Chapter 21:

Archeological Dating

Correlating Egyptian and other archaeological dates with the Bible

This chapter is based on pp. 1069-1087 of Other Evidence (Volume Three of our three-volume Evolution Disproved Series). Not included in this chapter are at least 46 statements by scientists. You will find them, plus much more, on our website: evolutionfacts.com.

We did not have room in this book for part of this chapter. Fortunately, you will find all of it on our website, evolution-facts.org. Go to the chapter entitled, "Archaeological Dating." If we had included that chapter, we would have had to leave out other very important material that you needed in this book. The dating of archaeological remains is not a basic aspect of evolutionary theory, as are most of the other topics discussed in this book. —Yet it is part of a larger effort to destroy the foundations of Christianity.

Creationist books are deeply concerned with vindicating the six-day Genesis 1 Creation of our world, as well as the worldwide Flood in Genesis 6 to 9. Throughout this book, we have consistently observed that the scientific evidence abundantly confirms both of those great historical events.

Yet there is another aspect of Bible confirmation which is generally neglected: the historic dating of the centuries which followed the Flood. Secular humanists have ignored and misinterpreted evidence in an effort to push ancient history back thousands of years. The objective has been to contradict Biblical dating in order to undermine confidence in what the Scriptures teach.

There is abundant evidence indicating that the earliest instances of human civilization always occurred in the Near East. Such evidence is mute testimony to the fact that the Ark came to rest near there. (The "mountains of Ararat" of Genesis 8:4, 16 were but a short distance northwest of the Fertile Crescent.) Experts in the study of ancient writings have found that the earliest king-lists are also to be found in that general area, which includes Egypt.

The key to correctly interpreting—or misinterpreting—archaeological finds lies in ancient Near Eastern dating; for after the Flood people first multiplied in the Fertile Crescent, and from there migrated to Egypt. All archaeological dating is currently based on certain conclusions made about Egyptian dates.

On our website, evolution-facts.org, you will find a careful analysis of Near Eastern and archaeological dating; and, in the process, you will learn that an immense cover-up has taken place.

Because of this, archaeological discoveries made in Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and the Mediterranean Islands are misdated and misinterpreted.

Because secular humanists control a majority of the exploratory funds, written reports summarizing conclusions drawn from digs are dated incorrectly. Archaeological evidence since the mid-20th century has been twisted to undermine confidence in people, places, and events mentioned in the Bible.

A systematic misinterpretation of Near Eastern dating has resulted in discoveries being applied to incorrect time periods. The dating system has been carefully altered so events in the ancient Near East will not fit the Old Testament account.

Based on Biblical records, the date of the Flood has been variously set at 2300 to 4500 B.C. As a result of careful analysis, the present writer places that event at 2348 B.C. The year, 2348 B.C., would be approximately equivalent to 1656 A.M. (anno mundi, "year of the world"), or about 1,656 years after Creation.

Within a century after the Flood ended, Egypt could have been entered and its first kingdom established.

In reality, archaeologists need the Bible. It is the oldest historical book in the world. Archaeologists labor under very difficult conditions and need accurate historical records.

Here are eleven basic problems of modern archaeology:

1 - Excavations are time consuming. At the present rate, the excavation of Hazor will require 800 years to complete.

2 - Normally only a very small section of an entire site can be excavated, and very little is dug down to bedrock.

3 - The findings are lopsided. The most discoveries are never made, because they have burned or rotted away.

4 - Even those rare discoveries of documents are often undecipherable or misdated, in accordance with the Egyptian dating error.

5 - Only a little more than 200 of the 5,000 sites in Israel and Jordan have been excavated, and less than 50 are major digs.

6 - As occurred at Heshbon, sometimes archaeologists do not know where they are digging, and thus misinterpret the results.

7 - Preconceived opinions keep the archaeologists from the truth. All digs in Moab and Ammon were misinterpreted because it was assumed those nations could not have existed that early.

8 - Less than 5% of the excavated documents are published within 10 years; most never will be.

9 - Uniformitarian thinking prevails. It is theorized that a layer of sediment four feet thick must have taken twice as long to lay down as one two feet thick.

10 - Dates are based on pieces of pottery; and the pottery styles are based on incorrect Egyptian dating.

11 - It is the director of the dig, and the organization funding him, which decides what the conclusions will be.

Here is what you will find in the "Archaeological Dating" chapter on our website:

The importance of archaeology. The attempt to wed Darwinism to archaeological dating. Actually, the experts keep lowering the date of the Egyptian First Dynasty. Why the Bible is an important ancient historical record. Manetho’s Egyptian king-list and problems with it. *Velikovsky and Courville’s studies. Events after the Flood [very interesting reading]. The radiocarbon dating cover-up. *Velikovsky’s letters and responses. More problems with radiodating. The accuracy of eclipse dating. The problem with Egyptian partial eclipse dating. The theorized "Sothic Cycle." The "astronomically fixed" Egyptian date fraud. The "rising of Sothis" and serious flaws in the theories. Plus an appendix study on "Near Eastern Mounds."

Lowering the Dates—The very earliest Egyptian date would be the one assigned to the beginning of its first dynasty. Menes was the first king. Cerem, in his Gods, Graves, and Scholars, tells us that the date assigned to that earliest Egyptian event, as estimated by several scholars, has gradually lowered with the passing of time: Champollian: 5867 B.C. / Lesueur: 5770 B.C. / Bokh: 5702 B.C. / Unger: 5613 B.C. / Mariette: 5004 B.C. / Brugsch: 4455 B.C. / Lauth: 4157 B.C. / Chabas: 4000 B.C. / Lapsius: 3890 B.C. / Bunsen: 3623 B.C. / Breasted: 3400 B.C. / George Steindorff : 3200 B.C. / Eduard Meyer: 3180 B.C. / Wilkinson: 2320 B.C. / Palmer: 2224 B.C.

At the present time that earliest of Egyptian dates is considered to be c. 3100 B.C., with some considering 2900 B.C. still better.

"In the course of a single century’s research, the earliest date in Egyptian history—that of Egypt’s unification under King Menes—has plummeted from 5876 to 2900 B.C. and not even the latter year has been established beyond doubt. Do we, in fact, have any firm dates at all?"—Johannes Lehmann, The Hittites (1977), p. 204.

Date of Creation and the Flood—It should be mentioned at this point that the date of the six-day Creation Week is variously estimated by creationists as somewhere between 4000 and 8000 B.C. As a result of the scientific evidence presented in this series of books, the present writer places it at approximately 4000 B.C.; 4004 B.C. would make it 4,000 years before the birth of Christ.

