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blockbuster is offering subscribers the ability to rent as many dvds as they like each month, keeping them for as long as they like. the number of dvds subscribers can have out at any one time is three (for us$19.99 per month), 5 (for $29.99 per month), or 8 (for $39.99 per month). the rental company also announced that subscribers will receive two free in-store coupons each month. the movies are sent and returned through the u.s. postal service.
the online rental service is one step toward blockbuster's goal of completely integrating its in-store and online movie rentals, allowing consumers to rent movies from either source for a subscription fee. that integration is not expected until next year.
for more info, check out cnet and blockbuster's press release.
joshua opinion
blockbuster's integration plan is a great marketing technique. the company has the ability to connect its services in a way that netflix can't. being able to rent movies in the store or through the mail is great since you may not have to wait as long between rentals. you can just return the movie you have and get another one right away.
the funny thing about this service is the claims of cheaper prices. netflix offers a three-movies-out plan for $21.99, and wal-mart has one for $18.76 (to which i currently have a subscription). while i can see blockbuster's desire to compete with netflix, why isn't it competing with wal-mart, too? maybe blockbuster is waiting for its big integration before offering the service for a cheaper price.
unless there is a pretty good reason, i am not sure that i would want to switch services.
user comments 35 comment(s)
|whatever (7:45am est thu aug 12 2004)
get a dvd off ebay for $5 – by ebaby
|hmm… (8:21am est thu aug 12 2004)
i never really thought posting dvds would work… i mean, how many are going to get lost in the post? how many are going to be stolen and claimed to be lost in the post? i'd much rather prefer to go to the rental store and rent stuff out as opposed to having to wait on the postal system… – by the patriarch
|it just takes too long (8:40am est thu aug 12 2004)
im trying out the beta free 4 weeks trial. i will never try these online dvd rentals especially when i have to pay for this kind of service. it just takes too long. and how busy are we to drive to the local video store and pick out a flick? – by lightz
|i'm going to check it out (8:53am est thu aug 12 2004)
i'm a current netflix customer, and while i love the service, blockbuster is cheaper, and it would be nice to get those two free coupons per month since new releases and high demand content isn't always as easy to get right away on netflix (you end up on a waiting list in such circumstances).
walmart's services don't interest me though. they're already known for censoring what they'll sell in-store, and i don't want to have my selection of movies limited by their visions of what's acceptable vs. non-acceptable. although i haven't heard of them censoring their dvd rental selections yet, the precedent has already been set.
blockbuster appears cheaper than netflix, they offer two free rentals from the stores per month (good for those 'just released' items), and they potentially have a larger selection than netflix does. unless netflix offers me an incentive not to leave, i can see myself going to blockbuster if the trial offer proves to be a good experience.
my two cents… – by mr. cancelled
|also (9:15am est thu aug 12 2004)
i just signed up for the 2 week trial this morning… already have my coupons for the in-store rental.
also on their site i noticed that they have a $24.95 version based on in-store rentals (2 at a time). if the mail one doesn't float my boat i may try the in store one. late fees are normally what kill me… yes i am a procrastinator. – by mankey
|old news … again (9:15am est thu aug 12 2004)
this has been advertised in the uk for weeks now. it's also a rip off of another site that started doing this about two or three years ago in the uk. i don't know if they bought out their ipr, but if not that blockbuster could be in trouble. – by brindy
|cant beat pay per view (9:19am est thu aug 12 2004)
adelphias pay per view is 3.95 wich is cheaper than a single block buster rental we have 30 channels of pay per view. soon they will be rolling out on demand which similar to ppv allows you to pick any movie you want from their library to start at any time. ansd as an hbo subscriber we'll get hbo on demand whcih will be free with our hbo subscription that will have a catalog of hbo movies and shows that we can choose from. i dont thin that sa much better deal than netflix and block buster. – by js
|a real market (9:20am est thu aug 12 2004)
hopefully blockbuster includes video game rentals in this plan. this is really where a good market exists. think about it. how long does it take to beat or get bored with the average console game? roughly a month in my experience. so either you can rent 3 games for that whole month for $19.99 or pay upwards of $40 to purchase the game for the month's worth of pleasure it will give you. sounds like a good market first and a real benefit to consumers. that is, if blockbuster goes that route. – by aleph null
|online movies (10:40am est thu aug 12 2004)
the problem i see with renting online is that it is so hard to get new releases. i mean they are rented out faster than the local store itself. i didn't like waiting on a list for new releases. so on top of the online subscription i had to go to my local video store anyway! so i got rid of that online crap at least until they work out all the bugs. online ordering is a great idea but there are not enough new releases to go around and i mean for weeks on end! – by richard
|how long (10:47am est thu aug 12 2004)
so how long does it take to download? and can you burn them to disc after you get them? do you have to "retrun" them (i.e. delete them) before you get more? copy protection? – by wanna know
|wanna know (10:53am est thu aug 12 2004)
it's web based mail order basically. you create a list of movies that you want to see. they send you as many as your subscription allows you to have out at once via us mail or dhl or something, and then when you are done watching one, you send it back then they send you the next one on your list. – by aleph null
|how long? (11:27am est thu aug 12 2004)
can anyone tell me how long does the different services take to deliver a movie (average)? rate them for us… – by nunhgrader
|i still don't get it… (11:40am est thu aug 12 2004)
get off your ass, drive for 5 minutes and get the movie when you want it.
if you're that lazy, order it through your satellite or digital cable provider. instant flick, nothing to return and it still comes through in 5.1 audio. all you lose are the bonus materials on the disc… personally, i don't care for that stuff anyway. – by fairplay
|its good but… (11:52am est thu aug 12 2004)
i'm a netflix subscriber but i also have the rent-all-you-want at blockbuster. the main reason (which has already been posted) is for new releases. it seems like if you don't get it as soon as it comes out then you'll be without it for a good month or two.
the reason i'll stick with netflix however is their huge selection of movies (especially anime) and until blockbuster can offer something similar i'll stay with what i've got.
also, it usually takes 2 days (as in they ship it monday, i get it wednesday) for my netflix to get to me. i don't know how blockbuster will fare in shipping times. – by si1iconpi
|… (12:06pm est thu aug 12 2004)
if i want to rent 3 movies, i'll just go to the blockbuster or hastings in town and pay 4 dollars. jeez – by gir
|gir (12:49pm est thu aug 12 2004)
the only set of 3 movies you can rent for $4 together at blockbuster were ones filmed before 1970. 3 movies at $3 a piece is $9. not figuring in any potential late fees, do this twice a month, and you might as well join netflix of blockbuster online for the sole purpose of saving money. – by aleph null
|ripping dvds (12:56pm est thu aug 12 2004)
if you are into ripping the dvds you rent then netflix is a good way to go. on the 8 a month plan, if you rip them all with in a day or two of getting them and mail them back it turns into like $1.10 to rent a movie.
its totaly illegal of course and i should hope that no one here would do such a thing… – by me
|re: nunhgrader (4:07pm est thu aug 12 2004)
i can only speak for netflix, but the turnaround time is very impressive!
typically, if we send a movie back to them, they'll receive it within 36-48 hours, and we'll typically have movies sent back out to us within the same time frame.
my understanding is that they have local offices in most major cities rather than send all movies back to one location. if this is accurate (it's what i've been told, but not by netflix), it may help to explain the fast turnaround times.
very cool though – if you play your cards right, you could end up with between 6-9 movies a week (though 3-6 is more accurate for us since one of the main attractions for me is not having a deadline to worry about. thus i'm not too quick to return the movies sometimes) – by mr. cancelled
|not of interest (5:05pm est thu aug 12 2004)
until they start offering porn.
get with the program folks. – by browntown geek
|this is funny (5:55pm est thu aug 12 2004)
i have 100/100mbit connetion to the internet and i use to have a think with blockbuster were we would stream live video to are house it cost 2 bucks i think for each movie the problem with this was it took for ever for new releases to be abalbe so it was a flop. – by ♣ co|dcarbon
|$1 rentals (11:12pm est thu aug 12 2004)
all the video stores in my area (hollywood video, family video, jc flicks and some other mom & pop places) all charge $1 for 5 nights for *all* movies. dvd, vhs, new release, whatever. late fees for hollywood aren't bad since they basically just re-rent it to you for another $1 for 5 days if you're late on the first 5 days. sounds like you guys are getting screwed! there's a blockbuster here, too, but i haven't been inside the store for a couple of years. gee, i wonder why. – by jrink
|$1 rentals???? (8:49am est fri aug 13 2004)
man, jc flicks and family video by me are about $3 for new releases. – by aleph null
|gameznflix.com (3:36pm est sat aug 14 2004)
gameznflix.com is only 18.50 a month for 6 movies or games out at a time. 2 day shipping time for me. you can purchase as well. check it out. – by keith
|netflix (8:59pm est thu aug 19 2004)
since i am a movie freak..i have memberships in blockbuster on line and netflix..i just finishd with the instore blockbuster for 24.00 per month ..2 out at a time…but you can take the 2 back and get 2 more the same day..we watch over 100 movies for that month lol..usuall i get about 6 movies a week from netflix..mail back next day..as soon as the movie reaches the post office, they send you 3 more..all in all i'm pleased with all the rental systems…
rosy – by rosy
|shipping big thing so far… (8:12am est mon aug 23 2004)
i've been a netflix subscriber for about 3-4 years now. with a mail return address two towns away, i can mail my movies back monday and get the new releases mailed out tuesday. i decided to try out blockbuster and see how they fare. so far the cheaper price and 2 in-store coupons are a plus. but their shipping needs to be revamped before i'm hooked. with their plans to expand it may work out. happy renting. – by movie geek
|too lazy? (5:45pm est thu aug 26 2004)
no blockbuster anywhere near my home has anything close a selection of 15+ jean luc godard films nor does it have 15+ akira kurosawa works. blockbuster online does. i may be a snob, but i am not lazy. – by ls
|fairplay (2:59pm est wed sep 01 2004)
for most people is does have to do with getting "off your ass" it more like "getting it up the ass" when life gets in the way and you can't make in time to return the video/dvd back to the store, and then your charged for more then what you wanted to pay to watch a movie the dare thing.. might as well have gone to theater and paid those outrageous prices! – by back off!
|leery (3:09pm est wed sep 01 2004)
am currently a netflix satisfied customer and saw that blockbuster was offering the same thing for less. i don�t know if i was to try it out.. i use to go to the store and rent until an employee at blockbuster stole one of my returned video. i had to go through a whole ordeal to get my named of cleared and to prove that i returned the video. i haven�t been back since. i love no late charges, security and the flexibility i get from netflix. delivery is great! two days tops!
if there is another company that is cheaper with that same flexibility i would definitely considering changing. – by lovin' it
|gameznflix.com (6:11pm est wed sep 08 2004)
i recently tried gameznflix and thought it was horrible. i joined a month ago, requested four different movies and games. one movie came three weeks after requesting it, and just to see what would happen, i had requested the same movie from netflix. i moved it up in the queue to see the difference in the two. i got the movie from netflix the next day after requesting it, and three weeks later from gameznflix. needless to say, i canceled right away. and, supposedly, you can have three out at a time or whatever it is, but it only sent that one movie out (again, three weeks late) while i had three other movies and/or games in the queue. i'll stick with netflix. – by netflix fan
|netflix vs blockbuster (10:58am est fri sep 10 2004)
i have been using netflix for 6 months and i rec my movies then next day and when i send them back they get it the next day (excluding holidays and weekends) and only twice has a title i wanted been on long wait. blockbuster i had tried for two weeks free trial and it took an extra day to ship and return plus half of what i wanted was on long wait. also titles i requested and was at the top of my list that said it was avail did not ship and they sent titles from the middle of my list. which is bad when they ship discs from a series and you get disc 3 and 4 before 1 and 2. never that problem with netflix. netfilx is worth the extra money. i canceled blockbuster. still it does not hurt to try the free trial and test them out. – by i m disturbed
|blockbuster charged me for a movie i returned (8:51am est mon sep 20 2004)
i cancelled my trial membership and 2 weeks later i got a nice little email that blockbuster did not receive one of the dvds i had mailed back (i mailed back all 3 as part of the same drop) and were kindly charging my credit card $21.99. wonder if i can dispute it with my credit card. has anyone else had this problem? maybe they think they're losing money on trial memberships? – by feeling ripped off
|netflix (5:17pm est thu sep 23 2004)
aggo oru trsoni satone agutirto horani gurato churoi is dtof guniyt haur – by eden
|blockbuster video rental online (12:02pm est sat sep 25 2004)
i signed up and it has been a nightmare. their customer service is terrible, they only answer their phones mon-fri.. the dvd's take over 3 days to arrive! i canceled after the 2 week free trial and there are still two dvd's that have not even gotten to me yet. one is over 5 days late! stay away from blockbuster – they stink! – by m gerard
|competition (1:32pm est sat sep 25 2004)
so how would a virtually unknown independent compete in this market? dvdbarn.com is now taking on the corporate giants by offering 1/2 the price for their unlimited 3-out plan, more selection, and a next-day-or-free guarantee in over 200 cities. it�s all quiet and under the radar until some major news feed picks it up… – by che
|free trials (9:47pm est thu feb 24 2005)
it seems like almost every single company offering online rentals has some sort of free trial program. i think if you're really serious about online rentals, you could spend some time trying each of them out to find the one that works best for you. the online rental concept is still relatively new, so i have to think that the service will improve in the near future.
here is a pretty nicely designed comparison site for online video game and movie rentals:


