text:
If you're looking to raise your rates or differentiate yourself from the competition, it helps to have a good story. Now a new partnership helps charities put their stories front and center.
Charting Impact, a program that enables nonprofits to report their progress, growth and effectiveness, has been integrated into the GuideStar Exchange, according to an announcement last week by BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar and Independent Sector.
GuideStar Exchange encourages nonprofit transparency on a national scale, and allows nonprofits to supplement the public information that is available from the IRS.
The integration of the two programs provides a single platform for nonprofits to connect with donors, funders, volunteers and other supporters through information sharing and storytelling.
Charting Impact was created two years ago with the help of Independent Sector, a nonprofit effectiveness advisory group. It asks nonprofit organizations to answer five questions:
- What is your organization aiming to accomplish?
- What are your strategies for making this happen?
- What are your organization's capabilities for doing this?
- How will your organization know if you are making progress?
- What have and haven't you accomplished so far?
The statement said these five questions were carefully developed and tested by nonprofits and foundations to ensure the highest and best use for the tool.
"One of many benefits for organizations answering Charting Impact's questions is that the process encourages deep, meaningful conversations with stakeholders about the impact the organization has made, will make and how to bridge the gaps," said Art Taylor, president and chief executive of BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which promotes accountability standards in the nonprofit community.
"As we share these reports with the donating public, we also seek, in part, to emphasize the importance of a charity's accomplishments, which is essential in making a more informed giving decision."
Charting Impact's integration into the GuideStar Exchange program is expected to reduce nonprofits' information-sharing burden, Jacob Harold, GuideStar's president and chief executive, said in the statement.
"It provides a single resource for leaders looking to connect their organizations with the 3 million people who visit our website each year," Harold said. "Moreover, nonprofits can reach millions more who visit our client and partner platforms that use GuideStar's data."
Once a nonprofit has used the GuideStar Exchange interface to complete its report, the responses will produce a document with a unique URL that is shared on GuideStar, on the reports of charities participating in BBB Wise Giving Alliance evaluations and with other websites and information sources about nonprofits.
Reports of Independent Sector members will also appear on Independent Sector's Web site.
Check out these ThinkAdvisor articles on the value of storytelling:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The end of the year is fast approaching, and even though a plethora of things fight for your attention as an advisor, I'm here to remind you of one action item you shouldn't ignore: organizing an annual team retreat. These events are an important aspect of ensuring a healthy and happy workplace. A business without team retreats is like a basketball team that never practices, never plans, never scouts, doesn't play preseason games and then tries to enter regular-season play. It's just not a winning strategy.
As a business owner, you set the tone for the company. You may have a strong vision for the future but find little time available during the standard course of business to share that vision plan with the people you count on most. Team retreats allow you to get your entire team on board with your company mission and culture, and ensure that everyone shares a unified vision. It also allows your team members to share their concerns and opinions – letting them know their voice is valued in the company. To ensure the growth and profitability of your business, you must continuously re-evaluate your goals, mission, business model, focus, and plan of action. The challenge lies in finding the time and resources to do it. Which is exactly why scheduling a team retreat away from the office is so crucial to your business. It gives everyone an opportunity to step back and look at the overall direction of the company. This may sound like a daunting task but in all actuality, a team retreat is quite simple at its core.
Here are the three steps to achieving a successful team retreat:
Step 1: Communicate the Desired Outcome
Before the retreat, determine what you want to accomplish during the retreat and tell everyone involved. For instance, "we want to rekindle the sense of fun and excitement we once shared as a team." Or "we want to decide how we can simplify some of our processes and gain laser-like focus on the things that will matter most over the next three years."
Step 2: Get everyone on the same page
During the retreat, get the entire team excited about your mission and vision plan. Bring in a skilled facilitator if you think that will help; sometimes an outside and impartial viewpoint makes all the difference. Consider hiring a motivational speaker or staging some team-building exercises. The goal here is to have everyone clearly understand your objectives and their responsibilities for the next year. If each team member doesn't understand how their role specifically impacts the big picture, you're not communicating your plan well enough.
Step 3: Follow Through All Year Long
Create a one-page list of specific goals for the year along with metrics for achieving those goals. Then schedule monthly meetings with the team to focus exclusively on the goals set at the retreat. Shut the office down, bring in lunch, spend two hours and discuss nothing but the progress of your company's goals. Having allotted time every month will keep the entire office focused throughout the year.
It's that easy, and best of all, the benefits of holding an annual team retreat far outweigh the costs. It leaves your team feeling informed, valued and rejuvenated. A happier workplace and stronger office culture can result from everyone clearly understanding the firm's vision and the role they play in achieving that vision.
Want to start planning your own team retreat? Click here and enter the code "staff retreat" to receive a team retreat sample template.
Implementation and follow-through of regular team retreats ensures you remain bi-focal as a business owner: focusing on the day-to-day operations of your business while also making time to focus on achieving vision goals as a team. If you can do this, your team will become more effective, your culture will bloom, and your firm will grow…the right way.


text: What do you look for in a residential real estate career? How about personal growth, flexibility, autonomy, financial reward, community service, job security, prestige, corporate support and infrastructure, ethics and integrity? Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it at Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®. Since its founding in 1945, Ebby Halliday, REALTORS® has grown from a one-woman office to the No. 1 independent real estate firm in Texas and the tenth largest in the nation. We associate great people and back them up with comprehensive training, sophisticated technology, innovative marketing, and compassionate, supportive management. If you want the best career in real estate, start with the best firm in the business: Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®. For more information contact Merry Crawford Shuck, Talent Recruitment Director, 972-980-6699 or email@example.com .


text:
Road to the World Series: Oct. 4, 2013
Thursday brought Game 1 of both National League Division Series, and it brought offensive explosions and a pair of memorable pitching performances from two of the best at their craft.
In other words, too bad for the Pirates and Braves.
The Cardinals got the first round started in earnest with a dominant 9-1 victory over Pittsburgh, sparked by a seven-run third inning and a gem from ace Adam Wainwright in a rocking Busch Stadium.
The Dodgers followed suit in the nightcap, beating Atlanta, 6-1, behind early scoring and another incredible outing from their Cy Young Award frontrunner, left-hander Clayton Kershaw.
The Road to the World Series got a bit easier for the Cardinals and Dodgers, who take 1-0 leads in their best-of-five series, and it was because of the all-around games that led both teams to win their divisions in the regular season.
St. Louis didn't seem to have much of a problem quieting the Pittsburgh team that looked so inspired in front of its sellout home crowd in the team's Wild Card Game victory over Cincinnati.
Of course, it helps when you have Wainwright on the mound. And it helps when you have Carlos Beltran in October.
Carlos Beltran matches Babe Ruth for 8th place on @MLB's all-time list with 15th #postseason blast. Manny Ramirez leads with 29.- MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2013
Beltran's three-run blast off Pirates starter A.J. Burnett got the crowd going in the third, gave Wainwright all the cushion he'd need (even though they'd add four in the frame), and the Cardinals earned a rare postseason laugher by the time it was all said and done.
"Our offense, seemingly, once we get something going, it's very hard to stop us," Wainwright said. "We score a lot in bunches. So when we get one of those innings going, nobody wants to make the first out. We just keep everything going and try to ride that no-out train as long as we can."
Meanwhile, the Dodgers didn't take long to silence the pro-Braves crowd in Turner Field. Atlanta starter Kris Medlen struck out the side in the first inning and got the familiar tomahawk chops going in the stands, but that turned out to be the sole clip on the highlight reel for a team that was outhit and outpitched.
The Dodgers scored twice in the second and third innings and once more in the fourth and sixth. Adrian Gonzalez homered. A.J. Ellis, Mark Ellis and Yasiel Puig added two hits apiece.
And Kershaw? Well, he was Kershaw.
Now 6 in a row retired courtesy of the K for Clayton Kershaw. #Dodgers- Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 4, 2013
Kershaw retired six consecutive batters via the strikeout at one point, and the total rose to 12 by the end of his seven innings of three-hit ball on 124 pitches. It was an October statement if there ever was one.
"Giving [Kershaw] a four-run lead made us feel really comfortable," Gonzalez said. "We know he's the best pitcher in baseball, and he showed it tonight."
The Road to the World Series gets going again in a Major League way Friday. The Braves and Pirates will get cracks at revenge right away on what should be one epic day of playoff baseball.
All four Division Series are in swing, with Games 2 of the NLDS going and the two American League Division Series opening in Boston and Oakland.
The action will get started with Pirates-Cardinals at 1 p.m. ET on MLB Network, with Pittsburgh throwing rookie right-hander Gerrit Cole at St. Louis, which will counter with Lance Lynn.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle realizes how damaging it would be to fall behind 0-2 in the series, which is why he didn't try to get too philosophical about the Game 1 drubbing.
"We had a rough game," he said. "Game 164 was rough. That's one of the things we've been real good at, is we don't overcook things when we don't play well. We go in there, honestly self-evaluate what we have to do tomorrow. We're down one game in the series, and we'll move on."