The date of the Flood is variously set at 2300 to 4500 B.C. As a result of the evidence presented in this book, the present writer places it at 2348 B.C.

Admittedly, both dates are very conservative; yet they are in harmony with both the evidence and the Bible, which is the most accurate ancient historical record known to mankind. The year 2348 B.C. would be equivalent to 1656 A.M. (anno mundi,; that is, about 1,656 years after Creation).

But the current theory, based on an incorrect theory of Egyptian dating, and unreliable Carbon-14 data, has made archaeological finds to not support the Bible account of what took place anciently. For example,

The Walls of Jericho—Garstang’s earlier excavation of Jericho discovered they had "fallen flat outward." He dated them to the time of Joshua’s attack of the city as recorded in Joshua 6. Garstang also found that this earlier level of Jericho, when the wall fell flat, was thicker than usual and burned. What obviously happened was that, instead of looting the city, it had been set afire. This would make a larger tell level than normal. (You will recall that Achan was the only one who took some of the loot.) Thus, the excavation of Jericho perfectly fitted the Biblical record in every way.

But then the humanists gained control of archaeological digs.

When Kathleen Kenyon began her dig at Jericho in the 1950s, she dug a small slice—and authoritatively announced that Garstang was wrong; the walls dated to a time that could not possibly fit the Bible account. But Kenyon’s dates were based on Egyptian dating assumptions. Why do scholars accept Kenyon’s opinion of Jericho’s wall dates as so very accurate, when the issue of Gezer’s walls continues on in such disarray?

Location and Dating of Sodom—When it came to the excavation of a tell on the south end of the Dead Sea, there was great anxiety regarding whether or not it should be identified as ancient Sodom. The implications of that particular Biblical story being true would not be good for our liberal modern world, with its acceptance of practices such as those conducted in Sodom.

For a rather broad overview of the entire problem, we suggest that you to go on the internet to our study "Archaeological Dating," on our website: evolution-facts.org.

"If a C-14 date supports our theories, we put it in the main text. If it does not entirely contradict them, we put it in a footnote. And if it is completely ‘out of date,’ we just drop it."—Professor Brew, quoted by J.O.D. Johnston, "Problems of Radiocarbon Dating," in Palestine Exploration Quarterly 105, p. 13 (1973).

"The currently accepted absolute chronologies of the Near Eastern civilizations in the second and third millennia B.C. rely ultimately upon the Sothic dating method. Egyptian chronology stands alone as being ‘independently derived,’ and the other contemporary civilizations are dated by cross-reference to it. Powerful arguments against the validity of the Sothic dating method have been presented by Courville and Velikovsky."—David J. Tyler, "Radiocarbon Calibration: Revised," in Creation Research Society Quarterly, June 1978, p. 20.

UNFOSSILIZED DINOSAUR BONES HAVE BEEN FOUND—In 1961, a petroleum geologist discovered a large bone bed in northwestern Alaska. Among them were bones of duckbill dinosaurs, horned dinosaurs, and large and small carnivorous dinosaurs.

At the time, William Clemens and other scientists, from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Alaska, began quarrying the bone bed.

It took 20 years for scientists to accept that these were dinosaur bones. An initial announcement was printed in 1985 (Geological Society of America Abstract Programs, Vol. 17, p. 548).

Immediately afterward, another article describing the site and the remarkable condition of the bones was also published (Kyle L. Davies, "Duckbill Dinosaurs [Hadrosauridae, Ornithischia] from the North Slope of Alaska," Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 198-200).

The problem is that these bones are still in remarkably fresh condition. They are not fossilized. The dinosaur bones have yielded the protein osteocalcin. Since long chain proteins naturally fall apart, such a discovery supports a "recent" age for these fossils (New Scientist, October 31, 1992, p. 18).

Preservation in a relatively fresh state for even 25,000 years is highly unlikely. The obvious conclusion is that these bones were deposited in relatively recent times. This bone bed is stunning evidence that the time of the dinosaurs was not millions of years ago, but perhaps only thousands.

UNFOSSILIZED BLOOD CELLS IN DINOSAUR BONES FOUND—The bones of a beautifully preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex were unearthed in 1990. When these were brought to the Montana State University’s laboratory, it was noticed that "some parts deep inside the long bone of the leg had not completely fossilized" (M. Schweitzer and T. Staedter, "The Real Jurassic Park," Earth, June 1997, pp. 55-57).

Mary Schweitzer and her co-workers took turns looking through a microscope at a thin section of this dinosaur bone, complete with blood-vessel channels.

She wrote: "The lab filled with murmurs of amazement, for I had focused on something inside the vessels that none of us had ever noticed before: tiny round objects, translucent red with a dark center. Then a colleague took one look at them and shouted, ‘You’ve got red blood cells! You’ve got red blood cells!’ "—Ibid.

Then Schweitzer confronted her boss, the well-known archaeologist, "Dinosaur" Jack Horner.

" ‘I can’t believe it,’ she said, ‘The bones, after all, are 65 million years old. How could blood cells survive that long?’ ‘How about you try to prove they are NOT red blood cells,’ responded Horner."—Ibid.

So she tried. And the verdict? "So far we haven’t been able to" (ibid.).

The evidence, that hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein which makes blood red) has survived—and casts immense doubt upon the "millions of years" theory.

Here is that evidence:

The tissue was colored reddish brown, the color of hemogobin, as was liquid extracted from the dinosaur tissue. Hemoglobin contains heme units. Chemical signatures unique to heme were found in the specimens, when certain wavelengths of laser light were applied. Because it contains iron, heme reacts to magnetic fields differently from other proteins. Extracts from this specimen reacted in the same way as modern heme compounds. To ensure that the samples had not been contaminated with heme-containing bacteria (which always lack the protein hemoglobin), extracts were injected over several weeks into rats. No antibodies were formed.

The process of biochemical decay starts soon after death. These cells should long since have disintegrated—unless they are a few thousand years old.

Use the data found in chapter 35, Archaeological Dating, on our website, in preparing answers to the following:

1 - This chapter is not directly about evolutionary teaching, but the dating of ancient history. Why is this chapter important?

2 - The earliest Egyptian date was set at nearly 6000 B.C. Gradually it kept coming down. What date is it down to now? How does that compare with the conservative date for the Flood? Memorize the suggested conservative date for the Flood and Creation.

3 - List 5 of the 11 reasons why modern archaeological work tends to be confused and inaccurate in its conclusions.

4 - Write a paper on the walls of Jericho and the dating of Sodom, as an example of prejudice applied to archaeological findings.

5 - Write a paper on Manetho and the reliability of his king-list.

6 - Write a paper on Velikovsky and Courville’s research into early dating.

7 - Write a paper on the descent from the Ark into Mesopotamia and the Babel incident.