text:
The Global Affairs Center at Shoreline Community College, directed by Edmonds resident Larry Fuell, on Wednesday continues its series on how life has changed since the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
This week's speaker is Michael Ramos, Executive Director, Church Council of Greater Seattle, who will focus on what we have learned since September 11, 2001, about our own and others' religious values, traditions and practices? Is one religious faith more compatible than another with our social, economic and political circumstances? Are we becoming more or less tolerant of others of different religious faiths?
The meeting runs from 7-8:30 p.m. at Shoreline Community College, Room 9208 PUB, and is free and open to the public.

subset: commoncrawl


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- The employing institution is expected to provide a supervisor for the intern. Supervisors normally hold an advanced degree and have several years of successful experience in their professional positions.
- The supervisor is expected to determine the role of the intern and the specific tasks to be accomplished. The supervisor is expected to furnish a written evaluation of the intern at the end of the semester. The supervisor should contact the ILS coordinator of internships if problems arise with the intern's placement.


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Cloth diapers are less expensive. It doesn't happen often that you can choose an environmentally-friendly product that will actually save you money! The average cost of disposable diapers is $2000-$3000 per child ranging from $0.30 to $0.45 per diaper. From birth to 3 years of age one child will use 5000-7000 diapers or more! Cloth diapers can cost you as low as $300 to approximately $1000 depending on what style you choose, how many you buy and whether you use a diaper service versus home laundering. Cloth diapers usually pay for themselves within a six month period. Afterwards, you are diapering for free! If you have more than one child, your savings are even greater since you can re-use the same cloth diapers. For example in a family of 3 children, the average savings of using cloth diapers can be as high as $5000 or more! This is even factoring the costs of water, hydro and detergent used to launder your own diapers. The estimated cost of one load of laundry is $0.44-$0.78 depending on how efficient your washer and dryer are. Even if you wash your diapers every 2-3 days you are still saving lots of money by choosing cloth.
Cloth diapers are easy. With today's new cloth diapers, no need to scrape poopy diapers and use wet pails. You can also choose to use biodegradable liners avoiding any rinsing of poopy diapers. Just take the liner, flush it down the toilet and throw your diaper in your pail liner. On laundry day just take your pail liner to the washer, turn it inside out and dump the diapers and the bag in the wash. No need to even touch the dirty diapers. What's an extra load of laundry every 2-3 days when you have a baby? You are already doing lots of laundry anyways! Besides, putting in a load of laundry is faster than having to run to the store to buy diapers because you are running low. Today's diapers also come with aplix (Velcro) and snap closures so no need to use safety pins. Use an All-In-One (AIO) diaper or a pocket diaper and they can be as easy as disposable, even for Daddy's and babysitters. The wide array of styles and colors make cloth diapering fun and extra cute on your baby's bottom!
Cloth diapers are soft, comfortable and healthy for your baby. Today's cloth diapers are made from various materials such as milled fleece, hemp, bamboo and velour that make them the softest and most comfy for your baby. The materials are breathable and do not contain superabsorbent gels (sodium polyacrylate) or toxic chemicals such as dioxin that can be found in disposable diapers. Dioxin, a by-product of the paper-bleaching process, has been linked to cancers, birth defects, liver damage and skin diseases. Babies in cloth diapers are usually changed more often because it's easier to tell when they are wet. This usually results in less diaper rashes due to bacteria and ammonia coming in contact with the baby's skin. There is also evidence that the use of cloth diapers can lead to earlier potty-training since the child can actually feel when he or she is wet as opposed to when they are wearing extra-absorbent disposable diapers.
Unlike what some people think, throwing away does not mean go away! Disposable diapers are the largest non-recyclable component of household garbage. One child from birth to 3 years of age will create approximately 3 tons of garbage if using disposable diapers! In Canada, approximately 4 million disposable diapers are discarded per day (1.6 billion per year)! Disposable diapers make up the third largest source of solid waste in landfills (after paper products and food containers) and may take up to 500 years to decompose. Even more worrisome is the human waste going into our landfills (which is actually prohibited by law). Instructions on disposable diaper packaging recommend shaking fecal matters into the toilet before disposing the diaper. This is rarely done. Although no evidence of contamination has ever been documented, the presence of live viruses and bacteria in the feces can live in landfills for years and could potentially contaminate drinking water. This is even more concerning in third-world countries where landfills aren't as well constructed. Manufacturing disposable diapers that are worn by over 90% of our babies require an excessive amount of resources such as tons of plastic and millions of trees as well as lots of energy. What about the water, energy and detergent we use to launder cloth diapers? Washing your own cloth diapers every 2-3 days uses about the same amount of water as a toilet-trained child or an adult flushing the toilet. You can also choose biodegradable detergents that do not contain phosphates. Waste water from laundering your own cloth diapers is far less harmful to the environment compared to the waste water from manufacturing disposable diapers which contain chemicals and heavy metals. Some cloth diapering companies are even offering organically grown, unbleached cotton diapers which are even friendlier to the environment than other cloth diaper choices. Think about it - 7000 diapers sitting in a landfill versus 24-36 cloth diapers being used for one child or more and sometimes even re-used as second-hands for other families or even as rags later on before they are finally thrown out. You decide which is better for the environment!
Martin, J.E., 1996. Environmental impact studies of the disposal of polyacrylate polymers used in consumer products, in The Science of the Total Environment, vol. 191 p. 225-234.
McConnell, J. The Joy of Cloth Diapering. Mothering Magazine, issue 88, May/June 1998


