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Designing your fiercest competitor
Mastering change by making it real
Strategy and innovation
Issue 15 reprint
Strategy and innovation
Designing your fiercest competitor Mastering change by making it real
PwC View Issue 15
By John J. Sviokla and Adam J. Gutstein
John J. Sviokla is a Principal in PwC's US Advisory practice where he serves as business leader for strategy and innovation. Principal Adam J. Gutstein is the management consulting leader in that practice.
So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century— it will be more like 20,000 years of progress….
Ray Kurzweil
The speed of change is increasing at an alarming rate. Authors John J. Sviokla and Adam J. Gutstein argue that to prepare for accelerated change, companies need to look at five critical factors that they call the STEEP drivers: social, technological, environmental, economic, and political. Further, they maintain that management teams like yours can make these drivers of change "real" by asking leadership to "design a fiercest competitor" that could disrupt your industry. This manner of thinking and design sets the stage for actions management can take to benefit from, rather than be overwhelmed by, this rapidly changing environment.
Legend has it that in 1994, Bill Gates' assistant, Steve Sonofsky, was visiting his alma mater, Cornell University. While there, he noted that Cornell was "taking full advantage of the fledgling Internet— email, course listings, international faculty collaborations, etc.—and fired off an email to his boss."1 As a result, Gates became convinced that he needed to shift Microsoft's focus toward the Internet—and fast. He sent out a long memo2 that stated that the Internet was taking off and that Microsoft would be a part of it. Moreover, he wove this fundamental change into his story about the company. In particular, he noted that the Internet was a natural extension of the desktop and part of the personal computer domain. In other words, he changed the mental model of the company: It would from now on be not only about what
1 http://www.cornell.edu/about/wired/.
ran on the PC, but also the capabilities of the Internet and the tools (the Internet Explorer browser, for example) needed to fully exploit them. He was not going to let a new, fierce competitor take advantage of this technological and social trend—the Internet—and use it to beat his company. At the time, Gates demonstrated vision, tenacity, and, ultimately, the ability to organize and execute—qualities that are even more important today. The world is more complex now than it was a decade ago. Things are changing faster because science is expanding and, most important, because feedback loops in technology, knowledge, and networks amplify learning. For example, in 1990, the Human Genome Project was expected to last 15 years. However, because of advances in technology, the task was completed by
2003.3 Even the deepest experts did not understand how "the law of accelerating returns" (a phrase coined by Ray Kurzweil), which posits that "technological change is exponential,"4 works. They could not see how a combination of computer power, increased understanding, competitive access, and the knowledge network across the Internet could make things happen much faster than expected. In our view, in this world of faster change, it is time to examine the interlocking factors of social, technological, environmental, economic, and political change: STEEP drivers. Making these real is an exercise in creative destruction that involves a management team's designing a fiercest competitor that could take advantage of these fastmoving trends for competitive gain.
2 This memo can be found at http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/07/internet-tidal-wave.html. 3 http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/faq/faqs1.shtml. 4 http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-law-of-accelerating-returns.
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The STEEP drivers provide context In order to make sense of this accelerating situation, we considered hundreds of trends, predictions, and forecasts, as well as their methods. We synthesized these forward-looking ideas into a model of five vital, interrelated drivers that we believe are the critical factors disrupting industries and recreating the lines of competition. (See Figure 1.) Understanding these core drivers and how they impact an organization is key to managing in this world of accelerating returns. Driver 1: Social By nature, people are social. Whether it is a friend who badmouths his car mechanic, or a distant cousin who helps get you that new job, the impact of social connections always has been the base upon
which commerce functions. Riding atop the Internet, social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, or user-driven review sites like Yelp! and Rotten Tomatoes, have developed and taken hold at a phenomenal pace. As pundits have noted, by population, Facebook, created only eight years ago, would be the third-largest country in the world.5 Today, social networks not only offer extensive consumer information, but also provide an infrastructure capable of shaping society's institutions—through self-organization, fundraising, and political action. In a business context, this means that social media is reshaping the micro context of a company's brand and services, and the macro context of politics and regulation.
Affecting the micro domain Recently, a major airline discovered how the micro context of its brand could be affected by the impact of social networks. A well-known celebrity who had more than 1.4 million Twitter followers was using his account to complain about the service he received. He was updating his audience in real time about his feelings. Fortunately for the airline, representatives continually monitor social media in real time to discover what people are saying about the company. As a result, they were able to view conversations and complaints and to respond almost immediately to the issue that this famous, disgruntled customer had with the airline. Social media are completely integrated with the airline's customer contact centers, from the phone, to the Web, to social networks. This enables the firm to have a live, informed conversation with its audience around the clock, throughout the year. If your firm does not perform this kind of monitoring and responsiveness, there may be conversations happening about you of which you are unaware, and lack of attention can allow negative perceptions or even wrong claims to fester and grow. Trust is a significant factor in this new world. Customers are more willing to trust a peer or customer review than a company's claims about its product or service. Numerous websites and forums bear this out. However, today, a potent factor has been added to the equation. Social networks increase the ability of online shoppers to make use of multiple distribution channels and outlets, making the influence of opinion that much more powerful. For example, a recent PwC study of more than 7,000 online users around the globe found that the vast majority— 86 percent—of survey respondents shop across at least two channels, and 25 percent are using four or five.6 In this process, they often turn to social media to help them make their choices.
Figure 1: STEEP—A broad set of drivers with the potential to disrupt all industries
STEEP Drivers Political Environmental
5 Dan Fletcher, "How Facebook Is Redefining Privacy," May 20, 2010, at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1990798,00.html. 6 PwC, Customers take control: How the multi-channel shopper is changing the global retail landscape, December 2011.
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1 2 3
phones worldwide. Almost all new cars are connected to the Internet. The Internet of Things is adding everything from insulin pumps to light switches onto the grid. Big Data allow for the decoding of human genomes and the ability of computers to beat humans at chess. And these examples are in no way comprehensive.8 Connecting everything means that firms increasingly need to compete not just on the quality of their physical value chain, but also on their ability to manage their information value chain. 7-Eleven® in Japan has such great control over its information value chain that it tells store managers how to restock to meet the demand of the breakfast crowd, the lunch rush, the afternoon snacker, the evening shopper, and the late-night eater. The company is able to drive more sales because its information value chain allows it to slice the store in time increments, thereby creating more virtual square footage through information.
How are companies taking advantage of these new social developments? The savvy ones are co-creating products and services with their customers. Sports apparel manufacturer Nike offers one example. With the Nike+ system, a small, removable electronic pod is a part of the insole of the shoe. This pod, which is the size of a quarter, sends results to a smart device and allows runners to track their own training, including distance and pace. This information is automatically uploaded to a website and runners can share their routes, routines, and comments easily and quickly. This innovative product system, with its social overlay, differentiates the shoe. Affecting the macro domain Since the commercialization of the Internet, the number of registered non-governmental organizations has grown from 1,250 to more than 45,000,7 and today, many of these ride atop the Internet. This means that the ability of special interest groups to organize, raise
funds, and take action has become much easier. More than ever, businesses need to understand who is shaping the agenda for their companies and industries. Part of the reason that social media has grown so quickly is the result of positive feedback. That is, the more that people use the medium, add reviews, or watch online videos, the more likely they are to find something useful and come back. Coming back for something useful is not different. What is new is the permanency of the network and the increasing returns it creates in terms of its value. In a network, positive feedback drives rapid adoption, a phenomenon that we expect to continue to grow. Driver 2: Technological We live in a wondrous and disconcerting age. Chances are your briefcase or pocket holds one of the latest waves of technological change. Based on cellular subscriptions, there are now more than 5 billion cell
7 http://www.apa.org/international/united-nations/publications.aspx. 8 The Internet of Things is "a new kind of network that will allow sensor-enabled physical objects—appliances in your home, products in a factory, cars in a city—to talk to one another, the same way people communicate over the Internet." See Time's "Best Inventions of 2008" at http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1852747_1854195_1854158,00.html. "Big Data" refers to "massive amounts of data" that "are analyzed with massively parallel computers." Read the full definition at http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=Big+Data&i=62849,00.asp.
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deal with the needs of the here and now. LIFESAVER has developed a bottle-based (and therefore portable) water purification system that instantly creates potable water by filtering toxins and other impurities and has filled a need that ranges from humanitarian efforts resulting from natural disasters to individuals traveling to locations where drinkable water may not be readily available. Others, like Nanoholdings LLC, have their sights firmly fixed on the future. Nanoholdings is using cutting-edge nanotechnology to approach energy generation in new, environmentally friendly ways. Whether focusing on today or tomorrow, eco-friendly business is here to stay and sure to grow, offering significant opportunities for success through innovation. Driver 4: Economic Evidence points to the fact that the developing world is growing at a faster pace than the developed world. (See Figure 2.) Most companies not only expect to grow in their home markets, but also intend to expand in other countries. Firms headquartered in the developed world want to grow in the developing world and vice versa. (See Figure 3.) Because there will be intensive competition both in developed as well as in emerging markets, companies need to understand how to manage a global supply base while meeting the needs of their local markets. In our view, the need to grow will drive companies to manage their costs in a globally efficient manner. This is evident in that almost every major company is establishing research and development centers around the globe and sourcing from an ever-wider base of global suppliers. For example, a large multi-level marketing company we worked with had standardized its core products and business concepts around the world. At the same time, it was important to meet the local variations in a number
General Electric's aircraft engine business has more information about the behavior of the engine on the wing that it tracks in its command center than the pilots have in the cockpit. By being able to track this information in real time, GE can provide customers with more analysis and preventative maintenance, thereby increasing up-time. Most important, by having a technological connection to the engine in flight, GE can sell "power by the hour" and provide airlines with a service whereby they pay only for those hours of engine use they consume while GE worries about owning, providing, and maintaining the asset. We see a growing number of companies using this technology-based advantage to enhance their products, create new and better services, and retain customers. Driver 3: Environmental From a business perspective, eco-friendliness used to be primarily about reputation. That no longer is the case. Today, there is pressure on every industry to deal with power, water, and general environmental impact. CEOs are recognizing that sustainability is as important to competitiveness as it is to image, permeating every aspect of an organization, from talent recruitment to innovation. In fact, according to our 14th Annual Global CEO Survey, 64 percent of
respondents agree or strongly agree that an important part of their innovation strategy is to develop products or services that are environmentally friendly. In short, in an increasingly competitive market, eco-friendliness is a differentiator, and more and more firms are recognizing the need to determine the implications of environmental matters for themselves, their customers, and their locations. Consider MBA Polymers, for example, a company that has taken a potential eco-disaster—discarded post-consumer plastic—and turned it into a successful enterprise. When founder and plastics engineer Mike Biddle discovered that, for a variety of reasons, very little plastic was being recycled, he set out to find a solution. He developed a 30-step plastics recycling system that results in a product that requires less than one-tenth of the energy needed to make new plastic from crude oil. As a consequence of an innovative, eco-friendly solution, MBA Polymers has grown to include plants in China, Austria, and the United Kingdom, with plans to open additional plants in the future. Other companies also have taken advantage of the demand for eco-friendly products and services. Some, like LIFESAVER® systems,
