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Remarks as prepared for the Ford Motor Company Keynote address at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show
The following are remarks as prepared for the Ford Motor Company keynote address at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, 2010 as delivered by:
- Alan Mulally, President and Chief Executive Officer
- Derrick Kuzak, Group Vice President, Global Product Development
- Jim Buczkowski, Electrical Engineering Director
- Doug VanDagens, Connected Services Director
- Julius Marchwicki, SYNC Product Manager
Alan Mulally
Thank you, Gary (Shapiro) for inviting us back to CES. It seems more like 12-weeks ago and not 12 months that we showed you our latest innovations to improve our award-winning SYNC technology. Our participation in CES last year was inspirational. There were so many amazing technologies. And we appreciated the warm reception.
A lot has happened since then. Ford is in a different place. Our products are being recognized. And we have made great progress as a business even as the world around us has been changing. For example, nearly everybody's mom now has a FaceBook page and they post pictures of their grandkids from a smart phone using the TwitPic app.
Speaking of Twitter, it grew from 4 to 60 million users worldwide in the past year. Texting is now the favored form of communication for every age group. Look around. You now see people putting on their reading glasses so that they can thumb-type a text. And tens-of-thousands of mobile apps have been created, some for platforms that did not even exist a year ago.
Fortunately, the in-car connectivity strategy that Ford chose has proven to be the right one – because it accommodates this kind of sweeping change. That is the unique advantage of connecting customers by means of their own mobile phones, instead of an embedded device. Last year, I said we would have one million SYNC-equipped cars on the road by the start of 2010.
I'm proud to say we hit that goal – in May.
Looking ahead, we continue to remain focused on our plan, which is about delivering great Ford products that feature the technologies that people really want and value. Our engineers completely accept and embrace this challenge. In a few minutes, our Group Vice President of Global Product Development, Derrick Kuzak, is going to share a few of these "value added" innovations with you. These are the features that set us apart: our "Signature Brand Technologies." And we believe these features have a place in every Ford vehicle and not just our luxury models.
What language do we use to define the "value" of technology? Simply, Ford's commitment to innovation is supported by four principals that inform and guide every design and engineering effort. They are to be best-in-class in Quality, Safety, Fuel Efficiency and what we call Smart Technologies.
Quality and safety are the price of admission and we work to continually raise the bar. But the last two, "Fuel Efficiency and Smart," are strategically important because green technology and smart innovations are helping us serve our customers and differentiate Ford.
Consider where our Green strategy has taken us. The Ford Fusion Hybrid, rated at 41 mpg, is the most fuel-efficient mid-size sedan in America. It is the only hybrid with the cool SmartGauge feature that actually coaches you to be a more fuel-efficient driver. That kind of technology adds real value, which is especially appealing to the hybrid owner. In fact, our SmartGauge technology was officially awarded a prestigious "Outstanding Achievement" design award by HOW Magazine.
As for "Smart" technology, I think most people would immediately point to Ford's SYNC as an example. This feature is enjoying increased awareness and popularity in the marketplace. According to our research, 32 percent of customers surveyed indicate that SYNC was critical or important to their decision to purchase. And with each SYNC upgrade, we see growth in heavy users.
- 81 percent of heavy users are satisfied with the SYNC technology
- 77 percent of our SYNC customers overall would recommend it to a friend
And the use of voice commands is growing as the technology adoption grows with 63 percent of SYNC customers now using voice commands.
Last year at CES, we announced a national partnership with retail electronics leader Best Buy – aimed at helping build awareness for SYNC. At that time, we also announced an agreement to provide mobile technical support through Best Buy Mobile stores and their Geek Squad nationwide. We recently completed a 30-day pilot program in the Dallas area. Consumers participated in nearly 3,500 SYNC demonstrations, conducted on site at the Best Buy stores.
The results of this "launch-and-learn" have been eye-opening. For starters, an amazing 70 percent of the consumers who participated in a SYNC demo say they are now more likely to consider buying a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury product. In addition, 80 percent of them also stated that understanding how to use the hands-free Ford SYNC system improved their overall opinion of Ford. The success of the demo pilot program has confirmed our strategy, and in the next phase, Ford dealerships will work with local Best Buy stores in Pennsylvania and California to kick off independent customer clinics.
It is rewarding to see that, as soon as customers experience SYNC, they understand the value it brings to their driving experience. This is reflected in the recent accolades awarded to Ford cars and trucks that showcase SYNC and its related technologies. Chief among these honors are the recently announced International CES 2010 Innovations Design and Engineering Awards. Two Ford-exclusive technologies – Ford Work Solutions and SYNC – are being honored.
Ford Work Solutions' in-dash computer won 2010 Best of Innovations in the category of In-Vehicle Accessories. This is not only a first for Ford, but a first for the auto industry. And SYNC's latest application, Traffic, Directions and Information, or "TDI," was honored in the category of In-Vehicle Navigation/Telematics and Intelligent Transportation Systems. We are honored that CES, among others, has recognized our efforts in providing these customer-driven features.
And we appreciate how so many of you here inspired us to move at Silicon Valley speeds as we deliver the cars of tomorrow today. It is challenging. And it is fun. Fortunately, Ford has an expert who is helping us do the right things. Here to tell you more about our plans for 2010 and beyond is our Global Product Development Chief, Derrick Kuzak.
Derrick Kuzak
Thanks, Alan.
The innovative technologies that Alan mentioned have been well received within the industry, the media and, most importantly, with our customers. That's been very gratifying, but we're not satisfied. As we see it, our challenge is to maintain – or even further improve – the pace of innovation that we set in 2009 to deliver even better vehicles each and every year with even better technology.
And not deliver technology just for technology's sake.
Every piece of technology that goes into a Ford product is there for one reason – it adds real value. It helps the customer have a better experience driving in our cars and trucks. Active Park Assist is a case in point. Active Park Assist represents the industry's first intuitive, easy-to-use solution. We started with the drivers' assumptions and expectations in mind, and designed the controls accordingly. Ford's solution is just easier to use.
Each of our Ford Brand Signature Technologies was designed with this approach. Each was offered with the express intention of redefining the driving experience and building it into every model we introduce. Our strategy is to make it easy for drivers to do everything they want to do so that, ultimately, they can't imagine owning any other vehicle. The experience is so rich they refuse to give it up.
For example, we've developed a radar-based Blind Spot Information System, for assistance in changing lanes. It's matched with cross-traffic alerts that scan a 220-degree radius around the back of a vehicle, which signal drivers when traffic is coming as they back out of a parking space. This is the kind of technology everyone can use every day. While EasyFuel cap-less refueling gives average drivers the same ease of use racing teams enjoy.
Our EcoBoost technology speaks to the heart of the car-buying public by improving both fuel-efficiency and performance through the smart strategy of "downsizing and boosting", already-proven internal combustion engines. EcoBoost was given a "Best of What's New" award from Popular Science last year and more recently received a "Breakthrough" award from Popular Mechanics magazine.
With the introduction of SYNC two years ago, we created an unprecedented level of in-car connectivity to the devices drivers want most. It's been recently updated with features like Traffic, Directions & Information, along with 911 Assist™ and Vehicle Health Report. And there's more.
The new Ford Taurus and the Taurus SHO Alan arrived in include all of these Brand Signature Technologies. Plus, these technologies preview some amazing new innovations that will increasingly be integrated into the entire Ford lineup, available to millions.
Every so often, I see people lining up at midnight to be first to purchase the newest iPhone, or standing out in the cold to get first shot at the new Beatles Rock Band or SONY PS3, or trying to get whatever the latest "gotta have" product is. And I think – how do we create that experience for a car? How do we make people desire the products branded with Ford's blue oval?
We plan to show you new ways today.
There is one area, however, in which we must think like an automotive company. That's in the area of durability, safety and testing.
Unlike the software engineers and app developers out there, we have to consider how products like SYNC hold up to weeks and months of exposure in the world's harshest conditions. We test our cars – and on-board technologies – knowing that they'll be driven through the frigid extremes of arctic cold and the baking heat of the hottest desert locations. Conditions that are much more brutal than the typical handheld device is designed for. We also test our electronics on jarring washboard roads and city potholes and, of course, in crash testing.
That said, the whole process of Interface design is also more critical in a vehicle, because the driver is dealing with so many more inputs. We have to keep interfaces simple and intuitive. And they have to minimize driver distraction. That's the whole point of SYNC technology – to minimize the distraction of in-car use of mobile devices you love by connecting and controlling them by voice.
To find out the best ways to do this, Ford created the industry's first virtual on-road driving simulator – VIRTTEX. Already, more than 2,000 test participants have driven 30,000 simulated miles for safety and other research. It can fit an entire car inside the simulation module, replicating driving conditions and common driver distractions. We use this data to help us understand what affects drivers while behind the wheel: drowsiness; visibility; ergonomics; and, of course, technology-inspired distractions.
Here's a study of driver distraction while in the simple act of calling up a new tune on their iPod. Let's look at exactly how long this driver has his eyes off the road. (Video plays.) This is what we're all about – improving convenience and safety. At Ford, that means voice control.
Recent research data and naturalistic studies show that "just talking" on a cell phone doesn't increase the risk of crashes versus "just driving." That's why our technology solution enables hands-free voice controls. We even block things like touch screen destination entries when the vehicle is at speed. And we have defined the guidelines for safe screen placement to ensure that data is only a quick glance away.