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BANGKOK – More than 200 people have marched in Bangkok to protest military rule on the second anniversary of the coup that toppled Thailand's elected government.
The march Sunday was one of the biggest anti-junta protests since the takeover and was treated with unusual tolerance by the authorities, who usually take a heavy-handed approach to dissent.
The army took power after several months of militant and sometimes violent protests against the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted as prime minister in a 2006 coup, and his supporters and opponents have been engaged in a political power struggle since then.
The protesters oppose a draft constitution that will be put to a referendum on Aug. 7, claiming it is undemocratic.


text:
Target Audience: Software Engineer, Systems Analyst
Level of Session: Beginner
The paper is in purpose strictly informative and aims to make the reader aware of the broader needs of communities within Ethiopia. The applicability of the present Unicode standard for Ethiopic is addressed with respect to the needs of users at the office level and for electronic communications. Ethiopia and Eritrea together house nearly a hundred languages of which four were directly considered in the drafting of the current standard. A tour of the needs of the other languages is presented and an overview of ancient and liturgic practices is made. The paper presents a road map of the proposal work for Extended Ethiopic expected to come out of standards organizations in Ethiopia in the coming months and years. While the ISO/Unicode standard satisfies the requirements of Ethiopia's primary languages and more than 95% of the text being produced in Ethiopia, there remains communities actively publishing that can not yet apply the 16 bit standard and still rely on archaic proprietary systems.
|When the world wants to talk, it speaks Unicode
International Unicode Conferences are organized by Global Meeting Services, Inc., (GMS).
GMS is pleased to be able to offer the International Unicode Conferences under an exclusive
license granted by the Unicode Consortium. All responsibility for conference finances and
operations is borne by GMS. The independent conference board serves solely at the pleasure
of GMS and is composed of volunteers active in Unicode and in international software
development. All inquiries regarding International Unicode Conferences should be addressed
to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Unicode and the Unicode logo are registered trademarks of Unicode, Inc. Used with permission.
14 Jun 1999, Webmaster


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Purim is the one Yom Tov all Jews can celebrate. Special knowledge is not required and the demands of its observance are easy enough.
There are no restrictions, no prohibitions; we are simply called upon to rejoice and listen to the megillah with its story of the miraculous salvation of our people despite the evil designs of Haman. We exchange gifts, give tzedakah to the poor, dress up in costumes and celebrate at a festive seudah. In short, on Purim, we can experience joy without bounds; we need only plunge into it.
On Purim, the front door to my house, normally closed, is wide open. It simply takes too much time to respond to each ringing of the doorbell. As in all Jewish neighborhoods, young b'nei Torah come collecting for their yeshivas and people of all ages and backgrounds come soliciting for their various tzedakahs.
When the yeshiva boys come to my house and announce which school they are collecting for, I make a demand of them. "Not so fast," I say. "Make it freilich. Let me hear a good song. Let me see a good dance. Give me a little d'var Torah. Come to the table. I have some cake there so that you can make a berachah and I can say 'Amen!'"
We talk. I inquire about their families, where they reside, etc. I learned this from my revered father, HaRav HaGaon Avraham Halevi Jungreis, zt"l, who was never content with just greeting people but always engaged every person in conversation and gave him a berachah.
As a young rebbetzin with small babies, I spoke daily at the Pineview Hotel in the Catskills during the summer months. I had the great zechus to have my parents with me every Shabbos. I am not exaggerating when I say it would take us over an hour to make our exit from the dining room, as my father would stop at every table and speak with every individual, giving each a blessing. That awesome legacy left an indelible impression on my soul.
I love all my Yiddishe kinderlach. They are proof positive that Am Yisrael continues to live and thrive. These are Yiddishe neshamalach who devote this day not only to celebrations with their families and friends but to going door to door raising funds for Torah institutions.
Of course, one needs to be wary. This year, a Hispanic-looking man wearing a yarmulke came through my door and announced he was collecting money for himself and his family. He explained that they were in dire need of support.
As I mentioned, I always have a tray of cake on the table and invite all those who come in to make a berachah. On my counter I also happened to have some food I was preparing. Without asking, this man went to the counter and helped himself to the food.
"I didn't hear you make a berachah," I said. "I always like to say 'Amen.'"
He ignored me and just went on eating. I became suspicious and doubted he was a Jew.
"Do you know how to say 'hello' in Hebrew?" I asked.
"No," he replied.
"Do you know what we do as we enter and depart from a house?"
This time he answered "yes," placing his hand on his lips and making some kissing sounds in the direction of the door.
"What is this called?" I asked, pointing to the mezuzah.
"I don't know," he said.
"I don't think you're a Jew," I said. You just want to collect money from Jews."
Before sending the man on his way I told him, "I will give you a few dollars because it is Purim and we are a compassionate people. But please don't try to take advantage of our goodness in this way again."
May Hashem grant that next year we will all celebrate in Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh, where we will eternally celebrate Purim even when Mashiach comes. May we see him soon in our own day.


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Microcopy: little words make a big difference on the intranet
Some of the greatest value the digital workplace can deliver is moving internal services online, making it easier to get things done at less cost to the company. Online HR, training or meeting room booking are just some examples of services that are delivered through the intranet to save money and time.
The problem, as any regular user of these services will know, is that these are often difficult to navigate and use. At best this frustrates users; at worst it undermines trust in the intranet altogether and forces people to use offline channels.
That's all a marked difference from the real world, on the internet, where use of online channels is growing all the time. Online sales in the UK grew by 20% in the past year, and just this week two banks announced they were closing hundreds of branches as people shift to online banking.
One reason for this success in driving channel shift is that websites have invested time and resources in getting the little things right. They invest resources in testing and optimising microcopy – the small bits of text that help instruct or alleviate the concerns of users – and this has a huge impact on user experience. Data consistently shows how changes to even single words on a page can have a sizeable impact on the number and value of completed transactions.
Online retailers, in particular, have followed the advice of user experience experts like Jared Spool who've proven that small changes to even single words on a website can have a huge effect on the bottom line. In one example, Spool showed how a simple change to labelling on one page of a retailer's checkout process increased the number of completed checkouts by 45% – netting the vendor $300m in the first year. The potential to grow website revenue by millions of dollars with just simple changes that require no development has spurred retailers to invest time and money in testing and optimising every single word on their pages.
The much-lauded UK Government Digital Service followed the same approach, using A/B testing to optimise the user journey. In one example, they tried eight different variations in wording to test which best encouraged people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register. Adding one link with small changes to wording meant 350,000 more people signed up.
Yet despite the obvious benefits in cost reduction and productivity that same approach could bring inside organisations, that degree of process optimisation simply isn't happening – with the result that services are hard to use (and therefore underused).
Despite the proven benefits of optimising microcopy, this test-and-iterate process rarely happens on intranets and digital workplace tools. That's a real shame, as adapting and optimising microcopy has the potential to delight users and boost use of internal online services for very little investment. These are little changes that could make a huge difference.
How to optimise microcopy on the intranet
To see where microcopy changes could make a difference, start by finding the problem areas in feedback from across your organisation. Are HR still getting calls on a service even though it's available online? Do people still call reception to book a meeting room? Is there information that people constantly complain they can't find?
Once you've identified which user journeys need closer inspection, take a look at the analytics. Which pages in a user journey have high bounce rates? Test your hypothesis by watching real users attempt to use a service and see where they struggle.
Next, look at these pages and think what elements are ambiguous. Do you label a button submit or save? Do you provide enough guidance on the process? Or too much? Would an example help? Do you say 'three' or '3'? All of these tiny modifications can make a massive difference.
Once you've identified the problem area, test one or more solutions. The ideal way of doing this is through A/B testing, which means serving different versions of the page to users at random and testing which performs better.
If you're not able to do this – perhaps because the technical set-up of your site doesn't allow for this, then you could try changing the page and comparing before and after. You can also use the 'inspect element' option within Chrome's developer tools to make changes to the page within your browser (see our example here). This can be useful for simple tests or to show stakeholders what changes will look like.
Once you've tested your changes, implement the most successful option, or iterate further.
Make microcopy matter
Once you've seen some success in optimising your microcopy, make this part of your content processes and standards. Keep identifying problem pages, testing changes, and iterating.
Train your content publishers to do the same, emphasising the need to make the entire page or process work for users – not just the main body text. Include this in your content publisher training.
Finally, be sure to highlight the results of your content optimisation to stakeholders. It could be a quick, low-cost win that demonstrates your and your team's expertise in making the intranet work better for your organisation.
Have you had any success optimising your microcopy? Share your experiences and tips in the comments below.
There is 1 commentAdd yours
Kevin McDonnell
Great post! I have had great success with using WalkMe (https://www.walkme.com/) to do this which also gives you great insights with their analytics. That helps tuning the output to get the most valuable content/microcopy for what people want.


