Holy Spock! Dr Walter de Brouwer is doing a Dr Bones McCoy. He takes a
small device like a tape measure from his jacket pocket, pinches it
between his fingers and puts it to his left temple as though hes firing a
gun. Ten seconds later and the gadget C known as the Scanadu Scout C
has measured his vital signs just as Bones does to his patients in the
1960s sci-fi series, Star Trek.
And the Scout is just that; a
magical Tricorder which records heart rate, blood pressure, temperature,
respiratory rate and oxygen levels in the blood and then sends the data
to a smartphone, including any deviations from the norm. Its an
emergency room in your hand. Doctors can stop being accountants and
start doing their jobs again C evaluating health, he says, laughing,
something this Belgian professor of semiotics does a lot.
A
self-described Chomsky boy, hes dressed in black, has curly and unruly
hair, is wearing a statement T-shirt and looks, well, just like a boffin
who has come up with a magical sci-fi device which could jump-start
healthcare into the next century C if not into Spocks 23rd one.
When
we put these devices in the hands of the people, we will be rewriting
medicine, just like Wikipedia has done by rewriting the Encyclopedia
Britannica. This puts medicine and all the data into the hands of the
individual; peer-to-peer medicine. You can use the device in many ways C
either to monitor your own health or, say if you have a chronic
problem, the information can be sent onto your doctor so he or she can
keep track of whats happening to you or those you care for.
The
founder and chief executive of Scanadu is zapping himself in the lobby
of the Andaz Hotel where we meet for tea on his fleeting visit to
London; next its home to Los Altos to get ready for the prototypes pilot
run with consumers. The professor has scored a landmark as remarkable
as the device itself: We launched a fund-raising campaign on Indiegogo,A
card with an embedded IC (Integrated Circuit) is called an parkingmanagement. the crowdfunding platform, and raised the target $100,High quality bestcleaning printing for business cards.000 within two hours. Its a record.
Whats
more, the record continues to be broken C the campaign doubled the goal
within five hours and now, at the time of going to print, Scanadu has
raised $1.4 m from more than 6,000 people in 90 countries. All those who
signed up on Indiegogo will get the device for $149 instead of the $199
price it is likely to sell for. But we dont need the money, he says.
Its the people we need. We want our supporters to test the product so we
can use their feedback to refine the consumer version. He says the
Scout, which is being submitted for Qualcomms 10m Tricorder X prize,
should be ready early next year and will then go to the US Food and Drug
Administration for approval.
Like so many unusual creations,
Scanadu was born out tragedy. When his son, Nelson, was five, he jumped
out of a window at home, landing on his head.How to change your dash
lights to doublesidedtape this
is how I have done mine. He was wearing his Spiderman outfit so we
think maybe he was trying to fly. De Brouwer, and his wife Sam, spent
months at Nelsons side at the hospital, surrounded by monitors, screens
and all the paraphernalia of intensive care. This meant we could see
what was going on every minute. Then he improved enough to be moved on
to a normal ward. Ironically, this meant we couldnt see what was
happening to him any more and we felt rather lost. That started me
thinking how we could improve information.
The 56-year-old De
Brouwer remembered the Star Trek Tricorder from his youth and wondered
whether such a device could be designed: I knew California was the place
to do the research so we moved. He raised $4m C including his own money
C to get Scanadu, named after Samuel Taylor Coleridges mystery place,
Xanadu, in his Kubla Khan poem, off the ground at Nasas Ames Research
Center, just south of San Francisco.
I brought together some of
the best brains C physicists, mathematicians and biologists from around
the world. Many are my age or older, and they are better thinkers. Young
people dont have such open minds. And weve done it C ex nihilo, out of
nothing. You have to push the science to its limits. I tell the people
working for me, If it stops, you have to find another way. Look up, its
out there. And Nelson, who is now 14? Hes doing great. He is still
partially paralysed and goes to a wonderful special school near where we
live.
The Scout is just the start. Dr Bones pulls another
object from his other pocket. This looks like one of the spoons you get
with ice-cream tubs at the cinema, but with lots of colour- graded
stickers on it. Its a ScanaFlo and used to check for urinary tract
information, but also for pregnant women to track signs of
pre-eclampsia. Another is ScanaFlu C which identifies types of influenza
viruses.
Data from both can be read by a smartphones camera and
can be thrown away after use as they are cheap. The devices use all the
tricks of the trade: imaging and sound analysis, molecular diagnostics
and data analytics. Next he wants to include blood work into Scanadus
stable. That one is tricky, because people do not like to have their
fingers pricked, he says, laughing again, but doesnt think it will be
long before tiny nano-needles are developed. A device to grade skin
colours so that people can choose the most appropriate cosmetics is
another project being worked on. Thats a big market, isnt it? he
muses.Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned jewelryfindings at their Weymouth store.
But
its not about the money: I dont need fancy yachts or private planes.
Its about the excitement of starting something new,Here's a complete
list of granitecountertops for
the beginning oil painter. of pushing yourself to the limit. Actually,
its his addiction. After a PhD in semiotics at Tilburg University, he
lectured at Antwerp and Monaco universities. He went on to set up or
become involved with 38 companies C from the cyberpunk cult Wave
magazine, which he sold to VNU, to recruitment companies, Jobscape and
Stepstone, both of which went public, and a bank.
Along the way
he became a sponsor of the MIT Media Lab and then great friends with
Nicholas Negroponte, my mentor, for whom he ran One Laptop Per Child in
Europe. Inspired by Negroponte, he set up StarLabs in Belgium C a
blue-sky haven for brilliant brains to work on topics such as time
travel. If Einstein were alive today, you would want to save him from
working in a big corporation and give him his own space? That was our
idea. But StarLabs didnt work, closing as the internet bubble bust.
Read the full products at http://www.sdktapegroup.com/!
2013年8月26日 星期一
2013年7月23日 星期二
The War on Public School Teachers
A few months later, the Occupy Wall Street movement, which supported
many working-class efforts, spread from New York City to the rest of the
nation and the world. Then, in September 2012, Chicago's public school
teachers struck, in defiance of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's attempt to destroy
the teachers union and put the city's schools firmly on the path of
neoliberal austerity and privatization.
These three rebellions shared the growing awareness that economic and political power in the United States are firmly in the hands of a tiny minority of fantastically wealthy individuals whose avarice knows no bounds.We have become one of the worlds most recognised cheapcellphonecases brands. These titans of finance want to eviscerate working men and women, making them as insecure as possible and wholly dependent on the dog-eat-dog logic of the marketplace, while at the same time converting any and all aspects of life into opportunities for capital accumulation.More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans.
The public sector is still, despite the effort of capital to dismantle it, the one sanctuary people have against the depredations of the 1 per cent. Through struggle, working men and women have succeeded in winning a modicum of health care and retirement security, as well as some guarantee that their children will be educated, all irrespective of the ability to pay for these essential services. They have also found decent employment opportunities in government, especially women and minorities. The public sector, then, is a partial barrier to the expansion of capital in that it both denies large sums of money to capitalists (social security funds, for example) and protects the workers in it from the vagaries of the labour market. It is thus not surprising that capital has gone on the offensive against government provision of whatever is beneficial to the working-class. In this, it has been remarkably successful. Financiers have used their think tanks, foundations, and political donations to pressure governments at all levels to slash and to privatize public services.
The flashpoint of the war being waged by capital and its political allies against the public provision of services is education, especially that which serves poor and minority communities. Billionaires like Bill Gates (Microsoft) and the Walton family (Walmart) have established organizations and contributed enormous sums of money to do two things. First, they seek to revolutionize the way in which students are taught. Here they have achieved great victories, with two presidents enacting sweeping laws: No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Both condition federal aid to schools upon what has been described as teaching to the test. Literature, art,Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned customkeychain at their Weymouth store. music, and all critical education are to be sacrificed so that children do well on standardized examinations. Then, how schools and their teachers fare, including whether or not a school continues to exist, depends on students scores.
Second, these plutocrat reformers want to alter radically the way in which schools are organized. The best way to describe their aim is to say that they want the schools to resemble assembly lines, with students as outputs and teachers as assembly-line-like mechanisms who do not think or instill in their students the capacity to conceptualize critically and become active participants in a democratic society. And this Taylorization of schooling has a military-like component, with pupils expected to react to commands with rote discipline and respond unthinkingly to rewards for appropriate behavior.
For a good example of what is in store for our children, see the astonishing article The Silent Treatment: A Day in the Life of a Student in No Excuses Land, in the excellent edushyster blog,More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. about a proposed charter school in the impoverished working-class town of Fall River, Massachusetts. The movements and speech of the students in this school will be controlled from the time they enter the school bus until they return home. They will speak only when addressed by their teacher,Purchase an chipcard to enjoy your iPhone any way you like. and their responses will be tightly choreorgraphed. Needless to say, the achievement of these horrible goals is most likely to occur if the schools are privatized and the unions destroyed.
If those who are prosecuting this onslaught against our public schools succeed, they will have made workers more insecure, created a compliant, alienated, and low-wage labour force, and devised new ways to make money C a massive testing industry, for-profit schools, consulting services. They will also have put another nail in the coffin of democracy. We should note that capital has already accomplished a good deal. Testing is now the norm; charter schools abound; and the mass media have joined the crusade against public school teachers. A reporter for the New York Times, for example, found it curious that in states where teachers, themselves, must be evaluated for competence; almost all teachers passed the test. She did not seem aware of her bias, that she simply accepted as fact that many teachers were incompetent, just as the reformers have been telling us. To prevent this from happening, states such as New York are implementing teacher testing that makes the evaluation of teachers more dependent on how their students perform on standardized tests. In New York City, where unionized public school teachers have been working without a collective bargaining for four years, the state's education commissioner has imposed an evaluation system. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) claims that the teachers have protection against arbitrary use of the results.