We at Ford pride ourselves on taking the lead to minimize driver distractions, while making all of our customers' devices connect to their Ford experience simply and in a way they can personalize.
Of course, we can't do this without strong partners.
Collaboration with Microsoft has been invaluable including on SYNC. Today we'll show you how we're enhancing SYNC technology to fully leverage the latest version of the Microsoft Windows Embedded Auto Software platform. Plus, you'll see how we're widening our net to introduce new ideas and innovations wherever they offer value to our customers. By adopting an "open-developer" model for SYNC, we are able to defend our advantage and press our lead exponentially. That's why we've developed a SYNC developer tool kit and are making it available to our trusted partners and soon to the developer community.
We are also leveraging alliances with over 40 major universities, most recently with the University of Michigan. Our challenge was to look at the most popular apps available on iPhone – from the list of over 100,000 – and develop a short list of the ones that would be most relevant to access through SYNC while in the car. We turned that challenge over to the U of M students. Working with a Beta version of our API, they created two brand new mobile apps, which proved that it is possible to run popular iPhone apps using SYNC voice commands.
These quick results have prompted a second project at U of M, which we've dubbed "American Journey 2.0." The challenge is to find a creative way to use data collected through onboard vehicle systems from the engine's computer, or diagnostics, or suspension and communicate with the cloud using social media. We've provided the students with a SYNC-like platform to use as their operating system and asked them to develop apps to make this data relevant in new ways. For example, if all the cars on a certain stretch of road suddenly turn on their windshield wipers or turn on their fog lamps, we could warn all of the cars a few miles away to expect rain. Literally the sky – or shall I say "cloud" is the limit. And the students with the best idea will win a trip to the 2010 Maker Faire in a Ford Fiesta equipped with the winning app.
This is the kind of collaboration you can expect to see more of from Ford – and it is consistent with our commitment to deliver useful, high-value technologies and innovations to millions of people.
Clearly, everyone today wants to be connected, seamlessly linked to the "stuff" in our lives whether it's on our mobile devices, located at home, stored in the cloud or waiting in the mind of our closest friend. Customers say they want the electronic equivalent of a Swiss army knife – offering the seamless, intuitive integration of things like a camera, an MP3 player, and a phone in a single, elegant mobile device. And that's what Ford is doing to the automobile – creating an experience that brings together all of the customers' favorite devices and services in one place.
When we first introduced SYNC our sole intention was to connect our customers' many electronic devices to their car. We've delivered the device-connect technology. Now we're progressing to seamless driver-connect technology. What does that mean? It's the integration of the entire in-car experience that's simpler, safer and smarter.
Our vision for SYNC is that customers can connect to friends and family, to their favorite entertainment devices and to all of the data stored in the cloud using voice commands, touch controls and colorful LCD graphics. They can chat with their kids, listen to their RSS feeds, scan their iPods and make dinner reservations all while driving home from work. And all while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.
Because the way in which each driver experiences this redesigned interior is unique, we refer to it as the "MyFord" experience. The focal point of this experience is an interface that organizes functions and settings with minimal menu layering for quick access including personalization of information that's most relevant to you, while at the same time minimizing driver distraction. That's what we'll be showing you this morning.
MyFord driver connect technology is the signature Ford brand experience and will become part of the global DNA of all Ford products. From the moment they step into the vehicle, drivers will know they're behind the wheel of a Ford no matter where they are in the world.
Today, we want to share with you our solutions to the three challenges I've mentioned:
- better-than-ever expanded in-car connectivity
- an experience that works equally well for all of our customers
- a seamlessly integrated, personalized interface that makes it all possible
Here to show you that user interface is our Director of Electrical and Electronics Systems Engineering, Jim Buczkowski.
Jim Buczkowski
Thank you, Derrick. Good morning!
Derrick touched on a defining moment for the Ford team – when we realized we needed to completely rethink the in-car experience. Of course, that's not exactly how Derrick put it when he gave us the assignment. Actually, he put it something like this: "What the mouse did for the PC, we need Ford to create for the automobile. We need to come up with a mouse."
A tall order, right?
My team is responsible for in-car technology and creating the interface that lets drivers bring in their mobile phone and enjoy "beamed in" services from the cloud – connecting seamlessly through our built-in SYNC technology.
Our team, which is roughly half automotive people and half people with Silicon Valley roots, looked at what was going on here at CES and in other industries where the electronic interface makes or breaks the consumer experience. We looked at hundreds of different remote control devices and gaming controls. We also studied devices with great-looking screens – iPods, hand-held games, smartphones, GPS systems and websites. We even looked at movies for inspiration, because they drive customer opinion. Everyone remembers the computer interface from Minority Report, right? Where Tom Cruise uses hand gestures to select and organize video and information. I even saw a frame grab of Wall-E pinned up in our design studio.
And did you see Iron Man? Awesome! I'm sure many of you who deal with electronic interfaces were as excited about it as I was. I'm referring, specifically, to the cool Heads-Up-Display graphics inside his helmet. They actually tracked his eye movements. There's a terrific interview clip with the HUD designer on the DVD. He talked about how these graphics were developed. They were sorted into intuitive, layered screens, keyed with color coding and divided into four quadrants. Even though he was only designing it for the movies, the designer understood the essential challenge – make the complex simple and serve up the details only when they're needed.
So we had a lot of real-world design reference, heightened by the vision of people who are "futuring" solutions for the road ahead.
Still, we wanted to expand our outreach, and see what customers could tell us about how the "ideal" dash-board interface might work. And that's what led us to seek out the experts in real-world inputs – the guys who actually created the Apple mouse – the design gurus at IDEO. Together, we worked through their User-Centered Design process that examined how different people digest and become comfortable with new technology. We talked to "extreme users" – a guy, for example, who installed a computer into his own car.
We conducted driver interviews, dealership visits and other interviews with pilots, fire fighters and police officers – looking at the user interface in other situations. We learned that users need to be at the center of our design process ensuring we make decisions for the right reasons.
That was back in 2006 and the lessons we learned still guide us.
For example, there was a woman who really liked how she could switch the speedometer from miles-per-hour to kilometers-per-hour in order to keep her husband from figuring out how fast she was going. He had to pause and do the math before he could yell at her for speeding. True story. And there are a hundred more.
The whole IDEO collaboration was invaluable and helped us create "The Ford Five Guidelines" of the in-vehicle experience. Essentially, Ford translated this guiding philosophy into five design cues:
- First, people like and understand 5-way controllers. Thanks to video games and texting, we've gotten good with our thumbs. (Have you noticed that kids use their thumbs for everything? Even doorbells nowadays!)
- Next, people love LCD screens. They quickly grasp information presented in smart, clean graphics. Just look at the instant acceptance of content formatted for smart phones.
- Color conveys functionality, people learn to associate certain tasks with a color. This leads to quick, repeatable recognition.
- People respond well to information presented in a logically organized, repeatable pattern. They learn and remember.
- And finally – people only want the information that they want. Period. Anything else is confusing.
To simplify the way customers interact with their cars, we had to group typical tasks into key functional areas – just like the Iron Man HUD. We were able to divide our functions into four groupings:
- Phone
- Navigation
- Entertainment
- Climate
It needed to be easy to update, with room to expand and evolve. It had to be simple-to-use. And of course, the reason to make it simple to use is to make it safer to use. The need to minimize driver distraction was inherent to the assignment.
Since the introduction of SYNC in 2007, Ford has proven the viability of voice recognition and set the industry benchmark for audible controls. Now, thanks to our technology partners at Nuance, we're taking it to the next level. The Nuance team was invaluable in improving voice recognition and simplifying the command sequences, using fewer words to get what you want. I know that Nuance has a group here today. With their help, we've been able to "flatten" the required grammar sequences and make Ford voice control more conversational. Plus, we've added new features that can all be controlled by voice commands:
- Radio
- CD player
- MP3 Player
- Climate Control system
- Navigation
- Phone
- Vehicle Health Report
- SYNC Services
- SIRIUS Travel Link
- Game Finder
The list goes on. There are literally thousands of intuitive commands that SYNC understands at the first push of a button. For example, even if I'm listening to my iPod, I simply touch the "push to talk" steering wheel button, say "Call Alan's mobile," and SYNC will dial him up. We've eliminated that first layer of commands for all of the SYNC functions.
SYNC also handles "one-shot" destinations making it easier to enter a complete address in one take. SYNC voice commands even have real-time adaptive learning. No matter who's behind the wheel, within three commands it starts to learn that driver's specific accent or speech inflection. So even if you've got a cold or are just coming from the dentist's office, within a few commands, it improves its command recognition.
We've also added a pod-cast category so I can catch up on "This Week in Tech" or C-NET on my daily commute. So as you can see, we've simplified the voice command process while making the breadth of voice-activated controls more robust. That was critical to our goal to minimize driver distraction. But it was only the first step.
Above all, this new interior design solution needed to be the focal point of a signature Ford experience. The result is an elegant, unique interface solution that could well become a new industry standard.
A key Ford strategy is our use of a fully multi-modal system with integrated GUI, TUI and VUI command systems. That's shorthand for graphic, touch and voice command systems that seamlessly work together. You can enter information on the touch screen, finish with a voice command and adjust the settings using the steering wheel control – back and forth with no problem.
