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Top 10 ISV challenges with Cloud, Analytics, Mobile and Social Transformation

In my previous blog, I highlighted the need in ISV’s business transformation due to various changes in the market. Although ISVs are bound to face challenges as they shift their approach to application development, they must also be weary of the challenges that can come with other technological avenues, including cloud, analytics, mobile and social networks. The following are the top 10 challenges that I have seen ISVs struggling with in today’s market:

  • Domain 1 – Infrastructure & Environment
    • In today’s cost-sensitive market with tight budgets, ISVs have to decide if there is a business case to build a Cloud to run their production software or host SaaS solution in a public Cloud or hosted Cloud. There are many qualitative and quantitative factors to consider. Qualitative analysis can include new or existing software solution, security, compliance, availability, global reach requirements, IP protection, existing IT resources in-house or lack there-of, etc. Quantitative analysis can include cost per user considering cost of compute, network, storage, support, training, software license, third party integration, human resource cost for development and support, etc.
    • It is easier to do the above analysis for Test environments, where you would need a large number of resources for a short period of testing time. Hence, public IaaS providers can be cost effective if there are no major concerns on Security, Compliance or IP-Protection. In such situations, ISVs can develop software using in-house environments and use public Cloud (or hybrid Cloud) for test environments.
    • ISVs should consider Cattle and Pet strategy (just like a cow in a cattle where if one cow dies, it gets replaced without any big impact to cattle, a server or a VM instance in cloud should be treated the same where if one server goes down, there should not be any impact on the functionalities of the cloud solution. This is unlike a pet – or a traditional server in legacy environment – where a pet requires care and create impact if something happens to it) in architecting the software for Cloud to reach higher availability. One should not have a Pet instance that cannot go down. Instead software solution should have failover capabilities and also load balancing capabilities so any server should be replaceable just like a cow in a Cattle. Following are some generic statistics of reliability in Cloud compare to Legacy environments:
      • Legacy has 99.9% reliability for Applications and 99.999% reliability for Infrastructure
      • Cloud has 99.0% reliability for Infrastructure and 99.999% reliability for Application
  • Domain 2 – Virtualization & Abstraction
    • Evaluating if your software can live on a virtualized server or if it requires bare-metal server, can be the starting point in the Cloud journey. Not every software solution is designed to be on a virtualized server. In this case, it is a critical decision if one should redesign the software or develop it from the scratch or use container technology.
    • Questions, such as: “can (and should) your software do multi-tenancy?”are also very important. This decision can lead to overall impact on how you architect your software solution and evaluate price. Ability to do multi-tenancy can lead to reduced infrastructure to run your solution and hence, possibly reduced price to end customer. One should also evaluate impact of multi-tenancy on security that is required for ISV’s vertical industry. When a SaaS application handles sensitive data, ISVs must know and document how enterprise’s sensitive data is isolated from other tenants’ data. This analysis includes data at rest and data in-transit within the ISV’s SaaS environment, as well as in-transit across other untrusted networks.
  • Domain 3 – Automation and Orchestration
    • Selecting the right tools for automation of policy-based orchestration, deployment and provisioning can lead to less manual steps, reduced time to setup new customers and enhanced speed to market.
    • Utilizing automation for release management can lead to less errors and smaller numbers of business interruption.
    • As high availability and less time between interruptions for disaster recovery are critical to keep customers in Cloud space, ISVs should have automation tools to do regular testing with simulated disaster situations to verify high availability.
  • Domain 4 – Customer Interface
    • Since late 1990s, with introduction of Web, ISVs are forced to decide if software should have thick client or thin client or both. Now, with ubiquitous smart phones, popularity of mobile applications and with speedier releases of upgrades on popular mobile platforms such as Google Android, Apple IOS, etc., maintaining and upgrading mobile client can be substantial additional investment.
    • ISVs also need to make decisions on what should be the scope of the mobile client –
      • Should it be an independent software with full feature functionality of software solution, or
      • Should it be a hybrid solution where some feature functionalities are available on Mobile client while the rest is accessed remotely via web and executed in Cloud, or
      • Should Mobile client just be an additional device with remote web client?
    • In addition, with market trends towards integrating third party APIs to expand the feature functionalities of the software, role based identity management is critically important. Additional challenge is that ISVs have to develop flexible solution so they can adjust to different interpretation of different roles by different API providers.
  • Domain 5 – Service Catalog
    • With SaaS, ISVs have to plan on how to price their software solution per user but also think about how to package the software solution and make it available using web based catalog. This catalog needs to have clear use cases that are easy to understand, aligned to vertical industry needs and price competitive to match customer’s willingness to pay. Moreover, though, any inclusion of third party software solution needs to be transparent to the user; it needs to be clearly defined in the legal language to reduce liability.
    • Development of such price & package is not a simple task. It is an art as one should create unique value perception for all use cases, be competitive, as well as make it easy for the user to decide and differentiate from competition to avoid price discussion instead of value. Moreover, this catalog may need to change regularly based on competitive forces and customer needs.
    • In addition to developing their own catalog, ISVs must also consider how their software solution can be integrated in Partner’s catalog so they can reach broader audience.  This requires considerations, such as how to price it to the value given by partner solution. This may require rethinking on the price as partner based use of ISV’s software solution may not include full feature functionalities.
  • Domain 6 – Financial
    • Pricing software solution using Pay-per-use model is a challenge that is different from pricing for perpetual license. Pricing needs to be based on the market’s willingness to pay, as competition is just a click away. It also requires considerations and clear understanding that ISVs may not have many months to recover R&D cost due to competitive threats. Hence, it requires clear planning on how fast ISV can get enough customers to reach a breakeven point to cover R&D, customer acquisition & operation cost.
    • Compared to one-time billing for perpetual license, monthly or quarterly ongoing billing for pay-per use is a challenge and it has larger number of collection issues.
    • With the popularity of social media, even clarity and simplicity of regular bill-to-customer is important. Otherwise, ISV runs the risk of having a critical blogger targeting ISV billing practices and impacting reputation and moving customer’s opinion away from ISV. Such customer opinion also provides additional ammunition to competition. Hence, a bill should have enough details that are easy to understand, yet forces customers to see the value and possibly avoid easy comparison with competition.
    • In pay-per-use licensing, ISVs have to develop new strategy for revenue recognition and that can lead to impact on how sales compensations are designed.
    • If software solution includes third party vendors, ISVs need to do appropriate ongoing reporting to the vendor and also understand appropriate impact for tax purposes.
    • How long should ISVs let customer try software solution for free or have a promotional package is based on software solution maturity, market trends and direct competition. This decision alone can lead to high cost of customer acquisition and promotion.
    • Maximizing social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to understand market trends and develop appropriate reports for business impact is critical for today’s success and require additional skills and resources.
    • ISVs needs to develop intelligent reporting for customers, partners and its own management using analytics tools based on software solution. Moreover, making sense out of structured and non-structured data with variety, volume and velocity of data requires different reporting solutions such as use of Big Data Analytics. Each customer click that can span across ISV’s multiple systems and possibly multiple Cloud provider partners that are part of the solution can execute multiple transactions and produce multiple logs. Some of the key analysis that companies could consider based on business maturity to develop correlations and to make future business decisions are: log analysis (web, applications, transactions, database, IT Infrastructure, System Tracking, Errors, Intrusion detection logs), process analysis, user interaction analysis, real time alert & action analysis and historical event analysis. These solutions are not free and require appropriate in house resources such as Data scientists & Business analysts, infrastructure & software planning and investment.
  • Domain 7 – Platform
    • With growth of Cloud, Linux has become a very popular OS to develop solutions on. One can find many IaaS and PaaS providers offering Linux offers on cost effective bases. That said, though Linux is popular, Windows is not too far away with support from Microsoft’s Azure and few other Cloud Providers. But other Unix flavors are becoming less and less popular day by day. Hence, ISVs have to consider if their software should be migrated to Linux or Windows if they are not developed on them.
    • Based on OS, one also needs to consider existing resource’s familiarity with popular application development platforms, frameworks and libraries. For example, ISVs may be able to find many resources that are familiar with Eclipse compared to other alternatives.
    • Similar to OS, database plays an important role in the stability, performance and cost of the software solution. Per CPU core pricing of Oracle may require additional look when open source database like MySQL has become very stable and popular for many use cases. Many ISVs have found it to be an acceptable alternative. By the way, such consideration may lead to redesign of the software and may not be appropriate for all conditions.
  • Domain 8 – Application
    • ISVs have to develop a clear strategy that customers get hooked on by providing customers free or cost-effective training, or easy API based integration points for logging, reporting, identity integration, such that customers would not easily consider competition that is just a click away.
    • Decide if ISV should consider languages such as C#, C++, VB, Java or consider light weight scripting language such as Perl, Java Script, PHP, Ruby or Python or both is based on familiarity of existing development team, current code, modularity of the solution and available resources.
    • Large amount of source code is available via open source, and ISVs have to evaluate if it is appropriate for their development team to use it for faster time to market and also consider copy-right issues related to using such open source code.
    • ISVs have to revisit their software solution to understand that it has modular design to take advantage of heterogeneous components offered by the Cloud and also leads to appropriate planning for high availability.
  • Domain 9 – Security and Compliance
    • As mentioned by Cloud Security Alliance for Application Security, there are four key metrics that apply for Cloud applications – Compliance and Governance, Identity and Access,  Vulnerabilities and Patching, and Data Security. ISVs must ensure that needed metrics are available for Enterprise customers for their SaaS platform.
    • A good hacker can take advantage of the weakness in the development language for the software. Therefore, ISV needs to establish good coding practices such as input validation, authentication, authorization, configuration management, session management, cryptography, parameter manipulation,  exceptional management, appropriate protection of in-memory data, and audit & logging.
    • ISV should also document following key things for their Enterprise customers:
      • What Web application security standards (input validation, encoding output, preventing request forgery and information disclosure) are being followed by the ISV?
      • What application and infrastructure controls are in place to isolate the enterprise’s data from that of other tenants?
      • How many denial of service attacks were attempted and how were they  handled?
      • How do they manage identity?
      • How do they encrypt data (logs, between multiple application modules, between application and database and between application and third party API based use, etc)?
  • Domain 10 – Organization, Governance and Process
    • Historically, software vendors are responsible for application development, feature and functionalities while customers are responsible for managing them in their own environment. With SaaS, operating and supporting is also part of ISV’s responsibilities. ISVs capability for continuous software development and with upfront considerations for operations and delivery of that software can allow capture of market opportunity faster and reduce time to get customer feedback. This DevOps software development methodology and considerations for operations is an important evolution compared to historically popular Waterfall or Agile methodologies. It is stated that DevOps methodology of software development reduces approximately 50% time as well as cost for long term operations support.
    • Impact of social network is tremendous and questions such as how are ISVs reaching out to potential target customers with social networking, how to support software online, how to maintain reputation online in the face of a crisis.
    • Many established ISVs have a sales force with tendency to hunt for the customers, transact the deal and leave. SaaS solution with pay-per-use licensing requires farming of the customers. In many ISV’s environment, this ongoing relationship building takes much more effort than sales is trained for, and would want to spend time per customer based on their quota size. Hence, ISVs have to plan appropriate sales strategy to keep sales force motivated.
    • For many ISVs, changing Sales compensations and training sales teams to sell pay-per-use license with minimal upfront revenue have been the most difficult part of this transformation. Established ISVs have to juggle to make sure that bottom line is not impacted too much and they can achieve good growth in subscription revenue for top line growth.
    • In this fast moving market with no permanent friends or foes, relationships for cooperation or competition, ISV has to continuously think who to partner with and how to structure partnership that is based on Customer value and aligned with ISV’s short & long term business strategy.
    • The need to move fast to improve software and remain a step ahead of the competition has lead  established ISVs to develop hybrid solutions while others SaaS based ISVs have become core business services in Cloud(i.e. Workday,, google app engine etc.), and they are replacing traditional on-premises software vendors. Some ISVs have expanded their reach and capabilities using third party SaaS vendors echo systems, such as
  • Existing System Integration
    • Once ISV develops SaaS based solution, system integration with other ISV’s solutions, reporting needs requires modularized thinking and possibly different developer resources as not all integrations are based on simple solution such as REST API. Some still require custom API integrations that may be based on Java or C++. Moreover, such integration should also consider higher availability and scale needs for SaaS solutions.  Hence, ISV builds versus what ISV integrates into using third party API has become an important question of business decisions.
    • Success of ISVs does not only rely on the direct customers but also equality important are echo system partners. So ISVs also need to consider organic approach of today’s fast moving market environment and develop APIs for their key feature functionalities for partner’s to take advantage of. This is one of the very important considerations for DevOps methodology to address needs of development, operations and integration.  This ability to allow someone to integrate to your software using your API (possibly REST based) as part of echo system can offer immense opportunities for ISVs, as it automatically enables you to reach a wider customer base.

