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Social Media Strategies Summit Las VegasPrint this Page
February 7, 2012
February 9, 2012
Conference Location:
Mirage Casino Hotel, 3400 Las Vegas Boulevard Sout, , 89109
Conference Organizer:
Contact Person:
Global Strategic Management Institute (gsmi)
Phone Number:
Social Media Strategies Summit has been designed to apply to a variety of industries. In an effort to meet attendees' learning objectives we have built in six tracks, each outlined to focus on a particular industry. While tracks are organized by industry leaders, attendees are encourage to move freely between tracks based on their individual learning objectives. Each track includes sessions focused on the following categories: Corporate Case Studies; Community Engagement and Customer Service; Measurements, including analytics, ROI and Tools; Sales Approach; Legal Risks & Strategies; and Marketing Strategies & Tactics. Companies are encouraged to send representatives from various department teams within their organization, so they can each attend various sessions and collaborate to increase the benefits. Group discounts are available, so be sure to take advantage of the twelve interactive workshops and forty-eight learning sessions.
If you or your team are responsible for your company's branding, marketing, strategy development, monitoring, customer relations, community engagement, public relations, media sales, business development, or legal, or you are the Chief Executive, Chief Marketing, or Chief Branding Officer, this summit was designed with you in mind.
Suite 103
Naples, FL 34109
Phone: 800-874-2458
Contact Us


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Red leopard in the morning
Why not?
It's our Mimi. And she's making the rounds on the morning shows, presumably to promote American Idol. Heard she was amazing on Kelly & Michael this morning which starts here on the West Coast in a few minutes. Will set the PVR and enjoy later with a glass of wine.
Have you been watching Idol?
I don't even bother with the performances. My favourite parts are the judge's comments. Because when they go out on a wide shot while Nicki is talking, or when Mimi is talking, the expressions on their faces is what keeps me coming back. Nicki is usually either rolling her eyes or smirking during Mimi's useless remarks. Mimi's face is pure sanctimony, like, oh my God, I am dealing with a child.
As I noted yesterday though, Mimi is struggling on Idol, not because of the lighting or the camera work but because she totally sucks when she's expected to have things to say about someone else. It's like the ability to communicate suddenly leaves her. Sometimes it seems as though she's had a stroke. And then, miraculously, when the opportunity to turn the conversation back to herself materialises, the words flow freely, no problem.
Last night, when it was her turn to tell some dude how he did, this was her feedback:
I could see you coming to my house.
What does that have to do with singing?
Don't answer that. It's pointless. You are not meant to understand.
Just look. Look at her tottering around in her red leopard print coat like it's some kind of Minnie Mouse imitation and go into your weekend, happy.
TK / JosiahW/ Splash


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Contact Roger Scott at (505) 234-5553, Fax (505) 887-3051
CARLSBAD, N. M, May 21, 2003. - A research and educational collaboration that pools together the resources and expertise of state and local governments, federal agencies, and public universities has resulted in the establishment of a national research center in New Mexico which promises to take the lead in the study and management of caves and their related karst formations around the world.
The National Cave and Karst Research Institute was created by an Act of Congress in 1998 to further the research, education, and wise management of cave/karst formations throughout the United States and around the world. While the National Park Service (NPS) was designated as the lead agency for establishing the organization, the Institute will be a diverse entity comprised of a broad base of partners including the City of Carlsbad, and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech).
Louise D. Hose, the Institute's first permanent director, has an extensive background in speleology and cave exploration. She holds a Ph.D. in geology from Louisiana State University, an M.Sc. in geology from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor's in Secondary Education from Arizona State University. Dr. Hose left a 13-year career in higher education and academic research. Her work was sponsored by her academic institutions and organizations including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Forest Service, National Geographic Society, National Speleological Society, and two foreign resource management agencies. She served six years as a Director of the National Speleological Society and has edited their multi-disciplinary, refereed scientific publication for over seven years, the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies.
"Over the last year, a working group of several federal agencies with cave/karst expertise helped lay the groundwork for the Institute," explained Director Hose, "and although it is still in the development stage, much of the organizational structure has been defined and a multiyear planning effort is underway." A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate the development and management of the Institute has been signed by the NPS, the City of Carlsbad and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, who constitute the three primary partners involved in establishing the Institute.
The City of Carlsbad, State of New Mexico, and the NPS have provided the seed money and foundation on which to build the Institute. The enabling legislation called for the Institute's headquarters to be located in Carlsbad, New Mexico, an area renowned for its underground geologic formations. Funding has been secured for a building that will serve as visitor center, laboratory, library and offices for the Institute. Design work for the $4.6 million facility is underway and groundbreaking, on land donated by the City of Carlsbad, is planned for the late 2004.
The Institute currently has a professional three-person National Park Service staff (only one permanent) and is working on hiring another full-time (non-federal) person. There are also two full-time, partner (non-federal) scientists. An affiliated academic program at New Mexico Tech, one of the Institute's formal partners, is growing and will bring in several new Cave and Karst Studies graduate students next fall.
A Vision Workshop is being explored that would bring together many of the key potential partners who have a stake in the National Cave and Karst Research Institute. Through a facilitated process, the ideas, concerns and needs of all the involved parties would be addressed and shaped into platforms on which to build the institute.
"Our primary goals for the next two years," said Director Hose, "are the design and construction of the headquarters building, continued outreach to help us define our organizational structure and the Institute's vision, and the development of a five year plan. Achieving these goals will bring credibility and focus to the Institute and help us carry out our mission of furthering cave karst research, education and resource management," she said.
(Roger Scott, 505.234.5553)


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Fans of the original Alien, 3-3/4″ action figures in general and vintage toys specifically already know about Super 7 bringing out the never released action figures planned by Kenner back in 1979. Additionally, collectors may have heard the recent announcement that Super 7 is teaming up with powerhouse Funko to not only bring these figures out, but to return to the well and bring out a slew of other vintage inspired action figures based upon a veritable cornucopia of dream properties under the ReAction banner. If you missed that news bombshell, you can check it out right here at AFi.
I gotta say, I am over the moon about this announcement. Seriously, this is the type of announcement that causes me to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming the whole thing. Not only are we dealing with my favorite scale (that'd be 3-3/4″, for those taking notes) but there's just a bevy of terrific properties in the list they released initially. Properties such as the Universal Monsters, Aliens, The Dark Crystal, Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the first 2 Terminator flicks and more. With the Alien figures already coming out, and ZICA producing a vintage-styled Six Million Dollar Man line, everything old is really new again! And, I couldn't be happier!
Lately I have started feeling a bit disillusioned with a lot of modern action figures and the preponderance of articulation and it's accompanying fragility. These new/old action figures may be just what the doctor ordered for me.
So, again, for those who haven't read the press release so far we are talking: Back to the Future, Aliens, Predator, Firefly, Universal Monsters, Terminator 1 & 2, Goonies, and Escape from New York with the promise of many, many more to come. There's a lot of 20th Century Fox licenses on that list which is leading me to hope for Planet of the Apes done in this style. We'll see.
Now, there are some collectors I've read comments from online who don't seem to care for this idea at all. Well, that tells me that they're just not the target audience and that's fine. All toys aren't the end all be all to all collectors, nor could they ever be. Others haven't said that some of the choices, Firefly and Buffy in particular, are odd because they're not from the time period evoked by this style of action figure. That's a fair point. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. I just want the toys, darn it!
I admit it. I'm in full-on rabid fanboy mode about this.
