympic Games," UH diving coach Mike Brown said.
Frick rejoins the UH team for the Conference USA Invitational which begins tomorrow in Houston.
Nohara, a first baseman from Waimanalo, won MVP honors at the Troy Cox Classic. She hit .615 with two home runs, two doubles, a triple and nine runs batted in as NMSU went 5-0 over the weekend.
McLachlin had a combined 34 kills, including 16 in Saturday's sweep in Provo, Utah. He also added eight blocks in handing the Cougars their first home loss this season.
Young hit .667, going 4-for-6, with a home run and three doubles, and drove in six runs.
Lolohea averaged 29.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. She went 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
The Vulcans were at 334, 21 strokes behind leader Tarleton State in the 12-team event.
UHH's Kiilani Matsuyoshi and Randi Ono were tied for 13th at 81, seven strokes behind first-round leader Stephanie Bird of Northeastern State.


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Here's the wee stray who has taken it upon herself to move in with us. I have completely fallen for her! (Even if her eyes are too huge for her head!!)
It was just like a summers day here today, so we spent the day out in our backyard. My OH had a few beers and some wine, and by the end of the afternoon he said we could keep her and was even reeling out names we could call her. He should get tiddly more often. :-)
I sent a text to my OH's seven year old nephew in Northern Ireland to see if he can think of a name for her. He loves cats and will think it is cool that we are asking him for suggestions. We are quite sure that one of his responses will be 'Blackie'! LOL.
I put an ad on a website called Pets on the Net last night, but since we've not had a call from the local vets I don't expect anyone will claim her through that method either. I don't want to see her go, but if someone does come knocking at the door I wouldn't hesitate to give her back - as someone's heart must be breaking over the loss of this dear wee soul.


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Open Thread: Talk About Food & Booze Right Here, Whenever You So Feel Like It
Here's your place to come talk about food & booze whenever you feel like it.
Back when I lived in Florida and had a yard, throwing summer BBQs was my complete and total jam. The key is to not try to do everything, but to provide one or two super-memorable elements that will make your party the stuff of legends.
A good BBQ needs good food, but I'm not going to hit you with a whole bunch of my recipes, because y'all have already done the legwork on that one, by way of Recipe of the Week. In fact, you guys did such a great job, I've gone ahead and compiled those ROTW installments that I think will be particularly helpful:
So that takes care of your menu, but your party still needs a few flourishes.
Out of all the crazy crap I've made for backyard shindigs, there are three things people still talk about: the "DIY deep frying station" (which was, in retrospect, a very dangerous idea for a beer-fueled party), the tequila-filled watermelon(s), and the time I made everyone drink out of coconuts.
Speaking of deep frying, someone has figured out how to deep fry water, if you are into that kind of thing.
The deep frying bar was honestly a disaster, because I didn't realize that the key to deep frying candy bars is to batter and freeze them ahead of time. The fried pickles turned out well, but the mini chocolate bars just melted, leaving a really cool mixture of oil and chocolate for me to contend with later.
Anyway. Giving a bunch of drunk people access to a deep fryer isn't actually that good of a plan, but the boozy watermelon is something you should definitely pursue. The below video features vodka as the spirit of choice, but any booze will do.
Another fun watermelon idea is the watermelon keg, because people love a biodegradable container made of plant matter.
Speaking of biodegradable drinking receptacles, if you wish to make everyone drink from the tropical drupe known as the coconut, you will need a coconut drill.
Since coconuts come with a built in mixer (coconut water) all you have to do is add alcohol, and maybe a little lime. But be careful, good people, I have never been more inebriated than the evening I decided I would "only drink things in a coconut," as the opaque nature of the coconut makes it hard to see just how much gin your pouring.
If you want some non-alcoholic, but still exciting fruit, consider making fizzy fruit. What is fizzy fruit, you ask? It's carbonated fruit, which is just as magical as it sounds.
If you feel like your BBQ bar needs even more whimsy, I suggest buying this solution that turns any beverage into edible bubbles.
For dessert, you simply cannot go wrong with a "build your own sweet thing" bar. Sundae bars are popular for good reason, but I'm a big fan of the s'mores bar. Read this article to get the full tutorial experience, but a good s'mores bar should include:
And those are my ideas for making your next outdoor party one to remember. Anything you would like to add to the list? What was your most memorable BBQ?


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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A federal judge in Dallas has approved an interim plan that distributes some $55 million in assets to bilked investors in a failed Ponzi scheme run by disgraced former Texas financier R. Allen Stanford.
