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Knowledge and Knowledge Systems: Learning from the Wonders of the Mind. Eliezer Geisler. Hershey, PA: IGI Publishing, 2008.
What is Knowledge?
In virtually every aspect of our lives, we deal with knowledge. From the moment of birth, we are a sieve through which data is constantly feeding and knowledge is created. We are told that "knowledge is power" and the gateway to prosperity (Allee, 2002; Burke, 1999; Leonard, 1998). Since antiquity, people with inquisitive minds have attempted to define, classify, and measure this illusive notion of knowledge.
It is definitely not an easy task. Philosophers and scholars from a variety of disciplines have failed for many centuries to make this notion amenable to taxonomies and explanation. But, is the topic of knowledge also of interest to the intelligent general reader? The editor of a respected publisher once expressed doubts that such readers would be interested in an abstract notion such as knowledge. Although it may well be illustrated with a variety of examples, the editor exclaimed its focus is such a broad question that it can only be explained with esoteric terminology. The general reader, however curious and educated, would find it uncongenial. I beg to differ. I have much more confidence in the general reader. True, some of the terms in this book are scholarly and perhaps unfamiliar. Terms such as epistemology, although they represent complex phenomena, are not repulsive nor complicated. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Its base are two Greek words: episteme (knowledge) and logos (theory). When accompanied by direct and concise narrative, these terms become companions to a delightful understanding of the notions they define. Hawking (2002) has done so. He made physics and astrophysics a popular theme. Gould (2002) made evolutionary theory an exciting topic of general interest. It has been done and I attempt to do so in this book.
So, the question, What is knowledge?, can be answered in three different yet complementary streams. The first would explore the way in which knowledge is structured. That is, what are the elements that make it? What is knowledge composed of? Is it data, information, or some other component? The second way would examine the nature of the dynamics and progress of knowledge. It would attempt to answer questions such as: How does knowledge progress? How does knowledge accumulate and grow? What are the principles we may discover that explain the patterns of growth and progress? The third stream would examine the uses of knowledge in the lives of individuals and how they apply their knowledge to their involvement in the economy and social affairs of their communities and their nations. This stream would focus on the ethics of using knowledge and the means by which knowledge is put to the test of human activities (Bali, 2005; Bock, Smud, Kim, & Lee, 2005; Kankanhalli & Tan, 2005).
Indeed, this third stream has been the focus of attention of scholars for over two millennia. They concentrated on the ethics of knowledge possession and utilization, and on the ways and means in which it serves as a tool for human action (Artigas & Slade, 1999; Cassirer, 1950; Feyerabend, 2000; Kant, 1999). They formulated theories and arguments that explored the role played by knowledge in religion, ethical behavior, and social involvement of individuals and organizations.
But, despite all this intellectual effort, there was very little learned about the structure of knowledge and its progress. As the reader will find in the following pages, only very recently has there been some intellectual work toward theories of evolution of knowledge and its more fundamental classification. For instance, Kant (1999), the influential German philosopher (1724-1804), critically addressed the nature of knowledge. He proposed a structure of knowledge composed of two distinct forms of "knowing" the world. One was empirical statements or propositions, which are dependent upon sensory perception. The other was a priori propositions (categories). These are fundamentally valid and are not the result of sensorial perception (as Kant called them: "intuitions"). But Kant stopped short of asking: What are the components or basic elements of knowledge? How is knowledge created in the human mind (beyond intuitions and categories)? How does knowledge grow, accumulate, and progress? To Kant's credit (and this is a good indicator of his work being broad and conceptual), he influenced political theorists such as Karl Marx. His philosophical work on knowledge influenced a substantial number of theorists, such as Hegel, Fichte, and Cassirer.
Kant and many other scholars who followed were engaged in this tremendous effort to classify knowledge and to try to understand it as a function of human existence. Although some of my colleagues will certainly disagree with the following statements, this effort remained very broad. The literature, since the age of enlightenment in the seventeenth century, has focused on arguments, counter-arguments, and constructs of knowledge that, although very insightful, were nevertheless at a high level of abstraction (Jacobs, 1999; Meek, 2003). The tasks of defining knowledge by its components and measuring its growth and progress remained woefully unfinished. It is the first two streams that I cover in this book. The initial stream is the structure of knowledge, followed by the discussion of the progress of knowledge.
It is no coincidence that there is an increased interest in defining knowledge, and that such a definition includes data and information as key ingredients of the answer to what is knowledge. Let me put into perspective the recent developments in the scientific inquiry and applications of knowledge.
Why the Recent Surge in Interest?
Much has been published in the late 1990s about the "information age" and the "information society." Indeed, the twenty-first century began with the effects of the information age spreading to almost every corner of the world and to virtually every aspect of economic and social living. But this phenomenon began almost half a century earlier.
After the Second World War, the invention and proliferation of computers had generated changes in the way industry and government conducted their operations. Initially, in the 1950s and 1960s, computers (or, as later called, "information and telecommunication technology"—ITC) were confined to large scientific, business, and government applications for the purpose of "data crunching." Scientists dealt with massive amounts of data they needed to calculate, and business and government organizations struggled with accounts payable, receivables, payrolls, and inventory control. All of this was confined to what we call "backroom operations," hidden from the public eye but crucial to the routine activities of large organizations. The software at that time was relatively uncomplicated. Languages had emerged with names such as Fortran (science-oriented) and COBOL (business-oriented). Later, other languages began to appear (BASIC, PL1, and IBM's C family of languages).
The impetus for the emergence of the information revolution came in the form of three converging phenomena that began in the 1970s. First, the performance of computing power (hardware) soared, due to the introduction of integrated circuits. This, in turn, led to a continuous relative decline in cost of computing (Moore's Law). The second phenomenon was the invention and rapid proliferation of desktop computing (personal computers, or PCs). Invented in the 1970s, these machines soon appeared in corporate and government offices, thus venturing beyond the "backroom" to the "front offices" of managers in all the functional departments of their organizations. A tremendous boost to the diffusion of PCs and to the ease of their usage was delivered by Microsoft and its high-performance operating system. The third phenomenon was a consequence of the first two, and the advent of the hypertext software which facilitated the proliferation of electronic communication in the form of the Internet and the World Wide Web networks. The phenomenon was an enormous spike in the level of investments in ITC by business and government organizations. In the last fifteen years of the twentieth century, companies invested heavily in information and telecommunication technologies, and made these technologies ubiquitous throughout their organizations. More hardware, better software, and growing budgets for maintenance of systems were expanded to such areas as manufacturing, marketing, and even customer relations.
We sometimes tend to look at the sudden rise and precipitous fall of the Internet-based companies of the 1990s with awe, perhaps even incredibility. How could all this happen in one decade? Yet, this story of "boom and bust" obscures the fact that the basic elements of information technology and the Internet were not the only factors that hastened the information age. As electronic networking became a reality in businesses, government, and private homes, investments in these systems continued to soar. The more we had, the more we used, and the more we wanted of the digital world that now became an integral and indispensable part of our lives.
As a result, business and government organizations were faced with the annoying problem of huge investments in information technologies, at a rate of growth that seemed intractable and unstoppable. Simultaneously, they began to question the benefits that supposedly were being derived from these runaway expenditures.
The Productivity Paradox
Even before the attempt to link investments in information technology to productivity, economists and other scholars pondered over the link between investments in research and development (R&D) and industrial productivity. In general, it was very difficult to show with actual statistics that investments in technology engender corresponding increases in corporate productivity. Although in the mid-1980s there emerged a widespread view that we were entering "the age of productivity" in the U.S. and world economics, the numbers simply did not add up. Productivity is measured as real outputs per worker, where we correlate multiyear investments in information and telecommunication technologies with gains in productivity in the American economy. The results failed to show an increase in productivity that could be attributed to these investments. This phenomenon was termed the "productivity paradox."
If indeed such a paradox exists, there are several explanations for it. Some economists believed that despite massive investments in ITC (which should have boosted plant and office productivity), the costs of running businesses had increased in those years to an extent that they tended to offset gains from ITC investments. Another explanation pointed to the cost and effort in implementation and absorption of ITC into corporate routines—so that gains in productivity are delayed or overshadowed by the "learning curve" effect of the introduction of new technologies. Another explanation focused on the apparent problems in measuring productivity as a consequence of investments in ITC. That is, we lack adequate instruments to measure accurately the link between investments in ITC and the resulting changes in productivity.
From Information Technology to Knowledge Management
The "productivity paradox" had two important outcomes. As the 1990s came to a close, it became abundantly clear to both scholars and managers that investments in information technologies are a fixture in economic life. Regardless of the level of benefits they produce, the trend for the foreseeable future is for more, not less, investments in these technologies. Therefore, if productivity is not the best indicator of the benefits from ITC, we must look elsewhere.
All this led to the second outcome: the shift to a focus on ITC and its benefits as intellectual assets. The concept is hardly new, but its application gained vigor in the late 1990s as a strong alternative to explaining the contributions derived from information technologies. The basic idea was the application of the capabilities of current information technologies to collect, assemble, store, manipulate, and diffuse business-related knowledge. The quest thus intensified to understand how knowledge can be harnessed in corporate mission and activities. If the 1990s were the period in which ITC systems had been created and introduced into organizational operations, the twenty-first century would be the age in which we put these systems to use so that human and organizational knowledge can be utilized as an economic asset. This seemed to be a natural extension of the previous period in which investments in ITC had laid the foundation for such a pursuit of the role of knowledge in organizations.
The net result was a massive entry by information and management scholars into the study of knowledge as an organizational and managerial discipline. These scholars took over where philosophers have dwelt for centuries. Their focus was on applications, manipulation, results, and efficiencies. The questions they asked had shifted from "What is knowledge and how does it affect beliefs, behavior, and ethics?" to "How can knowledge become a factor in organizational success?"
This historical account places the development in knowledge management within the context of the key trends in the study of information technologies and their applications. As a nascent effort, the literature on knowledge management shows very little focus on the need to identify or measure the elements of knowledge. Much of the effort is on taxonomical attempts to get a general idea of what the types of knowledge are, mainly in the framework of organizational life.
The Quest for Knowledge as an Asset
What I described above is the current effort to understand human and organizational knowledge as a technological and economic asset. Defined in terms of intellectual property, knowledge is thus viewed by current scholars as a variable similar to capital, land, and equipment—as a factor in the production of goods and services. Broader terms such as "The Knowledge Economy" and "The Age of Knowledge" are even stronger indicators of this trend.
Yet, the process by which knowledge does impact the economic behavior of organizations is not adequately understood. The quest remains within the limited region of very broad models of the utilization of knowledge (and information) by economic and social organizations. Knowledge is viewed as a quantity, at best defined in terms of "nuggets," propositions, and predicates. The focus is not on what constitutes knowledge, but on how it flows, how it is absorbed, and how it is implemented to create wealth.
The operational answer to this quest is the knowledge management system (KMS). Designed and established as an organizational creation, such systems are supposed to be the vehicles for knowledge exchange, as well as the physical container for the storage and flow of knowledge. Synnott (1987) argued in the early days of this quest that the information revolution had three phases: hardware (1980-1985), software (1985-1990), and knowledgeware (1990s and beyond). Encapsulated in management systems, knowledge could then be utilized, directed, and put to good use as are other forms of economic factors, such as capital and land. Once hardware and software were in place, the next logical step would be to harness knowledge. This did not happen as well or as fast as was hoped. Knowledge management systems are a far cry from the aims and dreams of their creators. Rubenstein and Geisler (2003), for example, listed several categories of factors that seem to act as barriers to the successful performance of these systems. They include factors inherent in the system itself (focus, search capabilities), human factors (such as fear and unwillingness of organizational members to use them), and organizational factors (how the system is implemented).
