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Floods, Cyclones, Earthquakes and Avalanches
I have been in Australia and New Zealand for the past two weeks – I am in Sydney right now. The first week was a workshop at Gold Coast in Australia. This workshop was to have been held in Brisbane, but floods reached the second floor of the hotel where the workshop was to be held. Consequently, the meeting was relocated to Gold Coast. However, a Level 5 Cyclone also threatened this location shortly after the flood. Fortunately, the cyclone passed through much farther north and additional changes were not needed.
After the workshop, my long-time friend Ken and I headed to New Zealand for a week of hiking and sightseeing. We spent February 19-20 in Christchurch and then headed west to Mt. Cook and the Tasman Glacier. On February 22 we arrived in Cromwell to learn that there had been a 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch at roughly 1:00PM that day. The next day we learned that there had been an avalanche on the Tasman Glacier, less than 24 hours after we had been there. It was attributed to the earthquake.
This sequence of natural events in Australia and New Zealand show how change can be forced by nature rather than markets, politics and so on. Brisbane and Christchurch will need to do much rebuilding. There will be new buildings and infrastructure. This will require money, of course, but will also create opportunity. This is not the type of "creative destruction" that Schumpeter had in mind, but it will prompt construction that is more resistant to floods and earthquakes.
There is, however, another type of legacy. The mood in New Zealand is quite somber. Two earthquakes in six months have many people thinking about whether they want to rebuild their lives, not just their homes, in Christchurch. In Wellington yesterday, I heard of many people migrating to the North Island, saying they could not bring themselves to stay in Christchurch. Thus, the near-term impacts of change can be quite negative despite the prospects of long-term benefits from successfully addressing the change. This pattern is quite common.


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Updated 3:18 p.m. ET, 11/5/13
Washington (CNN) - President Obama continues to alter his signature promise in selling the Affordable Care Act back in 2009 and 2010.
"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan," he said back then.
But that simple pledge has had to change as the Affordable Care Act has been implemented and a small percentage of Americans, albeit millions of people, have received cancellation notices from their insurance companies. And for the second time in two weeks, he's tweaked the line.
Debunking 4 Obamacare myths: Both sides get it wrong
When President Obama spoke Monday night to a group of supporters, he said: "While virtually every insurer is offering new, better plans and competing for these folks' business, I realize that can be scary for people if you just get some notice like that."
"If you had or have one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really like that plan, what we said was, you could keep it if hasn't changed since the law's passed," added Obama.
"You're grandfathered in," although he again noted insurance companies had the power to change it themselves.
CNN White House Senior Correspondent Jim Acosta asked White House Spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday if the president could go back, would he "use the same words again" and promise Americans they could keep their plans?
"Well, the president, as awesomely powerful as the office is, can't go back in time," Carney said. "And what the president is focused on is what we are all focused on which is getting this right for the American people."
Obama 'can't go back' and change Obamacare
"It is on us," Carney later added. "Let me be clear, I'm not – I am embracing the responsibility that the administration and that everyone involved in the market place has, to make sure that those individuals are getting the information that they need."
The President made his comments Monday in an address to Organizing for Action, the pro-Obama group formed from the President's 2012 re-election campaign.
Even though some people are getting kicked off existing plans, Obama has argued they're probably going to get a better deal.
"Now, insurers are offering these new options, and they don't just want to keep their current policyholders; they want to cover the uninsured, too," he told supporters.
"And because of the competition between insurers, and the new health care tax credits, most people will be able to buy better plans for the same price or even cheaper than what they've gotten before. Now, some Americans with higher incomes will pay more on the front end for better insurance with better benefits and better protections that could eventually help them a lot, even if right now they'd rather be paying less."
He made similar points at a health care event in Boston last Wednesday.
6 things presidents wished they hadn't said
The new line is a far cry from the shorter, bumper sticker ready pledge he made as he sought to calm nerves that health insurance reform would not ruin plans that Americans liked and were comfortable with even though many of those plans didn't cover things like prescription drugs, hospital stays or maternity care.
It wasn't a one off back in 2009 and 2010 and even later during his 2012 re-election campaign. New York Magazine put together a montage of the very many iterations of it.
But it turns out the president didn't have the power to make that pledge. As insurance companies upgrade plans to comply with new Obamacare coverage rules, they are dropping plans for potentially millions of Americans who buy their insurance on the individual health insurance market.
Insurance companies appear to be doing this for a variety of reasons; some are pulling all their plans from certain states where they have fewer subscribers in order to save money, others seem to be.
Insurers send cancellation notices
Back in 2009, as a White House correspondent for ABC, CNN's Jake Tapper challenged the president on his promise. And even back then, there appeared to be an asterisk.
"Well, no, no, I mean – when I say if you have your plan and you like it and your doctor has a plan, or you have a doctor and you like your doctor that you don't have to change plans, what I'm saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform," Obama replied.
Ah ... the government is not going to make you change plans. Though the government might impose a situation that would cause a change of plans. So the promise was never quite as presented. And yet the president kept presenting it that way.
But that caveat didn't make it into the subsequent campaign speeches that featured the line.
The cancellations will not affect most Americans, but they could hurt public support for the law. Just 17% of Americans said they'll be better off under the law, but 41% said it won't have much of an effect on them, according to a CNN/ORC International poll conducted in late September, just before the HealthCare.gov website went live. At that time four in ten said they would be worse off under the law.
Those numbers are similar to a Gallup poll conducted just over a week ago, in which 36% of Americans said they didn't think that in the long run the Affordable Care Act would make much of a difference to their family's health care situation. Just over a third said the health care law would make matters worse, and one in four said that Obamacare would make things better.
Rollout of the exchange websites that are supposed to allow Americans without insurance to shop from a selection of plans side-by-side has been troubled, to say the least. The website has been plagued by glitches, crashes, and is currently the subject of a Congressional investigation.
Frustration with the law and the changes it causes in the health insurance landscape could be temporary growing pains as Americans get used to the reforms. But the frustration is likely to outlast problems with the website as Americans focus more on the cost of plans offered under Obamacare and on the choices available.
CNN reported Monday on notes from an Obama administration "war room" meeting where officials expressed concern that once Americans had access to more information about the plans available, they might experience sticker shock.
An architect of the Affordable Care Act, MIT professor Jonathan Gruber, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer recently that most Americans will benefit from the law as it stabilizes the insurance market, fosters competition and guarantees coverage for almost all Americans.
Most Americans get insurance from either the government or their employer and won't be affected much by the law, he said.
"About 5 to 6 percent get it on their and some of them will pay more, the young and health and not poor will pay more to get their health insurance. It's a lot of people, but its small relative to the people who are going to gain and very small relative to the people who aren't affected," added Gruber.
But he also ceded that there will be winners and losers as the law is implemented. Some people will pay more and be forced to change their insurance. That's a small percentage of the country, but a large number of people.
"Very very few people have to pay more and not get better insurance. That's a very small fraction," said Gruber. "Most of the people who will have to pay more will get better insurance than what they had before."
–CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Millions of people and families are losing their health insurance and facing premium increases if they what Obama's version of "Better Insurance" Obama lies. Period. All the spin won't change that. It is amazing that some on this site are still trying to blame someone else for this mess. Sure, Insurance companies are changing. They have to in order to make a profit. Like it or not, insurance is a business and business's are supposed to make a profit. Before Obamacare, 89 cents of every dollar when into paying claims. Insurance made their money on insuring millions of people. That's what a business does. Obama and his gang are supposed to know what is in Obamacare and they are either to incompetent to figure out their own law or to dishonest to tell the truth. So for all of you left that are still worshiping your messiah, then count yourself as part of the dwindling few. Like it or not, Obama is nothing more than a conman and a liar and as the nickname of the ACA says. This is Obama's law and it was and is Obama's lies
I've only said this about one other President in my adult life. I called Richard Nixon a liar. I am now calling President Obama a liar. That is all.
I'm on Medicare – so I really haven't paid too much attention to the debate on Obamacare. What I've seen, however, is my son's/daughter's health care cost go up over the past several years and the coverage they get for their money go down. Health insurance for all is a great idea – if it is fiscally feasible. I fully support health care for children regardless of ability to pay – but, I have a problem when the gov sticks their fingers into things that are none of their business. I love the analogy of the wagon – we have folks in the wagon and we have folks pulling the wagon. Currently, there are more folks pulling than riding, so the system works. What happens, however, when those in the wagon outnumber those pulling? That is, when those pulling their weight realize it's easier to just give up and join those taking advantage of entitlement programs. You voted for the Democrats so you've bought into their game – all those folks riding in the wagon will keep them in office.
What I find funny is that I am a sixty year old woman who has to pay prenatal care. All old insurance programs are not going to be obamacare compliant because the dont have the "minimum standards". ie. The prenatal care that I have no need or desire to have.

