Changes and improvements in technology are helping authorities in
southwest Ohio track crime suspects and convicts and freeing up scarce
jail space.The Hamilton County sheriff's office owns or leases 143
electronic monitoring units with GPS and hopes to obtain 50 more. The
ankle bracelets with global positioning system allow low-level offenders
to be monitored while the jail is filled with those involved with more
serious offenses.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that
authorities say the use of GPS monitoring enables them to track wearers
in almost real time and show where they are and where they have been.
Deputies can use laptops and cellphone apps to monitor, and can send
voice messages to the wearers.
Police can also set up "exclusion
zones" to alert them in domestic violence cases.Authorities recently
used GPS to find a man after the monitor alerted them that he was
getting near his ex-girlfriend's home. Police said they tracked the
monitor to where a car was, but didn't see him. Then they decided to
check the trunk, and found the man hiding inside with the ankle bracelet
on.
"That's how accurate the GPS technology has become," Cpl.
Bryan Hale, who supervises the electronic monitoring unit
operations.Hamilton County has more than 1,200 inmates in its
overcrowded jail, facing a shrinking budget and voter resistance to
paying higher taxes for more jail space. So authorities are exploring
alternative programs, and like the GPS alternative.
"You've got
to keep space available for those who truly need it," Hale said.The
sheriff's office is also still using about 200 old ankle bracelet units
that can be used with land telephone lines. The GPS units cost $2,500 to
buy or $3.88 per unit a day to lease. That's considerably cheaper than
the cost of housing an inmate, and also allows people to go about their
lives while awaiting trial on relatively non-serious crimes. Judges who
determine who should be in the electronic monitoring program praise the
use of the GPS bracelets, as do jailers.
About 85 percent of
those given ankle monitors complete their time without problems. Those
who violate the rules can be sent to jail."This is not a punitive
measure," said Charmaine McGuffey, who is in charge of the county jail,
said of the electronic monitoring. "If you're sitting in jail, you can't
go to work, you can't get medical treatment. I think it's absolutely
the wave of the future."
The second part of this story is the
real clincher for considering that happiness can be a choice. An
elementary school teacher in rural Arkansas made a bracelet of charms of
each student in her class so she could continually remind herself of
how she cared about each one, and her passion for teaching them. Heres
the rest of the story. She wakes up each morning with the painful
fatigue that most face when they have the chronic, erratic and incurable
disease multiple sclerosis.This vertical Cable Organizer can be mounted to either.
Many
would give up and quit working yet some dont, as Shawn Achor shows in
his new book Before Happiness. Why do different people in the same
situation find a way to feel happy and thrive while others get
depressed, give up or worse? The answer is the cornerstone concept to
Achors book.
He travelled to fifty-one countries, speaking and
conducting experiments involving people as diverse Tanzanian kids living
in extreme poverty to UK bankers who didnt get year end bonuses. Achor
worked with organizations as diverse as The National Multiple Sclerosis
Society, Zappos Downtown Project, Freddie Mac during the mortgage crisis
and online learning group, CorpU.
Keep a vividly visual picture
of your goal in mind. Just as football running backs run faster the
closer they get to scoring, we can create a surge of energy and
motivation when we are at the stage towards our goal when we deeply
believe we can actually achieve it. The X-spot is the exact moment,
Achor says, when your brain realizes that attaining your goal is not
only possible but probable, and it releases a potent stream of chemicals
that help speed you up. Notice, writes Achor, that you work more
diligently and efficiently when the completion of a big project is in
sight?
You can also spur sales, using this effect by making a
goal appear closer. Clark Hull dubbed this the goal gradient theory.
Hull proved it in an experiment in which a coffee shop gave customers a
stamp card that rewarded them with a free coffee once the card had ten
stamps for cups they bought.Handy Pocket Mirror with
hinged lid that doubles as a stand. The closer customers got to being
eligible for the free cup, the more frequently they came in for
coffee.Choose from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to
raise awareness. In a variation on that experiment, cited by Francesca
Gino in her book Sidetracked, car wash customers who were given a
loyalty card with the first two stamps already on it were more likely to
visit more frequently than those who got a stamp card without any
stamps on it.
http://www.winbogifts.com/products/usb-flash-drive.html
Sunday, July 21, 2013
A Poker Life
Chris Reslock is a World Series of Poker bracelet winner and current
record holder of the WSOP Circuit with seven gold rings. Hes also a
former cab driver, fire fighter, factory worker, fruit picker,Choose
from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to raise awareness. busboy, steel grain tank builder and welder.Handy Pocket Mirror with hinged lid that doubles as a stand.
The jack of all trades grew up in North Dakota before attending school in Michigan. Then, after climbing to the top of the competitive Scrabble world, Reslock moved to Delaware before settling in New Jersey, where his poker career really took off.Since turning pro, Reslock has earned more than $1.8 million in tournaments. While not competing on the circuit, the 65-year-old sits down in some of the bigger cash games Atlantic City, New Jersey, has to offer.
To say that Chris Reslock spent some time at Michigan State University is an understatement. A career student, he studied philosophy, literature and dozens of other subjects over the course of 12 years without ever getting his diploma.I regret not getting my degree, admitted Reslock. To this day, I still have anxiety dreams about finding my classes and making sure I get there on time. Id like to say that I avoided graduation because I was in love with learning, but thats probably too romantic of an idea. The truth is that I was just really unorganized. I liked going to classes enough to keep going, but I wasnt really concerned about grades. There were many classes that I sat in on, but never received credit for.
While in school, Reslocks jobs were as varied as his studies. He drove a cab and also spent four years with the Lansing fire department. But when asked if his jobs contributed to his inability to get his degree, Reslock admitted that poker and substance abuse played a role.
Poker is one of the villains why I never finished college, Reslock said. Really, it was gambling and drugs. I started playing poker very seriously in my early twenties. Another cab driver invited me to a poker game and being the competitive games player that I was, I jumped at the chance. After that, I started playing the games more and even hosted my own game. Back then, our game centered around creative dealers choice. The challenge was to invent a game that was simple to understand, but still gave you an edge. I was always pretty good with figuring out the math of the games quickly and intuitively.
I didnt even like Scrabble until I discovered that you can bluff, recalled Reslock. Essentially, bluffing in Scrabble occurs when you put a made-up word down on the board. Your opponent can either accept the word as real, or challenge the word, risking their next turn. Losing a turn is huge, so bluffing happens a lot more than you would think because players dont want to take the risk.
A voracious reader since childhood, Reslock discovered that he had a natural talent with words.When I look at a word, I instantly know if its spelled right or not. Of course, playing Scrabble, you learn that there are numerous variations in spelling that can all be considered correct.Though modest about his abilities, Reslock did reveal just how highly he was ranked at the peak of his Scrabble career.
Scrabble players are rated similarly to chess players. For a brief period of time I was the highest rated player in the world. I was an active player for most of the 1980s, and during that time, I was almost always ranked among the top 10 players in the world.
A relationship brought Reslock to the Northeast before he eventually settled in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The original thought was that Reslock could continue playing Scrabble with his friends in New York, but the games never materialized.I guess I just kind of drifted away from it. The biggest problem with Scrabble is that there was no money in it. My lifetime earnings in the game were right around $1,000. If you got lucky and found someone who was willing to play for cash, then you could make some money, but that was tough to do once your reputation got out. Today, the players can make a little more, but not by much.
Instead, Reslock turned to a past profession. He wound up leasing a friends taxi cab and then used his earnings to buy his own. For him, driving a cab wasnt just a job, it was a pleasure.When I was in high school, my one ambition in life was to have my own car, said Reslock. I was in love with the idea of being able to cruise around town with my friends. Driving a cab, in many ways, was the fulfillment of that ambition. The hours were long, but it was an incredibly fun job to have. I got to be the modern day version of the Old West trail guide. Work was like being the star in my own novel, never knowing what would happen next or what kind of interesting person was going to jump in. Others may not understand it, but I still have euphoric dreams about being back in the taxi cab.
When it came time for Reslock to try his hand at professional poker, he found that his past experience in a taxi cab had prepared him for a career on the felt.
Im pretty good at understanding people and finding out where their heads are at, said Reslock. I guess a lot of that comes from my time in a cab, but its a skill that has definitely helped me at the poker table.