Thus, the failure to create and implement truly workable knowledge management systems has led to an even more vigorous focus on the effectiveness and applications of these systems. This, of course, is at the expense of an effort to better measure the elements of knowledge and to improve our understanding of how knowledge is structured. To an extent, the previous effort at metrics of information and information theory has not been fully translated into a similar program aimed at knowledge. It is lamentable that such a natural progression has not occurred. Knowledge, in the context of managerial and organizational studies, has remained merely a variable in the search for performance and effectiveness. I return to this topic in Chapter XIII to revisit the applications of knowledge systems as seen through the prism of the model I advance in this book of how knowledge is structured and how it progresses.
Bridging Philosophy and Management
The quest for the definition of knowledge has now assumed two seemingly independent routes. Traditional epistemology (the study of knowledge) is a mature area of philosophical inquiry. Simultaneously, as I described above, management scholars are increasingly addressing the topic of knowledge and its role in organizations. It seems to me that there is a need to bridge the two streams of intellectual pursuit. What is it that we know about knowledge from philosophers, and how can we join this with what we know about knowledge from management scholarship?
A review of the relevant literature will show that there has been little exchange between the two streams. Partly because of disciplinary isolationism and the different objectives of their pursuit, the two streams lack workable bridges that would allow them to share ideas and methodologies. Some approaches to knowledge definition are at the margins of the two streams. For example, research on epistemic value, information theory, and information ethics may produce results that would be useful to scholars who study knowledge management systems.
In this book I embark on the path of trying to bridge the two streams. If, I pondered, we can advance a plausible model of the structure and growth of knowledge (as an outflow of current philosophical models), and make the connection of this model to knowledge systems—the claim to relevancy will be answered. Thus, the definition of knowledge, as a start, will be based on prior art in philosophy, but will also be developed to frame a model with tremendous implications for the design and application of knowledge-based systems. The first step will require a review of the widely used typology of knowledge and its constituents.
The Great Taxonomy: Data Information and Knowledge
Anytime we approach the construct of knowledge, it will inevitably be linked to information or described in terms of information and its attributes. The most prevalent taxonomy is the triad: data, information, and knowledge. Presented as a hierarchy of the components of information systems, this taxonomy defines data as 'streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organizations or the physical environment before they have been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use." I prefer the following: "Data are observations on the physical or human world coded in a form that can be stored, manipulated, transferred, and shared."
However we define data, these are things that describe the world in a form that people and machines can both understand and use. The utilitarian approach will distinguish "just raw facts, or observations" from data, which is usable within a well-defined context of human or machine capabilities. If, for example, a tree falls in the forest, this fact by itself does not constitute datum, unless it can both be understood and potentially useful. This means that by force of the definition, a data point or unit (datum) can only be so defined in relation to an entity external to the datum: a biological being or a machine, capable of understanding it and possibly also using it.
Information is usually defined as "data that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings" (Laudon & Laudon, 2002). This definition contains two parts. The first describes the flow or volume of information that moves through a channel. This is flow without inherent meaning, simply measuring the capacity of a channel to move volumes of data, also known as "syntactic" information. The second describes an inherent meaning (semantic) to the flow of data.
These definitions are important inasmuch as they guided the research that follows. For example, Shannon's theory of information initiated a stream of research into the flow of information, transmission channels, and the mathematical representation of communication systems between humans, machines to machines, and humans-to-machines. For Shannon, the unit of information has the "bit" (a zero or a 1) in the digital world of computers. He shows how we can compute channel capacity to transmit bits/second thus providing a quantitative model of communication and information transmittal.
As soon as the definition includes conceptual meaning in the information, the result is a dependence on the interpretation of information and the creation of "meaning"—to and by a knower who is able to make such an interpretation. In turn, this ability requires some criteria for analysis of the information, in order to make sense of it and extract its meaning. Thus, the meaning is not embedded in the information, but in the receiver (or knower), who has the analytical or rational tools to extract meaning.
Knowledge is often defined as "actionable information" (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). Here there is a more extensive reliance on the external entity who naturally must be able to extract meaning, but also must have the capability of integrating such information into a plan of action—that is, being able to act on the basis of the information received. This definition is concise as it is very broad. It does not include a clear reference to what action is, nor how information would be used in action-taking by the knower.
What then do we know about knowledge and its unit? From the taxonomy of data-information-knowledge, we have learned very little. This taxonomy fails to offer a robust hierarchy of complexity or a tractable flow from the elemental to the compound. The unique difference that separates data from information and from knowledge is the reference to an external entity and to the potential of what we are categorizing to perform a given function for the external entity (the knower). To summarize, data are raw items describing reality in a form that can be understood. Once we add "meaning" to this definition, we are now in the realm of information, whereas when we add a tenuous relation to the ability to use it within a given scheme of action, we are now describing knowledge.
There is a tremendous gap between Claude Shannon's definition of bits, and the trinity of definitions from data to information to knowledge. The over-reliance on the external entity brings with it too many variables to consider. For example, who is the entity who will make information actionable? How would such a transformation occur? Under what circumstances, constraints, and conditions will there be another round of interpretation and extraction of meaning as we move from the level of information to that of knowledge? Are these levels hierarchical? How we long for the simplicity of Shannon's Theory where information resembles a physical quantity amenable to mathematical measurement.
"The Big Rift": Severing the Tie Between Information and Knowledge
The current literature conceives of knowledge as part of a continuum of data-information-knowledge-wisdom. This notion has various interpretations and definitions, but consistently positions the ontology of knowledge as a 'transformation" or as a more complex conception of information (Lueg, 2001; Tsoukas & Vlachiminou, 2001). Kakabadse, Kakabadse, and Kouzmin (2003) reviewed the literature and offered the following definitions: "Data reports observations or facts out of context that are, therefore, not directly meaningful" (p. 77). Information is largely defined as "placing data within some meaningful content, often in the form of a message" (p. 77). By extension, knowledge is defined as "information put to productive use." Thus, when one acts upon information, extracts value from it, and makes it useful for a given end, knowledge is generated. Finally, "through action and reflection one may also gain wisdom. Knowing how to use information in any given context requires wisdom" (p. 77).
These and similar theoretical and empirical definitions of knowledge confine the notion to the analytical and conceptual space of information. It also resorts to an external anchor, such as the utilization of information, as a key dimension of what constitutes knowledge (Kankanhalli & Tan, 2005; Zack, 1999). The outcome is that knowledge is simply the processing of information into a form that produces value to a user and can be utilized for a purpose (Guah & Currie, 2004; Xirogiannis, Glykas, & Staikouras, 2004).
I reject this constrained definition on two grounds. The first is the lack of a clear boundary between the conceptions of information and knowledge. Where does information end and knowledge begin? Even when construed as distinct stages in the flow or chain (from data to wisdom), these stages lack empirical boundaries that distinguish between what constitutes information and the subsequent notion or stage of knowledge (Hunt, 2003).
The criterion of "productive use" or utilization towards a given purpose fails to sufficiently define knowledge as distinct from information. When we define knowledge as a variant of "useful information," this exercise in terminology does not make an advance towards a distinct concept. Information and useful information are similar definitions of the same notion.
Secondly, I reject the definitional link between information and knowledge because it prevents knowledge from being defined as an independent entity, with its own ontological integrity. As a recombinant version of information, knowledge is not conceived of as a distinct notion. The problem is exacerbated because the literature on knowledge management considers knowledge to be a reified concept and possessing a "stand-alone" format (Day, 2005; Muthusamy & Palanisamy, 2004; Reisman & Xu, 1992; Zack, 1999). Although the literature on knowledge management valiantly attempts to disengage itself from the information systems and information research literature, it is nevertheless bounded by the information-laden definition, hence by the methodology of this more established area of research (Hendricks & Vriens, 1999; Pritchard, Hull, Chumer, & Willmott, 2000). When knowledge is viewed as intellectual "assets" or "capital," there is a tendency to reify it as a distinctly measurable entity with organizational antecedents and strategic implications (Bontis, 2001; Glazer, 1998).
Thus we find ourselves inexorably immersed in the claws of the ontological conception of data and information. Yet, we fail to demonstrate where knowledge begins and what independent form it assumes within the information-bound perspectives. Finally, how can the nascent literature on knowledge and knowledge management address the metrics of knowledge without being shackled to the information systems literature, its methodology, and its research topics (Alavi & Leidner, 2001; Earl, 2001; Grover & Devenport, 2001; Martin, 2004)?
The answer to exercising a "rift" or disengagement from the information framework is to assume a radically different perspective to the ontology of knowledge. In the current conception of knowledge, the notion of information—extended to knowledge—is accepted as it was devised and developed by information scientists. There is little, if any, conceptual modification or novel contributions to the notion of information knowledge, except for minor changes to the definition.
The model of the structure and generation of knowledge proposed in this book contends that the starting point of a flow in which knowledge and information participates is knowledge, not data or information. What we know originates in the human mind, where sensorial inputs are clustered, and where perceptible distortions are conjoined to form the basic units of knowledge.
The cognitive processes of the mind in which sensorial inputs (such as a taste, touch, or sound) from our five senses are clustered into knowledge are entirely different from the current conception of information being transformed into knowledge. Rather, humans possess the ability (albeit not always the will) to share, transfer, and transcribe their knowledge in a form usable to others. This transcribed and shared form of knowledge may be termed "information," but the origin of its appearance and ontology is the knowledge clustered in the mind from inputs it derives from the five senses. I do not define such inputs as "data" because, in my opinion, they are not what we commonly defined as data, and also because of the bias inherent in the history of data processing and information systems.
By the current definitions "data" are representations of "facts" or "ideas," whereas sensorial inputs are a very crude form of human cognitive manipulation of inputs from its internal and external environments. The mental conjoining of a flicker of light, a sound, and a sharp momentary pain are different from a "fact" that there are six cars on the road or that freedom is a right of all people.
To grasp these facts and to make sense of them and the "information" they form (in the data → information flow), there is a need for certain structural foundations that will allow such processing. This has been the core of the philosophical and later informational search for such a process, architecture, and categories of the mind (Dalkir, 2005; Kant, 1999; Tsoukas, 2005; Vail, 1999).
These attempts to explain how data converge into information and into knowledge have been largely unsuccessful (Perry, 2005). When the approach is reversed and knowledge is viewed as the initial ontology to be generated by the human mind, then the constructs of data and information become artificial notions that are contingent upon the processes by which humans diffuse, share, and exchange knowledge. Data and information in the model proposed in this book are the reification of the knowledge being transferred from one individual to another (and by extension from individual to an organized knowledge system and between such systems).
The direction of a flow is now reversed. Knowledge is the origin of cognition, formed as a clustering of sensorial inputs (see Chapters IV and V). Once such clustering forms what we term "knowledge," and it is amenable to transfer and to sharing outside the mind, we may now define whatever is transferred as "information."
To transfer "facts" or "information" that there are six cars on the road requires the foundational knowledge of what constitutes cars, road, the number six, and any implications such "facts" or "information" are conveying. In the human mind the only way to form knowledge—hence to be able to absorb such external "information"—is by converting sensorial signals into clusters, which then form the "nuggets" or elemental units of knowledge.