In short, it the pressure to continuously adding value when competition is one click away leads to a challenge of existence for ISV and a –poses the question: should ISV continue to be an ISV, or not? Small, agile and nimble ISVs can turn fast with the market trend but that can lead to not having sufficient time to develop efficient processes and procedures. Large and established ISVs have advantage of existing customers and well-oiled operations but changing faster with the time is always a challenge. This Ying and Yang of agility to meet market demand and efficiency to run the business is core to many ISV challenges.

After saying all of the above, not everything is bad for ISV business, as more and more ISVs are coming to market with their unique flavor of SaaS solution. There are many ways to make money in today’s market, such as faster customer reach due to internet, analytics, mobile and social networks as well as , enthusiastic responses from venture capitalists to invest in “good” SaaS based solutions. ISVs that understand the challenges explained and are weary of them will surely experience a positive change in their results.

Visit Cisco Services to learn more about how converging technology trends are shaping the way IT operates and delivers services. Be sure to join the conversation, #CiscoServices.

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Why ISVs Must Transform In SMAC Environment

In today’s era of SMAC – Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud based solution, Pay-Per-Use licensing and Dev Ops software development methodology, Independent Software Vendors (ISV) are facing major challenges on many fronts. ISVs strive to differentiate from their competitors and gain new customers, as well as retain existing customers and generate additional revenue from them. This shift is happening throughout the software developer market and has surfaced technological and business changes for ISVs.

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So many workloads and so many clouds ….

Recently, I had the opportunity to join a discussion regarding the #FutureOfCloud in the #InnovateThink  Tweet Chat. One of the questions that came up revolved around the process typically used to associate a workload with a specific cloud deployment model. That is an important question and top of mind whenever we speak with customers.

One of the most appealing qualities of the cloud is the variety of ways in which it can be delivered and consumed. A successful cloud strategy will let you take advantage of a full range of consumption models for cloud services to meet your specific business needs. In reality, when we think about it, the process is very similar to what any company in virtually any industry goes through when shaping its business strategy. For each area of the business, inevitably the question arises: Build, Buy or Partner?

Build versus Buy

When formulating their sourcing strategies, IT organizations repeatedly face very similar service-by-service, “build-versus-buy” decisions. The predisposition of IT organizations is to create and build IT services on their own. That is what many IT professionals want to do … create new services, invent ‘new things’. And that may very well be the best option. However, many customers also realize that it is often beneficial to adopt best-in-class capabilities to remain competitive even if this requires outsourcing select portions of the IT value chain. Hence the emerging role of IT as a broker of IT services that we discussed in the past (for more information please visit our web site.) And this requires a paradigm shift for many IT organizations.

Solving the ‘Equation’

To solve the “build versus buy” equation when sourcing their IT services, IT needs to evaluate cost, risk, and agility requirements to determine the best strategy for their business. IT needs a plan and a set of governance principles to evaluate each service based on its strategic profile. A collaborative approach between business and IT is also required. For example: Is the service core to the business? What is the business value associated with it (e.g., strategic importance, sustainable differentiation it can provide, time to market requirements etc..)? What are the cost implications (CapEx vs OpEx), risk profile, security, SLAs, data privacy and regulatory compliance requirements?  And … do you have the expertise to plan, build and manage the new IT service while meeting the expectations of your business counterparts?

Hybrid Cloud Rapidly Emerging as the New ‘Normal’

Not surprisingly, my experience when talking to customers that operate in regulated industries or that are concerned about security – and the privacy of their data more specifically – is that they tend to favor private cloud deployments. For example, I was talking to a compliance manager part of a global financial institution and as soon as I uttered ‘public cloud’ his reaction was quite predictable …. He shook his head, got serious and quipped “Public cloud … I do not think so …” Real or perceived, security concerns remain top of mind and a major barrier to cloud adoption, and this is validated by market research data.

Hybrid Cloud

The predictability of the application with respect to resource consumption is also a factor. Applications that have high elasticity requirements are well positioned to benefit from the economics, agility and scale that public clouds can offer. Infrastructure capacity planning and optimization is a big task for most IT organizations. Having the ability to burst into the public cloud represents an appealing option. This is also why ultimately hybrid cloud is becoming the new normal, and results of the 2014 North Bridge Future of Cloud Computing Survey supports that view.

2014 Future of Cloud Annual Survey Results - Source Gigaom

2014 Future of Cloud Computing – Annual Survey Results

The Power of Choice

Arguably the most important thing your IT organization can do is to diversify its choice of cloud providers ….. Simply because without choice you really do not have a strategy …. And no contingency plans to go along with it ….

What do you think?

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Get Started on SDN and Cisco ONE: Learn from Our New Technical White Paper

If you were to believe the industry press, you could easily be forgiven for thinking that many companies across the world were rolling software defined networking (SDN) technologies into their networks today.  I’m part of Cisco’s Services team and my colleagues across the world are the experts in helping you all design and deploy networks.  If there is a large or complex leading (or bleeding!) edge network out there being designed, you can place a safe bet that someone from the Cisco Services team is involved helping our customers achieve their targets.  If you’re involved in deploying any type of high technology equipment, you’ll appreciate that there is a world of difference between selling, demoing, and actually making it all work in your environment when it comes to new technology. Our team are in the latter camp.

So what are our consultants telling me about SDN in the real world?  Excluding a few notable high profile cases (usually involving hyper-scale data centers) they are not seeing – as yet, to be honest – many early deployments.  However they are seeing a growing number of customers interest in learning about and evaluating SDN related technologies – including Cisco ONE, NFV and in particular Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI).  And they are providing some early feedback on the use cases of SDN that customers are most interested in.  They are all clear, however, on this point: this is the time to learn what SDN and Cisco ONE can do for your network in the future.

So how do you get started in SDN?  Let me outline 5 key steps to help you get started.  I’ll also point you to a technical white paper written by Mitch Mitchiner and Reema Prasad, two of our Customer Solutions Architects in Cisco Services, two of our experts responsible for making all of this work for you, your team and your business.  I also recommend you check out the video link I’ve provided, for an excellent live demo of Cisco ONE technology, first presented at Cisco Live last year.  This video gives a live demo of latency-based routing, one of the use cases described in Mitch and Reema’s paper.

