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Customer engagement is a lovely buzzword that marketers like to toss around. It sounds good, but what are we talking about when we refer to "engagement"? Is it something that can be measured or is it just a fluff term?
Right now, you are reading this blog post. You are interacting with content that I have provided online. At its base, this is engagement. The interaction with online content is the key. HOW visitors interact with your online content can also be measured (somewhat imprecisely), so it's not fluff.
Here are a few ways you can measure engagement on your website or social media platforms.
Amount of time spent on website and pages
Knowing how long people are spending on your site and on individual pages you can better understand how interested people are in your content. It's relatively easy to get people to visit your site. Keeping them there and getting them to take action is a challenge.
Subscriptions to newsletters or blogs
If you're not getting many subscriptions on either, your content may not be compelling enough for people to want to receive it regularly. If you're not providing content relevant to your visitor's needs, they won't see the value in subscribing. Consider putting out questions to your audience asking what topics they would like to see covered. Knowing what your audience wants will make it easier to tailor your content to them, increasing engagement.
Follows / Likes / Shares / Comments / Pins etc. on social media platforms
Getting visitors to "like" you on social media isn't all that hard. Keeping them as followers and getting them to share or comment on your content is more challenging. With every post, tweet etc., you have the opportunity to measure how engaging your content is. There are also degrees of engagement. On Facebook, for example, a "share" is more valuable than a "like", and a comment is more valuable than a share.
Contacts and sales opportunities
This is really the "ultimate" measure of engagement. If your website and/or social media campaigns are consistently creating contacts and generating sales opportunities, it's reasonable to assume that you are doing pretty well at customer engagement.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it's a good place to get started in understanding how to improve the overall engagement of your website and social media campaigns. Have a great time implementing on this chilly Monday!


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Mortgage bankers push for conforming loan limit extension
Mortgage Bankers Association CEO David Stevens sent a letter to House leaders Thursday urging lawmakers to extend the elevated conforming loan limits for government-backed mortgages.
In 2008, Congress allowed Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee or buy mortgages worth as much as $729,750 in most neighborhoods. The limits will expire Oct. 1 and drop to $625,500, varying by county.
Stevens, the former director of the FHA, said he would like to see the limits extended through the end of 2012.
"While we had hoped improved economic conditions could warrant a return to the loan limits established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the reality is that the temporarily higher loan levels are still needed. A number of bills have been introduced that would extend these limits and we urge Congress to address this important issue," Stevens said in the letter to Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) introduced just such a bill last week, which would extend the limits for another two years.
Extending the limits would run contrary to what the Obama administration proposed when it released its white paper on the future of housing finance in February. Officials suggested to Congress that the first step toward winding down Fannie and Freddie would be to allow the loan limits to expire in October.
But mortgage originations are set to fall to around $1 trillion in 2011 with new home sales falling 23% and existing home sales slipping 13% from last year, according to the MBA.
"The temporary loan limits authorized by Congress have benefited consumers and the housing market during what has been a turbulent period for our nation's economy," Stevens said. "That decline is not over yet.".
appraisal management, fha appraisals, appraisal management companies, fha appraisal compliance, reverse mortgage appraisals

subset: commoncrawl


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How the Drug Works:
Ipratropium blocks the action of the chemical transmitter acetylcholine.
Acetylcholine causes the muscles around the bronchial tubes to spasm and constrict, which makes it harder to breathe. By blocking acetylcholine, ipratropium allows these muscles to relax, widening the bronchial tubes (bronchodilation) and allowing more air into the lungs.
Albuterol dilates (opens) the bronchial tubes of the lungs by relaxing the muscles around the bronchial tubes. This allows for easier air flow into and out of the lungs. It also assists in removing (expectorating) mucus and other debris causing congestion in the lungs.
To treat bronchospasm in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CaPO) who are on a regular inhalant bronchodilator but continue to have symptoms of bronchial tube spasm.
Pregnancy: There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Use only if clearly needed and the potential benefits out-weigh the possible hazards to the fetus.
Breastfeeding: It is not known whether ipratropium/albuterol appears in breast milk. Consult your doctor before you begin breastfeeding.
Children: Safety and effectiveness in children have not been established.
Drug Interactions:
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or planning to take any over the-counter or prescription medications or dietary supplements with this drug. Doses of one or both drugs may need to be modified or a different drug may need to be prescribed. The following drugs and drug classes interact with this drug:
Anticholinergic agents (eg, dicyclomine)
Beta-adrenergic agents (eg, epinephrine)
Beta-receptor blocking agents (eg, propranolol)
Diuretics (eg, thiazides)
MAOls (eg, phenelzine)
Tricyclic antidepressants (eg, amitriptyline)
Side Effects:
Every drug is capable of producing side effects. Many patients experience no, or minor, side effects. The frequency and severity of side effects depend on many factors including dose, duration of therapy, and individual susceptibility. possible side effects include:
Digestive Tract: Nausea; vomiting; indigestion; taste changes; dry mouth; diarrhea.
Nervous System: Headache; fatigue; sleeplessness; dizziness; nervousness; tremor.
Respiratory System: Runny nose; sore throat; coughing; difficulty breathing; bronchospasm; bronchitis; pneumonia; sinus infection; upper respiratory tract infection; flulike symptoms; increased mucus.
Circulatory System: Abnormal heart rhythm; pounding in the chest (palpitations); rapid heartbeat; high blood pressure.
Other: Chest, joint, or general body pain; cramps; swelling of feet, ankles, or hands and fingers (edema); difficulty speaking; abnormal skin sensations (eg, burning, prickling, tingling); urinary tract infection; voice alteations.
Guidelines for Use:
Read and follow the patient instructions provided.
Dosage is individualized. Do not exceed recommended dosage. Take exactly as prescribed.
Do not stop taking or change the dose unless instructed by your doctor.
Contact your doctor immediately if your medicine becomes less effective, your breathing symptoms become worse, or if you need to use the medicine more frequently than usual.
If a dose is missed, take it as soon as possible. If several hours have passed or it is nearing time for the next dose, do not double the dose to catch up, unless instructed by your doctor. If more than one dose is missed or it is necessary to establish a new dosage schedule, contact your doctor or pharmacist.
Inform your doctor if you are pregnant, become pregnant, plan on becoming pregnant, or are breastfeeding.
Do not take other inhaled drugs during therapy unless instructed by your doctor.


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Host Galaxy Cluster to Largest Known Radio Eruption
This is a new composite image of galaxy cluster MS0735.6+7421, located about 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis. The three views of the region were taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in Feb. 2006, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in Nov. 2003, and NRAO's Very Large Array in Oct. 2004. The Hubble image shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity. In Jan. 2005, astronomers reported that a supermassive black hole, lurking in the central bright galaxy, generated the most powerful outburst seen in the universe. The VLA radio image shows jets of high energy particles (in red) streaming from the black hole. These jets pushed the X-ray emitting hot gas (shown in blue in the Chandra image) aside to create two giant cavities in the gas. The cavities are evidence for the massive eruption. The X-ray and radio images show the enormous appetite of large black holes and the profound impact they have on their surroundings.
Galaxy Cluster MS 0735


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2nd Century China. In the confusion following the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty, rival warlords take control of their respective territories and set up their own kingdoms, splitting China into three parts. As one of these three warlords, build your own regime, develop new technologies, and create a mighty army in an attempt to control The Three Kingdoms and reunify China. Fate of the Dragon is a real-time strategy game based on the 14th century historical Chinese novel entitled Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Known to be one of the most famous and turbulent periods in Chinese history, the story has been passed down the generations throughout Asia through books, plays, puppetry, and storytellers. Now, in the Chinese Year of the Dragon, Eidos Interactive brings the story of The Three Kingdoms to a worldwide audience with the release of Fate of the Dragon on the PC.
Hardware Requirements
Pentium® II 233 (P166 minimum) Windows® 9X operating system DirectX® 5.0 or greater 32 MB RAM 4MB VRAM (2MB minimum) SVGA 16 bit sound card 4X CD-ROM drive Mouse
Game Download Links
carck file
" Trouble downloading or missing password read out our brief Tutorial "