subset: commoncrawl


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Today's News: Our Take - Paul Walker's Family Planning a Private Funeral
Paul Walker's family is planning a private funeral for the actor, People reports. The coroner released his body to Forest Lawn Mortuaries on Tuesday.
Man arrested for stealing debris from Paul Walker's crash scene
Walker, 40, and his friend Roger Rodas died last month in a fiery car accident in Santa Clarita, Calif., when the Porsche Carrera GT they were in crashed into a tree and a light pole. The two were attending an event for Walker's charity, Reach Out Worldwide, which was raising money for those affected by the recent typhoon in the Philippines.
Autopsy results revealed Walker died from the effects of traumatic and thermal injuries and Rodas from multiple traumatic injuries suffered upon impact. A memorial for the Fast and Furious actor over the weekend drew thousands of fans.
Universal plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from Fast & Furious 6's DVD and Blu-ray sales to Walker's charity. Production on Fast & Furious 7, which Walker was filming at the time of his death, is currently on hold.
View original Paul Walker's Family Planning a Private Funeral at TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


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RangeRoller - your massage solution for pain:


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Some say the human body is a miracle, the epitome of creation. I would argue against this. Upon further review, the human body can be downright disgusting. (opens in new tab)
My body betrays me during intense moments on the spot, such as first dates or fancy nights out. Here is a list of the ways my body betrays me and makes me look disgusting to my date:
Constant Nose Running
Nose running is intensified by hot/spicy food (opens in new tab) or cold weather. It's really tough when you're at a nice restaurant where they only give you those fabric napkins. I can get away with blowing my nose on paper, but blowing a snot wad into one of those fabric napkins is pretty foul. Another volatile thing about a runny nose is if the snot is thin it runs fast, and sometimes falls off before I even get a chance to stop it. Even if I can get to the bathroom, and do my best cleaning
job, sometimes there is crusty residue or "bats in the cave". I actually feel a little less awkward when my date just points out my boogers. At that point, the gloves are off and it's all out in the open.
The night of my senior prom, I was on the phone with my buddy and together we counted out our licks of deodorant together: one, two, three...all the way to thirty. Thirty licks of deodorant for prom night! Body odor does not usually plague me but I fear it. If I ever smelled body odor emanating from under my clothes, I'd just shut down the date and head home. Lately, also, I've been getting puddles under my pits. When this is happening, I just sit there like I'm in a straight jacket. I've been testing out different deodorants lately because I can't even handle one drop of sweat under there-it freaks me out.
Why do I insist on eating garlic earlier in the day before my dates? It must be some sort of self-sabotage (opens in new tab) because garlic takes about 24 hours to exit from every pore in my body and get off my breath. There are certain things out there that you can eat that don't respond to toothpaste and mouthwash and they just leave your breath on their own time.
Dry Skin
The other day I was sitting in my boss' office, and the whole time I was leaning down and scratching the hell out of my leg. He finally stopped me and asked me what the problem was. When I get dry skin, I look like I have fleas and I just can't stop scratching-not a very attractive thing to do on a date.
Gastrointestinal Drama
I am one of the most nervous and defensive crappers in the world. For this reason, there are only a handful of bathrooms that I feel comfortable crapping in. The only public restrooms I'll use are in my office. Every other bathroom has to be some residence. One time I was out with some friends and begged my friend to use her apartment to crap-she lived across the street. So, if I'm on a date and I have to go, I'll either find a way to go home or just not do it and suffer through it. Luckily, I have practice-I once held it from Tampa to Baltimore driving-about 20 hours, when I was little. Another drama that takes place in my stomach is gas, which somehow seems to rear its ugly head every time I'm doing something important. I never fart in public. I have fears of everyone pointing at me and accusing me. (opens in new tab) Holding it does make me uncomfortable during a date as I'm sitting there, bloated not giving the gas anywhere to go.
Spraying It
I usually don't do this, but when I'm drunk sometimes I spray it instead of saying it. Luckily, when I'm nervous, my mouth is a bit dry and there's not much spit to spray. The worst is when food particles fly out during dinner. Again, one of these things that your date should just call out and laugh at. Covering it up is just as awkward as the act of spraying!
Most of this stuff is manageable with proper maintenance and preparation. Of course, there are always emergencies. What kind of body betrayals do you go through, and have you had any horror stories happen? Have you been on any dates where the guy's body betrayed him?
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Once the unpleasantness at Hiroshima and Nagasaki had had a little time to recede, America discovered that "the atom" wasn't all bad. The bomb, yes—it was terrifying, as terrifying as a hundred 9/11s. American children got the wits scared out of them at school by being made to prepare for Armageddon by ducking, covering, and shutting their eyes tight lest the fireball melt them. Grownups were nervous, too, especially after 1949, when Stalin got his bomb. But in December of 1953 President Eisenhower went before the United Nations General Assembly to tell all mankind that the mushroom cloud had a silver lining. His plan, dubbed Atoms for Peace, promised "abundant electrical energy" for everyone.
Who could doubt that shining vision? Certainly not Lewis Strauss, Ike's chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, who predicted that nuclear technology would guarantee that "our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter." Not Walt Disney, whose "Our Friend the Atom," featuring a cartoon genie, entertained millions of schoolchildren fresh from ducking and covering. More surprising, in light of subsequent developments, Students for a Democratic Society, the paradigmatic organization of the new student left, had no doubts, either. S.D.S.'s founding document, the Port Huron Statement, issued in 1962, fretted at length about the Bomb. But among its Rousseauian "blueprints of civic paradise" was this:
The happy consensus did not last long. It was already breaking down by the nineteen-seventies, and by the late eighties it was gone, obliterated by the accidents at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979 (where no one was killed), and at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986 (which caused thousands of deaths). But the giant anti-nuclear demonstrations of the time, in Europe and America, were fuelled at least as much by fear of nuclear war as by fear of nuclear reactors. Doctrinal lines hardened; the fight over nuclear power became a fight between doves and hawks as much as between greens and scorners of tree-hugging. The subtext of "No Nukes" was arms control and peaceful coexistence; that of more nukes was missiles and confrontation with the Soviet Union.
During the nineties, the controversy cooled down. Chernobyl had taken the wind out of the pro-nuke sails; in many countries, the building of new nuclear power plants went on sabbatical. The end of the Cold War—and, with it, the abating of the fear of global nuclear annihilation, on one side of the nuclear-power debate, and of Soviet expansionism, on the other—drained much of the passion out of both. Then, inconveniently for the world but conveniently for the nuclear-power industry, a new truth intruded. Nuclear winter was over, but global warming was here, and the ideological categories got thoroughly scrambled.
There has always been something intuitively disproportionate about nuclear power plants, which, like coal-fired ones, use steam turbines to generate electricity. Converting mass to energy by atomic fission in order to achieve temperatures normally found only on the surface of stars like the sun and then using that extraterrestrial heat to boil water—well, it smacks of (to borrow a term from the nuclear dark side) overkill. To be fair, boiling water by burning black rocks made of petrified vegetable matter from the age of the dinosaurs is a little strange, too. And nuclear power plants have one great advantage over the fossil-fuel kind: they do not emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is hastening the world toward climatic disruption and disaster.
President Obama, in his State of the Union address, after talking up innovations in battery technology and solar panels, said, "To create more of these clean-energy jobs we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country." Last month, he backed that up with a federal loan guarantee of $8.3 billion to build two new reactors near Waynesboro, Georgia. And in his budget request for 2011 he has asked for $46 billion more. The applause for his State of the Union line was louder on the Republican side of the aisle than on the Democratic, and his words and actions have prompted loud grumbling from environmental organizations. But global warming has punched some holes in the green wall. Such founding fathers of the environmental movement as Stewart Brand, the creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, and Patrick Moore, an early stalwart of Greenpeace, now support nukes. James Hansen, the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a climate-change prophet, favors the so-called fourth-generation nuclear systems, which would substantially reduce the amount of nuclear waste. Hans Blix, the former U.N. chief weapons inspector, is another supporter. So, within limits, are liberal senators like John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. And so is President Obama.
"We were hopeful last year—he was saying all the right things," Erich Pica, the president of Friends of the Earth, said after Obama's loan-guarantee announcement. "But now he has become a full-blown nuclear-power proponent—a startling change over the past few months." Actually, Obama has been a nuclear-power proponent ever since he was a state legislator, but in the context of an energy regime that underwrites conservation, promotes renewables like wind and solar, and, crucially, puts a price on carbon. Nuclear power plants are unbelievably expensive to build, but once they are up and running the electricity they generate is cheap to produce. In the United States, coal plants (there are six hundred of them, as against a hundred nuclear ones) get a kind of subsidy, too, and it's huge: the right to dispose of their most dangerous waste by sending it up the chimney, free of charge. And these plants—which, according to one estimate, cause twenty-four thousand premature deaths every year—could help trigger a worldwide "accident" far bigger than a Three Mile Island or even a Chernobyl: catastrophic, irreversible climate change.
Last June, the House of Representatives passed Obama's cap-and-trade energy bill, which could finally begin to mobilize the market to clamp down on carbon emissions. Naturally, the bill is stalled in the sixty-vote Senate. The nuclear industry is one whose record for safety and transparency is very far from spotless, and reviving it will require, besides big spending, nanny-state levels of government regulation. Republicans love it anyway—perhaps because it annoys environmentalists, perhaps on its merits. But they don't love it as much as they hate taxes, which is how they view cap-and-trade. Obama's willingness to give nukes a chance won't win him many of their votes. "It won't cause Republicans to support the national energy tax," a spokesman for Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, said. But it might win over a few of those among them who don't hate taxes (and science) enough to dismiss global warming as an elaborate hoax. Carl Pope, the executive chairman of the Sierra Club, has said that Obama's nods to nuclear "may ease the politics around comprehensive clean-energy and climate legislation, but we do not believe that they are the best policy." But the best, as often happens in our sclerotic political system, may not be among the available choices. As we stumble our way toward an acceptable approach to energy and climate change, the merely good might be the best that we can get. ♦