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of markets. Therefore, the products that the company stocked and the business model it followed differed country by country. The Internet is an infrastructure that enables simultaneous standardization of some capabilities and localization of others. Again, this trend is accelerating as a combination of more open trade and the Internet enables a worldwide platform for commerce. Driver 5: Political While politics have always affected business, the current political environment is changing on many dimensions simultaneously. Three trends are worth noting. First is the rise of state-sponsored capitalism. This is not entirely a new phenomenon. One of the first shared stock corporations with limited liability—the East India Company (1600-1874)—was sponsored by the British Empire. Yet the scale and scope of some of these nationally backed firms are enormous. Second is the complex relationship between government and business. Among CEOs surveyed in 2011, overregulation was seen as one of the top three threats to business growth prospects. However, "Nearly three-quarters of CEOs told us they would actively support new government policies that promote 'good growth' that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable."9 Third, as we mentioned earlier, the rise of special interest groups has been dramatic. At least part of the reason that political institutions are more indecisive than they have been in the past is that the Internet has enabled greater numbers of people to self-organize around their cause. The more than 45,000 groups can exert many pressures on the powers that be. Clearly, social, technological, environmental, economic, and political drivers are moving in more accelerated and interactive ways than ever before.
9 PwC, 14th Annual Global CEO Survey, 2011.
Figure 2: GDP growth forecasts 2011
US UK Germany
France Spain
0% Source: PwC economic forecasts
Figure 3: Where will the growth come from?
Region of operations Company headquarters
Africa 93% 73% 80% 67% 70% 64%
Asia 89% 88% 87% 86% 100% 94% 92%
Australasia 33% 77% 83% 18% 50% 71% 57%
Eastern Europe 100% 40% 73% 59% 0% 67% 75%
Latin America 100% 80% 80% 86% 0% 80% 86%
Middle East 75% 70% 55% 47% 85% 73% 75%
North America 29% 40% 71% 48% 25% 67% 55%
Western Europe 36% 32% 69% 31% 0% 51% 48%
Africa Asia-Pacific CEE* Latin America Middle East North America
Western Europe 72%
*Central and Eastern Europe
Source: PwC, 14th Annual Global CEO Survey, 2011
PwC View Issue 15
Designing your fiercest competitor: Addressing the STEEP drivers in your business
While it is easy to consider the STEEP drivers in an abstract manner, it's not as easy to confront them in concrete and immediate ways—that is, in ways that really can have an impact on your company. As any leader knows, organizational change depends on winning people's minds and hearts. In order to begin a process of change, people need to be affected on both a rational and an emotional level. An abstract consideration of change that somehow is not very meaningful today will not get that job done. What's needed is a technique that brings an immediacy to change and that leads to concrete action steps to deal with it. An exercise that facilitates designing your fiercest competitor is one such technique. (See Figure 4.) Altering the mental model Everyone who works for, buys from, does business or interacts in any way with a company forms a mental model of that
organization. A mental model is a picture of how the world actually works. It is based on data, relationships, and everyday experiences. While mental models are somewhat imprecise, subject to change, and inconsistent, they also are prone to creativity and/or flashes of insight. Let's take an example from the airline industry to illustrate how mental models work. Executives at an airline brought with them a mental model of the experience of flying with their organization that was composed of elements such as support, innovation, trust, transparency, and quality. However, stories about the flying experience on this airline were propagating across social networks via social media, forever changing management's notion of how traditional media work. Data on interactions with, for example, gate agents, flight attendants, and baggage handlers also affected the mental image, as did
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moments of truth, those profound experiences with a company—good or bad—that can remain with consumers for years. Anticipating a fiercest competitor can have the same impact with regard to altering a mental model. It is critical that management teams learn how to design such a competitor in order to envision how new entities might enter their market and disrupt their business. One way to do this is to ask management to imagine that they have been fired from their own firm and given access to capital and talent. Most executives know their company's weaknesses—the soft underbelly, if you will—and where the opportunities lie in a market for a firm that can move with a new model. This exercise helps senior executives
get out of their old mental habits and imagine new ways to compete. Developing scenarios Once this is accomplished, the fact base from the STEEP drivers relevant to the company's industry can be used to imagine a couple of scenarios that jump-start a worrisome conversation. For example, if you are Apple, as a starting point, you might imagine what happens to your video business if Microsoft were to buy Netflix and do a distribution deal with Facebook. Or if you are a property and casualty insurance company, you might imagine what would happen if Google teamed up with an investment house that was willing to create a retail insurance product, and it used Google's search expertise to help in underwriting and sales. Under these hypothetical circumstances, Google could
facilitate the creation of a new-age insurance firm. In conducting exercises of this sort, we often suggest that the fiercest competitor be imagined as a greenfield firm because it helps the senior team be unconstrained by current capabilities, organizational culture, performance standards, and norms. As Clay Christensen has pointed out, companies are often blind-sided by firms that take advantage of emerging trends and serve a lower price/underserved market.10 In short, we are asking executives to design disruptive competitors. We find that by doing this fiercest competitor exercise, the STEEP drivers become real in a context senior management can understand and find motivating on a rational and an emotional level.
10 The Innovator's Dilemma, Harvard Business School Press, 1997.
Figure 4: A fiercest competitor exercise
Alter your mental model
Imagine scenarios involving disruptive, greenfield competitors
Apply insights gained
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Figure 5: Creating a disruptive business model
Accelerate or eliminate existing initiatives
Applying the insights The critical leadership question is this: What does one do with the insights that are generated from a fiercest competitor design exercise? The output usually comes in three forms. (See Figure 5.) First, most executive teams immediately find places in their business where they need to accelerate existing initiatives or eliminate them so as to focus on the present and future rather than on the past. For example, after a fiercest competitor workshop at one major insurance company, management chose the former approach. They amped up their direct-to-consumer strategy because they saw its weakness in that channel much more clearly. A different firm saw that it needed to create a new product to blunt a possible strategic weakness if and when inflation returns. Second, senior teams pursue partnerships with outside firms with which they should
be building relationships. STEEP drivers uncover new complementors, channel players, and emerging third parties. Third, and the most difficult, is that the senior team begins to have ideas for disruptive business designs. The problem for the CEO is that few organizations have the right talent, organizational structure, and funding to build a truly disruptive competitor—but it can be done. Determining success—a caveat While some businesses are poised to extend their existing models to the next wave of change to meet the challenge of a fiercest competitor, success is neither easy nor assured. When the trends portend a disruptive competitor, we have found few—if any—companies that successfully created disruptive business models within their own organizations. The winners usually devise a way to "hot-house" the new business model.
Pursue new partnerships
Develop disruptive business designs
Launching new products at Green Mountain Coffee®
At Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, anticipating its fiercest competitor means applying innovation energy at all levels of the organization. The ultimate goal? To generate a revenue stream that grows by 15 percent per year through the introduction of new hit products. However, according to Kevin Hartley, Vice President of Strategy at Green Mountain, this is easier said than done. "While critical to the launching of hit products, innovation is not for wimps. It's ugly, and in large organizations, it collides with the status quo." What's needed, he says, is "an understanding of the dynamics of the organization, coupled with an infrastructure that enables innovation and, consequently, the launching of hit products." By bringing together quality coffee and a unique single-serve delivery system, the Keurig K-Cup singleserve brewer is a home run for Green Mountain and is today, as Hartley describes it, "the fastest-growing consumer product in the US, except for the iPad." Success, however, doesn't just happen. It requires infrastructures suitable to the launching of global hit products, including individuals who are drivers of innovation, suitable gatekeepers, and assets that are aligned with opportunities.
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One way is to establish disruptive innovations as separate organizational entities with their own funding and leadership and with a plan to integrate them after they grow to scale. If there is a relationship to the parent, it is usually arm's length, at least until the division grows large enough to stand on its own. At that time, it is reintegrated. This is how IBM entered the personal computer business in the 1980s, and it was how W.W. Grainger created a market-leading online capability, Grainger.com, in the mid 1990s. Bottom line: The more disruptive the business model is to the parent company, the greater "distance" it needs from the core. There are, however, always the exceptions that prove the rule. Though it's not the norm, with strong leadership and proper guidance, disruptive business models can be incubated closer to home. Cases in point: Schwab Online and Green Mountain Coffee. Schwab Online was created within the
While some businesses are poised to extend their existing models to the next wave of change to meet the challenge of a fiercest competitor, success is neither easy nor assured.
overall Schwab structure and eventually became the core of the new Schwab. Likewise, Green Mountain Coffee has been able to incubate radical inventions within its core business. (See the sidebar below.) Deriving value While workshops can be intellectually stimulating and encourage teamwork, if value is not the result, the entire exercise is in vain. If you are going to extract economic value from the fiercest competitor design effort, you must look to accelerate key internal initiatives, constrain others, create new
partnerships, and, in the case of truly fierce designs, avoid being seduced by the hope that you can incubate this new model within your own firm without appropriate distance between the old and the new. History shows that successful companies will kill the new idea with kindness if they are kept too close. Like a rogue relative, a new idea needs time to develop and mature before returning to the fold. If your organization lacks the courage to give new ideas a chance to thrive and grow, the market will give birth to your worst nightmare. If it has that courage and exploits it to the fullest, you will succeed.
Hartley refers to individuals who drive innovation as producers. "A producer," he says, "takes an idea and rams it through until it exists in the physical world. Producers are change agents who never give up. Rather, they take decision makers through the processes needed to make great new products real. They lay the groundwork for infrastructures that enable creation." When it comes to launching new hit products, every large organization has internal adjudicators or gatekeepers who can prevent an idea from reaching its potential. "The solution," says Hartley, "is to use world-class adjudicators, preferably from outside the organization, who are knowledgeable about
the ideas they are judging. The key is to avoid the tyranny of the check mark—the naysayers who insist, 'Yeah, we tried that, it didn't work.'" Often, when new products founder, the blame rests with the internal adjudicators. Because they're judging new products, they may lack adequate knowledge of the customer or the market. Big ideas can get so diluted prior to execution that they barely resemble the original concept. As Hartley points out, "If you want to set an infrastructure for launching hit products, the purity and power of the idea has to be exposed to the consumer." Anything less will result in failure.
Finally, when launching a global hit product, it's important that assets equal opportunities. Says Hartley, "If you have a vision of a global hit product, your assets—human and financial—must be appropriately sized to the opportunity. If you're not going to do that, you should just forget about innovation." The team at Green Mountain Coffee practices what they preach. But they are not resting on their laurels. According to Hartley, they intend to apply these principles to achieving their ultimate objective: "We want to be the world's largest single-serve beverage company," he says. "And new global hit products will help us get there."
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John J. Sviokla One North Wacker Chicago, IL 60606 +1 312 298 3920 firstname.lastname@example.com Adam J. Gutstein One National Life Drive Fourth Floor Montpelier, VT 05604 +1 312 298 6888 email@example.com
For more insights on business issues you care about, visit View magazine at:
To request additional copies of View or to comment: www.pwc.com/view. PwC firms help organisations and individuals create the value they're looking for. We're a network of firms with 169,000 people in more than 158 countries who are committed to deliver quality in assurance, tax and advisory services. Tell us what matters to you and find out more by visiting us at http://www.pwc.com/. © 2012 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. The information contained in this document is for general guidance on matters of interest only. The application and impact of laws can vary widely based on the specific facts involved. Given the changing nature of laws, rules, and regulations, there may be omissions or inaccuracies in information contained in this document. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a competent professional adviser. Although we believe that the information contained in this document has been obtained from reliable sources, PricewaterhouseCoopers is not responsible for any errors or omissions contained herein or for the results obtained from the use of this information.