In a challenge to the weak response of the CTU to this, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) was formed in 2008 and began to revitalize the union, with a focus on an educated and involved rank-and-file and the forging of strong bonds with poor communities to resist school closings and austerity measures. Its electoral slate won leadership of the CTU in 2010, and when Mayor Emanuel pressed forward with his neoliberal agenda and refused to make any concession to union negotiators, the union struck, the first school strike in Chicago in twenty-five years. Much to the surprise of Emanuel and his corporate and political backers C including President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan C the strike was supported by most parents, students, and the larger Chicago public. After nine days, the city gave in and signed an agreement that avoided the worst aspects of the Mayor's proposals. It was a stunning victory for CORE and for teachers, not just in Chicago but across the country.
A few months after the strike, CORE's leadership was reelected, proof that what it did before and during the strike won the allegiance of most of the city's teachers. It will now be able to deepen its power and continue to mobilize parents, students, and communities to continue to struggle against the neoliberal education agenda and to begin to develop a democratic and radical alternative. In addition, the CORE model has begun to spread to other cities and states. In January of 2013, teachers, parents, and students in Seattle began a boycott of standardized testing in reading and mathematics and won a ruling by the school board that such testing would now be optional. Union reformers have begun CORE-inspired organizations in Los Angeles and New York City, and a reform slate just took leadership of the local union in Washington, D.C., where the school district was once run by the notorious union-buster Michelle Rhee. A similar group nearly won power in the Newark teachers union. In Philadelphia, people are engaged in a hunger strike to protest what will happen this coming Fall if proposed cuts are put into effect: Ten thousand unused musical instruments. No sports or art programs. No assistant principals, counselors, cafeteria aides or secretaries.
Click on their website www.granitetrade.net for more information.
These three rebellions shared the growing awareness that economic and political power in the United States are firmly in the hands of a tiny minority of fantastically wealthy individuals whose avarice knows no bounds.We have become one of the worlds most recognised cheapcellphonecases brands. These titans of finance want to eviscerate working men and women, making them as insecure as possible and wholly dependent on the dog-eat-dog logic of the marketplace, while at the same time converting any and all aspects of life into opportunities for capital accumulation.More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans.
The public sector is still, despite the effort of capital to dismantle it, the one sanctuary people have against the depredations of the 1 per cent. Through struggle, working men and women have succeeded in winning a modicum of health care and retirement security, as well as some guarantee that their children will be educated, all irrespective of the ability to pay for these essential services. They have also found decent employment opportunities in government, especially women and minorities. The public sector, then, is a partial barrier to the expansion of capital in that it both denies large sums of money to capitalists (social security funds, for example) and protects the workers in it from the vagaries of the labour market. It is thus not surprising that capital has gone on the offensive against government provision of whatever is beneficial to the working-class. In this, it has been remarkably successful. Financiers have used their think tanks, foundations, and political donations to pressure governments at all levels to slash and to privatize public services.
The flashpoint of the war being waged by capital and its political allies against the public provision of services is education, especially that which serves poor and minority communities. Billionaires like Bill Gates (Microsoft) and the Walton family (Walmart) have established organizations and contributed enormous sums of money to do two things. First, they seek to revolutionize the way in which students are taught. Here they have achieved great victories, with two presidents enacting sweeping laws: No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Both condition federal aid to schools upon what has been described as teaching to the test. Literature, art,Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned customkeychain at their Weymouth store. music, and all critical education are to be sacrificed so that children do well on standardized examinations. Then, how schools and their teachers fare, including whether or not a school continues to exist, depends on students scores.
Second, these plutocrat reformers want to alter radically the way in which schools are organized. The best way to describe their aim is to say that they want the schools to resemble assembly lines, with students as outputs and teachers as assembly-line-like mechanisms who do not think or instill in their students the capacity to conceptualize critically and become active participants in a democratic society. And this Taylorization of schooling has a military-like component, with pupils expected to react to commands with rote discipline and respond unthinkingly to rewards for appropriate behavior.
For a good example of what is in store for our children, see the astonishing article The Silent Treatment: A Day in the Life of a Student in No Excuses Land, in the excellent edushyster blog,More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. about a proposed charter school in the impoverished working-class town of Fall River, Massachusetts. The movements and speech of the students in this school will be controlled from the time they enter the school bus until they return home. They will speak only when addressed by their teacher,Purchase an chipcard to enjoy your iPhone any way you like. and their responses will be tightly choreorgraphed. Needless to say, the achievement of these horrible goals is most likely to occur if the schools are privatized and the unions destroyed.
If those who are prosecuting this onslaught against our public schools succeed, they will have made workers more insecure, created a compliant, alienated, and low-wage labour force, and devised new ways to make money C a massive testing industry, for-profit schools, consulting services. They will also have put another nail in the coffin of democracy. We should note that capital has already accomplished a good deal. Testing is now the norm; charter schools abound; and the mass media have joined the crusade against public school teachers. A reporter for the New York Times, for example, found it curious that in states where teachers, themselves, must be evaluated for competence; almost all teachers passed the test. She did not seem aware of her bias, that she simply accepted as fact that many teachers were incompetent, just as the reformers have been telling us. To prevent this from happening, states such as New York are implementing teacher testing that makes the evaluation of teachers more dependent on how their students perform on standardized tests. In New York City, where unionized public school teachers have been working without a collective bargaining for four years, the state's education commissioner has imposed an evaluation system. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) claims that the teachers have protection against arbitrary use of the results.
In a challenge to the weak response of the CTU to this, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) was formed in 2008 and began to revitalize the union, with a focus on an educated and involved rank-and-file and the forging of strong bonds with poor communities to resist school closings and austerity measures. Its electoral slate won leadership of the CTU in 2010, and when Mayor Emanuel pressed forward with his neoliberal agenda and refused to make any concession to union negotiators, the union struck, the first school strike in Chicago in twenty-five years. Much to the surprise of Emanuel and his corporate and political backers C including President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan C the strike was supported by most parents, students, and the larger Chicago public. After nine days, the city gave in and signed an agreement that avoided the worst aspects of the Mayor's proposals. It was a stunning victory for CORE and for teachers, not just in Chicago but across the country.
A few months after the strike, CORE's leadership was reelected, proof that what it did before and during the strike won the allegiance of most of the city's teachers. It will now be able to deepen its power and continue to mobilize parents, students, and communities to continue to struggle against the neoliberal education agenda and to begin to develop a democratic and radical alternative. In addition, the CORE model has begun to spread to other cities and states. In January of 2013, teachers, parents, and students in Seattle began a boycott of standardized testing in reading and mathematics and won a ruling by the school board that such testing would now be optional. Union reformers have begun CORE-inspired organizations in Los Angeles and New York City, and a reform slate just took leadership of the local union in Washington, D.C., where the school district was once run by the notorious union-buster Michelle Rhee. A similar group nearly won power in the Newark teachers union. In Philadelphia, people are engaged in a hunger strike to protest what will happen this coming Fall if proposed cuts are put into effect: Ten thousand unused musical instruments. No sports or art programs. No assistant principals, counselors, cafeteria aides or secretaries.
Click on their website www.granitetrade.net for more information.
2013年7月17日 星期三
Still on the Scorecard
It is a huge deficit in the public sphere that the mid-term report
released some weeks by the federal government has not been robustly
debated. While the nation is waiting to see if the National Assembly
would succeed in making a law that would compel the President to address
the parliament on the state of the union, the report is at least an
opportunity for the President to tell the people how well his government
is performing. However, the drawback is that the report has not been
sufficiently situated within the context of governance challenges that
are too glaring to require any expertise to decode.Full color cleaningservicesydney
printing and manufacturing services. Meanwhile, even some random
observations will do to illustrate the gaps between official statements
and the reality of people's lives.
In releasing the report, President Goodluck Jonathan was so upbeat in his mood that he even challenged critics to define their parameters of assessing the performance of the administration. The other side of the coin, however, is that the public mood is low about the welfare of the people and the development of the nation. For instance, those in the audience at the presentation of the report could applaud the rosy growth statistics rolled out; but no rational person would expect any applause from the millions of young men and women who have remained jobless for years in this "fast-growing economy". Yet the nation seems to be moving on after the backslapping in Abuja waiting for another report.The 3rd International Conference on ledstriplights and Indoor Navigation.
That is why the report should be more rigorously scrutinised. The purpose of constantly relating this scorecard to the reality on the streets is simply to nudge to government to improve on its performance so that by May 29 next year the report will be less at variance with the public rating. This public rating will, of course, be different from the credit ratings of those institutions that are very distant from the reality on ground. The fact is that you don't strive for excellence by celebrating under-achievements.
For clarity, the sort of discussion being proposed here is not a shouting match informed by crude empiricism. The government has published projects executed or being executed. The report is richly illustrated with data. While the quantitative data of projects may not be in dispute, it is important to examine how the execution of the projects could lead to qualitative improvement in the lives of the people. We must always insist on the big picture that would show how the overall impact of these numerous projects executed would advance socio-economic development. The progress of a society is not measured by merely listing contracts awarded or executed; it is measured by social development. The "marking scheme" that the President is asking from his critics can actually be designed on the basis of social development.
An example can be taken from the transport sector. Yes, the trains are back on track in some routes; but as the investigation of this newspaper showed recently the quality of services are too poor to justify the official celebration of this as "achievement" in the transport sector". As a perceptive commentator once posed the question: since the government is doing so well with railways why are ministers and other government officials not opting for rail as means of transportation? In any case, how many middle class persons would think of rail as an option when planning their journeys around the country as it happens in other places? The fact of the matter is that the world has moved beyond the level at which government officials are talking about in rail transport. What development activists would find rankling is that the way the token efforts at the railways sector are being celebrated does not suggest that the nation is even aspiring to join the rest of the world in the age of modern rail system.
