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After almost 20 years in Burbank, the Riverside Café will serve its final meal on Sunday as it closes because of a dwindling number of customers, and because the owner says he can no longer afford to invest in the failing business.
Matt Peek took over ownership of the café at 1221 W. Riverside Drive in October 2009 from its original owners, Paula and Michael Kidby, who continue working as customer service manager and chef, respectively.
But Peek said that since the recession hit, the restaurant has seen fewer and fewer patrons, particularly from nearby movie studios during lunchtime.
"Sales have gone down for way too long," said Peek, who was a waiter at the restaurant when he purchased it. He had saved money from some successful acting jobs and asked another investor to also help bolster the business financially.
Peek said closing the café is a difficult decision, but he has lost too much money and needs to walk away from the venture.
Early on, he thought the café might turn around somehow and his 6-year-old daughter would work there someday.
"I'd hoped she'd be a waitress," he said.
In its heyday, the restaurant was packed every night, said Michael Kidby, adding that celebrities such as Dick Van Dyke, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have eaten there.
Before buying the business in 1993, he had been working with horses in the nearby Rancho area and saw the 600-square-foot restaurant go through a variety of owners who ran hamburger joints.
Michael Kidby wanted to serve more than burgers, so he leased the space and expanded the menu to include several favorites from his native London, England.
For Thanksgiving, the Kidbys would close the restaurant to the public and invite regular customers for a dinner that might include cooked goose, apple soup and chestnut-and-bacon stuffing.
Every Thursday, there would be different "special" available. The final "special" included pork tenderloin stuffed with apricots and wrapped in bacon, along with fondant potatoes, which are cooked in butter and chicken stock.
Michael Kidby, who has been named Best Chef in Burbank several times by the Burbank Leader, said he plans to return to working with horses and wants to land a cooking position at another restaurant.
He and his wife are also working on a Riverside Café Cookbook that will feature many of the unique dishes they've served over the years.
Paula Kidby said she's sad to see the Riverside Café close its doors.
"Some compared it to Cheers," she said. "We've met a lot of great people. It's going to be a tough day on Sunday."
Follow Mark Kellam on Twitter: @LAMarkKellam


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We have a task list with a column that categorizes tasks into one of 12 categories. We're trying to calculate a NEW column that will be populated with one of two values, "Technical" or "Procedural" based on the category.
I can create the column without any difficulties, but keep getting syntax errors when trying to add that column to my site columns.
I'm using nested ifs (=if([category]=condition1),"someValue1",if([category]=condition2),"someValue2",if([etc....) to achieve this but am trying to test with a single if-then, which is also returning syntax errors when I try to add the column to the site.
I suspect I have a misplaced paren/bracket/quote.
=if(([IssueCategory]="Question for IT"),"Technical","other");
Can anyone tell me why this is returning as a Syntax error?

subset: commoncrawl


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triangle End Tables
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End Tables
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End tables are available in a wide variety of wood finishes. Oak end tables offer a classic look, whether you go modern or traditional. White is always popular while black end tables are a great neutral piece that is easy to incorporate to your existing décor. Glass end tables are perfect for small spaces because they create a airy look.
Storage end tables also feature handy storage space. Choose end tables with shelves, closed cabinet doors, drawers or a combination. Nesting end tables are perfect for small spaces. Just pull them out when you have extra guests.
End tables aren't quite what you are after? See coffee tables or all living room furniture for more options.


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Every ride comes with curves - some some unforgiving. Either way, it's your duty to get through them safely. We tapped the wisdom of 35-year racing and coaching veteran Carl Cantrell, who offers his services and training manual, A Better Way to Train, at www.coachcarl.com
For the swim you practise pulls and kicks. For the run you do strides and form drills. But for the bike, practising specific skills is rare, and that's a mistake, says Cantrell, who suggests triathletes do circle drills and figure-of-eights once a week to refine the motor skills needed for cornering. This means that when you do hit a corner in a race, your reflexes are automatic....BY DOING FIGURE-OF-EIGHTS Shift into a low gear and ride in slow left-hand circles, gradually picking up speed and bringing the circle tighter until you feel the rear wheel lose traction and skid slightly. That's your tipping point. Get a feel for that point and you'll feel comfortable riding within it. Practise in both directions. Graduate to figure-of-eights (see figure A), which force you to change direction quickly and maintain control.
Most cornering blunders happen at the start of a turn. How you approach sets you up for success, says Cantrell. "First and foremost, you need to relax. When you tense up, you straighten your arms and push the bike to the outside, increasing your chances of crashing."...BY RELAXING YOUR MUSCLES Before you commit to the corner, relax your hands and let your fingers hang so your arm muscles relax. Then grip the bar firmly, but not tightly. Feather the brakes on your approach, squeezing the levers just enough to caress the rims (see figure B), harder if you enter the corner fast. You shouldn't feel all of your weight going into your handle bars; if you do, you're squeezing too hard. When you reach a safe speed, let go of the brakes for the rest of the turn. Enter the corner as wide as possible without crossing the centre of the road. This reduces the steepness of the curve, making your turn more efficient and less scary.
You turn your bike by leaning your body, not by turning your bar. How much you lean depends on the sharpness of the curve. The goal is to shift your centre of gravity to send the bike into the turn, while keeping your weight over the centreline of the bike...BY STEERING WITH YOUR BODY Sit back on the saddle with your hands on the drop handle bars. Extend your outside leg and press into that pedal as you push down on the bar with your inside hand. Lower your upper body and drop your head towards the inside so your head is just about over the inside brake lever (see figure C). In a perfect world, you shouldn't need to brake while in the turn. Braking makes the bike want to sit up and go straight - bad news in a sharp bend. But if you find that you came into the turn a bit fast, you can gently slow down by lightly feathering the brakes.
Losing control in a corner can be terrifying. But nearly every triathlete has an 'oops' episode when misjudging a corner at speed. The right response can keep you upright...BY SHIFTING YOUR WEIGHT Kick your hips to the outside to shift your centre of gravity. This will stop the bike from cornering, set the bike up, and bring you back on top of the bike with the wheels down. Then shift your weight back and hit the brakes, bringing the bike back under control so you can slowly bring your bike through the curve without sliding across the road (see figure D).
A swift, smooth exit will ensure that you maintain momentum as you swoosh out of the corner...BY LOOKING AHEAD Your bike follows your eyes. Look as far through the corner as you can so your bike takes the straightest line possible through the curve. As you exit the curve, start pedalling again - it will help you maintain speed and bring you upright.


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Posted on 15th April 2014 by Media Relations
Taronga Zoo's Cassowaries can now be seen in their refurbished rainforest exhibit.The male and female Cassowaries are sharing separate parts of the exhibit as keepers prepare to move them back together for breeding.Bird Supervisor Michael Shiels says that the last Cassowary hatched at Taronga was in 1986, so this is the first breeding pair at Taronga in nearly 30 years.Last year, the pair laid eggs, however the clutch was infertile, so Taronga keepers are hoping for a more successful result this year.The success of the pair is vitally important as current estimates fear fewer than 1,000 birds are left in the Australian wild, with rapid development already eliminating 85% of its lowland tropical rainforest habitat.Little known to most Australians, and over 80 million years old, this 'living dinosaur' is a keystone species - vital to the rainforest's ecological functionality as a "Rainforest Gardener", dispersing seeds of at least 238 rainforest plant and tree species. Cassowaries are famous for their spectacular head crest or casque. They can grow to be about 1.8 m tall.In 2007 the Cassowary population at Mission Beach was estimated at 110; today it is estimated at just 40-50 birds partly due to the damage caused by Cycloane Yasi in 2011.Cassowaries are similar to Emus and Ostriches in that after the female has laid her eggs, the male will sit on them and incubate them between 47 - 54 days. Once the eggs have hatched, the male Cassowary will look after the young chicks until they are able to fend for themselves.Taronga is proud to be part of the 'Save the Cassowary' campaign led by Rainforest Rescue. This is a national campaign that aims to educate the general public, increase awareness and raise funds to address the plight of the Southern Cassowary in Australia. It is expected that the wide engagement will provide opportunities to develop new expertise in the fields of biodiversity conservation in the Wet Tropics. The Zoo and Aquarium Association and several zoos across Australia support this campaign. Visit savethecassowary.org.au for more information.


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WikiFur:This week's featured article/Week 24, 2011
Ozy and Millie is a funny animal comic strip drawn by D.C. Simpson. Launched on April 29, 1998, it ended over a decade later on December 23, 2008, though the author has hinted at possible additional episodes.
Ozy and Millie (vol. 4, Authentic Banana Dye) won the 2002 Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work, and Best Anthropomorphic Comic from the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards for that same year. It was also nominated for Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip in 2005, and won the same award in 2006 and 2007.
The series followed the adventures of a quiet young arctic fox named Ozy and his best friend, a rebellious red fox girl named Millie, along with Ozy's adoptive dragon father Llewellyn and Millie's mother, Ms. Mudd. Over time, the two single parents found companionship with one another, making for a somewhat psychotic yet close-knit family. (more...)