8 - Write a paper on the migration into Egypt.

9 - Write a paper on the radiocarbon cover-up.

10 - Write a paper on eclipse dating.

11 - Write a paper on the Sothic Cycle.

12 - Write a paper on the "rising of Sothis" and problems with the theory about it.

13 - Write a paper on the three Egyptian seasons and the second Egyptian calendar.

14 - Write a paper on the conclusion, as it applies to Manetho, eclipse dating, Sothis, and its rising.

15 - Write a paper on Near Neareastern mounds (in the appendix).


Aviation did not enter the Jet Age overnight, and a decades-long journey to the next propulsion paradigm may already be underway. At NASA, the exploration has begun with plans for ground and flight tests to determine whether hybrid and distributed electric propulsion could be the next disruptive shift in civil aviation.

A wing carried high above a truck racing across the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB, California, in November could provide the first validated data to prove that distributed electric propulsion can offer the promised benefits. The 31-ft.-span wing will carry 18 small electrically driven propellers, and is a precursor to a small X-plane demonstrator proposed under NASA’s new Transformative Aeronautics Concepts program.

In parallel, over the next five years, the agency wants to develop technology for compact, high-power-density electric motors generating 1-2 megawatts—sufficient to power an all-electric general-aviation aircraft or helicopter, a hybrid turbine-electric regional airliner or a large transport with many small engines distributed around the aircraft in ways that make it safer and more energy-efficient.

The sweet spot for a first generation of electric-powered aircraft seems to be between 1 and 2 megawatts, says Ruben Del Rosario, NASA Fixed Wing program manager. But the agency also sees an intersection of unmanned and personal air vehicles around electrical propulsion and increasing autonomy, beginning this spiral exploration with small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) (see page 20) and light aircraft.

“What problems are we trying to solve in general aviation?” Mark Moore, advanced concepts engineer at NASA Langley Research Center, reflects. His answer is many, and they encompass the low efficiency; poor  safety, emissions and ride quality; and high operating costs of some light aircraft and helicopters.

Distributed electric propulsion promises dramatic increases in aerodynamic and propulsive efficiency, and reductions in noise and energy costs. “It is not just about general aviation, but they are earlier adopters at a smaller scale, faster and cheaper,” Moore says.

Electric propulsion is not without its penalties. Energy-storage weights are far worse than those of aviation fuel, and battery-pack costs are high. But electric motors are more efficient than turbines or pistons across a wide rpm range, and power-to-weight ratios are higher; they are quiet, compact and reliable, with zero emissions and energy costs that are much lower than for aviation fuel. And, crucially for aircraft design, efficiency and power-to-weight are independent of size.

“You can have multiple small electric motors with the same output as a large one without much penalty. You can put them anywhere around the aircraft, versus heavy piston engines that can only go in one or two places,” says Joby Aviation’s Alex Stoll, chief designer of the Lotus small UAS and two-seat S2, both vertical-takeoff-and-landing designs using distributed electric propulsion. “You can use them to make a personal air vehicle practical, versus an expensive, noisy, unsafe helicopter.”

To test the premise that the tighter propulsion-airframe integration possible with electric power will deliver efficiency, safety and environmental and economic benefits, NASA has partnered with Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) and Joby to propose the Leading Edge Asynchronous Propeller Technology (LEAPTech) demonstrator as an X-plane testbed for distributed electric propulsion.

A traditional light aircraft needs a large wing to meet the low stall-speed requirement for certification, but this is inefficient in cruise. LEAPTech replaces the big wing with one that is one-third the size for lower drag, and has three times the wing loading for better ride quality. Cruise lift-to-drag ratio at 200 mph is greater than 20, versus 11 for a comparable Cirrus SR22, NASA estimates.

To achieve the required 61-kt. stall speed with such a small wing, LEAPTech mounts an array of small propellers along the leading edge. These accelerate airflow over the wing, increasing dynamic pressure at the leading edge and more than doubling the maximum lift coefficient (CLmax) at low speed. “In computational fluid dynamics, we have seen lift coefficients of 5.5. We need 4.5 for a 61-knot stall,” says Stoll. Unblown, with full-span Fowler flaps deployed 40 deg., CLmax is 2.7, says Moore.

Optimized for low speed, the small-diameter, high-solidity propellers have low tip speeds, around 450 ft./sec. compared with an SR22’s 919 ft./sec., for reduced noise. In addition, they all operate at slightly different speeds to spread the frequencies and reduce the annoyance. The props blow the wing for takeoff and landing, but fold back to reduce drag in cruise, at which point wingtip propellers optimized for high speed provide propulsion, operating inside the wingtip vortices to increase efficiency.

The intent of LEAPTech is to modify a Tecnam P2006T light twin with the new wing, to provide a direct comparison between conventional and distributed-electric propulsion. But the first step is the Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed (Heist), a truck-mounted rig that will enable NASA to ground-test a full-scale wing at the 61-kt. stall condition at lower cost than a wind-tunnel test.

“NFAC [National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex wind-tunnel facility] would have cost more than the entire budget [for Heist],” says Moore. “And we need to get to this scale to have reasonable data.” The wing will float on an airbag system in the truck to minimize vibration from the lakebed, and the remaining noise will be removed during post-processing to obtain lift measurements with less than 5% error, he says.

ESAero is the prime contractor for Heist. Joby Aviation is building the test rig, wing, motors and props. Combined, the 18 propellers will generate 300 hp and the wing will provide 3,500 lb. of lift. ESAero will conduct shakedown tests on a paved runway before the lakebed tests in November. “We will get ground vibration . . . [but] are confident we can get clean data on lift, drag and pitching moment,” says NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center project engineer Sean Clark.

In parallel, NASA is beginning fundamental research to understand and overcome the challenges of electric propulsion. Now taking shape at Armstrong, the Airvolt test stand will be used to characterize each element of a single-string propulsion system, from batteries to propeller. A year from now, this will be upgraded to the Airvolt Hybrid, with a Rolls-Royce M250 turboshaft, electric motor/generator and enlarged batteries. This will be arranged so that both the gas turbine and electric motor can drive the propeller, and will be used to look at power-transfer stability issues with parallel hybrid propulsion.

In February 2016, NASA Armstrong plans to begin the Heist power management and distribution (PMAD) ground demonstration. This will be a static propulsion test stand co-located with Airvolt and used as a long-term research platform. NASA plans to evaluate stability issues inherent in parallel-hybrid electric bus architectures, characterize aggregate thrust control of many motors, investigate algorithms for thrust-augmented yaw control and to assess power generation and consumption problems such as catastrophic load shedding, says Clark.

