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This month's VBSpam test showed an upturn in average spam catch rates after the decline seen earlier in the year - with 19 out of 20 full solutions earning VBSpam certification. The test also highlighted the fact that spam sent from web hosts poses a bigger challenge for most filters than spam sent from other sources. Martijn Grooten has the details.
Copyright © 2013 Virus Bulletin
Recent industry reports [1] have noted the return of pump and dump spam to inboxes – just one of the many examples of how spam continues to change.
As the VBSpam tests have repeatedly shown, the performance of spam filters changes too, both on a day-to-day basis and when taking a longer-term view. However, it is not easy to detect trends in these changes, and the long and short of it is that, overall, the performance of spam filters remains good.
This may not be particularly helpful for those developers who want to make small, but potentially significant improvements to their filters – for this, they would need to identify an area in which spam filters in general, or at least their filter in particular, has room for improvement.
In this review we highlight an area in which almost all filters could make improvements: that of identifying spam sent from web hosts.
During this test we noticed that spam sent from web hosts is three-and-a-half times as likely to make it past the spam filter than spam sent from other sources. This would explain why spammers appear to be keen to send spam from web hosts – some (unconfirmed) reports claim that as much as 50% of today's spam is sent in this manner.
Of course, we also looked at how well spam filters blocked spam in general. In this test, 19 out of 20 full anti-spam solutions performed well enough to earn a VBSpam award. Two of those combined a very high catch rate with a lack of false positives and thus earned a VBSpam+ award.
The VBSpam test methodology can be found at http://www.virusbtn.com/vbspam/methodology/. As usual, emails were sent to the products in parallel and in real time, and products were given the option to block email pre-DATA – that is, based on the SMTP envelope and before the actual email was sent. Six products chose to make use of this option.
For the products that run on our equipment, we use Dell PowerEdge machines. As different products have different hardware requirements (not to mention those running on their own hardware, or those running in the cloud) there is little point comparing the memory, processing power or hardware the products were provided with; we followed the developers' recommendations and note that the amount of email we receive is representative of a small organization.
To compare the products, we calculate a 'final score', which is defined as the spam catch (SC) rate minus five times the false positive (FP) rate. Products earn VBSpam certification if this value is at least 98:
SC - (5 x FP) ≥ 98
Meanwhile, those products that combine a spam catch rate of 99.50% or higher with a lack of false positives earn a VBSpam+ award.
The test ran for 16 consecutive days. A short holiday and a visit to the Infosecurity exhibition in London meant that the test was started a little later in the month than usual – 12am on 27 April – and finished at 12am on 13 May.
The late start proved to be a blessing. At the beginning of April, we had to move a number of machines to a new server rack. This should have been a straightforward operation, however, upon turning all the machines back on, it became clear that one machine's hard drive had crashed fatally and couldn't be restored.
Several products were affected, each of which had to be set up again – thankfully, their developers were very helpful and made this as painless an exercise as possible, and all products were up and running again well before the start of the test.
One small glitch that occurred during the test period meant that we were unable to vouch for the stability of the network during the early hours of 10 May. As a result we have excluded emails sent during this period from the corpus.
In total, 77,993 emails were sent as part of the test, exactly 64,000 of which were spam. 54,668 of the spam messages were provided by Project Honey Pot, with the remaining 9,332 emails provided by spamfeed.me, a product from Abusix. They were all relayed in real time, as were the 13,563 legitimate emails ('ham') and 430 newsletters, more on which below.
Figure 1 shows the catch rate of all full solutions throughout the test. To avoid the average being skewed by poorly performing products, the highest and lowest catch rates have been excluded for each hour.
Comparing this graph with that of the previous test, one can see less clear a trend, yet catch rates seem to be slightly higher. This is indeed the case: the average full solution saw its catch rate improve by 0.08%. This makes up for some of the deterioration we saw in March, though there are clear outliers both ways, and the improvement was far from uniform.
The average false positive rate remained more or less constant.
When we introduced a 'newsletter' feed of legitimate bulk emails in September 2011, we made the decision only to include double opt-in newsletters: an email is sent to the subscriber's address and this must be replied to, or a link contained within the email must be clicked, before the subscription is activated. (Pedants will be keen to point out that this did not verify whether the sender would have started sending emails even if the subscription hadn't been confirmed.)
We believe this is the only proper way to prevent accidental subscriptions, as well as deliberate subscriptions by third-party 'pranksters', both of which would lead to unwanted and unsolicited emails being sent. Many senders have such a system in place – indeed, if your subscribers really want to receive your messages, confirming the subscription shouldn't be an unreasonable thing to ask of them.
However, the reality is that the majority of senders of bulk emails/newsletters do not confirm subscriptions. As the purpose of these tests is to reflect what is happening in the real world, rather than in some ideal world where all senders follow best practices, we have decided to broaden our feed and also include 'newsletters' that did not confirm their subscription.
We also reduced the number of emails from each sender to three (down from five) – this should prevent the corpus from being skewed by a few senders that send emails once a day or more.
As reported in a post on the Mailchannels blog [2], Ken Simpson recently looked into the largest sources of spam, based on emails received at the CBL's spam trap network.
It would be natural to expect those sources all to be Internet service providers, with the top positions occupied by ISPs in developing countries, where many people run cracked and thus unpatched versions of Windows XP – a dream for botherders.
However, that is not what Ken found. Instead, the entire top ten consisted of web-hosting companies. Ken is not the first to point to the significant increase in spam sent from web hosts, either compromised or set up by spammers themselves.
While this is an interesting fact, it doesn't necessarily make it a problem. Spam changes all the time. One country may suddenly find itself topping the spammers' rankings. While this is, of course, a problem for the country's ISPs, regulators and government, for recipients it hardly matters: spam isn't significantly more difficult to filter if it is sent from any particular country.
However, there are some reasons to believe that spam sent from web hosts is harder to filter: many such hosts actually send legitimate emails, and if they don't, their 'neighbours' will, making blocking based on the reputation of the sending IP address more difficult. The operating system (typically Linux) and the fact that such machines tend to be online 24/7 also makes them look more like typical mail servers.
So we decided to test this.
For the purpose of this research, we defined a 'web host' as an IP address listening for traffic on TCP port 80; we scanned each IP address in the email corpus once per day, using the nmap tool to verify whether it was listening on this port.
Of course, machines at hosting providers don't have to be listening on port 80 – they may only listen on port 443 (for HTTPS), or not run a web server at all. On the other hand, the fact that a machine is listening on port 80 doesn't mean that it is a web host: it could be that a router is doing so to allow for remote configuration. (This is usually a bad idea, especially given the large number of vulnerabilities in routers.) Still, we believe that the correlation is strong enough to make this a useful definition for our purposes.
Among the 64,000 spam emails sent as part of this test, we found that 19,449 emails (just over 30%) were sent from web hosts.
We then found that the average email sent from a web host had a probability of 1.04% of being missed by a spam filter, compared to just 0.29% for other spam. This means that being sent from a web host makes a spam email more than 3.5 times more likely to bypass a spam filter.
Of course, 0.29% and 1.04% are both small numbers, but it is good to keep in mind that spam is still sent in very large quantities. On a (very small) campaign of one million emails, this is the difference between fewer than 3,000 and well over 10,000 emails making it to recipients' inboxes. It could be the difference between a spam campaign making a profit or a loss for the spammer.
This difference isn't simply skewed by a small number of emails sent from web hosts that have a very high delivery rate. If we restrict ourselves to those emails blocked by at least three-quarters of all solutions, we still find that spam messages sent from web hosts are more than 3.5 times as likely to make it past the filter.
This is not caused by the performance of just a few products, either. While there was significant variation in the relative difficulty products encountered with blocking spam from web hosts, each product had more difficulty with web host spam than with other spam. (With the exception of OnlyMyEmail, which didn't miss a single spam message in this month's spam corpus.)
Our results don't provide a clear answer as to why spam sent via web hosts is more difficult to filter. For the five full solutions where we can measure pre-DATA catch rates (which largely measure the blocking of emails based on IP reputation), we did notice a significant performance difference, but it was no worse than that measured for the full spam catch rate. This means the difference in performance can't simply be attributed to the fact that IP blocking is less effective against web hosts.
In the result tables, we have included products' performance on spam sent from web hosts. This is mainly for the benefit of participating vendors: from a recipient's point of view, there is no reason for a single spam email to be considered worse than any other just because it is sent from a web host. But it might point to something filters can improve upon.
Ideally, of course, such emails wouldn't have been sent in the first place. We hope that this report also helps to raise awareness among hosting companies. During the past decade, many ISPs have made great efforts to reduce the amount of spam sent from their servers. We hope hosting companies will show the same willingness to fight a problem that affects us all.
In the text that follows, unless otherwise specified, 'ham' or 'legitimate email' refers to email in the ham corpus – which excludes the newsletters – and a 'false positive' is a message in that corpus that has been erroneously marked by a product as spam.
Because the size of the newsletter corpus is significantly smaller than that of the ham corpus, a missed newsletter has a much greater effect on the newsletter false positive rate than a missed legitimate email has on the false positive rate for the ham corpus (e.g. one missed email in the ham corpus results in an FP rate of less than 0.01%, while one missed email in the newsletter corpus results in an FP rate of more than 0.2%).
As mentioned above, significant changes have been made to the newsletter corpus. Please keep this in mind when comparing this month's results with those of previous tests.
SC rate: 99.89%
FP rate: 0.00%
Final score: 99.89
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.91%
Abusix SC rate: 99.74%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.0%
As the only product that has participated in every VBSpam test and achieved a VBSpam award on every occasion, Bitdefender has good reason to be proud of its VBSpam test record.
But it is not just quantity in which the Linux-based product stands out: it has regularly found itself ranked among the better performers in the tests, and in March 2013 achieved its second VBSpam+ award. This month, with a lack of false positives again (even among newsletters), Bitdefender ends up with the second highest final score of all products and earns another VBSpam+ award.
SC rate: 99.67%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 99.63
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.68%
Abusix SC rate: 99.61%
Newsletters FP rate: 3.3%
Having only entered the VBSpam test five times so far, ESET's Mail Security product has still some way to go before it can match the VB100 track record of the company's anti-virus solution. However, the signs look good for this product to achieve a similar string of awards: yet again the product performed better than average in both spam catch rate and false positive rate.
A single false positive (an email containing nothing but a link in the body) denied the product its third VBSpam+ award by a whisker, nevertheless Mail Security notches up the company's fifth VBSpam award.
SC rate: 99.82%
FP rate: 0.00%
Final score: 99.82
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.79%
Abusix SC rate: 99.99%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.5%
FortiMail, the hardware appliance made by Fortinet, has a VBSpam history going back as far as June 2009. The product would have won no fewer than four VBSpam+ awards, had they been introduced any earlier than March last year.
Since then, FortiMail has edged very close to winning a VBSpam+ award several times – and on this occasion it finally managed to do so. The product's high catch rate gives it the fourth highest final score this month.
SC rate: 99.18%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 99.11
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.69%
Abusix SC rate: 96.22%
Newsletters FP rate: 6.3%
