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It's time for me to wear my special hat again. The Fedora developer community has announced the official release of Fedora 10, a new version of the popular open source Linux distribution. This release is a promising step forward for Fedora and it introduces some important new features and technologies that bring more robustness and usability to the desktop user experience.
Fedora 10 is built on Linux kernel version 2.6.27, which was officially released in October. This version of the kernel comes with improved compatibility for popular webcam devices and also includes the new Atheros ath9k wireless driver. Firefox 3.0.4, the latest bugfix release of the popular open source web browser, is also included in the default installation.
KDE and GNOME in Fedora 10
Fedora 10 offers installation options for both GNOME 2.24 and KDE 4.1, the latest versions of the two most popular Linux desktop environments. GNOME 2.24, which was released in September, introduced the Empathy instant messaging client and also brought tabbed browsing and other improvements to GNOME's Nautilus file manager.
Empathy is built on the Telepathy instant messaging framework and is designed to supply audio/video chat functionality and significantly tighter desktop integration than the incumbent Pidgin messaging program. Although Empathy shows an enormous amount of promise and could prove to be a big step forward for GNOME messaging, it is still very rough around the edges and is missing some features. Some distributions—including Ubuntu—have declined to ship Empathy in recent releases. It was initially included in the Fedora 10 release candidate, but it was swapped back out for Pidgin in the final release at the very last minute. Users who want to try Empathy can install it from the repository, but Pidgin is still the default in this release. My own testing has confirmed that it is sufficiently robust for day-to-day use, but I think it really needs a bit more time to bake before it will be crispy enough to beat Pidgin in a taste test.
The Fedora developers are committed to ensuring that KDE is well-supported in the distribution, but they have faced some challenges because of the significant differences between the KDE and Fedora development cycles. KDE 4.0 was shipped with Fedora 9 and KDE 4.1 was pushed later along with some features that were backported from the trunk. It looks like we will see a similar move in Fedora 10—the OS ships with KDE 4.1 and will likely be updated when KDE 4.2 is released at the end of January.
KDE 4.1, which was released in July, finally delivered on the next-generation desktop promise of the KDE 4 series. KDE 4.2 will continue to advance the desktop environment and bring more robustness and usability.
Significant new features
One of the most significant new features in Fedora 10 is glitch-free PulseAudio (PA). The PA sound server—which was originally included in Fedora 8—brings a whole new set of modern capabilities to the Linux audio stack and has important features like support for controlling the volume of individual audio streams, moving audio streams between devices, and outputting audio streams simultaneously to multiple devices. It also has some really impressive advanced capabilities, like dynamic volume adjustment and network transparent stream redirection using Avahi for network autodiscovery.
PA represents an enormous advancement for the Linux audio experience, but the transition has been challenging. The new glitch-free version of PulseAudio smooths out some of the rough edges. It is a rewrite that implements timer-based audio scheduling. This will significantly reduce the potential for dropped audio and will facilitate better handling for latency. It could also potentially boost battery life by cutting down on the number of interrupts. This effort has been championed by Red Hat's Lennart Poettering and Fedora is the first distribution in which it will be included by default.
Fedora 10 also includes a new version of the Network Manager utility, which is used to configure Fedora's connectivity settings. The new version has built-in support for connection sharing. This is useful in a variety of contexts, particularly when a user with a 3G card wants to share it with other computers via an ad hoc WiFi network.
Fedora's RPM package management system got a major overhaul for this release. RPM 4.6 has many new features and a cleaner code base. Some legacy limitations have been eliminated and the maximum file size within packages has been increased to 4GB. For a complete list of RPM improvements, read the draft of changes that have been made since RPM 4.4.x at the RPM web site.
PackageKit, a generic package management frontend with a user-friendly graphical interface and support for programmatic manipulation through a D-Bus API, is more tightly integrated in Fedora 10. It is now integrated with GStreamer and can automatically install codecs when the user encounters media formats that are not natively supported. Fedora will still not include or provide access to patent-encumbered codecs, however, so users will have to configure third-party repositories in order for the feature to work.
Some startup improvements have been implemented in Fedora 10, too. Using readahead helped the Fedora developers reduce the startup time by roughly ten percent. This is also the first Fedora release to use Plymouth, a new graphical startup system that doesn't require an X server. The new graphical boot display doesn't work on all hardware, but there is a text-based fallback for instances in which it fails. The Fedora developers have published a video that shows Plymouth in action.
A little late, but worth the wait
The Fedora 10 release arrived a few weeks later than originally planned because the project's servers were infiltrated in August by malicious hackers. This security breach forced extensive audits and made the Fedora developers take some of the key infrastructure offline. The systems were brought back up after the group confirmed that Fedora source code had not been manipulated or compromised.
Despite the challenges faced during the development process, Fedora 10 is a strong release with lots of polish and an excellent assortment of new features. The user experience is great and the software performed well during my tests. Fedora 10 is available today from the project's web site. The HTTP mirrors typically get hammered, so we recommend using BitTorrent. For more details, see the official release notes.


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Introducing FLIK, the First Female-Focused Apprenticeship Portal
Two GenZ Women Found FLIK: Connecting Female Founders / Leaders and Ambitious Female Students via Apprenticeships Globally During COVID-19
Ravina Anand and Michelle Kwok, two recently graduated Canadian students, launched FLIK, the first female-focused apprenticeship portal, allowing verified female talent to apprentice under innovative female founders and leaders across the world. FLIK's mission is to advance women's economic participation and accelerate women-led ventures globally.
So far, FLIK has received 1800+ applicants from 26+ countries, and is rapidly growing each day. Apprentices gain experience in an industry they are passionate about while being mentored by an established female founder, while female founders, notoriously under-resourced, have access to ambitious talent helping them scale their businesses quickly. All programs can be completed virtually and remotely.
During the challenging times of COVID-19, FLIK is supporting female-founded businesses with free access to the FLIK platform, giving businesses that sign up verified helping hands on their company at no cost. We recognize that female-founded businesses will be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and are amplifying the mission we have at FLIK, especially throughout this period.
In addition to championing female-founded businesses, FLIK is now focusing on connecting female entrepreneurs working to help those affected by COVID-19 with verified STEM students, bridging the gap between needed intellectual capital and valuable work experience during this critical time. One of the female founders FLIK supports is Cassandra Hui, Founder of Heal Mary; she connects COVID-19 patients to necessary global clinical trials. Hui was able to onboard verified STEM apprentices through FLIK to connect her patient base to 100 more trials around the world.
Co-Founder of FLIK, Kwok states, "In times of crisis it is important that we come together and support one another. This is an opportunity for us to get creative and think outside the box to combat the issues we are collectively facing. FLIK gives apprentices a chance to learn practical skills, apply their knowledge, and learn more about entrepreneurship, while navigating a crisis period.
FLIK is a safe space for womxn of all backgrounds to find opportunities that align with their values while interacting with new and emerging industries beyond their theoretical classroom education. With each apprenticeship, a young woman gets exposed to entrepreneurship a little earlier, a female-led business accelerates to success, and the needle is moved forward a little more."
FLIK has seen a spike in students from universities such as Duke, Harvard, Oxford, Cornell, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UChicago, UToronto, UWaterloo, UBC, and others applying for FLIK to gain invaluable experiences alongside female founders in their newfound free time. Similarly, a wave of female founders have come on board to virtually take on these ambitious young women who train remotely for 10 hours/week or less in a meaningful project.
Founders include leaders in tech, AI, marketing, and more, such as Kim Kaupe (Co-Founder of The Superfan Company, Forbes 30 Under 30) and Anna Piñol (Co-Founder of Jupiter, Y-Combinator Alum). Past projects apprentices have taken on include event management, UX UI design, web development, backend development, marketing, sales, business development, amongst many other areas.
Anand states, "We recognize that women and girls are more vulnerable to downturns in social and economic situations. While students are working hard to build a career for themselves, many of them are having their summer opportunities rescinded due to COVID-19. FLIK helps female leaders discover these ambitious students who are keen on learning and growing to facilitate well-matched apprenticeships."
By combining the forces of media, social impact, and entrepreneurs, FLIK is passionate about inspiring and empowering young women to become the next wave of entrepreneurs and helping them navigate the barriers and challenges specific to women in business. By allowing established founders to find amazing talent and scale their businesses quickly, FLIK is able to support women of all ages to be their own bosses.
On the other side, 50% of Gen Z say they learn by doing and want to see a difference in traditional education and skills training. With FLIK's Apprenticeship Portal, there is a real, tangible solution. We look to you to join us in our mission to support diverse and underrepresented women across the globe and welcome readers to share FLIK with any women who would benefit.
To learn more about FLIK, please
Email: email@example.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weareflik/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareflik/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareflik
Website: https://www.weareflik.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnxdJgxYnZkPfBbGlZpXr-Q
Building An E-Commerce Business In Canada? Here's What You Need To Know
The consumer market in Canada is changing at a rapid pace. On the west coast, start-ups are becoming increasingly common as entrepreneurs call cities like Vancouver, Victoria, and Surrey their home.
In this changing market, e-commerce is slowly taking the place of traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts in many respects.
As an aspiring e-commerce entrepreneur, there are several significant resources and insights to keep in mind ad you begin to build your business.
Track Your Income & Expenses
Before you can strategize and create lofty long-term goals, you'll want to ensure you have the financial structure you need to grow your business.
Often, entrepreneurs in Canada struggle with the basics and must look to alternative lenders or online payday loans in Surrey or wherever their business has been established. To ensure you don't make the same mistakes, you'll want to set up a separate account for your professional expenses.
