#or if i go FAR more creative... and business operations seems far far more stable

[roseband]

...

[bettsfic]

hi, i was reading your years in review and i noticed that you quit a job of many years to go your own way. i was wondering if you would mind talking about this decision/if you struggled with it? idk i've always told myself that i wouldn't let the idea of a "career" get in the way of what i want (e.g. writing) and that one day (shortly after 30?) i would just quit whatever job i had and go my own way, but as that deadline comes up i find it harder to imagine how i could just uproot myself...

yes, i very much did struggle with the decision to quit (what i thought was) my very stable and lucrative career in finance to get an MFA in creative writing. it’s a bit of a long story so i’m putting it under a cut.

warning for suicidality and sexual assault.

i used to believe i grew up poor, but it was the 90s so poverty looked very different. my dad didn’t work for a long time, and so we only had one income, and we lived in an apartment that was kind of a lowkey hoarder home. as a kid, all i knew was that i didn’t get to have toys, or my own space, and i wasn’t allowed to have friends over. the concept of an allowance was totally alien to me. but it also wasn’t like i ever went hungry. the food we had wasn’t particularly healthy but it was always there.

i didn’t really realize how much that instability affected me until much later, when i noticed other people hadn’t lived their entire lives aware of and obsessed with money. i used to compulsively count the change in my piggy bank and beg my mom to take it so she could pay her taxes (i didn’t know what taxes meant, i just assumed they were the reason we couldn’t afford nice things). 

my safe haven was always my grandparents’ house, which was clean and had semi-healthy food and the door was always open. my grandpa was a high school chemistry teacher. my grandma worked at a bank. growing up, i had no idea what she did at the bank, just that it sponsored all the fun things we did, like going to amusement parks and baseball games. my parents never took my sister and i on vacation, but every year, my grandma would drive us to visit our family in missouri, which, even though it only cost the gas to get there, seemed like a wild indulgence to me.

i started working at 16 so i could have my own money. by 17 i was working illegally full-time and getting paid under the table. then i bought my own car, and shortly after i turned 18 i got my own apartment. even though i could pay my bills, i was still terrified about money. i thought about it all the time. i checked my bank account multiple times a day. i was a cashier at a restaurant and i would often open my drawer and just stare at the money or count it when i was bored.

but i hated working at the restaurant, and one day i thought to myself, how can i keep the money part of this job but lose the food part? then i remembered my grandma’s career at the bank (from which by then she’d retired), and that afternoon i sat down and applied to be a teller at the very same bank. obviously the bank was very large and it wasn’t like my grandma was in management. she worked in ATM operations. nobody on my hiring committee knew who she was, and honestly i have no idea how i got the job.

i stayed a teller through college, working 25ish hours a week. it didn’t pay very well and i was still nervous about money, so i picked up a job altering bridal gowns on evenings and weekends, and also an admin job at my university. so i was working 60ish hours a week, plus going to school full-time and trying to keep up my 4.0. in retrospect, i can’t remember how necessary all this was. i know i was living in an apartment whose rent was higher than i could afford, and i lived with my boyfriend who was struggling to find a job. anyway, it was definitely the lowest time of my life, and i was so exhausted that every day i hoped something horrible would happen to me so i could be hospitalized and rest. 

then something horrible did happen. my dad died. and even though everyone in my life was telling me to please dear god take a break, i did not. 

i got promoted to business finance, which paid what seemed at the time to be an ungodly amount of money. i was still part-time and finishing up my undergrad degree. once i graduated, i got promoted to full-time. for the first couple years, i really did try to be a banker. i was good at my job only insofar as someone who is left-handed can write with their right hand if forced for long enough. it felt very much like i was in the wrong place, but by that point i had so much unchecked trauma that i had convinced myself the highest human ideal was misery and deprivation. i wish i was kidding. i was the definition of ascetic and martyred myself. i didn’t believe happiness existed. work was all that mattered to me.

then i bought a house. so at this point, i had student loans, a car loan, a mortgage, and credit card debt. after my dad’s death, my mom had to file for bankruptcy because of all the medical bills. she abandoned her house. by this point i was 23, single, in six figures of debt with no familial support net, but i was making decent money at the bank, so it wasn’t like i was drowning. in fact i was doing pretty well. the bank was a rock in my very turbulent life. i got a lot of vacation time that allowed me to travel a bit. i had insurance and a matching 401(k). it was really a decent job.

but the bank was also in many ways an abusive relationship. i don’t mean that metaphorically. i had bosses who manipulated me, insulted me, humiliated me in front of other people. i had one boss who went so far as to look at my checking account and ridicule my purchases. i didn’t have any idea what it meant to stand up for myself or say no. in fact i wasn’t allowed to say no. my job at the bank involved solving other people’s problems. i could never say “i can’t solve that problem.” i could only say “i’ll figure it out.”

i had convinced myself working at the bank was a stable career because it was boring and i hated it. but actually it wasn’t stable at all. after 2008, there were mass layoffs and restructures every year while the bank tried to recover from the recession. i worked for a sales team, and so my job was dependent entirely on whether or not the salespeople did their jobs well. if they didn’t make goal, they’d get fired. if they got fired, i’d get fired. 

i started trying to date again and was sexually assaulted. after that i really struggled at work because i was dissociating a lot and couldn’t focus. my team, despite my having worked there for years, instead of being concerned for me decided to start complaining about me to my boss. finally i had to tell a coworker what happened and that i wasn’t doing very well. my team started being a little nicer to me but ultimately they didn’t care about me, they cared about how effective i was at my job. my boss didn’t want to fire me, so instead i was pushed onto another team.

that move came with a raise. then that team was dismantled and i was pushed onto another team. that was a demotion, but i got to keep my raise from the previous move. by then, i was working from home, and even though i was more comfortable i was also very isolated and miserable. my “fulfillment through deprivation” attitude was destroying me. i wasn’t eating well or taking care of myself. i was isolated and lonely. i still didn’t believe happiness was real and i constantly thought about killing myself. 

but i had started writing fanfiction, and even though i didn’t think i was any good at it, i was beginning to see a way out. i was beginning to learn how to dream, and want things, and give myself the things i wanted. i just couldn’t imagine leaving the bank, or selling my house, or moving out of my hometown. all of that seemed impossible to me.

then i had to go to a business conference where my team had a retirement party for one of my coworkers. she’d done what i was doing for 45 years. by that point i was at the 9 year mark. i’d spent my entire adult life at the bank. and i realized: the bank benefited from my fear and passivity, and nothing in my life was going to change unless i was willing to make sacrifices. 

but i still wasn’t entirely convinced. and then came the day i had to physically hold onto my desk to keep me from killing myself. i didn’t end up trying it, because i had another realization: this was a life or death situation now. if i kept working at the bank, i knew i would die. i knew eventually i would get low enough to do it. i didn’t actually want to die; i wanted an escape and didn’t know what else to do. suddenly i was off the hook. my options were not “financial stability or imminent poverty” but “live or die.” 

those were the big epiphanies i had, but the process of actually leaving the bank was a slow one. i wrote a bit about it here. i got into an MFA program basically by telling myself repeatedly i would figure out the money stuff later. when it came time to quit the bank, my boss convinced me to stay on working part-time, with the assumption i would move back to full-time once i’d graduated. i agreed to it, because just trying to quit was enough to convince me i could, and that better things were ahead of me. for a year and a half, i stayed on working two days a week while doing my MFA, which involved both coursework and teaching, and it felt a bit like it did during undergrad, having too many jobs and no time to breathe or think or feel anything.

between my first and second year, i had a looooong overdue mental breakdown. there were a lot of causes, but one of them was spreading myself too thin. shortly after, i quit for good. by then it didn’t feel like a big deal at all, i was so far removed from the work and my team and so focused on my degree. one day i turned on my work laptop and the next day i didn’t. i shipped it back to HQ and it was over.

then i graduated from the MFA and suddenly had to face the consequences of this life i’d chosen. my school kept me on as an adjunct, but it felt like being a ghost. i no longer had the community of my cohort. i had no health insurance. i was given my teaching schedule and a contract to sign, that’s it. there was no guarantee i would be getting classes the following semester, and after a year, that was what happened. i remember sitting in my favorite coffee shop trying not to cry when i got the email that said the department had nothing for me to teach the following semester.

i really wasn’t the same after the breakdown. i went from “i can do anything i put my mind to no matter how hard it is or how much it hurts” to “i have to step carefully, and treat myself gently.” i hadn’t fully realized that yet, though, so i tried to get a Real Job. i got the first and only job i applied to, because i am bad at nearly everything but somehow i’m exceptional in interviews. it wasn’t a bank but it offered the same sort of benefits package. it was a full-time salaried position at a non-profit. if i had found it earlier, i think it would have been my dream job. it was the kind of work you throw yourself into because you care so much about doing good. 

i lasted a month. during the first week something happened that triggered me in a way i’m very rarely triggered. i realized i needed disability accommodations, but i needed to go to a doctor to get an assessment and i had to be on the team 60 days in order to get insurance. i thought i could white-knuckle it, and i could, sort of, but every minute i was at work, it felt like i was forced away from the thing i should have been doing. i was constantly trying to write a few paragraphs here and there on my phone when no one was looking. i had to find excuses to take breaks and go to my car and breathe. at one point i told a volunteer i was an english instructor, and she looked at me very confused, and i realized i’d said it in present tense, like it was part of who i was and not a job i did for a while. then finally, my breaking point was an after-hours function. when i left i saw a field full of fireflies and thought about how, if i’d just stayed home, i could have sat outside and enjoyed them all evening, not just a glance at them on the way to my car. i liked the job but it was making me miss all the things i’d learned to love about being alive.

i quit the next day. i’d sold my house by then (which was its own feat) and moved in with my grandma, which hadn’t been a possibility until my grandpa passed away the previous spring. i paid off my car. i figured out finally that i would probably never be able to work full-time again unless it was teaching, and that the downside to this life would be accepting fear and instability, only being able to look ahead one semester at a time. staying open to the opportunities that arise. being a little selfish. 

i wrote a bit more about the financial realities of the writing life here. i can’t tell you what you should do, because the path i took definitely isn’t the path for everyone, but i do believe we all owe it to ourselves to pursue our best and happiest lives, because we only get one, and there’s no reason not to live it the way you want to. 

[welcometomy20s]

March 31, 2021

.Hololive Quarterly Report

I was trying to write this, then it became painfully too long, so I stopped and I’m going to try a much abbreviated version. I don’t why I’m writing this preamble.

Usada Constructions - Buy

CEO Pekora has come back from the creative crisis in late January, her response to the Akukin relay, Pekoland has been quite the success, and Pekora has hired three new people and taken two into actual production, and there has been talks of two more recruitments. Usada constructions has been the premier revenue maker in the server already and with renewed vigor, Pekora has inadvertently cornered the service industry, with her business associate Moon, making the HoloID mall, and hiring Botan or Menya Botan and Kiara of KFP in the process, and thinking hiring Watame, which has a food delivery service.

Future is looking bright for UsaKen and one should buy the stocks now.

Akukin Constructions - Sell

Akukin has a bright start with the recent hiring spree then the wildly successful AKukin Building Relay... and boasting 25% of the workforce in their wake. But CEO has been hampered with failure of her personal projects, first with her loss in the Mario Kart tournament, and then her failure to get the elusive solo Master in Apex. Perhaps, buoyed by her failure, she’ll return to Minecraft, but for now... there has been minor outing of the employers.

Both Mio and Marine went on Minecraft once after the relay, Marine to push Kanata to make her noteblock machines, and Mio in basically upkeep. Rest of the players have been quiet or have been associated with other people. Roboco have played once of twice, although she didn’t even participated in the relay. Choco has been mostly working as a broker for Flare, who is a contractor for Akukin. Lamy and Nene has been basically doing their own thing, mostly since they haven’t had anything else to do... and that’s it, I believe. Iofi, Mel, and Akirose never returned to Minecraft after the relay.

Well, Shion returned after four months with Rushia as the guide... but seriously, Akukin is all but over unless there is a serious reorganization. Sell them!

Shirauni-Elite Conglomerate - Buy

This is outside of current consensus, but it makes for me because it fits the current state of things. Miko and Flare first found their calling by basically gaslighting Kanata into operating a school. They have sense collaborated many times, Flare being part of the four heavenly kings and expanding their partnership in the urban environment, more specifically in Los Santos.

Flare’s turn in Minecraft basically leads me to reassess Flare’s strengths. Flare was kind of the straight man of the 3rd Gen, but she has shown that she could be as wild and unpredictable as the rest of the Hololive Fantasy. Flare eventually roped Polka into an apprenticeship, and Polka’s ability to pop into the most unexpected direction really helped with Flare’s stream as well.

Flare is having the time of her life, and her lover Noel has finally turn the tide on her devastating decline due to the great ASMR purge in early 2020, by embracing the English duolingo... finally passing up people, after falling so far.

Yeah, you should buy here. Although Miko’s recent pause is little worrisome...

Oozora Constructions - Hold

Subaru has been doing a lot of work... her biggest strength has been her free talks, she is a great storyteller, but that’s obviously hampered by language, which is why Subaru made the difficult move of having English summary in her topics, which is a great improvement for her... but her collabs have been on fire, and I mean Oozora Police was just amazing, with good timing as well.

Apparently Subaru has a new costumes, collabs, and original songs coming up in the next quarter, so Subaru is going to surpass already high expectation made during this quarter. As for her company though... well, Subaru has been a... lone duck in the situation. (Sorry for the pun)

Famously outcasted as Kanata and Marine were chatting up with Moona and Reine, Subaru has been lonely for quite sometime. Subaru has been working an actual commission from Korone, although Korone is most inconsiderate Hololive member (as evidenced by two consecutive Kuukiyomi tests), which is a bad sign. Rushia has been working well, both independently and with Subaru... now Luna... that’s the cinch of the situation at this moment.

I’ll talk about Luna later, but overall Oozora has its strength and weakness perfectly balanced. It’s a hold for me, although it can be a buy quickly...

Haachama Constructions - Buy

Haachama started off kind of lost. She recently moved back to Japan, and she didn’t really knew what direction to go off on... apparently a horror unfiction was her choice. It is a great unfiction, in all its spirit, the meta-component worked perfectly, the improvisational and interactivity was unparalleled, it is astounding that this a one-woman production, since even a dedicated team might not pull off this feat, taking images made minutes before the stream is due and incorporating them into the story flawlessly.

Akai Haato always impressed me, but this arc showcased that to everyone. And her future seems to be bright as she starts working on Season 2. Just buy!

OkaKoro Constructions - Hold

Both Okayu and Korone has been steady in their output, minimal collabs and continuing their series of old games. Korone has been particularly clever in her selection of games. Everyone playing Undertale, why not play the game that inspired the whole thing, Earthbound? People are playing Dragon Quest? Well, how about a classic version, Dragon Quest 3, instead of 11S?

But other than that, there wasn’t much going on... then the OkaKore anniversary concert happened, and I realized they still have so much progress. One commenter said how Bloom was a failure because there wasn’t any idols in that list, namely Watame, Okayu and Korone, and I started to agree.

But that’s just one performance, we don’t know if this would be foundation for something better. So let’s hold on the papers for now.

Kureiji Constructions - Hold

There’s always a bit of anxiety when one is lauded as the next new star, least to me, I was always anxious about Ollie’s growth. She could be great, she has plenty of talent, she’s a massive simp and a social collaborator, but her personality can turn on a dime if not careful. Fortunately, Ollie made good on herself, having one of the more explosive growth and becomes generally accepted as a peer, recently doing a large Mario Kart collab.

It’s still a hold, since I have residual anxiety, but this is a good stable company.

Seiso Pillars - Buy

I never really got the appeal on Sora, until she put on her glasses on. Her movement was so fluid and practiced, you can tell she’s a young lady with ambition, which is contrary to the goddess image. Azki has been making the move that Suisei did in end of 2019, slowly putting herself in the comedic spirit of rest of Hololive, and her Vtuber showcase is freaking phenomenal.

Suisei has been flirting with the pillar in Minecraft, and bring the third of HoloKazo(?) in Los Santos, letting her psychopathic side fully. Suisei used her arbitrary demonitization to her advantage, reinvigorating her streams immensely. I thought about holding, but honestly this is a buy. They are going to get better.

Shirakami Forestry - Hold

Fubuki wanted to finish her cherry tree by spring. Well, that didn’t happen. But Fubuki has been doing okay. Fubuki has made some radical moves this year, firmly associating with Coco. Remember that Fubuki’s explosive growth was due to Chinese fans, and this is true of Aqua as well (which is why Aqua has been more distant lately), so to associate with one of the most hated Vtubers by the ‘West Taiwanese’ is a risk, but one made with the knowledge that her base can be shifted, since this did not impact her growth at all.

So Fubuki is going to be Fubuki, no matter who she associates with. Hold.

Free Agents - ???

Matsuri might be the most valuable free agent, but she’s kind of like a public official, helping to keep stock on the commons, and helping Luna as well. This is why Luna is the kingmaker. Luna has connections with both Subaru and Matsuri, but their connection is either loose or non-associative. She can be convinced, but she could easily refuse... and who knows how that would affect Pekora.

Most people thought Matsuri was going to join UsaKen, and that might still be the case, although Pekora is notoriously uncomfortable of senpais.

Risu is next valued player. After her explosion in the 4th quarter, Risu has been struggling to keep afloat, although Risu seems to be fine with her laggard growth. Her impromptu Nier;Automata streams are always a delight, and her Spring soundboard has been fun as well. Risu also returned to Minecraft for a bit, so she might be on the hunt... she would be a great addition to UsaKen.

Ayame is the third player. Ayame has been inconsistent this quarter, mostly since she streams the least amount out of anyone. Her recent collab with Marine was something though, although that’s going to be paused for a bit.

Anya is the last person, just because she doesn’t have Minecraft and she is the least subscribed member. I think it was surprising how Anya’s stream has been. Instead of doing gatcha and perhaps talking stream, her game selections has been far off the beaten path, more so than Korone and Okayu, and she has been blazing (that’s another pun) her own trail much to her detriment.

I mean she’s fine in the grand scope of things, still very interesting move.

Okay, that was the short version, and even then it’s really long so... yeah.

[930club]

We recently chatted with Jamie Stillman, owner and mastermind of Akron, Ohio’s Earthquaker Devices, one of the leading innovators in guitar pedals/effects. We touch on everything from general guitar nerdery to how the pandemic is affecting the day-to-day operations of EQD. You can delve more into everything Earthquaker Devices related here.

Dave Kezer [9:30 Club]: There’s a joke that anyone who starts to listen to rap immediately wants to try to rap. It seems like anyone who starts to build guitar pedals immediately thinks they can start a pedal company. What do you think it takes to actually get a company off the ground in a sustainable way?