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Securing Cloud Transformation through Cisco Domain Ten Framework v2.0

Businesses of all sizes are looking for Cloud solutions to solve some of their biggest business and technology challenges—reducing costs, creating new levels of efficiency, transform to create agile environment and facilitate innovative business models. Along with the promise of Cloud comes top concern for Security. With rise of applications, transactions and data in the Cloud, business are losing control and have less visibility on who and what is moving in and out of the business boundaries.

Any  transformation initiative with Cloud, whether a private, hybrid or public, with early focus on security from architecture, governance, risks, threats and compliance perspective can enable the business with a compelling return on investment with a faster time to business value – regardless of geographic, industry vertical, operational diversity or regulatory needs.

Here, I would like to bring to your attention on Cisco Domain Ten framework v2.0 and my blog on What’s New in Cisco Domain Ten Framework 2.0 that is born from Cisco’s hard won experience of deploying both private, hybrid and public Cloud environments, Cisco has developed the Cisco Domain Ten framework and capabilities to help customers accelerate IT transformation.

The Cisco Domain Ten does not prescribe that customers must build each domain into their strategy – rather it provides guidance on what aspects should be considered, what impacts should be identified, and what relationships exist between domains.  Cisco Domain Ten framework 2.0, we can establish the foundation of a true IT transformation and the factors you need to consider for success. Key is to identify, establish and track strategic, operational and technological outcomes for IT transformation initiates. A major thrust of the Cisco Domain Ten is to help customers strategize for transformation vision, standardize their technology components and operational procedures, and automate their management challenges, to deliver on the potential of IT Transformation– covering Internet, Branch, Campus and Data Center environments.

Security consistently tops CIO’s list of cloud concerns. The security domain highlights identification of security and compliance requirements, along with an assessment of current vulnerabilities and deviations from security best practices for multisite, multitenant physical and virtual environments for one’s IT transformation vision.

Security should be a major consideration in any IT transformation strategy. The architecture should be designed and developed with security for applications, network, mobile devices, data, and transactions across on-premise and off-premise solutions. Moreover, security considerations for people, process, tools, and compliance needs should be assessed by experts who understand how to incorporate security and compliance safeguards into complex IT transformation initiatives.

Security is an integral part of the Cisco Domain Ten framework, applies to all ten domains, and provides guidance to customers on all security aspects that they needs. Our Senior Architect from Security Practice – Ahmed Abro articulates well in Figure – 1 Cisco Domain Ten Framework with Security Overlay that there are security considerations for all ten domains for Cloud solutions.

Figure – 1 Cisco Domain Ten with Security Overlay

Now that we understand how Cisco’s Domain Ten Overlay approach that helps one to discuss security for each domain of Cisco Domain Ten Framework, let’s now talk about the how Cisco Domain Ten aligns with Cloud Security Alliance’s (CSA) Cloud Control Matrix to discuss the completeness and depth of the approach.

CSA Cloud Control Matrix Alignment with Cisco Domain Ten

Application & Interface Security

  • D-8 – Application

Audit Assurance & Compliance

  • D-10 – Organization, Governance, processes

Business Continuity Mgmt & Op Resilience

  • D10 – Organization, Governance, processes

Change Control & Configuration Management

  • D10 – Organization, Governance, processes and
  • D-3 – Automation

Data Security & Information Lifecycle Mgmt

  • D-9 – Security and Compliance

Datacenter Security Encryption & Key Management

  • D-9 – Security and Compliance and
  • D-1 – Infrastructure

Governance & Risk Management

  • D10 – Organization, Governance, processes

Human Resources Security

  • D10 – Organization, Governance, processes

Identity & Access Management

  • D-4 – Customer Interface

Infrastructure & Virtualization

  • D-1 – Infrastructure and Environment and
  • D-2 – Abstraction and Virtualization

Interoperability & Portability

  • D-7 – Platform and
  • D-8 – Application

Mobile Security

  • D-8 – Application and
  • D-1 – Infrastructure and Environment

Sec. Incident Mgmt , E-Disc & Cloud Forensics

  • D-9 – Security and Compliance and
  • D10 – Organization, Governance, processes

Supply Chain Mgmt, Transparency & Accountability

  • D10 – Organization, Governance, processes
Threat & Vulnerability Management
  • D-9 – Security and Compliance

 Table – 1 CSA Cloud Control Matrix Alignment

with Cisco Domain Ten Framework

From above table, one can see that Cloud Security Alliance Cloud Control Matrix and Cisco Domain Ten aligns well and it also highlights key facts that many areas such as Mobile security requires one to focus on Application and Infrastructure (network, virtual servers), etc to address security needs. One should also note that Cisco Domain Ten’s focus on Catalog (Domain 5) & Financials (Domain 6) that highlights security specific SLA and assurance discussions for security controls.

Now that that we discussed, Cisco Domain Ten approach for Security, In the next blog, I would try to discuss how Cisco Service’s focus on the strategy, structure, people, process, and system requirements for Security can help business address an increasingly hostile threat environment and help successful migration to Secure Cloud based transformation. We will also discuss current questions in business asks or should ask to understand security and privacy in the vendor’s agreements.

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Indianapolis Colts Football

Posted by ColtsCaseyB on April 26, 2012 – 10:22 pm

We knew it was coming. We could saw we knew for a while. We knew the Colts were going to take Andrew Luck with the first overall pick, but when Roger Goodell said “with the first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts select Andrew Luck, quarterback, Stanford,” I simply got goose bumps.

I vividly remember the last time we were in this position. I was a little boy sitting at home watching it on TV. Tonight, sitting at Colts Grille surrounded by hundreds of Colts fans was a much different experience. Everyone was happy, everyone was cheering, and every single one of us wanted Andrew Luck as our next quarterback. For a team that finished 2-14 less than 5 months ago, it was an opportunity for us, the fans, to cheer for this new era of Indianapolis Colts Football.

As if we’re the lucky ones. Andrew Luck himself is ecstatic to be a Colt. He knew he was coming here, but he still was excited. He still was smiling ear to ear to because he was coming to represent this city, this state, and Colts fans worldwide. He wanted to wear the horseshoe.

It’s not going to be the easiest ride, but if anyone can handle it and is up to the challenge, it’s Andrew Luck. When his live stream from was played at the Colts Grille, and he said he can’t wait to come here, you could tell it was genuine. Oh, and the entire place went wild!

This is our moment. This is our time. We are at the center of the football universe for the time being. So enjoy it Colts fans and soak it up. Oh and be sure to come join me and the rest of “Blue Nation” at Lucas Oil Stadium tomorrow night at six as we welcome Andrew Luck to this great football team!

The Colts No. 1 pick Andrew Luck will put on the New Era 59Fifty Draft Cap in a few hours when he’s drafted. Get your own right here from the Colts Pro Shop and be like Andrew in this new era of Colts Football!

Forever in Football,

Colts Fan Casey

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Posted in Colts Casey B, Voice of the Fans

Posted by ColtsCaseyB on – 5:58 pm

Wow, what a great day to be an Indianapolis Colts fan! I know the last few months have been full of mixed emotions, but tonight is finally the night that the Colts will name Andrew Luck their next quarterback.
I remember a little over a year ago when all the speculation was about Andrew Luck going pro after his junior year. As a Colts fan, whoever would have thought that Luck would be our next quarterback? I know I sure didn’t! But here we are, it’s April 26th 2012, and the Indianapolis Colts have the first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Andrew Luck happens to be who we’re taking as GM Ryan Grigson said earlier this week. It sure has been a wild ride.

Obviously Luck is just one piece to this new era of Colts football. I’ve been watching some of the videos on during workouts and practices and man is there a new level of energy or what!? All of the coaches and players talk about the energy that surrounds this team and it’s traveled out of the complex and right into my head. I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE 2012 SEASON!!!

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I am most excited for. This whole new regime and new era has me super excited to be in Lucas Oil Stadium during the 2012 season. My favorite part is the excitement that surrounds the 2012 Colts. I’m like a little kid waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve!

We have a new quarterback, who happens to be Andrew Luck, a new coaching staff headed up by Chuck Pagano with a new level of intensity, not to mention “building the monster” that is our defense, some key offseason additions such as Cory Redding and Tom Zbikowski, as well as the new Nike Jerseys and New Era hats. Such a thrilling time to be a Colts fan!

So in closing fellow Colts fans I say this, think about the great memories from the past decade of Colts football, cherish them for what they are, but at the same time, share the same level of excitement and energy that the players and coaches have exemplified. What is great about this season is we don’t know what will happen, we don’t have expectations, but we all know we’ll be along for the ride. A ride that has me on the edge of my seat, ready for the Indianapolis Colts to continue their pursuit of greatness sharing the same passion as me and you!

The Colts No. 1 pick Andrew Luck will put on the New Era 59Fifty Draft Cap in a few hours when he’s drafted. Get your own right here from the Colts Pro Shop and be like Andrew in this new era of Colts Football!

Forever in Football,

Colts Fan Casey

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Posted in Colts Casey B, Voice of the Fans

New Day In Indy

Posted by cwoodmd on April 12, 2012 – 8:41 am

The sun comes up on an April morning.  At first all seems quiet at W. 56th street headquarters.  But something is stirring.  There has been activity here before, but not quite like this…Something new…something different…a new scent perhaps.  Something other than the traditional bacon egg and sausage biscuit now wafts through the air.