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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Mapping & Navigation' started by AugustFalcon, May 18, 2011.
I guess THIS, then Import them or drag and drop(?) But you can Import them from your puter
My "no Mass Storage Mode" was in reference to the iPhone iOS not the Mac OS. Just about any Mac app that deals with Photos will pull the photos off or your iPhone when connected to the Mac. You just need to have access to those photos in a folder on the Mac. Then just drag/drop them into the List you want or select a Track and right-click->Match Photos to Tracks...
Thanks to both of you for the Mac / BC / Photo tips. I've been trying to use my Mac more to get away from Windows and still have a lot to learn after 20+ years with MS products.
I did not know about the "right-click->Match Photos to Tracks..." trick.
Is there a thread like this one for BC so I don't clutter up this thread with my BC questions?
This happened all weekend. The faster I rode the more the display rotated . If I held on to it as I rode, it seemed to stop and stabilize.
I looked back through the thread but could not find a solution.
Sorry if this has been covered already.
Go to Setup/Display/ and lock the display in the orientation you need.
Thank you Sir!
Looking to replace my now defunct eTrex and also looking to add a GPS to my KTM. Initially I was thinking of simply getting a mount for the 550 so I could simply take the Zumo from the big bike and put it on the KTM and just buy another eTrex for a handheld. However the Montana seems to do both and is a better offroad option and likely a better (more user options) GPS overall. Now the rub, I'm not a big user of all the add ons but think I'd like the option to rotate from portrait to landscape and might be more likely to become a GPS Jedi with a little education on the benefits and uses.
So Montana yes or Montana no?
Yes. It'll beat the heck out the eTrex for your offroading. That alone is worth it.
Montana Yes, no question. The orientation switch is very useful but it's only one of many advantages.
Another big one is the "Rugged Mount" which solves all the power problems - no more USB only power source. And the wireless transfer feature is something many people don't think they'll ever need until someone offers to send them a track/route but there's no computer around to do it with.
The Montana in landscape mode is hard to beat.
So is Portrait mode:
might be Portrait mode but shot in landscape orientation.
I've been going nuts for months trying to find a good GPS solution for my needs. I am currently at about 90% street and 10% dirt, but have been moving more and more towards the dirt exploration end of the spectrum lately. After much deliberation, I ordered the Montana 600 today from GPS City. I didn't order any maps, as I'm hoping to be able to find some free online maps. Worst case, I end up braking down later and ordering the Western US DVD. I'm still in shock that I spent that much on a GPS, but I'm VERY excited to get it in my hot little hand and start messing with it. Thank you all, in advance, for your patience with my inevitable stupid questions.
Excellent choice! I am certain you will be quite pleased with it! (once you figure it out...)
And remember, there are no stupid questions.... Only stupid answers :)
These links for free maps might get you started OK.
http://mapsbank.com/ http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/ and http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
I love this site! Thanks for the links. I'm checking them out, and hope to have a slight clue by the time my Montana arrives. I'm stoked to have a proper GPS, finally!
You can also get Ibycus Topo.
I see a new version of MapInstall for Windows was released recently:
MapInstall software version 4.0.3
as of October 23, 2012
Download (22.24 MB)
View installation instructions
Change History
Changes made from version 4.0.1 to 4.0.3:
Improved performance for map trimming and map building.
Improved performance when switching between pages.
Added functionality that allows using the middle mouse button to pan the map.
Fixed progress feedback at the end of trimming (MapInstall should not remain at 100% for a long time without actually being at 100%).
Fixed an issue when hovering over map tiles would make MapInstall crash in some cases.
Fixed an issue when trying to select more than 4GB worth of tiles.
Fixed an issue with the display of maps when there was a partial map images installed on the device.
Fixed handling of faulty map products.
Fixed an issue where clicking the Find Devices button several times would hang the app.
(No update to the MAC version, though)
Huh, did they already pull it? [Download] button at the link above does not work