Whether you choose to create monthly spreadsheets or use a budget app, having a money management tool you can refer back to will help ensure you're never overspending and you're investing your profits where they'll best serve you and your company.
Invest In a Web Developer
Many e-commerce brands are as popular as they are today because of the functionality and engagement their site brings to the market.
When you're in the process of hiring a web developer, look at their resume and past clients — you'll want to see what kind of sites they've created and how consumers have responded.
This hire can make or break your brand before you even launch, which is why it's vital to do the necessary research.
Email Marketing
There are certain areas of creating an e-commerce brand in Surrey or throughout Canada, and e-mail marketing is one of the most significant.
While social media is becoming increasingly popular as a marketing technique, e-mails remain a tried-and-true method for reaching customers and convincing them to make repeat purchases.
Creating lists for promotions and sales is a skillful way to keep customers engaged, rather than simply e-mailing only when they've made a purchase.
You'll want to continuously test and optimize your emails using A/B testing to ensure you're maximizing your growth potential.
Prioritize Customer Service
Without customers, your business will be unable to survive, let alone sustainably grow. The e-commerce market is competitive no matter the industry you're in, which means customers are looking for brands that care about their shopping experience.
If your operation is small, you'll likely be handling customer inquiries on your own. Remember to prioritize a portion of your day to comb through questions or concerns to keep your potential customers invested. When buyers have a seamless experience online, they're more likely to recommend that product or service to their network.
If you have the capital to hire a single employee or a small team, you can delegate the customer care tasks and focus on the departments that need your immediate attention. You'll want to ensure these candidates have strong writing skills and sales backgrounds — because they'll know how to engage with your customers and ensure their satisfaction.
Surrey teenage entrepreneur's food delivery app boasts of 10,000 users, unique dine-in feature
Surrey-based entrepreneur Ekam Panesar's home delivery app DishPal is giving competition to the big delivery companies in the Lower mainland.
Two years after starting DishPal, the app now has 10,000 users and 100 active drivers. The app has partnered with 75 local restaurants already with many more to come.
The app was started by Ekam Panesar in Grade 12. The Seaquam Secondary School graduate is proud of its success so far. "This is only the beginning".
"I was 16 at the time, when my father while eating lunch at one of the restaurants shared a concern of restaurants that they make very less profit on their orders from third-party food delivery platforms because of higher commission fees," Panesar said.
"That's when I decided to create DishPal, a smart app for ordering food and delivery online that helps local restaurants earn more by offering a lower commission of 10%."
Panesar worked relentlessly to transform the idea into reality. After research, trials, and surveying the restaurant industry, DishPal was launched with a unique dine-in feature.
It is a mobile reservation, payment, and menu planning app that enables you to make reservations, order online, pay at the table, and tip. This contactless service helps you ditch your wallet.
DishPal also has a subscription plan called "DishPal Plus" which offers cashback/credit on every order, free delivery, and other benefits which helps you save while you shop.
Users may use the online credit or go to one of our partnered locations in person to pick up the order.
Panesar attributes his success and positive work ethic to his family. "My parents always taught me not to compare myself with anyone as everyone is unique in their own way."
About the Founder-CEO:
Ekam Panesar is a solution-driven young entrepreneur who balanced his academic life with entrepreneurial dream and community work.
Ekam currently attends classes at Simon Fraser University. His drive to expand his business to the next level is fired by his vision. He wants DishPal to be a name brand in Canada and India that stands for trust, transparency, reliability, and quality.
How Businesses Are Prioritizing Appointments As They Open Their Doors Again
Restaurants and retail stores have finally reopened their doors after months of closure. As they reopened, shoppers have lined up and flocked to stores in record numbers, even amid recent Covid-19 surges.
The reopening has been a welcome occurrence for many, not least because of the 24,000 jobs recovered in Surrey. However, while consumers are eager to support their favourite clothing brands, small businesses, and other non-essential businesses, owners and management have had to strike a fine balance between maximizing customer footfall and prioritizing customer safety in-store.
Getting the balance right between generating income and deciding which clients get the first appointments can be a tricky decision. Thankfully, each business is adopting its own ways of prioritizing appointments and maintaining great customer service at the same time.
Dental And Medical Institutions Turn To AI And Scheduling Software
Based on safety guidelines from the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, dentists are relying on a prioritization scheduling approach for patients. The organization recommends physical spacing between appointments to allow for appropriate sanitization measures between patient visits, along with pre-appointment screenings.
Dental practices are also encouraging patients to practice good dental care at home, and take note of the signs of gum inflammation early on to avoid more severe consequences, such as periodontal disease, which can occur if gingivitis develops and is left untreated.
Patients with urgent dental concerns like a severe dental infection are being referred to emergency dental clinics or earmarked for emergency clinic hours. Dental practice management software like ACE Dental and DentiCon are also being used to schedule and track appointments.
Scheduling software such as these also offers useful scheduling hacks like the ability to group patients as family members – and possibly group their appointments to minimize the spread of infections.
Other dental practices are using AI to prioritize urgent patient appointments, similar to the UK's NHS approach to working through the patient backlog. Booking and patient interaction software like Dr. Doctor relies on predictive algorithms to help hospitals and dental care surgeries prioritize appointments by urgency instead of seeing patients on a first come first served basis.
Patients are given a patient questionnaire to complete, and graded using a colour-coded charting system. These and other dental booking software systems help to reduce the administrative burden on clinicians, which leaves them with more time to focus on patient care.
Pre-Booked Appointments And Outdoor Dining Feature Heavily For Restaurants
Due to a recent surge in cases across British Columbia, restaurants are closed to indoor dining until April 19, 2021. However, takeaways and outdoor dining are still permitted. Most restaurants have taken their appointment booking and takeaway services online, allowing customers to make reservations based on table availability, or pick up their meals to go.
The use of online appointment scheduling software such as Zoho Bookings and Yocale are popular amongst food establishments to keep track of bookings.
Currently, no more than six people are allowed to sit together when booking a restaurant reservation in order to maintain social distancing, according to reopening guidelines by Work Safe British Columbia. Therefore, larger parties are either being spilt into separate dining reservations (if outdoor space permits) or offered an alternative date.
Retailers Continue To Rely On Crowd Control, Navigation Signs, And Queues
Other retail stores have also implemented crowd control techniques instead of an appointment system. Retail stores in malls are now limiting the number of shoppers in-store at any one time, and have implemented navigation signs for customers to help with the flow of traffic in-store and outdoors.
Doormen and security staff are a common feature, as they maintain the number of shoppers in-store and regulate the flow of traffic in a bid to prioritize social distancing.
Stores are also incorporating an omni-channel approach as a way to stagger in-store traffic. Caposhie in South Granville has continued to keep a focus on online operations to balance demand.
Owner Adelle Reynaud said, "We sort of spent our time kind of building the back end up, and hopefully through this our online sales will grow and we'll kind of figure out new and improved ways to figure that out." Other retailers have embraced the use of the click and collect model, and are encouraging customers to use their virtual services where possible.
Jewellers like Tiffany's in Vancouver now allow consumers to book their virtual appointments online, or book a time slot for in-store consultations. Golden Tree Jewellers in Surrey has done the same, providing a dedicated contact number for appointment bookings.
As business resumes, companies are having to find new and innovative ways to balance their profitability and customer safety. Deciding how to prioritize appointments is a crucial part of that.
The basis of prioritization and appointment models differ greatly according to businesses, but one thing that remains consistent is that businesses in BC are finding ways to rise to the challenge.
New Device Repair Service On Wheels Launches In Surrey, Bringing Residents Contactless, Convenient And Professional Repairs Right To Their Doorstep
Mobile Klinik goes mobile: Innovative smartphone and tablet repair service on wheels is now available in more than 100 cities and towns across Canada
Mobile Klinik waiving $29.99 convenience fee to support Canadians with safe contactless customer repair support amid Covid-19
Today Mobile Klinik, Canada's leading chain of professional smartphone and tablet repair stores, launched Onsite Repair Units, the first van service of its kind to offer consumers and businesses nationwide the convenience of professional smartphone and tablet repair at the location of their choice.
With more Canadians working and learning from home and physical distancing protocols in place, it is more important than ever for their devices to be working without issue, and now residents and businesses in more than 100 communities nationwide can conveniently access Mobile Klinik's Onsite Repair Unit service.
"The launch of Mobile Klinik's Onsite Repair service is our latest initiative to make smartphone and tablet repair a more accessible, cost effective, and convenient option for Canadian consumers," said Tim McGuire, CEO of Mobile Klinik.
"Because we are spending so much time learning, working, and seeking entertainment at home, having reliable smartphones and tablets is paramount. We are proud to bring our services right to our customers' doorsteps – at no extra charge – so they can resume using their device, often in less than an hour."
As a leader in professional smartphone and tablet repair, Mobile Klinik is committed to providing Canadians with flexible and affordable options to keep their devices for longer, servicing common issues like cracked screens, broken cameras, software updates, and battery replacements using high quality parts and state of the art diagnostics – right from inside the Mobile Klinik service van, outside their homes or place of work.
To further support Canadians throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, for a limited time, Mobile Klinik is waiving the $29.99 Onsite Repair Unit convenience fee.
Customers in the following communities can book today either online or by phone to have a Mobile Klinik technician arrive at the location of their choice and service their repair in 60 minutes or less.