LOL! I used to make a similar joke that every guitar player with a soldering iron is a pedal company. It used to feel that way, but I think the craze has died down. It takes a lot of patience, hard work, and (possibly most importantly) good ideas to build a stable effect pedal company. They almost always start out as a hobby and it’s good to realize when it has moved beyond that point. In my case, it was very important to realize when I was in over my head and when to bring on people who have real knowledge in handling the business on a day-to-day level and have the ability to look at the bigger picture. I have punk rock business skills which worked up to a point, but I’m better suited to the creative role.

In your EQDQ&A Ep. 1, you joked about how long it took you to truly start understanding the differences/complexities of gear. I nerd out on gear so much that sometimes I lose focus on just enjoying playing instruments for the sake of it. How far is too far when it comes to putting every facet of gear under the microscope?

I think the threshold is different for everyone. There are people who won’t settle down until every piece of gear they own is top of the line and Reddit approved and there are people who don’t give a shit if their cable crackles if it moves a certain way. I put myself in the middle. I don’t really care about the proven quality or name brand of whatever I’m using, and I just make sure it works 100% of the time whenever possible. I make an exception on pickups, cables and power supplies because I think those are the most important part of the equation for me personally. I’ll always use the best I can find, and I decide what is best by putting it to use and seeing how it performs.

Your feature on the Rainbow Machine focuses on the usability of weird pedals. Have you designed something so weird that it is truly unusable?

Personally, I don’t find the Rainbow Machine to be so weird, but a lot of other people do, so we ran with that. I know the “pixie trails” function of the Magic switch is obnoxious, but I think it’s cool. There are way weirder pedals out there, lol. I’ve definitely designed things that I thought were cool but not exactly functional in every setting, but I usually work to make them more multi-dimensional. There’s only one that I’ve been working on for a really long time that has a million controls with minimal functionality. I’m not sure I’ll ever finish it but it’s (kind of) fun to keep trying once or twice a year when the mood strikes.

Are there any guitars that you’re completely satisfied with and won’t continue to modify? It seems like for gear people (myself included), a piece of gear will operate at 99% of its maximum potential, but the search for that 1% will make your brain itch forever and lead to continued modification.

No, I constantly modify all of my guitars lol. I change pickups a lot, more than anyone should. The closest I think I’ve gotten to “perfection” would be my stock Nash Telecaster and a heavily modded Fender Jazzmaster. The Jazzmaster is a 60th anniversary that I gutted and replaced almost everything except the neck and body. It has Seymour Duncan custom shop ’59 humbuckers for Jazzmaster with 500K push/pull pots for coil tapping and the rhythm circuit is removed. It also has locking tuners, a Mastery vibrato, bridge, and string tree. It still feels too new, but it sounds perfect.

Your Reverb “Does This Work?” interview focuses on old effects and their tendency to break down over time. What are the typical things that cause old circuits to stop working?

In my experience it has been dust, humidity, and neglect resulting in bad switches, corroded solder joints, cracked wires and dried caps. I never get around to fixing my old gear though. I’ll get in there if I really want to use something, but I’ll usually turn it over to Joe Golden, our in-house repair wizard. Most of the broken gear in the Reverb video is still broken…

Two of my favorite EQD pedals are the Tentacle and the Acapulco Gold, if not simply because there are one/no options to choose from when getting sounds. I tend to get freaked out when I see a pedal that has 4+ knobs, which is something I’m working on, haha. Where do you draw the line when it comes to simplicity vs. versatility when designing pedals?

I used to have a “whatever it takes” approach to design as long as it wasn’t confusing for the general user, but I’ve been moving towards a “less is more” approach. I don’t think pedals should require hours of reading manuals and menu diving to use. The faster you can get to making actual music the better. That’s not to say I don’t have some elaborate, sometimes confusing, products in the pipeline but I’m generally leaning towards simple design.

Don’t mean to be a bummer, but I have to ask — how has the pandemic affected EQD’s business operations? If I understand correctly — it seems like your builders are assembling pedals at home?

We have taken the pandemic very seriously. We knew the shutdown was coming and some of our employees had already been working to get things in place to make the transition to home building as easy as we could. We had almost 50 employees working from home for almost three months and the production capacity was greatly reduced. We didn’t ship any product for about two months. We kept all the employees on the payroll and had regular Zoom meetings to keep everyone up to date on what we were doing. Now, as of June 16, 2020, we are still mostly working from home but we have a skeleton crew in the shop so we can populate PCB’s more efficiently and start shipping product. We completely rearranged the shop to spread people out and invested a lot of time and money into making it a safe and sanitary workspace. We have gone above and beyond all the recommended protocols — too many precautions to list. It would be very hard to catch any illness inside EQD now.

Do you have a favorite “Let’s Go!” guitar riff? For example, whenever I’m driving and “Unchained” comes on the radio, I dime the volume and start driving like a complete lunatic.

I’m pretty reserved but, oddly enough, “Unchained” is also one of my favorite riffs ever! I think I play it at least once every time I pick up a guitar. Also a big fan of “Siberian Khatru” by Yes once it kicks in. Same with “In the Light” and “Rain Song” by Led Zeppelin and anything on Sonic Youth’s Sister. I guess these are more riffs that I wish I wrote than riffs that make me lose my shit. I guess most of them also make me sound like a real dad rocker too.

Is there a piece of gear you’ve spent a completely stupid amount of money on simply because you had to have it?

Yes, a Sunn Model T and it was worth every penny! It’s the most perfect amp I’ve ever owned.  

Not asking you to talk smack, but do you have a “Dumbest Pedal Ever Designed” award in your head?

I’ll keep my mouth shut on this one.

Finally, have you been through D.C. while touring or seeing shows? Anything about D.C. venues or the music scene in general you’d like to share?

I’ve been through D.C. about six or seven times, maybe more. I’ve always held D.C. in high regard because of Dischord records and bands like Ignition, Bad Brains, Jawbox, Fugazi, etc. 9:30 Club is actually one my favorite venues ever. I’ve been through twice when I was tour managing and the staff was super friendly and accommodating, which is unfortunately rare in the touring world. It also has the best green room of any venue I ever worked in; the bunks are a nice touch!

— Dave Kezer

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

There is something people can’t talk about regarding the Dalish

So let me talk about something, and I don't know how to preface it so let me just come right out and say it.

I feel like there's this unspoken rule that the Dalish can't be criticized, and there also seems to be this unwillingness to ascribe negative traits to their culture that we would otherwise assume of other cultures, fictional or real.

I say this because I *feel* it. I feel as though I can't write anything critical of Dalish without people assuming that I'm somehow an imperialist or something, that I'm badmouthing an indigenous group because *that's just what's been done*.

Let me try to explain.

So we have the Dalish, a group of people whose plights and history can be equated to that of the Jews (rumors of blood libel and child sacrifice, forced conversion, their brethren being sequestered in ghettos in the cities, frequent victims of attempted annihilation, scapegoats for mishaps that happen in human villages and such); indigenous peoples (living in non-urban societies that worship polytheistic deities, the original backstory prior to the revelation in Trespasser aligns with slow erosion of their culture through human settlements and disease, victims of attempted annihilation, considered barbaric for their rustic lifestyles); and Romani/Sinti (nomadic, located on the outskirts of established societies, also victims of scapegoating). 

Okay, we got that out of the way. We have that established.

But can we also be completely honest with ourselves and say that the Dalish are NOT a monolithic group of people but also have cultural variations? The only things that tie them together is the fact that they are elves that worship Elvhen gods, they wear vallaslin, and they are nomadic. That's basically it. That's all we really know about them from that. Beyond that, the canon, the creative minds behind Dragon Age, and the offical outside sources like art books, novels, and comics clearly establish that there are differences in dialect, relationship with humans, their views of magic, and even their views of sexuality.

That last one is what I want to talk about most.

This is a game series that has been a refuge for non-straight people. The universe is accepting of LGBTQA people in a way that few other game franchises, if at all, have. I get that. I understand wanting to preserve this great source of representation and acceptance that runs through the game's universe. There is also the turning of stereotypical fantastical racism on its head. The parallel between the treatment of the Dalish and indigenous peoples is great politics. I love learning about it. I love talking about it in the context of the story and as a reflection of real-world history, but...

What I'm trying to get this conversation to point to, really, is the fact that I see that people are unwilling to entertain the idea that some Dalish clans may not in fact, gasp, be necessarily LGBTQA-friendly, but more specifically, Lesbian-Gay-Asexual*-friendly.

It seems to be a kneejerk reaction to assume that a marginalized group will accept another marginalized group, and there's somewhat of a real-life precedent for it, given that gender roles were less strict in certain native tribes than in Europe, what with two-spirits and similar concepts. Now that is very valid, and there may indeed be Dalish tribes that believe in that sort of thing...

When the controversial user FenxShiral was still on here, he answered questions about language and Dalish culture. These were all his headcanons, and some of the ones where he offered his opinion on how the Dalish viewed certain sexualities drew the ire of some members of the Dragon Age community.

If I remember correctly, he said that not all clans accept homosexuality, and asexuality is also considered odd. People thought he was being homophobic and acephobic.

But here's the deal, and let me try to expand upon this without sounding too ADD.

-- If we go all the way back to the Old Testament of the Bible, there is a lot of talk of who can't sleep with whom and how you can sleep with this person and why you can't masturbate and all that. Now think of the context: These are tribes emerging to carve out a stable civilization. Death is commonplace. Famine, drought, war, and disease is commonplace. Infant mortality is high, on average. Grown adults die off easily. For the sake of the tribe or clan surviving, babies need to be made and be made regularly. Let's ignore the institution of marriage for a moment because that's about property and assuring a family line is kept intact...there is no room for gay people who are unwilling to make babies in this society. There is no room for asexuals* who do not want to have sex or have children. There is no room for people who do not want to do what's "best for the community" and give up their personal happiness for the sake of the tribe or clan. That is the fact of the matter.

A lot of LGBT activism and thought intersects with individuality and personal autonomy. "I am LGBTQA. What I do sexually is my business. I owe nothing to no one else." This is a very MODERN way of thinking, this idea that you should make yourself happy and that people should leave alone what does not affect them.  Tribes and small-knit communities are not very individualistic by nature because they require full participation and equal amounts of sacrifice from everyone in order to keep the wheel turning, to keep the clan alive. These are societies that do not have an excessive amount of people that could do with 10% of women not getting pregnant or a few men choosing not to impregnate people. They can’t survive a major upset that could suddenly wipe out half their tribe and have one in five be unwilling to help resupply people.

As for the argument of "Well, what if they are gay and are willing to get someone pregnant/become pregnant, but still want a same-sex lover?" I would say that religion could likely come into play. Either the society will say "okay, I'll allow that cuz kids are getting made and that’s what I’m asking for" OR they'll say "doesn't matter, sex is for procreation only". 

But going back to the Dalish and homosexuality. We have no proof that all Dalish are LGBT friendly. In fact, I would argue that it is the direct result of the small number of them that AT LEAST SOME CLANS would be less inclined to allow clan members to remain exclusively in same-sex relationships because it would mean fewer Dalish children are being made. That's going to be two women not carrying children and two men not impregnating. The Dalish are always struggling to keep their numbers up. On the one hand, the cities are dens of disease and violence, on the other hand, the Dalish have to contend with the elements, wild animals, and the wrath of local lords and peasants who want to run them off their camping grounds. Then there are those who wish to leave for the cities, or who fall in love with city folk. It is implied that certain tribes consider clanmates who match up with humans or non-Dalish to be "half-breeds" of a sort, "traitors" to their People, and it varies as to whether children of this union will be accepted by their Dalish family (as far as I know, this contrasts with the typical custom of North American native tribes who would readily accept mixed race children into their tribes).

The Dalish love children because children are great, yes, but also because they are a living future legacy. Someone who refuses to impregnate/get pregnant is not acting with the future survival of the clan in mind. Same thing with someone who is gay and does not want to carry a child or help conceive one. Now there may perhaps be a window open for the gay uncle or aunt to help rear children, but the Dalish obviously have developed a culture that values lots of kids because it is an unmistakable sign that their customs and traditions will carry on into the future.

So I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that not just the fact that the Dalish may be less tolerant of gays than you want to believe, but that being against homosexuality may not have anything to do with reasons like "gay sex is eww" or one's faith but that it could come from a utilitarian or pragmatic standpoint, cultural or existential or what-have-you. It's the same reason why the Tevinter Imperium is "anti-gay". It has nothing to do with the fact that homosexuality is bad, necessarily, because like in Greece and Rome there were context-heavy situations where it was allowed and tolerated, but because being exclusively homosexual and refusing to even pretend to "marry the girl" and have a kid jeopardizes this particular society's eugenic-based infrastructure: The upper class NEED to breed with each other to have perfect mages that will breed with other perfect mages to have more perfect mage children. This maintains the status quo and the hierarchy. As an Altus you can have a boytoy elf slave, you can probably even canoodle with a man of a lower class because you have that social superiority, but you cannot canoodle with another Altus because it's distracting both of you from your duty of siring children.

Now I’ll bet I’ll get people coming out of the woodwork accusing me of trying to justify homophobia or acephobia, but I’m not. I’m Bi and I guess a bit Asexual. I’m trying to explain why it is not homophobic or acephobic to entertain the idea that some Dalish clans may be more leery of gay or asexual* clan members. Again, the Dalish are not a monolithic group. They are a bunch of different elf family groups that have rejected the Chantry and human civilization. Beyond that and a few cultural staples, they operate fairly independent of each other and developed their own way of maintaining their autonomy and existence.

It is like how anti-capitalists are also not a monolithic group. The only thing they share among them is their rejection of capitalism and perhaps even share reasons why they hate it. Beyond that, the proposed alternatives vary widely from socialism to anarchy. 

*  Specifically, those who are sex-repulsed/disinterested

[warmheartworldwide]

A Busy Gap Year - seeing through children’s eyes

The following blog comes from Rex Lin who is completing a six-week stay at Warm Heart:

I graduated from high school earlier this year and decided to take a gap year. Although I was a good student, I wanted to do something more than just studying all the time. I am not a typical Taiwanese teenager. My family lives in Homei township, in central Taiwan, and both my parents work in factories. My mother is ethnic Vietnamese and, like many others from southeast Asia, married my father and emigrated to Taiwan in the 1990s. She was very brave to leave her home in search of a better future and she encourages and inspires me a lot. I think that she has influenced me to become a more empathetic person. 

I first got involved in activism in high school. There is a nearby chemical factory with 1000 workers which was still using three older power plants which emitted toxic gases. Some of my classmates campaigned for a month and succeeded in getting those plants shut down. None of the workers lost their jobs because the factory has newer power plants that are up to code but which are more expensive to operate.

Initially my parents were surprised about my gap year decision but after I told them about my plans, they supported me wholeheartedly. I first became aware of children’s rights in the eleventh grade when I was the leader of our student association. I looked into any matter involving students and advocated for their rights. Then I was chosen to represent Taiwan and speak at a review conference of national reports on the rights of children. After that I studied the subject more thoroughly and spoke at the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

I consider myself to be quite outgoing. Since I was 10, I have seriously studied English and use it whenever I can at international events where I can meet and make foreign friends. Since I enjoy public speaking, my first gap year activity was to organize a two-month lecture tour targeting 50 engagements all over Taiwan. Most of the lectures were staged at schools, NGOs or other institutions. On average, about 30 people came to each lecture. Mostly I talked about student and children’s rights and how to protect them. I got a lot of support and feedback from the students and teachers who attended. Since I am not from a wealthy family, I think my story inspired some people and made them realize that they can also change their lives.

After my lecture tour, I realized there are still so many things that need changing, both in Taiwan and the rest of the world, and that’s what I want to work for. I understand that change might come slowly and only in gradual steps. I also realized that I am a good listener and always ready to learn more about people and their lives.

In Taiwan, students try to show in their college applications that they have previous volunteer experience both at home and abroad. I had never volunteered before so when a friend told me about Warm Heart and its involvement with children’s education, I decided to apply. I liked Warm Heart’s grassroot approach and its “helping people to help themselves” philosophy. I thought that working more closely with the Thai people would allow me to truly understand their problems. At the same time, I was also worried about Warm Heart’s location in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere.  

During the interview process with Evelind, when she asked me about my plan for my stay, I panicked. I had just graduated from high school and had no special skills, so how could I really help? Whatever I had learned about children’s rights during my past experiences in Taiwan, how could I transfer the knowledge if I didn’t speak Thai? Luckily Evelind said that we would find out what I could do after I got here. I was quite relieved because I really wanted to come.

My parents wondered why I didn’t choose to volunteer in Vietnam but I had already been there several times to visit my mother’s family and wanted to discover a new place. I managed to get a government subsidy which covered about half my expenses. The Taiwanese government is quite generous with students who require financial assistance for higher education and I will also be getting grants to cover my university education. My last activity before coming here was at the 7th Global Trend Youth Forum which was hosted this year by Taiwan and where I served as a youth pilot.

After getting here, I began by observing everything and trying to understand how Warm Heart works and everyone’s role. I saw how great the burden of constant fundraising is. I joined visits to the elderly and disabled in our community. One visit was to a grandfather who did not seem to be disabled. He had a wife and sons and his home was in good condition. At first I didn’t understand why he needed help. But after more visits, I realized our goal was to establish a good relationship, one of trust. Even though I needed to go with Noina, Warm Heart’s public health staff member, who translated for me, the residents really appreciate our visits and getting the attention.  

Fellow volunteer Malory says goodbye to local resident when she finishes her time at Warm Heart

Many of the elderly feel neglected because their family members are too busy working and unable to spend much time with them. Lying all day in bed by themselves, just watching television, without enough human interaction, they can get overcome with stress and other negative emotions. We pretend to be their sons and daughters for a short time. We ask them simple questions like “Did you sleep well last night?” or “Do you have enough blankets to keep you warm?” We show that we actually care.

Every project at Warm Heart is aimed at improving the welfare of the residents in the surrounding communities. At the same time, it is important to always respect the residents. I wondered how they perceive Warm Heart, an NGO set up by foreigners that uses foreign volunteers. Maybe they don’t really need us. But then I think that our role is to help them see the different possibilities of ways to improve their lives. If we can build up their trust in us, they will gradually accept us and the obstacles and walls will break down. So maybe sometimes we need to slow things down and work more on building the trust.

Biochar stand with other volunteers at Citylife Garden Fair in Chiang Mai

The most valuable lesson I´ve learned at Warm Heart is how to see the world through the eyes of children. Most of Warm Heart’s kids have had a difficult start. Some have parents who take drugs or risk imprisonment; others have dysfunctional families and have been neglected. I asked myself, what do these children really need? Do they really need more dull classroom lectures? In Taiwan, many people think that children from poor families just need to study hard to improve their lives. But there is a big difference between the opportunities for children who are supported by their families who have resources and those who are not.