“We will take the wing off the truck, put it on a static test stand and start to do power distribution studies,” he says. These will include shifting between batteries and turbine-driven generator feeding the distributed power bus, and stabilizing the high-frequency electrical loads from the motors. “We will study how to schedule power for yaw control, and how to integrate prognostic health monitoring,” including sensors on the motors, Clark says.

A distributed propulsion electronic controller will translate thrust targets input by the pilot into individual thrust commands for each of the propulsors, while managing the balance between power generation, storage and consumption. A control algorithm will manage the loading of the generator, real-time capacity of the energy storage buffer and power demand from the collection of propulsors. Another algorithm will synthesize individual propulsor commands based on total thrust targets and generator- and stored-power availability.

Heist will use 100-120-volt electrical systems. “That’s not optimal, but it allows us to do [Heist] within a year, and we do not care about weight,” says Andrew Gibson, ESAero business-development president. NASA plans to move to a 600-volt system to reduce distribution wiring weight. “It’s the sweet spot; [there are] no arcing concerns and components are available today,” says Clark.

To follow PMAD, NASA plans hardware-in-the-loop tests to integrate flight-like electric propulsion hardware with simulated aircraft flight controls. Next up will be aircraft-in-the-loop “iron bird” tests with real controls surfaces, flight-ready control system and flight-like energy storage components. The iron bird would test systems for a kilowatt-class distributed electric propulsion X-plane, the LEAPTech, and a 1-2 megawatt hybrid-electric flight demonstrator, notionally one of NASA’s Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.

Clark says the iron bird will be used to assess actual electric-propulsion implementation effects such as real-world volume and weight constraints, to address failure modes and recovery strategies, identify and resolve interdependencies between propulsion and other systems, validate aero-propulsive efficiency gains and demonstrate realistic performance benefits from propulsion-airframe integration.

While it seems futuristic, distributed electric propulsion is on the near horizon for light aircraft. Companies such as Joby and secretive Zee.aero are designing personal aircraft around the concept, knowing they must wait for batteries and motors to improve. Joby plans to fly the S2 in 1-2 years and certificate it in “a few years,” says Stoll, who believes “by 2020 electric aircraft will fly 500 miles at 200 mph.”

Moore believes electric propulsion, coupled with autonomy, will spark a breakthrough in on-demand aviation and that the technology will move up to larger aircraft over time, because,  just as “the PC came before the Internet, transformative vehicles lead transformative capabilities,” he says. “As you go up in size, the benefits decrease because larger aircraft are already more efficient. But it is still compelling.”


Major Studies Detail Climate Change Effects on Food Security, World Governments

The environmental story of the year went largely undiscussed in the presidential-election campaign, but it was the proverbial elephant in the room, one that started trumpeting as the year drew to a close.

No fewer than three major institutions, from different quarters—the Central Intelligence Agency, the World Bank and the United Nations—released reports warning of dire scenarios associated with climate change.

The World Bank, using current climate-change models, estimated a 7.2-degree Fahrenheit (4°C) temperature rise by the end of the 21st century, with a potentially devastating impact. This includes parts of the United States as well as in the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East increasing 4.3 degrees in temperature, Mother News Network reported. The November 16 report also predicted sea levels’ rising on the coasts of Mexico, Indian, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Mdagascar, the Philippines and Vietnam. It would also inundate island nations, rendering them uninhabitable, the report said.

In addition, the World Bank said, the ocean would become more acidic, making survival difficult for coral, which would threaten biodiversity and food sources. Also affecting food security would be drought, which could hit 44 percent of global cropland, and water, which could be hard to come by in parts of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, Mother Nature Network said.

"A 4°C warmer world can, and must be, avoided—we need to hold warming below 2°C," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said when the World Bank released Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided on November 16, 2012. "Lack of action on climate change threatens to make the world our children inherit a completely different world than we are living in today. Climate change is one of the single biggest challenges facing development, and we need to assume the moral responsibility to take action on behalf of future generations, especially the poorest."

Those who do not feel morally compelled to care can turn to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) report, which came out a bit earlier than the World Bank’s document. The CIA detailed ways in which U.S. national security would be compromised by climate change.

Hurricane Sandy, which delayed the report’s release by 10 days, provided a perfect example of what the report was talking about, the study’s main author, John D. Steinbruner, told The New York Times.

“This is the sort of thing we were talking about,” he said. “You can debate the specific contribution of global warming to that storm. But we’re saying climate extremes are going to be more frequent, and this was an example of what they could mean. We’re also saying it could get a whole lot worse than that.”

Sandy killed dozens, shut off power to millions and caused gasoline and other shortages for days. The report detailed ways in which climate change could lead to more such conditions, in turn fueling instability within governments and international conflicts between countries, which in turn could necessitate U.S. intervention. Overall, the report said, the U.S. is not prepared to deal with such drastic situations and changes.

“It is prudent to expect that over the course of a decade some climate events—including single events, conjunctions of events occurring simultaneously or in sequence in particular locations, and events affecting globally integrated systems that provide for human well-being—will produce consequences that exceed the capacity of the affected societies or global system to manage and that have global security implications serious enough to compel international response,” said the report, Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis, which the CIA commissioned from the National Research Council.

The United Nations put a finer point onto the discussion its announcement on November 20, 2012, that 2011 saw greenhouse gases reach a record high concentration in the atmosphere. In the 2011 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the U.N. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that the warming effect of the high concentration of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, among other greenhouse gases, had increased by 30 percent between 1990 and 2011.

The WMO was talking not about current emissions, but about the gases that have been retained by the atmosphere. Since 1750, which is when the industrial revolution roughly began, 375 billion metric tonnes of carbon from mostly fossil fuel emissions have been released into the atmosphere, and half of it has stayed there.

“These billions of tonnes of additional carbon dioxide in our atmosphere will remain there for centuries, causing our planet to warm further and impacting on all aspects of life on Earth,” said WMO's Secretary-General, Michel Jarraud, in a statement. “Future emissions will only compound the situation.”

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Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on
Yet still after 26 years of extensive research and CO2 death threats to our children the world of science has never ever said any crisis "WILL" happen, it's always with a "might" happen or "could" happen. Deny that! If a maybe is good enough to condemn your own children to the greenhouse gas ovens, then Bush can take a back seat to our lying and fear mongering. WE are the new neocons.


From writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, the creators of the groundbreaking "The Matrix" trilogy, and producer Joel Silver comes the live-action, high-octane family adventure "Speed Racer."

The only way for Speed to save his family's business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at his own game. With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), Speed teams with his one-time rival-the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox)-to win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible.