Funko and Super 7 are saying the floodgates will open in early 2014 which tells me this has been in the works for awhile, and we probably won't get much concrete information until Toy Fair 2014. The anticipation is gonna be a killer for me on this stuff. I sure hope we get some teasers on some of these. I'm really curiously as to how these are going to be released. Is it going to be a line at a time, and then move on to the next property? Or, are we going to get a few Aliens, then maybe some Buffy, and then a smattering of Terminator? I don't know. But, man, I'm sure dyin' to!
17 Comments »
I am absolutely off my rocker, peeing in my pants giddy over this as well. 3 and 3/4 inch figures were the industry standard in the 1980s and early 1990s, which is the time frame that I grew up in. I am drooling over the licenses that have been revealed so far to us and I frothing at the mouth for more news. Needless to say I will have zilch when it comes to cash next year but this is without a doubt worth it. I am a hardcore figure collector of all brands and series although my heart is always with Star Wars and Classic Era Wrestlers. The last few years have been tight financially because of the recession and I have had to scale way back and honestly I have not regretted much as the prices are insane and some of the figures are repetitive or the companies have not delivered on what was promised. This line has me excited for the first time since I heard about Jakks doing Classic Wrestlers back in 2003.
Some more lines that would really get me in a frenzy would be: The Ice Pirates, Jaws, Die Hard, Rambo, Commando, Total Recall, Flash Gordon ( 1980 film), Dune, American Were Wolf in London, Lord of the Rings, Ghostbusters, Police Academy, Cannonball Run, Star Trek, Clash of the Titans, 1966 Batman, Platoon, Planet of the Apes, Twilight Zone and The A Team. If just two of the above were added I would die a happy man
In addition maybe this will light a fire under the boys at Hasbro and maybe they will decide to add some genuinely sculpted vintage figures to the Star Wars Line. I am not saying that every character should be made but just some glaring omissions like Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise), Leia ( Slave Girl), Luke (Dagobah), Ben Kenobi (Spirit), Tarkin, Owen, Beru, Biggs, Wedge, Doctor Evazan, Wuher, Bith Band Leader, Garindan, Sandtrooper, Oola and Piett.
Hoping for a line from John Carpenter's The Thing or They Live!
will be interesting to see them do goonies since one would think likeness rights would be hard to get . plus also dark crystal never ever thought some one would dare ever take a risk on toys for the classic.escape from new york nice though snake will proably be the only figure that sells. plus how can they do back to the future when its been proven hard to get michel j fox to okay a marty figure and also to get the okay for doc. since mattel had the license and could not do toys
I'm pleased you're pleased but for me this is a case of 'careful what you wish for'. I've been longing for decent Escape from New York figures for years (not to mention a few others of those listed) but the novelty of vintage styled figures is a fragile thing. I got tired of the mego style figures real quick (and i was born in '72 so they're a huge part of my childhood).
When I was a kid I was happy to deal with the toy nature of the look of these, though I was still frustrated enough with the inadequacies to repaint some so often they disintegrated, but as a (sort of) grown up I'd like a bit more detail.
So on one hand I'm pleased these licences are getting some attention but I'd prefer more realistic figures now I'm 41, in both 1/18 inch and 1/6 scales. My dreams of a hot Toys Snake Plissken, Mad Max, A-team etc etc may never be realized (not while iron/batman exists!) so these smaller companies are my only hope.
Vintage/Kenner style packaging though is always a winner!
Since when was Universal Monsters announced? I think you might have added that one yourself.
I take it back. It was figures.com lousy reporting. They failed initially to mention the Universal Monsters license. So my apologies. I HOPE that they do the Remco guys again as if you check Ebay…Are WAY overpriced.
I would love to see Harry Potter and Pirates of the Carribbean get the retro Kenner look!
I would love to see Harry Potter and Pirates of the Carribbean get the retro Kenner look!
I would love to see Harry Potter and Pirates of the Carribbean get the retro Kenner look!
I'll be buying one of everything and in some cases two, to keep one MOC. I love all the mentioned licenses and those that are being wished for in comments. I'd really love to see Star Trek and The X-Files in this format too!
I'm 100% excited about this! I've wanted this Retro-Renaissance in figures to take place for years now. And it's finally here! After suffering through the McFarlane dark ages of figure design, I feel that things are finally getting back on track. And yes, Hasbro should totally do new vintage era based sculpts of original trilogy characters. Heck, I'd even buy renditions of characters from the new trilogy. If they were sculpted 1977 style, I'd even buy (don't hate me) Jar Jar.
Oh, and I can't believe you said "An American Werewolf in London". That's my DREAM property right there! Are we somehow the same person?
I was foaming at the mouth for that box set of the wolf and the mutilated Jack from SOTA's "Now Playing" line which died a quick death in 2005-2006. I have the box set from "The Thing" that did make it out, never opened it and glad I didn't now!
To finally get all those characters that never got the 3 3/4 treatment in the same line, this is awesome.
After all these years, a Predator to hunt my Star Wars figures.
Buffy…Firefly… WOW!!!
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HANG TIME SOUTHWEST — No player is caught in the cross hairs of the NBA's analytics revolution quite like Rudy Gay. The 6-foot-8 slashing small forward is the enemy of the computer.
It doesn't value his game and it makes no apologies. Gay doesn't shoot enough 3-pointers or shoot them particularly well, and worse, he takes alarmingly too few from the high-percentage corners. He doesn't get to the free-throw line frequently enough. When he's not slashing to the rim, the majority of his scoring chances come from analytical no-man's land — the mid-range. Combine it all with his low shooting percentages last season and the advanced stats — Effective Shooting Percentage (eFG%), True Shooting Percentage (TS%) and Offensive Rating (offRtg) — offer a less flattering assessment than his conventional 18.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 2.7 apg.
"Honestly, how I view it, a computer can't tell talent, it just can't," Gay told NBA.com during a phone interview Wednesday from the Toronto Raptors locker room following a workout with teammate DeMar DeRozan. "When it comes down to it, it's all about winning, and however you get the win. According to analytics, you either [have] to shoot a 3 or get to the foul line, and it's not good for people like me that live in that mid-range area."
By more conventional measures, Gay can be deemed a super-athletic wing, a valuable weapon with size, a good handle and the ability to create his own shot — at times bandied as a borderline All-Star. Analytic computations conversely box in Gay, a top-six usage player among small forwards in the league, as a highly inefficient player, an offensive black hole who impedes ball movement, is ultimately detrimental to the team concept and is lucky to be in the league.
"It's tough," Gay said. "Obviously, according to analytics, some of my opponents wouldn't value me as much as they do. So, a computer can say what it wants, but as long as I get respect from my peers, that's all that matters."
The debate reached a fervor in the build-up to the three-way, midseason trade in which the Memphis Grizzlies sent the seven-year pro to the Raptors. Factions were split. Some, including then-Memphis coach Lionel Hollins, wanted the team's core to remain intact to make a postseason run. The Grizzlies were 29-13 at the time of the trade and Gay, even with lugging career-low shooting percentages, was averaging 36.7 mpg and a team-best 17.2 ppg. He was viewed as essential for a team with few other perimeter or playmaking options.
The advanced stats crowd — rapidly expanding into nearly every NBA front office (with Memphis' new management group being a leader) and rising as an integral tool for talent evaluation and valuation — bid Gay good riddance. They vowed Memphis would be better off without him, pointing to the franchise's previous deepest playoff run in 2011, a seven-game, second-round defeat to Oklahoma City with Gay out with an injury. Eliminating the ball-stopper in the Grizzlies' methodical, double-post offense, after all, would mean better flow and increased opportunities for high-shooting-percentage big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.
"You can't name one team in the league that has two dominant post men and a wing that can slash," Gay said. "Obviously, slashing to the basket is hard to do when you have two people down there posting up. It's basic basketball. I don't know what team, what great player at the wing position has that. You got [Carmelo Anthony], he even plays the 4 sometimes, [Kevin Durant] — all these guys asked to play the 3-4 position are actually allowed to have the room to get to the basket and do our thing. It was tough. It was tough being there and taking criticism, but we won, so that's all that matters."