British Columbia
- Vancouver
- Surrey
- Richmond
- Burnaby
- Delta
- North Vancouver
- West Vancouver
- Coquitlam
- Pitt Meadows
- Maple Ridge
- Langley
- White Rock
- New Westminster
- Calgary
- Chestermere
- Airdrie
- Edmonton
- St. Albert
- Spruce Grove
- Beaumont
- Leduc
- Winnipeg
- Selkirk
- Toronto
- Mississauga
- Brampton
- Oakville
- Milton
- Caledon
- Ottawa
- Nepean
- Gatineau
- Montreal
- Pointe-Claire
- Kirkland
- Salaberry-de-Valleyfield
- Laval
- Longueuil
- Quebec City
- Levis
- Saint Jean Sur Richelieu
To find out if Mobile Klinik's new Onsite Repair service is available in your community or for more information, visit us:
About Mobile Klinik
Mobile Klinik is Canada's leader in professional smartphone and tablet repair, refurbishment and resale with more than 90 convenient locations from coast to coast, Onsite Repair Units in over 100 markets across Canada and an online store.
We are committed to providing Canadian consumers and businesses with flexible and affordable options to repair, buy, sell, protect and connect their wireless devices.
For more information about Mobile Klinik, please visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
Attention Entrepreneurs: This Could Be The Ideal Time To Start That Business
Every business has been impacted in one way or another by the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cases, this has led to layoffs, reduced hours, and other major changes for workers. While the economy is struggling to bounce back, entrepreneurs have a unique opportunity to push their business dreams forward.
There is more talent accessible on the market than ever before, and you're not constrained by geographic location. It's easier to be nimble and succeed with a small team (even just yourself) than it used to be. And if you need a small business loan to get your company up and running, interest rates are expected to remain low for several years.
Many of the world's most successful companies were started in the midst of a financial crisis. It all comes down to whether or not you can provide consumers with something they need or want. If you decide to start your business in the near future, however, you'll need to ensure that you manage your capital well so that you can stay in a strong position for long-term success.
Surrey604 is here with some ideas. From conducting a market evaluation to saving up a healthy financial cushion, here are a few key practices for stretching your startup capital in the early stages of your entrepreneurship:
Evaluating the Market
Assuming you already have an idea of what type of product or service you want to offer, you will need to do a thorough market evaluation to ensure there is demand for it.
How big is the market? What are potential competitors offering and how is your product different? What are the price points like?
Writing a Business Plan
Once you've assessed the market, you'll need to create a business plan. Much can be said on this subject, but to keep it short: Your business plan should contain all the information pertinent to the launch and growth of your company over the next five to 10 years.
Some examples of what you need to include are your mission statement, a description of products or services, financial projections, the kind of staff needed, and your marketing strategies.
Outsourcing Time-Consuming Tasks
It might seem counter-intuitive, but hiring people can be a cost-effective method of growing your business. Think about it: If you try to do everything yourself all the time, everything will take longer to get done. And chances are they won't be done properly and you'll get burned out in no time.
Consider any tasks or roles that will distract you from your vision as the business owner, and start looking for qualified workers to fill them. For example, you can easily hire professional accounting, legal, and branding services through freelance job platforms.
Using Financial Management Tools
A lot goes into managing finances when you're a business owner. It's easy to get overwhelmed keeping track of your taxes, expenses, payments, invoicing, and other factors.
Fortunately, there is a slew of software tools on the market (e.g., Freshbooks, Xero, QuickBooks, etc.) that can simplify this process. Use them.
Saving Up
Just like with personal finances, saving up a contingency fund for your business can provide you with security and peace of mind. You never know what is going to happen tomorrow — or even today! — and having money saved up can help you avoid significant financial hardships or the loss of your business.
Start setting aside money each week, and try to put away at least six months of expenses. If you've been thinking about opening a business, why wait?
There are many reasons why now is a great time, and if you prepare beforehand, you can take advantage of the moment and establish a stable foundation for long-lasting success.
Along with considering the tips above, keep researching to see what others steps you can take to build a healthy, thriving business from the ground up!
– View All Events –

subset: commoncrawl


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When you learn to do portraits with window light you can set up a studio anywhere there is a window.
In this tutorial, I'll give you all the important information, including what to do with different window sizes, where to position the person, and how to make their eyes sparkle.
You'll see examples of newborns/infants, children, professional headshots, and candid moments.
The bigger the window, the nicer the light
The first thing that you should know about making portraits with window light is that the bigger the window, the nicer the light. What each photographer considers to be "good" light is relative. But many photographers want soft light for portraits.
If you would like soft light for your portraits, then you need a large window. If you want harsh light, look for a smaller window.
This principle is true for all light sources; the larger the light source, the softer the light will appear on your subject.
Remember that small windows are more likely to create harsh looking light with dark, crisp shadows, while larger windows will produce softer-looking light with gradual, subtle shadows.
A larger window will also create more sparkle in the eyes (you'll learn how to do that below).
Where to position the person
Now you know how to get soft light or harsh light for your portraits.
The next thing you need to know is where to position the person for the portrait.
If you have beautiful soft light, but you position the person wrong, then the light won't look pleasing on the person's face.
Portrait lighting usually looks best when the light source is in front of the person, but off to the side. It also helps if the light source is a little higher up.
Do not sit them in direct sunlight
If there is direct sunlight coming in the window, make sure that you do not sit your subject in the direct sunlight. If you do, the window will no longer be the true light source; rather, the harsh sunlight will now be the light source.
How to make their eyes sparkle
The sparkle in the eye that you see in portraits is called a catchlight. You create catchlights by making sure that the window is reflected in your subject's eyes.
When doing portraits with window light, be sure to bring your portrait to life with catchlights.
How to get rid of unwanted shadows
It can be hard to take a portrait using a window and have no shadows on the face. But you can fill in those shadows or make them disappear using a reflector. Remember, you can use any large white surface as a reflector.
Window light for headshots
At this point, you understand that large windows create soft light, you can use a reflector to fill in shadows, and that catchlights create a sparkle in the eye. You're on your way to having a pro studio set up in your living room!
Here is a setup that you can use for headshot portraits with window light.
Window light in everyday life
Now that you know the principles, you can use window light with candid photography as well.
Remember that it is often good to have the light source coming from the side. However, you can experiment by putting the window behind your subject to make creative silhouettes. You can also get creative by allowing direct sunlight to fall on your subject.
Did you know your home was filled with such great light sources?
Studio strobe lights are wonderful to use, but they're not always affordable or practical to drag around.
Once you know the principles, you can use windows just as effectively and creatively as strobe lights.
Remember these principles when making portraits with window light:
- Larger windows create softer light
- Smaller windows create harsh shadows
- Do not sit your subject in direct sunlight
- Have the window to the side and in front of your subject
- Use a reflector to fill in shadows
- Catchlights create a sparkle in the eyes
- Use a backdrop for professional portraits
- Get creative with backlight and candid moments
One of the best ways to get started is to use a toy as a model. Go and have some fun with this and share your results with us in the comments!
Table of contents
Portrait Photography
- How to Achieve Great Portraits with Window Light
- The bigger the window, the nicer the light
- Where to position the person
- Do not sit them in direct sunlight
- How to make their eyes sparkle
- How to get rid of unwanted shadows
- Window light for headshots
- Window light in everyday life
- Did you know your home was filled with such great light sources?
- Remember these principles when making portraits with window light:


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Prior to the Challenger accident, the theory was that riding on the space shuttle was like riding on a modern jet airliner; passengers are not provided with parachutes and pressure suits. Challenger changed all that. With pressure suits, parachutes, and a pyrotechnically jettisonable hatch, a crew just might have a chance to survive that type of accident. The crew module was a double structure, pressure vessel within the aerodynamic outer airframe, so if any part of the orbiter was to survive, the crew module was it. We added life rafts, survival gear, and satellite beacons on each crew member. At 73 seconds into flight, Challenger broke apart at about Mach 2 and the pieces coasted to nearly 65,000 feet.
As time went on, we became much more concerned with a crew bailout in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, particularly at the higher latitudes where an ISS launch would take them. Remember the movie Titanic; the extreme cold water was what killed most of the people. The pressure suit we used after Challenger was derived from an SR-71 ejection suit and was not very effective in retaining heat; we needed a survival suit. The Advanced Crew Escape Suit – ACES – was developed and was a great improvement. Bobbing in the icy north Atlantic waiting for rescue, someone in the ACES could likely survive the 8 to 12 hours it would take the rescue forces to arrive in the worst case. But the ACES suit had a drawback; unlike the older SR-71 suit the gloves had to be worn to maintain pressure. Wearing gloves was a real drawback, dexterity was severely impacted. Most crew members carried their glove rather than wear them, planning to zip them on in case of impending trouble.
And both suits were pressurized with pure oxygen. In a vacuum, wearing a pressure suit at 4 or 5 psi will keep you alive. But with the helmet visor closed and the cabin under normal pressure, the oxygen bleeding out of the suit will increase the O2 level to the point of a fire hazard in just a few minutes. So the crew would be visors down only for the first two minutes of launch and for the last two minutes of entry (fearing for bird strikes). During the bulk of the entry period – deorbit burn to landing was over an hour – the protocol was for the visors to be up and the O2 system to be off.
The last week of Columbia's flight I got ready for my (semi) permanent move to Florida. Feb. 1 was a Saturday and the planned landing day for Columbia. I loaded clothes and other necessities into my old suburban, kissed my wife goodbye (with the promise that I would be home for a weekend in about three weeks) and headed down I-10 from Houston toward Florida. Normally this trip would take about a day and a half, but as I entered the Florida panhandle, the engine started overheating. The water pump was failing and I had failed to pack my toolbox. I coasted into Crestview and checked into a hotel. First thing in the morning on Friday January 31, I managed to get the truck into a mechanics shop and before noon I was on my way with a new water pump. But that make it after 6 when I rolled into Cocoa Beach. The real estate people had left the keys to my condo taped on their door, so I was able to get in, unload, grab a bite to eat, and hit the sack early because Saturday was going to be a big day. It would be the first time I could witness a shuttle landing in person – after all those times watching from Mission Control.
