text:
Hot on the heels of a new deal to stream BBC iPlayer and ITV Player through its on-demand service, Sky has launched a new online service that makes its content available to non-Sky customers.
Launching in the first half of 2012, the service will include a range of content, including Sky Movies with sports added later in the year, on a variety of pricing options.
Users can pay monthly for unlimited access or rent a single movie on a pay-as-you-go basis, and this will be available on a range of connected devices.
Sky said the new service will also give users editorial support and recommendations to help viewers find the content they want.
Alongside the new service the satellite broadcaster will continue to develop Sky Go, which gives existing customers access to a range of live channels and on demand content.
Sky's announcement is big news for the connected TV market and also for the pay TV industry. Up until now Sky and its competitors have relied on a subscription model to tie customers into their content, but the new service comes with no minimum contract.
Sky's ambitions to be a major player in connected TV are obvious to see following today's announcement and yesterday's deal with the BBC and ITV.
The satellite broadcaster was forced to cave on its demand that the terrestrial channels should allow it to syndicate content rather than air it as a branded service. As BBC iPlayer is now available on nearly all connected TV services, Sky had to climb down to keep up with its competitors.
BSkyB has also acquired a 10% stake in social TV app Zeebox, securing exclusive rights to its service in the UK. Zeebox brings a social element to TV by allowing users to see what their friends are watching and talk about it online.
The app will be a great fit for Sky's new online service and will surely be integrated when it is launched later this year.
All-in-all Sky is building a strong connected TV offering, and while it will face strong competition from the likes of Google and Microsoft, it seems this is a market that no one will be able to dominate due to the range of content available.
Therefore Sky is putting itself in a position to be one of the most attractive products in a crowded market place.


text:
Monday, November 10, 2008
Alzheimer's Disease – A Duty and A Toll
[Editor's note: A little more than a year ago, on October 16, 2007, I posted about my family's journey down a road all too familiar to many other families: the road called Alzheimer's Disease. In that post, I discussed recent developments in a blood test that could predict the probability of developing Alzheimer's Disease. I challenged readers with this question: would you take such a test, even if you had already traveled through what I call "the long goodbye" with a loved one? Would you want to know your chances of having to walk that same path? Below is that post in its entirety.]
I heard the news yesterday that a new blood test was being developed at Stanford University in California that could help detect the probability of developing Alzheimer's Disease within two to six years. While the results are still preliminary and the next step is to open up the testing to a larger test population, it has had a 91% accuracy so far.
Some of you know that my mother, Jacqueline Austin MacEntee, was diagnosed with dementia, one of the early indicators of Alzheimer's disease in 2000 at the age of 58. I can relate to you what I and my family had to endure just to get Mom diagnosed.
The diagnosis currently starts with a visit to a doctor for basic tests (blood, liver, cholesterol, heart, etc.) and then being sent to a specialist for neurological testing such as an MRI. Once everything is cleared as to possible causes, comes a visit to a gerontologist and a test consisting of about 30 questions. Questions are basic (the current day or year, the current president, etc.) and some are more complex (reading a small story and then relating what the story was about or who the main character was). This is usually when the diagnosis is positive as to Alzheimer's Disease.
And so it begins. You know it eventually has to end, and how it ends, but it just seems like it never ends.
You notice a marked change in behavior and instances where Mom just isn't herself. Many times you call and ask her what she did over the weekend or what movie she saw and she can't remember. Then it becomes the lack of remembering simple things like how to drive from point A to point B in a small town where Mom has lived for over 40 years. But you also rejoice when your mother utters her disgust about Bush and the other's in his administration who've hijacked our democracy. Part of you says "it's just the Alzheimer's" while part of you says it is clarity and another part of you hopes that all the years of discussing your own views have influenced her.
The disease progresses to affect employment and the means of earning a living and surviving financially. You deal with the chief at the village police office where she works as a dispatcher and clerk when he tells her that she has "psychological problems." She loses the second job at a local restaurant because she can no longer handle the bookkeeping responsibilities. You step in to get Mom out on early retirement via Social Security and still you need to fight, hire an attorney, and attend hearings, meetings, etc. But you feel good that you are able to get Mom out on retirement early so that she can enjoy the few good years she has left going to movies, shopping, etc.
And the denial, the denial, the denial -- from both Mom, me and the rest of the family -- that this is really happening. Much of the denial is the realization that by watching Mom and the deterioration of her condition, you could be looking in a mirror held up to your face so that you know your own mortality. Even worse, that you come to the realization that this could be you. "There but for the grace of God . ."
You drag your partner into the mess, the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, the person who may very well be doing all this for you one day. But you know that he'd gladly make the sacrifices just as you would for him or for his parents.
Then there are the financial scammers that come out of the woodwork. Her "financial advisor" at New York Life who talked her into an annuity that only made money for the advisor. And then the same advisor selling Mom expensive health books and vitamins as a treatment for the disease. I know - I cleaned out the house, saw the books, and have the receipts.
And as the months progress into years, the gerontologist's test is given at least yearly and the number of correct answers dwindles from 22 to 20 to 17.
You decide to take the car away after several instances of U-turns through the grassy median of a 4 lane highway. You notice unexplained dents and dings to the car or even to the house or garage. You have to fight and get a letter from the doctor to give to DMV in order to take the car away.
If you are smart or lucky or both, you find a good elder law attorney and you do this early when Mom can adequately communicate her wishes. Wishes such as "do not resuscitate", funeral and burial, will, assets, care, etc. The power of attorney kicks in and you have so much more responsibility than just making sure Mom is comfortable. But you know you and your family are lucky, and smart, because you did this early. You didn't wait to find out that investments were sucked dry by scammers who sell home improvements or driveway repaving or annuities. Boy were you lucky.
While you sort through the tangled financial web of the past five years, you try to arrange for in-home care for Mom, knowing that having the familiar around her is the best thing. You arrange for adult day care at the local hospital where on a given day she is probably the youngest one there but most definitely the most ambulatory. You bring in local women who specialize in elder care to stay with her the other 16 hours of the day and also to transport her to day care and doctors' appointments. You want to keep her in the home she bought 25 years ago, as a divorced parent with two boys and little credit. You know she deserves this and you and the rest of the family make sacrifices so this will happen.
You decide that while you've enjoyed living in California for the past 20 years, you can't handle all the tasks and responsibilities from so far away. The telephone, e-mail and the internet only work up to a point. You move to Chicago so you are at least a short two hour flight away, with three flights to New York each hour from O'Hare. You feel blessed because your employer in California believes in you and your work and the sacrifices you are making so much that they let you work from home in Chicago since they don't have an office there. You thank Heller Ehrman LLP and all your work family from California to London for being so supportive.
You get so caught up in the politics of family, and the squabbling and the pettiness that you decide to walk away altogether. You decide it isn't that you aren't up to the responsibility but that you don't know why family has to make it all so complicated - especially those who are selfish and want this to be about them and not about Mom. A simple Thanksgiving day phone call turns into a yelling match with your aunt who doesn't know how to handle Mom or why she has been accused of stealing a book or moving furniture. You decide you need a break so you don't call for close to six months and you drop out. And you feel guilty, as you should. And every time you are willing to put it behind you and focus on what Mom needs now because you are back in the mix, someone is there to remind you of how you walked away.
And besides bleeding tears, you bleed money. Your mother's money. The money she worked so hard for at the phone company before she went out on retirement due to a bad back. The money she earned working for the state at the police station. The SSI money. You run credit reports and find out there are over 100 credit cards in her name, many from stores like Macy's (where she had 6 accounts!) with clerks who say "would you like to save 15% today by opening a Macy's account?" knowing that Mom already had other Macy's accounts but the $5 commission was all that mattered. You close all the accounts, cash out IRAs and that damned annuity at a loss. You end up paying federal and state income tax as if Mom earned over $100,000 that year all because you had to cash in the investments for her care. But you also know that this is the best thing to do in this moment because it means months of in-home care, and safety and security. That's why we save for rainy days and right now it is pouring.
And the number of correct answers, at least on that test, becomes 15, then 12, then 10. For the rest of the process there are no correct answers, there are no touchstones because you've never been this way before. Oh how you don't want to be here right now but oh how you do because it's all about Mom.
Besides untangling finances, you have to untangle agreements and understandings that Mom entered into with other family members but had not the mental capacity nor the right to enter into. You deal with the house in Florida and you deal with Mom's home. You deal with the Grahamsville property that Mom inherited from her great-grandmother (Therese McGinnes Austin) for all her years of sacrifice and care. You realize that Mom entered into a purchase agreement with a family member who has since rented the property out but that person can't prove their payments to Mom or for taxes. You know that property meant so much to Mom as a kid but you also know the best thing is to let it go and realize that she was taken advantage of and to just deal with it. You deal, you deal, you deal. Until you think all the cards are dealt.
You fight with other family members who either think they know how to care for an Alzheimer's patient or want to keep denying that their sister has the disease. Because there's a small chance, given that the oldest sister already died from Alzheimer's, that they are next on the list to get it. But you also find other supportive family members who are glad to pitch in and actually make so many sacrifices for your mother when you know they already have their hands full.
Then comes the time to talk to Mom about finding a "facility" for her long-term care when either the finances or patience runs out, or both. You dread the discussion you have to have on Mother's Day, of all days, but you find she takes it well. Then you wonder if she really understands that a facility means a nursing home. You wonder if she is clear enough to figure it out over the next few weeks and retreat back into the denial stage. You have visions of that scene in the Exorcist when the priest puts his mother in an inner city nursing home yelling "Demi, why you do this to me? I'm afraid Demi." But you realize that when you see her a month later that she's lost over 20 lbs, she's eating better, she has lots of activities. She is safe, she is happy, she is living in the moment.