Both sides better off
Analytic data suggests Memphis' offense did function more efficiently after the trade, one that was made for both analytical and financial reasons considering Gay's burdensome contract (he's due $17.9 million this season and $19.3 million if he exercises his option for 2014-15) and the consequences of the league's harsher luxury tax penalties.
Memphis won a franchise-best 57 games and advanced to its first Western Conference finals. In its second-round win over a Thunder team without Russell Westbrook, it got just enough offense combined with stout fourth-quarter defense against Durant to win in five down-to-the-wire games. In the West finals, a paint-crashing San Antonio Spurs defense turned the perimeter-weak Grizzlies' offense impotent and won in a sweep.
"In Memphis, everybody had to play a part, and for us to win, we had to kind of give up a little bit. And it was good," Gay said. "Those guys stepped up last year in the playoffs and played well. And I feel like my play got a lot better since I got [to Toronto], too, because there's more room for me to operate. It works out for both teams to me. Of course, I value myself and think that their chances would have been better with me, but I feel like I can be better here."
Analytic data backs Gay's assertion that he got better playing in Toronto's more spacious offense. It's fueling optimism as training camp opens on Tuesday that pairing the 24-year-old DeRozan and the 27-year-old Gay at the wing positions — despite claims that their skills overlap — with point guard Kyle Lowry, power forward Amir Johnson and promising young center Jonas Valanciunas, plus a more capable bench, will push the Raptors into playoff contention.
Toronto was 34-48 before the trade and 17-16 with Gay in the lineup. His conventional stats jumped to 19.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg (from 5.9) and 2.8 apg (from 2.6) with the Raptors despite his playing time dipping by two full minutes (36.7 mpg to 34.7 mpg). His overall and 3-point shooting percentages, although still low, rose by two percentage points. His eFG%, TS% and Offensive Rating (offRtg) all went up.
DeRozan, the Raptors' maturing, potential star, saw his advanced stats rise incrementally almost across the board. Longtime friends, DeRozan said he and Gay clicked on the court instantly. He noted how defenses became more limited in their options to defend him with Gay also on the floor, particularly when the 6-foot-7 shooting guard posted up smaller defenders.
"All the analytical people saying this and that about [Gay], about his shots, I really try not to feed into it so much and let that judge a player," DeRozan said. "We play so well off each other, so it's difficult for any team to put their best player on me. A lot last season I would post up a lot of two-guards I was bigger than and a lot of times teams were putting their 3-man on me. That went out the window as soon as Rudy came. Little stuff like that started to open up."
More to come?
Gay had laser surgery to correct a vision problem he said he never realized how bad it really was. He said his blurred vision wasn't why he shot just 41.6 percent overall and 32.3 percent from beyond the arc last season, the second consecutive season in which his shooting percentages plunged.
"Honestly, I had two bad years of shooting the ball and this last year was really bad, so I just had to go back to the basics," Gay said of his offseason workouts. "It wasn't as much my eye sight as it was my form. So, this summer I really had to go back to the basics and fix a couple things and sharpen up my shooting."
He spent the majority of the summer in his hometown of Baltimore and worked out at his old high school with his personal trainer, Dustin Gray, who Gay said literally moved in with him. Gay said he spent hours each day homing in on the "little things," the details in his approach and shooting stroke.
Before shoulder surgery prematurely ended his 2010-11 season after 54 games, Gay was averaging 19.8 ppg and shooting 47.1 percent overall and 39.6 percent from 3-point range, both career highs. In the two seasons since, he's dropped to 43.4 percent and 31.9 percent, respectively
"I wouldn't say I'm pleased with where I am to this point, but I'm pleased with where I'm at and the situation I'm in," Gay said. "It gives me a chance."


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Gant 1.10.0 released, 2017-02-12T12:41+00:00
Gant is Groovy Ant Scripting
Gant is a tool for scripting Ant tasks using Groovy instead of XML to specify the logic. A Gant specification is a Groovy script and so can bring all the power of Groovy to bear directly, something not possible with Ant scripts. Whilst it might be seen as a competitor to Ant, Gant uses Ant tasks for many of the actions, so Gant is really an alternative way of doing things using Ant, but using a programming language rather than XML to specify the rules. Here is an example Gant script:
includeTargets << gant.targets.Clean
cleanPattern << ['**/*~', '**/*.bak']
cleanDirectory << 'build'
target(stuff: 'A target to do some stuff.') {
println 'Stuff'
depends clean
echo message: 'A default message from Ant.'
target(otherStuff: 'A target to do some other stuff') {
println 'OtherStuff'
echo message: 'Another message from Ant.'
setDefaultTarget stuff
In this script there are two targets,
stuff and
otherStuff – the default target for this build is
designated as stuff and is the target run when Gant is executed from the command line with no target as
Targets are closures so they can be called as functions, in which case they are executed as you expect, or they can be dependencies to other targets by being parameters to the depends function, in which case they are executed if and only if they have not been executed already in this run. (There is a page with some more information on Targets.)
You may be wondering about the stuff at the beginning of the script. Gant has two ways of using pre-built sub-scripts, either textual inclusion of another Gant script or the inclusion of a pre-compiled class. The example here shows the latter – the class gant.targets.Clean is a class that provides simple clean capabilities.
The default name for the Gant script is build.gant, in the same way that the default for an Ant script in build.xml.
Gant provides a way of finding what the documented targets are:
|> gant -p
clean Action the cleaning.
clobber Action the clobbering. Do the cleaning first.
otherStuff A target to do some other stuff.
stuff A target to do some stuff.
Default target is stuff.
The messages on this output are exactly the strings associated with the target name in the introduction to the target.
Gant "can eat its own dog food"
Gant used to be used for building and installing itself and is being used for various build tasks including building Groovy and Java programs, static websites, LaTeX documents. Until recently, Gant was an integral part of Grails and Griffon. The ability to have arbitrary Groovy methods within the scripts makes Gant so much easier to work with that the mix of XML and Groovy scripts that using Ant necessitates. But then maybe this is an issue of individual perception.
Gant isn't really a "build framework"
Gant is just a lightweight façade on Groovy's AntBuilder. It just a way of scripting Ant tasks using Groovy. Gant can be used to do build tasks, but it doesn't have the integrated artefact dependency management, project lifecycle management, and multi-module/sub-project support that a fully fledged build framework should provide. Gradle on the other hand is a complete build framework based on Groovy and Ivy. If you just want to do some Ant task scripting then Gant is probably the tool you need, but for replacing Ant and Maven as build frameworks (so as to get rid of all the XML and use Groovy), then you probably need to consider Gradle.
And yes, Gant is managed by a Gradle build.
It is probably worth noting that Gradle grew out of work done on Gant.
Getting Gant
Prepackaged Distributions are for those who want to "load and go".
Developer Access is for those who want to be right on the cutting edge.
If you give Gant a go and have some feedback, do let us know on the Groovy User mailing list, putting [Gant] in the Subject field..


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Happy December! How are you? How has your weekend been?
Okay, okay. I'll be quiet. I know what you want to know! It's time for the reveal of the new Daily Download!
Before I show you, it's time for the full reveal of November's Daily Download! Remember, it was created by Trixie Scraps!
This month's kit was designed by Simple Girl Scraps and it's just as cute!
Remember, the download is kept up for 5 days, and then it is taken down. If you miss pieces, the kit will be available for purchase on the first day of the following month.