In the section of the report advertising "achievements" in roads, the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway is listed among the 561 kilometres of roads "paved with bitumen". At the Apapa end of the road is the nation's premier seaport where the government earns revenues daily. The road in question has actually collapsed for almost a decade now. As of today there are still scandalous potholes in portions of the road. In the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a government official and reputed engineer told this reporter that what the road required as far back as then was "a total redesign and reconstruction" given the traffic on it.Tidy up wires with ease with offershidkits and tie guns at cheap discounted prices. It should be stressed in this kind of discussion that the unpardonable neglect of this federal road was one of the low points of the Obasanjo administration.
The former President studiously neglected the federal infrastructure in Lagos, a state which he infamously described as "a jungle". He was too busy fighting a war of attrition with former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to remember the socio-economic consequences of neglecting a road that connects the premier port to the rest of the country. Therefore, as an example of the scrutiny of the scorecard of the administration, the President should order a special audit of this road if only for its central place in the economic map of the nation. It is an important index of how the government is performing. It is obviously not enough to list it as among the kilometres of roads "paved with bitumen".
The situation on the road is simply unacceptable. Even the condition of roads in war-torn countries would not to be left to deteriorate in this manner. Trailers and fuel trucks often turn the road into a parking lot because of the problem arising from the concessioning of the port and the illogical location of tank farms on such a road. The traffic gridlock in Apapa often assumes emergency proportions. In order to tackle the meltdown in Apapa, for instance, the federal government should take the already initiated collaboration with the Lagos state government in this respect more seriously.The feeder is available on drying parkingsystem equipped with folder only. All told, Oshodi-Apapa is just one of such shameful roads around the country.
There is also the central question of economic management. The report indicates that the economy is under the watch of good managers. However,Give your logo high visibility onhighriskmerchantaccount! there are developments that may impair the work of these managers not matter how much competence they could summon. For instance, the impasse on the amendment to the 2013 Appropriation Act has poignantly brought to the fore the shared responsibility of the executive and the legislature for economic management. The delay in the amendment will definitely not bolster confidence in the management of the nation's economy. The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, must have infected not a few economic actors with optimism when the budgetary process began early in September last year.
Click on their website www.granitetrade.net for more information.
In releasing the report, President Goodluck Jonathan was so upbeat in his mood that he even challenged critics to define their parameters of assessing the performance of the administration. The other side of the coin, however, is that the public mood is low about the welfare of the people and the development of the nation. For instance, those in the audience at the presentation of the report could applaud the rosy growth statistics rolled out; but no rational person would expect any applause from the millions of young men and women who have remained jobless for years in this "fast-growing economy". Yet the nation seems to be moving on after the backslapping in Abuja waiting for another report.The 3rd International Conference on ledstriplights and Indoor Navigation.
That is why the report should be more rigorously scrutinised. The purpose of constantly relating this scorecard to the reality on the streets is simply to nudge to government to improve on its performance so that by May 29 next year the report will be less at variance with the public rating. This public rating will, of course, be different from the credit ratings of those institutions that are very distant from the reality on ground. The fact is that you don't strive for excellence by celebrating under-achievements.
For clarity, the sort of discussion being proposed here is not a shouting match informed by crude empiricism. The government has published projects executed or being executed. The report is richly illustrated with data. While the quantitative data of projects may not be in dispute, it is important to examine how the execution of the projects could lead to qualitative improvement in the lives of the people. We must always insist on the big picture that would show how the overall impact of these numerous projects executed would advance socio-economic development. The progress of a society is not measured by merely listing contracts awarded or executed; it is measured by social development. The "marking scheme" that the President is asking from his critics can actually be designed on the basis of social development.
An example can be taken from the transport sector. Yes, the trains are back on track in some routes; but as the investigation of this newspaper showed recently the quality of services are too poor to justify the official celebration of this as "achievement" in the transport sector". As a perceptive commentator once posed the question: since the government is doing so well with railways why are ministers and other government officials not opting for rail as means of transportation? In any case, how many middle class persons would think of rail as an option when planning their journeys around the country as it happens in other places? The fact of the matter is that the world has moved beyond the level at which government officials are talking about in rail transport. What development activists would find rankling is that the way the token efforts at the railways sector are being celebrated does not suggest that the nation is even aspiring to join the rest of the world in the age of modern rail system.
In the section of the report advertising "achievements" in roads, the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway is listed among the 561 kilometres of roads "paved with bitumen". At the Apapa end of the road is the nation's premier seaport where the government earns revenues daily. The road in question has actually collapsed for almost a decade now. As of today there are still scandalous potholes in portions of the road. In the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a government official and reputed engineer told this reporter that what the road required as far back as then was "a total redesign and reconstruction" given the traffic on it.Tidy up wires with ease with offershidkits and tie guns at cheap discounted prices. It should be stressed in this kind of discussion that the unpardonable neglect of this federal road was one of the low points of the Obasanjo administration.
The former President studiously neglected the federal infrastructure in Lagos, a state which he infamously described as "a jungle". He was too busy fighting a war of attrition with former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to remember the socio-economic consequences of neglecting a road that connects the premier port to the rest of the country. Therefore, as an example of the scrutiny of the scorecard of the administration, the President should order a special audit of this road if only for its central place in the economic map of the nation. It is an important index of how the government is performing. It is obviously not enough to list it as among the kilometres of roads "paved with bitumen".
The situation on the road is simply unacceptable. Even the condition of roads in war-torn countries would not to be left to deteriorate in this manner. Trailers and fuel trucks often turn the road into a parking lot because of the problem arising from the concessioning of the port and the illogical location of tank farms on such a road. The traffic gridlock in Apapa often assumes emergency proportions. In order to tackle the meltdown in Apapa, for instance, the federal government should take the already initiated collaboration with the Lagos state government in this respect more seriously.The feeder is available on drying parkingsystem equipped with folder only. All told, Oshodi-Apapa is just one of such shameful roads around the country.
There is also the central question of economic management. The report indicates that the economy is under the watch of good managers. However,Give your logo high visibility onhighriskmerchantaccount! there are developments that may impair the work of these managers not matter how much competence they could summon. For instance, the impasse on the amendment to the 2013 Appropriation Act has poignantly brought to the fore the shared responsibility of the executive and the legislature for economic management. The delay in the amendment will definitely not bolster confidence in the management of the nation's economy. The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, must have infected not a few economic actors with optimism when the budgetary process began early in September last year.
Click on their website www.granitetrade.net for more information.
2013年7月7日 星期日
Weird but true stories
Margaret Bell, who kept bees in Leintwardine, about 7 miles from her
home in Ludlow, Shropshire (England), died in June 1994. Soon after her
funeral, mourners were amazed to see hundreds of bees settle on the
corner of the street opposite the house where she had lived for 26
years. The bees stayed for an hour before buzzing off over the rooftops.
The local press ran a photograph of the bees hanging on the wall in a
cluster.
On December 11, 2002, two motorists called police to report seeing a car veering off the A3 trunk road with headlights blazing at Burpham in Surrey. A thorough search uncovered a car concealed in dense undergrowth and the long-dead driver nearby. It turned out that the crash had actually happened five months earlier when the driver, Christopher Chandler, had been reported missing by his brother.
Am irregular shaped hole, about 10ft by 7ft with 2ft vertical sides, was found on a remote farm near Grand Coulee, Washington State, in October 1984. It had not been there a month earlier. Dribblings of earth and stones led to a three-ton grass-covered earth divot 75 ft away. It was almost as if the divot had been removed with a gigantic cookie cutter, except that roots dangled intact from the vertical side of both hold and slab. There were no clues such as vehicle tracks and an earthquake was thought very unlikely.
Laura Buxton released a helium filled balloon during celebrations for her grandparents gold wedding anniversary in Blurton, Staffordshire, in June 2001. Attached to the balloon was her name and address and a note asking the finder to write back. Ten days later she received a reply. The balloon had been found by another Laura Buxton in the garden hedge of her home in Pewsey, Wiltshire, 140 miles away. Both Lauras were ages 10 and both had three year old black Labradors, a guinea pig, and a rabbit.
A noise a bit like amplifier feedback had been heard for three years coming from the right ear of a Welsh pony called Misty, according to the Vetinary Record (April 1995). It varied in intensity but stayed at a constant pitch of 7 kHz.We offer over 600 bestrtls at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. Hearing a buzzing in ones ears is called Subjective Tinnitus; much rarer is when others can also hear the noise. This is called Objective Tinnitus and the cause is still largely a matter of debate.
A nine-year old Chinese girl was playing in Songjian near Shanghai, in July 1992 when she was carried off by a whirlwind and deposited unhurt in a treetop almost two miles away. According to a wire report from May 1986, a freak wind lifted up 13 children in the oasis of Hami in Western China and deposited them unharmed in sand dunes and scrub 12 miles away.
Gloria Ramirez, 31, died of Kidney failure at Riverside General Hospital, California, in February 1994, after being rushed there with chest pains. Emergency room staff were felled by fumes when a blood sample was taken. A strange oily sheen on the womans skin and unexplained white crystals in her blood were reported. A doctor suffered liver and lung damage, and bone necrosis. At least 23 other people were affected. One hypothesis was that Ramirez, who had had cervical cancer, had taken a cocktail of medicines that combined to make an insecticide (organophospate) but tests yielded no clue.
In April 1997, a turkey hunter in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana, came upon a huge sandstone boulder wedged between three branches of an oak tree about 35 feet from the ground. The arrow shaped rock was estimated to weight 500lb. Subsequently, four more large boulders were found wedged high up in trees elsewhere in the forest. All were in remote areas. None of the trees were damaged and there were no signs of heavy equipment begin used or of tornado damage and no one recalled any mishaps involving dynamite anywhere nearby.