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Pricewaterhouse Coopers
GAME Australia administrator issues final statement
PriceWaterhouseCoopers has confirmed the GAME Australia's administration has ended in full liquidation, with no hope of reprieve.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers headlines
All GAME Australia outlets to close
Administrator Pricewaterhouse Coopers has confirmed all remaining GAME Australia stores will close.
Blizzard details assistance for GAME Australia Diablo III pre-order customers
A Blizzard Community Manager has detailed exactly what steps customers who pre-ordered Diablo III at in-administration GAME Australia have to take in order to get their money back.
GAME Australia lay-offs begin, 60 stores closed
Administrator Pricewaterhouse Coopers has confirmed an initial round of lay-offs at GAME Australia, with 281 staff let go today and 60 stores closed.
Blizzard offers refunds on GAME Australia Diablo III pre-orders
Those whose Diablo III pre-orders have fallen through thanks to GAME Australia's stock issues can apply for a refund from Blizzard.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers latest


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Coolest Adult View Master Costume Photo 5 of 9
Rate this costume:
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|Costume type:
|Costumes for Women
This homemade costume for women entered our 2012 Halloween Costume Contest.
A word from Kristen, the 'View Master' costume creator:
This costume is being worn by myself. Every year I try to come up with creative recognizable costumes of characters, objects or toys from when I was growing up. Throughout the year I come up... Read more »


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clinchfight necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
2 ganadores han sido elegidos entre 47 diseños de 19 diseñadores freelance.
Clinch Fightwear Company is a new, up-and-coming distributor of mixed martial arts fightwear, gear, gloves, shorts, equipment, etc. We need a logo/header that will assist us in properly marketing our site.
CLINCH FIGHTWEAR COMPANY http://www.clinchfight.com
Open to suggestions...
Desired Color Scheme:
The rules:
1. This contests ends at noon(CST)on November 17th.
2. A winner WILL BE chosen and $100 WILL BE PAID to the winner. I use PayPal.
3. We reserve the right not to use your work even if you win. In that case, you will retain the copyright and any additional rights to your original work. Otherwise, all rights are transferred to us.
4. If we like your work, we may offer an additional $150 to you to create buttons, graphics, holiday themes based off the original logo.
5. The logo must be placed on a banner that is 1600 pixels wide/variable height and that can be easily placed on a typical volusion-type website at clinchfight.com.
6. The logo/banner should state: CLINCH FIGHTWEAR COMPANY with the website below it or close by.
7. I don't have an exact preference on colors, etc., but I would like to see a Mixed Martial Arts figure in the logo. This can be a photo (one that is ok for use on a commercial site), a 3D animated figure, etc. No generic clipart that would make the site look less than professional.
8. Fighter graphics created using the plum clinch or thai clinch (fingers laced behind opponents head in order to pull close to deliver strikes, knees, etc) will be appreciated as the name of the company is CLINCH. However, not mandatory.
9. Mixed Martial Arts is different from martial arts. Do a search on the ufc, pridefc, or google it to get more info if needed. A few key points: Stay away from the typical Eastern/Asian characters related to traditional martial arts. The MMA fighter generally wears board shorts and open finger gloves rather than a traditional gi or uniform with a belt.
10. To give more of an idea (not to copy, just to get the feel), some other websites in the industry whose graphics/logos we like are:
http://wanderleisilva.com.br/ - logo at top
http://www.fightresource.com/ - cool header
http://www.theworldfighter.com/start.html - an ok logo in top left corner
https://www.rdfc.tv/bio_wand.html - some logos down the left column of this page
Can't find a whole lot I do like.
11. Fighter graphic should not too closely resemble any particular live mma fighter so as to avoid any copyright problems.
12. Any questions, feel free to contact me on here or via email.
Good luck and let the games begin.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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If the Deadly Vibes had their own religion, they'd probably call it Rock 'n' Roll. The name in one form or another appears like a mantra in their songs (You Gotta Rock, Man I Love That Rock 'n' Roll). In interviews, it slips all too easily off their tongues. The band even started an annual touring show in Taiwan called the Rock 'n' Roll Circus.
When this trio of expats who reside in Ilan County spread their gospel tomorrow night at Underworld (地下社會) in Taipei, don't be surprised to find a packed bar full of people pumping their fists and dancing to the band's country-flavored, punk-influenced garage rock.
"[A] lot of cursin', [a] lot of sweatin', a lot of yellin'," said drummer JT Long of what the audience can expect tomorrow.
Just don't tell his mom. JT and his identical twin brother, JD, who plays guitar in the band, grew up in Bible-belt Texas. Mrs Long doesn't really listen to rock, and "might have heard" their demo, said the brothers, but she's sometimes curious. "She asked me, do you curse?" said JT, smiling. "I was like no, not at all."
The 32-year-old Long brothers, who are genial and unfailingly polite in person, stay faithful to the spirit of their music. The lyrics to one Vibes song, Good to Be Bad, from their latest EP Get Your Kicks!, go "Don't you tell your mama, don't you tell your dad, but it's good, it's good, good, good, good to be bad."
True to their retro tastes, the band released the EP as a 7-inch record, which will be on sale at their show tomorrow (it comes with a CD-R comprising MP3s for the analog-impaired).
"It's just the feel, that's originally what rock 'n' roll started from," said JD of their decision to go vinyl.
WHAT: The Deadly Vibes with the Blue Trucks
WHEN AND WHERE: Tomorrow night, 9:30pm at Underworld (地下社會), B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City
(台北市師大路45號B1). Tel: (02) 2369-0103
ADMISSION: NT$300 at the door, includes a drink
ON THE NET: myspace.com/thedeadlyvibes
He says the record sold well in Europe, where the band did a month-long tour in April and May that included dates in the UK, Spain, Germany and Italy. "Only one person the whole time asked, 'Where's the CD?'" he said.
Europe was the fourth tour outside of Taiwan for the Vibes, who seem like a textbook case of a band using the Internet to get its name out. Through MySpace, they have managed to set up tours of South Korea, China and Japan since they formed in 2006. "We spend a lot of time on the computer," sighed JT.
They don't make much money, either — their European tour was mainly paid for out of their own pockets. But they do it out of a hunger to play for new audiences. "We can't play shows in Taiwan every month and be satisfied," said JT.
"You can play the same venue, same studio all the time. We get bored of that, personally," said JD.
Boredom shook up the Vibes' previous incarnation, the Daymakers, which played pop-punk a la Green Day, sang cutesy Chinese lyrics, wore loud 1970s suits and enjoyed a reputation in the indie scene for their ke-ai (可愛) act.
"Towards the end of the Daymakers, we were just itching for something different," said JD. So they switched instruments: JT went from bass to drums and Jason Copps, who was playing drums, switched to guitar and lead vocals. Copps writes the lyrics for the Deadly Vibes.
"I think with the Daymakers we tried to be catchy, gimmicky with our music. But now we're just writing whatever comes out, whatever it feels like," said JT.
But one thing the Deadly Vibes kept was a sense of "showmanship." "It's not just about making music, it's about the show," he said, noting JD's tendency to jump on top of tables or to fall onto his knees while playing guitar.


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Science Friday® is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Science Friday® and SciFri® are registered service marks of Science Friday, Inc. Site design by Pentagram; engineering by Mediapolis.
|Medical researcher Judah Folkman passed away last week at the age of 74. Until his death, he was Director of the Vascular Biology Program at Children's Hospital Boston. A central theme of his research was the idea of angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. In 1971, Folkman published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine arguing that angiogenesis was a key component in the growth of tumors. If a way could be found to limit the growth of blood vessels servicing a tumor, he reasoned, the tumor would be unable to grow. The idea has been incorporated into many differnt fields, and has led to the development of drugs such as Avastin (Bevacizumab), an angiogenisis inhibitor developed by Genentech. In this segment, we'll talk about Folkman's work and scientific legacy.


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Rice Lake High (RLHS) Class of 1946 Alumni List
Help us Update the Rice Lake High 1946 Class List by adding any names missing from the list below:
Registered Alumni
1946 Class List
Know Rice Lake High Class of 1946 graduates that are NOT on this List? Help us Update the 1946 Class List by adding missing names.
Reunions and Rice Lake High School News
More 1946 alumni from Rice Lake HS have posted profiles on Classmates.com®. Click here to register for free at Classmates.com® and view other 1946 alumni.
Alumni from the Rice Lake High School class of 1946 that have been added to this alumni directory are shown on this page. All of the people on this page graduated in '46 from Rice Lake High. You can register for free to add your name to the RLHS alumni directory.
You can share memories of those activities that you were involved with at Rice Lake HS and you can view other alumni and read what other former students have posted about the time they spent at Rice Lake.


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Virginia offensive coordinator Bill Lazor is leaving the Cavaliers to take an NFL job.
The university announced Lazor's departure Tuesday. A person familiar with the situation says Lazor will join Chip Kelly's new Philadelphia Eagles staff. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made by the Eagles.
Lazor's departure was first reported by CBSSports.com.
He is the fifth assistant to leave the Cavaliers' staff this offseason. Four coaches were fired Dec. 2 after Virginia finished 4-8.
Lazor, who came to Virginia in 2010, has been a quarterbacks coach with the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. He also worked for the Atlanta Falcons, and interviewed after the 2011 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.