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The FCC's ruined the surprise for the Roku 2, and now beta tester photos are landing. Super! The Roku 2 looks a lot like every other Roku—and isn't much of a change inside. But it'll play Angry Birds!
The three new models are pretty similar—all pack the same Wireless-N WiFi chip, expandable storage via MicroSD, a frame about the size of an Apple TV, and—ta da—Bluetooth, which will likely fuel whatever the hell it is we play Angry Birds with. The top two models push 1080p, with the lesser of the three stuck at 720p.
Other than that... there isn't really much broken ground here. The addition of a reset button is nice for software hiccups, and the fact that only the highest-end box will have ethernet might bother some, but really, this looks a lot like the Roku you might own or be planning to buy now. [Engadget via Zatz Not Funny]


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"Are you such a good dog? Can my sweet girl wag her tail!" It's lovely to see a dog respond to these questions with a great big tail wag. It's even more charming if she can take it a step further by performing one of my all time favorite behaviors. Here's a description of the next step.
The person continues by saying, "Now listen very carefully because instead of wagging your whole tail, I want you to wag just the white part." When the dog wags just the white part at the tip of her tail, it's a real crowd pleaser.
Of course, this particular format of the trick requires that the dog's tail is white at the tip only, and that is only true of some dogs. For dogs whose tail has no white at the end, you need to change your phrasing, perhaps saying, "Wag just the tip" or "Now just give me a little wag" but the dog's behavior is the same.
It is possible to train a dog to wag her tail in response to the cue "Wag your tail" and to wag only the tip of the tail when she hears, "Just the white part." However, some dogs will perform the behavior you want without really being trained to do so. The secret is in the enthusiasm of the person's voice. When you say something along the lines of "Are you such a good dog? Can my sweet girl wag her tail!", you need to say it in the overly exuberant manner that we all have when praising or greeting our dogs. It's that enthusiasm that is going to make your dog wag her tail whether she's been trained to do it on cue or not.
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Then, to elicit the small, just-the-tip tail wag, you completely change your tone of voice, becoming very serious and talking more slowly, quietly and slightly deeper. So, when you say, "Now listen very carefully because instead of wagging your whole tail, I want you to wag just the white part", the key is not what you say, but how you say it. Many dogs will respond to the change in your energy level by dialing back their tail wag to a less lively one, and for dogs with a white-tipped tail, that makes it look like they are cleverly responding to your instructions to wag only the white part.
Some dogs reliably do this the first time and every time, but in other cases, it takes some trial and error to figure out exactly what tone of voice and level of enthusiasm prompt the dog to exhibit the right amount of tail wagging for each part of this trick.
How does your dog's tail respond when you vary your tone of voice and level of enthusiasm? Do you have a wag-the-white-part (or a wag-just-the-tip) dog?


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Thats excellent service. Thanks for changing the diamonds to rounds. Im sharing on Facebook and recommending you to anyone I know in the body mod business. Once again thank you for a great service. Regards Simon.


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For about 5 seconds last night, the bottom of the seventh in the Indians-Rays game was over. Tampa Bay was trotting into the dugout after getting the benefit of a blown call on a bobbled ball at first by Carlos Pena. Then something crazy happened.
Manny Acta ran out to complain because, normally, complain is the only thing a manager can do at that point. But first base umpire Jerry Meals—now stay with me because this is seriously insane—consulted his fellow umpires and they overturned the call. In, like, two seconds. Cooperstown did not explode. Honus Wagner is not spinning in his grave. Murray Chass may have farted, that's it.


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In the increasingly competitive cloud IaaS market Google is attempting to distinguish its platform by arming its cloud with unique features and cutting-edge technology that customers can't quite find anywhere else in the market.
With competition amoung Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google being as intense as ever, Google is attempting to distinguish its cloud offering by appealing directly to developers. "We're not focusing on the way cloud has been done, but instead we're focusing on how Google thinks it will evolve over the next five to 10 years," said Dan Blecher, a product manager on the Google Cloud Platform at one of the company's 17-stop Google Cloud Platform Roadshow events being held around the country - last week's was in Boston.
Here are three features Google highlighted last week at the event that seems not only to be cool features of the company's cloud, but fairly unique in the industry:
Managed VMs
There's been a lot of talk in the cloud computing market about the infrastructure and platform as a service markets converging. To be clear: Infrastructure (IaaS) is basically just raw compute and storage capacity, which users can customize with a variety of guest operating systems and applications running on top of it. A platform (PaaS) offering usually comes with an OS and other applications already built into it, making it an ideal environment for application development in the cloud.
Google says customers shouldn't have to decide between IaaS and PaaS though. Some use cases may require customization of the infrastructure, which is where the company's Google Compute Engine IaaS comes in. Other use cases may call for a development environment being ready, which is what Google Application Engine PaaS is for. But to bridge the gap between these services, Google has introduced the idea of Managed VMs.
Managed VMs are sort of an in-between IaaS and PaaS service. They can be programmed to boot up with a specific guest OS, with specific applications ready to go and they can be changed on the fly. The Managed VM service will check to ensure that all the virtual machines are configured to the correct specifications, and it will conduct any necessary upgrades during the life of the VM.
A tool like Managed VMs gives developers, and specifically someone who manages a team of developers the ability to create virtual machine types that are customized to their specific use case. Managed VMs are still in limited preview, but more information about them is here.
Replica Pools
Another nifty trick Google uses is named Replica Pools. It's similar to the idea of Managed VMs, but Replica Pools take it a step further and allow a user to make copies of existing virtual machine automatically. It's basically a copy and paste button for VMs.
Google offers this through manual settings through a UI, or through an application programming interface (API), meaning that users can create templates and have VMs automatically spun up at the same time with specific qualities. For developers who may be working with lots of VMs and need many copies of them, this can be a great tool. Replica Pools are also in limited availability, but more information about them can be found here.
Google is embarcing all types fo technology beyond the VM though. Specifically, the company uses a lot of containers. According to Julia Ferraioli, a developer advocate at Google - almost all of the company's products, including search, Gmail and its cloud services, all heavily use containers. She says the company creates more than 2 billion containers every week.
For background, containers can be thought of as an operating-system level virtualization. Whereas a virtual machine slices up a server into multiple operating systems, containers take it one step further and slice up an OS into multiple parts, allowing many different "containerized" applications to run on top of a single OS. Multiple containers therefore can run on top of a virtual machine and because they are in a container, they can move from VM to VM. Containers have captured a lot of buzz in the market recently for their promise of portability and agility.
To manage all its containers, Google uses a platform named Kubernetes, which the company has open sourced. It's a management framework that helps schedule how containers are created and used. Already companies like Red Hat, Docker and IBM have signed on to support it. Using Kubernetes, many containers can be managed across multiple virtual machines, allowing applications to be spun up and down automatically and transferred across various VMs. Within Google's cloud the company has even designated a set of its virtual machines to be optimized for running containers that can be managed using Kubernetes.
Like the other projects mentioned here, Kubernetes is also in limited preview, but the fact that Google is open sourcing this project shows that it wants to be a big player in the Docker community of containers.
As the race between cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google continues to heat up, Google appears to be carving out a strategy to release unique features to its cloud that are born out of the company's own use of its infrastructure, and make those available to users. The goal is to appeal to savvy developers in a way that Amazon and Microsoft are not. Combined with other innovative features like pay-by-the-hour pricing, discounts being applied based on the volume of resources being used and a Cloud Debugger tool, Google is looking to use its technological-prowess to take on the giants of this industry.