Warm Heart kids share their photos with volunteer John (left)

I think the Warm Heart kids all know that education is important if they want to find meaningful work. Warm Heart cooperates with several hotels, restaurants and tourist agencies to involve the older kids who are interested in internships or apprenticeships leading towards decent jobs. But the kids lack creative activity that teaches them something about the world and themselves. With this in mind, I organized several activities during my stay. In Taiwan, kids welcome the coming of the winter solstice by making sweet rice balls. My goal was for the kids to feel a sense of achievement when eating the rice balls they had made themselves. Seeing their smiling faces when they tasted the rice balls for the first time, I knew that our bonds were closer.  

Warm Heart kids make sweet rice balls

Warm Heart has been in operation for over a decade. It takes a long time to build the trust which is needed to effect true change. As the Warm Heart kids grow up to be pillars of that trust, going into higher education and creating good lives for themselves and their families, we will gradually see the fruits of our hard work.

I now regard myself as a budding social anthropologist. Observing and learning more about everyone’s social and family contexts, their customs and living habits, helps me help them. As for working with children, I just want them to be able to evolve happily and in a carefree way. Our task is to provide a positive environment with sustainable economic support and stable educational resources. Without obstruction, hopefully each child will then be able to find their own path.

My busy gap year will continue after I leave Warm Heart. Before resuming my studies in sociology at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, I have a short-term paid contract with the Taiwan Alliance for the Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare, a large NGO. In collaboration with the Scottish children’s and youth parliaments, our committee will be creating a model children’s parliament to show the Taiwanese government how it works. There are many children’s parliaments across Europe but, as far as I know, there aren’t any yet in Asia. We will build the structure and encourage students and children to join and empower them accordingly. It's a tough task but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Mali, Wonhui, Malory (front), John and me (back)

[tictaovratgop1971-blog]

Sidearm: 9mm will drop most unarmored targets but doesn do much for armored targets. A sawn off shotgun will devestate any enemy within a couple tiles (like those pesky predators) and is a decent choice. For armored targets you would presumably be better suited by something in.50 AE, 10mm auto, or possibly 45 ACP.. So I had to go from " loser to cool" every school year, or in sports etc. The byproduct is that I " American as fuck", in speech, ethics, love politics, played football, baseball, track and field. Tease, wrestle, workout, give my friends wedgies etc. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. If you going to whale for no reason, at least time it for when the devs make good decisions. Like, I don know, when we get DX11 like they promised and it doesn suck ass and break the game. I haven't watched her before, but I really needed this. I'm dealing with severe acne right now and it has truly taken over my life. I can't stop thinking about it, and it's obliterated my confidence and mental health. In the beauty industry, everyone seems to have a story when it comes to hair problems. The road to healthy hair is paved with more blossom kochhar aroma magic hair care products, tips, and tricks than we know what to do with. It is essential that we take steps to maintain our hair health not only for the sake of appearance. 22 points submitted 2 days agoI excited to read the full album is definitely still happening! I got that sense from the main cover article, but it wasn explicitly stated. This article more clearly 안양출장샵 states that it not only something they sort of plan to do or would like to do, but more of a specific goal and a top priority. Yay!I loved reading the additional insights into how they are involved in the creative process, how they trained together and how they plan to work together going forward, balancing solos group releases.I also just love reading their interactions with each other. SIMONE. My good wife, you come slowly; were it not better To run to meet your lord? Here, take my cloak. Take this pack first. The shelter told her that he was having the start of an 안양출장샵 upper respiratory infection, they had him on antibiotics, and they thought it would be better for him to be treated for this in his new home. And because of this she was considering backing out of the adoption because she can deal with a sick dog and can risk getting her kid (who I think has allergy issues) sick from the dog. If that even a possibility.. The main thing to remember is illusions don have to be deceptive to be useful. Our entire modern world is fueled by illusions! You can touch what in your computer screen. You can shake hands with the person playing the music through your phone. Rainbow Six Siege introduced more wacky outfits for its operators in recent years that most of the community wore. It a similar case for Battlefield and others. So why is COD not allowed to change?. I've been very down on myself recently and it sucks. I'm very busy with college struggling to stay afloat but also my gf lives far away and I'm just kinda in the dumps. The good times are for taking life in and experiencing the world around you, but the bad times are when we learn about who we truly are.. You can take finance roles in interesting places. Every business has finance roles. And almost any role in finance procurement, accountancy, finance controller etc is probably more stable and better paid than marketing. I had to leave for work and am now at work. Yes, I threw away the bag of poopy socks. She texted me back and she clearly embarrassed, but felt she owed me an explanation.

[bootlegvajrayana-blog]

Journaling

Last year: The visitation of Dakinis through my body, in the form of Yumi; that crazy witch! who haunts and loves me still in the aftermath of her blazing wisdom... ...of course, there is not exactly a ‘me’ left --> rather, there are memories and re-memberings, a sense of the aggregates of  Form (this body) Sensation, Perception,  Volition and Consciousness having become heaped upon with the karmic con-sequences of the sequential cons of karma.

The bliss of Samsara was exactly Awakening...

Now, there is a sense of my non-binary Being as a ‘stable’ sense of knowing, and of course this is exactly non-binary with confusion, with vacillation ‘between’ an ‘existing’ binary which needs neither navigation nor dissolution since it is already empty and not in the least bit located as Real, not in the least! *** After reading Jaron Lanier’s brilliant “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now” I finally went ahead and deleted my account last night. So technically, today, Monday 18th June 2018 would be Day 1 of being off of Facebook. Admittedly, I am struggling a bit more with the idea of getting off of Instagram; I had already been, for some time, weaning myself off of dependency on Facebook, though it lingered in the background as a place for my voyeurism (and as a catalyst for generalised chronic social anxiety; not because I thought others had it ‘better than me’ or whatever, but only in terms of encountering the Samsaric omnipresence of rage, and wounded resentments of my already multiply-marginalised friends... I was and am no longer convinced that it was healthy for my mental health OR for our longer term political survival, despite the clearly GREAT things about the medium (e.g. that the disparate rag tag group of us might be aggregated as a network of ‘friends’ in the virtual-ised safe space of my Newsfeed and/or particular Facebook groups).  Lanier’s point in his book on why we should delete our social media accounts boils down essentially to the argument that, in their existing form (particularly platforms like Facebook and Instagram), it is a zero sum game. Their business model is based off of mysterious algorithms that intend to keep their users hooked by fine-tuning our dopaminergic responses to what is shown on our feeds, while maximising the likelihood that we will click on advertising links that cater specifically to the triggered insecurities in ourselves. Given such a model, what has happened is the dangling of the carrot of ‘connectivity’ and ‘friendship’ and for that matter, the promise of popularity, a throng of fans supporting our own righteous causes, etc., while at the same time all of this being foundationally contingent on our giving our consent to being psychopolitically manipulated to remain on their platforms. Now of course, we can argue that this is no different from any other for-profit business. With one caveat: In the case of Facebook and Instagram, because of the nature of the technology, this necessarily selects not only for that which will give us the most instant pleasure, but also that which gives us the most anxiety; after all, it is the most outrageous kinds of things that will be most likely to elicit a click-bait kind of response; as a result, Truth is compromised, and knee-jerk paranoid reactivities are prioritised in terms of what ultimately gets shown through all our scrolls through...  Of course, I am writing here as a racialised queer person (as a 3rd culture kid of MalaysianChineseAustralian heritage) who was networked disproportionately with other folks who experience multiple interstices of oppression; The medium is the message --> In addition to already living challenging everyday experiences, Facebook exacerbates this by normalising a kind of ‘discourse’ in which the loudest, brashest, and most extremist forms of polemic, including of those on ‘our side’ are disproportionately represented on my feed... even if it is only to trigger my emphatically reactive disagreement ... This in itself is a ludicrous manipulation of our tendencies to ethnocentrism... *** In choosing to quit Facebook, I was not and am not intending to make a comment about its being ‘all bad’; I am genuinely scared and grieving some of the aspects of what was possible for me in communication and creativity as a result of my using Facebook (e.g. instant-shares and feedback around poetry, political thoughts, etc.) that I am unlikely to find any easy replacement for. Additionally, I am aware that professional opportunities have come my way in the past because of connections through Facebook, that will now likely diminish as I have chosen this particular bridge to burn as I consider my next steps in how I want to relate more healthfully in my own constructions of truth and meaningness... The mandala of my FriendList, already meticulously parsed out according to whether I would be comfortable outing myself as trans/non-binary/femme to them as particular individuals, or whether we shared religious proclivities, whether they were people of colour like me, etc. had become unwieldly, insofar as I noticed that I was spending more of my time giving my creative and intellectual labour away on Facebook for free (self-justifying this as being about the generativity of intrinsic motivation) than I was focussing on connecting with friends in real life, and outside of the quiet safety of my own home as I have been managing a ‘social transition’ (of my gender identity ... largely, in other words, in my own head, and mediated through the gazes of those who saw me as filtered through the internet).

I have chosen to quit Facebook, because I think, in part, I would like to figure out what it might mean to go through my transition without being further influenced by those particular algorithms which root any kind of egoic investment in the conditions of anxiety, precarity, and only illusory solidarities with ‘frenemies’ who seem more eager to tear down what is disagreed with, than to lift up what is good and offer constructive feedback for what might be improved... * To be clear, I do not think that these habits are inherent in the particular individuals who may have indulged most in this kind of rhetorical battling... Facebook itself has normalised a culture of paranoia in which perfectly rational actors are, in fact, perfectly rational by operating from a baseline of battle, poised for war. After all, when it looks like hundreds of real people are espousing vile opinions and perspectives that cause genuine harm to those who encounter them, it does take a kind of heroism to speak out and speak back, and shut it down as quickly as we can... right? ...Not if, of course, in the first instance, those hundreds of horrible perspectives are actually just amplifications of pre-existing tendencies, tendencies that may themselves find their way into the habits of those on ‘our side’ ... I found myself balking at the extent to which perfectly good people, ‘friends’ (i.e. colleagues, ex-colleagues, wider-networked folks, friends of friends, etc.) wounded by the pathos of imperialism, colonisation, racism, cishetpatriarchy and so on, started to engage in the very behaviours that we denounced in our political opponents: --> Bullying --> Exaggerated polemics --> Outright lying (i.e. making up ‘facts’ that are not facts)  --> Refusing accountability --> Tearing down those who try --> Calling on friends for money and business and then refusing accountability for exploitative practice I realised soon enough that there was no way any of this could be remedied through the medium ... It was the medium itself that was rewarding this --> After all, even if none of us genuinely like this, the culture of fear and paranoia it engenders creates a wolf-pack kind of situation, where it is the pile ons, the likes and the dislikes, the drama created, etc. that feeds Facebook its money, while those of us whose lives and mental health have been stirred up in addiction to the use of the platform itself are being mined for our habits of use (I am more likely to remain on Facebook if I am still-stuck angry with some shit-poster, for example, than I am if everything was already-resolved and I was already-happy with my life), and then being subjected to more and more information that would be targeted to trigger us in our (otherwise justifiable) angers and passions. *** I am only now beginning to realise how fucked up I have become from having spent so much time in my young adult life being molded by these terrible logics under neoliberalism. The paradox of capitalism, in this sense, is that I cannot now deny any of the good things that came from my use! I learned new vocabularies, was exposed to new perspectives, etc. etc. At the same time, I am now committed to engendering new ways of relating to others in my life, including investing more deeply in fewer friendships, so that I can be far less lonely and angry than I have been, and perhaps so I can stop viewing any potential friend from the perspective of how quickly I can tear them apart for something wrong they’ve done, and perhaps instead look them in the eye and allow my heart to melt a little bit before offering loving kindness that bolsters all of our humanity, in the service of a healing that is desperately needed, in this age of fascist precarities. 

[martechguide]

How to see google search results for different locations

New Post has been published on https://martechguide.com/how-to-see-google-search-results-for-different-locations/

How to see google search results for different locations

How to see Google SERP results data of Different Locations

What you and I are likely to see in Google differs a lot even if we search for the same thing.

The results we get depend on our:

Search habits.

The devices we use.

And, most importantly, our current location.

This makes perfect sense to users who often search Google for places and services nearby.

At the same time, this leaves marketers blind to what customers really see in Google in all the different locations their business targets.

So, today we’ll dig deeper into localized search results and look into every possible way to search Google from another location – both manually and using tools.

Do All SERP Elements Depend on Location?

The short answer is “yes.”

Even though we often think of local search as something related to “local 3-pack” blocks, the rest of the SERP is also tailored for the searcher’s specific geo-location (especially for queries with an obvious local intent).

In different locations, you may see changes in organic listings (the 10 blue links include different local businesses and directories), knowledge panels, universal search blocks, and paid ads.

But What If We Simply Ignore the Change?

The bad news is, whatever research you’re up to – be that tracking search presence, analyzing competition or looking for relevant directory placements – you almost always need a certain level of SERP localization. Otherwise, you’re simply leading yourself astray.

But there’s also some good news: the level of needed granularity differs.

And while local 3-pack results are hypersensitive to the slightest location change and might sometimes require being tracked from a specific street address, organic search results remain much more stable.

For some of your organic tracking, city-level analysis is more than enough. For others, you barely need going beyond country localization.

So, let’s talk about different SEO tasks and cut through the different localization levels.

How to Check Country-Specific SERPs

This type of monitoring might suit an international brand that targets multiple countries. Tracking your search presence on a country level will help you:

Analyze search performance for non-geo-sensitive queries: While showing some discrepancy worldwide. Such terms tend to generate the same search results nationwide, so there is simply no need to zoom in.

Monitor the setup of your multilingual website. To see whether the correct country and language page versions are indexed and served for each region.

How to Check Manually

A few years ago, this task was really straightforward. Country-specific search results were served on separate country domains, like google.co.nz for New Zealand or google.ru for Russia.

That’s until Google started serving search results based on the searcher’s location, regardless of the domain’s TLD extension at the end of 2017.

So, in case you haven’t noticed yet, there’s no longer any use typing a different Google domain in your address bar.

Here’s what you can do instead.

Change Your Google Search Settings

You can tell Google that your country differs from the automatically detected one by going to Search settings and adjusting your search region there.

Use a VPN or a Proxy

You can also fake your location with proxies or a VPN service like Private Internet Access or similar.  

How to Check Automatically

I cannot come up with a single rank tracking app that is incapable of automating this type of localization.

Some tools will emulate a real user and tweak Google search settings (same as I’ve just described). Every time they send a new request to Google. Some of them will simply use a country-specific set of IPs.

All of them will work in a similar manner and do a decent job for you, whatever option you choose.

How to Check City-Specific SERPs

City-level rankings come into play if we’re monitoring a local business – One that operates within a specific service area or has a physical location for its customers to visit.

Most of the queries customers use to find businesses of this type are geo-sensitive. They are likely to change a lot from city to city (organic results), and from district to district (local listings).

So, while tracking city-level rankings may not be the best option for local listings monitoring, you can still use it to:

Track organic positions, which aren’t likely to fluctuate much within one city.

Track local packs and map rankings for less competitive industries, where there simply isn’t enough competition to produce much SERP turbulence even in the hyper-geo-sensitive local packs.

How to Check Manually

Same as with country rankings, there was a time when checking city rankings was not a problem. But Google gives and Google takes away. So the SEO industry, once again, had to come up a few creative workarounds.

Add a ‘&near=cityname’ Parameter to Your Google URL

To check the SERPs for “dentist” from Hendersonville, NC, for example, you can use a URL like this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dentists&near=hendersonville,+nc

(This includes your keyword in the “q=” parameter, and your location in the “near=” parameter.)

This option is the easiest one, but we’re trading time against accuracy here.

With the “&near=” parameter, the results Google serves you are literally near the location, and not necessarily within the specified city. Quite often, they might be skewed towards a larger city nearby.

Use the Google Ads Preview Tool

Another (and this time, pretty accurate) way to check localized SERPs is the Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool in Google Ads. It simulates not only geopositions but user devices (mobile, tablet, or desktop) as well.

See Anyone’s Analytics Account, in Real Time.

You can literally see real-time sales and conversion data for any website, and which campaigns drove that traffic. Start your free trial today

The tool works for any keyword, whether it’s included in your Ads campaign or not. The only thing that’s required is an active Google Ads account.

How to Check Automatically

Checking city-specific SERPs is available in the vast majority of rank tracking tools these days.

Most of them use the same way to localize your search results – the “&uule=” parameter. It also adds a base64-encoded location name or zip code to the URL when querying Google. So, the results are displayed as if you’re from the city centroid or the center of the ZIP code.

Among the tools that do city-specific checking are AccuRanker and Ahrefs.

SEMrush and Whitespark include only a limited set of cities/countries. So they will only work for you if your target location is on the list.

My personal favorite in this category is BrightLocal – for their nicely formatted reports and easy-to-use interface.

How to Check the SERPs for a Specific Street Address

When it comes to tracking local pack or Google Maps results, the slightest location change can influence the SERPs.

Sometimes your business will show up in search results throughout its whole service area, and sometimes it will only rank for searches performed just a few blocks from your doorstep.

This means that tracking city-level results won’t do. And you need to be able to localize the SERPs on a street level to:

See how visible your business is in different parts of the city/town.

See how far from the physical location the business appears in the local pack. And also monitor how your ranking coverage area expands over the SEO campaign.

How to Check Manually

For quite some time, the only way to specify the exact street address to check Google SERPs from was by using Google Chrome Developer Tools. However, now there is a nice tool to do the job much quicker.

Set up Custom Latitude & Longitude in Chrome

Google Chrome lets you load pages as if from anywhere in the world by specifying the exact geo-coordinates.

To do that, you need to head to Developer Tools (CTRL+SHFT+I for Windows and Command + Option + I for Mac OS) and click the three-dot icon in the bottom left corner:

There, pick the Sensors option and simply paste the geo-coordinates you’ve previously copied from Google Maps:

Use the Valentin App

A cool new tool to handle the same task is the Valentin app. It converts the street address you’ve entered into geo-coordinates and passes them along to Google. The localized Google search results are opened in a new browser tab.

How to Check Automatically

There are only two tools I know of that let you automate street address rank checking. However, they do the job in quite a different manner.

One tool is best suited for tracking your positions and their changes. The other tool is best for visualizing your ranking coverage area.

Use Rank Tracker

SEO PowerSuite’s Rank Tracker (disclaimer: I’m the founder of Rank Tracker) is the only tool to automate what Google Chrome and Valentin app do.