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SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Marine Corps is forming the first squadron of pilots to fly the next-generation strike fighter jet, months after lawmakers raised concern that there was a rush to end the testing of the aircraft that has had technical problems.
So far, two veteran pilots of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing have been trained to fly the F-35B. They are becoming the first members of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 that will debut Tuesday at a ceremony at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz.
The first F-35B arrived Friday, and 15 more are coming during the next year. The Defense Department has pumped a half a billion dollars into upgrading the facilities, hangars and runways at the base to make way for the supersonic fighter jet named Lightning II, officials said.
The squadron's pilots are expected to fly the aircraft by year's end.
The Marines are the first in the military taking the steps toward putting the planes in operation. The F-35B would replace Cold War-era aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet and AV-8B Harrier.
"It's a pretty big milestone that a lot of people are looking at and judging," said Marine Capt. Staci Reidinger, a spokeswoman at the Yuma base. "The lessons learned will be shared."
Tuesday's inauguration comes only months after leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee suggested that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rushed a decision to develop the Marine Corps version of the fighter jet.
In a letter sent in February to the Pentagon chief, Sens. Carl Levin, the committee chairman, and John McCain, the panel's top Republican, questioned whether the F-35B had met the criteria to warrant an end to its probation. The F-35B had been on a two-year probation because of "significant testing problems."
Levin, D-Mich., and McCain, R-Ariz., wrote that the program "has enjoyed some success over the last few months, after several years of having fallen short." But they said "more problems with the F-35B's structure and propulsion, potentially as serious as those that were originally identified a year ago, have been found. This is salient where the F-35B has completed only 20 percent of its developmental test plan to date. Your decision, therefore, appears at least premature."
Levin declined to comment on the squadron. McCain did not respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.
The developer of the aircraft, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., is building three versions of the F-35 — one each for the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and some foreign forces.
Schedule delays and cost overruns have dogged the F-35's development, making it the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program ever. Ten years in, the total F-35 program cost has jumped from $233 billion to an estimated $385 billion. Recent estimates suggest the entire program could exceed $1 trillion over 50 years.
Aviation safety consultant and retired Marine Corps Col. Pete Field, who served as the former director of the Naval Test Pilot School, said the Marine Corps' F-35B is the most complicated of the three versions because it can take off and land vertically in less than 500 feet of space, allowing it to be launched from small Navy ships and to drop down in confined areas.
One of the problems earlier on in its development was it was heavier than predicted, which would have compromised its unique ability to take off and land vertically, Field said.
It was lightened substantially, but Field said that could also mean structural problems in the long run.
"It remains to be seen if the F-35B has a long life and is structurally sound," said Field, who was the chief test pilot for the F/A-18. "We won't know for two to three years after it's been in operation. If nothing crops up, perhaps the engineers have done their best work."
Its sophisticated stealth capabilities mean that like the Air Force's F-22, the aircraft can fly into enemy territory without being detected by radar.
"All we can do is hope that they have solved all the program problems and that they've got a pretty good airplane," Field said.
Officials at Lockheed Martin Corp. say they have corrected the problems with the aircraft's structure and propulsion in the development phase. The fixes addressed cracking in the interior bulkhead and the inadequate fitting of doors atop the plane that open to allow extra air to reach the engines, among other issues.
There were no accidents or close calls by pilots testing the F-35B, said company spokesman Jack Giese.
The commanding officer of the new squadron, Lt. Col. Jeffrey B. Scott, said the F-35B will give the nation a "giant leap" in its strategic capabilities by being able to drop in quickly to remote trouble spots without the need of having to be launched from a big deck Navy ship. Since the F-35 variants share similarities, the aircraft also will unify the military's air power.
"It flies extremely well. It's got a lot of great capabilities and it is growing into those capabilities," he said, adding later: "If you look at the history of any aircraft during development, this has had no more problems than any other previous aircraft, and we have the engineering solutions."


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Supplier Details
Free Member (2016)
[ Redwood City, California, United States ]
Business Type: Wholesaler, Reseller
Supplier has 5 products
Product Description
Basic Information
About Us
The B-Stock Sourcing Network is a network of retailers and manufacturers' official liquidation auction marketplaces. The marketplaces in the B-Stock Sourcing Network are private to approved buyers only, and powered by B-Stock Solutions. The B-Stock Sourcing Network enables resellers to buy liquidation and overstock inventory directly from reputable enterprise retailers, all from one source. The liquidation sales are exclusive to retailer-approved buyers.
Thousands of resellers love the B-Stock Sourcing Network because we provide them direct access to retailers and overstock inventory that they were never previously able to buy without middleman mark ups.
The B-Stock Sourcing liquidation categories primarily include Apparel, Footwear & Accessories, Appliances, Automotive Supplies, Books, Movies & Music, Cell Phones, Computer, Equipment & Software, Consumer Electronics, Furniture, Home & Garden, Jewelry & Watches, Mixed Lots, Other Lots, Toys, Kids & Baby, TVs and More. The B-Stock Sourcing Network allows for small and medium sized retailers and resellers to buy via Auctions in bulk directly from Liquidation Marketplaces from Walmart, h.h.Gregg, JACO, GameStop, The Journeys Group, Early Upgrade, Sam's Club, B-Stock Supply, and others.
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Facebook is undoubtedly the biggest platform in the world today to showcase yourself. It logs in around a billion users every month and it has more than 600 million active users logging in everyday; not to mention these numbers are growing at a rapid rate.
Make Full Use of Power of Facebook
Over the last few years, the number of Facebook users logging in from mobile devices has gone past the number of users logging in from a computer.
This is one social networking platform that you can't give a pass to and we at iQuest Media are here to create the spark on your behalf in the world of Facebook. We do so by creating outstanding and innovative apps of different types based on your requirements and needs. The buzz a Facebook app can create for you can't be matched with any other marketing endeavors.
Our FB Development Services
Following are some of the services offered by us:
We Love to Innovate
Our in-house team of Facebook app developers has years of experience in creating innovative apps for attracting more and more profits and customers to you. Our utility based apps can give additional functionalities to your customers, the functionalities that they never expected to have in an app.
With our gaming apps, you can engage more customers and reward them through our sleek contest apps that are exciting enough for people to participate in them.
Open Graph Development
We also offer open graph development and Facebook connect implementation along with various other services. This wide assortment of Facebook related services can definitely give you a big edge over your rivals.
Contact iQuest Media today to get appealing, exciting and fun Facebook apps and see your business grow through the magic of social media and Facebook.Tags: Development Service


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These compost cupcakes have so many different flavors that Bride 3.0 described the compost cupcakes as schizophrenic. What you think of these compost cupcakes will likely depend on whether you are the type of person who mixes foods on your plate.
If you are the type that greatly prefers plates with dividers (shown above) – so your peas and potatoes don't mingle – you'll hate them!
Compost cupcakes (like mud pie and dirt cake) are much better than the name reveals. The interesting thing about compost cupcakes is that they will taste different every time that you make them. The idea for compost cupcakes came from Momofuku's compost cookies. In the compost cookies, you mix your favorite salty snacks into the batter (Doritos, cheesy poofs, tortilla chips, etc.) along with your favorite sweet snacks (chocolate chips, raisins, caramel, etc.) and end up with salty/sweet deliciousness. I did the same thing with my compost cupcakes. I used pretzels, homemade goldfish crackers, cacao nibs, and Skor chips.
Compost Cupcake Recipe
To make compost cupcakes, mix your favorite salty and sweet snacks into your favorite cupcake recipe. There is no reason that you have to use my recipe. I was in the mood for molasses, so I mixed my snacks into a molasses-based cake. The molasses flavor was a bit overpowering and next time, I might try making compost cupcakes using a more basic white cake.
Compost Cupcakes – Salty and Sweet
Cupcake Ingredients
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup hot milk
- 1/2 cup crushed salty snacks I used goldfish crackers and pretzels
- 1/2 cup sweet snacks I used cacao nibs and Skor chips
Chocolate Goldfish Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- chocolate cream cheese frosting
- 1/2 cup crushed goldfish crackers or other salty treat
Cupcake Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar.
- Add the molasses and eggs.
- Add the flour and stir until just combined.
- Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk.
- Stir in the hot milk mixture.
- Stir in salty and sweet snacks until combined.
- Divide batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until slightly springy to the touch.
Chocolate Goldfish Cream Cheese Frosting Instructions
- Mix crushed goldfish into chocolate cream cheese frosting.
- Spread or pipe on cooled cupcakes.
Special Thanks
Special thanks goes out to reader Casey, whose email inspired these cupcakes. I don't always make cupcakes suggested by readers, but I'm willing to entertain all suggestions – the stranger the better!


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Color, glorious color! As Helen tells us, "Don't be afraid of using colour. I love the joy of colour against crisp white. As the Crowded House song goes, 'colour is its own reward'."
As quilters we have all the colors of the rainbow at our fingertips. It's a blessing and a challenge at the same time. Using color is a bit about what you know and a lot about what you love. This week we'll explore a variety of color schemes and share quilts whose makers have a knack for using color effectively.
Throughout the week with beautiful examples of modern quilts we'll explore the 'big three' color schemes: complementary, analogous and monochromatic. We'll look at what they are and what makes them work. And what's color without considering value? We'll review the concept of value and its importance in quilting. In addition, we'll look at proportion. How much of a color is just right? Sometimes a splash of color makes a big impact!
Lastly we'll talk scrappy, using what we have and making all those colors work together. It can be fun to put everything except maybe the kitchen sink in your quilt. Scrappy quilts are a staple with quilters and modern quilters are no exception. There'll be more tutorials too. On to the Week of Color!