While on holiday a woman, referred to by the British Medical Journal (1997) as AB, heard two voices in her head telling her to return home immediately. Back in London the voices gave her an address that turned out to be a hospitals brain scan department. The voices told her to ask for a scan as she had a brain tumour and her brain stem was inflamed. Though she had no symptoms, a scan was eventually arranged and she did indeed have a tumour. After an operation, AB heard the voices again: We are pleased to have helped you, they said Good-bye. AB made a full recovery.
A Hazard unique to Venezuelan highways is a slippery goo called La Mancha Negra (the black stain), although it is more of a sludge with the consistency of chewing gum. Although the government has spent millions of dollars in research, no one knows what the goo is and where it comes from, or how to get rid of it. It first appeared in 1987 on the road from Caracas to the airport, covering 50 yards, and spread inexorably every year.Give your logo high visibility on solarpanel! By 1992 it was a major road hazard all around the capital and it was claimed 1,800 motorists had died after losing control. The problem remains to this day.
When Jim Wilsons father died in Natal, South Africa, in April 1967, both Jim, living in England, and his sister Muriel, living in Holland, were informed.More than 80 standard commercial and cableties exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. Muriel contacted her husband who was on business in Portugal, and he flew to South Africa right away. Changing planes at Las Palmas airport in the Canary Islands, he bought a postcard showing holidaymakers on Margate Beach, Natal, and sent it to Muriel. It was she who noticed that the photograph showed her father walking up the beach.
In October 1975 Mrs Lynn Connolly was hanging washing in her garden in the Quadrant, Hull, when she felt a sharp tap on the top of her head. It was caused by a small silver notecase, 63mm by 36.5mm, hinged, containing a used notepad with 13 sheets left. It was marked with the initials SE, C8, TB (or JB) and Klaipea, a Lithuanian seaport. No one claimed it at the police station, so it was returned to Mrs Connolly. It seems likely it fell only a short distance but from where? If it had dropped from a plane, it would have given her more than a tap.
The village of Canneto di Caronia on Sicilys north coast has been plagued by mysterious fires. The trouble began on January 20, 2004, when a TV caught fire. Then things in neighbourhood houses began to burn, including washing machines, mobile phones, mattresses, chairs and even the insulation on water pipes. The electricity company cut off all power, as did the railway company, but the fires continued. Experts of all kinds carried out tests, but no explanation was found. The village was evacuated in February,A quality paper cutter or paper drycabinet can make your company's presentation stand out. but when people returned in March the fires resumed. Police ruled out a pyromaniac after they saw wires bursting into flames.
On June 28, 2002, in the middle of a spate of unexplained cattle mutilations in Argentina, something macabre was found in a field near suco, west of Rio Cuarto in San Luis province. Nineteen cows were stuffed into a sheet metal water tank, closed with a conical cap. Nine were drowned, the rest barely alive, having endured freezing temperatures, not to mention the shock of their lives.
Three pupils of the Evangelist Primary School in the northern Nigerian town of Maiduguri rushed into the headmistresses office in March 2000 and said that a fellow pupil had been transformed into a yam after accepting a sweet from a stranger. The headmistress found the root tuber and took it to the police station for safe-keeping. Following local radio reports, hundreds of people flocked to see the yam and police were hunting for the sweet-giver.Virtual indoorpositioningsystem logo Verano Place logo. What happened next failed to reach the media.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
On December 11, 2002, two motorists called police to report seeing a car veering off the A3 trunk road with headlights blazing at Burpham in Surrey. A thorough search uncovered a car concealed in dense undergrowth and the long-dead driver nearby. It turned out that the crash had actually happened five months earlier when the driver, Christopher Chandler, had been reported missing by his brother.
Am irregular shaped hole, about 10ft by 7ft with 2ft vertical sides, was found on a remote farm near Grand Coulee, Washington State, in October 1984. It had not been there a month earlier. Dribblings of earth and stones led to a three-ton grass-covered earth divot 75 ft away. It was almost as if the divot had been removed with a gigantic cookie cutter, except that roots dangled intact from the vertical side of both hold and slab. There were no clues such as vehicle tracks and an earthquake was thought very unlikely.
Laura Buxton released a helium filled balloon during celebrations for her grandparents gold wedding anniversary in Blurton, Staffordshire, in June 2001. Attached to the balloon was her name and address and a note asking the finder to write back. Ten days later she received a reply. The balloon had been found by another Laura Buxton in the garden hedge of her home in Pewsey, Wiltshire, 140 miles away. Both Lauras were ages 10 and both had three year old black Labradors, a guinea pig, and a rabbit.
A noise a bit like amplifier feedback had been heard for three years coming from the right ear of a Welsh pony called Misty, according to the Vetinary Record (April 1995). It varied in intensity but stayed at a constant pitch of 7 kHz.We offer over 600 bestrtls at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. Hearing a buzzing in ones ears is called Subjective Tinnitus; much rarer is when others can also hear the noise. This is called Objective Tinnitus and the cause is still largely a matter of debate.
A nine-year old Chinese girl was playing in Songjian near Shanghai, in July 1992 when she was carried off by a whirlwind and deposited unhurt in a treetop almost two miles away. According to a wire report from May 1986, a freak wind lifted up 13 children in the oasis of Hami in Western China and deposited them unharmed in sand dunes and scrub 12 miles away.
Gloria Ramirez, 31, died of Kidney failure at Riverside General Hospital, California, in February 1994, after being rushed there with chest pains. Emergency room staff were felled by fumes when a blood sample was taken. A strange oily sheen on the womans skin and unexplained white crystals in her blood were reported. A doctor suffered liver and lung damage, and bone necrosis. At least 23 other people were affected. One hypothesis was that Ramirez, who had had cervical cancer, had taken a cocktail of medicines that combined to make an insecticide (organophospate) but tests yielded no clue.
In April 1997, a turkey hunter in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana, came upon a huge sandstone boulder wedged between three branches of an oak tree about 35 feet from the ground. The arrow shaped rock was estimated to weight 500lb. Subsequently, four more large boulders were found wedged high up in trees elsewhere in the forest. All were in remote areas. None of the trees were damaged and there were no signs of heavy equipment begin used or of tornado damage and no one recalled any mishaps involving dynamite anywhere nearby.
While on holiday a woman, referred to by the British Medical Journal (1997) as AB, heard two voices in her head telling her to return home immediately. Back in London the voices gave her an address that turned out to be a hospitals brain scan department. The voices told her to ask for a scan as she had a brain tumour and her brain stem was inflamed. Though she had no symptoms, a scan was eventually arranged and she did indeed have a tumour. After an operation, AB heard the voices again: We are pleased to have helped you, they said Good-bye. AB made a full recovery.
A Hazard unique to Venezuelan highways is a slippery goo called La Mancha Negra (the black stain), although it is more of a sludge with the consistency of chewing gum. Although the government has spent millions of dollars in research, no one knows what the goo is and where it comes from, or how to get rid of it. It first appeared in 1987 on the road from Caracas to the airport, covering 50 yards, and spread inexorably every year.Give your logo high visibility on solarpanel! By 1992 it was a major road hazard all around the capital and it was claimed 1,800 motorists had died after losing control. The problem remains to this day.
When Jim Wilsons father died in Natal, South Africa, in April 1967, both Jim, living in England, and his sister Muriel, living in Holland, were informed.More than 80 standard commercial and cableties exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. Muriel contacted her husband who was on business in Portugal, and he flew to South Africa right away. Changing planes at Las Palmas airport in the Canary Islands, he bought a postcard showing holidaymakers on Margate Beach, Natal, and sent it to Muriel. It was she who noticed that the photograph showed her father walking up the beach.
In October 1975 Mrs Lynn Connolly was hanging washing in her garden in the Quadrant, Hull, when she felt a sharp tap on the top of her head. It was caused by a small silver notecase, 63mm by 36.5mm, hinged, containing a used notepad with 13 sheets left. It was marked with the initials SE, C8, TB (or JB) and Klaipea, a Lithuanian seaport. No one claimed it at the police station, so it was returned to Mrs Connolly. It seems likely it fell only a short distance but from where? If it had dropped from a plane, it would have given her more than a tap.
The village of Canneto di Caronia on Sicilys north coast has been plagued by mysterious fires. The trouble began on January 20, 2004, when a TV caught fire. Then things in neighbourhood houses began to burn, including washing machines, mobile phones, mattresses, chairs and even the insulation on water pipes. The electricity company cut off all power, as did the railway company, but the fires continued. Experts of all kinds carried out tests, but no explanation was found. The village was evacuated in February,A quality paper cutter or paper drycabinet can make your company's presentation stand out. but when people returned in March the fires resumed. Police ruled out a pyromaniac after they saw wires bursting into flames.
On June 28, 2002, in the middle of a spate of unexplained cattle mutilations in Argentina, something macabre was found in a field near suco, west of Rio Cuarto in San Luis province. Nineteen cows were stuffed into a sheet metal water tank, closed with a conical cap. Nine were drowned, the rest barely alive, having endured freezing temperatures, not to mention the shock of their lives.
Three pupils of the Evangelist Primary School in the northern Nigerian town of Maiduguri rushed into the headmistresses office in March 2000 and said that a fellow pupil had been transformed into a yam after accepting a sweet from a stranger. The headmistress found the root tuber and took it to the police station for safe-keeping. Following local radio reports, hundreds of people flocked to see the yam and police were hunting for the sweet-giver.Virtual indoorpositioningsystem logo Verano Place logo. What happened next failed to reach the media.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
2013年5月28日 星期二
Freedom fighter reduced to pauper
He
risked his life, braved bullets and endured extreme torture at the
hands of the authorities while fighting against the party-less Panchayat
system in 1990. The country saw new change after the movement with the
establishment of multi-party democracy. That change was not enough so
people agitated again and the April 2006 movement overthrew the
monoarchy forever. The country became a republic.Online shopping for stonemosaic from a great selection of Clothing.