subset: commoncrawl


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GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) – Community leaders from Kansas are meeting with their counterparts from Colorado and New Mexico next week to look for ways to save an Amtrak route through Kansas and Colorado.
The Colorado Rail Passenger Association is sponsoring the Sept. 14 meeting in Pueblo, Colo., to discuss the future of the Southwest Chief.
Amtrak has indicated that it will reroute the line when its contract with BNSF Railway expires in 2015 if track conditions aren't improved in south-central and southwest Kansas.
Deteriorating conditions force the Southwest Chief to slow in Kansas on its run between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Garden City state Rep. John Doll, Garden City Commissioner Janet Doll and Dodge City Mayor Kent Small are expected to represent Kansas at the meeting.


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1. The client is open to exploring initiatives that they've never done before.
2. The client trusts your expertise and respects your professional recommendations.
3. The client is on board with adjusting the campaign to keep the results aligned with the business objectives of the company.
4. The client pushes you to continually be innovative.
5. The client's campaigns are intellectually stimulating.
6. They're also intellectually demanding.
[RELATED: Learn how to create content that sticks for the long haul at our December NYC summit.]
1. When a client it unwilling to shift the tactics of a campaign, even though results indicate that it should be done.
2. When a client's expectations become unrealistic, and even after addressing the issue they still expect unattainable results.
3. The client is asking you to do something unethical.
4. The number of hours your team is consistently putting into the account has made it unprofitable for the firm, and the client is unwilling to reduce the workload, or increase the retainer.
5. There are multiple instances where the client is not providing the full story, or withholding information that is important for you to have in order to do your job effectively. To that point, if you discover the client is lying to you, it's time to call it quits.
6. If you're generally not being treated well. I'm a strong believer that there is no reason, none, to have to endure an abusive client.
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text:
"As intricately designed as a Japanese garden, this deceptively quiet novel resonates with the power to inspire a variety of passionate emotions.... A haunting novel certain to stay with the reader long after the book is closed."Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Tan writes with breath-catching poise and grace.... But for all its mission to 'capture stillness on paper' ... The Garden of Evening Mists also offers action-packed, end-of-empire storytelling."Independent (London)


text:
Languages: English • 日本語 • (Add your language)
This Conditional Tag Check if a category is an ancestor of another category. This is a boolean function, meaning it returns either TRUE or FALSE.
<?php cat_is_ancestor_of( $cat1, $cat2 ); ?>
This example, placed in a theme's archive.php, uses Conditional Tags to show different content depending on the category being displayed. This is helpful when it is necessary to include something for any child category of a given category, instead of using category-slug.php method where you'd have to create category-slug.php files for each and every category.
The code snip below checks to see if the category called 'Music' (ID 4) is being processed, and if so, presents a wp_nav_menu for the Music archive page, and any subcategories of Music (e.g. jazz, classical.)
<?php // if the category is music or a music SUBcategory, if (cat_is_ancestor_of(4, $cat) or is_category(4)): ?> <div id="music_subnav_menu" class="subnav_menu"> <?php wp_nav_menu( array('menu' => 'Music' )); ?> </div> <?php endif; ?>
Since: 2.1.0
cat_is_ancestor_of() is located in


text:
Most Major Newspaper Editors Don't Even Use Twitter
We've poked fun in the past at former New York Times editor Bill Keller's infrequent and bizarre use of the Twitter. But aren't there more ways we can make fun of newspaper editors, related to Twitter? Yes! Yes!
Thanks to Jim Romenesko, who went and looked at the the ten editors of America's ten largest newspapers, and what they're doing on the Twitter. I mean, I don't even like Twitter, but everybody is on it these days, and you'd imagine that the editor of one America's biggest newspapers would have a fairly large following on this important new media platform, correct? Well.
- Four of the ten appear to have no Twitter account whatsoever.
- Three others have accounts that are secret or inactive.
- Two others have not tweeted since June. (Except, whoops, Bill Keller just did, as I was writing this! He reads Romenesko, obv.)
- One (NYDN editor Kevin Convey) has an active, currently updated Twitter account.
I can't believe you people are putting me in the position of defending Twitter, for fuck's sake, but you're all old white men in a dying industry and you should really go to where all the people are, you know, right now. Stop being so old and unnecessary! God, I feel dirty.


text:
Old Peggy Noonan Is Alarmed at this New Phenomenon, 'Leaks'
Doddering Reaganite Peggy Noonan has become the conservative version of Richard Cohen: a doddering old columnist employed by a respected journalistic institution who uses their column space to demand less journalism and more government secrecy. Have you heard of these so-called "leaks," from our leaders? The United States government is not a house of plumbing, sir. Sir? Sir.
What is happening with all these breaches of our national security? Why are intelligence professionals talking so much-divulging secret and sensitive information for all the world to see, and for our adversaries to contemplate?
Why isn't anyone doing anything about all the problems? wonders professional newspaperperson Peggy Noonan. {She goes on to summarize a bunch of New York Times articles and information from David Sanger's book that tells about classified things the U.S. government is doing. Classified. Peggy Noonan, why are you reprinting these things in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, where any terrorist can "download" them, and use them to kill our freedoms? Why does Peggy Noonan deplore our brave troops, and their safety? We are REDACTING these once-classified disclosures, which make up the bulk of Peggy Noonan's leak-deploring column today.)
It's a good thing our enemies can't read. Wait, they can! They can download all this onto their iPads at a café in Islamabad.
Oh Christ, it's worse than I thought. They're at a cafe.
What are they thinking? That in the age of Wikileaks the White House itself should be one big Wikileak?
"Somebody should get on the stick and start using all those high-powered electronic microscopes to cure cancer, that's what I think," declares professional newspaperperson Peggy Noonan.
Why is this happening? In part because at our highest level in politics, government and journalism, Americans continue to act as if we are talking only to ourselves. There is something narcissistic in this: Only our dialogue counts, no one else is listening, and what can they do about it if they are? There is something childish in it: Knowing secrets is cool, and telling them is cooler.
Amazing insight into the human psyche and the secret machinations of the corridors of power from former White House insider and current famous columnist Peggy Noonan. "They put a baboon heart in a human, you know. They can make body parts out of plastic and put little camera probes in your body. Then why are there so many people dying?" wonders professional newspaperperson Peggy Noonan.
Then she dodders off. To where? That's a secret.