You can set up as many street-address locations as you need, and check Google SERPs for them automatically.

And I do mean “as many locations as you need,” because unlike most other tools, Rank Tracker doesn’t limit the number of locations to track.

Use Local Falcon

Local Falcon is my absolute favorite among all the new SEO tools to emerge in 2018. Moreover the app has a brilliant idea behind it – to visualize how your business ranks on Google Maps in the area surrounding it.

Monitoring Maps will not substitute monitoring the SERPs themselves, but this visualization gives you some priceless data on your local performance.

To Track or Not to Track?

With that many options and that much local ranking data, it might seem hard to find reliable benchmarks to measure your search success.

It’s also tempting to either give up on tracking local rankings altogether or get overly obsessed with them. Really, though, the best solution lies somewhere in the middle.

On one hand, rankings are just a vanity metric, and, unlike traffic, leads and customers, they don’t bring you any business by themselves.

On the other hand, there is no better way to diagnose your search performance and find room for improvement than by checking the SERP positions and their change over time.

Is your website not getting enough customers because it’s invisible in SERPs or because it has bad reviews?

Are you underperforming in a certain region because there’s less market for what you offer or because your website’s local version is purely set up?

I can think of a better way to answer these questions than by monitoring your search performance. And staying blind to this data is like giving your market away to competitors.

More Resources:

Local SEO: The Definitive Guide to Improve Your Local Search Rankings

10 New Local Search Features You Should Be Using

Top 25 Local Search Ranking Signals You Need to Know

Image Credits

Featured Image: Shutterstock, modified by author All screenshots taken by author, February 2019 In-post Image #12: Local Falcon

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New Post has been published on https://payment-providers.com/can-microlending-fight-poverty-in-the-us/

Can Microlending Fight Poverty In The US?

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Microlending is a relatively simple concept that can be complicated to evaluate. The theory behind it, pioneered by Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, is pretty straightforward. By accessing small loans at moderate interest rates, impoverished borrowers can invest in building small businesses, getting an education or making household improvements — and thus helping to remove their families from poverty.

Microlending programs and products have mostly been associated with consumers in developing nations — particularly in sub-Saharan Africa — over the last decade. Their effects have been mostly viewed as positive, though how much impact those programs have had in developing world borrowers has been the subject of some recent debate.

But what has gotten less attention — largely because the practice is less common — is how microlending operations play out in developed nations like the U.S. Can a tool for fighting poverty in Bhopal work for customers in Brooklyn?

Grameen Bank — the bank founded by Yunus, and one of the pioneering leaders in microlending around the world — has recently released a report on the subject. The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is yes: U.S. customers in poverty can benefit from micro-borrowing counterparts in the developing world, and in many of the same ways.

Though, as is also the case in the developing world, “benefit” and “solve for entirely” are very different concepts.

An American Tale

Though Grameen Bank has offered microfinancing products since its founding in 1983, its story in the U.S. is much shorter. The firm has only been offering microfinancing to U.S. consumers since 1998.

Andrea Jung, president and CEO of the nonprofit Grameen America, said that, particularly in the early days, there was a problem with perception. “People had a hard time believing this kind of product could work here, because the economic terrain was so different.”

“In Bangladesh, a $100 loan can be life-changing — in Los Angeles, that isn’t funding enough to think about starting a business,” she said. “So I think we spent a lot of time overcoming an idea that we were just picking up our exact offerings from halfway around the world and dropping them unmodified into U.S. markets.”

But, Jung noted, that isn’t an entirely reasonably comparison — an iPhone that has been modified to display Chinese characters also won’t work all that well for a Chinese customer, but that isn’t a reason to infer that iPhones can’t work in China. It is a sign that a modification needs to happen.

Which is what they’ve done, she pointed out: They have modified the loans in terms of amount, interest rates and terms, while holding onto the parts of the program that have most closely correlated with success in other markets. The most important of those is the team aspect of the lending: The microloans (usually in the low four-figures) are given to small groups, and all members of the group are accountable for ensuring each member makes payments.

Just as importantly, though, they also track their data and monitor how their participants are doing.

Grameen America has released its first study on that subject: “Microfinance in the United States: Early Impacts of the Grameen America Program.” Focused on 1,492 women in 300 loan groups in New Jersey, the study sorted participants into two buckets: those who applied and received a loan and those who did not. Both groups agree to be tracked over time – at three, six and 18 months, respectively – to measure their progress. This first study is the first six-month check-in.

The results, thus far, are positive.

“The Grameen America program produced improvements in several measures of material hardship — for example, how often the respondent ran out of money in the three months preceding the survey, the respondent’s ability to afford necessities and the respondent’s current financial situation compared with the previous year,” the report states.

Moreover, Jung noted, the data supports the idea that these kinds of programs can help improve all kinds of global poverty, wherever it exists.

“These borrowers are often going to be excluded as a cohort from mainstream channels,” Jung said. “That’s a mistake, because we’re seeing these women have the potential to serve as powerful economic engines in their communities, and access to capital has the power to unlock that.”

Others, however, aren’t so sure.

A Long Journey

Since the new Grameen report came out, the standard line of questioning has focused on where improvements have not yet been seen. While improvements to participants’ financial lives were noted, the metric on income has not yet been reported.

The most recent six microcredit studies, published in 2015, were conducted by economists working independently across six countries. All consistently came to the same result: Average income was not any higher for those people who had received microloans than those who had. The study did note some modest effects — more small businesses and minor spending pattern changes, mostly — but nothing even close to successfully moving people out of poverty.

“We note a consistent pattern of modestly positive, but not transformative, effects — not the result that many people had hoped for,” the study noted.

But Jung said such studies seem to reveal more a mistake in expectations than a failure of microlending. There are no quick fixes for poverty — and if there was a simple, cheap solution out there, someone probably would have already discovered it.

“Those incremental increases, the not running out of money, not paying late fees, putting a little bit away, developing job stability through a stable business — [are all] small steps that add up to being financially stable or not,” she noted. “And no one can make it out of poverty unless they are financially stable, period.”

There are no quick fixes — instead, there are a lot of long days and a lot of long journeys for customers, Jung said. What this study shows, she noted, isn’t that it is easy to get out of poverty. It shows that people, working together, can slowly build their own paths out, if they are given proper institutional support.

“We can offer people the tools to build a ladder out of poverty, but climbing that ladder is still going to be a significant challenge,” Jung said. “But we have seen people can handle a challenge, people can thrive with a challenge. Our job is to give them the tools they need to try to live up to that challenge.”

——————————–

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Our data and analytics team has developed a number of creative methodologies and frameworks that measure and benchmark the innovation that’s reshaping the payments and commerce ecosystem. Check out our April 2019 Unattended Retail Report. 

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[mindthump]

Microsoft’s Monopoly Hangover http://ift.tt/2uxW6Vt

Microsoft announced something very impressive last week: revenue for the company’s 2017 fiscal year (which ended June 30) increased 5% year-over-year. That may not seem particularly meaningful until you realize 2016 was only the second year in the company’s history that revenue declined; the first included the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression:

Moreover, all indications are that growth will continue, defeating the presumption that tech companies that start to decline do so inexorably. The most famous example that said inexorable decline need not be inevitable is IBM, which, in the early 90s, found itself in far more dire straits than Microsoft, only to recover under the leadership of Lou Gerstner:

Microsoft’s earnings report isn’t the only thing that has made me think of IBM lately; Two weeks ago, at Mirosoft’s annual partner conference, CEO Satya Nadella introduced a new offering called Microsoft 365. Nadella said:

Microsoft 365 is a fundamental departure in how we think about product creation. This is the coming together of the best of Office 365, Windows 10, Enterprise Mobility and Security…

We have decided that the time has come for us as a company and us as an ecosystem to talk about this in the terms that customers can get the most value. We want to bring these products together as an integrated solution. A complete solution that has got AI infused in it with intelligence, whether it is intelligence that is helping end users be more productive and creative and teamwork, or intelligence in security. It’s that complete solution for intelligent teamwork and security that we want to bring about with Microsoft 365.

A cynical take is that this is typical Microsoft, cribbing a successful naming scheme (‘365’) to rebrand a SKU that Microsoft actually announced a year ago. That’s true! A slightly more generous take is that Microsoft 365 is the latest implementation of the company’s decades-old bundling strategy, and, well, that’s true too!

The way Nadella framed the announcement though — associating customer value with integration — that is straight from Gerstner’s IBM playbook.

The IBM and Microsoft Monopolies

When Gerstner signed on as IBM CEO in the spring of 1993, the company had just recorded the biggest annual loss in American corporate history: -$4.97 billion. In his memoir about the turnaround he led at IBM, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?, Gerstner noted that 1993 was going just as badly:

At the end of May I saw April’s [numbers] and they were sobering. Profit had declined another $400 million, for a total decline of $800 million for the first four months. Mainframe sales had dropped 43 percent during the same four months. Other large IBM businesses—software, maintenance, and financing—were all dependent, for the most part, on mainframe sales and, thus, were declining as well.

Gerstner expanded on this point in various sections of his book:

Despite the fact that IBM, then and now, was regarded as a complex company with thousands of products…IBM was a one-product company—a mainframe company—with an array of multibillion-dollar businesses attached to that single franchise…It didn’t take a Harvard MBA or a McKinsey consultant to understand that the fate of the mainframe was the fate of IBM, and, at the time, both were sinking like stones.

IBM’s mainframe business was being hammered on two fronts: Unix-based alternatives offered modular lower-cost alternatives for back-end operations, while PCs were taking over many of the jobs mainframes used to do — and, in the long run, threatening to take over the data center itself. IBM was not only stuck with a product that was too expensive for a market that was simultaneously shrinking in size, but also an entire organization predicated on that product’s dominance.

This was Microsoft a few decades later: the company loved to brag about its stable of billion dollar businesses, but in truth they were all components of one business — Windows. Everything Microsoft built from servers to productivity applications was premised on the assumption that the vast majority of computing devices were running Windows, leaving the company completely out of sorts when the iPhone and Android created and captured the smartphone market.

The truth is that both companies were victims of their own monopolistic success: Windows, like the System/360 before it, was a platform that enabled Microsoft to make money in all directions. Both companies made money on the device itself and by selling many of the most important apps (and in the case of Microsoft, back-room services) that ran on it. There was no need to distinguish between a vertical strategy, in which apps and services served to differentiate the device, or a horizontal one, in which the device served to provide access to apps and services. When you are a monopoly, the answer to strategic choices can always be “Yes.”

That, though, is why it is so interesting to think about what happens — and the problems that arise — when the monopoly ends.

Post-Monopoly Problem One: Nature

The great thing about a monopoly is that a company can do anything, because there is no competition; the bad thing is that when the monopoly is finished the company is still capable of doing anything at a mediocre level, but nothing at a high one because it has become fat and lazy. To put it another way, for a former monopoly “big” is the only truly differentiated asset.

This was Gerstner’s key insight when it came to mapping out IBM’s future:

I am not sure that in 1993 I or anyone else would have started out to create an IBM. But, given IBM’s scale and broad-based capabilities, and the trajectories of the information technology industry, it would have been insane to destroy its unique competitive advantage and turn IBM into a group of individual component suppliers more minnows in an ocean.

In the big April customer meeting at Chantilly and in my other customer meetings, CIOs made it very clear that the last thing in the world they needed was one more disk drive company, one more operating system company, one more PC company. They also made it clear that our ability to execute against an integrator strategy was nearly bankrupt and that much had to be done before IBM could provide a kind of value that we were not providing at the time—but which they believed only IBM had a shot at delivering: genuine problem solving, the ability to apply complex technologies to solve business challenges, and integration.

So keeping IBM together was the first strategic decision, and, I believe, the most important decision I ever made—not just at IBM, but in my entire business career. I didn’t know then exactly how we were going to deliver on the potential of that unified enterprise, but I knew that if IBM could serve as the foremost integrator of technologies, we’d be delivering extraordinary value.

In Gerstner’s vision, only IBM had the breadth to deliver solutions instead of products; the next challenge would be changing the business model.

Post-Monopoly Problem Two: Business Model

The natural inclination for former monopolies, at least if Microsoft and IBM are any indication, is to stick with the monopoly-era business model. That meant doubling down on the device (or OS, as it were).

The problem with this approach is twofold:

First, as I just noted, the nature of the company is set: being big — which in this case means offering services to everyone — is much easier to accomplish than being better, a critical factor in selling a differentiated device in a competitive market.

Second, as long as the business-model is device-centric, there is a risk in destroying the services component of the business. In Microsoft’s case, that meant holding Office for iPad back to prop up Windows, for example, or building Azure (née Windows Azure) around Windows Server. IBM, in far more dire straights, was, as Gerstner noted, close to splitting up the company so that individual divisions could sell their respective devices on their own without corporate overhead.

The reality is that while changing business models is hard, for both Microsoft and IBM it was necessary to preserve what strengths they still had. This is why defenders of former-CEO Steve Ballmer miss the point when pointing out that Microsoft Azure and Office 365, the keys to Microsoft’s renewed growth, both got started under his watch. Look again at Gerstner’s account of IBM:

If you were to take a snapshot of IBM’s array of businesses in 1993 and another in 2002, you would at first see very few changes. Ten years ago we were in servers, software, services, PCs, storage, semiconductors, printers, and financing. We are still in those businesses today…

My point is that all of the assets that the company needed to succeed were in place. But in every case—hardware, technology, software, even services—all of these capabilities were part of a business model that had fallen wildly out of step with marketplace realities.

This is why I don’t give Ballmer too much credit for Office 365 and Azure: the products of Microsoft’s future were there, but the Windows-centric business model was constricting every part of the company to an ever-shrinking share of the overall market; Nadella’s greatest success has been taking off that straitjacket.1

Post-Monopoly Problem Three: Culture

Four years ago, while announcing a company-wide reorganization (that I thought was a bad idea), Ballmer wrote a memo called One Microsoft. This was the key paragraph:

We will reshape how we interact with our customers, developers and key innovation partners, delivering a more coherent message and family of product offerings. The evangelism and business development team will drive partners across our integrated strategy and its execution. Our marketing, advertising and all our customer interaction will be designed to reflect one company with integrated approaches to our consumer and business marketplaces.

I wrote in Services, Not Devices:

The crux of the problem is in that paragraph: no one is asking Microsoft to design its “customer interaction” to “reflect one company.” Customers are asking Microsoft to help them solve their problems and get their jobs done, not to make them Microsoft-only customers. The solipsism is remarkable.

The solipsism, at least if IBM was any indication, was also inevitable. Gerstner writes:

When there’s little competitive threat, when high profit margins and a commanding market position are assumed, then the economic and market forces that other companies have to live or die by simply don’t apply. In that environment, what would you expect to happen? The company and its people lose touch with external realities, because what’s happening in the marketplace is essentially irrelevant to the success of the company…

This hermetically sealed quality—an institutional viewpoint that anything important started inside the company—was, I believe, the root cause of many of our problems. To appreciate how widespread the dysfunction was, I need to describe briefly some of its manifestations. They included a general disinterest in customer needs, accompanied by a preoccupation with internal politics. There was general permission to stop projects dead in their tracks, a bureaucratic infrastructure that defended turf instead of promoting collaboration, and a management class that presided rather than acted. IBM even had a language all its own.

Sounds familiar!

Comic from Bonkers World

Gerstner’s response was to restructure IBM, change the company’s promotion and compensation policies, and most importantly, push IBM to better understand customers and then leverage its size to offer services they actually needed:

Our bet was this: Over the next decade, customers would increasingly value companies that could provide solutions— solutions that integrated technology from various suppliers and, more important, integrated technology into the processes of an enterprise. We bet that the historical preoccupations with chip speeds, software versions, proprietary systems, and the like would wane, and that over time the information technology industry would be services-led, not technology-led.

This is why the Microsoft 365 announcement and Nadella’s talk of integration is so interesting, and IBM plays a role in this story as well.

IBM’s Cloud Miss

I’ve previously written about how IBM, specifically Sam Palmisano, who succeeded Gerstner as CEO, missed the cloud. Remarking on Palmisan’s declaration that “You can’t do what we’re doing in a cloud” I wrote:

Something that is interesting about most cloud solutions is that few are really doing anything new. Rather cloud service providers are simply taking operations that were formerly done on premise and moving them to a cloud that is available for any enterprise to use. And, as Palmisano realized, the inherent lack of customization in such a model means that most cloud services are on a feature-by-feature basis inferior to on-premise software.

The reality, though, is that the businesses IBM served — and the entire reason IBM had a market — didn’t buy customized technological solutions to make themselves feel good about themselves; they bought them because they helped them accomplish their business objectives. Gerstner’s key insight was that many companies had a problem that only IBM could solve, not that customized solutions were the end-all be-all. And so, as universally provided cloud services slowly but surely became good-enough, IBM no longer had a monopoly on problem solving.

To put it bluntly, enterprises don’t need a systems integrator for their data center if they no longer have a data center. Once again IBM is stuck competing for a shrinking market, which is why the company’s revenue has now declined for 21 straight quarters.2

Microsoft’s Cloud Opportunity

Still, the fact that enterprises no longer have data centers doesn’t mean integration is no longer valuable; rather, the locus of needed integration has shifted to the cloud as well. The average enterprise customer uses 20~30 apps, data is often scattered on and off premise, or stuck in email or personal accounts, and while IT departments may be happy to no longer upgrade servers, managing identity and security across all of these services and on a whole host of new devices far more likely to be used outside a company’s intranet calls for the same sort of integrator Gerstner wanted IBM to be.

This seems to be the long-term goal of Microsoft 365. Microsoft said in a blog post:

[Microsoft 365] represents a fundamental shift in how we will design, build and go to market to address our customers’ needs for a modern workplace. The workplace is transforming—from changing employee expectations, to more diverse and globally distributed teams, to an increasingly complex threat landscape. From these trends, we are seeing a new culture of work emerging. Our customers are telling us they are looking to empower their people with innovative technology to embrace this modern culture of work.

With more than 100 million commercial monthly active users of Office 365, and more than 500 million Windows 10 devices in use, Microsoft is in a unique position to help companies empower their employees, unlocking business growth and innovation…

Microsoft 365 Enterprise:

Unlocks creativity by enabling people to work naturally with ink, voice and touch, all backed by tools that utilize AI and machine learning.

Provides the broadest and deepest set of apps and services with a universal toolkit for teamwork, giving people flexibility and choice in how they connect, share and communicate.

Simplifies IT by unifying management across users, devices, apps and services.

Helps safeguard customer data, company data and intellectual property with built-in, intelligent security.

Wait, inking?