In the first ALDS opener at 3 p.m. ET on TBS, the Rays will try to win yet another game on the road, this time in Fenway Park, against a Red Sox team that had the best record in the AL this year.
Rays manager Joe Maddon continues to be impressed by his club's fortitude in winning a tiebreaker in Texas and then the Wild Card Game in Cleveland.
"I really believe our players deserve a lot of credit, I do," Maddon said. "And moving forward, I want to believe it's going to create some kind of different form of momentum going into this series, because we've been playing. We've been playing under duress, and we're not tired."
The Red Sox, meanwhile, are well rested, and they're getting the services of Jon Lester on the mound to go up against Rays lefty Matt Moore. Lester has been prolific in the playoffs, particularly the first round.
"The body of work compares pretty consistently to whether it was '08, '09 or '10," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "One of the top starting pitchers in the league. He's done a great job of righting his own ship, so to speak, after a late May-early June stretch of starts where things didn't work out as well. He finished this year extremely strong, powerful, with good performance. And we're looking at him to lead the way here in October."
The Braves will try to bounce back in the third game of the four-pack at 6 p.m. ET on TBS, and they'll need a huge effort from young left-hander Mike Minor, because the Dodgers' No. 2 pitcher in this series, Zack Greinke, is another former Cy Young winner who just happened to have a terrific second half of the season.
"He's a tough pitcher," Minor said. "He's proven that. He's been in the league for a while, and he's dominated for a while. But I think anything can happen. We have big hitters. ... Hopefully I can hold them off for a while and let our guys do their work."
The last game of this memorable day on big league diamonds all across the country brings about the only Division Series rematch from last season.
The A's fought the Tigers to five games in 2012 and just got a bit too much Justin Verlander for their liking. This year, Oakland begins the series at home (9:30 p.m. ET on TBS) and has the rejuvenated Bartolo Colon on the mound to combat the Tigers' 21-game winner and AL Cy Young hopeful, Max Scherzer.
Both teams know how good the other one is and how amped their crowds will be. That's what happens when you meet in consecutive Octobers.
"This is one of the rowdiest baseball experiences I've ever been a part of," Scherzer said of Oakland. "The fans here go absolutely nuts from the first pitch to the last, and that's just something you got to deal with. The crowd noise is going to be loud. ...
"It's just going to be an unbelievable baseball experience, something I'll never forget."
Friday's Division Series games
Pirates (Cole) at Cardinals (Lynn), 1 p.m. ET Preview >
Rays (Moore) at Red Sox (Lester), 3 p.m. ET Preview >
Dodgers (Greinke) at Braves (Minor), 6 p.m. ET Preview >
Tigers (Scherzer) at A's (Colon), 9:30 p.m. ET Preview >
Division Series: Rays at Red Sox | Tigers at A's
Division Series: Pirates at Cardinals | Dodgers at Braves
2013 postseason schedule
NL Division Series
Game 1: Cardinals 9, Pirates 1, Cardinals lead series, 1-0
Game 2: Pirates at Cardinals, Friday, 1 p.m. ET
Game 3: Cardinals at Pirates, Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET
Game 4*: Cardinals at Pirates, Monday, TBD
Game 5*: Pirates at Cardinals, Wednesday, TBD
* - if necessary
Game 1: Dodgers 6, Braves 1, Dodgers lead series, 1-0
Game 2: Dodgers at Braves, Friday, 6 p.m. ET
Game 3: Braves at Dodgers, Sunday, 8 p.m. ET
Game 4*: Braves at Dodgers, Monday, TBD
Game 5*: Dodgers at Braves, Wednesday, TBD
* - if necessary
AL Division Series
Game 1: Rays at Red Sox, Friday, 3 p.m. ET
Game 2: Rays at Red Sox, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET
Game 3: Red Sox at Rays, Monday, TBD
Game 4*: Red Sox at Rays, Tuesday, TBD
Game 5*: Rays at Red Sox, Thursday, TBD
* - if necessary
Game 1: Tigers at A's, Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: Tigers at A's, Saturday, 9 p.m. ET
Game 3: A's at Tigers, Monday, TBD
Game 4*: A's at Tigers, Tuesday, TBD
Game 5*: Tigers at A's, Thursday, TBD
* - if necessary
NL Championship Series begins: Oct. 11
AL Championship Series begins: Oct. 12
World Series begins: Oct. 23


text:
,Belstaff Gangster Blouson jacketCommenting & Moderation
We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well and trust you then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules,belstaff hyena jacket, which are .
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text:
At the Cloisters, upper Manhattan, last autumn. Picture perfect?
Greg Mitchell on media, politics, film, music, TV, comedy and more. "Not here, not here the darkness, in this twittering world." -- T.S. Eliot
Friday, February 14, 2014
My Sunny Valentine
Posted by Greg Mitchell at 2:39:00 PM
is author of a dozen books (click on covers at right), including the new "THE TUNNELS: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill." He was the longtime editor of Editor & Publisher. Email: email@example.com. Twitter: @GregMitch
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text:
Back In Time : System Restore on Ubuntu
One of the most treasured features by novice computer users running Windows is the ability to easily roll back their system when trouble arises by using the built-in System Restore GUI. Ubuntu offers the same services to take snapshots of your computer when changes are made and the Back in Time application for Linux is a great tool to achieve the same easy-to-use GUI. The program utilizes existing services including rsync for creating and applying restore snapshots and diff for monitoring system changes. Back in Time allows you to backup all folders and restore any folders with write access in the event of a problem following a system change.
The first thing you'll need to do is edit your /etc/apt/source.list file; use the following command to open the file in the editor:
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Add this line before saving and exiting the editor:
deb http://le-web.org/repository stable main
Next you'll need to add the necessary GPG key information. Use this command to retrieve the key:
wget http://le-web.org/repository/le-web.key
And then use this command to add the information:
sudo apt-key add le-web.key
Once this is complete you'll just need to update your source list; use this command:
sudo apt-get update
That's it for system changes – now onto the installation of Back in Time:
sudo apt-get install backintime-common backintime-gnome
Once the installation completes you can access Back in Time under Applications -> System Tools -> Back in Time. You can now use the GUI to select folders to backup and schedule the backups to suit your timetable
April 6, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Thanks for posting, I was looking for something like this!
May 30, 2010 at 5:43 am


text:
WeatherBug Alert
Maple Valley, WA 98038
Be notified of severe weather before it strikes
Stay ahead of severe weather. WeatherBug Alert informs you of the latest National Weather Service bulletins and gives one-click access to live local weather from an icon placed next to your PC clock. Fast and easy to install. Works for any U.S. location.
- The latest severe weather alerts for any U.S. location.
- Your live local temperature always in view.
- One-click access to WeatherBug.com.
- No pop-ups, adware or spyware.
Installation Instructions
Download WeatherBug Alert
- Internet Explorer Users: After clicking the link to download, click "Run" on the next two screens.
- Firefox Users: After clicking the link to download, click "Save File" and specify a location. Then, double click the saved file in the specified location.
- Once the download is complete, right-click on the new temperature icon installed near your PC clock and click "Change Location." Enter your desired location to get live conditions for that area. You can change your location at any time.
System Requirements
- Recommended OS: Windows XP or Windows Vista
- Internet Connection
- Visit the WeatherBug Alert Support page
- For further support or to post comments, please visit the WeatherBug Alert Forum.
The WeatherBug Alert application is free software. It is NOT adware. The application does not serve pop-up or pop-under advertising or collect any personally identifiable information. WeatherBug Alert will not monitor or gather user surfing habits. WeatherBug Alert does not offer or install other programs that are adware, gather user personal information, or monitor user surfing habits.
Weather News
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You too can help save our planet and put money back in your wallet. Learn how you can take the first steps to reduce your environmental impact, including driving green, easy ways you can conserve water, and energy saving tips. To learn more and discover the benefits of going green, visit WeatherBug's green living section. More >
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text: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Visualize, Customize, and Share State-level Data From RWJF The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) new Data Hub tracks state-level data and allows users to visualize, customize, and share facts and figures on key health care topics. Users select a category and an indicator to create a map or rankings report, and can modify reports as appropriate by payer, income, educational attainment, race/ethnicity, or timeframe. Data Hub is part of RWJF's commitment to providing timely, accessible information and evidence to inform health policies and practices. The online resource establishes a system of priority measures for monitoring state-level progress toward improving the nation's health and health care.


text:
Xellas wrote:Well, this one didn't. He died confused and in the middle of reciting a holy prayer.
Kerry Skydancer wrote:I was gonna say. When the Arabs are happy, they celebrate by running around yelling and firing weapons into the air. When they're mad, they show their anger by running around yelling and firing weapons into the air. Hardly worth the bother to sort it out, nie?
Xellas wrote:Normally Axel, I'd agree with you about the comment on 'dignity in death'. But this was a leader who some people had a nearly religious love for. By videotaping his moment of death, instead of leaving it unfilmed for the sake of his dignity, that guy managed to cut down the inevitable flood of "Saddam didn't really die, he got away and they put a fake body in the grave, he's still alive!". Sure, there's still gonna be some nutjobs that say that, but there's alwasys SOMEONE stupid enough to believe anything that can be said.