Although the existence of a "flow" of sequential events (such as data-information-wisdom) is an attractive construct, once the direction of this flow is reversed and knowledge is the initial construct to be generated, there is no need for a flow of notions. Whether such a flow obeys criteria of complexity (from the simple to the complex) or temporal distinction (from the past to the present), such a flow is a superfluous and irrelevant explanation of the transfer and sharing of human knowledge.
Tacit and Explicit Knowledge
Ever since Polanyi (1966) there has been a widespread acceptance of the distinction between "tacit" or subjective knowledge, and "explicit" or objective knowledge. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) extended Polanyi's typology. They defined tacit knowledge as a mode of experience, being simultaneous and analog (practical), whereas they defined explicit knowledge as rational, sequential (there and then), and digital (theoretical).
Michael Polanyi (1891-1976) has argued that humans "know more than they can tell," thus engendering a challenge to successive researchers to identify processes, means, and ways in which we can exercise "knowledge conversion"—from tacit to explicit. The differences between tacit and explicit knowledge (what we know and what we are able to transcribe and to share) became the fundamental content of many models attempting to describe such transcription or conversion (Chua, 2002; Earl, 2001; Eddington et al., 2004; Geisler, 2006). Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) suggested four modes of conversion: socialization (from tacit to tacit), externalization (from tacit to explicit), combination (from explicit to explicit), and internalization (from explicit to tacit). Chua (2002) proposed a taxonomy of organizational knowledge in which the classification scheme entails individual and collective knowledge, and these are further classified into tacit and explicit knowledge.
All knowledge is tacit, the result of the clustering of sensorial inputs as they are cumulatively created in the mind. Hence, the distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge is at best an artificial differentiation. The terms "tacit" and "explicit" simply denote a temporary location of knowledge once it is defined, rather than describing a different ontology.
If knowledge is still in the form of clustered sensorial inputs, encloistered in the human mind, then the distinction is irrelevant, because at this point there is no apparent means or mode to access this knowledge. If, however, the knowledge has been shared in the form of nuggets, for example, then it is purely a matter of existing in the accessible universe of human interactions and communication. Thus, whatever is or is not encloistered or embedded in the human mind is irrelevant, immaterial, and inconsequential to shared knowledge. We now need to better define the clustering of knowledge in the mind on the elemental unit of knowledge and to adequately describe the means by which knowledge is shared among minds. Perhaps we may even arrive at the conclusion that whatever is clustered in the mind is indeed "knowledge" and whatever is shared is not knowledge, to be termed "information" or some other connotation.
"Tacit" knowledge may at best refer to the potential of the human mind to generate knowledge from sensorial signals, and to the repository of such clustered formations in the human mind over the person's lifetime. This may mean that the longer the person is in existence and the mind operates, the more knowledge has been generated and cumulatively deposited in the individual's knowledge base in the mind. This does not take into consideration the quality and other attributes of the content of this knowledge base. One must also take into account the levels of attrition and loss of content due to the aging of the brain and other detrimental biological factors of decay.
Such "tacit" knowledge is only meaningful when it can be measured and useful when it can be accessed and shared. Much of the intellectual effort of scholars and practitioners in the areas of knowledge and knowledge management has been devoted to improving the flow from "tacit" to "explicit" (Alavi & Leidner, 2001; Bock & Kim, 2002; Davenport & Prusak, 1998; Lee & Choi, 2003; Rothberg & Ericson, 2004; Sharp, 2003). On the whole this effort produced puny results, leading to several crises in knowledge management and in the continuing failure of many organizational knowledge systems to perform at the level promised by the discipline. As I describe in Part IV of this book, individuals in organizations are reluctant and even averse to sharing what they know.
Michael Polanyi was correct when he asserted that people know much more than they share, but for the wrong reason. We fail to share more than a small portion of what we know not because we refuse to do so (for personal, organizational, or other reasons), but because we are, by design, unable to do more than we have been doing. Hence, attempts to "improve" such a phenomenon of transfer and sharing of knowledge are bound to fail.
Where Knowledge Resides
The effort to define what we know and what we understand by the notion of "knowledge" also leads to questions about the locus of knowledge. Who has it and where does it reside? The notion of the knower will be amply discussed in this book. This notion has two venues: the human cognition in the mind and machines hosting knowledge.
The appearance of computers in the second half of the twentieth century introduced a new dimension to our view of candidates for hosting knowledge. In addition to their ability to receive and process information, these machines engendered a new area of study—human-machine interaction—that is raising many complex questions. Among these are: How well can machines perform as information (or knowledge) processors when compared with the human mind? How similar are these machines to a human mind? How do humans interact with these machines?
In 1936 Alan Turing proposed an effective method of computation known as the "Turing Machine." Independently, Alonzo Church (1941) had offered a similar conjecture. A Turing Machine is a notion of a computing device or method able to compute any recursive functions. The impact of this notion of machine capability has been substantial. It led to a growing appreciation of the power of machines to harness and to process information, hence knowledge. A natural development was the suggestion that the human mind is essentially a Turing Machine. Conversely, with the adequate programming that emulates human mental processes, machines (computers) could eventually think. This concept is known as "machine functionalism."
The human mind may thus be modeled as a machine. Mental states are viewed as "automatic formal systems" whose outcomes are continuously interpreted as a system of relationships. Knowledge is produced as a result of these computations that define mental state at the level of calculations—similar to what a Turing Machine would be doing.
The computer-model of the human mind was extended to the area of exploration known as artificial intelligence (AI). Since the early 1980s, a considerable effort in both financing and intellectual resources has been expended in developing AI devices, components, and models. Previously known as "expert systems," these were computer programs aimed at performing complex tasks, to the extent that meaning, concept formation, and understanding could be achieved. In medicine, for example, expert systems, such as the pioneering Mycin, were designed to provide a diagnosis of a disease based on symptoms, medical history of the patient, and the results from relevant tests performed on the patient.
Turing himself had suggested a test by which a machine could be defined as possessing humanlike intelligence. The machine would be interviewed by an educated human being (without direct physical contact between human and machine), and if the interviewer is unable to tell whether the entity on the other side is human or machine, the machine passes the test of intelligence.
The basic notion of this effort in extending cognition to machines is that "intelligent beings are semantic engineers—in other words, automatic formal systems with interpretations under which they consistently make sense' (Beedle, 1998, p. 243). But, although AI systems have become more sophisticated, there is still a very wide gap between their performance and human intelligence capabilities. In over three decades of the existence of expert systems, those that survived are only used for limited tasks rather than in a broad capacity as sources of knowledge. In particular, this applies to such systems as programs that contain and process knowledge. In effect they contain little knowledge, as defined here. None has passed the "Turing test," nor have computers achieved a level of thought comparable to the human mind. More on these machines, expert systems, and artificial intelligence is in Part IV of this book, where I consider the relation and impact of the structure and progress of knowledge on data and knowledge bases and systems.
How Much Do We Really Know About Knowledge?
The effort described above did little to bring together the stream of scholarship by philosophers engaged in epistemology with those in the nascent field of knowledge management. Both streams adopted the level of propositions, language, concepts, and predicates. Epistemologists explore the truth of these propositions, their value, and their role in ethics—among other goals. Knowledge management is concerned with usage and effectiveness of the systems of knowledge. Neither system ventured to the level of the elemental structure of knowledge. In the allegory of physics, they remained in Newtonian physics, unwilling or unable to delve into sub-atomic explorations and the realm of quantum mechanics.
The issue of definitions, as elaborated in the trinity of classifying data to information to knowledge, is a practice largely favored by management scholars and practitioners. The definitions lead to a better operationalization of concepts, processes, and practices. Therefore, the focus on definitions below the traditional level of higher discourse by epistemologists can be credited for the advent of management scholarship and its pursuit of data and information as components of organizational analysis. Such emphasis was, and continues to be, guided by organizational variables of concern to the extent that there are few, if any, incentives to explore the basic components of knowledge—so long as the existing definitions adequately support models and notions of organizational performance and similar analytical pursuits.
In the current state of affairs, we find these streams of research that are centered around distinct objectives with inconsequential confluence or cross-fertilization. The knowledge management "movement" is concerned with its managerial and organizational issues in pursuit of applications, utility, and the exploration of the systemic attributes of knowledge. It is also overly concerned with transforming "tacit" knowledge into "explicit" knowledge. This stream seems bent on inventing its own notions, research questions, hypotheses, and terminology. Thus far the harvest from this endeavor is relatively puny. We know somewhat more about knowledge systems, but little, if anything, more about knowledge itself: its structure and its progress.
What Else Needs to be Known About Knowledge
I am obliged, in a manner similar to those engaged in knowledge management, to create some generic terms and to define or redefine basic notions of knowledge structure and its dynamics. From epistemology we learned of knowledge as a rational intercourse, conversant and exchanged in language, and argued within human experience and the ontological aspects of what is known. Combined with outcomes from the management quarters, the result is a discourse of knowledge at high levels of consideration, and as a utilitarian "thing" employed by the rational mind and by organizations that such a mind can create.
What we do not know at this juncture, and what needs to be known about knowledge, can be summarized in three items. First, we need to know how knowledge is structured beyond the trinity of hierarchical definitions of data, information, and knowledge. We need to know how knowledge is created, what its basic components are, and if we can regard it in such a design as an ontological unit, rather than an assembly of lower-level components. Can knowledge be considered an entity with its own structure and characteristics, or are we merely reifying an agglomeration of, say, items of useful information? This question has been amply discussed by epistemologists. What we need to know is centered around the problem of the structure of knowledge, assuming that it is indeed ontologically viable.
Second, we need to know how knowledge progresses and how it grows in size and magnitude. If knowledge is indeed ontologically acceptable as a unit of analysis by whatever taxonomy is applied, size or volume would be one of its characteristics. This would mean not only the actual growth of the stock of knowledge by individuals and their social groupings, but also the diffusion mechanisms by which knowledge is exchanged and transmitted among individuals. Finally, we need to know how a modified model that links structure and progress impacts databases and knowledge systems. In fact, these three items are the three basic tomes of this book.
Why is this important and what might be the contributions of this book to gaining such an improvement in the stock of what we already know? In our daily lives we are surrounded by databases and knowledge systems. They not only contain much information and knowledge about us—who we are and what we do—but they also serve as the basis for our actions. We rely on these systems to make inferences, to interpret our surroundings and the forces that confront us, and to make judgments on what we should and can do.
In the latter aspect of knowledge utilization, we have gained many insights from the work of such researchers as Leon Festinger on cognitive dissonance, and Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman on decision making under uncertainty, to list only a few. The psychology of using knowledge to make decisions is better illuminated by these scholars, and we are hence better equipped to understand how knowledge is stored, diffused, and manipulated.
Although we have learned a substantial amount on knowledge and its utilization, there is ample room for a model or theory that links structure and progress. I am not referring to a unifying theory (a "theory of the whole") as physicists prefer to call it, but to a modest attempt to advance a model that links the basic structure of knowledge with a corresponding perspective of how such knowledge progresses and grows.
In the following pages the first section of this book reviews the existing theories and models of knowledge. This is then followed by a description of the model I propose for the structure of knowledge. The second section offers the model as it relates to the progress of knowledge. The third section describes the area of "epistemetrics," and the fourth section of the book addresses the impact of the model on databases and knowledge systems, and how we utilize them to interpret our reality and to act upon it.