Over its two-year VBSpam history, GFI's MailEssentials has climbed up the ranks quickly. This month, however, the product's performance took a dive – albeit a relatively minor one. Some difficulties with email from the Abusix corpus saw the product's catch rate drop a fair bit.
Of course, that's only one way of looking at things – MailEssentials still blocked well over 99 out of 100 spam messages and missed only two legitimate emails, so despite the small drop in performance the product's 13th VBSpam award is well deserved.
SC rate: 99.33%
FP rate: 0.05%
Final score: 99.07
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.45%
Abusix SC rate: 98.63%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.5%
In this test Halon saw its spam catch rate increase – making up for (most of) the losses it had seen in March. The product's false positive rate increased too, but only a little, and thus Halon wins another VBSpam award with a nicely increased final score.
SC rate: 98.87%
FP rate: 0.08%
Final score: 98.46
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 98.83%
Abusix SC rate: 99.10%
Newsletters FP rate: 5.8%
IBM was one of the products affected by the hard disk crash mentioned earlier and thus had to be set up again. I was pleasantly surprised, both by how easy it was to set up the virtual machine and by how eager IBM's developers were to help ensure the product was set up correctly. This eagerness paid off, as yet again IBM's catch rate improved significantly.
On the other hand, the product did miss 11 legitimate emails – in English, French and German. Speaking to the developers, I learned that the company blocked most of these emails because they had seen the same senders sending spam. As such, the decision to block is understandable – but it resulted in false positives nevertheless. Despite the relatively high incidence of FPs, IBM's final score increased again and the product earns another VBSpam award.
SC rate: 99.85%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 99.81
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.86%
Abusix SC rate: 99.85%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.2%
Kaspersky's developers must have worked hard in April, as the Linux Mail Security product from the security giant knocked three-quarters off its false negative rate in this test. It only missed one in 688 spam emails.
Unfortunately, a single false positive (somewhat ironically, it was in Russian, and on the subject of Linux) prevented the product from achieving a VBSpam+ award, but with the fifth highest final score, Kaspersky is well deserving of another VBSpam award.
SC rate: 99.87%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 99.83
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.85%
Abusix SC rate: 100.00%
SC rate pre-DATA: 89.37%
Newsletters FP rate: 3.7%
I met Libra Esva's CTO and main developer at the Infosecurity exhibition in London. It was flattering to learn how much the development team appreciates the VBSpam tests. The tests have always seen Libra Esva among the top performers – winning 18 VBSpam awards so far, two of which have been VBSpam+ awards.
A single false positive got in the way of the company earning a third VBSpam+ award, but with the third highest final score, Libra Esva's developers have reason to celebrate another VBSpam award.
SC rate: 99.75%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 99.71
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.73%
Abusix SC rate: 99.84%
Newsletters FP rate: 4.2%
Mail Agent is the new version of Mailshell's SDK, an SMTP proxy to which OEMs and their customers redirect their incoming messages. It applies cloud-based filtering and policies based on user-defined preferences. Compared to the last time Mailshell took part in the tests (January 2013), there was a slightly lower catch rate – although the decline was in line with that seen in other products.
The product missed just a single legitimate email, and with a decent final score, earns the VBSpam stamp of approval.
SC rate: 99.49%
FP rate: 0.08%
Final score: 99.08
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.49%
Abusix SC rate: 99.51%
Newsletters FP rate: 1.9%
I was rather pleased with the performance of McAfee's Email Gateway appliance in this test: the hardware appliance knocked significant chunks off both its previous false positive rate and its previous false negative rate.
The false positive rate was still a little higher than the average this month, the product having incorrectly blocked 11 legitimate emails – sent in a number of Western languages and including four from a new Venezuelan feed. Nevertheless, McAfee Email Gateway's significantly improved final score earns the company another VBSpam award.
SC rate: 99.78%
FP rate: 0.04%
Final score: 99.60
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.78%
Abusix SC rate: 99.82%
Newsletters FP rate: 4.7%
It was an all-round decent performance for McAfee, as its cloud based SaaS Email Protection also saw an improvement in both false positives and false negatives. The improvement was even more impressive here, as the cloud based solution reduced its false positive rate from 0.24% to 0.04%, and its false negative rate by an even bigger ratio.
Unsurprisingly, it gives the product a better-than average final score – and thus sees McAfee regain its VBSpam certification for this product.
SC rate: 99.22%
FP rate: 0.24%
Final score: 98.00
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.43%
Abusix SC rate: 97.97%
SC rate pre-DATA: 78.99%
Newsletters FP rate: 9.1%
It is always nice when vendors are confident enough about their products' performance to submit them to our tests. NoSpamProxy is a solution from Net At Work, a German company based in Paderborn. It runs on Windows servers (we ran it on Server 2008 R2), and set up was easy. Windows administrators will find the product very straightforward to use.
As we have seen in the past, developers of products that are new to VBSpam testing sometimes take a little while to find the right settings for the test. After all, much as our set-up resembles a real situation, it remains a test set-up. And thus, while NoSpamProxy's 0.24% false positive rate in particular is rather high, I look forward to seeing whether it can be brought down in the next test – and perhaps the spam catch rate increased too. For now, the product finds itself with a final score of 98.00 – which is just enough to earn it a VBSpam award.
SC rate: 100.00%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 99.96
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 100.00%
Abusix SC rate: 100.00%
Newsletters FP rate: 5.1%
OnlyMyEmail has always had very good catch rates, but in 2013 they have been outstanding: the Michigan-developed hosted solution hasn't missed a single email this year.
Of course, such a performance could be achieved merely by setting a filter to its strictest settings, but the product's consistently low false positive rates show that this isn't what has been done here – OnlyMyEmail missed only a single legitimate email in this test, thus doing credit to the company's name. This resulted in a final score of 99.96, the highest this month, and yet another VBSpam award.
SC rate: 99.53%
FP rate: 0.23%
Final score: 98.39
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.45%
Abusix SC rate: 99.98%
Newsletters FP rate: 10.9%
I was pleased to see the free and open source product Scrollout F1 return to the test bench this month: open source tools such as SpamAssassin (which is used by Scrollout) have made important contributions to the fight against spam and it is nice to see that they still do a good job of protecting inboxes and mail servers.
In this test, Scrollout's final score dropped quite a bit from that of its previous entry (in January 2013). This was mostly due to a drop in the catch rate, though the false positive rate remains high too. It would be fair to mention that most of this appears to be caused by the product blocking emails containing what look like links to Windows executables, but which are in fact scripts running on Windows-based servers – such emails are probably over-represented in our ham corpus. Nevertheless, Scrollout wins its second VBSpam award in as many tests.
SC rate: 99.15%
FP rate: 0.04%
Final score: 98.93
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.04%
Abusix SC rate: 99.77%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.0%
This test saw the catch rate of Sophos's Email Appliance drop a little, to just above 99%. No doubt, the product's developers will want to increase that and it is thus interesting to know that, for Sophos, spam sent from web hosts was only 1.3 times as hard to block as other spam: a lower factor than for any other product in the test.
On this occasion, Sophos missed a number of legitimate emails – six, in fact, although I can understand why two of these, with the subject 'Rolex', triggered the filter. Nevertheless, the product wins the company its 20th VBSpam award in as many tests.
SC rate: 99.67%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 99.63
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.62%
Abusix SC rate: 99.99%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.9%
I visited SpamTitan's stand at the Infosecurity exhibition in London and noticed the Irish company doing good business. No doubt, the 21 VBSpam awards the company has won have helped to build its reputation as a good spam filter.
This month, there was a bit of a slip in the product's spam catch rate, which dropped to the lowest it has been since September 2010 – though at 99.67% it was still higher than average. With just a single false positive, SpamTitan's false positive rate dropped too, which is of course a good thing – and the product earns its 22nd consecutive VBSpam award.
SC rate: 99.68%
FP rate: 0.07%
Final score: 99.31
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.66%
Abusix SC rate: 99.82%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.2%
This test saw Symantec Messaging Gateway's spam catch rate increase a little – though against this stood an increase in the false positive rate: the product missed ten legitimate emails, all of which were written in English. This resulted in a small drop in final score, but the security giant wins yet another VBSpam award – its 21st – for its virtual anti spam solution.
SC rate: 97.40%
FP rate: 0.12%
Final score: 96.81
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.46%
Abusix SC rate: 85.33%
SC rate pre-DATA: 94.27%
Newsletters FP rate: 3.0%
Difficulties with the Abusix feed, and in particular emails sent from web hosts, saw the catch rate of The Email Laundry drop well below 98%, thus automatically denying it a VBSpam award. On top of that, the product had a rather high false positive rate, missing 16 legitimate emails, compared with just one in the previous test. A serious glitch, but after winning a VBSpam award in each of its 17 previous entries, it is far too early to conclude that there is anything wrong with the product. Hopefully this will prove to have been a one-off upset.
SC rate: 99.74%
FP rate: 0.04%
Final score: 99.56
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 99.71%
Abusix SC rate: 99.95%
SC rate pre-DATA: 97.54%
Newsletters FP rate: 7.0%
The vast majority of the 161 spam emails missed by ZEROSPAM in this test were sent from web hosts, thus highlighting an area in which some improvement may be made. On the other hand, of the products that were set up to block email pre-DATA, ZEROSPAM blocked the most emails based on the SMTP envelope – thus suggesting that the problem with web host spam isn't just the fact that these IP addresses are harder to block.
With five false positives (reduced from seven last time), ZEROSPAM saw its final score improve slightly, and thus the product wins its eighth VBSpam award in as many tests.
SC rate: 91.85%
FP rate: 0.00%
Final score: 91.85
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 94.90%
Abusix SC rate: 73.94%
SC rate pre-DATA: 89.18%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.0%
A series of DDoS attacks on Spamhaus, affecting its web and email infrastructure but not its blacklists, made the security news headlines recently. The attackers' public face, the now imprisoned Sven Olaf Kamphuis, repeatedly tried to make the argument that Spamhaus is too powerful and has its own agenda. Those who have fallen for his arguments should take note of the fact that, besides blocking close to 92% of all spam, the blacklist provided didn't block a single legitimate email and hasn't blocked any newsletters in this, or any previous VBSpam test.
SC rate: 39.24%
FP rate: 0.01%
Final score: 39.17
Project Honey Pot SC rate: 42.08%
Abusix SC rate: 22.60%
Newsletters FP rate: 0.0%
For the seventh test in a row, we have seen a decline in the number of emails that contained a URL on a domain listed on SURBL's blacklist. Of course, this isn't a good thing, but it would be interesting to find out whether this is caused by spammers making their URLs less detectable, spammers 'hiding' the URLs via redirects on legitimate sites, or simply the blacklist provider having a hard time catching up with new spam. (The (public) script we use to detect URLs in email only does some basic decoding of the content. A more thorough search for URLs would perhaps have given higher catch rates, though it could also lead to strings incorrectly seen as URLs, thus leading to false positives.) Nevertheless, with close to 40% of emails blocked based on the URLs they contain alone – and just two false positives on the same domain – SURBL would be a valuable addition to many a filter.
(Click here for a larger version of the table)
(Click here for a larger version of the table)
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(Click here for a larger version of the chart)
It was good to see the decline in spam catch rates we reported earlier this year halted and, in fact, see a small improvement in the average scores. But these tests aren't just intended to show which spam filters do a better job at directing email traffic: where possible, we like to highlight areas in which products can improve their performance.
Recent reports showed that spam filters perform significantly worse on phishing emails and this month's report shows that spam sent from web hosts poses a bigger challenge for most filters. We hope that the information provided in this test will see both spam filters and hosting providers take on the battle against this particular kind of spam.
The next VBSpam test will run in June 2013, with the results scheduled for publication in July. Developers interested in submitting products should email [email protected].