Furthermore, Reslock believes that his penchant for friendly customer service also extends to poker, a trait that other poker pros often dont bother to adopt.One thing I firmly believe is that if you are making money playing poker, part of your job is entertainment. Your opponents are paying you for that entertainment. In a way, you can compare a really good poker player to an artist. Its not enough to just win someones chips. A good poker player can take all of your chips and have you back the next night to do it all over again.
Incredibly, Reslock holds the distinction of being the player with the highest percentage of wins who holds over 100 cashes. He has totaled 107 cashes on the tournament circuit and has won an astonishing 25 of them.I guess I know how to close them out. If I go deep, Ill usually win it all. If not, you can find me on the rail relatively quickly. You could call me an all or nothing player.
Reslocks first tournament cash came back in 1996 in a no-limit holdem event, but the crazy mixed games played back in Michigan prepared him to dominate mixed-game tournaments over the next 17 years. Of his 25 live tournament wins, 15 have come in a non-holdem event, including his WSOP bracelet win in the 2007 $5,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship, where he defeated Phil Ivey heads up.
I play as little no-limit holdem as I can get away with, Reslock said. I dream of a day when I can play no-limit Omaha hi/lo and no-limit baduecey tournaments instead. Holdem is a game that somebody invented for the gamblers to play who werent smart enough for poker but who wanted to play cards.This vertical Cable Organizer can be mounted to either. The biggest criticism that no-limit holdem specialists have about mixed games is those games lack any creativity. That could be changed, however, if we start playing mixed games for big bets. If you play these games with progressively higher stakes after each street, then the game changes entirely.
Read the full products at http://www.winbogifts.com/products/iphone-headset.html.
The jack of all trades grew up in North Dakota before attending school in Michigan. Then, after climbing to the top of the competitive Scrabble world, Reslock moved to Delaware before settling in New Jersey, where his poker career really took off.Since turning pro, Reslock has earned more than $1.8 million in tournaments. While not competing on the circuit, the 65-year-old sits down in some of the bigger cash games Atlantic City, New Jersey, has to offer.
To say that Chris Reslock spent some time at Michigan State University is an understatement. A career student, he studied philosophy, literature and dozens of other subjects over the course of 12 years without ever getting his diploma.I regret not getting my degree, admitted Reslock. To this day, I still have anxiety dreams about finding my classes and making sure I get there on time. Id like to say that I avoided graduation because I was in love with learning, but thats probably too romantic of an idea. The truth is that I was just really unorganized. I liked going to classes enough to keep going, but I wasnt really concerned about grades. There were many classes that I sat in on, but never received credit for.
While in school, Reslocks jobs were as varied as his studies. He drove a cab and also spent four years with the Lansing fire department. But when asked if his jobs contributed to his inability to get his degree, Reslock admitted that poker and substance abuse played a role.
Poker is one of the villains why I never finished college, Reslock said. Really, it was gambling and drugs. I started playing poker very seriously in my early twenties. Another cab driver invited me to a poker game and being the competitive games player that I was, I jumped at the chance. After that, I started playing the games more and even hosted my own game. Back then, our game centered around creative dealers choice. The challenge was to invent a game that was simple to understand, but still gave you an edge. I was always pretty good with figuring out the math of the games quickly and intuitively.
I didnt even like Scrabble until I discovered that you can bluff, recalled Reslock. Essentially, bluffing in Scrabble occurs when you put a made-up word down on the board. Your opponent can either accept the word as real, or challenge the word, risking their next turn. Losing a turn is huge, so bluffing happens a lot more than you would think because players dont want to take the risk.
A voracious reader since childhood, Reslock discovered that he had a natural talent with words.When I look at a word, I instantly know if its spelled right or not. Of course, playing Scrabble, you learn that there are numerous variations in spelling that can all be considered correct.Though modest about his abilities, Reslock did reveal just how highly he was ranked at the peak of his Scrabble career.
Scrabble players are rated similarly to chess players. For a brief period of time I was the highest rated player in the world. I was an active player for most of the 1980s, and during that time, I was almost always ranked among the top 10 players in the world.
A relationship brought Reslock to the Northeast before he eventually settled in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The original thought was that Reslock could continue playing Scrabble with his friends in New York, but the games never materialized.I guess I just kind of drifted away from it. The biggest problem with Scrabble is that there was no money in it. My lifetime earnings in the game were right around $1,000. If you got lucky and found someone who was willing to play for cash, then you could make some money, but that was tough to do once your reputation got out. Today, the players can make a little more, but not by much.
Instead, Reslock turned to a past profession. He wound up leasing a friends taxi cab and then used his earnings to buy his own. For him, driving a cab wasnt just a job, it was a pleasure.When I was in high school, my one ambition in life was to have my own car, said Reslock. I was in love with the idea of being able to cruise around town with my friends. Driving a cab, in many ways, was the fulfillment of that ambition. The hours were long, but it was an incredibly fun job to have. I got to be the modern day version of the Old West trail guide. Work was like being the star in my own novel, never knowing what would happen next or what kind of interesting person was going to jump in. Others may not understand it, but I still have euphoric dreams about being back in the taxi cab.
When it came time for Reslock to try his hand at professional poker, he found that his past experience in a taxi cab had prepared him for a career on the felt.
Im pretty good at understanding people and finding out where their heads are at, said Reslock. I guess a lot of that comes from my time in a cab, but its a skill that has definitely helped me at the poker table.
Furthermore, Reslock believes that his penchant for friendly customer service also extends to poker, a trait that other poker pros often dont bother to adopt.One thing I firmly believe is that if you are making money playing poker, part of your job is entertainment. Your opponents are paying you for that entertainment. In a way, you can compare a really good poker player to an artist. Its not enough to just win someones chips. A good poker player can take all of your chips and have you back the next night to do it all over again.
Incredibly, Reslock holds the distinction of being the player with the highest percentage of wins who holds over 100 cashes. He has totaled 107 cashes on the tournament circuit and has won an astonishing 25 of them.I guess I know how to close them out. If I go deep, Ill usually win it all. If not, you can find me on the rail relatively quickly. You could call me an all or nothing player.
Reslocks first tournament cash came back in 1996 in a no-limit holdem event, but the crazy mixed games played back in Michigan prepared him to dominate mixed-game tournaments over the next 17 years. Of his 25 live tournament wins, 15 have come in a non-holdem event, including his WSOP bracelet win in the 2007 $5,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship, where he defeated Phil Ivey heads up.
I play as little no-limit holdem as I can get away with, Reslock said. I dream of a day when I can play no-limit Omaha hi/lo and no-limit baduecey tournaments instead. Holdem is a game that somebody invented for the gamblers to play who werent smart enough for poker but who wanted to play cards.This vertical Cable Organizer can be mounted to either. The biggest criticism that no-limit holdem specialists have about mixed games is those games lack any creativity. That could be changed, however, if we start playing mixed games for big bets. If you play these games with progressively higher stakes after each street, then the game changes entirely.
Read the full products at http://www.winbogifts.com/products/iphone-headset.html.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Sweet Wine at CINQ
I had something of an epiphany while sipping from my wife's glass of
2005 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Beerenauslese. She'd asked for
something to go with dessert, and this is what our waiter, Sebastien,
had brought her. At once clean and bright, concentrated and intense, it
was eye-opening. Most of my sweet wine experiences had been limited to
Madeira (a bit of a fetish in my house, due to my wife's Portuguese
ancestry), and the occasional gently sweet Riesling. This was something
different.
To cap a previous dinner at CINQ, the subject of this week's review, Sebastien had brought a glass of oxidized sweet Juran?on (trying to hit that Madeira obsession), and it was well received. We talked about the production process, how that year had been one of the hottest the region had seen, and the effect of stress on the grapes. With a relatively empty house - it was a Tuesday - Sebastien was free and eager to stand there and discuss wine.
By the time we'd finished that small glass of Beerenauslese, though, talking through the various methods used to concentrate the flavor of a sweet wine, I knew I'd have to have more.Soft Winbo Key Cover decorates your key in fashionable ways. It was light on the palate, despite an intensely saturated flavor. Not mildly sweet, it made its presence known and its intentions clear. Pear, raisins, a bit of solvent. It was honeyed but never cloying, with a gentle acidity that made all of the flavors fairly dance.