Slated for release on May 9, 2008, "Speed Racer" marks the Wachowski brothers' first writing/directing collaboration since "The Matrix" movies. Joel Silver, who previously worked with the Wachowskis on "The Matrix" movies and "V For Vendetta," is producing the film under his Silver Pictures banner.

The film stars Emile Hirsch ("Alpha Dog") as Speed, Christina Ricci ("Black Snake Moan") as Trixie, Matthew Fox (TV's "Lost") as Racer X, and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon ("Dead Man Walking") and John Goodman ("Evan Almighty") as Mom and Pops Racer. Rounding out the main cast are Australian actor Kick Gurry ("Spartan") as Sparky; Paulie Litt (TV's "Hope & Faith") as Sprittle; Roger Allam ("The Queen," "V For Vendetta") as Royalton; and Asian music star Ji Hoon Jung (popularly known as Rain), making his major feature film debut as a rival driver.

Based on the classic series created by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida, the live-action "Speed Racer" will showcase the kind of revolutionary visual effects and cutting-edge storytelling that have become the benchmarks of the Wachowski brothers' films.

"Speed Racer" is a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, of a Silver Pictures Production.


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bag full of groceriesMany people say a successful trip to the grocery store starts with a shopping list.

Reading labels can help you make good food choices.

Planning a day’s worth of meals using smart food choices might seem overwhelming at first. Sample menus show you how easy it can be.


Date: April 18, 2009 3:19:10 PM MDT (CA)
To: "Mike Godwin" <>
Subject: Re: Upshot and status

You keep saying that you take no issue with "the site itself." You have, however, challenged the domain name, which under the law can only be judged in conjunction with the site. You properly have chosen not to try to explain why you have valid claims under American trademark law WRT the domain name in conjunction with the site, even though your letter explained that you are proceeding because of your sacred obligation to enforce your "trademark," and that you are concerned about whether Internet users would be misled into believing that there is an affiliation or connection with your client, which is of course a paraphrase of the Lanham Act. If you are ready to conceed that you will not pursue any trademark claims in court, because you now recognize that precedent stands against you, that is good progress. Please let me know.

Apart from trademark law, the only basis you gave in the demand letter to compel Wikipedia Art was a possible violation of "the UDRP." But that doesn't get you anywhere, because the UDRP just provides an alternative forum for pursuing trademark claims. Even if you end up deciding not to "sue Wikipedia Arts in trademark," in the sense of filing an action in court, and instead decide to file a UDRP claim, I have indicated that WE will seek a declaratory judgment of non-infringement because we are not willing to allow this dispute to be resolved by reference to private law instead of the law of the United States that governs both your client and mine.

So you really need to choose. If you are making a legal demand on the ground that Wikipedia Art has a legal obligation to yield to you, at least to the extent of giving you concessions that will be enough that you refrain from instituting litigation in either a public or private tribunal, then we should deal with it that way, and you can undertake to explain why you believe Wikipedia Art has any obligation to yield. If on the other hand, you are ready to retract the LEGAL demand, and simply ask Wikipedia Art to give you the domain name or otherwise alter its site out of kindness, then it makes sense for the discussion to proceed on that basis.

Paul Alan Levy
Public Citizen Litigation Group
1600 - 20th Street, N.W.
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We need a three-stage time-space-time switch with N=100. We need to use to 10 TSIs for stage 1 and 3 and 4 crossbars in the second stage. Draw the configuration diagram, calculate the total number of crosspoints and the total number of memory locations for the TSIs.
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Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam's Pilot Flying J company has agreed to pay a penalty of $92 million over the next two years and to fully cooperate with the ongoing federal investigation of fraud against its customers.

The deal reached Monday with federal prosecutors will avoid criminal charges against the company.

"We, as a company, look forward to putting this whole unfortunate episode behind us, continuing our efforts to rectify the damage done, regaining our customers' trust, and getting on with our business," Haslam, Pilot Flying J's CEO and chairman, said in a statement. "We've been committed from the beginning of this to doing the right thing, and that remains our commitment."

Haslam bought the Browns for just over $1 billion in 2012.

In a news release, U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said:

"The terms of this agreement, including the significant monetary penalty and the very serious consequences if Pilot fails to comply, demonstrate quite clearly that no corporation, no matter how big, influential, or wealthy, is above the law. In addition, the company's agreement to fully cooperate with the United States, including its obligation to identify its employees' criminal conduct, will assist the ongoing federal investigation.


Mission & Program Goals

The Master of Arts in Counseling program at Messiah College is designed to help prepare students to become competent counselors who are capable of working with a variety of clients in multiple settings. As such, they will be prepared to serve others in the counseling process, develop their leadership abilities in the counseling field, and seek to reconcile relationships within the counseling setting.

Program Objectives for the Graduate Counseling Program

To provide students with the specific knowledge and skills required of clinical mental health counselors, school counselors, or marriage, couple and family counselors as delineated by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

  1. To prepare students to meet the educational requirements for state licensure as a licensed professional counselor (LPC) or as a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), or for certification as an elementary and secondary school counselor in the state of Pennsylvania.
  2. To prepare students to understand, evaluate and engage in scholarship related to the field of counseling.
  3. To help students become self-aware and self-reflective leaders who understand and address issues of racism, discrimination, sexism, power, privilege and oppression which impact the practice and policy levels of counseling in a multicultural society.
  4. To provide students with the knowledge and skills that enables them to incorporate faith, religion, and spirituality into counseling, with a particular emphasis on how Christian faith connects with each specialized area of study.
  5. To understand a worldview that facilitates forgiveness and reconciliation within relationships in the counseling field.


A system to clean massive amounts of contaminated water at the site of Japan’s nuclear disaster was shut down Saturday, just hours after it began full operations, because a component filled with radioactivity much more quickly than expected.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, is investigating the cause and isn’t sure when it will restart the system, company spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said.

The system was suspended in early Saturday when workers detected a sharp radiation increase in the system’s cesium-absorbing component, Matsumoto said. Radioactivity in one of 24 cartridges, which was expected to last for a few weeks, had already reached its limit within five hours, he said.

The water treatment system is to be eventually connected to a cooling system so the treated water can be reused. But treating the water will create an additional headache -- tons of highly radioactive sludge will require a separate long-term storage space.

Of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors, more than 30 -- including six at Fukushima Dai-ichi and several others that stopped due to the quake -- are out of operation.

Resumption of about a dozen reactors undergoing regular checkups is up in the air amid growing local residents’ fear of nuclear accidents. Many of the plants’ hometown officials have said restarting any pending reactors would be impossible amid the ongoing crisis.

Kaieda, however, said Japan needs the power. “Stable electric supply is indispensable for Japan’s reconstruction from the disaster and its economic recovery,” he said in a statement.