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@aus_teach *Actually* crying with laughter, at Melbourne Coffee Morning courtesy of @mikecoulter #edcm @heyjudeonline #inf536
— Ewan McIntosh (@ewanmcintosh) September 14, 2014
Just when you think academic life is getting boring, along comes another opportunity to play nicely with friends! In this case, my most excellent colleague Ewan McIntosh is in the middle of working with a good bunch of lucky students who are busy in our new subject Designing Spaces for Learning, which is part of our in our fab new degree in 2014 Master of Education (Knowledge Networks & Digital Innovation).
This needs more than just a tick for a subject completed! This is why! This is what has happened!
We've got a badge! But we need to tell the story of the context and why we have the badge first!
Ewan masterminded the writing of the subject to fit the profile of our degree, and the students are encountering challenges almost on a daily basis. Together we have been pushing the boundaries in traditional academic processes, and assessments. The most recently completed task (no marks, just challenges – that's different!) has been a creative coffee morning experience.
In fact students were challenged to undertake a coffee morning, afternoon, evening beer, meeting the criteria of the task.
This assessment is undertaken in three parts:
- The creation and undertaking of a Creative Coffee Morning in your community.
- The online publication of photos, video, a Twitter hashtag archive, Storify and/or blog post which shows the activity that occurred during your Creative Coffee Morning.
- After completing your own task, you must provide kind, specific and useful feedback on at least three of your subject.
The upshot has been a wide range of activities, in a variety of settings. But I'm sharing here the Storify #INF536 Creative Coffee Morning: A meeting of creatives to discuss creativity, design, design thinking and the design of learning spaces, of an event that took place in Melbourne, because I was very lucky to be able to attend!
You get the drift?
This degree and this subject is not your regular experience, even though it does get structured around the traditional framework of an online degree. It's new, and because it's new, we wanted to see what else we could do. Some of our students are also just doing this subject, as 'single subject study' and others are here for the long haul of getting a fab new degree. So why not do more??
Charles Sturt University (CSU) has seen the potential for digital badges and are running an innovation project involving a number of faculty pilots in 2014. The benefit of digital badges for the Earner is that they can profile themselves online through displaying their badges and highlighting their most recent and relevant continuing education and professional development achievements. So in our case, the Faculty of Education, has partnered with the global leader and CEO of NoTosh, Ewan McIntosh (expert and international keynote speaker on innovation, design thinking and creativity) to offer a digital badge in Designing Spaces for Learning. This badge recognises the successful demonstration of an earner's ability to design spaces for learning through engaging in theory and collaborative practice, and fits beautifully into the participatory intentions of the Master of Education (Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation).
I hope that this will be the first of many digital badges that will be offered, but for now we can learn from our experience of designing and issuing a badge, and improve on this for our next offering.
Experimentation with digital badges is gaining momentum across Australian universities with various trials and projects being announced including Curtin University's Curtin Badges and Deakin University's Deakin Digital.
I'm excited to be involved in actualising digital badging at CSU with NoTosh!
We've been connected online since a TeachMeet in Glasgow on the 20th of September 2006 (Judy beaming in via Skype at 2am). By the way, did you know that TeachMeets were conceived in the summer of 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland, under the name "ScotEduBlogs Meetup. The new name TeachMeet was created by Ewan McIntosh and agreed upon by the attendees of the first event. The 2nd Edition was held in Glasgow on the 20th of September 2006.
Want to join us in 2015 for this subject, or in the whole program – you'll find that enrollments are open for March. Come join us 🙂


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"Israeli Snipers Murder 17, wound dozens of Trapped Refugee Protesters at Gaza Border" (Cole). This is shockingly good, if a little vague on the emigration of the Khazars to Europe.
"This is The March of Return" (Atzmon). To be fair to EI, it did eventually get around to covering it. You have to feel for the EI editors, who might have to forgo a spot in a Khazar 'peace' conference at a cushy hotel if they push the truth too much.
A massacre described by the Khazar-controlled media as 'clashes', with the implication that it is some kind of fair fight. This massacre, and spin, is exactly the kind of thing that symbolizes why nobody else has ever been successfully able to live with the Khazars. Ever. In a world where Dershowitz manages to convince people that it unfair, and an example of traditional 'anti-Semitism', to 'single out' Israel, it is stunning that the Khazars, alone amongst all the monsters of the world, can get away with this kind of obscene target practice.
Ha!: "Tamimi verdict divides opinion".
"MBS feted in the US despite war atrocities in Yemen" (Escobar): "multi-million-dollar post-truth public relations". Lots of content - you simply can't overstate the evil of the Saudis and their neck-preserving manipulation of Islam.
"Escobar: China Taking The Long Road To Solve The Petro-Yuan Puzzle". "The Geo-Political Poker Game: Where's the 'Off-Ramp'? by Alastair Crooke" (Crooke). We're at the point where the Chinese, Russians and other sane people are treating the American Empire, and its pathetic lapdogs like May and Johnson, like a psychological problem in a juvenile delinquent that needs to be managed.
"Cambridge Analytica scandal 'a gross violation,' Ottawa data firm's CEO says":
"Erin Kelly, CEO of Ottawa's Advanced Symbolics Inc., said she heard of Cambridge Analytica's self-marketing well before the scandal erupted.It is funny that unwarranted CA puffery and boasting landed them in this mess.
"We've had quite a few customers approach us over the last 18 months sending us stuff on Cambridge Analytica and asking can we do something like Cambridge Analytica," Kelly said on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.
"We have been telling our customers for 18 months, if you go down this route you are going to regret it in the future because we feel they are a gross violation of privacy."
Britain's information commissioner is investigating whether Cambridge Analytica improperly used personal data to target voters with ads and political messages during the 2016 presidential election.
But Kelly said there's no proof the company influenced the election, and believes the claim could be a marketing strategy that backfired.
"There is no evidence to support that claim, [and] as far as we are concerned that's marketing for Cambridge Analytica," said Kelly. "They have never once commissioned a study to prove that they were instrumental in getting Trump elected, and it is very [easily] provable."
Kelly said the central issue is the privacy violation of taking the personal information, regardless of whether the election was influenced.
"They still violated people's personal privacy, and that still needs to be addressed regardless," she said. "Knowing that someone has your file, that is still a gross violation.""
Greenwald tweets on McCabe's obscene GoFundMe!


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During 2012, we spent more than £1 billion on digital downloads of music, video and games meaning that digital formats now make up a quarter of the entertainment market.
Spending on digital files was up 11.4 per cent last year, according to the Entertainment Retailers Association's (ERA) estimations, with physical sales dropping 17.6 per cent over the Olympic year.
This may not come as a surprise to anyone who invested in a smartphone or tablet in 2012, and populated it with music, films and games for listening, watching and playing on the move.
Game changers
The gaming community has most readily embraced the digital format, with over half of digital sales going on video games, from MMO's like World of Warcraft, to social games on Facebook and console downloads.
Although films and videos are the least popular of the downloadables, they were up 20 per cent in 2012, with music, the most mature, also up 15 per cent.
It's not all sunshine and lollipops for denizens of digital downloads though - despite the increases in the intangible sales, physical formats (CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays etc) still account for 75 per cent of entertainment sales - and the whole market contracted by 12 per cent over the course of the year anyway.
The stats are by no means pin-point accurate though, as they're cobbled together from the Official Charts Company, the GfK Chart-Tracker and the IHS Screen Digest's informed estimates - what's more, they don't account for other digital services like streaming options (Netflix, Lovefilm, Spotify, We7).
Despite this, two things seem sure: 1. Downloads are on the up and 2. rumours of the death of physical media have been greatly exegerrated.
As the ERA's director general Kim Bayley puts it, CDs, DVDs and gaming discs show "incredible resilience".
"It is nearly nine years since iTunes launched in the UK yet over 60% of music sales are still accounted for by physical formats. It is clearly way too soon to write off the CD and in video, digital barely gets a look in."
No word on whether or not these stats take the hipster market into account - the stats breakdown sadly didn't outline VHS, Laserdisc, vinyl and NES game sales.


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Denison University
- Share:
As one of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges, Denison University boasts generations of students who can attest to its effect on their lives. Each would cite a different reason. And they'd all be right, because Denison's liberal arts tradition and residential community create a college of endless personal possibilities.


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Thomas Bernhard
Photo: © Andrey Reiser
About the Author
Thomas Bernhard was born in Holland in 1931 and grew up in Austria. He studied music at the Akademie Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 1957 he began a second career, as a playwright, poet, and novelist. The winner of the three most distinguished and coveted literary prizes awarded in Germany, he has become one of the most widely translated and admired writers of his generation. He published nine novels, an autobiography, one volume of poetry, four collections of short stories, and six volumes of plays. Thomas Bernhard died in Austria in 1989.


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Last night I finally decided to cook something, my poor husband has been eating out or having popcorn for dinner quite a bit lately. However, I didn't have a lot of time and I wanted to use up some of the stuff that's been in our pantry awhile so I came up with this...
(Excuse the iPhone picture please)
Rotini with Ground Turkey:
(Makes 4 large servings)
- 3/4 box of whole wheat rotini or other short pasta
- 12 oz of lean ground turkey
- 1 jar of roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 1/2 jar of marinara sauce
- 1/4 cup of red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
- Approximately 1 T. of minced garlic
- Crushed red pepper flakes to taste (I use about 1 tsp.)
- Approximately 2 T. of fresh oregano
- Approximately 4 T. of grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet over med-high heat. At the same time, start the water for the pasta. When the meat is mostly cooked, add the onion and garlic, when the onions are translucent, add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and let simmer. When most of the liquid is cooked off, add the roasted red peppers and marinara sauce. Meanwhile, add salt to the boiling water for the pasta and cook 8-10 minutes, drain. Add the drained pasta to the meat sauce and toss together. Let simmer another couple of minutes for flavors to combine. Top each serving with some oregano and cheese. Enjoy!