That said, what a way to end the bloodiest year in Iraq yet.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


text:
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where-is-this ?
Not yet located!
Stay up to date:
Insert your email here and we'll get in touch with you as soon as the location is found!
Using description:
If you think you know this place drag the pin to the right location and save the marker afterwards.
Please provide further explanations in the comments to the right. You are able to insert links to prove your suggestion, e.g. with Google Street View.


text:
KDE 4.2 Beta2 "Canaria" Testimony to the Bug Fixing Frenzy
Two days later than initially scheduled due to yours truly preparing for coming year's desktop summit on Gran Canaria, KDE's release team has made availabe KDE 4.1.85, a.k.a. KDE 4.2-Beta2 to testers and reviewers, codenamed "Canaria". KDE 4.1.85 is not suitable for production use but meant to invite feedback and bugreports from the community.
1st. Thank you.
By Max at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Wow
I agree. Thanks KDE team!
By thothonegan at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Wow
Please don't first up the dot. Anyway thanks KDE devs. I'm super stoked about 4.2!
By xian at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Wow
Definitely wow! The stats say a lot, and the length of the changelog is huge! Compliments for the amazing progress and wonderful release announcement! :-)
Let's make those chairs fly ^^
By Diederik van de... at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Eager to test it...
Does anyone know if (or when) kde4daily will have the beta 2 update?
By AC at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Eager to test it...
it's there now according to a blog ;-)
By Jos Poortvliet at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Eager to test it...
nice! (and updating)
What blog btw?
By AC at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Is this the same as the KDE4.2 'neon' thing
I installed a copy of Ubuntu8.10 when I saw an article about KDE4.2 daily 'neon' builds available here:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/project-neon/ubuntu intrepid main
That was several weeks ago, and it installed fine. But there have been no updates available since. Also, there seems to be a virtual box 4.2 tester release too. Are these all the same thing (or at least different versions from the same folks)? Or is the 'neon' thing discontinued?
I guess I could wait till I get home tonight and check for an update, but I'm impatient...
By littlenoodles at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Is this the same as the KDE4.2 'neon' thing
There is a bunch of ppl using the Neon-project nightly builds of KDE;
For some reason I don't know, some parts are not included (ie. kate) but beside that it's pretty good and even includes debugging symboles pckages.
By emms at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Re: Eager to test it...
It's been a pretty rough week, compilation-wise - hopefully things will be a bit smoother now.
And yes - KDE4Daily now has http://websvn.kde.org/?view=rev&revision=898444, which is < 12 hours old :)
By SSJ at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
There's a typo in the first sentence of the second paragraph: "Since the first beta, which was released less than 4 weeks ago, 1665 bugs new bugs have been opened, and 2243 bugs have been closed."
s/1665 bugs new bugs/1665 new bugs/
By matt at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Correction
fixed, thanks.
By Sebastian Kügler at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Correction
Is this proper English? (English is not my first language, but I'm not sure this sentence is grammatically correct).
For the 4.2 release, the KDE team has fixed literally thousands of bugs and has implemented dozens of features that were missing until now in KDE 4.2 fixes your issues.
By Peter Plys at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Correction
Not quite. A better way to say it would be:
By Jonathan Thomas at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Correction
american or english english ?
By asdf at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Correction
What is English English? Is that British English with 20% more Oxford?
By Stefan Majewsky at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Correction
Fixed as well, thanks :)
By Sebastian Kügler at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Will this get onto the Kubuntu Jaunty alpha2 LiveCD?
By ethana2 at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Hmm
Yes. It was uploaded the day before yesterda/yesterday just in time for the alpha 2 CDs.
By Jonathan Thomas at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Hmm
Btw. I'm thinking about updateing my Kubuntu. Will there be KDE 4.2 final packages for Intrepid, or perhaps even Hardy (would rock even more, as I'd love to have a stable base)? I'd hate to wait for Jaunty ;)
By Michael at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Hmm
KDE 4.2.0 is planned to be placed in intrepid-backports once it is released. Hardy will not be seeing any KDE 4.2 releases.
By Jonathan Thomas at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Downloading and compiling right now. With the debug flag set. ;-)
By Gentoo User #239421 at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
bug fix rate
lets get the bug count up my fellow users , and report as many bugs as we can!
By asdf at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: bug fix rate
*ahem* Let's find as many bugs as possible, and check super-duper thoroughly to make sure we don't report duplicates.
Bug no. 1
No Administrator Button in System Settings. It's over 1 year old now and WE would be very happy if some kind coder out there would give it a little attention.
By Bobby at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
"No Administrator Button in System Settings."
and there won't be. running the whole GUI as root is not only slow and resource intensive, it's also not exactly great for security.
instead, as has been done already for things like the time and date control panel, helper apps, preferably with policyKit integration, should perform the actual final settings applications. and those little, non-gui apps should run with elevated priveleges only.
By Aaron Seigo at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
I am not talking about running the whole system as root. As a matter of fact if there is no administrator button in the system settings then I WILL HAVE TO RUN THE SYSTEM AS ROOT in order to make certain changeses like changing the KDM theme which is not possible as a normal user in KDE 4. In KDE 3.5 present version using KDM 3 all I have to do is press the administration button in the system settings which promps me to give my root password and then I can make the changes - no security risks to my system. In KDE 4 I have to log in as root in order to make those changes, which of course I personally hate because then my system is vulnerable.
By Bobby at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
You missed what Aaron said. You shouldn't have to be running any windows as root much less an entire session, what should be happening is PolicyKit will let you make certain changes (assuming you have the appopriate permissions from PolicyKit), or you'd supply the root password when applying the settings which'd spawn a process as root to do the actual changes, the application with the x11 session wouldn't have any actual special permissions at any point in time.
>In KDE 3.5 present version using KDM 3 all I have to do is press the
By Kit at Sat, 2008/12/20 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
So why can't I or a lot of other users make the afore mentioned changes on KDE 4? Why does this bug still exist as valid if the solution is already there?
By Bobby at Sat, 2008/12/20 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
PolicyKit is very new (in fact we made an exception for it being merged after the freeze). Apps like System Settings need to pick it up now.
By Sebastian Kügler at Sat, 2008/12/20 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
Thanks for the info Sebas. So about when can we start enjoying it? Will I be able to change my login theme as a user by the release of KDE 4.2?
By Bobby at Sat, 2008/12/20 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
I guess this depends if such changes are seen as bug fixes or as new features. The former would appear in KDE 4.2 sometime, the latter would have to appear in 4.3 earliest.
By anon at Sun, 2008/12/21 - 6:00am
Re: Bug no. 1
As far as I understand PolicyKit is quite young and might not be fully functional or be officially implemented in 4.2 although openSuse seems to provide the packages. I am however not sure as to how usable this new implementation is.
By Bobby at Tue, 2008/12/23 - 6:00am
plasma-workspace-4.1.85 fails
plasma-workspace-4.1.85/plasma/applets/system-monitor/net.h:22:27: error: ui_cpu-config.h: No such file or directory
net.h:22 #include "ui_cpu-config.h"
should be
#include "ui_net-config.h"
Ps. no bugzilla account, so here, sorry. :-)
Re: plasma-workspace-4.1.85 fails
plasma-devel at kde dot org is a better place for such reports; but in this case, it's correct. apparently it's not generating the ui_cpu-config.h from cpu-config.ui?
Re: plasma-workspace-4.1.85 fails
It is, but just like for the hdd_config.ui or temperatur_config.ui, it's generated for their use only, so all of them need their own .ui file.
the CMakeLists.txt even has
kde4_add_ui_files(net_SRCS net-config.ui)
so it's generated, but just not included (copy'n'paste bug of cpu.h obviously :-) ).
Re: plasma-workspace-4.1.85 fails
aah, it's in net.h .. yes, that would only work depending on what cmake decided to do. probably worked for us doing make -jN due to that ... anyways, fixed in svn. =)
By Aaron Seigo at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Re: plasma-workspace-4.1.85 fails
you are The Man.
sure it's not that per se, but by you comment hint using -j1 did get the compilation go thru with that "broken" include.
I bet it's all about me having an "-j -l4" as my make conf. maybe I'm too used to have cmake do it's own configs in parallel (if that what happens with -lN).
By anon at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
debian packages?
i'm very sad that debian is not packaging beta2 not even in experimental
By zvonsu at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: debian packages?
By Eckhart at Sat, 2008/12/20 - 6:00am
debian packagers RULE!! they put the latest SVN on this server !!! go KDE. Let's debug it!
By zvonsu at Sun, 2008/12/21 - 6:00am
Much Better
A lot of bugs disappeared. There are still some plasma and krunner crashes, but the impression is that until final, all bugs will be easily crushed if developers keep the speed of fixes.
By Iuri Fiedoruk at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Great :)
I need a stable system to work. And yet KDE 4.2 Beta 2 does the trick for me :) If I stick to the main plasmoids (panel and folderview) everything works great.
Some small tips:
- I had to remove the plasma config file for things to work properly. This should be removed when plasma is not running. File is .kde4/share/config/plasma-appletsrc
- When trying plasmoids some would crash on exit. This means you cannot exit plasms properly so they always appear on startup. Again deal with config file.