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Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) New Mexico is a seven-year initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education in 17 states across the country. GEAR UP New Mexico, a division of the New Mexico Higher Education Department, is at work in 11 school districts. To learn more about GEAR UP New Mexico click here.
Seniors, here is a good way to prepare for your college experience. Take time each month to review some of these tasks and get the help you need to accomplish them from your high school counselors, your parents and the GEAR UP New Mexico staff. To learn more click here.
Parents play an enormous role in their children's education and in their pursuit of a college dream. We hope you find some resources on this page that will provide you with the support you need to keep your child's eye on the college degree prize. To learn more click here.
Find out the latest college readiness strategies here. GEAR UP New Mexico schools have plenty to report on all their great accomplishments. Click here for news and events.
The GEAR UP New Mexico College Resources pages will help you find information about college applications, finances and academic support services. There are plenty of organizations and helpful tips you will find if you click here for more information.
GEAR UP New Mexico works closely with all of the state's colleges and universities, including tribal colleges and community colleges. The collaboration ensures that every student in the GEAR UP New Mexico program has access and opportunities to find the post-secondary options best suited towards their career goals. See below a list of the 33 universities, colleges and community colleges. To find the college your are interested in click here.
GEAR Up New Mexico staff me members have a range of expertise in education. We are always available to help you manage the complex world of college readiness. If you would like to contact our staff click here.
In an effort to continually improve The Education Plan and to make it easier for you to save for your child's future, The Education Plan will be issuing fee refunds to eligible account owners.
Visit the Education Plan on Facebook
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Map Name: Whodunnit? (formerly Murder 1)
Mapmaker: degaston
Territories: 151
- 9 standard room continents - bonuses increase based on the number of detectives held.
- 6 Suspects, and 7 Weapons have auto-deploys.
- 22 Notepad territories provide one bonus troop each.
- 6 Notepad sets provide additional two troops each.
Special Features: Winning Condition, Losing Condition, Multi-level Bonus, Auto-deploys, Decays, Killer Neutrals, One-Way Borders, Bombardments & Conditional Borders
Your aims/design style:
Basically, it's "Clue meets Risk". The style is that of the investigating detective's desk. The objective is to "solve the case" by controlling a Suspect, Location and Weapon on the notepad, plus the Warrant for one round. Initial distribution will be only within the "Crime Scene" rooms; all others will be neutrals of various amounts. (1's in the hallways, larger numbers on the important territories).
"Evidence" (as signified by magnifying glasses and pointing hands) leads, via one-way assault, to weapons stored in the evidence rooms or suspects in an interrogation room. There are two of these links for each weapon and suspect distributed throughout the mansion rooms. Other links in each room assault their matching entry on the notepad. All of these links are only enabled when the player controls the entire room. Mansion rooms, evidence rooms and interrogation rooms all give bonuses. Hallways are a -1 deploy to discourage "loitering" and make holding large areas of the map more difficult.
Uniqueness: I have not studied all existing maps, but I have not seen anything like it yet. I think the combination of conditional, one-way attacks, goals and bonuses make it fairly unique.
Relevant Experience: First map, computer programmer, familiar with graphics editing software and XML.
Map description and strategy guide:
Latest Version:
Version 10 (4/18/2014)
Large (930x960)
Small (775x800)
3 Digit Checks
Older Versions:


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There is a popular video by Next Media; (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McpWcn-1RZU ) that claims to be about our Evacuated Tube Transport (tm) technology; however the next media video has many gross inaccuracies. Next Media never contacted us or consulted with us about the production of the video, and use of our tradename was not authorized.
Some of the next media inaccuracies are:
The capsules are depicted larger than the optimal 1.3m (51in) diameter X 4.95m (16.24ft) length; The tubes are shown larger than the optimal 1.5m (5ft;) diameter; The video fails to show the airlocks that prevent air from entering the system; The video indicates the use of impractical routes crossing large expanses of ocean; The video uses our tradenames without attribution.


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You should never purchase the first thing you find when you are looking at buying a big ticket item, although this should be common sense. You visit several shops, find out what's on offer and at what prices. When you know what the market can supply, you can make the best decision on what to buy. It should be exactly the same when you are looking for insurance except it needs a little more work before you start.
Deciding which make and model of car suits your requirements is the first thing you should consider and working out which insurance cover you require for that particular make and model should be the next. Of course, you may simply decide to keep whatever vehicle you have, but you should always consider how much you might save if you switch to a safer vehicle. Only when you know what you want to insure and how much cover you want can you get quotes. Always compare like with like. That's the way to find out that some insurers can ask for car insurance rates differing by hundreds of dollars.
Although you may just be looking for cheap car insurance, never assume all insurers are equal. You need confidence the insurers offering the cheapest rates are financially secure and have a claims-handling process that offers some protection to you as a customer. Companies like A M Best, Moody's, and Standard & Poor rate insurance companies for reliability. Every state also has an Insurance Commissioner. On your local site, you should find information about whether complaints have been made and upheld against the insurers licensed to sell policies in your state. You do not benefit if you buy a policy from a company that sees its mission in life as being to deny all claims made by its policyholders. The good news is that there's a federal program to rescue policyholders if their car insurance company is declared bankrupt. Your policy will be passed on to other insurers. If there are outstanding claims, they will be dealt with by the new insurer. Take care and protect yourself by shopping around.


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The Buffalo Bills went 6-10 in 2013.
ORCHARD PARK — Buffalo Bills president Russ Brandon opened 2013 vowing to transform what he called the franchise's "tarnished" reputation.
On Monday, Brandon closed the year with the job still incomplete.
Though pleased with the direction the team has taken under first-year general manager Doug Whaley and first-year coach Doug Marrone, Brandon expressed disappointment with a 6-10 finish and the Bills extending the NFL's longest active playoff drought to 14 seasons.
"I have all the faith and belief in (Marrone) and (Whaley) to keep continuing to get this ship pointed in the right direction and see significant progress as we enter 2014," Brandon said. "What we don't feel good about is sitting here and talking to you at 6-10. And that needs to change."
Change was the operative word last offseason, when the Bills went through a near top-to-bottom overhaul. Buffalo purged much of its roster, and began a rebuilding plan that included drafting quarterback EJ Manuel with the 16th pick out of Florida State.
The transition has yet to start paying dividends. In closing the season with a 34-20 loss at New England on Sunday, Buffalo finished with six wins for a third consecutive year, ended fourth in the AFC East for a sixth consecutive year, and extended its string of losing seasons to nine dating to a 9-7 finish in 2004.
"With youth comes inconsistency," Whaley said. "So all those guys that contributed this year, we expect them to take a bigger step next year, play more consistent and be more productive."
And that includes Manuel, who struggled with his consistency, and had his development stunted by injuries to both knees since August.
Manuel missed the final two preseason games with a left knee injury. He missed four regular-season games after spraining his right knee in a 37-24 loss at Cleveland. And he then closed the year missing the final two games after tearing a ligament in his left knee.
Manuel finished with a 4-6 record, completed just 58.8 percent of his attempts (180 of 306 for 1,972 yards) and finished with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Marrone maintains confidence in Manuel, and has already informed the quarterback he'll be the team's starter entering next season.
Dismissing his critics, Manuel called his rookie season a learning process.
"Obviously, you're going to have ups and downs as a rookie," Manuel said. "I've had some good games, and there's a lot I can take and build from. I don't really know who's questioning things. But as far as me, I'm just continuing to get better."
Marrone announced he's already made one change to his staff by firing receivers coach Ike Hilliard because of "a difference in philosophy." Hilliard, who spent 12 seasons in the NFL playing receiver, was responsible for overseeing a young group that included rookies Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin.
On the personnel front, Whaley intends to make an offer in a bid to re-sign three-time Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd. And Whaley didn't rule out the possibility of using the franchise designation for a second consecutive year to retain the player's rights even if it risks the possibility of having the player miss the entire offseason as he did this past year.
Byrd is open to re-signing, and also braced for possibility of the Bills retaining his rights once again.
"I'm at peace with everything. I know what to expect," Byrd said. "I've gone through it once. And it'll be good. However it works, it'll be good."
Statistically, the Bills showed improvement on several fronts.
Their defense, though inconsistent in stopping the run, finished second in the NFL with a franchise-record 57 sacks. The defense ranked 10th in the NFL in yards allowed — the unit's best finish since placing second in 2004.
Byrd, defensive tackle Kyle Williams and defensive end Mario Williams all earned Pro Bowl selections this year.
The defense also featured linebacker Kiko Alonso, a second-round pick, who is regarded an NFL defensive rookie of the year candidate.
On offense, the Bills' running attack finished second in the NFL with 2,307 yards — the most since 1992.
Running back Fred Jackson was among numerous veterans who expressed confidence the team might finally be turning the corner.
"If you watched us play this year, you'll know that we're not the same team that we've been," Jackson said. "But there's no moral victories. We know that. We know that for us to be relevant, we have to win more football games."
NOTES: The Bills retained the rights to seven practice squad players: QB Dennis Dixon, DB Mario Butler, OTs Edawn Coughman and Jamaal Johnson-Webb, DE Ikponmwosa Igbinosun, WR Brandon Kaufman and LB Jacquies Smith. ... Whaley said he's open to re-signing PK Dan Carpenter and P Brian Moorman.


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Nausea and Vomiting with Whole Brain Radiotherapy
Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts,"
After a 3 year remission from breast cancer, my sister was diagnosed with a single brain metastasis in November. This was surgically removed, and then a 10-day course of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) began on January 3. Within four hours of her first treatment, she began to feel nausea which progressively got worse to the point of actual vomiting. She was given zofran to help this, but told by her radiation oncologist that this reaction was almost unheard of in WBRT. Hearing this made her feel more concerned, only to be told later by other health professionals that it was not such an uncommon side effect. She finished her treatment 10 days ago, but is still suffering quite severe nausea and has to keep taking zofran. How common is this problem, what causes it, and how long will it last? We were hoping it would have eased off by now. As you can imagine, it is having a bad physical and psychological effect on her.
Robert Lustig MD FACR, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, responds:
Nausea and vomiting can occur after just a single dose of whole brain radiation. It is usually caused by swelling of the brain after exposure to the radiation. Since the brain sits within a closed space (the skull), this swelling (also known as edema) can lead to an increase in the intracranial pressure. It is this increase in pressure that can result in symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and headaches. The swelling from radiation is typically short-term and is often relieved by moderate doses of steroids, such as dexamethasone. It does not usually persist for a long time after radiation, but if there are continued symptoms suggestive of persistent edema, a repeat MRI of the brain may be indicated to evaluate the cause further.