“Feed the beast”.  I hear someone say from behind closed doors.  But no one quite knows what it wants.  “Feed the beast!” again a little louder.  But no one knows what it needs.  “Feed the beast!!!” louder still until a voice responds “I know just what to give it.”

Suddenly a noise explodes from the building like a great monster awakening from centuries of hibernation.  I become a little worried the Kraken is real.  But I know it is just a myth.  Clearly there is some non-mythical creature here now, some new monster created for the express purpose of… of what?

I see the door to the facility open a crack and out comes bits and pieces of a Titan – scary really that so little is left.  I try to catch a glance of the beast inside but to no avail as the door slams shut.  Something is still stirring inside. I am caught off guard by the sudden onset of the howls of a jungle cat.

“Release the beast now” a voice bellows from inside, and the howls are replaced by the stomping and braying of a monster.  “This is no ordinary horse” I think as I see the door once again open a crack as the hide of a Jaguar is launched beside the Titan.  I would really like a look at this animal now.  My curiosity as to what could be inside turns my own innards around.

Then I realize the animal has not finished.  I hear more bucking and braying followed by shouts of…of…fear maybe?  I am not sure.  The muffled yells fade and the door opens for a third time.  It appears to be a Texan, caught in his own rope, hopping out the door until the end of the rope appears to snag and he gets yanked to the ground and dragged back into the building.

“Oh, this can’t be good” I think out loud “at least not for those Texans”.  After a few more hollers and whimpers the building falls silent.  I wait a while, hoping to catch a glance of this new Colt that could cause such destruction to Titans, Jaguars and Texans.  But as the morning passes my innards focus more on my own instinctive needs and I don’t believe I can wait any longer.  I turn to go, pausing a second to listen once more for the monster that is growing within the building, but the silence is deafening.

I know then that I must plan a trip to Anderson in August to see the beast in action.  I don’t want to be in the dark when the new dawn rises.  But for now, that bacon egg and sausage biscuit is calling my name.

Posted in Voice of the Fans Integrated Login

Posted by coltsadmin on April 11, 2012 – 10:37 am

Colts Fans are an important part of, so we’ve made some changes to reflect that.

Effective today, logging in to the forums and logging in to are one in the same
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The very cool thing about this is, that articles appear here in a new forum called News.

If you post a comment to an article on, that post will appear both beneath that article and also here on the forums in the News forum along with your profile Picture and a link to your profile page.

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Avalanche notes from Nashville

NASHVILLE — Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov will get another crack at standout goalie Pekka Rinne and the Predators in Thursday’s home-and-home finale here in Smashville. Varly stopped just 22 of 26 shots in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Preds in Denver. Admittedly, the young Russian wasn’t very sharp, but the Preds’ shooters were sniping it up pretty good too. Coach Joe Sacco will give Varly a redemption game.

Defenseman Erik Johnson practiced today in Denver before the team flight, in which fellow blue-liner Shane O’Brien was not on. Johnson, who missed Tuesday’s game with a hand injury, will be reevaluated in the morning skate.

Speaking of D, there was no “easing” Ryan Wilson back into the lineup. He played a team-high 22:28 Tuesday, including 49 seconds on the power play and 1:17 shorthanded, after missing 15 consecutive games. D-man Kyle Quincey was second in ice time, at 20:48. He and Wilson were paired until the second period, when they split up to off-set the struggles of the Stefan Elliott-Matt Hunwick twosome (minus-2).

Ryan O’Reilly, who had the Avs’ goal Tuesday, and a beauty at that, was in his hooded sweatshirt in the locker room after the game Tuesday. Before leaving for coach Joe Sacco’s press conference, I asked Factor if he was going to run the arena stairs again or throw the medicine ball around. He said something like, “Uh, I don’t know, maybe do something here.” I reminded him that, although he was minus-1, he played 17:57, had a team-high five shots, made some terrific passes and scored a Sidney Crosby-type skilled redirection goal. He had a great game. Still, Factor wanted a workout — and he didn’t want any publicity from it. Not only does this guy have a heart of a lion, he is as humble and unassuming as Joe Sakic. I just watched a video of Factor, and he was asked why he wears No. 37. “No reason. It was just the number they gave me in training camp (as a rookie).” What a beauty. If the Avs’ leading scorer and MVP doesn’t make the All-Star Game, it would be an injustice. He’s really Colorado’s only standout All-Star, although Gabriel Landeskog (team-high plus-9, 132 shots, 112 hits) and Wilson (plus-5 and 14 points in just 28 games) might get some consideration.

UPDATE: Factor, who turns 21 on Feb. 7, will be playing in his 200th career NHL game Thursday.

Finally, here is a must-read for any hockey fan: Terry Frei, my colleague and respected author, nailed this piece [1] about the World Junior Championship and having North America’s two captains on the Front Range.

Read more of Mike Chambers at the All Things DU Pioneers blog. [2]

Keep tabs with Mike Chambers on Twitter: @MChambersDP [3]


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Broncos rookie hazing will start soon enough

DOVE VALLEY — It isn’t always easy to get Kyle Orton to crack a smile during an interview, especially a crowded one, like was the case after the first practice of the Broncos’ three-day passing camp on Monday morning.

That is until the topic of rookie hazing came up.

No, Orton wasn’t making proclamations of taping Tim Tebow the flag pole or making Tebow chug a gallon of milk (though, I bet if anyone could do it, it would be Tebow), but just the thought of having a first-round draft pick hauling around Orton’s gear all summer did make Orton smile.

“Oh, that hasn’t started yet, but it most certainly will,” Orton said. “The higher you get picked, the more hazing there is.”

Orton said his initial meeting with Tebow today was pretty basic. Quick introductions, and that was it. Tebow also introduced himself to the full squad during the group meeting.

But perhaps the biggest thing Tebow did to start winning over his new teammates, especially Orton, Brady Quinn and Tom Brandstater, was to offer to fetch the playbooks and carry the helmets.

“He knows the deal,” Orton said.


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Posts by Topic: Beaver CreekRSS feed

Olympic medalist Julia Mancuso attends party in Beaver Creek

Julia Mancuso, in orange jacket, with Fuller Sotheby's broker Andrea Webber, left, Snow Magazine publisher Barbara Sanders and Sanders' son at party in Beaver Creek. (Pettit Photography)

Julia Mancuso, in orange jacket, with Fuller Sotheby’s broker Andrea Webber, left, Snow Magazine publisher Barbara Sanders and Sanders’ son at party in Beaver Creek. (Pettit Photography)

Three-time Olympic medalist Julia Mancuso was among the guests at an après ski party that Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty hosted during the 2013 Nature Valley Raptor World Cup in Beaver Creek.

Mancuso is the most decorated Olympic female American alpine skier of all time. She won gold in giant slalom in the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, and silver medals in downhill and combined during the 2010 Games in Whistler, British Columbia.

One hundred people attended the party held at the Beaver Creek Lodge, including Mancuso’s U.S. Ski Team colleague Resi Stiegler; former member Sarah Schleper; several members of the Canadian ski team, and Jenn Bruno, one of three new members of the Vail Town Council.

The event was sponsored by Spyder, Carlsberg and Audi Boulder.

The Nature Valley Raptor World Cup proved to be a tough weekend for the U.S. Ski Team. Stacey Cook was the top-placing American, finishing 19th in the downhill race and Mancuso coming in at No. 20.

Still, the mood was upbeat.

Mancuso, who came to the world cup races ranking second in the world for Super G, said: “We have an amazing group of coaches. That helps a lot with inspection and course report, being able to really nail it on the first run. That’s been my strength the last years. I’m just building off of that confidence and every year is getting a little faster, a little better.”

Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, and @joannedavidson on Twitter

It’s payoff time

Flower deliveries are a routine thing at Bouquets, but on Thursday morning, owners BJ Dyer and Guenther Vogt were on pins and needles waiting for a FedEx, UPS or U.S. Postal Service truck to pull up to their LoDo shop.
The Colorado Rockies had bested the Phillies in the division championship, making Dyer and Vogt the winners of a bet placed with the owners of Kremp Florist in Philadelphia and the local florists were eager to receive their payoff: a box filled with Pennsylvania-grown posies.
The blooms wouldn’t be for their own enjoyment, though.
“The sweep by the home team put a permanent grin on my face,” Dyer gloated, “and now it’s time to pass on my joy to those in need.”
Bouquets is putting the payoff flowers, fresh from the City of Brotherly Love, into special bouquets to accompany meals delivered by Project Angel Heart this week. Dyer is the president of the non-profit agency that annually delivers over 350,000 nutritious “meals with love” for people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses in Denver and Colorado Springs.
Their wagering isn’t stopping after one success.
As the Rockies celebrate their first victory (over the Arizona Diamondbacks) in the National League Championship series, Dyer and Vogt are negotiating with Ken Young of Phoenix Flower Shops, located a few miles from Chase Field.
“Ken’s a confident Diamondbacks fan, so we’re pushing him for a maximum ante,” says Vogt. “We’ve proposed a myriad of possibilities, including free flowers for Rockies fans living in Phoenix.”
Eight florists, members of Society of American Florists, from the cities with playoff teams all agreed to a wager on the outcome of the World Series, with the loser working for a weekend in the winner’s flower shop to create a grand floral arrangement to congratulate the World Series Championship team.
Any prediction who that might be?
“We’re setting up a design table in our store window so Denver fans can watch Rick Canale of Boston’s Exotic Flowers design that flower bouquet for the Rockies,” taunts Dyer, still smiling.
Bouquets , established in 1985, is an award-winning florist with locations in Denver, Belmar and Beaver Creek. The LoDo location at 15th and Wazee Streets is just blocks from Coors Field.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or Her column appears every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