With this new experience, we aimed to do all of the following:
- Use LCD display screens to convey critical information on the instrument panel and also on the center stack
- Map out the instrument panel and design it so the information you seek is right where you expect it to be
- Arrange the steering wheel controls to reinforce these left-right relationships
- Feature a big, high-res 8-inch center-stack LCD screen
- Dedicate each corner of the screen to one of the four primary control areas
- Assign a color to each of the four areas – on both the Instrument Cluster and Center Stack LCD displays
- Organize the information through a series of layered screens so that drivers never have to deal with more information than they want
- Include a Media Hub capable of pulling information from iPods and thumb drives, RCA jacks and SD cards. And add connectivity through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
- And finally, make the display easy to customize and personalize
That's a comprehensive list of technology features and you're going to find them all on your next new Ford. Tied together with strong design and graphics, they form our newest driver connect technology called "MyFord Touch." Customers will be able to enjoy this all-new interior experience in cars that will be in showrooms later this year.
We are pleased to announce that this will be a total sensory experience featuring some amazing sound systems, including SONY. Although we've partnered with them in the past, this is the first time our team had the chance to work closely with Sony's designers to create an entire system, including the interface.
The custom design reflects the signature Ford theme and the highly recognized Sony look. And this system really delivers great quality sound.
That's MyFord Touch.
Of course, we'll have a distinct version for our Lincoln owners. Here's the "My Lincoln Touch" interior that we'll reveal next week in our newest Lincoln model. Notice that the LCD screens use the same intuitive layout as MyFord Touch, but that the colors are more saturated, using more jewel tones, to convey the sense of luxury implied in the Lincoln brand. And the center stack uses an upscale, clean and elegant design, with everything managed by touch controls.
Lincoln owners will be able to upgrade to an amazing THX audio system for theatre-quality sound right in their car. THX played an active role in the design process, supplying a set of specifications for frequency response, audio output, distortion and more. The end result is an overall clean sound that optimizes the interior space for a perfect listening experience.
MyLincoln Touch technology will be standard equipment on all future Lincoln models beginning this year with the 2011 Lincoln MKX , the mid-size premium cross-over that debuts at the North American International Auto Show next week. We'll then roll out the new Ford Edge, which appears with its MyFord Touch interior later this year and followed shortly thereafter on the 2012 Ford Focus.
Within the next five years, we'll migrate this signature interior experience into 80 percent of our vehicles.
Here to tell you about our expanded connectivity services is the head of our Connectivity Group, Doug VanDagens.
Doug VanDagens
This expanded capability has opened up a new world of product and service opportunities. I want to recognize the fantastic work that the Ford electrical and IT engineering teams have done to deliver these leading technologies. Last year at CES, we described how our strategy for delivering an unparalleled level of connectivity was built on three platforms:
- First, the technology we built into the vehicle. From its inception, SYNC was designed as a platform to be continuously updated and improved. We have already provided three upgrades through the SYNC MyRide website that ensure your vehicle will seamlessly connect to the latest electronic devices. Additionally, all new applications have been added, including 911 Assist, vehicle health report and a traffic, directions and information service we call TDI.
Last year, owners of Mustangs and Fusions could go to SYNC My Ride.com and download, using their USB, the TDI app that connected their vehicle to our suite of cloud services. While some automakers are talking about creating an apps store, Ford's is already up and running.
- Our second platform is the personal mobile device our customers brought into the vehicle. We use your device's standard voice plan to pass data from the vehicle to the cloud and back. What's great is that you don't have to have a smart phone or an expensive data plan for the service to work. Over time, as your phone's capabilities expand, so will SYNC services.
- The third element of our strategy is to beam into the vehicle from the cloud, class-leading content and services through the Ford Service Delivery Network, or SDN, including traffic, directions, points of interest, business listings and personalized information services through the Ford SDN.
These three platforms provide a comprehensive strategy for industry-leading connectivity that has limitless potential going forward.
Of course, one of the most obvious ways to enjoy connectivity in any car is for navigation purposes.
Just to clarify, there are two ways to get navigation assistance in a Ford vehicle. One way is through the TDI services I just described, a "turn-by-turn" service that is included free for the first three years of vehicle ownership. The other way is to use our premium, on-board navigation system that offers complete mapping graphics.
Our award-winning navigation system is getting even better. Note how the 3-D visual landmarks really help to provide your bearings in the city. There are also new features like Wcities point-of-interest information, including ratings and amenities. And we added even more capability – real-time connections to over 14 million up-to-date points of interest and business listings are now available to premium navigation users, in addition to TDI users.
Let's say you've identified a movie theatre using SYNC's free TDI service. Just ask for directions and the destination will automatically be sent to the premium navigation system, which takes over and provides a map and routing on the LCD screen. This avoids problem of obsolete "Point of Interest" data that plagues conventional embedded nav systems and the need to purchase expensive new discs.
Here's more big news. Today, we are pleased to announce that we are forging a partnership with America's favorite online mapping service – MapQuest – which accounts for more than two million maps being printed every day!
We've created a new "Send to SYNC" MapQuest feature. Imagine I'm at home, and have found the Wynn Las Vegas MapQuest. Instead of printing the directions, I just click "send to SYNC" and the information will be stored in the Ford SDN. Once in my car, I just engage SYNC. I can then set the point of interest as a destination and route guidance begins. Think of how many drivers will navigate with their eyes on the road, instead of looking down at a printed map.
We have a number of additional new features as well.
For starters, our new MyFord connect technology enhances cloud connectivity using built-in Wi-Fi. That's the kind of added value Derrick was talking about. Who would have imagined five years ago that "regular people" could afford a car with internet access? The SYNC internet browser can only be accessed when the car is in park, but I think you'll agree that's a good thing.
And you also can have connectivity on-the-go with a Sprint USB broadband modem. SYNC's media hub will transmit the signal to up to five passengers in the vehicle.
And because our platform is flexible, Ford customers know that the latest connectivity devices will always work with SYNC. We're also very excited to announce that, with the availability of High Definition Radio, we'll be first to market with in-car Song Tagging. When you hear a song you like, just TAG it and the information will be automatically downloaded to your iPod so that you can purchase it later.
We're also working closely with SIRIUS to allow song tagging, and Ford vehicles will now offer Sirius Instant Replay! This feature allows customers to record and play back up to 45 minutes of satellite radio programming.
Let's talk about text messaging.
According to the CTIA, in the U.S. alone, an average 4.1 billion texts per day were sent in the first half of 2009. That doubles the amount from the previous year. Okay – so about 1 to 2 million of those came from my daughter. True story, an agent from Verizon called us last year to tell us that my daughter Megan had racked up the largest monthly texting bill he had ever seen in his career. If there's anybody out there from Verizon who can help me, text me! No, better yet, text my daughter.
The sound you hear is the SYNC system alerting me that I have a text message. Using your phone to text while driving is a dangerous practice, but in Ford vehicles listening to a text message is no different than listening to the radio.
However, until now, only a limited number of phones supported this capability. To address this problem, we've expanded SYNC to support the new industry-standard Bluetooth Message Access Profile, or MAP for short. This means more phones now work with SYNC texting services. In fact, RIM has revealed that it plans to adopt MAP across a large number of its Blackberry devices this year.
Now, let me describe how Ford is addressing the love affair between our customers and their mobile apps.
We've created a way to connect these apps to the vehicle using SYNC through the API we call our Mobile Application Connectivity Package. It basically enables customers to access a phone's applications through the MyFord Touch vehicle interface so they no longer have to fumble with their phones. We have confidence that the same Ford API will work, unchanged, with virtually every application and every phone operating system including those from Apple, RIM, Microsoft and Android. We have regular ongoing meetings with leaders in the consumer electronics industry to develop safe ways to interface with devices and the apps that reside on them.
RIM is one such company with whom we now enjoy in-depth collaboration. Ford is also excited about the commitment that Google has been showing to the automotive industry, and we are in active talks to explore how best to bring Google services and devices into Ford cars. Additionally, mobile applications can access vehicle data, opening the possibilities of entirely new categories of applications and more advanced mashups of your favorite social networks or location-based services.
We have been working with leading app developers and have confirmed that our API can be integrated into existing applications with minimal effort. Additionally, this approach allows us to leverage the existing developer communities and application distribution channels, rather than trying to start up a Ford version of the same thing.
The bottom line is that we believe this strategy will enable us to deliver more apps, in a shorter period of time and more affordably than any other approach. In fact it's so affordable that our customer's will NOT have to pay any additional fees for this great user interface to mobile applications.
To launch this new service, we're focusing on the most in-demand apps that are also most relevant to the in-car experience. Today, we are pleased to announce agreements with Pandora, Stitcher and the Twitter app – Open Beak. Please welcome Julius Marchwicki – one of the product managers who has played a key role in developing our API – with more details about how they work.
Julius ….
Julius Marchwicki
Thanks Doug.
With the number of apps for each of the mobile OS platforms growing by the day, it's hard to know where Ford could start. Nielsen reports application downloads are up 82 percent from last year – that's 40 million downloads in the second quarter of 2009.
And the industry has surpassed three billion app downloads. We think our focus on mobile apps, with streaming content, was a good choice, just based on the number of people still driving with ear buds.
We recognize that Pandora is simply the world's most popular Internet radio application. Their accolades speak for themselves, but consumers are speaking, too. As of December, they have over 40 million users and 17 million of them listen on their mobile devices.
Pandora makes it so easy. Choose an artist or song and Pandora will create a personalized radio station that plays music similar to that artist or song. If you like a song, give it a thumbs up and Pandora will play more music like that song. If you don't like it, thumb it down.