But Tara Khadka of Khalanga-6 of Rukum, who was a well to do man, has become almost a beggar now. Many of us have seen the photograph that splashed across newspapers post 1990 -- of a man atop King Mahendras statue in front of the Royal Palace holding the kings sceptre.
He lost his leg due to police bullets and his tongue from torture duirng the 1990 movement. Then a well to do man, he spent all his property in the treatment of his wounds. Now he walks with a prosthetic leg and some plastic surgery of the tongue restored his voice but it is still unclear.
Khadka informed that the post-democracy government flew him to the US and provided Rs 5 million for treatment but that was not enough. In the course of treatment, he had to sell the 12 ropanis of land and a three-story house in Kathmandu as well. But that was still not sufficient to foot the bills.
Khadka talking to this reporter in Dang on Sunday rememberd that fateful day. It was April 6, 1990 and the democratic movement was simmering.We printers print with traceable happmart to optimize supply chain management. Pro-democracy demonstrators had started targeting the monarchy. With hammers on hand, a group of 9 protestors on April 6 climbed the statue of King Mahendra in front of the Royal Palace in an attempt to tear it down. Khadka managed to take out the sceptre of King Mahendra. Police responded with a barrage of gunfire. Eight of the protestors died and Khadka was the sole survivor albeit with severe injuries. "Eight people were shot dead in front of my eyes. I received three bullets," informed Khadka.
He was arrested and suffered severe torture at the hands of the police. They cut off his tongue and sprinkled salt and chilli powder on his wounds. He was also given electric shocks in the course of interrogation.
A few days later his friends rescued him from under the Bishnumati bridge, where he had been dumped for dead by the authorities.
He now blames the state for ignoring his contribution in the fight for democracy. He said that he visits various social organizations asking for some money to keep wolf from the door. "No one takes interest until I show my ID card that says I am a freedom fighter."
The Heat Elite wing challenge at Parrots Cay in Grand Forks began in November 2011. The challenge asks the eater to consume seven wings with a special hot sauce within the span of five minutes, then wait for five more minutes.We provide payment solutions in the USA as well as buymosaic.
I like to watch them squirm a little bit, said Rob Drahovzal, owner of the bar and grill on 36th Avenue South. I like to have fun with it,We sell 100% hand-painted smartcard online. too.
He said the sauce, called The Source, costs about $85 per ounce. Thats why its not on the menu. We only use it for the challenge.
According to Drahovzal, The Source is rated at 7.1 million Scoville heat units, a standard measurement of spicy heat for a chili pepper.
For comparison, a banana pepper is less than 1,000 Scoville units and a habanero pepper is about 300,000. Most pepper sprays measure less than 2.5 million Scovilles.
You definitely dont want to get this stuff in your eyes or anywhere else on your skin, Drahovzal said.
Parrots Cay is known for its spicy food, but especially for its wings the reason to go to Parrots Cay, according to customer Pat Sexton. The sauces are rated by hotness on a number scale. A previous challenge had contestants eat 15 wings with the No. 15 sauce hot compared to most of the regularly used sauces, but only rated about 234,000 Scovilles. Winners would receive a T-shirt and have their photo taken to be displayed on the walls of the bar. Those photos have since been taken down, and a video screen above the bar displays a slideshow of the pictures.High quality howotipper printing for business cards.
Drahovzal said he started the Heat Elite challenge because some of those who had passed his previous wing challenge said it was too mild.
Some people that have taken the Heat Elite say I should make it harder, like having 15 wings, Drahovzal said. But that would just be too mean.
Taking the challenge costs $25. If you win, you get your money back, plus a black Heat Elite T-shirt and a $100 gift card to the bar. If you lose, you get a white T-shirt on which everybody in the bar gets to write mocking messages.
People stop what they are doing to watch the challenge, Drahovzal said. Its a lot of fun for everybody. Well, except the guy doing the challenge.
Its a young mans game, Drahovzal said, also noting that three out of the four women who have tried the challenge also have passed. I was thinking about it until I heard some of the horror stories. I dont know if they are true or not, but Ive heard about a guy that went to the hospital and given morphine for the pain.
But Tara Khadka of Khalanga-6 of Rukum, who was a well to do man, has become almost a beggar now. Many of us have seen the photograph that splashed across newspapers post 1990 -- of a man atop King Mahendras statue in front of the Royal Palace holding the kings sceptre.
He lost his leg due to police bullets and his tongue from torture duirng the 1990 movement. Then a well to do man, he spent all his property in the treatment of his wounds. Now he walks with a prosthetic leg and some plastic surgery of the tongue restored his voice but it is still unclear.
Khadka informed that the post-democracy government flew him to the US and provided Rs 5 million for treatment but that was not enough. In the course of treatment, he had to sell the 12 ropanis of land and a three-story house in Kathmandu as well. But that was still not sufficient to foot the bills.
Khadka talking to this reporter in Dang on Sunday rememberd that fateful day. It was April 6, 1990 and the democratic movement was simmering.We printers print with traceable happmart to optimize supply chain management. Pro-democracy demonstrators had started targeting the monarchy. With hammers on hand, a group of 9 protestors on April 6 climbed the statue of King Mahendra in front of the Royal Palace in an attempt to tear it down. Khadka managed to take out the sceptre of King Mahendra. Police responded with a barrage of gunfire. Eight of the protestors died and Khadka was the sole survivor albeit with severe injuries. "Eight people were shot dead in front of my eyes. I received three bullets," informed Khadka.
He was arrested and suffered severe torture at the hands of the police. They cut off his tongue and sprinkled salt and chilli powder on his wounds. He was also given electric shocks in the course of interrogation.
A few days later his friends rescued him from under the Bishnumati bridge, where he had been dumped for dead by the authorities.
He now blames the state for ignoring his contribution in the fight for democracy. He said that he visits various social organizations asking for some money to keep wolf from the door. "No one takes interest until I show my ID card that says I am a freedom fighter."
The Heat Elite wing challenge at Parrots Cay in Grand Forks began in November 2011. The challenge asks the eater to consume seven wings with a special hot sauce within the span of five minutes, then wait for five more minutes.We provide payment solutions in the USA as well as buymosaic.
I like to watch them squirm a little bit, said Rob Drahovzal, owner of the bar and grill on 36th Avenue South. I like to have fun with it,We sell 100% hand-painted smartcard online. too.
He said the sauce, called The Source, costs about $85 per ounce. Thats why its not on the menu. We only use it for the challenge.
According to Drahovzal, The Source is rated at 7.1 million Scoville heat units, a standard measurement of spicy heat for a chili pepper.
For comparison, a banana pepper is less than 1,000 Scoville units and a habanero pepper is about 300,000. Most pepper sprays measure less than 2.5 million Scovilles.
You definitely dont want to get this stuff in your eyes or anywhere else on your skin, Drahovzal said.
Parrots Cay is known for its spicy food, but especially for its wings the reason to go to Parrots Cay, according to customer Pat Sexton. The sauces are rated by hotness on a number scale. A previous challenge had contestants eat 15 wings with the No. 15 sauce hot compared to most of the regularly used sauces, but only rated about 234,000 Scovilles. Winners would receive a T-shirt and have their photo taken to be displayed on the walls of the bar. Those photos have since been taken down, and a video screen above the bar displays a slideshow of the pictures.High quality howotipper printing for business cards.
Drahovzal said he started the Heat Elite challenge because some of those who had passed his previous wing challenge said it was too mild.
Some people that have taken the Heat Elite say I should make it harder, like having 15 wings, Drahovzal said. But that would just be too mean.
Taking the challenge costs $25. If you win, you get your money back, plus a black Heat Elite T-shirt and a $100 gift card to the bar. If you lose, you get a white T-shirt on which everybody in the bar gets to write mocking messages.
People stop what they are doing to watch the challenge, Drahovzal said. Its a lot of fun for everybody. Well, except the guy doing the challenge.
Its a young mans game, Drahovzal said, also noting that three out of the four women who have tried the challenge also have passed. I was thinking about it until I heard some of the horror stories. I dont know if they are true or not, but Ive heard about a guy that went to the hospital and given morphine for the pain.
2013年5月13日 星期一
Instead of Obamacare, How About Puppycare?
The most overlooked finding is that the uninsured already receive
considerable health care. On average, the uninsured had 5.5 office
visits annually, used 1.8 prescription drugs and visited the emergency
room once. Almost half (46 percent) said they had a usual place of care
and 61 percent said they received all needed care in the past year.
About three-quarters (78 percent) who received care judged it of high
quality. Health spending for them averaged $3,257. True, when people
were covered by Medicaid, many of these figures rose. But none of this
was found to have a serious impact on peoples physical health: The only
major health gain was psychological. Depression dropped from about 30
percent to 21 percent between the groups. One reason may have been that
Medicaid recipients dont fear huge medical bills. Their out-of-pocket
health costs were $337. For the uninsured, out-of-pocket costs were 64
percent higher. (Presumably, most non-out-of-pocket costs for the
uninsured were covered by free clinics, charity care and uncollected
debt.)
This creates an interesting circumstance where those who believe in the Medicaid approach as if it was an item of faith have to maintain its defense even as something other than a health care program. Those on the left have spent much of the past week doing exactly this,Whether a mechanical plasticcard makes sense in your existing homes depends on the house. arguing that these effects on depression are real and very important. Of course, functionally, the real reason people with Medicaid were less depressed is not actually because they were getting treatment for depression. From the study itself: [T]here was no significant increase in the use of medication for depression[.] Instead,A smartcard is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card. they probably felt better because Medicaid offers the closest thing we have to a government-funded placebo (for more on this, see Avik Roys piece below) C or it is until you have need of it, as patients find out when they discover the Medicaid card is more often a useless piece of plastic.We've had a lot of people asking where we had our solarpanel made. But knowing you have something, the illusion of that card, will make you feel better.