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Countryside campaigners welcome a new plan for greater public access to the great outdoors Reporter Charlie Bullough looks at proposals to improve access for walkers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Ramblers, cyclists and horse riders are hoping plans for a 'Green Brexit' will deliver a series of new pathways.
A new Agriculture Bill is wending its way through Parliament and greater public access in the countryside is on the cards.
The legislation aims to reward farmers and land managers who provide the greatest environmental benefits.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: "After nearly 50 years of being tied to burdensome and outdated EU rules, we have an opportunity to deliver a Green Brexit.
"This Bill will allow us to reward farmers who protect our environment, leaving the countryside in a cleaner, greener and healthier state for future generations."
Public paths and access to land are vital for our physical and mental health, as well as benefiting local economiesKate Ashbrook
The plan is for the current system of Direct Payments, which pays farmers based on the total amount of land farmed, to be gradually phased out.
The Government claims these payments are skewed towards the largest landowners and are not linked to any specific public benefits.
Various outdoor groups have lobbied for agricultural payments to go to those providing more public access.
The Open Spaces Society, The Ramblers (formerly Ramblers Association), the British Horse Society and other outdoor organisations have all campaigned for it.
Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, Britain's oldest national conservation body: said "We are delighted that the environment secretary has listened to the combined voice of bodies representing those who champion public access. Public paths and access land give people the opportunity to explore the outdoors, and are vital for our physical and mental health, as well as benefiting local economies."
Miss Ashbrook said the groups would continue to campaign as the Bill progresses through its parliamentary stages.
She said: "We will work with Ramblers, the British Horse Society and outdoor user groups to draft improvements to the bill and move amendments."
They hope to gain assurances from the minister on various issues.
Miss Ashbrook added: "Now we need to work on the detail of the bill, to ensure that the payments give the best possible results. For example, we want to see payments for new and improved access, such as paths created to enable people to walk and ride off-road, to avoid dangerous road-crossings, or to link with existing paths to provide longer routes.
"We also want to see robust enforcement so that those receiving funds fulfil their legal duties on public paths and access land."
Plans for greater public access have also been welcomed by The Ramblers. Its chief executive, Vanessa Griffiths, said: "As Britain's walking charity, protecting the places we walk is at the heart of everything we do, so the Government's commitment to supporting easier access to the countryside in the Agriculture Bill is a very welcome step in the right direction.
"However, to really make a difference to the millions of people who enjoy the outdoors every year, getting the detail right will be critical. We are pleased to see the intention to give financial support to farmers for improved public access."
But she wants measures in place that ensure farmers and landowners keep existing paths clear.
Horse riders and cyclists have also voiced support for the Bill. But the National Farmers' Union (NFU) has wider concerns about its implications, like food production.
NFU president Minette Batters says: "The NFU alongside, the whole food supply chain, has been absolutely clear about the essential ingredients for a progressive, profitable, and sustainable food and farming sector post Brexit. These include comprehensive measures to improve the environment and productivity and tackle volatility alongside free and frictionless trade and access to a competent and reliable workforce. The Bill, as described in the announcement, falls short of our aspirations in these regards.
"It is vital that in the future British farmers can continue to meet the food needs of a growing population. A future agricultural policy that ignores food production will be damaging for farmers and the public alike. The public demand and deserve safe, high-quality, traceable affordable food, whatever their income. And moreover they want British farms to supply that food."
The union boss said UK farmers will need to compete with farmers all over the world, nearly all of whom are supported financially to produce food.
She wants the Government to be empowered to pause the new system if it is proves unmanageable for farmers, and if our domestic food supply and food security comes under threat.
The union boss concluded: "We are entering an historic period for farming with legislation setting the path for the next generation of farmers and the countryside. With critical decisions still to be taken in the months and years ahead it would be foolhardy for the Government to embark on such a path without knowing trading environment in which it will be set. A free and frictionless trade deal with our biggest trading partner, the EU, is absolutely critical to the farming industry."
What is the Open Spaces Society?
The Open Spaces Society was founded in 1865 and is Britain's oldest national conservation body. It campaigns to protect common land, village greens, open spaces and public paths, and people's right to enjoy them. Its founders and early members included John Stuart Mill, Lord Eversley, Sir Robert Hunter and Octavia Hill. The last two founded the National Trust in 1895 along with Canon Rawnsley.
Agriculture Bill Factbox
The Agriculture Bill sets out how farmers and land managers will in future be paid for "public goods", such as better air and water quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding. This will replace the current subsidy system of Direct Payments, which the Government says is ineffective and pays farmers based on the total amount of land farmed.
It claims these payments are skewed towards the largest landowners and are not linked to any specific public benefits.
The top 10 per cent of recipients currently receive almost 50 per cent of total payments, while the bottom 20 per cent receive just two per cent.


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Try this chicken and waffles grilled cheese sandwich.
Did you get the rent money?
Kanye West does not like to be teased.
Here's Pulp Fiction in :60.
A time traveller on the internet.
A homeless man is developing an app.
It's plague season in NM.
You could be an extra in La Vida Robot.
The Weather Channel has dubbed NM 2013's Most Extreme Weather State.
Happy birthday, Wilford Brimley.


text:
[90/100] ArcadeLife - "Astonishing. One of the best original iOS games I've played in quite a while."
[90/100] IGM Mobile - "Not only is Infinite atmospheric, entertaining, and challenging, it's addictingly fun."
[4/5] AppSpy - "Infinite is simple, visually and aurally appealing, and has plenty of modes to unlock."
AppStorm - "Infinite is a stellar experience that should not be missed."
Explore the cosmos with infinite. Journey across the galaxy, forming solar systems and surviving black holes. Arcade style gameplay, stunning abstract visuals, and a cosmic soundtrack that is out of this world.
Use your orbiter to harness spatial matter to form planets and new systems while avoiding the dangers of space. Your efforts of creating new star systems help grow your own unique galaxy. Planetary and star physics affect the movement of matter, changing the play field dynamically.
★ Addicting arcade style gameplay.
★ Randomly generated waves provide a new challenge every level.
★ Evolve your own unique galaxy based on how you play.
★ Stellar cosmic soundtrack.
★ Game Center Achievements and Leaderboards.
★ Unlockable game modes and theme packs.
Create the cosmos. Explore the infinite.
|Purchase Price
|iPhone & iPad