Next you have to clean out the house you grew up in and you don't know where to start. You make six trips in one year, buying boxes when you step off the plane to Newark. Working long hours sorting through every scrap of paper, every wadded up tissue in a sweater or pants pocket because it might contain something of value, every book some of which would have a gold bracelet as a bookmark. You remember that Mom took care of your great-grandmother and your great-aunt (Ethel McCrickert Hannan) in that same house and realize that their possessions are still there. You get angry when you find all the crap and junk she's been sold, be it greeting cards (why are there 100 of the same Thanksgiving card from a Hallmark store? I know I won't ever live to see 100 Thanksgivings), or the wrapping paper that people sell for their kid's school, or the needless health books, vitamins, and other quackery and the expensive overpriced dolls from China which are probably decorated with lead paint. And you hope that however crappy or tacky or useless, these things brought her joy and made her happy, even if for a moment.
You sort, you throw away. You become cold, efficient, without feeling as you decide not to pause and look at a photo album - you just toss it in The Box. You donate clothing to thrift stores, you sell antique items that no one wants and that you can't send home to Chicago. Your aunt has a great idea to donate most of the 100+ dolls to a shelter for battered women and children. And when you are back home, you enjoy The Box and all its photos, diaries, etc. later in the year - it is the beginning of this project and other genealogy projects. You feel lucky to have photos from your ancestors and to begin to know who you are.
You have lots of help from family members that you can never thank enough. You didn't do it alone although you feel lonely and have a deep sense of loss most of the time. You thank your Uncle Jerry for all the help from the beginning - for attending hearings, meetings, taking care of finances, arranging in-home care and the nursing home. All of this was not possible without him and without Nan's support. You thank your Uncle Lem and Aunt Judy for helping clean out the house. You thank your Aunt Joan for providing a year of room and board to Mom despite the aggravation and the problems. You thank Beth for making the trip from Delhi and visiting. You thank all your other relatives who make visits at the nursing home, visits Mom won't remember five minutes later, but visits that you know make her happy despite the visitor being saddened by what they see or wanting to cry. And you thank all her friends, even the ones who no longer keep in touch because it is just too uncomfortable.
You keep in touch with family and friends who call and want an update on Mom. Or you get updates from them when they go for a visit at the nursing home. While you notice the deterioration in her condition on each visit, you hear from relatives that she has an ankle brace due to a fall, or this problem or that problem. And still you know you've done the best thing for Mom.
The time you get to spend with Mom becomes shorter and shorter - not because you don't want to visit, but because her attention span doesn't enable her to focus on any one thing for more than 30 seconds. You call the nurses' station to talk to her and after a short conversation, you realize she put the phone on the counter and walked away. Not because there was something more interesting, but because she can't focus.
And the list of correct answers to that test are now in the single digits. You know what the future holds and you dread it. You don't want to go through the first time Mom doesn't know who you are, but you know it will happen. You already see the difficulty she has in eating, getting on and off an elevator (she won't get on because she thinks you are getting off to visit her), or getting in and out of a car. You know what the next steps are because just like this article, you've read them in some blog or book or news article or website. You know Mom will suddenly stop talking, stop walking, stop eating, stop breathing.
But you will always know that you are your mother's son. And that she knew that too.
I've decided that I can either be bitter or I can be better. And bitter won't change my mother's condition - just mine. I choose better and the way I can do that is to:
a) talk about my mother's experience with people like writing this article;
b) mention the bad times as well as the good times, the negative as well as the positive but focus more on the positive - the negative is there as a reminder but not something to regret for it can't be changed;
c) not regret the journey of Alzheimer's for me, for Mom and for the others involved - for a journey has lessons;
d) understand that I did and do the most that is possible for my mother's care given the circumstances, finances and that I was lucky to have other family members involved; and
e) honor my mother and the way she raised me by not forgetting her sacrifices and her love, her challenges and her gifts, her mistakes and her accomplishments.
After all this, would I want to take a blood test, or any test, that would help predict whether or not I was to have Alzheimer's Disease? You're damned right I would. Not only would it help progress the research that has already been done, but it would help me prepare for the future. And I could live life and every day as if it were important and my last. I wouldn't make someone else go through that dark twisting tunnel of care unguided and with those feelings of helplessness. Knowledge is power and power, be it the power of health, finances or love, can help you conquer all adversities.
Would you take the test?
7 comments:
- Midge Frazel said...
Yes. I may have to do this and will. Your story is far worse than mine. My mother was elderly and lived in a good neighborhood. I know I was lucky but I still worry about it.
- November 10, 2008 at 5:17 PM
- Lisa / Smallest Leaf said...
Thanks for sharing your journey. Your experiences are, sadly, so common to many who struggle with Alzheimer's disease in their family. I hope that your story will give hope and peace to others.
Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture
Small-leaved Shamrock
A light that shines again
100 Years in America
- November 17, 2008 at 3:03 AM
- Miriam Robbins said...
Thomas, the first time I read this, I sobbed. Alzheimer's has hit my paternal grandmother, but since she lives far away, it affects other family members more than myself. It is Schizophrenia in another family member that has adversely and more strongly affected my life. Either way, to watch someone you love become someone unrecognizable is a horrible, tragic series of events. Thank you for sharing your raw, vulnerable story. I hope it gives comfort to others enduring the same thing.
- November 18, 2008 at 3:38 PM
I wouldn't consider taking the test until there is a treatment. My mom had early onset Alzheimer's and my dad had Parkinson's, which included dementia. Quite a few members of my mother's family had Alzheimer's as well - including at least two of her seven sisters. The grief over my mom was excruciating to us all, but it was also my dad's finest hour as he cared patiently and tenderly for her, even after she was moved to a nursing home. Our love and respect for him was a bright spot for all of us. And then we went through the awful progression of my dad's Parkinson's. But, in our circumstances, there was nothing we'd have done differently if we'd known before the symptoms began. In our case, knowing it was coming in the future would have robbed us of the joy of the present. I know it would do the same to me and my children. It is sufficiently heartbreaking to watch Alzheimer's unfold in those who are dearest to you, but the family misunderstanding and upheaval, conflict, and even betrayal by trusted advisers that you experienced must have magnified every sorrow. You've honored your mom, both by your love and persistence in caring for her and by telling her story - and yours.
- November 18, 2008 at 8:23 PM
- TERRY SNYDER said...
Very honest Thomas, and very powerful and moving.
- November 20, 2008 at 8:25 AM
- Bob Kramp said...
Thomas, I really believe it took a lot of courage to write this piece. Many of your relatives and friends could probably recognize themselves in this saga- perhaps a little shamefully. It is interesting that you wrote it in the second person ("You"), because it really put me into the story. One can relate and experience NOT ONLY Alzheimers, but also any other serious, and prolonged disease that ultimately ends in death, such as cancer. I believe your experiences with your Mom were really tough, but I also realize that there were a lot of good, positive feelings I could take away from your writing. Yes, by our presence and actions we have influenced many others that we have met along the Path. And we CAN meet the challenges, good or bad, along that same path. May you enjoy all that life has to offer you today, and if there is a tomorrow, enjoy that extra time too. I don't know if "enjoy" is the word I want to use here, but hey, it's in the middle of the night. Bob
- January 26, 2009 at 3:04 AM
My 80 yr. old Mom had a heart attack, went to hospital, then rehabilitation center/nursing home. Staff didn't watch blood thinner medicine levels and she almost died. Back to hospital and different nursing home. Doctor said that the nursing home Staff didn't watch medicine levels and her legs and body started to swell. Also Nursing staff made her exercise even though she said her chest hurt and she had another heart attack and back to hospital. Then another different older nursing home in Santa Monica, CA area.
She now has some dementia. She can keep up with conversation but doesn't remember me calling her every night, what she had for breakfast, if she takes medicine, why she has to wear a monitor so if she falls they know it. Doesn't understand why my sister can't stay with her all day until after dark. She keeps saying she would rather be a homeless person.
This nursing home doesn't have many activities and she spends her day pushing herself up and down the halls. I am in AR and she is in CA. She can't travel and I can't move to CA. My sister visits her every day but my sister is on disability.
Mom is on Medicaid. If the nursing home just would care enough to have acitivities such as singing, painting, even picture books or exercise, it would be so helpful. Very frustrating! Thanks for sharing your story!
- April 1, 2009 at 3:03 PM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, are suing their former insurance brokers of 20 years, alleging that the brokers:
-falsely inflated and overcharged the couple, "misrepresenting the amounts of the premiums on insurance policies"
-"altering insurance documents and related records to conceal their fraudulent scheme"
-"and...taking other acts to engage in, and conceal, their embezzlement scheme through manipulation and deceit."
(All these quotes are from the Hanks' legal complaint.)
How much, you ask? The complaint says "hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars."
How'd they find out? The couple last month got a new broker, who promptly told their business managers "that he was concerned that the insurance premiums from policies in the last year to two years appeared extraordinarily high for the coverage provided."
The complaint also alleges that the brokers illegally issued certificates of insurance without appointments, charged the Hanks for insurance that was never procured (or overcharged them), and bought "unecessarily duplicative insurance coverage," among other things.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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text:
If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, big fat liar
No matter what the dictionary says, you can't describe a company as disruptive without giving weight to Christensen's description of innovation. It's perhaps overly simplistic to divide innovation into two categories–disruptive and sustaining–but the strikingly different characteristics of companies pursuing these strategies makes the partition a natural one.