I can feel an obsession coming on; I'm already scouring the Internet, searching for a reasonably priced bottle or two to put away for special occasions. I asked a wine-savvy friend about it,Winbo Iphone Headset and he warned me that I might find it difficult to locate another bottle of this weapons-grade wine, but could certainly find similar, younger bottles that would be similar, and less powerful, versions of the same.
As happy as the wine made me,Winbo custom keychain it also made me a little bit sad. It reminded me of my feelings about the Minutemen, a band whose opus I heard first, and whose other efforts have always paled for me, as a result. I'm afraid I'll get the same experience out of my next bottle of Botrytized Riesling.
Fortunately,Online shopping for Business Work Card holder from a great selection of Office Products. Sebastien is aware of the longings that rare wines can inspire, and takes some pity on his customers. From time to time, he reaches into CINQ's cellars, arranging vintage wine tastings. As he so well put it to us, not everyone can or wants to shell out the cash required to splash out on a single bottle of rare wine; his programs afford the possibility to taste a range of special bottles for one price, along with a few bites of food best suited to highlight them. A more varied bang for your buck.
Go to CINQ for a special occasion, celebrate it with a glass of dessert wine. The Meulenhof probably won't be there. My apologies. I'm sure Sebastien can recommend something suitably delicious and, if it's a slow night, talk your ear off about soil drainage, temperature gradients, and noble rot. If you're interested. He might mention his vintage wine tasting series, or offer to help you track down a bottle you particularly enjoyed (he told us he'd keep an eye out for that Riesling). He'll probably wax slightly rhapsodic about Tokaji, his favorite dessert wine. Let him. You'll understand.
Take one forked branch of plum, one stem of kale, four artichokes and three stems of blackberries. It may sound like chutney-making, but this is a different kind of recipe C a flower recipe. Add parrot tulips, anemones, ornamental grasses and flowering oregano and you have a show-stopping display that puts your chrysanths in a pint glass to shame.
In truth, Ive never had much time for flower-arranging. I buy flowers and put them in a vase. In summer, I cut a few blooms from the garden, add to water and leave until the petals have dropped. I have always associated the art with finishing-school girls and stiff, formal arrangements in churches and village fairs, judged by faintly intimidating women.
The Flower Recipe Book blasts the stuffiness out of traditional flower arranging. It is the work of best friends Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo, owners of the Studio Choo floral studio in San Francisco. For a year, they ran the business out of Jills kitchen, Aletheas Honda and a garage in the city before setting up the shop, beloved of the stylish set in Californias coolest city.
San Francisco is the birthplace of the flower child and the pair share a philosophy to keep everything looking as natural as possible. We take our inspiration from nature, they say, and make sure not to manipulate the flowers too much.Winbo Luggage Tags
The recipe format is a genius way of guiding you through the complexities. It is a formula any cook can understand. There is a list of ingredients to use as a guide, with plenty of room for experimentation, and clear step-by-step instructions. Common flower names are used throughout and a guide to choosing the right vessel will have you trawling flea markets for vintage jars and tins.
Sweetpeas, which are flowering extravagantly in my garden right now, are divided into bunches from dark to light colours in nine small jars (think fish-paste jars), and arranged in a square to create a block of loveliness. For a minimalist look, try nine stems of chocolate cosmos in a flat-sided plain-glass vase. Two stems of white or purple clematis are allowed to bend and arch their leaves and tendrils in a vintage bottle. Clematis is among Alethea and Jills favourites, along with lily of the valley, daphne and honeysuckle C they place a couple of stems in vases on their bedside tables.
Tall, leggy beauties such as delphiniums are trimmed short for maximum colour intensity. A single delphinium stem in a canning jar, backed by two jars bearing double stems, gives a shot of electric blue to a room.
But it is the little bit of this, little bit of that arrangements that will suit the ordinary gardener. Visit the herb beds, vegetable patch, hedges and fruit trees for inspiration. I never considered using sprigs of mint in a glass before, unless doused in Pimms. Similarly rosemary, instead of going on a leg of lamb, can nestle up to viburnum berries, twigs and red-and-white amaryllis in a vintage metal flour tin. Purple sage marries beautifully with different types of lavender.
The end result is often a snapshot of the season. A prickly arm of not-quite-ripe blackberries or dark-pink plums announce late summer. The branches of apricot and oranges, which line the roads in California, will be hard to come by, but its an idea. Try rosy-red crab apple in August instead.
Read the full products at http://www.winbogifts.com/products/bottle-opener.html
To cap a previous dinner at CINQ, the subject of this week's review, Sebastien had brought a glass of oxidized sweet Juran?on (trying to hit that Madeira obsession), and it was well received. We talked about the production process, how that year had been one of the hottest the region had seen, and the effect of stress on the grapes. With a relatively empty house - it was a Tuesday - Sebastien was free and eager to stand there and discuss wine.
By the time we'd finished that small glass of Beerenauslese, though, talking through the various methods used to concentrate the flavor of a sweet wine, I knew I'd have to have more.Soft Winbo Key Cover decorates your key in fashionable ways. It was light on the palate, despite an intensely saturated flavor. Not mildly sweet, it made its presence known and its intentions clear. Pear, raisins, a bit of solvent. It was honeyed but never cloying, with a gentle acidity that made all of the flavors fairly dance.
I can feel an obsession coming on; I'm already scouring the Internet, searching for a reasonably priced bottle or two to put away for special occasions. I asked a wine-savvy friend about it,Winbo Iphone Headset and he warned me that I might find it difficult to locate another bottle of this weapons-grade wine, but could certainly find similar, younger bottles that would be similar, and less powerful, versions of the same.
As happy as the wine made me,Winbo custom keychain it also made me a little bit sad. It reminded me of my feelings about the Minutemen, a band whose opus I heard first, and whose other efforts have always paled for me, as a result. I'm afraid I'll get the same experience out of my next bottle of Botrytized Riesling.
Fortunately,Online shopping for Business Work Card holder from a great selection of Office Products. Sebastien is aware of the longings that rare wines can inspire, and takes some pity on his customers. From time to time, he reaches into CINQ's cellars, arranging vintage wine tastings. As he so well put it to us, not everyone can or wants to shell out the cash required to splash out on a single bottle of rare wine; his programs afford the possibility to taste a range of special bottles for one price, along with a few bites of food best suited to highlight them. A more varied bang for your buck.
Go to CINQ for a special occasion, celebrate it with a glass of dessert wine. The Meulenhof probably won't be there. My apologies. I'm sure Sebastien can recommend something suitably delicious and, if it's a slow night, talk your ear off about soil drainage, temperature gradients, and noble rot. If you're interested. He might mention his vintage wine tasting series, or offer to help you track down a bottle you particularly enjoyed (he told us he'd keep an eye out for that Riesling). He'll probably wax slightly rhapsodic about Tokaji, his favorite dessert wine. Let him. You'll understand.
Take one forked branch of plum, one stem of kale, four artichokes and three stems of blackberries. It may sound like chutney-making, but this is a different kind of recipe C a flower recipe. Add parrot tulips, anemones, ornamental grasses and flowering oregano and you have a show-stopping display that puts your chrysanths in a pint glass to shame.
In truth, Ive never had much time for flower-arranging. I buy flowers and put them in a vase. In summer, I cut a few blooms from the garden, add to water and leave until the petals have dropped. I have always associated the art with finishing-school girls and stiff, formal arrangements in churches and village fairs, judged by faintly intimidating women.
The Flower Recipe Book blasts the stuffiness out of traditional flower arranging. It is the work of best friends Alethea Harampolis and Jill Rizzo, owners of the Studio Choo floral studio in San Francisco. For a year, they ran the business out of Jills kitchen, Aletheas Honda and a garage in the city before setting up the shop, beloved of the stylish set in Californias coolest city.
San Francisco is the birthplace of the flower child and the pair share a philosophy to keep everything looking as natural as possible. We take our inspiration from nature, they say, and make sure not to manipulate the flowers too much.Winbo Luggage Tags
The recipe format is a genius way of guiding you through the complexities. It is a formula any cook can understand. There is a list of ingredients to use as a guide, with plenty of room for experimentation, and clear step-by-step instructions. Common flower names are used throughout and a guide to choosing the right vessel will have you trawling flea markets for vintage jars and tins.