text:
Indigenous collaboration
The University of Newcastle has a proud history of collaborating with Indigenous Australians. We are committed to Aboriginal reconciliation and to our responsibilities as educators in this process.
We have an outstanding track record in Indigenous education. The University reached a major milestone of over 1000 Indigenous enrolments in 2016 with the number signifying Indigenous students as 3.5% of the total enrolments, the largest percentage ever at the University. These students enrolled across all program areas and levels of the University. Our enrolment of Indigenous students is significantly higher than the national average maintaining the University's national leadership role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education.
Professor John Maynard's book published in 2015 "Callaghan, the University of Newcastle, Whose Traditional Land?" is the result of a study undertaken through a joint idea expressed by the then Department of Aboriginal Studies and the University of Newcastle in 1999. The directive was to ascertain the clear identity of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land now occupied by the Callaghan campus of the University of Newcastle. The consensus indicated that findings would assist the University in recognising and symbolically acknowledging the traditional custodians' prior occupation of the University site. It was the University's desire that the study would assist with an on-going commitment to recognise the traditional custodians within the University grounds.
Purchase the book on-line at a cost of $30 plus postage and handling.
Leader in Indigenous employment
We are a sector leader in Indigenous employment and have the highest number of Indigenous staff of any university in Australia.
Our NeW Futures Strategic Plan 2016-2025 prioritises the embedding of Indigenous knowledges across the University to nurture, among staff and students, an awareness of issues and a strong commitment to social justice.
A 'whole-of-university' plan
The University of Newcastle was commended in the 2012 Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, Final Report for a 'whole-of-university' approach to Indigenous education and research.
The report highlighted key strategies, including:
- University-wide Key Performance Indicators
- priorities embedded across the institutional strategic plan
- a shared 'whole-of-University' vision, supported by the University's executive management.
The University of Newcastle draws on the knowledge and expertise of The Wollotuka Institute to inform good practice, that contributes to ongoing success.


text:
(Aiankurō no hōhō) Way of the Iron Claw
Type: KenTaijutsu
Background: After hearing about the great Master Pain/Betty art of using two iron claws attached by rope or chain and mixing it into his taijutsu. After traveling to where Betty use this Korra was able to take the art and create it more by adding elemental chakra into iron claws making his taijutsu using the iron claws more deadly.
Description on the Abilities and Inner Workings of the Style:This style involves using two iron claws connected by chains or rope and mixing chakra and elemental chakra to make slashes and punches more painful and faster. The user can mix in the claws while doing taijutsu to make it more effective.
The user can also infuse the claws with elemental chakras to achieve a multitude of effects from enhancing its damage to enhancing its length.
Example Techniques :
Aiankurō no hōhō:Genso no tsume) Way of the Iron Claw: Elemental Claws
Type: Supplementary
Rank: A
Range: Short
Chakra: 30 (-15 for ever turn activate)
Damage: N/A (+10 to Way of the Iron Claws Jutsus)
Description: The user will infuse a elemental chakra into their claws causing a effect onto the claws depending on the chakra infused.
Katon: The claws will cover in fire producing a burning effect upon contact.
Suiton: The claws are cover water, increasing its lenght up to 3 times.
Raiton: The claws are cover in lighting like how Sasuke blade gets to increase the scythes penetration and to have a numbing effect upon impact.
Doton: The claws can have its weight either increased (3 times as much) or decreased (3 times as much) to either increase impact or speed, depending on the situation (only one weight change per use, meaning either use this infusion for more weight or less with each use)
Futon: The claws are covered in greenish chakra (like what Danzo does) increaseing its cutting power.
Note: Infusions last 4 turns
Note: Can only be used 4 times a battle.
Note: Can only have one infusion active. With earth infusion, each changing of weight counts as a use.
Aiankurō no hōhō - Koko de norikoeru| Way of the Iron Claw - Get over here
Rank: B
Type: Offensive
Range: Short
Chakra: N/A
Damage: 40
Description: The user will start by kicking the opponent into the air by kicking their chest up. Once it the air the user will throw a claw with the rope that wraps around the opponent while having the claw stab into the opponent's chest. Than the user will will pull the opponent towards them while slowly undoing the rope and when the opponent is close they will completely take off the rope and punch the opponent sending them back.
Additional effects and Restrictions:
-Masters of this Art can use the claws at great speed and accurately.
- Because the user has to be able to react to the claws moving all over the user after great training becomes more flexible and better reaction so they can throw the claws more around and be able to recorparte when bringing the claw back faster.
-Bio must have at least one group of Iron Claws.
-Has to be taught by a Iron Claw Master
- Must master Taijutsu
- Must have watched Kung Pow (This is one is just for lol you can take it out if you want )
±± Declined ±± Too superficial and basically, as it stands, ridiculous.


text:
The page protectors that are compatible with this album are:
Universal 12 x 12 Page Protectors
American Crafts 12 x 12
We R Memory Keepers 12 x 12
In the Library of Memories/Finding Photo Freedom series of Big Picture Classes, the 'Things We Do' category documents everything from everyday life, school, work, hobbies, play, food, celebrations, traditions - and I think this brown is a nice cozy type of brown. Sturdy and well made, this album is made to last.
I was delighted to find this album in my local scrapbooking store. Prior to that time, I had been mulling over how I could find the right size chipboard, how to hinge the spine, and how I would attach the three ring binder hardware to the whole thing. Now the job has been done for me! The albums have a colored buckram spine so that all you have to do is use 12 x 12 paper to cover the chipboard. I covered mine with some fabric that I had been saving for ages for just this purpose. It looks great. Mod Podge and a brayer worked perfectly to apply the fabric without bubbles nor wrinkles. Great product!
I haven't had time to work on my new Modern Albums. Christmas is closing in on me. BUT what I plan on doing is a Pen & Ink drawing of a family tree then filling in the information on one for my son's family and one for my daughters family. I have already filled several of the post bound ones for them that I'm planning on transferring to the big ones. Wonderful one book instead of several with loose pages stuffed in.
I love this album b/c I can change the order of pages if I want and stack them as full as I want without having to add posts (like in post bound albums). They are the best. I use them without decorating the covers. The spines show on my shelf and I use a binder clip to hold a tag that says what is in the album. I have at least 20 of these. Recommend!
I love this album because of how practical it is...D-ring albums are now a must for me and I'll never go back! I'm not super fussy and don't usually decorate the outside of the album, but this one is perfect for that if that's what you like. I also love all the colors in comes in...makes it easy to match to a color scheme.