Sustaining innovation means finding ways to do things better. Lowering the cost of manufacturing a widget by 10%, making a widget 20% more durable while only spending 10% more, reorganizing a department so ten people can do the work of twelve, creating an integrated supply chain to deliver goods to your stores in smaller quantities and less time. That sort of thing. Sustaining innovation often results in products that exceed customer needs at a given price point. The proliferating options in Microsoft Office show a sustaining innovation cycle that has exceeded most of the market's need.
Disruptive innovation means creating a product or service that is radically cheaper but much less functional (and this needs to appeal to a customer set that was previously underserved, so disruptive innovation often creates entirely new markets) and then using sustaining innovation to improve it until it meets mainstream customer needs (but is still radically cheaper.)
Before Google, there was targeted advertising. Very targeted. Hog Farmers Digest (now National Hog Farmer) was aimed at hog farmers. If you were a hog farmer, you read it; if you weren't, you didn't. It was a pretty effective buy: not a lot of wasted impressions. But creating an entire magazine for a very specific market is a difficult business proposition. The fixed cost of putting a book together limits how small its audience can be and so how targeted its ads can be.
Google's disruptive innovation was being able to create content for next to nothing. They can create a page that addresses a market segment as small as a single person for nominal marginal cost. Even though the content was lower quality than that it was competing with–the lack of human writers and editors means that any specific page is much less useful than a well-written and thought-out page would be–it turned out it was good enough. And because advertisers could be so specific in their buy, they could spend much less money. This opened up an entirely new market: advertisers that don't have multi-million dollar budgets.
Existing publishers could not compete: they could not lower their cost per page to anywhere near Google's. If they tried, they would lose quality and the loss of quality would mean losing their existing customers. This is the beauty of disruptive innovation: it is almost impossible for incumbents to respond. Disruptive innovations are disruptive because business logic precludes old-line companies from shrinking their business to address the disruptors.
It's incredibly difficult and expensive to challenge incumbents with nothing but a better product. Sustaining innovations are easy to copy and well-managed incumbents are always on the lookout for challengers and willing to learn from them. But when a disruptor comes along, they are trapped.
What kind of innovation are we peddling in adtech? Article after article calls our companies disruptive, but do we really fit the Christensen mold? A disruption scenario would look like this:
- the existing industry would supply a product of higher quality/functionality than the majority of potential customers actually needs and at a very high price;
- the disruptive companies would find a way to bring in a product of lower quality/functionality at a much lower price;
- customers that did not need and could not afford the old product would emerge as customers of the disruptive product, allowing the new companies the wherewithal to quickly mature their technology until it was competitive in the old product's market.
Does this sound like ad tech to you? It doesn't to me. The current ad-world is not supplying services at a higher quality than its customers need and there seems to be advertising inventory at every price point. If you can't supply advertising at a radically lower price point to customers who were previously underserved at a quality level that the incumbents are not interested in touching, you aren't really in a position to be disruptive. Almost all of adtech now is sustaining innovation: building a better mousetrap.
We clearly have a better solution than what existed, no argument. But the big lie of business, the pernicious fallacy that has deluded countless entrepreneurs, is that if you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. It doesn't work that way.
What is going on in adtech right now is clearly innovative. But because it's not disruptive in the Christensen sense, it means we're going to have to earn our money. We need to move fast to build scale.
There have been scores of M&A discussions in adtech this Summer and only a few have resulted in deals. One of the things I heard as an excuse over and over (from buyers, from sellers, from bankers, from founders, after a few drinks) is that the buyer said "we don't need to pay up for this, we could build it internally."
Build versus buy is an interesting discussion to have before you buy anything, especially something with the revenue multiple adtech VCs are looking for. Cold hard fact is, there's almost nothing out there in adtech that someone else couldn't build from scratch. The CTO would certainly tell the CEO that building would be cheaper than buying a company, and be right.
And yet, and yet. And yet the companies that are prowling for bargains still can't get advertising right. They clearly have a ton of tech talent in their core businesses, and the ability to hire more. They have the money to hire and manage and build adtech solutions. But they don't. Why not?
When I was at Omnicom, back in the 90s, investing in the early interactive agencies–clearly not disruptive businesses–the old-guard ad agencies that then made up the bulk of Omnicom's business talked big about building their own interactive units. But they never could. They also refused to pay the valuations the i-agencies commanded. They were on the sidelines while their clients hired hotshot young startups to build their websites, and some of the startups got pretty big in the process.
There were several reasons for this. Primarily, the old guard couldn't hire good people: no one who understood the web back then would go work for an agency whose primary business was making 30 second films for TV. Why would anyone who was any good go be a second-class citizen at a firm that was paying nothing but a salary and had no career path in interactive? Why wouldn't they go instead to Razorfish and get stock options and be a hero to their management everyday? They would, of course, and they did. And almost all the true stars of that era spent time in one of the independent agencies.
As then as now. Why would any competent adtech engineer go work for AOL or Yahoo or Twitter or any of the other big old companies where stock options issued today will in all probability never be worth anything? There are plenty of good jobs at exciting startups where there's the possibility of making actual money*. More importantly, why go to one of those big companies and be a second-class citizen, the "ad guy," when at a startup you're essential to their product?**
Companies can do very well at their core mission. But when their core mission is media or software or infrastructure or professional services, it's going to be really hard for them to get a foothold in the quickly changing adtech world. This never seems to be taken into account in build versus buy analyses: they can't build, and even if they could, they won't. And if they do, it will suck. Trust me, I've been there. And if you don't trust me, just take a look around.
But remember that the era of the independent i-agencies only lasted some six or seven years. At some point the number of people that could do the work more than competently was enough that even old-line agencies could hire them. At that point the i-agencies were like every other agency: they competed head-to-head with the old guard. Many of the biggest remained independent until acquired for great prices. But these were the ones who earned it. Unlike a disruptive business where nothing but guts, an innovative spirit and a huge dose of luck are necessary, competing head-to-head means competing: blood, sweat and tears.
We need to keep building, ignore the distractions and focus on winning clients, not just raising money, so that when it comes time to compete head-to-head, we will win. That's as it should be, of course, and I think many of our industry leaders have what it takes. But if you're starting an adtech company and you want to win, you have to know that you're in it for the long-term. It's a marathon, not a sprint, the cliche goes, and it's true.
Meh, you say. I'm disruptive, I am going to go viral, achieve imminent world domination and sell to Google for $5 billion in two years. Neumann's an idiot.
Maybe. But disruptive businesses have certain characteristics. Ask yourself these questions.
1. Am I creating a new market, bringing in a set of customers for whom there was previously no value proposition?
Disruptive businesses bring out a product or service that is so far off the industry price/quality line that customers who would never have used the industry's products start to. This gives the disruptor the foothold it needs to start improving quality until it threatens the incumbents. Google AdWords is an excellent example of this.
Who are the unserved markets in advertising? Are there any? I think there are, and I think that if you don't see any, you need to think about what advertising is more broadly.
2. What is price in my market?
If you're in ad-tech, what does price even mean to your end-customers (the advertisers***)? Is it just lower CPMs? There have always been low CPMs out there. Is it higher ROI? That's probably closer to the mark. The best answer I have heard is that it is lower risk: the ability to more accurately predict ROI.
You have to credibly answer this question and then be radically better along this dimension if you are disruptive. I think there are many answers here, and your answer will depend on your answer to question one, above.
3. What is quality in my market?
In disk drives (Christensen's first case study), this is an easy question: quality is how much data can be stored. The disruptors built lower-quality disk drives at lower prices, then used the march of progress to threaten the old-line disk makers. The old-line disk makers' customers wanted more storage, not less, so they did not see this market and could not address it with the existing customer bases. But key to the disruptors long-term value was the ability to improve quality quickly. If they could not, they would not have been able to displace the old guard.
What is quality in adtech? Conversion? Click-through? Pinpoint targeting? And if you know what quality is to your market, can you then improve quickly along that metric so you serve not only the new market you've created, but the giant market that already exists?
Quality. I've been thinking about this question for ten years and don't have a definitive answer. Do you?
If you do, if you think you really have a disruptive business model, call me, I'm looking to back people like you.
* If this is you, email me.
** Soldiers don't get promoted if they haven't seen battle. If you want a career path, always take the job in the middle of the action, even if it pays worse.
*** And are the advertisers really your customers? Why aren't the 'consumers'?


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Ricky the Rockstar
Ricky the Rockstar
Performing on and around the Sunshine Coast for the past 10 years, Ricky the Rockstar (AKA: Adam Truscott) has become a household name along with being one of the most sought after performers in South East Queensland.
Ricky can be seen performing in a variety of venues on and around the Coast 5 nights a week, and with a repertoire comprising of over 500 songs there isn't much that this man can't play.
His repertoire covers an enormous variety of music from early 1020's blues standards to current top 40 hits including material from artists like U2, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Green Day, Tracey Chapman, Howlin Wolf, Pearl Jam, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Nickleback to name a few.
Ricky makes his constantly updated songlists available to the audience at every performance and consistently asks for their requests, working on the theory that "it's a lot easier to please an audience when you're playing material that they like".
Add to this impressive repertoire and request lists, a unique sense of humour and a relaxed presentation where Ricky makes everyone feel like they are at home in their lounge room and it's easy to see why this larger-than-life performer is in so much demand.