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Sweeping analysis of Global 1-Pole DP Contactor Market development, expansion, opportunities, and forecast up to 2024
Global 1-Pole DP Contactor Market research report delivers vital knowledge in the process of product development, and business growth which helps looking to be a step ahead of market competitors. It provides all the information of the 1-Pole DP Contactor market to suppliers, buyers, distributors, and business owners need to make better profit-making decisions. Exclusive research of 1-Pole DP Contactor market report map outs full profiles of competitors, determine the market size and trend, as well as provides valuable insights into top key players which will help you in creating effective marketing strategies and pricing campaigns.
The report mainly elaborates on the definition, product types, applications, and major players of the 1-Pole DP Contactor market in details. Comprehensive analysis about market status (2014-2018) and industry development trends (2019-2024), as well as factors ranging from raw materials to downstream buyers analyzed in this report. The report also finds out strength, shortcomings, and opportunities available it to get an understanding competitor and to achieve a successful competitive position in the 1-Pole DP Contactor market.
Access Sample Copy of Global 1-Pole DP Contactor Market Study
Leading players and complete analysis of 1-Pole DP Contactor industry which is boosting the market growth and performance
- ABB (Switzerland)
- Chint Electric (China)
- Eaton (Ireland)
- GE Industrial (Boston, Massachusetts)
- Honeywell (USA)
- Mitsubishi Electric (Japan)
- Rockwell Automation (USA)
- Schneider Electric (France)
- Siemens (Germany)
- Shihlin Electric (Taiwan)
- TE Connectivity (Switzerland)
Major applications and precise analysis of 1-Pole DP Contactor market value ($) and volume forecast (2019-2024):
- HVAC and Air Conditioning
- Pump and Compressor
- Elevators and Cranes
- Heating and Lighting
- Food and Beverage
Competitive landscape analysis comprehends the strength and weaknesses of current and potential competitors within the market. It also formulates more effective strategies; understand the global economy, technological changes, emerging companies, and niche markets will be carried out in details. Market segmentation makes it easier to divide the market on the base of potential customers into groups, segments, and sub-segments which helps marketers to personalize their strategies. It is also used to identify profitable segments, as well as to develop and plan market blueprint to better understand clients' needs.
Rapid utilization and increasing demand for the 1-Pole DP Contactor market is dominating into countries, regions, and subregions around the globe. The report includes mainly contribute regions such as North America, Europe, China, and Asia-Pacific. The report provides forecast estimation on the present market and statistical methods. Furthermore, the report also provides detailed information about barriers, risk, dynamics, and challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the 1-Pole DP Contactor market study measures crucial market aspects such as revenue, industry share, and gross margins.
Read Full Copy of Global 1-Pole DP Contactor Market Study
In the end, the report helps you to interpret the demands of your clients, detect business opportunities, and plan the perfect marketing policy to take benefit by reaching out to their target audience. Further, the report analyzes market trends and also predicts some difficulty that can occur while product development and growth.
If you want to expand your business at a worldwide, then definitely the 1-Pole DP Contactor market study mentor you throughout the entire process. For more information regarding research report, kindly connect with us:email@example.com


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Hello SG!
I haven't forgotten about you. I'm always posting on social media but I have definitely been slacking on the blog for way too long at this point.
I will be writing a full update soon but in the meantime, I just wanted to say hello to everyone! I hope I haven't neglected you too much.


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The Timaru Herald reported on the 2oth july, 2007, that an online web based reporting system has been put in place in New Zealand (done by UFOCUS NZ) ….. the full article can be seen here .
The UFOCUS NZ site can be found here .
Also of interest are articles "we are not alone" , "Rotorua a hive of activity" and the famous "1978 sightings".
I was also alerted to an article by Northern news (25th july, 2007) in which a UFO was seen in photos taken near Kaitaia, in 1965…. the shot was recently found in naval archives and a debate is being made as to what it is….. some say a dinner plate thrown from the bridge? others a clay pidgeon…. all angles are being looked at. Dr Bruce Maccabee will be looking at this photo in detail to hopefully put this debate to rest…..


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Viscount Nelson 1758-1805
Horatio Nelson is generally regarded as the greatest officer in the history of the Royal Navy. His reputation is based on a series of remarkable victories, culminating at the Battle of Trafalgar where he was killed in his moment of triumph. The poet Byron referred to him as 'Britannia's God of War'.
Nelson joined the navy aged 12 in 1770, and experienced sailing in the West Indies, the Northwest passage when only 14 and in the North Sea. Promoted post-Captain in 1779 at the age of 20, his first command was the frigate HMS Hinchingbroke. Nelson was later charged with taking the young Prince William (the future William IV) to the West Indies aboard HMS Albemarle.
When the French Revolutionary Wars began in 1793, Nelson was given command of the ship of the line HMS Agamemnon and was assigned to the Mediterranean. There he took part in the capture of Corsica in 1794; while directing guns at the siege of town of Calvi he was hit in the face by a shower of gravel and blinded in his right eye.
Nelson first came to fame at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797 when his initiative in command of HMS Captain helped prevent the Spanish Fleet from escaping the clutches of Sir John Jervis. At the height of the battle he captured two Spanish ships, the San Nicholas and the San José, leading the boarding party in person from one to the other. It was extremely unusual for a flag officer to lead such an attack and was even more remarkable given that the second assault was up the side of the large three deck San José which surrendered immediately. This heroic action became known in the Royal Navy as 'Nelson's Patent Bridge for Boarding First Rates'.
One of Nelson's few reverses came in July 1797 during the operation to capture the town of Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands. During the second failed attack, Nelson lost his right arm while leading one of the landing parties in an attempt to assault the town frontally.
In 1798, in command of his own fleet of fourteen ships, he destroyed a French fleet of seventeen in the Battle of Aboukir Bay at the mouth of the Nile. It was the most overwhelming victory in the age of sail. All the key elements of the Nelsonian system were present personal courage, tactical genius and the sharing of his innovative tactics with his captains, his 'band of brothers'. The breaking of the French line by Captain Thomas Foley in HMS Goliath was an excellent example of the tactical independence which Nelson expected of his captains. Following the battle Nelson was based at Naples where his celebrated liaison began with Lady Emma Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador.
Nelson was only second in command of the fleet sent against Denmark in 1801, but after famously turning his blinded eye to the telescope ordering him to retreat, carried the assault on Copenhagen to a successful conclusion. After this success he was promoted to Vice Admiral and took command of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1803.
Finally at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 with 27 ships of the line he inflicted a crushing defeat on the numerically superior Franco-Spanish fleet of 33, of which only 17 escaped. Hit by a musket ball from a French sharpshooter on the Redoutable at about 1315 he was taken below and died on HMS Victory's Orlop Deck at 1630 in the knowledge that he had achieved another famous victory.
Nelson's genius was to recognise that at this time both the French and Spanish Navies were greatly inferior to the British in professional skills such as gunnery and ship handling and that risks could be taken to win crushing victories. Nelson's passion for risk taking lost him the sight of an eye, an arm and eventually his life but, together with his remarkable charismatic leadership skills they created a legend that inspires the Royal Navy to this day.
Further reading:
- J.B. Hattendorf, "The Struggle with France" in J.R. Hill (Ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy (Oxford, 1995).
- B. Lavery, "Nelson: Aboukir, 1798" and G. Jordan, "Nelson: Trafalgar, 1805" in E.J. Grove (Ed) Great Battles of the Royal Navy (London, 1994).
- C. White, 1797 Nelson's Year of Destiny: Cape St Vincent and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Stroud, 1998).


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Focus Area: Immersive Learning Technology
Description: Design and develop a 3-D immersive interactive simulator system to be used in Special Operations Forces mission planning, training, and rehearsals for Special Operations military freefall and static line jumps. Allows users to conduct full-scale (basic, intermediate, and advanced( tasks and incorporate 3-D virtual scenarios that allow full mission rehearsal capability.
Project Cost: $1.275M
Project Duration: 24 months
Operational Impact: Low-profile airborne operations provide a tremendous advantage over an adversary. Given the danger of airborne operations, users are not able to rehearse corrective techniques for the range of emergency procedures. Even routine training jumps have resulted in severe injury. Practicing in a virtual environment allows users to conduct mission planning and contingency plans within a safe environment.
Deliverable: Six Parachute Simulator Stations, including all software enhanements; operational evaluation results.
Performer: Systems Technology, Inc.
End Users: Special Operations Mission Training Center