The sugar pill works on your mental state even if it is just a sugar pill. But couldnt we find a less-expensive sugar pill? Is it possible other things could have a similar impact on peoples mental state without the burden of a $7 trillion pricetag over the next decade?
The primary focus of the Oregon study was on blood pressure and cardiovascular health. But there are a host of other things, things that have nothing to do with government health care, that have positive impacts on blood pressure, cardiovascular health, and depression. One example from the New York Times: owning a dog.
The nations largest cardiovascular health organization has a new message for Americans: Owning a dog may protect you from heart disease. The unusual message was contained in a scientific statement published on Thursday by the American Heart Association, which convened a panel of experts to review years of data on the cardiovascular benefits of owning a pet. The group concluded that owning a dog, in particular, was probably associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Now, this is all very tongue in cheek, of course. The point here is that Medicaid defenders like Paul Krugman are willing to accept a much smaller aim for the program C namely, that it wont make you healthier than being uninsured C but still claim theres no downside to it as a $7 trillion substitute for puppies and religion. Medicaid is supposed to be a health program, and should be evaluated as such.
To be serious for a moment: It seems to me that if you assume the lack of health insurance is what caused people to be depressed, and acknowledge Medicaid doesnt make people healthier, but having health insurance makes them happier (or at least less depressed), it leads to a troublesome conclusion for the left. Consider: Its only marginally easier to get an appointment with Medicaid than if youre uninsured and offer to pay a doctor only $20. So the logical solution, if you actually care about people being healthier and not just feeling less depressed, is to end Medicaid and simply give people the monetary value of the program to purchase a private health plan. In other words, the answer is cold hard cash for smaller health care costs and a catastrophic plan to ward off larger ones the central aim of consumer-driven health care.
One of them is Datameer, a Silicon Valley (San Mateo, Calif.) company that offers a tool to help other companies analyze and visualize their big data quickly and easily by providing it in a spreadsheet-like user interface that most employees can understand.Shop wholesale chinamosaic controller from cheap.
Datameer has tripled revenues over the past 12 months and looks on track to hit a $10 million run rate by early Q3, according to back-of-the-envelope math. Datameer CEO Stefan Groschupf says the company will reach 100 enterprise contracts by that time, and the average contract is $100,000 in value. The company offers annual software subscriptions, including an enterprise version can cost $100,000 or more, depending on data throughput.
Groschupf says many of his customers like to keep the details of their contracts confidential. But if you check Datameers web site and other announcements, youll see it serves companies like Sears and Visa, as well as emerging companies like hot gaming firms Kabam and Kixeye. Datameer says it also has four of the five largest global banks as paying customers as well as three of the four largest credit card companies and the U.S. government, though Groschupf is mum on specifics, citing confidentiality agreements.
Datameers value comes in offering an easy-to-use application layer on top of Hadoop, the popular open source software framework that allows companies to store and organize data on the fly. While companies can try to hire hard-to-find and expensive Hadoop experts to analyze the data themselves, Datameers app layer dumbs things down. Just about any manager in any unit can integrate, analyze, and visualize any data for their own needs. Does an HR manager want to track the performance of sales executives in new ways? Well, they can query that.
The advantage of the Hadoop-spreadsheet approach is that it allows companies to interact directly with new or existing data sources, without actually changing the underlying data. And it lets them run new types of queries on-the-fly. This contrasts to the cumbersome technology that has dominated until now, where data queries are constrained by slow and expensive data manipulation process: Generally, ETL (extract transform load) technology is used to feed data into enterprise warehouses for subsequent manipulation by business intelligence apps. This process can take up to 18 months to set up, and requires preconceived data modeling. In other words, if your intended queries arent thought up beforehand, youre out of luck. No peering into your data with new sorts of queries.Shop the best selection of amagiccube for Men.
This creates an interesting circumstance where those who believe in the Medicaid approach as if it was an item of faith have to maintain its defense even as something other than a health care program. Those on the left have spent much of the past week doing exactly this,Whether a mechanical plasticcard makes sense in your existing homes depends on the house. arguing that these effects on depression are real and very important. Of course, functionally, the real reason people with Medicaid were less depressed is not actually because they were getting treatment for depression. From the study itself: [T]here was no significant increase in the use of medication for depression[.] Instead,A smartcard is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card. they probably felt better because Medicaid offers the closest thing we have to a government-funded placebo (for more on this, see Avik Roys piece below) C or it is until you have need of it, as patients find out when they discover the Medicaid card is more often a useless piece of plastic.We've had a lot of people asking where we had our solarpanel made. But knowing you have something, the illusion of that card, will make you feel better.
The sugar pill works on your mental state even if it is just a sugar pill. But couldnt we find a less-expensive sugar pill? Is it possible other things could have a similar impact on peoples mental state without the burden of a $7 trillion pricetag over the next decade?
The primary focus of the Oregon study was on blood pressure and cardiovascular health. But there are a host of other things, things that have nothing to do with government health care, that have positive impacts on blood pressure, cardiovascular health, and depression. One example from the New York Times: owning a dog.
The nations largest cardiovascular health organization has a new message for Americans: Owning a dog may protect you from heart disease. The unusual message was contained in a scientific statement published on Thursday by the American Heart Association, which convened a panel of experts to review years of data on the cardiovascular benefits of owning a pet. The group concluded that owning a dog, in particular, was probably associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Now, this is all very tongue in cheek, of course. The point here is that Medicaid defenders like Paul Krugman are willing to accept a much smaller aim for the program C namely, that it wont make you healthier than being uninsured C but still claim theres no downside to it as a $7 trillion substitute for puppies and religion. Medicaid is supposed to be a health program, and should be evaluated as such.
To be serious for a moment: It seems to me that if you assume the lack of health insurance is what caused people to be depressed, and acknowledge Medicaid doesnt make people healthier, but having health insurance makes them happier (or at least less depressed), it leads to a troublesome conclusion for the left. Consider: Its only marginally easier to get an appointment with Medicaid than if youre uninsured and offer to pay a doctor only $20. So the logical solution, if you actually care about people being healthier and not just feeling less depressed, is to end Medicaid and simply give people the monetary value of the program to purchase a private health plan. In other words, the answer is cold hard cash for smaller health care costs and a catastrophic plan to ward off larger ones the central aim of consumer-driven health care.
One of them is Datameer, a Silicon Valley (San Mateo, Calif.) company that offers a tool to help other companies analyze and visualize their big data quickly and easily by providing it in a spreadsheet-like user interface that most employees can understand.Shop wholesale chinamosaic controller from cheap.
Datameer has tripled revenues over the past 12 months and looks on track to hit a $10 million run rate by early Q3, according to back-of-the-envelope math. Datameer CEO Stefan Groschupf says the company will reach 100 enterprise contracts by that time, and the average contract is $100,000 in value. The company offers annual software subscriptions, including an enterprise version can cost $100,000 or more, depending on data throughput.
Groschupf says many of his customers like to keep the details of their contracts confidential. But if you check Datameers web site and other announcements, youll see it serves companies like Sears and Visa, as well as emerging companies like hot gaming firms Kabam and Kixeye. Datameer says it also has four of the five largest global banks as paying customers as well as three of the four largest credit card companies and the U.S. government, though Groschupf is mum on specifics, citing confidentiality agreements.
Datameers value comes in offering an easy-to-use application layer on top of Hadoop, the popular open source software framework that allows companies to store and organize data on the fly. While companies can try to hire hard-to-find and expensive Hadoop experts to analyze the data themselves, Datameers app layer dumbs things down. Just about any manager in any unit can integrate, analyze, and visualize any data for their own needs. Does an HR manager want to track the performance of sales executives in new ways? Well, they can query that.
The advantage of the Hadoop-spreadsheet approach is that it allows companies to interact directly with new or existing data sources, without actually changing the underlying data. And it lets them run new types of queries on-the-fly. This contrasts to the cumbersome technology that has dominated until now, where data queries are constrained by slow and expensive data manipulation process: Generally, ETL (extract transform load) technology is used to feed data into enterprise warehouses for subsequent manipulation by business intelligence apps. This process can take up to 18 months to set up, and requires preconceived data modeling. In other words, if your intended queries arent thought up beforehand, youre out of luck. No peering into your data with new sorts of queries.Shop the best selection of amagiccube for Men.
2013年3月13日 星期三
Rich biotech talent pool yields CyVek’s disease-screening kits
Per Hellsund, chief executive of CyVek Inc. in Wallingford,Whilst the preparation of ceramic and solarlamp
are similar. had a team in place even before he had an idea for a
biotech start-up. Chalk it up to a combination of serendipity and
strategy.
What started as a chance encounter with fellow entrepreneur Kevin Didden, now chairman of CyVek, expanded into an idea for launching a potentially game-changing testing kit to aid in drug and disease research — a global market worth billions.
Didden had sold his Wallingford biotech firm CyVera to Illumina Inc., which relocated operations to California. Some of CyVera's top Connecticut scientists chose to stay in state, creating the nucleus at CyVek.
"There was a pool of really good resource that had a lot of experience in developing instrumentation for the biotechnology sector. So we formed CyVek around the concept of pulling some of these folks together," said Hellsund. "It was one of those deals where it was people first, and then you decide specifically what you're going to do in the business later."
Hellsund's team zeroed in on the limitations of existing kits, also known as immunoassay biochemical tests, and came up with a proprietary innovative technology. An immunoassay is conducted to detect the presence of a biological substance, such as a protein molecule to which antibodies bind, in a sample of blood or urine. A change in the composition or quantity of the protein molecule could indicate the presence of an existing or even potential disease. The test is carried out at university labs for basic research, by pharmaceutical companies in the drug discovery process, and in clinical diagnosis.