When: December 24, 2019
Where: Live & Free on Main Stage
Time: 6.30pm
Admission: $FREE


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Fall 2013 College of Education Student Marshal Selected
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The College of Education named Laura Mincemoyer Egan as its fall 2013 student marshal. She will be honored during commencement on Saturday, December 21, at 12:30 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Egan is a Schreyer Honors College student who will graduate with a B.S. in world languages education, with a focus on Spanish and English as a Second Language (ESL). She will also earn a B.S. in Spanish and minors in Japanese and international studies.
During her college career Egan has received a number of awards like the President's Freshman Award and the Evan Pugh Scholar Award.
Her passion for international travel has inspired her plans of teaching English abroad. Egan's travels have taken her to several continents in the course of her college studies. During her junior semester abroad in Alicante, Spain, she developed a connection with the Spanish language, teaching children in an after-school English program. Senior year, Egan taught Spanish and introduced a Japanese club to students at the Bourne Community College in Emsworth, England.
"Although I love my hometown of State College, there are so many new experiences out there that are just not accessible without travel," said Egan. "I am planning to add an international component to my career so that I can share my experience as an American with people in other countries as well as spread knowledge of other cultures when I return to the U.S."
Egan shared her international experiences teaching Spanish at Tyrone Area Middle and High schools. She also developed and led an after-school Japanese class. Egan said she hoped to inspire students at the schools to learn beyond the traditional languages taught in high school and consider traveling abroad in the future.
Graduate assistant Michelle Pasterick, Egan's world languages education instructor and student teaching supervisor, will escort her as the faculty marshal. Egan said Pasterick had a huge impact on her development as a teacher and deserves recognition for all she does in the world languages education program.
Egan said her honors adviser Matthew Poehner was also an influential professor.
In addition to Egan's academic success, she had multiple extra-curricular activities. She played the piccolo in the Penn State Blue Band and the cello in the Penn State Cello Choir and No Refund Theatre pit orchestra. She was the vice president of the Penn State Karate Club. She was also a member of the Student Pennsylvania State Educators Association, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Lambda Theta and the Japanese Friendship Association. She did all of this while maintaining a 3.97 grade-point average.
Laura's parents, Rodney Egan and Beth Mincemoyer Egan, younger sister Meg, her grandmother, Betty Jane Mincemoyer, and other members of her extended family plan to attend the ceremony.
After graduation Egan plans to secure a job teaching English in Japan. She hopes to then return to the United States with a career as a language teacher, translator or librarian.
-by Samantha Schwartz (November 2013)


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I'm going to Disney World!
TORONTO — I showed up at the ball yard to make sure chaos wasn't going to break out this morning — after this past weekend, who knows what's next for this team? — but I'm not staying for the game. I have a flight to Orlando to catch. I'm going to the Disney World Series!
OK, so it's not really all that exciting. It's a small park the Braves use for Spring Training and the pressbox ain't exactly up to par in relation to the big-league ballparks. And I highly doubt I'll have any time to hit up Disney — not that I'd want to without Mrs. Bastian or some nieces or nephews in tow.
I am looking forward to getting in some weather where a jacket isn't needed, though. Unlike today, which is a little too chilly to have this dome open, if you ask me. So we're in Day 3 of no Frank Thomas in the lineup and so far the Jays are 2-0. Coincidence? Most definitely. But this past weekend could very well hold some importance later in the year.
As for today, Robinzon Diaz is up with the club and — newsflash — he's excited to be here. He's likely holding down the fort until Adam Lind (stiff neck) is ready to rejoin the Jays. I doubt Diaz will see much action at the plate. Perhaps he'll see some time at third base, who knows? Third baseman Scott Rolen could be back before next weekend.
Jays center fielder Vernon Wells isn't in the lineup, though he hasn't been benched indefinitely and his release papers aren't being printed up. Nope, he's just being given your typical day off. Nothing more there. With Wells out, Alex Rios is in center, Shannon Stewart is in left and…well, why don't I just do it this way…
Today's lineups:
DETROIT (6-13) at TORONTO (10-9)
at 12:37 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre
Clete Thomas, CF
Ivan Rodriguez, C
Carlos Guillen, DH
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Jacques Jones, LF
Edgar Renteria, SS
Ryan Raburn, 2B
Brandon Inge, 3B
PITCHING: RHP Armando Galarraga
David Eckstein, SS
Shannon Stewart, LF
Aaron Hill, 2B
Alex Rios, CF
Matt Stairs, DH
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Marco Scutaro, 3B
Gregg Zaun, C
Joe Inglett, RF
PITCHING: RHP Shaun Marcum
32 Comments
G.I dont know what happend to Indigo maybe she met a good man and has no time for us now lol.
ans yes Carlton is very good.
Garry-maybe Bosox got her. lol
If Bosux got her I feel sory for her she will have to live the rest of her life with a know it all with a very large ego lol.
Not a good game today but we are still at 500 but now we play Tampa and we allways have trouble with them and Boston is not waiting around as for New York it looks like the owners offspring is making a lot of noise which can only hurt them which is only good for us.
How are you? It's great to here from you, thanks for the kind words you wrote about me. I hope everything is good with you.
Bosox the words were to get you to post no harm ment lol
No harm no foul.
Why is there always controversy in that Jays clubhouse?
Is there always seems to be some rift with management and a player. Of course it is a long season and there always be something going, good or bad.
Bosox the reason is because JP speaks with forked tounge and Abner can't run a team they both have no backbone.
In the first place they paid Thomas way to much money look at what it cost them to cut him loose now we have no money for anybody else.I dont think Rogers will open up the purse strings anymore so we have to do with what we have mabey it's enough who knows ,But one thing I do know is we have to keep up with Boston to have a chance.
I think this could be the last season for J.P. and Gibbons. Gibbons is on a short leash, he could be done by Memorial Day. Would Brian Butterfield take over if Gibbons was fired ? Butterfield is a native of Maine, so I would like too see Butterfield take over. Perhaps they would have Whitt as the manager, that is a strong possibility as well. I would take a guess and say they would go with Whitt. Your thoughts ?????
Toronto has a solid rotation. I think there rotation right now is Better than the Red Sox. Toronto has to get something from there bats. Rolen will be back soon and that will help. He is a gap to gap hitter and plays a great third. He has a rocket for an arm.
I guess Thomas could end up in Seattle or Tampa Bay. I would assume he'll end up in Seattle, they have a chance to make the playoffs. At this stage of his career, Thomas is looking to go to the playoffs. Thomas has had a hall of fame career. One of the elite hitters over the last 15 years. He is a very proud man, no doubt.
Why in the world did they ever release Reed Johnson? He does circles around Stewart. Johnson was a Red Sox killer, he was a sparkplug. Johnson is playing well with the Cubs and I would take a guess and say the fans of Chicago love him.
Indigo, where are you? I have always enjoyed reading your posts. Yes, gsumner and garry I know how to read, lol.
Jays are off to Orlando, dumb thing for the Rays to play that series there. If they want the fans at the game, play at the Trop not Orlando. Tampa Bay hosted the Rangers in Orlando last year, Rangers got swept.
bosox, I think they will leave Gibbons alone this year, since the team is pretty well set through 2011. It's not as if it were do or die this year. But if they stay healthy and don't produce, we will likely see a different manager next year. I don't know why they kept Stewart over Johnson either, but the organization is up to it's armpits in good young fielders that can hit. Joe Inglett is tearing it up right now, and you will likely see Adam Lind as soon as his neck is better (.360 in 14 games in AAA). We also need Rolen up and running.
My preference has always been for a lineup that hits for average and can string hits together, rather than waiting for your big boppers to get lucky. It seems to me that when we run into some good pitching, the big bats fall silent and it's the guys that can get the bat on the ball that get the job done. Having Glaus and Thomas in the middle of the order last year killed more rallies than they prolonged.
Always nice
One thing for the Jays, they have solid pitching and that always helps. So many teams have holes in there pitching.
The Jays will be getting Rolen soon and that will help the lineup. Rolen is a good hitter, as long as he can stay healthy. Of course he would love to stick it to LaRussa as well. I'm sure Rolen is motivated by that. Also I am sure Rolen is dissapointed, being hurt and going to a new team. He wants to show his new team that he can produce and play.
I would agree with you about Glaus and Thomas. They seemed to clog up the basepaths. Thomas was never going to take the extra base. Rolen is an athlete, he was recruited to play some hoops at Indiana, that speaks volumes right there.
Young players like Lind can certainly jumpstart an offense. A team with a nice mix of some youth and some veterans are a good thing.
I think the Jays will have a chance to make the playoffs. They have the pitching, when you have some good arms. Your always alive and well.
What we don't need is three catchers keep Zaun to teach Dias. bring Lind up when his neck heals and we should be able to run with anybody, The only problem is I don't think Abner can get us there I hope i'm wrong.
Indigo let us know if your still out there.
What do you think of the Rays playing a series in Orlando ?
Where do you think Thomas will end up ? Seattle ???? Tampa Bay ???? Los Angeles Angels ????
How is Thomas looked at by the other players in Toronto ?
Some fans on fan90 thought it was a mistake to keep Wells out of the lineup on Monday but i watched him play on Sunday and he looked like he had no intrest at the plate so I think it was time to give him a day off.
Bosox I think the jays players had a lot of respect for Thomas after all he is going to the hall of fame and this year he came to spring training and worked harder than he ever has it just didin't work for him I think most fans liked him,But if he goes to Tampa I'm sure he will hurt us as he has in the past OUCH.