March 11, 2007, 12:47 pm

Sure Sign of Spring

Spring hasn’t sprung quite yet, but a sure sign that it’s on its way is the presentation of Les Petites Fleurs.
A program of the Colorado Ballet Auxiliary, this annual rite is the culmination of a year’s worth of activities designed to foster an appreciation for the art of dance — specifically, ballet — in girls aged 9 and 10.
The presentation was held on stage at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, moments before the curtain went up on the opening performance of “Where The Wild Things Are.” The girls were introduced by Dr. Toby Cole and then a tiara of spring flowers was placed Read more…

Grand Night In New York

Asian Performing Arts of Colorado (APAC) kicked off its 20th anniversary celebration by traveling to New York to attend composer Tan Dunâ€™s celebrated opera, “The First Emperor,” at the Metropolitan Opera House. Placido Domingo sang the title role and Denver-trained (Lamont School of Music) bass Hao Jiang Tian was in the role of the General.
APAC was established in 1986 as a non-profit organization fostering cultural exchange and supporting and showcasing young talents of Asian heritage. Tian was one of the first young singers APAC sponsored. Read more…

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« More Research on Digital Reading Needed, Group Contends | Main | Draft Overhaul of Federal Student Privacy Law Released by U.S. Senators Markey, Hatch »

Vendors Tout Single Sign-On Technology to Schools Awash in Software

Step foot in a digital-era school, and there's a good chance you'll see a painful sight: Students waiting for help logging in to one of the many pieces of software now being used in their classrooms, while a harried teacher struggles to find a username or password or tech-support phone number.

"You would be shocked at how much [instructional] time is spent just getting students able to use software," said Tyler Bosmeny, the CEO of San Francisco-based ed-tech company Clever, in an interview. "It's one of those problems that if you're not in the classroom, you might not appreciate what a huge deal it is to teachers."

Clever's response, announced Wednesday, is known as "Instant Login." The technology, which gives teachers and students the ability to access a wide variety of learning software with a single username and password, is one example of the type of "single sign-on" solutions now being offered to schools by vendors. Convenience and classroom efficiency are the name of the game: A survey of 204 elementary and middle school teachers commissioned by Clever found that about one-fourth of classroom time spent on learning software is wasted on troubleshooting and getting set up.

"We knew it was bad, but we didn't know how bad," Bosmeny said.

Similar approaches have been available to general tech consumers seeking to manage multiple passwords and logins for years.

In the education sector, San Carlos, Calif.-based Education Elements has offered single sign-on to its personalized learning platform since 2010, and a variety of learning management systems and other digital learning platforms now incorporate related functionality.

"As soon as you start using digital content for core instruction, you really need to have a mix [of software programs], and you really do need to help people switch between products easily," said David Sanchez, the vice president of product and partnerships for Education Elements, in an interview. "We see [single sign-on] as mission-critical to blended classrooms."

Essentially, what both Clever and Education Elements do is connect learning-software vendors to schools' student information systems, which contain class-roster information. That 'integration,' as it's called, saves time on the back end for teachers, who no longer have to manually create and manage separate accounts for each of their students on each software program they use. It also saves time in the classroom, because students can now log in once, to Clever or Education Elements, and from there have direct access to all the different software programs they're expected to use.

Sanchez of Education Elements touted his company's "visual log-ins," which allow young children and students who cannot yet read or write to gain access via pictures of themselves and their teachers, as well as image-based passwords. The Education Elements platform is also part of a more robust set of offerings to district, said Sanchez, including consulting advice on different models for setting up blended classrooms that rely in part on education software; recommendations on what software to use for what purposes; data-sharing that goes beyond class rosters to include information about learning activities; and help cleaning and organizing district data, which can often be quite messy.  Education Elements does that in-depth work with about 25 districts serving roughly 30,000 students, Sanchez said.

Clever, for its part, touted the scale at which it operates: With its back-end account creation and management service, the company now connects 20,000 K-12 schools in the U.S. to more than 100 software developers, including such heavy-hitters as Achieve3000, ClassDojo, DreamBox Learning, and Khan Academy. And beta-testing of the new "Instant Login" feature has already taken place in the 348,000-student Miami-Dade County school system, the 37,000-student Oakland Unified School District, and Florida's 85,000-student Lee County school system, Bosmeny said.

"I just think it's really rare in education to see so many schools and so many vendors coming together to do something in a common way," he said.

Efforts to increase data-sharing between schools and third-party vendors have prompted backlash from parents and advocates concerned about privacy. But Robert Siciliano, an online security expert for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based computer security company McAfee, praised the value of single-sign on solutions, saying they are generally well-encrypted and often help eliminate poor password-management strategies, such as writing passwords down or using the same easy-to-remember password across multiple sites or services.

"Any streamlining of the process that balances out usability and security is necessary," Siciliano said. "Too much security ends up with people just not using the technology, and not enough means that people can hack into it and wreak havoc."

Follow @BenjaminBHerold and @EdWeekEdTech for the latest news on ed-tech policies, practices, and trends.

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US v. Hargrove, 08-5223 - U.S. Fourth Circuit
U.S. Fourth Circuit - The FindLaw 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries Blog

US v. Hargrove, 08-5223

Child pornography-related convictions affirmed

US v. Hargrove, 08-5223, concerned a challenge to defendant's convictions and sentence for attempted transfer of obscenity to a minor, transfer of child pornography, and attempted enticement of a minor.

In affirming, the court held that the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress because a January 2007 interview did not constitute a "custodial interrogation" that invoked his right to be read Miranda warnings.  The court also held that the defendant has not shown that the district court plainly erred and that resentencing is required as he cannot show that he would have received a lower sentence had the district court not also mentioned that the victim incurred further harm by testifying at trial.

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Forrester Wave™: BPM Suites Grow Up And Move Beyond The Culture Wars

As some of you know, I’m a bit of a political junkie. I believe I picked up the political bug from years of riding shotgun with my dad as he listened to Rush Limbaugh blaring on the car radio. As a kid, I loved listening to Rush and trying to understand where he was coming from, trying to understand his perspective, trying to understand his ideology. The term “culture wars” in U.S. politics is used to define a clash between two different political ideologies – conservatism and liberalism.

Over the past few years, I’ve also started using the term “culture wars” to describe the clash and fragmentation we’ve seen in the BPM market. In the BPM space, the clash has primarily been around dynamic case management (DCM), human-centric workflow, and straight-through processing ideologies.

I’m the first to admit that fragmentation and categorization is not always a bad thing, since it can help software buyers and decision-makers better understand which solutions best match their business requirements and desired business outcomes. However, the fragmentation in BPM sometimes overlooks the primary purpose and value proposition of BPM – to help support creating a sustainable business change program.

Read more


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Our "new" analyst in Europe

I’m excited welcome Principal Analyst Nate Elliott back to our London offices. Although he’s from New York and spent the last year working in Vancouver, many of our European clients will already be familiar with Nate's analysis: he previously spent 2 years based in London and another 2 in Berlin covering interactive marketing in Europe.

For those of you who don’t know Nate, we think you’ll find his work innovative and insightful. He’s got 12 years of experience in the space – including 4 years developing new ad products and formats for DoubleClick, and time spent setting industry standards for the IAB and for Macromedia – and he’s one of our most respected voices on social media marketing, influence marketing, and video and rich media advertising.

Nate’s first task now that he’s back in London will be to update our European Interactive Marketing Forecast. In the coming months you can also look for new research on mobile marketing in Europe and our 2010 European Social Technographics update. Nate will continue to write about online video marketing across all Forrester’s markets – including his popular online video advertising benchmark reports for both the US and Europe, and upcoming research on best practices for viral video.

Welcome back to Europe, Nate!

re: Our "new" analyst in Europe

Thanks for reading! Come back often. :-)


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Bintel Blog

A Bauhausful of Antisemites

By Benjamin Ivry

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The 90th anniversary of the founding of Bauhaus movement in 1919 has led to a flurry of museum exhibits across Europe and a Berlin exhibit that is now at New York’s MoMA.

The progressive Bauhaus artists, architects, and designers, led by German architect Walter Adolph Georg Gropius were shut down by the Nazis in 1933, and many immigrated to America soon thereafter. Yet an anecdotal new historical study from Knopf, “The Bauhaus Group: Six Masters of Modernism” by Nicholas Fox Weber, reminds us that many of these avant-garde artists were sadly traditional in their antisemitism.

In a 1918 letter to his mother quoted by Weber, Gropius writes: “The Jews, this poison which I begin to hate more and more, are destroying us […] They are the devil, the negative element.” His colleague the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, blatantly writes in 1923 to Jewish composer Arnold Schoenberg, “I reject you as a Jew,” when Schoenberg asked for explanation of reports that Kandinsky “sees only evil in the action of Jews and in their evil actions only the Jewishness.”

As early as 1923, the Bauhaus took an internal census to dispute German accusations that too many Jews were members, and even the rare Jewish-born members, like textile artist Anni Albers, whom Weber knew in her later years, called her Judaism “that stone around my neck.”

Schoenberg engaged in epistolary arguments (to no avail) with Kandinsky, who along with Gropius blamed their antisemitic feelings being made public on Alma Mahler. A notorious gossip, Mahler, who was then Mrs. Gropius, had been married earlier to one converted Jew (Gustav Mahler) and after divorcing Gropius, would marry another, the novelist Franz Werfel. Repelled by the Bauhaus’s antisemitism, Schoenberg refused any official role in the movement, which surely affected modern musical history, and most likely art history as well (since Schoenberg was a gifted painter, too).