The inspections focused on measures to reduce the risk of hydrogen explosions inside containment buildings as one of the lessons learned from the Fukushima crisis, the world’s worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.


Objectifying Objectivity

Context and the Changing Mobile Landscape

Physical Context

Device Context

Information Context

Socio-Cultural Context

So What?

Anthropology and Usability: Getting Dirty

There are significant methodological and philosophical differences between ethnographic processes and laboratory-based processes in the product development cycle.  All too frequently, proponents of these data collection methods are set at odds, with members on both sides pointing fingers and declaring the shortcomings of  the methods in question.  Methodological purity, ownership and expertise are debated, with both ends of the spectrum becoming so engrossed in justifying themselves that the fundamental issues of product development are compromised.  Namely, will the product work in the broadest sense of term. One side throws out accusations of a lack of measures and scientific rigor.  The other side levels accusations about the irrelevance of a sterile, contextually detached laboratory environment.  At the end of the day, the both sides make valid points and the truth, such as it is, lies somewhere between the two extremes in the debate.  As such, we suggest that rather than treating usability and exploratory work as separate projects, that a mixed approach be used.

So why bridge methodological boundaries? Too frequently final interface design and product planning begin after testing in a laboratory setting has yielded reliable, measurable data.  The results often prove or disprove the functionality of a product and any errors that may take place during task execution.  Error and success rates are tabulated and tweaks are made to the system in the hopes of increasing performance and/or rooting out major problems that may delay product or site release and user satisfaction.  The problem is that while copious amounts of data are produced and legitimate design changes ensue, they do not necessarily yield data that are valid in a real-life context.  The data are reliable in a controlled situation, but may not necessarily be valid when seen in context. It is perfectly possible to obtain perfect reliability with no validity when testing. But perfect validity would assure perfect reliability because every test observation would yield the complete and exact truth.  Unfortunately, neither perfection nor quantifiable truth does exist in the real world, at least as it relates to human performance.  Reliable data must be supported with valid data which can best be found through field research.

Increasingly, people have turned to field observations as an effective way of checking validity.  Often, an anthropologist or someone using the moniker of “ethnographer” enters the field and spends enough time with potential users to understand how environment and culture shape what they do.  Ideally, these observations lead to product innovation and improved design.  At this point, unfortunately, the field expert is dropped from the equation and the product or website moves forward with little cross-functional interaction. The experts in UI take over and the “scientists” take charge of ensuring the product meets measures that are, often, somewhat arbitrary.  The “scientists” and the “humanists” do not work hand in hand to ensure the product works as it should in the hands of users going about their daily lives.

Often the divide stems from the argument that the lack of a controlled environment destroys the “scientific value” of research (a similar argument is made over the often small sample size), but by its very nature qualitative research always has a degree of subjectivity.  But to be fair, small performance changes are given statistical relevance when they should not.  In fact, any and all research, involves degrees of subjectivity and personal bias.  We’re not usually taught this epistemological reality by our professors when we learn our respective trades, but it is true nonetheless.  Indeed, if examining the history of science, there countless examples of hypothesis testing and discovery that would, if we apply the rules of scientific method used by most people, be considered less than scientifically ideal James Lind’s discovery of the cure for scurvy or Henri Becquerel discovery the existence of radioactivity serve as two such examples.  Bad science from the standpoint of sample size and environmental control, brilliant science if you’re one of  the millions of to people to have benefited from these discoveries.  The underlying problem is that testing can exist in a pure state and that testing should be pristine.  Unfortunately, if we miss the context we usually overlook the real problem. A product may conform to every aspect of anthropometrics, ergonomics, and established principles of interface design.  It may meet every requirement and have every feature potential consumers asked for or commented on during the various testing phases. You may get an improvement of a second in reaction time in a lab, but what if someone using an interface is chest deep in mud while bullets fly overhead.  Suddenly something that was well designed in a lab becomes useless because no one accounted for shaking hands, decrease in computational skills under physical and psychological stress, or the fact that someone is laying on their belly as they work with the interface.  Context, and how it impacts performance with a web application, software application, or any kind of UI now becomes of supreme importance, and knowing the right question to ask and the right action to measure become central to usability.

So what do we do?  We combine elements of ethnography and means-based testing, of course, documenting performance and the independent variables as part of the evaluation process.  This means detaching ourselves from a fixation with controlled environments and the subconscious (sometimes conscious) belief that our job is to yield the same sorts of material that would be used in designing, say, the structural integrity of the Space Shuttle.  The reality is that most of what we design is more dependent on context and environment than it is on being able to increase performance speed by 1%.  Consequently, for field usability to work, the first step is being honest with what we can do. A willingness to adapt to new or unfamiliar methodologies is one of the principal requirements for testing in the field, and is one of the primary considerations that should be taken into account when determining whether a team member should be directly involved.

The process begins with identifying the various contexts in which a product or UI will be put to use.  This may involve taking the product into their home and having them use it with all the external stresses going on around them.  It may mean performing tasks as bullets fly overhead and sleep deprivation sets in.  The point is to define the settings where use will take place, catalog stresses and distractions, then learn how these stresses impact performance, cognition, memory, etc.  For example, if you’re testing an electronic reading device, such as the Kindle, it would make sense to test it on the subway or when people are laying in bed (and thus at an odd angle), because those are the situations in which most people read — external variables are included in the final analysis and recommendations.  Does the position in bed influence necessary lumens or button size? Do people physically shrink in on themselves when using public transportation and how does this impact use?  The idea is simply to test the product under the lived conditions in which it will find use.  Years ago I did testing on an interface to be used in combat.  It worked well in the lab, but under combat conditions the interface was essentially useless.  What are seemingly minor issues dramatically changed the look, feel, and logic of the site. Is it possible to document every variable and context in which a product or application will see use?  No. However, the bulk of these situations will be uncovered.  And those which remain unaddressed frequently produce the same physiological and cognitive responses as the ones that were uncovered.  Of course, we do not suggest foregoing measurement of success and failure, time of task, click path or anything else.  These are still fundamental to usability.  We are simply advocating understanding how the situation shapes usability and designing with those variables in mind.

Once the initial test is done, we usually leave the product with the participant for about two weeks, then come back and run a different series of tests.  This allows the testing team to measure learnability as well as providing test participants time to catalog their experience with the product or application.  During this time, participants are asked to document everything they can about not only their interaction with the product, but also what is going on in the environment.  Once the research team returns, participants walk us through behavioral changes that have been the result of the product or interface.  There are times when a client gets everything right in terms of usability, but the user still rejects the product because it is too disruptive to their normal activities (or simply isn’t relevant to their condition).  In that case, you have to rethink what the product does and why.