The current gold standard is the widely used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, which is conduced in 96 little wells on a plate, akin to a painter's palette, in which the operator puts the sample and reagents. Hellsund said ELISA is known for its data quality and CyVek researchers are also targeting superior data quality with a margin of error of less than 10 percent. But ELISA has its limitations.
"It's a fairly laborious process. Depending on the type of the test, there are anywhere from 25 to 50 manual steps and it can take from three-and-a-half to five hours," Hellsund explained.
So CyVek automated the process by creating a chip about the size of a credit card onto which is imprinted a network of tiny valves,Large collection of quality solarlight at discounted prices. pumps and channels, about the thickness of a human hair, that collectively resembles a miniature plumbing system. This reduces handling costs and cuts the test time to as short as 10 minutes.
Another differentiator is it can test multiple biomarkers (which show the presence of a disease or how the body is responding to a certain drug) while eliminating cross-reactivity — that is, it can avoid reactions between similar substances.A car solarpanel is a mechanical device that multiplies parking capacity inside a parking lot. In doing so, a researcher may not have to repeat the test. The CyVek unit accomplishes this by running a multi-analyte process, where parallel, individual reactions occur in tiny isolation channels.
Martin Fleisher, director, Biomarker Discovery Laboratory at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, is on the advisory board of CyVek. According to him, while the concept of multiplexing — that is, tests revealing information on multiple proteins — is becoming part of the vocabulary of physicians, the problem is that current multiplexing technologies do not provide reliable, usable data for clinical applications.Manufacturer of the Jacobs plasticcard.
"Among the desirable attributes of CyVek's technology,We sell 100% hand-painted bestluggagetag online. its superior data quality — as a result of antibody cross-talk elimination and automation — will differentiate it from any other technology. This superior data quality will have patient management relevance," said Fleisher.
Hellsund said there's not much competition and the market is attractive. The global market for life science research and diagnostics is estimated at $8 billion.
"There are companies working on microfluidic technology but we're not aware of any in the exact same space. Most of them are looking at diagnostics. There are very few, if any, that have successfully commercialized a product at this point," he said.
The target timeframe for commercialization is early 2014. CyVek plans to commence sales in the U.S. and Europe. Hellsund declined to provide information on targeted revenue but said much of the profit will accrue from the sale of cartridges — a business model very similar to the inkjet business that he managed previously, where the industrial printers used Hewlett-Packard cartridges.
Swiss drug giant Roche was so impressed with CyVek's technology that it presented beta test results at the World Biomarker Congress in the United Kingdom.
"The system described by the company does appear to have the potential to be a very useful advancement," said Jeffrey R. Aeschlimann, associate professor at UConn's School of Pharmacy.
"Any system,'' Aeschlimann said, "that could allow for the precise screening of multiple biomarkers of interest from a small amount of test sample without using excessive amounts of test reagents and other ancillary supplies would be useful for both research and clinical testing applications.''
In addition to temporary workers and contractors, the company currently has 18 full-time employees consisting primarily of biomedical engineers and biologists. Plans are underway to hire six more employees this year, and another 10 in 2014.
Since its launch in 2010, CyVek has raised $12.9 million from private high-networth investors and Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state's quasi-public investment arm.
"We saw an experienced set of entrepreneurs, who had successfully launched previous startups, with an idea for a business that could help solve existing challenges in the research and diagnostics marketplaces," said David Wurzer, senior managing director of investments at CI, and board member at CyVek.
"To date, management has consistently met its planned development milestones while staying under budget," he said. "This is clearly a team that can effectively handle future challenges and manage change as it moves CyVek toward product commercialization."
What started as a chance encounter with fellow entrepreneur Kevin Didden, now chairman of CyVek, expanded into an idea for launching a potentially game-changing testing kit to aid in drug and disease research — a global market worth billions.
Didden had sold his Wallingford biotech firm CyVera to Illumina Inc., which relocated operations to California. Some of CyVera's top Connecticut scientists chose to stay in state, creating the nucleus at CyVek.
"There was a pool of really good resource that had a lot of experience in developing instrumentation for the biotechnology sector. So we formed CyVek around the concept of pulling some of these folks together," said Hellsund. "It was one of those deals where it was people first, and then you decide specifically what you're going to do in the business later."
Hellsund's team zeroed in on the limitations of existing kits, also known as immunoassay biochemical tests, and came up with a proprietary innovative technology. An immunoassay is conducted to detect the presence of a biological substance, such as a protein molecule to which antibodies bind, in a sample of blood or urine. A change in the composition or quantity of the protein molecule could indicate the presence of an existing or even potential disease. The test is carried out at university labs for basic research, by pharmaceutical companies in the drug discovery process, and in clinical diagnosis.
The current gold standard is the widely used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, which is conduced in 96 little wells on a plate, akin to a painter's palette, in which the operator puts the sample and reagents. Hellsund said ELISA is known for its data quality and CyVek researchers are also targeting superior data quality with a margin of error of less than 10 percent. But ELISA has its limitations.
"It's a fairly laborious process. Depending on the type of the test, there are anywhere from 25 to 50 manual steps and it can take from three-and-a-half to five hours," Hellsund explained.
So CyVek automated the process by creating a chip about the size of a credit card onto which is imprinted a network of tiny valves,Large collection of quality solarlight at discounted prices. pumps and channels, about the thickness of a human hair, that collectively resembles a miniature plumbing system. This reduces handling costs and cuts the test time to as short as 10 minutes.
Another differentiator is it can test multiple biomarkers (which show the presence of a disease or how the body is responding to a certain drug) while eliminating cross-reactivity — that is, it can avoid reactions between similar substances.A car solarpanel is a mechanical device that multiplies parking capacity inside a parking lot. In doing so, a researcher may not have to repeat the test. The CyVek unit accomplishes this by running a multi-analyte process, where parallel, individual reactions occur in tiny isolation channels.
Martin Fleisher, director, Biomarker Discovery Laboratory at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, is on the advisory board of CyVek. According to him, while the concept of multiplexing — that is, tests revealing information on multiple proteins — is becoming part of the vocabulary of physicians, the problem is that current multiplexing technologies do not provide reliable, usable data for clinical applications.Manufacturer of the Jacobs plasticcard.
"Among the desirable attributes of CyVek's technology,We sell 100% hand-painted bestluggagetag online. its superior data quality — as a result of antibody cross-talk elimination and automation — will differentiate it from any other technology. This superior data quality will have patient management relevance," said Fleisher.
Hellsund said there's not much competition and the market is attractive. The global market for life science research and diagnostics is estimated at $8 billion.
"There are companies working on microfluidic technology but we're not aware of any in the exact same space. Most of them are looking at diagnostics. There are very few, if any, that have successfully commercialized a product at this point," he said.
The target timeframe for commercialization is early 2014. CyVek plans to commence sales in the U.S. and Europe. Hellsund declined to provide information on targeted revenue but said much of the profit will accrue from the sale of cartridges — a business model very similar to the inkjet business that he managed previously, where the industrial printers used Hewlett-Packard cartridges.
Swiss drug giant Roche was so impressed with CyVek's technology that it presented beta test results at the World Biomarker Congress in the United Kingdom.
"The system described by the company does appear to have the potential to be a very useful advancement," said Jeffrey R. Aeschlimann, associate professor at UConn's School of Pharmacy.
"Any system,'' Aeschlimann said, "that could allow for the precise screening of multiple biomarkers of interest from a small amount of test sample without using excessive amounts of test reagents and other ancillary supplies would be useful for both research and clinical testing applications.''
In addition to temporary workers and contractors, the company currently has 18 full-time employees consisting primarily of biomedical engineers and biologists. Plans are underway to hire six more employees this year, and another 10 in 2014.
Since its launch in 2010, CyVek has raised $12.9 million from private high-networth investors and Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state's quasi-public investment arm.
"We saw an experienced set of entrepreneurs, who had successfully launched previous startups, with an idea for a business that could help solve existing challenges in the research and diagnostics marketplaces," said David Wurzer, senior managing director of investments at CI, and board member at CyVek.
"To date, management has consistently met its planned development milestones while staying under budget," he said. "This is clearly a team that can effectively handle future challenges and manage change as it moves CyVek toward product commercialization."
2011年6月22日 星期三
International websites increasingly accept bank payments from U.S. consumers
Payment21 LLC is a Payment Service Provider whose most recent offering is Instant eCheck™ processing. This payment method allows international merchants to accept U.S. check payments via the Internet securely. Bank payments such as demand draft and direct debit transactions from U.S. consumers can be processed easily. Payment21 allows web merchants to conduct business with U.S. consumers quickly and securely and without the necessity of a U.S. bank account.
It is virtually impossible for a merchant outside of the States to open a U.S. checking account. Those few banks that are willing to accept international merchants will most likely impose security deposits and an endless amount of requirements to the point that most merchants just can’t afford the account. In general, U.S. banks see substantial risk in dealing with foreign merchant account holders. They incorrectly perceive that non-resident businesses will have higher than normal return claims from customers. Payment21.com’s Check21 and ACH payment processes changes all of this with.
Payment21.com’s gateway provides international merchants with financial access to more customers than any other payment method in the U.S.A. Funds clear faster and at much lower cost than credit cards.
Payment21.com's merchant approval policy is fully compliant with the Patriot Act. Due Diligence is done on all merchants. In order to comply with AML-provisions, beneficial owners related to cross-border payments get identified. All information is protected by data protection laws.