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2 Comments
What a great shot ! of course I might have a little bias as this looks exactly like my kitty ..Daisy..Thanks for this one Matt I borrowed it for my desktop as it is the absolute picture of contentment. Peace
I'm happy to be alive and have my marine back from leave.

subset: commoncrawl


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'We don't fear Messi, we respect Valverde's Barcelona' - Simeone hails 'incredible' Blaugrana boss
Diego Simeone has dismissed the notion of Atletico Madrid fearing Lionel Messi in Saturday's clash with Barcelona, instead choosing to praise the "incredible work" of opposite number Ernesto Valverde.
Atleti head to Camp Nou trailing the leaders by eight points in the table, meaning anything less than a win is likely to end their hopes of winning La Liga.
Barca's latest treble charge has been spearheaded by Messi, who has scored 42 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions in another spectacular season.
But, rather than focus on the fearsome form of the Argentina talisman, Simeone is keen to highlight the work of Valverde, especially in light of the disappointment of last term's shock Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of Roma.
When asked about Messi, Simeone told a news conference: "The word isn't 'fear', but respect.
"There is a seniority Barcelona have, and what I would call the incredible work the coach is doing, keeping them alive in three competitions.
"Last season, they went through in Rome what happened to us in Turin [when Atleti lost 3-0 to Juventus], and they couldn't win everything, but they tried for the treble.
"Now, they have an enviable position in the league, in the Champions League... it's difficult to be a team like that and keep winning. Valverde, with his style of play, is having an amazing season."
20 - Direct free-kick goals in Europe's top five leagues in the last five seasons:— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 5, 2019
11 - Miralem Pjanic
9 - Paulo Dybala
9 - Daniel Parejo
4 - Cristiano Ronaldo.
Amazing. pic.twitter.com/c8lN0R1MNc
Messi has scored six times from direct free-kicks this season, including once in each of his last three league appearances, while the 20 goals he has managed from set-pieces in the last five seasons is almost double the number of any other player in Europe's top five leagues.
"That's pure quality," was Simeone's assessment.
Simeone has failed to win any of his 14 league meetings with Barca as Atleti head coach, while their last league win at Camp Nou came under Jose Murcia in February 2006.
However, the former midfielder is more concerned about taking maximum points from all of their remaining games, not only the clash on Saturday, for which he expects to have Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata fit and ready.
"The fact we never win makes me super optimistic, of course!" he said.
"If we win and then don't win the next games, it won't matter at all. We have to focus on trying to keep improving.
"It makes me feel good that Barca believe we are their closest competitors. That speaks well of our players."