Very early Saturday morning I was up, shaved, dressed, breakfasted, and headed out the KSC HQ building. There I met Mike Wetmore the director of Shuttle Processing and some of his staff. We took a government van from there up to the Launch Control Center. We met Mike Leinbach at his console in the Firing Room, plugged in headsets and listened as my old colleague LeRoy Cain fought with the weather forecast. There was a real chance of low clouds; the lowest ceiling the flight rules would allow was 8,000 feet so the commander would have a good visual approach to the shuttle runway. The forecaster kept putting in the chance of ceiling at 3,000 feet. Not good. Passing the time, I told the small assembled group in the Firing Room that LeRoy would never give a GO for deorbit burn; he would probably wave off one orbit when the forecaster said the low clouds would be gone. But LeRoy surprised me and gave a GO for deorbit burn on time.
Much later, while the debris recovery effort was going on in East Texas, the trajectory analysts put together an estimated plot of where the Columbia pieces would have come down for a 1 rev late deorbit. The toe of the ellipse – where the heaviest pieces would come down – cut across the southwestern suburbs of Houston. My home – my wife – would have been in the target zone where the 2 ton steel main engine combustion chambers would have hit the ground at supersonic speeds. JSC would have been at ground zero for the debris; the MCC would likely have been struck. That is a scenario that is just too implausible for words.
After the deorbit burn was completed, and the good ship and crew were committed to re-entry, our little party trundled down to the parking lot and rode the van over to the midfield parksite which is where the bleachers for the VIPs are located.
It was a party atmosphere there. I was a little disoriented because there was none of the information I was used to watching in the MCC during a shuttle re-entry. There was just a loudspeaker with the PAO commentary and the crew Air-to-ground radio transmissions. The bleachers were covered with folks I knew; everybody from center directors, to other astronauts, to KSC workers of all types; I had a very nice chat with the NASA Associate Administrator for Human Space Flight, and with the KSC center director. In the middle of the conversation, a couple of the astronauts in their signature blue flight coveralls come over. They were crew family escorts and were watching the crew's children playing tag in between the bleacher stands.
I took note of the gathering low level clouds and wondered if the weather was going to turn out to be a flight rule violation after all.
I briefly wondered if Rick Husband would look out his left window and see his hometown of Amarillo or if Willie McCool would look out his right window and see his hometown of Lubbock; that was what I remembered of the groundtrack.
I totally lost perspective of what was going on with the shuttle. Then somebody asked "Isn't this a long time for the crew to be out of communications?" I looked at the clock counting down to touchdown time and with a chill realized that the shuttle should be coming over the west coast of Florida and there was no way that those calls from Capcom could be going unanswered.
Then cell phones began ringing in the crowd.
Shock was setting in as we ran back to the van and raced back to the Launch Control Center to find out what was going on. The TV sets with national news channels showing pictures from the skies over Dallas told the story.
After a few minutes, I pulled out my phone list and called the MCC, the Landing Support Officer was Marty Linde. We had trained for a thousand terrible scenarios together. Even though I was breaking protocol by calling, I couldn't help it. Surely, I thought, that double walled crew compartment had held together and those pressure suits would have protected the crew until they could bail out of the wreckage. "Marty," I asked "have the [crew emergency] satellite beacons been detected?" His response: "No"
That is when I really knew.
Months later, my presence was requested at a full debriefing by the forensic pathologists. I hate those cop shows where they go into the gleaming lab rooms and discuss exactly how some murder victim died. This was not like that. The subjects of this clinical discussion were my friends and co-workers. It's hard to be objective when you listen to how your friends died. The full report was over three hours. In detail the doctors went over all the results. You really don't want to know. Nobody had a pressure suit that was inflated so they probably lost consciousness in 15 seconds and were clinically dead in minutes. That is probably the best that could have happened because, well, you don't want to know what happened after that.
Vehicle breakup at 210,000 feet going Mach 15 is much much worse than anything we had ever planned for.
Sue Pinch who managed my office's support staff showed up with the Contingency Action Plan. That book had everything written down, a good thing. Pushing through the fog of shock, it took everything to concentrate on what was written to do; nobody could have worked from memory. I remember being in a conference room with Sean O'Keefe, the administrator, and the agency chief counsel Paul Pastorak as they called the White House to explain what had happened.
Sue stayed at my elbow all day. Somehow as the day went on I found myself in the conference room on the first floor of the LCC building briefing the recovery team – what would be the debris recovery team – on what to expect in East Texas in February. Damp cold, near freezing with precipitation likely – pack warm clothes; friendly people; country of fields interspersed with pine forests and prickly thick brush. Most of the KSC team had never been there. We saw them off at the Shuttle Landing Facility well after dark.
It was late when I trundled back to the condominium near Port Canaveral that I had left so excitedly early that morning. I called my wife for the first time that day. It had been a very long day I told her.
My first day on the new job wasn't at all what I expected.


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People with a depressed immune system or nutrient deficiencies may be more prone to catching the flu or a cold. Stress, lack of sleep and exposure to toxins can worsen flu symptoms.
According to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on December 8, 2017, flu activity has been increasing in the U.S. since early November. Based on data from October 1 to November 25, 2017, researchers found Influenza A viruses predominated in all age groups and Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Oklahoma all had widespread flu activity. (1)
Luckily, there are flu natural remedies that can help.
What Is the Flu?
The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. These viruses spread through the air from person to person.
Download 12 natural flu remedies here.
Signs and symptoms of flu may include:
Although anyone can get the flu, young children, pregnant women and adults 65 years old and older are at greater risk of developing serious flu-related complications. (2)
Conventional Treatment
Conventional flu treatment includes antiviral drugs and vaccines. As I'm sure you know, I do not recommend you get a flu shot as a preventative measure for the flu. These vaccines can cause side effects and often contain dangerous chemicals and preservatives. On rare occasions, they may even cause severe allergic reactions.
The CDC recently made some additions to the 2007 guidelines on nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to protect oneself and others against the flu. Some of the recommendations for personal NPIs include: (3)
- Staying home when you're sick.
- Staying home if you've been exposed to a sick family or household member.
- Covering your coughs and sneezes with a tissue.
- Washing your hands or using hand sanitizer.
- Covering your nose or mouth with a mask or cloth if you are sick and have to be around others at a community gathering of people.
Implementing these behaviors can help stop the spread of flu. You may be wondering how to get rid of the flu in 24 hours without medicine. If you or a loved one already has the flu, read on below for some home flu natural remedies you can use to find relief from your symptoms.
12 Flu Natural Remedies
So, how do you get rid of the flu naturally? Home remedies for the flu include vitamins C and D, herbal supplements, essential oils, probiotics and eating healthy. Try these flu natural remedies to help relieve your symptoms.
1. Vitamin C (1,000 mg 3–4x daily)
- Vitamin C helps with immune system function and boosts white blood cells.
- Take 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily to ward off a cold or the flu and up to 4,000 milligrams daily when you are experiencing symptoms.
- Eat whole fruits and vegetables.
2. Vitamin D (2,000 IU daily)
- Vitamin D is produced in the body by sunlight and regulates the expression of over 2,000 genes, including those of the immune system. Recent research shows that low vitamin D levels are linked to higher rates of cold, flu and respiratory infections. (4)
- Many physicians believe that current recommended daily amounts of vitamin D are far too low, and that 2,000 rather than 200-400 units per day is a better choice.
- To treat cold or flu, take 2,000 units per kilogram of body weight once a day for three days.
- You can also order home testing kits to test your vitamin D levels.
3. Echinacea (1,000 mg 2–3x daily)
- This herb can help your body fight off infections, but it is best to take it at the first sign of illness.
- An extract of echinacea was tested in a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial in 2013. Researchers found that the echinacea effectively treated respiratory tract infections in the short- and long-term, and didn't cause the same resistance as a popular flu medication, oseltamivir, often causes when treating this illness. (5)
- Echinacea acts as an anti-inflammatory, which can help reduce bronchial symptoms of cold and flu.
- Echinacea directly attacks yeast and other kinds of fungus.
- Different preparations have different concentrations of echinacea. Some common preparations and dosages include:
- Tablets containing 6.78 milligrams of echinacea extract, two tablets three times a day.
- 900 milligrams of Echinacea root tincture daily.
- Five to six cups of echinacea tea on the first day of symptoms, and then 1 cup a day thereafter.
4. Elderberry (10 mL daily)
- It is believed that this herb can deactivate the flu virus and naturally boost immunity.
- The flowers and berries of elderberry are said to boost the immune system, treat flu and relieve sinus pain.
- Elderberry does seem to attack flu viruses and reduce bronchial inflammation. A preliminary study found that it reduced severity and length of flu symptoms when given at the first signs of symptoms.
5. Oregano Oil (500 mg 2x daily)
- Oregano oil has a powerful antiviral effect.
6. Zinc (50–100 mg daily)
- Zinc supports immune function and has an antiviral effect. (6) It works best when taken at the first sign of illness.
- Zinc may lessen the symptoms of the cold virus but excessive amounts aren't good for you. Zinc pills and sprays do not seem to be effective.
- Take 50–100 milligrams of zinc daily to ward off or treat cold and flu symptoms.
7. Brewer's Yeast
- Brewer's yeast contains B vitamins, chromium and protein. It is used for cold, flu and other respiratory tract infections.