Here’s the big concern I have about the Microsoft 365 rollout, and Microsoft generally: Nadella and team deserve plaudits for working through the first two post-monopoly problems. Microsoft has embraced its bigness and focused on services, and has the business model to match (although, it should be noted that it was Ballmer who was responsible for shifting most of Microsoft’s enterprise business to a subscription model years ago). That’s great!

I’m troubled, though, that I just articulated what I think is the Microsoft 365 strategy — or what it should be — far more clearly than either Nadella or Kirk Koenigsbauer, the corporate vice-president for the Office team that wrote this blog post. Indeed, Gerstner articulated the strategy best of all, and he wasn’t even talking about Microsoft or the cloud!

Then again, I’m not entirely sure a focus on cloud integration is Microsoft’s strategy after all: maybe the cynical take — that Microsoft is just stealing a successful name for yet another enterprise licensing bundle — is closer to the truth. It is striking that the primary reason Microsoft gives for Microsoft 365 is that it already has a lot of users.

Stepping back even further, Nadella loves to say “Our customers tell us” or some derivative thereof, but an actual articulation of customer use cases is consistently missing from his presentations. This keynote was not dissimilar to Nadella’s Build keynote, which featured a full 30 minutes of theory about the future of computing, that, while fascinating, seemed much more like a justification for Microsoft’s continued relevance as opposed to an articulation of demonstrated customer needs.

Can Culture Change?

The most bittersweet paragraph in Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? is the final one:

I was always an outsider. But that was my job. I know Sam Palmisano has an opportunity to make the connections to the past as I could never do. His challenge will be to make them without going backward; to know that the centrifugal forces that drove IBM to be inward-looking and self-absorbed still lie powerful in the company. Continuing to drive change while building on the best (and only the best) of the past is the ultimate description of the job of Chief Executive Officer, International Business Machines Corporation.

Palmisano completely failed the challenge: what was the aforementioned reliance on IBM’s seemingly impregnable position as a systems integrator and dismissal of the cloud anything but the result of being “inward-looking and self-absorbed”? The same point applies to Palmisano’s obsession with profit-per-share: customers, Gerstner’s obsession, were totally forgotten.

That is why Gerstner’s IBM should be a potential inspiration to Microsoft, but Palmisano’s (and current CEO Ginni Rometty, who has hewed far more closely to Palmisano’s example than Gerstner’s) IBM a warning: culture is a curse, and for better or worse, a company can recover but never be fully cured.

Update: A few folks have written in to note that I’m being a bit harsh on Ballmer. After all, not only did he start Azure, he fired the well-respected and successful head of the Server and Tools Business, Bob Muglia, because he wasn’t moving fast enough in the cloud. Muglia’s replacement? Satya Nadella

By the way, Gerstner predicted the public cloud in the first appendix of his book, which was published in 2003, four years before AWS was launched:

Put all of this together—the emergence of large-scale computing grids, the development of autonomic technologies that will allow these systems to be more self-managing, and the proliferation of computing devices into the very fabric of life and business—and it suggests one more major development in the history of the IT industry. This one will change the way IT companies take their products to market. It will change who they sell to and who the customer considers its “supplier.” This development is what some have called “utility” computing.

The essential idea is that very soon enterprises will get their information technology in much the same way they get water or electric power. They don’t now own a waterworks or power plant, and soon they’ll no longer have to buy, house, and maintain any aspect of a traditional computing environment: The processing, the storage, the applications, the systems management, and the security will all be provided over the Net as a service—on demand.

The value proposition to customers is compelling: fewer assets; converting fixed costs to variable costs; access to unlimited computing resources on an as-needed basis; and the chance to shed the headaches of technology cycles, upgrades, maintenance, integration, and management.

Also, in a post-September 11, 2001, world in which there’s much greater urgency about the security of information and systems, on-demand computing would provide access to an ultra-secure infrastructure and the ability to draw on systems that are dispersed— creating a new level of immunity from a natural disaster or an event that could wipe out a traditional, centralized data center.

IBM misses him.

[cuckoldfamilies-blog]

10 best Electric Scooters

What brought about the increase in popularity of electrical scooters? In recent years, electric electric motor and battery technology features advanced tremendously. Today's LEVs (Light Electric Vehicles) include clear advantages over fossil fuel powered vehicles inside areas of performance, ease of use along with operating costs.

"Green is actually in"... a lot of people have become environmentally-friendly these days. You can say that it includes now become trendy and elegant to travel in these "green" ways of transportation.

Pollution no cost... Because electric vehicles are designed with batteries and do not burn non-renewable fuels as their main system of space, they provide the opportunity to reduce your particular environmental impact and strengthen local air quality.

Quiet... Nothing seems better than cruising down the actual streets and the only matter you hear is the wind wasting in the air. Electric motors usually are quiet and give you a fully different feeling when using. Many gas-powered personal autos are louder than lawn-mowers. Quiet electric vehicles often glide down the road with ease and so are welcomed in most communities.

Possibly may be for choosing to purchase a scooter, I have compiled an inventory that you may find helpful in limiting down your choices. In not any particular order, the top 12 electric scooters are:

Vectrix Maxi-Scooter VECTRIX is the phrase for: Vehicle, Electronic, Changer, Transformation, Revolution, Innovation, X-factor, and was started by just a number of engineers. The big announcement here is the nickel metal hydride battery, because with just about any electric vehicle, it's solely as good as the battery interior. The V1 model ($11, 000) is currently available in some sort of two-wheeled scooter as opposed to the three-wheeled V3 model (which probably will not be available until later the 2010 season and will be priced at $15, 000). The V3 has a couple wheels mounted in the entrance for better handling in addition to stability. Sophisticated design enhancements of the sharp, striking Vectrix include a high-efficiency gearbox as well as drive train, aluminum development for weight reduction and aerospace styling to reduce drag. A coffee center of gravity, taut frame and even weight circulation provide superior handling. Typically the Vectrix is virtually muted and highly efficient-a complex regenerative braking system redirects strength back into the Vectrix battery power, which helps to extend it has the range by up to 14 percent. For consumers having urban commutes, Vectrix will be both convenient and cost efficient. The driver can stop and also go with one hand by merely twisting the throttle rear for acceleration and folding it forward to slow down well and safely. Fast speeding and handling make it simple and safe to zip to send and receive of traffic. Plus, the onboard charger plugs directly into any standard 110/220V electricity outlet to charge the particular battery pack in just two a long time. Features of the Vectrix Maxi-Scooter include: - goes zero to 50 mph inside 6. 8 seconds instructions top speed of 61 mph - range of 60 to 70 miles on a single charge Most of us feel that the Vectrix electric powered scooter is the wave into the future and will revolutionize the power scooter industry. Vectrix seemed to be named as one of MSN's bikes of the year throughout 2007. Designed with looks planned, the Vectrix is sensitive, good-looking, reliable and enjoyment to ride. Go-Ped ESR 750 The Go-Ped ESR family consists of the following designs: ESR 750, ESR 750EX and ESR 750H. Often the Go-Ped ESR750 simply is in a very class of its own without scooter in the market comes close to be able to its build quality, power, efficiency and stylish design. Its strength, reliability and impeccable functionality without compromising on almost any details makes it one fo the top electric scooters. Too as it is an environmentally friendly alternative method of transportation as well. The actual ESR750 is the most cutting edge, reputable and versatile electric scooter already in the market today. The Go-Ped ESR750 EX is equipped with larger made lead acid batteries, which will deliver a range increase in excess of 50% over the standard ESR750 stock range and time-span. The ESR750EX will provide end users with an impressive 12+ mi. range in Economy style - a top speed regarding 12 mph - or older to an 8 mile collection in Turbo Mode, that permits users to reach a top pace of 20 mph. It can be ideal for Electric hoverboard electric  enthusiasts along with scooterists looking for an electric child scooter with an excellent range. Together with it's unmatched power, consistency and performance, it is compact and straightforward to carry. The Go-Ped ESR750H Hoverboard electric scooter draws on the highly regarded and excellent GoPed ESR750EX, but adding the amazing Cantilevered Distinct Dynamic Linkless Indespension (C. I. D. L. My partner and i. ) suspension system included on their highly successful away from road products such as the Piste Ripper and Riot minuscule motorcycle. This two wheeled sensation will quietly, competently and effortlessly move motorcyclists of up to 400 lbs on the ground with the sensation just like they were magically levitating for a cloud. The ESR750H Hoverboard offers 2 . 7" involving suspension travel in the front side and 3. 5" connected with suspension travel in the backed. This hover system is changeable from "plush to firm" to accommodate and suit all of rider preferences. HCF 737 Pacelite The HCF 737 Pacelite Electric Scooter can be a long-lived, well-built scooter. This can be one of the few electric scooters this powers up quickly originating from a full stop, then can take with hills without hesitation. The particular HCF 737 Pacelite is a wonderful commuter scooter, folding on with easy storage and carry. Given its speed, electrical power, weight and reliability, equally the beginner and experienced driver can appreciate its effectiveness. It is a very light mobility scooter - only 59 excess fat with the battery, and will easily fit into the trunk of your car or truck. Traveling at a top velocity of 15mph, the HCF 737 Electric Scooter go distances of up to 12 mile after mile on a charge. Adjustable handle bars allow you to customize your drive for maximum comfort. Along with the removable seat and flip-style folding frame lets you take this electric power scooter practically anywhere you wish. This is one of the few electric scooters that offers full front in addition to rear suspension for a soft ride no matter what the terrain. Zapino Electric Scooter ZAP is a acronym for: Zero Polluting of the environment and they recently introduced all their new Zapino electric moped. Not only economical and naturally degradable, the Zapino is potent with an advanced 3000-watt brushless DC hub motor, exquisite for city commuting. Able to arrive at speeds of 30 mph, the Zapino will be able to sustain city traffic without leading to city pollution. The rear controls hub motor on the Zapino creates more room on this phone for additional batteries and performance. That creative drive system eradicates the need for belts or places to eat lowering it's overall routine maintenance. It also delivers a more exciting ride because it is practically private. It accelerates smoothly devoid of any shifting and has no website vibration - just excellent, eco-friendly clean fun. They have an optional upgrade, with Lithium batteries, that will boost the selection up to a very respectable 70 miles from the 30 kilometers that come from the standard battery power. Forsen Hummer The Forsen Hummer is the first stream-lined scooter in the business to offer bedroom for 2 riders. These scooters are made for older adolescents and adults who want trusted short-to-medium range transportation that isn't limited by hills. The Forsen scooter is street 100 % legal and complies with STATES DOT guidelines (headlight, brake pedal light, and turn signals). The Forsen Hummer is often a heavy duty electric scooter efficient at traveling at 28-33 mph with a range of 25 a long way for a 175-lb. rider. Having it's 1000-watt motor put together with 100-amp controller, this kid scooter really can handle two individuals (total weight of 400 lbs. ) with no problem. Collection of 25 miles comes the 24V/40Ah battery supply that is certainly 3-4 times larger than almost all scooters. Easily handles nearly all off road conditions. Attributes include full suspension, the front disk brake, flat-proof four tires, and a fast battery charger (4 hours or less). confidence Cycle 2 LX Typically the eGO LX is designed for regular commuters and errand sports people who will be driving with moderate to heavy targeted visitors. The LX is thoroughly equipped for registration performed state and provides the same array and speed as the pride Classic. In the GO RAPIDLY mode, top speed is usually 24 mph, electronically confined. Zero to 20 mph within just 4 seconds. In the "GO FAR" mode, top rate is 17mph, and exaggeration is smooth and simple. Having a single battery pack, range is definitely 20-25 miles in the "GO FAR" mode and 15-20 miles in the "GO FAST" mode. The eGO Spiral climbs up hills with no trouble. It will climb a 15% grade at 18 mph with a 170lb rider. One's heart and soul of the self confidence is a tough DC engine designed specifically for the vanity Cycle. It's powerful ample to pull heavy riders right up big hills. The delicate ride of the eGO spiral 2 is the result of a new custom front dual spring and coil suspension fork. The confidence Cycle LX uses a noiseless belt drive transmission that really needs no lubrication and is just about silent. Motorino XPi Often the Motorino XPi is the future generation bicycle/scooter model. Created on a motorcycle frame, these have motorcycle grade 3. 5" wide wheels which makes it really stable in any weather condition. With the pedals on, it is classified for a bicycle and does not need to be qualified or registered. If you take typically the pedals off the scooter, it has become a LSM (low acceleration motorcycle) and you need to have the item licensed and insured. Their motor is uniquely created with oversized rare earth magnets, which increases the torque as well as efficiency. You can feel that when you start - it boosts for 5 seconds for you to 32km/h. The regenerative foot brake also returns more electric power in the battery when braking. It has the hydraulic front suspension absorbs any vibration and makes often the ride very smooth and cozy. Numo Cruiser LX Intended for electric enthusiasts and relevers, the Cruiser LX Electric power Scooter is a new systems PEV (personal electric vehicle). The Numo Cruiser replies the faultss of present electric scooters and value packs new standards for child scooter performance. Most electric scooters today have two critical flaws: short range and also poor hill climbing power. The Cruiser LX possesses a maximum range of 30 mls and the motor controller makes it possible for the Cruiser LX to help climb 20% grade inclines! The Cruiser LX attributes adjustable rear suspension. You could adjust stiffness to suit your comfort and ease. iZIP Fusion NuVinci CVP The iZIP Fusion NuVinci CVP Drive electric mobility scooter delivers a totally unique cycling experience with it's agglomération of cutting-edge CVP (continuously variable planetary) technology. The actual IZIP Fusion NuVinci functions both the patented Currie Electro-Drive system and the NuVinci CVP, leveraging the benefits of both engineering by creating an automatic, multi-gear drive system that will increase the performance, range and chance to handle hills and bigger weights without stalling. The particular motor is from an Mix Finned Hi-Torque DC Neodymium Magnet Motor which produced 1000W of power. Typically the Fusion NuVinci has a highest possible range of 25 miles. The idea features three 15Ah sphincter muslce regulated, exceptional deep launch recovery rechargeable batteries for just a maximum speed of 18 mph. EVT America Z-20 The EVT Z-20 moped is powered by a 60-volt 2500-watt brushless hub motor unit that can zip you down at up to 45 mile after mile per hour for between 30 and 50 miles. In this manner a very impressive performance. Often the motor controller regulates along with efficiently administers the power that is fed into the generator based on its performance desires and driver requirements. The item regulates the speed and torque of the motor while supervising its performance. The Z-20 is the ideal commuter vehicle to own. Features include: 10 half inch wheels (rim) and three or more. 5 inch wide automobile to provide traction and security, front and rear game brakes, double front in addition to rear shock absorbers

[andrewuttaro]

State of the Support (S1: Ep 5): More Soccer

State of the Support will be a reoccurring series on the Rochester Rhinos Soccer team written from a fan perspective. This series will follow the ups and downs of Soccer Support in Rochester, NY in one of its most trying times in decades.  

If you find yourself in a difficult impasse what do you do? You look for creative solutions and alternative ways forward. Professional sports is an entertainment product and impasses in such a business often lead to unexpected openings. Openings for competition in business are somewhat risky for all involved parties but theoretically the free market is designed to fill in where competitors leave empty. If you’re the consumer this situation can sometimes create more of the product you’re interested in consuming. In this case it’s more soccer!

Perhaps the Rochester Rhinos will have some competition.

On Thursday night a fan of another New York State soccer team DMed me with a surprising question: “Are you hearing anything about a Rochester NISA team?” Chris Kivlehan is a New York Cosmos fan and a writer for Midfield Press. When someone with actual reporting acumen comes to you asking questions you do your best to help out. I’m just an angsty blogger from an angsty sports City in upstate New York with some buddies who text people who know people. Chris and I are not in the same league, I’m not even in U5 soccer compared to him. What he eventually discovered however, with little help from me if I may add, is a sign something more might be brewing in a New York State grossly underserved by American Soccer these days.

As the first Fall Season of the National Independent Soccer League (NISA) concludes news is popping up all the time about what next season holds as Federation deadlines for sanctioning and what have you arrive. It was reported last month that the New York Cosmos, a club left league-less by the demise of the new North American Soccer League in 2017, may finally be returning to the Pro ranks with NISA in spite of an ongoing lawsuit with the Federation. Talk arose at the East Final that in addition to the Cosmos and a New Jersey group, there was another interested group of investors from the Empire State looking at a NISA expansion team.

To be clear Kivlehan distinguishes a second NY club as a rival for the Cosmos within New York City a la what NISA announced with Detroit back in September from an interested group from Rochester who showed up at the East Final. In other words, there could be two New York City teams next year and another team up in Rochester as early as 2021. However with nothing more than this Rochester group’s existence being confirmed at the moment speculation is all we really have. One of Kivlehan’s sources on the matter was someone who stated the group was associated with the City of Rochester. Chris was clear to me about saying at the time it was only one source and there was some conflicting information. Another source later clarified this for Chris but there was some confusion if it was Rochester, Minnesota or Rochester, New York. Interesting.

Let’s pick that apart a little bit. Rochester, Minnesota is not a crazy place for a pro soccer team. They currently host the amateur National Premier Soccer League side Med City FC. From the follows and followers I’ve picked up this past year in the Land of a Thousand Lakes I’ve learned Med City FC is an ambitious but thrifty club that does dream of a pro league berth one day. However, much like with Rochester, NY’s NPSL side the Lancers, ownership is a little cagey about the idea of doing that right now, particularly with a league like NISA which is still such a big unknown. So let’s assume the mystery source was referring to Rochester, NY: a larger City with a bigger economic and population footprint with a more well-known soccer history. Who might want to dip their toe in the NISA pond out of the Flower City?

It's not the Rochester Rhinos. A primary source with them informed me they are not looking at joining NISA and have not had contact with anyone at that league office. That tracks with their commitment to USL and their most recent public comments more than a year ago. We’ll come back to that. For us here in Rochester our next thought would be those Lancers. We’ve talked here about Sam Fantauzzo. He’s got a long history working in soccer in this City that dates back decades. The most recent evidence does not point toward him gunning for NISA. For one, he’s been frustrated several times with his NPSL club in terms of how much money an amateur outfit costs him. Secondly, he was approached by the folks of NPSL Pro when that doomed project was trying to build up some steam. He told them no then and that proved to be a wise decision. He may be thinking of NISA the same way. So who does that leave? Well, nobody who’s on the radar having publicly expressed any interest in owning a soccer team. There are a few more wildcard possibilities but when I say wildcard, I mean out there wild ideas. No, the Wegmans family doesn’t do sports teams and no, the Pegulas aren’t replying to my letters. Terry and Kim have expressed no interest in Soccer.