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The Cookie Swap (or Cookie Exchange) is a tradition dating back generations. The main idea of the swap is to gather friends together for a fun night during the holidays, share recipes and stories behind the recipes and take home a bunch of cookies to squirrel away for yourself for the next week.
For the actual swap, everyone bakes a few batches of cookies (or brownies, bars, truffles, etc.) two to three days before the big night, arrives at the predetermined destination, munches on appetizers and sips a Christmassy cocktail, and then let the swapping begin.
Introduce your cookie, tell a little story about it (history, memories, mistakes) and provide copies of the recipe. You might bring resealable containers or your host might provide festive tins, cartons, etc. Circle the arranged cookie display table, taking a few at a time, and after several laps, everyone should have a lovely assortment of cookies to take home.
Each year, I suggest each member vary the assortment of cookies, bars, muffins, etc. I, however, am highly attached to my Uncle Dave�s cookie recipe. I have had folks line up (literally) for my decorated version of this cookie, so I can pretty much guarantee they will be a hit for years to come.
1� cups granulated sugar
� cup whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter
� cup unsweetened cocoa powder
� tsp. kosher salt
� cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
Spread waxed paper onto a countertop or 2 baking sheets.
In a medium-sized sauce pot, bring sugar, milk, butter, cocoa and kosher salt to a boil over medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, cook for 1� minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, pure vanilla extract, and oats. Stir until combined and thickened.
Use a tablespoon to drop cookies onto the waxed paper. Cool completely and devour.
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the dish
� cup brown sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. peppermint extract
3 candy canes or 6-8 peppermints, crushed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-9-inch baking dish.
Using a mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy.
Add flour and walnuts and mix until just combined.
Press into the baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Using a mixer, beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg and extracts. Add half of the crushed candy canes.
Spread into crust and bake until the filling has set and is very light brown.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining candy canes. Cool completely and refrigerate before cutting into bars.
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment or with a handheld mixer, beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides often.
Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.
Add dry ingredients, � cups at a time, to the mixing bowl. Do not overmix. Dump onto plastic wrap or waxed paper and form into a disc. Chill for at least 2 hours � overnight is best.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat liner.
On a lightly-floured surface, roll to �-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and place on prepared baking sheet. Carefully transfer cookies from surface to parchment. Bake on the middle rack until firm about 6 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for about 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
Recipe amendment:
Replace 2 sticks of butter with 1 cup vegetable shortening. Increase the amounts of vanilla (double), salt (double), and flour (add � cup). Make sure the flour is completely combined, but do not overmix. That would be one tough cookie. Roll out to �-thickness and cut out cookies.
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 pound powdered sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Splash of milk
Using a mixer, combine butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until all lumps are removed.
Add milk until desired consistency is reached. Divide into separate bowls and color with liquid food colorings.
1 stick butter, room temperature
� cup vegetable shortening
2 pounds powdered sugar
1 Tbs. meringue powder
� tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. clear vanilla
1 tsp. clear imitation butter flavoring
2-4 Tbs. water
If the butter is not at room temperature, microwave it for 10 seconds or until it is soft, but not melted.
Using a mixer, combine all ingredients except water and mix until fluffy.
Drizzle in water until desired consistency is reached.
Separate into separate bowls and color using gel colorings. When using gel colorings, dip a toothpick into the gel and swirl it into the icing. Use a fresh toothpick each time to avoid mixing icing into the gel. Use piping bags and tips to decorate.
Note: If you opt for the butter flavoring, which I suggest, do not buy it in the spice aisle. Chances are, you�ll end up with something that tastes more like buttered popcorn than tasty icing. Wilton makes a clear imitation butter flavoring specifically for cake and cookie decorating. You can find it at craft stores or in the craft section of Walmart.


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The start of something new — FlakPhoto Digest.
We're developing a new project, a weekly newsletter focused on photography + visual culture recommendations carefully curated from across the Web. You know, the good stuff that deserves a closer look. FlakPhoto Digest is currently in closed beta and will be available to the public later this year. You can request an invite by subscribing below.
Website - JonathanBlaustein.com
Jonathan Blaustein is an artist and writer based in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. He studied Economics and History at Duke University, before receiving an MFA in Photography from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 2004. He has exhibited his work widely in the United States, and his photographs reside in many important permanent collections, including the Library of Congress, the State of New Mexico, the Brooklyn Museum, MOPA, the UNM Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.His work focuses on the intersection of economic theory, globalization, commodification, and culture in the 21st Century. His last project, The Value of a Dollar, was published by the New York Times in 2010, and subsequently went viral on the Internet. Ultimately, the conceptual photographic project was seen by millions of people around the world, creating dialogue about the manner in which food represents deeper issues of wealth, class, power and health. His current project, MINE, debuted in Santa Fe in May of 2012, and was published online by the New York Times. Jonathan also writes about photography and culture for A Photo Editor, a blog for the global photography industry.
Flak Photo is an online photography channel that presents the work of artists, curators, bookmakers and photo organizations to a global audience of people who are passionate about visual culture. Interested in contributing? Click here to learn more »
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May is National Stroke Awareness Month
Sheila H.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
By: Sheila Hudson
Good Morning to All!!!
I am so happy to find a group that understands what I am going through!!!
I am 42 yo and I had a stroke starting December 29, 2013. The reason why I said starting is because it is a process. It just did not happen in one day. It was over a series of days for a week! I was a writer and a tutor. The stroke happened on the left side of my brain and affected the physical right side. I could not walk, talk, lost my sight, think, write, and lost my memory. This was and still is a very difficult time. Thank God for two of my cousins who took care of me for a few months until I went back home. I also lost 30 pounds in 5 months. I don't have anything to do now so I work out all the time and I love it! I can write not be not like I used to. It took me a while to come this far. One of the most frustrating things is that fact that no one understands the fact that I can barely read and write among other things. Yes, now you can look at me and say I am fine but I am not. There is no such thing as a little or a big stroke. They are all damaging in some way either on the surface or below. I never complain and I do alot without any help. People need to take having a stroke seriously because itcan happen to ANYONE!!
This picture happened 3 days after leaving the hospital and 5 months later.
Display of the Faces of Stroke stories does not imply National Stroke Association's endorsement of any product, treatment, service or entity. National Stroke Association strongly recommends that people ask a healthcare professional about diagnosis and treatment questions before using any product, treatment or service. The views expressed through the stories reflect those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of National Stroke Association.
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Bored! Char Kway Teow Kung Kung and Stella Swimming Pui Yan, Stella, Sarah and Pui Yi Yummy Desserts Entering Gu Ma's Place Ang Pow All Partied Out Me and the Brothers The Ubiquitous Fan Just a Tinkle Roti Canai One Exhausted Baby Motosikal Shrine in Parking Lot Apartment Block Wacky Building Jalan Chow Kit Kiri Kui Chong's Gallery The Family at Gu Ma's Stell's Bells Giri and Stella Feast at Gu Ma's Seen Nung and Gizzard Ice Ice Baby The Colourful Girls "Love Letter" The Banana Girl After Lunch Lok Sok (Kung) and Stella Jalan Chow Kit Kiri Giri and Stella The Lam Family Dinner NYE Stella and Kung Kung - Melawati Dusky Leaf Monkey Exhausted Frog at David Brown's Teahouse David Brown's Teahouse Aunty Liok Ee and Stella - Spice Gardens Uncle Yew Fai and Us at the Spice Gardens Aunty Liok Ee, Sa and Stella at Spice Gardens. Feeding the Lions Yummy Bananas Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion Finally In Penang!
Posted on 02/11/2008
Photo taken on February 11, 2008
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During February, we acknowledge and give honor to those in our past who dared to make a difference in the lives of black people.
Black history is American history wrapped in layers of racial discrimination. When reviewed, there is not a nickel�s worth of distinction.
During February, we acknowledge and give honor to those in our past who dared to make a difference in the lives of black people.
Bay County, like much of the South, has some dark but rich history about its black citizenry. A single book or newspaper article cannot hold the insurmountable contributions made by local black folk. In 60-plus years, my own mind has become saturated with vivid memories about an underappreciated body of achievers from the 1940s to recent times.
In spite of forced racial separation, local black kids thrived under a strong web of black leadership. Superb educators such as Professors A. D. Harris, R. E. Cain, R. V. Moore, C. C. Washington, H. S. Jackson, et al., kept us inspired and hopeful.
In the 1940s, Rosenwald High School had aspirations to leave an indelible mark on Bay County athletics. Capt. Robert Lee and Co-Capt. Dewey Cromartie led a team of 30 ambitious football players to win �The Northwest Florida Football Championship� (1-A football champs 1947-48).
Again, in 1961, Rosenwald�s football team performed with distinction. Directed by revered Coach Ben J. Stephens, this popular group of 30 players was �The 1961 Football Champions of Big Nine Conference.�
In the late 1950s, a cadre of black community leaders, including Mr. Johnny Campbell, Mr. (Boushee) Stanley, Mr. (Bear) Myles, Mr. Mozell Nealy, Mr. Oscar Hearns, Mr. Ralph Vinson, Mr. Leon Miller, Mr. James Griffin, et al., came together to establish Bay County�s first black youth baseball/football organization. From this freshman class of well-trained and disciplined set of young players, and six years later at Rosenwald Junior/Senior High School, Bay County won its very first state championship for any sport (FIAA baseball state champions 1965-66).
I also have clear memories about those individuals who displayed themselves to be �twice as good� and went on to obtain professional status: Jack McClairen, Elijah Gipson, Herbert Peterson, Doug Nettles, Donald Craft, Patrick Miller, Larry Johnson and Will Witherspoon.
Sports have been an open avenue by which blacks could travel to get to �freedom road.� Since desegregation, however, there are more opened pathways and available opportunities. For most blacks, it has been a struggle getting here, and if not remembered, life could repeat.
Therefore, it is vital that we keep our history and precious legacies alive. Let us unseal the memories, tell the stories and share them often. Hence, a woman once said to me, �Why do you keep picking at that scab? Just let it be.�
I turned to her and said, �Because, when it was an infected and festering sore, you wouldn�t share the ointment. And now that it seems to be (a slow) healing, I just want to scratch it.�
Lynn Haven