Toronto has got to start hitting with the base paths full how many times this year have we let the other teams pitchers off the hook.
Good to see you posting here again. I'm not sure whether the players liked Thomas or not, although we certainly hit better with RISP before he arrived-look at our 2006 stats. My take, like yours is he'll end up in Seattle.
I think Gibbons is on a very short leash. It can't happen soon enough, in my opinion; we will not win with him. I do hope, though, that they don't go with either Whitt or Butterfield, but instead get someone proven. We've got the talent to contend, we need a skipper that knows how to get us there.
I don't think JP is on as short of a leash. I feel he's successfully put Gibbons front and center for any failure, but there have been a few moves JP's made this last off season that could tube him as well. Right now, the Thomas contract is front and center and was a huge mistake, but, personally I think dumping Johnson was bigger. What we were told at the time was Stewart was a better hitter, particulary against RH's. Well at the moment Stewart's htting an anemic .211 overall and .148 against RH's. Johnson is hitting .346 overall and .394 against RH's. Johnson is also a much better lead off hitter than Eckstein, and we miss him there.
If and it's a big if, Gibby plays Stewart and Lind properly, when Lind comes up, we'll recover in the hitting part, but we will always miss Johnson's grit. That is not replacable in my opinion. The other move we need to do is to play Diaz against LH's and Zaun against RH's, and kiss Barajas goodbye. Diaz is hitting .568 ( or somewhere in that range) against LH's, is great defensively and has a cannon for an arm. Barajas, in my opin goes down as one of JP's other mistakes for the off season.
I'm with you on Abner soooooloooonnnggg.
I think you are right about Thomas Tampa can't afford him in more ways than one.
Dumping Johnson was a big mistake this team needs dirtbags and we lost one of the best.
I think Stewart will have groin problems all year it's not the first time this has happend to him.
To all the people who ridiculed the eckstein move just wait till you see Scott Rolen!! This guy is a superb baseball player and brings not only alot of pure talent but some strong intagibles that will rub off on some of the other Jays players. David Eckstein is the type of player that is a proven winner and John Macdonald is allbeit a nice guy a player who is nothing more than a career minor leaguer or a short term emergency call up. I got some good laughs out of the comments out here prior to the start of the season who were questioning the Eckstein move. In my opinion J.P. is a very smart baseball man but cannot understand his love for Gibbons. His ability to controll him obviously is a factor but it is still puzzling. You must all understand that every single move does not always work out when acquiring new players but J.P.'s track record is extremely strong when comparing our roster from 3 seasons ago while at the same time remaining fiscally responsible ( something the yankees and sox really don't worry about). Ive said it before and I'll say it again " This team cannot win under the guidance of John Gibbons". He is a completely WORTHLESS manager and deserves nothing out of baseball. I wouldn't want him around my single A team influencing player development let alone managing a major league baseball team. Just listen to the man speak…..He is an embarrassment to the city of Toronto.
The only way around this short of firing Gibbons immediately is the quick signing of Barry Bonds. Believe me with Bonds( the greatest hitter of the modern era) in this lineup we can still win in spite of our manager. Just imagine the protection Bonds provides Rios and Wells and the quality of pitches they will see with Barry hitting behind them, not to mention Rolen/Rios potentially in the 2 hole.
Go him now before its too late and mark my words making the playoffs will be a very conservative goal come a couple of months.
By the way if anyone is wondering……..Barry will need one or two B P sessions to be fully ready to be slotted into the lineup. And make no mistake you will not see him with a .167 average at any point in time. So just so you all understand clearly: acquire him on a Monday and he will be hitting dingers on the Wednesday…..lots and lots at Skydome!!!
I love your enthusiasm, but sorry, I totally disagree with you on Bonds-he's a worse cancer in the cluhouse than Thomas. His skills have been seriously diminishing, unfortunatley his ego hasn't; notwithstanding his legal problems.
Give me Lind, Diaz and Rolen in this lineup, with Abner or a real manager platooning Lind/Stewart and Diaz/Zaun properly, put Rolen in the 5 hole, and watch out.
I think if Gibbons is canned. Toronto will either go with Whitt or Butterfield. It would make the transition alot easier. Pure speculation here.
Letting go of Johnson was a head scratcher. His replacement Shannon Stewart, his best years are behind him.
As soon as Lind gets healthy, he should platoon with Stewart. Lind of course will get the bulk of the playing time anyway. More righties than lefties. Stewart at this stage of his career, is nothing but a part-time player. He could be an excellent bench player, if he would accept that. He has to realize his best games are behind him. Just a couple of switches here and there, can get a team going. Also the players see that Thomas got released, I guess if he can, that means anyone is trade bait. Except for the obvious guys, Wells ( contract is not good ) Rios, Halladay.
Overbay has to pick up the slack as well. If he hit like he did in 2006, he'll add some punch to the lineup. If he continues to struggle, he'll be next to go. Overbay would be traded not released.
Somehow, I think Overbay is still recovering from his last year injury. I still hope he turns it around. I think the next to go with be Barajas. We don't need him with Diaz, who's a much better hitter. Watch Diaz, he's a young Vladamir, with no power, but I've seen him get a hit from a ball which bounced in front of the plate-little walks for this guy, but man does he put the barrel on the ball.
I agree with your analysis of Stewart, I couldn't understand that deal at all. Lind is hitting .417BA/ .462OBP/.776slg against RH's while Stewart is hitting an anemic .148 against Rh, but .364 against LH's so it represents a perfect platoon situation. Now that's assuming Gibby actually plays the platoon.
I see that Lind played yesterday in Syracuse, so he could be called up today-we shall see.
I am still here and reading your posts .
I think both Riccardi and Gibbons are on a short leash. Gibby can only work with what he has been given and those choices are made by JP. In the last few years, JP has squandered vasts amount of money . 3 pitchers ( Zambrano, Ohka , Thompson) last yr signed and released , a shortstop ( Clayton) , again paid for and released, same goes for Johnson ( what a dolt move that was ) . As for Thomas , he wasn't a bad signing , but JP was outbidding himself so paid way too much . All teams can afford Thomas now because the Jays are paying his 8 mil salary this year.
JP's lies about Ryan, his lies to Johnson and Maconald , his lies to the fans, have all put him on a shorter leash in my opinion. If I ran my business like that , there would be no business.
Its nice to see the Jays playing small ball , wonder who said they needed to last year …lol…. Have a great day all and take care
Barajas is one these guys that will always be on a different team every year. He is nothing but a backup catcher, the younger guy as you say Diaz should be the backup. You need a vet like Zaun with a younger guy around.
It sounds like the Jays have a potentially good platoon in left. Why isn't Lind up ?
Lind has been nursing a stiff neck. Otherwise, it would've been Lind up in the big leagues right now, not Diaz. He's been in the lineup last couple days, so we might see him soon.
As for Bonds, I wonder if he can come to Toronto even if both sides wanted it. I mean, the man's facing criminal charges. Can he get out of the country?
I'd like to see Bonds in a Toronto uniform. To those who say no to him because of the whole club house cancer/steroid user or not thing; take a look back at some of the guys the organization has employed. Clemens, Canseco, Steib, Sprague and currently Zaun. All of whom, amongst others, have been accused of being on the juice and/or being a jerk. Most of those guys helped the team win. One can even make the arguement that if it wasn't for Sprague's home-run against Oakland in '92 the jays don't even win the world series that year. So why is Bonds not allowed on the team but Zaun is ? If it's because Bonds is a jerk then I guess we don't need him but Keep in mind though, that this "nice guy" team hasn't won 90+ games in a while. By no means do I think it'll happen but I'm just saying I would definitaly like it to.
Great point with Bonds but something tells me he would be able to get across the border. It would be a mistake if the Jays ever went after Bonds. They're not going to anyway. He is a malcontent, always has been and always will be. Another great player that never won anything.
Lind should have made the team coming out of camp. Stewart is a part-time player, nothing more.
Barry Bonds skills are seriously diminishing….What a joke! You can,t really be serious and appear to have some knowledge of baseball. This guy forgot more about hitting than anyone in the organization knows. Here's Bonds' line the last couple years. 2006: 130 GP, 367 AB, 26 HR, 115 BB, .454 OBS….. 2007: 126 GP, 340 AB, 28 HR, 132 BB, .480 OBS ( Which was 5th highest in his career ). Imagine playing/hitting in a rinky dinky stadium like Skydome and being able to DH. The guy could have 500 AB's and hit 50 to 60 dingers in his sleep. They should sign him for this year plus 2. The old regime that won here Labatt's/ Gillick would be all over this and bring back a world series. Don't just always blame J.P. for everthing all of you…..We will never know how much influence Godfrey and Ted could have over things like this. Ted could easily be saying no way even though this is not about CASH because Bonds would put another 10,000 people a night in the stands.
The days of Bonds hitting 50 to 60 homers are behind him. If Bonds could still hit that many longballs in a season, he would be signed by now. His skills have diminished and he isn't worth headache on top of it.
If Bonds was signed by Toronto ( not going to happen but for the sake of arguement ) he would hit at least 20 homers and no more than 30. 50 to 60, no way.
I don't believe Bonds would ever want to come to Canada or play for the Jays. Nor do I think the Jays want or need him so signing him is a moot point.
Same argument about blame can be made for Gibbons or Riccardi , that Godfrey and/or Rogers have control ( though we all know Rogers has ultimate control). Riccardi is the one entrusted to spend the money wisely and I don't think he does that .