text:
Alessandro Guidotti, M.D.
CONTACT INFORMATIONDepartment of Psychiatry
University of Illinois at Chicago
912 S. Wood Street (MC 913),
Chicago, IL 60612
Office Phone: 312-355-5534
1973 Guidotti A, Costa E. Involvement of adenosine 3',5' monophosphate in the activation of tyrosine hydroxylase elicited by drugs. Science 179: 902 904.
1976 Gale K, Guidotti A. GABA mediated control of rat neostriatal tyrosine hydroxylase revealed by the use of intranigral muscimol. Nature 263: 691 693.
1977 Biggio G, Brodie BB, Costa E, Guidotti A. Mechanisms by which diazepam, muscimol and other drugs change the content of cGMP in cerebellar cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74: 3592 3596.
1979 Costa E, Guidotti A. Molecular mechanisms in the receptor action of benzodiazepines. In Okun GR, Cho AK (eds) Ann Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 19: 531 545.
1985 Alho H, Costa E, Ferrero P, Fujimoto M, Cosenza-Murphy D, Guidotti A. Diazepam binding inhibitor: a neuropeptide located in selected neuronal populations of rat brain. Science 229: 179-182.
1989 Sprengel R, Werner P, Seeburg PH, Mukhin AG, Santi MR, Grayson DR, Guidotti A, Krueger KE. Molecular cloning and expression of cDNA encoding a peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor. J Biol Chem 264: 20415 20421.
1998 Uzunova V, Sheline Y, Davis JM, Rasmusson A, Uzunov DP, Costa E, Guidotti A. Increase in the cerebrospinal fluid content of neurosteroids in patients with unipolar major depression who are receiving fluoxetine or fluvoxamine. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 3239-3244.
2000 Guidotti A, Auta J, Davis JM, Dwivedi Y, DiGiorgi VD, Impagnatiello F, Pandey GN, Pesold C, Sharma R, Uzunov DP, Costa E. Decrease in reelin and glutamic acid decarboxylase67 (GAD67) expression in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A postmortem brain study. Arch Gen Psych 57: 1061-1069.
2005 Veldic M, Guidotti A, Maloku E, Davis JM, Costa E. In psychosis, cortical interneurons overexpress DNA-methyltransferase 1. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102 2152-2157.
2007 Ruzicka W, Zhubi A, Veldic M, Grayson DR, Costa E, Guidotti A. (2007) Selective epigenetic alteration of layer I GABAergic neurons isolated from prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients using laser-assisted microdissection. Mol Psychiatry 12:385-397.
2009 Guidotti A, Dong E, Kundakovic M, Satta R, Grayson DR, Costa E. Characterization of the action of antipsychotic subtypes on valproate-induced chromatin remodeling. Trend Pharmacol 30:55-60
2011 Guidotti A, Auta J, Chen Y, Davis JM, Dong E, Gavin DP, Grayson DR, Matrisciano F, Pinna G, Satta R, Sharma RP, Tremolizzo L, Tueting P. Epigenetic GABAergic targets in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Neuropharmacology 60:7-8):1007-1016.
Alessandro Guidotti, M.D.
Scientific Director, Psychiatric Institute Distinguished Professor
Born August 15, 1936, Florence, Italy. Naturalized U.S. citizen, 1978. M.D., University of Florence, Italy, 1961. Visiting Scientist, Department of Pharmacology, Oxford University, United Kingdom, 1966. Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Florence, Italy, 1968-70. Visiting Associate, Laboratory of Preclinical Pharmacology, NIMH, St Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, DC, 1970-72. Acting Chief, 1973-75, and Chief, 1975-85. Section on Neuroendocrinology, Laboratory of Preclinical Pharmacology, NIMH, St Elizabeths Hospital, Washington DC. Deputy Director, FIDIA-Georgetown Institute for the Neurosciences, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 1985-94. Director, Neuroscience Training Program, Georgetown University, 1992-94. Acting Director, Center for Neuropharmacology, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 1994-96. Professor, Environmental Medicine, NYU Medical Center, 1995-96. Professor of Psychiatry and Biochemistry, UIC, Department of Psychiatry, Chicago IL, 1996—; Scientific Director, Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, UIC, Chicago IL, 2003--; Commissioned Lieutenant, Italian Medical Corp, 1961-62. Fellowship, National Italian Research Council, 1964-65. Privat Docent in Pharmacology, Italian Ministry of Education, 1968. Visiting Scientist, NIMH, 1970-72. Member of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapy, 1973. Society for Neuroscience, 1973. International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology, 1974. International Society of Neurochemistry, 1980. American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 1989. Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum, 1989. American Society of Neurochemistry, 1993, Distinguished Professors, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2011.
In the 1970s, Guidotti demonstrated that the trans-synaptic induction of tyrosine-hydroxylase depends on the nuclear translocation of protein-kinaseA catalytic subunits and the phosphorylation of specific nuclear proteins (1).
Together with Costa (1975), he reported that benzodiazepines, allosterically acting at specific GABAA receptor sites, enhance GABA's gating of Cl- channels (3,4). Pursuing this research trend, he discovered imidazenil, an imidazo-benzodiazepine acting as a selective positive allosteric modulator at GABAA receptors. Unlike other benzodiazepines, imidazenil is devoid of tolerance or dependence liabilities and may become the drug of choice to treat psychoses associated with GABAergic dysfunction (4-6). He also discovered (1990s) that SSRIs preferentially facilitate GABA's action at GABAA receptors by increasing brain neurosteroid content with potency greater than 5HT-reuptake inhibition (7).
Guidotti and his co-investigators (1998-2000) pioneered studies on the role of reelin in human cortex. Reelin is synthesized and secreted from GABAergic neurons into the extracellular matrix. He demonstrated that reelin acting at integrin receptors facilitates the translation of mRNAs located in dendrites of cortical pyramidal neurons (8). In cortical GABAergic neurons of schizophrenia patients, reelin and GAD67 expressions are downregulated (8), very likely by epigenetic promoter hypermethylation (9-12) related to high-order chromatin remodeling dysfunctions. Guidotti and collaborators recently discovered that valproate, an effective coadjuvant in psychosis treatment, inhibits brain chromatin histone deacetylases and promotes histone tail acetylation thereby downregulating methylation of promoters expressed by cortical GABAergic neurons (11). He proposes that demethylation of promoters expressed in GABAergic neurons could be a mechanism operative in the antipsychotic action of valproate (11,12).


text: Ooh! Flamebait! Nathan Moore wrote: > I regularly teach a college course in a physics department that deals > with scientific computation. After students take the course, I expect > that they'll be able to write simple "c-tran" style programs for data > analysis, write basic MD or MC simulations, and be fairly fluent in > Mathematica. > > In the past, I figured that with the breadth of topics included in the > course, Fortran, specifically the basic, simple, and reliable F77 > dialect (w/ some F90 conveniences) was the language to teach. In my own > head, my rationale was: > - Most students can grasp the basics of fortran in half a day's reading, > so I can spend more class time on science and math (probably because > there are no pointers - I think that C is much harder for students and > sometimes "seems" less like mathematical syntax than f77) > - "Classical Fortran" is a great text and is readable for self-study (I > know of no such text for C/C++) > - several free compilers exist (g95 seems ok so far) > - Netlib, lapack, and numerical recipes cover the math library adequately > - F77 is compiled (Perl/python are too slow for an MD/MC sim and I > figure that students should know at least on compiled language and one > scripting language to be competent) > - MPI is a relatively basic addition to the language (again, no > pointers, allocation, or addressing) > > After reflection though, I've started to wonder about the wisdom of my > choice. Specifically (like RGB), I love the GSL library, and extending > GSL to fortran in an intro class is non-trivial. Additionally, most > vendors supply "fast" hardware libraries in C (I may be ignorant, but if > a student wants to call an AMD ACML fast-math function( > http://developer.amd.com/acml.jsp), or write a linear algebra function > to run on a graphics card(http://developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda.html > <http://developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda.html>), the vendors seem to > assume that you'll write the code in C). > > Also, and more relevant, I assume that most employers word-associate > "Fortran is to backwards as C is to competence". > > So, I'm thinking about reworking the class to favor C, and fearing 3 > weeks of pointer and addressing hell. For those of you who teach > scientific computation (and also those of you who hire undergrads), I'd > be grateful for your thoughts. One specific question I have is what > text covers scientific programming and touches on MPI using the C language. With the advent of F90 and F95, the ability to call a C/C++ library routine became significantly simpler. That said, it's not ever "exactly" simple to port someone else's libs from one language to another, but it's not really that hard, either. In the atmospheric sciences community, well, call us backward, but most of our applications are still coded in the arcane language of our fathe... er, in Fortran. Mostly for the reasons you originally cite. and, no, they haven't changed. As for an employer looking for a C-competent programmer over a Fortran-competent programmer, well, they'd not get a great deal if they want someone to work with a suite of models in the "wrong" language. They should be looking for someone who's able to deal with the language of interest... and perhaps to pick up a new language if the new model of the day warrants it. -- Gerry Creager -- gerry.creager at tamu.edu Texas Mesonet -- AATLT, Texas A&M University Cell: 979.229.5301 Office: 979.458.4020 FAX: 979.862.3983 Office: 1700 Research Parkway Ste 160, TAMU, College Station, TX 77843


text:
So Ballin Roots is Lercher's friend... Fancy telling him to get his arse in gear dude?
So Ballin Roots is Lercher's friend... Fancy telling him to get his arse in gear dude?
Welcome Cool Clyde.... Holla at me if u wanna trade somethin. I need a change .... too many injuries on my squad.
Freakin' Vucevic missed 3 weeks because of a freakin' concussion.
Welcome back Clyde missed u niggy you got a pretty damn good team I can't believe they were 2-10 must of been inactive as fcuk.
I'm calling it now you will make the playoffs as a #8 seed in my division over Rapskillions.
That last week against me (soupastars) might be a big game for your team as well as myself to lock a spot.
Glad to have you in the league Clyde! The Killing Floor has a lotta potential. Will be cool to see what you do with them.
Anybody notice how close my matchup is at this point? ****s tight.. It'll come down to who plays well tnite. Of course it will be the Scorgasms who prevail.
I would like to welcome p0nder primetime back to the league.
He's taking over for the Shaolin Killas.
He won't be an easy win like the Killas were so have your teams ready.
Most likely he won't make the playoffs but he'll be here to disturb and cause chaos to those record padders out there.
yeah fellas i'm back! I'm open to all trades and potential collusion to ensure your enemies don't make the playoffs. Hit me up!
Rotterdam.. Soupastars.. can you guys respond to your offers?
Anyone interested in playing in a daily/weekly Fanta$y league?
Check out DraftStreet.com, play free or play for cash ($2, $5 and up).
They have Fantasy NBA leagues every single night; you join, pick a team
and a league type (snake, head2head, salarycap, pickem, etc), and get
paid that night if you win a cash tournament.
You can play whenever you want for as much or as little as you want.
Try it out through this special contest link, and get a Free entry into
a Free contest with $500 in prizes:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
Get a 100% bonus on your first deposit if you try out their cash games.
Let me know if you have any questions. I've been playing there for awhile,
I started with $20, and between winning and losing, i'm pretty much even,
but the thrill of the competition is what it's all about.
I'm planning on starting a CoolClyde league, so you can play against me
on a daily/weekly basis, but check it out and play for free for now, or
pony up some bucks and put yo money where yo mouth is.
^i don't know man, even if i beat Coquis this week, Soupastars are by far the most formidable team to get past, and even if I beat you, I may STILL not make the playoffs. Scorgasms and Hot Mice both lost to Coquis by not playing with their best foot forward, leaving men on the bench, keeping indefinitely injured players on the roster, and then replacing them with players who didn't even play that week. it was disheartening to say the least, watching Hot Mice lose by a point, and Scorgasms lose by the amount he left on the bench. and to add insult to injury, Coquis smack-talked the hell out of them. I've done my best to make this a competitive situation, I may have to rely on others to help me get in. feel free to leave your players on the bench. hah! catch you later.