Sweetpeas, which are flowering extravagantly in my garden right now, are divided into bunches from dark to light colours in nine small jars (think fish-paste jars), and arranged in a square to create a block of loveliness. For a minimalist look, try nine stems of chocolate cosmos in a flat-sided plain-glass vase. Two stems of white or purple clematis are allowed to bend and arch their leaves and tendrils in a vintage bottle. Clematis is among Alethea and Jills favourites, along with lily of the valley, daphne and honeysuckle C they place a couple of stems in vases on their bedside tables.
Tall, leggy beauties such as delphiniums are trimmed short for maximum colour intensity. A single delphinium stem in a canning jar, backed by two jars bearing double stems, gives a shot of electric blue to a room.
But it is the little bit of this, little bit of that arrangements that will suit the ordinary gardener. Visit the herb beds, vegetable patch, hedges and fruit trees for inspiration. I never considered using sprigs of mint in a glass before, unless doused in Pimms. Similarly rosemary, instead of going on a leg of lamb, can nestle up to viburnum berries, twigs and red-and-white amaryllis in a vintage metal flour tin. Purple sage marries beautifully with different types of lavender.
The end result is often a snapshot of the season. A prickly arm of not-quite-ripe blackberries or dark-pink plums announce late summer. The branches of apricot and oranges, which line the roads in California, will be hard to come by, but its an idea. Try rosy-red crab apple in August instead.
Read the full products at http://www.winbogifts.com/products/bottle-opener.html
Dexter Highlights Its DexTemp 1000 IR Temperature Monitor
Finding an accurate thermometer that can measure temperature at a
distance is hard to come by, especially if you dont have the pockets to
shell out thousands of dollars for military-grade sensors (the kind
usually installed in fighter jets).Some users of IR temperature sensors
may not need that level of accuracy but are looking for something more
affordable as well as smaller that has incredible accuracy in its own
right. This is where Dexter Research Center shines, as the company
released its DexTemp 1000 Non-Contact IR Temperature Monitor last
month.
The sensor is roughly the size of a Flash drive and projects an infrared beam that monitors the radiation emitted from the surface of an object at a distance. Dexter designed the sensor around a thermopile detector it developed that converts thermal energy into electrical energy by the temperature differences (gradient) between both sides of the device.
The voltage produced by the DexTemp 1000 due to the temperature gradient taken by the IR beam is then translated into a real-time graph that allows the user to monitor and record said object's radiation temperature. The sensor is connected to a PC through a USB connection, which is used in conjunction with Dexter Research Centers software on Windows-based systems.
Those who think Dexters temperature sensor is still too large for application purposes may want to take a look at Thermodo -- an ultra-small electric thermometer capable of taking the ambient temperature readings in your immediate area. The thermometer, designed by Robocat, uses a plug-in temperature sensor (coupled with a convenient carrying key ring for portability) that connects to your mobile devices headphone jack. Once connected, the device automatically starts to monitor the temperature in your area and can be monitored on your mobile device using an app that displays real-time temperature information in a graph form. This allows the users to garner temperature information in their local areas instead of using weather reports from local stations located miles away.
Robocat successfully funded Thermodo on Kickstarter, surpassing its initial goal of US$35,Choose from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to raise awareness.000 with more than $330,000 in pledges. Prices start at $19 for the Black Edition all the way up to $2,999, which nets you a personalized Anodized Aluminum Edition (multiple colors will be available) with your name engraved on it, as well as becoming a consultant of sorts for the Robocat team in refining the Thermodo. At that price level,Winbo photo frames backers also receive a tour of Copenhagen (where the Robocat office is located), ending with dinner with the design team. The estimated release date for those who have backed the project is sometime in August of this year, with no word yet when it will become available to the public.
Based on the peer-to-peer bittorrent protocol, it consisted of a Firefox browser plugin that offered a dead-simple way for users to share files on their computer with anybody else in their AllPeers buddy list. Sadly, however, the startup was arguably ahead of its time and deadpooled in 2008.
(When I met the defunct companys co-founder and serial entrepreneur Cedric Maloux in 2011,Handy Pocket Mirror with hinged lid that doubles as a stand. I excitedly uttered the words, you were like Dropbox before Dropbox. He gave me a look in return that only those who have failed startup scars can truly appreciate.)Of course, it could be argued that in the time thats passed, the one-to-one and one-to-many file sharing problem has largely been solved thanks to the cloud and a plethora of file sharing and cloud-storage services that ride its coattails. But still, I couldnt help have my interest piqued when hearing about French startup Infinit, which enters private Beta today with a new P2P file sharing service that is more than a little reminiscent of the simplicity of AllPeers.I was looking for an option to Customizable Ear Caps to wear with my half.
Shunning bittorrent for its own file sharing technology developed off the back of co-founder Julien Quintards PhD research on decentralized file systems while at the University of Cambridge the Mac OSX-only app sees Infinits service integrated directly with OSXs Finder, not dissimilar to Apples own AirDrop for local network file sharing.
Once installed, the Infinit icon shows up in the users Finder favourites, just like their own home folder or an attached USB drive, for example, whilst the Infinit interface consists of 8 avatars seven of your most shared with friends plus yourself and a search bar for finding and sharing with others, including based on their email address. File transfers are initiated via a simple drag and drop of the content you wish to share onto the avatar of the person you wish to share it with, and a menu item in the Finders menu bar keeps tabs on how file transfers are progressing, new file transfer requests, and access to other settings.
In terms of security, Infinit says it uses direct encryption for files transferred between a senders device and a recipients device, ensuring both security and privacy such that no third-party can ever interact with or access the exchanged data, including Infinit itself.
Pricing-wise, Infinit will offer a free option with a limit of 2GB for file sizes, and various paid plans where file size will be unlimited. In addition,This vertical Cable Organizer can be mounted to either. it says that anyone who downloads Infinit during its private Beta will get an unlimited version of the file transfer application for life.
Read the full products at http://www.winbogifts.com/products/keychains.html.
The sensor is roughly the size of a Flash drive and projects an infrared beam that monitors the radiation emitted from the surface of an object at a distance. Dexter designed the sensor around a thermopile detector it developed that converts thermal energy into electrical energy by the temperature differences (gradient) between both sides of the device.
The voltage produced by the DexTemp 1000 due to the temperature gradient taken by the IR beam is then translated into a real-time graph that allows the user to monitor and record said object's radiation temperature. The sensor is connected to a PC through a USB connection, which is used in conjunction with Dexter Research Centers software on Windows-based systems.
Those who think Dexters temperature sensor is still too large for application purposes may want to take a look at Thermodo -- an ultra-small electric thermometer capable of taking the ambient temperature readings in your immediate area. The thermometer, designed by Robocat, uses a plug-in temperature sensor (coupled with a convenient carrying key ring for portability) that connects to your mobile devices headphone jack. Once connected, the device automatically starts to monitor the temperature in your area and can be monitored on your mobile device using an app that displays real-time temperature information in a graph form. This allows the users to garner temperature information in their local areas instead of using weather reports from local stations located miles away.
Robocat successfully funded Thermodo on Kickstarter, surpassing its initial goal of US$35,Choose from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to raise awareness.000 with more than $330,000 in pledges. Prices start at $19 for the Black Edition all the way up to $2,999, which nets you a personalized Anodized Aluminum Edition (multiple colors will be available) with your name engraved on it, as well as becoming a consultant of sorts for the Robocat team in refining the Thermodo. At that price level,Winbo photo frames backers also receive a tour of Copenhagen (where the Robocat office is located), ending with dinner with the design team. The estimated release date for those who have backed the project is sometime in August of this year, with no word yet when it will become available to the public.
Based on the peer-to-peer bittorrent protocol, it consisted of a Firefox browser plugin that offered a dead-simple way for users to share files on their computer with anybody else in their AllPeers buddy list. Sadly, however, the startup was arguably ahead of its time and deadpooled in 2008.