Celebrations of this design movement are incomplete without Weber’s reminder that the most advanced thinkers can also harbor primeval stupidity.

Watch a report on the German celebration of Bauhaus in 2009 below.

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The Bintel Brief

Bintel Brief: Catie Lazarus on a Wild Ride

By Catie Lazarus

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Dear Catie,

A short while ago I returned from a trip on a flight into Newark airport. I live in Brooklyn, and as it was late at night and I wanted to get home, I decided to take a cab.

No sooner than I got into the cab did I realize I had taken my life into my own hands — the driver was an old man, visibly in pretty poor control of his own car. I’m pretty sure he was suffering from something like Parkinson’s (his hands were shaky and unsteady), and from his erratic merging it seemed he was having severe difficulty seeing other vehicles, lane lines, etc. in the dark.

I also got the sense (from an extremely ill-advised cell phone conversation I overheard during the ride) that he was fairly poor, that this job was his only means of income.

On the one hand, I’m inclined to report a driver who poses such a hazard to himself, to me and to anyone else on the road who might cross his path. But I worry that this could lead to his effective ruin: How employable could an unhealthy old man, who happens to have limited command of English, be? So I’m really torn: Do I call the cab company to complain?

Catie Lazarus replies:

Your question reminds me of Alvy Singer’s parents arguing in “Annie Hall” about whether or not it’s kosher that their housekeeper is stealing from them. Alvy’s dad is outraged after his wife fires the woman upon catching her going through her pocketbook. “She’s a colored woman, from Harlem! She has no money!” explains Alvy’s dad. “She’s got a right to steal from us!”

The Singers though weren’t debating about someone who could physically endanger himself and others.

New York needs another bad driver like the world needs Bush in office for another term. If you think his driving represents an immediate danger to the public, you should report him to his cab company or to the proper authorities.

And if you find yourself in that situation again, share your concerns with the cabbie, even if you interrupt his call. Also, if he is looking for another phone buddy, I am happy to farm out my mother, great aunt and sister-in-law.

Catie Lazarus is a New York-based writer and comedian. She hosts the popular variety show, “Fresh Meat with Catie Lazarus,” and has written for Time Out New York, Gawker, the New York Post and the Forward.

Send a letter to the Bintel Brief at To read other installments of the Bintel Brief, click here.

Isaac Koll Sun. Sep 23, 2007

What is the meaning of bintle in the word bintle brief? Thank you

Marsha Livson Fri. Sep 21, 2007

Now that our governor, Spitzer, has taken it upon himself to let any illegal alien (I hate that term..I think of ET) have a drivers license, wither they read of speak English, we've not seen anything yet! People who can't read signs, like slow down, bump ahead, various other highway warnings, should not be driving.

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Gartner Blog Network

Tag: 'knowledge-graph' Blog Posts

from the Gartner Blog Network

Google’s Knowledge Graph: Yeah, that’s the Semantic Web (sort of)

by Darin Stewart  |  May 17, 2012

Google is about to get a whole lot more useful. Yesterday, the search titan announced the "Knowledge Graph" a functional enhancement that attempts to provide actual information about the subject...

Read more »


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Around 10 days back, my colleague in London mailed me a link with a short note that simply said “Yes they are back! And I can die in peace”. The link was to a lyric video (the kind where you can read the lyrics while listening to the song) of The Rolling Stones’ latest new single, Doom And Gloom. And the note from my colleague who’s obviously a huge Stones fan besides being an erstwhile (or, is he still one?) bass slapper himself, is an example of how much diehard Stones fans love the 50-year-old band. Read more

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Rick Grech’s violin solo on Sea of Joy is probably the reason why I keep going back to Blind Faith, the eponymous and only album by the 1968 British super-group that Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker and Grech formed. I am not sure whether they lasted together for a full year but that album has so many of my memories attached to it that I can’t even begin to tell you. I must have been just a bit older than the pubescent girl on that risqué and controversial album cover when I first heard Blind Faith. It came out in 1969. I must’ve heard it in 1973 in my friend Sujoy’s mezzanine den where we used to meet for our nefarious activities. It was a vinyl that we played on a rather robust record player that he had – believe me, it took all kinds of mishandling, including some that I would be embarrassed as hell to tell you.
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It began a couple of weeks back when, to mark Jerry Garcia’s death anniversary, I wrote a piece remembering my own dalliance with the music of Garcia and his erstwhile band, The Grateful Dead. For much of the next couple of weeks, I found myself delving deeper and deeper into music that I’d first heard decades ago. I fished out a DVD (a gift from a friend) of Blind Faith’s concert in Hyde Park in 1969; I rummaged through my music collection to look for Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats (1969); I found a New Riders of The Purple Sage album, The Adventures of Panama Red (1973) that I hadn’t heard in ages and so on. In other words, I turned retro. But it wasn’t too long before I was jolted out of my nostalgia-laden reminiscing by some astoundingly good new music. Read more

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DeBartolo, Haley back in the HOF finalists lounge

Former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo and five-time Super Bowl champion Charles Haley are among 15 modern-era finalists for this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

It is DeBartolo’s third straight year as a finalist and Haley’s fourth consecutive year.

At last month’s 49ers game in Tampa, DeBartolo downplayed his own hopes and instead turned the focus on Haley, the 49ers’ (and Cowboys’) former defensive menace. “He’s going in this year,” vowed DeBartolo, noting he’s already been asked by Haley to present him for such an induction into Canton.

Here is a complete list of all finalists (including two senior nominees), who will be voted upon Jan. 31:

·         Morten Andersen, Kicker –1982-1994 New Orleans Saints, 1995-2000, 2006-07 Atlanta Falcons, 2001 New York Giants,2002-03 Kansas City Chiefs, 2004 Minnesota Vikings

·         Jerome Bettis, Running Back – 1993-95 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 1996-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers

·         Derrick Brooks, Linebacker – 1995-2008 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

·         Tim Brown, Wide Receiver/Kick Returner/Punt Returner – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/ Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

·         Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Owner – 1977-2000 San Francisco 49ers

·         Tony Dungy, Coach – 1996-2001 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2002-08 Indianapolis Colts

·         Kevin Greene, Linebacker/Defensive End – 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers

·         *Ray Guy, Punter – 1973-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders

·         Charles Haley, Defensive End/Linebacker – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys

·         Marvin Harrison, Wide Receiver – 1996-2008 Indianapolis Colts

·         *Claude Humphrey, Defensive End – 1968-1978 Atlanta Falcons, 1979-1981 Philadelphia Eagles

·         Walter Jones, Tackle – 1997-2008 Seattle Seahawks

·         John Lynch, Free Safety –1993-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004-07 Denver Broncos

·         Andre Reed, Wide Receiver – 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins

·         Will Shields, Guard – 1993-2006 Kansas City Chiefs

·         Michael Strahan, Defensive End – 1993-2007 New York Giants

·         Aeneas Williams, Cornerback/Safety – 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams

Cam Inman

  • Das Dweeb

    The only way DeBartolo would deserve to be in the HoF is if he had five Super Bowl rings. Oh, wait a minute …

  • George Saunders

    DeBartolo changed the game of football proving that money could buy championships. That, plus his gambling interests and he doesn’t get my vote.


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Levi’s Stadium’s remedied field to host 49ers-Chargers on Sunday

Sunday’s 49ers home exhibition against the San Diego Chargers will go on as scheduled. On what, exactly, remains a mystery.

“We have determined the appropriate measures necessary to have the field ready for Sunday and look forward to hosting the San Diego Chargers,” the team said in a statement that offered an accompanying apology to fans who attended Wednesday’s abbreviated practice.

No further details were divulged regarding how exactly the Bermuda Bandera sod will be remedied in the coming days, and a team spokesman would not say if all 2.5 acres of sod would have to be replaced. West Coast Turf of Livingston installed it four months ago.

Several players, including wideouts Stevie Johnson and Bruce Ellington, slipped and countless divots were created before Wednesday’s practice was halted after an hour by coach Jim Harbaugh. Johnson appeared to try to run off whatever pain he endured after falling on the penultimate play of practice.

Cam Inman

  • Willtalk

    If the game Sunday against the Chargers begins to have the same problems with the grass will they halt the game and more it over to the practice field.?

  • Joe

    Levi Stadium Field has problems already? Hope they have a plan B ready just in case…

  • Darren35

    Yeah, but you can’t move 70,000 fans to the practice field. I don’t even think the practice field is built to have 70,000 fans.

  • Greg Pinelli

    They haven’t “remedied” the field??! They laid new sod..Why didn’t the old sod take hold and work? It’s been field tested for years. Anyone want to wager that at the end of the season..and much negative comment about this..that the Niners will have to end up removing at least some of the base the turf is supposed to grow in and rethink the whole process..
    This could have been avoided if they had laid 4 test blocks a year and a half ago…2 kinds of sod (bermuda and a sports turf rye) and two possible bases for the sod to take hold in…then have players run around and beat it up. Which works best?

  • Greg Pinelli

    Joe..Plan B is above..Jimbo lays a line of BS as long as the replacement turf..runs out before the Chargers game and gives a big thumbs up! By the way..this new stuff has to be pinned down..if the seams don’t fit perfectly it can be a bit of trouble…but don’t worry..Jed has got the deal under control.

  • Greg Pinelli

    Willtalk was kidding…..actually they’ll move it to Jed’s front lawn and he’ll serve beers.


