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WIRED Space Photo of the Day: Bright Galactic Outflow
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:49 AM PDT
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Criminal charges considered for stupid assholes who destroyed 170-million-year-old Utah rock formation
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:39 AM PDT
| Criminal charges considered for stupid assholes who destroyed 170-million-year-old Utah rock formation Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:17 PM PDT | | 'Calvin and Hobbes' comic artist Bill Watterson gives rare interview to Mental Floss Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:10 PM PDT | | Dick Cheney feared assassination by cardio device hack, had docs turn defibrillator's wireless off Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:54 PM PDT | | Press freedom case of NYT reporter James Risen may go to Supreme Court Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:32 PM PDT My lawyers and I plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take my case. — James Risen (@JRisen) October 19, 2013
"A federal appeals court will not reconsider a decision compelling a journalist to identify a source who disclosed details of a secret CIA operation," reports the AP: The full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 13-1 Tuesday to reject reporter James Risen's petition for a rehearing. A divided three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled in July that prosecutors can require Risen to divulge the name of his source when he testifies at the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA agent charged with leaking classified information. The appeals court's majority did not give any reason for denying Risen's petition. But Judge Roger Gregory, who voted for the rehearing, wrote that the case was "one of exceptional importance" dealing with a fundamental First Amendment question that has not been directly addressed by the Supreme Court or other federal appeals courts. "My client remains as resolved as ever to continue fighting," said Risen's lawyer, Joel Kurtzberg, in the New York Times. Adam Martin in the New Yorker: If prosecutors don't withdraw the subpoena— which Politico's Josh Gerstein points out they might do, thanks to Attorney General Eric Holder's new guidelines protecting journalists — then Risen's next step will be to bring his case to the Supreme Court and hope it decides to take up the issue of protecting journalists' sources. I believe this is a fight for the First Amendment and for the freedom of the press in America. I won't back down. — James Risen (@JRisen) October 16, 2013
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear my case en banc. I am determined to keep fighting. — James Risen (@JRisen) October 16, 2013
       | | Russia's decaying movie palaces Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:19 PM PDT 
With more and more cinemas in Russia losing out to multiplexes, photographer Sergey Novikov sought to capture the old buildings in their new incarnations — sometimes abandoned, sometimes used for discos and fairs or taken over by Jehovah's Witnesses. Breathless was shot in Moscow and St Petersburg between 2010 and 2011 by Novikov, a graduate of the Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia. "I prefer an engrossing film to disgusting popcorn," he says. "I don't mind shifting about in a squeaky chair, soaking in the atmosphere of an old cinema. Unfortunately, the films have already left them." A photographer's ode to Russia's dying movie theatres [Maryam Omidi and Sergey Novikov/Calvert Journal] (via Kadrey)
 
      | | Venn diagram of anticonventional objects Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:15 AM PDT | | Caturday. Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:44 AM PDT | You are subscribed to email updates from Boing Boing
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Birthday Sluts
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:30 AM PDT
| Birthday Sluts Posted: 20 Oct 2013 12:48 PM PDT 
Viggo Mortensen (55)
Candice Swanepoel (25)
Katie Featherson (31)
John Krasinski (34)
Rob Cesternino (35)
Michael Johns (35)
Dannii Minogue (42)
Snoop Dogg (42)
Rob Odenkirk (51)
Danny Boyle (57)
Melanie Mayron (61)
Tom Petty (63)
Wanda Jackson (76) | | Laura Jeanne Poon Is Oppressive Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:43 PM PDT 
He’s totally trying to get the taste of the ballgag out of his mouth in that picture. One of the greatest contributions to our culture is Michael K. divining the extremely patriotic and sickeningly entitled Reese Witherspoon‘s real name to be “Laura Jeanne Poon”. It’s not really , but “Poon” is so perfect that I pretend it’s troof! Having the surname of “Poon” is the reason why Reese seems so uptight and utterly humorless. It’s also why life behind the hundreds of doors to her three mansions is joyless and stifling for her spouse. Showbiz Spy reports (have your grain of salt ready) that Reese’s husband Jim Toth is only allowed to speak to her on a schedule. My name is Laura Jeanne Poon, I’ll be your mistress tonight. *sound of buttplug being shoved in Jim’s ass without lube* "Jim knows when and when not to speak, based on a set schedule Reese has made," a source said. "Jim will do anything in his power not to upset his wife… and when she doesn't want him to speak, he shuts up."
“Reese, I…” “SILENCE, INFIDEL! IT’S NOT 3:30 PM! Your next declarative sentence is allowed then and only then, scum!” Madge doesn’t know shit about enslavers! She needs to have tea at Laura Jeanne Poon’s house sometime. Jimmy serves it. In a gimp suit. On his hands and knees. With the tray on his back. *shiver* It’s kinky at the Poon residence. | | Kendra Wilkinson’s Whole Family Is Crazy Posted: 19 Oct 2013 07:44 PM PDT 
Kendra Wilkinson’s…wait, hold up. She’s still a thing? This conversation I had with the husband during our umpteenth Golden Girls rerun on WE sums up Kendra for me and many, many others. The scene: An ad for Kendra On Top plays every ten minutes during the one where Blanche is trying to remember the name of the soldier dude she fucked before he went off to the Gulf War and she figures out he was actually her Valtrex supplier. The husband: Who’s that?
Me: Kendra Wilkinson
The husband: Who’s she?
Me: She fucked on Hef and got some shows out of it?
The husband: ….
Me: She got kicked off Dancing With The Stars for farting?
The husband: …
Me: She has a really annoying laugh?
The husband: This bitch is famous? Precisely. Kendra’s family has just given us a clue as to why a girl would consider getting into an orgy line for carbon-dated peen to be a career goal.They’re all out of their damn minds. According to TMZ and Radar Online, Kendra’s mom Patti and her bro Colin are pissed at her because they were the last to know about her upcoming contribution to our overpopulation problem. Ma Wilkinson says that a phone convo with Kendra about her pregnancy got ugly and claims her daughter told her to go die. Patti feels that Hollywood has changed Kendra. Lady, you try keeping it sexy when your main john constantly douses your sexual heat with frequent colostomy bag drainings and see if you don’t turn jaded! This led to brother Colin Wilkinson calling his sister “a psychotic bitch” who can go straight to hell and Tweeting that she was “inconsiderate”. Psychotic bitch who can go straight to hell I could live with (and proudly), but inconsiderate? Fuck you! This whole thing is some obvious Kendra On Top script grist and marketing. Because who needs to know if someone is pregnant? Seriously, wake me when the baby comes (and I’ll come by to see it when I’m damn good and ready). Pregnancy causes traumatic social awkwardness and body horror for everyone involved. I was invited to put my hand on a gal’s stomach to feel her baby kick one time, did so, and it made me wish we were all shiny androids without bodily functions. Terrifying. 
| | Open Post: Hosted By Courtney Stodden Caring About Your Breasts Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:56 PM PDT 
Since Courtney Stodden obviously doesn’t have half a fuck to give about the condition of her own fun bags, she is spending all that extra energy to care about yours! Here she is, at the Fashion Minga LA event, sporting her painful purple breasts for fashion and to remind you to get your shit checked if you’re of the female persuasion. Just looking at these pics makes me cradle and knead my boobs tenderly, so it’s working. Thank you Courtney for your selfless devotion to our collective titty health! According to its website, Fashion Minga ”is a collaboration of designers, performers, and tastemakers coming together to celebrate the various components that inspire fashion: music, dance, color, shape and visual elements.” There’s also a pink ribbon to let you know that they’re all about breast cancer awareness. That all sounds really good except for the “tastemakers” part and I don’t want to know what the fuck that is, especially as it relates to Courtney, so please just leave me to my ignorance. And give me a chaser just in case. Let the porn iguana and her new totally natural and not at all back alley looking Fix-A-Flat lips carry you far far away! Far away from your puny existence as a human breasted/lipped plebe who doesn’t sport swizzle stick legs and a creepy mutated sweaty toad of a husband and into her world of pure glamour. AND CHECK YO BOOBEHS! Amen. PacificCoastNews | | WTF Is Wrong With People: The Justin Bieber Wannabe Edition Posted: 19 Oct 2013 03:15 PM PDT 
This actually happened, and it’s way too early in this or any day for this fuckery. Grab your coffee and throw in an extra two splashes of Irish Cream because you’re gonna need it. Here’s what: a grown ass man spent almost $100K over 5 years for surgery to transform himself into a pre-pubescent lesbian. Now, I can get with transgender surgery if that’s what makes your nipples hard, but I can’t get with this. I CAN’T. Somewhere in the world, (LA, not Florida believe it or not) a 33 year old songwriter named Toby Sheldon decided that there was no better way to spend his life savings than cutting his face up to look like Justin Bieber. People who want to look like a cat and like a sand candle left in the August sun are grateful to this guy for making their decisions look almost normal. According to Complex Style, Toby got the surgery so that he too could have Bieber’s “smize”. Can somebody kick Tyra Banks square in the culo for that phrase?? Fuck. Anyway, he even got a 15K surgery to widen his smile to look just like the Biebs. No word on what he paid for the bad skin. DUDE. Just speak as though your nuts haven’t dropped, sport a douchey hairstyle and some saggy ass MC Hammer knock off pants, paint Heath Ledger‘s Joker smile on with liquid eyeliner, act like a toddler that hasn’t gotten his snack or his favorite toy and you’ve got this for $17.50. You’re welcome. Where the fuck was I when this guy needed a financial consultant? I could have banked whatever the difference of $100K and $17.50 is. Maths are hard, and it’s early. The worst part (as if there could be a worst in this mess) is that he still doesn’t look like Justin Bieber. He looks like a junior high school gym teacher named Ms. Barker with a mustache and a penchant for hanging out too long in the girls locker room during shower times. FAIL. 
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101 Days of Christmas: Printable Gift Tags {Roundup}
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:20 AM PDT
| 101 Days of Christmas: Printable Gift Tags {Roundup} Posted: 20 Oct 2013 05:01 AM PDT  source: My Blessed Life As part of this year’s 101 Days of Christmas series, I’m sharing a roundup each Sunday with more ideas from around the blogosphere! I love these DIY gift tags that Myra made for last year’s series, and I’m thinking about setting my girls down with some supplies so they can make a whole bunch for this year’s gifts. But if you’re looking for an even simpler option without sacrificing the design, be sure to check out all of these great free printables. With tons of different styles, there’s something for everyone!
Here are 10 free printables to choose from: 
The simple line drawings of the first set are my favorite; how about you?
Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas! |  | Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces. | |  | | Giveaway: Honeywell True HEPA Tower (ARV $190) Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:01 AM PDT 
As we head into cold & flu season with a newborn once again, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about flu prevention and how to keep my family healthy. We’ve had a newborn with H1N1 once before, and it’s not something I really want to do again! One thing I know for sure is that indoor air quality plays an important — and often ignored — role in our health, and I’m intrigued by the promises of the Honeywell True HEPA Air Purifiers, which clean airborne allergens, mold spores, odors and even germs. (And honestly, I will be sleeping with this thing next to my pillow when next year’s allergy season hits because I was so miserable during May and June this year!) As the #1 recommended HEPA filter brand by allergists, Honeywell offers a ton of great features for their in-home HEPA filters, including: - intuitive LED easy-tap, touch sensitive controls
- multiple cleaning levels for germs, allergens, and general cleaning
- a "turbo" setting in select models for faster cleaning and odor reduction
- a variety of sizes perfect for any room in the house
According to Dr. Ted Myatt, ScD, a microbiologist and expert in indoor air quality with Environmental Health & Engineering and the University of Rhode Island: "The [Honeywell] HEPA filters effectively help capture airborne pollen, such as grass, tree and other pollen, as well as dust, smoke, pet fur/dander, mold spores, bacteria and viruses from the air passing through them. The pre-filter also absorbs odors and volatile organic compounds that result from cleaning supplies, new carpet, paint, and some types of furniture." The Honeywell True HEPA Tower is ideal for medium to large-sized rooms like living rooms, master bedrooms, or even playrooms. It also features quiet operation, an auto shut-off timer and filter change reminders, and it’s available at Target. Be sure to like HoneywellPluggedIn on Honeywell Plugged In on Facebook for product announcements, giveaways & more! Enter to Win This week, Honeywell is giving one lucky Life Your Way reader a Honeywell True HEPA Tower! To enter, fill out the form below: The giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on 10/25. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well. Unfortunately, due to the international laws governing sweepstakes and lotteries, we’re only able to offer these giveaways to U.S. residents 18 years and older.  | | 101 Days of Christmas: Printable Coffee Sleeves Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:01 AM PDT  source: Mandi Ehman Celebrate the holidays with each cup of coffee with these printable coffee sleeves, which would be perfect for a holiday party or get together! Pick up white disposable coffee cups with lids (check Walmart or Target). Then print and cut out the coffee sleeves, taping them closed in the back. Slip each one over a coffee cup for some extra holiday cheer! Click here to download or print the holiday coffee sleeves. Related Projects: Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas! | | Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces. | |  | You are subscribed to email updates from Life Your Way {Full}
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Dot Com Lunch – Feeling BluBlocker Edition
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:16 AM PDT
| Dot Com Lunch – Feeling BluBlocker Edition Posted: 19 Oct 2013 05:01 PM PDT Dot Com Lunch is part of the Dot Com Lifestyle Meetup Group. The Dot Com Lifestyle meetup helps to empower individuals to leverage the power of the Internet so they can achieve time, money, and location freedom. We normally meet at the patio of Pho Ba Co. Sometime we are forced inside the restaurant, not because of rain (it’s always sunny in the OC), but because it’s too hot outside. This week, we had 15 people showing up for an afternoon of networking, and trying out the BluBlocker Sunglasses. The BluBlocker started with the NASA space program. Astronauts needed strong protection for their eyes in outer space where ultraviolet rays were much stronger than on earth. A California sunglass manufacturer designed a pair that not only blocked UV rays but blue rays as well. By blocking blue rays, objects would appear sharper and clearer since blue light did not focus on the retina which is the focusing screen of our eyes. It’s pretty cool. I also got a great parking spot, but wasn’t able to pick up any girls with it. 