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The all father has vanished, creating an opening in the pantheon. To fill the void,
Demigods from across from the mortal world must wage war against one another in
a bid to ascend to true godhood.
Demigod is a real-time, tactical strategy game that includes extensive role-playing
elements. Choose from several Demigods, each poised for battle with their own unique
capabilities and awe-inspiring powers. Vanquish other would-be gods as you gain
levels, increase in power, unlock the power of mystic artifacts and slowly battle
your way closer to joining the Pantheon.
Get 10% off when you buy direct from us. You'll get a Steam key to add to your library and can start playing right away!
"With skirmishes designed to last minutes instead of hours, persistent multiplayer
tournaments that have light and dark factions amassing points over time, and an
upgrade system that gives you a surprising amount of flexibility on the battlefield,
Demigod is a refreshing change of pace from the traditional RTS model. "
Stardock Magazine
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Stardock Entertainment and Gas Powered Games. Demigod is a registered trademark of Stardock. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the properties of their respective owners. Windows, the Windows Vista Start button and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and 'Games for Windows' and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft. ©
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.


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Alexis Welch Gladiator Heels
Alexis Welch added a touch of sexiness to her look with a pair of black gladiator heels.
Alexis Welch Cocktail Dress
Alexis Welch went for modern sophistication in a tricolor cocktail dress during the Fashion Fund finalists celebration.
Browse: Alexis Welch | Gladiator Heels | Cocktail Dress
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Kurt DelBene says that the software giant's push into services will lead to more and more customers opting for subscriptions to its productivity application. But the transition from buying software to renting it will take as long as a decade.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer insists the software giant is really a devices and services company.
Today, the company makes one of its biggest pushes yet, launching a subscription service of its Office franchise to consumers who are increasingly doing their computing on mobile gadgets and Web applications. The software giant debuts Office 365 Home Premium, the latest offering from its widely used productivity software group.
The new service, which costs $99.99 a year, offers consumers access to the most recent version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access. The license covers up to five devices and includes 20GB of Web storage on its SkyDrive service, as well as 60 minutes of free calls to mobile phones and landlines worldwide using Skype.
Kurt DelBene, the president of Microsoft Office Division, recognizes that it will take years to get all of Microsoft's customers buying subscriptions. After all, many are satisfied with the versions of Office they already own on their PCs. But he also believes that eventually, every customer will get their applications through subscriptions because it's easier to manage, allows for automatic upgrades, and gives customers flexibility to use the software on any device.
"We think in 10 years, almost all of our customers will be purchasing our software via subscription," DelBene said.
Microsoft also faces growing competition from Google Apps, the search giant's Web-based productivity software, and a raft of niche applications from much smaller rivals.
DelBene spoke with CNET prior to today's launch. Below is an edited transcript of that conversation.
Question: Who do you think the kind of core customers are for the new product?
DelBene: I think families. You can use Office on up to five devices. So if you think about for a family where the parents as well as the children are using it, it's kind of a no-brainer for the economics for those families. The other thing is it crosses over both PCs and Macs. And so if you have a mixture of devices or PCs in your household, it will work there as well.
The second thing I would say is (that) one investment area that's been very important for us is the consumerization of IT and how people work -- the blending of your home life and your work life. So one investment we made, which was very central to the product's inspiration from the beginning, is for it to be cloud-connected at all times. We anticipate that means people storing all their documents in the cloud. With the subscription, we'll triple the amount of cloud storage that you have, to really realize the vision of content moving with (users) wherever they are.
We also made a investment in Skype and are really bullish about integrating that into Office. We're pairing 60 minutes of calling (using) Skype as part of your Office 365 subscription.
It's interesting you talk about families. As a consumer with a family I feel like I'm getting close to being "subscriptioned out." How do you convince families to decide that it's a good idea to part with a hundred bucks a year for this?
DelBene: We did not just ship the subscription version of the product, we also have the traditional perpetual version of the product. We want to give people choice. We're bullish about the subscription, but in no means is (it critical to) our business that we have to get everybody (on the subscription version).
We actually do think that people will move over to the subscription for the reasons I mentioned. But we want to offer people a choice one way or the other. That, in a sense, is unique to how we approach the space. It's not subscription only. It's about a matter of choice as well.
And how did you come up with the pricing? If I use this product over the course of a year and a half, it's roughly the same as what a consumer pays for the old version of Office.
DelBene: We, obviously, do focus groups and talk to a lot of customers. And so it's partially informed by that. It's partially informed by looking at the pricing that we have for the products that we have and how it relates to those. We also talk to our resellers and figure out what price point do they think it will work. So we actually think we have a very good value proposition to customers as a result.
Another thing to think about is if it's a year and a half (of using the new Office subscription) and it's the same price, that's as if you're only using it on one device. Now think about the value if you're using it on three, four, or five devices. Then it's obviously a big savings overall for the customer.
There's been a lot of discussion over the years about the consumerization of IT and people bringing their own device to the workplace, forcing IT departments to adjust and adapt. Increasingly, workers are bringing their own applications to the workplace as well. You see it with applications such as Dropbox, YouSendIt and others. Essentially, they're bypassing IT to get their jobs done more efficiently. Does that phenomenon help or hurt Office as you try to get folks to use this product both at home and at work?
DelBene: I think I would say it helps or is at worst neutral to it. We made a big investment around SkyDrive being our cloud storage and deeply integrated that into Office. And so, for instance, if you open a document, you can open directly from SkyDrive, you can save directly to SkyDrive. Everything like where you were in the document when you left off at work will roam with you when you're at home. So that will be a very strong plus for customers.
The second thing I would say is that it will work just as well if somebody chooses another back-end storage (service). We can do deeper integration, but it won't preclude (the competing service) from working against, say, Dropbox storage. We'll just add more features because we work deeper with the SkyDrive storage.
I would step back a second, though. It is a challenge for IT to think about in a world where people bring their own devices and their storage and how they are going to manage that. And so when companies sign up for Office 365 or they deploy SharePoint on-premises, we provide them SkyDrive Pro and we integrate that directly into the desktops as well. And we give them all the management flexibility and the ability to see who's been saving what and accessing what. Integrated in with the desktop, integrated in with the services, and integrated in with our on-premises products as well.
So it is a real dilemma that IT is facing of how do they manage in this kind of a world. We want to enable all the scenarios that users want, but we want to enable IT to have a management strategy that works for them.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has talked a lot about Microsoft evolving into more of a services and devices company. As you look forward with regard to Office, what are some of the other things that will become more like services and less like software that can be downloaded or comes on a disk?
DelBene: Well, I think the new delivery mechanism for the service is an example kind of paves the way for what we can do in the future. The technology is different and new in the way we deliver the bits to users. You literally can go to Office.com, click a button, and we will stream the application to your desktop. So less and less, you need to think about it as something you install on the device versus a service that you subscribe to, and we stream down the bits necessary to give you the functionality that you need.
So I think you'll see that become a pipe for us to deliver new functionality and new capabilities to users on an ongoing basis. You'll see more cloud connectedness, the ability to go to a PC where you didn't have Office before, but because you're a subscriber, you can download it when, perhaps, you're at your parents' house. You download it, you use it, and you walk away.
With Office 365 Home Premium, what are the metrics you'll be following to measure whether or not it is successful?
DelBene: I think the first thing is how is it embraced by customers in terms of what their feedback is. We've actually had very positive feedback in terms of reviews of the customer preview. And so I think we're off to a good start... But we will look to see how customers embrace the product and what their feedback is.
The second thing I think we'll look to sales of the product overall. That is both the perpetual product as well as the subscription product. And is that healthy and growing for Microsoft?
The next thing we'll look at is what percentage of people choose to purchase the product via subscription? And I think that will inform us as to how we need to adjust the value proposition relative to the perpetual product. If it goes well, we'll think that's great and we'll build more on top of that. If there are roadblocks to that, we'll adjust them. And the great thing about a subscription is we can adjust it in real time and we can tweak the product, deliver it, and really build on the momentum as a result.
Do you have a goal for the percentage breakdown of Office home consumers on subscription version versus owning perpetual licenses after, say, 12 months?
DelBene: We think in 10 years, almost all of our customers will be purchasing our software via subscription.
OK, so is there a shorter time frame you want to talk about?
DelBene: Not that we're actually setting objectives against. What we do is we create the product that we think will be successful. We look at it, we find the gaps, we tweak it. To be honest, I haven't set goals in between. I think we will be off to a very strong start based on what we've heard from retailers.