The plan submitted by court-appointed receiver Ralph Janvey and approved Thursday by U.S. District Judge David Godbey amounts to only 1-percent of the $5.1 billion in claims from investors.
Stanford was convicted last year on 13 fraud counts related to the estimated $7 billion scheme and was sentenced to 110 years in prison.
He contended he made money for the investors who bought certificates of deposit from his Caribbean bank. But federal prosecutors showed, and a Houston jury agreed, that Stanford spent his investors' money on failed businesses and a lavish lifestyle. after his arrest Stanford said he was broke, and was considered an indigent defendant represented by court appointed attorneys for most of his trial.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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Stone villa close to golf course - Santa Ponsa
Exclusive property near Port Adriano
This very exclusive natural stone villa is located near the Port Adriano and the 3 Santa Ponsa golf courses. The tastefully decorated property offers a very spacious master suite, 4 en-suite bedrooms, an office, a very exclusive designed kitchen, dining room and a large living room with fireplace.
A double garage, laundry room, a beautifully laid garden with large swimming pool, changing facilities and shower also belong to the villa.
The outdoor bar and BBQ, open and covered terraces with chill-out areas invite to relax.
Reversible air condition, irrigation system, double glazing, marble floors and underfloor heating complete the offer.
The buyer paid no agency commission.
The tourist site Santa Ponsa is situated approximately 30 kilometers south-west of the island capital city Palma. The large part of the bay of Santa Ponsa is stony and rocky, however, in the center there is about 300 meters long, wide sandy beach that invites you to swim. The flat sloping and therefore suitable for kids beach you can reach in few minutes. You should definitely visit them! Directly next to the locality Santa Ponsa there are 3 nice golf courses – fantastically located.


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Erik Milito's remarks at press briefing on LNG exports to U.S. allies
As prepared for delivery
Press Conference on LNG Exports
Erik Milito, API Director of Upstream and Industry Operations
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Opening statement, as prepared for delivery:
Good morning and thank you for joining our call today.
There's been a tremendous amount of talk recently about how and whether U.S. energy resources – and particularly whether the export of some U.S. energy products, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) – can play a role in calming international energy markets and even bring pressure to bear in regions where energy resources and market power are wrapped up in diplomatic trouble spots, like the Ukraine.
As you may know, over the last few years, American innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have unlocked vast energy reserves here in the United States.
We surpassed Russia as the world's top producer of natural gas in 2009. And, last year, the U.S. exceeded Russia as the world largest producer of oil and natural gas combined.
For the first time in generations, the United States is an energy superpower. And the world – especially Europe and countries like Russia, China, and India – is watching closely to see if American policymakers are ready to harness that power on the international stage.
We may not have control over what happens in other parts of the world, but we can control our decisions about how to utilize U.S. energy, and those decisions will have a major impact on the world around us.
Now is the time to build our energy infrastructure, expand exports, and lock in the economic and geopolitical opportunities that our energy revolution has created.
To do that, we need continued support from policymakers in Washington to build LNG export terminals.
With these investments, the EIA expects that America will become a net exporter of LNG by 2016. .
But first, the Department of Energy (DOE) must approve long-delayed LNG export permits to non-Free Trade Agreement nations.
There are over 20 pending applications, and only six have been approved since 2011. Each application represents a multi-billion dollar investment in infrastructure, as well as long-term investments in U.S. labor and materials.
To those who say these terminals will take time to build and suggest that lead time will diminish our ability to have a global energy impact, there are two responses.
First, market signals are incredibly powerful -- provided the market believes that we will do what we say we will do.
And second, what geopolitical crisis ten or twenty years from now will draw the same comments, if we stand by today and watch others seize the opportunity?
Already, we face rapidly-moving competition around the world. Over 60 non-U.S. facilities are currently planned or under construction, and those nations that act quickly to attract these investments will reap the rewards.
Our allies know U.S. exports will undoubtedly have an impact long before the first tanker leaves our shores, and they are eager to diversify their energy supplies with reliable, steady supplies from the United States.
Last week, the ambassadors for Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, and Poland petitioned Congressional leaders to help expedite U.S. LNG exports as a means of protecting the stability and independence of Eastern Europe – a region where many nations rely on a single supplier for 70 to 100 percent of their natural gas.
By accelerating exports, we can strengthen the global energy market against future disruptions and send a signal to the world that the United States is ready to lead. Our growth as a major exporter would bring competition into the market and help ease the ties that bind our allies to any single supplier.