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Things About the X-E1
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:13 AM PDT
| Things About the X-E1 Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:34 PM PDT Seven months ago I got an X-E1, a product of Fujifilm, who announced the X-E2 today; an occasion for going a little deeper on my time with the camera. With a dozen pictures.  18-55mm@34, F5, 1/250 sec, ISO 200 First, the conclusion It's the best camera I've ever used: Light, wonderful in the hand, perfect controls, astounding lenses, pleasing pictures. So if you were thinking of buying a Serious Camera, this is totally one of the ones you should look at. Or maybe the X-E2; more on that below.  Did you say "perfect controls"? Yep. The picture shows what you see when you look down at the camera in your hands. Want to set the shutter speed? Spin that dial with your thumb; or leave it on "A" for automatic. Want to control the aperture? Spin the lens ring, or "A". Want to compensate for weird lighting? There's your ±2.0 adjustment right there. Those are all the controls anyone ever needs for almost any shot. What about the ISO, you ask? I limit the auto-ISO at 6400 and the sensor's comfy there, and the lenses are fast, so I just never think about it.  Tokyo evening.
35mm, F13, 1/60, ISO 6400 (the aperture was an accident) The only other adjustments I ever touch are manual/auto-focus, and occasionally the viewfinder diopter, which seems to drift a bit. Use this for a little while and it becomes obviously The Right Way; all those cameras with "Mode" dials are just Doing It Wrong.  Looking up at Vancouver's Granville Street bridge.
35mm, F5, 1/125, ISO 200 Accessories Fujifilm sends you this silly short flimsy-looking strap with the camera, and if you've been used to lashing your big honking SLR to a Luma Loop or equivalent you'll be apt to write it off, but don't; it turns out this featherweight wants to be sitting right there Leica-style in the middle of your chest, so short and simple is good. Except for I got a Luma Cinch; I have to confess that this big multi-adjustable thing looks like overkill but damn it's comfy around your neck; recommended.  18-55mm@55, F4, 1/120, ISO 200 Eyesight A whole lot of people, including me, have decent vision-at-a-distance but need reading glasses. Mirrorless cameras in general and the X-E1 in particular are just the ticket for us. When my glasses are on I use the screen on the back of the camera, and when they're off I hold the EVF up to my eye. That EVF is about as good as the SLR view my Pentax offers.  Your correspondent, looking at live flowing lava.
Photo credit: A fellow hiker.
35mm, F2.5, 1/150, ISO 400 Upgrades! Other cameras I've owned have received firmware upgrades, and never has one of them been worth a damn; correcting problems that might occur in some exotic corner case, mostly ignorable.  Fujifilm has emitted a steady flow of updates for the X-series; they add significant features and fix real performance problems. Probably the most telling is the recent major patch for the X100. Yes, the discontinued, superceded X100. That's gotta give any Fujifilm owner a warm glow.  35mm, F1.4, 1/250, ISO 6400 Lenses Check out the Fujinon roadmap. There isn't a lens on here that hasn't been praised, and the primes in particular (35mm F1.4, 23mm F1.4, and 14mm F2.8) reduce reviewers to quivering heaps of moist fandom. All the reviews of the 18-55 zoom start something like "Although this specs out like a low-rent kit lens, it turns out to be really excellent." Plus, it's stabilized; which hasn't kept me from using the awesome 35mm F1.4 for the vast majority of my shooting.  Other Fujifilms The top of the X-line is the X-Pro1, distinguished by an exotic hybrid-optical viewfinder. The first time I held an X-E1 up to my face the EVF Just Worked for me, so I've never been tempted; also I confess to fondness for its minimalist aesthetic.  35mm, F1.4, 1/50, ISO 1250 X-E2? The reviews of the X-E2 make it obvious that it's a very incremental step up over the current model; the big deal is that autofocusing is a little quicker. Reviewers of the current Fujifilm models tend to dismiss them as useless for sports; and although I've had good luck shooting kids' judo (see below) and soccer, the faster autofocus might be really nice. But not enough that I'll buy one. If you're in the market you might want to consider seeing if you can get an end-of-life deal on an X-E1; it's already a lot of camera for the money at the list price.  18-55mm@55, F4, 1/250, ISO 3200 The two things that might make me buy the next Fujifilm are weatherproofing (I've been spoiled by Pentax) and a decent video mode. The video from my RX100 "pocket cam" is stupidly better than what the Fuji can do. Images The quality is wonderful. Now, let's be fair: Any modern digital camera can take wonderful pictures if the light is good and you have it with you at the crucial moment. I get more and better with the X-E1, though.  35mm, F2.8, 1/125, ISO 400  Shooting people is what matters most.
Above, Brian Fitzpatrick. Below, Allyson McGrane.
18-55mm@55, F5.6, 1/340, ISO 400 First, the depth and quality of the image data is amazingly good; there are very few blown-highlights or buried-shadows that can't be mined profitably; for example, the Tokyo evening above that I stupidly shot at F13. Second, it's lighter and less cumbersome and thus is with me more. Third, the controls are so right that I get the right shot with the right settings more than with anything else I've used. Photography is fun Four or five years ago I would have said we were in the golden age of photography, and things are better since then. The mainline DSLRs from Nikon/Canon/Pentax are good; but boring, swollen, heavy, and awkward. Mobile phones are interesting, and so are the new cameras from Sony and the Micro-four-thirds makers. It's become pretty obvious that a young person just getting into serious photography can and probably should stay mirrorless. I'm firmly in the Fujifilm camp, for now; if only because of the relentless responsive purity of the camera designs. Others who share my taste might want to start following Thomas Menk a.k.a. @Fuji_X_Pro who curates more or less everything Fujifilm-X-related that trickles onto the Web. | You are subscribed to email updates from ongoing by Tim Bray
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Tentative Deal Hands JPMorgan Chase a Record Penalty
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:13 AM PDT
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19 Wicked Cool Jack-o'-Lanterns
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:10 AM PDT
| 19 Wicked Cool Jack-o'-Lanterns Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT  Sometimes simply displaying your Halloween spirit on your porch just isn't enough. You worked hard on your pumpkin masterpiece, so it's only fair that you get to show it off. We combed through Instagram and Vine to find some of our favorite pumpkins on the web. Some are so good, while others are so bad they're good. And sometimes you just want to see a pumpkin get smashed. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Homepage Image: Instagram, Haibbb Read more... More about Pics, Lists, Halloween, Pumpkins, and Vine | | How to Recreate Your Favorite Instagram Filters in Photoshop Posted: 20 Oct 2013 02:21 AM PDT  With its 20 filters that fit handily in an app, Instagram is undoubtedly a gamechanger for mobile photography. Unfortunately, the filters themselves aren't readily available outside of the app. With some time and an eye for washed out aesthetics, however, you can use Photoshop to recreate some Instagram filters. We analyzed six filters and took a stab at replicating them in Photoshop, and the results were surprisingly close to the originals. If you've ever wanted to give your crisp DSLR photos a retro feel, take these steps to mimic some of Instagram's popular filters. The advantage of doing so in Photoshop is that there is also room for creativity, so you can customize your own filters with just a few clicks. Read more... More about How To, Photography, Features, Photoshop, and Instagram | | Country Cover of Lorde's 'Royals' Is a Twangy Masterpiece Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:00 PM PDT  You may have some reservations about country music, but you can't deny that this country-western cover of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" got your feet tapping The latest band to give a pop hit an unexpected makeover is The Beef Seeds with their cover of "Royals" by the chart-topping artist Lorde Before launching into song, the band's lead singer takes a moment to liken his band to the sentiment behind Lorde's humble lyrics, saying, "The likes of us, we'll never be royal." So whether you're a die-hard country lover or simply a fan of "Royals," you definitely need to hear this twangy, harmony-laden cover song. Read more... More about Youtube, Viral Videos, Music, Cover Songs, and Watercooler   | | The Secrets of Online Money Laundering Posted: 19 Oct 2013 07:00 PM PDT  Money laundering is increasingly becoming a cybercrime. Gone are the days when the bad guys would pop down to the casino and hope to convert their loot into a clean win on the roulette table. And less popular is the old scam of taking out an insurance policy and then redeeming it at a discount. Instead, modern criminals are focusing on the Internet. And the opportunities for turning dirty money into a spotless shade of green are plentiful. So today, Jean-Loup Richet, a research associate at the ESSEC Business School just outside Paris, surveys the new techniques that criminals are using in a report written for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. And he reveals just how creative and opportunistic money launderers have become.
Researching these kinds of operations is inherently difficult. As Richet puts it: “Bad guys and their banks don’t share information on criminal pursuits. “ Read more... More about Online, Cybercrime, Money Laundering, Bitcoins, and Mobile | | Horse Gets Titanium Horseshoes Thanks to 3D Printing Posted: 19 Oct 2013 05:00 PM PDT  A lucky horse received new titanium horseshoes, thanks to the power of 3D printing Scientists with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation custom-designed the horseshoes, shown in the above video, with the hopes that they could improve performance in horse racing. Using a 3D scanner, scientists measured the horse’s hooves; then, shoes were 3D-printed and fitted onto the animal. The printing process took less than 24 hours, and cost around $600, according to creators. The titanium shoes are designed to be lighter than traditional horseshoes, which are made out of aluminum. Although they come with a higher price tag than standard horseshoes, which range anywhere from $100 to $300, scientists believe the additional cost is worth the reduction in weight. Read more... More about Design, 3d Printing, Tech, Dev Design, and Newsy   | | Computers Will Try to Trick You Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:00 PM PDT | | 'Doctor Who' 50th Anniversary Trailer Shows Every Doctor Through the Years Posted: 19 Oct 2013 02:55 PM PDT  Whovians, brace yourselvesBBC One created a special trailer that celebrates the last 50 years of Doctor Who. In the video, fans are taken back to the very beginning of the popular sci-fi series. All the Doctors — including the original, played by William Hartnell — are featured in high-res color for the very first time The minute-long trailer includes no actual footage of the upcoming 50th anniversary episode, which airs Nov. 23. However, watching it will certainly make fans wish time travel was possible. Read more... More about Viral Videos, Entertainment, Doctor Who, Tv, and Video   | | Julian Assange Allegedly Tried to Steal 'The Fifth Estate' Book Posted: 19 Oct 2013 02:43 PM PDT  It's no secret that Julian Assange dislikes Hollywood movie The Fifth Estate, which details the rise of WikiLeaks. Assange has been concerned about the film for months, incessantly tweeting bad reviews, and even asking Benedict Cumberbatch to give up his leading role. But the WikiLeaks founder reportedly went even further to fight the release of the book on which the movie is based. In 2011, Assange allegedly ordered a friend of WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley, to steal the manuscript for the book written by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, his former associate and right-hand man, according to Wired. Read more... More about Film, Us World, and World | | NASA Engineer Builds Halloween Costume That Syncs With Your Smartphone Posted: 19 Oct 2013 02:37 PM PDT  Two years ago, Mark Rober was an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., part of a team that worked on the Curiosity rover. For Halloween, he strapped an iPad to his chest and another to his back. Then he turned them on and used the devices’ cameras and screens to make it appear as if he had a gaping hole in the middle of his torso. Millions of people watched his YouTube video explaining how the costume worked, and a business was born. In 2012, Rober and a few friends launched Digital Dudz in their spare time, creating a free smartphone app and selling $29 T-shirts to people who liked Rober’s original idea but didn’t want to shell out for two iPads. Customers got instructions on duct-taping their mobile devices to the inside of their Digital Dudz shirts and cutting holes to reveal video of a beating human heart. It might not seem like the kind of product that took a rocket scientist to build. Read more... More about Nasa, Engineering, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, and Wearable Tech   | | MIT's 'Kinect of the Future' Device Tracks People Through Walls Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:57 PM PDT  Perhaps, one day, your Kinect will be able to follow you through the walls of your house Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a motion-tracking device, which they call the "Kinect of the future." It can follow a person even when in another room, pinpointing his or her location with extreme accuracy, using only radio waves. (Kinect is the Xbox 360's motion sensor.) The device tracks a single person with an accuracy of plus or minus 10 centimeters — about the size of an adult hand. Apart from the ability to "see" through a wall, its main advantage is that the person being tracked isn't required to wear a transmitter. While other location systems depend on Wi-Fi, this device can track a person's movements within the radius of its radio waves. Read more... More about Tracking, Mit, Kinect, Tech, and Gadgets | | Dick Cheney Altered Heart Implant to Thwart Wireless Hackers Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:55 PM PDT 
Former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney claims in a new interview that he had the defibrillator implanted in his chest altered to prevent hackers from wirelessly accessing the device. Cheney revealed the extraordinary steps he took to protect himself in an interview with 60 Minutes, which is set to air on Sunday.