(When I met the defunct companys co-founder and serial entrepreneur Cedric Maloux in 2011,Handy Pocket Mirror with hinged lid that doubles as a stand. I excitedly uttered the words, you were like Dropbox before Dropbox. He gave me a look in return that only those who have failed startup scars can truly appreciate.)Of course, it could be argued that in the time thats passed, the one-to-one and one-to-many file sharing problem has largely been solved thanks to the cloud and a plethora of file sharing and cloud-storage services that ride its coattails. But still, I couldnt help have my interest piqued when hearing about French startup Infinit, which enters private Beta today with a new P2P file sharing service that is more than a little reminiscent of the simplicity of AllPeers.I was looking for an option to Customizable Ear Caps to wear with my half.
Shunning bittorrent for its own file sharing technology developed off the back of co-founder Julien Quintards PhD research on decentralized file systems while at the University of Cambridge the Mac OSX-only app sees Infinits service integrated directly with OSXs Finder, not dissimilar to Apples own AirDrop for local network file sharing.
Once installed, the Infinit icon shows up in the users Finder favourites, just like their own home folder or an attached USB drive, for example, whilst the Infinit interface consists of 8 avatars seven of your most shared with friends plus yourself and a search bar for finding and sharing with others, including based on their email address. File transfers are initiated via a simple drag and drop of the content you wish to share onto the avatar of the person you wish to share it with, and a menu item in the Finders menu bar keeps tabs on how file transfers are progressing, new file transfer requests, and access to other settings.
In terms of security, Infinit says it uses direct encryption for files transferred between a senders device and a recipients device, ensuring both security and privacy such that no third-party can ever interact with or access the exchanged data, including Infinit itself.
Pricing-wise, Infinit will offer a free option with a limit of 2GB for file sizes, and various paid plans where file size will be unlimited. In addition,This vertical Cable Organizer can be mounted to either. it says that anyone who downloads Infinit during its private Beta will get an unlimited version of the file transfer application for life.
Read the full products at http://www.winbogifts.com/products/keychains.html.
The Best Heel Turns in NHL History
Daniel Alfredssons decision to spurn the Ottawa Senators and sign with the Detroit Red Wings was a lot of things. A reminder that anything can happen in pro sports. A shift in the balance of power of one of the leagues toughest divisions. A cautionary tale of the dangers in a fan base placing too much faith in one player.
And heres one more: It was a damn near perfect pro wrestlingCstyle heel turn.Winbo photo framesIt had all the elements. There was the subtle shift in personality that turned out to be ironic foreshadowing. Then came the sudden, devastating blindside that his adoring fans never saw coming. And he followed it up with a classic post-turn explanation, twisting the knife even further with quotes like It pretty much came down to a selfish decision and Im not worried about my legacy in Ottawa.
He hasnt even bothered to take out the now-obligatory good-bye/thank you ad in local papers.Choose from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to raise awareness. Alfredsson couldnt have turned heel any more brilliantly if hed paused to spray-paint DRW on Spartacats back.NHL history is filled with villains who are hated across the league but loved (or at least tolerated) by the home crowd. But Alfredsson was a reminder that every now and then, we get treated to something far more entertaining the hometown hero who dramatically turns his back on the fans.
This list will be filled with deserters those who abandoned a team and a fan base that wanted them around. Sundin somehow pulled off the opposite. He blindsided a franchise by refusing to leave.
Well, its not quite that simple, so lets set the scene. The 2007-08 Maple Leafs were a mess. They were headed to a third straight season of missing the playoffs, a first in franchise history. The GM had just been fired. The coach was clearly going next. And fans and media alike were demanding that the team blow up its roster of high-priced veterans and finally embark on a desperately needed rebuild.
It was the right call, and there was reason to believe that trading away players like Sundin, Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe, and Darcy Tucker could land the team the sort of blue-chip building blocks it would need to someday reemerge as a contender. In Toronto,Handy Pocket Mirror with hinged lid that doubles as a stand. that mere possibility was enough to create some long-absent optimism.
There was only one problem: Sundin & Friends all had no-trade clauses. And days before the trade deadline, the captain made his decision: He wasnt going anywhere. Predictably, the rest of the veterans quickly fell in line and also refused to waive their clauses, and the Leafs golden opportunity was lost.
Sundins decision was frustrating but understandable, and if the story had ended there then it wouldnt be on this list. But after announcing it, Sundin went on to offer up a bizarre explanation that included his desire to finish his career with the Maple Leafs and his adamant belief that the opportunity to chase a Stanley Cup would only be meaningful if he was on a team from October through June.
Jagrs relationship with the city of Pittsburgh was always complicated. He spent the first 11 seasons of his career as a Penguin, establishing himself as one of the leagues best players and setting several franchise records. But his contract demands (and a burgeoning reputation as a diva) paved the way for his eventual exit in a 2001 trade with Washington. When he made his emotional return to Pittsburgh as a member of the Capitals, Penguin fans gave him a standing ovation but also booed him every time he touched the puck. Like I said, it was complicated.
After almost three mostly disappointing seasons in Washington, Jagr appeared to end his NHL career as a Ranger before leaving for the KHL in 2008 at the age of 36. But after three seasons overseas, he announced his intention to return to North America. And almost immediately,This vertical Cable Organizer can be mounted to either. it became clear that there was only one logical destination: Jagr would go back to Pittsburgh, chasing one final Stanley Cup alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin while making peace with the fans who were more than ready to welcome him back with open arms.
Or not. After a bizarre few days filled with offers, counter-offers, rampant speculation, rumors of Jagr being spotted on a flight to Pittsburgh, and an airport turtle invasion (dont ask), the Penguins declared that they were dropping out of the bidding. Nobody believed them by this point, Jagr to Pittsburgh had just become too irresistible.
Gretzky worked hard to maintain a squeaky-clean image throughout his NHL career, and with a handful of exceptions he was successful. His dominant play on the ice combined with a quiet, uncontroversial personality off of it helped him become one of North Americas most beloved athletes. By the time his playing career was over and hed moved into coaching and management roles, it was probably fair to say that nobody in the hockey world disliked Wayne Gretzky.
Thats why it was so shocking to see Gretzky break out one of the sports most memorable rants at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. After watching his handpicked Team Canada struggle through its opening three games, Gretzky took to the lectern to deliver an epic and (he claims) unscripted us against the world speech.
He called out dirty play by European teams and accused referees of having a double standard against Canadian players.I was looking for an option to Customizable Ear Caps to wear with my half. He even went all PG-13 on us by referring to the officiating as a pile of crap. But he saved most of his venom for the United States, singling out U.S. fans for rooting against Canada and complaining that his team was being targeted by American propaganda."
Gretzky had managed to go full heel on the United States while remaining a hero in Canada (a page straight out of the playbook of Canadas other most-decorated athlete). More importantly, he successfully made himself the story, relieving the crushing pressure that was being felt by the players.
Click on their website http://www.winbogifts.com/products/keychains.html.
And heres one more: It was a damn near perfect pro wrestlingCstyle heel turn.Winbo photo framesIt had all the elements. There was the subtle shift in personality that turned out to be ironic foreshadowing. Then came the sudden, devastating blindside that his adoring fans never saw coming. And he followed it up with a classic post-turn explanation, twisting the knife even further with quotes like It pretty much came down to a selfish decision and Im not worried about my legacy in Ottawa.
He hasnt even bothered to take out the now-obligatory good-bye/thank you ad in local papers.Choose from a large selection of Customized Silicone Bracelets to raise awareness. Alfredsson couldnt have turned heel any more brilliantly if hed paused to spray-paint DRW on Spartacats back.NHL history is filled with villains who are hated across the league but loved (or at least tolerated) by the home crowd. But Alfredsson was a reminder that every now and then, we get treated to something far more entertaining the hometown hero who dramatically turns his back on the fans.
This list will be filled with deserters those who abandoned a team and a fan base that wanted them around. Sundin somehow pulled off the opposite. He blindsided a franchise by refusing to leave.
Well, its not quite that simple, so lets set the scene. The 2007-08 Maple Leafs were a mess. They were headed to a third straight season of missing the playoffs, a first in franchise history. The GM had just been fired. The coach was clearly going next. And fans and media alike were demanding that the team blow up its roster of high-priced veterans and finally embark on a desperately needed rebuild.
It was the right call, and there was reason to believe that trading away players like Sundin, Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe, and Darcy Tucker could land the team the sort of blue-chip building blocks it would need to someday reemerge as a contender. In Toronto,Handy Pocket Mirror with hinged lid that doubles as a stand. that mere possibility was enough to create some long-absent optimism.