Garry , as you can see I am still alive and doing very well ,thank you . I hope everything is well with you
Supposedly Barry and his agents have shown interest in Toronto (Richard Griffin and Mike Wilner have both said so) just that the feeling isn't mutual.
If what your'e saying is true-why is he still available? Why hasn't Gillick signed him? I agree with Bosox, he might hit 20-30 hr's a year. Lind will do that and is minimum salary, not a druggie and not a problem in the locker room. He turns 44 in July, give me a break.
Hey Indigo, good to see you back.


text:
Notice: On April 23, 2014, Statalist moved from an email list to a forum, based at statalist.org.
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RE: st: gra command
Guelmbaye Ngarsandjé <firstname.lastname@example.com>
"firstname.lastname@example.com" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
RE: st: gra command
Tue, 25 Jun 2013 15:53:39 -0400
Thanks Anders. I changed "gra" to "graph" and I got "gpopgraph_g.new petindex, s([year]) xlab ylab: class member function not found" message. To say it frankly, it's my first time using stata and I have stata12; therefore it's hard for me to know what has changed and from where. How about the other problems I long for answers?
> Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 15:41:43 -0400
> Subject: Re: st: gra command
> From: email@example.com
> To: firstname.lastname@example.com
> The -gra- command is the Stata 7 (and older) graph command.
> See http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/faq/graphics78.htm
> Anders Alexandersson
> email@example.com
> On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 3:28 PM, Guelmbaye Ngarsandjé
> <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:
>> Dear stata users,
>> I have been looking to check the strutural break in my data and found
>> that cusum6 helps do it. However, the file I found has some commands
>> that don't work when I type them. For example using greenedat.dta from
>> P.136 provided by the file is the command:
>> "gra gpop petindex, s([year]) xlab ylab" which gives the following
>> message : "Unrecognized command: gra"
>> The support file can be found at:
>> http://personal.rhul.ac.uk/uhte/006/ec5040/Cusum%20test.pdf
>> What am I doing wrong? In the mean time I want my X axis to be fully
>> labelled by the periods but when trying to edit the cusum graphs I
>> receive "This is not a "live" graph and therefore cannot be edited."
>> How to obtain my periods labelled at 45 degrees on the X axis?
> *
> * For searches and help try:
> * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/


text:
Well, this post has little to do with making the magazine, but it does come straight from my daily inbox inspiration. And it seems like kids are the hot topic of the collective unconscious today—at least in my world. I started the day with a package of baby-food samples from Gerber (I passed them along to a colleage with children...I'll let you know what she says), and I got an e-mail reminder about some gorgeous organic baby clothes from Garden Kids I bought for a friend recently (so cute! check them out). Then two of my Facebook friends posted these thought-provoking stories about childhood and the importance of imaginative play.
The article "Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control" talks about the Geraldyn O. Foster Early Childhood Center in Bridgeton, New Jersey, where 4-year-olds learn skills of "executive function"—the ability to regulate our emotions and behaviors and to resist impulses. Good executive function is a better predictor of success in high school than a child's IQ, and today's children's time spent in front of televisions, video games and in organized sports robs them of the ability to learn to self-regulate, the Center's research says. In video games, the rules of the game tell you what to do. In sports or adult-led activities, the group leader or coach regulates children's behaviors. In her blog "10 Thoughts on Restoring Childhood," author and Director of Education and Outreach for Head Start Body Start Nutritional Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play Bethe Almeras says that childhood play is at its best when it is child-directed and unplugged.
Despite the fact that I don't have children, I find this area of study interesting. I am curious about the way growing up with constant access to the Internet and about a kajillion gadgets will affect children of today. Although I consider the Internet an integral part of my life, especially my working life, I grew up before it was invented. I watched television, but a huge portion of my time was spent outdoors with kids in my neighborhood writing and performing plays we made up, creating board games, inventing scavenger hunts for one another, or alone, acting out scenes in my own mind. Without a child of my own, I don't really know: Isn't that what kids still do?
According to these articles, the combination of television and Internet time along with organized sports and other activities leaves little time for children to play on their own. And I'm all for freewheeling, imaginative play. Like I said, that's definitely how I grew up. But one thing articles like this, which appear a lot in different ways, never address: What benefits will these kids have as adults from growing up with all this technology? My friends' 3-year-old jumps into technology as if it's hard-wired into his brain. He doesn't try to figure out how to make a function work. He just gets it. Last week, I took my iPad into the elementary school where I participate in a weekly reading program (I read to and hang out with a 7-year-old girl through a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, and I'd downloaded a few apps I thought she would like to try), and not only was she jumping in, seemingly totally familiar with the technology (she'd never used an iPad before), so were the kids in the hall who came up to ask if they could play with it. The world these children will inhabit for their entire lives is one in which technology (which sounds like an archaic way to describe it even now) is just part of everything. I know we spend a lot of time talking about the negative impacts this will have on them, but what about any positive impacts? We had an article in Natural Home recently in which we talked about how our increase in technology, and our increased time engaging with technology rather than other humans, has taken away some of our human connection. And I agree with that to a point, but I also wonder: How has it enhanced our human connections? The recent revolution in Egypt was for the most part spawned by people's ability to connect via social media. Social media was credited with largely supporting the election of Barack Obama. Social media groups facilitate community organizations and events all across the country. Is it fair to say technology divides us? Doesn't it just as often bring us together? Is it fair to say technology is damaging children? Is it also enhancing their knowledge in some way?
I'm definitely not arguing here that kids should spend more time online, or more time in front of television and video game screens. I'm just trying to make the point that we should look at change for what it is: different. Not, most likely, all good or all bad. Change moves us forward, and it might make some of the things we loved about the past seem harder to achieve. I think a connection with nature and one another is probably the most crucial component to a healthy, happy childhood. But that doesn't mean we must demonize the changes in the world our children will grow up in.


text:
What do all the instruments do?
Multinational teams of scientists and engineers are conducting ten different investigations coordinated by a Science and Technology Operations Centre. The instrument teams are led by Principal Investigators from Finland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. All ESA member countries are taking part, providing Co-Investigators for various experiments.
Testing new techniques
EPDP and SPEDE Designers of future solar-electric spacecraft want to know how SMART-1's ion engine performs, what side-effects it has, and whether the spacecraft interacts with natural electric and magnetic phenomena in the space around it. Possible problems include deflection of the ion engine's thrust direction, erosion of surfaces, short-circuits by sparks, interference with radio signals, and accumulating dust. The main on board instruments monitoring these effects are EPDP and SPEDE.
KaTE and RSIS Small changes in SMART-1's motion reveal the precise thrust delivered by the ion engine. Like police radars used to catch speeding motorists, RSIS employs the Doppler effect, to see how the speed alters the wavelength of radio pulses. It uses the very short radio waves of KaTE. The primary purpose of KaTE is to demonstrate the next generation of radio links between the Earth and far-flung spacecraft. Microwaves in of the Ka band, around 9 millimetres in wavelength, can be focused into relatively narrow beams by the small dish antennas available on the spacecraft.
Laser Link is another communications experiment. ESA already has laser links with telecommunications satellites from an optical ground station on Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands. Aiming the beam becomes much more difficult if, like SMART-1, the spacecraft is far away and moving rapidly. The hope is that the onboard camera AMIE will see Tenerife aglow with laser light.
OBAN Future spacecraft will be more self-reliant in guiding themselves along pre-defined paths towards distant destinations. OBAN is evaluating a computer technique for on-board autonomous navigation. It uses the bearings of stars seen by SMART-1's star trackers, and the Earth, Moon, and possibly asteroids seen by the AMIE camera.
Observing the Moon and the Sun
AMIE, SIR and D-CIXS Different kinds of visible and invisible light coming from the lunar surface provide clues about its chemical composition and geological history. The ultra-compact electronic camera, AMIE, is surveying the terrain in visible and near-infrared light. An infrared spectrometer, SIR, charts the Moon's minerals. An X-ray telescope, D-CIXS, identifies key chemical elements in the lunar surface. The major scientific goals are described in the following pages.
XSM The D-CIXS measurements could be confused by variations in solar X-ray emissions, which depend on how stormy the Sun is at the time. So SMART-1 monitors the solar X-rays with its XSM instrument. XSM also makes its own independent study of solar variability.
SPEDE Like a ship at sea, the Moon leaves a wake in the solar wind - the non-stop stream of charged particles and associated magnetic fields coming from the Sun. The SPEDE electrical experiment observes this effect at close quarters.
RSIS With help from the KaTE microwave system and the AMIE camera, the RSIS radio experiment demonstrates a new way of gauging the rotations of planets and their moons. It should be able to detect a well-known nodding of the Moon, which slightly tilts first its north pole and then its south pole towards the Earth.
Instruments and techniques being tested in examining the Moon from SMART-1 will later help ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft to investigate the planet Mercury.


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It has been over a year since I have written a blog. Why should I? What allows me to sit here and continue writing about life with HIV when I face so many struggles every day? No one wants to hear about my crap, right? Everyone wants to hear me tell my peers to take their meds and be safe right? How can I tell anyone to take meds and to take care of themselves when I have been struggling with it myself? Who am I to tell someone to be med compliant when I have built a resistance against Atripla because of my own foolishness?
As I sit here in my living room staring at these bottles of pills on the table It hit me. This is exactly what my peers need to hear. THE TRUTH. How can I blog about RAW TALK when I am too worried about "what I should be saying", instead of just saying exactly what should be said, THE TRUTH!