Although most of the interview appears to focus on how Cheney’s health affected his decision-making abilities while in office, the highlight of the preview video comes when his doctor discusses the unique security threat to Cheney's implant at the time. Prior to the implant's alteration, there was the possibility that terrorists could send a signal to the device, instructing it to shock his heart and induce cardiac arrest. The previously little-known threat hints at possible security issues in the future, involving rapidly emerging biotech implants like Cheney's, as well as assistive devices such as electronically controlled prosthetics. Fans of Showtime television drama Homeland will likely recognize the seemingly far-fetched scheme from its first season in which the fictional terrorist plot was played out to completion. And while some may have assumed the show’s plot was merely an outlandish scenario dreamed up by a Hollywood writer, it turns out that Cheney was, in fact, very concerned about just such an attack. When asked about the television episode, Cheney said, “I was aware of the danger that existed, but I found [the television episode] credible because I knew from the experience that we’d had the necessity for adjusting my own device … It was an accurate portrayal of what was possible.” Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.BONUS: 10 Android Apps for Health & Fitness
Image: 60 Minutes Read more...More about Health, Terrorism, Television, Wireless, and Implants   | | Microsoft Pulls Windows RT 8.1 Update Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:20 PM PDT  Story Updated 10/19/13 4:25PM Microsoft took its Windows RT 8.1 update offline until further notice on Saturday, after users reported that it resulted in bricked devices and lost data. The Redmond, Wash. company posted the following a message to its website: Microsoft is investigating a situation affecting a limited number of users updating their Windows RT device to Windows RT 8.1. As a result, we have temporarily removed the Windows RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.
Mashable Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff offered an early warning regarding the problem on Friday, when he tweeted the following message and screenshot: Read more... More about Microsoft, Updates, Software, Tablets, and Tech | | 15 Easy Steps for Evaluating Your Life Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:15 PM PDT  Saturday is Evaluate Your Life Day, so there is no better time to whip out your bucket list and see how you're doing. It might seem like too much work, but you'll have a more relaxing weekend once you know where you life is going. Follow this 12-step GIF-induced guide for complete life evaluation. Image: Wikipedia, Art Renewal Center Read more... More about Lists, Life, Humor, Gifs, and Watercooler   | | Top 10 Tech This Week Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:03 PM PDT  Science-fiction technology often seems too fantastical to be real, like gadgets from a future so distant we will never see them fully realized. With tech advancing faster than ever before, the distance between the fictional future and the present is growing smaller. In some ways, the future is already here with these latest inventions that seem to be pulled out from the pages of a sci-fi novel. The U.S. Army is building its own Iron Man suit to protect soldiers in the field. While it won't have the flight and weapon capabilities of the fictional armor, the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) will be bullet-proof and have hydraulic limbs to aid in the soldier's speed and movement. Find out more about how TALOS can heighten its wearer's sense of sight and measure important vital signs. Read more... More about Gadgets, Features, Tech, Mobile, and Top Ten Tech | | How May We Hate You? A Tumblr for the Service Industry Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT  Each year, over 39 million tourists flock to Times Square. It's loud, crowded and full of eccentric people. Most New Yorkers know to avoid it, but others just have to deal with it. Thankfully, two hotel concierges figured out a way to cope with the insanity: creating a Tumblr called, How May We Hate You? Launched in October, the Tumblr documents the concierges' (comedians Anna Drezen and Todd Dakotah) insane interactions with guests at an unnamed hotel in Times Square. Read on for a sampling of the exchanges. When a guest needed a salon appointment: Read more... More about Blogs, Tumblr, Comedy, Hotel, and Watercooler   | | Scream Lab: YouTube Turns 20 YouTube Creators Into Zombies Posted: 19 Oct 2013 10:56 AM PDT  LOS ANGELES — YouTube Space LA was overrun with bloody, pale-faced zombies earlier this month, and unlike horror films where people normally run away in fear, this fright fest was full of people trying to get a closer look. That's because the zombies were YouTubers whose invasion of the 41,000-square-foot production space was an orchestrated dance reminiscent of Michael Jackson's Thriller. YouTube transformed 20 YouTube channel creators into zombies for its first-ever Scream Lab, a month-long program that is giving creators access to YouTube's production space with the goal of helping them produce scary videos for Halloween Read more... More about Youtube, Zombies, Los Angeles, Digital Media, and Entertainment | | Top 10 Countries With the Most Digital Natives Posted: 19 Oct 2013 10:29 AM PDT  China is home to the world's largest population of digital natives, totaling more than 75 million people — that's almost twice as many as the U.S., which has more than 41 million. India and Brazil clock in at third and fourth place, respectively Statista created the following chart, which lists the 10 countries that boast the most digital natives. Check it out, below, for the full results  Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Read more... More about China, Digital Natives, Us World, Us, and World   | | Apple Issues MacBook Air Recall to Replace Failing Flash Drives Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:58 AM PDT  With all the excitement surrounding Apple's upcoming event on Oct. 22, you may have missed a rather important recall that the Cupertino, Calif. company issued this week concerning its MacBook Air laptops. In a note published on Apple's website Thursday, the company announced that certain MacBook Air laptops sold between June 2012 and June 2013 contain 64GB and 128GB flash-storage drives that may fail. Apple’s MacBook Air Flash Storage Drive Replacement Program will replace the affected flash-storage drives for free. The note also includes the following warning: Read more... More about Software, Apple, Macbook Air, Recall, and Tech | | How to Job Hunt While Still Employed Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:28 AM PDT  It obviously makes more sense to look for a job while you still have one. After all, you won’t feel the pressure to pick any old job that you’re offered because you have to pay your mortgage, car loan, credit card bills or because the gap between jobs on your resume is growing wider and wider. That said, job hunting while you’re still working can present its own set of prickly problems. Here’s how to safely look for a new job — without risking the one you currently have. Don’t be obvious. The last thing you want to do is alert your current boss that you are job hunting. Even if you already have one foot out the door, don’t be too obvious about your job searching efforts. Schedule your interviews before or after work, or if you have to, take a day off and try to bundle them together. After all, if you show up to work in a three-piece suit (and your normal attire is jeans and a tee shirt), you’re going to attract some very unnecessary attention at the office. Read more... More about Employment, Job Hunt, Job Search Series, Business, and Jobs   | | 5 Minimalist Stands for Your iPhone 5S Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:03 AM PDT  Do you want to put your iPhone 5S on a pedestal? We recently highlighted some unusual iPhone stands, but this time we're taking a look at options that will complement your Apple mobile's sleek good looks Whether you're looking to turn your iPhone into a mini monitor, separate your handset from your cluttered desk or use it as a tidy bedside table solution, one of these desirable docks will do the trick Take a look through our stylish selection in the gallery above. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Image: Twelve South Read more... More about Mobile, Gadgets, Iphone, Features, and Tech | | Beautiful Minimalist Posters Simplify Classic Children's Tales Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:06 AM PDT  Artist Christian Jackson boils down classic children's tales to one simple element. Jackson's minimalist fairy tale posters tell a story without cramming all sorts of distracting visual details around the title. The result is mature versions of playful stories. This is Jackson's second collection of minimalist art, which includes Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. For the grown up princess decorating their modern castle, these beautiful works are available for purchase on the artist's website. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Read more... More about Books, Pics, Design, Watercooler, and Lists   | You are subscribed to email updates from Mashable
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Debunking the Lorentz System As a Framework For Human Emotions
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 07:10 AM PDT
| Debunking the Lorentz System As a Framework For Human Emotions Posted: 20 Oct 2013 06:22 AM PDT | | The Battle For the Game Industry's Soul Posted: 20 Oct 2013 05:24 AM PDT | | Carbon-Negative Energy Machines Catching On Posted: 20 Oct 2013 02:23 AM PDT | | Teachers Get 1 Week To Test Tech Giants' Hour of Code</em> Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:21 PM PDT theodp writes "In a move straight out of Healthcare.gov's playbook, teachers won't get to preview the final lessons they're being asked to roll out to 10 million U.S. students until a week before the Dec. 9th launch of the Hour of Code nation-wide learn-to-code initiative, according to a video explaining the project, which is backed by the nation's tech giants, including Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Amazon. The Hour of Code tutorial page showcased to the press sports Lorem Ipsum pseudo-Latin text instead of real content, promised tutorial software is still being developed by Microsoft and Google, and celebrity tutorials by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are still a work-in-progress. With their vast resources and deep pockets, the companies involved can still probably pull something off, but why risk disaster for such a high-stakes effort with a last-minute rush? One possible explanation is that CS Education Week, a heretofore little-recognized event, is coming up soon. Then again, tech immigration reform is back on the front burner, an initiative that's also near-and-dear to many of same players behind Hour of Code, including Microsoft Chief Counsel Brad Smith who, during the Hour of Code kickoff press conference, boasted that Microsoft's more-high-tech-visas-for-U.S.-kids-computer-science-education deal found its way into the Senate Immigration Bill, but minutes later joined his fellow FWD.us panelists to dismiss a questioner's suggestion that Hour of Code might somehow be part of a larger self-serving tech industry interest." Read more of this story at Slashdot.        | | No Zombie Uprising, But Problems Persist With Emergency Alert System Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:17 PM PDT chicksdaddy writes "More than six months after hacked Emergency Alert System (EAS) hardware allowed a phony warning about a zombie uprising to air in several U.S. states, a security consulting company is warning that serious issues persist in software from Monroe Electronics, whose equipment was compromised in the earlier attack. In a blog post, Mike Davis of the firm IOActive said patches issued by Monroe Electronics, the Lyndonville, New York firm that is a leading supplier of EAS hardware, do not adequately address problems raised earlier this year, including the use of 'bad and predictable' login credentials. Further inspection by Davis turned up other problems that were either missed in the initial code review or introduced by the patch. They include the use of “predictable and hard-coded keys and passwords,” as well as web-based backups that were publicly accessible and that contained valid user credentials. Monroe’s R-189 CAP-EAS product was the target of a hack in February during which EAS equipment operated by broadcasters in Montana, Michigan and other states was compromised and used to issue an alert claiming that the 'dead are rising from their graves,' and advising residents not to attempt to apprehend them. CAP refers to the Common Alerting Protocol, a successor to EAS. A recent search using the Shodan search engine by University of Florida graduate student Shawn Merdinger found more than 200 Monroe devices still accessible from the public Internet. 66% of those were running vulnerable versions of the Monroe firmware." Read more of this story at Slashdot.        | | D-Wave Quantum Computing Solution Raises More Questions Posted: 19 Oct 2013 05:11 PM PDT | | NFTables To Replace iptables In the Linux Kernel Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:07 PM PDT | | Windows RT 8.1 Update Pulled From Windows Store Posted: 19 Oct 2013 03:01 PM PDT | | Google Sparking Interest To Quantum Mechanics With Minecraft</em> Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:58 PM PDT | | US Should Cancel Plutonium Plant, Say Scientists Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:53 PM PDT | | Reprogrammed Bacterium Speaks New Language of Life Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:50 AM PDT wabrandsma writes "New Scientist reports that 'A bacterium has had its genome recoded so that the standard language of life no longer applies. Instead, one of its words has been freed up to impart a different meaning, allowing the addition of genetic elements that don't exist in nature. ... The four letters of the genetic code are usually read by a cell's protein-production machinery, the ribosome, in sets of three letters called codons. Each codon "word" provides instructions about which amino acid to add next to a growing peptide chain. Although there are 64 ways of combining four letters, only 61 codons are used to encode the 20 amino acids found in nature. ... The three combinations left over, UAG, UAA and UGA, act like a full stop or period – telling the ribosome to terminate the process at that point. ... A team of synthetic biologists led by Farren Isaacs at Yale University have now fundamentally rewritten these rules (abstract). They took Escherichia coli cells and replaced all of their UAG stop codons with UAAs. They also deleted the instructions for making the release factor that usually binds to UAG, rendering UAG meaningless. Next they set about assigning UAG a new meaning, by designing molecules called tRNAs and accompanying enzymes that would attach an unnatural amino acid – fed to the cell – whenever they spotted this codon." Read more of this story at Slashdot.        | | How PR Subverts Wikipedia Posted: 19 Oct 2013 10:45 AM PDT Daniel_Stuckey writes "We all know that Wikipedia can be subverted—it’s an inevitability of an open platform that some people will seek to abuse it, whether to gain some advantage or just for a laugh. Fortunately, the Wikipedia community has strong mechanisms in place to deal with this, from the famous cry of [citation needed] to the rigorous checks and standards put in place by its hierarchy of editors and admins. In recent months though, Insiders have encountered something altogether more worrying: a concerted attack on the very fabric of Wikipedia by PR companies that have subverted the online encyclopedia's editing hierarchy to alter articles on a massive scale—perhaps tens of thousands of them. Wikipedia is the world's most popular source of cultural, historical, and scientific knowledge—if their fears are correct, its all-important credibility could be on the line... Adam Masonbrink, a founder and Vice-President of Sales at Wiki-PR, boasts of new clients including Priceline and Viacom. Viacom didn't respond ... but Priceline — a NASDAQ listed firm with over 5,000 employees and William Shatner as their official spokesman — did. Sadly, Priceline didn't choose to respond to us via Captain Kirk; instead Leslie Cafferty, vice president of corporate communications and public relations, admitted, 'We are using them to help us get all of our brands a presence because I don't have the resources internally to otherwise manage.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.        | | OCZ May Be On Its Last Legs Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:39 AM PDT itwbennett writes "OCZ, one of the first commercial solid-state drive (SSD) makers has been blaming a shortage of NAND for its woes for some time now, but things have taken a precipitous turn for the worse: 'For its second fiscal quarter ended August 31, 2013, revenue was $33.5 million, a huge drop compared to revenue of $55.3 million for the first quarter of 2013 and revenue of $88.6 million for the second quarter of 2012. The net loss for this quarter was massive, $26 million, a doubling of the $13.1 million loss in the same quarter last year.' The company has burned through cash, its stock collapsed, and now so have sales. Meanwhile, other SSD makers are doing well. So what is happening here?" Read more of this story at Slashdot.        | | Samsung Offers Patent Cease-Fire in EU Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:35 AM PDT | | Dick Cheney Had Implanted Defibrillator Altered To Prevent Terrorist Attack Posted: 19 Oct 2013 07:32 AM PDT | You are subscribed to email updates from Slashdot
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Sunday Talk: The party's over
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:48 AM PDT
| Sunday Talk: The party's over Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:00 PM PDT | | There are no words Posted: 10 Oct 2013 08:14 AM PDT 
This is a well-shot window into the industrial food system from the documentary, Samsara. It's the same in the United States although you don't see it because it's a crime to be caught documenting the process. Hmmm...who thought of that? Ignore the fat-shaming at the end; otherwise, it's a rare look at the reality of factory farms and processing.  | | Think your plastic is being recycled? Think again. Posted: 18 Sep 2013 10:46 AM PDT Think those plastic items you carefully separate from the rest of your trash are being responsibly recycled? Think again. U.S. recycling companies have largely stayed away from recycling plastic and most of it has been shipped to China where it can be processed cheaper. Not anymore. This year China announced a Green Fence Policy, prohibiting much of the plastic recycling they once imported: For many environmentally conscious Americans, there's a deep satisfaction to chucking anything and everything plasticky into the recycling bin—from shampoo bottles to butter tubs—the types of plastics in the plastic categories #3 through #7. Little do they know that, even if their local trash collector says it recycles that waste, they might as well be chucking those plastics in the trash bin. "[Plastics] 3-7 are absolutely going to a landfill—[China's] not taking that any more… because of Green Fence," David Kaplan, CEO of Maine Plastics, a post-industrial recycler, tells Quartz. "This will continue until we can do it in the United States economically." U.S. recyclers are scrambling to come up with a solution now that China is drastically cutting back on their top import from the U.S.: China's demand for low-cost recycled raw materials has meant waste shipments from Europe, the US, Japan and Hong Kong have arrived thick and fast, with scrap becoming the top US export to China by value ($11.3bn) in 2011. China controls a large portion of the recycling market, importing about 70% of the world's 500m tonnes of electronic waste and 12m tonnes of plastic waste each year. Sudden Chinese policy changes therefore have a significant impact on the global recycling trade, which puts pressure on western countries to reconsider their reliance on the cost-effective practice of exporting waste, a habit that's reinforced by a lack of domestic recycling infrastructure and a lower demand for secondary raw materials. China's Green Fence policy just might spur the U.S. government and recyclers into much-needed innovation: Historically, higher labor costs and environmental safety standards made processing scrap into raw materials much more expensive in the US than in China. So the US never developed much capacity or technology to sort and process harder-to-break down plastics like #3 through #7. Green Fence might be a chance to change that, says Mike Biddle, CEO of California-based recycling company MBA Polymers. "China's Green Fence offers a real opportunity to the US government and recycling industry to step up its efforts on recycling and catalyze a strong domestic recycling market in the US," Biddle said at a recent webinar on Green Fence. Some U.S. recycling companies are applauding the news: The policy also has leveled the playing field by allowing large-scale companies that have invested additional money in pollution control and recycling services to operate at a more equal and fair-cost level, according to Kathy Xuan, CEO of full-service recycler Parc Corp. of Romeoville, Ill. With China taking a harder look at the plastic waste it imports, U.S.-based recyclers are looking for opportunities in the changing global market. Parc has doubled production in the last six months, Xuan said in a July 2 webinar hosted by the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. of Washington. The opportunity for big change (and big profits) is there. Let's hope the U.S. government and recycling companies don't throw away the opportunity to lead the way.  | | GOP strategist slams 'the stupid wing of the Republican Party' Posted: 18 Oct 2013 10:28 AM PDT Good times for the GOP: Republican strategist Mike Murphy chided what he called "the stupid wing of the Republican Party." "There's tension and there ought to be a questioning of whether we ought to listen to such bad advice," Murphy said when asked about the influence of conservative groups. "We took a huge brand hit. It's self-inflicted. ... I'm glad there are no elections tomorrow." (snip) "I don't want to go down this road again," [Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.] said in an interview with The Associated Press, noting that she disagreed with congressional conservatives' tactics during the budget fight. "What we take from this experience is that there are obviously common-sense problem solvers, and that's where the party needs to be." Nicer than Murphy, Ayotte only implied that Tea Party Republicans lack common sense. I guess that's a little less harsh than calling them stupid. Wait, there's more. Senator Orrin Hatch strongly criticized groups on the right that "aren't even Republicans but who think they can control the Republican Party." Hatch then spoke about the "radicalness" of some of these groups, and when Chuck Todd asked if he was referring to the Heritage Foundation, led by former Senator Jim DeMint, Hatch said "well, yeah." He added that he and many other Republicans are asking whether Heritage has become "so political" that it's "in danger of losing it's clout and its power." 
As for Murphy's comment, I think we all remember the line from Forrest Gump about stupidity, right?  | | Animal Nuz #170 Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:27 AM PDT | | Fix the Debt circles the nation, catfood plan at the ready Posted: 17 Oct 2013 11:40 AM PDT  Yeah, they're still here. Think Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles would be satisfied over a bipartisan agreement not to destroy the country in the next few months? Hardly. Now's the time when the vultures start circling, ready to swoop in. Fix the Debt, the organization that took flight last year from the very deep pockets of octagenarian Blackstone co-founder Pete Peterson, held an afternoon event at the National Press Club to remind everyone that, crisis averted, the real problem in this country remained our crushing long-term debt. You might think that the fiasco of the past few weeks would have prompted some soul-searching within the organization—after all, its well-broadcast doomsday warnings of a nation drowning in red ink have only helped to feed conservative Republican fury about out of control spending, even as budget deficits steadily decline and the long-term fiscal picture brightens. It is that fury that, as much as anything, drove the brinksmanship over the government shutdown and debt ceiling, but Fix the Debt officials spoke as if they have had no role in bringing us to this point—as if, to the contrary, we arrived at this point precisely because we were not listening to them. Compared to them, the second-guessing Republicans on the Hill Wednesday were models of candor and self-awareness. As far as Fix the Debt (the catfood commission with a massive bankroll) is concerned, the only way we can have true bipartisanship and bring back sanity to government is if we punish the olds and the poors. Of course! And both sides are equally to blame, of course, because Democrats and liberals who think that taking money away from people on fixed incomes are just like tea baggers who take the nation hostage over the idea that more people should have a chance to buy health insurance. Here's the problem. The Very Serious People did create the hysteria over the deficit that remains the primary infection of our public policy debates. They are the ones who created the idea, embraced by President Obama and too many congressional Democrats, that cutting just a little hole in the safety net for old people is a fair trade for Republicans perhaps acknowledging that maybe there should be some money spent on this government. That's going to be the prevailing mindset of at least a few of the members of the new budget conference committee created by Wednesday's agreement, and it's going to be the prevailing wisdom they hear from all the usual traditional media suspects. Because of that, this fight is far from over, despite Wednesday's reprieve.  | | Open thread: Dead-enders, gerrymandering and Reaganism Posted: 19 Oct 2013 03:00 PM PDT What's coming up on Sunday Kos ... - Dead-ender's game: where do Republicans go from here, by Dante Atkins
- The Republican Coup of 2013, by Jon Perr
- If you are black—get out. The crisis of statelessness in the Dominican Republic, by Denise Oliver Velez
- Just another American healthcare tale, by DarkSyde
- Blame gerrymandering, but blame ticket-splitting too, by David Jarman
- Obama strikes at the heart of Reaganism, by Ian Reifowitz
- Fresh fruit, broken bodies: The human cost of American agriculture, by VL Baker
- Her Inspirational Bout With Breast Cancer A Good Reason For Obamacare, by Egberto Willies
 | | The House's biggest fundraising slackers (and the challengers kicking their asses) Posted: 17 Oct 2013 07:00 AM PDT On Wednesday we collected the names of 234 candidates in 115 different House races. Now we bring you some of the rarest of the rare: the challengers who out-raised incumbents or even have more cash on hand then the veterans they hope to unseat. First, a look at the challengers who brought in more cash in 2013's third fundraising quarter.