Whatever the truth ends up being upstate New York is flush with developing population centers who might support a club at the NISA level. I’ve heard Rome, NY from someone speculating. We went through the Utica speculation and it’s easy to connect the dots there with an owner who’s on the record wanting an outdoor team to go with his Utica City FC indoor team. Albany, NY and the Capital region is bustling with potential and no club to speak of right now. FC Buffalo, also of the NPSL, has been air-tight on the topic of any of their future intentions. That club, much like their conference rivals down the thruway in Rochester, operates very much like an amateur outfit. How about the question you came here for: What does this rumor mean for the Rochester Rhinos?

To say the most iconic, historic soccer club in this state (yes, I mean that seriously, want to fight about it?) is dragging it’s feet is a chicken before the egg pursuit at best. If you contact them, which several of us in the supporters culture here do on a somewhat regular basis, they elude to so much being done behind the scenes on the Rhinos front. They provide no details because of an unnamed threat to their plans that is either the ever-present mob of angry suburban soccer parents or the fear of the broadcast media roasting them in front of all the boomers when they make a public announcement. The scores of fans interested in the IP that is the Rhinos outside of the market of Rochester, NY that we always hear about is catching onto the frustration of the locals. We’ve been speculating for months… well, two years at this point, about what comes next and now out-of-towners are joining in wondering what the next step is.

If there is indeed another group of investors trying to bring a soccer team to Rochester, NY, the worst-case scenario is that they provide us with more soccer. Best case scenario is both clubs survive, grow in a stable fashion and form a neat little rivalry within the City. Could you imagine a Rochester derby? Could you imagine a Rochester derby and rival supporters in this City? I have quite an imagination, but I can imagine why that seems a crazy fantasy right now. What feels more likely is this rumored club is the New York Soccer Giants popping up out of nowhere to provide an alternative New York City Derby with the Cosmos to the lame Major League Soccer version of that derby. I too can be cynical and call it realism. But we could actually use some more soccer around here if you didn’t notice.

I’ve had people ask where would a hypothetical NISA club play? My reply was the same places a new 2021 Rochester Rhinos club would: at a college or High School venue on the West Side. Then it hit me: if this is a completely different group of investors then they haven’t been excommunicated by the City. If there is a whole new Soccer team coming into the picture does the City think about getting a new tenant into the downtown stadium that was designed for soccer? That fantasy I posed earlier now looks like some kind of London-sque Westside versus Eastside competition that could carry generations of angst and rivalry into Rochester sports. NISA Rochester in downtown/westside versus the Rochester Rhinos out on the eastside. We love our Red Wings and we love our Amerks here, but we’ve never been so blessed with a professional level in-City rivalry. Take that New York City! Hey, speculation is all we really have right now!

The more real a Rochester NISA organization becomes the more it incentivizes an ownership couple with the Rhinos who may or may not be hard at work building a new identity for 2021. Rochester needs some Pro Soccer right now and if the free market can do anything it’s supposed to be filling in market inefficiencies. I don’t have a ton of faith in that either but what else is going to push the Rhinos situation forward right now? Maybe that’s what this mysterious group from Rochester is thinking. If they’re willing to get together and take a jaunt down to Miami together it’s more than just country club banter. Stick around with me as more information develops @UttaroSports on twitter and here on the blog at Uttaro Sports Plus (uttarosports.tumblr.com). If the drip of new info proves slow there’s plenty of other stuff here on my blog to pass the time with. If you’ve read this far more soccer is probably the thing you’re most excited for.

Let’s Go Rhinos!

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 8/22/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Thursday, August 22nd, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

RIPPED OFF BY UTILITIES, SAYS SENATOR – Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn is comparing the Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) to the “mafia”. Making his contribution to the Electric Light and Power (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was passed in the Senate today, he thanked the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration for bringing the Act, which would govern the generation and transmission of electricity, to protect Barbadians from what he described as “this monster call BL&P”. He went as far as to say that there was a need for a commission of inquiry to investigate the utility company. “BL&P for all of its existence enjoyed a monopoly on producing power in this country, and they have been ripping us off for years. You imagine, they had a rate increase in 2010, the one before that was 26 years before, you imagine producing a product and the price of that product was able to sustain you and your lifestyle for 26 years? “That product would have to be sold at such a high price, that over all the years of increases, and they were still being able to make a profit, they have been ripping this country off. They were ripping us off left, right and centre, and I am glad now that they are going to be in check,” Franklyn said. The senator, who said that some Barbadians have gotten permission to generate their own electricity from the sun, said they did not fully benefit since they still depended on Light & Power for electricity at nights. He said this was why people still opted to stay on the grid. “But Light & Power charges you 55 cents per unit, but they buy it from you for 41.6 cents. But you are not selling them the excess you know, the one that you don’t want, you have to sell them all, and then buy back. So you sell all at 41.6 cents and then buy back from them for 55 cents. They are ripping you off again. They can’t help it. “They have been ripping off Bajans for so long they can’t help what they are doing. It is part of their DNA right now, they are more like a mafia. So what will happen is if you come off the grid completely, you will force the people who are still on the grid to pay more,” he said. Giving an insight into his own personal experience with the utility company, Franklyn claimed that he travelled for two weeks in December 2018, “and for those two weeks with only my fridge on in the house, they charged me more electricity than I had anytime the rest of the year”. “It seems to be a problem with utility companies you know, because Water Authority does it too, hit you for a lot of money, but we seem not to be able to get rid of them. I see people talking about how nice they are. “But they are not nice, they are like any other company looking to generate a profit. But they have been taking advantage of a government and people who were too trusting. I challenge them to deny anything that I said. They probably will, but they can’t deny it with figures,” Franklyn said. The opposition senator said if Government’s initiative was handled correctly, the country would not have to spend foreign exchange on purchasing oil from overseas markets. According to him a significant part of the renewable energy sector should be reserved for Barbadians. He said he did not think there was a need for overseas investors since renewable energy was not rocket science. Franklyn suggested that the capital sitting on the banks be mobilised and invested in the island’s future, including the energy sector.“You import these systems and give people duty-free concessions, let more people generate their own electricity. As a matter of fact, one of the conditions of building these new mansions and stuff they are building now should be a component where you have to produce some of your own electricity if not all. We have been getting away by buying power from Light & Power and we have been allowing lots of opportunities for generating power to go,” he said. (BT)

SENATORS WELCOME AMENDMENTS TO ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER ACT –The amendments to the Electric Light and Power Act should be the catalyst Barbados needs to achieve its goal of becoming fossil fuel free by 2030. Speaking during debate on the bill in the Senate this afternoon, Opposition Senator Crystal Drakes, said, “At present we are using 10,000 barrels of oil a day, 9,000 of which are imported, so we have a problem as it relates to our foreign exchange and being able to afford fuel coming in, and we are at the mercy of the international market in terms of the cost of oil and energy generation. Our import bill was $2.9 billion, and 25 per cent of that went to fuel alone. This bill gives us an opportunity to save foreign exchange and the inflation volatility caused by the movement of oil prices worldwide.” She stated that Barbados has a lot of work to do to achieve its renewable energy targets by the specified dates. “Barbados currently has a 20-year energy policy covering the years 2017 to 2037. That policy states that one of the goals is to reach 34 per cent in renewable energy generation by 2022. Now if we are at less than five percent in 2019, and want to increase to 34 per cent by 2022, and to become carbon neutral by 2030, we have a lot of work to do. So why has there not been a greater uptake in this? Cost is a factor, because a lot of people cannot make that upfront investmnt, so Government should be creative in how they incentivise people to get interested in renewable energy.” In her contribution to the debate Senator Alphea Wiggins expanded on the incentive aspect, stating that the education process should also include commercial banks and other financial institutions, whom she stated did not quite understand the benefits such systems brought. “It is important that we let the banks know how much people can save by using these panels to generate electricity vis a vis fossil fuel driven energy, so they will be more willing to lend money to homeowners who want to do this type of upgrade.” Senator Rawdon Adams, who commended Senator Drakes on her presentation, noted the bill was a “work in progress” as the different aspects of it would develop over time. He said  Government should maintain its interest in the Barbados Light and Power Company. “It is a work in progress because it gives us options in some areas, such as licences for transmission, distribution, dispatch, generation, and storage; some of those things we will learn as we go along. I believe it is also important we retain a good relationship with the Barbados Light and Power Company, because when it was sold to Emera, the National Insurance Scheme had owned 30 per cent of it, and at the time I was puzzled as to why a pension fund would want to sell an asset that was stable, paying a six per cent dividend a year, when there was no alternative option available.” In explaining that point, he noted that Norway had invested in an oil field that had proven very lucrative, and has invested the funds generated into its social security scheme, as well as one per cent of it in every company listed on the world’s stock exchanges. Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Rudolph Greenidge, in supporting the bill, spoke of the contributions of pioneers like James Husbands of Solar Dynamics and the late Professor Oliver Headley in the solar energy sector. He also paid tribute to former Senator and UWI lecturer Wendell McClean, who fought to ensure that utility companies with monopolies did not use their position to exploit consumers. “He believed that every monopoly vested with power is apt to abuse it, and he always emphasised the point that the only way to prevent that was to prevent the inclination towards it by putting the necessary legislation in place. He did not live long enough to see it, but he would have been pleased to see Government moving towards the breaking down of monopolies in the public utilities sector.” (BT)

SMALL BUSINESSES NEED ENERGY FUND –Government Senator Lynette Holder wants micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to get a piece of the second Energy Smart Fund which will soon come on stream. She noted that under the first fund, small businesses could not afford the grants and low interest loans which were placed at a minimum of $150 000. She therefore suggested that provisions be put in place to allow small businesses to borrow as little as $25 000 this time around to retrofit their operations. “Let us learn from this exercise and recognize that we may very well need to tweak, we may very well need to improve the overall programme if we want to see the uptake from our micro, small and medium enterprises,” Holder said in her contribution to debate on the Electric Light and Power (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was passed in the Senate today. “The minimum amount accessed by an individual applicant is $150 000. Yes, the interest rate was attractive enough, but $150 000 [was high] and therefore there was not the level of uptake that we wanted to see. I want to suggest that we consider lowering that amount to smaller chunks.” Senator Holder noted that in an effort to move towards establishing a renewable energy society, the Government in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the European Union (EU) would establish the Energy Smart Fund 2 which is intended to help Barbados achieve the goal of becoming a fossil free country by 2030. It will look at retrofitting public buildings using performance-based contracts and also improving efficiency in renewable energy through a lending scheme to be administered by the Enterprise Growth Fund. Holder, who is also the chief executive officer of the Small Business Association, suggested that a combination of grants be introduced to allow firms to access the resources to conduct energy audits. “We boast, Mr President, of being the first country in this hemisphere to have developed this technology but we only use it in our homes, we only use it to warm our water. We need to be able to move to the stage where those types of businesses can move to the point where they literally retrofit their operations so as to move away from the fossil fuel, but also to bring down their energy costs. And as you are able to bring your energy costs down, then the inputs into your operations are reduced and ultimately it makes your product a lot cheaper, it makes your product a lot more competitive, especially if you are looking to export,” Holder said.  (BT)

NO MORE ED FORMS – The days of airline passengers having to fill out immigration/customs forms, also known as ED forms, on arrival at the Grantley Adams International Airport will soon be a thing of the past. From next month, there will be a full transition to the use of the 48 kiosks at the airport, Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson revealed this morning. He explained that the kiosk system has been tested for almost a year and has been fine-tuned to ensure that the passenger information gathering system meets all the markers for Customs, Immigration and the Statistical Services. “We have eliminated the ED cards from September 1. Cabinet made that decision at last Thursdays’ meeting. We have 48 kiosks now; there were 16 and we got another 32 and they were installed last month and are working effectively. I am not going to tell Barbadians that there will be perfection and that the systems will never break down, but we have backup facilities, redundancies in other computer equipment, in terms of saving the information,” said Hinkson, who was speaking to reporters at Parliament, the first stop in his annual outing for Class Four students from schools in his St James North constituency. “We see this as a key plank in terms of facilitating entry into Barbados. This is the first point of entry for both citizens and non-citizens and first impressions count. It is incumbent on us to make it as easy as possible to get out of the airport.” Hinkson told reporters that Government has also covered its bases with the key tourism marketing agencies that depend on the information gathered from the landing forms to market the country’s tourism product overseas. “Cabinet also decided that we will put in some more questions in the system….Right now, on the ED card, persons are asked to put in their address, length of stay in Barbados, type of accommodation, zip code. We are going to add some questions to the kiosks that will still allow for the acquisition of that information,” he pointed out. The Minister revealed that while speed of the process may vary based on the size of a travelling party as well as an individual’s technical proficiencies, the digital systems have significantly cut down the length of time it takes for passengers to get through the airport. “Right now, the questions in there take an average of a minute to a minute and a half. Obviously, it depends on how technically challenged you are. Also, a single person would take a shorter…time than a couple or a family of four. But everyone who has used it has said that it is tremendous and that it has made life much easier for entering Barbados,” he said. However, Hinkson stressed that while Government was focused on improving efficiency and ease getting into the country, measures were being taken to ensure that national security was not compromised. He pointed out that Government has reserved the right to add more questions if international or local developments demand it.  “If there is a global outbreak of Ebola, for example, any reasonable person would understand that if you have been to ‘X’ or ‘Y’ country in the last few months, then it should be indicated. We have to protect our public health and ensure our national security is preserved. So we intend to monitor the system and make updates where necessary,” the Home Affairs Minister explained.(BT)

CREDIT UNION OFFICIAL SAYS TO EXPECT MORE MERGERS –A top credit union official says that as regulations in the industry continue to tighten there could be several mergers within the sector. This assessment has come from General Manager of the Barbados Co-operative and Credit Union League Ltd. Anthony Pilgrim, who pointed out that the number of local credit unions has been on the decline. In fact, speaking Tuesday at a discussion hosted by the Central Bank of Barbados and the Financial Services Commission on the findings of the recently released Financial Stability Report 2018, he said some credit unions were currently exploring amalgamation. “We have currently about [33] credit unions still operating actively. I can say to you that I am aware that there are at least five credit unions that are actively looking at some form of amalgamation option, as I speak,” said Pilgrim, who opted not to name the institutions or go into further detail. Saying that a final decision would have to be made by the members of those entities as well as the regulator, he pointed to several factors that would contribute to such a move in that direction. “As the environment becomes more challenging, the regulatory requirements are more stringent; also the accounting standards. These become more of a challenge for small institutions with limited management capacity. So those are some of the things that tend to drive consolidation in the sector,” he said. Pilgrim said that over the years there has been “a lot” of consolidation in the credit union sector and he expected that trend to continue. “Back in the 1990s, we had in excess of 50 credit unions, so really the movement has shrunk by about 40 per cent or so. We expect going forward to see further consolidation in the sector and this is a regional and global trend where . . . practically in every jurisdiction there is consolidation,” he said.Of the more than 30 credit unions in Barbados, the concentration is among the three relatively larger ones – the Barbados Public Workers Co-operative Credit Union with a membership of more than 95,000 and assets exceeding $1.3 billion; the City of Bridgetown Co-operative Credit Union Ltd with assets of more than $515 million and a membership base of over 64,300; and the BWU Co-operative Credit Union Limited, which has a membership base of over 24,300 and assets over $170.7 million.(BT)

NO RAIN, NO GAIN – Ongoing drought conditions in Barbados are threatening to dry up the struggling dairy industry.While the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has said it is doing what it can to help ease farmers who face periodic water shortages, officials of the Barbados Beef and Dairy Producers Association fear the quality of their product could fall if drought conditions do not end soon.“The Barbados Water Authority has been very kind. They have not done anything in particular to affect us, so we do not suffer extended shortage. So that is not a problem for us, but the drought is a problem in the forage and the grass,” said association president Annette Beckett.“Without the water to wet the grass, preferably rain water, you have a severe problem with forage. It is not good because it is not fertilized properly and this can lead to an impact on the production of the milk and the solids, because the solids are an important factor in the milk for us.”The island has been experiencing bouts of drought conditions since the start of the year, and despite entering the rainy season about three months ago the amount of rainfall between June and October is expected to be lower than normal and could further negatively impact the island.Beckett explained that one cow required at least 30 gallons of water per day, along with quality feed in order to produce equally good quality milk.She said the lack of adequate rainwater was having a negative impact on production levels.“So if you do the maths, you see how much water is required to run a farm. So the drought situation is already a problem. Most of the farms already water harvest. Unless the rain is falling you cannot water harvest,” Beckett said.Meanwhile, vice president of the association Brian Allan expressed concern that already struggling farmers could suffer a further drop in business if the situation did not improve soon.The industry has dwindled from about 39 dairy farmers up to six years ago, to only about 16 at present. One farmer went out of business at the end of last year.“We have to check but there has definitely been a drop [in production] on most of the farms because of the lack of forage. Also affecting our milk check is the low solids. If you don’t have proper forage the solids in the milk drop and we are paid by the solids. So we would get a deduction every month because of the low forage,” Allan explained.He said the Garbage and Sewage Contribution (GSC) levy was not making it any easier for the farmers who were already faced with high operating costs.“So that combined with the increased water price has put a very tenuous situation with the diary farmers’ finances. You have to put more feed to make up for the lack of forage. You are getting quality deductions because of lower quality milk and then on top of that you have a huge water bill. So it is really a perfect storm for the dairy farmers at the moment,” Allan said.Despite the challenges, he said farmers were doing what they could to maintain production levels.“The farmers work together. Everything affects every farmer the same way,” said the 31-year industry operator.(BT)

WEAR TO EASE FARMERS: Some relief could be coming to dairy farmers. Although there will be no overnight fix, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir said his ministry was consulting with farmers who are part of a group reviewing the Cess On Milk Act.  “We have agreed in principle that we will bring back the legislation, to address the issues where there will be an arrangement for products that fall under the milk category to carry the same cess or duty . . . . That legislation that had lagged for such a long time and I do not intend to let it lag anymore,” Weir said. He made these comments yesterday while touring Pine Hill Dairy with officials, including its parent company’s Banks Holdings Limited’s country manager Jose Infante, and technical operations manager Janelle Worrell. (DN)