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With the current epidemic of swine flu sweeping the world and the huge amount of information on the subject available at your finger tips I like the simplified 'Winnie the Pooh' guideline. It makes much more sense…and raises a chuckle.
WARNING…read the full cartoon before showing to your children or they will look at Winnie the Pooh in an entirely different light!


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Your contribution as an individual creator is uniquely valuable to our culture, our democracy and our economy.
'Artistic creativity constitutes a decisive factor for the preservation of the identity of peoples and the promotion of a universal dialogue. We are thus fully aware of the essential contribution that can be made by the arts and artists to improving the quality of life, to the development of society, and to the progress of tolerance, justice and peace in the world.' 1
Creators and cultural identity
Creators' capacity to preserve, focus and foster identity is clear and well documented. Cultural identity is often most powerfully defined by creative output. Examples abound: artistic forms like Argentinian Tango, American Jazz or the paintings of the Southern Ndebele of South Africa, to individual works, like the Cuban photographer Alberto Korda's iconic image of Che Guevara or the writings of Dostoyevsky.
Moreover, the ability to protect this creativity and receive a fair share of profits made from its use is the linchpin of an economy that derives income from creativity. Creativity's value is recognised in copyright and rewarded in royalties.
Without a strong system for linking copyright and royalties to the individual creator, the creator can easily be left unrewarded for the work's value.
Although it was a universally recognised image, copied on every conceivable format, Korda never received a penny in royalties for the use of his most famous photograph. However, the image generated a great deal of income for those who exploited it.
The ability to protect and reward our creators through copyright, so they can sustain themselves through their work, is vital to both the UK's cultural identity and our economy. It is also critical to preserve and develop our democracy itself.
Creators and democracy
A well-managed system of copyright legislation and provision, which facilitates individual creators, underwrites a democratic culture. One respected commentator put it like this:
"By according creators of original expression a set of exclusive rights to market their literary and artistic works, copyright fosters the dissemination of knowledge, supports a pluralist, non-state communications media, and highlights the value of individual contributions to public discourse".2
It is no coincidence that cultures with the best-developed systems of intellectual property (IP) protection, which value individual creators, are also the societies with the best developed democracies.
Freedom of association, free expression and the resulting diversity of opinion, output and viewpoint from amateurs to experts who have dedicated a lifetime to honing their creative output are good for democracy.
Democracy cannot function at all without the professional skills to describe government and party policies to voters – whether exercised by journalists or satirists. How else would we choose how to vote? By consuming the spin-doctors' raw output?
Professional creators routinely create work of enduring value and meaning, having crafted their skills over many years. This dedicated experience offers two main dividends for creativity at large:
Professional creators provide benchmarks for creative excellence for amateurs and semi-professionals to aspire to; and
As their livelihoods depend upon the protection of copyright, professional creators are at the vanguard of protecting rights that the wider population enjoys and needs.
Extending or even maintaining diversity of creativity depends upon protecting the interests of professional creators.
Some of the less thoughtful advocates of the anti-copyright slogan "information wants to be free" suggest that all our needs for software, culture, and reporting could be met by hackers, amateurs and bloggers doing it as a hobby and living off a day job. It is alarming to think how many people would be excluded from making their creative contribution in such a world.
So a healthy culture, democracy and creative economy needs diverse creativity.
1: Your unique contribution: what is needed
1UNESCO (1997) Final Declaration of the World Congress on the Status of the Artist.
2Netanel N (1998) "Asserting Copyright's Democratic Principles in the Global Arena", Vanderbilt Law Review 217


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After a brief, failed experiment paying me to do chores, my dad tried something really neat. It clearly took a bit of legwork, but maybe there are some transferrable lessons for parents who want to lay an entrepreneurial foundation.
He gave me a vending machine.
He rented the machine, found a location in a local workshop, and installed it. And then he told me two things.
- That this would be the last time I was given allowance.
- And that if I wanted to have any pocketmoney next week, I'd better spend this week's on some inventory.
I ran the machine for about 4 years from the time I was 7 or 8. At first, my only agency was inventory management. We drove to Costco in his big van and I decided what to buy. Stocking an empty soda machine is easy: you buy four cases of each soda you want to carry.
But then the Coca-Cola runs out first and the Sunkist is half empty and nobody has bought even a single Grape Soda and should I cut my margins paying more per-unit for individual cans or do I buy full cases and find somewhere to store the extras and why am I doing algebra on the weekend!?
Looking back on it, I'm certain this whole endeavour operated at a loss. Dad subsidised it like crazy so I would have a safe–but real–environment to learn in.
At first, it was pure profit: he covered the expenses and I pocketed the take. As long as I did the work each week to buy inventory, count the revenue, and refill the change drawer, I was set.
That didn't last.
Pricing, cashflow, operating costs, and capital expenditure
Once I was sitting pretty with my weekly soda profits, it was time for a change.
He let slip that, you know, maybe I could make more money if I raised the prices? After a week of brow-furrowing deliberation, I raised the price per can from 50 cents to 55. He told me that some of the customers were angry about the price increase.
I freaked out.
I tried to figure out whether I was earning more now or previously. Why hadn't I been writing all this down? And even if I was making more, how safe was I? Would competition move in and undercut me by that crucial nickel? Would my customers walk across the street to make their soda purchase? Was I being greedy?
He began charging me for the gas we used to drive to Costco. Suddenly I couldn't afford to make re-stocking trips every week — grape soda was cut for an extra column of Coca-Cola. I lost some niche customers. I invested increasing amounts into inventory to reduce gas costs. Our garage became my warehouse.
He wondered aloud if it might be worth buying one of those automated coin-counting machines to speed up my weekly bank trip. I saved up and invested.
And he gave me a taste of the joys and vanities of ownership. Watching someone drop a couple coins into my machine.
And then walking up to it, turning the key, unscrewing the lock, and opening the front. "That's right. I'll be getting my soda for free. I own the joint."
Twenty year retrospective
The vending machine didn't magically make me want to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to be a video game designer, then an engineer, then a video game designer again, and then an academic.
I get the impression kids are a bit slippery in that regard.
But when I stumbled into the startup world two decades later, the dots began to connect. Cashflow wasn't a new concept. Inventory tradeoffs made a bit of sense.
This thing with the internet is like that thing with the sodas.
Thanks, Dad.
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100 Responses to My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine
Nice read. Like the part where your dad slowly tightens the screws :)
To be sincere I liked it very much I had to do a retweet several times a good read thanks :)
Two words: that's one awesome dad. :)
That's uhmm….. four words. lol
How old were you when this began?
The Thing is if you know something,no matter how small or big it will always come in use one day,And you have an awesome dad
Love it, your dad is a wise man, Inspired me to impart experience into my 5 year old.
And me to impart experience into my one year old, when she grows up that is.
Great post. Thanks for sharing this to everyones benefit!
I love it. I'm still learning the ropes. I'll have a vending machine of my own to run!
Thanks for sharing your story.
Great story, thanks for sharing!
Excellent post, Rob. Your dad knew what time it was.
Great story, given me some bril ideas!!
Inspiring story! Cool Dad, great idea!…And not everyone can say they had a vending machine once!
Fabulous story! I've wondered what types of real life business ideas would be helpful for a kid to help them learn these types of things beyond the book. Thanks for sharing and for the inspiration! Congrats. You've got an amazing dad.
Pretty cool story. Definitely going to do something like this when I have kids.
Thank You Great Story !
I did the same thing when I was a kid, except I used marijuana and I never ever operated at a loss.
Gems like that one make reading comments worthwhile.
Thank goodness you never had to factor in lawyer, jail or juvenile detention costs into your business structure. Or rehab. That's a serious business expense.
Great story! Great dad!
Great story. My dad always encouraged me to start a business, but he didn't do anything quite like this. Pretty cool way to sow the seeds of being your own boss.