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The choice of a kid baby crib cushioning for your child is not one that must be ignored. Your young adult will certainly invest a large amount of time in his baby crib. Kids invest the majority of their lives loosening up – although it could not show up in this way to you when you're stiring up 3 or 4 times in the evening to take care of your young person's requirements. Older infants invest a great deal much less time relaxing, yet they're additionally in their baby cribs a large amount of the min, playing as well as determining suggests to insinuate enhancement to stand. When obtaining a flexible bed for your youngster, you might discover on your own thinking about a manufactured foam vs natural baby crib bed pillow.
The manufactured foam vs natural baby crib bed padding discussion is a pleasing one. Some fathers in addition to mothers think that the issues over the threats of artificial foam amounts hesitate, while others believe that you should not take any kind of type of type of opportunities with your child's health along with wellness. This short article evaluates the benefits in addition to negative aspects of each type of cushion in order to assist you identify.
Artificial Foam
Artificial foam bed padding head out favour nowadays, particularly taken into consideration that checks out have actually affixed flame-retardant chemicals utilized in their manufacture to producing and also condition in youngsters. These chemicals remain to be launched or to out-gas for various years after these bed pillow are made.
While it holds true that synthetic foam is undesirable, crib bed pillow companies are presently making changes to their points. Numerous cushions for infants are currently constructed from green foam along with covered with food-grade plastic for uncomplicated cleansing. A great deal of papas as well as mothers still select this sort of cushioning as a result of that it's absolutely affordable. Should you do so also, initiative to obtain one that's GREENGUARD-certified as well as pleases federal government flammability needs.
Organic youngster baby crib cushions are made with a choice of products, from all-natural latex to coconut fiber or coir, woollen, as well as natural cotton. It is thought that these products were enhanced usually with a limited quantity of chemicals taken advantage of. Commonly, this makes a natural cushion a big quantity much more costly compared to its artificial matchings. Some youngsters could likewise do not like things utilized in their manufacture, consisting of latex along with woollen. Check out http://www.sleepjunkie.org/bed-too-hot-or-too-cold-find-a-solution/ to know more about mattress.
You could relax standard with phthalates, VOCs in addition to furthermore chemical out-gassing as a whole if you go natural. Considered that all-natural things are taken advantage of in this kind of cushioning, you understand that you're offering a well balanced and healthy and balanced and also well balanced relaxing feel for your young adult. You'll additionally be assisting to offer a well balanced and healthy and balanced and also well balanced configuration for the remainder people, considering that a certified natural extra padding is made with renewable energies such as plant along with household pet dog fibers. It's likewise thought that these things were usually raised along with elevated without any generated chemicals or medicines along with herbicides.


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For the best experience on the Abcam website please upgrade to a modern browser such as Google Chrome
antigen, corresponding to amino acids 16-110 (SLPQLKPALG LPPTKLAPDQ GTLPNQQQSN QVFPSLSLIP LTQMLTLGPD LHLLNPAAGM TPGTQTHPLT LGGLNVQQQL HPHVLPIFVT QLGAQ) of Human Amelotin.
Our Abpromise guarantee covers the use of ab122312 in the following tested applications.
The application notes include recommended starting dilutions; optimal dilutions/concentrations should be determined by the end user.
|Use a concentration of 1 - 4 µg/ml.
Recommend PFA Fixation and Triton X-100 treatment
|1/50 - 1/200. Perform heat mediated antigen retrieval with citrate buffer pH 6 before commencing with IHC staining protocol.
Please note: All products are "FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY AND ARE NOT INTENDED FOR DIAGNOSTIC OR THERAPEUTIC USE"


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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- The University of Missouri has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of a former reserve linebacker who collapsed on the field during a 2005 preseason workout.
Boone County Circuit Court records filed this week refer to an undisclosed settlement. A lawyer for the mother of Aaron O'Neal said he could not discuss the details until the court approves the agreement. A hearing is set for later this month.
O'Neal was a redshirt freshman from St. Louis who collapsed on the Memorial Stadium field during a voluntary workout in July 2005. He died less than two hours later.
The lawsuit alleged that school employees failed to take medical precautions required by O'Neal's carrying of the sickle cell trait. The hereditary trait has been linked to heat stroke and exercise-induced collapse.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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NHL Playoffs: Superstitions Ain't the WayApril 5, 2008
One of the more famous superstitions is the significance of the octopi being thrown onto the ice during Detroit Red Wing games. It started in the 1950's when Detroit was going after the Stanley Cup. They only needed to win eight games (two series) because there were only the "Original Six" back then. The eight legs on the octopus represented the eight straight wins Detroit took in 1952 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
Other superstitions included Wayne Gretzky putting on his uniform from left to right and not getting a hair cut during road games. Patrick Roy would bounce and juggle a puck during intermissions and then hide it so no one would find it. Ron Hextall would hit the posts and the cross bar on the goal at the beginning of every period. The Philadelphia Flyers, during the 1970's, believed that singer Kate Smith would bring them luck. When she sang "God Bless America" before a game, live or on tape, the Flyers went 62-13-3. And then there the one about the 1950-51 New York Rangers who were losing that season until a restaurant owner made a liquid concoction. After drinking it, the Rangers won 13 straight games. Unfortunately, the effects didn't last long and New York wound up in fifth place.
Do these superstitions actually work? Some say yes and some say it's all psychological. I do know that when I swam competitively in High School (yes, we had swimming pools back then), we would shave all the hair off of our bodies to cut down on the drag in the water. Did it really help? Some took seconds off of their best times after they shaved. Was it an actual help? Or was it all in their minds?
What I do know is that the NHL has some of the most talented players in sports today. Just watch the highlight reels. Players scoring while sliding across the ice, passing pucks with amazing accuracy and making defensive plays that make fans shudder in their chairs. Do the rituals help? Who can really tell. If the player stopped their superstitious ways would they begin to lose? Some of the pros would say "Oh, yeah!" So they continue them, as ridiculous as some may be, until this one doesn't work and they discover another one.
There is one last question, though. For the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup, should I put on the right sock first or the left one?


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A step by step Christmas cookie tree
A while ago Waitrose sent me a cute little gingerbread cookie Christmas tree kit. I've done a similar thing before for the Britmums blog last year so I know it can be a bit fiddly, and I kept putting it off. Then last night the oldest decided to have a few mates round so I thought I'd crack out the gingerbread as a surprise.
Well as usual it all went a bit Pete Tong as I went upstairs quickly to do something and didn't hear the oven timer. The festive chiming of the smoke alarm reminded me that they were still in the oven and I came down to find my little gingerbread stars a bit charred, so I'm afraid I can't tell you how they tasted!
No matter. I started again with my own easy shortbread recipe, the old faithful 2/4/6:
2oz/50g caster sugar (I use vanilla sugar)
4oz/100g butter
6oz/150g plain flour
Just melt the butter then mix in the sugar and flour to make a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest for a little while somewhere cool, then roll out.
The kit gives you a cardboard template for different sized stars (you need two of each size) but I've got cutters, which are slightly easier. The stars take literally 10 minutes to bake once you've cut them out. Keep checking on them because – ahem – they burn quite easily.
Next, make up some glacé icing (or the kit contains white fondant icing). I made mine lime green with some food colouring paste in 'lemon/lime'. Ice each star and leave to set. Then just decorate with more icing and little silver balls and copious amounts of glitter (it IS Christmas), then just stack 'em up, rotating each biscuit slightly to get your tree shape.
Ours was a bit wonky ('the leaning tower of tree-sa', if you will) but hey, it only lasted about two minutes, so no matter.
Do give it a go, it's terrific fun and would make a wonderful Christmas tradition to recreate year after year (oh and if you do give it a try, do send me a photo!).


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November 28, 2006
Company news from the 11/28/06 news brief
Pfizer entered a deal with generic drug manufacturer Teva that resolves two separate lawsuits alleging patent infringement of Pfizer's cancer medication, Idamycin, and its antibiotic, Zithromax. As part of the settlement, Teva will pay up to $70 million to Pfizer, which includes an option in 2007 for Teva to sell its own generic version of epirubicin, another cancer medication, prior to the August 2007 patent expiration. In addition, Teva will not contest the validity of the patents. The agreement will end litigation by Pfizer against Teva and Sicor, a company owned by Teva, over Sicor's sales of idarubicin—the active ingredient in Idamycin—and Teva's sale of azithromycin (the active ingredient in Zithromax). Under the agreement Sicor will be able to continue to market idarubicin, which it launched prior to patent expiry in September 2002, and Teva can continue to sell its generic version of Zithromax. Organon and Pfizer agreed to discontinue their collaboration to develop asenapine, a new drug candidate for the treatment of schizophrenia and acute mania associated with bipolar I disorder. In a statement Pfizer said the decision is "an outcome of a commercial analysis of the compound as a part of (the) overall portfolio." Pfizer will return all product rights, intellectual property and data to Organon and make orderly transitions during 2007. Organon will continue to develop asenapine, Pfizer said. The Department of Health and Human Services is buying $199.45 million more worth of vaccines designed to protect against the H5N1 avian flu virus. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the government awarded three contracts: a $117.9 million contract to Sanofi Pasteur for 3.7 million doses, a $40.95 million contract to Novartis for 800,000 doses and a $40.6 million to GlaxoSmithKline for 800,000 doses. The vaccines represent enough doses for nearly 2.7 million people. The purchases supplement the existing national stockpile of 5.9 million doses of H5N1 vaccine and build on the department's plans to buy enough vaccine for 20 million people, HHS said in a statement. Johnson & Johnson will eliminate about 160 positions at its New Jersey corporate headquarters. The cuts will fall within departments that provide centralized support for the corporation and are part of a reorganization of some of the departments that serve the firms 200 operating companies. No sales or marketing positions will be eliminated in the reorganization, Marc Monseau, a J&J spokesman, told MM&M. The cuts were reported in the (Central NJ) Home News Tribune. "Every effort is being made to help employees whose positions have been eliminated find other opportunities within the J&J family of companies," Monseau added. The timing of the cuts and the number of employees who will be transferred rather than lose jobs was not available.