text:
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The 21st episode of the Reading and Writing podcast features an interview with Warren Fahy, author of Fragment, an environmental thriller. Many reviewers have compared Fragment to the late Michael Crichton's scientific-based thrillers.
You can subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or by searching "Reading and Writing Podcast" in your favorite podcast app.

subset: commoncrawl


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You should know that if your house is protected with a security system, we will remove the window contacts before installing your new windows.
You will want to talk to your alarm provider about having the contacts reinstalled after the windows have been finished to get your full security system back online.
For more information on our window replacement or installation services, or to schedule a consultation for an estimate, contact us today! With 18 shops and showrooms strategically placed throughout Northwestern Canada, you're sure to find a convenient All-West Glass location in your area!


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Brian Walker Exclusive Interview About His New Song "Call the Preacher"
When you think of male Pop wedding artists, I am sure a few that come to mind include Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and James TW. However, having an artist's song filling your wedding venue that is unique to any wedding or has a special place in your hearts makes for the ultimate combination during any wedding. I would like to introduce the newly released (May 15, 2020) wedding song "Call the Preacher" to you and the artist behind the song – Brian Walker.
When did you discover your musical talent?
I started playing piano at the age of 5. I would hear songs on the radio, and I'd try to replicate them on the piano by ear. Using this method of learning music, I used to play songs on the piano for my class in elementary school. It wasn't until I got into college however, that I really started to get into singing, playing the guitar, songwriting, and then eventually music production and mixing.
Who are a few of the musicians that influence you and why?
I try to stay as eclectic as possible with my musical tastes because I like to just take in as much music as possible, and then come up with something new and different every time I write. I do really like pop music. I always watched the VH1 Top 20 Music Video Countdown as a kid and thought those music videos were so cool. I listen to the radio a lot as well. I get bored really easily, so I think that's why I like pop music.
There's always ear candy in the production, and all this constant evolving over the course of the track to keep a listener interested. If I had to narrow it down, I think Alicia Keys has an amazing voice, and I like her vibe. I'm inspired by innovators, like The Beatles, and Billie and Finneas Eilish, and I appreciate some of the great pop writers and producers of the past and present, like Ryan Tedder, Max Martin, Benny Blanco, etc.
For your new song "Call the Preacher", what is the story behind the song?
I wrote the song after my brother got married; I was his best man. Sometimes when you're working on music full time it's so involved and all-encompassing, that life starts to speed past you, and you don't realize what you're missing. Being the best man at his wedding gave me a longing feeling, that I wanted that same companionship that he had found. The core emotion of the song came from those feelings. Once I wrote the song and made the beat, I worked with Grammy Award winner Prince Charles Alexander to tighten up some of the lyrics and bring the mix to a more professional level.
That initial idea or feeling that sparks the creation of a song is often the easier part, but the painstaking work of rewriting weak lyrics and melodies, finding the perfect kick drum sample, making sure all the levels and reverbs are correct, etc, are what really make the difference in the overall quality of the recording. Having Prince Charles involved with some of those decisions definitely helped to bring the recording to the next level.
You can purchase the song on Amazon here:
My Wedding Songs is a reader-supported website. As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases.
You were the best man at your brother's wedding. Would you offer any wedding advice for couples planning their wedding?
My advice for anyone who is the best man would just be to really prepare for your speech. It shouldn't be too long or too short, a couple of inside jokes are okay, but if you tell all inside jokes then the rest of the crowd will be confused; you wanna play to your audience. Share a few funny stories that everyone can relate to, and keep it tight and compact. For couples, I would just say double-check the guest list, and don't leave anyone out :) And be safe at your bachelor/bachelorette parties ;)
If you were to create a playlist for your car today, who would be some of the artists? Would there be any surprises?
I actually have a playlist on my Spotify channel called "Brian Walker Selects" that I update with all of my favorite songs. Here's a link to it.
I tend to gravitate towards moody/dark pop songs or sultry R&B songs. I think dark love songs are really cool. I love hearing the unexpected in a pop song. "End this (L.O.V.E.)" by Hailee Steinfeld is probably my favorite song right now. I think Hailee's vocal performance is great, the chords have a cool vibe, and the way the producer pitch-bended her voice on "L-O-V-E love love" is so simple and amazing.
"Say So" by Doja Cat is a bop; that's definitely one that I've been playing a lot. Kehlani just put out a new album; I think she has an amazing tone to her voice and a really cool vibe. This song "Ocean Waves" by Alaina Castillo was one I had on repeat for a while; more of a moody pop song. A lot of the songs I listen to are moodier, which is very different from "Call the Preacher". And that's part of the reason why I wrote: "Call the Preacher" as well. A lot of my other songs are darker, so I wanted to have something a bit more poppy, optimistic, and fun.
Do you have an artist you would like to collaborate with?
There are so many singers, producers, writers, etc I would love to collaborate with. I love collaborations because when a song does well you get to share the success and joy of the song with everyone involved with it. Also, if you stay open-minded, your collaborators can pull you in a direction you might not have gone on your own, so you can get something that feels very different from the rest of your catalog of songs. Zendaya put out a song called "All for Us" that was this really dark love song, and I thought it had an awesome vibe. All of her songs have this pop/R&B dark love vibe to them, kind of like a longing feeling rather than all sunshine and rainbows, so I'd love to make something like that with her.
Selena Gomez has an awesome tone to her voice, and she's someone I'd like to sing a song with. I really liked Hailee Steinfeld's new EP; it felt innovative and different from her older stuff. I think it would be cool to make an innovative/experimental pop song like that with her. Taylor Swift would be dope to work with. I'd wanna make something with her that was a little less bright and more R&B, kinda like her track "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" that she did with Zayn. She'd be cool to work with cause she has great pop melody writing skills as well.
And then there's super producer/writers like Max Martin, Benny Blanco, Ryan Tedder, etc who have written and produced so many hit songs. I've been to a couple of OneRepublic concerts, and Ryan's one of the biggest influences on the way I sing today. I'm always trying to push my voice higher and lighter cause I love those types of tones and that type of control in a voice. So, all of those people I would like to work with, and more!! If time travel was possible I bet Beethoven and I could make something crazy too ;)
What advice would you give to other musicians?
Have a vision for where you want to be, and just grind away at it every day until you get there. If you want to be a pop artist, it's so much more than just being a good singer. You have to write, produce, promote your music, practice for the live show, work on your brand and your website, network and build connections, stay in shape (if you chose to), work on the technical skills of your instrument, etc, unless your lucky enough to find a team of people to delegate some of those tasks too (which I haven't yet!). The big thing I would say is just taking control of your career and make it happen for yourself, rather than waiting for somebody else to discover you.
What's next for you in your music career?
So, "Call the Preacher" is my fifth official single (not including the remix I did for "Remember 17?"). I have a new song coming out on June 12 that I think will be a fun, kinda sultry dance song, and then I have three more songs that are all mastered, and I'm aiming to release one song per month this year. I also have a couple of collaborative songs in progress with a producer-artist and two girl singers, that I think will be really cool. When all the songs are out, I'm going to compile them into my first album.
Then I'm gonna get to work on the second and third albums. I have a lot of creative energy inside me, so I can't wait to wrap this album up and unleash that energy into my next one. I'm also very excited to see what people think of these songs that I've been working on for the past couple of years. I have a couple of songs that I'll be releasing this fall that I think are my best records to date and the best representation of me as an artist.
I love all the songs I've created because I spend months working on them and refining them, and every song is rooted in a real emotion that I was feeling at my time of writing the song. Everyone has different tastes and the songs are so different from each other. I've played the unreleased records for some of my friends and family members, and everyone likes a different one!! So I'm curious to see which ones the rest of the public gravitate towards more. "Call the Preacher" has been a favorite among some of my friends and family members. But I've been saving the songs that I'm personally most passionate about for last, and I'm SOO excited for everyone to finally hear them :)
If you want to stay up to date with Brian Walker's upcoming releases, you can follow him on Spotify -or- YouTube.
Enjoy the Offical lyric video for "Call the Preacher"
Other musician interviews to read:
Wedding Song Ideas Delivered Monthly!