text:
Jonny Storm vs Dirt Rap Battle [Grind Time South]
"Paid Dues Champion Jonny Storm attempts to Hold
Down the Fort against
Syracuse's Dirt. This battle is an instant classic!
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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text:
The Miracle of Creation in Plants
order to survive, plants need to carry out photosynthesis, and for that
they need the water and minerals they take from the soil. To meet these
needs, they require the roots which drill under the ground. The job of
the roots is to spread rapidly underground like a net and draw up water
and minerals. As well as this, plant roots, despite their delicate structure,
enable plants which can weigh up to tons to hold on to and fix themselves
in the soil. The soil-gripping nature of roots is most important, because
it prevents landslides and the fertile upper layers of soil being washed
away by the rain, and other unwanted occurrences that can adversely affect
human life.
Roots need no equipment for all this. They have no engine to provide
the power to start the process of water-drawing. Neither is there any
equipment to pump the water and minerals to the stem, metres away. But
roots can spread over a wide area and draw water. So, how do they do it?
How Does This System Work?
A typical red maple tree growing in a humid climate may lose as much
as 200 liters of water per day. This represents a serious loss for the
tree. This water needs to be replaced immediately if the plant is to
survive. Thanks to the flawless root system plants have, every drop
of water which evaporates is replaced.31
A typical red maple tree growing in a humid climate may lose as much
as 200 liters of water per day. This represents a serious loss for the
tree. This water needs to be replaced immediately if the plant is to
survive. Thanks to the flawless root system plants have, every drop
of water which evaporates is replaced.31
The roots, which spread down into the depths of the earth, send the water
and minerals which the plant needs right up to the leaves, through the
stem and branches. The roots' drawing of water from under the ground closely
resembles a drilling technique. The ends of the roots keep looking for
water in the depths of the soil until they find it. Water enters the root
through an external membrane and capillary cells. It then passes through
the cells to the stem tissue. From there it is transported to every part
of the plant.
This process which the plant carries out so perfectly is, in fact, a
very complicated one. So much so that the secret of the system is still
not completely known, even in these days of space-age technology. The
existence of this sort of "pressure tank" system was discovered in trees
some 200 years ago. Yet no law has yet been discovered to definitively
explain how this movement of water, against gravity, actually comes about.
All that scientists have been able to do on this subject is put forward
a number of theories about certain mechanisms. Those which have been demonstrated
in experiments are thought of as valid to some extent. The outcome of
all these scientists' efforts is the recognition of the perfection of
the pressure tank system. Such a technology, packed into a tiny space,
is just one of the proofs of the incomparable intelligence of the designer
of the system. The water transport system in trees, and everything else
in the universe, were created by God.
The Water Transport System
The Pressure System in Plant Roots
When the internal pressure in root cells is lower than the outside pressure,
plants take in water from outside. Another way of putting it is that they
take water from outside only when they need it. The most important factor
establishing this is the amount of pressure produced by the water in the
roots. This pressure has to be balanced with that outside. For this to
happen, the plant needs to take in water from the outside when the amount
of internal pressure falls. When the opposite happens, when the inside
pressure is higher than the outside, the plant gives off water from inside
itself by means of its leaves to re-establish the balance.
On the left page can be seen a detailed plan of
all the elements in a plant's transport system. The roots carry
the water they absorb from the soil to the steele, where it enters
the vascular system in the stem. Through the vascular system, water
and nutrients make a trip upward for metres in the stem, tirelessly,
right up to the farthest leaves. The system, which starts at the
roots and goes as far as the leaves is unarguably the product of
a most superior planning. This planning belongs without doubt to
God, the Creator of everything.
The picture to the side shows the general structure
of a growing root tip and a close up of the root hairs which lie
just behind the tip.
If the level of the water in the soil were slightly higher than normal,
the plant would continually take in water, because the external pressure
was higher, and this would eventually damage it. If it were a little lower,
on the other hand, the plant cell could never take in water from the outside
because the external pressure would be low. It would even have to give
off water to maintain the pressure balance. In either case the plant would
dry up and die.
This shows to us that plant roots contain a balance-control mechanism
to enable them to regulate the level of pressure needed at a precise moment,
neither more nor less.
How Roots Take in Ions from the Soil
The cells in the roots of a plant select particular ions
from the soil to use in cell reactions. Plant cells can easily take these
ions inside themselves, despite the internal concentration of some ions
in the plant being a thousand times greater than that in the soil solution.
So, this is a most important process.32
Under normal conditions, a transfer of materials will occur from an area
with a higher concentration to one with a lower concentration. But as
we have seen, just the opposite takes place in the roots' absorbing ions
from the soil. For this reason the process requires quite substantial
amounts of energy.
Two factors influence the passage of the ions through the cell membrane:
the membrane's permeability and the concentration of the ions on either
side of the membrane.
Let us examine these two factors by asking some questions about them.
What does a plant's choosing the required elements from those in the soil
actually mean? Let us first take the concept of "requirements." A root
cell has to know all the elements in the plant, one by one, to meet its
requirements. It has to establish which of all the elements it knows are
lacking in all parts of the plant and identify them as needs. Let us ask
another question. How is an element known? If the soil is not in a pure
state, in other words if there are other elements mixed up in it, what
has to be done to distinguish one element from all the rest?
Will it be possible for someone to tell which is which if elements such
as iron, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus are put in front of him all
mixed up? How can he tell them apart? If he has received training in the
subject, he may be able to identify some of them. It will be impossible
for him to identify the rest, however. So how do plants make the distinction?
Or rather, how is it possible for a plant to know elements by itself,
and to find those ones most useful for it? Is it possible that such a
process should have been carried out in the right way every time for millions
of years by chance? In order to think about all of these questions-to
which the answer is "Impossible!"-in a more detailed and deeper way, let
us examine what kind of selective property roots possess and what happens
at the time of selection.
Roots' Selectivity
Let us review our chemical knowledge regarding the elements and minerals
which appear in many forms in nature. Where are they found? Which substances
go into which groups? What differences are there between them? What experiments
or observations are required to understand what each one is? Can the fastest
results be arrived at by chemical or physical methods in these experiments?
If we just look at things from the physics point of view can we make a
proper classification of these substances if they are put on a table in
front of us? Can we distinguish minerals by their colour or form?
We could go on. And the answer to all of the above questions is more
or less the same. Unless someone is an expert in the field, partial or
inadequate knowledge left over from school or university will not lead
a person to an accurate solution. In order to classify our knowledge of
minerals, let us this time take examples from the human body.
There is a total of three kilograms of minerals in our bodies. Parts
of them are essential for our health, and they are all present in the
necessary quantities. For example, if we had no calcium in our bodies,
our teeth and bones would lose their hardness. If there were no iron,
oxygen could not reach our tissues, because we would have no haemoglobin.
If we had no potassium and sodium, our cells would lose their electrical
charges and we would rapidly age.
Minerals are present in the soil in the same way as in the human body.
Their quantities, functions, and the forms in which they are found in
the soil are all different, and many living things make use of these minerals.
In plants, for instance, systems have been set up so that they can easily
take the elements they need from the soil. There being different fields
of use for them in their structures, all the elements have to go to different
parts of the plant after they are absorbed. They all have different tasks.
In order to live healthily, a plant needs such basic elements as nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur. While plants can
take most of these substances directly from the soil, the situation is
different with nitrogen. Nitrogen makes up almost 80% of the atmosphere
by volume, however, it cannot be obtained or "fixed" directly from the
atmosphere by green plants. The plants meet their nitrogen need by absorbing
from the soil the nitrates processed by the soil bacteria.
Other elements, too, are necessary for healthy development. But these
are needed in quite small quantities. This group includes iron, chlorine,
copper, manganese, zinc, molybdenum, and boron.
In addition to these 13 minerals, plants also need the three basic building
blocks of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, and get them from the carbon-dioxide,
oxygen, and water in the atmosphere. All plants need this total of 16
If these elements are taken in in too great or too small quantities,
various deficiencies arise in the plant.
For example, too much nitrogen from the soil leads to brittle growth
especially under high temperatures and succulent growth, while too little
can lead to yellowing, red and purple patches, reduced lateral bud, and
older growth. Phosphorus deficiency causes reduced growth, browning or
purpling in foliage in some plants, thin stems, reduced lateral bud breaks,
loss of lower leaves and reduced flowering. Phosphorus is a very important
element for the growth of young plants and seed production. In short,
the existence of these ions and their being taken in from the soil in
the required quantities are essential for healthy plant growth.33
What would happen if plants did not possess this ion-selection mechanism?
What would happen if plants took in all kinds of minerals, not just the
ones they need, or took in too many or too few minerals? There is no doubt
that in that event there would be serious disruptions to the perfect balance
in the world.
31. Milani, Bradshaw, Biological Science, A molecular Approach,
D.C.Heath and Company, Toronto, p.430
32. Malcolm Wilkins, Plantwatching, New York, Facts on
File Publications, 1988, p.119
33. http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/botany/macronutrient.html
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February 08, 2008
Wine offers improved Photoshop-on-Linux support
Wine, the open-source compatibility layer for running Windows programs on top of Unix-style operating systems, has been updated to offer improved support of Photoshop CS2. Using the latest updates (of which another has been posted today), it should be possible to run PSCS2 for Windows on top of Linux.
Wine release manager Dan Kegel reports, "As of wine-0.9.54,
Wine is able to install, activate, and run the retail version of
Photoshop CS2 well enough for the average early adopter to use
(with caveats, e.g. you have to install the Times32 font first,
and ImageReady and Bridge aren't supported yet)." Check out WineHQ's Photoshop page for more details.
[Pre-emptive, comment-saving non-disclosure: No, I don't have other info/plans to share concerning Photoshop on Linux, and yes, we know that Linux folks would like a fully native PS on Linux implementation. Just thought I'd spare you some typing. ;-)]
I know you just did the preemptive blurb, but nevertheless: I'm still a bit amazed and surprised that Adobe didn't release photoshop & co for linux.
[The question is, and always has been, whether Adobe could achieve meaningful revenue growth by offering a third version of Photoshop. Would porting to Linux bring in tens of thousands of new users (those who aren't already using PS on Mac or Windows), or would it simply shift part of the existing user base to a different OS? –J.]
John Knoll's brother is at ILM and they're pretty much on linux workstations. And so many other studios and professionals would welcome Adobe on linux.
[No doubt. In my experience, however, those shops (a very specialized demographic) either run multiple workstations per artist (one Linux, one Mac or Windows), or they use a virtualization system to run Windows on the Linux box. –J.]
couple months ago i wrote in my blog about why don't have Adobe CS for linux.
So, i think isnt hard to Adobe do it couse if you think Mac OS is a "kind of" linux.
So is nice to think in linux to mount a superworkstation just to get maximum power of Adobe CS.
I don't know how often (if ever) companies pay attention to how wine handles their software. While actually porting is ideal, I wouldn't be surprised if in many cases a few minor tweaks would vastly improve support under Wine.
Considering that Corel used to marked Wine-based versions of PhotoPAINT as Linux ports, I think that's quite remarkable.
Very few people actually know that there used to be a version of Photoshop for Unix (SGI's Irix to be precise) way back when SGI's Eclipse was still a competitor (By the way, does anybody know what happened to the latter after Form & Vision went bankrupt?). Here is a historic screenshot of Photoshop 3.0.1 :)
That's a great point about the business decisions involved with whether or not to port your suite to Linux (or to a specific distro like Ubuntu).
I'd only suggest that perhaps in the short term, Adobe could invest a small amount in helping Photoshop and the rest of CS3 (and future versions) work on wine more easily (through code contributions to Wine and/or some level of Wine testing, and perhaps some directed advice about which wine libraries need work). I'd have no problem running Wine if it'll let me finally switch to Ubuntu full time (neither would most of the type of Linux users who'd be willing to spend money on proprietary software I'd bet – at least for a while).
As it stands now, Adobe's software is the only major proprietary software that still holds value IMO, and is the only software that I rely on that chains to me Windows.
Just my 2 cents.