- Brewer's yeast stimulates intestinal enzymes to help relieve diarrhea, fights bacteria in the intestines and improves immune response to viruses that infect the lungs.
- Research has found that Brewer's yeast reduces the risk of getting a cold or the flu and helps symptoms dissipate more quickly.
8. Essential Oils for Flu
- Rubbing peppermint and frankincense essential oil into the neck and bottoms of the feet can naturally support the immune system. Also, clove oil can protect the body against infection and can speed recovery from the flu.
9. Chiropractic Care for Flu Prevention
- During the 1918 flu epidemic, flu patients that received chiropractic care survived much more readily than those that didn't. (7)
- A 2011 study showed some promise for chiropractic care and its potential to help boost the immune system. (8)
10. Probiotics
- Restoring the beneficial bacteria in your gut can help boost your immune system considerably.
11. Get Fresh Air
- Indoor winter environments can be a source of concentrated toxins and germs. The dry air we inhale as we heat our homes during the winter makes airways more reactive and sensitive to viruses.
- An added bonus to time spent outdoors in the winter is the extra bit of sunlight you receive.
12. Top Foods for Flu Recovery:
- Light, easy to digest foods: Include soups with bone broth, cooked vegetables or herbal teas to help with digestion. Don't force yourself to eat.
- Water: Adequate hydration is the key to flushing out the virus from your system. Fluid helps your body to flush bacteria and viruses from your system. Drink approximately half your body weight in ounces daily of either spring water or reverse osmosis filtered water. Green and black teas are potent immune system-boosters and antioxidants. Try to drink at least 8 ounces every two hours.
- Hot water with lemon, honey, and cinnamon: Honey and cinnamon helps prevent mucus buildup and keeps you hydrated.
- Ginger: Make a ginger tea and add raw honey.
- Garlic and onions: Both of these vegetable help boost immune function.
7 Real Life Steps to Stay Cold & Flu-Free All Year Long
Step 1: Eat Real Food
Now if you've been a regular reader on my site, you'll know what I mean by "real" food. But for those of you who don't, let me explain. Real food is the food that is most natural, found in nature with the least amount of processing involved before it reaches your table.
This is the food that is provided by our Maker to keep us healthy and alive without debilitating diseases. Foods like apples, carrots, raw nuts and seeds. Foods that haven't been loaded with hormones, pesticides and other unnatural chemicals. These are the foods you can grow (or raise) in your own backyard in an organic garden or by raising your own chickens for example.
The other foods that many Americans consume on a daily basis are what I like to call "fake" foods. These are the foods you'll find on shelf after shelf, aisle after aisle at the grocery store. Foods that have been highly processed, modified and so transformed from their original state that they hardly resemble the original food at all.
Think Doritos, soda, fruit snacks, microwave meals, etc.
Eating a variety of real foods provides your body with all the nutrients it needs to function and stay healthy. This should be your first food choice on a daily basis.
Step 2: Exercise
Although when you think of preventing a cold you don't necessarily think "I'd better exercise if I don't want to get sick," this is one of the best ways to improve your overall health and stay healthy during cold and flu season.
According to researcher Michael Flynn who studies the impact of exercise on the immune system at Purdue University, 30 minutes of exercise, three or four times a week, is the best way to boost your immune system. Any more will actually begin to have the reverse effect. (9)
Flynn explained that one study found running 10 miles a week boosted the immune system but raise that to 20 miles a week and you increase the risk for infections.
This is why I recommend burst training as opposed to long distance cardiovascular exercise.
Step 3: Get Plenty of Sleep
Now this old wives' tale still holds true today. When you're sick you need to get plenty of rest, but you can't really "catch up" on sleep or make up for weeks or months of too little sleep.
Getting enough sleep on a regular basis is key to maintaining good health. Studies show that lack of sleep is associated with health problems and the inability to lose weight. According to the Harvard Women's Health Watch, one adverse effect of not getting enough sleep is a compromised immune system. (10)
Step 4: Enjoy Life!
There's nothing like stress to bring on all sorts of physical ailments including colds and flus. According to Laurel Mellin, associate clinical professor at the University of California in San Francisco and founder of EBT Inc., 80 percent of health problems are stress-induced.
Mellin has developed a new approach for dealing with stress. It involves using the tools already in place in your brain to move through stress and quickly get to feeling peaceful and balanced. (11)
One of the best ways to beat stress is to balance your life with fun. Remember the saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? Well, no play will make Jack a miserable and dull boy. Take time to enjoy life and build joy everyday. Whether it's taking time to listen to your favorite music, or going to the movies or theater, or playing sports with your family or friends, it's vital to include fun in your day — especially when it's the last thing you feel like doing.
Step 5: Get Plenty of Vitamin D
More and more is being revealed lately about the vast health benefits of vitamin D. Previously known to impact bone health, vitamin D deficiency is now implicated in many health issues.
According to long time vitamin D researcher, Dr. Michael Holick, the best way to obtain vitamin D is through safe sun exposure. That's right, he advises you to get sun – but safely. In his book entitled "The Vitamin D Solution," Holick says that a lack of vitamin D (that many Westerners are unknowingly suffering from) can wreak havoc on the body, including the immune system.
To beat a cold or flu make sure you get plenty of safe sun exposure on a regular basis. If you live somewhere that only gets sun seasonally it's a good idea to take a vitamin D supplement until your levels are adequate enough to take you through these sunless seasons.
Step 6: Take a Whole Food Multivitamin
Taking a multi-vitamin is a great step towards protecting your health. But not all multi-vitamins are good for you. It's vital that you choose a whole food multi-vitamin, not a synthetic one. Whole food multi-vitamins are as close to the real source of the vitamins and minerals that you can get. In fact, your body will be better able to recognize it, digest it and absorb the nutrients in it. Be sure the multi-vitamin you choose has the ISO certification on it. This ensures that you are getting a high-quality vitamin.
Step 7: Avoid Sugar
Sugar is one of the worst things to consume, especially if you're trying to stay healthy — and who isn't? Sugars weaken the immune system and help bacteria to grow. Avoiding sugars is key to staying healthy, particularly when you're under stress or in the middle of cold and flu season.
There are great, all-natural sweeteners on the market so you don't have to go without. Try stevia or raw honey in moderation. (And avoid artificial sweeteners — they're fake foods!) Be sure to check labels of the foods you're eating and avoid sugars here too.
No one wants to come down with a cold or the flu anytime. When you take the above seven steps to stay healthy, you'll not only beat colds and the flu, you'll also be protecting your body from other more serious chronic diseases that could really compromise your health down the road.
If you or a loved one experience complications from the flu, such as pneumonia, or have a high fever that won't go down, see your healthcare provider right away. If you catch the flu and you have a chronic condition, such as asthma, or you are pregnant, see your doctor.
Key Points
- The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus.
- Conventional flu treatment includes antiviral drugs and vaccines.
- Try flu natural remedies to help relieve your symptoms.
- See your doctor right away if you get the flu and you have a chronic medical condition or you are pregnant. Also, get medical care if you experience flu complications, such as pneumonia.


text:
EMC to Announce First-Quarter 2012 Financial Results on April 19; News Release to be Available on EMC's Corporate Website
Apr 05, 2012, 04:30 ET
HOPKINTON, Mass., April 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) will publish its first-quarter 2012 financial results on April 19, 2012 at approximately 7:00 a.m. ET. The news release will be available on the EMC Investor Relations website at http://www.emc.com/ir and on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website at: http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000790070&owner=exclude&count=40. On April 19, 2012, EMC will issue a news release announcing the availability of the company's quarterly financial results at the websites referenced above.
EMC will hold a conference call for investors at 8:30 a.m. ET on April 19, 2012 to review first-quarter 2012 financial results. A live webcast of the conference call will be available at the EMC Investor Relations website at http://www.emc.com/ir.
About EMC
EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.
EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks used are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE EMC Corporation


text:
Blue Floral Wreath Folded Note
Personalized stationery is a MUST to have on hand, and this folded note size is very popular for ALL ages. It also makes an excellent gift - for friends, teachers, babysitters, graduates or yourself!
Printed on high quality, 100# white stock. Includes white A2 envelopes.
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" when folded


text:
Kansas City Star: The improving economy is swinging the pendulum in President Barack Obama's favor in the 14 states where the presidential election will likely be decided …. What's made the difference is that unemployment has dropped more sharply in several swing states than in the nation as a whole. A resurgence in manufacturing is helping the economy – and Obama's chances – in the industrial Midwestern states of Ohio and Michigan.
…. After an agonizingly slow recovery, several swing-state economies are finally accelerating:
– The job market is improving in Michigan and Ohio. In Michigan, unemployment fell to 8.5 percent in March from 10.5 percent in March 2011. And in Ohio, it dropped to 7.5 percent from 8.8 percent over the same period….
Many blue-collar workers in Ohio and Michigan credit the federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler for saving tens of thousands of auto industry jobs … "There's a feeling the administration went out of its way to protect jobs that are very important," says Paul Allen Beck, a political science professor at Ohio State University…
– Unemployment is down over the past year in the 10 other states the Associated Press identifies as swing states: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin…..
More here
Chat away, back later


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(This is a trip from early summer 2011. I've haven't felt like writing until now.)
I felt like Davy Crockett. The Trans Zion – a wonderful run that traverses Zion National Park from one end to the other – was getting too crowded. Once an uncommon adventure, it seemed like someone was now doing it every spring weekend.