Great Story – makes me think my kids should start an ebay shop.
Man, your dad sounds like a bad ass.
[...] My Dad taught me cashflow with a vending machine [...]
I hope you paid taxes on your earnings from that vending machine. The IRS is going to be on to you.
An 8-year-old with maybe $1,000 dollars of income owes taxes? For my first three years of having a summer job, I never had to pay a cent (though I did have to file returns and have some salary withheld). And I was earning around $5,000-8,000 a year.
Ahh, c'mon Alex… 'Just' let 'anon' post a comment in 'jest'.
- All puns intended
I also had a vending business. It was just a refrigerator in one of my classrooms and I charged $1 a pop. It used the honesty system and worked quite well. It really left a powerful impression on me. I made a few thousand with minimal effort.
That sounds like an awesome learning experience. I'm going to go try this with beer instead of soda. Just kidding. Maybe..
Wow. That is some awesome parenting.
[...] loved this piece on teaching kids about money: My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine. While I don't know that it's a super-practical method for most people, it seems like a [...]
Sounds made up.
(jon) Sounds cynical.
Great story. I remember from a young age being interested in tinkering with business ideas. I didn't have a Dad or a soda machine, but I made due :) Years later I'm still that same person who looks at things a little differently.
[...] My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine – The Startup Toolkit Blog. [...]
Btw great story, quite a wise Dad :)
Great read! and, as many have said, great dad!
PS: did your dad ever bring up payment for the soda machine itself, or repayment of the electricity to run it?
[...] This sounds like a great idea to try with your kids: [...]
Your story made my day. Thanks for sharing.
Good story. I did the same, from 14 to 18 yrs at my high school (Menlo HS, in Sili Valley), with candy from Price Club (merged into Costco) in the 1980s. The Dean gave me the broken machine, and I paid all expenses to keep it running.
I was also allowed to compete against the "official vendor" who I undercut by five cents.
Taught me a LOT about business (and inventory control, with 30 items), saved enough to buy, fix and run my first car, etc.
Every kid should get some business experience — esp. if s/he goes into politics :)
Great story! Really! But, I call B.S.
Still grinning and marvelling at the sheer genius of your dad and how enterprising it made you! Great story, sharing :) Tia
What a wonderful read. I have shared the story with my friends and family, and I will be looking to do something similar with my own children should I have them in the future… thank you for sharing. :)
lucky you.
my dad came home from work late, ate dinner alone in front of a blaring TV and belted me if i bothered him.
life really is like a box of chocolates.
I don't believe the purpose of the article was to flaunt the author's childhood fortune.
Instead, look at the positive meaning of the story. Try to enrich the life of a loved one or children in your community with a similarly practical lesson or message. That's what I'm taking away from this.
N.B.: This is not to say you need to go out and buy someone a vending machine; this was merely an instrument with which the lesson here was taught. At least one other previous commenter provided a similar example with significantly less overhead.
That's crap. And you can't fix that. But you get to choose the next piece.
Awesome. Doing the same with my boys.
well, similar. We don't have a vending machine! But we do have lots of lawns in the neighbourhood. And I have a mower and a willing 8 y/o. :)
There's a great lesson in this story, although now chances are that it'll involve something to do with the internet or building a website of some sort.
Managing money is possibly one of the hardest skills to teach children, something I won't have to do for another 5 years or so but I'm always thinking about ways to approach it.
[...] My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine – The Startup Toolkit Blog. Twitter Facebook Del.icio.us Reddit October 29, 2011 | Posted in: Business, Education, Featured, Interesting | No Comments » [...]
[...] Couldn't say it better than this – http://blog.thestartuptoolkit.com/2011/10/my-dad-taught-me-cashflow-with-a-soda-machine/ [...]
I have shown this story to my friends who are like you and they all have appreciated this….very inspiring…Thanks
That is 1 incredible amazing dad
Good story!
I'm just curious about the end of the story, what happened next?
The manchine broke? You rented a second one? You gave your business to your brother?
Great post Rob. xx
Great idea. Need to think of something similar I can do for my kids. Think the soda machine market is pretty much tied up.
Wow, this is amazing. My kids are grown. I did little things like lemonade and baked good stands with my kids as well as selling the toys they no longer played with at yard sales and donating part of the proceeds to charity. Your dad took this to a whole new playing field.
Nice Read.
i want to try this on my brother sometime.
[...] in (I have only visited twelve US states) where they did not call it soda.Powered by Yahoo! AnswersSandra asks…Which of these carbonated/aerated-drink do you like?The options are:-pepsi , coca-cola…-drink do you like?The options are:-pepsi , coca-cola , mountain dew , mirinda , fanta , 7up , [...]
Great story Great lesson Great father!
[...] The Startup Toolkit – My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
[...] great parenting advice, but this post from an internet entrepreneur makes a pretty good case for using an allowance as a tool to inculcate some business sense in your child. I have an economics degree, so I kind of love this story. Instead of getting paid allowance, this [...]
[...] What this child learned from owning a vending machine (Startup Toolkit) [...]
Your pops was on his game. Really good story. Not sure why people call it phony. Am I missing something?
Great story. I'm stealing the idea to get my grandkids started.
I wish I'd thought of this when my son was that age.
[...] My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine [...]
Loved your dad's creative parenting. He would have made an awesome middle school teacher. I really respect people who think outside of the box, without breaking it.
This is crazy! My Dad did the same thing for me right down to subsidizing the heck out of it, covering all expenses and watching me at age 8 or 9 ride my bike to the bank to drop off a sack full of coins. He even set me up with a CD that rolled over a couple times until I rather quickly pulled everything out in high school to subsidize my passion for music and computers, a decision that has impacted me positively for thirty years and counting. Still I cant help to think of what that investment would look like today, untouched.
I hope to do the same for my son in a few years.
I am going to do this with my Kid…..
This was a great story and although I'm only 20 and have been interested in startups for about a year now, we have a lot of similarities it seems. This article inspired my latest blog post, too (http://bradleyleslie.blogspot.com/2011/10/road-to-entrepreneurship.html). I look forward to reading your future posts!
[...] My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine by Rob Fitzpatrick – "The vending machine didn't magically make me want to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to be a video game designer, then an engineer, then a video game designer again, and then an academic. I get the impression kids are a bit slippery in that regard. But when I stumbled into the startup world two decades later, the dots began to connect. Cashflow wasn't a new concept." Forest Glen Preserve, Illinois, Illinois by John Hunter [...]
In the 70′s I sold seeds and then Christmas cards, from the outfits that advertised on the back of comic books; such as American Seed Ce. – All kids should have some kind of business experience. Your dad's awesome. What did he do for a living then, was he a business owner?
Thats an awesome story man!
I was recently thinking of how would I "train" my kids to think more about this 'businessy' ways and learn to appreciate every dollar they have. Great story and read as well.
What a jackass! The author deleted my perfectly sane and valid comments and many response to those. One who cannot deal with contending viewpoints should never be looked upon as any sort of authority. Given another set of circumstances and politics, these beings have the capacity and tendency to be come fascist Nazis.
Great story.
A practical way for a Dad to teach his kids about the real world and the true value of money.
Well done your Dad!
Your dad is smart. Saving and managing your funds is good to learn at an early age!
[...] "My Dad Taught Me Cash Flow With a Soda Machine" from The Start Up ToolKit. [...]
[...] My dad taught me cashflow with a vending machine, the startup tool kit [...]
[...] My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine - I like it. [...]
[...] Ver Nota Original Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
[...] My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine – The Startup Toolkit Blog. [...]