I am all for the "This is no longer a death sentence" campaign, but I think some of my peers need to hear the other side of this as well. HIV is not a death sentence, but that applies to those who take care of their bodies and take their medicine as prescribed. At 21 years old I didn't have to care about my health. I could eat what I wanted, go without sleep for as long as I could handle, not exercise, no prostate exams or checks for anal cancers, and I could continue this lifestyle for years. My health wasn't important until I got old, right? So at 21 years old how am I supposed to go from such carefree behavior to being told that I'm to take these pills EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!
But I was ready. I have people to please, people that follow what I am saying so I have to be ready to set the example. So I started the medicine. At first it was OK. I was able to take them every day without thinking about it. Most days I forgot I even had HIV until it was time for me to take those pills. Then those days started to become more frequent. Then I started to resent those pills. For me those pills were a constant reminder that I AM LIVING WITH HIV.
Every night I began to replay the day I slept with my ex, him lying to me about being positive, the fact that I infected someone else, the thoughts that I may one day die from whatever opportunistic infection takes over my body. FUCK THESE PILLS! I would rather not take them and forget that I even had this than to go every night facing my mistake.
This was my way of thinking for a while. I was asked to speak in Chicago on life with HIV and when I was done I sat down with a few counselors and began to confide in them. I told them my struggle with taking my medication. The reaction was unexpected. I was talked down to like a huge hypocrite, and given the "You know better" speech. But one counselor in the group didn't do that. She actually broke it down for me in a way that made me feel like she understood. She told me that HIV is invisible to my eyes, but the pills are something I can see. Even though the pills are here to help me I still resent them. This is because instead of looking at the pills as a means of help I have turned the pills into HIV and that's why I won't take them. This made so much sense to me, but it only helped temporarily.
I went off the meds again. Constantly moving, chasing money to care for my children, picking up jobs where I could provide HIV education. Each time I would move I would leave my kids with my mother who lived right across the street from the school. I didn't want to bring so much instability into their lives.
While doing an assignment in Baltimore, Md., I stayed with a friend who was also HIV positive. We would remind each other to take our medicine so this helped me stay on track. My friend was evicted from his home and that left me sleeping in my car. I moved in with an associate who had no idea I was HIV positive. This was an awkward situation for me. I am very open with my HIV status but now I was living with this man who I had heard on many occasion express his fear of HIV positive people. I did not feel like this was a moment for me provide the education needed either. I wanted a place to live and that's what was at the front of my mind! So where would I hide my pills. My mother was mailing me prescriptions from Michigan at my previous address. For fear of them finding out I chose to come off my meds again.
In 2012 a friend of mine passed away from complications of AIDS. He was around my age. This struck enough fear in me to get back into care. This won't be easy but I am going to try this again. I truly understand why it is so hard for people my age to be med compliant. Unstable living conditions, fear of unwanted disclosure, just not being ready yet, the constant reminder of the virus. It is very hard! This is something I would want all HIV counselors to understand. Client-centered counseling doesn't mean that we force our ideas about the meds on people or when we think they should start. We should really try to understand the complications the person may face and then work with that client to get them to the right mental place.
Read Jermaine's blog, PozLyfe09: Raw Talk on Life With HIV.


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WASHINGTON -- A new joint report from the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration offers U.S. leaders ways to address the nation's fiscal problems and confront its rapidly growing debt -- a burden that if unchecked will inevitably limit the nation's future wealth and risk a disruptive fiscal crisis that could lead to a severe recession.
The report offers tax and spending options that would stabilize the debt relative to the size of the economy within a decade. The report also provides a set of simple tests to determine whether any proposed federal budget would lead to long-term fiscal stability.
Delaying action for even five or 10 years will make addressing the problem more painful and costly, requiring even higher taxes or greater spending cuts, the report notes. Delay also raises the risk that the nation's creditors – especially foreign governments – will conclude that the U.S. has no plan to restore fiscal stability and will require higher interest rates or make other economic demands.
"Our committee members have varying political backgrounds and views, but we all agree that future economic prosperity is at grave risk if our nation does not change its fiscal course," said John Palmer, co-chair of the committee that wrote the report and university professor and dean emeritus of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. The committee includes three former heads of the Congressional Budget Office -- June O'Neill, co-chair Rudolph Penner, and Robert Reischauer -- and other experts.
Policymakers should move aggressively to restrain growth of the debt beginning in 2012, as soon as the economic recovery strengthens, the report says. Leaders should set a target of stabilizing the ratio of the nation's debt to its gross domestic product (GDP) -- a common indicator of fiscal health -- at a sustainable level by 2022. While there is no magic number for this ratio, the committee judged that a ratio of 60 percent is an achievable target within a decade, and can be a useful guide to policymakers. Any higher ratio would create an unacceptable risk of higher interest rates and financial crisis.
The nation's rapidly growing debt now totals more than $12 trillion -- of which $7.5 trillion is publicly held, about half of it by investors abroad. As the publicly held debt rises, so does the amount of federal revenue that must be spent on interest payments, leaving less money for other services and programs. The amount the government spent on interest was more than $800 per person in 2008 and would roughly double by 2020, even if interest rates remain at their current low levels.
As the debt grows unchecked, so too does the risk of a crisis; if a loss of investor confidence led interest rates to climb suddenly, the government may be forced into a rushed, ill-considered response that could deprive people of needed services and hobble the economy for years, the report says.
The greatest contributor to the nation's long-term fiscal challenge is the rapid growth of health care spending, and any scenario leading to a sustainable budget will require forceful actions to slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid spending, the report says.
The report details four scenarios to illustrate how policymakers can gradually align spending and revenues to hit the illustrative target of holding debt to 60 percent of GDP. These are far from the only options, the committee stressed; how the nation chooses to address the growing debt will depend on people's views about the role of government and a range of other values. But the paths show that it is possible to construct responsible fiscal paths over a range of ideological orientations.
- LOW SPENDING AND LOW TAXES. This path would allow payroll and income tax rates to remain roughly unchanged, but it would require sharp reductions in the projected growth of health and retirement programs; defense and domestic spending cuts of 20 percent; and no funds for any new programs without additional spending cuts.
- INTERMEDIATE PATH 1. This path would raise income and payroll tax rates modestly. It would allow for some growth in health and retirement spending; defense and domestic program cuts of 8 percent; and selected new public investments, such as for the environment and to promote economic growth.
- INTERMEDIATE PATH 2. This path would raise income and payroll taxes somewhat higher than with the previous path. Spending growth for health and retirement programs would be slowed, but less than under the other intermediate path; and spending for all other federal responsibilities would be reduced. This path gives higher priority to entitlement programs for the elderly than to other types of government spending.
- HIGH SPENDING AND TAXES. This path would require substantially higher taxes. It would maintain the projected growth in Social Security benefits for all future retirees and require smaller reductions over time in the growth of spending for health programs. It would allow spending on all other federal programs to be higher than the level implied by current policies.
Delaying action will mean even higher levels of taxes than in the committee's illustrative paths, or lower levels of government services.
"We know it will be hard for people and their representatives to come to agreement on the kinds of changes needed, given the obvious divisions among people in priorities and views of government," said co-chair Rudolph Penner, a fellow at the Urban Institute, Washington, D.C. "Yet everyone will benefit in the long term if we accept some short-term pain. We call on the nation's leaders to take the necessary steps, and we call on everyone to hold them accountable for ensuring a healthy fiscal future for the United States."
Source: National Academy of Sciences


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Born: 1930, Hamburg, Germany
Describes her family's arrival in Bologna and aid received from Italian students before emigrating to Albania [Interview: 1990]
Amid intensifying anti-Jewish measures and the 1938 Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogrom, Johanna's family decided to leave Germany. They obtained visas for Albania, crossed into Italy, and sailed in 1939. They remained in Albania under the Italian occupation and, after Italy surrendered in 1943, under German occupation. The family was liberated after a battle between the Germans and Albanian partisans in December 1944.
Copyright © United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC


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AUG '09 DISCUSSION: Electric Steamer + Steaming Tips
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Site Admin
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 443
Location: Paris, France
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:18 am
Post subject: AUG '09 DISCUSSION: Electric Steamer + Steaming Tips
One of the thoughtful, generous gifts I received is for my birthday is an
electric steamer
, a beautiful stainless-steel
I'd been coveting for some time, hoping to upgrade from both my old, falling-apart bamboo baskets that drip onto the hotplates and leak steam, and my rice cooker with the not-so-non-stick lining.
It is the first such appliance I own, and I am hoping I can get you to share your
tips and ideas
on how best to use it, so I am starting this forum discussion: do you have an electric steamer yourself? What do you use it for, and what are some of your
favorite preparations
to cook in it? And if you use an alternative method for steaming, I want to hear all about it too!
Last edited by clotilde on Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:16 am; edited 3 times in total
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Joined: 22 Jun 2008
Posts: 34
Location: South shore of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:38 pm
Post subject:
Hi Clotilde, A belated happy birthday to you. I've had an electric steamer for quite a few years now - used it for rice cooking and steaming vegetables when I first got. Somehow I forgot all about it so I'll look forward to replies from the C&Z gang to bring it out of its isolatin and back into the kitchen where it belongs.
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Joined: 04 Aug 2009
Posts: 1
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:23 pm
Post subject:
Happy birthday Clotilde! I am so delighted you have (re)discovered steaming with your new birthday present. Your new steamer will bring you much joy and delicious food because it is so easy and fun to use - and keep clean! Steamed food is more nutritious and tastier than plain boiled - vegetables hold a better texture and meat/fish stay very succulent. We have been steaming family meals for over 15 years and I got my wife the Morphy Richards Intellisteam for her birthday. One tip is that you do not need to use as much herb for flavour as you would otherwise, because I find that the action of the steam works to marinade and cook the food at the same time - flavours naturally penetrate deeply. ENJOY!