DAIRY CONTINUES TO INVEST IN PLANT AND STAFF  - Officials of this island’s largest beverage manufacturer is giving the local economy a vote of confidence as the company continues to invest despite some challenges. Jose Infante, Country Manager of the Pine Hill Dairy (PHD), a subsidiary of the Banks Holdings Group (BHL), said while the local economy continues to face a number of challenges it was still holding its own. BHL has further delayed the publication of its audited financial statements and annual report for the year ending December 31, 2018 as a result of the company “requiring additional time to complete its audit”. The information should be published by November. However, following a tour of The Pine, St Michael facility on Thursday, Infante said he was pleased with last year’s performance despite continued stiff competition from imported items. “We are seeing a bright future in our performance. We are looking at ways to increase our export [and] we are looking at ways that we can get more innovations in the market. So we see a bright future. We are really pleased with the performance [last year] and we are hoping for a much better performance in 2019 and 2020,” he told journalists. The tour of the PHD facility formed part of a wider outreach programme by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in an effort to gather information and come up with solutions to various issues facing the agriculture sector. Infante said the business climate remained challenging but that was not stopping the company from pumping roughly US$1 million into the economy through various upgrades and innovation in an effort to further improve operations and the skillsets of staff. “I think that we are facing the challenges that we are seeing worldwide, but we believe a lot in Barbados, we believe a lot in the talent that we have locally and we believe a lot in the investments that we are doing,” said Infante. “So we are seeing just a bright future. We are pleased with our performance now and we are looking forward to having an even better performance going forward, while pointing out that so far close to US$700,000 has been invested in the Pine Hill facility. “We are expecting to invest up to the end of the year another US$300,000 or $400,000,” he added. PHD is the manufacturer of a number of pasteurized, evaporated, reconstituted and flavoured milk, condensed milk, juices and juice drinks. This portfolio represents about 50 per cent of the BHL Group’s sales revenue. The juices represent 57 per cent of the volume in PHD, while milk products make up the remaining 43 per cent. Infante said about 25 per cent of the volume produced is exported with juices taking up the bulk of exports. He said while the company exported to a number of CARICOM nations and the US, the main export market for the PHD products was St Lucia, which gets roughly 50 per cent, followed by Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana. Following the tour of the PHD facility, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir said he was “impressed”, as he pointed to the company’s modern equipment and adherence to high safety standards. Describing the PHD as a “benchmark for manufacturing in Barbados”, Weir said: “I would certainly hope you will share with other manufacturers in Barbados how they can reach these standards.” (BT)

NO LEGAL SPOT TO STAND ON – Squatters at Rock Hall, St. Philip are at the mercy of Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s Government and have no legal right to the land they currently occupy, a well known attorney has warned. Robert Bobby Clarke, who is also a social activist, was responding to reports that some squatters were opposed to moving off the land as well as suggestions that some residents may be entitled to remain after years of illegal occupation.In addition, Clarke has contended that if the squatters, situated just a stone’s throw from the country’s airport are injured due to an aviation accident, Government could be held liable. As such, the attorney has suggested squatters request a sitting with members of the Mottley administration to negotiate a “humanistic” solution. In his opinion, a provision of the Tenantries Freehold Purchase Act, which entitles people occupying land for over seven years to purchase the land, would not obtain in the case of the Rock Hall squatters. “Time [is not a factor] … don’t fight it in terms of land because you can’t win,” advised Clarke. “They cannot do that against the Crown, because the Crown has overall ownership of the land even if they have been squatting for ten years, they cannot claim it. That is their major problem and the advice being given by some people is incorrect.” According to Clarke, the courts would likely also consider the security threat posed by the squatters.    “Anytime an airplane overshoots the runway, it could end up in their houses. That piece of land is an essential piece of land and is no ordinary piece of land. Any plane overrunning the runway will end up in their houses and then the Government will have to pay for any injuries to them and will have to buy houses for them.” Clarke, who has worked tirelessly representing citizens in the dispute surrounding the compulsory acquisition of land at Emmerton in The city, said he was on the side of the squatters. “Both DLP and BLP Governments for years were not giving any kind of decent response [to housing problems], so they [squatters] pulled out money to improve their living standards, which is understandable and I expect Government to understand their problem and find a solution. But in law, they have no case,” said the activist. As such, he praised Government’s $25,000 grant offer, to assist their relocation. “The offer of $25,000 is just a humanistic gesture. So I think they should really have a non-aggressive view. Sit down with the PM and explain their personal problems, not their legal problems, because they are no legal solutions. There are only humanistic solutions to it,” he suggested.  “The houses will have to be rebuilt. Most of them are made of wood, but the ones that are wall cannot be reused. I am on their side and I understand that they need assistance, but they are in the wrong area and that in itself is crucial,” the attorney concluded.  Earlier this week, squatters told Barbados TODAY they settled there in a last ditch effort to accommodate their families. In addition, parliamentary representative for St. Philip South, Indar Weir, in whose constituency the squatters are situated, said many of them have housing applications languishing in Government departments. Concern has also been raised about a constant flow of people who have started setting up houses smack in the middle of a former dump on the Rock Hall site.(BT)

COP HITS BACK – The hierarchy of the police force has rushed to the defence of police officers after a Magistrate took prosecutors to task for failing to produce completed court files delaying the progress of cases and forcing courts to dismiss others. Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith says it is not all the fault of the police, as there are other branches of the system who are not innocent in the state of affairs. His response today came after Magistrate Douglas Frederick on Tuesday said incomplete files left him with no option but to dismiss three cases, one dating as far back as 2012. In an interview with Barbados TODAY this afternoon, Griffith, who is currently overseas, suggested that while the force was not blameless, it was unfair to single out the police for finger-pointing in these long-running matters before the court, as there was plenty of blame to go around in the justice system. “When I return, I will give a full report on this matter. I will only say that it is not only the police that have come up short in this regard. There is blame in every area of the justice system… There are also hundreds of matters where the files have been fully completed by investigators and yet these matters are going nowhere,” he pointed out. The Commissioner noted that the Royal Barbados Police Force had limited resources and that its officers were often stretched, as the criminal element is prone to habitually re-offend. Manpower shortages through sick leave and retirements, he noted, have also taken their toll on the force. “The reality is though, that officers are attending to reports over and over. We have finite resources and we have persons involved in crime that re-offend over and over. Shortages also exacerbate the situation,” he added. However, Griffith gave the assurance that the force was doing all in its power to ensure that incidents, where fingers can be pointed directly at the police department, are reduced to a minimum. “We have appointed an Assistant Commissioner of Police to look closely into this matter. I expect that given time there will be improvements,” he revealed, noting that the three matters dismissed by Frederick on Tuesday will be looked at to determine if there was “blatant neglect”. One of the cases Frederick dismissed on Tuesday for want of prosecution, was against Shaneka Crystal Kyesha Nicholls, of Rose Hill, Kendal Hill, Christ Church. She was 24 years and had been on $5,000 bail, charged with wounding Renita Blackett on April 9, 2016 with intent to maim, disfigure or disable her or to do some serious bodily harm to her. In that case, the prosecution told the magistrate that the file had not yet been completed and gave the assurance that it would be “sorted” in a month. “This is a serious thing,” said the magistrate who went on to say that such a hold up was impacting all parties concerned. “You have to tell the investigators this. They are working, getting a salary,” Frederick said. The magistrate charged that “half-baked” matters were being brought before the court. The Nicholls matter was dismissed along with a matter against Bertram Fabian Quintyne, of Passage Road, St Michael which was dismissed earlier in the day. Quintyne had been accused of causing serious bodily harm to Terry Welch. Julian Roland Holder, of Roberts Gap, Halls Road, St Michael and Junior Christopher Lowe, of no fixed place of abode, also walked out of the court free of a 2012 burglary charge. (BT)

UPDATE: SHOOTING IN BLACK ROCK – Aman wearing a pink shirt and long brown pants is said to be responsible for the shooting incident which took place at 1st Avenue Greaves Land, Black Rock, St Michael, yesterday and left a 22-year-old male nursing injuries. He is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and thickly built, with a light brown complexion. Around 4 p.m., Rashawn Savion Tudor of #2 Well Gap, Lodge Hill, St Michael, was shot in the lower abdomen and right thigh.When lawmen arrived at the scene, Tudor was lying on the ground.He had been riding his motorcycle through the area. He stopped in front of a house and an unknown man approached him from the opposite direction while he was parking the cycle.The man, who was carrying a firearm, pointed it at Tudor and fired two shots – both of which struck him in the body – before running off.Tudor fell and was subsequently taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for medical attention.Anyone who can provide any information that can assist with these investigations is asked to contact the Black Rock Police Station at 1 (246) 417-7500/417-7505, Police Emergency 211, Crime Stoppers at 1-800 (TIPS) 8477 or any police station. (DN)

CANNABIS SEIZED, NO ONE ARRESTED – No one was arrested during a police operation at Branchbury, St Joseph, where more than 1 400 cannabis plants were seized. Lawmen seized 1 432 cannabis plants ranging from seedlings to about four feet in height.Members of the Suppressing Criminal Activity Threatening Society “S.C.A.T.S.” Unit conducted the operation yesterday in areas suspected to be locations for the cultivation of cannabis.(DN)

MOM PLACED ON PROBATION – A 35-year-old mother of four who back in June flung a hot iron at her six-year-old son will undergo psychological and parenting counseling and return to the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on October 15 for an update.Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant also placed Melissa Oneilia Griffith, of Mason Hall Street, St Michael on probation for a year.The mother, who was represented by Queen’s Counsel Michael Lashley, earlier this year pleaded guilty to willfully assaulting the child in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering and injury to his health.The electrical appliance struck the child on the chest, burning that part of his body as well as his left arm.Griffith was pressing clothes at the time of the incident, police constable Victoria Taitt had told the court in relaying the facts back then.(BT)

$40, 000 FINE – Think about the consequences before you get into this foolishness, Magistrate Frederick Douglas advised a 35-year-old man convicted of drug charges.Korie Orlando Gale-Forde, of Gall Hill, Christ Church had been on remand after pleading guilty to possession, possession with intent traffic, possession with intent to supply and importation of 17.9 kilogrammes or $71, 600 worth of cannabis on July 2.When he appeared before the No. 1 District ‘A’ Court magistrate recently his attorney Mohia Ma’at mitigated on his behalf and pointed to the plumber’s early guilty plea, his remorse, the time spent on remand and challenges currently facing his family.“He should have thought about his family’s situation before the illegal activity,” Magistrate Douglas told the lawyer.The judicial officer then took into account the mitigating factors and fined Gale-Forde $40,000 which must be paid in 12 months. If the amount is left unpaid he will spend two years in prison. The fine was imposed on the importation charge and he was convicted, reprimanded and discharged on the other offences.Gale-Forde was granted bail in the sum of $40,000 with one surety. He also had to surrender his passport to the court and was told that he could not apply for other travel documents while the payment was pending. The convicted man must also report to the Oistins Police Station every Wednesday before 10 a.m.(BT)

‘TREE SURGEON’ ADMITS TO COCAINE PROBLEM – A 49-year-old who cuts trees for a living, admitted to having a drug addiction and will spend the next three weeks at the Psychiatric Hospital being assessed for suitability for Verdun House’s treatment programme .  “I need some help please, Verdun House or something so,” Ricardo Vincent Antonio Corbin, of Date Tree Hill, St Peter told Magistrate Douglas Frederick earlier today. He made the comment after pleading guilty to having possession of cocaine apparatus on August 19. At first Corbin told the magistrate he had a problem with cannabis and not cocaine. “I am not using cocaine. I smoke weed, I don’t smoke cocaine. I need help because I need help,” he said adding “I am a tree surgeon. I cut trees for a living.” However, when questioned on whether he wanted the help in a bid to avoid a prison sentence Corbin replied, “I got a problem. I have a problem with cannabis and cocaine”. The magistrate told him, “Don’t play games with me!” Corbin apologised. He was then remanded to the Black Rock institution until September 11. (BT)

ST GEORGE MAN DENIES THEFT CHARGES –An unemployed man from Mayfield, St George has been released on bail after being accused of stealing over $15, 000. Fifty-year-old Shawn Ricardo Thompson elected for a summary trial before Magistrate Douglas Frederick earlier today on charges of stealing $5,500 belonging to Akanni McCollin between June 18, 2018 and March 29, 2019 as well as $10,300 belonging to the same person between March 23 and 29 this year. Thompson entered not guilty pleas on both charges. The prosecution did not object and the court granted Thompson $7,000 bail, ordering him to report to the Glebe Police Station every Wednesday before 10 a.m. with valid identification. The accused, who had Kevin Miller as his defence attorney, has also been warned to stay away from the complainant and his property and to return to the No.1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on December 11. (BT)

DOVER DECAY –A number of sea-bathers and business people are lamenting that drug pushers and those aggressively confronting tourists to sell them jewellery and other items, have taken over Dover Beach in Christ Church. So much so, they lament, that the landscape of the once popular beach has changed, in many ways for the worse. One long-time visitor to Barbados, who called in the DAILY NATION but requested anonymity, said he had watched Dover degrade over the years.“I have been coming to Dover since I was 17. I live in Stockholm, Sweden now, but I come back frequently and I’m concerned about how this area has deteriorated,” said the man who is now in his 70s.(DN)

FISH VENDORS HAPPY WITH OISTINS UPGRADE –The Berinda Cox Fish Market in Oistins, Christ Church, is in the middle of a facelift, with vendors generally happy about the repairs. Most of the market has already been transformed but there is still a section under construction, which means the vendors are all housed in another section, which can get cramped. While some of the vendors are making the most of it, a small group sitting under a nearby tree complained they were being forced to sell from outside the market. “The work is a good thing, but there are some vendors who block off their stalls even though they aren’t selling anything, so people like we can’t use them,” said one.(DN)

PM MOTTLEY TO RECEIVE DIAMOND BALL AWARD AT RIHANNA’S FIFTH DIAMOND BALL- Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and civil rights activist Shaun King will receive this year’s Diamond Ball Award at Rihanna’s fifth annual Diamond Ball, which will also feature performances from Pharrell and DJ Khaled. “I can’t imagine a better night than this year’s Clara Lionel Foundation event with Seth Meyers, Pharrell and DJ Khaled,” said Rihanna. “I am particularly honored to present Prime Minister Mottley and Shaun King with this year’s Diamond Ball Awards for their groundbreaking work. We are so thankful to them for joining us and making the night better than ever.” The previous two Diamond Balls featured rousing performances from Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino. The Barbados Prime Minister’s carries the reputation of a trailblazer in politics. After becoming the first woman elected to lead the Barbados Labour Party, Mottley went on to serve as the first female Attorney General and Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados. Her career is also recognized for her work in spearheading progressive programs such as the Education Sector Enhancement Program, which aims to increase the amount of young people contributing to the social and economic development of the country through school facility and technology rehabilitation along with teacher training and curriculum reform. King, widely recognized for his social media use to highlight civil rights issues, will accept the award alongside Mottley. A graduate of Morehouse, he’s known for relaunching the Frederick Douglass publication “The North Star.” Additionally, King co-founded social justice lobbyist organization Real Justice PAC which looks to elect prosecutors of all levels who support criminal justice reform. The formal event hosted by comedian Seth Myers, will benefit the Clara Lionel Foundation, an organization created by the singer to fund education and emergency response programs throughout the globe.  In addition to its Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program and its current programs in Malawi, Senegal, and the Caribbean, the CLF recently announced a new partnership with International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region and Engineers Without Borders USA to build reproductive health facilities in the Caribbean. Currently up for bid items at this year’s Diamond Ball auction include Jonas Brothers VIP experience, CC Sabathia signed jersey, Paper Planes Outfits for a year, a signed Danny Green NBA finals jersey, fishing with Peter Miller, event coordination services with SO events, a workout with Rihanna’s trainer, and a Savage X Fenty 2020 Fashion Show Experience. (BT)

That’s all for today folks there are 132 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newsca psbystephaniefchase

[sailorsandseadogs]

Living in a Sailboat Tree House - Stuck on Dry Dock (March 14 -April 13, 2019)

Cabedelo, Brazil, South America

For the past several weeks, we have been stuck on dry dock in the shipyard at Marina Jacaré Village here in Cabedelo, Brazil. It feels so strange to be on the boat, but not in the water. Living on dry dock is like living in a tree house. It’s not easy. It’s not convenient. But like everything else we have experienced so far, it’s another adventure.

During the past month, I took a two-week break and headed to our land home in Gulf Shores, Alabama, U.S.A. to work a little and visit with family and friends. I had not been home since before we set sail on this journey seven months ago.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, Maik continued to work on at least eight major projects during this past month—all while living in our sailboat tree house. Most of these projects are still ongoing. Here is a recap of our last month in Cabedelo, Brazil and Alabama, USA.

Thursday, 14 March 2019

We continue to be completely inspired by the other sailors we meet and their stories. We have been in Cabedelo for so long we have seen many sailors come and go. I’ve said this many times, but it’s important to say it again—with sailors, it’s never goodbye. We always know that there is a chance we will see our sailing friends again somewhere in the world at some point. This will make even more sense if you read all of this logbook entry, as well as previous entries.

In my last blog, I mentioned our friends, Robin and Philemon, who recently sailed down to Patagonia on the southern tip of South America. They sailed around Cape Horn and then sailed for 40 straight days up to Cabedelo. They have a very cool steel ship, Bekwaipa. This is a French word that Robin learned from his grandmother. Loosely translated, it means “the opposite of not stable.”

We were walking by their boat on the pontoon while they were working outside on boat projects and invited us onboard for a tour. This is not a bright, shiny, or fancy boat. The green and white steel structure is covered in rust and in some parts of the cabin there are no walls, only open insulation. But this is a STABLE boat, so the name fits!  Their inside layout is similar to Seefalke. It has the appearance of being messy and cluttered, but it’s very organized for them. They have creative rigs everywhere, including a long board with their depth sounder attached to the end. They simply hang this off the back stern when they need to test the depth of the water. It’s simple and unsophisticated, but it works.

They have surfboards on board and look like typical vagabond surfer dudes. They are so cool and are living a cool, free lifestyle. They are making plans to head back home for a month and then return here to sail to the Azores next.

That evening we ate dinner at our favorite outdoor meat-stick truck and eventually drew a crowd. We were joined by Robin and Philemon, Sophie and Tobias, and Felix and Emeline. Everyone but Maik drank Caipirinhas (the official Brazilian cocktail) and talked for hours about the addiction of sailing and the sailing lifestyle. There is a unique and instant connection with other sailors who love this lifestyle.

Friday, 15 March 2019

Christoph surprised us at breakfast with our finished cockpit boards. They had all been sanded and oiled and look brand new!

Again, we worked all day in marina. This is a very open and social area for the sailors here. The washrooms and showers are here, as well as a small diner with a limited menu, and a laundry service operated by a sweet Brazilian woman, Annabella. Most important, there are tables for working, hammocks for relaxing, and a cool breeze that makes its way through the open-air breezeway. A few tents overhead provide shade and protection from the rain.

There is a library full of books that you can read while in the lobby, or you can “leave one and take one.” Books are available in just about every language. This is also where the office of the Harbor Master is located as well as access to the marina maintenance crew.

But most important, this is where all the sailors hang out to get relief from the heat and of course, to talk with other sailors. There is always upbeat music playing, which we have trained ourselves to tune out while working.