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The pattern used for these pants is this Burdastyle downloadable, with the following alterations:
- Added a front ankle slit and removed the cuff
- Added one back welt pocket
The sweater was made with this beautiful Thakoon sweater knit from MoodFabrics.com. This fabric is an awesome 68" long, which enabled me to make a long and short sleeve version of this great top.
The pattern used for this sweater was this Burdastyle downloadable with the following alterations:
- Removed 10" from the bottom of the pattern
- Cut the pattern 3x too small and used a 2" seam allowance for a fitted look.


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The 10 Best Free Resources for Learning HTML and CSS
Having good knowledge of HTML and CSS is crucial for all your web design or development work. It provides you with knowledge of how to build a web page and best practices onto well supported websites across all major browsers. So, if you want to familiarize yourself with the HTML, and CSS, it makes sense to start by teaching yourself some basics. But the problem is, with so much training materials available you will not know where to start.
With this in mind, we have gathered together a list of 10 best free online html and css resources to make sure you're learning the right things in the most effective way possible. Have fun learning!
HTML Cheat Sheet with New HTML5 Tags
Whether you are a beginner or an experienced user, this particular cheat sheet is an opportunity and can turn out to be a true life-saver for you. It has all the important tags, attributes for lists, forms, text formatting, and document structure in just one place to save you plenty of time.
Codec Ademy
If you're just getting into the world of learning anything from HTML and CSS to Phython or Ruby, CodeAcademy is one of the most popular and a great starting point.
Free Code Camp
freeCodeCamp is one of best learning platforms that teaches HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Databases, DevTools, Node.js, and Angular.js 100% free.
No matter your skill level, W3Schools is a great resource and can be extremely helpful in your learning process. Offers free online learning of HTML & CSS with the help of wide range of tutorials and examples.
Mozilla Developer Network
Mozila developer network is an incredible online learning platform for HTML, CSS, and also JavaScript. For people (from beginners to advanced) who want to create websites or online applications.
Html Dog
Learn everything HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with HtmlDog. They offer more readable, easier to understand tutorials from beginner to advanced level to help you make awesome weh pages.
GA Dash
GA Dash is another fun and free online course for creating your own responsive websites with the help of HTML and CSS.
The Odin Project
This is a free online project aims to help you learn the basic programming languages, such as HTML5, CSS3, Ruby and Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and jQuery, to build beautiful websites.
Learn to Code HTML & CSS
This is very useful and well-written guide when it comes to learning HTML & CSS. Outlining the fundamentals, this guide works through all common elements of front-end design and development.
Mark Sheet
Marksheet is a free HTML and CSS tutorial helping beginners learn HTML and CSS. The content of this project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. So you can adapt it for your needs.


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Dave Obey: Walker should have denounced Giuliani
In the 1950s, Wisconsin had the disgraceful misfortune of being represented in Washington by the worst demagogue in Wisconsin history, U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy earned that distinction by baselessly questioning the patriotism of other notable Americans. His actions were disgraceful, but equally disgraceful was the silent acquiescence of other politicians whose silence enabled McCarthy to pollute the country's political dialogue for far too long.
Earlier this week, at a Republican fundraiser, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani engaged in his own version of McCarthyism by suggesting that President Obama did not love America and was not brought up to love America the way the rest of us were.
That statement should have received immediate condemnation from any politician within earshot. But instead, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was in the room, refused to take a stand when asked if he agreed or disagreed with Giuliani's remarks.
The governor's political duck is a disgrace.
Politicians from Wisconsin have a special obligation to denounce any comments that would resurrect the character assassination brand of politics that McCarthy practiced a generation ago. In these times when so many politicians claim to be in search of civility, Walker failed to recognize his responsibility to object to Giuliani's disgraceful remarks.
Several years ago, in the heat of the presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain objected strenuously when one of his supporters engaged in similar character assassination directed against the president.
Too bad Gov. Walker didn't measure up to McCain's example.
Dave Obey is the former longtime Democratic U.S. Representative from the 7th Congressional District.


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REVIEW of THE FOUNTAINHEAD by AYN RAND
Ayn Rand
Released in 1943
The Fountainhead has become an enduring piece of literature, more popular now than when published in 1943. On the surface, it is a story of one man, Howard Roark, and his struggles as an architect in the face of a successful rival, Peter Keating, and a newspaper columnist, Ellsworth Toohey. But the book addresses a number of universal themes: the strength of the individual, the tug between good and evil, the threat of fascism. The confrontation of those themes, along with the amazing stroke of Rand's writing, combine to give this book its enduring influence.
Ayn Rand had an interesting mix of literary skills. Her descriptions of people and scenery and sensory information are vivid, but her characters are as static as they come. I realize that her characters aren't really humans; they're ideas. But that's what makes her novels so perplexing. The characters don't change at all over 800 pages. They just weave in and out, shadow boxing each other without actually causing any internal bruising.
You have to like Howard Roark. He's the person you'd be if you never cared what anybody else thought about you or your work. You could be Howard Roark if you didn't have to worry about groceries or rent. But one has to eat, darn it.
And then there's Dominique Francon. I just didn't get her. At first I accepted her as an idea, or an ideal. The descriptions of her physical body are ethereal. She's not real. But if she's an ideal, why does she compromise so unflinchingly? She's made out to be Howard Roark's equal, but she sells her soul at least twice before their glorious reunification.
I'm sounding like I didn't enjoy this book. Really I did, but it left me unsettled. That's not such a bad thing.
One of the things I liked most was matching up Howard Roark and Frank Lloyd Wright. The Stoddard Temple is the Unity Temple in Chicago. The Wynand House is Falling Water. Is Monnadnock Valley the parody of Taliesin? I think so. I read in a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright that Wright was so flattered by the book that he designed a house for Ayn Rand. The house was never built, but the plans exist. He included a fountain in front (which, personally, I don't think Howard Roark would have done).