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Steven-Charles Jaffe's first-rate documentary "Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird" appears right on the heels of "Dear Mr. Watterson," another enjoyable cinematic profile of a famed cartoonist ("Calvin and Hobbes'" Bill Watterson). But Jaffe's film has a distinct advantage: Wilson, unlike the reclusive Watterson, happily and thoroughly participates in this highly dimensional recap of his life and career, to compelling effect.
The jaunty, eccentric Wilson, 83, has been generating his unique brand of humorously macabre cartoons for more than 50 years. His vivid, influential drawings, filled with lovingly illustrated monsters and quirkily rendered humans and pets, have most notably appeared inside and/or on the covers of such magazines as Playboy and the New Yorker in addition to National Lampoon, where Wilson's anti-"Peanuts" series "Nuts" was a popular fixture during the 1970s.
Jaffe deftly captures his subject's creative process, helpfully illuminating the method to Wilson's comic madness. The director, who has also been an active film producer ("Ghost," "Strange Days"), effectively integrates in slowly widening reveals many shots of Wilson's work, which in approach has been described as Charles Addams-meets-Gary Larson (Jaffe aptly calls it "eye candy for the demented").
Along with entertaining testimony from a starry array of Wilson fans — comedians Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert and Lewis Black, writer-filmmakers Guillermo del Toro, Nicholas Meyer and Neil Gaiman, plus Hugh Hefner, Randy Newman and comic book magnate Stan Lee — the movie also includes candid interviews with Wilson's wife and son as well as with various other cartoonists.
But it's Wilson himself who provides the most vital insight into his idiosyncratic output as he discusses the effects of his Evanston, Ill., youth, growing up as the imaginative child of alcoholics (his father invented the steel venetian blind). That Wilson was, in fact, literally "born dead" (hence the film's title) but quickly revived by a doctor seems to speak volumes.
Also enlightening is a behind-the-scenes look at the open-call selection process at the venerable New Yorker, where Wilson and many other cartoonists — from well known to newer — regularly present their wares to the magazine's frank cartoon editor, Robert Mankoff.
The lesson to working artists: Take heart; even an old pro like Wilson faces his share of professional rejection.
'Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird'
MPAA rating: No MPAA rating
Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Playing: At Laemmle's Music Hall, Beverly Hills
VIDEO: Upcoming fall films
ENVELOPE: The latest awards buzz
PHOTOS: Greatest box office flops


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Lake Cumberland sews up a record
Exactly 1,651 boats gathered and tied up Saturday on Lake Cumberland and broke the Guinness World Record for the largest boat tie-up, said Mike Janela, official on-site judge for the event.
A certificate was presented to officials with the Lake Cumberland Association following a count by air and by water, Janela said. The previous record included 1,454 boats. Guidelines for the record category stipulate that all participating boats must be connected together in a single line for at least one minute and have at least one person on board during this minute. Janela said the boaters were able to hold the tie up for "quite a while."