Okay, so some thoughts. I lead the software development team for editorial projects at a large daily newspaper – my primary working environment is Linux for most projects (which are more and more web-based and server-side these days, making Linux a good choice even for a traditional publishing comany). But my team is also starting to pick up a substantial ExtendScript work for automation (primarily InDesign CS3). Working in Virtualization with big graphics apps is pretty painful, from my experience. What Adobe could do, I would think with minimal cost at more-or-less break-even would be to partner with someone like CodeWeavers to leverage/sponsor Wine to create a first-class experience with the Windows version of Photoshop and other suite applications. Developers, engineers, and industrial artists are the target here. This would give Adobe more control (well, influence) over Wine, making it a more predictable target for the wide-range of products that could target technical/creative professionals.
My comment might be a bit naive but i often wondered how small open-source apps can deliver across all platforms (see blender and gimp for example) when much bigger companies with much much bigger money can't.
In blenders case for example it's stunning how sophisticated it already is and has almost all the tools (in some cases even more) found in pro apps like maya or xsi.
Anyhow i wish there will be some technology in near future where companies & developers can code 1 version and it ports it automatically for all platforms.
I run Fedora 8 at home and have been waiting for ages to get CS2 or CS3 to run on WINE. As soon as 0.9.54 was announced, I downloaded it from the Fedora updates-testing repo and started to test. Despite having a complex processing workflow, I found very few bugs (I reported them all). Only 2 are true bugs (not duplicates) and 1 of them don't even happen on CS3, but on the Cannon DPP application.
CS2 starts up on my P4 3.2 ghz (4Gig) faster than on my dual core laptop with 2Gig of ram, which is very interesting considering that the Core 2 Duo's are supposed to be much faster and have DDR2 memory. Behavior under WINE seems as good. On my processing I create multiple adjustment layers, masks and run complex scripts to generate luminosity masks and sharpening. I cannot be happier (well, maybe when CS3 works). I already store my photographic work on a RAID 5 on my fedora box, but I've always wanted to be able to say that I produce my photography work entirely on Linux. I feel that day just got a whole lot closer.
Marc's comment is spot on. Small projects manage ports quite easily, should be a piece of cake for Photoshop considering the already existing Unix port for Macs, right?
[You're kidding, right? –J.]
Your comment above, "Would porting to Linux bring in tens of thousands of new users" is probably correct though, it wouldn't bring in a flood of new users, it would enable users to switch to an OS they might prefer. I guess it comes down to the bottom line, customer satisfaction or profit?
[We aim for both. I'm irritated by the simplistic suggestion that the two are opposed. We have a finite set of development and testing resources, so time spent making one improvement almost certainly comes at the expense of making others. Satisfying each group of customers is weighed against satisfying other groups, and in these analyses, size matters. –J.]
Anyway, this is great work on the part of the Wine team and the interns employed by Google.
Adobe on Ubuntu!! Yes!! And while this may result in existing customers making a platform shift those customers will also be saving $$ that they can then use to buy more Adobe Ubuntu apps!!
You're kidding, right? –J.
No, I was asking as I don't know. I thought (perhaps naively) that it might be simpler because of the sheer number of *nix applications that are cross platform.
[Sorry, I didn't mean to be crabby. Photoshop takes advantage of a large number of OS-provided technologies for the interface, printing, etc. We work hard to make everything look consistent, but one can't simply move the app from one OS to another. –J.]
I'm irritated by the simplistic suggestion that the two are opposed.
Yes, I know it's simplistic, but in this case, for this small group of [Linux] users, it is what they perceive. They don't care about the 99.5% of other customers, they care about themselves, and they will perceive that profits are being put ahead of their satisfaction. This is how people think. Perhaps I should have worded my comment differently.
[You're certainly right about some users' perceptions. I'm trying to make the point that we have to weigh the needs of one group vs. others, and that the calculus is one of "how much good can I do for the maximum number of people (who'll then be happy and pay Adobe)" rather than one of "how can I shortchange customers and thereby get paid." –J.]
As someone who uses photoshop regularly and who's recently switched to ubuntu full time I've been using both a virtualized windows xp environment and wine to run photoshop, and while both version 7 and cs 2 now run well under wine, the only deal breaker is that the text tool is *much* slower under wine, while everything else is roughly the same speed.
Surprisingly I've actually found running photoshop virtualized under linux to be better than windows alone because using the zoom feature in compiz fusion I can smoothly and instantly zoom in and out of images using the mouse wheel, and without any annoying aliasing that plagues the normal photoshop zoom tool. Give it a shot, under some workflows you'll be amazed at the added value compiz fusion offers you.
And while its understandable from a short term business sense (I'm a marketer myself) that Adobe doesn't find a linux venture profitable, in the longer term linux is gaining more and more traction and free open source competitors are improving. People switching from windows will naturally try the FREE native open source solutions, find them very lacking and end up running photoshop virtualized or under wine.
But how long can Adobe count on the incompetence of its open source competitors? Sure the gimp is horrible *now*, but with numbers of *normal* people using linux climbing every day is it really the best business move to force your customers to try alternatives to your product as they migrate to another growing platform?
If running native photoshop was simple and straightforward on linux would people that are used to its interface even try alternatives? Would there be much drive from the mainstream for alternatives, or to improve existing open source graphics software?
Naturally you can't really talk about Adobe's internal business reasoning, but to me it would seem that the direct cost of porting photoshop to linux would pale in comparison to the indirect losses you could incur from forcing your customers to try your competitors products, while giving those same competitors a giant head start on their native platform.
At a simpler level than doing a full port (as I doubt whether you really would make enough to offset the cost of porting), is there any reason why you don't employ one or two people yourself to work on WINE to try and get PS CS3 to work better on other OSes?
Its a careful balance. But again, Linux still accounts for less than 1% of the market overall.
Maybe higher in the workstation market; of course, the statistics are largely unknown.
I happen to agree with the others, that it would make financial sense to go cross-platform. It would serve to make your codebase tighter, better to work on, since its compartmentalized better. It would enable penentration of a new and expanding market. PS is the superior product to GIMP, for now. But as long as Adobe is afraid of Linux, GIMP will only get better.
Don't forget, the GIMP is cross-platform. ;)
The one reason i`m still on windows is Photoshop, I can live witout all other apps expt "the one"
I could migrate to Mac, but.. To damn expensive here in Norway, and the hardware is not that good exept the Powermac`s.
Wouldn't it be more risky for Adobe to lock itself to a single outlet in the long run? Windows is an OS owned by MS, a company with its own strategies and development plans. Unfortunately, Mac is not PC. I think it's of Adobe interest to increase the size of Linux PS community even on the expense of Windows PS community. Adobe can take advantage of Linux in many ways that could benefit it software-wise or maybe at some stage in future even hardware-wise.
I think Adobe should begin to provide applications for linux platform…
I have been free from windows for a while now. I parted with Photoshop 7, Flash & Dreamweaver MX, and a few other good apps, but I found replacement. In Ubuntu I use GIMP for editing. I wish I could use photoshop. I wish I could use Adobe LightRoom, instead I use LightZone.
Currently I don't own any Adobe Products. If they ported to linux I would most likely buy Photoshop, InDesign, LightRoom, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver.
Until then I use GIMP, Scribus, LightZone, XaraXtreme, and Quanta+ to do those things. All good, capable programs, which are getting better, but still not as polished as any of Adobe's products.
John, I think it might be a good idea to start working towards cross platform compatability.
Linux is steadily gaining ground, and is growing by the day. More and more people are switching.
Apps like MS Office, Photoshop and a few others are currently making that switch difficult for people, but they will switch, eventually. They'll use emulators, virtualizations for now, but it's not ideal.
The French police has or is switching, 70.000 computers. Many governments are looking towards desktop-linux now that it's matured.
Adobe should try to get one step ahead on it's competition, and plan for the future now.
First of all I think its great that Google sponsors it. And I hope that Adobe developers assist with technical details.
Your products rock, guys. Not Office, the Adobe product line is the real Windows lockin.
I would prefer to run a Linux cluster for Video and image editing. I doesn't matter for home users but in the professional field you really want your software to run on fast machines with giant storage devices. Linux is here a more flexible environment and very cheap. It would create a whole new market for professionals.
Andre: Idea of Adobe video editing software in Linux cluster is quite interesting. With several computers as render nodes it could increase power of software and make video production much faster than what currently while lowering total cost of system (compared to software from Avid). It would also remove need for seperate closed video rendering/interface hardware they have that costs about 14000 euros (that they have with Avid Media Composer).
I don't know if having Linux support in your software is good thing in short term but you should consider possibilites that it could offer. I know that state of Linux distributions is quite mixed and that could make things more difficult but if you would focus in several main distributions to help develop better support for Photoshop using WINE, it could give more ideas for developing things further.
Having Linux support (for Photoshop) is probably not big priority at your developement plans, but like some people proposed having several of your (or Codeweavers) people to improve software support could be good move for your clients (at least in long run). At least I would be very interested to have better support for that…
So if Adobe were to make a Linux-native version, why wouldn't they consider making an entire Linux distro all of their own.
I suspect the team of designers who maintain Photoshop for both OS-es have a list of gripes they would change about OSX and XP/Vista.
Tangent ahead:
Color management is probably the number one problem in computer graphics. There are too many cooks offering color management? Adobe should create one common interface to manage the CMS regardless of OS. Printer-based CMS should plug into an Adobe "master control" without a user having to turn off printer-based CMS everytime you print. Turn it off once and it stays off.
Well, Whatever may be I have learn Linux to learn UNIX(Solaris particularly) But unfortunatly I couldn't get a copy of Solaris to learn solaris So I end up by learning Linux. Later Solaris available as even free. But I don't go back to Solris because I am addicted by linux.
Thats said Adobe will be the looser later in this arena as people will look for alternatives to replace your all product and eventually they will be addicted by that product and never use your product when you make them in the last movement. Already there are momentums, Like "Inkscape" "scribus" GIMP( guess if they are ready or someone change the GUI of GIMP to something unimaginable to users what will happened?)
So who is early on linux they won. History showing that!!
Look at SUN Microsystem with their policy on all their products, They are too late…
Is really cross platform code that hard? Or is it that it is hard to clean up the existing code base?
There are very good tool sets for cross platform software. I believe that Adobe is already using the Qt4 toolkit from Trolltech(soon to be Nokia) for the PDF SW. Other alternatives are GTK+ and vxWidgets.
Google has been done a really great work on the Wine project till now.
It would be awesome if Adobe would hire (even just one or two) developers in order to join the effort, fixing bugs and providing useful technical informations — as somebody previously said.
Also, I think Adobe should re-consider the Qt4 Framework adoption, a really powerful tool providing advanced *cross-platform* features.
From Trolltech.com:
"Qt simplified our task by providing high-level tools we could customize to meet our needs. The product is excellent, the support was outstanding and we are extremely pleased with our decision to go with Qt."
(Mike DePaoli, Adobe Photoshop Album)
It is not just a matter of converting code (which would be a massive job with the millions of lines of code that I am sure are now in PS). There is also the support aspect of the equation. Adobe probably has hundreds of support people who are trained in either Mac or PC, or both. Adding Linux into the mix would mean hiring additional staffers who know that OS, or training existing staff.
Another consideration is that of testing new versions. A major part of each new release is the debugging of the versions, and you now want to add 50% to that bill be going to a third platform.
As John suggests above, Adobe will start working on a Linux version the day they decide that it will be profitable to do so.
Peter Sandersen said the
text tool is too slow in Wine;
I've filed http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11680
for that. More details would be helpful; in a quick test the text speed seemed ok, so I must not know what to expect.
Maybe these are the last years when Adobe could make some more money out of the Linux platform before "the free alternatives" become "good enough".
[Is that supposed to encourage or discourage us spending time and money porting Photoshop to Linux?
And by the way, I'm sick of hearing about "growing desktop Linux use" or the "growing popularity of GIMP" without any evidence to back up these casual statements. If people have real data, that's fine. In the meantime, I could use less pedantic finger waving and cluck-clucking about, "Oh, you'd better watch out Adobe; you've going down…" –J.]
Peter Sandersen (who mentioned a text tool speed problem in a previous comment) reports via email that with wine-0.9.55, the speed problem is gone, and performance is now on a par with virtualbox for him.
I understand that it is not trivial to port to Linux, but isn't it a little (at least a little) surprising that another company (Google) is doing this port without access to the source code?
[Let's be really clear: "Google" isn't "porting" Photoshop. Some guys at Google paid some other folks to improve WINE, a Windows emulation layer for Linux, in such a way that Photoshop would run. That's great, but it's utterly different than saying that anyone is porting Photoshop, much less that Google (the company) is doing so. –J.]
A thought struck me: A bunch of people would be very satisfied if Adobe could
collaborate a little more intimately with Google, right? Can't Google do the work? But I'm not seen the difficulties.