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UPDATED Bitcoin Manufactured Spending (2018)
Recently MasterCard and Visa has made Coinbase and possibly a few other cryptocurrency sites process as a cash advance. This means purchasing bitcoin may cost you more than you want to pay. But, Bitcoin Manufactured Spending in 2018 is still possible! Read more about the MasterCard/Visa update here: Click Me So,...Read more


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
The Palatine Fire Debarment has a team of 6 members tasked with determination of fire cause and origin. They work in conjunction with various local, state and federal investigation and law enforcement agencies to determine what started a fire, where it started, and to prosecute arsonists if it is determined that a fire was intentionally set. Members of the team are certified as investigators by the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal, and have extensive training in fire cause and origin determination. They have to maintain a high level of continuing education to remain certified and a part of the team.


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Downtown entrance to get final approval with city's seal
NEWARK – The improved Ohio 16 entrance to downtown will get the city's seal of approval later this year.
The encircled city seal, 12-foot in diameter, will be moved from the Ohio 79 overpass over Ohio 16, to the downtown entrance from the state route.
The Newark seal will be lit and sit atop a 10-foot tall mound on greenspace next to the eastbound exit ramp, near the Licking County Chamber of Commerce building, City Engineer Brian Morehead said.
Barbara Gilkes, Newark's grant writer, said the seal should be in its new location in the late summer or early fall.
"Jerry McClain brought this idea to the city to enhance the gateway into the city," Gilkes said. "It's a beautiful piece of artwork, but you can't really take in its beauty while driving on 16 and sailing along at 55 miles per hour."
McClain, president of Jerry McClain Construction Company, helped transform the entrance to downtown on Fourth and Locust streets.
He purchased numerous blighted properties and demolished the buildings, providing the land for Heartland Bank, which opened in 2012, McClain's headquarters, in 2014, and Licking Memorial Hospital Urgent Care, in 2016.
The $23,645 seal project will use contributions from several sources, including $13,169 from the city's capital improvements fund, almost $6,000 from the Licking County Foundation, $3,000 from Newark Development Partners, and $1,500 from State Farm Insurance.
Some of the money was committed two years ago, but the project was delayed due to the expansion of the Mount Vernon Road bridge, scheduled to be completed later this year.
The seal has been at its current location for more than a decade, Gilkes said. It was a city community development department project in about 2006.
The seal plaque was created by Alan Moran, of The Bowerston Shale Company.
Twitter: @kmallett1958


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Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon has been suspended for the entire season for failed drug tests, but a new policy may reduce his suspension.
Josh Gordon won't sue over suspension
Josh Gordon ice bucket challenge – (Video) Gordon accepts ice bucket challenge from Colin Kaepernick
Josh Gordon hearing over
After seemingly being suspended for the entire season, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon is expected to possibly return at some point in the 2014 season.
A new drug policy is expected to be handed down in the NFL after there was much controversy surrounding how to handle drug issues versus domestic abuse issues.
According to reports, Gordon will have his suspension reduced to 10 games if the new policy passes.
Here is a tweet from Cleveland Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot breaking the news.
Browns' Josh Gordon will have his suspension reduced to 10 games, source says http://t.co/QWz7mfjvw5
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) September 12, 2014


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cancellation policies
Made a reservation and now you can't keep it? Things happen – sometimes you can't get away when you thought. We'll try to make it as easy as possible for you. Our Cancellation Policy is:
A non refundable deposit of one night room rate or 25% of cottage nights reserved (whichever is greater) is processed at the time the booking is made to guarantee your reservation. The balance is due upon arrival and is charged to your credit card at that time. Reservations are guaranteed upon receipt of the deposit and a copy of your booking folio will be emailed to you for your files. We will honor your reservation by not offering your Dates / Cabin to anyone else.
Please note: When booking a packages getaway the deposit is based on the room nights and not the package value.
Our Cancellation Policy is 30 days for Cabins, so please be sure to call within that time period or send us an email if you are not able to keep your reservation. We will confirm your cancellation with a written email for your files along with your confirmation number.
If you cancel with less than 30 days for Cabins, we reserve the right to fully charge for all nights for which we are unable to secure a replacement booking. We will issue a full refund, less the non refundable deposit fee provided we are able to rent the Cabin to another guest for the entire reserved period. Please note: the cancellation policy also applies to reservations booked with Gift Certificates. "No Shows" and unscheduled early departures are subject to full payment for all nights reserved.
Since our reservation and cancellation policies must be more restrictive than a large hotel, we recommend you consider traveler's insurance to protect your vacation. A cancellation is very disappointing to both the guests who have decided to cancel and the owners of The Rocking R Guest Ranch. In most instances, we will have turned away other guests who would have reserved for your dates. Click on the link for an instant quote and purchase options:
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From RTE Website:
Two substantial developments in Co Wicklow and Co Wexford can go ahead after a Supreme Court decision.
The court dismissed appeals by An Bord Pleanála against High Court decisions to quash its refusal of planning permission for the projects.
The High Court judges had asked the Supreme Court to clarify at what point the decision of An Bord Pleanála became final.
The court found such decisions become final when they are put in formal written form.
The board argued they were final decisions when they were made at board meetings.
The Supreme Court also ruled appeals by objectors against planning permission given by the local authorities could be validly withdrawn at any time before the board's written decision.
The first appeal followed the board's refusal to grant permission to Ecological Data Centres Ltd for development of a "very substantial" technology park on a site between Newtownmountkennedy and Kilpedder near the N11 in Co Wicklow.
The second appeal arose from a refusal by the board of permission to Urrinbridge Ltd for a substantial residential and commercial development at Bloody Bridge, Lyre, Co Wexford.
Objectors to both developments had withdrawn appeals against decisions of Wicklow and Wexford County Councils granting permission for the developments.
The developers behind plans for a massive data centre in Co Wicklow have welcomed today's ruling.
Ecologic Data Centres said the decision, which in effect grants the project planning permission, means it can now proceed.
The company hopes to develop a 1.1 million square foot campus in Newtownmountkennedy.
It estimates 2,000 people would be employed during construction and a further 200 jobs would be created once the centre is up and running.
It also estimates there could be up to 800 spin-off jobs.
The original plans envisaged a carbon negative facility, which would use electricity generated by windfarms and would recycle the heat generated by the servers.
That warmth would be used to heat thousands of homes and businesses in the vicinity, and a number of massive biodomes or large greenhouses, which would be used for horticultural purposes.


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Bystanders have no right to judge a life
Ladies and gentlemen, please. Stand aside from partisanship, if only for a moment. Think for a moment on how you want your time on this earth to be defined. Think about those who brought you joy and the joy you gave in return, the moments that brought sorrow and those who helped you through. Let yourself go back to your own achievements that made you proud of yourself and look at those who filled your heart with pride, see the faces of those whose lives you have touched. Remind yourself of everything you have done for others, when your only motivation was to help another.
Allow yourself to experience the peace in knowing what you meant to those you loved, for they will be the ones who will ultimately determine how your time on this earth will be defined.
Now ask yourself, should my time on this earth be determined by those who have never met me? The woman you accidentally bumped you in the grocery aisle, the driver you cut off on the expressway — do they define your time here? Should the person who disagreed with your perspective, whose political stance was the opposite of yours, who deemed your opinion invalid or ignorant, become the narrator of your life story?
Do you wonder before you say thank you to that person who held the door for you who he voted for? Did you ask your new neighbor what their political views are before you shook her hand? Would you want your achievements, the good you did and tried to do, be overshadowed by those who disagreed with your politics? Will your party affiliation be the factor on how your time on this earth is defined?
Can you try, for a moment, to realize that our lives are not defined by the politicians we support or oppose? Can you remember that you don't have the right to determine the worth of another's achievements? I read the disparaging remarks directed at the family of John McCain. I read comments questioning the sincerity of those who stood to honor him. To those I can only say this: You've never met them; you are but a spectator watching them from your chair. Those who stood to bid him farewell are the voices who define his time on this earth.
Dawn Davey
Algonac, Aug. 4


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KBMP Vision
The Klamath Basin Monitoring Program facilitates the coordination and implementation of water quality monitoring in support of the stewardship, protection, and restoration of all beneficial uses within the Klamath River watershed, with the ultimate goal of restoring water quality. Learn More
Fish Health
Readiness Level
Mid and Lower Klamath (Happy Camp to Mouth), Trinity River, Salmon, and Scott River- Orange
Upper Klamath Mainstem (Iron Gate to Happy Camp), and Shasta River - Yellow
Blue-Green Algae Map
Upper Klamath Lake, Copco Reservoir, Iron Gate Reservoir, and the Klamath River from Weitchpec to Klamath Glen (Roy Rook) are currently posted
Real-Time Data
The table above contains provisional data provided by the USGS via the waterservices site. All data are provisional and may be recalculated before final approval. This table may take several seconds to load.
* = value 2+ hours old
**=4 or more hours
Interagency Collaboration
In an effort to foster interagency collaboration, Klamath Basin Monitoring Program supports collaborative projects through web exposure, document distribution, and membership communication. Contact us if you are interested in posting a Klamath Basin related project.
KHSA Monitoring
- As part of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, PacifiCorp is funding baseline water quality monitoring and blue-green algae toxin monitoring as necessary to protect public health. Objectives, annual reports, and data are available.
Klamath Tracking and Accounting Program
- The Klamath Tracking and Accounting Program is designed to help track individual and cumulative effects of restoration actions and measure progress towards achieving basin-wide water quality goals.
Klamath Fish Health Assessment Team
- The Klamath Fish Health Assessment Team (KFHAT) is a technical workgroup formed to provide early warning and a coordinated response to avoid or address fish kill events in the anadramous portion of the Klamath River basin.
Klamath Blue-green Algae Workgroup
- The Klamath Blue-green Algae Workgroup is composed of monitoring organizations, health officials and interested parties working together to better inform the public regarding Klamath Basin blue-green algae blooms the potential health risks.
Upper Basin Collaboration
- In an effort to foster inter-agency collaboration in the Upper Klamath Basin, the Klamath Basin Monitoring Program supports collaborative projects through web exposure, document distribution, and membership communication.