Altogether nine Democrats outraised their Republican foes, while five Republicans had better quarters than their Democratic rivals. There are a number of competitive primaries and general elections represented here, but there are some important caveats. In New York, while Democrats Charlie Rangel and Adam Clayton Powell are both raising some money, Powell has made it clear he will only run if Rangel doesn't. In North Carolina, Mel Watt is President Obama's pick to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency and he has completely halted his fundraising as a result. Watt's nomination remains in limbo and it is unclear if he'll seek another term should it fail. A handful of these cases result from one or both sides not bothering to raise much cash. In Northern Virginia, Frank Wolf's low intake has Democrats hoping he'll retire and leave his swing district open. However, it is worth mentioning that Wolf has had weak quarters before and then gone ahead to run and win again. In East Texas, the 90 year-old Ralph Hall seems to be running on inertia as he seeks another term, not bothering to raise much despite only winning 57 percent in last year's primary in this blood red district. Luckily for Hall, his primary foe, Tony Arterburn, doesn't seem positioned to take advantage of Hall's situation. In Colorado Springs, Republican Doug Lamborn's weak fundraising points more to laziness then anything else; Romney carried this district by a brutal 59-38, making it a very tough fight for Democrat Irv Halter. More interesting is Western Iowa Rep. Steve King's slothful haul: While King's district is quite Republican, his frequent tendency to put his foot in his mouth makes him an attractive target regardless. The suburban Detroit MI-11 also has a pretty strange case. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio won his seat in a complete fluke after now-former Rep. Thad McCotter was thrown off the ballot and Bentivolio was the only Republican left standing. In his short time in the House Bentivolio appears to have fallen short when it comes to learning the art of political fundraising, pulling in a paltry $39,000. However, unlike the Ralph Halls of the world, Bentivolio has a terrifyingly real primary opponent. Aided by strong fundraising and a large personal donation, attorney David Trott is pasting Bentivolio by a truly astonishing rate of nearly 11 to 1. At this rate, it may take another ballot snafu to send Bentivolio back to Washington. Update: Here's an important asterisk to Doug Ose's numbers in CA-07—he really only raised $238,000, not $488,000. David Nir explains the discrepancy. We've updated the diary to reflect that one less Republican outraised a Democratic incumbent. Next up we have the political unicorns, districts where the incumbent has less cash available than his/her challenger:
Two new arrivals make the list. In the suburban Chicago IL-10, former one-term Congressman Bob Dold (Bob Dold!) leads fellow rich guy and the man who beat him in 2012, Rep. Brad Schneider. On Long Island's NY-01, an infusion of $1 million of his own money vaults Republican George Demos over Democratic incumbent Tim Bishop. All in all, six Dems have more cash-on-hand than the GOPers, while only two Republicans got the better of their Democratic rivals.  | | Green diary rescue: Petcoke chokes south Chicago, EPA going to Supreme Court again Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:00 PM PDT | Every week Daily Kos diarists write dozens of environmentally related posts. Many don't get the readership they deserve. Helping improve the odds is the motivation behind the Green Diary Rescue. In the past seven years, there have been 245 of these spotlighting more than 14,932 eco-diaries. Below are categorized links and excerpts to 47 more that appeared in the past seven days. That makes for lots of good reading during the spare moments of your weekend. [Disclaimer: Inclusion of a diary in the rescue does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.] | Green Diary of the Week  Toxic petcoke dust covers a
working-class community in south Chicago. —by FishOutofWater: "Detroit found out the Kocks dirty secret first. Now south Chicago knows. What happens in Alberta doesn't stay in Alberta. Petcoke, the dirty high carbon residue of Canadian tar sands refining, fouled Detroit. Detroit ordered the petcoke piles out. Now petcoke piles are covering south Chicago with black dust laced with toxic vanadium. Petcoke, the tar sands residue that is worse for the climate than burning coal, has been piled up near midwest refineries awaiting export to countries that allow it to be burned. Because it's a waste product of oil refining the Kochs sell it for prices cheaper than coal to poor nations willing the accept pollution as a trade off for cheap energy. Petcoke is the carbon cost ignored in the State department analysis that falsely claimed that Keystone XL tar sands oil will not significantly increase greenhouse gas pollution compared with conventional oil. The dirty carbon secret that the Kochs don't want you to know about is literally blowing in the wind. Working class and lower middle class communities were, as usual, the first to learn the Koch's dirty secret." ••• •• ••• Native Americans Declare War on Fracking. Canada Declares War on Native Americans. Updates—by jpmassar: "The twitterverse exploded this morning with reports of Royal Canadian Mounted Police taking up sniper positions, pepper spraying blockaders and arresting Mikmaq tribal elders, while other protesters torched numerous police vehicles. Mounties have arrested at least 40 protesters at an anti-fracking blockade in New Brunswick after police cruisers were torched when RCMP moved in. Charges include firearms offences, uttering threats, intimidation, mischief, and refusing to abide by a court injunction. Native protesters hit with rubber bullets and pepper spray apparently retaliated by torching at least five cop cars." ••• •• ••• Celebrating the 1,000th Sierra Club Solar Home—by Mary Anne Hitt: "It's been more than two years since my husband and I installed solar panels on the roof of our home in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. As the months have passed, I've enjoyed watching the ticker continually rise on the amount of solar power our panels have generated. I love knowing that our home is more powered by the sun, and less by dirty coal mined by blowing up the beautiful mountains in Appalachia. And across the U.S, I'm not alone! Rooftop solar power is expanding exponentially, and the Sierra Club just celebrated our 1,000th solar home as part of our Solar Homes initiative." ••• •• ••• The chicken that caused the recent salmonella scare: It's still being sold—by VL Baker: "There was outrage when we heard about the chicken salmonella outbreak which had been tied to Foster Farm plants. Certainly we thought that the contaminated product would be taken off the shelves and we would be safe. Not so fast. Little has been done and the toxic product is still available in stores. You see, in the U.S., salmonella contaminated chicken is par for the course. In fact at least one-quarter of raw chicken is contaminated with salmonella and much of it is antibiotic resistant. We bring the toxic chicken bomb into our homes and it is our responsibility to detonate the bomb by proper cooking methods. If we don't our families run the risk of sickness or worse. The customers for this tainted product include fast food, institutions such as the school lunch program, supermarkets and restaurants. Really anywhere where costs and profits are the most important criteria for choosing product which in the U.S. is just about everywhere." You will find more rescued green diaries beneath the fold.  | | Midday open thread Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:59 AM PDT - The most outstanding thing about the government shutdown fight was the unity displayed by Democrats. One untold reason for this is the sharp decline of the Blue Dogs and other 'bipartisany' Democrats being no long there. Democrats now have a more politically cohesive caucus than any in recent memory.
However:
But Democratic solidarity will face a tougher test during the broader budget talks following the reopening of the government and the increase of Treasury's borrowing authority. While the prospect of a large-scale agreement is slim, Republicans will try to extract concessions from Obama on spending, deficit reduction and entitlement reform — all areas where Democratic lawmakers have worried the president is willing to give up too much. President Obama will never face the voters again. Democrats in Congress will. As serious negotiations get underway, lets hope President Obama begins to care about elections other than his own.
- Pew finds record high dissatisfactionwith the direction of the country and strong anti-incumbent sentiment. The question is whose voters are most angry and at whom?
- By this analysis, we still don't have enough points on the board to win back house. The years we won, 2006 and 2008, we had a double digit advantage:
The years Democrats won big — 2006 and 2008 — they had a big advantage in the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, and the local landscape showed a lot of Republican seats in play, particularly in the House. That is, the national sentiment matched the mood on the ground in districts across the country. In 2010, when Republicans won big, they had a relatively small edge in the poll (national sentiment), but they had a big edge on the ground (actual seats in play). Using this formula, what should we make of the current numbers? The Democrats may have the national sentiment at the moment, but by smaller amounts than in those big years. And on the ground, the GOP has the edge. Democrats would have to successfully defend all of their own "in play" seats and win all the GOP "in play" seats to win control back, as numbers currently stand. The GOP shutdown put us back into contention. But we're going to need more to really put the House in play.
- Charlie Cook says a lot, with his usual insightful wisdom.
- By my analysis we are at about +6 seats one year out. We need to be +30 (with a 13 seat cushion). So a great deal of political work needs to be done between now and then, both in Washington and out in the grassroots. As kos keeps saying, if our folks turnout, we win. Because there's more of us than there are of them.
- President Obama putting the screws to the GOP on immigration is exactly the right move to motivate our base. But perhaps a State of the Union push is better and more timely.
  | | This week in the War on Workers: Gov. Snyder not interested in talking to Detroit retiree Posted: 19 Oct 2013 10:55 AM PDT 
This is the kind of person whose pension Republicans are always going after. Detroit is ground zero for that right now, but it's hardly the only place. When you hear about outrageous pension expenses burdening cities and states, remember this is what they're taking aim at. I can't even. This is a war on people who worked for decades at lower wages than they might have gotten elsewhere in exchange for the promise of a pension—not a fat pension, not for wealth, just for a little security—only to have politicians trying to take that security away, courts too often going along with it, and far too many people buying into the divide-and-conquer that, rather than saying "why don't we all have some retirement security?" says "if I don't have it, neither should they." It's one of the relatively few things that makes me so angry it's hard to write about. But if you buy the "we can't afford pensions" line—and, really, think about the sources of that one, please—listen to this man and ask yourself, can we afford a generation of retirees living in poverty? Can we afford, morally, to be a nation that steals the promise of retirement with dignity from hardworking people? Continue reading below the fold for more of the week's labor and education news.
 | | Saturday nutpick-a-palooza: Taunting the losers Posted: 19 Oct 2013 10:00 AM PDT Today's source material, thanks to the president's excellent trolling:
With the government shutdown over, President Obama took the opportunity to lecture his political opposition about the way government is supposed to work: he's supposed to dictate, and others are supposed to remain silent. President Barack Obama said no such thing, of course. What he actually said: "I recognize there are folks on the other side who think that my policies are misguided. That's putting it mildly. That's OK. That's democracy. That's how it works. We can debate those differences vigorously, passionately, in good faith, through the normal democratic process. And sometimes we'll be just too far apart to forge an agreement." "You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election. Push to change it. But don't break it. Don't break what our predecessors spent over two centuries building. That's not being faithful to what this country's about." Weird. "Argue your position" sounds nothing like "remain silent"... His core message was "don't break democracy" just because things didn't go your way. Sensible enough, right? But that dig about "win an election"? It's sublime. It's taunting Republicans with something they are more and more incapable of doing by the passing day. So rather than say, "Fine, we WILL win the next elections!", they ... well, you can see for yourself below the fold.
 | | The end of austerity kabuki, and how to turn a victory into a rout Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:00 AM PDT Democrats have every reason to feel good about the resolution of the Republicans' latest concocted crisis. The nation was on the brink of default. The government was shut down. People were hurt and much worse was threatened. But Democratic leaders stood tall, they didn't bend, and it was the Republicans who broke. On policy, this was a defensive victory, as Democrats weren't trying to gain anything new, but they did stop the Republicans from taking things away. On process, this was a momentum changer, as Democrats finally refused to accede to Republican brinksmanship, and forced them to concede a humiliating defeat. On politics, this was a huge victory. By refusing to engage, the Democrats allowed the Republicans to reveal themselves for what they are, and because of that the Republican brand is in unprecedented ill repute. Having failed to taste the blood for which they'd been slavering, Republicans have begun to cannibalize themselves. The sane but cruel Republicans are in a death match with the deranged lunatic Republicans, and both factions are realizing that they no longer can pretend to be able to live with each other. They can smell the rot, but they don't recognize that it emanates from their shared political decomposition. In a demographic death spiral, their core issues resonating less and less, and with fewer and fewer voters, their desperation is as obvious as it is ugly. The Republican Supreme Court majority is undermining campaign finance reform, and giving a green light to voter suppression, but that won't save their party. Aggressive gerrymandering alone temporaraily preserved the Republican House majority, but that has a time stamp, and now may expire prematurely. Their attempt to use the politics of bullying and extortion to invalidate elections they couldn't win at the polls blew up in their own faces. The Republican war on democracy and republic is failing. It is becoming transparent even to the apolitical. The Republicans cannot disenfranchise an entire nation. The Democratic Party has been suffering from its own factional tensions, but President Obama's most ardent supporters and his liberal critics both have reason to feel vindicated. They also both need to pay attention to the polls, for while people have turned overwhelmingly against Republican extremism, a considerable majority is not impressed with the Democrats, either. There are lessons here. The president's most ardent supporters need to acknowledge that he was not playing 11th dimensional chess during the previous showdowns with the Republicans, and in fact made terrible mistakes both in process and content. He himself seems to recognize it. His liberal critics were right about how badly he handled the 2011 and 2012 budget and debt crises. But those liberal critics also need to acknowledge what it takes for a president to learn from such mistakes. Those who were expecting more bad deals, and more capitulations and compromises, were just as wrong as were those who defended those earlier bad deals and capitulations and compromises. All Democrats need to accept that everyone has been wrong, but they should celebrate that everyone also was right. The president made terrible mistakes in negotiating with and appeasing extortionist Republicans in 2011 and 2012, but he is not an idiot, he is not weak, and he is not a sell-out. Before and during the Republican shutdown, he had every opportunity to repeat those past mistakes, or to prove that he was only looking for excuses to jettison traditional Democratic principles, but he didn't. He said he wasn't going to play the Republicans' games, and he didn't. Some doubted him. They might even have had fair reason to doubt him. But he proved them wrong by doing right. Democrats won this. All Democrats. The president, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and the entire Democratic caucuses in Congress won this. Grassroots Democrats won this. Democrats who were wrong in the past and Democrats who were wrong about how this would play out won this. The country won this. Democrats should be united in celebrating this moment, and in preparing to use it to best advantage. Read more about this victory below the fold.  | | This week at progressive state blogs: Cuccinelli's extremist backer, conflict for McConnell's wife Posted: 19 Oct 2013 08:00 AM PDT | Just as states with progressive lawmakers and activists have themselves initiated innovative programs over a wide range of issues, state-based progressive blogs have helped provide us with a point of view and inside information we don't get from the traditional media. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite you think I should know about. Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents. | At Blue Virginia, lowkell pounds GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli again in Cuccinelli's Extreme Contributors #2: "Father's Rights" Activist Who Compared Divorce to Slavery: Today, we turn our focus to one Ronald K. Henry, who donated $1,000 to Cuccinelli on 9/24/13 (and $1,200 to date). Who is Ronald K. Henry, you ask? Here are a few "highlights" to give you an idea: *He is a so-called "fathers'-rights activist." According to this article in the Huffington Post, the "fathers' rights" movement—to which Ken Cuccinelli has close ties, "contends that men are frequently the victims of false domestic violence accusations, and its activists have lobbied against no-fault divorce, which allows a woman to divorce her spouse without having to prove adultery or physical abuse." The article also notes that "Cuccinelli offered two bills as a state senator in line with the movement's objectives: one that would have prevented a parent from obtaining a no-fault divorce if the other parent objects, and another that would have encouraged judges to penalize a woman who asked for a no-fault divorce in custody and visitation battles." Lovely, eh? *Henry wrote that Men suffer slave-era cruelties. At Appalachian Voices, Rory McIlmoil writes How the Government Shutdown Effects Rural Energy Efficiency Programs: While many rural electric cooperatives are waiting eagerly for the government to get back to work, others are moving forward on energy efficiency. While some rural electric cooperatives are large and have the ability to provide valuable services to their customers, others are smaller, cash-strapped, and face administrative and financial challenges on a daily basis. To reduce electricity costs for the customers, some co-ops look to federal funding to support programs that they see as beneficial to their customers. The general consensus among co-ops is that federal funds are a vital source of support for providing reliable electricity and helping their customers pay their electricity bills — especially in rural areas where those bills tend to be higher and constitute a greater portion of a family's income. At Hillbilly Report, Hillbilly writes Senate Conservatives Fund Critical Of Mitch McConnell's 'Kentucky Kickback' In Debt Limit Deal!: Jim DeMint founded the Senate Conservatives Fund and is now President of the Heritage Foundation. It appears that Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund and the Heritage foundation aren't too happy with Senator Mitch McConnell's efforts to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown.