[...] My Dad Taught Me Cashflow with a Soda Machine "We can eat the change we want to see in the world." Rx-ing & Injury Prevention Why You Need to Focus on Form, Not Time My First WOD: One Man's Story Why Gluten-Free Isn't Good Enough (Part 1) The most important Mobility WOD video, EVER [...]
[...] Jeff pointed to an article at The Startup Toolkit in which the author describes how his father taught him cashflow with a soda machine. Not every GRS reader wants to be an entrepreneur, but for those that do, this is a fun [...]
[...] reading this excellent article about a guy teaching his son some early business lessons using a soda machine, I got to thinking. [...]
[...] Source The Startup Tookit [...]
[...] Parents, looking for ideas? Get your kids a a soda machine [...]
[...] Entrepreneur Posted by Fire on February 11, 2012 This story has been published by The Startup Tookit's author back in the Oct 2011 and we found that it is one of the most inspiring true story has [...]
[...] Parents can have a huge impact on how their kids see the world. Is the world a place of opportunity or fear? A place to stand out or a place to fit in? Kids are like a utopian experiment: if you want them to grow up believing something, you can make it happen. Caine's dad could have discouraged him because he was afraid his son would get disappointed or because he thought Caine would be better of doing something else. Instead, Caine's dad gave Caine tools and opportunities to pursue his passion and then got out of the way. Here's another great story about how a parent taught his 8-year old son about entrepreneurship and responsibility: http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2011/10/my-dad-taught-me-cashflow-with-a-soda-machine/ [...]
[...] via My dad taught me cashflow with a soda machine – The Startup Toolkit Blog. [...]


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The Panthers have not soiled their hands by shaking down the city of Charlotte for money to upgrade their stadium.
But they are certainly willing to catch whatever might be generously thrown at them, and the Charlotte City Council voted 7-2 last night to endorse a proposal to give the team $125 million.
The vote came during a closed session, and neither city officials nor anyone from the team commented on the proceedings, according to Steve Harrison of the Charlotte Observer.
Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and team president Danny Morrison made a presentation to the Council at last night's meeting, at which police guarded the door.
Both Richardson and Morrison (the two quiet guys pictured here, next to coach Ron Rivera) left today's press conference to introduce new general manager Dave Gettleman without taking questions, with a team spokesman referring all inquiries back to the city.
The plan would call for a tax on prepared food and beverages to be increased from 1 percent to 2 percent, and would have to be approved by North Carolina's General Assembly and governor Pat McCrory (a former Charlotte mayor).
The Panthers are clearly sensitive toward the perception of taking a public handout, even though Richardson privately financed Bank of America largely through the sale of PSLs. But city officials are also sensitive toward anything resembling not appeasing the local NFL team, apparently scared by the specter of Los Angeles rumors.


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Men's soccer captures 2013 Big Ten Championship
Men's soccer captures 2013 Big Ten Championship
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 13 Penn State men's soccer defeated No. 19 Northwestern, 2-1, Sunday (Oct. 27) afternoon in dramatic fashion to earn the program's fifth Big Ten championship. Jordan Tyler (Rochester, Mich.) scored the game-tying and game-winning goal in overtime for the Nittany Lions.
"Northwestern gave us everything we could handle," Head coach Bob Warming said. "I thought our guys responded well in the second half, even though (Northwestern) got the goal. How fun is this? It's a day our guys will never forget and I'm happy for them."
The match seemed destined for a 1-1 draw until the 109th minute when NU's Connor Holloway lost his footing at midfield and Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) took the ball and rushed down field. Maloney drew a Wildcat defender at the top of the penalty area and passed a perfectly placed ball to Tyler who sent it into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the year and fourth game-winner.
The goal set off a wild celebration as Penn State (10-3-1, 5-0-0 Big Ten) celebrated its second straight Big Ten title and fifth overall. The victory clinched the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the second straight season as well as the Lions look to complete the perfect Big Ten season with a win next week at Ohio State, a feat only accomplished by once before in Penn State men's soccer history (2005).
Northwestern (8-4-3, 1-1-1 Big Ten) struck first in the 60th minute on a goal from super striker Joey Calistri. Cole Missimo went streaking down the left flank toward the end line and touched a ground pass to Calistri on the near post. The crafty sophomore and the Big Ten's leading scorer back heeled a clever shot into the far right side of the goal for the lead.
Penn State went into desperation mode and pressed numbers forward. It took to the eighth shot of the half to capitalize in the waning minutes as Drew Klingenberg (Gibsonia, Pa.), last week's Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, beat his defender on the left wing. He chipped a cross to Tyler whose initial header looked to be going wide but struck the back of a Northwestern defender and went into the goal with 1:47 remaining in the second half.
The Nittany Lions avoided an early setback when NU's Lepe Seeante ripped a shot across frame in the 36th minute that required a sprawling save from two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Andrew Wolverton (Atlanta, Ga.). The two teams finished the opening half knotted at one.
The victory cemented Penn State's record at 8-1-1 in the past nine matches, which includes a tie over No. 5 California and wins over No. 14 Michigan State and No. 19 Northwestern. Penn State improved to 7-1-1 at home as Wolverton and defenders Akil Howard (Queens, N.Y.), Martin Seiler (Stuttgart, Germany), Mike Robinson (Lansdale, Pa.) and Randy Falk (Tewksburg Township, Pa.) have allowed just six goals in 961 minutes at Jeffrey Field.
Following the match, seniors Micah Collins (Glen Rock, Pa.), Grant Warming (Omaha, Neb.), Seiler and Howard were honored for their years of dedication to the Penn State program.
Penn State improved to 23-5-3 all-time against the Wildcats with the second-straight win in the series coming in overtime fashion. Penn State has won five Big Ten championships and four of them have come since 2002.
The Nittany Lions have a short turnaround as they take on Penn in Philadelphia on Tuesday at 7 p.m.


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Wabash Alum Pioneering Hip Replacementby Susan Cantrell • August 20, 2004 Share:
Even if you think you've seen it all, it's unlikely you have ever seen what Frank Kolisek, Wabash '82, looks at every day of his working life. In fact, most other doctors do not see it either.
Kolisek is an orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in joint replacement of the hip and knee. While that in itself is not unusual these days, his surgical method certainly is.
Dr. Kolisek is a pioneer in the field of infra-red navigation technology and minimally invasive surgery. For the past two years he has been working to perfect the instrumentation and techniques of hip and knee replacement surgery using this technology. He has been operating on people since his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Florida from 1986 to 1991. He then completed a fellowship in arthritic reconstructive surgery at Emory University and Peachtree Orthopaedic Clinic in Atlanta in 1991 before joining with Rose-Hulman graduate, Dr. Jack Farr in private practice in 1992. Presently he is a partner in OrthoIndy, the largest orthopaedic group in Indiana.
Dr. Kolisek is also the medical director of St. Francis Hospital's Center for Joint Replacement Surgery and a consultant for Stryker Orthopaedics, the manufacturer of the infra-red surgical instruments and hip and knee implants. In these stages of development, the Stryker Company has located one of its expensive navigation equipment units at St. Francis Hospital on the south side of Indianapolis, where Kolisek and his surgical team can evaluate its efficiency and suggest improvements and refinements. The relationship is mutually beneficial for the hospital, the manufacturer, doctor, and the patients.
Kolisek makes frequent visits to cadaver labs around the country, refining the surgical techniques necessary for the joint replacement procedures and noting any modifications needed for the instrumentation, all, he says, "So I can help develop better instruments and better surgical techniques so all patients can benefit. As a joint replacement surgeon, I want to help my patients return to normal of function in the shortest time they can. I also want to make sure the prostheses are implanted in the best position to function for many years."