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Joined: 30 Sep 2004
Posts: 1855
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:57 pm
Post subject:
That's a very interesting observation FillMyTummy! I wouldn't have thought of that but it does make perfect sense! I've just got a fairly old a quite plain vegie steamer/rice cooker but rarely think to use it for more than rice! I think I shall expand.!
Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!
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Joined: 04 Aug 2009
Posts: 1
Location: Los Angeles
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:26 pm
Post subject: steamer
When we re-modeled our kitchen, my husband insisted on a Mielle steam oven. I thought it wold be silly to spend so much money on a steamer when you can just use an inexpensive bamboo steamer or a pot with a steamer basket that costs $6, but I was wrong. It is so worth every penny. The reason I came to that conclusion is that for the first time I can steam lobsters without having to over cook them. You can never get the water boiling enough on a home range, or have a pot big enough, to cook to perfection (without overcooking) two lobsters at the same time. With the steam oven, I turn on the machine, when it signals, I put in two lobsters, and within a few minutes -
they are perfect. It is also a dream to make chocolate cake - it comes out perfectly moist and seems to enhance the chocolate flavor.
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Joined: 04 Aug 2009
Posts: 2
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:53 pm
Post subject:
Wow, you'll certainly enjoy your new steamer. Place a flat filet of fish directly atop a bed of herbs aromatics and veggies inside the steamer. Fragrant, tender, moist, in no time at all.
I very much enjoy using my Mauviel tin-wiped copper 3-tier oval steamer. One doesnt want to overpack a steamer. The steam needs to have access to all the food. That's no problem with my Mauviel rig, each tier is a generous 12 by 9 oval, the base is 3 inches high, the top two tiers are 2 inches high. Over just one stovetop burner, it still produces a prodigious amount of steam. If you'd like, a photo and short video here
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Joined: 05 Aug 2009
Posts: 2
Location: Denmark
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:38 pm
Post subject: Re: steamer
I so agree, while I don't own a steamer, I also bought an Electrolux steaming oven last year, my model has traditional oven functions as well as the steaming ability - and I just love that thing which really is only beaten by the Kitchen Aid.
I bake all of our bread myself (thus the need for the KA for kneading bread all the time), adding steam in the beginning of baking the bread gives the bread the most amazing crust whether it is full grain sourdough baguettes or simple italian style semolina bread.
I also use steaming it a lot for reheating food where it works out fine, and of course for steaming fish. Never tried a chocolate cake but would love a recipe if you have one.
Certainly didn't do much about the real question being an electrical steamer, but I am very pleased with having a steam-option other than the diy stovetop option.
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Site Admin
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 443
Location: Paris, France
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:14 pm
Post subject:
Wonderful, thank you for your thoughts and suggestion!
Carla - Glad to have reminded you of it. I know the feeling -- out of sight, out of mind, right?
FillMyTummy - That's very good to know indeed.
Charlotte - I imagine the steaming functionality must really help the texture of the crust. I bake my breads in a closed vessel (a glass pot with a lid) and use a rather wet dough, and this seems to give good results as far as the crust is concerned.
Fatcat - What a beautiful steamer, thanks for the pics. Is the copper difficult to maintain?
Suzenna - I second the request for your steamed chocolate cake recipe. My steamer came with a stainless steel bowl that can be placed in one of the baskets to cook rice, for instance, and I'm pretty sure I could use it as a steamed cake pan!
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Joined: 05 Aug 2009
Posts: 2
Location: Denmark
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:39 pm
Post subject:
Charlotte - I imagine the steaming functionality must really help the texture of the crust. I bake my breads in a closed vessel (a glass pot with a lid) and use a rather wet dough, and this seems to give good results as far as the crust is concerned.
Hi Clothilde.
Yes and no
Actually the steaming when you start off gives you a real crispy crust because the bread gets a humidity chock when placed in a really hot oven with 'fresh' steam. Before getting this oven, I used to throw a cup of water into the bottom of the oven right before placing the bread in there, that worked almost the same, and it is also mentioned in numerous recipes (those who are a bit better at taking care of their stuff place some kind of bowl in the bottom of the oven and heat that up, then throw it in there). What the steam does is that it creates small water bubbles on the surface of the bread, which gives you a crust which appears more like a million small air-holes, it's hard to explain, sort of a really wonderful fresh-baked baguette.
I also bake bread once in a while in a römertopf, I think that's probably closer to what you describe - the dough rises for about a day before being baked, the dough is really wet, when it has risen, I pour it into the römertopf after having heated the topf in the oven and then bake it in the oven with the lid off. That bread also gets a great crust, and on top of that, the bread is wonderfully moist and it also keeps great compared to other bread. By the way, I think that this type of bread originally was based on the "Jim Lahey no knead bread" featured in a NY Times article a few years ago only I use different kinds of flour depending on what I use the bread for.
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Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 236
Location: Madison, WI
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:08 pm
Post subject:
Congratulations on your steamer! New cooking toys are always fun! I have three ideas. The first one, I would make only once or twice a year, the second is just plain strange but interesting, and the third I would make constantly if I had an automatic steamer, which I don't.
1. I make Colombian tamales in a large pot on a steaming rack. THey are wrapped in banana leaves and have a dough (masa) made out of ground hominy (some people use masa harina, although I don't like the taste) chicken, onions and carrots, cooked chick peas, etc. If anyone is interested I will provide more complete instructions. Colombians also make desserts out of the same "masa" by sweetening the dough with brown sugar, and, obviously eliminating the meat and veggies. These are called "bollos" a word which also has a more scatological meaning. If I had a steamer I would use it for this, although both are mainly Christmas recipes, being complicated. I am not sure that anyone without South American relatives and traditions would make anything this complicated. Also, those of us in the northern hemisphere might want to avoid long cooking steamed recipes in August and save them for winter. Most tropical kitchens are covered from the rain, but are open to the air on one or two sides to dissipate the heat.
2. Going from the exotic and complicated to the prosaic and everyday, I just saw a segment on television about steamed hamburgers and cheeseburgers, that are supposedly extra good. I think you steam at a fairly high heat, and steam the meat and cheese separately, or at least put the cheese on last. I am not a huge fan of cheeseburgers, but would try this if I had a steamer and if I liked hamburgers more than I do.
3. Dim sum items. Many or most of these are steamed and are delectable. I would make buns and dumplings constantly if I had an automatic steamer. Have you made steamed buns? YOu can use bread dough, and fill them with bean paste, a cooked pork and onion mixture, shrimp, etc. You can also use store-bough egg roll skins to make steamed dumplings. A LOT of traditional dim sum items are steamed. I ate a lot of really delicious types of dim sum during a brief visit to Hong Kong, but I didn't know what a lot of the things I ate were, since I don't read Chinese, and I only went out for dim sum once. I ate a lot of things where I was not exactly sure what the ingredients were, but I liked them. I would look at dim sum recipes right away if I had gotten a steamer as a gift.
Have fun!!
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Joined: 04 Aug 2009
Posts: 2
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:20 pm
Post subject: Mauviel copper steamer is easy to clean with the right stuff
Fatcat - What a beautiful steamer, thanks for the pics. Is the copper difficult to maintain?
Clotilde, I'm almost embarrassed to post publicly in your forum because I'm certainly no pro in the kitchen, just an enthusiast who's not afraid to make mistakes, but WOW, I sure enjoy your website ! You're the best. Sorry for my amateurish photo and video. I'm also just learning how to post to your forum.
To answer your question, my Mauviel copper steamer is simple to keep clean, using Copperbrill. it is a creamy non-abrasive light-bodied paste applied with a very soft sponge (no scrubbing), then immediately rinsed off with soapy water and dried. Does not scratch the copper, ever. A one kilo tub costs $US 75-100. Over the past 3 years I have been very fortunate to have acquired nearly 4 dozen tin-wiped copper pans big and small of every description, some new and some over 150 years old, which I actually cook and bake with; none are for decoration. And once every 3-4 months I spend a minute or two per pan with this cleaner.
Note, you probably saw the copper steamer photo shows it was on an electric stove ( !!), but I take care of my elderly mom 24-7 who has Alzheimer's and was using her stove at the time.
Well, as I run across good recipes for your steaming, I promise I will pass them along. Because I will be using them, too !
All the best,
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Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 194
Location: San Diego, CA
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:37 pm
Post subject:
A lot of little dishes in Japanese and Chinese cooking are steamed (all those pork and shrimp dim sum dumplings).
One of my favorite Japanese dishes that I only get to eat at certain restaurants is Chuwanmushi. It's an egg custard steamed with dashi (Japanese broth) and garnished with a dash of vegetable, mushroom, ginko nuts and chicken.
It's a lot of work to make and you have to strain the egg to make sure your custard comes out intact and not fragmented. Traditional Japanese restaurants usually include it as a side dish for a non-sushi dinner plate. There are specific cups with lids sold in Japanese ceramic stores for chuwanmushi.
This is what it looks like:
"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
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Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 236
Location: Madison, WI
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:48 pm
Post subject:
I am crazy about chawanmushi. I have mostly eaten it at the houses of Japanese friends and have never made it at home. I would defintiely try it if I had a steamer. However, generations of Japanese women made it at home with bamboo steamers, so maybe I will try it anyway. Thank you for the idea. This forum is fun that way.
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