Senate Conservatives Fund
The Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) criticized U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Wednesday for allowing a $2 billion Kentucky earmark to be added to the debt deal he negotiated with U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). SCF Executive Director Matt Hoskins made the following statement: Read more. The Hill
The conservative Club for Growth and Heritage Action announced Wednesday that they opposes the Senate deal that raises the debt ceiling and ends the government shutdown. Read more. Just in case you don't know, Jim DeMint is Elaine Chao's boss (they both work at the Heritage Foundation) and Elaine Chao is Senator Mitch McConnell's wife. I wonder how Elaine feels about Jim DeMint, her boss, picking on her husband? You will find more links to and excerpts from progressive state blogs beneath the fold. | | Time for Congress to get back to work, Obama says in weekly address Posted: 19 Oct 2013 07:00 AM PDT 
The way business is done in Washington has to change. Now that these clouds of crisis and uncertainty have lifted, we need to focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to do – grow the economy, create good jobs, strengthen the middle class, lay the foundation for broad-based prosperity, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul. Time to roll up sleeves and get some work done in Washington, President Obama told listeners in this morning's weekly address, in which he laid out his three major areas of focus in coming weeks: - Creating a responsible budget: "Free up resources for the things that help us grow—education, infrastructure, research ... cut what we don't need, and close corporate tax loopholes that don't help create jobs."
- Reforming the immigration system: "The Senate has already passed a bill with strong bipartisan support. Now the House should, too."
- Passing a Farm Bill: "One that America's farmers and ranchers can depend on, one that protects vulnerable children and adults in times of need, and one that gives rural communities opportunities to grow."
It won't be easy, he said, but these are definitely the places to start:
We won't suddenly agree on everything now that the cloud of crisis has passed. But we shouldn't hold back on places where we do agree, just because we don't think it's good politics, or just because the extremes in our parties don't like compromise. I'll look for willing partners from either party to get important work done. There's no good reason why we can't govern responsibly, without lurching from manufactured crisis to manufactured crisis. Because that isn't governing – it's just hurting the people we were sent here to serve. To read the transcript in full, check below the fold or visit the White House website.  | | This week in science: Adrift Posted: 19 Oct 2013 06:00 AM PDT The tea party shutdown screwed up We the People in many ways and science is no exception. Of course for these ultraconservative clowns, science is the enemy, so screwing it up isn't a bug, it's a feature: Scientists contacted for this article say publicly and privately that the worst lasting effect that the shutdown has on science might be the blow to morale and the psychological toll it will take. Postdoctoral researchers, who have to publish to get jobs in academia later, will face delayed responses to data requests, grant applications, or literature reviews. Grad students working on dissertations and theses might have to change their research topics or push back their timelines. Scientists have missed major annual conferences during the shutdown, which may not sound like a big deal. But these meetings often are the only chances researchers have all year to meet colleagues and share their latest work. Shepherd tells PM that a major meteorology conference took place this week in Charleston, S.C., but most National Weather Service employees couldn't go.  | | Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Now it's the 17th Amendment? Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:30 AM PDT Jonathan Bernstein: The 17th Amendment. Yeah, that's the one that provided for direct election of senators. If you're a political junkie you probably are vaguely aware that it's a tea party fetish, but it's apparently more than just something that one of the goofier speakers dressed in costume and a funny hat might mention; it's actually smack dab in the middle of an important election (for those not up on their Texas basics, the lieutenant governor is a big deal in the Alamo State). Nor is it just a fringe position; incumbent David Dewhurst joins one of his three challengers in supporting repeal, while one of the tea party challengers dissents because without it, Ted Cruz might not have been elected the Senate. Regardless of the merits of repeal (and there are few; direct election was a good idea), there's something really striking about this. I mean, beyond the obvious point that the overwhelming majority of the electorate is apt to think this is not only a terrible idea, but a totally crackpot idea. Charlie Cook: Here's a question for conservatives and Republicans: Going into the 2012 Election Day, or even in the last few days before Election Day, did you think Mitt Romney was going to win? A couple of months ago, did you think the strategy of threatening to shut down the government or prevent raising the debt ceiling, to force the outright repeal or defunding of Obamacare, would really work? Romney lost by 4,967,508 votes, 126 Electoral College votes, and 3.85 percentage points. That's not very close. Obamacare isn't going to be repealed this year, and it's not going to be defunded. So the question is whether conservatives and Republicans should begin to worry if their instincts—specifically, their judgment on matters of politics and policy—are a bit off. Maybe "spectacularly wrong" would be more accurate. Does that worry anyone on the right or in the Republican Party? Are they concerned that continuing to follow such awful political instincts could lead to catastrophic consequences for their movement and their party? Nate Cohn: The electoral map divides the country neatly into blue states and red states. But blue states include vast conservative stretches; and most red states harbor liberal enclaves, too. In recent years, as partisan polarization has grown, some political minorities in these disaffected areas have proposed a radical solution: state partition. It has happened before. Maine, for instance, was once part of Massachusetts. And while none of the current movements really has a shot, the eleven instances mapped here (including that to grant the District of Columbia statehood) have at least attracted the support of elected officials. What would happen if all of them succeeded? Each new state would get two senators and its share of electoral college votes. We ran the numbers and recalculated the 2012 presidential race.
More politics and policy below the fold.  | You are subscribed to email updates from Daily Kos
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Who are your cheerleaders?
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:38 AM PDT
| Who are your cheerleaders? Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:00 AM PDT We all have doubts. We all have setbacks. All of us. We all have the “ugly cry” moments when we wonder why we even started down the path we’re on. Know this: you’re never alone, even when it looks as though you are. “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe
I’m not gonna lie, Dear Reader, this has been a weird week. Things that I thought would work out didn’t. People I had written off resurfaced. Opportunities that I didn’t know existed presented themselves. Worries that I had didn’t come to fruition. I lost someone close to me. Close friends (and staunch twitter followers) will know that I refer to days like these as a trip on “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.” Lots of sifting. Lots of slogging. Not a lot of sleeping. I even admitted to being needy. In public. Out loud. On the internetz (where everything is FORever). My life isn’t always sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. Two things have sustained me: faith in myself and the faith that my friends have in me. Do you have a “cheerleader file?” I do. When my perspective is skewed by my doubt, I take the time to go through messages and mementos from people whose lives I have touched for the better. And those who have made my life richer for having known them. These saved messages remind me that I matter. That what I do makes a difference. Those messages are from people who see the best in me and remind me of my better nature when I’ve sometimes forgotten. They reinforce the idea that I have a chance to become the person I’m capable of becoming, and isn’t that what we strive for in our quest for independence and autonomy? Coming into the fruition of who we can be – our highest selves – is a scary and sacred journey. Thank goodness we don’t have to go it alone. “Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement – and we will make the goal.” ~Jerome Fleishman
A way to get yourself out of a mental slump? This is going to sound counter intuitive, but I’m going to ask you to shift the focus from yourself and pay attention to the troubles of people around you. For example, when you go through the checkout line at the grocery store, pay attention to the gestures and facial expression of the person wearing the name tag across the counter. He or she may have $15 to last through the end of the week. She may be worried about a goof up she just made at work. He may have just heard that his mom was diagnosed with cancer…. or she may be working her way through school and still have to study when her shift ends. Take a moment, look them square in the eye and compliment them. A sincere one. Do this for one solid day with everyone you meet: cabbies, bosses, peers, children. Then reflect on the way you feel when you go to sleep that night. Write it down or otherwise record it. Try it again for the remainder of the week. Watch magical things happen in your life. This isn’t woo-woo karma voo doo. This is physics. Ripples are ripples, even if they are invisible. Just because I can’t see electricity doesn’t mean that I can’t see its effects. Also, take a moment to thank your cheerleaders. They probably don’t expect thanks, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t appreciate being noticed. I’d be interested in hearing your responses to how this experiment worked for you. Please send an email to me at wwithdr1ve (at) gmail (dot) com with your results. When has someone’s faith in you changed your life for the better? Remember, we’re all in this together. ——- Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive)  |
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Blogs - ASP.NET Weblogs
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT
| Blogs - ASP.NET Weblogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT ASP.NET and Web Tools for Visual Studio 2013 Release NotesASP.NET and Web Tools for Visual Studio 2013 Release NotesSummary for lazy readers: Visual Studio 2013 is ... | | MSDN Blogs - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Learn more about the MSDN Blog Platform at the MSDN Blogs - Help blog! Provide Site Feedback on MSDN Blogs | | Blogs : The Official Microsoft IIS Site Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Read or subscribe to IIS blogs. Bill Staple's blog and other Microsoft IIS team blogs. | | .NET Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT The .NET blog (AKA: dotnet blog) discusses new features in the .NET Framework and important issues for .NET developers. | | Developer Tools Blogs - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Search this blog Search all blogs. Related resources. Visual Studio Developer Center Visual Studio Product Website; Buy an MSDN Subscription; | | Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Official Microsoft Developer Network blog providing the latest news and information about the operating system. | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT This morning, Mozilla shared their feelings on IE9 with a post that claims to answer the question, "Is IE9 a modern browser?" While they grudgingly concede that ... | | Matt Harrington - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Office hours: in-person help for US developers working on Windows 8 and Windows Phone apps | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT To follow up on our announcement of releasing Rx 2.1 , we'd like to let you know what changed in this release. We have updated the Reactive Extensions for .NET ... | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT In case you are capable of the German language, Christian Binder has posted an interview with me taken during TechED 2009 in Berlin, and we augmented it with an ... | | Terry Zink's Cyber Security Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT A blog about fighting spam and malware by a member of Microsoft Forefront Online Security anti-spam team | | Windows PowerShell Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT In addition to being a scripting language, Windows PowerShell is also used as a platform in many applications. This is possible because the Windows PowerShell engine ... | | The Silverlight Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Silverlight Show: Windows 8 and the future of XAML Part 7: The application lifecycle of Windows 8 applications | | IEBlog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Microsoft corporate weblog about the IE browser. | | The Old New Thing - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT A customer had a supervisor process whose job is to launch two threads. Each thread in turn launches a child process, let's call them A and B, each with redirected ... | | Official T4 team blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT T4 stands for Text Template Transformation Toolkit and is Microsoft's template based text generation framework included with Visual Studio. | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT My name is Jeff Cardon. I'm a member of the Microsoft OneNote team and I'd like to share some of the tips and tricks that are available in this fantastic product. | | The Visual Studio Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT The Visual Studio Blog. The official source of product insight from the Visual Studio Engineering Team | | MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT Jensen Harris' blog about the Microsoft Office user interface | | Microsoft Research Connections Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT The Microsoft Research Connections Team Blog is a venue to share stories of building partnerships worldwide to advance the research process and its role in innovation. | You are subscribed to email updates from Search Msdn
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Content Marketers’ Pet Peeves
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:30 AM PDT
| Content Marketers’ Pet Peeves Posted: 19 Oct 2013 06:17 AM PDT At OpenView Labs, we recently published an article asking content marketers to dish about some of their biggest frustrations. With a nod to Seinfeld, we billed the piece as "the airing of grievances," and encouraged readers to leave comments about the challenges they face as well as their complaints about content marketing. Our positive twist, however, was to also ask these folks to offer up their favorite content marketing tips and best practices. As it turns out, they had a lot to say. Within a matter of hours, dozens of comments were rolling in and a lively discussion ensued. If you are a content marketer, you can probably relate. Trying to consistently create innovative, high-impact content that positions your company as a thought leader, generates leads, and nurtures those leads through the sales funnel can feel like an uphill battle. Add to that the challenges of delivering your content to the right people at just the right times, driving conversions, and measuring the results of your efforts, and you might want to pull your hair out. Faced with those challenges, who wouldn't relish the opportunity to blow off a little steam and share a gripe? In case you missed the conversation, or don't have the time to go sifting through pages of comments, let me highlight some of the results. Why Is This So Hard? (The Issues Content Marketers Struggle With) No matter whether you're new to the field or an experienced veteran, content marketers all seem to face similar fundamental challenges that test their mettle and force them to find creative solutions. Some of the most common ones people cited in their comments are the following: - Getting executive buy-in