- MSN is not working in my kopete. Apparently a problem with libmsn which has been fixed in later versions.
Using openSUSE 10.3 by the way
By Jad at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Great :)
> I had to remove the plasma config file for things to work properly.
please report problems you have at bugs.kde.org
> When trying plasmoids some would crash on exit.
backtraces -> bugs.kde.org =)
> This means you cannot exit plasms properly so they always appear on startup
fixed with r898746
Re: Great :)
Sure, Aaron will do all that :)
This was not meant as a report, just as small hints to users who might run into the same, to save them some time.
Keep up the good work!
By Jad at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Thank you!
Thank you very much for this. Please ignore the "it's not like KDE3.5"-morons, but keep on innovating. It's very much appreciated.
By walter at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Thank you!
Yeah, few more years of "innovation" and we'll have a buggy version of gnome.
By vf at Thu, 2008/12/18 - 6:00am
Re: Thank you!
you evidently haven't tried 4.2 then, as your complaint is pretty stupid in light of the achievements in that release. you might even call 4.2 the "parity release" in which we have climbed over the "must have the features of 3.5" wall.
there are very, very few things there were available in 3.5 that aren't in 4, most of those things were very, very questionable to begin with, and there's a huge, huge amount of features that never existed in 3.5.
i'm sorry if that ruins your "clever quip". though i personally feel displays of sillyness such as yours deserve everything they have coming to them.
Re: Thank you!
Awww, did the backlash to being called a "moron" hurt your little feelings?
It's one thing to say that you don't get any constructive criticism from your detractors, but it's another thing entirely to call them "morons" and "stupid" just because they have the audacity to think that [Software X] version 4 should be "feature parity with [Software X] version 3.5 plus extras."
That's the way it's been through most of history; to call them names because they expect it to work the same in KDE is... disingenuous at best.
They're not morons. They're not stupid. It's okay for them to be a bit miffed because of their confusion at the misnumbering of KDE 4. It's quite natural.
Be nice to them, and they WILL eventually become productive bug-reporters and evangelists again. Keep calling them "morons" and "stupid" and they are likely to keep heaping on you the same abuse you keep whining about.
You have an opportunity to be the bigger man. What you do with such an opportunity speaks more about you than about them. I look forward to seeing a positive response in the future, rather than additional fuel on the flamewar fire.
By CF at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am
Re: Thank you!
walter != Aaron Seigo - they spell and pronounce their names differently.
By anon at Fri, 2008/12/19 - 6:00am


text:
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The NASCAR TV Story That Refuses To Die
The Daly Planet has never received such an outpouring of emotion and frustration.
Never have so many NASCAR fans from so many different states, countries, and continents come together to speak on one topic. After two days of possibly the best "fan journalism" in the country, all we have to say is...wow.
What started as one little column about next season generated a "reader comments" section the likes of which many journalists and TV personalities told me they have never seen before. It snowballed into what some folks are calling a "fan manifesto" for the NASCAR TV networks and the sanctioning body executives.
You can read the original column by clicking here, and please make sure to open the COMMENTS section at the bottom of the article by clicking on the word "comments." Never in the history of this website has that word had more meaning.
After reading your comments, veteran Charlotte Observer NASCAR writer David Poole said, "What NASCAR needs to understand most is that it's that kind of passion they they are incredibly lucky to have, that people care that much about what's shown and how it's shown." He then added, "fans amaze me." I second that emotion.
Now that the COMMENTS section has reached well over two hundred, it is time to find out what we learned from the generous outpouring of opinions from fans for a sport they love. Here are some of the key points that were the most popular.
Fans were offended that only one car could be seen finishing the race. They took it personally, even if their favorite was the winner. They asked, what did that prove? What fan goes to the race track and on the final lap watches the winner finish, and then puts their hands over their eyes? The easy answer...is none.
Why then, should a TV network be allowed to put its "electronic hands" over the eyes of millions of fans? In 2007, all cars on the lead lap need to be seen finishing the races.
Fans want to hear about NASCAR from professional announcers who know the sport. They want to be treated as though they understand "the game," and want to get more knowledge from the TV experts. Being reminded over-and-over again of the basic fundamentals of the sport is not only ridiculous, it is insulting.
What NFL fan gets the forward pass explained in every week's game? What baseball fan gets "how many strikes make an out" reviewed during the seventh inning stretch?
Fans want to see all the "players" on the field treated equally. The fan base of a driver does not "go away" just because on this particular day, on this particular lap, he is running in twentieth place. The entire field makes up the race, not just the top five combined with the "stories" the TV networks decided to follow from their own pre-race telecasts.
Fans want to feel NASCAR on TV is not "scripted," but live and in-progress with every team being treated equally.
Fans wanted to see the best racing on the track, even if it was not in the top five. The basic desire of the TV viewers is to see the same racing action that the fans at the track are watching. This was fundamentally not the case in 2007 for many races.
TV networks simply did not dare to "leave" the top five for fear that something would happen and they would miss it. Show the racing, and take the risk.
Over-and-over again, fans said that the radio version of what was going-on did not match the TV pictures. One fan who worked at the tracks said the TV pictures did not match the battles and the racing that the actual fans at the track were watching. How does this "separation" of reality happen?
What is happening for the fans in the stands should be what is happening for the fans watching on TV.
Fans want to remind the TV networks they have viewing options. Next season, four channels of DirecTV's Hot Pass are waiting along with the InternetTV feed and updated live leaderboards from the NASCAR.com gang. Once again, radio will allow all the races to be heard in an exciting and professional manner as they happen. As one fan said, "the TV mute button is the first option."
Why make fans seek other sources of information by forcing a TV-driven agenda into a live sporting event?
Many fans have confessed that for 2008 they will simply record the live races and either join them in-progress or view them later and fast-forward through the commercials. Isn't it somewhat ironic that fans are fast-forwarding by the sponsor's commercials to see the exact same sponsor's race team...race?
The placement, presentation, and number of TV commercials in NASCAR events is a crucial issue. Millions of DVR's and TiVo's can hardly wait for February.
Fans want NASCAR to be the priority of the network broadcasting the race. Sports information is available everywhere, it does not need to be on a "ticker" running at the bottom of the screen covering up the racing. There do not need to be updates and cut-ins and Infield discussions of baseball, basketball and football during a NASCAR race.
The priority during a live race should be on the forty-three stories unfolding on the track. Viewers who need information on other sports should be directed to the TV network's Internet site.
The later start times and the resulting lack of post-race interviews was a common thread. What used to be a Sunday afternoon passion has become an evening affair that forces many people to step away from the TV and back into the responsibilities of real life.
Fans want to be able to watch a race and then have some time before dinner. Now, they can often come back after dinner with the family and catch the last fifty laps...live. Returning to traditional start times will bring additional viewership.
Finally, the common theme among all the opinions was that racing was a great sport, and that NASCAR held its destiny in its own hands. 2008 is going to be a pivotal year for both the sanctioning body and the TV networks working in support of a multi-billion dollar contract.
Thank you fans for taking the time to share your open and honest opinions about NASCAR on TV, and using your personal experiences to enlighten the networks, the media and the NASCAR executives about the reality they created. Now, it is time for the NASCAR TV partners to step-up and show us that they listened.
The countdown clock at Jayski.com is now under 45 days to the Daytona 500. Plenty of time to take the views of the fans and incorporate them into the 2008 coverage of the sport we love. It should be interesting to see what changes. Stay tuned!
The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below, or email email@example.com if you wish not to be published. Thanks once again for stopping by and leaving your opinion.
42 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Thanks for a nice accurate summary of our comments.
NASCAR racing is like a long time love that has strayed. You still love him or her but it's getting harder and harder remain together and loyal because of they way they have changed. We are at the point of "one more chance".
- January 3, 2008 at 11:54 PM
- Anonymous said...
John --
I've read most of the comments that you refer to and agree with many of them.
You've got a great blog, and you did an excellent summary of the comments.
It would be nice to have some confidence in the various decision makers when it comes to covering the 2008 races, but I don't have any.
During the past few days, I've had the opportunity to watch Speed's coverage of the Australian V-8 Supercars. The cars look kind of like the COT, but they appear to really handle and hit about 300 kph (which I think is a little under 200 mph).
If that series were covered on a regular basis here, I'd switch in a heart-beat and would never look back at Cup racing.
And that's from a guy whose been watching Cup races as long as they've been televised. I've got better things to do with my Sundays than watch pretty boys being fawned over, commentators blab (except for the talented Alan Bestwick) and talk down to me like I'm seeing a race for the first time, and more commercials in four hours than we used to see in an entire day.
I sure hope you can get through to the guys who are ruining Cup racing -- because if you can't, I'm gone.
Best of Luck --
- January 4, 2008 at 12:28 AM
- Anonymous said...
Thanks for a great blog entry and summary of all those comments.