It's surprising how well Pandora knows my taste in music when I listen to my MGMT station. Amazingly, Pandora has told us that 55 percent of their mobile users listen in the car. That's over 8 million people fumbling with their phone – voting, bookmarking and changing stations all while driving. A very dangerous proposition.
Similarly, Stitcher provides personalized news content across various categories. They're the only on-demand radio provider that has content from all major news sources. We think they complement Pandora's content quite well. Like Pandora, they have some voting controls and the ability to add favorites. Stitcher reports that 40 percent of their users listen in the car, so that list of people fumbling with their phones just got a bit bigger.
When Ford began exploring how to get mobile app functionality into the car, we knew we had a challenge. We had to build something more advanced – something that would allow for the unique experiences that mobile phone users demand.
So Ford created an SDK to allow developers to connect their applications with the in-vehicle interfaces through SYNC. This continues Ford's strategy of letting you use your phone and your data plan. Ford made the decision to do two things:
- Let mobile app developers use our SDK
- Leverage the existing mobile app stores, instead of making our own
How does it work? Well, our API leverages the phone and can use a variety of transports (Bluetooth, USB and now Wi-Fi) to communicate with SYNC. Apps can write to the display, use the text-to-speech engine and get voice commands from the driver. Developers can access vehicle data and get button-presses, all while developing in the programming language of their mobile phone.
How will the customer experience this feature? Well, in the future, if you bring Pandora or Stitcher into the car on your phone, it will work seamlessly. In the vehicle, access the mobile apps menu on your SYNC system a list of your available SYNC-capable apps will be shown. To launch, touch the screen or use your voice. If I'm ready to use another app, I simply say its name.
Surprisingly, the developers at Stitcher and Pandora were readily willing to work together, sharing code snippets as they worked with our API. Whether we knew it or not, Ford had created a developer network. Yes, it's small now, but we're hoping it will grow.
How long did it take Pandora and Stitcher to develop their applications? Less than 10 days.
Now what about Twitter? You can be sure that Ford was paying attention to the explosive growth of the social network, and keeping with our strategy, we connected with the OpenBeak developers to create a SYNC-enabled version. Our customers who tweet will be able to hear their timelines, friends and direct messages.
Odds are you're using Pandora, Stitcher and Twitter. Now you can keep listening to your favorite, personalized content when you get into the car – all using the connectivity of the safe, hands-free, voice-controlled SYNC. It's all part of the MyFord experience. We have the applications running on the show floor in the Ford TechZone and we hope you'll take time to check it out.
So where is all of this heading? Well, with apps being developed as quickly as they are, all we can say is stay tuned. Our API's allow for mobile apps across various categories like social networking or location based services. We'll have more announcements in the next few quarters regarding more apps and more partnerships. You can be sure that the news will bring greater connectivity and increased value to our customers, all in a safe manner – leaving your phone in your pocket, your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
Isn't that what we're all about, Alan?
Alan Mulally
Well said, Julius.
So, that is a look at the direction we are taking. Offering increased connectivity while at the same time creating minimal distraction for the driver. Premium technology delivered in affordable, high-volume cars and trucks for all of us. An open-platform SYNC operating system with the potential to expand as quickly as the apps being developed for our customers' mobile phones.
Simpler. Safer. Smarter.
CEOs in every industry today are continually asked one question, "What do you see for the future?"
The truth is CEO's are not mind readers. The key is to have a point-of-view about the future, have access to very good data and to nurture a team that is excited and completely committed to their customers.
For both the auto industry and the consumer electronics industry, the best bet is to develop products that are versatile and loaded with features that make them easy to personalize. That is the philosophy behind our "MyFord" strategy.
By modeling ourselves after the consumer electronics industry, the Ford team has learned that we have better results when we try to be accurate but not necessarily precise.
When we watch how our customers' aspirations and lifestyles change, monitor long-term trends and connect the dots, we succeed in bringing our customers the vehicles they really want and value. For example, we anticipated a shift in U.S. consumer attitudes regarding the desire for cars with affordable fuel economy. We also appreciated that not everyone is ready for a hybrid.
So at Ford, the right thing to do was to pursue two compatible plans. The result was our high horsepower, high-mileage EcoBoost technology – developed on a parallel path to our popular hybrids.
The innovations we have shared with you today are a direct response to consumer trends. Technologies such as Smart Gauge, SYNC and My Ford Touch feed the demand for information in an integrated, elegant user interface.
Going forward, you will continue to see how we apply and customize this thinking to future products. No matter what scenario unfolds, you can count on Ford to stay focused on delighting our customers and enhancing the total driving experience. That means keeping our customers connected with their friends, with their favorite entertainment sources and with all the very latest information.
And to keep our customers connected, we at Ford must strengthen our connections to people like you – the consumer electronics thought-leaders.
On behalf of all of us at Ford Motor Company, thank you to the many partners who have contributed to the innovations we have shown you today. And thanks to each you for your interest in Ford.
Editor's note: Portions of the presentations that included live demonstrations are not included in the above remarks.
Jan. 7, 2010


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subset: commoncrawl


text: The reason I booked this hotel was the free shuttle bus for both Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal and airport. Our pick up bus driver was mad with the busy schedule; with one hand on the cell phone, he used the other hand to through our luggage into the trolley car (a luggage car attached behind the shuttle bus). He was... More


text:
September 9, 2007
Re-enactment of a Freewill Baptist Sunday service at the New Berlin Freewill
Baptist Church, New Berlin Historic Park.
April 14, 2007
Presentation on the history of Wisconsin's Freewill Baptists by Jack Copet
at the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.
July 23, 2006
Celebration of the Restoration and Transfer of the New Berlin Freewill
Baptist Church to the New Berlin Historic Park


text:
Mother's Day is Sunday, so "People" magazine collected quotes from 10 celebrities, sharing wisdom they received from their moms. Here they are:
Chris Hemsworth: "Just have fun. You love acting, right? Good, go and act. Go and have fun and if it doesn't work out, you can come back home."
Zooey Deschanel: "Wear lipstick."
Kristin Chenoweth: "'Don't ever rely on a man for money. Make your own way.' So I did. And now I'm single."
Meghan Trainor: "My mama always reminds me to be happy and to take a step back and look at everything. Because with this crazy life, you can easily get overwhelmed."
Shannen Doherty: "You can do anything, anything that you put your mind to. Just give it 100 percent and go for it."
Tia Mowry: "Never feel bad about who you are. And she would always say, 'If they don't like you, then it's their loss.'"
Uzo Aduba (from "Orange is the New Black"): "When I first moved to New York, she dropped me off at the train and she turned off the car, and she said, 'Uzo. Just work hard. I don't care what you do, as long as you work hard. "'I never heard of 'nothing' come from hard work. I don't know what will come, but something will come.'"
Kate Hudson: "What makes mom the best is that she never put any expectations too high on the kids. She just wanted us to be doing the things that made us happy, as long as we were working hard, but we never had to live up to something."
Jim Parsons (from "The Big Bang Theory"): "She'd just look in the mirror and say 'Well, I did the best I could do today.' The message was, 'Don't feel bad about how you look.'"
Matthew Morrison (from "Glee"): "Try to not swear much, and always practice good hygiene."


text:
STC or Training Consultants?
3 RepliesJump to last post
Sep 2, 2015 7:39 pm
Hello all. Recently didn't pass my Series 65 using the program provided by my firm "Exam FX". I am split between Training Consultants and STC?! Can I get some feedback from the community here? That would be awesome!


text: I was in Walmart today and noticed 2 different offerings from tzumi, first a 3-lens fisheye/macro/wide set and second a 8x fixed telephoto. I've seen these online and thought they were clever. So I grabbed one for just under $15, safe in the knowledge I could return it ;-) Since it gets dark early and it's still dark, I did some quick shots in the kitchen: •iPhone 6 with native lens at widest zoom setting •iPhone 6 with native lens at full zoom •Smart Lens+iPhone wide setting •Smart Lens+iPhone full zoom Here are my impressions: Clipping the lens on an iPhone is a bit dorky because the iPhone's lens is so close to the edge, and you have to place it just right to minimize vignetting. The Smart Lens has a manual focus adjustment, which is fun to use while at the same time the iPhone is trying to focus automatically. It seems the iPhone's maximum zoom is 8x, since it matches the native magnification of the Smart Lens. But the iPhone pixelates badly at this zoom level, while the Smart Lens doesn't (but the Smart Lens has severe pincushioning). I'm not sure if this is progress or not! Maybe somewhat. So! I'll play with this thing in the light tomorrow and decide if it's worth keeping. I can't see carrying the Smart Lens around without some sort of camera or carry bag (I don't always have a shirt pocket), but if I'm going to do that, I might as well bring the DSLR and 75-300 along... I'm curious to know if anyone else has tried this thing. PS: Holding the Canon zoom in front of the iPhone lens is not an option, ha!


text:
What Kind of MMO do you desire?
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I'll start.
I personally prefer playing an MMO that are not Fantasy-themed, it bores me in a blink.
I don't mind when there's a sci-fi element in these kind of MMOs as well, such as MegaTen Online. So my wishlist of an MMO would probably in the mix of :
Dead Frontier : Great concept, survival theme well done, one hit from a zombie and you lose quite an amount of health. It's a shame that the lack of content put me off, mind you it's made by a small company.