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MLF, a Christian nonprofit, opened a 27-acre development of RVs and tiny homes earlier this year called Community First! Village.
"I got the idea that we could lift a chronically homeless individual up off the streets into a gently used recreational vehicle," Graham says. "I had this wild and crazy idea to develop an RV park on steroids."
In 2005, he bought one RV for a homeless man for $5,000. Since then, MLF has helped get 115 people off the streets.
Community First! focuses on chronically homeless individuals, which means disabled people who have been homeless continuously for a year or had at least four episodes of homelessness in three years.
These efforts don't just reduce homelessness — there's an economic benefit as well. According to Graham, the city of Austin spends about $40,000 per homeless person every year, mainly in the form of medical and criminal justice expenses. He estimates that Community First! will save taxpayers up to $3 million per year.


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Football outside Europe is rapidly growing. China is realizing President Xi Jinping's dream of football domination by making several advances in European football. We've recently seen Chinese investors buy a majority stake in Inter Milan and that hasn't been a singular event. Aston Villa and Espanyol were also recently bought by Chinese businessmen while Chinese investors already have minority stakes in England's Manchester City, Spain's Atletico Madrid and New York City FC. AC Milan is also in talks to sell a majority stake to a group of Chinese investors.
The growth of MLS in the United States of America has also been an un-ignorable development and the league has positioned itself well. MLS is moving away from being just a "retirement league" and clubs are doing more to work on their academies to make the league an attractive prospect. Players in the MLS such as FC Dallas' Kellyn Acosta and New England Revolution's Diego Fagundez have been linked with a move to Europe. Matt Miazga was signed by Chelsea from New York Red Bulls in January earlier this year.
Mexico of course, already regards football in high regard and has done so for a long time. The sport is popular and important which can be illustrated by El Tri's record in international competitions. Mexico is not only the most successful national team in the CONCACAF region, but has also enjoyed respectable success in the bigger competition, having qualified for fifteen World Cups. Mexico has qualified consecutively since 1994, which puts it in an elite club of only six countries. The Mexican national team, along with Brazil and Germany, are the only nations to make it out of the group stage over the last six World Cups. This shows that football is already an important sport in the country.
Francisco Pazmiño, Fox Sports Latin America's senior vice president of programming and acquisitions remarked at the Soccerex Americas Forum earlier this year that the Bundesliga would not be as popular in the Spanish language if Chicharito wasn't playing for Bayer Leverkusen. This means that the Latin American viewers are more likely to watch a game in a European league if they saw a Hispanic player playing. In this case specifically, Mexican audience would likely watch a Bundesliga game to watch Javier Hernandez play. Quite naturally, clubs would want to expand their appeal and influence in other countries by getting one of the country's own talented star to play for them. This would be a massive commercial boost.
North America is a market that needs to be further tapped into and this is being realised now.
Manchester United have strongly been linked to Mexican international Hirving Lozano. The 20-year-old plies his trade for Pachuca and was called up to the national side by coach Juan Carlos Osorio after a highly successful season for the club. Before that, in 2015, Lozano was part of Mexico U-20 team that participated in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. He vastly impressed and caught the eye of most after an impressive tournament where he finished as the Golden Boot winner, tied at 5 goals with USA midfielder Romain Gall.
Lozano operates as a winger, predominantly on the left, although he has played on the right flank as well as in the middle in the hole behind the striker and even as a forward. However, his main position could be called the left flank. The ability to play anywhere in the forward line must be an exciting and enticing feature for Mourinho.
Lozano is right-footed and upon observation of his game, one can summarise that the player has all the attributes of being a "classic inverted winger". He is a pacey player and the ability to accelerate and beat defenders with his speed and dribbling skills is his main strength. He can also shoot with accuracy — he also possesses a great long shot in his arsenal — which can be illustrated by the fact that he scored 12 goals for his club in the recently concluded season, a very good end product for a 20-year-old winger.
"Chucky" as he is fondly called is also good at creating chances and with a strong left foot, delivers strong and accurate crosses in the box for the strikers to feed off.
The 20-year-old is raw and needs to improve in several dimensions. His mentality and attitude should arguably be better as sometimes he looks too confident and crosses the attenuated border towards cockiness. His performances sometimes dip and stagnate after a run of great games. However, these are not reasons for any suitors, Manchester United according to reports, to be deterred. Under the right guidance and as he matures, he would rectify these flaws.
José Mourinho of course, just completed his first signing as Manchester United's new boss in youngster Eric Bailly. This gives indication that the Portuguese does want to bring in quality youngsters to the side and build for the future.
Meanwhile Borussia Dortmund are targeting Mexican international Jürgen Damm. He already gained fame when Mexican club Pachuca did a study, backed by FIFA, which concluded that he is the second fastest player in the world, behind only Gareth Bale. He can run at an astonishing speed of 35.23 km/h with the ball.
Damm operates as a winger for Mexican side Tigres. The 23-year-old was eligible to play for Germany, as his paternal grandfather was born there, but chose to represent Mexico. He has three caps for the side but was left off the Copa America squad due to a minor injury.
Interestingly, Damm has attracted interest from European clubs even in the past. In 2013, the winger underwent a two-week trial at Manchester United but a move failed to materialise under then manager Sir Alex Ferguson. He was also targeted last summer by Chelsea and José Mourinho. Serie A side AS Roma also submitted a bid for him last season as per certain reports.
He is a winger by trade, and plays predominantly on the right flank, but like many other attackers of his age, he is versatile and can play in a number of positions across the front line. Damm is exciting to watch as he is delightful on the ball. Like Lozano, he likes to cut in and likes to play centrally in the middle.
He would find it easier to adapt to life away from Mexico than many of his compatriots, due to the ability of being able to speak good English. He would find it especially easier to adapt to life at Dortmund given his father's side of the family hails from Germany. Damm could prove to be another smart buy for Tuchel's side which is making all the right moves in this window.
The other El Tri star to be targeted by a European outfit is Hector Herrera. News recently broke that Liverpool want to bring the Mexican international to Anfield. The difference here is though Herrera already plays in Europe, at FC Porto. He has been playing for the Portuguese giants since 2013 and has become a household name in the city of Porto.
The midfielder spot is one where the Reds have struggled last season with there not being enough quality options. The 26-year-old box-to-box midfielder, and current vice-captain of Porto, could be an important addition to the side especially if one or both of Lucas Leiva of Joe Allen were to leave.
Europe has imported talents from South America for the longest of times. However, up north in their neighbouring continent, the football market hasn't been properly utilised. A study by the European Club Association or the ECA proved that "there were 14,322 transfers made by European clubs in the 2-year period 2011/12 and 2012/13, with 66% of those being made within Europe and the remainder being primarily driven by transfers from and to South America (14%), Asia (8%) and Africa (7%)". North America features in the negligible 2% with the 'Rest of the World'.
The fact that three Mexican stars are linked with huge moves to three of Europe's biggest club suggests that trends are going to change as European clubs look to tap into the resources of North America, both in terms of player market as well as the fan base expansion. The process started a while ago and we see so many clubs tour the United States of America for the preparatory pre-season. Don't be surprised to see more clubs extracting this potential and more Liga MX and MLS stars being targeted in Europe.