JD, SceneDaily.com says the NASCAR Vice President of Broadcasting and New Media is leaving Jan. 15 to head up a Hollywood Internet site (like YouTube). Is that going to affect the programming input or suggestions NASCAR provides this season to ESPN and Speed Channel, or affect NASCAR images? I'm assuming he's in charge or communicates with the networks on behalf of NASCAR. Thanks again.
- January 4, 2008 at 12:46 AM
- Anonymous said...
I don't remember if I posted on that original thread. But if I didn't, I have no need to now because you (and the other 200 comments) have summed up exactly what my complaints with NASCAR TV broadcasts are.
I really hope someone at NASCAR is listening.
- January 4, 2008 at 1:15 AM
- Anonymous said...
A great summary of how many of us feel. If we only believed that anyone who could make a change was listening! Thank you for giving us all the chance to express our feelings of loss at what Nascar has become.
- January 4, 2008 at 5:35 AM
- Anonymous said...
Yeah, that pretty well sums it all up, JD.
But I have no confidence that the people who need to read it, primarily those at ABC/ESPN, even care what viewers think of their product.
They have adopted that "We know what's best--you customers should just accept it" attitude that's so prevalent in today's business.
Of course, they also have no idea why they're losing viewers so quickly.
- January 4, 2008 at 7:07 AM
- Anonymous said...
Your column is very much appreciated. However, aren't you just beating your head against a brick wall? I am very afraid with the sickness and death of Bill France, Jr., the last ear to hear the fans is gone. I fully believe Brian France is trying to act like his father in wielding power. However, Mr. France did it for the sake of the sport and Brian France is wielding it for the sake of being able to. He has bullied the fans and owners while living in fear of the networks. Some of us fans are holding on for dear life but no one can hold on forever. I have often said I am a stock car fan, not a NASCAR fan. Well, NASCAR and the networks are fast killing the sport I have been a fan of since the late fifties.
- January 4, 2008 at 9:20 AM
- Amy said...
I love the blog and the comments and it's great that you're trying to get the networks to see that there's a problem with their coverage of NASCAR. Unfortunately, I have a great fear that it won't make a bit of difference. Maybe I'm simply too cynical but if ESPN were truly interested in listening to what the fans want, they would have made wholesale changes to their coverage after a couple of races and I wouldn't have had to listen to another peep from Brent Musberger or any of the other NASCAR know-nothings they included in their coverage. I really do admire Suzy Kolber but she doesn't belong on ESPN's NASCAR coverage. Why they felt the need to give us so many gimmicks, both visually and personnel-wise, I'll never know.
I do hope all of the comments make a difference. But if they don't, I'll simply listen to the races on the radio, and hope that NASCAR itself doesn't completely screw up the sport I love.
- January 4, 2008 at 9:28 AM
- Anonymous said...
JD, I'll agree with the other posters here. I see no reason to think that the broadcasters care about what the fans think.
ESPN, TNT, and FOX have agendas. They purchase the broadcast rights to NASCAR because it makes sense to do so for the big picture. Producing the events is a secondary concern, and if the goals are met at the end of the day, there is no reason to change.
When NASCAR was growing fast in the 90's, it was strong and well managed. That is not the case today, and if you look closely, the parallels with CART in the early 90's are alarming. Brian France is out of his league when it comes to running the sport.
- January 4, 2008 at 10:18 AM
- Anonymous said...
If Brian France and NA$CAR really cared for the fans, they would make soooo many changes to the format. Brian must someday understand that it it the FANS who provide the money to the hallowed sponsors who, in turn, pass that money on to NA$CAR. The fans are nearly in rebellion now.
Yes, I'm a former fan since the 50s. I may TIVO the first few races to see if my drivers can make the field. But I won't support any of the sponsors that are OFFICIAL and thereby freezing out others in their category.
I cancelled my Nextel contract because of the legal shenanigans with ATT. I wouldn't even consider Nationwide because they have told the other insurance sponsors to leave NA$CAR after 2008. I am personally boycotting any sponsor in the top-35, simply because NA$CAR won't let my drivers have a chance to race even when they may be in the 10 fastest cars to qualify.
I can't/won't stay up all night to watch the late races. I suspect Brian will get the message when the networks' income starts decreasing because of decreased ratings.
I live less than 60 miles from Daytona and will avoid that race this year in protest...not even a blip in Brian's income, but I don't think I'm alone...
I hate what has happened to NA$CAR.
- January 4, 2008 at 10:23 AM
- Anonymous said...
I'm hoping something will change next season, but I doubt anything will. FOX's coverage shouldn't even be a comparison to the nonsense ESPN puts out. I really hope that ESPN will put their ego aside for once and make some significant changes for the 2008 season.
- January 4, 2008 at 11:09 AM
- Dan said...
Unfortunately, I don't see much hope for change. The networks might throw a small bone or two to attempt to placate the fans, but I don't see them doing anything to significantly alter the status quo. Even if the networks provided "perfect" coverage week-to-week, plenty of the issues discussed here are with Nascar itself. We all know how readily Nascar accepts change. At the end of the day, we're just fans ... not the billion dollar corporations that wield the real power.
- January 4, 2008 at 11:51 AM
- Racingphan said...
Last summer's image of poor Mike Massaro having to badger poor Dale Jr. after another disastrous finish will always sum up ESPN's coverage of the 2007 NASCAR season for me.
But I'm frothing at the mouth for the first race.
- January 4, 2008 at 11:51 AM
- Anonymous said...
I know the purpose of this blog is to focus on the television broadcast and I know that many of us veered from that topic in the previous blog. I also think you did a great job of extricating the comments related specifically to the broadcast and television for this column. But I can't help thinking that changes to the broadcast only addresses one side of the equation. There is no way to bring fans back without also discussing some of the changes that NASCAR has implemented in the last few years that have nothing to do with the broadcast. I can't say for sure but I would bet that more fans have been alienated by those changes than anything that the networks have done. But that is a debate for another blog.
- January 4, 2008 at 12:29 PM
- Anonymous said...
Fortunately there ARE othe options than NASCAR on TV. I've been a follower of NASCAR since the early 60's, and began to note the end of the NASCAR we knew and loved when the 50th year celebrations with the NASCAR gold-foil collectibles and the NASCAR collectible baseball came on the scene.
It's VERY obvious that NASCAR is Hollywood now....scripted pre-race shows with tanned and styled demeanors have taken the place of the "good old boy" who used to populate these shows. And, frankly, the races, with the exception of Daytona, Talladega and Bristol(that's changing....) just aren't all that interesting anymore. Thank goodness for DVR.
Money has always been in this sport, but, in recent years it's become too much of a factor. I long for the NASCAR of old.
- January 4, 2008 at 1:02 PM
- Anonymous said...
What's so hard about a straightforward, professional presentation of a sporting event?
- January 4, 2008 at 2:14 PM
- E-Ticket said...
Once again you prove you have given the fan a voice they have never had. Thanks so much!!
- January 4, 2008 at 2:59 PM
- Anonymous said...
TV is just one of many problems faceing nascar in 2008. I gave up tickets to richmond this year after having to pay $180.00 dollars for a $30.00 dollar room after driving 200 miles to get there. I go back to the fire cracker 250 at daytona so Ive been a fan for a long time. I belive it has come down to pay your bills or go to a race. Maybe we just need to stop going or watching to get there attention
- January 4, 2008 at 3:02 PM
- Anonymous said...
JD, Thanks for painting a realistic picture of what's going on with NASCAR and the networks. Unfortunately, all of these concerns have been addressed to the max on the NASCAR and ESPN message boards since mid season last year. I hated last year, but I still can't wait for the 2008 season to start. I went out and bought a tivo just for the races. I hope the sponsors will push for better broadcasts, after all that's where the money comes from. Maybe they need to be the ones to force some changes with NASCAR and the networks.
- January 4, 2008 at 3:38 PM
- TexasRaceLady said...
JD, an excellent summary of fans' complaints. I must echo the sentiment of many and say that not all the problems are of TV's making -- some are NASCAR's doing.
I was an orginal PSL holder at Texas Motor Speedway. I gave up my seats for this year because season ticket prices were now costing me more than my property taxes on my home and land. I just couldn't justify the expense any longer.
My sincere hope is that someone in authority at the broadcasting level and in NASCAR see what they've done to our sport --- AND CORRECT IT!
My gut instinct though, tells me I'm spitting into the wind.
Please keep up the great work, John.
We're with you all the way.
Palestine, TX
- January 4, 2008 at 3:46 PM
- Anonymous said...
You have hit the bulls eye with this story. I agree with the summary of comments. I was at Bristol when it was built, watched Bobby, Donnie, and Red Farmer race motifieds at Bristol and have watched races on TV since the first broadcast. Today's coverage stinks. During the chase, I couldn't keep up with my driver because they kept running the points chase as the race was running. Didn't matter till the race was over but what was happening on the track did matter. They missed several incidents that had outcomes on the race and standings other than the chasers. Need new blood for broadcasters too. Too many trying to be chief instead of reporting. Don't even tell me your name, just report the total event. Little less JR, Gordon, and Jimmy even if they are winning, too. Good luck getting any changes. Radio is better even if it's not quite as big or as great as they are reporting.