text:
Sony's OPSIGATE is a comprehensive web-based content management and delivery system that enables easy and secure access to shared surgical video, stills and documents throughout a hospital network. This video management system archives, organizes and distributes all digital content, without taxing a hospitals bandwidth.
The OPSIGATE system provides an efficient, economical way for medical professionals to share visual content for education, training, research and consultations. The system is fully scalable and can be expanded as the facility's storage needs grow and become more complex. Supporting HD or SD technology, it offers immediate access to surgical images and gives doctors who are off site access to the network archive from wherever they may be.
By working in tandem with the HVO-1000MD HD Blu-ray™ Medical Recorder, the system creates a seamless enterprise recording and retrieval system for the OR. The HVO-1000MD records the surgical video and automatically sends it to the OPSIGATE system, allowing clinicians to access, view, organize and distribute the surgical video to other patient care stakeholders immediately.
For more information, visit www.sony.com


text:
Progressive religious leaders weigh in on 1st Baptist's 'Grinch Alert' website, calling it everything from a marketing ploy to just plain mean
DAVID TAFFET | firstname.lastname@example.com
Locally owned Viewpoint Bank is on First Baptist Church's naughty list. They have poinsettias in their branches, but they don't have a Christmas tree.
American Airlines made the naughty list because of "excessive use of holiday, no mention of Christmas. With a name like American Airlines, come on."
Because what's more American than telling someone else that they need to observe your religion?
Cracker Barrel "includes Santa and Christ in store." That's nice according to First Baptist.
Hopefully it's Santa as we know him today — in the red suit that was created by Coca Cola for a 1935 ad campaign. The red was chosen to match Coke's corporate color. Apparently, nothing says Christmas like corporate greed to First Baptist.
Previously, Santa was "dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot," as described in Twas the Night Before Christmas.
To combat the so-called "War on Christmas," First Baptist Church in Dallas created a new website, GrinchAlert.com, for people to report stores and other service companies that are naughty or nice. Naughty is anyone who greets you with that offensive term, "Happy Holidays."
The Rev. Steven Pace suggested the website shows that First Baptist isn't paying attention to the right issues this holiday season.
"I can't believe an institution with that kind of capacity to do real social action work could concern itself with something so trivial," Pace said.
"They need something more meaningful to do."
Yet emphasizing the consumer side of Christmas and penalizing retailers that don't put Jesus in the middle of their marketing plans is, apparently, exactly what First Baptist wants.
Macy's in the Galleria is on the naughty list because a single employee in a single transaction returned a customer's "Merry Christmas" with the offensive "You, too."
And no doubt it was the Muslim extremists in the small town of Crowley, Texas south of Fort Worth who hung "Happy Holidays" in huge letters in front of city hall. Or was it their massive Jewish population?
"How about peace on earth and good will to all?" suggested the Rev. Colleen Darraugh of MCC of Greater Dallas. "It's the kind of thing that gives Christians a bad rap."
She said that although she's Christian and celebrates Christ at Christmas, she has Jewish friends whom she wishes Happy Hannukah.
"We want to wish happy holidays and seasons greetings to people of all faiths," she said.
Darraugh said that by emphasizing what retailers are doing, it emphasized that Christmas was for consumers.
She questioned whether the website's creators know about the religious part of the holidays … uh, Christmas.
Cantor Don Croll of Temple Shalom in North Dallas said, "So I guess at New York-style delis, they should just say 'Happy Hanukkah.'"
He pointed out that The Christmas Store in Richardson has a large Hanukkah section and wondered if it offended First Baptist that a store with that name would be selling anything else, or if it should offend Jews to shop in a store with that name?
"I guess I'm old fashioned. I like saying happy holidays and including everybody," he said.
The Rev. Jo Hudson of Cathedral of Hope was aghast at a church's emphasis on the retail aspect of the holiday rather than the religious part of Christmas.
"It shifts focus from what it should be," she said.
Hudson suggested more appropriate lessons from a church might be feeding the hungry, caring for the sick or, if retail must be the emphasis, buying toys for poor children.
She admired it as a successful marketing scheme. But questioned whether Christmas be used as such a blatant promotional mechanism by a church?
But Hudson did acknowledge the ploy's success.
"The website is clever because people have responded to it," she said.
Northaven United Methodist Church Senior Pastor Eric Folkerth agreed with Hudson, but he questioned whether the campaign appealed to prospective members or the lowest denominator of the church's base.
"The pastor there has shown himself to be a master of publicity," Folkerth said. "But it only speaks well to the people they already have."
Folkerth called the campaign silly, annoying and mean.
"Among his base it sells, but it sells a theology of division. He has a remarkable way of doing divisive things," Folkerth said, referring to Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church.
Folkerth also suggested that during a recession, the website sends bad signals.
"Given the way the economy is, it's such a bad message to say we're not going to this store or that because of a perceived lack of Christian-ness," he said.Folkerth said that religion should call us to our better natures.
"This doesn't seem like our better nature," he said.
"People who are secure in who they are don't have to impose it on other people," Hudson said, adding that people of different faiths have more in common than they have differences.
"How you greet people isn't a measure of your faith," she said
"How you treat people is."
She said the GrinchAlert.com website was a good example of people not treating each other well and she found it particularly offensive during Christmas.
"Someone can wish me Happy Holidays and I can wish them Merry Christmas," Darraugh said.
Taking either of those greetings as anything but best wishes, she said, "flies in the spirit of Christ who brought good will for all."
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition December 17, 2010.


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Researchers/Alumnus inducted into Equine Hall of Fame
by Jenny Blandford
Four scientists were inducted into the University of Kentucky Equine Research Hall of Fame on October 25 at Keeneland Race Course by the Gluck Equine Research Foundation. Two of the inductees are professors at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and a third is an alumnus.
Douglas F. Antczak (left) and Alan J. Nixon (center) of Cornell University, along with alumnus I.G. Joe Mayhew (right) of Massey University, and Peter J. Timoney of UK's Gluck Equine Research Center, were selected for their contributions to equine science and research. Nominated by their peers and colleagues, the four individuals were selected by past Hall of Fame inductees.
"On behalf of the Gluck Equine Research Foundation board, I would like to congratulate this year's inductees," said Walter Zent, chairman of the foundation's board of directors. "We were fortunate to have many excellent nominees who have dedicated their lives to equine research."
Connecticut native Antczak, the Dorothy Havemeyer McConville Professor of Equine Medicine at the James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, joined the staff in 1979. In 1994, he became the director of the Baker Institute for Animal Health, a post he held for 15 years. For the past 30 years, Antczak has conducted research in equine immunology, genetics and reproduction. For more than 15 years, Antczak was also a major participant in the Horse Genome Project.
"It is a tremendous honor to be inducted into the University of Kentucky's Equine Research Hall of Fame," Antczak said. "I feel very privileged to be associated in this way with so many outstanding scientists who have devoted their careers to advancing the health and well-being of the horse."
Nixon is Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Director of the Comparative Orthopaedics Laboratory and the JD&ML Wheat Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Laboratory at Cornell University. His clinical work and teaching at Cornell focus on musculoskeletal injury and repair, with a specific interest in regenerative medicine. He also has an adjunct appointment as professor at Colorado State University.
Nixon has authored more than 280 papers and book chapters, two texts on equine orthopedics and is a member of numerous veterinary organizations. He currently has a five-year $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant. He also serves as a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration panel on Cell and Gene Therapy.
"What an extraordinary honor to be recognized among such giants in equine research," Nixon said. "I doubt I measure up to many in the University of Kentucky Equine Research Hall of Fame, but I am humbled by this prestigious nomination, and thank the many driven people in my research career who have asked the questions and helped me seek the answers."
Mayhew, who earned a PhD in 1978 at the College, focuses on studying neurological disorders in horses in New Zealand and worldwide, is a founding graduate of Massey Veterinary School and currently assists in training future veterinarians at Massey. Mayhew has an interest in equine medicine and comparative neurology and has spoken on these subjects in a variety of countries.
Equine Research Hall of Fame nominees can be living or deceased, active or retired in the field of equine research. Established in 1990, the Equine Research Hall of Fame honors international scientific community members biennially who have made equine research a key part of their careers, recognizing their work, dedication and achievements in equine research.
The Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, on the University of Kentucky campus, is home to the Equine Research Hall of Fame. For more information, visit http://www.ca.uky.edu/gluck.