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Grading the Fearless: UCLA and Tiger bring it home for me

Short, sweet and semi-dazed by my bizarre and random accuracy in last week’s Fearless Forecast.

Let’s do some Grading:

Prediction No. 1: Kansas will beat SIU and UCLA will beat Pitt in the West Region semifinals.

-Actual result: Kansas beat SIU and UCLA beat Pitt.

-My grade: A-. It was chalk but I still give myself credit for correct chalkiness.

* Prediction No. 2: UCLA over Kansas for the Final Four berth.

-Actual result: UCLA over Kansas for the Final Four berth.

-My grade: A.

* Prediction No. 3: Tiger Woods will rebound from his last-round blow up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational by winning at Doral by four strokes.

-Actual result: Woods won by two strokes.

-My grade: A.

Additional bonus predictions: Warriors will beat Washington, lose at the Lakers and then get a surprising win at home over the Spurs.

-Bonus results: Warriors beat Washington, lost at the Lakers, then most definitely did not win at home over the Spurs.

Overall Fearless Grade: A.

Tim Kawakami


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Mn poetry: ‘Y’ by Leslie Adrienne Miller

Leslie Adrienne Miller is the author of six collections of poetry; her most recent release is titled simply “Y.” A Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Miller explores motherhood and child development, informed by both science and linguistics.

Miller reads Thursday night at SubText in St. Paul, along with fellow poets Roseann Lloyd and Kate Lynn Hibbard. Here’s the title poem from Miller’s latest collection:

Perhaps it’s a thread that needs to be pulled,

a single stitch caught in the crux.

Whole word in French and Spanish,

vertical axis of Cartesian three

loaning its fragile branch to a boy

in theory. On y va. Let’s go There.

What happens to unrepaired sequences

in subsequent generations? Semivowel,

blown umbrella, arrow reversed in wind,

frizzy blot of genetic code directing the symphony

of a trillion sperm, a single Y . . . might fold over,

line up these similar patches of genetic sequence,

and then accidentally delete everything

that lies in between. Je est un autre.

If the face is a christening in flesh,

the boy of him is its opposite,

raising the tent of bones in which

he will harbor all the starry anomalies

that a knowledge of God cannot undo.

– “Y” by Leslie Adrienne Miller, from her collection of the same name, published by Graywolf Press. Reprinted here with permission from the publisher.

Comments are closed.


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Innovation Showcase

Believing is Seeing

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  • Blog Post: KODU Game Lab Gets Kids IN the Game

    Microsoft Fuse Labs has released KODU a visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone. KODU provides an end-to-end creative environment for designing, building, and playing your own new games on the PC or XBOX 360...
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The nickname for the feature known as Windows Error Reporting is "Dr. Watson". Where did that name come from?

As you have probably guessed, The name Dr. Watson was inspired by the character of Dr. Watson, the assistant to Sherlock Holmes in the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

It is my understanding that the doctor was originally developed as part of Windows 3.0 beta testing. His job was to record data about application crashes to a file, so that the file could be uploaded and included with bug reports. The icon was (and continues to be) a friendly doctor using his stethoscope to investigate a problem.

The Doctor has remained true to the "capture information about an error" aspect of his job. In the meantime, the word "Watson" has expanded its meaning to encompass anonymous end-user feedback mechanisms in general, such as "Content Watson". (But if you hear "Watson" by itself, the speaker is almost certainly talking about error reporting.)


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Mason, Reed expected to play for Ravens

Good injury news today for the Ravens. Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed, who missed one game with his strained hamstring and was questionable for today’s game, is expected to play against the New York Giants. Wide receiver Derrick Mason, Joe Flacco’s top target, will also be active today despite his shoulder injury.

But a Ravens official just delivered word that Reed will play today, meaning Baltimore’s defense should be even stronger for its battle versus New York. The Ravens still aren’t sure whether offensive tackle Willie Anderson will play today.

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Bears’ Hester questionable for game vs. Packers

Bears WR Devin Hester didn’t participate in Friday’s practice and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s showdown with the NFC North rival Packers. Hester suffered a calf injury during the third quarter of last weekend’s 17-9 victory over the Rams.

Bears OT Orlando Pace also is listed as questionable with a groin injury. LB Lance Briggs, DT Tommie Harris, LB Hunter Hillenmeyer and DT Israel Idonije are all listed as probable.

A number of Packers defenders are dealing with injury issues of their own. LB Jeremy Thompson remains out after suffering a neck injury during practice last week. DT Ryan Pickett (hamstring) didn’t participate in Friday’s practice and is listed as doubtful. DE Johnny Jolly (knee) is listed as questionable.

The Packers expect to have LB Nick Barnett, OT Chad Clifton, TE Jermichael Finley, DE Cullen Jenkins, NT B.J. Raji and CB Charles Woodson for the 179th renewal of the Chicago-Green Bay rivalry.

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Stevie Johnson defends Bush, is enjoying time off

In what would seem a leading candidate for non-story of the week that then became a story, Reggie Bush drew the ire of many fans for suggesting via Twitter that he was actually enjoying his free time during the NFL-imposed lockout.

No, Bush hasn’t been taking part in workouts organized by Saints QB Drew Brees. But don’t be surprised that not everyone agrees with the criticism levied on Bush, namely his fellow NFL players. Echoing similar comments by DeAngelo Hall, Bills WR Stevie Johnson suggests most players are — gulp — thinking what Bush put out on Twitter and just trying to make the best of the time they’ve been given.

“That’s blown way out of proportion,” Johnson said. “There is not one NFL player who hasn’t enjoyed (time off during) the lockout. I’m just being straight up honest. I don’t think he should have to apologize for that. That’s terrible to even have to apologize for saying that. I’m having a good time during this lockout enjoying my family more and (getting new opportunities).”

That would seem to be a reasonable approach. Johnson’s perspective is that players are wired to want to play, and everything will change once the lockout has ended.

“Everybody in the NFL has that mode where they feel that when they wake up in the morning, they want to be playing football,” Johnson explained. “We’re professionals, we play football for a living. Everybody has that mode. But why not enjoy your time off? Once the lockout is over, everyone will be focused for what they have to do for their teams.”

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Comments on: Unconvincing central banker of the day, Qadir Fitrat edition A slice of lime in the soda Sun, 26 Oct 2014 19:05:02 +0000 hourly 1 By: BakedCentipede Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:47:10 +0000 I recall an article in Financial Times around the end of 2008, where Governor Fitrat had sacked an advisor from the US who had raised questions about the Director of Supervision, especially wrt the examination at Kabul Bank. It’s a shame that nothing was done at that time!

By: CDN_finance Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:23:27 +0000 You calling the Wolfe?

You feel better now?

Shit, negro – that’s all you had to say!

By: EricVincent Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:31:39 +0000 Afghan central bank governor Qadir Fitrat states:
“Fortunately, in other banks, mostly professionals are in charge. The good thing is that the other banks follow the rules.”

Felix, I am sorry for laughing at that as hard and as loud as I did. I do realize it’s not at all funny. Except when it is.


text:
August 26th, 2013

Focus on Your Average and Bottom Performers to Improve Sales Performance

Focus on Your Average and Bottom Performers to Improve Sales Performance

Yeah, I know. Based on the title, you’re already shaking your head, wondering if I’ve finally lost my marbles. Hang with me… I’m pretty sure you’ll see what I mean.

In an earlier post entitled “Which Top Producers Should You Study to Develop Sales Training Programs?”, I introduced a sales analytics approach that I’ve use for analyzing top producers and placing the sales organization into six major bands.

Socrates is quoted as saying, “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms,” so I want to clarify some terms for this post: Improve-Sales-Performance

  • I typically define “Average” as the group of producers that surround the mean and median averages, for the metrics you are using. The “Above Average” group is simply the group that lands between your upward cut-off for Average and the bottom of the Top 20 Percent. To avoid saying “the Above Average and Average groups” every time, when I say “Average” in this post, this is the combo of groups that I’m referring to.
  • The bottom performers are simply those in the Bottom 20 Percent.

Improve Sales Performance with Continue | Start | Stop Coaching

In the previous post I referenced, I discussed using a form of task analysis and comparative analysis to create Continue | Start | Stop lists between performance bands, to coach performers in one band, up a notch. I’ve had great success with this approach and the resulting sales coaching. It will improve sales performance.

What I didn’t share in that post, was where I encourage sales managers to focus their time and the type of sales coaching support most often needed by band, to get the maximum benefit from coaching time. This is a gross oversimplification and generalization, so I want to clarify that upfront to avoid giving the wrong impression. (It’s “directionally correct,” but my recommendations may vary quite a bit based on real-life context.)

Having clarified that, here’s what I’d offer, generally:

In my experience, you’ll get your biggest lift from two places. And they are (drum roll, please):

  • The Average groups above the Pareto Line (where you should spend the largest percent of your time, when working to improve sales performance)
  • The established low performers (not the new hires or recent trainees) in the Bottom 20 Percent group (where you should spend 10% of your time, appropriately moving these performers out of the organization)

To do this, the Continue | Start | Stop work (resulting from your sales analysis and task/performance lever analysis) and sound sales coaching will both help you improve sales performance in the Average groups. This deserves a post (or several) in itself, and we’ll certainly write more about this type of sales coaching. It works.

Improve Sales Performance with a Bottom 20% Replacement Plan

Your Human Resources team should provide good advice on how to move out these consistent low producers effectively. Do it professionally, with empathy, even kindly. But move them out. In addition to being a heavy drag on your organization’s sales performance, these people deserve an opportunity to find success doing something else (maybe even within your organization). By the way, unless you haven’t hired recently, this won’t usually be the entire 20 percent in this band. Hopefully, some of the reps in this group are newer players who are “just passing through.”