- January 4, 2008 at 3:47 PM
- Anonymous said...
After all these years, I am now forced to live on the memories of our existence, the good times, and even the sad. I recall the times I was lured to simply sit and watch your every move, not saying a word, but being fully engulfed in your simple beauty. These qualities have only recently diminished, and so I am sure there is within me the same stirrings and love I once felt for you. It is hard to imagine, that you no longer arouse me the way you did, you see, not so long ago, I still yearned for your closeness and all consuming allure. I long for those days again, where the mere mention of your name brought excitement and desire. The outside world was in dim focus, whenever we were together, the birds may have sung, but I could not hear them when you were with me. Even when the rain came while we together, I was not deterred. My only regrets were the Holiday Season, but I understood your need for time alone, and knew you would always return around Valentine's Day, that we could renew our love affair once again.
Your Faithful Follower,
P.S. Agreement Null and Void if you don't get your act together NASCAR…
- January 4, 2008 at 5:31 PM
- Newracefan said...
JD, Fantastic summary of all the posts and good for David Poole that he allowed you to quote him. I am going to play the optmist here (usually am the cynical one) and believe that we made a difference. I guess time will tell. Keep fighting the fight cause we have your back.
- January 4, 2008 at 6:32 PM
- Anonymous said...
I will give Fox a change this year and the second half of the year I will watch the live leader board on Nascar.com., As for the commentary of the other to networks they need to learn form the F1 BTCC series and Australian V8 Supercar series to learn how to call a race. And by the way Nascar I'd rather watch all other forms of motorsports than your only Hendrick boys matter in nascar.
- January 4, 2008 at 7:04 PM
- Anonymous said...
JD- Thank you for your blog and especially for your insightful commentary, here and in the preceding article. Hopefully the focus you give NASCAR fans will result in improvements for all who value NASCAR.
What MRN and, to a somewhat lesser extent, PRN now often do better than ESPN, TNT (in particular), and sometimes FOX is to make the story of the race the star - rather than the storytellers or a pre-determined story line.
Despite the passion most fans have for NASCAR, we are not willing to accept just anything.
Thank you for caring and helping.
- January 4, 2008 at 7:19 PM
- Anonymous said...
JD - THANK YOU! Your summary is right on target. I hope the producer, directors, and announcers for NASCAR take these comments to heart and apply some reason to the 2008 season.
There have been lots of efforts to try and attract new fans, a lot of which have alienated the core fans. Someone once told me when I was a new sergeant that "The enemy of pretty good was perfect." Seems like that, combined with a dose of K-I-S-S and some dedicated veteran NASCAR TV producers may bring things back on track.
Thank you again for all of your work - this blog has been fantastic!
Cheers, AFMSgt
- January 4, 2008 at 8:01 PM
- LuckyForward said...
BRAVO for an EXCELLENT column! You have said it all, Mr. Daly!
And in so saying, you also make the point on why you need to continue your blog . . .
- January 4, 2008 at 8:52 PM
- Anonymous said...
I think people are spoiled by what we do have on TV. They have given us TOO much and there-in lies not only the problem with the viewership and ratings but also the commercials and content. Hell, they gotta pay for all that high tech stuff.. I for one dont really care what channel or crew broadcasts the race and honestly, I do enjoy people like Mike Massaro and Jamie Little. I do miss the days of Punch in the pits though.
The other issue is something a reader posted above. Ticket price. No wonder there are people disguised as seats at some tracks when an average ticket is over 75 bucks. Family of four, 300 right there, plus gas, lodging etc. 500+ for a few hours. Disney World is less then that :) and you can get four tickets, 8 hot dogs, 8 cokes at a baseball game for half that.
Fans also havent been developed. the young kid who was 7 ten years ago doesnt have to go to the race anymore now that they are 17. They have no reason.
ahh yes the almighty dollar.
I hope the one reader buys a RED BULL and not an AMP then if he isnt buying top 35 products.
- January 4, 2008 at 10:38 PM
- Anonymous said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- January 5, 2008 at 12:01 AM
- Anonymous said...
I have to agree with all the comments. I am a new fan to NASCAR only 2 years now. I have to agree I want to see the WHOLE race not just the top 5 cars. I want to see some mid field racing, I want to see those guys fight for that finish even when it is not for the win. I am part of the new base NASCAR is after and I have to be honest I get more excited listening to the MRN boys call the race then the over processed crap that they want to show me on TV. I even have 2 TV's in my living room so I can watch the race and DirectTV hot pass at the same time. Then I had to bring my satelite radio into the living room just to hear a better race. Thats what fans do. Now we want to see a better product for our money.
- January 5, 2008 at 12:57 AM
- Jayhawk said...
Beautifully summarized, and every pount made is on my list of reasons why I no longer watch NASCAR.
Unfortunately, no one will listen and absolutely nothing will change. But you are to be admired for the excellence of your efforts.
- January 5, 2008 at 1:10 AM
- Anonymous said...
Great article! They won't change, Suzie will be back. I feel the only thing that will get NA$CAR and the network's attention is: EMPTY SEATS. Just think... you'll save $50.00 alone on what use-to-be ...FREE parking.
- January 5, 2008 at 6:02 AM
- Anonymous said...
Great column as always, I only hope the powers that be in TV and NA$CAR are reading,,,and comprehending what we're saying.
- January 5, 2008 at 8:37 AM
- Anonymous said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- January 5, 2008 at 8:38 AM
- Anonymous said...
John Daly, You have a way with words, and have summarized this topic nicely. Nascar fans can only hope that your dedication to this topic will bring positive results.
- January 5, 2008 at 9:22 AM
- Anonymous said...
In '71 I worked at I-70 Speedway (a Hi-Banked 1/2 Mile Odessa, MO) as PA guy, met a since lifelong friend who did the PR. Tried to do a TV show of weekly racing there but failed to get sponsorship. Have a degree in Communications, but it's been a long time since I thought about cuts, and fades.
My I-70 friend cued me to the Radio broadcasts. After a year, I converted. The tuner is set up next to my seat. If something is serious, I can always turn up the TV sound. What I appreciate about radio is it feels like Indy of old. Back when listening to Indy was the way to follow it. Imagining the cars going through the turns as the action shifted from corner to corner. Part fantasy, part reality and so much mental imagery to keep me interested.
Compared to TV coverage it's like watching reruns of I Love Lucy. Been there done that in the mid 70's. It can be summed up in one word, stale.
Agree Alan Bestwick is the best on ESPN. Watching Mike Joy on Barrett-Jackson reminds me of what he really is-- a talented, honest, very knowledgeable, likable guy. But, he, as with some of the air talents, is afraid to challenge Nascar.
Attended my first IRL race this year in KC. Exciting, so I tuned in. Split screen is great and the commentary is much better. Add F1 to the list of knowledgeable broadcasts with interesting personalities. Top it off with the 24 hours of Daytona or LeMans. Nothing like laying there waiting to fall asleep watching guys pushing cars to the to the limit in darkness and rain.
The excitement of those events is partially conveyed by the camera positioning and director's work. But, for me it's back to old Indy days, the announcer must be tuned into the event on the screen, not his past.
Yes-- Bob Varsha-David Hobbs; Alan Bestwick; Mike Joy; Ned Jarrett; Benny Parsons; Buddy Baker; Eli Gold. No-- DW; the entire ESPN crew especially RW; Network Pre-race/ Post-race/ and for the most part during race coverage.
No more Inside Nextel Cup, No ESPN nascar programming, Hip-Hop; Heavy Metal; Punk Rock; No DW or Rusty (did I say that?)
And finally, let's see factory manufactured cars racing, as this was "stock car" racing. Common template begone.
- January 5, 2008 at 9:50 AM
- Anonymous said...
Yes to Ken Squire for good commentators, too. I watched the 1979 Daytona 500 on my computer for the first time, and the team of Ken Squire and former Indy and F1 driver David Hobbs is amazing.
I have this racing league on YouTube, and I've become more enraptured with that then I have with anything on TV. If TV sucks, I just watch a race on my computer when I need a racing fix... or one of my racing tapes from 1994-2002...
If I knew where Nascar in Chicago was on the radio, I'd tune in. While F1 racing may be abseloutely horrid, their commentary is much better then the crap Nascar has.
Whenever a driver who everyone counts out jumps into the top 10, I don't want to hear "Where did (s)he come from?! (S)he was two laps down!". I want to hear "Look at that! (S)he's made up those two laps and is breaking into the top 10!"
As for what drivers I root for, I cheer for Robby Gordon and Juan Montoya because they have balls and aren't whiny bastards about it.
I also cheer for A.J. Allmendinger because he actually seems like he has a sense of humor. David Gilliland seems like a good ol' boy without the Southern accent. Just appreciates what he has and does his best. Martin Truex, Jr. is the only driver (not even Sellout Jr.) that's running the whole schedule that has the Good ol' Boy appeal.
As for every other driver in the field? They all have the same personality, so you might as well cheer for whoever has the coolest looking cars or for whoever's from your state/country (for those of you non U.S. fans).
I can't speak for many of the rookie drivers. I hope to see some real spunky personality from Villeneuve, Hornish, and Franchitti.