- Striking the right balance between quality and quantity
- Imbibing content with personality without losing sight of a company’s brand and voice
- Repackaging and repurposing existing content effectively
- Wasting time tracking a bunch of metrics without really knowing which ones matter
- Engaging others to help create and share content
Sound familiar? Chances are that you've encountered at least some of these issues too. The good news is that since we have all faced similar challenges at one point or another, we can also all learn from each other about how to overcome them. In fact, after they were done spouting off, people shared some great ideas about how to succeed at content marketing. They offered up tips about how to better understand your audience, engage executives, and evaluate your current content marketing program. Thankfully, they even suggested some tools to help me address my biggest gripe: keeping up with the ever-changing rules of search engine optimization. I'm So Embarrassed for You Right Now (The Mistakes Other Content Marketers Can't Bear to See You Make) As it turns out, the only thing we content marketers like to gripe about more than the challenges we're dealing with, is the mistakes we see our colleagues making. Surely you've seen someone else commit one of these deadly content marketing sins (or, gasp, even done so yourself!): - Using your content as a relentless vehicle for self-promotion
- Creating vanilla content that doesn't stand out
- Curating content without adding value to the conversation
- Publishing content without first understanding your goals and your audience
- Baiting your audience with exciting headlines that lead to far less exciting content
- Creating content that doesn't drive conversions
- Developing content that isn't useful to your target audience
Suffice it to say, if you want to earn the respect of your content marketing peers, you'd best avoid these pitfalls, which they ranted about in the post. So now it's your turn to get some of your biggest content marketing frustrations, challenges, and gripes off your chest by leaving a comment below. You're among friends, so don't hold back. But please remember that there's one golden rule: You can dish out as much as you want—this is a content marketing gripe session after all — but when you're done you also have to offer up some solutions. Happy griping! |
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7 Habits of Highly Successful Digital Marketers
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:23 AM PDT
| 7 Habits of Highly Successful Digital Marketers Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:01 PM PDT There are a myriad of self-help books out there talking about the seven habits of highly effective people/teens/dogs. So I have jumped on the bandwagon and have created a 7-step guide to marketing effectiveness. Now I don't promise miracles, but I've noticed that the most successful marketers have got into these seven great habits. So I'm pretty sure if you develop them too, you will see an improvement in your email marketing and lead generation results. Step 1 – Always make a plan This may sound like telling you to suck eggs. But you'd be amazed how many B2B marketers don't make any plans but just send out email campaigns with no real goals or targeting. Imagine! So as well as working to the overall marketing strategy and plan for the year, each activity you do should have its own plan, goals and measurements in place. According to the Oxford College of Marketing the benefits of marketing planning are plentiful. You will: - Help identify sources of competitive advantage
- Force an organised approach
- Ensure consistent relationships
- Inform and gain commitment
- Get resources and support
What you can measure, you can improve – without targets, how do you know if you've been successful? But take heed of the advice in this article by awesome b2b marketing agency Earnest and don't be tempted to exaggerate the success rates you think you can achieve. Step 2 – Get the data right This is perhaps the most important step of all, once you've got your plan in place. There are two key elements to data: your contact database and the data you get from your activities. Marketing data – For any of the following five steps, to deliver the kind of results you want you need to start with clean, segmented and current lists. You obviously have your in-house lists of customers and prospects but for some campaigns buying in a list of the segment you want to target can deliver better marketing ROI. Make sure you use the right list provider though. You will need up-to-date, targeted and Data Protection Act-compliant details that can help your email marketing and lead generation activities deliver more value. Activity data – Just in case you hadn't heard already, we are living in the 'Big Data' world. As the world has moved online, the amount of data being created is terrifyingly large; as this infographic about what happens in an internet minute shows. For example, in one internet minute: - 204 million emails are sent
- 30 hours of video are uploaded
- 100,000 new tweets are tweeted.
So it's important to understand how to separate the wheat from the chaff when analysing data. This article from MarketingProfs shows how you can start to make sense of it and gain the insights you need without getting lost in the mountains of information now available. Step 3 – Use the right words Content is key to success in marketing today. Everyone's online looking for it all the time (200,000+ Google searches every minute). In the B2B world your targets are doing their research on products and services as they try to drive time and cost efficiencies in all areas of their organizations. So making sure the copy you provide for them is effective is of paramount importance. Using effective writing in your emails, blogs, landing pages and web content can turn browsers into buyers and position your company as a thought leader in its field. Step 4 – Work social media The use of social media in the B2B world has had a rocky start with some businesses getting it straight away, some just jumping in without really knowing why and others flat out refusing to have anything to do with it. No matter what your organization's current view of it, it really can't be ignored. It can grow your brand value and reputation, help you engage with prospects you might not otherwise have access to and, if used correctly, can be a great addition to your lead generation arsenal. You can find out how to make the most of social media for lead generation with these great resources: Step 5 – Use your lead nurturing instincts Just like children, leads need nurturing. If you ignore them, they get upset and go away and don't come back. But if you take notice of them, they blossom. Is it worth it? Oh yes it is, as research has shown that: - Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at 33% lower cost
- Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads.
The best way to nurture leads is with great content, using marketing automation software to deliver it based on the actions they take. Step 6 – Use analytics software to measure success While the digital revolution has given marketers great new ways to be creative, it has also demanded that they become more statistical and analytical in order to prove ROI, which has proved difficult in the past. But help is at hand! No more do you have to rely on spreadsheet formulae and information pulled from disparate systems to measure campaign success. The advances in marketing analytics mean that your email campaigns, social media activity and website can all be brought together in one place, giving you a holistic view of a customer's engagement and the time and route it took to convert them. Follow these Six Tips for Creating an Analytics-Driven Marketing Culture. Step 7 – Make continual improvements Highly successful marketers continually assess and analyse the results of everything they do and then do it again slightly differently. In the long-term, this builds up in-depth insight into an audience and lets you know the best way to engage with them to get the results you want. Follow the steps in this SlideShare for ways to continually improve across the entire marketing mix. Is This The End? No I'm afraid it's not, and reading this article won't transform your business overnight, however, if you do follow what I've said, you can generate new business through marketing. So remember: - Always make a plan
- Get the right data
- Use the right words
- Work social media
- Use your lead nurturing instincts
- Use analytics software to measure success
- Make continual improvements
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Li-fi successfully tested at 150 Mbps, say Chinese scientists
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 03:04 AM PDT
| Li-fi successfully tested at 150 Mbps, say Chinese scientists Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:57 PM PDT Scientists at Fudan University have successfully transmitted data via “li-fi” at speeds up to 150 Mbps, reports Xinhua News. Li-fi, or “light fidelity”, is a theorized way to stream data via LED lighting instead of Wi-Fi. Although still under investigation, the technology could be used in high-speed, visible-path transmission applications. The scientists are scheduled to […] | | Target cancels PS4 bundle preorders due to game delays Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:00 PM PDT Due to a delay in production of two key game titles, Target is canceling all PlayStation 4 bundle preorders. The cancellation is prompted by the lack of availability of Watch Dogs and Driveclub. Both of those titles were supposed to be ready by fall 2013, but their releases are being pushed into next year. Target […] | | Retina iPad mini, iPad 5 without Touch ID amongst KGI predictions Posted: 19 Oct 2013 02:56 PM PDT The second iPad mini will include a Retina upgrade and the iPad 5 will not have TouchID as was previously rumored, according to KGI Securities analyst Mingchi Kuo. These and a bevy of other predictions were released today in advance of the Oct. 22 iPad event to be held in San Francisco. The event will […] | | Google Play Newsstand code identified in Play Store 4.4 Posted: 19 Oct 2013 02:02 PM PDT In their ongoing teardown of Play Store 4.4, Android Police have found multiple mentions of a “Play Newsstand” that could turn out to be a one-price news subscription service similar in structure to Play Music All Access. This could give users unlimited access to premium news content for a monthly subscription fee. The code also […] | | Google’s Project Loon dissects a global Internet balloon antenna Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:12 PM PDT Some of the technical details behind Google’s Project Loon were revealed in a recent video explaining the inner workings of one of its global Internet antenna balloons. Network engineering lead Cyrus Behroozi popped off the top half of one of the bulbous shells to point out the various parts of its two main components: a […] | | Google Chromecast app released outside the US Posted: 19 Oct 2013 12:12 PM PDT The Google Chromecast app is now available for download in multiple countries, reports Android Central. Previously the app was only downloadable within the US. The Chromecast dongle itself is not yet available for mail order or store purchase internationally, but the app availability could signal an imminent roll-out for its corresponding hardware. The app is […] | | NVIDIA Editor’s Day 2013 Wrap-up: G-Sync, 4K, and gaming’s blurred lines Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:49 AM PDT Though the event continues to be called “Editor’s Day”, this week we had an extended stay with NVIDIA in Montreal, learning about the company’s newest in gaming development and hardware innovation. The biggest news of the event was surely the unveiling of G-Sync, a hardware module made by NVIDIA to be planted in the backs […] | | Windows Remote Desktop mobile app to come to Windows Phone Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:21 AM PDT The new Windows Remote Desktop application for mobile devices, which was launched last week for iOS and Android devices, will soon be available for Windows Phone, reports The Next Web. The report comes in response to a question as to why Microsoft would release the app for the competition but not for its own platform. […] | | Noise-cancelling device for the home up for Dyson Award Posted: 19 Oct 2013 10:01 AM PDT Sono, a noise-cancelling device that attaches to your window, has been shortlisted as a top-20 finalist for the 2013 James Dyson Awards. Similar in concept to noise-cancelling headphones, the device detects ambient sounds and actively emits a counter-signal to replace the noise with projected silence or even with another simulated sound like the chirping of […] | | NVIDIA GameWorks gets real: Flame Works, FLEX for PhysX, GI Works for shadows Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:38 AM PDT In an effort to expand the understanding the public has of the developer program NVIDIA has in GameWorks, this week they’ve taken the stage with showings of a couple of new (or otherwise newly branded) technologies called FLEX and Flame Works. With FLEX, you’re working with a newly collected set of unified GPU PhysX – […] | | iPhone 5s confirmed fastest phone in independent ranking test Posted: 19 Oct 2013 09:07 AM PDT The iPhone 5s beat out the LG G2 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 in Which? magazine’s latest independent speed test of top-performing smartphones. Using a phone simulation program called Geekbench, the test found that the iPhone outperformed the competition in both single-core and multi-core performance benchmarks. Notably, the S4 slipped to third place after having […] | | SpyMeSat spy satellite tracking app lets you watch the watchers Posted: 19 Oct 2013 07:59 AM PDT A new consumer app tells you when spy satellites are overhead and potentially taking pictures of your area. SpyMeSat collates publicly available information about low-orbit spy satellites, issues alerts when one is overhead, and delivers technical information about the specific models of satellite that might be checking you out. It also tells you which nation […] | You are subscribed to email updates from SlashGear
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Video Of The Week: My Velocity Talk
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:32 AM PDT
| Video Of The Week: My Velocity Talk Posted: 19 Oct 2013 05:36 AM PDT I posted the talk here on Tuesday, but during my delivery I ad libbed a fair bit with some stories which, of course, made the talk a lot better. It's about 15 minutes long.  | You are subscribed to email updates from A VC
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"Time is the new space."
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:30 AM PDT
| "Time is the new space." Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:25 AM PDT | | Tea Party’s Image Turns More Negative - Pew Internet The Tea... Posted: 19 Oct 2013 05:43 AM PDT  Tea Party's Image Turns More Negative - Pew Internet The Tea Party is less popular than ever, with even many Republicans now viewing the movement negatively. Overall, nearly half of the public (49%) has an unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party, while 30% have a favorable opinion. The balance of opinion toward the Tea Party has turned more negative since June, when 37% viewed it favorably and 45% had an unfavorable opinion. And the Tea Party's image is much more negative today than it was three years ago, shortly after it emerged as a conservative protest movement against Barack Obama's policies on health care and the economy. | You are subscribed to email updates from Stowe Boyd
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For Tech Geeks Only - What Device Do You Use to Visit TPM?