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Fill out our bail bond agreement forms ONLY after you have decided to purchase a bond from All Out Now Bail Bonds.
Our forms are a "legal Electronic Contract" required to purchase a
bail bond online. Please take your time and fill out each form as completely as possible. These completed forms will allow us to complete the process of bailing your love ones out of jail. Your bond forms are not legally binding until approved and signed by both parties. Both parties include All Out Now Bail Bonds and yourself.
Please click on the links below to fill out these five contract agreements and sign the Signature Authorization. You will receive an email for each agreement that you e-sign. You will also receive a phone call from us.
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Our agreements can be filled out on line and you will be able to
sign the Signature Authorization on each form when you are done.
We use EchoSign to capture your signature, so make sure you understand what you are signing.
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|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|ArneD <pub...@degenring.de>
|Re: ClearCase SCM and Continuum
|Tue, 20 Jun 2006 14:35:45 GMT
Thank you, Wim! Wim Deblauwe wrote: > > 1) This is the way that ClearCase works, there is nothing I know we can do > about it. > Maybe something could be changed in Continuum and the POM schema, so that the POM location relative to the SCM checkout directory could be specified within the POM. > 2) I guess the workaround here would be to add the submodules > individually. > You can remove the view that was created via cleartool or from the > clearcase > home base. > I found another workaround by building the super-module recursively: Delete all sub-modules. Change the super module definition and remove the "--non-recursive" option from the build targets. By the way, do you know has anybody planned to implement the "checkout by tag" functionality for ClearCase, so that the Maven release plugin can be used? And, at last, one suggestion. I believe the ClearCase integration would be even better, if the SCM url would contain all necessary information (like with CVS, SVN, ...). To define the config spec as an external file adds unnecessary complexity for the users. Anyway, thank you and all Maven / Continuum developers! You've done a great job. But for a broad acceptance of Maven, I believe, a simplification of some issues would be helpful. Regards, Arne -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/ClearCase-SCM-and-Continuum-t1812397.html#a4956443 Sent from the Continuum - Users forum at Nabble.com.
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It is possible to be weak in a particular subject and not have a learning disability.
Signs that parents should look for are: Your child doesn't relate to the teacher or understand the teacher's style of teaching. Your child doesn't understand homework assignments or she is doing poorly on tests.
However, if this is a problem that persists and your child is having the same issues in all of his or her subjects, this might be the time for a parent to consult with an expert on slow learning.
What do we know about slow learners:
- They have difficulty in taking multi-step directions
- Do not develop long-term relationships
- Tend to live in the present only
- Tend to have a poor self-image due to the awareness that they don't keep up.
- Work on task slowly but can be methodical.
- Do not have strategies for problem solving and decision-making
The problem is:
Slow learners need help but special education is not the answer, testing is not the answer, setting higher achievement and standard and goals are not the answer.
How to monitor these students?
1. Picture book:
Some pupils are more interested in learning but slow learners still can't read. Choosing a suitable book is the key consideration.
2. Peer guidance:
Some pupils get help and improve their alphabetic knowledge but some others don't.
3. Heterogeneous grouping:
Willing slow learners benefit most from this, but unwilling ones sometimes stay as indifferent as before.
4. Playing games:
These may involve quizzes, interesting exercises like grouping similar pictures, numerical exercises with everyday items like foods, grocery lists etc. These games are known to offer constant stimulation to the child's brain, making it respond better and faster.
Just as your muscles benefit from exercises, these brain teaser games will give your child's brain some much-needed exercise, thus help improve his/her memory power and encouraging faster processing.
5. Multimedia instruction:
Interactive multimedia offers an alternative medium of instruction to the slow learners. The nature of interactivity and discovery in multimedia learning bears a beneficial boost to the monotony of passive learning.
Rather than be bounded by the pace of the teacher, learners are individually paced according to his or her own ability. One way, multimedia can give low ability students extensive learning time before moving forward.
This aspect of multimedia learning supports student-centered strategy whereby learners take responsibility in their own learning process. "Students learn to sift the relevant from the irrelevant information and can relate new information to real world
Try and find out your preferred learning style as it going to help you in long run. Try one Assesment Test today and get going with it.
Happy Learning!


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Unabridged Audiobook
Date: November 2016
Duration: 4 hours 57 minutes
No going back …
Prince, Killa-E, Daddy-O, and Danny grew up together in the projects, moving crack and cocaine while answering to Diego, the neighborhood drug lord. They were small-timers playing for low stakes—until Prince is introduced to a heroin connect.
Overnight they go from soldiers to bosses, and their crew is held together by loyalty and love. But taking the reins of power comes at a high price. Now, with Diego at their back and a traitor in their midst, they find themselves between a kilo and a hard place, ready to spill blood to stay on top.


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Practice Hours
Monday: 9.00am – 8.00pm
Tuesday: 8.00am – 8.00pm
Wednesday: 9.00am – 5.30pm
Thursday: 8.00am – 5.30pm
Friday: 9.00am – 4.00pm
Saturdays by appointment only.
A perfect pick-me-up for just about any mouth! Sometimes your teeth can need that little something to brighten them up and get them looking tip-top. Whitening is the answer. Painless and easy, a whiter smile will have you beaming from ear to ear in no time at all. All our dentists are fully trained and very experienced in whitening to ensure you get the whitest smile you wish for.
We have a wide range of different treatments (shown below) for tooth whitening, depending on your budget, the shade of whiteness you desire, the speed of transformation you wish to achieve, and any tooth sensitivity you may have. Please call us to book an initial free consultation with one of our dentists, who can advise on the best system for you.
Our new Zoom! 3D Advance laser technology can instantly whiten your teeth by up to ten shades in 1 hour. The in practice system gets to work immediately, then you will be provided with either DayWhite or Nitewhite take-home kits to continue your whitening further. We have Feel Good Fridays where we can offer Zoom teeth whitening for just £295. Feel free to relax, listen to music or watch our television while the very latest laser technology gets to work. You also leave with take home trays and two tubes of whitening gel to keep your new white smile topped up and totally fabulous.
Introductory offer – usually £495, now just £295, that's an amazing 40% discount.
We also offer our patients the option of the Enlighten system of tooth whitening. This system guarantees that your teeth will be significantly lighter in just two weeks. It is a combination of a 2 week at home tray system followed by an hour long treatment with the dentist.
The Enlighten system costs £595, but it has the most dramatic transformation and results of all the systems in the practice at up to 16 shades.
We will custom make you some trays – a little like gum shields only much thinner – which you can wear in the evening or overnight filled with our special whitening gel. You have the flexibility to go as white as you like with these trays as the more you wear them the whiter your teeth will become. You can expect your teeth to achieve a great looking result within a couple of weeks. Of course the trays are yours to keep and can be worn again whenever you feel your teeth need brightening up, perhaps before a holiday or a wedding.
If you are looking for teeth whitening in Warrington or the Warrington area then feel free to book a free whitening consultation by filling out the contact form or calling the practice on 01925 756565.
EU regulations mean you will only be able to have tooth whitening using between 0.1 % and 6% hydrogen peroxide* after first visiting your dentist. After a supervised first treatment we will then ensure you know how to use the products correctly at home.
*Any products over 6 % are illegal and unavailable for use by anyone. Beware of hairdressers and beauty salons offering tooth whitening. It is likely that they are either operating illegally, in which case you should report them to Trading Standards. They may be using an alternative bleaching chemical, likely to be Chlorine Dioxide which has a strong dehydrating effect on the tooth and we would never recommend it.
We also offer gift vouchers of any denomination for teeth whitening in Warrington which are perfect for Christmas or birthdays. Please call our reception team on 01925 756565 to inquire about gift vouchers – just fill out our contact form!
Monday: 9.00am – 8.00pm
Tuesday: 8.00am – 8.00pm
Wednesday: 9.00am – 5.30pm
Thursday: 8.00am – 5.30pm
Friday: 9.00am – 4.00pm
Saturdays by appointment only.
Dental Solutions
9 Henry St,
01925 756565
[email protected]
Dentist Referrals
Referral Form