There was only one problem: Sundin & Friends all had no-trade clauses. And days before the trade deadline, the captain made his decision: He wasnt going anywhere. Predictably, the rest of the veterans quickly fell in line and also refused to waive their clauses, and the Leafs golden opportunity was lost.
Sundins decision was frustrating but understandable, and if the story had ended there then it wouldnt be on this list. But after announcing it, Sundin went on to offer up a bizarre explanation that included his desire to finish his career with the Maple Leafs and his adamant belief that the opportunity to chase a Stanley Cup would only be meaningful if he was on a team from October through June.
Jagrs relationship with the city of Pittsburgh was always complicated. He spent the first 11 seasons of his career as a Penguin, establishing himself as one of the leagues best players and setting several franchise records. But his contract demands (and a burgeoning reputation as a diva) paved the way for his eventual exit in a 2001 trade with Washington. When he made his emotional return to Pittsburgh as a member of the Capitals, Penguin fans gave him a standing ovation but also booed him every time he touched the puck. Like I said, it was complicated.
After almost three mostly disappointing seasons in Washington, Jagr appeared to end his NHL career as a Ranger before leaving for the KHL in 2008 at the age of 36. But after three seasons overseas, he announced his intention to return to North America. And almost immediately,This vertical Cable Organizer can be mounted to either. it became clear that there was only one logical destination: Jagr would go back to Pittsburgh, chasing one final Stanley Cup alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin while making peace with the fans who were more than ready to welcome him back with open arms.
Or not. After a bizarre few days filled with offers, counter-offers, rampant speculation, rumors of Jagr being spotted on a flight to Pittsburgh, and an airport turtle invasion (dont ask), the Penguins declared that they were dropping out of the bidding. Nobody believed them by this point, Jagr to Pittsburgh had just become too irresistible.
Gretzky worked hard to maintain a squeaky-clean image throughout his NHL career, and with a handful of exceptions he was successful. His dominant play on the ice combined with a quiet, uncontroversial personality off of it helped him become one of North Americas most beloved athletes. By the time his playing career was over and hed moved into coaching and management roles, it was probably fair to say that nobody in the hockey world disliked Wayne Gretzky.
Thats why it was so shocking to see Gretzky break out one of the sports most memorable rants at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. After watching his handpicked Team Canada struggle through its opening three games, Gretzky took to the lectern to deliver an epic and (he claims) unscripted us against the world speech.
He called out dirty play by European teams and accused referees of having a double standard against Canadian players.I was looking for an option to Customizable Ear Caps to wear with my half. He even went all PG-13 on us by referring to the officiating as a pile of crap. But he saved most of his venom for the United States, singling out U.S. fans for rooting against Canada and complaining that his team was being targeted by American propaganda."
Gretzky had managed to go full heel on the United States while remaining a hero in Canada (a page straight out of the playbook of Canadas other most-decorated athlete). More importantly, he successfully made himself the story, relieving the crushing pressure that was being felt by the players.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Weaving loyalty cards into phones
Why? Because the loyalty card is broken, according to CEO David Sear. ‘We think there’s a problem with loyalty,’ he says. ‘One; nobody is loyal. Two; even if they are, there’s a high potential for them to have left their card at home. Three; people really don’t use rewards. Maybe that’s good for retailers as they never have to redeem them but it doesn’t create the kind of loyalty that they are striving for. Four; the technology for doing retail is different at every retailer, so how can it work?’
The solution is in a smartphone. While stressing the tests are at an early stage, Sear says the plan is to place all of a customer’s loyalty cards into one app. ‘How much better would it be if you had one simple container and not a dumb piece of plastic?’ he says. One app would mean you could still get Tesco points when you inevitably forget your Clubcard, for example. Points would be earned and redeemed by using NFC and by placing all of the loyalty schemes into one place, it would remove the need to sift through pages of apps at the tillpoint.
But wouldn’t retailers object to having their rivals’ loyalty cards in the same place? ‘We need to put loyalty through a common interface. That’s the big sell of it. The very best loyalty programmes can only hit around 40% penetration. A lot of them do a lot less.’
Sear argues greater convenience will make loyalty RFID tag an easier sell, with retailers still having access to the same data they historically did. ‘It wouldn’t change the way you shop. They keep their data and it runs on their rails. The data is protected between competitors and it replicates the way consumers operate.’
As things stand, it is only mobile marketing that is happening in earnest at Weve. The company is on the verge of launching its 350th campaign. Referring to it as ‘narrowcasting’, Sear says mobile has an advantage over television because you are guaranteed what market you are advertising to – while data is anonymised, the more information a consumer allows its operator to access, the better the advertising they will get.
Sear says fast moving consumer goods from companies such as Unilever and Proctor and Gamble have used mobile marketing for consumer awareness purposes. Handset manufacturers have also got into the game and Tesco has geofenced certain stores, targeting people outside those areas with vouchers if they spend a minimum amount. Sear claims out of the top 250 brands, Weve is working with 175 of them. He says: ‘It’s companies who are coming to us and surprising with ideas that is piquing our interest. They are thinking about this capability and the kind of data that we hold that is relevant to their business. The companies that will make the biggest impact are the ones who figure out how it will work with their business model.’
Weve’s CEO is an enthusiastic cheerleader for the possibilities of mobile to change the retail experience. After years of being decimated by internet competition, it could be devices connected to the web that could bring people back to shops. He says: ‘We want to streamline the customer experience to make them much happier to be in shops. This could be the saviour of the high street. If retailers want people to do more physical browsing, what better way than to use the messages they have got and send them to mobiles?’
Major General Jihad al-Jabiri, head of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior’s bomb squad, held a press conference at the ministry officer’s club in Baghdad. Car bomb attacks in the city had killed 127 people and wounded at least 400 more the previous day, and al-Jabiri had come to answer criticism of the explosives-detection devices deployed at the city’s 1,400 checkpoints. To prove the effectiveness of the equipment, known as the ADE 651, al-Jabiri had arranged a live demonstration before the world’s TV cameras. Standing with him at a lectern bristling with microphones was Pierre Georgiou, the retired Lebanese general who had helped bring the device to Iraq. Alongside stood the manufacturer, a portly Englishman. His name was James McCormick.
Arranged on a table nearby were examples of household items Iraqi citizens often complained had set off the bomb detectors: bottles of shampoo and hot sauce; a plastic jar of pickles; two tubs of cream; and a box of tissues. A uniformed member of al-Jabiri’s bomb squad walked slowly forward, holding in his hand an ADE 651—a swiveling telescopic antenna mounted on a black plastic pistol grip and connected by a cable to a pouch on his belt. As he passed the table once, the antenna continued to point straight ahead. But after two hand grenades had been placed on the table, the bomb technician made a second pass, and the antenna slowly turned left and pointed directly at the explosives. Afterward, al-Jabiri assured the press that the ADE 651 had similarly located “hundreds of roadside bombs and car bombs.” McCormick dismissed U.S. military assertions that the detectors were worthless. “We’ve created a product that fits a demand here in Iraq,” he explained. “Just not necessarily in all countries.”
What McCormick failed to mention was that the device was not, strictly speaking, his own invention, or that he knew very well it wouldn’t detect explosives. The ADE 651 was modeled on a novelty trinket conceived decades before by a former used-car salesman from South Carolina, which was purported to detect golf balls. It wasn’t even good at that.
The ADE 651, and similar devices sold by McCormick over the decade or so he spent in the explosives-detection business, owe their existence to Wade Quattlebaum, president of Quadro in Harleyville, S.C. At the beginning of the 1990s, Quattlebaum—a sometime car dealer, commercial diver, and treasure hunter whose formal education ended in high school—began promoting a new detection technology he called the Quadro Tracker Positive Molecular Locator, which he claimed could help law enforcement agencies find everything from contraband to missing persons. Quattlebaum said he originally invented the device to find lost balls on the golf course but had since refined it to locate marijuana, cocaine, heroin, gunpowder, and dynamite by detecting the individual “molecular frequency” of each substance.