The huge growth in U.S. production has already helped to improve the leverage of our allies during contract negotiations. And even a small rise in U.S. exports could make a huge impact on markets where supplies are limited.
Being an energy superpower also has strong benefits for American consumers and the United States right here at home.
The U.S. Department of Energy commissioned a study by NERA, which concluded that LNG exports would yield net economic benefits across all scenarios.
The study also showed that concerns about domestic natural gas prices were unfounded. As NERA noted, "the market for LNG exports is self-limiting, in that little or no natural gas will be exported if the price of natural gas in the US increases much above current expectations." In part, that is because the cost of liquefying and exporting gas creates a natural price buffer, while multiple studies confirm that production will increase as the market expands.
More recently, the same firm issued an updated study to reflect the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). It concluded that LNG exports would add jobs and reduce near-term unemployment.
Already, the oil and natural gas industry supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs. And our ability to export LNG could add an additional 665,000 jobs in 2035, according to ICF. Exports will also reduce our trade deficit, increase government revenues, and grow the economy.
The only thing standing between America and a steady flow of jobs and capital are self-imposed bureaucratic restrictions. And the sooner we act, the sooner those benefits will flow – another reason why what we do today matters.
In recognition of this important issue, a growing number of U.S. policymakers are ready to act. Influential Democrats, House Speaker John Boehner, and Senator Jim Inhofe have all spoken out for exports. Senators Mark Udall, John Barrasso, and Mark Begich, along with Reps. Cory Gardner, Michael Turner, and Ted Poe have all announced work on legislation that would reduce barriers for the export of natural gas.
Some have proposed fast-tracking approval for NATO or WTO trading partners, and a report by the House Energy and Commerce Committee recommends immediate approval for all pending applications.
API welcomes the work Congress is doing to make LNG exports a priority. However, what we do today matters, and there's no reason that the Department of Energy cannot act now to approve all the pending permits.
The interests of the United States are served best by free trade, a position that U.S. trade representatives have championed in negotiations around the world. And we urge the White House to take the initiative and allow America to fully realize the benefits of being global energy superpower.
Now, I'd be happy to take your questions.


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Analyst and researcher Aaron Zornes of The MDM Institute says that although master data management isn't as thrilling as big data or cloud, it's still a factor for industry disruption.
In preparation for the upcoming Master Data Management and Data Governance Summits co-hosted by The MDM Institute with Information Management and SourceMedia, Zornes shares the current state of the industry and early 2014 observations.
Information Management: From a broad perspective, what's the current environment for master data management this year?
Aaron Zornes: I would say that MDM is on a solid, boring trajectory. It's boring because it's so mainstream that everyone who can do MDM is getting organized on the data management and the data governance sides. So we don't have the thrill of cloud or big data, but cloud and big data are nuances of what we do in the MDM world. In fact, I've been rather disappointed that when I look at what's been going on in the marketplace overall, it seems like some of the vendors have been totally distracted by big data. Meanwhile, the companies I talk to are still concerned about how to clean up their customer data, product data and supplier data; how to coordinate their different departments and lines of businesses so they have common reporting metrics; and how to share customer or product data with their suppliers all pretty basic stuff. It's stuff that is not necessarily considered exciting these days, but it sure is important to the company because if they do it wrong, they're toast. And, likewise, if they do it right they get a huge boost in their trajectory, either in terms of disrupting an industry or in terms of enabling greater customer service, greater wallet share, greater economies of scale, greater mergers and acquisition capabilities, etc. etc. So MDM is very solid.
And how about data governance?
There's ongoing need for data governance, master data governance specifically. Vendors are very slow to provide that capability, so there's a gap. Data governance is still a [dragged out] lengthy process, a lot of custom code, a lot of gnashing of teeth in terms of how to make all this work together with the work flow and user interface so that we can empower data stewards, data trustees, data governors, etc, to have them communicate, document, arbitrate, negotiate, all the stuff that they have to do. It's still missing from the market except for [some startups] and except for little pieces coming out from the megavendors. So master data governance is still a vacuum of sorts, and there's still lots of opportunities for consultancies and for upcoming software vendors to make a play there.