So in May when Jared Campbell shoots me an email with a Google Earth file attached and the entire text of the message is "Call me. :)" … well, I examined the file then called immediately. Turns out he had devised a new route thru Zion National Park, a very clever one going from west to east over the best summits, thru the best canyons, crossing some unknown territory, and with minimal time on actual trails. The Google Earth file showed a technical route climbing up to and then descending Icebox Canyon, running up the Hop Valley Trail to Wildcat TH, climbing the two Guardian Angels, then launching across unknown terrain hoping to connect with the West Rim Trail. From there the idea was to descend Imlay Canyon to the Narrows, then complete the Traverse by scrambling up Orderville Canyon. I loaded my Utah Topo! DVD, carefully studied the contours, and was somewhat surprised: this route actually seemed possible. This looked great.
Game on.
Morning –
I fly into SLC (the flight was delayed 2 hours, which proved significant). Jared picks me up at the airport in his Prius, and we head down to Zion NP, where we'll meet Ryan McDermott, our partner in numerous other Zioneering Projects.
The logistics for Zironman are daunting: The most difficult canyon in the Park, a long run in 100+ temps, technical summits, and a march across "No Mans Land" – an interesting sub-plateau so remote there was no record of anyone being in it. And the weather is definitely sub-optimal:
Paradox abounds in the desert: while by mid-June it had become virtually too hot to do this route, the Narrows of the Virgin River is still running at flood stage. Desert trips can have just as narrow of a window as mountaineering trips: one has to pull the trigger after the snow has melted but before it gets too hot; this year the window never opened – the snow was still melting by the time it was already too hot. Ah well; this route really grabbed our attention; we didn't want to wait until next year.
"There are two ways of dying in the desert – by thirst, or by drowning."
– Craig Childs
Afternoon –
We buy supplies, including 30′ of webbing (which we hadn't brought but would save the trip), shuttle a car all the way out of the east side of the Park, and then drive all the way up the Kolob Terrace Rd to hike 5 miles in to drop a gear cache at the put-in for Imlay Canyon.
Like I said, logistics were tricky: Imlay is one of the most technical canyons in the Park, and our route would have us reach it after bushwhacking across the desert in 102 degree temperatures. So it was necessary to schlep in and stash heavy packs containing a full set of ropes and full wet suits including neoprene booties and gloves,for the cold pools of Imlay.
Night –
I climb a tree, and stash our packs where they wouldn't be disturbed, and we start the 5 mile run back out to the car. Due to my plane being delayed, we didn't get around to doing this until after dark. I started feeling uneasy about our project for the first time … we were running uphill, at 11pm the night before a 24 hour effort, after getting up at 4 am that morning to catch the plane, and knowing we wouldn't get to our campsite until 1:30 am, with a 3 am start planned.
Back in the car and driving out to the start at the far east end of the Park, Ryan starts lobbying for starting at Wildcat TH instead of the full deal from the west boundary. Jared was psyched for the full route, but he is always totally psyched for doing anything, so this isn't a big help for decision-making for mortals. I realized Ryan had a darn good idea; Wildcat was on the way just a few minutes ahead; we could save ourselves hours of driving, catch up on sleep, and still do all the hard parts, most of the good parts, and all the unknown sections of the route. I apologized to Jared – he is so strong, he could have done the full deal – but I didn't think I could speed descend Imlay at night safely on 1 1/2 hours of sleep, so at Midnight we pulled over and beached ourselves at Wildcat. I fall asleep off in the bushes while listening to Ryan and Jared happily talking and drinking beer in the parking lot.
Morning –
I wake up to a glow of light in the east instead of an alarm at 3 am – I'm already feeling great about this decision!
The opening section is a delight: we run down the trail at dawn, temperatures still cool, and scramble up North Guardian Angel. These are great peaks: each a singular massive rock, at an easy angle, in stunning locations. South Guardian Angel is one of the finest summits in the hemisphere, and is probably climbed a mere 2-3X a year. We joke that half the names in the summit register are ours. The crossing of the Subway (Left Fork of North Creek) is what keeps people away, but if you don't mind filling your shoes with dirt and prickers and getting your body all scratched up, it goes fine. Jared and Ry even know of a freshwater spring down there, which helps a lot, as it's hard to carry enough water for 12 hours.
Afternoon –
From atop SGA we take a good look at No Mans Land – it is important to plot a good route thru the ultra complex hoodoos below us – after that, an upper valley in the distance looks fine. Out of sight is the crux of the whole route, getting down an uninterrupted cliff band to the Right Fork of Left Creek. We examined this spot on Google Earth and TOPO!, but there's no way to tell if it's doable or not except by trying it.
The hoodoos are quite complex: a series of disorganized and discontinuous ridges and rifts, filled with brush, loose sand, and Cheat Grass. We navigate a good route, while the dry grass seeds turn out to be surprisingly annoying – a hundred little prickers embedded in our shoes and socks – we want to stop and pluck them out, but since they'd be instantly replaced with more, better to mush on.
At last we're out of all that, and cruising thru amazing country: a deep, dramatic, and unknown canyon on our right, assorted almost-never-climbed-peaks all around us. Normally we'd power up this but we take it easy conserving water, because it's quite possible we could thrash for hours all the way to where we can almost see people up on the West Rim Trail, but would be unable to get there – and thus be required to retrace our entire route back to Wildcat TH in the afternoon heat with no more water. Jared powers ahead eager to see if the route we've planned for a month will actually go.
It does! The cliff band is no prob, and soon after we drop into and cross the Right Fork, knowing the West Rim Trail is directly above us. All it takes to get up is 1,500 vertical feet of 5.4 dirt, scrambling hand-over-hand up steep unconsolidated sand tenuously held in place by thorny bushes and loose rocks, and we're back to the known world. Once up on the trail I run ahead to retrieve our packs from the tree, and find 15 boy scouts napping at the base of it. I run up, and without breaking stride, jump up and grab the lowest branch, swing up, and with loud thuds, toss down three packs amidst the scouts. My two companions run up, shoulder their packs, and hike off into the hinterland without a word. This scene was probably so weird, none of the scouts said anything.
Evening –
We start down Imlay at 2:30 pm. Good – I have no desire to do a technical canyon with headlamps – this will probably give us enough time to pull the exit rappels in daylight.
We feel we have Imlay dialed, and it is very likely we have done it faster than anyone. This feels good. Zironman is the type of route one doesn't just go for; one works up to it.
Nonetheless, a few curveballs are coming our way, as we are the first party down Imlay this year. It is choked with brush from massive spring floods. Some anchors are gone and have to be re-worked. Real good thing we brought that 30′ of webbing … but 30′ is puny … will it be enough? We motor thru the Crossroads … some people spend the night here; we eat a bar without stopping and enter the extreme narrows section.
The water is cold and the light is fading. We've had to set a few anchors and are almost out of webbing. Wearing everything, I pull my hood up, and with a shiver from more than just the temperature, turn on my headlamp for this dark and tight section. This is no longer a romp. One realizes we are really out there, with no possibility of rescue. I look at Jared and Ryan.
"No mistakes guys!" says Ryan.
"No mistakes." I emphasize.
I look Jared in the eye. He quickly nods affirmation.
There will be no mistakes. We are a great team, we trust each other totally, we have done this before, and we know how to do this now.
Two hours later, we pull the ropes after the long exit rap into the Narrows. The technical crux is done. We've exited the bowels of the earth.
Standing in the swiftly flowing Virgin River in the heart of the Narrows, where nobody has set foot for 7 months, it nonetheless feels sort of comforting … we know this place, and could bail here if needed by just heading downstream. But no thought of that: we load the wet ropes and gear into our packs, and with wetsuits still on, simply lay down in the current, and off we go. This works really well; butt down, we keep our feet pointed forward to bounce off rocks, and scoot down to the mouth of Orderville, an unassuming 25′ wide cleft in the 300′ high dark sandstone walls.
Deeply incised into the stone, Heaps and Imlay have a character that is both sublime and perilous. Sublime because the dark hallways, carved stone and subterranean pools offer an experience only hinted at in other canyons; perilous because what accompanies these beauties are continual exposure to water, difficult pothole exits and a degree of strenuousity one giant leap greater than other Zion canyons.
Night –
Perfect timing – it just got totally dark – wetsuits come off, headlamps come on.
We'll hike up Orderville in the dark for the next few hours. It's unusual to be going up a canyon instead of down, but is sort of pleasant: headlamps at the bottom of a deep slot canyon cast surreal shadows and shafts of light up the walls, with the sound, smell, and glimmer of flowing water at our feet. It sure has been a wet season; I've never seen Orderville with any water in it before. There are three falls or chockstones that require ropes when descending; at the first I scout a possible means of ascent, but then realize it's much easier to just fake like I'm trying, and instead stall for a few seconds while Jared quickly fires it, and then accept his helping hand.
We march on. Ryan got a bug in his ear. Literally – a bug flew in his ear and wouldn't come out. Odd to have a totally random and seemingly innocuous event become somewhat cataclysmic, substituting high anxiety for an otherwise peaceful night hike, but such are the vicissitudes of life; one can do a great job avoiding travails, until one flies up your ear.
We are careful in the dark to look for the side canyon exit, not wanting to add miles to this journey, then find it and are on an old jeep track heading back up to where we've stashed the car, which we reached at 3:15 am after 21 hours. Not bad. We were a little wet and cold, and still sort of revved, so drive for an hour back down toward the valley where its warmer and we can flop out in the dirt for a couple hours of sleep before the drive back to SLC later that morning.
Epilog –
Everything went well. It's a fabulous route … depending on what turns you on. We shortened it with our revised start, but did the trickiest and all the unknown sections, so it's clear the complete Zironman, a technical traverse from the western to the eastern boundary of Zion National Park, is doable.