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£128,000 Offers around
* Spacious Exclusive First Floor Flat
* Three Double Bedrooms ( Master En-Suite )
* Wonderful Private Location - Ideal for Couples or Professionals
* No Onward Chain Viewing Is A Must
This is a delightful spacious modern built apartment. Set within a small exclusive development on edge of town, this is an opportunity rarely offered to the market for sale. The generous accommodation comprises: private entrance to stairs leading to the first floor landing, living room, kitchen/breakfast room, three double bedrooms (master en-suite) and family bathroom WC. Allocated parking is available to the front. Internal viewing is a must to allow full appreciation of this lovely home. EPC Rating = Band C.Location
The property is set less than 0.5 mile from Dumfries town centre. Dumfries is the capital town of Dumfries and Galloway, offering a wide range of amenities across all categories, from five major supermarkets, to high street shopping. There is a range of restaurants in and around the town, cinema, museums and various leisure options. There are primary and secondary schools, doctors surgeries, dentists and the regional Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. Transport links are numerous, linking to Carlisle, Belfast, central belt and London.Our View
A stunning town flat set within the small exclusive Corberry Mews Development. Ideally placed and immaculately kept, this is a must see home!IMPORTANT NOTE TO PURCHASERS:
We endeavour to make our sales particulars accurate and reliable, however, they do not constitute or form part of an offer or any contract and none is to be relied upon as statements of representation or fact. The services, systems and appliances listed in this specification have not been tested by us and no guarantee as to their operating ability or efficiency is given. All measurements have been taken as a guide to prospective buyers only, and are not precise. Floor plans where included are not to scale and accuracy is not guaranteed. If you require clarification or further information on any points, please contact us, especially if you are travelling some distance to view. Fixtures and fittings other than those mentioned are to be agreed with the seller.
This house description is based upon information supplied by the owner, or on behalf of the owner. These property particulars are produced in good faith and do not constitute or form part of any contract. s1homes do not take any responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this document.
If a property value displays '0', don't worry it just means no properties have been sold in that area during that time.
Sold house price data is supplied to us by the Registers of Scotland, a government department responsible for compiling and maintaining property registers, every month. There can be a delay of up to 3 months from when a property is sold to being recorded with Registers of Scotland. We provide house price data for your information only, we do not accept any liability for any errors. If you have noticed any incorrect information, please contact Registers of Scotland.


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If you love the idea of coloring Easter Eggs, but want to create something a little more sophisticated than what the average store-bought kit can produce… GOOD NEWS! These chic sienna Easter eggs from floral design guru Kim Foren are gorgeous, easy and non toxic – and they don artsy botanical motifs that are decidedly grown up!
Kim shares the full DIY details below for these pretty little gems, which would make a lovely addition to any Easter Brunch or bird-inspired baby shower!
Collect vegetable skins of yellow and red onions (beet tops work great too) and place in a 8 qt stock pot with water and simmer about 15‐ 30 minutes – until water turns a gorgeous deep sienna brown color. Add 3 tsp of white wine vinegar.
Collect plant material like small leaves, grasses or anything that can act as a resist. Place the plant material on unboiled eggs and then stretch a small 6" square piece of nylon stock {or tights} and secure with a rubber band or twine.
Once unboiled eggs are all ready to go place them in the simmering vegetable dye for approximately 15 minutes. Leave the onion skins in the water so the eggs turn a deeper gorgeous chestnut color. After the eggs are finished cooking, remove from pan and cool for at least 10 minutes. Remove the nylon and plant material.
The effect is gorgeous, almost resembling an old fashioned sienna photograph. I love to polish the eggs with olive oil or vegetable and a dry cotton towel. For a gorgeous presentation of your beautiful eggs, display them on a pussy willow circular basket lined with fresh green moss."
– Design: Kim Foren from Geranium Lake
– Photography: Erica Ann Photography
– Photograph Styling: Billede Design
9 responses to "DIY Project: Gorgeous Sienna Easter Eggs"
Gorgious! And nice photos , too!
These are REALLY pretty!!! Not your average brightly colored eggs!
Lovely. Where can I buy moss?
Love this moss table setting!!
These are beautiful. What a great idea. Teaching my children about natural dyes is an added bonus!
No doubt they are really nice. I like its color.
I was doing this when I was a little girl, nice memories. It's a traditional way of coloring Easter eggs in Romania, the country I come from. But now, only a few people still do this, the romanians think they are old fashion. :)
Those flowers are ga-or-geous!
This is the same way we dye Easter eggs and how I thought my little one too…grandma taught us how to do it when we were kids growing up in Romania. As Veronica stated above it is a very traditional way to dye eggs in Romania.