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How to use social media to get more sales over the holidays
Looking for more effective ways to boost your holiday sales this year?
Social media has proven itself to be a strong driving force for holiday sales, demonstrating an average 34% YOY traffic growth across the 2017-18 Christmas period.
It's also a fantastic channel for brand discovery, building customer engagement and increasing brand exposure in the lead up to holiday purchases.
As one of the fastest-growing sales platforms, investing in social media for your 2019 holiday campaign is a simple and effective way to get seen by more people and convert more sales.
Interested? Let's take a look at some of the easiest ways to develop a killer social media campaign this holiday period.
Review what performed well last year
The best way to start planning for the holiday shopping season is to take a look at last year's campaigns. What brought about the best results and how could you utilise this kind of strategy again for 2019? What didn't work and how could you improve on this? Which channel brought about the best ROI?
Rather than feeling around in the dark, use the social data you have on hand to formulate a strategy that is tested and therefore more likely to bring about successful results.
Take advantage of special shopping days
Sale days like Cyber Monday and Boxing Day will bring about the best return for your marketing campaigns. This is not just limited to social media either but should be factored into your broader holiday marketing strategy.
When planning your social strategy and content plans, think about including the following promotions:
- Singles Day – 11th November
- Click Frenzy – 12th November
- Black Friday – 29th November
- Cyber Monday – 2nd December
- Free Shipping Day – 15th December
- Boxing Day Sales – 26th December
Develop your strategy
After reviewing last year's stats, it's time to think about your strategy. Here, you should consider things like which social media platforms you'll use, what kind of content you'll distribute and a schedule for your campaign rollout.
When developing your strategy, it's important to remember that each social channel has a different purpose and should, therefore, have its own strategy. For example, what will work for Instagram will almost certainly not work for LinkedIn.
Put together your social media content calendar
After zeroing in on your social strategies, you'll want to put together a content calendar containing your branded assets and messaging ready for roll out throughout the season.
When working on this, think about how you can disperse your content across your channels to receive maximum impact. For example, if a promotion goes live on Black Friday, you'll want to ensure you've been promoting the sale in the lead up, so your audience is well aware of your sale.
Offer exclusive social media promotions
Social media is a fantastic avenue for promoting your holiday campaigns. Not only is it a cost-effective platform for getting your messaging out, but your social followers are already engaged with your brand and open to receiving content from you.
To encourage your followers to shop with you this holiday season, try offering exclusive deals that only they can gain access to.
Reach out to influencers
With so much marketing noise around the holiday period, partnering with influencers to promote your products can really help to cut through the clutter in a way that feels more organic.
Especially for influencers with highly engaged followings, audiences will take their reviews as personal recommendations of your products. These recommendations are a really effective way to get your customers across the line.
Try video & animations
Did you know that audiences are 95% more likely to remember your call to action after watching a video, as opposed to just 10% when reading text?
Brands that are serious about social media should focus on creating and publishing rich and engaging video content that consumers love to watch. For your holiday campaigns, think about how a video or video series could elevate your messaging and further promote your holiday sales.
Implement Chatbots to improve customer service
If you haven't already, now is a great time to start considering how Messenger Chatbots could elevate the shopping and customer service experience for your audience.
Not only are they a simple, affordable and automated way of connecting with your customers, but they're also really effective among a range of markets across Facebook.
According to a study conducted by Hubspot, messaging delivered through Chatbot had an 80% open rate and 13% click-through rate. To put this in perspective, the same content was delivered through email and received a mere 33% open rate and 2.1% click-through.
In short, consider how Chatbots could elevate your customer experiences and start deploying them in time for the holiday sales period.
Don't forget your holiday hashtags
Hashtags make your content easier to find by the people interested in what you have to offer, so it makes sense to take advantage of them to help drive holiday sales.
While the hashtags appropriate to you will differ depending on your industry and brand, consider some of the following for your Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter campaigns.
#ChristmasCountDown #ChristmasGifts #ChristmasShopping #ChristmasGiveaways #ChristmasCompetition #AllIWantForChristmas #ChristmasList #BlackFriday #CyberMonday #ChristmasDay #BoxingDay
Publish themed gift guides or reviews
Ever wondered what on earth to get someone for Christmas? Just about everyone has, and nowadays we turn to the internet to find our answers.
To help promote your products and holiday packages, try writing themed gift guides and product reviews that you can share across your social networks.
As well as offering a detailed guide to your most popular items, gift guides and reviews are a great way to boost your holiday SEO and get your products seen by more people.
Track & measure your holiday campaign success
To determine how successful your holiday marketing campaigns have been, and to give you a starting point for next year, it's really important to track and record your results.
There are 3 really simple ways to do this:
Use Google's Campaign URL Builder to create trackable links
When sharing reviews, gift-guides, newsletters or product links on social media, trackable links allow you to identify where your traffic is coming from to see what content performs the best.
Use your social media analytics tools
Regardless of what channels you're using, it's really beneficial to monitor your analytics during and after your campaigns. This will help you better understand how your content is performing by determining the most popular types of content and the best times for content distribution.
Record your findings
Recording your campaign performance is the best way to understand how to improve your social media marketing tactics for next year. While it might be somewhat time-consuming, we strongly recommend doing it soon after your campaigns finish while everything is still fresh in your mind.
Now it's time to get to work! With the holiday sales period just around the corner, it's important to get stuck into your campaign planning as soon as possible to make sure you're ready to kick goals this shopping period.
For more detailed tips on prepping for Christmas, don't forget to check out our article on getting your business ready for holiday sales.
Happy planning!


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Kirstenbosch was established in 1913 to promote, conserve and display the diverse flora of southern Africa, and was the first botanic garden in the world to be devoted to a country's indigenous flora.
Kirstenbosch displays a wide variety of the unique plant life of the Cape Flora, also known as fynbos, including sugarbushes (Protea spp.), pincushions (Leucospermum spp.) and heaths (Erica spp.). Plants from all the diverse regions and biomes of southern Africa are also grown at Kirstenbosch, including a near-complete collection of cycads (Encephalartos spp.). The Botanical Society Conservatory is a custom-built glasshouse to grow and display plants from the arid regions that cannot survive outdoors. There are over 7 000 species in cultivation at Kirstenbosch, including many rare and threatened species.
The 36 hectare garden is part of a 528 hectare estate that contains protected mountainside supporting natural forest and fynbos along with a variety of animals and birds. In 2004 the Cape Floristic Region, including Kirstenbosch, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site – another first for Kirstenbosch. It is the first botanic garden in the world to be included within a natural World Heritage Site.
Kirstenbosch is the largest of a country-wide network of nine National Botanical Gardens administered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).
Venue: Rhodes dr, Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa
Time: 8am – 6pm (winter) | 8am – 7pm (summer)
Cost: R55 | R15
Tel: 021 799 8783 | 021 799 8782 | 021 799 8899 | 021 797 6570
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Website: Kirstenbosch | SANBI
Facebook: Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Twitter: @KirstenboschNBG


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Baptism of Anna and Oliver: St Paul's Anglican Church, Ipswich
Six years ago, I was honoured to photograph Alyssa and Rob's glamorous wedding in Brisbane. This year, they contacted me again to photograph the baptism of their third child, baby Anna, and her cousin Oliver, at St Paul's Anglican Church, Ipswich. I had a lot of fun photographing their baptism – they're a lot like photographing a wedding, but on a much smaller scale. After a lovely ceremony lead by Reverend Steve McMahon, the families headed off to the hall across the road for some fun family celebrations.


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In what could be a turning point in their season, the Carolina Panthers were able to rally to defeat the Atlanta Falcons. Now sitting at 6-3 and a bye week still to come, they are in a prime position to make a run for the NFC South title.
Here is what I saw yesterday as I roamed the sidelines.
All eyes were on Cam Newton before the game yesterday, wondering what he might be feeling without close friend Kelvin Benjamin. For the most part, Newton was his normal self. That means plenty of dancing and tomfoolery as warmups transpired. However, he also showed a bit more emotion as he spoke to individual players like Thomas Davis.
Once warmups were over, it was time for introductions. Allow me to dissect for you the anatomy of a Cam Newton introduction just in case you have not seen it in person. This is a formula that is replicated every other home game as the offense is introduced.
First, Smoke fills the tunnel. For a few seconds nothing is there. Then Newton slowly appears as he points to the sky. The crowd noise begins to increase in volume.
Newton then drops his hand and breathes in the moment, filling his lungs with the energy and emotion.
Then Cam flashes his patented superman pose and exits the tunnel as flames surround him.
At this point the crowd is whipped up into a frenzy. Should you ever get a chance to visit Bank of America Stadium for a Carolina Panthers game, be sure to be in your seats for this spectacle.


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This recipe dates back to the late 14th century (approximately 1591), where it was the centrepiece of celebrations for the harvest and other festivals. Ale was the main liquid of the day, accompanying breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was, therefore, used a great deal in dishes, with most farms and homes brewing their own ale on a daily basis. The ale of that period did not contain hops, which prevents the souring process, so soured ale (or ale-aigre as it was known in French and within the English Royal courts) was used in the same way as we use vinegar today for seasoning and preserving. This recipe contains both ale and Ale-gar©®, which give this dish a truly delightful flavour.
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 2 hours
Marinade time;: 8-12 hours
- 200g shin beef, trimmed, but left in one piece on the bone
- 1 tbsp. Macadamia nut oil
- 300ml light ale
- 1 tbsp. tomato purée
- 100g clear honey
For the marinade:
- 4 onions, peeled and cut into 6 wedges
- 100ml stout
- 50ml Ale-Gar©®
- 3 thyme sprigs
- 3 fresh rosemary sprigs
- 3 sprigs of oregano
- 3 parsley sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 garlic clove, peeled and halved
- 1tsp ground mace
- ½ tsp. turmeric
- 1tsp sea salt
- 1tsp Ale-Gar©® mustard
- 1tsp black peppercorns, crushed
- First, prepare the marinade. In a large bowl, place the onions, stout, Ale-Gar©®, thyme, rosemary, oregano, parsley, bay leaves, garlic, mace, cloves, turmeric, sea salt, Ale-Gar©® mustard and peppercorns. Mix well.
- Add the shin of beef to the marinade, making sure that it is completely covered by the marinade.
- Marinate in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours, turning occasionally.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4.
- Remove the beef from the bowl, reserving the marinade for later.
- Heat the macadamia nut oil in a large, heavy-based roasting tray on the hob until very hot. Add in the beef and cook until golden on all sides.
- Pour the reserved marinade into the hot pan, add the tomato puree and the light ale, and cover with kitchen foil.
- Place in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes, basting occasionally.
- 10 minutes before the end of cooking, uncover the beef, drizzle over the honey and return to oven to continue cooking uncovered.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest before carving.