My schedule:
- ARCA (It's like the old Busch series. Plus... 500 MILES AT THE ROCK!!)
- Craftsman Truck Series (Only honest racing left in Nascar's major series)
- Daytona 500 (Watch them keep the cameras on... oh... ALL HENDRICK CARS!!! YAY EXCITING RACE HENDRICK HENDRICK HENDRICK HENTONA 500!!... No, not exciting. Go Go Robby Gordon wreck all the Hendrick cars! )
- First Talladega race.
- The TM Master Cup series on YouTube.
- January 5, 2008 at 2:55 PM
- Anonymous said...
JD you amaze me !
I had to give up checking the blog here and just get them emailed to me - it was to tuff to keep up with the flow, no,- the flood of comments.
You took all of our comments and you were able to distill them into a shorter more readable list.
Thank You! Looking forward to the "response" from the networks - in the form of better coverage.
Again my thanks for this blog & all your hard work.
- January 5, 2008 at 3:06 PM
- Anonymous said...
Thank You for a great summary. What NASCAR and the media need to understand is that fans just want to see the race. None of the other garbage they try to "dress it up" in does anything but annoy us. I don't NEED a 11/2 hour pre-race to go over what happened LAST week. I don't want to watch some mini concert of some flavor of the month musician. I don't care about the cut-a-away car, I care about the cars that are, you know, actually racing on the track! We want to see THE RACE! THE RACE! THE RACE!
- January 5, 2008 at 5:50 PM
- GinaV24 said...
John, you rock! That was a great summary of the comments and it was a lot to do considering the volume. Now it's time for the networks AND NASCAR to step up and try and make things better. However, I don't really expect that to happen -- Brian France thinks he's a legend, the problem is it's only in his own mind. 2008 will indeed be a pivotal year -- thanks very much for providing this place for the fans to provide their input. David Poole thinks we're awesome huh? Well maybe the mainstream media needs to step up and call a spade a spade too instead of just placating NASCAR.
- January 6, 2008 at 12:24 PM
- Anonymous said...
2008 is NASCAR's last chance with me. I've been a fan since 1993. Back then it was racing. Today, it's nothing more than entertainment. The drivers can say what they think or show what they think. It's always, "Well the such and such car ran okay. I hate that I got into Bobby down there, really wish I hadn't" I want thye emotion back in the sport. Stop penalizing the drivers and teams for things that have nothing to do with the racing.
Last but not least, as shown at Kansas....they need to figure out what their own rules are and abide by them.
Last chance.
- January 6, 2008 at 11:24 PM
- Anonymous said...
I heard your KFAN bit and I second all those thoughts about the TV coverage. I have posted similar thoughts at insiderracing.com and email from around the country is saying that 2008 is the last chance for many. In no other form of auto racing is the condescension from the broadcast team so bad as in NASCAR Cup racing today. No one will be come a race fan just by the pandering of a network to explain all the mundane nuances of a spring set up. Good golly, just give us our racing and let the rest of the world figure it out on their own. I am now a loyal reader of this site!
- January 13, 2008 at 2:22 PM


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Is it firms like Jacksonville-based HCI Group — third-ranked on Inc.'s 5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list, with $25.5 million in annual revenue — that account for Florida's economic growth?
Or might 5,933 New Yorkers who moved there with $766 million in net adjusted gross income in a recent year (2009) be even more of a factor?
Rapidly growing private companies like HCI Group, a health care company; Orlando-based retailer UbreakiFix (with $17 million in annual revenue); or Sarasota-based Integrity Funding ($11.1 million), all companies with 3-year average annual growth above 10,000%, add nicely to Florida's revenue base.
They are the three Florida-based Inc. 5000 companies that can be found among that list's Top 20 (the entire list has hundreds of Florida companies).
And yet their revenue contribution pales in comparison to the "free" money brought by tax migrants from other states, which totaled $3.5 billion in 2009, the last year for which data compiled by the Tax Foundation was available.
Indeed, the tax research group's analysis, "Migration of Personal Income," released this week, puts the income built up over careers in other states closer to the league of Fortune 500 companies based in the state, such as Boca Raton-based Office Depot, with $10.7 billion in annual revenue.
But that's not all. The Tax Foundation analysis of IRS data shows that over a period of 10 years — from 2000 to 2010 — Florida and other tax-friendly states (the Sunshine State is one of seven with no individual income tax) have been the biggest beneficiaries of interstate migration, to the tune of $67.3 billion in Florida's case.
Indeed, the U.S. Census Bureau shows New York to Florida was the most common state-to-state move in 2011, with 59,288 movers, while neighboring Georgia sent 38,658 new residents to the Sunshine State.
The Tax Foundation report quantifies these moves in terms of personal income gained or lost, and the list of winners is as unsurprising as the list of revenue losers. After Florida, the biggest 10-year gainers were Arizona ($17.7 billion), Texas ($17.6 billion), North Carolina ($16.2 billion), and Nevada ($11.2 billion). Texas and Nevada, like Florida, do not tax individual income.
New York lost the most revenue by far, bleeding $45.6 billion in tax returns and nearly 540,000 residents from 2000 to 2010. About a third of them moved to Florida, sending about $13.3 billion in net adjusted gross income to Tallahassee rather than Albany.
Neighboring New Jersey took in the second-largest huddled mass of New Yorkers — 81,000 — but the No. 3 relocation site was tax haven North Carolina, which attracted 52,000 former Empire State residents.
California's refugees spread out to Nevada (93,000), Arizona (87,000), Texas (76,000) and Oregon (58,000), taking with them net AGI of $6.5 billion, $5.6 billion, $4.5 billion and $4.3 billion, respectively, over 10 years. In total, California lost 382,000 residents and $29 billion in revenue over the period, with the more affluent residents seemingly heading north to the Beaver State and its less wealthy making their homes in Arizona.
Illinois lost third most in personal income, totaling more than $20 billion from 2000 to 2010. Of the 233,000 taxpayers departing the Prairie State, the largest cohort chose Florida (38,000) as their new home, followed by neighboring Indiana (24,000), tax and sun havens Texas and Arizona (23,000 each) and neighboring Wisconsin (22,000).
While people might choose to relocate for a variety of reasons, including better weather, health care or retirement options, it has often been speculated that tax considerations play a role. A Wall Street Journal editorial this week critiquing Minnesota for enacting a new 10% gift tax on top of its existing 16% estate tax, had this to say:
"A successful New York business owner with, say, $50 million of lifetime savings can move his family and company to Florida, Georgia, Texas or 29 other states and cut his death-tax liability by up to $8 million."
Recently golf pro Phil Mikkelson stirred controversy when he openly wondered whether newly enacted taxes were reason enough to move from his home state of California.
A wealth tax in France sent that nation's wealthiest citizen, Bernard Arnault, looking for tax relief from Belgium, while actor Gerard Depardieu accepted Russian citizenship but then settled in a Belgian village bordering his native France.
Check out these related stories on ThinkAdvisor:


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Its been a while since I updated this project. Haven't stopped, but have taken a break.
In the mean time, I have been working on a Brick Wall for a Genea-Blogger, Randy Seaver. His "Brick Wall" came about the two of us using our favorite genealogy software. I have blogged about that on my Family Tree Maker blog.
This blog post is not about software, but a Road Trip I just returned from to address this brick wall.
Basically, Randy is looking for the Parents of Willam Knapp (1775 – 1856).
So, why am I interested? Easy, my wife has Knapp's in her ancestry, and we have visited more than one cemetery looking for and at Knapp headstones.
To put this into perspective, I mapped out the Birth, Marriage, and Death Location on a Map.
Consider: Birth 1775, Dutchess County, NY; 1804, Woodbridge, New Jersey; 1856, Newton, New Jersey.
I do NOT challenge or question any of Randy's research. It is awesome. I have learned a couple of things from his research. My advantage, maybe, that I know these places. By car, mostly interstate, between Dutchess County and Newton is over 2 hours today. But to through in a 3 hour "detour" to Woodbridge, in the 1800's, leaves me with some questions.
We have tracked my wife's ancestors between the two end point a couple of time, no detours, didn't pass go to collect our $200.00 and it's on one road Route 94, in both New York and New Jersey. The cemetery visits were along that road. Goshen, mid-way is full of Knapp's. More questions.
In reviewing Randy's notes, included a comment about Dutchess County. I had one perspective of Dutchess County based on today's maps. Not questioning the "starting" point for William, but to make sure I was looking at the Right Starting point. The pin-point on the map is close enough (for government work).
Consider this (from wikipedia)
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley. Putnam county formed in 1812, when it detached from Dutchess County.
OK, so now the "starting point" just grew a bunch. The good news, more places were we have found Knapps, the Bad News, more Knapps.
I need a (K) nap (p).
From my earlier experience with Baltimore, I had to get into my head the territory. (there's a song in there somewhere). I bribed my wife into taking a road trip to see if we could find any of her Ancestors. She agreed and she took some research notes with her. That's another story.