The company (Stryker) is committed to developing this technology in order to help orthopaedic surgeons do the best job possible. We hope to free patients from the agony of arthritic hip and knee joints and give them the best odds for being pain-free afterwards. I want to help people maintain their independence and quality of life, including returning younger patients to a higher level of function."
When Frank Kolisek first came to Wabash College from Benton, a small town in southern Illinois in the late '70s, what he came for was the excellent preparation for medical school that Wabash was (and is) known for. From boyhood, being a doctor was the only career he considered. He was so captivated by the idea that he used to observe the operations done by his hometown surgeon, James Durham, M.D. It was Dr. Durham who put him on the path toward Wabash.
The teenager was very skeptical about the idea of a college with no girls, but once he found out about the percentage of medical school acceptances and saw the campus, Wabash was where he wanted to launch his medical career. Once here, he majored in chemistry, but was able to leave Goodrich Hall just long enough to pledge Phi Delta Theta, play varsity football and baseball, join the American Chemical Society, make his grades, and study for and do well enough on his MCAT to gain admission to medical school at the University of Illinois. He has never regretted a moment of it because Wabash fulfilled its promise to prepare him well for med school.
No profession is advancing and changing faster now than orthopaedic surgery. That is what drives Dr. Frank Kolisek, to do so much to move his field of orthopaedic surgery along. "We know what's coming in the not-too-distant future," he says. "Joint replacement surgery is going to be computer driven. Before we know it we'll be using the 'smart' navigation instruments and technology all the time. The 'minimally invasive' part of minimally invasive surgery will hopefully allow patients to return to normal function much faster and accuracy will be improved using the navigation equipment. Minimal disruption of soft tissues and muscles will take us a long way in reducing post-operative pain and recovery time for patients. It could also mean that the joint replacement will last longer as the navigation technology will allow us to place the components more accurately with more consistency."
Almost all of Dr. Kolisek's ideas are centered on his patients. This is no exception: "You know, lots of people seem to think patients go off to a hospital for a hip or knee replacement from some doctor who doesn't know them because he or she only met them once and will only see them again in a follow-up appointment. That is usually not the case. I've taken care of some of my patients over several years before their arthritis gets to the point that it's affecting their quality of life and they decide on surgery. I then see them again after the replacement surgery until they are fully recovered and then every two years thereafter so as to monitor them and their prosthesis.
"What's rewarding for me is the ability to positively affect a person's life so they can function better and with less pain thereby being able to do those things that are important to them that they may have given up prior to surgery. A big part of the operations I do is complicated hand-eye coordination, a gift, for which I am very grateful. The other part is informed understanding of the human body I'm working on, as well as the fact it is not simply a hip or knee joint, but a human being, above all else. I am always grateful to Wabash College for giving me such thorough grounding in the sciences and respect for humanity."


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Description and Brand Names of Colchicine (Oral Route)
US Brand Name
- Colcrys
Colchicine is used to prevent or treat attacks of gout (also called gouty arthritis). This condition is caused by too much uric acid in the blood. An attack of gout occurs when uric acid causes inflammation (pain, redness, swelling, and heat) in a joint. Colchicine does not cure gout, but it will help prevent gout attacks. Colchicine is not an ordinary pain reliever and will not relieve most kinds of pain.
Colchicine is also used to treat a rare condition called familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) in adults and children above 4 years of age.
Colchicine may also be used for other conditions as determined by your doctor.
Colchicine may be used in 2 ways. Most people take small amounts of it regularly for a long time (months or even years) to prevent severe attacks or other problems caused by inflammation. Other people take large amounts of colchicine during a short period of time (several hours) only when the medicine is needed to relieve an attack that is occurring. The chance of serious side effects is much lower with the first (preventive) kind of treatment.
Because some of colchicine's side effects can be very serious, you should discuss with your doctor about the good that this medicine can do as well as the risks of using it.
This medicine is available only with your doctor's prescription.
Once a medicine has been approved for marketing for a certain use, experience may show that it is also useful for other medical problems. Although these uses are not included in product labeling, colchicine is used in certain patients with the following medical conditions:
- Amyloidosis.
- Behçet's syndrome.
- Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (pseudogout).
- Cirrhosis of the liver.
- Pericarditis.
- Sarcoid arthritis.
If you are taking colchicine for any of these conditions, the following information may apply:
- For all of these conditions, colchicine is usually given regularly in small amounts to reduce inflammation (preventive treatment). This usually decreases the occurrence of severe attacks or other problems caused by inflammation.
- Colchicine is not a cure for these conditions. It will help prevent problems caused by inflammation only as long as you continue to take it.
- Some patients with calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (pseudogout) or familial Mediterranean fever may take larger amounts of colchicine only when an attack occurs, to relieve the attack.
This product is available in the following dosage forms:
- Tablet
Before Using Colchicine (Oral Route)
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.
Appropriate studies have not been performed on the relationship of age to the effects of colchicine in children with gout. Safety and efficacy have not been established.
Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of colchicine in children with FMF. However, safety and efficacy of colchicine have not been established in children with FMF younger than 4 years of age.
Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of colchicine in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related kidney or liver problems which may require caution and an adjustment in the dose for patients receiving colchicine.
Studies in women suggest that this medication poses minimal risk to the infant when used during breastfeeding.
Drug Interactions
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take.
- Atazanavir
- Boceprevir
- Clarithromycin
- Darunavir
- Indinavir
- Itraconazole
- Ketoconazole
- Lopinavir
- Nefazodone
- Nelfinavir
- Ritonavir
- Saquinavir
- Telithromycin
- Tipranavir
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.
- Amprenavir
- Aprepitant
- Atorvastatin
- Cyclosporine
- Diltiazem
- Erythromycin
- Fenofibric Acid
- Fluconazole
- Fosamprenavir
- Gemfibrozil
- Interferon Alfa-2a
- Lomitapide
- Lovastatin
- Nilotinib
- Pitavastatin
- Pravastatin
- Quinidine
- Ranolazine
- Reserpine
- Simeprevir
- Simvastatin
- Tacrolimus
- Telaprevir
- Tocophersolan
- Verapamil
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines may cause an increased risk of certain side effects, but using both drugs may be the best treatment for you. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.
- Bezafibrate
- Ciprofibrate
- Clofibrate
- Digoxin
- Fenofibrate
- Fluvastatin
Other Interactions
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.
Using this medicine with any of the following may cause an increased risk of certain side effects but may be unavoidable in some cases. If used together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use this medicine, or give you special instructions about the use of food, alcohol, or tobacco.
- Grapefruit Juice
Other Medical Problems
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
- Alcohol abuse or
- Bowel disease or
- Stomach ulcer or other stomach problems – The chance of stomach upset may be increased. Also, colchicine can make some kinds of stomach or intestinal problems worse.
- Blood disorders (e.g., aplastic anemia, granulocytopenia, leukopenia, pancytopenia) or
- Muscle or nerve problems – Use with caution. May make these conditions worse.
- Kidney disease or
- Liver disease – Should not be used in patients with these conditions.
Proper Use of Colchicine (Oral Route)
Take this medicine exactly as directed by your doctor. Do not take more of it, do not take more of it, and do not take it for a longer time than your doctor ordered. Do not change your dose or stop using this medicine without checking first with your doctor.
For patients taking small amounts of colchicine regularly (preventive treatment):
- Take this medicine regularly as directed by your doctor, even if you feel well. If you are taking colchicine to prevent gout attacks, and you are also taking another medicine to reduce the amount of uric acid in your body, you probably will be able to stop taking colchicine after a while. However, if you stop taking it too soon, your attacks may return or get worse. If you are taking colchicine for certain other medical conditions, you may need to keep taking it for the rest of your life.