The Tracker consisted of a handheld unit, with an antenna mounted on a plastic handgrip, and a belt-mounted box slightly smaller than a VHS cassette, built to contain “carbo-crystallized” software cards programmed, Quattlebaum said, with the specific frequency of whatever the user wished to find. No batteries were necessary. The Tracker was powered by the static electricity created by the operator’s own body; when it found what it was looking for, the antenna automatically turned to point at its quarry. Prices for the device varied from $395 for a basic model to $8,000 for one capable of locating individual human beings, which required a Polaroid photograph of the person to be loaded into the programming box.
Click on their website www.smartcardfactory.com.
The solution is in a smartphone. While stressing the tests are at an early stage, Sear says the plan is to place all of a customer’s loyalty cards into one app. ‘How much better would it be if you had one simple container and not a dumb piece of plastic?’ he says. One app would mean you could still get Tesco points when you inevitably forget your Clubcard, for example. Points would be earned and redeemed by using NFC and by placing all of the loyalty schemes into one place, it would remove the need to sift through pages of apps at the tillpoint.
But wouldn’t retailers object to having their rivals’ loyalty cards in the same place? ‘We need to put loyalty through a common interface. That’s the big sell of it. The very best loyalty programmes can only hit around 40% penetration. A lot of them do a lot less.’
Sear argues greater convenience will make loyalty RFID tag an easier sell, with retailers still having access to the same data they historically did. ‘It wouldn’t change the way you shop. They keep their data and it runs on their rails. The data is protected between competitors and it replicates the way consumers operate.’
As things stand, it is only mobile marketing that is happening in earnest at Weve. The company is on the verge of launching its 350th campaign. Referring to it as ‘narrowcasting’, Sear says mobile has an advantage over television because you are guaranteed what market you are advertising to – while data is anonymised, the more information a consumer allows its operator to access, the better the advertising they will get.
Sear says fast moving consumer goods from companies such as Unilever and Proctor and Gamble have used mobile marketing for consumer awareness purposes. Handset manufacturers have also got into the game and Tesco has geofenced certain stores, targeting people outside those areas with vouchers if they spend a minimum amount. Sear claims out of the top 250 brands, Weve is working with 175 of them. He says: ‘It’s companies who are coming to us and surprising with ideas that is piquing our interest. They are thinking about this capability and the kind of data that we hold that is relevant to their business. The companies that will make the biggest impact are the ones who figure out how it will work with their business model.’
Weve’s CEO is an enthusiastic cheerleader for the possibilities of mobile to change the retail experience. After years of being decimated by internet competition, it could be devices connected to the web that could bring people back to shops. He says: ‘We want to streamline the customer experience to make them much happier to be in shops. This could be the saviour of the high street. If retailers want people to do more physical browsing, what better way than to use the messages they have got and send them to mobiles?’
Major General Jihad al-Jabiri, head of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior’s bomb squad, held a press conference at the ministry officer’s club in Baghdad. Car bomb attacks in the city had killed 127 people and wounded at least 400 more the previous day, and al-Jabiri had come to answer criticism of the explosives-detection devices deployed at the city’s 1,400 checkpoints. To prove the effectiveness of the equipment, known as the ADE 651, al-Jabiri had arranged a live demonstration before the world’s TV cameras. Standing with him at a lectern bristling with microphones was Pierre Georgiou, the retired Lebanese general who had helped bring the device to Iraq. Alongside stood the manufacturer, a portly Englishman. His name was James McCormick.
Arranged on a table nearby were examples of household items Iraqi citizens often complained had set off the bomb detectors: bottles of shampoo and hot sauce; a plastic jar of pickles; two tubs of cream; and a box of tissues. A uniformed member of al-Jabiri’s bomb squad walked slowly forward, holding in his hand an ADE 651—a swiveling telescopic antenna mounted on a black plastic pistol grip and connected by a cable to a pouch on his belt. As he passed the table once, the antenna continued to point straight ahead. But after two hand grenades had been placed on the table, the bomb technician made a second pass, and the antenna slowly turned left and pointed directly at the explosives. Afterward, al-Jabiri assured the press that the ADE 651 had similarly located “hundreds of roadside bombs and car bombs.” McCormick dismissed U.S. military assertions that the detectors were worthless. “We’ve created a product that fits a demand here in Iraq,” he explained. “Just not necessarily in all countries.”
What McCormick failed to mention was that the device was not, strictly speaking, his own invention, or that he knew very well it wouldn’t detect explosives. The ADE 651 was modeled on a novelty trinket conceived decades before by a former used-car salesman from South Carolina, which was purported to detect golf balls. It wasn’t even good at that.
The ADE 651, and similar devices sold by McCormick over the decade or so he spent in the explosives-detection business, owe their existence to Wade Quattlebaum, president of Quadro in Harleyville, S.C. At the beginning of the 1990s, Quattlebaum—a sometime car dealer, commercial diver, and treasure hunter whose formal education ended in high school—began promoting a new detection technology he called the Quadro Tracker Positive Molecular Locator, which he claimed could help law enforcement agencies find everything from contraband to missing persons. Quattlebaum said he originally invented the device to find lost balls on the golf course but had since refined it to locate marijuana, cocaine, heroin, gunpowder, and dynamite by detecting the individual “molecular frequency” of each substance.
The Tracker consisted of a handheld unit, with an antenna mounted on a plastic handgrip, and a belt-mounted box slightly smaller than a VHS cassette, built to contain “carbo-crystallized” software cards programmed, Quattlebaum said, with the specific frequency of whatever the user wished to find. No batteries were necessary. The Tracker was powered by the static electricity created by the operator’s own body; when it found what it was looking for, the antenna automatically turned to point at its quarry. Prices for the device varied from $395 for a basic model to $8,000 for one capable of locating individual human beings, which required a Polaroid photograph of the person to be loaded into the programming box.
Click on their website www.smartcardfactory.com.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Credit check
There's been a lot of weirdness around credit cards as of late. I've found that out purely by coincidence, both personally and professionally. Take my TD Bank debit card (Go ahead! There's not much in the account anyway). Not only do I never leave home without it,some foreign customers think China plastic card quality is very poor. but I often find myself returning home without it as well. Rivaled only by my cellphone in the, "stuff that gets left behind no matter where I go" category, my name embossed plastic has taken its rightful place in several stacks of missing cards, well secured by rubber bands in safes, behind the bar, and in the offices of restaurants all over town.
That is typically discovered while reaching for it the next day when my car is well below the empty mark at the automated gas station with no attendant taking cash (think BJ's or Sam's Club), or after I've shopped for two hours at Shaw's.Luckily, the latter still takes paper checks and I still write them, but on a side note, Shaw's is on to the pain and agony of the whole plastic card thing. They have recently done away with the Rewards Card program and my snazzy wallet looks drab without their bright orange card peeking out from behind the place where my debit card is supposed to be.
Additionally, I am suspicious as to how certain items can still cost less than anywhere else. Like other Shaw's faithful, I am trained and conditioned to religiously utilize the formerly well-promoted and seemingly necessary money saving tool. What's next? My CVS key chaincard? Intellectually, I always knew it was a marketing ploy, but I still feel a little deceived and cheated. It will take a while for them to regain my trust.
Shaw's and CVS aside,High quality plastic card printing for business cards, if the night my debit card was "misplaced" was a straight line from point A to point B, retrieving it is nothing more than a mildly embarrassing moment where a quick phone call is in order. If the evening consisted of hopping about with another person or two and we took turns buying, it requires a bit more sleuthing to locate it. There have even been moments when thinking the card was lost forever, I replaced it at my local branch, only to have a server say, "Hey! I think we have your card from the last time you were here in the register drawer." The initial reaction is, "Why didn't you guys call me, or email me or something and let me know it was here?" But let's face it, leaving it behind was my oversight and restaurants have enough to do without managing the "Land of the Lost."
Professionally, credit card stuff can turn ugly when mistakes (by both the guest and the server/bartender) are made. Here's a list of some of the more common, yet serious offenses that occur in the hospitality industry:Servers changing the charge tip that was written in because the sale amount, the tip and the bottom line addition doesn't add up favorably. The bottom line is the bottom line, and that's what the customer signed off on. One of my favorite servers was recently fired from his full time job for this very thing.Guests changing the charge tip that was written in when an automatic gratuity for a large party was previously acknowledged and agreed upon.Servers collecting two or more checks at once and processing the wrong credit card for the wrong check. Not only is that time consuming to correct, but banks don't rush making those adjustments. It ends up holding up the customer's cash and looks as if the establishment has erred again.Clubs and bars charging a "Closing Out Fee" when a card is left behind by mistake. Because tabs must be closed out to process (batch) the credit card sales for the day, college towns have been known to charge a fee of 10 to 20 percent to do so. That is obviously in lieu of the tip, and I doubt it's legal without a signature.