There are a couple of stray cats and one kitten that has been adopted by all the sailors and marina crew. These cats drive Cap’n Jack and Scout crazy. We generally bring the Seadogs with us into the lobby every day while we work so that they also can get a break from the extreme heat.

We met another cool sailing couple, Mer and Dan. Mer is French, and Dan is British. They have been in Brazil for three months and head toward French Guiana next. They are young, not sure their exact age, but I would guess mid-to-late 20s. They have an apartment in London that they rent out for what they call a “ridiculously obscene price” and use the money they make from the rental to support their cruising kitty. They have no other source of income, so they always stay at anchor, never eat out (only cook on the boat), and do 100% of their boat maintenance themselves. I still find it fascinating that if you want to sail the world, you can find a way financially.

At dinner that evening, Maik and I talked about how on land our international relationship seems completely crazy. How ridiculous it seems to have a relationship with one person who lives in the US and the other who lives in Germany. People have asked us for the past six years how we manage this, and it isn’t easy. I wouldn’t recommend this kind of long-distance relationship, although we found a way to make it work all these years. But at sea, it’s completely normal and common for relationships to exist without borders. And no one we meet in these many ports seems at all surprised when we tell them I am from America and Maik is from Germany. In fact, it’s rare to find couples cruising together who are from the same country.

Tuesday, 19 March 2019

We had a lazy bag made by Christoph that we were set to install on this day. It was Maik’s turn to strap on the bosun chair and make the climb up the main mast to the top of the crow’s nest to install the rigging.

A lazy bag is a device designed to wrap itself around the main sail with lines attached to the mast spreader, creating a bag to capture the main sail when the halyard is released. The sail drops right into the bag. In addition to looking really nice and clean and organized, this is a safety feature when we are at sea. We no longer will have to fight the sail that may be flapping in heavy conditions when we try to bring it down, nor will we have to hand tie it on the foredeck. The sail will simply drop into the bag, the sail will be contained, and then we zip up the bag when conditions allow.

Wednesday, 20 March 2019

We said goodbye, for now, to Robin and Philemon, who headed to Europe by plane for a month. They were so sweet and baked us homemade bread before they left.

That afternoon, I interviewed Emeline for one of the international pumping magazines for which I often contribute articles. She is a female engineer who sails six months of the year, and then works on an offshore rig the other six months of the year. She is among the 1% of female engineers for her company. She is at sea even when she and Felix are not sailing the world in their little monohull, Sea You. It’s a fascinating story that I will post for you once it’s published.

I spent the rest of the week making a list of supplies to find while in Alabama and preparing for my trip to our land home.

BACK IN THE GOOD OLE USA (March 24 – April 8, 2019)

I had not been back in Alabama since Thanksgiving, and I had not been to our apartment in Gulf Shores since I left with the pups to fly to Germany on July 30, 2018. Seven months is a long time to be away from home.

I had an early flight from Recife, which meant I needed to leave the marina at 04:30 with our taxi driver/friend Marco to make the 2-hour drive to the airport.

It felt strange being on an airplane. The 8-hour flight was ok, but I had a 14-hour layover in Orlando. It was an overnight layover, so I decided to take a cheap hotel near the airport and sleep during the layover. This made the 1.5-hour flight to Pensacola the next day manageable and helped me quickly shake any jet lag.

My dear friend, Michele, picked me up from the airport.  I planned to stay two nights with her and Doug while we had renters in our apartment in Gulf Shores. Maik had given me a long list of boat supplies to find while in the states that we couldn’t get in Brazil. Michele and I went on the hunt at WalMart and Lowe’s. Oh, how I have missed these great American super stores!

We filled her car with supplies and headed back to her house for a barbecue with more friends — Steve, Catherine, Jenny, Fritz, and of course, Doug (Michele’s boyfriend). We had a blast catching up! It’s so great to see my American friends again!

I made it to Gulf Shores on Monday morning and struggled a bit to settle in. It didn’t feel like home without Maik and the pups, but I immediately got busy on several projects after visiting with more friends—Trisha, Krista, and Tom.

One of my main tasks for the trip was to try to sell enough things in my offsite storage unit to move to a smaller, cheaper storage unit. I was able to easily sell tons of old furniture items on Facebook Marketplace and brought a few things back to the apartment to use there. During the two weeks stateside, I was able to accomplish moving from a 10 x 10 storage unit to a 5 x 10 unit, cutting my footprint and the monthly payment in half. I was able to use the money gained from the furniture sales for all the boat supplies I needed to purchase.

Meanwhile, I also sold my car to my friend Trisha—my cool VW Beetle Convertible.  I love this car, but it’s just sitting there all these months, so now I can save money on the payments and insurance. It was a huge expense each month, so this is a relief to be free of that. We still have our old beat-up Jimmy truck that we can drive while in Gulf Shores, and this is all we really need. We barely need one car right now, and we definitely don’t need two!

I struggled to find a good rhythm at home—especially at first. I was enjoying the long, hot showers and the unlimited supply of ICE, but I found it hard to concentrate on real work. I thought I would love being in the civilized world so much that maybe I wouldn’t want to return to Brazil, but this only made me want to get back to the boat more. I continued to realize that some of the creature comforts I always thought I couldn’t live without are just not that important to me anymore.

As the famous sailor, Robin Lee Graham, once said, “At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much.”

My amazing son, Bo, came to visit me for the weekend. It was fantastic to have some very high-quality one-on-one time with him. I miss my kids so much and this is the hardest part of being at sea!

Bo and I spent the weekend talking, catching up, and watching all the Oscar-nominated movies. This is our tradition. We do it every year and come up with our own opinions of who should have won the Academy Awards. We highly recommend BlackkKlansman and Green Book. They were our favorites over the weekend, but we also liked The Wife and The Favourite.

We also spent some time over the weekend cheering on our Auburn Tigers with our neighbors, Tom and Krista! Our team made it to the NCAA Final Four Basketball Tournament for the first time in history, but lost in the first round. It was cool to share the experience with other loyal Auburn fans and friends! War Eagle!!!!

During my second week home I got to spend a lovely dinner with friends/neighbors, Lynn and Mike, and then got a visit from my sis-in-law, Pam, and my niece, Allie, who drove all the way from Decatur to visit me for a couple days. We went to the beach and had a fabulous time together. We also went to Mobile and had dinner with my other sis-in-law, Dana, and my niece, Ashton, and nephew, Wells, at their restaurant, The Dumbwaiter.

It was fabulous seeing family, but I was devastated to not be able to spend any time with my parents or with my precious daughter, Shelby.

Time in Gulf Shores was productive and went by so fast. I loaded up three huge suitcases full of supplies for the boat, then headed back to Pensacola for another fun evening with Michele and Doug, and our friend, Shirley.

After an early flight out of Pensacola, I had another long layover in Orlando. This time it was 10.5 hours and during the day rather than overnight. I stayed at the airport and caught up on all the work I didn’t get done during my hometown visit.

BACK IN BRAZIL (April 9 – 14, 2019)

While I was in the U.S., Maik had moved Seefalke onto dry dock in the Marina Jacaré Village shipyard and had been extremely busy with repairs and upgrades.

As Marco drove me into the marina, I didn’t even recognize Seefalke. Her bright orange paint had been almost completely stripped from her hull and there were little bits of orange paint peelings all over the dirt ground in the shipyard.

Maik and the pups had gotten used to living on dry dock since the day after I left for the U.S., and I learned quickly what it’s like to live in a sailboat on dry land.

We have access to electricity and water, but we can’t use the head at all. There is a bathroom in the marina lobby, which is just a short walk from the shipyard, but it’s a major project to get in and out of the boat.

We have a swimming ladder attached to the back of the stern, but it’s not long enough to reach the ground while Seefalke is sitting on dry land. We have another traditional ladder leaned against Seefalke’s stern.  We climb a few steps on the regular ladder, then switch to the swimming ladder to climb the rest of the way to the top. On the way down, we use the swimming ladder then can switch to the regular ladder. We also have a huge oil can we can step onto on the way down. This system works, but it is especially inconvenient when I need to go to the potty in the middle of the night. But this is our situation at the moment.

As I mentioned earlier, living on dry dock is like living in a tree house!

Then, there is the issue of getting the Seadogs on and off the boat. Seefalke’s deck is about 3 meters (10 feet) off the ground. It would not be safe to try and carry Cap’n Jack and Scout up and down the ladder.

Maik used his engineering and seamanship skills to engineer a puppy crane for them. We strap them in their extraordinarily safe life vests, which have two handles on the top. Safety straps with D-rings connect the life vest handles to a line that is rigged with a block to the mizzen boom. Then we can simply lower them or raise them safely and securely with the well-designed puppy crane. They don’t seem to mind. Their tails are wagging the whole way. We posted a very cool video of this system for our Patrons. You can join our crew on Patreon for as little as $2 per month to get extra features like this.

ONGOING REPAIR AND UPGRADE PROJECTS

Paint Job

The paint job project is ongoing. At this point, we have scraped all the paint, sanded, and began the priming stages. Removing the paint is not as easy as it sounds as our ship had four decades of paint layers. Heavy rain delayed the project several days and continues to extend it.  Seefalke still needs several layers of primer, with sanding in between each layer, and then the bright orange paint.

Maik considered painting Seefalke a different color as he has never really loved the bright orange facade, but I wouldn’t let him. Her orange color is part of her character and personality. She was meant to be ORANGE!

After all that is finished, we will apply the coppercoat antifouling on Seefalke’s bottom and then give that coating a harsh sanding before putting her back in the water.

Fuel Leak

Sometimes, when you fix one thing on a sailboat, you uncover many other problems and issues. After Seefalke’s paint was scraped, we discovered a leak in the main diesel tank that is in the keel of the boat. There was a crack in the structure of the boat that we later learned was caused by the boat being placed on the support timber in the wrong place when we moved her out of the water. We have now emptied the tank and flushed it with water many times. The crack has been welded, but the next crucial task will be welding the tank from the inside. Again, more detail is available on Patreon.

Solar Panels

One of our other ongoing projects is installing our new solar panels, which have been ordered.

As you may remember we realized during our Atlantic Crossing that we have not quite reached energetic self-sufficiency yet. One of the old solar panels is down, and the other one is covered by the sails most of the time, while the wind generator remains behind our expectations.

We have decided to significantly upgrade our solar inventory from 90 W to 690 W. We will use the existing massive mast of the wind generator and will install a similar mast on the other side. On the beam between them we will install a 280 W solar panel and the support will also serve as davits for our dinghy.

In addition to the big solar panel on the stern we will install two smaller solar panels of 160 W each on each side of the sea fence. Those will get adjustable mounts to direct them toward the sun, if conditions allow.

The davits are a great side effect of the structure as we desperately need more space on the stern deck. Being able to move the dinghy to the davits will clear the stern deck almost entirely. Also, it will be much easier to deploy the dinghy, when needed. It was impossible to get the necessary blocks here in Brazil, so I bought them in the U.S. at West Marine in Orange Beach and brought them back with me, along with three huge suitcases full of other supplies we couldn’t find in Brazil.

New anchor & chain

You may remember that we had to leave our anchor and chain at the bottom of the sea in Fernado de Noronha during our Atlantic Crossing. This week, we received the new anchor and chain and will install it as soon as the painting is completed. We marked the 50-meter chain with white paint every 5 meters and orange paint every 10 meters (two sections for 20 meters, three sections for 30 meters, etc.) so that we will know the depth of the anchor as we raise it and lower it with the windlass.

For continuous detailed updates on these and other ongoing projects, join our crew on Patreon!

Meanwhile, we said goodbye, for now, to our German friends, Dieter and Claudia, who are headed to French Guiana. But on the same day, we said hello again to Robin and Philemon, who returned from their month-long break with family in Europe. It’s so hard to believe we have been sitting here this long!

We also said hello again to another French sailor we met in Cape Verde. He left Cape Verde about two weeks before we did and made his way to Brazil. He then went to El Salvador and then attempted a solo voyage to Cape Town, South Africa. But he didn’t make it. Somewhere along the way, the headwind and massive waves were impossible for him to maneuver. Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, he made the decision to turn around and return to Brazil. He was at sea for 36 straight days and never made it to his destination. This is one sailor we definitely didn’t expect to see again so soon.

 Meanwhile, we continue with our routine of working in the lobby every day and working on all these boat projects. This week, we will take a break from work and boat projects to explore Brazil a little. We really haven’t had the opportunity to do that yet. Maik heads to Germany next week to spend time with his daughter for Easter. Hopefully, when he returns, we will be closer to our next adventure—a cruise along the Amazon Delta. We are so ready to get back to sea. But for now, we will live in our dry dock tree house for at least another few weeks . . .

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[juicehappysheridan]

The Entrepreneur

: a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.

“a businessman/businesswoman, enterpriser, speculator, wheeler-dealer, mover and shaker, go-getter, idea man/person.”

This weeks guest speaker, Sabaa Quao is a career entrepreneur, creative director and business strategist. He is the President and Founder of /newsrooms (Newsrooms365 Inc), and co-founder and Executive Director of Filminute, the international one-minute film festival.

With degrees in Communication and Design (OCAD), a B.Comm in Marketing (Concordia), and an Executive MBA (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto), Sabaa brings a valuable left brain-right brain balance and approach to business problem solving. His creative and strategic discipline, combined with entrepreneurial instinct and activation, lead to provocative business and marketing solutions for his clients.

Sabaa has been a guest lecturer at the Sheridan College for over 20 years. The following is a snap shot of some of his entrepreneurial knowledge he has shared with us today.

Photo by Christopher Wadsworth

Sabaa is very interested in strategy and innovation in terms of planning and thinking when its applied to competition. 

Start Ups

He works with a lot of start ups in the area of content. “Content is king”! His marketing background has been applied to Social media in terms of content creation work. Over the past 25 years, most of his work was done with big brands in the technology, business, professional sports, media and entertainment industries.

Epistemology

The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

“How do we come to believe what we believe”!

Your beliefs can be traced back to a insight or experience in your past. These kernels of information, when recognized, can become really important if you know how to use them. This information will help you focus on yourself and the direction of your career development.

Origin Stories

How did Spiderman come to be Spiderman? Why is it, that everyone kind of knows. How is it, that we know what Spiderman does and how he differs from Ironman or The Hulk? They do the things they do based on their origin stories. We will be discovering our own origin stories based on the exact same reasons.

R.I.P. Stan Lee.

Everyone should be thinking about their own origin story. Origin stories are worth something. What are you worth? What’s the value of your career?

Sabaa got into speaking about how his children were introduced to Spiderman at a very young age and how this spurred their aptitude toward the creative field.

“Knowing your origin story makes it easier for you to make decisions as you go”

You can break down your origin story down to three dates. You will discover something about your motivations, about the decisions you make and why decisions are easy or hard to make.

Sabaa got into his own origin story and how three significant dates shaped his career path.

1977: His friends father is relocated to Windsor. No job is going tell me where to live or what to do. The birth of the entrepreneurial spirit.

2001: Dot.com bust - he loses everything. He loses trust in companies, clients and economy. He learns how to build a new business on mis-trust.

2011: Divorce - His role as an entrepreneur gave him more time to spend with his young children. His flexible time schedule gave him freedom.

“Find out who you are to know where to go next”

Sabaa encourages us to try this exercise to discover some key insights about ourselves. You will find it very useful if shaping your career path.

Liminality

One thing changes into another. Watch for changes to happen. Paying attention to trends and changes can be very useful as an entrepreneur, just to be able to stay afloat. This info can also be applied to your career and being able to sustain yourself.

“Luck is when preparedness meets with opportunity!”

Better at fool with a plan, than a fool with no plan. Being prepared for decision making, even a little, is better than not being prepared at all. This can be very useful in your career development.

INTERNET TREND REPORT

Mary Meeker - Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Sabaa uses Mary’s yearly reports to forecast the future of the internet industry. He shared his conclusions on the industry based on these charts. 

A good bet is to get 100% OUT OF PRINT.

People are spending less time in front of their desktop and more time on their mobile devices. Mobile is a good bet. The time spent on devices is more than the ad money spent. The economic value of mobile or desktop is far greater than print.

Platforms

What are you designing for, desktop or mobile? You do not only need to be good, you must be a great app designer to succeed in this area. Only 8% of apps are actually used. People use approximately 5-8 apps on their mobile devices the rest are trash.

Fake News

Misinformation! Start building and designing for authority, accuracy and trust. How do people intuitively know they’re on a legit site or app. These fake sites can have devastating consequences for users.

Privacy

Keep client data on their own servers. It’s safer for them, and less risk and responsibility for you.

Amazon

Amazon’s platform over the years has been very stable. Slowly they have changed the look and design of the site. They use learnings overtime through testing. There have been no radical changes to the platform since its inception.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of your design.

WHAT OF ALIBABA?

Alibaba is 3x’s higher in market share vs Amazon. Look at your competition. Who’s in your blindspot? Who’s coming up behind you?

The GIG Economy

Not everyone is cut out for entrepreneurship. Hustling can suck.

Design for...

Focus your design skills toward video, motion, voice and gesture technology. Trends show that this is where the industry is heading.

Who do you work for?

What are the ethics of the company? More importantly, what are yours? Think about who you want to work for and are their visions inline with your own. If they’re not inline, this could affect your performance and ability to design effectively.

Professional creativity

How well do you manage your resources? Make it count. Don’t let others devalue your creativity. Stay true to your convictions. Your career will not progress in a linear way. Diversify your skills.

Conclusion

My fellow students seem to get a lot from Sabaa’s lecture. They started noticing that they have to focus on a specialization in the web design field.

Personal reflection

My personal experience with entrepreneurship has been fruitful, but I wasn’t really cut out for it. In my career I had two boutique design firms. They both did well, but I could not sustain the businesses. The economy, changes in industry practices and relocation, lead me to a full time job at an agency in Toronto. I wouldn’t change my experience as a business owner for anything. It was a great lifestyle which, as Sabaa stated, allowed me the freedom to be flexible with my time.

I had a Origin Story when I was riding my bicycle. One day I ran into a former high school teacher and we chatted for a bit. I asked him how he was, and what he was up to these days. He told me that he was now retired and he was having a great time. I then subconsciously responded by saying that was a great idea, “I think I will retire, too”! We both laughed and went our separate ways. Looking back, I think that day has stayed with me. I took the philosophy that if I enjoyed my work, than it was like being retired. If you love what you do, you never have to work again.

I’d like to thank Sabaa for coming in and sharing his experiences.

Contact Information:

Sabaa’s Profile

linkedin.com/in/sabaa

Websites

newsrooms365.com  (Company Website) filminute.com  (Company Website)

Twitter

xsabaa

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/sabaa.quao