Finally, there is the issue of delivery of the data.  Nine times out of ten the reader is looking for information that is quite literal and instructional.  Ambiguity and/or involved anecdotal descriptions are usually rejected in favor of what is more concrete. The struggle is how to provide this experience-near information.  It means doing more than providing numbers.  Information should be broken down into a structure such that each “theme” is easily identifiable within the first sentence.  More often than not, specific recommendations are preferred to implications and must be presented to the audience in concrete, usable ways.  Contextual data and its impact on use need the same approach.

A product or UI design’s usability is only relevant when taken outside the lab.  Rather than separating exploratory and testing processes into two activities that have minimal influence on each other, a mixed field method should be used in most testing.  In the final analysis, innovation and great design do not stem from one methodological process, but a combination of the two.

Semiotics and Brand Development

A brand is more than one iconic symbol, it’s a system of interconnected images, actions and signs that create a response in your consumers. While it is often put down to something as simple as logo design (which is anything but simple, in fact), identity and branding work extends beyond the creation of a company logo or trademark. The identity of any particular corporation, product or service encompasses a variety of materials including business cards, marketing materials, staff uniforms, advertisements, commercials, web presence, etc. All of this is created to establish an identity that the consumer comes to value beyond the direct benefits of the company.

A part of establishing the company brand, the identity work is important in conveying the principles, ideas and standards of the organization for which it is developed. Designers work together with strategists, copywriters, marketing directors and a host of other professionals to ensure that a brand identity is communicated effectively and efficiently from the client to the consumer. And in an age of social media and assumed shared interests, the communication is increasingly a multi-faceted conversation.

Most design firms and agencies create branding and identity work for their clients on some level, others specialize in identity and branding only. In any case, brand development involves deep thinking and a commitment to understanding the symbolic interconnectedness of the parties engaged with the brand. This is the art and science of semiotics. But why bother?  There are a number of simple reasons.

Semiotics can help you dig into the underlying meanings in communication and establish a richer connection with consumers. On a practical level, a semiotic approach allows you to determine why an ad, a web page or a new product’s design is or isn’t working. It allows you to isolate components, but it also allows you to determine how they work or don’t work in relation to other elements.

Over time symbols change and without constant care brands fall apart. A brand can keep making small changes, but ultimately, this process doesn’t work. Eventually you have to strip right back to bare bones and rebuild the brand completely. Semiotics can be used to deconstruct brands and categories, exposing truths that can be used to reconstruct them, and make them stronger.

Semiotics can help articulate the problem you actually have, as opposed to the symptom you are trying to address. The approach allows you to move beyond intuition and get to the deeper issues behind what is happening with your brand.

A semiotic approach can help you improve your qualitative work, by helping you redevelop your line of questioning, or listening for different things. Rather than focusing on traditional needs-based questioning and observation, a semiotics approach uncovers deeper issues and subconscious triggers that strengthen the meaning behind the brand.  There is a strong tradition in ethnographic research specifically of employing a semiotic approach.  Both methods are observational and interpretive. Ethnographic research aims to understand what consumers do and why they do it, rather than what they say. In other words, it assumes that human behavior is more complex than what people tell you. Similarly, semiotics assumes that how human beings interact with and understand the world is more than what they tell you.

Ultimately, semiotics creates richer, deeper briefs and platforms that creative teams can actually work from. Rather than simply providing data, it provides avenues of expression that the creative team can build upon and use to explore a range of opportunities for communication. It can provide platforms from which to strengthen your communication, be that advertising or design.

As Halloween Approaches (Even in September)

Getting Over Ourselves: Make research meaningful

Translating culture and opening markets

Question: How does shopping convey status and wealth?

Bricks, Clicks and the “New” Retail Paradigm

Since the emergence of internet shopping, companies have tended to structure their way of thinking about shopping channels in silos that reflect their operations. Shopping behavior is segmented according to the channel and the shopper is relegated to a specific trajectory. Shopping is usually thought of in terms of work – procuring goods, meeting needs, etc.  Shopping is seen first as a function and secondarily as something that serves emotional and social needs. Even as we talk about retail therapy, we revert in marketing to discussions about seemingly rational behavior.  But it isn’t so simple anymore. Unfortunately, with the ubiquity of internet access, be it from a fixed location or via a mobile device, the truth is those lines between the off-line and online experience have become so blurred as to be meaningless.  Rather than individual silos, shopping processes function as part of a complex, adaptive system that is increasingly driven by social interaction and socio-cultural needs, not transactional needs.

If a company is to grow its brand (and thereby its bottom line), it is wise to think about how this system emerges and understand how the act of shopping has fundamentally changed at a deep cultural level. What this means for shopper marketing is that the best retail experiences, those with the highest degrees of loyalty and sales, are those that project a story and invite the shopper into the narrative.

Fifty years ago, the retail space was the only real way to interact with customers.  Yes, there was the option of the catalog, but it was, and is, a one-way conversation.  The retail space was more of a transactional space and advertising was simply a list, though cleverly done, of the goods available.  As shopping has become more convenient and the transactional element has been driven into new realms, and the retail spaces and brands that everyone admires have begun to touch shoppers on a more visceral level.

Shopping is about more than getting more stuff.  Brick and mortar shopping as it is practiced today in particular jumps the line between a functional/transactional and social/symbolic experience. Shopping is as much about entertainment, establishing cultural roles and teaching cultural norms (or rebelling against them) as it is about anything else. Often, the decision to enter into one retail space over another is about experiential elements more than it is price or convenience. Because experience is rooted increasingly in dialog between members of social groups (e.g. moms, bicyclists, rockabilly fans, etc.), the retail experience actually begins well before we set foot in the store, in conversations where people congregate.

Digital shopping (online or with a mobile device) is highly personal, portable and an increasingly participatory experience. When it first began, the online shopping experience was largely fixed in one location and the interactions, primarily transactional in nature, were almost exclusively between an individual and what a company chose to present to them.  But this process was quickly modified as people began posting product reviews, blogging about their experiences, etc. Even so, the process of investigating a company was largely between an individual and either an institution or an abstract person in an unknown location.  And then social media was born changing the nature of the web and the shopping landscape forever. The highly individual, highly transactional nature of the online shopping experience became subject to the same social and cultural drivers as the brick and mortar experience.

Shopping ahs become as much about structuring peer groups as the transaction. The shopping and the purchase itself represent the groups we interact with and our places/roles in them. Because social media tools help us craft public identity, so do our purchase choices. With the increased use of mobile devices online shopping, and hence social media interaction at the point of shopping, has moved from the individual sitting at his or her kitchen table to a very public dialog. Peer group members (no, Ginger, we didn’t say “demographic” or “segment”) interact with each other and the retail environment simultaneously, creating a shopping experience that can draw literally thousands of people into the conversation from the point of consideration to the point of purchase.