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Pontification is an upcoming 2D side scrolling platform game that will be playable on Windows, Linux and Mac
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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Mean sea level (MSL) is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface (such as the halfway point between between the mean high tide and the mean low tide); used as a standard in reckoning land elevation.[1]
To an operator of a tide gauge, MSL means the "still water level"—the level of the sea with motions such as wind waves averaged out—averaged over a period of time such that changes in sea level, e.g., due to the tides, also get averaged out. One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land. Hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates.
In the UK, mean sea level has been measured at Newlyn in Cornwall and Liverpool on Merseyside for decades, by tide gauges to provide Ordnance Datum for the zero metres height on UK maps.
Satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES, TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001 and the Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite in 2008.
To extend this definition far from the sea means comparing the local height of the mean sea surface with a "level" reference surface, or datum, called the geoid. In a state of rest or absence of external forces, the mean sea level would coincide with this geoid surface, being an equipotential surface of the Earth's gravitational field. In reality, due to currents, air pressure variations, temperature and salinity variations, etc., this does not occur, not even as a long term average. The location-dependent, but persistent in time, separation between mean sea level and the geoid is referred to as (stationary) ocean surface topography. It varies globally in a range of ± 2 m.
Traditionally, one had to process sea-level measurements to take into account the effect of the 228-month Metonic cycle and the 223-month eclipse cycle on the tides. Mean sea level does not remain constant over the surface of the entire earth. For instance, mean sea level at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal stands 20 cm (8 in) higher than at the Atlantic end.
Several terms are used to describe the changing relationships between sea level and dry land. When the term "relative" is used, it connotes change that is not attributed to any specific cause. The term "eustatic" refers to global changes in the sea level due to water mass added to (or removed from) the oceans (e.g. melting of ice sheets). The term "steric" refers to global changes in sea level due to thermal expansion and salinity variations. The term "isostatic" refers to changes in the level of the land masses due to thermal buoyancy or tectonic effects and implies no real change in the volume of water in the oceans. The melting of glaciers at the end of ice ages is an example of eustatic sea level rise. The subsidence of land due to the withdrawal of groundwater is an isostatic cause of relative sea level rise. Paleoclimatologists can track sea level by examining the rocks deposited along coasts that are very tectonically stable, like the east coast of North America. Areas like volcanic islands are experiencing relative sea level rise as a result of isostatic cooling of the rock which causes the land to sink.
On other planets that lack a liquid ocean, planetologists can calculate a "mean altitude" by averaging the heights of all points on the surface. This altitude, sometimes referred to as a "sea level", serves equivalently as a reference for the height of planetary features.
Local mean sea level (LMSL) is defined as the height of the sea with respect to a land benchmark, averaged over a period of time (such as a month or a year) long enough that fluctuations caused by waves and tides are smoothed out. One must adjust perceived changes in LMSL to account for vertical movements of the land, which can be of the same order (mm/yr) as sea level changes. Some land movements occur because of isostatic adjustment of the mantle to the melting of ice sheets at the end of the last ice age. The weight of the ice sheet depresses the underlying land, and when the ice melts away the land slowly rebounds. Atmospheric pressure, ocean currents and local ocean temperature changes also can affect LMSL.
Eustatic change (as opposed to local change) results in an alteration to the global sea levels, such as changes in the volume of water in the world oceans or changes in the volume of an ocean basin.
There are many factors which can produce short-term (a few minutes to 14 months) changes in sea level.
|Periodic sea level changes
|Diurnal and semidiurnal astronomical tides
|12–24 h P
|0.2–10+ m
|Long-period tides
|Rotational variations (Chandler wobble)
|14 month P
|Meteorological and oceanographic fluctuations
|Atmospheric pressure
|Hours to months
|–0.7 to 1.3 m
|Winds (storm surges)
|1–5 days
|Up to 5 m
|Evaporation and precipitation (may also follow long-term pattern)
|Days to weeks
|Ocean surface topography (changes in water density and currents)
|Days to weeks
|Up to 1 m
|El Niño/southern oscillation
|6 mo every 5–10 yr
|Up to 0.6 m
|Seasonal variations
|Seasonal water balance among oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian)
|Seasonal variations in slope of water surface
|River runoff/floods
|2 months
|1 m
|Seasonal water density changes (temperature and salinity)
|6 months
|0.2 m
|Seiches (standing waves)
|Minutes to hours
|Up to 2 m
|Tsunamis (generate catastrophic long-period waves)
|Up to 10 m
|Abrupt change in land level
|Up to 10 m
Various factors affect the volume or mass of the ocean, leading to long-term changes in eustatic sea level. The two primary influences are temperature (because the volume of water depends on temperature), and the mass of water locked up on land and sea as fresh water in rivers, lakes, glaciers, polar ice caps, and sea ice. Over much longer geological timescales, changes in the shape of the oceanic basins and in land/sea distribution will affect sea level.
Observational and modelling studies of mass loss from glaciers and ice caps indicate a contribution to sea-level rise of 0.2 to 0.4 mm/yr averaged over the 20th century.
Each year about 8 mm (0.3 inch) of water from the entire surface of the oceans falls into the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets as snowfall. If no ice returned to the oceans, sea level would drop 8 mm every year. To a first approximation, the same amount of water appeared to return to the ocean in icebergs and from ice melting at the edges. Scientists previously had estimated which is greater, ice going in or coming out, called the mass balance, important because it causes changes in global sea level. High-precision gravimetry from satellites in low-noise flight has since determined Greenland is losing millions of tons per year, in accordance with loss estimates from ground measurement.
Ice shelves float on the surface of the sea and, if they melt, to first order they do not change sea level. Likewise, the melting of the northern polar ice cap which is composed of floating pack ice would not significantly contribute to rising sea levels. Because they are fresh, however, their melting would cause a very small increase in sea levels, so small that it is generally neglected. It can however be argued that if ice shelves melt it is a precursor to the melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica.
The current rise in sea level observed from tide gauges, of about 1.8 mm/yr, is within the estimate range from the combination of factors above[4] but active research continues in this field. The terrestrial storage term, thought to be highly uncertain, is no longer positive, and shown to be quite large.
At times during Earth's long history, the configuration of the continents and seafloor have changed due to plate tectonics. This affects global sea level by determining the depths of the ocean basins and how glacial-interglacial cycles distribute ice across the Earth.
The depth of the ocean basins is a function of the age of oceanic lithosphere: as lithosphere becomes older, it becomes denser and sinks. Therefore, a configuration with many small oceanic plates that rapidly recycle lithosphere will produce shallower ocean basins and (all other things being equal) higher sea levels. A configuration with fewer plates and more cold, dense oceanic lithosphere, on the other hand, will result in deeper ocean basins and lower sea levels.
When there were large amounts of continental crust near the poles, the rock record shows unusually low sea levels during ice ages, because there was lots of polar land mass upon which snow and ice could accumulate. During times when the land masses clustered around the equator, ice ages had much less effect on sea level.
Over most of geologic time, long-term sea level has been higher than today (see graph above). Only at the Permian-Triassic boundary ~250 million years ago was long-term sea level lower than today. Long term changes in sea level are the result of changes in the oceanic crust, with a downward trend expected to continue in the very long term.[5]
During the glacial/interglacial cycles over the past few million years, sea level has varied by somewhat more than a hundred metres. This is primarily due to the growth and decay of ice sheets (mostly in the northern hemisphere) with water evaporated from the sea.
The Mediterranean Basin's gradual
growth as the Neotethys basin, begun in the Jurassic, did not suddenly affect ocean
levels. While the Mediterranean was forming during the past 100
million years, the average ocean level was generally 200 metres above current levels.
However, the largest known example of marine flooding was when the
Atlantic breached the Strait of
Gibraltar at the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis about 5.2 million
years ago. This restored Mediterranean sea levels at the sudden end
of the period when that basin had dried up, apparently due to geologic forces in the area of
the Strait.
|Long-term causes
|Range of effect
|Vertical effect
|Change in volume of ocean basins
|Plate tectonics and seafloor spreading (plate divergence/convergence) and change in seafloor elevation (mid-ocean volcanism)
|0.01 mm/yr
|Marine sedimentation
|< 0.01 mm/yr
|Change in mass of ocean water
|Melting or accumulation of continental ice
|10 mm/yr
|• Climate changes during the 20th century
|•• Antarctica (the results of increasing precipitation)
|-0.2 to 0.0 mm/yr
|•• Greenland (from changes in both precipitation and runoff)
|0.0 to 0.1 mm/yr
|• Long-term adjustment to the end of the last ice age
|•• Greenland and Antarctica contribution over 20th century
|0.0 to 0.5 mm/yr
|Release of water from earth's interior
|Release or accumulation of continental hydrologic reservoirs
|Uplift or subsidence of Earth's surface (Isostasy)
|Thermal-isostasy (temperature/density changes in earth's interior)
|Local effect
|Glacio-isostasy (loading or unloading of ice)
|Local effect
|10 mm/yr
|Hydro-isostasy (loading or unloading of water)
|Local effect
|Volcano-isostasy (magmatic extrusions)
|Local effect
|Sediment-isostasy (deposition and erosion of sediments)
|Local effect
|< 4 mm/yr
|Tectonic uplift/subsidence
|Vertical and horizontal motions of crust (in response to fault motions)
|Local effect
|1-3 mm/yr
|Sediment compaction
|Sediment compression into denser matrix (particularly significant in and near river deltas)
|Local effect
|Loss of interstitial fluids (withdrawal of groundwater or oil)
|Local effect
|≤ 55 mm/yr
|Earthquake-induced vibration
|Local effect
|Departure from geoid
|Shifts in hydrosphere, aesthenosphere, core-mantle interface
|Local effect
|Shifts in earth's rotation, axis of spin, and precession of equinox
|External gravitational changes
|Evaporation and precipitation (if due to a long-term pattern)
|Local effect
Sea level has changed over geologic time. As the graph shows, sea level today is very near the lowest level ever attained (the lowest level occurred at the Permian-Triassic boundary about 250 million years ago). For this reason, sea level is more prone to rise than fall today, and small changes in climate can have noticeable effects during human lifetimes.
During the most recent ice age (at its maximum about 20,000 years ago) the world's sea level was about 130 m lower than today, due to the large amount of sea water that had evaporated and been deposited as snow and ice, mostly in the Laurentide ice sheet. The majority of this had melted by about 10,000 years ago.
Hundreds of similar glacial cycles have occurred throughout the Earth's history. Geologists who study the positions of coastal sediment deposits through time have noted dozens of similar basinward shifts of shorelines associated with a later recovery. This results in sedimentary cycles which in some cases can be correlated around the world with great confidence. This relatively new branch of geological science linking eustatic sea level to sedimentary deposits is called sequence stratigraphy.
The most up-to-date chronology of sea level change during the Phanerozoic shows the following long term trends: [6]
For at least the last 100 years, sea level has been rising at an average rate of about 1.8 mm per year.[7] The majority of this rise can be attributed to the increase in temperature of the sea and the resulting thermal expansion of sea water. Additional contributions come from water sources on land such as melting snow and glaciers (see global warming).[8]
Using pressure to measure altitude results in two other types of altitude. Distance above true or MSL (mean sea level) is the next best measurement to absolute. MSL altitude is the distance above where sea level would be if there were no land. If one knows the elevation of terrain, the distance above the ground is calculated by a simple subtraction.
An MSL altitude—called pressure altitude by pilots—is useful for predicting physiological responses in unpressurized aircraft (see hypoxia). It also correlates with engine, propeller, and wing performance, which all decrease in thinner air.
Pilots can estimate height above terrain with an altimeter set to a defined barometric pressure. Generally, the pressure used to set the altimeter is the barometric pressure that would exist at MSL in the region being flown over. This pressure is referred to as either QNH or "altimeter" and is transmitted to the pilot by radio from air traffic control (ATC) or an Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS). Since the terrain elevation is also referenced to MSL, the pilot can estimate height above ground by subtracting the terrain altitude from the altimeter reading. Aviation charts are divided into boxes and the maximum terrain altitude from MSL in each box is clearly indicated. Once above the transition altitude (see below), the altimeter is set to the international standard atmosphere (ISA) pressure at MSL which is 1013.2 HPa or 29.92 inHg.[9]
MSL is useful for aircraft to avoid terrain, but at high enough altitudes, there is no terrain to avoid. Above that level, pilots are primarily interested in avoiding each other, so adjust their altimeter to standard temperature and pressure conditions (average sea level pressure and temperature) and disregard actual barometric pressure—until descending below transition level. To distinguish from MSL, such altitudes are called flight levels. Standard pilot shorthand is to express flight level as hundreds of feet, so FL 240 is 24,000 feet (7,300 m). Pilots use the international standard pressure setting of 1013.25 hPa (29.92 inHg) when referring to Flight Levels. The altitude at which aircraft are mandated to set their altimeter to flight levels is called "transition altitude". It varies from country to country. For example in the U.S. it is 18,000 feet, in many European countries it is 3,000 or 5,000 feet.


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The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has borrowed a populist Democratic theme for its latest round of attack ads, featuring red flags, menacing-sounding songs, and Asian calligraphy fonts to accuse vulnerable House incumbents are outsourcing jobs to you-know-where.
"Tim Walz helped create jobs in China!" "Mike McIntyre: Jobs in China, not North Carolina." The brassiest spot ends with a cartoon image of Cultural Revolution-style upraised fists: "He's created massive debt here, while he created renewable energy jobs over there. Barron Hill: For Indiana, or China?"
These cookie-cutter ads, to put it mildly, are half-baked. But they come with an interesting back story. The renewable energy program that the NRCC is trashing was part of President Obama's stimulus bill or, as the ads call it, "the $800 billion failed stimulus." It's helped prevent the collapse of the American wind industry, and it's created thousands of American jobs; like the stimulus in general, it's helped advance Obama's long-term goal of weaning the economy off carbon as well as his short-term goal of saving the economy from a second Great Depression. But like the stimulus in general, it's also creating political headaches for Democrats at least partly self-inflicted.
"These ads are completely at odds with reality," says Liz Salerno, director of industry data and analysis for the American Wind Energy Association. "This myth about jobs has just been snowballing. It couldn't be more opposite to the facts."
For what it's worth, here are some facts.
When credit markets froze in 2008, the U.S. wind industry froze as well. Since the first Bush Administration, Congress had extended bipartisan tax credits to promote renewable energy projects, but after the financial meltdown those credits became virtually unusable; when no one has profits, no one needs tax credits. Wind projects were stalling, and turbines the size of 747's were lying in fields; the industry was bracing for a 50% decline in new capacity in 2009. So the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided nearly $2 billion in direct grants to wind projects, in effect "monetizing" the tax credits.
The results were immediate and impressive. The industry came back from the dead to add a record 10,000 megawatts in 2009, almost a 20% increase. AWEA credits the stimulus with saving at least 40,000 jobs in construction, engineering, trucking and yes, manufacturing. According to the Department of Energy, the U.S. only imported 40% of the components for its wind turbines in 2009, down from about 80% in 2006. And according to the International Trade Commission, less than 5% of those components came from China. In a Facebook posting in February that helped inspire the Republican wind-bashing, Sarah Palin claimed that "80% of the $2 billion they spent on alternative energy went to purchase wind turbines built in China." In fact, only 3 of America's 33,000 turbines were built in China.
The case of Iberdrola Renewables, headquartered in Portland, Ore., helps illustrate the program's impact. After Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, Iberdrola delayed 500 megawatts worth of wind projects in Illinois and Texas. "We were reallocating capital around the globe," recalls senior vice president Don Furman. "We were really stuck." But the day the stimulus passed, Iberdrola's chairman announced he would pour $6 billion back into U.S. projects; the company has already generated an additional 1,800 megawatts with stimulus funds, supporting an estimated 9,000 jobs, and it has launched another nine projects in seven states. "Overnight, we were back in business," Furman says. "Without the stimulus, we were looking at drastic cuts."