Many things undone. One thing in particular.
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.
– Steve Jobs
Tags: Canyoneering, Jared Campbell, Trans Zion, Zion


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Branching out has never felt so good. Neither has it ever made me feel so old, haha! While reading today's book, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I missed letters. I used to receive lots of them. Now when you need to reach someone, you send them a message on Twitter, you wish them happy birthday on Facebook. You ask for information by email.
Yes, postal services cost an arm and I can say I haven't been the luckiest when it comes to receiving my packages, but nothing beats that feeling when you open your mailbox and find something with your name on it…
I would like to thank the team at Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of this novel and for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.
Title: The Lost Letters of William Woolf
Author: Helen Cullen
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Date of publication: 2 May 2019
Format: paperback
Source: Publisher
Number of pages: 416
Inside East London's Dead Letters Depot, William Woolf unites lost mail with its intended recipient. White mice, a miniature grandfather clock and a full suit of armour are among the more unusual items lost then found thanks to William's detective work. But when he discovers a series of letters addressed only to 'My Great Love', everything changes.
Written by Winter to a soulmate she hasn't yet met, her heartfelt words stir William in ways he has long forgotten. Could they be destined for him? But what about his troubled marriage? Following the clues in Winter's letters is the only way for William to solve the mystery of his own heart.
When was the last time you wrote a letter? The last time you received one? I am not talking about emails, or post-its, but real letters. The ones for which you carefully choose the words, an image of the recipient in mind, the tip of the pen pausing at times to give you time to think.
My last letter came from a dear friend, only a couple of weeks ago. I feel lucky. Letters are personal, they create a connection between two people, one that no virtual message can recreate. I think this is the reason why I chose to read The Lost Letters of William Woolf. I miss the old days. I miss the importance of a piece of paper, the weight of it, and the care behind the words. Nostalgia made me pick up the novel. I must thank it, for I have found a deeply moving story and met characters made of flesh, blood, and ink.
I am very nosey, so I would love to work alongside William Woolf at the Dead Letters Depot! There is something exciting in opening letters and packages that have lost their way. A sleuth lost in the midst of millions of unread words, William does his best to decipher hints and solve mysteries. If some might think 'why bother' the task means a lot to William, whose favourite part lays in the reunification of a letter and a person. His willingness to do his job right, not for personal satisfaction, but to repair postal glitches, moved me. As shown in the book, what may look like a piece of paper for an outsider can mean the world to someone waiting for it.
When William discovers a series of letter addressed to 'My Great Love' things turn personal. During his quest to uncover the sender, William will discover more than a name. The hunt, soon to become an obsession, turns his life upside down, helped by fate, years of marriage, and a little kick from life.
'Maybe the letters who need us the most find us'
I loved the content of those letters. Romantic, hopeful, and honest, Winter, the sender, has her feet on the ground and her head in the sky. She is lost in a sea of faces, bodies, and wonders when will her time to love arrive. We all wonder about the person who will make our heart beat faster and our legs turn to jelly at one point in our life. Helen Cullen reminded me how sweet it is to wander the streets and imagine you've just crossed path with The One.
But William already has 'The One'. Clare is busy lawyer, a woman strangled in her own life. Despite sharing a bed for the last fourteen years, William and Clare have become a mystery to each other, just as one of those enigmas William deals with at work. Far from their early days and months, they have grown into different people, letting the universe create different paths for each of them.
As William digs deeper to find Winter, the woman who opened his eyes after the long nap that has been his world for years now, he gets a chance to bring back the pieces of puzzle that is his life. Torn by feelings he had forgotten, William fights the current. The author's writing is curved and stunning, making the novel a relatable story. I loved every word.
If you wake up one day and realise your life is not what you wanted it to be, what do you do? If doors appear in front of you, one hiding a new life, one taking you back to who you were before becoming aware of what you've let pass by you, one ready to throw you in the unknown… Different scenarios, and it's William and Clare's job to choose a way to go.
Helen Cullen raises questions of dreams meeting reality. She tackles our expectations, for ourselves and those around us. She explores the 'what if's and the meaning of the love of one's life. What we think love is and what it truly is often gets mixed up. Rich and complex, The Lost Letter of William Woolf shows how daily life can remove the colours of a relationship, leaving broken people to face a grey world. William and Clare are two flawed and magnificent human beings going through the motion. Their story is one of possibilities, choices, and love.
Happy paperback publication day to the author!
Grab your copy of this deeply moving, entertaining, and superb novel here!
Discover more about William and Clare with this fantastic blog tour!
Helen Cullen is an Irish writer living in London.
She worked at RTE (Ireland's national broadcaster) for seven years before moving to London in 2010. In the UK, Helen established a career as an events and engagement specialist before joining the Google UK marketing team in 2015.
Her debut novel, 'The Lost Letters of William Woolf' was published by Penguin in July 2018 in the UK, Ireland, Australia and South Africa. It will be published in America by Harper Collins in June 2019 and has sold in translation to numerous foreign markets including Italy, Germany, Russia, Greece and Israel where it hit the bestseller charts in August. The TV option for the book has also been acquired by Mainstreet Pictures.
The first draft of this novel was written while completing the Guardian/UEA novel writing programme under the mentorship of Michèle Roberts. Helen holds an M.A. Theatre Studies from UCD and is currently completing an M.A. English Literature at Brunel University.
Helen was nominated as Best Newcomer in the An Post Irish Book Awards 2018.
Helen is now writing full-time and working on her second novel. She is also a contributor to the Irish Times newspaper and Sunday Times Magazine.


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For Lindsay Lohan's Next Trick, We Will Watch Her Vagina Get Banged With Reckless Abandon, Maybe
Even though Lindsay Lohan is currently shooting both Liz and Dick and Lady In A Porsche Smushed Against An 18-Wheeler simultaneously, novelist Bret Easton Ellis announced last night that she has also won a part in the forthcoming film he wrote The Canyons, which is not a about large chasms in the earth created by running water. Lohan will star with America's current male porn person of note, James Deen, and be required to do things and have things done to her simulating real live humping, like this, says the The Daily Mail:
Ellis had warned potential castmembers that the leads in the film have 'to act and be full frontal naked b***ing girls and guys, realistically'.
But wait a second, wait a second— did you read the weirdo Canyon Facebook page update from director Paul Schrader three hours ago which said this?
Despite what may be reported elsewhere, casting on The Canyons is not quite finalized. We're approaching resolution. When the casting is complete, I'll write a report about the letitcast process, naming the names of those we were most impressed with as well as anecdotal details. Many wonderful young actors submitted audtions and I like to bring some of them to wider attention. Or at least the wider attention that this website provides. Paul S.
So until this French-sounding "le titcast" (oh nevermind — "Let It Cast") process is finished we won't know if it will be Lindsay Lohan's vagina that will actually get banged with reckless abandon or someone else's. Until then, I officially cast my vote for Bebe Neuwirth.
Photos via Getty, Pacific Coast News.


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Nu Disco
|This is the 21st century's answer to Disco, Italo Disco and Euro Disco. Nu Disco contains elements of House combined these with the typical sounds of 70s Disco. This style reinvents the mirrorball and brings back the boogie to the clubs.
60s 70s 80s 8Bit Ambient Beat Big Beat Blues Bollywood Brazil Breaks Chillout Cinematic Country Crunk Dance Dancehall Deep House Disco Downbeat Drum and Bass Dubstep Easy Listening Electro Electro House Folk Funk Garage Hard Techno Hip Hop House IDM Indie Instruments Jazz Latin Lounge Metal Minimal Nu Disco Pop Punk R&B Reggae Rock Score Music Soul Soundeffects Surf Tech House Techno Trance Urban Various World


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BLOODSHOT DAWN – Announce New Album Details
Before closing their main stage show at Bloodstock Festival last weekend, unsigned UK melodic extreme metallers Bloodshot Dawn made a very special announcement. Frontman Josh McMorran told an excited crowd that their new album, entitled 'Demons' would be released in the UK on 26th October (Rest of World TBA).
'Demons' is the second Bloodshot Dawn album and was funded by fans in a Kickstarter campaign which was achieved in just 4 days, testament to the band's loyal following.
'Demons' is also the first recording with their new drummer Janne Jaloma (also of Gothenburg death metal outfit Deals Death). The album features 8 tracks of awe inspiring melodic extreme metal spanning 43 minutes and includes guest musicians such as Sven De Caluwé (Aborted, System Divide), Per Nilsson (Scar Symmetry), Teemu Mäntysaari (Wintersun), Andy James (ex-Sacred Mother Tongue) and Chris Amott (Armageddon, ex-Arch Enemy).
Speaking of 'Demons' in relation to their self-titled debut, which was released in 2012, Josh comments: "From a musical perspective it has been a completely natural progression. We have not become more melodic or more brutal but rather we've enhanced all aspects of the sound we had built up on the first album! This album is a huge step up in technical ability and song writing prowess without changing the music enough to alienate our current fans!"
"The title 'Demons', which is also the name of one of the tracks, perfectly represents the lyrical content within the album. It also ties in with the amazing new artwork. The song's lyrical content is about demons on both a personal and a wider social scale, explaining our views on modern society and the struggles within the mind. The album is all about beating your demons and making something of the time you have on the earth whilst battling the ever lasting struggles and trials that come with being human."
The artwork, which can be seen above, was masterminded by Swedish artist Par Olofoson who is famed for his work with bands such as Immolation, Onslaught, Exodus, Pathology, The Faceless and more as well as also having also worked on the Bloodshot Dawn self-titled debut album.