There’s also big “BUT” with the Bottom group.

If you don’t have a solid plan for sourcing, recruiting, selecting and onboarding replacement reps at a higher degree of effectiveness than what you did previously when hiring the incumbents, you risk prolonging the status quo (or making things worse).

Obviously, since I’m recommending performance management and replacement, I don’t intend to suggest you shouldn’t release poor performers (or “return them to the community,” as a former employer’s CEO used to say). Nor do I want to foster paralysis. But if you don’t have great sales selection systems and processes, it is deserving of significant effort to establish them, and worthy of continuous improvement over time, based on what you learn with each hire.

So, if you were scratching your head at the outset, did I redeem myself? Or do you have a different perspective? I’d enjoy hearing either way. To close, here are some questions to ponder and some related reading, if this topic is pertinent now or of interest.

  • Are you analyzing, banding, studying, and doing comparative analysis with your sales organization? If not, why not? If yes, how is it working?
  • Do you spend enough time doing sales coaching? Do you focus on moving up your average and above-average performers? If not, why not? If yes, how is it working?
  • Do you have a compliant, structured way to manage out your low performers who are not improving? Why or why not? How’s it going?
  • Do you believe your sourcing, recruiting, selection and onboarding is as good as it should be? If yes, what are you doing? If not, what are you planning to do about it?

Related Reading

Sales Organization Change Checklist

Click here or on the image below to learn more about how ready you are to effectively implement change within your sales organization with Richardson’s Sales Organization Change Checklist

About The Author: Mike Kunkle

Mike Kunkle is Richardson's Director of Product Development. Bringing over 25 years of experience in the sales profession, Mr. Kunkle is a training and organizational effectiveness leader with special expertise in sales force transformation. After his initial years on the front line in sales and sales management, he has spent the past 16 years as a corporate director or consultant, leading departments and projects with one purpose — to improve sales results. He led major sales optimization efforts in both B2B and B2C environments, producing significant results for both employers and clients.

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More Video Emerges as Blackmon's Plaza Loses Liquor License Following Brawl

blackmons fight 2.jpg
Dozens of people skirmish around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at Blackmon's.
New video appears at end of this post.

East St. Louis officials yesterday temporarily suspended the liquor license at nightclub Blackmon's Plaza following a wild fight early Saturday morning. During the fight, captured on video, club security can be seen body slamming and sucker-punching customers as chairs fly through the air during a melee that led to 40 officers from multiple jurisdictions arriving on the scene to quell the violence. The fight followed a concert at the club by rapper Webbie.

As the Belleville News-Democrat reports today, Mayor Alvin Parks and the the city's liquor commissioners also fined the club's owner, Johnny Blackmon, $1,000. That's the largest fine the city can issue for a first offense in the calendar year. The club will also lose its liquor license until April 20.

At last night's meeting, liquor commissioners said swift punishment was necessary. The impoverished city counts on its late-night clubs for much needed tax revenue and East St. Louis officials don't want to scare off potential customers.

"East St. Louis is a great entertainment spot, but we will not tolerate hooliganism and thuggery," said Parks in noting that another city venue, Club Posh, is scheduled to play host to nationally known hip-hop star Lil' Wayne on Sunday.

Here's an additional video the fight. Action starts at about the 1:20 mark.

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July 3, 2015

Jim Jeffords, Veteran of Three Decades in Congress, Dead at 80

(CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Jeffords served more than three decades in Congress. (CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Former Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont, a longtime Republican who flipped control of the Senate to the Democrats after switching parties in 2001, has died.

Jeffords, who had been in declining health, was 80. The Burlington Free Press first reported his death.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was sad to hear of Jeffords’ passing and called him a man of conscience.

“Throughout Jim’s time in the Senate he left an important mark on the history of the institution,” Reid said. “He was a strong supporter of helping people with disabilities and always fought for the underdog. Jim was a model of a great legislator who avoided partisan politics and fought for what was best for the people of Vermont. In 2001 he changed the makeup of the Senate by switching from a Republican to an Independent and caucusing with the Democrats. History will remember Senator Jeffords as a courageous man who listened to his conscience, and I will always respect him for doing so.”

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., also lauded Jeffords’ career.

“He was a partner in our work for Vermont, and he was a friend,” Leahy said in release. “He was a Vermonter through and through, drawn to political life to make a difference for our state and nation. Part of his legacy will also stand as an enduring chapter of the Senate’s history.”

Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., who won the election to replace Jefford after he retired in 2006, praised his demeanor and his dedication to the state.

“Jane and I join all Vermonters in sending condolences to the family of Jim Jeffords,” Sanders said in a statement. “Jim was one of the most popular elected officials in the modern history of the state — serving at the local, state and federal levels. Vermonters admired him because of his low-key and down-to-earth qualities, and because of his obvious and strong love of the state and the Vermont way of life. He was an effective champion of education, disability rights, the environment and the arts — and millions of Americans have benefited from his efforts.”

Sanders acknowledged Jeffords’ strength when he changed the Senate in 2001 and became an independent. “He displayed enormous courage by leaving a party that, he often said, had left him because of its dramatic move to the right,” Sanders said. “Jim was a friend and he will be sorely missed.”

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said that Jeffords and his wife Liz Daley, who died in 2007 of ovarian cancer, were mentors during his early days as the state’s at-large House member.

“While Jim would certainly wave away the notion, he was indeed a legend in Vermont and the nation,” Welch said in a release. “With characteristic decency, humility and civility, and a dogged persistence, he made his mark in Congress.”

“Millions of children with disabilities are better off today because he lead the charge for their equal access to education,” Welch said. “Americans are breathing cleaner air and drinking cleaner water because of his fierce advocacy for the environment and clean energy. And budding artists across the nation receive the boost of his encouragement every year thanks to his legacy as the founder of the annual Congressional Arts Competition.”

“And, in 2001, the world saw what his fellow Vermonters already knew: Jim Jeffords, above all, had the courage of his convictions,” Welch said.

Jeffords endorsed Welch in his 2006 campaign over GOP candidate Martha Rainville.

Education was a legislative passion for Jeffords and Republican leaders decision not to include a school funding provision in a $1.6 trillion tax cut bill led him down the path to renouncing his party affiliation.

At the time of his decision to become an independent who would caucus with Democrats, the Senate was split 50-50 with Vice President Dick Cheney the deciding vote giving Republicans control of the chamber.

Following Jeffords’ switch, the Democrats controlled the chamber, 51-49. Until 2001 he identified as a Republican his entire political career, including 14 years in the House of Representatives and all but the last six years of the 18 years he spent in the Senate.

“It was a unique time in history,” Jeffords once recalled. “It was the first time you had a situation of a 50-50 Senate. That opened up an opportunity for one individual, myself or any other Republicans that wanted to, within the rules, to change the whole thing. And then I got to thinking. … I said, ‘If you don’t do it, you’re going to be to blame for everything that happens from now on — Supreme Court appointments — all of that. Because you had the power to make that change, to stop the abuse of power.’ So that’s when I decided I had to do it.”

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  1. Boyd Redding

    Aug. 20, 2014
    1:28 a.m.

    In a related video we find a brief overview of the serious harm that Obamacare is imposing upon Americans:

  2. mikeandle

    Aug. 20, 2014
    4:13 a.m.

    Here we find disgraced philanderer Bill Clinton lecturing Obama about honesty:

  3. Carole Bradshaw

    Aug. 26, 2014
    1:58 a.m.

    Each of us should also remember that Kathleen Sebelius refused to approve a waiver that would have put a dying child on a lung transplant list.

  4. James Garner

    Aug. 26, 2014
    5:44 a.m.

    Obama lied on June 28, 2012 when he claimed that Americans who already have health insurance would be able to keep it.

  5. Carroll Barber

    Sept. 10, 2014
    1:07 p.m.

    No loss here. His handler was tired of changing his depends……oh, did I mention the drool?

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49ers Blog and Q&A

News, notes and reader questions about the San Francisco 49ers

September 15, 2013
No Browner, Clemons for Seahawks; Dobbs active for 49ers

No surprises for the 49ers as far as who's in uniform for the showdown in Seattle. LaMichael James, who still is dealing with a knee sprain, will be inactive for the second straight week. In fact, it's hard to envision James being in uniform even if he is fully healthy. He was inactive for every game last season before Kendall Hunter suffered an Achilles' tear.

Meanwhile, defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs is active after serving a one-game suspension last week. Will Tukuafu was waived/injured to make room for Dobbs on the roster. Tony Jerod-Eddie, who was active last week against the Packers, is inactive today.

For the Seahawks, Walter Thurmond will start at cornerback in place of Brandon Browner, who is dealing with a hamstring strain. Thurmond started for Browner in last week's win over the Panthers. Browner was not on hand for Seattle's 42-13 win over the 49ers in December. Michael Bennett will start at defensive end for Chris Clemons. Cliff Avril is expected to play

49ers inactives:
3rd QB B.J. Daniels
RB LaMichael James
WR/TE Chris Harper
WR Jon Baldwin.
G Joe Looney
DT Tony Jerod-Eddie
LB Nate Stupar.

Seahawks inactives:
RB Christine Michael
S Jeron Johnson
OT Michael Bowie
OT Alvin Bailey
DE Chris Clemons
DT Jordan Hill
CB Brandon Browner

- Matt Barrows

Matt was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green.

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