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This semantic puzzle, which appeared on a free English language help Website, is a Zen koan, emblematic of the age of Java (i.e., the current network age, which Java helped to birth, diaper, feed, and proctor). With Java's official debut on May 23, 1995, along with the Internet-ready release of Windows 95 and Netscape's IPO later that same year, the stage was set for a 1996 leap in aggregate economic productivity increases that has yet to abate, dot-bomb notwithstanding. So now it's Java's birthday. As we blow out 10 candles on the Java cake this year, celebrating a decade of WORA (Write Once, Run Anywhere), VMs galore, and bytecode, perhaps we can reflect on the changes our passions have wrought.
The history of Java is well-documented. With hundreds of books, thousands of articles, hundreds of thousands of Websites, millions of developers, and millions and millions of lines of code, the story of the Java platform is probably one of the most well known and remarkable in the annals of programming history. As such, there is no need to recapitulate the short but eventful life of Java here (although a canonical list of Java historical Websites and articles does appear in Resources). But rather, if we consider the 10 years of Java with a candle motif, it might be of some value to cite a development or two per candle as we extinguish them all in celebration—something of a top 10 list of impact craters left in the wake of the Java asteroid that so deftly disrupted the software ecosphere some 10 years ago. In the spirit of top-10 lists then, let's do a candle countdown, each candle representing something that Java pioneered, perfected, or witnessed since the birth of the network age.
Candle Ten: The death of DOE
The much ballyhooed adventure of DOE (Distributed Objects Everywhere) was an interesting segue into the network age. After five years of vaporware status, Sun finally deigned to unleash the technology in late 1995, rechristened as Neo; however, DOE cum Neo was rather DOA in light of the Java tsunami to come.
Neo was a C++ implementation of Object Management Group's CORBA distributed object architecture, an implementation that included an object request broker, naming services, and persistent object availability. At that time, Sun had visions of enterprise developers creating and deploying distributed, object-oriented applications on its Neo platform and using Solaris as a frontend development and operating environment for the backend Neo applications—all of which would run on Solaris (duh!). But with Java and Enterprise JavaBeans, DOE was dust; Sun announced the EOL of Neo some two years later with little complaint or fanfare. DOE deserves the first candle on the Java cake, since much of its vision was subsumed by Java. Ironically, the era of compiled languages was just coming to a close when DOE was finally released, which leads us to the next candle...
Candle Nine: WORA, bytecode, and the VMs that eat them
Remember WORA? More importantly, do you remember the dark ages before the naive hope of WORA? It is difficult to imagine what the world of software development might be like today if bytecode, virtual machines, and at least the promise of "Write Once, Run Anywhere" had never existed. The VM/bytecode approach seems so obvious now in retrospect that it's difficult to imagine someone not perfecting it had Sun faltered.
No, Sun didn't invent bytecode. Nor did it invent the concept of the VM or object-oriented programming. But Java brought the right mix of technologies to the right audience at the right time, and it made sense. Point of fact: There have been many pretenders to the throne in the wake of Java's success—thoughts for a candle yet to come—because, no doubt, of the sensible approach to the problem that Java yielded. How can we achieve portable behavior otherwise, once something like a browser becomes ubiquitous?
Candle Eight: Technology evangelism
Sun didn't invent the idea of technology evangelism either. A guy named Guy Kawasaki, formerly of Apple, was probably the first official, full-time TE entitled as such. Emerging in the mid-1980s, Kawasaki touted the then embryonic Macintosh system to software developers. And the TE approach worked. Fast-forward 10 years…
The Java platform deserved and needed a bit of theater, which is what technology evangelism is at its best. So in addition to passion and pathos, Miko Matsumura, the first Java technology evangelist, provided theatrics, entertainment, and ubergeek-presence during the critical early days of JavaSoft at Sun. His antics ran the gamut, from the sublime (the JavaRing/JavaSpaces demo at JavaOne '98) to the ridiculous (that same year, dressed as Java-mascot Duke, Matsumura flamboyantly bungee-jumped off a San Francisco Bay Area bridge to garner publicity for Java). When Matsumura left Sun, the salad days of Java evangelism were over. Those of us who remained to continue the mission at Sun quickly discovered that the evangelism role necessarily transforms into more of an educational service as the goals of evangelism are achieved.
Technology evangelism, as such, still lives on at Sun. But since the early days of Java and Matsumura, the concept of technology evangelism has taken hold in a number of different firms and is considerably more common in technology circles today, which was not the case before Java.
Candle Seven: Gosling, the programmer's programmer
Can you name a truly famous programmer prior to James Gosling? Besides Bill Joy?
Perhaps a few names come to mind. But none has matched the iconoclastic presence of Sir James. Part software demigod, part corporate quipster, Gosling is a model statesman for the techno-celeb mantle that never seemed to fit Bill Joy very well.
Prior to Java, Gosling was probably best known for having invented the text editor Emacs. With Java, he emerged from Joy's shadow to become the leading personality (sorry, Linus) for geek-enclaves globally. James Gosling is living proof that nice guys sometimes do very well indeed.
Gosling's presumptive role as one of the leads (if not the lead) of the aboriginal Green project (which led to Oak, which ultimately led to Java) has transformed his public personae into one of the most recognizable Internet icons of the current epoch. Having watched, witnessed, and worked with Gosling at Java events in the late '90s and early '00s, I can personally attest to the near-mythic appeal he seems to have with software developers around the world. Prior to Java, that sort of techno-celebrity mystic may have been achieved by a few names—perhaps an Edison or a Tesla, or perhaps Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, although their 100 percent pure-geek credentials are questionable. But now, some 10 years into the Java-fed network age, a slew of geeks has risen to modern prominence including Gosling, Torvalds, Eric Raymond, Tim Berners-Lee, Nicholas Negroponte, Richard Stallman, Lawrence Lessig, Ray Kurtzweil, Steven Mann, Kevin Warwick, and a gaggle of others. With this candle, let us celebrate the celebrated, those who have risen to prominence based on laudable contributions to the digital noosphere.
Candle Six: Certification soup and outsourcing
Sun was certainly not the first company to offer professional certifications for technical skills. Microsoft's MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) program probably predates Java by at least two years. And to my reckoning, Novell was offering certification programs for their proprietary systems well before its entree into the Unix space in the early '90s. So there is nothing new with Java certifications, per se. But the explosion of technology certifications that has occurred since the ascension of Java has been warmed, no doubt, by the "virtual team" collaborative possibilities inherent with a burgeoning Internet. That potential, coupled with the compelling financial draw of world-class programming talent in a globally-distributed work environment, proved to be a potent recipe for a massive shift in knowledge-work practices, otherwise known as outsourcing. Arguably, programming certification was fuel to the outsourcing fire, both of which burn brightly atop this anniversary candle.
By my count, there are now seven different Java certifications, distributed among programmer, developer, and architect classifications. Each of these, presumably, helps to prepare one to successfully navigate a Java career path. Now if you really want to get seriously certified, Microsoft offers at least three times that many, from your basic MCSE to a litany of platform-specific specialties such as security guru, database administrator, cluster server professional, and many more.
Add to that a bevy of Cisco certifications, those from Novell, which now includes a suite of Linux certifications, those from RedHat, Oracle, IBM, Computer Associates, Apple, and a herd of others, and one begins to wonder if perhaps a new discipline might emerge from the Certification Soup that has been simmering since the advent of the network age: a Certification Specialist, someone who is certification certified. Someone who has studied the entire universe of technology certifications and can advise companies on which certifications they should be requiring for the various job descriptions that permeate the enterprise. Alas, though I write this suggestion in jest, it may yet be that such a discipline may very well emerge to cope with the explosion of certifications that began in earnest some 10 years ago. That trend, sadly, does not seem to be abating.
Candle Five: Community source
Open source software, as a movement, traces its roots to the formation of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and GNU ("GNU" is a recursive acronym that means "Gnu's not Unix") by Richard Stallman in 1983. Bill Joy would probably argue that the concept of community source actually predates Stallman's vision, beginning with the Berkeley (BSD, or Berkeley Software Distribution) Unix offering, which Joy developed as a graduate student in the mid-1970s. While the GNU project did not actually give rise to a free version of Unix, it did result in the creation of some reasonably popular tools for Unix programmers, like the GNU C compiler and a text editor. More importantly, GNU set the stage for the more ambitious, more successful free software development projects in the 1990s, including Linux and Apache and (to some extent) Java.
Community source is not quite open source. Sun contends that the community source model gives rise to a best-of-both-worlds scenario when compared with either open source or proprietary (i.e., closed) source. In reality, the difference comes down to one of licensing, which may ultimately be the most important difference of all. The principles behind the Sun Community Source Licensing (SCSL) model include four distinct benefits over either a purely open or purely proprietary source approach, to wit:
- It provides protection for intellectual property
- It guarantees structured innovation within a single responsible organization
- It is clear who owns what
- There is clear control over compatibility
Many argue today that Sun's community source (the Java Community Process, or JCP) approach is no longer acceptable when it comes to the Java platform. According to open source proponents, community source simply is not enough—to be truly politically correct, it must be fully open source.
Should the entire Java platform be available in an open source format? Perhaps the debate itself is of most benefit to Sun—the press is obviously enamored with confrontations, and as long as the debate rages, there will be copious articles with Sun's name promulgating Web space.
The Java open source vs. community source debate may yet rage a while longer. What will be the result? Ultimately, when the story has been entirely milked for PR purposes, Sun will provide an open source version of Java. Will the platform then split? Probably. Will that mean the end of Java? Probably not. But those kinds of predictions are well beyond the scope of this article and may constitute an unforgivable waste of bandwidth.
Suffice it to say that once again, while Sun did not invent the idea of open source, the impressive foray of open and community source software into the once impenetrable glass rooms of established commercial IT bastions, a process that started in earnest in the mid-1990s, was also due to the efforts of Sun Microsystems, SCSL, the JCP, and the Java platform. Hence, this candle is bigger than the current licensing debate.
Candle Four: JavaOne—The Acme of conferences
Have you ever attended a JavaOne conference? An authentic Moscone Center JavaOne? It is a sight to behold.
There is an ineffable spirit that permeates that section of San Francisco whenever JavaOne comes to town. I compared it once to a Brigadoon, an enchanted, magical town that comes out of the Scottish mists for only a day, just to disappear again for another hundred years. Brigadoon is a love story. So is JavaOne.
Were there programmer conferences before JavaOne? Of course. Were they well-attended and informative? Naturally. Was there ever one as interesting, taxing, daunting, Bohemian, or complete as a JavaOne? Probably not.
There are no words to adequately describe the essence of a JavaOne conference. Each one is different, and yet they are the same. There is something about the spirit of Java that caught the imagination of programmers around the world—something that sparked the imagination of hundreds of thousands of novel software projects, millions of willing programmers, and thousands of major software development efforts. And that spirit communes every year at JavaOne in San Francisco, in a geek-laden Brigadoon, as it has from the humble beginning of the Java movement some 10 years ago.
The Java platform may very well have been just as successful without JavaOne. But to the extent the historical record is captured and codified by and for attendance at the conference (some developers plan their entire year around the pilgrimage to San Francisco), and that the attendance at JavaOne has remained healthy despite economic declines, stock market bubbles, and platform competition, it is clear that the very idea of JavaOne has been one of those unintended consequences that has indelibly marked the advent of the network age. JavaOne is the high mass celebration of geekdom in the current epoch.
Candle Three: Java the brand
The Java logo was one of the first recognizable brands to emerge from the dot-com madness that permeated the first few years of the network age. From Java's coming-out party to the dot-com bust, people who knew nothing about programming, software platforms, or e-commerce had a pretty good idea that Java was an Internet brand of something that wasn't coffee, and that the primary purveyor of it, Sun Microsystems, was therefore a pretty good investment. And Sun's stock flew as a result.
In retrospect, it might have been better for Sun had the company elected to actually sell branded coffee instead of giving away virtual machines, as the 10-year charts for Sun (SUNW) versus Starbucks (SBUX) below may indicate. But the Java brand caught on and represented, somehow, those early, gleeful days of e-commerce when there were no consequences and a dot-com IPO meant guaranteed gains and prosperity for all.
Source: Harrisdirect
Source: Harrisdirect
In 2004, Sun made another (failed?) attempt at actually capitalizing on the Java brand (in 2004, eWeek reported that 70 percent of people in the US recognized the Java brand, but only 10 percent knew of the Sun Microsystems brand). If the performance of SUNW since then is any measure, the market still ain't buyin' it. It will likely take a lot more than a "Java Powered" sticker and the zany antics of an aging mascot to rescue the once mighty Sun. Some suggest another company altogether will save Sun—Dell? HP? Fujitsu? IBM? But nothing has seemingly transpired to that end.
Perhaps Sun will continue to languish, content to muddle along as it has for nearly three years now. The Red Queen Hypothesis (which holds that organisms must always evolve to survive) suggests that Sun needs to come up with something relatively substantial (soon) in the way of innovation or it will cease to exist. So perhaps take-over rumors will resurface coincident with celebrations of Java's decade of impact. Or there is always the possibility that the next remarkable invention is just waiting to be released by Sun's marketing wizards, just as soon as this Java anniversary celebration thing has played out.
Candle Two: E-commerce
The 10-year anniversary of e-commerce occurred last year—sorry if you didn't get the word. Verisign and CNet sent out invitations; if you weren't on the list, see Resources for the event rundown.
The meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the years. Originally, the term meant the electronic facilitation of commercial transactions with Electronic Data Interchange, which allowed organizations to digitally transmit documents like purchase orders and invoices (see the standard for EDI). With the advent of the browser, e-commerce came to include a bevy of activities in the domain of Web transactions. E-commerce—the purchase of goods and services over the World Wide Web via secure servers with electronic shopping carts and payment services—probably did officially begin at some point in 1994.
The term e-commerce itself was most certainly used to mean Web-based commercial transactions around the same time that we saw the introduction of the browser, Windows 95, and Java. It was thus that the network age was born.
The growth of e-commerce has been rather stunning and one of the most important global developments of the past 10 years. The reduction of commercial friction, due to the cost-reducing nature of e-commerce transactions, has no doubt been one of the contributing factors in the increase in aggregate productivity that has coincidently occurred over the same period.
I distinctly recall discussing the potential of e-commerce during some of my earlier stints as an evangelist for Sun—late 1996 timeframe—and how companies like Dell were leading the way with online purchases. Indeed, at the time, the bold move by Dell to focus its business on Web-based transactions seemed rather risky. Discussions then of multibillion dollar growth over the next decade seemed almost outlandish. Today, in retrospect, the meteoric growth of e-commerce appears to have been an obvious and inevitable result of economic forces—but, then again, so does the dot-com crash of 2000 when viewed with the same hindsight.
In any event, as we celebrate 10 candles on the Java cake, one of the premiere candles has to be the irresistible onslaught of e-commerce and the paradigm-shifting, productivity-enhancing profits that followed.
Candle One: Ubiquity and The Dark Side
The ultimate candle is that of ubiquity.
Today the Java platform is at least as entrenched as COBOL and FORTRAN wrapped into one; probably more so. The Java platform busted the ubiquity threshold earlier in the decade. According to Sun President Jonathan Schwartz at the JavaOne event in June of 2004, "The ubiquity of Java technology buys rapidly growing market opportunities in every part of the world." At the time, he claimed the existence of 4 million Java developers worldwide, 650 million PCs shipped with Java, and 350 million mobile phone handsets enabled by Java. This is to say nothing of the server-side momentum toward the platform. Clearly, Java is about as ubiquitous as it gets, especially in light of the actions by (you guessed it) Bill Gates and company, aka The Dark Side.
Remember The Dark Side? What ever happened to .Net anyway? Quite a bit, as it turns out. According to some, the momentum of .Net in the past few years has been considerably more dramatic than the adoption of Java technology (2.5 million .Net developers says IT Facts). And if you believe everything you read on the Internet, I've got a compendium of opportunities that will provide incredible income for you regardless of your education or how hard you work, as well as unbelievable dating opportunities with fabulously sexy models that are just waiting to meet you no matter how stupid or ugly you may be, and (if you act now), a new car absolutely free!
So is .Net still relevant?
If you are mired in Microsoft certifications, or if your organization is still Redmond-centric, you bet it is. Granted, Microsoft is being attacked on all fronts (see "The Firefox Explosion," (Wired Magazine, February 2005)), which ought to quell its appetite for Java brawling, at least for a while. But then again, Bill Gates probably emerged from the dot-bomb era a bit more flush than Scott McNealy. And with rumors of a Sun merger (or even privitization), many possible futures may yet loom for Java. The "threat of .Net" may not be as ominous as it once may have appeared to be to the more loyal Java base.
Now that we've blown out these candles representing the last 10 years of the network age, let's return to our riddle.
Happy Anniversary, Java!
"If there are 10 candles and three were blown out, how many are left?"
It's a riddle that is mired in ambiguity (which is inherent in semantics), so the fact of the matter is, there is no one single correct answer. It depends, as does so much in the way of natural language, software development, human relations, e-commerce, and life in general, on the context of the discussion.
What does 'are' mean? (Can you hear Bill Clinton giggling?) "If there are 10 candles." Is 'are' not a verb of present tense, implying that 10 candles now exist and that therefore 10 candles are left? On the other hand, what does 'were' mean? Does 'were' not imply past tense, in which case, if there were originally 10 candles, all of which were presumably burning, and three were blown out, the remaining seven have now burned down to nothing (as candles are wont to do); so, then only three are left? Perhaps they are quantum mechanical candles, in which case we cannot know how many candles are left until they are observed...
In the spirit of the 10 candles then, Happy Anniversary Java! While some things remain shrouded in ambiguity, one thing is abundantly clear: it's been a heck of a ride these past 10 years. May the next 10 be...even better.
Disclaimer: After nine years with Sun Microsystems, the last six of which were spent serving as a Java Technology Evangelist, it is likely that I retain some residual pro-Sun bias, despite being Kool-Aid free for more than two years.