Servers who lift credit card numbers and actually steal from guests via loosely secured Internet purchases. That happened a few years back at a great little place in Falmouth and while they bounced back from that nightmare, it's the first thing that crosses my mind when I go there. That is indeed a rare event, and could have happened in any industry.Equally as unthinkable is the person who writes, "cash" in the tip line but doesn't really leave any cash on the table. Yes, that really happens and while it may not be a credit card offense per se, it is an intentional act of seriously bad karma.
Credit and debit cards are a way of life, especially in the hospitality industry and fortunately, I am more careful with other people's plastic than my own. Like my cellphone, which now has an iPhone tracking app, I am considering putting velcro on my debit card and stashing a $20 bill in a secret place for those rare moment when I pull into the full service Big Apple.
The Down Low: In our crazy business, despite front-and-back-of-the-house employee squabbles and seniority/newbie backstabbing, we usually have a great deal of respect for each other. Many places wisely show the love by offering special late night (post shift) happy hour prices and food discounts for fellow hospitality workers. In addition to pumping up revenue for the house during slow periods, the staff is ecstatic because no one, and I mean no one, tips in cash more lavishly than a kindred spirit with sore feet.
Every place that holds a hospitality night it is swell in my book, but few top Otto's Pizza who has rack cards saying, "Please join us in good faith for a bona fide "Industry Night" for food and beverage service workers." They host that to-do the Monday after each first Friday and not much makes me feel better about making $3.75 an hour than a free slice of Otto's Pizza.
On an incremental basis, nearly 25% of HDFC Bank's credit cards are now sourced from rural and semi-urban markets even as 40% of Indian population is believed to be in want of a bank account.About IC card in China used for paying transportation fares and for shopping. The bank has started setting up point-of-sale (POS) terminals across merchant establishments in these geographies to encourage customers in using credit cards.
"The potential for growth is significantly high in smaller markets since the penetration of credit cards in these areas is relatively low. In the last couple of years, we have increased our investments on the acquisition side and expanding the number of POS terminals in rural and semi-urban locations," Parag Rao, senior executive vice president and business head for credit cards and merchant acquiring services at HDFC Bank, told Business Standard.
He added that HDFC Bank is now offering credit cards along with other retail banking products across most of its branches in rural and semi-urban centres. "We aim to cover all the locations where we have branches. All our rural and semi-urban branches, barring a few that have started functioning recently, are offering credit cards to the bank's customers," Rao said.
The bank currently has more than half of its 3,062 branches in rural and semi-urban markets. The private lender opened 518 branches in 2012-13 of which 459 were in these markets. HDFC Bank is currently the largest issuer of credit cards in the country with a portfolio of 6.53 million cards. On an average, it issues around 70,000 cards every month.
That is typically discovered while reaching for it the next day when my car is well below the empty mark at the automated gas station with no attendant taking cash (think BJ's or Sam's Club), or after I've shopped for two hours at Shaw's.Luckily, the latter still takes paper checks and I still write them, but on a side note, Shaw's is on to the pain and agony of the whole plastic card thing. They have recently done away with the Rewards Card program and my snazzy wallet looks drab without their bright orange card peeking out from behind the place where my debit card is supposed to be.
Additionally, I am suspicious as to how certain items can still cost less than anywhere else. Like other Shaw's faithful, I am trained and conditioned to religiously utilize the formerly well-promoted and seemingly necessary money saving tool. What's next? My CVS key chaincard? Intellectually, I always knew it was a marketing ploy, but I still feel a little deceived and cheated. It will take a while for them to regain my trust.
Shaw's and CVS aside,High quality plastic card printing for business cards, if the night my debit card was "misplaced" was a straight line from point A to point B, retrieving it is nothing more than a mildly embarrassing moment where a quick phone call is in order. If the evening consisted of hopping about with another person or two and we took turns buying, it requires a bit more sleuthing to locate it. There have even been moments when thinking the card was lost forever, I replaced it at my local branch, only to have a server say, "Hey! I think we have your card from the last time you were here in the register drawer." The initial reaction is, "Why didn't you guys call me, or email me or something and let me know it was here?" But let's face it, leaving it behind was my oversight and restaurants have enough to do without managing the "Land of the Lost."
Professionally, credit card stuff can turn ugly when mistakes (by both the guest and the server/bartender) are made. Here's a list of some of the more common, yet serious offenses that occur in the hospitality industry:Servers changing the charge tip that was written in because the sale amount, the tip and the bottom line addition doesn't add up favorably. The bottom line is the bottom line, and that's what the customer signed off on. One of my favorite servers was recently fired from his full time job for this very thing.Guests changing the charge tip that was written in when an automatic gratuity for a large party was previously acknowledged and agreed upon.Servers collecting two or more checks at once and processing the wrong credit card for the wrong check. Not only is that time consuming to correct, but banks don't rush making those adjustments. It ends up holding up the customer's cash and looks as if the establishment has erred again.Clubs and bars charging a "Closing Out Fee" when a card is left behind by mistake. Because tabs must be closed out to process (batch) the credit card sales for the day, college towns have been known to charge a fee of 10 to 20 percent to do so. That is obviously in lieu of the tip, and I doubt it's legal without a signature.
Servers who lift credit card numbers and actually steal from guests via loosely secured Internet purchases. That happened a few years back at a great little place in Falmouth and while they bounced back from that nightmare, it's the first thing that crosses my mind when I go there. That is indeed a rare event, and could have happened in any industry.Equally as unthinkable is the person who writes, "cash" in the tip line but doesn't really leave any cash on the table. Yes, that really happens and while it may not be a credit card offense per se, it is an intentional act of seriously bad karma.
Credit and debit cards are a way of life, especially in the hospitality industry and fortunately, I am more careful with other people's plastic than my own. Like my cellphone, which now has an iPhone tracking app, I am considering putting velcro on my debit card and stashing a $20 bill in a secret place for those rare moment when I pull into the full service Big Apple.
The Down Low: In our crazy business, despite front-and-back-of-the-house employee squabbles and seniority/newbie backstabbing, we usually have a great deal of respect for each other. Many places wisely show the love by offering special late night (post shift) happy hour prices and food discounts for fellow hospitality workers. In addition to pumping up revenue for the house during slow periods, the staff is ecstatic because no one, and I mean no one, tips in cash more lavishly than a kindred spirit with sore feet.
Every place that holds a hospitality night it is swell in my book, but few top Otto's Pizza who has rack cards saying, "Please join us in good faith for a bona fide "Industry Night" for food and beverage service workers." They host that to-do the Monday after each first Friday and not much makes me feel better about making $3.75 an hour than a free slice of Otto's Pizza.
On an incremental basis, nearly 25% of HDFC Bank's credit cards are now sourced from rural and semi-urban markets even as 40% of Indian population is believed to be in want of a bank account.About IC card in China used for paying transportation fares and for shopping. The bank has started setting up point-of-sale (POS) terminals across merchant establishments in these geographies to encourage customers in using credit cards.
"The potential for growth is significantly high in smaller markets since the penetration of credit cards in these areas is relatively low. In the last couple of years, we have increased our investments on the acquisition side and expanding the number of POS terminals in rural and semi-urban locations," Parag Rao, senior executive vice president and business head for credit cards and merchant acquiring services at HDFC Bank, told Business Standard.
He added that HDFC Bank is now offering credit cards along with other retail banking products across most of its branches in rural and semi-urban centres. "We aim to cover all the locations where we have branches. All our rural and semi-urban branches, barring a few that have started functioning recently, are offering credit cards to the bank's customers," Rao said.
The bank currently has more than half of its 3,062 branches in rural and semi-urban markets. The private lender opened 518 branches in 2012-13 of which 459 were in these markets. HDFC Bank is currently the largest issuer of credit cards in the country with a portfolio of 6.53 million cards. On an average, it issues around 70,000 cards every month.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)