Track Listing for 'Demons'
1) Smoke and Mirrors
2) Consequence Complex
3) Unified
4) Inadequacy
5) Black Hole Infinity
6) Human Void
7) The Image Faded
8) Demons
Drums were recorded in Studio Disaster, Sweden by the band themselves; guitars and bass were recorded in Darkside Studio, England by guitarist Benjamin Ellis; vocals were recorded at Envy Studio, England by Richard Worrall and Jack Stephens. The album was mixed and mastered by Danish sound wizard Jacob Hansen (Aborted, Amaranthe, Volbeat, Destruction, Epica, Pestilence).
Watch Bloodshot Dawn live at Bloodstock Open Air:
'Godless' – http://dai.ly/x23bz1c
'Quantum Apocalypse' w/ Special Guest Doug Anderson – http://dai.ly/x23bzdz
'Vision' – http://dai.ly/x23bzh2
Catch Bloodshot Dawn Live
26th October – Limerick, Ireland – Dolan's Warehouse
27th October – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Voodoo
28th October – Glasgow, Scotland – Audio
29th October – Manchester, England – Sound Control
30th October – Bristol, England – The Exchange
31st October – Brighton, England – Green Door Store
01st November – London, England – Unicorn
02nd November – Cardiff, Wales – Full Moon
06th November – Osaka, Japan – Namba Rockets w/ Gorguts & Krisiun
07th November – Nagoya, Japan – Imaike 4 Star w/ Gorguts & Krisiun
08th November – Tokyo, Japan – Cyclone w/ Gorguts & Krisiun
09th November – Tokyo, Japan – Cyclone w/ Gorguts & Krisiun
31st January 2015 – Dublin, Ireland – The Academy w/ At The Gates
(Source: Future PR)
* For more info on BLOODSHOT DAWN:
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The first remote control model in the Motocaddy range boasts one of the trolley sector's most sophisticated guidance systems, utilising two motors to provide a combination of power and precision, plus an anti-tip wheel to ensure stability on the most challenging golf course terrains.
Based on the same frame design as the award-winning S-Series range, it comes with a control system that allows golfers to adjust how much the trolley turns to the left or right simply by varying the pressure applied to buttons on the handset. An innovative tilt function helps compensate for the effect of lateral slopes, while the advanced electronics also make it possible to switch from remote to manual control if required.


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Editor's note: Richard Zwicky is CEO of BlueGlass Interactive, a digital marketing agency and software provider. Follow him on Twitter @rzwicky.
Does Wednesday's AdWords announcement mean Google is already acknowledging the end of the desktop?
When AdWords was developed, people only worried about ads delivered from websites to people sitting at a desk in front of a computer. No one cared about phones, tablets were not on the market, and notebooks weren't useful Internet devices unless they were connected to a wall, just like a desktop.
Over the last 10 years, the variety of devices and interfaces has increased dramatically, and AdWords has evolved to keep up, adding features, and offering campaign managers more options and ways to manage campaigns.
The problem is, like any IT project gone awry, it's gotten out of hand. Ask any developer "Is it possible?" and invariably, the answer is "Yes but…" In Google's case, whatever was requested usually got built. AdWords evolved like a really inspiring dev version of a Frankenstein experiment, built to address all the possibilities asked of it.
But on Wednesday, Google addressed this problem and changed the landscape when it announced it had to move on, even if we weren't ready; the AdWords platform couldn't continue to scale to add more device types and options ad infinitum. So, they took an ax to the options, and simplified everything into a campaign management interface called Enhanced Campaigns.
Few companies in the world consider the future the way Google does. If you take a long-term perspective, Google's Enhanced Campaigns launch may indicate their belief that the decline in desktop search — first seen in October 2012 — is going to become an even stronger trend.
If this is the case, their move to do away with differentiation between mobile and desktop AdWords is quite logical and a well-thought-out, strategic move towards tomorrow, dragging the marketplace towards fulfilling Google's vision, whether we are ready or not.
The change to AdWords also means Google doesn't just see mobile as the future. It implies that from their perspective, the convergence has already happened, and we just don't know it yet. For Google, the future is now. That's probably the most important strategic takeaway.
If we listen to Google trumpet the changes, we're to believe the platform is being simplified and enhanced. On the other hand, the doomsayers would have us believe the sky is falling. Regardless of whether you like the update or not, the move to Enhanced Campaigns really is a case of more is less.
Make no mistake, AdWords had to change. Google either had to move ahead of the market, or watch another company appear and force the issue. They chose the more aggressive route.
As Larry Page's comments in 2012 would indicate, Google's leadership team is convinced there should — and will — be no difference in the user experience between mobile and desktop platforms in the future.
Page has also gone on the record stating that he wishes more web designers would build for mobile, as that's the future. I believe Google's move will force everyone to begin to move in that direction today.
Is Google right? Will desktops become as passé and obsolete as fax machines?
No one knows, but it's absolutely clear that Google has put a stake in the ground around mobile search. Google's Q4 earnings call was dominated by questions focused on understanding mobile Cost Per Click (CPC), which has been used as a measuring stick by which the strength of Google's mobile strategy has been calculated.
Despite all of Google's revenue successes, these particular numbers weren't inspiring, and I could hear frustration in the voices of Google's leadership team when answering the many questions about their mobile CPC numbers. Rather than answer those questions in detail, they preferred to steer commentary towards other technological advances the company has made, such as the self-driving car.
Clearly, Google doesn't want the focus of discussion about Google to be on mobile CPC; they want us talking about the amazing things they're doing and where they could lead.
The change in AdWords removes the distracting mobile CPC topic from the table, and makes the old discussion obsolete. The number is no longer there to discuss. But to argue that the move to the new AdWords is simply to get rid of mobile CPC as a measuring stick would be understating both the implications and the rationale.
Google is absolutely correct when it says search behavior across devices is similar. However, conversion rates have proved to be dissimilar. Google is moving toward grouping ad management for desktop and mobile platforms together, thereby forcing advertisers, by default, to pay the same rates for all devices. This goes against the economic reality of today, but perhaps not of tomorrow, where the mobile experience will be the norm.
In a utopian world, this simplicity is awesome. If user behavior — and most importantly, conversion rates — on mobile platforms and desktops were similar, everyone would welcome this. The only problem is, we don't live in that world. People don't pay for clicks, they pay for conversions. Smart marketers understand that clicks from different platforms and devices result in differing conversion rates, and return on investment. Lumping all types of clicks together regardless of outcome just dilutes their value.
How will this change affect Google? The new platform should be simpler to maintain, and support; so that should be an obvious benefit. It's also built with the future in mind, so better scalability would necessarily be factored in. For people observing Google, it might be a little more difficult to judge success, as this change effectively does away with many historically comparable numbers, and none will exist until a full calendar year under the new system has passed.
The new AdWords system starts rolling out immediately, and will be fully migrated by mid-2013, which ideally means by the end of June, or the end of Q2. So assuming that Q3 is the first full quarter where all advertisers are on the new system, Q3 2014 is the first year-over-year period we will be able to measure on an apples-to-apples basis.
At this point, you're probably wondering how will the changes affect you if you're an advertiser? Less complicated campaign management should mean fewer campaigns to manage, which is simpler and should theoretically be less work. Beyond that, I can foresee many implications — some broad, and some tactical.
For the less sophisticated advertiser, this update is a simplification, therefore less to worry about. But advertisers who manage highly effective, fine-tuned campaigns to maximize ROI will need to start over from scratch. Unfortunately, this change also means there are fewer insights to draw from in campaign testing that allow you to learn about and understand your client better.
For example, small advertisers who have a low, fixed monthly budget will see that budget used up more quickly than before. With the bids being set uniformly by default — and most people not knowing or understanding how to make adjustments for the mobile channel — advertisers will pay more for fewer clicks from mobile. This issue will be exacerbated because by default, all advertisers will automatically — and often unwittingly — become mobile advertisers, thus increasing competition for mobile's highly limited ad-display space.
Previously, you could manage ad campaigns for desktop and mobile devices separately. You could also target by operating system and other factors depending on your level of sophistication. This still-live AdWords support page tells you all about the benefits:
People use mobile devices differently than desktop computers, so it probably won't surprise you that people also interact differently with ads on mobile devices than those on desktop computers. Setting up a separate mobile ad campaign helps ensure that your ads can be as effective as possible.
Going forward, this will not be the case.
If you're a more sophisticated advertiser running large global campaigns, the changes might be overwhelming. Some advertisers, like Intel, were looking at mobile as being more of a branding channel, and less about conversions. For these, I expect the changes will affect the personae they have developed over time based on iterative campaign data.
For example, Intel has a marketing persona representing the trendy mobile user that it created to represent and speak to millennials. From a strictly traditional PPC perspective, it is challenging to target a campaign at the persona level, unless you can have granular control across content, video, social, and paid channels.
In the area of persona marketing, the keyword triggers are just keywords; it's the platforms and devices that really help advertisers segment and target most effectively. With the changes to AdWords, one of these channels just became much more difficult to use.
In the case of the millennial generation, mobile is the most common means of connecting to the web. The most effective way for advertisers to generate the budgets to target these audiences is to track their behavior. Advertisers will now need to adjust to the new reality that Enhanced Campaigns presents and find new and novel ways to build these relationships.
If you believe Google is correct, that in the future everyone's Internet experience should be a mobile experience, then Wednesday's move is absolutely brilliant. The question is: Is the market ready? Absolutely not, which is why I expect Google to backpedal lightly on some of these changes to make the transition easier.