Fallen Earth : post-apoc setting is great, crafting is ingenious. But the environment is just way too barren, and way huge. Great game though.
Left 4 Dead : the shooting mechanics.
Bottomline, the MMO that i desire would be like, a 3rd or 1st person shooter survival game. With the settings from Dead Frontier (a dead town with enter-able buildings and all), where scavenging for stuff is really2 dangerous when alone. Supported by Fallen Earth-like crafting. And player housing (lol, im a sucker for those).
But the main thing is, it's a game of pure survival. End game stuff, I don't really know about that since i'm no dev and I never stuck long enough in an MMO due to my split-loyalty behaviour :P
So, fellow escapists. Any desires or wishes of your own?
I've been looking for a space-sim MMO with a large focus on player-driven conflicts- i.e., if somebody wants control of a base, he can take it provided he has a lot of friends. Ideally it'd be somewhere between EVE Online, which is so comically obtuse that you really can't do anything, and Battlestar Galactica Online, which creates the same problem by simply having nothing to do.
Space based. That isn't TOR.
Basically "Bigger Freelancer"
One in which I meet a girl, we fall in love, and live together in happiness for the rest of our days. In real life.
I know it happens, but why won't it happen for ME?!
Oh god yes! I fully approve this idea as well!
Im tempted to say Guildwars 2 and leave it at that, but if this a hypothetical topic then, idealy a game that makes best possible use of the main feature that mmo's have over single player games, that is the multiplayer, give me some incentive to quest with random people instead of just ignoring invites, give me a reason to pvp other than just because i can, let me open my own shop and sell things to people instead of going to a vendor npc, let the player's give me personal quests instead of killing a hundred boars for an npc that wont care. I could probably go on but i wont.
I really want a sandbox game to not only release, but be successful enough to continue development and fill up a server. I'd like to see a classless character creation system, where skills are learned as you use them or something similar. So everyone can have access to everything, but in limited amounts (Think Skyrim, but more advanced and with more skills related to crafting and such). No predetermined factions, no instancing of areas (as in, multiple instances of the same zone), and...yeah, there's more, but I'd settle for just that stuff.
I'd want a MMO that's entirely based on D&D 3.5 ruleset. The combat, the quests, all of it. One that had the ability to write your own quests and dungeons and where the world 'Felt' somehow as deep and filled with secrets as Baldur's Gate.
One where you don't have to pick a different server, where all people who play are in the same place. One like this...
Yeah, just like that. I would be interested in more MMO's if they could pull off the single server thing too.
If only there were more hours in a day, I could play more.
One that has Guild Wars 2 on the cover. :3
In all seriousness, I would love to see an MMO in which people really had to depend on each other. Where to survive, you have to get together with a group, populate a settlement, gather resources, and fend off other players. I would be really cool if while you were offline, your character would turn into an NPC on the server, automatically performing their "job" to gather resources for the group, or for yourself. A post apocalyptic setting would probably be good for something like this. There would also have to be a bunch of servers with a limited population, and maybe some system to "kill off" inactive characters so you wouldn't have a server full of NPCs that no one new could join.
Fallen Earth seemed to be moving in this direction, but to a lesser extent than I'm thinking.
Sifl & Olly is a show with sock puppets.
I'd like to see an MMO of that.
I want an MMO with an actual engine and fun gameplay OR hardcore RPG strategic elements. Players should feel like they can differentiate themselves through their builds/play styles. Yeah its a bitch to balance, but then the only reason to play an MMORPG over an actual game of DnD is because of the ease of access. Also, players should actually have the capacity to affect their world.
I personally prefer MMOs with fantasy themed worlds. However my brother prefers something that not many people seem to be in the mood for: an MMORTS. He enjoys playing "Shores of Hazeron" and "Beyond Protocol".
I'd like to see a Sci-fi MMO that focuses heavily on PvE. I might even go as far as to say I'd like an MMO without PvP. It never worked very well as a competitive game, it's incredibly hard to balance while keeping every class unique and effective, it's also incredibly boring.
Don't misunderstand me, I think if any MMO is going to get PvP right it'll be Guild Wars 2 (even though it's way too early to call that). The biggest problem with PvP in MMO's now is the idea of 'PvP gear' which makes you more effective in PvP. To be truly competitive you need an even playing field, how the system works now is that the people who perform better in PvP are rewarded with gear to make them better at PvP
how does that logic make any sense? would you give high ranking starcraft players more starting resources? would you give a chess champion 2 queens? if it's really all about skill then nobody should have an advantage based on gear.
don't even get me started on how bad of an idea the 2v2 3v3 arena system was.
I don't really like MMO's with realistic day-to-day landscapes. I like funky, fantasy type grapichs, 'cuz,well, it's a game, i want to escape my daily life, not relive it in different scenarios. One thing i would like to see is more gameplay choices for your caracter. Usually you have some skills and some passives and a proffesion of some sort and I don't think it's really enough. Why can't i combine two of my spells into another one? Why doesn't unlocking two passives give me some sort of synergy bonus? Why does picking a class only limits you to it's skills? I could be a pious palladin that throws fireballs at people or a scout that can summon the undead. That would be awesome to see in a game.
I don't think arena systems are bad. For one, if you get rid of PvP gear then it simply comes down to team comp and player skill. The only time it is a problem is if it is the only option for PvP or the developers use it (and no other forms of PvP) to balance the classes.
One that has pokemon in it. The only concievable reason why Nintendo has not made a pokemon mmo yet is because they are terrified of money. I mean, come on, the game would fit perfectly into an mmo setting with very little tweaking- perhaps a bit more endgame content, but other than that they need not change anything.
Well, I just started playing The Old Republic, and I fuckin' love it so far.
So I guess that.
But preferably with way better space combat. As it stands, they're now like a shitty Star Fox ripoff.
This is why I could see the system working in a game like Guild Wars 2 where you don't need to spend over a month leveling a new class because your old one can't compete in the arena anymore. or the developers could start homogenizing classes so that class comp becomes less important, therefore making your character much less unique.
The idea is that 'Battlegrounds' where it's 10 or more players on a team working towards an objective are much easier to balance since those fights rarely come down to 1 vs 1 anyway. the less people involved in the fight the harder it becomes to balance. When you are using the same character in Battlegrounds, Arenas and PvE making sure all the classes are roughly even becomes a nightmare.
even Rob Pardo thought the arena system was a bad idea.
you can find the article on the WarCry Network (and I assume the escapist): http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/interviews/6773-Five-Years-of-Warcraft-Speaking-With-Blizzards-Rob-Pardo.2
Again let me point out that I am not saying it's impossible to make a competitive MMO but I don't think we're at that point yet.
Elder Scrolls.
Pretty sure they've already said numerous times that they wouldn't make a TES MMO. But if they did... imagine the insane amount of bugs on launch day :O
Open world WW2 MMO game. But then i remember only arseholes online. Playing Battlefield, Guild Wars and WOW. I spent 3 hours on a mission on WOW until he life cos of dinner. lol. Also another wanted me to help him kill a fish....me hitting and he cast health spells on me. Another hour of my life wasted as i die. One player, all the way. Unless the multiplayer is with people you know. Even then i prefer splitscreen. More social. :-)
Something with Wildstar's visuals, Tera's combat system, GW2's gameplay and social concepts and maybe Secret World's lore would be nice, I think.
Setting: Star Wars or Warcraft. They both have brilliant settings and I like the idea of playing a Druid (watched the WC3 Medivh cinematic today - goddamn if that's not the most awesome class ever) or a Jedi/Sith. Other settings would work too, but these are my top two.
Story: At TOR level or higher, both in quality and deliverance. We're way past the point technologically where quest text is the acceptable means to delivering the entire story.
World design: Something as or more open than WoW. 3D movement (diving/flying) and zones are open, not a linear shoehorn sort of design TOR has going.
Combat: Willing to accept standard hotkey MMO combat, but if we're going for perfect, take a page out of Jedi Knight (Outcast/Academy) or TES - FPS/TPS for gun/bow using classes, first (TES)/third (JK) person action game for melee characters. I'm cool with the trinity as I think it creates a sense of teamwork, but healing needs to be looked at a little so healers don't spend their time looking at the UI instead of the game. This would probably be bettered with a non-hotkey system to begin with though.
End game: Let's start with the basics, raiding - there needs to be something for large groups of people to do at end game, so the raiding concept stands. However, it needs to be more about progression and less about the loot treadmill. For one, I'd like to see a progression model similar to what WoW: TBC used - moving from 5 mans to 10 mans to 25 mans, with attunements and a story in between. 5 mans and 10 mans shouldn't JUST be a stepping stone however, they need to be a thing of their own, but the progression should stay there, at least at the beginning (first set of raids), to both introduce players to working with larger and larger groups progressively and promote a sense of achievement.
The raid model should have a difficulty curve starting relatively easy and getting harder over time. It should strive to always have more content on the horizon for most players as opposed to getting each player through every bit of content. It should not have different settings for either size or difficulty.
That said, it must, I repeat MUST not be a "raid or die" model. This MMO mentality is dying out and every MMO that comes down to it WILL fail, including WoW itself (I don't mean fail as in shut down completely, but it's not gonna keep as many people for much longer). There needs to be stuff to do at maximum level and the more diverse things are, the better. Moreover, these endgame aspects need to get the same level of attention that instances and raids do now in something like WoW ie. they need to be updated with every patch.