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:12 AM PDT
| For Tech Geeks Only - What Device Do You Use to Visit TPM? Posted: 19 Oct 2013 07:46 PM PDT Every so often I like to look at the trends in the technology our readers use to access the site. What kind of computers, what kinds of operating systems, mobile or desktop, etc. There's a lot of interesting data in the latest numbers. But for anyone who's been on the web back into the 90s, here's the most striking piece of information. Fewer than 50% of the visits to TPM now come from computers running a windows operating system. Read More → | | Note on Prime Renewals for Launch Members Posted: 19 Oct 2013 05:40 PM PDT We've had a number of questions for people who had various issues renewing their Prime Launch Member subscriptions. Answers after the jump. Read More → | | Primarion Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:22 PM PDT | | Only in This Decade Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:02 PM PDT Watching Heart perform Stairway to Heaven for the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones) and Barack and Michele Obama. Read More → | You are subscribed to email updates from Editor's Blog
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#Ebook Deal/Day: Unlock Your Camera's Capabilities - Save 50% on Digital Camera Ebooks
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:10 AM PDT
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7 Tips to Load Google Web Fonts Faster
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:09 AM PDT
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Weekend Favs October Nineteen
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:06 AM PDT
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Overcoming Rejection to Achieve Success
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:04 AM PDT
| Overcoming Rejection to Achieve Success Posted: 19 Oct 2013 10:30 AM PDT Rejection sucks, but it's not the end of the world. In fact, rejection is a part of success. People who avoid rejection don't get hurt or disappointed, but neither do they feel accomplished or successful. No one likes to hear "no", but you can't achieve your goals without taking a risk. Here are some tricks to overcoming rejection and the fear of rejection, so that you can achieve success.  1. Don't take it personally. The most difficult part of hearing "no" is the feeling like the rejection is a reflection of you as a person. It can be like a stab to the heart and cause you to lose confidence. However, unless you've behaved badly, "no" is a rejection of what you have to offer, not your personhood. As a result, you shouldn't feel hurt or question your value. You might need to improve your presentation or interview skills, but again, that's about skills, not you as a person.
2. In career and business, "no" isn't always "no". Sometimes "no" means, "not now," "maybe," or "more information is needed." For example, in a job interview, you might hear, "I'm sorry, we don't have a place for you at this time," which means he might have a place for you in the future. Instead of walking away dejected, ask about a time frame in which you might be needed or if he'll keep your resume until a position comes available. You might even call or email every few months to follow-up and stay in touch. In sales, "no" sometimes means you haven't given the prospect the information needed to show your product or service's value. In that case, you can ask what the prospect would need to say yes. 3. Run the numbers. Timing and talking to the right person can play a part in getting hired or making a sale. Just because one person said "no" doesn't mean everyone will. So shake off the rejection and move forward with the attitude that you're weeding through nos to find the yeses. This is easier said than done, particularly if you're still experiencing a "no" as a personal rejection. But if you focus getting your presentation in front of as many qualified people as possible, instead of focusing on the result, you can work the numbers needed to find the yeses. 4. Assess and adjust. Rejection is a form of feedback, and as such you should evaluate what happened and what, if anything, you can improve. If you never get a call-back after an interview, perhaps you need to improve your interviewing skills. If your website has great traffic, but no sales, perhaps you need to change your website's text and appearance. If possible, ask for feedback so you don't have to guess as to what's not working. No one likes rejection, but the successful person recognizes that rejection is part of the process in reaching goals. Instead of feeling deflated and worthless, they reframe rejection into motivation to keep going or use it as a learning tool to improve. Author: Leslie Truex is a career design expert who has been helping people find or create work that fits their lifestyle goals since 1998 through her website Work-At-Home Success. She is the author of "The Work-At-Home Success Bible" and "Jobs Online: How To Find a Get Hired to a Work-At-Home Job". She speaks regularly on career-related topics including telecommuting and home business. | | Know What The Hiring Manager’s Thinking to Get Hired! Posted: 19 Oct 2013 02:30 AM PDT Act and think like an insider to get hired! — Beth Kuhel How can you possibly know what the hiring manager is thinking and how could this help you if you did? The answer is, you can't know exactly what he or she is thinking but you can get a glimpse into their mindset, values, needs and expectations by doing a little research. LinkedIn ambassador, Lindsey Pollack, offers fantastic advice on how to leverage LinkedIn. In one of her recent webinars, LinkedIn Job Search Fundamentals, Lindsey shares tips on how to learn about people in a firm; Searching in the company for specific people or within certain areas of expertise you can find details about a person’s employment background, (including previous employers, groups they belong to, their education, career path and the expertise and skills that are valued most by their firm).  How to prepare for your interview when you have a "Warm Contact?"
I recently coached a college graduate, we’ll call Sue, who is seeking employment in a multinational food and beverage company. A cousin of hers happened to work there and was willing to provide her with information about the manager’s personality, his strengths and challenges and the firm’s culture. This made it easy for Sue to learn the answers to a few of her key questions e.g. what qualities does this person like in a new hire and what are his pet peeves? Knowing the answers to these questions ahead of time enabled Sue to avoid making foolish statements in her interview and helped her focus her answers in line with the attributes he was seeking in a new hire. Sue was able to make an authentic statement about specific strengths and experiences she had that he’d view as desirable. Needless to say, her interview went very well. What do you do if you don't know anyone in the business? A common scenario that prospective new hires face is not knowing anyone personally who works in a company where they’re interviewing. This requires you to be a bit more creative and engage in some research. But the cool thing to know is that with the right effort you can learn a lot about a person's professional life and about the firm that will be relevant and useful information in your interview. And it’s completely reasonable to do this homework prior to your interview. You can find the answers to many pertinent questions about most hiring managers through a strategic search on LinkedIn. First, assuming you know the name of the person or his/her job title, you can search them on LinkedIn. You can make your settings anonymous if you prefer they can’t see you've been looking at their profile. But there is nothing wrong with checking a person's profile to learn more about them and their job as long as you do so in a respectful and professional way. Ideally it's your research that could help you become a more empathetic candidate! Your goal should be entirely about becoming more knowledgeable about them so you can see where you fit in and how you can contribute there. Next you can look to see what skills and expertise they've posted and what they say about themselves in their summary. Some will refer to their "core competencies or core strengths" and this also lets you know what skills are relevant to their job and possibly yours as well. Then check the groups they belong to and join those groups. You can ask to connect with people in the group and search for others who are in the department you’re interested in. See their profiles and select aspects of those you esteem to adapt and use in your profile. Look for "keywords" they use and borrow them so you'll have a better chance in being found in a hiring manager's search. See the category “interests” and “careers” under the company section and learn more about current issues and the activity others are talking about in the firm: When you can draw on this information in your interview you’ll sound more like an insider. Lindsey also suggests that you identify and borrow relevant key words from a model profile that are applicable to your experience. Craft your profile wisely including these words but make sure not to over do it by cutting and pasting their profile into yours. In other words, use your common sense and design your profile so it sounds like you and reflects your best qualities tied to the job you want. The next step to take, now that you have identified employees in that department, is to ask to connect with a few of them. It’s likely that at least one person will accept your request assuming your education and interest aligns with theirs. You can personalize your request letting them know you're interested in applying for a position in their firm and that you would greatly appreciate it if they could answer a few questions you have about the firm and their experience there. Most people love talking about themselves and will appreciate your honesty in requesting their mentoring. Once they agree to connect with you, send them a message via LinkedIn request a brief informational interview and ask when it would be convenient for them to speak with you prior to the date of your actual interview. Make sure to be respectful and appreciative for his or her time, as you don’t want to offend or annoy anyone who could potentially bad mouth you prior to your big day. Here’s a sampling of questions you could ask your contact person that could help you in getting a sense for the interviewer’s personality and his or her needs and expectations: - How long has this person been with the company?
- Where did he work before?
- What affiliations to groups/associations does he have?
- What's his personality like…does he enjoy sports, travel, reading, polo, scuba or chess?
- Where did this person spend his formative years?
- What type of person is he looking for? Describe what you think he would consider an ideal candidate.
- What specific problems are they trying to fix?
- What's the gap they're trying to fill?
- What are his work related skills, expertise and interests?
The answers to these questions will give you a window into the hiring manager's mind and help you steer the interview so you highlight your unique abilities, skills and interests that align with his or hers. Your answers in every interview must be authentic, as you never want to misrepresent yourself! The advantage of knowing more about the firm and people who work there is that you will have a better idea of which skills, interests and abilities to focus on that will match their interests: You can select your most relevant skills, expertise and personal interests so you make yourself memorable to them and tailor your pitch to their needs and their unique culture. Now you can go into your interview confident that you know something about the firm, something relevant about the people in the department and something about the hiring manager that you relate to. All things being equal, the candidate who shows they took an interest in learning about the firm and the people who work there as well as their products/services and current issues, will get hired. The reality is this shows emotional maturity and that you have a sincere interest in that firm. It also shows that you're not just going on interviews wherever you can get them. Companies invest in their employees and the best companies make it clear in the job description the precise skills, background and expectations for the prospective new hire. The savvy candidate will carefully review the position and everything else about the company (and its employees) so when it’s time for your interview, you have knowledge and confidence to answer questions like you’re an insider so you get hired! Author: Beth is Founder and President of Get Hired, LLC. She advises students on how to bridge the gap from school to career. Beth is the co-author of From Diploma to Dream Job: Five Overlooked Steps to a Successful Career. Her coaching assists students and career changers to successfully match their needs, interests, passions, skills, and personal goals with the needs of a sustainable industry in a sustainable location. She is a resource for print and online media and offers workshops for University Career Service Departments, Executive Recruiters, Outplacement Services, College Guidance Counselors and College Alumni Associations. See website for more details about Beth's services www.fromdiploma2dreamjob.com. Beth's Webinar was sponsored by George Washington University's Career Services Dept. for their worldwide alumni association: Leverage Your College Diploma. You can follow Beth on twitter @BethKuhel |
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Weekend Project: Reclaiming Shelves
Posted: 20 Oct 2013 01:02 AM PDT
| Weekend Project: Reclaiming Shelves Posted: 19 Oct 2013 04:01 PM PDT 
I’m not particularly happy in my home office even though it is located in my living room. Although it’s an improvement over working downstairs, which lacks light and is too far from the kitchen to smell burning food before it is too late, it’s still quite a jumble of stuff. I realized a couple weeks ago that I have homeless items that are scattered around the living room. For example, I have a piles of “things to write about later”, “miscellaneous everyday carry”, “stationery products to review”, “camera accessories”, and so-on. I had solved the problem of longer-term storage with my shoebox filing system that gathered loose items related to a single project. What I don’t have is a system to manage workflow-related material within easy reach of my workstation. I’d like to reclaim my bookshelves (pictured above) so they can start to group both reference materials and…well, I’m not exactly sure. I just know I have piles of stuff that are somewhat related that need to live somewhere, and they might as well be up here with me instead of all-the-way down in the basement. The second benefit of this will be having more space to work, since less junk will be occupying table surfaces. I have been feeling this lack of usable horizontal surface very keenly. | You are subscribed to email updates from David Seah
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The five editing techniques of Vsevolod Pudovkin
Posted: 19 Oct 2013 01:09 PM PDT
| The five editing techniques of Vsevolod Pudovkin Posted: 18 Oct 2013 01:44 PM PDT Vsevolod Pudovkin was a Soviet film director who developed influential theories of film editing. In this 12-minute video, Evan Richards uses clips from films like 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Godfather to illustrate Pudovkin's editing techniques. Pudovkin's book, Film Technique and Film Acting, which is available to read for free online. Stanley Kubrick was a fan: The most instructive book on film aesthetics I came across was Pudovkin's Film Technique, which simply explained that editing was the aspect of film art form which was completely unique, and which separated it from all other art forms. The ability to show a simple action like a man cutting wheat from a number of angles in a brief moment, to be able to see it in a special way not possible except through film -- that this is what it was all about. This is obvious, of course, but it's so important it cannot be too strongly stressed. Pudovkin gives many clear examples of how good film editing enhances a scene, and I would recommend his book to anyone seriously interested in film technique.
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Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere Banned From New Mexico High School Reading List
Posted: 19 Oct 2013 11:45 AM PDT
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"For the December issue of mental_floss magazine, Jake Rossen managed to do something we thought was impossible—he snagged an interview with the legendary Bill Watterson!," report our friends at Mental Floss. Here's a preview, and you can read the whole thing by buying a copy of their print zine: 