- If you are taking colchicine to prevent gout attacks, ask your doctor to recommend other medicine to be taken if an attack occurs. Most people receiving preventive amounts of colchicine should not take extra colchicine to relieve an attack. However, some people cannot take the other medicines that are used for gout attacks and will have to take extra colchicine. If you are one of these people, ask your doctor to tell you the largest amount of colchicine you should take for an attack and how long you should wait before starting to take the smaller preventive amounts again. Be sure to follow these directions carefully.
For patients taking large amounts of colchicine only when needed to relieve an attack:
- Start taking this medicine at the first sign of the attack for best results.
- Stop taking this medicine as soon as the pain is relieved or at the first sign of nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, or diarrhea . Also, stop taking colchicine when you have taken the largest amount that your doctor ordered for each attack, even if the pain is not relieved or none of these side effects occurs.
- The first few times you take colchicine, keep a record of each dose as you take it. Then, whenever stomach upset (nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, or diarrhea) occurs, count the number of doses you have taken. The next time you need colchicine, stop taking it before that number of doses is reached. For example, if diarrhea occurs after your fifth dose of medicine, take no more than four doses the next time. If taking fewer doses does not prevent stomach upset from occurring after a few treatments, check with your doctor.
- After taking colchicine tablets to treat an attack, do not take any more colchicine for at least 3 days. Also, after receiving the medicine by injection for an attack, do not take any more colchicine (tablets or injection) for at least 7 days. Elderly patients may have to wait even longer between treatments and should check with their doctor for directions.
- If you are taking colchicine for an attack of gout, and you are also taking other medicine to reduce the amount of uric acid in your body, do not stop taking the other medicine. Continue taking the other medicine as directed by your doctor.
You may take this medicine with or without food.
The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.
The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.
For oral dosage form (tablets):
For familial mediterranean fever (FMF):
- Adults and teenagers – 1.2 to 2.4 milligrams (mg) given in one or two divided doses a day. Your doctor may adjust your dose as needed.
- Children 6 to 12 years of age – 0.9 to 1.8 milligrams (mg) given in one or two divided doses a day.
- Children 4 to 6 years of age – 0.3 to 1.8 milligrams (mg) given in one or two divided doses a day.
- Children younger than 4 years of age – Use and dose must be determined by your doctor.
For gout attacks:
- Adults – 1.2 milligrams (mg) at the first sign of a gout attack, followed by 0.6 mg after one hour. The dose is usually 1.8 mg over a 1 hour period.
- Children – Use is not recommended.
- For familial mediterranean fever (FMF):
Missed Dose
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light. Keep from freezing.
Keep out of the reach of children.
Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed.
Ask your healthcare professional how you should dispose of any medicine you do not use.
If you must take colchicine for a long time (preventive treatment), your doctor may want to check your progress at regular visits. Blood tests may be needed to check for unwanted effects.
Stomach problems may be more likely to occur if you drink large amounts of alcoholic beverages while taking colchicine. Also, drinking too much alcohol may increase the amount of uric acid in your blood. This may lessen the effects of colchicine when it is used to prevent gout attacks. Therefore, people who take colchicine should be careful to limit the amount of alcohol they drink.
For patients taking small amounts of colchicine regularly (preventive treatment):
- Attacks of gout or other problems caused by inflammation may continue to occur during treatment. However, the attacks or other problems should occur less often, and they should not be as severe as they were before you started taking colchicine. Even if you think the colchicine is not working, do not stop taking it and do not increase the dose. Check with your doctor instead.
Colchicine can temporarily lower the number of white blood cells in your blood, increasing the chance of getting an infection. It can also lower the number of platelets, which are necessary for proper blood clotting. If this occurs, there are certain precautions you can take, especially when your blood count is low, to reduce the risk of infection or bleeding:
- If you can, avoid people with infections. Check with your doctor immediately if you think you are getting an infection or if you get a fever or chills, cough or hoarseness, lower back or side pain, or painful or difficult urination.
- Check with your doctor immediately if you notice any unusual bleeding or bruising; black, tarry stools; blood in the urine or stools; or pinpoint red spots on your skin.
- Be careful when using a regular toothbrush, dental floss, or toothpick. Your medical doctor, dentist, or nurse may recommend other ways to clean your teeth and gums. Check with your medical doctor before having any dental work done.
- Do not touch your eyes or the inside of your nose unless you have just washed your hands and have not touched anything else in the meantime.
- Be careful not to cut yourself when you are using sharp objects such as a safety razor or fingernail or toenail cutters.
- Avoid contact sports or other situations where bruising or injury could occur.
If your doctor tells you to increase the amount of medicine you are taking or if you are just starting this medicine, make sure you tell the doctor right away if you get muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness.
Grapefruits and grapefruit juice may increase the effects of colchicine by increasing the amount of this medicine in your body. You should not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice while you taking this medicine.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements.
Side Effects of Colchicine (Oral Route)
Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:
More common
- Diarrhea
- nausea or vomiting
- stomach pain
- Black, tarry stools
- blood in the urine or stools
- burning, "crawling", or tingling feeling in the skin
- difficulty in breathing when exercising
- fever with or without chills
- headache
- large, hive-like swellings on the face, eyelids, mouth, lips, or tongue
- muscle weakness
- numbness in the fingers or toes (usually mild)
- pain
- peeling of the skin
- pinpoint red spots on the skin
- redness
- skin rash or hives
- sores, ulcers, or white spots on the lips or in the mouth
- sore throat
- swelling
- tenderness
- unusual bleeding or bruising
- unusual tiredness or weakness
Get emergency help immediately if any of the following symptoms of overdose occur:
Symptoms of overdose
- Bleeding
- burning feeling in the stomach, throat, or skin
- convulsions (seizures)
- diarrhea (severe or bloody)
- fast, shallow breathing
- muscle weakness (very severe)
- nausea, stomach pain, or vomiting (severe)
Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:
Less common
- Hair loss
- loss of appetite
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.


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Author Notes: Like pasta, zucchini is a great carrier of other flavors and sauces. I recently got a julienne gizmo that is like a peeler but makes tiny little threads of zucchini, carrots, cukes or wherever you apply it. A mandoline or benringer with a julienne blade also works(but not as safe for fingers or as much fun to use). I make this recipe all summer long with a variety of dressings, but this is one of my favorites. It is healthy and light; a great side dish or a light lunch. - dymnyno —dymnyno
Food52 Review: Zucchini and summer squash, if sliced thinly enough, resemble spaghetti -- or, zuccaghetti! -- and make for a tender, refreshing salad. The notion of zucchini spaghetti has popped up here and there over the past couple of years. Sometimes the strands are dressed with oil and chilies, sometimes with a vinaigrette and herbs. Here dymnyno enrobes the thin, dewy zucchini in a tarragon vinaigrette rounded out with cream (add it to taste). This is a salad that gets even better with a little sitting. Dymnyno has you rinse the zucchini after salting -- we found that you can skip the rinsing. But don't skip the eating! - A&M
—The Editors
Serves: 6
8 small zucchini (about 2 lbs)
1 tsp salt
3 tbs tarragon leaves
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
3 tbs olive oil
1 cup cream(1/2 &1/2)
3 tbs chives, minced
fresh ground black pepper
- Julienne the zucchini, place in a colander, sprinkle with the salt and drain for 1/2 hour. Then, rinse , and squeeze and towel out the excess moisture. A salad spinner can work.
- In a blender, put the olive oil, lemon juice, tarragon leaves and cream.
- Blend until creamy and all the ingredients are fully incorporated into a creamy dressing.
- Toss the zucchini with the sauce (amount determined by taste).
- Sprinkle with the chopped chives. Grind pepper over mixture to taste.
- Your Best Summer Squash Recipe Contest Finalist!
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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