Dynamic content: A fantastic way to introduce this non-raid endgame stuff is dynamic content, but it needs to not be as stale as something like Rift. Every sort of content will be repetitive after a while if not updated, but something needs to be done to make it interesting and dynamic day in and day out.
PvP: I'm not a big PvP person, but a few quick thoughts. First off, what I'd care about the most is some kind of PvPvE. Mixing PvP and PvE ends in fantastic things and if you throw some dynamic content in there, done right, I think it could be one of the major things to do at maximum level for both those who like PvP and those who like PvE.
Also, Arenas. Again, not a big PvP person, but I think Guild Wars had the perfect PvP model, certainly the best I've seen for these kind of things. Guild vs Guild is also a good idea. There also need to be large instanced battlegrounds.
Social: This adds to the diversity of stuff to do at maximum level. Minigames, social items, events etc. There also needs to be a social sense for each of the aspects of the game. For example, in PvP, guild alliances and wars would be a good idea, Guild Wars had both, though something more dynamic that could happen out in the world as opposed to being closed off in private areas would be better.
Hmm.... Not one I particuarly desire but: how about one where you get one character that has one life? (you would probably need to enter your social security number or something to make sure you only get 1 shot).
Playing Diablo 2 in hardcore is sort of like that, I think.
A Zombie MMO, that does it right!
Dead frontier is fine but not really what I'm after.
What I want is a MMO that focuses on survival, stealth, hunkering down, finding supplies and other players to join your survival group. The walking dead made MMO would be perfect...
Something open world, sandboxy, crafty, non-linear with a decent combat system and a working economy. An element of survivalism would be a bonus.
Yeah I know Eve-O does all that, and I love it for it. But a game without solid ground and without characters really does stretch my imagination and immersion to the limits.
If Fallen Earth had better combat and allowed me to build my own shack, that would be almost perfect.
I don't really care if it's sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, historical or office-sim with elves. Any setting can work out well.
One that allows me to remove the MMO part.
I'm being serious, I'd love to play an MMO that gives you the option to not pay the monthly fee, and then you simply play the game as a singleplayer RPG.
I say this because MMOs seem to have the most creative and fun types of worlds to do stuff in. Like City of Heroes or Champions Online, I've yet to see a singleplayer RPG where we get to make our own super hero, yet there are 2 MMOs where that's the central theme.
This is a good idea for a thread, I had to stop and use my imagination! lets see ...
For me I think I would like a dark steam punk world probably resembling thief 2 where there are still swords and magic but also weird crazy technology. The lighting would be dim and the morale choices would be grey and personally I would appreciate it if they did not shove sex down my throat.
Maybe having 2 factions where you can be a soldier / rogue / assassin and go on missions to not only fight each other but assassinate or go on crime spree's. You can also break away from your faction and be like an outlaw or a crazy cultist of your choice (worship crazy stuff like fuzzy wuzzy monsters or something).
Pokemon and Skies of Arcadia as MMORPG. Make it happen.
Hmmmm, any MMO I could want, absolutely anything I could imagine? The mm of my dreams?
I want one of these but with two hard to satisfy requirements.
1. Doesn't alienate you if you can't put a lot of work into it for a week.
2. It can't be "pay a fee for a second job" like WoW. That kills anything for me.
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text:
Dear READ Supporter,
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the devastating Nepal earthquakes, I've been reflecting on the incredible progress we've made since then and wanted to thank you for your enduring support – you've helped READ restore the hope and resilience of the people of Nepal.
With the One Year Update below, I want to share what we've learned since the quakes first hit and how our model has responded to the most pressing needs of our communities. I am also providing a roadmap for the steps that lie ahead for our communities and how you can help turn our vision for reconstruction into a reality.
Since two massive earthquakes hit Nepal on April 25th and May 12th last year, the many rural communities we work in have suffered tremendously. Thousands of people lost their homes and their livelihoods, and the political turmoil and fuel shortage that began last September made rebuilding nearly impossible.
Despite the challenges that remain, it has been awe-inspiring to witness the strength of our network of 62 READ Centers in Nepal as they have supported each other through this difficult period. The resilience we have seen confirms that empowering communities to manage their own crises rather than waiting for external aid is truly the best way forward. This has been READ's approach since we began our work in Nepal in 1991 and we are more committed than ever to this sustainable approach to community development.
Will you donate today to support our rebuilding efforts in Nepal?
Every day that a READ Center is not open to the public is a day children cannot spend time reading, youth cannot access the Internet and women cannot gather to empower themselves in safe spaces. We need you to join our rebuilding efforts today. Only together can we ensure brighter futures for the women, children and families of Nepal.
In Service,
Tina Sciabica
READ Global Executive Director
The Need
Six of READ's 62 centers in Nepal need to be rebuilt having suffered serious damage in last year's earthquakes. We need your help so that rural villagers who suffered huge losses can access the necessary resources to put their lives back on track.
Three communities in Sindhupalchowk and Gorkha — the districts hardest-hit by the quakes — are in dire need of community infrastructure and resources to support villagers as they rebuild their lives. Thus, in addition to rebuilding the six damaged READ Centers, we have committed to building three new centers to support community members.
Some of the damaged centers were built many years ago, such as the Junbesi Center, which was the first READ Center established in 1991. As READ rebuilds older centers, we will do so in a manner that is earthquake resilient and consistent with modern standards, including installation of computers, Internet access and solar panels to ensure consistent power.
What We've Learned
Within hours of the first quake, we saw that READ's network of centers proved to be an ideal platform for immediate disaster relief. Centers served as the trusted, go-to resource that could meet the needs of their communities. More than 1,000 volunteers were mobilized through the centers and, along with the READ Nepal team, provided disaster relief to more than 50,000 people in the months after the quakes.
Because communities already depend on their READ Centers, they were willing to volunteer their time to construct temporary structures so that educational programs could continue even if the center had been damaged.
Additionally, people with disabilities are often overlooked during disaster relief efforts and thus are at higher risk of injury or death, so READ is also introducing Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR) training into its core programming. This has been made possible by an exciting new partnership with ASB, a relief organization based in Germany.
How You Can Help
READ has raised the necessary funds to rebuild the Kumari and Charikot Centers and has funding committed for the 3 new centers in Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk. We need your help to rebuild the 4 centers in Junbesi, Tukche, Birgha and Bardibas.
Take a look at some examples of how your support can make a difference:
• $250: Fill a bookcase with books
• $500: Purchase reading tables and chairs for a library section
• $1,000: Stock a children's section with art supplies, books and games
• $2,500: Create a women's section - a safe place for women to learn and thrive
• $5,000: Provide an entire community with Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction programs
• $10,000: Establish a new sustaining enterprise to fund the long-term operating costs of a center
• $15,000: Fully equip a computer section and install solar panels on a center to provide consistent power
Thank you so much for your support. Together, we can rebuild Nepal!


text: As a waterfowl, upland game and bird taxidermist Jerry knows how important it is to have access to live birds, not only for continuing to learn more about waterfowl, upland game bird's and their anatomy, but their behavior as well. Jerry truly believes that his membership with the Game Breeders Club and his ability to spend hours watching and observing the waterfowl in their aviaries has contributed a great deal to his knowledge and accuaracy in the mounting of waterfowl and upland game birds. The Waterfowl Aviary is nearing completion, and has had a number of species of ducks in it already last fall. The waterfowl aviary is located 10 feet from Jerry's taxidermy work counter where he can study the birds out of the 2 seven foot Windows in front of his work arae. Some of the most significant things that Jerry has learned while observing live birds are how they dive, swim, balance, stand, feed and rest. Jerry has been able to get up close and personal to see some of the finest details of the birds including where their feather groups lay in an array of positions as well as the finest details in their eyes and eye lids.


text:
Spirit Loverbykandie©
It's four a.m. the feel of your soft caress down my back awakens me.
I turn over to say I love you and kiss you and no one is beside me.
I close my eyes wondering if I was dreaming when I felt your touch.
I feel you presence as you arms pull me closer and our lips touch.
The intensity of your kiss make my body tremble clear to my soul.
I hear our hearts beat in unison as your spirit intertwines my soul.
I feel your touch as it sets me afire and you utter, "Kandy, I love you!"
I touch your body as I feel it responding to me whisper, "I love you"
Our bodies come together as one and you make passionate love to me.
I experience an earth-shattering climax then feel you climax inside me.
I lie next to you within the fold of your arm and slowly drift off to sleep.
Although we are miles apart, your spirit is right beside me as I sleep.
I came to you last night, did you know it?
I held you close last night. Did you feel my arms?
I tenderly kissed your soft lips last night. Can you still taste it?
I made passionate love to you last night. Do you feel the afterglow?
His name is John, and he is in his late fifties. He stands six-foot one, has a heavy sexy figure, with American Indian features, salt and pepper hair, and brown eyes. When he talks, a deep melodious voice enchants those around him. He has a loving heart, great attitude and gentle spirit, which were rare features in a man.
Her name is Kandy and she just turned fifty-five. She stands about five foot four, has a sexy full figure, seductive green eyes, and a cute button nose and wears glasses. She is also a vibrant free spirited redhead with a zest for living, loving and adventure.
When they met six months ago, it was John's spirit that drew Kandy to him. As they chatted over dinner, she once again found someone she could call friend. Soon they went from friends to lovers as she took a chance on love again, hoping this time, fate would deal her a wining hand. However, he lived two hours from her. In time, she did not know if she could handle a long distant relationship.