Another hot area that you've heard me beat about for years, and I'm still totally surprised that Gartner and Forrester are not on this, is reference data. We're wrapping up a reference data survey now of a good number of large companies, and we're finding that reference data is critical. If your SKUs aren't accurate, you don't have your financial codes accurate, if you don't have your product codes accurate, if you don't have your tax tables, your country codes, your currency tables, if you don't have that stuff accurate including your reporting codes internally across different systems then how in the world can you accurately report and, therefore, accurately manage your business? Not to mention that if those reference codes don't exist or aren't managed correctly, how do you transact among your different business units and how to you transact with your customers? You get transaction failure, you get systemic failure, all sorts of things. So it's not just bad reporting, but telling the government the wrong things, for example, or doing the wrong internal financial reporting but you also get transaction failure. We're finding that the reference data problem is very much adept to governance, in the sense that it has to deal with getting people to work together and to manage complex workflows to authorize, master and put into production these different codes.
Are there other trends affecting the marketplace for 2014?
No conversation is complete without big data. The facts remain the same: It's called signal to noise ratio. There's so much data flooding into the big data systems, and big data's all about not just managing the data but getting analytics done with the data. In order to do analytics with the data you need to rationalize and understand the data, which means MDM plays there. As IBM has proven, as Informatica is proving, as Oracle, and SAS -- they're all proving that you need to know who is saying what about what or who. And that means you need to have matching of MDM to figure out who this person really is, this key opinion leader or whatever you want to call them, the influence of that person. And then you have to be able to figure out what they're saying, because of the jargon and coded words in big data and the unstructured nature of it. Again that's MDM helping to understand and keeping track of all that data in terms of the unstructured becoming structured. And then the what: What are they talking about again, uniquely identifying is it a product or service or which product, which service. So MDM enables big data analytics, and at the same time the big data analytics provides information that needs to be mastered and shared across certain organizations. So it's quite complementary and needed that big data work with MDM.
And yet you said many organizations are still struggling with the basics fundamentals. Do you think it's just early for big data for those organizations?
I would say, what's more important to the average company: shipping the right product to the right customer, billing the right amount to the right customer, providing the appropriate service level to a specific customer or understanding what Facebook dilettantes are saying about your company and your product. It's black and white. Now some big companies, some of the CPG companies, some of the online retailers have to know what people are saying about them. Are people having problems with a given product or is it just one or two naysayers who like to make big noise? And how influential are those naysayers? Or what are the features people are asking for in the products that don't show up in the surveys? Or what are they really using our product for? And that sort of information comes out of the forums, user boards and looking at the actual usage of their products. So there are certainly companies and industries where big data is vital, fundamental to what they're doing, especially if you're an online company. On the other hand, the majority of the banks I'm talking to, they couldn't give a diddle about what somebody's saying about them on Facebook or what somebody's tweeting about them. They've got bigger problems: know your customer reporting, certain regulatory reports they have to produce, and more and more these regulations being put on them every year. And it's the same with the insurance companies, the manufacturers and so on. So if you look at mainstream business, blocking and tackling the quality of the customer, product and supplier data is vital.
Are there new challenges that exist for people in various stages of MDM and/or data governance initiatives for 2014?
As all of us are becoming increasingly multichannel, omnichannel we need the ability to better service, sell and market across multiple channels. And that includes mobile, it includes at some point set top, desktop, mobile -- it's not just over the phone, it's not just through the website. And so it's the challenge to understand and service those various touchpoints is again where the MDM architecture comes into play. They're all service oriented architecture, so that's good because once you've written "add a customer," "promote a customer," "delete a customer" type logic then you can use it in all the different channels or all the different application packages that you buy, and they can talk to your hub using that type of Web service or service oriented architecture API. So multichannel/omnichannel is there, but I wouldn't say that it's prevalent. Clearly, some companies have to live with that more than the rest of us the mail order houses, online marketing companies, those types. But increasingly it has to be your Discount Tires, your PetSmart name the industry. And increasingly, transactions, marketing and the customer service experience are moving onto these other platforms.
Reference data is something that can be done in the cloud for the smaller companies that are international and highly distributed. Rather than setting up yet another server and going through all the networking and security issues, they can just host their reference data application and then the different IT departments around the globe or around the country for their company can access that. So that's somewhat different than moving your customer data into the cloud or moving your prospect data or trying to integrate on-premise/off-premise. That starts getting pretty hairy when you start doing all that .But something that's on the radar that companies have to watch for is how much of the data is on premise versus off premise and how to manage the relationships between them and how to manage the transaction enablement between them. So master data has a role in the cloud.
More research and insights from Zornes and The MDM Institute at the MDM and Data Governance Summits held in San Francisco, Toronto and New York in 2014. Click here for more information.
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