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An eclectic menu full of delicious options inspired by every corner of the world is waiting for you to discover at Christopher's World Grille! A top restaurant in College Station, Christopher's International Grille is a particular favorite of students who love the varied menu and fun ambiance. Learn more about what makes this local hotspot such a draw!
Local Charm
Founded by renowned international chef Christopher Lampo, Christopher's International Grille has been serving customers for over fifteen years. Visited by political dignitaries and locals alike, Christopher's features a charming, rustic exterior and plenty of cozy, relaxing seating spaces inside. Plan all your special events at Christopher's, in one of their spacious, inviting private rooms, including The Banquet Room, which can seat up to 144 people, or The Parlor, with seating for up to 64, and plenty of options in between.
Exciting Menu
One of the things that makes Christopher's International Grille so popular is their inspired menu full of delicious cuisine. The head chef incorporates bits and pieces of his travels into his food so that customers can experience other cultures and how great food connects people across continents. From decadent starters like Mexican shrimp cocktail, roasted shishito peppers, blackened shrimp and crawfish fondue to light and flavorful salads such as the Roquefort apple salad, made with Granny Smith apples, Roquefort cheese, spiced walnuts and apple cider vinaigrette, there is always something to start your meal in style. The entrees are equally impressive and range from a classic house filet to Creole-inspired stuffed shrimp. The menu changes seasonally, so as to always offer customers a fresh dining experience!
Residents of The Rise at Northgate apartment homes can enjoy Christopher's International Grille and a host of other fantastic local restaurants any time they choose! Contact us today to schedule your tour.


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Guilt by metal association. For many, that's the principal reason you'll see a band like Worm Ouroboros crop up on metal sites whenever a new album drops. All three members are connected to the scene, but only drummer Aesop Dekker has his name attached to present-day bands that produce the hard stuff on the level. Vocalist/bassist Lorraine Rath likewise has a past experience with the metal-bracketed (and sorely under-appreciated) The Gault, a project that released one near-perfect record before calling it quits, and Worm Ouroboros clearly embodies the crux of that band's doomy spirit and deathrock character. But there is a folkier feel to the dark ambience here, with a bulk of the time spent painting with a gauzy brush that works a delicate line between a drifting dreamstate and light consciousness. Elegance such as this will either make or break an unfamiliar listener within the first five minutes of "Day," the slow-rolling opener to What Graceless Dawn. Those who don't have a taste for the sort of drifting etherealness one might associate with a wildwood encounter with the ghost of the sylph queen will write this record off, and the door will most certainly hit them where the good Jörð split them. The rest, however, will find yet another fitting companion for the small hours, and a willing accomplice to solemn, solitary treks away from the madness of the day.
The beauty of simplicity is something Worm Ouroboros clearly understands. The formula centralizes balance – harmony between light and dark, warmth and coldness – and how to achieve that intention with elegance and minimal ornamentation. One guitar, one bass, drums, and the sirenic, harmonized voices of Rath and guitarist Jessica Way (Barren Earth) are the only arrows in What Graceless Dawn's quiver, and these elements twist about in flight in a way that paints a picture that's flush with orchestration. Listen to a song like "Broken Movements" as testament: crisp, gray and beautiful from the gate, like watching snow disappear as it hits an un-iced lake, and where the smallest of notes frequently manage to hit the hardest. Despite being leavened with a strong sense of bleakness, a clear impression of comfort and acceptance is also present, particularly once the song's midpoint cracks the surface with a majestic measure of sweeping doom. The album's longest cut, the 14-minute "Ribbon of Shadow," treads with a similar foot, and features one of the year's tastiest, most grief-stricken guitar licks around its 10-minute mark. Many a favored pick from the funeral doom realm would give a left marble for the minimalist power of emotion this record achieves.
When things are busier and hit with more weight, which happens at some point on every song but the fittingly quiet closer, "Night," the album's dynamic production continues to distribute equal priority to all players. The spry manner in which the bass bumps around the somber guitar tone stresses a certain buoyancy during more dramatic moments that prevents full misery submersion, as is the case throughout the latter half of "Suffering Tree." And the band also recognizes the effectiveness of using percussion to deliver the heavy when things are otherwise peaceful, so an appropriate tip of the the hat is due toward Aesop Dekker (Vhol, ex-Agalloch, ex-Ludicra) for hitting like a fighter precisely when the mood calls for it. He has a knack for keeping things engaging when the temperament is subdued, but a song like "(Was It) the Cruelest Thing" does a great job of showcasing the impact that heavy-handed percussion can have when you need a little more power to offset all that tranquility.
Graceless Dawn by WORM OUROBOROS</a>
These songs are a curative for those fortunate enough to resonate on a similar wavelength. Steeped in sorrow, for sure, but also greatly affected by the warmth and narcotic drift at the heart of Lorraine and Jessica's vocal accompaniment. My first week with the record resulted in the following initial evaluation: "This is the musical equivalent of being extraordinarily comfortable as your body decays on a lonely hillside and birds fret over your dead eyes. Happy times, really." Two weeks later and I feel no different. More decayed, perhaps, but still just as happy. This is isolation, but without the loneliness, and it's the best work Worm Ouroboros has produced to date – clear potential for pleasant headaches due to its release date and capacity to muck with an already solidified year-end list. There's no real logic behind complaining about an abundance of musical goodness when the world around you seems damn-near collapse, though, so grab some good headphones, head into the woods, and revel in the leveling.


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Crescent ♍ Virgo
Moon phase on 24 August 2025 Sunday is Waxing Crescent, 1 day young Moon is in Virgo.Share this page: twitter facebook linkedin
Waxing Crescent is the lunar phase on . Seen from Earth, illuminated fraction of the Moon surface is 2% and growing larger. The 1 day young Moon is in ♍ Virgo.
Monday Mon
Tuesday Tue
Wednesday Wed
Thursday Thu
Friday Fri
Saturday Sat
Sunday Sun
Previous main lunar phase is the New Moon before 1 day on 23 August 2025 at 06:06.
Moon rises in the morning and sets in the evening. It is visible toward the southwest in early evening.
Moon is passing about ∠16° of ♍ Virgo tropical zodiac sector.
Lunar disc appears visually 4.2% narrower than solar disc. Moon and Sun apparent angular diameters are ∠1819" and ∠1898".
Next Full Moon is the Harvest Moon of September 2025 after 14 days on 7 September 2025 at 18:09.
There is medium ocean tide on this date. Sun and Moon gravitational forces are not aligned, but meet at very acute angle, so their combined tidal force is moderate.
The Moon is 1 day young. Earth's natural satellite is moving from the beginning to the first part of current synodic month. This is lunation 317 of Meeus index or 1270 from Brown series.
Length of current 317 lunation is 29 days, 13 hours and 48 minutes. It is 2 hours and 43 minutes shorter than next lunation 318 length.
Length of current synodic month is 1 hour and 4 minutes longer than the mean length of synodic month, but it is still 5 hours and 59 minutes shorter, compared to 21st century longest.
This New Moon true anomaly is ∠93°. At beginning of next synodic month true anomaly will be ∠127.7°. The length of upcoming synodic months will keep increasing since the true anomaly gets closer to the value of New Moon at point of apogee (∠180°).
9 days after point of perigee on 14 August 2025 at 18:01 in ♈ Aries. The lunar orbit is getting wider, while the Moon is moving outward the Earth. It will keep this direction for the next 5 days, until it get to the point of next apogee on 29 August 2025 at 15:34 in ♏ Scorpio.
Moon is 393 942 km (244 784 mi) away from Earth on this date. Moon moves farther next 5 days until apogee, when Earth-Moon distance will reach 404 552 km (251 377 mi).
Moon is in descending node in ♍ Virgo at 15:41 on this date, it crosses the ecliptic from North to South. Moon will follow the southern part of its orbit for the next 14 days to meet ascending node on 7 September 2025 at 23:08 in ♓ Pisces.
12 days after beginning of current draconic month in ♓ Pisces, the Moon is moving from the middle to the last part of it.
5 days after previous North standstill on 18 August 2025 at 15:59 in ♊ Gemini, when Moon has reached northern declination of ∠28.585°. Next 8 days the lunar orbit moves southward to face South declination of ∠-28.623° in the next southern standstill on 1 September 2025 at 22:04 in ♐ Sagittarius.
After 14 days on 7 September 2025 at 18:09 in ♓ Pisces, the Moon will be in Full Moon geocentric opposition with the Sun and this alignment forms next Sun-Earth-Moon syzygy.