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The factors to consider when creating workshop building plans include available space, foundation type to set up, workshop designs, building materials and local building regulations and requirements. Building budgets, proposed use of the workshop and location are other important factors to consider as well.Continue Reading
Workshops are versatile structures that should be structurally flawless. These structures can be customized to include unique features depending on their intended use. After successfully finalizing the planning stage and preparing to advance into the building phase, builders should contact local building authorities for construction permits and approval of the building plan. Building and construction requirements vary according to location, depending on building prerequisites put in place by the relevant authorities and regulating bodies.Learn more about Industries


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Top 7 Tips And Solutions For Your Plumbing Related Issues
25 Mar, 2015 Priya G Plumbing 897 views 0 0
Cure Your Plumbing Related Issues With These Superb Advice Home's pipes maintenance and restoration You've done it. You're prepared to manage your home's pipes maintenance and restoration. What best timing! You probably have a great … Read More »
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Bain serves telecommunications companies around the world, helping them to better understand their customers, build superior networks, find a sustainable path to growth and achieve cost leadership while maintaining a high-performance organization. We have completed more than 2,500 projects with clients seeking to confront the largest challenges and opportunities presented by the industry's continuous evolution.
Bain is one of the world's leading consulting firms for the telecommunications industry. We have worked with 85% of the world's top 50 global telecom operators (excluding China), and 80% of the largest telecom equipment companies.
Our clients are passionate about seizing opportunities to transform their businesses and our telecommunications consulting experts provide critical support and expertise to help companies achieve lasting results. We focus on developing pragmatic strategies to address our clients' most critical challenges.
As boundaries between telecommunications, technology and media markets continue to fade, our telecommunications clients also benefit from the shared expertise of our Technology and Media practices. In addition, our Private Equity group is the leading consulting partner for advising clients on PE deals across the globe.
We share our clients' passion for results and work to ensure they can reach their full potential through our unique approach to change management, called Results Delivery®. Results Delivery helps our clients realize results consistently by predicting, measuring and managing the risk associated with change from day one.
The traditional core businesses of telecom operators and communications equipment suppliers are under pressure. We have the expertise—and a global network of more than 700 partners and senior consultants with deep telecommunications experience—to help companies address the industry's most critical issues:
Dealing with uncertainty. The telecom sector is at major cross-roads: Profit pools are declining, mobile and fixed services are converging, and business boundaries in the broader ecosystem are blurring. Players must decide how they will participate in industry consolidation and which bets to make on the major ongoing technological and infrastructural transition.
Building competitive advantage by making the right decisions. Telecom operators must determine how to win the war for connectivity and customer intimacy. They also need to maximize the perception of their networks' value to shift the customer focus from price alone. Such telecom "repremiumization" efforts require innovative products and services and enhanced capabilities that create a more sophisticated approach to pricing and selling.
Capitalizing on the data surge and improving network infrastructure. As users embrace services and applications that rely heavily on the exchange of rich data, demands on network infrastructure capabilities will continue to rise. More than ever before, telecoms need to invest wisely in their infrastructure and know precisely where their investments will have the biggest impact on customer experience.
Delighting the customer. Companies need to develop methods to check the pulse of what really matters to consumers and businesses. Delivering personalized experiences across touch points is increasingly important, and it needs to be done with sensitivity to customers' privacy concerns.
Simplifying products, processes and the organization. Innovative telecommunications companies need to excel in managing complexity on multiple fronts, from increasingly complex bundles of products and services to an expanding universe of devices, operating systems and applications. Companies will need flexibility and efficiency to ensure that operations run smoothly and the organization achieves its full potential.
Anticipating the impact of regulation. Regulators have the ability to create significant impact on industry returns; over the next few years, they are expected to maintain pressure in telecommunications and manage the level of competition. Bain has considerable experience working with international clients and associations that who seek to influence policy and regulations.
Developing a compelling equity story. Uncertainty in global markets can shake investors' confidence and raise questions that require compelling answers. Telecommunications companies need to understand their investor base, develop a strategy that makes them more attractive than competitors and set appropriate dividend levels that also allow them to invest for the future.
Bain helped leading phone manufacturer refocus its strategy to increase customer retention rate in the face of shrinking growth opportunities.
A Net Promoter System® helps increase customer acquisition and reduce churn.
How customer segmentation and a new account model can help a telecom company provide the specialized service that customers have come to expect in this market.
Bain's performance improvement initiatives reversed the steadily declining course of our global telco client, generating over 20 percent in operating savings.
TelecomCo implemented a bold, multi-channel strategy to retain customers and increase profits in a redefined industry landscape.
By refocusing its growth strategy around mobile Internet solutions, NetworkCo reemerged as a market leader.
Three reasons that providers can go on the attack and succeed in 5G.
Network operators that fail to move early on 5G run the risk of being left behind.
Network operators that listen to the naysayers run the risk of missing out on the true benefits of this step-change technology.
Being effective in the 21st century requires new skills, new experiences and a new mindset.
Multinational companies are finding that the key to regaining the ground they've lost to homegrown competitors is to develop a dynamic channel strategy.
Operators can no longer rely on price cutting to win and keep mobile phone customers. A fresh approach recognizes the importance of delivering a superior usage experience.
As customer priorities shift, Telecommunication companies need to think about changing their strategy
Three approaches that can help executives make capital spending a strategic weapon.
Explore the most attractive business-to-business opportunities for vendors in the Internet of Things.
Forward-looking tech firms are adopting an outward-looking, customer-centric approach known as offering management.
We work with clients as an integrated team, from frontline to C-suite, to make change stick. Our telecommunications team brings cross-sector expertise and key insights about how the broader industry is evolving. We have a core group of senior experts in the field that we deploy across the globe.
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It's that time of year again, when the Texas Mountain Laurels are blooming, filling the air with the scent reminiscent of Grape Kool-Aid. When I run by one of these full-blooming, grapetastic, gifts from God, I have to stop myself from back-tracking, just to inhale its magic once more. My brain knows it's a plant, but the mere whiff of the grapey-goodness transports my mind back to a simpler time of childhood fun.
Does anyone else remember Kool-Aid served in cold-to-the-touch aluminum tumblers?! I mean, Kool-Aid was good in any cup, but it was something special out of a fun-colored metal cup.
Sadly, the blooms won't be around for long. If you aren't a runner, I suggest you go for a walk until you find one. Just follow your nose. Still unsure you'll be able to spot one? Click HERE for a pic.
Even if you have to get in your car, drive around until you spot one, I say it's worth the gas money. There's nothing like standing next to one of these badboys and smelling it up 'till you just can't stand it anymore. Although, be careful. Nothing looks weirder to unfamiliar neighbors than someone standing in their yard smelling their plants. Trust me on this one; I have personal experience.
Now get out there and go for a run in the perfumed almost spring air.
Running With Jay: Week 7! She's almost there. Her race is next week. Go show her some lurv.
Come on HOME for more fun, follow me daily on Twitter, or like me on Facebook. Wanna shop instead? I've been ZAZZLE'D!