Unfortunately I have no evidence to support this, but Adobe has already won in "competition" with GIMP. Every commenter on this blog, including myself, would rather run PS as opposed to GIMP, by any means necessary (WINE, VM, etc…). Therefore, for Adobe to use up resources to port PS to Linux would be a massive opportunity cost for Adobe to compete in a different type of market. As a web developer, I would Love to have all the manipulation ability of PS done with a PHP script. ImageMagick is superior to GD, but I'm sure Adobe could really do some damage. Then you could write an entire image manipulation interface online.
One of the main reasons why many fire up Photoshop in Linux instead of GIMP is because of CMYK support and higher color depths. This will allegedly change in GIMP's favor with GEGL and with other improvements.
As these GPL apps gain more functionality, it will become even more unlikely that Adobe will see a market in Linux. Why pay for Adobe apps when there are free options? Of course, as most of these GPL apps are also cross-platform, Adobe may already be losing some of its Mac and Windows customers. I know I am buying a lot less licenses from Adobe because of these GPL apps. This trend would not change even if Adobe started offering its apps for Linux.
Dreamweaver & Photoshop on Ubuntu please!!!
There is no substitute to either program, and as impressive as Wine may be, it is basically worthless. I have been a Dreamweaver user sense v2.0. I only use Windows to use Dreamweaver and Photoshop.
If Dreamweaver & Photoshop were available on Ubuntu, I would never use Windows again.
Photoshop is the only application keeping me on Windows. I'd dump Windows in a heartbeat if I could run PS on Ubuntu Linux.
@Cory & Kurt: this link might interest you: http://noteearty.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-run-dreamweaver-cs3-in-ubuntu.html
I would use PS on Ubuntu for the next few years if it was ported.
That said, I will be sad to see PS go when teh GIMP obsoletes it. My head says 'Long Live Photoshop' but my heart says 'Bring out the GIMP'.
Sorry, but it's only a matter of time. I can has free clone of PS? Thank you Interwebz!
I recently migrated to Ubuntu Linux (couldn't stand Windoze one more day) and tried to install my legitimate copy of Photoshop Elements 6. I cannot get past the registration screen. It does not recognize my mouse clicks and just sits there. I'm using the latest version of WINE. Any ideas?
Maybe you should try asking your WINE related questions on the WINE site (winehq.org)
I´m using also Ubuntu for most things like "Officework" – only Design/Graphic-Jobs still keep me on Windows and Mac – Please go ahead for a port! Most of my co-wokers complaining about the same problem – they wanna skip the OS – but Adobe keeps them in chains…
i think that apple and ms are paying adobe under the table not to develop for linux cuz they know all the mac and win users will dump their proprietary os/s for linux instantly.
maya and xsi are both linux and everyone loves it. this site is just some excuse to avoid legal dispute.
Hey John,
i know this post is quite old now, but i just wanted to add my voice, for statistics.
I'm a graphic designer and switched from Xp to Ubuntu a year ago. Just like others say here, i'm missing just Photoshop. Everything else is better on Ubuntu already.
I can't get my fast workflow with GIMP, but i'm using it, missing alternatives. PS with WINE never worked for me complete. Sometimes crashes, sometime the toolbox was displayed wrong, and other bugs.
I really would love Photoshop on Linux and i really would LOVE to pay the price for it. I'm using a free OS, but not because it's free but because it's superior to Windows.
After all, i would like to hear if anything has changed recently, now that some Adobe Apps like Air are available for Linux. Is there any chance we get Photoshop anytime?
Thanks, Marc
That is the first and only explanation that I've read for why Adobe won't port PS for Linux, that even begins to make sense.
I don't think there's any money actually changing hands though – under or above table.
I think Adobe realizes that, strategically, they can't leave the other proprietary software giants out to dry (porting PS to non-proprietary OS's will do just that) because if they do – they know they'll be the next to go.
Though this is, at best, a stopgap measure.
Hopefully they'll switch sides when it doesn't make any PR or monetary sense to ally with Microsoft and Apple.
Here's holding fingers for the Wine project to succeed and maybe for the current financial crisis to force Adobe's hand a little.
a year later… where's CS4 on wine?
[You'd have to ask the WINE guys. I haven't heard from them in a while. –J.]
Does adobe use linux for their webserver?
Does adobe use linux for their PBX?
Does adobe use linux for their helpdesk?
[Who cares? –J.]
the only reson im using windows is because of photoshop
Why not provide an "installer" like "ID" have done with their game franchises for linux. Users buy the Windows/OSX version and download an installer from a torrent or ftp site that provides the vital linux files and copies the relevant libraries from the CD/DVD. Putting a linux specific version of CS3 or CS4 out is a big ask for an OS with such a small market share, but delivering an installer would only cost development time.
Just an idea.
With Government's all over the world and the UK Government putting FOSS on an equal footing, something needs to happen sooner or later.
Well dreamweaver is a waste of time in general (homesite still is a better program) but we definitely need photoshop on Ubutu.
Hi John,
You asked for statistics about the growth of GNU/Linux users ratio… here they come ;-)
These statistics are those of internet users all across Europe. A large part if not all client computers running Adobe CS* has a connection to the internet. These surveys can only give us hints, though, but I think they are relevant with the debate here.
Surveys are from the AT Internet Institute (formerly known as Xiti Monitor).
The shares of the main 3 OS families in january 2007 were :
Windows – 95.64%
Mac OS – 3.23%
Linux – 0.73%
The same in february 2009 are :
Windows – 93.82%
Mac OS – 4.59%
Linux – 1.24%
This shows us that many people left Windows for Mac OS & Linux. The reason might be, according to ATII, the poor performances of Windows Vista, and the improvement of Mac OSX and Linux. So there IS a "wind of change" coming, and I guess it will get bigger as time goes.
My question is : what is the difference between Mac users and Linux users ? Mac has "only" 4.6% of users. Still, they got their native version. More and more companies and govs (France, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland,…) switch to Linux, preferring to pay for support than for the OS itself.
You always tell us Adobe could port the CS to Linux if there were enough users, but this is an endless circle. Many users wait for Adobe to do so before switching to Linux.
By creating the offer, you create the demand ;-)
[Thanks for the hard data, Antoine. I'm a little pressed for time, but I appreciate the quantitative data. I can at least mention that as part of the Mac Cocoa architectural rework, we're endeavoring to make the Photoshop code base more portable. It's a big project. –J.]
I moved from Windows to Mac last year, and got CS3 to go with it.
Carbon is C++ isn't it? So, the Mac and Windows versions probably shared some code. Cocoa is Objective C. And, I imagine Microsoft is probably pushing you to do things in .NET (perhaps managed C++).
I wish you well in your endeavor. Am impatient for the Cocoa Adobe apps, but can understand the work involved.
The reason why everyone uses and will use Windows is Photoshop, surely Adobe knows that fact and surely they stay in business relation with MS and Mac, so dont except a change in future.
The truth is, everyone can use it on Linux allready without problems, and every linux user will blame adobe because everyone is forced to use portable or cracked versions to get it run on compatible layers.
Even Google knows that fact and is doing 'good' work like pay wine-devs for getting that work done Adobe never wont make
You at Adobe are bastards you greatly take ressources out of gpl and linux and dont get us – as a community – anything back
Linux will take over the world, dont you see it?
Be a part of it or go die
I don't think Adobe will port their great stuffs soon to Linux, I mean something like PhotoShop or AfterEffects, but seriously I wasn't taking GIMP that heavy way until and finally I ended up doing the same things I do with PS on Windows with GIMP on Ubuntu, even the PS brushes are loadable now either they are .abr, .gbr …etc or the rest of the other formats, and let alone the bless of using Blender alongside GIMP for 3D modeling objects and the other manipulations, companies who are porting their Apps to Linux are already gaining an early ground for the future like Autodesk, it has already launched the Linux version of Maya and some great effects tools like FumeFX and others, hopefully PS CS4 is running now somehow normally on Linux through Wine which I wish that it will get improved by time, I mean by the work of both teams, Adobe & WineHQ teams, and all this MS is manipulating Adobe would be just a hoaxes.
But come'on Linux is faster, Smoother and more flexible, and it can run what we want to run at the startup or remove what we don't which gave us a boost to make our speedy mega-PC a reality, and I believe if Adobe ports After Effects and PS to Linux I bet that most of the Film Making Studios will switch and revert then to Linux that will save them hundreds of thousands of dollars they used to buy licenses with, and they can focus more after that on paying for the Software they use not the OS they used their Software on its platform.
Anyway, good luck everybody!
I think Adobe should offer CS products (at least photoshop) for Linux simply because this is currently an open door for competition to steal market share. If I were a company quietly developing an application to compete with Adobe's Photoshop and I realized that a large percentage of technical users would switch to Linux if an adequate product allowed them to edit images (better than gimp…more at the level of Photoshop) then I would gain a significant share of Adobe's business simply by releasing my product. This is not a chance to satisfy the 0.5% (as guessed above, much higher in my opinion) but instead a chance to prevent a much higher percentage from bailing on Adobe products when a good Linux alternative pops up.
i think that adobe is gay for not making photoshop, it is just incouraging people to hack it
If Microsoft has no involvement with Adobe, then why can't Adobe make ALL of its products run on Linux and make more money from sales as a result?
It can't be impossible to achieve, as many programs that run on Windows also have a Linux version. TrueCrypt is an example and OpenOffice.org is another and so on. I think Adobe are just being lazy, don't care or both?
I would be very happy to see software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator etc. run on Linux. I wonder if Adobe staff are reading this and taking it seriously?????? I'm trying to help both Adobe and their customers with this comment – really I am.
yes if adobe release all products for linux then i will through away windows from my all pcs and lappies.
Only CS2!!?? Come on, it's CS5 now.
I must admit it is really frustrated to know this.
I've just tried to install Adobe Master Collection onto Ubuntu 10.04, but failed due to damaged or missed Adobe Application Manager. I am wondering when will the solution come true.
Adobe should provide linux version of their products, since Apple is attacking Adobe. If Adobe make Linux version of Flash CS/Photoshop, many designers will consider to move to Ubuntu.
In our company, we are considering switch to Ubuntu, and using it as the standard computer. Less virus issues, and faster speed, more stable..why not? But Adobe is the only concern now, Adobe is really a lazy company, as Jobs said. It will lose market soon.
Adobe, please reconsider creating a version of CS5 and beyond for Linux.
At the very least, please ensure that they are compatible with Wine.
Btw… does anyone know if there is anything similar to Wine for Mac OSX applications? If not, why not?
I don't know what all these Linux guys are snivelling about … I use Photoshop on Irix all the time. Version 3 but it still does the job :D
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About Gabriella Cortese
Gabriella has a spirit for travelling within her soul. Italian by birth and Parisian by adoption, she has criss-crossed the globe. Born in Turin, she enjoyed a well-behaved childhood there. Her Hungarian grandmother taught her how to embroider, while her mother embodied the model of eternal elegance.
As an eighteen-year-old art student in search of freedom, Gabriella discovered Paris and its wild nightlife. Then, like the artists who went off to study the classics in the 19th century, she left for Tibet, on trail of Alexandra David-Néel and the last of the psychedelic dandies on the Silk Road.
In Bali, the thousand-year-old batik technique for printing silk inspired her to create her first range of pareos. Taking the word batik, Gabriella added antik, for the rhyme, and because it sounded good in all languages. Having discovered India, she explored other techniques: embroidery and bandhani, an artisanal dyeing process. In 1992, ANTIK BATIK was born.
A traveler nostalgic for the times of cabin trunks, Gabriella invites us to go back in time with pictorial references from the beginning of the 20th century.
She borrows decorative extravagance from Art Nouveau. Lustrous decorations, stylized floral patterns and geometric prints inspired by the Russian avant-garde fill her creations with history I want to create the fashion of a voyager who plunges into the past and rediscovers treasures in an old trunk, pieces that evoke childhood memories and the parties of the Roaring Twenties. The explosion of colors in the summer collections evoke the bohemian elegance of aristocrats such as Talitha Getty in Tangiers and Marisa Berenson in Ibiza at the end of the sixties.
Married to the actor Marc Rioufol, and mother of little Nicola, Gabriella has been designing a children's collection since 2001. Passionate about decorative arts, she also adapts the richly colored universe of ANTIK BATIK for home décor in partnership with home specialists. Sought after by celebrities and all kinds of women looking for authenticity, ANTIK BATIK has become an emblem of bohemian-chic living.
Gabriella has passionately explored this art from all angles. "I love metallic sequins that have acquired patina. Once they have oxidized, they look like they have been handed down through the ages." The finest ANTIK BATIK pieces require several days of work. Each handmade piece is unique. ANTIK BATIK works with around twenty ateliers around the world. They are a guarantee of quality for the brand, who in turn divide their requirements between their different suppliers.
This technique of fabric printing is more than a thousand years old. Hand-carved wooden stamps or "block prints" are used to print materials. This requires patience and attention to detail. A multicolour motif uses as many stamps as there are colors. By continuing to use this kind of production, far removed from industrial rollers, ANTIK BATIK allows an ancestral skill to continue and become better known.
This ancestral technique of dyeing is a type of "tie dye". The material is knotted or tied up with string by hand before being plunged into a vat of colour. The impermeable zone thus creates the desired motif. One of the vegetable dyes used is an extract of the madder plant which produces many shades of red. Blues are created from extracts of the indigo plant. Most of the fibers, such as cotton, silk, wool and alpaca are also completely natural.