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With some very functional and (over) active adrenal glands, some superbikers in Nigeria/West Africa have made and re-written global motorsport history. Motorsport in Nigeria, at least the superbike racing part, can definitely be said to have come of age.
The BT 2016 will be focused on growing the sport the right way for improved safety and sustainability.
"Pumping RED" in 2016 will follow a strict set of rules for participants and attendees to try create a conducive environment towards an exciting race day.
IF you pump RED (i.e plan to race in The BT 2016 and/or have positive contributions to make to The BT 2016), please click on here and complete the registration procedure.
IF you planning to attend The BT 2016, but WONT be pumping RED, please click here for more information on ticketing for the event.
For the safety of all, that participants and attendees @ The BT 2016 should come with a convergence of purpose, which is to race and watch/support the racers.
The BT 2016 comes up between the 23rd and 27 November 2016 for all aspiring racers. Race day is 26th November and starts at 7:00 am
Updates on progress and plans and reminders for The BT 2016 will be periodic as the countdown continues.
Hope to see you @ The BT 2016, IF you (still) pump RED!
Monday, 4 January 2016
Welcome to the year of The BT - "The Challenge"! #LionsRumble
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Just about everybody I know truly values vacation days that are available to them. Between work obligations and the responsibilities of day-to-day life, we need to be able to recharge ourselves. Additionally, we all need balance in our lives, and vacation time can help us in our quest to achieve it.
With that opening, please consider this question:
Do you think you have a fair and reasonable number of total days off available to you on an annual basis?
If you answered "No", you're probably like many of us here in the U.S. and Canada. If you answered "Yes", good for you. But even if you answered positively, do you know how those of us in North America fare vs. people around the world?
An article from Marketwatch that I came across shows the results of a study that measured the amount of days off an average employee receives per year. The typical employee, for purposes of an apples to apples comparison, was considered to be someone with 10 years of service and a 5-day workweek. There were 41 countries in the study.
When searching the results for the U.S., they tell us that the average number of days of is 25. As an American, this seems believable from what I have seen. For Canadians, the number is a bit lower: 19 days off.
When comparing this to the rest of the world, based on the sample of 41 countries, we can put this into it's proper context:
- The U.S. ranks 3rd from the bottom of the list of 41
- Canada ranks dead last
Here is the full list of 41, again in terms of average total days off:
1. Brazil: 41
1. Lithuania: 41
2. Finland, 40
2. France, 40
2. Russia, 40
3. Austria, 38
3. Malta, 38
4. Greece, 37
5. Japan, 36
5. Poland, 36
5. Spain, 36
5. Sweden, 36
5. United Kingdom, 36
6. Cyprus, 35
6. Luxembourg, 35
6. Norway, 35
6. Portugal, 35
6. Slovakia, 35
7. Denmark, 34
7. South Korea, 34
8. Hungary, 33
8. Slovenia, 33
8. South Africa, 33
9. Czech Republic, 32
9. Latvia, 32
10. Italy, 31
10. New Zealand, 31
11. Belgium, 30
11. Germany, 30
11. Romania, 30
12. Ireland, 29
12. Switzerland, 29
13. Australia, 28
13. India, 28
13. Netherlands, 28
13. Taiwan, 28
14. Hong Kong, 26
15. United States, 25
15. Singapore, 25
16. China, 21
17. Canada, 19
It's certainly food for thought, don't you think?
Questions for You:
So, now how do you feel about the amount of days off you receive? Have your thoughts changed?
When you consider our savings rates, as we previously examined here, it appears that here in North America we work hard with less time off than our friends around the world, but don't have as much to show for it.


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Peroxisomes (green) and mitochondria (red) in a mammalian cell. The nucleus (blue) contains the cellular DNA.
Study of the machinery of cells reveals clues to neurological disorder
Investigation by researchers from the University of Exeter and ETH Zurich has shed new light on a protein which is linked to a common neurological disorder called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
The team has discovered that a protein previously identified on mitochondria - the energy factories of the cell - is also found on the fat-metabolising organelles peroxisomes, suggesting a closer link between the two organelles.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is currently incurable and affects around one in every 2,500 people in the UK, meaning that it is one of the most common inherited neurological disorders, thus understanding the molecular basis of the disease is of great importance. Symptoms can range from tremors and loss of touch sensation in the feet and legs to difficulties with breathing, swallowing, speaking, hearing and vision.
The research published online in EMBO Reports combines work from University of Exeter Biosciences researcher Dr Michael Schrader and PhD student Sofia Guimaraes. The major finding of the study is that the protein GDAP1, originally thought to only be involved in fragmentation of mitochondria, also contributes to the regulation of peroxisome number through their division.
Peroxisomes are small organelles occurring in nearly all cells, from yeast to crop plants to humans, and are essential for cell viability due to their important role in the metabolism of fatty acids and reactive oxygen species. Peroxisomes are also of particular interest as they play a key role in ageing.
This current study shows that the division of both mitochondria and peroxisomes follows a similar mechanism, although many of the disease-causing mutations occur in a region of the gene that is more critical for mitochondrial than peroxisomal division.
Dr Michael Schrader said of this project: "This study supports our hypothesis of a closer connection between mitochondria and peroxisomes. We have identified several membrane proteins, which are shared by both organelles, particularly key components of the division machinery, meaning there must be coordinated biogenesis and cross-talk."
As numerous diseases have been linked to problems in the mitochondria, Dr Schrader proposes that this connection could have far-reaching medical implications.
This work contributes to the research being addressed through the prestigious Marie Curie Initial Training Network PERFUME programme (PERoxisome, FUnction, and MEtabolism), recently awarded to Michael Schrader along with several other top European research groups which focus on peroxisome biology.
Article produced by Kate McIntosh, PhD Student, Biosciences.
Date: 16 May 2013


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Separate Yourself From the Pack
Better Work Today Means More Work Tomorrow
Providing your clients with the highest degree of quality and accuracy is what keeps them providing the work.
The Wizdom platform keeps your title process clean and streamlined from beginning to end. Your remote title examination team can work together in real-time to quickly access and review data in one place. Generate run sheets and upload bulk data in one click so you can focus on what you do best- Delivering superior results to your clients.
In an extremely competitive industry, land service companies can no longer afford to use an outdated title process if they expect to stay relevant. Your clients want to know their data is secure and confidential and that they can put their trust in your work time and time again because you provide accountability and insight in a business that is often messy and veiled in mystery.
Make room for business growth and lower your cost per acre by reducing the time spent on data entry and in the courthouse. Wizdom provides powerful tools and data for indexing, mapping, imaging and collaboration that turns days into minutes and empowers title professionals to do their job at a higher level. Lower costs and less busy work sets you apart as an invaluable partner.
How much time do you spend getting a new landman up to speed when they come on board? You have to add them to multiple spreadsheets and programs for each tract assignment. Traditionally, keeping your team focused and on track means a constant stream of emails, calls, and meetings that bog down productivity. Wizdom is a collaborative team and project management tool that tracks progress and communication allowing everyone to work smarter and more effectively.
Get Up to Speed & Get to Work
Quick Onboarding
Onboarding a new landman with Wizdom is as easy as it gets. Project templates and instructions are attached to the assignment and you can grant access with one click. The platform is user-friendly and intuitive so your landman can begin producing right away.
Access Info
When a client or colleague needs information or has a question, you can easily find data points and answers rather than sifting through notes and documents.
Keep Up
The title industry is moving more and more toward remote examination, having a platform that keeps everyone on the same page with consistent results is crucial to your company's ability to compete.
Team & Workflow
Complete Control of Data Access
Title Process Oversight
Central Data Repository
Document & Data Management
Wizdom has cracked the code of common document recognition and full digital courthouse functionality by allowing party name, tract, or recording information searches. As a manager, see your title team progress on a map and monitor performance to ensure your team crushes client goals (and your competition).
Real-Time Data
View what is done and being completed on an interactive map. Visually tracking the progress of each step in the title process means no more guessing where the title is located. Real-time data allows you to make better decisions.
Fix Issues
Wizdom gives you the ability to see the issues your landman is running into before it becomes a problem for you is priceless. Understanding the complexity of the tract, whether it's minerals, surface or leasehold, means you can allocate resources quickly to get the job done before the title is due.
Database Driven
Database driven means that your reports will follow a consistent format when you deliver it for a title opinion or when passing it from landman to landman. Your time will be spent making sure it is correct instead of crossing T's and dotting I's.
Organization &
Optimal Work Flow
Generic cloud storage platforms have revolutionized land services, but none of the big-name cloud solutions manage the complexities of digital courthouses or multi-tract title databases. Sometimes title takes a long time to run, and ping-pong communication along with reviewing multiple spreadsheets and outdated maps is the main time-sink. Completed reports come in from the field means correcting formatting, omissions, and discrepancies.
If your clients are not already directly consuming your work product through the Wizdom platform, managers in Wizdom can export convenient Excel run sheets with hyperlinks to the title chain, additional materials examined such as maps, original indexes, tax information along with your final deliverable whether an abstract, lease check or ownership report. These exports can be shared with your clients via email instead of flash drives or a custom managed cloud storage sites. For those attorneys who still like paper, export abstracts with page numbers with run sheet cross-references.
Powerful Reports & Exports
Instruments, spreadsheets, plats, lease checks, indexes, abstracts, runsheets, title reports, updates, tax information, curative, etc.- all together in one place. Whether it is a jpeg, pdf, tiff, xlsx, docx, and more.
It doesn't matter. It's there and its secure.
Take it From Our Customers...
At Wizdom, they're innovators, they listen to their clients, and they actually get results. They have nailed their functionality because they don't try to be everything to everyone. Each component works and integrates beautifully together which makes each step seamless. The automated map feature is especially brilliant because we can easily export and transport files into our other systems so that everyone involved can visualize the title project in a user-friendly interface. Getting up to speed on Wizdom is simple enough that anyone can learn and utilize the software quickly and effectively.
Jeff Karcz MS, RPL – President of Gaea Energy Advisors
Our clients entrust us with confidential information in order to carry out their project. We then have to share some of this information with the independent contractors that we employ. The Wizdom platform enables us to silo information and grant/revoke access to sensitive data so that we can keep it secure. Having our contractors work within the platform rather than in spreadsheets allows us to monitor their activity on a daily basis. Wizdom gives us and our clients more peace of mind when it comes to protecting their interests.