It is virtually impossible for a merchant outside of the States to open a U.S. checking account. Those few banks that are willing to accept international merchants will most likely impose security deposits and an endless amount of requirements to the point that most merchants just can’t afford the account. In general, U.S. banks see substantial risk in dealing with foreign merchant account holders. They incorrectly perceive that non-resident businesses will have higher than normal return claims from customers. Payment21.com’s Check21 and ACH payment processes changes all of this with.
Payment21.com’s gateway provides international merchants with financial access to more customers than any other payment method in the U.S.A. Funds clear faster and at much lower cost than credit cards.
Payment21.com's merchant approval policy is fully compliant with the Patriot Act. Due Diligence is done on all merchants. In order to comply with AML-provisions, beneficial owners related to cross-border payments get identified. All information is protected by data protection laws.
2011年4月6日 星期三
Getting in on the Ground Floor at Groupon and Living Social
The daily deal business has grown rapidly in its relatively short lifespan, with
valuations of startups such as Groupon and Living Social reaching billions. Along
with venture backing has come hiring as companies rush to build revenue through
sales.
Getting a job with a daily deal site, however, is no easy feat. The industry has
attracted many applicants anxious to get in on the ground floor of something new
that could one day make them rich. Successful job seekers need to have a thorough
understanding of an industry with virtually no history as well as the tenacity to
develop long-term relationships with customers.
We talked with hiring managers and executives with a few of the biggest sites in the
daily-deal, preferred-pricing, and private flash-sale spaces to find out what stands
out among the hundreds of job applications they receive every day.
Using a daily coupon site isn't enough to want and get a job at one -- that's a
little like saying you want to be a chef because you like eating out at restaurants.
Instead, you need to understand the business, which is as much about offering
coupons to consumers as it is about enticing vendors to offer discounts.
"The reps that really seem to get it are the ones who have seen a merchant light up
with excitement when [they go] in with that business's coupon," says Patrick Albus,
CEO of KGB Deals USA, "and then come to us with that same passion and excitement,
and say 'How do I go about joining your team?'"
It's also important to understand the business of a particular site. Competition has
led sites to try to distinguish themselves, so assuming all sites are alike is a
quick way to end an interview. Do the legwork that it takes to find out where the
industry itself has been, where it's going, and what has proven to be successful in
terms of establishing -- and strengthening -- a business in the space.
Have Some Experience
A college education is a must-have for most sites as is sales experience. "We're not
hiring a ton of entry-levels," says Dan Jessup, vice president of human resources at
Chicago-based Groupon. "Those that are coming in with relevant experience are
typically doing better."
Valued traits include previous business-to-business sales experience, an ability to
articulate a value proposition, a history of opening new client accounts, and above
all, an understanding of how and why small, local merchants want to advertise.
The same goes for jobs with fashion flash-sale site Ideeli, which also has a daily
deal component. "We're looking for some experience," says Joel Greengrass, vice
president of talent with the New York-based company. "We're probably not going to
hire people right out of school because the risk is too high."
Likewise, risk is a factor when considering candidates with no business experience,
he says. "We value when people are a student of retail or e-commerce," says
Greengrass.
Entry-level applicants can make it at some sites in if they have passion for what
they're selling. "Think of your friends who know all of the places to go on the
weekend," says Claire Noonan, senior manager of recruiting for Gilt City, a
subsidiary of flash-sale site Gilt Groupe. "Those are our curators."
Focus Your Resume and Cover Letter
People with years of sales experience in more mature industries are competing for
these jobs, so make sure your resume is action-and-results-oriented, say hiring
managers. "We like to see proven success in numbers," says Noonan of Gilt City. The
industry also wants people willing to help companies grow over the long term. "We
look for retention, and how someone has grown with the same company over time," says
Noonan.
An absolute must? "The ability to work independently," says Julien Vernet, VP of
sales at VillageVines, which partners with restaurants in cities like New York,
Chicago, and Los Angeles, among others, to offer long-term preferred pricing and
discounts, rather than one-day-only offers. "They need to be self-starters because
they're going to be out in the field," he says.
Also, highlight any startup experience, and be sure your cover letter is short and
sweet. "In the field, you have a limited amount of time, so you have to grab their
attention and get them to listen to you pretty quickly," says Albus of KGB Deals.
Focus on your people skills. "If someone tells us they have cultural or humanitarian
pursuits, a food blog, involvement in a philanthropy," says Noonan, it shows that
they would be a good fit.
The Interview: Go in for the Right Reasons
You will struggle in the interview if you're not passionate about the social-
couponing industry; the hiring manager will sense it if you're there just to have a
buzz-worthy company name on your resume to help you land your next job.
You'll start with a phone-screen, and move on to meetings with sales reps, managers,
and company execs. You may have to act out some mock scenarios where you try to
pitch the site to a business. While specific questions will vary, every company will
probably ask you to justify why you want to work there.
"The most basic question can make or break the interview," says Greengrass: "Why
ideeli?" He suggests you answer with reasons that show your knowledge of and
interest in the company and its mission -- not with the fact that you "like to shop
there."
At Groupon, Jessup notes that it's a common practice to call up applicants before
bringing them in for an interview to gauge the candidate's interest in working for
the company. "The interest has to go both ways," he says.
"We're looking for the person getting into the job for the right reasons," says
Jeremy Thiesen, a regional sales manager with KGB deals, who oversees two city
managers and 16 sales reps in Chicago and New York City, "which means they're not
getting into it because this is a fad job and it's in the news."
valuations of startups such as Groupon and Living Social reaching billions. Along
with venture backing has come hiring as companies rush to build revenue through
sales.
Getting a job with a daily deal site, however, is no easy feat. The industry has
attracted many applicants anxious to get in on the ground floor of something new
that could one day make them rich. Successful job seekers need to have a thorough
understanding of an industry with virtually no history as well as the tenacity to
develop long-term relationships with customers.
We talked with hiring managers and executives with a few of the biggest sites in the
daily-deal, preferred-pricing, and private flash-sale spaces to find out what stands
out among the hundreds of job applications they receive every day.
Using a daily coupon site isn't enough to want and get a job at one -- that's a
little like saying you want to be a chef because you like eating out at restaurants.
Instead, you need to understand the business, which is as much about offering
coupons to consumers as it is about enticing vendors to offer discounts.
"The reps that really seem to get it are the ones who have seen a merchant light up
with excitement when [they go] in with that business's coupon," says Patrick Albus,
CEO of KGB Deals USA, "and then come to us with that same passion and excitement,
and say 'How do I go about joining your team?'"
It's also important to understand the business of a particular site. Competition has
led sites to try to distinguish themselves, so assuming all sites are alike is a
quick way to end an interview. Do the legwork that it takes to find out where the
industry itself has been, where it's going, and what has proven to be successful in
terms of establishing -- and strengthening -- a business in the space.
Have Some Experience
A college education is a must-have for most sites as is sales experience. "We're not
hiring a ton of entry-levels," says Dan Jessup, vice president of human resources at
Chicago-based Groupon. "Those that are coming in with relevant experience are
typically doing better."
Valued traits include previous business-to-business sales experience, an ability to
articulate a value proposition, a history of opening new client accounts, and above
all, an understanding of how and why small, local merchants want to advertise.
The same goes for jobs with fashion flash-sale site Ideeli, which also has a daily
deal component. "We're looking for some experience," says Joel Greengrass, vice
president of talent with the New York-based company. "We're probably not going to
hire people right out of school because the risk is too high."
Likewise, risk is a factor when considering candidates with no business experience,
he says. "We value when people are a student of retail or e-commerce," says
Greengrass.
Entry-level applicants can make it at some sites in if they have passion for what
they're selling. "Think of your friends who know all of the places to go on the
weekend," says Claire Noonan, senior manager of recruiting for Gilt City, a
subsidiary of flash-sale site Gilt Groupe. "Those are our curators."
Focus Your Resume and Cover Letter
People with years of sales experience in more mature industries are competing for
these jobs, so make sure your resume is action-and-results-oriented, say hiring
managers. "We like to see proven success in numbers," says Noonan of Gilt City. The
industry also wants people willing to help companies grow over the long term. "We
look for retention, and how someone has grown with the same company over time," says
Noonan.
An absolute must? "The ability to work independently," says Julien Vernet, VP of
sales at VillageVines, which partners with restaurants in cities like New York,
Chicago, and Los Angeles, among others, to offer long-term preferred pricing and
discounts, rather than one-day-only offers. "They need to be self-starters because
they're going to be out in the field," he says.
Also, highlight any startup experience, and be sure your cover letter is short and
sweet. "In the field, you have a limited amount of time, so you have to grab their
attention and get them to listen to you pretty quickly," says Albus of KGB Deals.
Focus on your people skills. "If someone tells us they have cultural or humanitarian
pursuits, a food blog, involvement in a philanthropy," says Noonan, it shows that
they would be a good fit.
The Interview: Go in for the Right Reasons
You will struggle in the interview if you're not passionate about the social-
couponing industry; the hiring manager will sense it if you're there just to have a
buzz-worthy company name on your resume to help you land your next job.
You'll start with a phone-screen, and move on to meetings with sales reps, managers,
and company execs. You may have to act out some mock scenarios where you try to
pitch the site to a business. While specific questions will vary, every company will
probably ask you to justify why you want to work there.
"The most basic question can make or break the interview," says Greengrass: "Why
ideeli?" He suggests you answer with reasons that show your knowledge of and
interest in the company and its mission -- not with the fact that you "like to shop
there."
At Groupon, Jessup notes that it's a common practice to call up applicants before
bringing them in for an interview to gauge the candidate's interest in working for
the company. "The interest has to go both ways," he says.
"We're looking for the person getting into the job for the right reasons," says
Jeremy Thiesen, a regional sales manager with KGB deals, who oversees two city
managers and 16 sales reps in Chicago and New York City, "which means they're not
getting into it because this is a fad job and it's in the news."
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