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These Popular Costco Foods Have Been Recalled — Avoid Them at All Costs
When it comes to buying in bulk, many people prefer Costco to any other warehouse-style store. But buyers shouldn't just be on the look out for food prices and deals — they should also beware of when food is recalled. Not sure what those products are?
Let's take a quick look at foods carried at Costco that have been recalled, including a popular snack (No. 9) and a certain type of burger (No. 12).
1. Pre-cut melon: Salmonella
- The contamination: Recalled in 23 states
Following a slamonella outbreak in June of 2018, at least 23 states are recalling pre-cut melon products. At least 31 people have been hospitalized, according to the CDC.
Costco is one of the several retailers where the products are under recall.
Specifically, the FDA is advising residents of the following states to avoid pre-cut melon: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia or Wisconsin.
Next: Watch out for these patties
2. Foster Farms Ready-To-Eat Chicken patties: Plastic pieces
- The contamination: Pieces of plastic found in the patties
Chicken shows up quite a few times on Coscto's list of recalled products. As does Foster Farms products. These breaded chicken patties were recalled in 2017 after consumers in western states complained that they found pieces of plastic in their food.
Next: This popular snack can make you seriously sick …
3. Jalapeno flavored potato chips: Salmonella
- The contamination: Possible salmonella contamination
Frito-Lay has a wide range of potato chip flavors out there. But one popular flavor, jalapeno, began flying off the shelves for the wrong reasons. In 2017, the company voluntarily recalled its jalapeno flavored Lay's Kettle Cooked chips and Miss Vickie's Jalapeno Kettle Cooked Chips due to seasoning being possibly contaminated with salmonella.
Next: Not-so-healthy health food shake …
4. Organic Plant Based Protein Superfood 30 Shake: Trace peanut allergens
- The contamination: Traces of peanuts could cause allergic reactions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted Nutiva's voluntary recall announcement in March 2017. The Organic Superfoods company issued a voluntary recall because their vanilla and chocolate shakes — carried at Costco — possibly contained traces of peanuts.
Next: This health food contained a deadly organism …
5. Sabra hummus: Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria, which can be deadly
Sabra Dipping Company issued a recall of several products in late 2016. The reason? A deadly bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes was found at the manufacturing facility. (Get used to seeing that name, it's on our list a lot.) According the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, listeriosis kills more than 200 people a year and is especially dangerous in newborns and people with weak immune systems.
Next: Hummus wasn't the only food affected by listeria …
6. Chicken skewers: Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria
The USDA announced in August 2017 a variety of chicken skewer meals carried at Costco were being recalled. Montreal-based company Expresco Foods Inc. recalled over 20,000 pounds of imported chicken skewers that were potentially contaminated with listeria.
Next: This treat is not so sweet …
7. Nestle drumsticks: Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria
Ice cream and other dessert goodies are common buys at Costco. But in October 2016, Nestle recalled its 16-count drumstick variety packs and 24-count vanilla drumstick packs after listeria was found at one of their production plants.
Next: More poultry problems …
8. Tyson chicken nuggets: Plastic pieces
- The contamination: Pieces of plastic in the chicken
There are few things more synonymous with shopping at Costco than buying a huge pack of chicken nuggets. Sadly, some of those tasty bites were tainted. Tyson recalled its five pound bags of chicken nuggets in 2016 after consumers complained about finding pieces of plastic in the chicken.
Next: A familiar foe attacks everyone's favorite bars …
9. Nature Valley nut bars: Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria
Costco's a great place to stock up on trail mix and snack bars, making Nature Valley products a popular buy. But some of the brands most popular bars were recalled in June 2016 when their sunflower kernel supplier SunOpta issued a national recall due to the presence of listeria.
Next: More kernel troubles …
10. Clif Bar Energy bars: Listeria
- The contamination: Potential listeria contamination
Nature Valley wasn't the only company wrapped up in SunOpta's nation-wide recall. Popular protein bar company Clif Bar recalled their Nuts & Seeds and Trail Mix bars due to potential listeria contamination, although there were no reports of anyone getting sick.
Next: And the recall continued …
11. Kashi trail mix snack bars (and other products): Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria
The SunOpta recall also affected Kashi, who expanded their initial voluntary recall of snack bars to granola and other products. The listeria scare and recall — along with other reported problems with frozen fruit — cost SunOpta millions of dollars.
Next: Burger fans beware …
12. Dr. Praeger's veggie burgers: Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria
Heck, who doesn't like buying burger patties in bulk from Costco? Probably anyone that bought Dr. Praeger's veggie burgers between November 26, 2015 and March 28, 2017. The reason for the recall? The patties were potentially contaminated with — drumroll, please — listeria.
Next: And it didn't stop at veggie burgers …
13. Ajinomoto Windsor dishes: Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria
As you have probably guessed, 2016 was a bad year for Costco foods with potential listeria contamination. Before the big SunOpta recall over the summer, chicken dishes made by Ajinomoto Windsor Inc were recalled over fear of the bacteria. These dishes included Ajinomoto Yakitori Chicken Fried Rice, Petite Cuisine Southwest Chicken Firecrackers, and the Petite Cuisine Chicken Poblano Firecracker. These products were sold at Costco warehouses nationwide, and could have contaminated dating back to May 2014.
Next: Not a food, per-say, but still a threat …
14. General Mills flour: E.coli
- The contamination: E.coli
If you have to buy baking products in bulk, why not go to Costco? Just beware of what brand you buy. In 2016, General Mills recalled multiple kinds of its flour due to break out of E.coli. (Although to be fair, all cases came from consumers eating raw products such as cookie dough. No cooked products reportedly caused illness.)
Next: More bad news for this edible bird …
15. Foster Farms chicken nuggets: Plastic pieces
- The contamination: Plastic in the chicken
Before there were plastic fragments in the chicken patties, Foster Farms had a problem with plastic fragments in their chicken nuggets. In April 2016, Foster Farms alerted Costco customers that a limited recall was placed on five pound bags of nuggets that were produced at their Farmerville, Louisiana location.
Next: Last but not least …
16. CRF frozen foods: Listeria
- The contamination: Listeria
CRF had to issue a major recall in May 2016 when listeria threatened their frozen fruits and vegetables.The recall included both organic and non-organic produce, spanning "358 consumer products sold under 42 separate brands" including some Bybee and Kirkland produce sold at Costco.
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Have an Ace Up Your Sleeve With These Mastitis Management TipsJanuary 29, 2019
Incorporate these best practices to help protect your dairy from costly mastitis relapse. More >
A Numbers Game: Impact of Mastitis and High SCCDecember 21, 2018
The impacts of mastitis and high SCC are real and expensive. Learn more about the costly risks each can pose to your dairy. More >
Focus on Four: Target these outcomes to reduce metritis riskDecember 18, 2018
Pay close attention to your fresh pen and look for every opportunity to help reduce the risk of diseases, including metritis. More >
Somatic cell count impacts everythingSeptember 26, 2018
Today's dairy industry is challenging. It takes business sense, strong instincts, dairy know-how, innovation and continuous improvement to succeed. More >
Improve pregnancy rate to help maximize profitabilitySeptember 25, 2018
Quicker pregnancies equal more profit. When cows get pregnant quickly, they produce more milk, have shorter calving intervals and generate more replacements. More >
Don't Play the Weight guessing GameJune 08, 2018
Antibiotic dosages are determined by individual body weight. If you're eyeballing cattle body weight, you might be unknowingly under- or overdosing antibiotics. More >
Lameness: Can you stand to lose?August 18, 2016
If 12.5% of your cows experienced lameness, what would that mean for your bottom line? More >
TREAT METRITIS WITH EXCEDE®June 15, 2018
Take quick action to get cows back to full health and peak production after your veterinarian has confirmed a metritis diagnosis. And quick action can come in only two shots and zero milk discard. More >
Spring-cleaning items for your Dairy Wellness to-do listMarch 13, 2017
Consider this spring-cleaning checklist to help you keep your Dairy Wellness goals on track as we transition from winter to spring. More >
Powerful data can help manage transition cowsJanuary 03, 2017
The success of fresh cows can determine the success of your dairy. More >
Use resources to help avoid drug residuesNovember 11, 2016
Zoetis has a variety of resources to help you avoid drug residues. More >
Tips to avoid drug residuesNovember 11, 2016
Consider these six tips to make drug residue avoidance a top priority on your dairy: More >
Count the costs of pen movesSeptember 15, 2016
Pen movement is an overlooked aspect of a fresh cow program. More >
Tips for a cleaner calving areaMay 04, 2016
Are your calves born into a clean environment? These maternity pen management tips can help calves achieve a healthy start. More >
Manage milk quality for better repro, more milkJanuary 25, 2016
Use the Healthy Start Program to identify and treat subclinical mastitis, and start fresh cows on a path toward breeding and lactation success. More >
What is metritis costing you?December 22, 2015
Metritis challenges all dairies, but monitoring and early intervention can help reduce the financial impact. More >
LUTALYSE® HighCon: A new management tool for added reproductive efficiencyNovember 24, 2015
New LUTALYSE® HighCon Injection (dinoprost tromethamine injection) enhances dairy reproductive outcomes with greater convenience and flexibility. More >
The cost of high somatic cell countsOctober 15, 2015
Subclinical mastitis is often called hidden mastitis. Could it be hiding the potential of your dairy cows during their lactation? More >
What footbath color says about its effectivenessOctober 13, 2015
Color can be a good indicator about the cleanliness and effectiveness of your footbath. More >
Take responsible care of market dairy cowsAugust 11, 2015
Our actions impact the industry and Dairy Wellness. More >
New SPECTRAMAST® LC label extension for subclinical mastitis treatmentJune 23, 2015
Study of 164,000 cows quantifies high costs associated with untreated subclinical mastitis. More >
Take preventive hoof health measuresJune 17, 2015
Take steps to minimize hoof health challenges in wet conditions. More >
Keep hoof health up to par when temps dropNovember 24, 2014
Adjust to cold weather with these hoof health tips. More >
The stink about metritisNovember 11, 2014
Metritis is a common fresh cow disease that can affect up to 30% of a dairy herd.1 It most commonly occurs following calving complications such as dystocia, twins or retained placenta. And it stinks More >
Top 5 tips for keeping footbaths cleanOctober 30, 2014
Five tips for improving footbath cleanliness in order to make the most of your footbath investment. More >
Minimize metritis setbacks: screen and treatAugust 27, 2014
Screen fresh cows for metritis symptoms within the first 10 days of calving. A timely treatment response to cows with symptoms can help prevent costly complications. More >
Step up your footbath managementJuly 20, 2014
With HOOF-TEC™ products, help make your footbaths more efficient and reduce the amount of copper that enters manure pits and soil. More >
BMR helps cows hit peak milkJuly 09, 2014
Feeding highly digestible brown mid rib (BMR) corn silage is one way to get fresh cows off to a fast start. More >
Take preventive hoof health measuresApril 22, 2014
Take steps to minimize hoof health challenges in wet conditions. More >