That night Kandy did everything she thought of to relax and fall asleep. All she could see was John's loving face and arms holding her. She sighed and said, "Oh god, I wish he was here lying next to me holding me. I want to feel his ardent kiss lighting the fires of passion deep within my soul. I want to reach out and caress his cock then guide it into my pussy. Then make love as we both go beyond the realm of ecstasy. She fell asleep dreaming of John.
It was four a.m. when Kandy was awaken by a soft caress down her the middle of her back. Not quite awake and thinking John was with her, she turned over to kiss him and say, I love you John." Only to discover no one is beside her. She wished her was on the bed next to her, holding her close and kissing her passionately. She closed her eyes wondering if she was dreaming when she felt his touch.
Then she felt his presence as his arms went around her and pulled her close. His lips touched hers and the intensity of his kiss makes her body tremble clear to her soul. As he caressed her, the heat of her desires unfolds sending waves of electricity to the center of her womanhood. She laid her head upon his chest and listened, their hearts beating in unison as his spirit intertwines her soul.
Then she heard John say, "Kandy, I love you!"
She reached out to him and felt his body. As he responds to her she whispered, "I love you John."
She felt him lift her nightgown and started kissing her leaving a wet a wet trail of butterfly kisses from her sweet lips to her hardening nipples. He stopped only long enough to tell her how much her beautiful body turned him on.
She felt her skin tingle as he draws in her left nipple, holding it between his teeth, flicking it with his tongue then biting it gently. As his mouth tantalized her nipples, Kandy reached down and caressed his cheek with her fingers. Then with a feathery touch, her fingers went down the middle of John's back. Kandy spread her legs wide and pulling his head closer to her wanting pussy.
John moved and knelt between her legs and begins teasing the outer rim of her pussy with his fingers making her shake with anticipation. He then slid his index finger inside her moisture-laden vagina, brought them to his lips, and licked off her sweet nectar. Spreading her lips once more he flicked her clit with his tongue as he slide two fingers inside her, making her gasp in delight. He continues eating her pussy until she begged for him to fuck her.
He then rose up and took his throbbing cock in his hand and began rubbing the head of it across her sensitive clit, knowing she is about to climax. All the sudden, he shoved his cock into her pussy with one hard thrust. He fucks her deep and hard as the waves of her climax surged though her body.
Kandy wrapped her legs around him, pulling his closer. Making his cock go as deep as it could inside her hot hole and she started milking it with her vaginal muscles. Then they kissed and their lips part, their tongues doing the dance of lovers.
Their bodies come together as one, as they made wild passionate love. As soon Kandy experience another earth-shattering climax as she felt John explode deep inside her.
She lay next to him within the folds of his arms and slowly drifted off to sleep. She knew that even though they were miles apart, his spirit was right beside her, protecting her and loving her, whilst she slept.
The next day John called Kandy as he has done every day since the day they met. He said, "Good morning beautiful."
Kandy replied, "Good morning darling. I miss you."
John then said, "Kandy, my love, my spirit is always with you. My spirit came to you last night. Did you know it? As I held you close, I tenderly kissed you soft lips. Can you still taste me on your lips? Then I made love to you. I kissed your lips leaving a trail of kisses down to your swollen nipples. Taking them into my mouth one at a time, I held them with my teeth, biting them gently. I stopped only so that I could move between your legs. I then slid my throbbing cock into your pussy. Fucking you hard as you rose up to meet my thrust, until I felt you tremble with a climax."
Kandy then with a panting voice said, "Oh god, darling, I wish you were fucking me right now. My whole body is yearning to feel your touch. When will I see you again?"
John replied, "I know honey, I wish I was fucking you right now too. We will be together this weekend, after all, it will be Valentines Day and I have something special planned. I cannot wait to plunge my cock into your pussy again. I can almost feel your pussy milking my cock as it stiffens and explodes against every crevice of your pussy. Then when you tell me that you want to taste my cock after we fuck, I nearly pass out."
Kandy then said, "Oh baby, I love sucking your cock. The aromatic smell intoxicates me as you bring your cock to my lips and I engulf it until my lips brush your pubic hair. Oh dear, keep talking like this honey and I will have to rub my clit and cum."
John replied, "Let the waves of passion flow through your body baby. Now touch your clit and cum for me!"
"I love you! I am rubbing my clit for you, Oh dear---oh honey--yes," Kandy screamed as she climaxed.
John replied, "If you remember only one thing my love, it is this. After the waves of passion cease and we lay in each others arms, Know this my love, you will never be without me my spirit is with you always."
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Bio Sci Staff Appreciation Luncheon 2008
Thank You to the Supporters of the 2008
Bio Sci Staff Appreciation Luncheon
This summer the School of Biological Sciences held our annual Staff Appreciation Luncheon for all of our classified staff. We decided on an Ancient Greco-Roman theme, and it turned out wonderfully. The luncheon was a huge hit and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. The School of Biological Sciences would like to express our thanks to everyone who helped make this luncheon a success. We would also like to once again thank our staff for making the School of Biological Sciences a success.
Ultimately, there were two factors that made this luncheon so successful:
1) The staff volunteers who gave of their time, spirit, and ingenuity to plan and carry out the luncheon. Here are those people, listed alphabetically: Erika Frahm (SBS Instructional Offices), Steve Franklin (SBS Admin Offices), Gwen Gage (SBS Graphics), Josh Gittleman (Neuro Postdoc), John Goutier (SBS Electronics Shop), Ryan Gray (CMB Grad Program), Julie Hayes (CMB Grad Program), Fred Jeziorkowski (BSCSF), Angela Kizzee (SBS Admin Offices), Ed Kohler (Patterson Mailroom), Suzanne McIntyre (SBS Admin Offices), Sandy Monahan (EEB Grad Program), Sylvia Moore (IB Admin Office), Dr. Jennifer Morgan (MCDB Faculty), Cathy Prescott (SBS Admin Offices), Tamra Rogers (Plant Biology Grad Program), Samuel Ross (SBS Instructional Offices), Stephanie Schnorr (IB Admin Office), Scott Schulz (SBS Graphics), Dena Sutton (SBS Greenhouse), Kim Sybert (Neuro Admin Office), Kathy Thatcher (Neuro Admin Office), Ben Vasquez (SBS Field Trip Services),Keith Watson (BSCSF), and Helen Wormington (MGM Admin Office).
2) The businesses, organizations, and individuals who supported our luncheon by
donating door prizes and lending us decorations for the event. Below is an
alphabetical list of those who helped us out, please feel free to pay them a
300 Austin
Academic Superstore
Amy's Ice Cream
Art on 5th Fine Art Gallery
AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center
Austin Area Author, Julie Kenner
Austin Artist, Irene Roderick
Austin Artist, Mack White
Austin Author, Chris Roberson
Austin Author, Jeff Abbott
Austin Author/Musician, Owen Egerton
Austin Author/Musician/Rollergirl, Melissa 'Melicious' Joulwan
Austin Canoe & Kayak
Austin Chamber of Commerce
Austin Duck Adventures
Austin Musician, Abi Tapia
Austin Musician, Duane Carter
Austin Steam Train
Austin/UT Author, Dr. David M. Buss
Austin/UT Author, Dr. L. Michael White
Austin/UT Author, Dr. Samuel Gosling
Austin/UT Author, Dr. Toyin Falola
Austin/UT Author, Evan Carton, Ph.D.
Austin/UT Author, Janet M. Davis, Ph.D.
Author, Dr. Sean Williams
Author, Vicki Lewis Thompson
Aztec Promotional Group
Baen Books
BARk Magazine
Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing
Bess Bistro
Bio-Link Scientific
Birds Barbershop
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
Boggy Creek Farm
Borderlands Books
Campus Computer Store
Cap City Comedy Club
Capital Cruises
Carolina Biological Supply Company
Cengage Learning
Cheesecake Factory
Cissi's Market
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
County Line
Cuevas Distribution Inc.
Double Dave's Pizzaworks
Dragon's Lair Comics
Earth Island Journal
El Gallo
Elsevier Inc.
Emily's Catering
Esther's Follies
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Film Movement
Garland Science/Taylor & Francis Group
Ghee Happy
Giantmicrobes, Inc.
Golden Gryphon Press
Goodies from Goodman
Grobal llc
Hill Country Pasta House
Home Slice Pizza
Hunter Textbooks
Hyatt Summerfield Suites Austin/Arboretum
Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort
International UFO Museum & Research Center
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Kerbey Lane Café
Lab Safety Supply
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Landmark Theatres-Dobie
Lauterstein-Conway Massage School
Lonestar Riverboat
Mansion at Judge's Hill
McCarthy Print
McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Merkaba Lounge & Grill
Mexic-Arte Museum
Miles of Chocolate
Milk + Honey Day Spa
Moonhouse Records
Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill
Nasco Science
New Brunswick Scientific
New England Biolabs
New Horizons
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
P. Terry's
P.F. Chang's China Bistro
Paramount Theatre
Pearson Education
Penguin Books
People Products, LLC
Potbelly Sandwich Works
Puzzle Me This
Reiman Publications
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant
Rockford Business Interiors
Russell Korman Jewelry
Ruta Maya
Santa Rita
Shock Coffee
Shoreline Grill
Sinauer Associates, Inc.