I did some looking at Find-A-Grave before we left. I knew that the Dutchess Genealogy Society / Library was closed today, but that was OK. I wasn't sure where to start in Dutchess County (current county) but figured that where ever that library was, would be a good start. Find-A-Grave gave me a bunch of Cemeteries. Searched for Dutchess County for Knapp, found over a hundred possibilities, looked closer at a couple of "big hitters". That is, a bunch of Knapps, but with 1700 headstones. Not looking for William, but perhaps a sibling, if there are any, or some other names to look for, trying to back into William's family. Perhaps a book store or historical society looking for clues.
The clue there was to find out why William might have left Dutchess County, to head south to meet his wife. Have read some of the history of her family trying to find out if she had been somewhere before she ended up in Woodbridge. That wasn't the case, in fact she had pretty heavy times to that area and Hackensack, New Jersey where she returned to after her husband died. So, at this point, William went south, but why.
More questions. Found an old book store, Nothing, zip, zero, Oh well. On the way to the first cemetery, we ended up on a road "New Hackensack Road" in New York. Not too far down that road was NY State Route 94. OK, what's going on here?
Came to the first cemetery, Bethel Baptist Church of Shenandoah Cemetery. Small and very nice. My Find-A-Grave printout said there were 42 interments there, most that have been posted were, in fact, Knapps. From the parking lot in two directions, you could see Knapp headstones.
I usually try to find the history of a Church if there is one. There was a car in the parking lot, but nobody was home. Ran down my first set of batteries, had to go back to the car for the back up, and on my way back for more pictures. the Pastor of the Church walked to his car, and wanted to know if he could help. History? nope, BUT … like that word … but "I know someone who does". Actually he gave me two names. He pointed me to a Headstone, which is where I was headed back to, and one of the names used to be the Historian for East Fishkill, which is not far from where we were. AND (more good news I hope) he is a genealogist. Quick Email to Randy for "future reference" and posted a picture to Facebook.
OK, so he died in 1859. I wonder.
Although that is where we are right now, but I just found a couple of other bits and pieces to look for.
On the trip to Poughkeepsie, I was expecting to find a Negative Source. Some hint as to why Randy hasn't been able to find any information. But, I know have a contact who might be able to shed some light on why can't we find William Knapp, any historical event (like a burnt court house) that causes us not to be able to find any records, why would young Knapp go down to New Jersey?
The term "I know a guy" has been running through my mind on the return home from this trip.
Lesson Learned: Keep looking. Look sideways (look for siblings or descendents of siblings), Ask a local Historian; Keep asking questions. I have the questions, but may have found someone with an answer or two.


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The borough of Lansdowne Pa., a community of just more than 10,000 residents 6 miles west of Philadelphia, is mourning the loss of its favorite wild turkey that died Wednesday, after he was reportedly hit by a car.
Former Lansdowne Mayor Jayne Young said she was saddened by the news.
"There was a certain charm about wild turkeys that travel freely around the borough, and I'm really sad someone hit him with a car," she said.
A Facebook fan page for the turkey was created last May. The top banner of the page now shows a photo of the bird along with a message that says "Rest in Peace Roscoe, Lansdowne's Favorite Turkey." As of about 3 p.m. Thursday, the "Lansdowne Turkey" Facebook page had more than 800 "likes."
The turkey also has its own Facebook member account page under the name "Roscoe Yekrut." Yekrut is the word turkey spelled backward. In addition the Facebook pages, some of the borough residents used to post YouTube videos of the bird, according to Blum.
A few months ago, Roscoe inspired bumper stickers, "I brake for turkeys" were distributed by the Animal Friends of Lansdowne. The group hoped to raise awareness about wild turkeys.
Borough resident George Blum said he used to see three wild turkeys wandering around the neighborhood in 2012. Beginning last winter, Blum only saw one. Someone in the borough eventually named the turkey Roscoe.
"He would show up in random places and be part of the neighborhood," Blum said.
Blum said the turkey used to float between the area of Garrett Road and south of there in the borough.
"It's sad," Blum said about Roscoe's death. "He was part of the community. It's very sad."
"It's a sad day for Lansdowne," said borough resident Fran Wayne, who is the secretary of Animal Friends of Lansdowne organization and one of the founding board members. "Yesterday our unwitting mascot and cause célèbre Roscoe the wild turkey was struck by a car and killed. This regal (though not too bright) bird spent much of his time walking or just standing in the street. And so our worst fear for him has come to pass. Roscoe will be sorely missed. I'd like to suggest a memorial gathering and perhaps a shot of Wild Turkey in the near future."
Borough resident Barbara Yuknick recalled how she stopped traffic on numerous occasions for Roscoe. She said he was a large turkey so she had a hard time believing a motorist did not see him. She said there has been more wildlife species in the borough in recent years including foxes and turkeys.
"It's sad," she said. "People have to become more aware and learn to live with the wildlife."


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Sterling Silver Box Set (colour of box subject to stock held). Hand Crafted Cufflinks Box Set. Select Gifts Care Silver Polishing Cloth. Select Gifts is a family business based in Norfolk England. All items are hand-made, many held in stock for prompt despatch. For personalised or specialist items please allow several days before posting. Should no reply be received we will assume blank to complete posting. All items are hand engraved as per your text, we are not responsible for any customer spelling or grammar errors – so please do take care to review the text. Engraving is done by hand with no dye, depth size is unique to each order. Majority items when possible show three fonts, should you not confirm this we will use best font available. The item "Cuba Flag Cufflinks & James Bond Money Clip" is in sale since Saturday, May 19, 2018. This item is in the category "Jewellery & Watches\Men's Jewellery\Cufflinks". The seller is "frsydtke" and is located in UK. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Brand: Select Gifts


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SKU Code: SM-SR-AKR-2RAWS9028
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: Bhelpuri Peach and Maroon Raw Silk Woven Saree with Maroon Raw Silk Blouse Piece
PRODUCT TYPE: Saree with Attached Blouse Piece
- Saree: Raw Silk
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- Saree Length: 5.25 Meters
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PLEASE NOTE: There may be minor variation in the color and work as seen on the website against the actual product received due to the limitations of imaging technologies and differences between display devices.
Note on Custom Stitching: If you have selected any Custom Stitching, Blouse Stitching or Fall Edging Options, our tailoring team will contact you for measurements. Please note that this is a personalized service and standard shipping time commitments do not apply. Custom Stitched products do not qualify under our standard returns policy. Please note that Custom Stitched products cannot be returned under any circumstances.
Product Features
Additional Info
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All products are shipped from Admyrin's warehouse within the Estimated Shipping Time mentioned above.
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- Tier-3 cities within India in the North and North East: 7 working days
Outside of India
This does not include the time, if the parcel is held-up by the customs authorities
- US, UK, UAE, Canada and Australia: 5-7 working days
- Other parts of the Americas: 10-12 working days
- Rest of the world: 8-9 working days


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The fifth anniversary of Lehman is now upon us, as are memories of financial weapons of mass destruction, TARP, quantitative easing and other still-lingering reminders of that event. Therefore, the vast majority of the investing public probably doesn't view hedge funds at tools to reduce risk, yet that is an intended purpose.
It's something institutions realize, and are increasingly looking to hedge funds for risk management and diversification, according to new research from Boston-based research firm Cerulli Associates.
"Our research shows that institutional investors overall have been steadily increasing the portion of their assets allocated to hedge funds over the past five years," Michele Giuditta, associate director at Cerulli, said in a statement. "Endowment funds, family offices and foundations were early adopters and currently remain established investors."
Noting that institutional investors have been under "significant pressure" since 2008 to increase their portfolio returns without inflating their risk profiles, Giuditta notes, "[It's] a tall order, and it has led many institutional managers toward a renewed interest in developing hedge fund products."
Pension investors, in particular, are responsible for the largest portion (55%) of institutional investor assets invested in hedge funds, he adds. Nonetheless, institutional investors overall have been steadily increasing the portion of their assets allocated to hedge funds during the past five years.
For instance, endowment funds, family offices, and foundations were early adopters and currently remain established investors. Endowments' allocations to hedge funds have held stable at close to 19% during the past five years. For endowment funds, their relative flexibility with respect to illiquidity and lockup periods can sometimes be an advantage in terms of hedge fund investing, the firm claims.
Family offices and foundations have allocated at least 15% of their portfolio assets in hedge funds since 2009, and their allocations were inching closer to the 20% mark in the first quarter of this year, Cerulli finds.
Pension plans and sovereign wealth funds, meanwhile, have slowly increased the percentage of their assets invested in hedge funds as well. Lastly, Insurance companies appear to be the outlier from this group and have reduced their exposure to 2.4% in the first quarter from a five-year high of 3.8% in 2011.
Cerulli concludes that many institutional managers gained their first exposure to hedge funds via investments in fund-of-fund vehicles.
"Since 2009, however, funds of funds have faced intense scrutiny due to poor performance, exposure to fraudulent managers (such as Bernard Madoff and Amaranth Advisors), and high fees. These factors have combined to spur many institutional investors to prefer investing directly in single-manager hedge funds."
Check out 5 Years After Financial Crisis, Experts See Dark Times Ahead on ThinkAdvisor.