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Studio Technologies, a world-leading manufacturer of dependable, individualised solutions for broadcast applications, is to introduce the new Live-Link Jr. Remote Camera Interface System at the 2012 NAB Show. Carrying on the successful tradition set by the original Live-Link system, Live-Link Jr. offers a generous feature set coupled with excellent audio quality and a compact form factor optimised for ENG and uplink vehicle applications. Providing everything needed for a single-camera live event, Live-Link Jr. delivers performance flexibility, ease of use and support for high-quality on-air (programme), talent cue (IFB) and intercom audio. Live-Link Jr. is the quintessential video, audio, communications and control data link between a camera operator in the field and a production vehicle (or fixed installation). The system transports one SDI video signal in each direction: camera end-to-truck end and truck end-to-camera end, supporting SD-, HD- and 3G-SDI data signals. All Live-Link Jr. audio and support signals are transported between camera end and truck end units as embedded SDI data. Linked using just two single-mode optical fibers, Live-Link Jr. delivers excellent operational performance regardless of the distance between the camera end and truck end units — whether hundreds of feet or miles apart. The camera end unit allows for remote powering using hybrid fiber/copper cable, 12-volt DC or Anton/Bauer battery or 'V-Mount' battery mounts. The truck end unit offers both AC and DC powering capabilities, with a failsafe flip to DC operation if the AC mains go down. The camera end unit offers two mic/line inputs that are compatible with microphone or line-level signals. Related features include adjustable input sensitivity, phantom power and level metering. Each input stage can be independently set for compatibility with line-level signals (0 dB gain) or mic signals (gain of 15, 30 or 45 dB). Two balanced line-level outputs are provided on the truck end unit's back panel and are associated with the camera end unit's mic/line inputs. Two additional balanced line-level outputs are also located on the truck end unit's back panel to provide de-embedded analog signals associated with group 1, channels 1 and 2 of the transported SDI signal. These 'convenience' outputs allow audio embedded, for example, by a camera connected to the camera end unit to be accessible without the need for an external de-embedder unit at the truck end. A major strength of Live-Link Jr. is its integrated 2-channel intercom system, which tames the typical hassles and limitations associated with field intercom system implementation. A 2-channel party-line intercom interface is provided on both the camera end and truck end units, allowing beltpacks to be directly connected and powered. A fully functional camera end-to-truck end 'comms' system can be up and running in just minutes. Additionally, two line-level audio signals can be transported from the truck end to the camera end via fiber connection, allowing for IFB communications. The balanced line/IFB inputs are located on the back panel of the truck end unit and allow the connection of a variety of analog audio signals, including talent cueing. However, unlike traditional IFB systems, the audio quality can support transporting on-air signals. For flexibility, both line-level and 'wet' IFB (power and audio) outputs are provided on the camera end unit. C3747
NAB2012: Studio Technologies launches Live Link Jr. interface
Studio Technologies, a world-leading manufacturer of dependable, individualised solutions for broadcast applications, is to introduce the new Live-Link Jr. Remote Camera Interface System at the 2012 NAB Show.


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Painting Demonstrations with Adonna & Justin
Justin's public painting demonstrations are crowd gathering. Using non-toxic acrylic paint on a variety of surfaces you will watch in amazement as the paintings evolve. Combined with Justin's playful personality and his commanding appearance, he delights people of all ages. To see this amazing equine action artist first hand is beyond words. Demonstrations include a personal narration of his technique by his owner/ assistant Adonna Combs. Together they demonstrate his unique style and create a masterpiece.
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Cathy Lennon
Cathy is the winner of Flash Frenzy Round 29. Read her winning story here.
Cathy lives in north west England. Her work has appeared online at 1000words, 100word story, inktears, flash frontier, the journal of compressed arts and others. She has pieces in several printed anthologies including 'Eating My Words', this year's National Flash Fiction Day publication.
Find her on twitter @clenpen


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When Karen E. Pinkus, Romance Studies and Italian and Comparative Literature, first heard about climate change—how it is impacted by human activity—she said to herself, "I need to be working on this. It's what I've always wanted to do."
Pinkus, however, is no scientist. She is a humanities scholar through and through. Her background is in Italian literature and film. Pinkus is working on a book tentatively titled Autonomia/Automata: Machines for Writing, Laboring and Thinking in 1960s Italy in which she examines Italian art, literature, film, and politics of the decade to explore the relationship between labor and automation.
At the same time, Pinkus is deeply concerned about the environment and believes that the humanities can bring a critical research component to solving the problems of climate change. She has now spent a decade dedicated to working on the relationship between the humanities and climate change. She has completed the book Fuel, which examines different types of fuel from the everyday fossil and renewable fuels to fantastical fuels. Pinkus uses tools from the humanities, such as critical theory, philosophy, and literary analysis, to separate fuel from energy and examine our relationship with fuel itself.
"The book's aim is to scramble our brains," says Pinkus. "It is so easy for us to imagine a world in which we keep everything the same—all of our social structures, all of our cultural structures—and plug in a nonfossil-based fuel and think it will all be okay. This book argues that our relationship with all kinds of fuels, and the distinction that we need to make between fuel and energy, is much more profound than just plugging in a different fuel that's greener."
The book is structured as a dictionary of fuels, including familiar ones like sun and wind, as well as less typical ones, such as fleece, gold, magnets, and Zoline, a powder fuel proposed in a letter to Henry Ford. Pinkus spent time at the Ford archives in Dearborn, Michigan where she read many letters from people as young as teenagers, saying they've invented a new fuel. "These fantasies around fuels are very old. They're nothing new," says Pinkus.
Literary Texts That Anticipated Climate Change
In addition to archival research, Pinkus writes about literary works, from Homer's The Odyssey to Jules Verne's nineteenth century science fiction books to Italian writer Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1975 novel Petrolio (a copy sits on the desk next to Pinkus' computer). Though she acknowledges the growing body of contemporary literary work that explicitly addresses climate change, Pinkus says that she is more interested in studying texts before the term climate change came into circulation.
Pinkus is deeply concerned with the environment and believes that the humanities can bring a critical research component to solving the problems of climate change.
"I look at texts that somehow anticipate climate change or have such a complex and chaotic narrative structure that they become more commensurate with the chaotic temporality of the geological period that we are in," Pinkus says.
Her book, however, is not a guide to thinking about climate change, nor does it offer a dogmatic approach to the problems. Instead, it explores climate change philosophically and lays out the possibility that fuels are materials that have "very complex relationships with our own thought structures, fantasies, narratives, or ways of being in the world." If there is any direct message in the book, it is that we can't toss one fuel out for another. Rather, we need to think more deeply about what fuel is, what it does and how deeply it is intertwined with human life itself.
Pinkus' next project is a digital publication titled Terranes of Climate Change: Subsurface, Surface, Atmosphere. Terranes is a term from geology that allows her to think about spaces in multiple dimensions—vertical, horizontal, historical. The project, between geology and cultural geography, also applies literary and visual texts to thinking about how humans may attempt to control chaotic changes by unifying these three realms. Pinkus wants to undo this kind of mastery and allow difference and contradiction to exist, underlining how unfathomably wicked climate change is.
The Humanist's Role in the Climate Change Discussion
Thoughtfulness is what the humanities can bring to scientific endeavors in climate change. At Cornell, Pinkus is especially grateful for the stimulation of the Society for the Humanities, which brings scholars from all over the world to Ithaca; it sponsored a workshop that Pinkus organized on critical theory, design, and climate change. The Society also supports a sustainability initiative.
Pinkus says that she is interested in how humanities research can move beyond passive reflection and become actively engaged in solving specific problems. She is in the planning stages of collaborating with scientists and hopes to engage with research projects as a co-principal investigator. One example for collaboration is with a group of scientists and engineers involved in carbon sequestration. This is a problem for engineers, but Pinkus thinks that it's also a problem where a humanist would be essential. "The humanities could bring the cultural dimension to it; they could help to think about how this would work in terms of the built environment and the cultural and historical dimensions, as well as provide a critical framework for thinking about the implications," she says.
Collaborating with Scientists: Inspired by the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
Pinkus' goal is to develop a truly interdisciplinary relationship between humanists and scientists in which both parties bring their strengths to the problems of climate change. Pinkus says that she has already engaged in conversations with colleagues across campus, thanks to being a part of the David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.
"The Atkinson Center has inspired me to talk to scientists and work with them in a way that I never would have before," says Pinkus. "It's opened up all kinds of new ways of thinking to me. Cornell is the ideal place to do this type of research because of the incredibly rich community of scholars we have here working on environmental issues."
Traditional humanities research involves many solitary hours with books. "We sit in the library or at our desk, and we very rarely interact with people. We certainly very rarely interview subjects," says Pinkus. After many years of such work, Pinkus says that she wants to rethink humanities research much like her latest book asks us to rethink our relationship to fuel.