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McDowell up to 7th in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA – Graeme McDowell won the Volvo World Match Play Championship on Sunday and that helped him move to No. 7 in this week's world golf rankings.
McDowell moved up one spot after his eighth European Tour title.
Ahead of McDowell, the top seven were the same. Tiger Woods remained No. 1 and was again followed by Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker and Luke Donald.
McDowell's move to No. 7 pushed Louis Oosthuizen down a notch to eighth. Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker exchanged places with Mickelson inching up to ninth.
Keegan Bradley finished second at the Byron Nelson and that helped him move up three places to No. 11 this week. Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia all fell one spot and are now 12th through 14th.
Charl Schwartzel took third at the Byron Nelson and jumped up two spots to 15th. Webb Simpson remained 16th and Ian Poulter dropped two to 17th. Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Jason Dufner closed out the top 20 again this week.
Byron Nelson winner Sang-Moon Bae soared 42 spots to 64th this week, while Peter Uihlein, who won the Madeira Island Open on the European Tour, flew up 99 spots to No. 146.


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A Point of View: Is the archaeological dig a thing of the past?
I suspect that the answer is "no." But the new technology should enable more precise digging. As the article notes, once you dig something up you have to preserve it and that costs ( a lot ) of money.


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HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — An improved economic outlook boosted Asian markets Wednesday, lifting stocks in Hong Kong and Australia to near two-year highs, while Japanese shares ended at their highest level in 33 months, also fueled by earnings optimism.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +0.03% surged 2.3% to end at its best level since April 27, 2010.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.40% rose 0.7% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.35% climbed 0.2% to reach their highest closing values since April 2011. The session marked a tenth day of gains for the Australian benchmark.
China's Shanghai Composite Index 000001, +1.44% added 1%, while South Korea's Kospi 180721, -0.22% and Taiwan's Taiex XX:Y9999 each advanced 0.4%.
"Generally, market sentiment is that the economic backdrop is better than this time last year," said Andrew Sullivan, director of sales trading at Kim Eng Securities. Despite a few economic concerns, trading volumes have been risen in regional stocks recently, and "it seems like extra money is going to equities" rather than bonds, he added.
The region-wide advance came ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting later in the day, with investors on alert for any signals about the duration of the Fed's bond-buying program. Read: Fed to press ahead with bond buying.
U.S. stock gains Tuesday had set up a mostly positive lead for Asia, with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.61% leading blue-chip gains after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates. Read: Pfizer leads blue-chip stocks higher.
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.07% and S&P 500 SPX, -0.16% futures were mildly positive by late afternoon in Hong Kong.
Stock movers
Earnings optimism gave the Japanese market an additional boost Wednesday.
Yahoo Japan Corp. 4689, +0.00% YAHOY, -0.36% surged 17.1% after the company's upbeat quarterly results and announcement of a share buy back.
Telecom firms also saw earnings-related buying. Softbank Corp. 9984, +1.85% SFTBF, +0.17% jumped 3.6% after the Nikkei reported that the wireless carrier is expected to post a 10% gain for its April-December operating profit, helped by sales of Apple Inc.'s AAPL, -0.73% iPhone.
Shares of rival KDDI Corp. 9433, -0.16% KDDIF, -0.58% — which also sells the iPhone, and announced a 40% increase in its quarterly operating profit Monday — advanced 3.1%, on top of Tuesday's 2.8% rise.
Also among the wireless carriers, NTT DoCoMo Inc. 9437, -0.16% NTDMF, +1.56% climbed 1%, underperforming the broader market after a separate Nikkei report tipped a 9% decline in the firm's nine-month operating profit.
Central Japan Railway Co. 9022, -0.26% jumped 6.6% after reporting a 49% rise in nine-month net profit, while fellow rail-operator Keisei Electric Railway Co. 9009, -0.62% rose 1.9%.
Some retailers also advanced after data showing a better-than-expected increase in Japanese retail sales for December. Fast Retailing Co. 9983, +1.32% FRCOY, +1.63% rallied 4.3%, while Takashimaya Co. 8233, -1.77% TKSHF, +0.00% gained 2.4%. Read: Japan retail sales slow their gains in December.
• MarketWatch Topics: Middle East
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• European indexes | Asian indexes
More on the Markets
• Global Economic Calendar
• | | Earnings Watch
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In Hong Kong, companies exposed to the global economy pulled higher, with ports operator China Merchants Holdings International Co. 144, -0.31% CMHHF, -12.97% gaining 2.2%, while industry peer Cosco Pacific Ltd. 1199, -1.32% CSPKY, -5.20% rose 1.7%.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics Inc. 005930, -0.23% SSNLF, +0.00% climbed 2.2%, while rival chip maker SK Hynix Inc. 000660, +0.95% HXSCL, +0.00% rose 0.6% after swinging to a quarterly profit, thanks to rising chip demand after the release of new smartphones and other devices. Read: SK Hynix swings to profit amid solid chip demand.
Major mineral extractors paced the advance in Sydney, with Rio Tinto Ltd. RIO, -1.40% RIO, -1.30% gaining 1.5%, and BHP Billiton Ltd. RIO, -1.40% RIO, -1.30% climbing 1.2%.
Those gains offset losses for consumer-staples firms, including Coles supermarket owner Wesfarmers Ltd. WES, +0.34% WFAFY, -2.56% which fell 1.8% after reporting second-quarter sales figures. Read: Wesfarmers reports higher sales at Coles division.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard surprised the country Wednesday by announcing that the next general election will be held on Sept. 14.
"This is a very early announcement for an election date. At face value, this might inject some uncertainty into the economy, yet it should be remembered that Parliament has been hung for over two years now, and political uncertainty has been high for the duration," said Michael Turner, strategist at RBC Capital Markets.


text: |Hi guys! I'm 18 years old pretty quiet but I love to have fun! I always get teased about my height, but my lovers don't seem to mind. My boyfriends and girlfriends love the fact that they can pick me up and move me around. :) In fact, one my favorite positions is where the guy picks me up from behind, puts his arms under my knees, and walks around while having sex. It's wild! Come inside and see all the fun we can have!


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Marc Lawrence has authored thousands of articles expounding on the three primary forms of sports handicapping: Fundamental, Statistical and Technical. To be a successful handicapper, blending all three forms of analysis into the handicapping equation. Marc relies heavily on a proprietary powerful database of scores, stats and results of games played since 1980, both College and Pro Football and College and Pro Basketball.
Marc has been handicapping sports professionally since 1975, having won more documented Top 10 Handicapping Achievement awards than any handicapper in the nation. He won the 2005 STARDUST FOOTBALL INVITATIONAL Contest and was a SEMI-FINALIST in the 2006 $100,000 LEROYS' MONEY TALKS Contest last season. He finished the 2006 season as the No. 1 handicapper in the NFL as documented by SPORTS WATCH in Las Vegas. Marc also finished No. 1 in the nation in College Football win percentage in 2005 as documented by both the SPORTS MONITOR in Oklahoma and SPORTS WATCH in Las Vegas. He was named HANDICAPPER OF THE YEAR in 2005 by FOOTBALL NEWS.
In 2008, he finished No. 1 in NFL win percentage according to SPORTS WATCH and also captured 1st place honors in the 2008 PLAYBOOK WISE GUYS CONTEST.
Marc has hosted a national radio show "MARC LAWRENCE AGAINST THE SPREAD" for each of the last 16 years on over 100 stations syndicated in the USA. He is a tireless handicapper who works a minimum 60-hour week during the football and basketball seasons. As a handicapper he firmly believes that three things can happen when you bet an underdog, and two of them are good. He enjoys helping others to become better informed.
Marc married his high school sweetheart 40 years ago and has one son, Marc Jr., who works with him in the industry. Aside from publishing the PLAYBOOK Football Yearbook magazine and Weekly Newsletters, Marc enjoys golf and horse racing.