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BURLINGTON, Vt. -- In the aftermath of Canada's 5-4 overtime victory against the United States to claim the IIHF Women's World Championship title on April 14, Team USA coach Katey Stone touched upon a significant point: The loss, as difficult as it was to suffer, is primarily one more step toward a greater objective.
That, of course, is the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, when the sport is on its biggest international stage.
"It's disappointing to not be able to give (our fans) a World Championship on the home soil, very disappointing for all of us, but, again, it's one battle," Stone said. "Hopefully, for sure, we'll have others and we'll win the war."
Throughout the tournament in Burlington, Stone made it clear that the World Championship, while important, is part of an ongoing plan to regain the Olympic gold that has belonged to Canada since 2002. Team USA won the inaugural Olympic women's hockey event in 1998 when the Winter Games were held in Nagano, Japan.
"It's part of the process," said Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. "It's an ongoing process for the players. For the players here, it's an opportunity not only to play in a championship of this caliber but also to solidify their roles and show their ability while playing on the national team, especially … showing consistency in their game."
The 2012 World Championship gave a preview of what the 2014 Olympic squad might look like. Although the Team USA squad featured a bevy of Olympians, it had a decidedly young feel. Ten of the 23 U.S. players were born in the 1990s, and only two were born before 1985.
Those young players shined throughout Team USA's five games in Vermont. The tournament's top four scorers -- and six of the top eight -- were Americans, led by 22-year-old Monique Lamoureux-Kolls (seven goals, seven assists). Her linemate, Kelli Stack, 24, was second (five goals, eight assists) while twin sister and linemate, Jocelyne Lamoureux, was tied for sixth (four goals, five assists). All three were U.S. Olympians in 2010, when Team USA earned the silver medal in Vancouver.
There is still plenty of time for the roster to evolve and change, though. Eight to 10 years ago, said Johannson, the talent pool was nowhere as deep and a number of players knew they were automatic selections. Johannson credits USA Hockey's grassroots and developmental programs and the NCAA for the growth in women's hockey.
"There are a lot of players who have to make this team now because there are a lot who are pushing them, too; that's younger and older players," Johannson said. "That has raised the level that all players brought not only to camp but when they perform in this tournament."
For older players, the challenge will be to prove they can still be valuable contributors, whether it's in tangible roles on the ice or through intangible virtues such as leadership. Four-time Olympian and Team USA mainstay Angela Ruggiero retired from the national team in December, but veterans Julie Chu, 30, the team captain at the Worlds, and four-time Olympian Jenny Potter, 33, played a big role for Team USA in Vermont.
"They've been in the trenches; they've been in the wars," Johannson said of the two veterans. "They're also players who have a very good understanding of where their games are at. The key for older players -- and one of the compliments I gave to Katey -- is you truly have to make this team now," Johannson said.
Stone, the Harvard University coach who holds the record for victories in NCAA Division I women's hockey, is a leading candidate to handle the 2014 team, though Johannson said, "That's not determined yet."
"We will come out of this tournament and examine that as well," he said. "We've not set a timeline but, certainly, she's done a fantastic job and continues to grow our program. And she has knowledge of our player pool, which is key."
Whoever the coach is, she or he will have a leading role in determining the makeup of the Olympic roster. Johannson said a committee following Olympic selection procedures would make the final decisions.
"Katey Stone had a good experience with these players," Johannson said. "Our jobs as administrators, managers and evaluators of talent is to put as much talent in front of her as we can. The coaches have to work with them on the ice and can say, 'This is what I think I can get from this player; this is what I think she can bring to the table.'
"There's a dialogue both ways, but in the end the coach stands behind the bench, the coach has to tap the player on the back and have faith they can kill the penalty, play on the power play, be a tempo player, whatever that role is," he said. "Then the players have to show that to the coach."
Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Ted Ryan is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of any National Governing Bodies.


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Job Description
Alliances Marketing Manager – SAP
Role Overview
The Alliances Marketing Manager combines marketing expertise and digital experience with strong project management skills to execute and deliver on integrated marketing campaigns. You will implement on client-facing programs and develop sales enablement materials for targeted offerings and industries to drive pipeline. You'll collaborate with key stakeholders to clearly define requirements and deliver expected results.
As the Alliances Marketing Manager, you will be responsible for managing defined alliances marketing programs to create internal and external awareness of technology solutions in a fast-paced environment. In this hands-on role, you must have strong written and oral communication skills with critical thinking and time management skills. This role supports Deloitte's Ecosystems & Alliances business strategy and collaborates with some of the world's leading technology providers to address business challenges and meet new market needs.
Work You'll Do
+ Manage tactical execution of marketing programs which build pipeline and eminence for alliance programs and drive business growth for Deloitte's Alliances go to market initiatives
+ Proactively manage project timelines and maintain processes to deliver consistently high-quality marketing materials
+ Support the development of strategic messaging and positioning to differentiate Deloitte and advance awareness of capabilities, offerings, solutions and successes across the broader organization and in the marketplace
+ Create integrated marketing campaigns to differentiate Deloitte. This includes collaborating with internal resources to produce marketing content, and producing material suites over various channels (digital, print, social, video, etc.) to aid with local activation in targeted geographies
+ Implement programs that deliver on annual and quarterly marketing plans to meet business goals and work closely with cross-functional teams to execute agile plans and support tracking of alliance marketing investments
+ Help manage programs support Deloitte's Ecosystems & Alliances industry and offering portfolio strategy working closely with industry marketing and alliance partner marketing teams
+ Deliver effective marketing programs which build pipeline and eminence for alliance programs and drive business growth for go to market initiatives
+ Track, monitor and measure the effectiveness of marketing activities and contribute to the creation of ROI reports
+ Produce deliverables including, thought leadership (whitepapers, reports, surveys, etc.), Deloitte-hosted and third-party events, externally facing videos and webcasts, speaking opportunities for alliance leaders, social media and blogging, and digital advertising
+ Coordinate with supporting resources including graphic designers and related knowledge management and/or web resources and work with Deloitte's internal global network to get projects completed and successfully promoted across member firms
+ Collaborate with country-based marketing professionals to ensure alliances are positioning consistently as a global network and service provider, with local expertise
+ Participate as a core member of the Deloitte E&A Marketing team, sharing responsibility for cross-region campaigns and activations
+ Implement programs in a cost-effective manner to achieve desired business goals
+ This role must navigate the intersection points of global and US market priorities in addition to industry and account based targeted marketing
The team
Deloitte Consulting's Ecosystems & Alliances Team is made up of professional alliance managers, alliance marketers and technical architects who understand the principles that drive successful alliance relationships. Together, they enable differentiated, innovative go-to-market solutions between our practice and alliance partners that bring quantified value to our clients and incremental revenue to the firm.
+ Bachelor's degree in Marketing or related field
+ 8+ years of professional B2B marketing experience in professional services marketing or technology marketing
+ Experience in designing and executing B2B content marketing and digital campaigns
+ Experience in working closely with creative and agency resources in support of campaign development and execution
+ High proficiency with MS Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
+ Ability to travel up to 25%, on average, based on the work you do and the clients and industries/sectors you serve
+ Experience with digital and technology alliance marketing experience
+ Strong performance in developing, managing, and executing multichannel marketing and demand generation campaigns
+ Experience working with a team in a virtual mode with remote resources
+ Track record of achieving success in a matrixed organization
+ Agile marketing experience
+ Ability to synthesize information to create powerful, succinct materials; familiarity with integrating various technologies and tools to support marketing efforts
+ Strong written and oral communication skills
+ Strong negotiation, project management and problem-solving skills; flexibility and adaptability
+ Demonstrable project management skills and ability to prioritize multiple tasks simultaneously
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.
The wage range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. At Deloitte, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is $119,000 to $219,000.
You may also be eligible to participate in a discretionary annual incentive program, subject to the rules governing the program, whereby an award, if any, depends on various factors, including, without limitation, individual and organizational performance.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or protected veteran status, or any other legally protected basis, in accordance with applicable law.


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The Stats: Chrissie Manby's newest book, hits shelves today.
Getting Over Mr. Right,
The Gist: Ashleigh Prince, a relentless serial dater, has just sworn off all guys. That is until she meets her "Mr. Right" (a whopping 24 hours later) and falls head over heels for this long-awaited Prince Charming. She and Michael, her new beau, are hot and heavy for two years straight, but while Ashleigh is making plans to live happily ever after, Michael has a different ending in mind (with a different leading lady).
And how does this dashing young man break the news to his long-term girlfriend? He merely switches his Facebook relationship status to "single," and defriends Ashleigh a minute later. How thoughtful.
More From Seventeen
Driven insane by heartbreak and rejection, Ashleigh does what any normal(?) girl would do. But wait, this dating saga has a new twist: Ashleigh's dealing with a breakup in the digital age, where Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like allow us to take stalking to a whole new level.
From creating a fake Facebook account for Michael's bff, to hard-core googling all of his female FB "friends," Ashleigh relies heavily on her keyboard to get her revenge on the "ex" and the "new girl".
Our Favorite Part: Ashleigh's crush-turned-craziness is ROTFL-status! And the best part: she describes her loony behavior in a totally "no big deal" manner. From leaving Michael fifteen voicemail messages in a row, to dying her hair brown as a disguise, Ashleigh maintains a "girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do" attitude, rationalizing even the wildest choices. But, as much as Ashleigh's dating faux pas make us cringe, she remains a loveable and entertaining character all the way through.
Why You'll Love It: Getting Over Mr. Right speaks to girls and women everywhere. Anyone who has ever stalked an ex on FB, or trash-talked "the other woman," can totally relate to Ashleigh's (not so) romantic journey. Her tragically comic story will help you learn to get over your guy in a world where his every move is documented in words, photos, and even hashtags!
Need more support? Check out Seventeen's "Get Over A Guy" playlist!
We might be quick to label Ashleigh as the crazy ex, but what would you do in her situation? Sound off in the comments!