text: Vanguard has a new guaranteed-income rider for its low-cost variable annuity that can make sense for some risk-averse investors. By Steven Goldberg, Contributing Columnist November 9, 2011 I never thought I'd write a positive article about a variable annuity. As an investment adviser, I get sales pitches almost daily touting the huge commissions I can make selling these products. The high costs of variable annuities, often 3% or more annually, usually makes them an awful deal for investors.SEE ALSO: Are Annuities Right for You? But Vanguard has a new income rider for its variable annuity that's making me reconsider. With the rider, total annual costs are 1.45% to 1.55% for a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds, as well as a guarantee that you'll receive a fixed sum annually -- no matter how far the markets decline. The Vanguard annuity costs quite a bit less per year than a similar annuity offered by Fidelity, Vanguard's biggest fund rival. (See Index Fund War: Fidelity vs. Vanguard.) Variable annuities are a hybrid: part investment, part insurance. You invest in mutual fund-like vehicles, but the gains and losses are tax-deferred inside the annuity until you withdraw money. Advertisement Vanguard is able to offer such a good deal on its variable annuity because it has no profit-seeking owners. Instead, Vanguard's fund shareholders own the firm. That means Vanguard can provide products at cost, rather than trying to turn a profit. Here's how the annuity works. To take advantage of Vanguard's guaranteed payout option, you can choose from among three investment options. The first -- and best, in my view -- is an actively managed balanced fund that's a clone of the superb Vanguard Wellington Fund (symbol VWELX). Wellington keeps 60% to 70% of assets in stocks and the rest in bonds. A second, moderate-allocation choice invests 60% of assets in Vanguard stock index funds and 40% in bond index funds. The third choice, which features a more conservative allocation, keeps 40% in stock index funds and 60% in bond index funds. The Wellington option costs 0.60% annually; the others cost 0.50% a year. The wrinkle that Vanguard has just added offers a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit for an additional cost of 0.95% a year. It's easiest to explain the withdrawal benefit with an example. Say you invest $100,000 in a Vanguard variable annuity. If you're between 59½ and 64 years old, you withdraw 4.5% of the principal, or $4,500, in the first year (a couple would withdraw 4%, or $4,000). If you're older, you start with a slightly higher initial withdrawal percentage. Advertisement The stock and bond markets rally, and the next year your investment account grows to $110,000, more than making up for your $4,500 withdrawal. Instead of withdrawing $4,500, you take $4,950 (4.5% of $110,000) from your account. Say the markets fall the following year, and your investment account shrinks from $110,000 to $90,000 (partly due to your $4,950 withdrawal). Thanks to the guarantee, you still receive $4,950 that year. In other words, your minimum annual withdrawal benefit can't ever shrink below its high-water mark. But if the markets subsequently rally, your high-water mark can be reset at, for example, $120,000 or $130,000 or $150,000, depending largely upon how your investment account performs. Investment accounts are valued once a year for the purpose of computing your high-water mark. The value of your account rises and falls with the markets but also declines with your annual withdrawals. The problem with many variable annuities that contain this type of guaranteed benefit is that the costs are so high that you need a sustained bull market for your high-water mark to rise. Many investors in variable annuities find that they are stuck with their initial withdrawal benefit for the rest of their lives. Advertisement The Vanguard variable annuity guarantee has a price, too, but it's refreshingly low. Vanguard currently contracts with Monumental Life Insurance Company and Transamerica Financial Life Insurance to provide the guaranteed withdrawal benefit. Because Vanguard is so large, it can negotiate good deals with insurers. Unlike many other variable annuities, moreover, Vanguard's product is flexible. Say your investment account grows over the next decade, and you gain confidence that you don't need the guaranteed withdrawal benefit. You can ask Vanguard to remove that benefit. You'll still have a variable annuity, but your price will drop by 0.95 percentage point annually. Vanguard has offered a variable annuity without a guarantee for years. It offers additional investment options that are more aggressive than the ones offered in this new program. Other financial advisers and I often use the older Vanguard variable annuity as a place for clients to transfer higher-priced variable annuities. I don't recommend variable annuities for most clients. Neither does Vanguard. In coming years, it's unlikely that the stock market will perform anywhere as wretchedly as it did in the past decade. That means that most people will do better in retirement with a well-diversified investment portfolio held in regular accounts. You should be able to withdraw 4% or 5% annually from such a portfolio and give yourself an annual cost-of-living adjustment. Advertisement Why not pay 0.95% annually for the guaranteed withdrawal benefit? Because even such a low price will place a big weight on your investment returns over time. If you need guaranteed income, consider an immediate fixed annuity. It offers much higher payouts than a variable annuity does, although you surrender all rights to the money you invest. (See VALUE ADDED: Buy a Pension with an Immediate Annuity.) With a variable annuity, you can withdraw more money than your guaranteed benefit, although that reduces the overall value of your investment account, and your guaranteed benefit shrinks proportionately. Still, should you have an emergency and need cash, you can get it from a variable annuity -- but not from a fixed immediate annuity. Is the Vanguard annuity right for you? If keeping 50% or 60% of your money invested in the stock market keeps you up at night, you should consider the Vanguard product; it's not a bad option. For more details, see the brochure, "Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit through the Vanguard Variable Annuity." Vanguard also offers a free cost calculator that compares the price of any variable annuity to what Vanguard offers. Once you're past the period during which a high-cost variable annuity levies a surrender charge, it can make sense to move to the Vanguard variable annuity. You can't start receiving your annual payout without a federal tax penalty until you turn 59½. If I were younger than that, I wouldn't consider an annuity. All annuity payouts are now low because interest rates are microscopic. If you can wait for rates to climb, you probably should. But if you need guaranteed income and you're averse to risk, it's nice to know you finally can buy a product that's fairly priced. Steven T. Goldberg (bio) is an investment adviser in the Washington, D.C. area.