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Always assume that the record is somewhere.Now, I need to explain what I mean by a record. In the sense that I am using the term "record," I do not mean a discrete physical record of an event. I am using the term in a much larger sense to mean any preserved representation of the event. For example, if I were searching for a "death record," I would not be limiting my search to any particular class of documents but rather I would be expanding my search to any kind of reference that could be used to establish a death date. These records might include anything from a gravemarker to a newspaper account or a probate action in a civil court. All of these could be considered a "record" of an individual's death date.
In my experience, it is fairly common for researchers to be involved in searching for a specific type of record rather than a more expensive idea of records in general that could establish the same type of information the researchers believe could be established by a specific record. an example that I've used before, is a researcher searching for a "marriage certificate" before such documents were created by governmental agencies.
Time and time again, I encounter researchers who are doggedly searching for a specific date for a specific event. Continuing the example of searching for a marriage date, I have had people pursue this issue as if the fact that the couple lived together and had a number of children was not enough of a "record" to establish a "marriage." In that specific case how about considering the "marriage" to occurred approximately one year before the birth of the first child and moving on to some other issue? At the same time, I have seen researchers who resist the idea that a marriage date could be found in a probate file or some other place.
If you start with the premise that records are created at or near the time of an event, you also need to expand that concept to include records that could have been created any time during an ancestor's life or any time after an ancestor's life. Continuing the example of a marriage record, a couple could have been married in one location and recorded the event at a much later date in a different and even very remote locations from the original event. For example, the couple could have been married in England, immigrated to the United States, purchase the Bible and recorded the information in a Bible years after the original event. Does the Bible record then become a secondary record and of less value than a certificate or some other evidence of the marriage at the time it occurred in England? Obviously, this is another issue concerning the evaluation of the reliability of any record.
I have been using examples of physical records and the fact that a record of a specific event can take many forms and may end up being located in many geographic areas as a basis for illustrating the fundamental reason why records are scattered across the web. This can explain why my Great-grandfather's records can end up in the University of Utah Special Collections Library when my Great-grandfather spent almost his entire life living in a small town in northern Arizona. The connection is that the researcher who gathered the records and donated them to the University of Utah, lived in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Now back to the title of this post, is this problem and issue of consolidation or methodology? Personally, I see absolutely no way that all of these disparate records are ever going to be consolidated. At best, we can expect better search engines and more efficient ways of connecting records without actually consolidating them into any one supersized database. So, to answer my own question, I believe the solution is establishing a record searching methodology that will take into account the different ways that records could be scattered across the world and the Internet. Remember, I am using the term record in a more expansive way than merely indicating any particular piece of paper.
I believe that the basis for establishing a methodology must rest on the awareness that obtaining information about any specific event in an ancestor's life must involve a holistic approach that includes much more than a focus on any particular event. The methodology includes an understanding of the geography, history, political jurisdictions, and many other factors that can influence where records are kept and maintained.
From my perspective becoming focused on any one aspect of an ancestor's life or any one event is self-defeating. It is sometimes discouraging to see genealogical researchers slaving away in a local FamilySearch Center or Library, when the information they are looking for is located a short distance away in a state archive, local historical society, or even a public library. What is even more discouraging is that the researcher searches online for his or her ancestor's name, and assumes because they did not find the name in the local library's catalog that no such information exists. For example, I have found a biography of my Great-grandfather in the Arizona State Library. This is not a reference that will appear during any kind of routine search online, but only through an awareness that such a record may exist in a state library or university library. For example, if I search online for my Great-grandfather, Henry Martin Tanner, and add the search term "Arizona state library" I find several entries referring to library collections containing information about him.
Learning to do research online for your ancestors is not merely understanding how to enter and search for names and dates, it involves a much more expansive view of how and where information can be stored and how to locate it. This issue is not going to be solved by merely coming up with a better search engine or better innovative program. It involves a comprehensive education of people who are interested in seeking out their ancestors. The good news is that taking courses on genealogy, attending conferences, learning more about computers and the Internet, and many other similar activities ultimately provides a basis for implementing the methodology of gathering scattered records.


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Dec. 4, 2006
MACON, Ga. - Lipscomb guard Trey Williams scorched the nets last week and led the defending regular season champion to an undefeated start in conference play this year to earn Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week honors as announced by the league office on Monday.
Williams capped a spectacular week with a career-high 27 points including eight three-pointers as Lipscomb extended their winning streak at Allen Arena to 14 games in a 68-54 win over UNF. Two days earlier, the senior played 37 minutes and contributed 18 points and five assists to help the Bisons hold off an upset-minded Jacksonville team. Lipscomb also added a non-conference win over Winston-Salem State to begin the week. For the week, Williams averaged 17.3 points per game while draining 13-of-22 3-point shots (59.9 percent).
For the year, the Memphis, Tenn., native leads the A-Sun in scoring (18.4), three-point field goal percentage (49.3) and three-pointers per game (4.12). Williams majors in Mass Communications. This is the first A-Sun Player of the Week honor for the senior.
The Atlantic Sun Conference hands out Player of the Week awards weekly during the 2006-07 men's basketball campaign.
The 12-member league headquartered in Macon, Ga., consists of Belmont, Campbell, ETSU, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, UNF and Stetson with Florida Gulf Coast and USC Upstate beginning competition in 2007-08.


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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
To most Utahns, Isis is just a funny-sounding name for something they've seen recently on TV or a billboard. But the companies pushing this mobile electronic-payment system believe it's the future of commerce.
Similar to Google Wallet, Isis (pronounced eye-sis) is a mobile wallet system devised by T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T in which users buy items in stores with the tap of their mobile phones. It's being tested in just two U.S. cities, Salt Lake City and Austin, but it's planned to go nationwide within six months.
I tried out Isis for a couple of weeks, courtesy of a Samsung Galaxy S III provided by AT&T. There were some positives, but is it going to replace the credit card any time soon? Don't bank on it, at least not without a few improvements first.
Isis works with any smartphone equipped with a "near-field communications" (NFC) chip, a fairly new piece of technology that is included on many Android phones. The iPhone does not have an NFC chip built in, but Isis plans on soon selling an add-on case for Apple's device that includes the chip.
To initiate Isis, you must first visit your wireless carrier's store and have a representative set up the system on your phone, which takes about 10 minutes. Isis is available only for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile customers.
An account will be created and a special SIM card will be put into your phone (for security purposes) that includes the Isis technology. A free app also will be installed that you use to make purchases.
You can either set up your account to draw money from a charge card (at this point only American Express or a Visa from Chase or Capital One can be used) or you can feed money into a pre-paid Isis account you create. The new system is not compatible with existing debit cards, but by becoming an Isis user, you instantly get as much as $25 to make your first purchases.
Here's how you buy something with Isis:
When you are at a store that supports mobile payments, you take your goods to the cash register and once they're rung up, you turn on your phone and launch the Isis app. Type in your four-digit passcode and press the "enabled" button, then tap the phone on the electronic reader in front of the cashier, and it automatically makes the purchase.
When I used Isis, it didn't exactly save time because it took me just as long, if not longer, to buy something with the system as it would have to pull out my debit card or credit card and swipe it through a reader.
And it wasn't foolproof, either. The first time I tried it at a Taylorsville diner, the reader kept producing an error code. But after that, it worked flawlessly the rest of the time I used it.
You also can't use Isis at just any store because the retailer has to be set up to take mobile payments. Along the Wasatch Front, about 420 have signed up, which I don't think is a lot considering how many businesses there are in Salt Lake City alone. Also, that list doesn't include major stores such as Target, Walmart and Kmart, or grocers such as Reams or Harmons.
There are however, some upsides to using Isis. Although it doesn't necessarily make purchasing faster, the system does have one big advantage over credit cards. It can draw you to stores with promotions and other discounts.
The Isis app's best feature is that it automatically collects virtual coupons and alerts you to deals at Isis-compatible retailers. To use a coupon, you can just tap the phone to the reader or it can display a barcode on your phone that the cashier can scan.
The potential is that retailers can send new coupons and deals straight to your phone, where they all can be viewed in one application. That can be a great incentive for merchants to use Isis as a marketing tool, although only about eight stores offer deals at this point. (One of the best gives Isis users free rides on UTA trains and buses until Jan. 31.)
The folks behind Isis contend the system also offers more security than using a credit card. One, users have to input a pin number to launch the app. Two, every time the mobile wallet is used, the system scrambles the Isis account security number. Three, when used at a restaurant, for example, tapping your phone on a reader provides more protection than handing over your credit card to a waiter or waitress.
All that said, one of my biggest fears is what would happen if I lose my phone? Not so much because someone who finds it or steals it could go on a buying spree after all, they would at least need my pin number to use Isis and the account can be canceled with a phone call but because I would not be able to buy anything until I got a new phone.
So for me, for now, Isis would not be my only method for purchasing things. You would always need a credit card handy for back up.
But as time goes by, the technology is refined and more retailers come on board, Isis could make more sense for more consumers. Until then, it's still in its infancy, and there is a lot of potential that needs to be unlocked before the system becomes the preferred way to shop.
Google+: +Vincent Horiuchi
About Isis
What is it? • It's a new technology that allows users to purchase goods with their mobile phones by tapping the device on a reader in the store.
Who can get it? • Customers of Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile who have a smartphone compatible with near-field communications.
How much does it cost? • It's free, and it even gives first-time users up to $25 for their first purchases.
How many retailers participate? • About 420 along the Wasatch Front, including McDonald's, Foot Locker, Megaplex Theaters and Whole Foods.


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Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan's Forum
Moderator: All Moderators
Methica wrote:I'll second that Grania is addicted...
Aduncan wrote:I'm an anthropology student doing a small research project on people who admire other cultures than their own and who long to be part of that other culture.
So I was thinking of examples and it struck me that I have met a number of people who are really into the 'Irish culture' (I live in the Netherlands), mainly due to music in the first place, but also because of the nature and history etc.
That's what eventually brought me to this Moya Brennan forum on my quest to find people who are intersted in Ireland and who somehow feel connected to the country.
So to start off I was wondering if there are people here who have a special fondness for Ireland? If so, I would love to hear about what it is that you love about the country and culture and if you feel like you are really irish at heart!
Ardens wrote:In a way, Ireland feels like an exotic place to me but at the same time it feels very much like a home
Grania wrote:I often wonder if I could live there and maintain my feelings about it....and you know, I often think I couldn't, but I just don't know. There are many things I feel are on offer there (culture, music, history etc) which I love that aren't on offer here....and I think that's a seriously important factor.
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