Ski Shores Waterfront Café
Small Beer Press
Smokey Mo's
Space Squid Magazine
Spider House Café
Stanford University Press
Star Seeds Café
State House Press/McWhiney Foundation Press
Texas Almanac
Texas Author, Dr. Bill Crider
Texas Paintball
Texas Rowing Center
Texas Spice Company
Texas State Aquarium
Texas State Railroad
The Belmont
The Blanton Museum
Tiff's Treats
Top Publications, Ltd.
University Co-op
University of Chicago Press
University of Michigan Press
University of Texas Press
USB Corporation
UT Performing Arts Center
UT Women's Athletics
Vanderbilt University Press
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Virtual Word Publishing
Ward's/VWR Education
Waterloo Records
Whole Earth Provision Co.
Whole Foods
Zachary Scott Theatre Center


text:
::Montreal Gazette
J&R Kosher serves up meat with a personal touch as it did in the good old days, but it's turned to the Internet to secure its future
MONTREAL – It's still difficult for Robert Nemes to talk about the Holocaust. Nemes, 83, survived Auschwitz and, later, Plaszow labour camp. His parents and two younger brothers were not as lucky. But Nemes does not mind talking about a decision he made on liberation day.
"I decided I wanted to go into the meat business. I never wanted to be hungry again or for my family ever to be hungry," he said.
Sixty years ago this fall, Nemes and his wife, Marianna, founded J&R Kosher. Nemes borrowed $400 from his father-in-law to start the business. The debt was repaid within a few months.
The couple set up shop in Outremont on Van Horne Ave. near Wiseman Ave. At the time, most customers placed their orders by telephone. Marianna took the calls; Nemes prepared the meat. A rabbi known in Hebrew as a mashgiach koshered the meat — deveining, salting and rinsing it to remove all traces of blood. A driver handled deliveries.
The Nemeses worked long hours, five days a week. "Sometimes, a customer would call on a Sunday. 'My husband has a cold and I need a chicken to make chicken soup,' so I'd bring them a chicken," Robert Nemes recalled.
Doreen Green was a young bride living in Town of Mount Royal when she began buying meat at J&R. "Robert and Marianna were always sweet and polite, and they always gave me the best," Green said.
In 1991, J&R followed its Jewish customers, many of whom had moved to Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead, and opened a second location at the Cavendish Mall. In 1996, the Nemeses closed the Outremont operation so they could concentrate on the Côte-St-Luc store.
By then, son Sidney, who had been working full time in the business since he was a teenager, had an important say in business decisions. "About three weeks after I came into the business, the conflict between the old style and the new style started. I told my father his expenses were too high," Sidney Nemes, now 57, said.
Sidney came up with the idea of introducing self-serve pre-packaged products. But Sidney never forgot a lesson he learned from his parents — that personalized service keeps customers coming back for more.
"People still want to come in and be able to ask for that special cut. If I have a three-bone rib roast on the counter, and they want a five-bone, we can do it," he said.
Sidney's wife, Susie, has also become an important part of the business. She often handles the cash but is best known for her recipes.
Customer Heleena Wiltzer drives from her home in Westmount to shop at J&R. She uses Susie's recipes for pickled veal roll and roast turkey. Wiltzer, 69, was raised in a kosher home. "As a Jewish person, it's important to keep our heritage and pass it on," she said.
Today, Zvi Hershcovich is the J&R mashgiach. Hershcovich, who spent three years working as a rabbi in Russia, says he loves his work at the butcher shop.
"I like knowing the piece of meat that our customers will put on the table is 100 per cent kosher," he said.
J&R has eight full-time employees. Most of the business comes from walk-in customers. The made-on-the-premises deli products — salami, karnatzels, sausages of all kinds — introduced by Sidney have become popular items. The store also offers a selection of such takeout foods as egg rolls and General Tao chicken.
Now that Green's three children are grown, she and her husband occasionally buy takeout from J&R. "I've cooked enough in my life, thank you," she said.
The Cavendish Mall location has presented challenges for J&R. The mall has been losing business for years, and recently part of the mall was demolished to make way for residential construction, causing parking headaches.
Sidney estimates that between 2008 and 2012, J&R experienced a 25 per cent drop in business. "It's been partly the economy, too," he said.
But business is picking up. Recent tainted beef recalls — both in the non-kosher and kosher communities — mean more business for J&R.
"My location is super clean," said Sidney, who has taken food hygiene courses with the Quebec Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. "We even get some customers here who want halal meat but who will buy kosher," he said.
Like his father did before him, Sidney has turned to the next generation for advice. Son Zachary, 27, who works in finance in New York, helped his father create a website and a Facebook page, where customers can learn about weekly specials.
These days, orders — some from as far away as Moncton — are rolling in on Facebook.
"In the old days, my dad would call at night to discuss the business," Sidney said. "I'd say, 'My union lets me stop working at 7.' Now my son calls me at 10 to discuss social networking and online strategy."
J&R Kosher Meat and Delicatessen, 5800 Cavendish Blvd., tel. 514-369-2727 or visit its website at www.jrkosher.com


text:
I mean, we have to – it's a pop culture phenomenon this week. It's trending on Twitter. We have to strike while the iron is hot, and before we remember that we already owe enough money on our mortgages and credit cards that if we lived in the Middle Ages we would probably be dying of typhoid in debtor's prison right now.
It all started, of course, with Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant and most amazing airplane hero since Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger, who cursed out a rude passenger via intercom, grabbed a few beers, and made a slow clap-worthy getaway using the emergency landing slide. This settles once and for all that the majority of people with the surname Slater are awesome (argument for: Christian; argument against: A.C.).
Then – although this turned out to be a hoax – photos of a pretty girl quitting her broker job via a series of dry erase board messages* went viral.
*She "quit" because her boss called her a HOPA, or "hot piece of ass." Um, shouldn't that be HPOA? I'm confused.
I myself have never been able to live the dream of quitting a terrible job in a heroic fashion.
When I was in college I worked for a few months in the campus center, refilling potato salad and greasy wax beans and cleaning up the Belgian waffle station (and seriously, guys, if the future of mankind depended on being able to make a waffle without dripping half of the batter on the counter in the process, we would be fucked.)
Anyway, I didn't like it, so I took to taking (yeah, "took to taking." I'm a wordsmith, what can I say?) extended smoke breaks in front of the building – directly beneath my boss' window, in fact – while still wearing my uniform. I got fired and stole a few loaves of bread. It was totally lame.
Right after college I got a job as the assistant to a film producer. I worked out of her home – specifically out of her 10 year-old daughter's bedroom. Her very openly gay husband didn't work and spent all day at the gym. The producer was a real bitch, so after two months I told her I couldn't hack it. "I'm having a really rough time in my life right now," I said. "Maybe you should consider waitressing," she said. "Maybe you should consider marrying someone who doesn't subscribe to Butt magazine!" I said. No, I didn't. I slunk away and licked my wounds.
The only time I came close to revenge was when I left a publishing job a few years ago. I told my bosses about another offer I'd received, allowed them to counter (they didn't), and gave two weeks' notice like a decent person. Then I heard that the CEO had referred to me as a "fucking cunt."
I anonymously reported him to the IRS.
He never got audited though. So it was kind of a revenge fail in the end.
Hence the title of this post.


text:
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text:
Brunch Buffet at Winterthur
Wilmington | Website
This event occurred in the past.
Enjoy a beautiful buffet from 9 AM until 12 PM. The brunch is $34.95 for adults; $17.50 for children 2-12; and free for children under 2. Members receive a 10% discount on up to 4 guests. Reservations required. Please use the OpenTable widget below or call 302.888.4826. Reservations are available for the following dates: Saturday, October 17th - CANCELLED Sunday, October 18th - CANCELLED Saturday, November 14th Sunday, November 15th


text:
About the Gauntlet Canvas Collection
Contacting Gauntlet Canvas Collection
The Gauntlet Canvas Collection product
Corporate and business services
Information and images for blogs and press
Shipping and order processing Q&A
About the Print Collection
Gauntlet Canvas Collection is bridging the gap between people and art. We are curating a unique collection of art work from established and up and coming artists. By carefully selecting the works that are included in the Gauntlet Canvas Collection, we are simplifying the process of finding great art at an affordable price. By choosing to sell works on stretched canvas we eliminate the headache and cost of framing, and create a product that is most similar to the original work. Each piece is printed using the highest quality archival canvas and inks, gallery stretched on 1.5 inch thick wooden frames, and sold in three or four sized editions. Gauntlet Canvas Collection also works with each artist to extend their artwork to wrap around the edges of the frame. This unique process provides a superior product and greatly enhances the look of the print. A substantial amount of each sale goes back to the artist allowing them to progress and continue to create great artwork.
Contact us
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Gauntlet Collection Products
Gauntlet Canvas Collection strives to provide the highest quality materials and craftsmanship in all of our products which are made using high quality archival materials. Our canvas artwork comes professionally gallery wrapped, stretched over 1.5 inch wooden bars. Gauntlet Canvas Collection also works with each artist to extend their artwork to wrap around the edges of the frame. This unique process provides a superior product and greatly enhances the look of the print. The result is extremely close to an original work with clean lines and no visible staples once it is hung on your wall. Unlike other print methods, gallery wrapped canvases don't require any costly framing.
CLICK HERE to find out more about our high quality products…
Corporate and Business Service
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Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com for more information on these services.
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Thank you,
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The Gauntlet Team.