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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
Be the first NJ.com user to add photos or videos of Vela Townhomes
Vela Townhomes is located at 1350 River Rd in Edgewater and has been in the business of Townhouse Construction since 2004.


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Anishabad,patna Travel Guide
Anishabad,patna Tourism - Get information on Anishabad,patna tourist places and sightseeing tours. This page presents a visual Anishabad,patna travel guide. Our friendly trip advisor from ixigo helps you plan your next tour and gives you great ideas on what to do, where to eat, where to stay and when to go there. We curate the best information from the web to give you precise, meaningful and useful travel guide for leading places to visit in india and from across the world. ixigo has curated the best travel information on Anishabad,patna tourism spanning genres as diverse as tourist places, tourist spots, major sightseeing attractions, the best time to visit, the top places to visit in Anishabad,patna, the must-see things to see and do, maps, restaurants, hotels, nearby tourist destinations, local public information and more. To start with check out information on how to reach Anishabad,patna : how to go from New Delhi to Anishabad,patna | how to go from Mumbai to Anishabad,patna | how to go from Bengaluru to Anishabad,patna | how to go from Chennai to Anishabad,patna | how to go from Hyderabad to Anishabad,patna | how to go from Kolkata to Anishabad,patna
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West Coast Sound is pleased to premiere the video debut of Sacramento-based Manimal Vinyl act Sister Crayon. "(in) Reverse" comes from the four-piece's upcoming Bellow LP, due out in June. The Robert Ascroft-directed short was shot in Northern California.
Sister Crayon performs in L.A. on Saturday, March 6 at Pehrspace with Manimal affiliate Tearist, and also on Monday, March 8 at the Echo with labelmates Alexandra Hope and Corridor. After the jump, Sister Crayon singer Terra Lopez weighs in on the video.
West Coast Sound exchanged a handful of emails with the affable Miss Lopez about her band's first video. We've collected the highlights below.
On moving in reverse:
"Making the video was a bit surreal. I had to learn our song backwards at a speed of three-times faster because Robert wanted to do some reverse tricks to the video in editing. We wanted it to look natural so in order to do that, I had to learn how to sing the song backwards. I studied the song for about two weeks and was able to get it, but it was definitely one of the hardest things I've had to do musically."
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On the making of:
"We were pretty intimidated because Robert and Jill [Roy, producer] have such a great reputation, and we're just a few kids from Sacramento, but they were really down to earth. Plus, we were able to get our friends involved. Two friends did our makeup and another allowed us to shoot on his 80 acres in the Georgetown forest. It was such a beautiful place to shoot. We were particularly drawn to the burnt out log location because it felt so dark and empty."
On the concept:
"Since it is our first video, we didn't want a huge storyline. People can take what they want from it. Some have said they see it as my bandmates have been hurt and I am the culprit. We kind of like that idea but it's all up to whoever sees it. The song itself is mostly about a disorder that i have called synesthesia, which causes me to see sound and numbers in color. I just found out that I had it about three years ago."


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- Bunny girls are set to be big in 2011 with the production of NBC's 1960s-set drama Playboy. Dark Shadows fans will be aware of the show's connection with the famed clubs; Susan Sullivan (ghost) worked as a Bunny girl alongside Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie). Kathryn wrote the definitive history of the clubs, The Bunny Years, based on her own experiences and numerous original interviews.
- Marie Wallace (Eve) is appearing on stage in New York City from March 9-20 in The Chiselers, a play she first performed last year. Performances take place on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday evenings and tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
- The recent screening of David Selby's (Quentin) film The Super Cops prompted a successful campaign on Twitter for its release on DVD, led by director Edgar Wright. The Warner Archive has announced plans to issue the film in the near future.
- Cable channel TCM is to show a marathon of Joan Bennett (Elizabeth) movies on May 11, including House of Dark Shadows.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Actor Updates
Labels: Events
1 comment:
- Debjorgo said...
Maggie Evans, the Bunny Years. I could resist. I just bought it.
- February 9, 2011 at 7:12 PM
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James Beck and Foster Loyer Carry Grand Rapids Christian and Clarkston into Saturday's Title Game
Michigan State's Breslin Center has had its fair share of big moments over the years, and even in the high school realm it has yielded strong matchups. After Friday's Class A semifinal results, we have the makings of another epic battle, this time of future Spartans, on tap for Saturday afternoon. In the first semifinal in Class A, Clarkston led wire-to-wire in a dominating 78-35 effort over West Bloomfield. Junior guard Foster Loyer, playing in his future collegiate home and with some of his future teammates in attendance, showed all facets of his game in an impressive manner. A player who...Read More


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Today, we are excited to announce a major update to Sefaira Architecture!
This upgrade features three great benefits for designers who want to create high-performing buildings.
Greater Team Collaboration: Architects, specialists, and engineers can now collaborate seamlessly on the same project, ensuring performance goals are defined early, reducing the risk of missing performance targets, and strengthening the relationship between architect and engineer. This is made possible by Sefaira's application of the U.S. Department of Energy's respected EnergyPlus™ analysis engine in both Sefaira Architecture and Sefaira Systems.
Deeper Passive Design: Improved natural ventilation and thermal comfort, as well as a new free area assessment feature let you test key passive design strategies early in the design process. Quickly compare the performance impacts of fixed versus operable glazing, exterior shading or various window-to-wall ratios to maximize your building's performance potential.
Screenshots of Sefaira's Natural Ventilation and Thermal Comfort tabs.
More Granular Analysis: This new release also unlocks room-level and zone-level analysis for all designers. This means you have even more detailed control over your analysis and greater confidence in your conclusions, all within a tool that supports the fast, iterative decision-making of early-stage design.
That's great! What's next?
If you already have a Sefaira Architecture license, see this post on how to transition smoothly from the Fulcrum analysis engine to EnergyPlusTM.
If you don't yet have a Sefaira Architecture license and think these functionalities could benefit your workflow, get in touch with us by filling out the form here. If you are a student or faculty member click here for the Sefaira Education Program.


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CHA is committed to addressing the needs of its residents and providing more effective services in order to increase their potential for long-term economic success and a sustained high quality of life.
CHA is committed to providing landlords and property owners the training, expertise and knowledge necessary to ensure all of Chicago's neighborhoods are safe, decent and sustainable.
CHA is pleased to do business with technically proficient and innovative companies. To ensure the integrity of the procurement process, each contract is analyzed by separate Procurement Teams. These individuals explore and implement best practice standards for procuring goods and services for the agency.
CHA is committed to providing information in an efficient and transparent manner and its Department of Communications & Marketing encourages an open dialogue between the agency, residents, media, community and the general public.
Springboard to Success funds programs and initiatives for CHA's Resident Services Division that support CHA communities, with a focus on those that assist younger residents on a pathway to academic success, economic stability, and independence.
Youth currently living in CHA households who participate in programs funded by this non-profit achieve housing stability as an adult without the requirement of a subsidy.
College Prep Programs for High School Students
Helping CHA Youth Access and Persist in College
S2S Funded CHA Resident Events
How You Can Support S2S