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Your wilderness is not permanent..... "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19 Do You Need A Side Hustle?? Get Paid For Facebooking With Us!! The Millionaire Money Plan: The Automatic Financial Plan uses a three step process to take you from stuck and stressed about money to clear and in control of your financial world. Since success leaves clues we might as well listen to those who have gone before us and copy what they do. When you finish your Automatic Financial Plan you will instantly be practicing those habits without even thinking about it. The result for most people is that the financial life is ignored and we put it off to the side hoping everything will work itself out. But we all know that isn't a great plan. That's why I created the Automatic Financial Plan to remove all of the unnecessary tedious parts of money management so that you could focus on the key habits and wins that are needed to take control of your money. Once we have the plan in place, it will take minimal work to keep our money machine running smoothly with minimal maintenance. The way this is going to work is to prepare yourself to invest your time now to create a plan that will run itself that will save you hours every month in the future. You will then have the confidence that you're making the right decisions and being wise with your money. So you will have the time to do what you enjoy with your free time rather than managing your money. Let's take a look at the big picture view so we know what to expect moving forward. Step One: Find Your Why Step Two: Discover Where You Are Step Three: Plan For How You Are Going to Get There The Six Core Principles Are: Believe In God Know Where Your Money Goes Pay Yourself First Build A Buffer Plan For The Future Use Credit Wisely Protect What Matters Most I believe knowing these six things are the foundation to finally feeling confident with your money. If we can remember these we'll have a greater chance of success moving forward. So now that we know them, where do we start? The most important step and also the most difficult to do. BELIEVE IN GOD!! Sign Up :: https://gumroad.com/ceodamonhall ASAP! Start Making Money With Us Today!! Step 1 :: Create An Account :: https://gumroad.com/#login Step 2 :: Verify your new account!! ((Very IMPORTANT)) Step 3 :: Inbox Me For Affiliate Link ((I Have To Add You To The System)) Step 4 :: Choose 50 or 75% Share. Step 5 :: Share And Collect Money We believe people are the creators of change. We believe we are more powerful united as a community than when acting alone. That's why we bring community members together to build leadership, launch action campaigns, and create a unified voice for South L.A. Together we are transforming our schools, strengthening families and building a thriving community. Change cannot happen with closed mouths, idle hands, still feet, and empty pockets... Call Us Today For A Free Consultation! The Millionaires Club :: (323) 481-0720 Lord, I give you all that I am, All that I hold. I ask for your guidance as I build and shape this business. I trust that you will bless the work of my hands. I pray that you would cover this enterprise and cover my investments. I believe in your leadership that you will guide me and advise me. Come and envision me. May this venture be full of integrity, generosity, fruitfulness and provision. I give you all that I am, And all that I hold, My Lord, Amen. So we created our ideal business network :: The Journey hand-picks leading entrepreneurs that share our values and then we facilitate impactful conversations to help our businesses grow. And all of this makes the entrepreneurial journey more enjoyable; because we're in it together. To grow you need to be surrounding yourself with likeminded, supportive entrepreneurs. Thats where The Journey comes in! Its Done-For-You Networking with leading entrepreneurs. We find leading entrepreneurs, vet them and bring them together online & offline: primarily through unique adventure trips... Add Us On Facebook For 10% Discount
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For screen reader problems with this website, please call618-242-15796 1 8 2 4 2 1 5 7 9Standard carrier rates apply to texts.
If the grill is to be placed into a combustible enclosure, an approved insulated jacket is necessary. Insulated jackets are available from your dealer. Use only the DCS insulated jacket which has specifically been designed and tested for this purpose.
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About Kyzer's Soccer Centre
The purpose of our training centre is to provide the best possible soccer camp and coaching staff at a reasonable price. All Kyzer Soccer Centre campers will receive maximum individual attention in a fun, challenging environment.
We strive to incorporate sportsmanship, creativity, taking the training home, and pure enjoyment of the game.
"There is no better way to learn the game and gain exposure for future scholarships than to interact with multiple college coaches on a daily basis in our concentrated soccer camp environment. Many of our team camp participants have received scholarship offers based on relationships generated through our camp. Our best compliment is that multiple teams come back year after year!"
- JD Kyzer
2014 Summer Soccer Camps
Girls Soccer Team Camp: July 20-24, 2014
Youth Trainers Camp (Full Day): June 9-13, 2014
Youth Half Trainers Camp (Half Day): June 9-13, 2014
Camp Flyer
2014 Camp Details
Online Registration
Medical Waiver
Contact Us
P.O. Box 5746
Chattanooga, TN 37406
email: email@example.com
Site design by LANGFORDESIGN


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The Lost Art of Handwriting
Interviewing two of America's greatest handwriting advocates is a fine way to invite scrutiny: specifically, over how you hold a pen.
"Sometimes people have a thumb wrap, which I think you do," observes Inga Dubay as she and Barbara Getty eye my form. The pair, both clad in nearly identical cheerful knitwear, combine grandmotherly warmth with frontier schoolmarmishness. "You have a nice hold, but you pinch, so your arm gets tight. Put your forefinger on top and let the pen rest on your middle finger."
"Taylor Swift uses this pen hold," Dubay adds. "I watched a TV special on her, and it showed her signing posters. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, she's using that pen hold.'"
... Beyond analyzing one pop starlet's autographic ergonomics, Getty and Dubay stand at the forefront of the campaign to promote handwriting. (Admittedly, the struggle is a lonely one.) Their quest becomes especially poignant as Valentine's Day reveals the hamfisted scrawls of e-mailers and texters trying to get all intimate and handmade. To the two Portlanders, our fading ability to write with any flair (to say nothing of legibility) is a sign of a deeper lack.
"What we're losing in this electronic era is the personal touch," says Dubay, who taught calligraphy for 25 years at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. "I know people who buy cards and don't even write their names in them, and that is so sad."
Together, Getty and Dubay have composed 10 books on the subject. They've even developed a program to teach an italic script, intended to replace the oft-hated cursive loops with writing of consistent slope, height, and closed letter tops. It's wildly popular among home-school families.
As elementary schools the nation over drop handwriting as a subject—in East Portland's Reynolds School District, for example, kids switch to keyboards in third grade—Getty and Dubay manage to keep the cause alive. From Reed College workshops to international seminars for medical professionals, the two teach how to arch n's and stroke e's. (Steve Jobs famously absorbed the aesthetics he later used to create Macintosh fonts in a Reed calligraphy class; informal workshops on the subject remain very well-attended at the college.) Recent articles in the New York Times, GQ, Time, and Martha Stewart Living and appearances on ABC's Good Morning America and CNN's The World Today have provided the duo platforms to argue that the elemental skill of marking paper matters in ways few appreciate.
"When you type A, B, C, D, E, on the keyboard, it's the same motion," Getty says. "But when you write an A, it's very different from writing a B. It affects your brain differently."
Then, there's the reader to consider. "Bad handwriting is like mumbling on paper," Getty says. "If I were mumbling, it would be rude. It's the same thing if you hand someone something and they can't read it."
They are kindly crusaders. Dubay's North Portland house smells of baking and steeped tea. But the duo never miss the smallest chance to advance the cause. "People who have interviewed us have changed their handwriting," Dubay says after a final glance at my hieroglyphics. She gestures to their instructional volume, Write Now. "We're not even looking at yours, but we do have a book here...." handwritingsuccess.com


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Back. Pain.
I really wanted some curry on the drive home, and I successfully resisted stopping at a restaurant (which would have cost $30 with tip for just The Boy and I without appetizers or drinks). Since I made it all the way home, I decided I owed it to myself to make some curry. The other day, I picked up some Garnet Yams from the co-op after seeing them advertised on sale, and I was curious how they would be different from yams and sweet potatoes I had had before. I did a search on a vegan potato curry and decided I could whip something together pretty easily.
|Our dinner tonight.
Vegetable Oil
OG Yellow Onion
OG Garnet Yam
OG Baby Carrots
Red Curry Paste
Coconut Milk
Sesame Seeds
Chia Seeds
(Over OG Long Grain Brown Rice)
I had two recipes up to compare their ingredients and decided the simpler recipe made more sense. The more complicated recipe was going to turn out spicy, and The Boy is not a lover of the spicy stuff. (I am, but I can take one for the team.) This was my first time using coconut milk from a can. I was quite surprised by all the fatty goodness at the top of can! Who knew?
|The Boy patiently waits while his plate is captured.
If I had to change anything, I would be more careful about the oil used for the garlic and onion. It was too much. (I tend to eyeball the ingredients to most of the things I cook.) It kept the dish from being farther on the creamy side from the oily side. It was still delicious, though, and we have three solid servings tucked away in the fridge for meals early this week (if it survives tomorrow).
It even received the stamp of approval from The Boy who immediately said he'd rather not eat it when he saw it on the stove. I gave him a small bite, and he was converted. Here's hoping we don't wake up orange tomorrow.