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(1) Suffering is a fact of life. As such, it serves as a corollary to pleasure. As if to suggest that they are commensurate: the greater the potential of one, the greater the potential of the other.
(2) Suffering is especially associated with life between paradise lost and regained. Suggesting to C. S. Lewis that we experience complex love, pertaining to the love of God expressed in context of a situation seriously compromised by sin.
(3) Suffering can serve a variety of constructive purposes, as when it primes us to be more available to persons in dire need. Or simply incite us to get our priorities in order, since it is not uncommonly the lesser good than the flagrant evil that keeps us from exploring the greater good. Which involves glorifying God and enjoying him forever.
(4) Suffering is tied into a conflict of cosmic proportions. Which leads us to conclude that it should be expected as a consequence. As such, it is analogous to the adversity and devastation we experience when caught up in armed conflict.
(5) Suffering alerts us to the brevity of life. So that as the grass of the field, we spring up only to shortly wither and die. Consequently, it serves as a reality check, other features notwithstanding.
(6) Suffering can result from indulgence. Reminding us of the need for moderation. Thus soliciting the sage caution concerning "too much of a good thing."
(7) Suffering can likewise result from our efforts to excel in some regard. Accordingly, something we are willing to embrace so as to achieve our goals. Hence, while not desirable in itself, welcomed in context.
(8) Suffering is often inflicted by others. In terms of the adverse circumstances passed on from one generation to the next. Then compounded by adverse behavior of our contemporaries.
(9) Suffering can in some measure be avoided if proper precautions are taken. Failing to do so, we can expect matters to deteriorate. Not only for ourselves, but as noted above, for those we influence.
(10) Suffering can result from our efforts to do good. Since these may be misunderstood, or conflict with the agenda of others. In any case, since there is a risk involved in social engagement.
(11) Suffering can be used as a means of coercion. Accordingly, it appeals to those who wish to impose their will on others. As an indication of their inability or unwillingness to rely on persuasion.
(12) Suffering is graphically associated with crucifixion. Recalling Kazoh Kitamori's observation: "God in pain is the God who resolves our human pain by his own. Jesus Christ is the Lord who heals our human wounds by his own (1 Peter 2:24)" (Theology of the Pain of God, p. 20).
(13) Suffering serves as a reminder to invest in eternity. Recalling a pertinent text, "I want to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Phil. 3:10).
In greater detail, I authored Pain As a Means of Grace (Wipf & Stock). At the outset, it was noted: "Aristotle succinctly observed, 'To perceive is to suffer' (De Anima). Consequently, we must come to grips with pain if we are to negotiate life meaningfully."


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Aviva Premiership
Tindall re-signs with Gloucester
ESPN Staff
June 26, 2012
Mike Tindall will play again for Gloucester next term © Getty Images
Mike Tindall has signed a new deal with Gloucester in a player/coach capacity.
Tindall has penned a new one-year deal with Gloucester despite his days at Kingsholm appearing to be at an end after his contract expired at the end of last season. Tindall had been linked with a move cross-Channel but in recent times he made it clear that he was keen to stay at Gloucester.
Tindall will work alongside the backs and also focus on defence in his new remit where he will form part of new boss Nigel Davies' backroom staff. On the playing front, Tindall will have to vie with the likes of Tim Molenaar, Jonny May, Henry Trinder and new signing Billy Twelvetrees for a spot in the centres.
"I do see Mike as fundamental to the way we can move forward over the next couple of years," Davies told the Gloucester Citizen. "He has played here for a long time and understands the culture, he understands the playing group, and also he's got a very good rugby mind.
"He's going to have to change his mindset a little bit, and there will be challenges for him, as he understands. But what Mike will have to do now is work very hard on the coaching side of things.
"Over the next couple of years I'm sure we'll see Mike develop into an excellent coach. The whole of the backline is young, inexperienced but very exciting. I'm looking forward to working with them and having seen a bit of them already, they do possess a lot of talent, but you need to counterbalance that. Mike brings experience and continuity into that area, and also he's a slightly different dynamic to some of the players we already have.
The Citizen also reports that Gloucester will look to recruit a scrum coach to work alongside forwards boss Carl Hogg next term.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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text: I picked up the DVD of THE ARTIST at our local small-town library in rural Pennsylvania. Trust me, there's not a lot of jaded art critics around here. And I'm pretty sure it was available via Redbox at the local grocery stores as well, alongside action movies and slasher flicks. And, yes, nobody held a gun to my head. My girlfriend and I both saw THE ARTIST of our free will . . . and we genuinely enjoyed it. Why is that so hard to believe? "Average" people may have broader tastes than you realize. It all depends on what you're in the mood for. Sometimes you feel like a comedy, sometimes you feel like a serious historical drama, sometimes you feel like an action flick, sometimes you feel like a fun, breezy return to the Silent Era. To continue the culinary metaphor: Sure, you can always order the same thing every time you go out, because, hey, you know what you like. But why not try that new Ethiopian restaurant once in a while, just for variety's sake? Heck, even "average" people go out for Indian or sushi sometimes, not just snobby restaurant critics!


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KCSM's San Luis Potosi, SL to be changed to Interpuerto, SL
Announcement Number: IM2012-682
Categories: Domestic Mexico,Domestic Price,Domestic Service Lanes and Schedules,Domestic Other Service Information,International Mexico,International Price,International Service Lanes and Schedules,International Other Service Information
Posted Date: November 28, 2012
Dear Intermodal Customer:
Effective December 1, 2012, the Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) terminal formerly known as San Luis Potosi, SL will change names and be known as Interpuerto, SL. This will only affect freight with an origin or destination at the (San Luis Potosi) Interpuerto intermodal facility location.
Customers with freight originating or terminating at San Luis Potosi, SL should update billing to reflect Interpuerto, SL beginning December 1, 2012.
Intermodal Business Team
If you have any questions please contact your Union Pacific representative.


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According to the UN Charter Preamble (1945), "The UN … will employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples." In this spirit, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) was created to promote the unification and harmonisation of the law of international trade, assist in domestic law reform, and coordinate the work of other similar organisations. This UNITAR briefing will equip participants with the necessary tools to participate and better understand these processes in order to facilitate the harmonisation of international trade.
At the end of this briefing, participants should be able to:
- Identify the activities and objectives of UNCITRAL;
- Understand UNCITRAL's role in the UN system and the contribution of international trade lay to development cooperation;
- Be familiar with core UNCITRAL legislative texts;
- Comprehend policies and strategies of UNCITRAL, including current projects and future programmes.
The briefing will address the following areas: the international sale of goods, electronic commerce, international transport of goods, public procurement, security interests, settlement of disputes, insolvency, UNCITRAL technical assistance and coordination role, and UNCITRAL and the UN Broader Agenda.
The briefing will be in a face-to-face format and will utilise presentation from representatives of UNCITRAL as well as facilitate discussion amongst participants.
The briefing is primarily, though not exclusively, designed for members of Permanent Missions accredited to the United Nations Office at Vienna, who might be in charge of attending UNCITRAL meetings, or of facilitating the consideration of UNCITRAL texts by national legislative organs with a view to fostering their adoption and implementation.
UNITAR reserves the right to make a selection among candidates, if necessary. The selected candidates are requested to regard their participation as a firm commitment and to attend the briefing in its entirety. Please do not apply if you think you may not be able to attend the meeting.