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Duo Romanesc
Ian Laidlaw, 20, and Anthony Congdon, 18, have already made quite a name for themselves as Duo Romanesc, a balancing act that's been eliciting gasps at events including the Circus Sarasota gala, Cirque des Voix and the recent La Cirque Appetit luncheon.
This summer the pair, who met back in middle school when they first began training with the Sailor Circus, will perform at Circus Sarasota's summer spectacular at the Historic Asolo Theater (through Aug. 3).
"Ian was always a person who could do everything, could do a handstand on anything," says Anthony. "The day we met we had a bonding and knew we would be best friends."
The friendship has lasted through rigorous hours of training, sometimes as much as six hours a day. While in the past the two have also performed as part of a three- or four-person act, it's as a duo they've found their niche in the circus world. "Our coach [circus performer Willie Edelston] gave us the basics and said it was up to us to go out there and get different ideas for the act," says Ian. "Some balancers work fast; we do it slower, like statues."
Among their fans: world-famous hand balancer Encho, who's so impressed by their dedication and style he wants them to go to Europe to perform in festivals and circuses there. "He thinks we have what it takes," says Anthony. Don't doubt it.


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Will Supreme Court decide if gay marriage is constitutional?
The Supreme Court meets Friday to decide whether it should take up a case on same-sex marriage, and the claim that the Constitution gives people the right to marry regardless of sexual orientation.
| Washington
The running fight over gay marriage in the U.S. is shifting from the ballot box to the Supreme Court.
Three weeks after voters backed same-sex marriage in three states and defeated a ban in a fourth, the justices for the country's top court are meeting Friday to decide whether they should deal sooner rather than later with the claim that the Constitution gives people the right to marry regardless of sexual orientation.
The court also could duck the ultimate question and instead focus on a narrower but still important issue: whether Congress can prevent legally married gay Americans from receiving federal benefits otherwise available to married couples.
The court could announce its plans as soon as Friday afternoon. Any cases probably would be argued in March, with a decision expected by the end of June.
RECOMMENDED: Gay marriage laws around the globe
Gay marriage is legal, or will be soon, in nine states — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington — and the District of Columbia. Federal courts in California have struck down the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but that ruling has not taken effect while the issue is being appealed.
Voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington approved gay marriage earlier this month.
But 31 states have amended their constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage. North Carolina was the most recent example in May. In Minnesota earlier this month, voters defeated a proposal to enshrine a ban on gay marriage in that state's constitution.
The biggest issue the court could decide to confront comes in the dispute over California's Proposition 8, the constitutional ban on gay marriage that voters adopted in 2008 after the state Supreme Court ruled that gay Californians could marry.
The case could allow the justices to decide whether the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection means that the right to marriage cannot be limited to heterosexuals.
A decision in favor of gay marriage could set a national rule and overturn every state constitutional provision and law banning same-sex marriages. A ruling that upholds California's ban would be a setback for gay marriage proponents in the nation's largest state, although it would leave open the state-by-state effort to allow gays and lesbians to marry.
In striking down Proposition 8, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals crafted a narrow ruling that said because gay Californians already had been given the right to marry, the state could not later take it away. The ruling studiously avoided any sweeping pronouncements.
But if the Supreme Court ends up reviewing the case, both sides agree that the larger constitutional issue would be on the table, although the justices would not necessarily have to rule on it.
Throughout U.S. history, the court has tried to avoid getting too far ahead of public opinion. The high court waited until 1967 to strike down laws against interracial marriage in the 16 states that still had them.
Some court observers argue that the same caution will prevail in the California case.
"What do they have to gain by hearing this case? Either they impose same sex marriage on the whole country, which would create a political firestorm, or they say there's no right to same-sex marriage, in which case they are going to be reversed in 20 years and be badly remembered. They'll be the villains in the historical narrative," said Andrew Koppelman, a professor of law and political science at Northwestern University. Koppelman signed onto a legal brief urging the justices not to hear the California case.
Yet some opponents of gay marriage say the issue is too important, and California is too large a state, for the court to take a pass.
"The question is whether there's a civil right to redefine marriage, as the California Supreme Court did. We don't think there is," said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage.
Regardless of the decision on hearing the California case, there is widespread agreement that the justices will agree to take up a challenge to a part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
The law was passed in 1996 by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate and signed by President Bill Clinton. It defines marriage for all purposes under federal law as between a man and a woman and has been used to justify excluding gay couples from a wide range of benefits that are available to heterosexual couples.
Four federal district courts and two courts of appeal have overturned the provision in various cases on grounds that it unfairly deprives same-sex couples of federal benefits. The justices almost always will hear a case in which a federal law has been struck down.
The Obama administration broke with its predecessors when it announced last year that it no longer would defend the provision. President Barack Obama went further when he endorsed gay marriage in May.
Republicans in the House of Representatives stepped in to take up the defense of the law in court.
Paul Clement, the Washington lawyer representing the House, said the law was intended to make sure that federal benefits would be allocated uniformly, no matter where people live.
"DOMA does not bar or invalidate any state-law marriage, but leaves states free to decide whether they will recognize same-sex marriage," Clement said in court papers.
The court has several cases to choose from, including that of 83-year-old Edith Windsor of New York. Windsor faces $363,000 in federal estate taxes after the death of her partner of 44 years in 2009. In two other cases, same-sex couples and surviving spouses of gay marriages in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont are seeking a range of federal benefits, including Social Security and private pension survivor payments, access to federal employee health insurance and the right to file a joint federal income tax return.
In the only instance in which a gay couple already is receiving federal benefits, federal court employee Karen Golinski in San Francisco has been allowed, under a court order, to add her wife to her health insurance coverage. That could be reversed if the Supreme Court upholds the marriage law provision.
No matter which case the court chooses, the same issue will be front and center — whether legally married gay Americans can be kept from the range of benefits that are otherwise extended to married couples.
RECOMMENDED: Gay marriage laws around the globe
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.


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Get Art "To Go" from the MoCC
The Museum of Contemporary Craft will let you walk away with some of its beautiful pieces – that is, the pieces on the shelves of the newly revamped MoCC Gallery Store. Of course you still have to pay, but the the range of beautifully crafted, artistic and useful items is broader now than it ever has been. The museum has widened its horizons on retail offerings as it widens its curatorial vision.
Museum Director Namita Gupta Wiggers explains the philosophy. "It's important to us not only to display objects in the Museum, but also to extend that connection beyond the Museum's doors and into visitor's homes with objects like those in the Gallery Store." Actually, the retail element has always been important to the Museum; volunteers founded it in 1937 as the Oregon Ceramic Studio during the Great Depression in part to be a shop where Oregon ceramists could sell their works year round.
Now, the museum has ventured far beyond its volunteer set-up and small, ceramics-focused home on SW Corbett in Portland. Its Pearl District space (a beautiful old building on the North Park Blocks, which it restored and moved into in 2007) shows international exhibitions yet still is rooted in our city and region; Wiggers describes the museum as being concerned with where you're "feet touch the ground."
The new Gallery Store space and its offerings fit perfectly into this philosophy. Most of the artists represented are local or regional; the shop is a great place to check the pulse of Portland craft and design. You'll find some favorites like Nikki McClure, and "legacy" artists that the craft museum has long represented. But you'll also discover locals whom you've probably never heard of, and imports from artists whose work is otherwise unavailable here.
The range is beautiful. It's also financially smart – pieces can be art-gallery-expensive (and incredibly unique and intricate as well) or simple (stocking stuffer notebooks and postcards). It's not an unheard of combination, but to see it rounding out the shelves of the airy, inviting space of the shop at MoCC is a welcome addition to Portland's options for decorating the home or giving a friend a token of appreciation.
Randy Higgins of Vizwerks is the designer who spearheaded the revamp of the retail space. As a new member of the Museum's board, he was eager to see how to improve the shop. Luckily for us, Wiggers and other staff didn't put up a fight.
The Gallery Store
Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art
724 Northwest Davis Street
Portland, Oregon 97209
Extended Gallery Store Hours for the Holiday Season:?
Open 11 am until 8 pm on Thursday evenings from November 29 through December 27;?
Open 10 am until 6 pm every Saturday in December.


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There is something incredibly – er – timeless and ancient about wandering around Stonehenge in mid-winter, frost on the ground, icy mist clinging to your skin and a weak wintery sun teasing from just beyond the clouds. The kids and I dropped in late in the day on the way back from Devon to London in the new year, and if a band of druids had emerged from the mist instead of Chinese tourists, we would not have been surprised at all.
The last time I visited, about a million and two years ago, you just parked in a layby beside the road and headed in for a look-see. There are now plans to take the entire road underground so that the landscape is returned to what it would have been thousands of years ago when Stonehenge was first built. Now there is a most impressively and sensitively done visitors centre, 2km away, so it does not impose on the landscape. You can choose to walk the grassed pathways across the fields, much as the locals might have done 3000 years ago, and approach Stonehenge across the plains. Alternatively, you can cop out and jump in a very efficient (and very warm!) little bus which drops you about 200 metres from the stone circle. Along with your admission price comes a free audio guide which will help answer all those questions you have: "Where are the stones from?" (Some of them are from Wales); "How did they get here?" (rolling wood carts and possibly boat); "What was it for?" (They still can't say for sure, but possibilites are as a sun dial, place of worship and a proto-type MacDonalds drive-in – or not). Still partly unsolved, and all the more awe-inspiring for it.