Retailers can blend the physical and social experience of brick and mortar shopping with the participatory (read: social network) experience of digital shopping to achieve a greater percent of brand loyalists (which currently and historically sits at 5%) and higher multi-channel revenue streams.

The first step is to examine in a bit more detail why people participate in digital shopping and what it means for the retail experience in its totality.

  • Social network: When shopping is done with others, as a family or with a friend, it is as much about establishing social bonds and being an outing as it is about fulfilling specific needs. It doesn’t matter if the shopping is in a physical location, in virtual space or a blending of the two.  Shopping has replaced the park, the lake, etc. Retail spaces and social media spaces that encourage people to interact both with each other and the brand lead to a greater sense of belonging and reinforce the roles people have adopted for that shopping excursion. For example, placing small sweets throughout a lingerie store (returning to our bra example) increases the sense of romanticism and allows people to “play” to the underlying storyline the shopper and her counterpart are seeking. Add to this the ability to share that experience with others and it becomes more real, more meaningful.  That in turn builds both interest and loyalty amongst your shoppers.
  • Entertainment and gaming: The store is indicative of a stage, a field on which we play games.  The same is true in social media.  People assume roles which they use to create a game-like environment, one-upping others and competing for cultural, psychic and monetary capital. Even without the direct associations with a specific story line a retail space and the social media environment should still conform to some very basic principles.  Namely, escape, fantasy, and inclusion. The total experience speaks to cultural and psychological triggers of enjoyment and participation. People create memories within places if storylines develop and form personal connections. The stronger the connection, the more likely they are to frequent the space and to buy. A good brand needs to be create a shared identity, connecting the company and the shopper by developing clear imagery and displays that create the sense that there is a narrative behind the façade.
  • Rewards as social influence: Rewards and bonuses are about more than getting goods for cheap.  The underlying motivations are largely drawn from the need to attain a sense of mastery that isn’t too far removed from the pleasure our ancestors derived from the hunt.  Not only do you get the good deal, but your sense of self worth and accomplishment is inflated.  Going beyond the need for mastery is the pride derived from demonstrating to the world that you are skilled.  You gain influence and cultural capital.  Add to the mix the element of social media, mobile social media more precisely, and the validation you receive is immediate and more expansive. The entire world shares in your success and you gain a degree of prestige that is tied to the exact moment of shopping, not as an afterthought. The result is that the brand, the store and the online presence become an integrated experience that is far more powerful for the shopper.

The trick for retailers is determining the proper mix of each of these elements to create the ideal shopping experiences for their brand. In the end, retail shopping is becoming more complex. With the increased use of online shopping and the ease of access to a more and more locations, people are making choices based on underlying desires, not just functional needs. Anything a retailer can do to improve the experience is a key differentiator. Differentiate your store and you increase loyalty and sales.

From Personas to Stories: Creating Better Tools for Design and Marketing

Design ethnography takes the position than human behavior and the ways in which people construct meaning of their lives are contextually mitigated, highly variable and culturally specific. on the central premise of ethnography is that it assumes that we must first discover what people actually do and why they do it before we can assign to their actions and behaviors to design changes or innovation. The ultimate goal is to uncover pertinent insights about a population’s experience and translate their actions, goals, worldview and perspectives as they directly relate to a brand, object or activity, and the role that these pieces play with regards to interactions with their environment. Often, the information results in a large-scale, broad document, but it also often results in the development of personas.

The idea is that personas bring customer research to life and make it actionable, ensuring the right decisions are made by a design or marketing team based on the right information. The approach to persona development typically draws from both quantitative and qualitative tools and methodologies, but because of the very personal nature of ethnography, the methodology often leads the charge. The use of ethnographic research helps the creation of a number of archetype (fictions, in the most positive sense) that can be used to develop products that deliver positive user experiences. They personalize the information and allow designers and marketers to think about creating around specific individuals.

But there are problems with personas. Don’t get me wrong, I believe personas can be useful and help design teams. But I also believe they can reduce the human condition to a series of attributes and lose the spirit of what personas are designed to do. First, in terms of scientific logic, because personas are fictional, they have no clear relationship to real customers and therefore cannot be considered scientific. So much for the science.

For practical implementation, personas often distance a team from engagement with real users and their needs by reducing them to a series of parts. The personas, then, do the opposite of what they are intended to, forcing design teams down a path that gives the illusion of user-centricity while actually reflecting the interpretations or the individual designers. Creating hypothetical users with real names, stories and personalities may seem unserious and whimsical to some teams within an organization and be, consequently, dismissed as so much fluff. But by far, the biggest problem, at least to my way of seeing things, is that while we want to use personas to humanize potential customers and users, we in fact reduce them to objects and a laundry list of actions, personality quirks and minimalist descriptions.

I’m not advocating the dismissal of personas, but I am suggesting that perhaps there are alternatives. One place to start is to admit we are writing fiction when we construct these tools and expand upon that notion. We should be adding to the mix humanistic narratives. Customer novellas, so to speak. It requires more time and effort, both on the part of the person/people creating them as well as those using them, but it also gives greater depth and insight into the needs, beliefs and practices of the people for whom we design and to whom we market. Rather than relying exclusively on a dry report or a poster with a list of attributes.  In this model, the idea is to create a short story in which actors (the eventual personas) engage with each other, a wider range of people, and a range of contexts. Doing so allows us to see interactions and situations that lead to greater insights. It allows us to look at symbolic and functional relationships and tease out elements that get at the heart of the fictional characters we create.

Why is that important? Because it does precisely what personas are meant to do but typically fail at – provide depth and characterization, establish a sense of personal connection between designers and users and provide breakthrough insight and inspiration. Anyone who has read history vs. historical novels is familiar with the idea. It is easy to reduce Julius Caesar to a series of exploits and personality traits, but in doing so we lose the feel for who the man was. A historical novel, in contrast, adds flavor by injecting conversation, feelings, motivations and interactions. We walk away with a feeling for who he was and what affect he had on others, good and bad.

Imagine developing a persona for Frodo from The Lord of the Rings. We could say the following and attribute it to all Hobbits: Frodo is enamored by adventure but frightened by it. He loves mushrooms, has no wife, is extremely loyal to his friends and will work at any task he is given until it is done, regardless of the difficulty or potential for personal harm. He disdains shoes and has a love of waist coats.

There’s nothing wrong with this description, but for anyone who had read the trilogy or even seen the movies, the shortcomings are obvious. We miss the bulk of Frodo’s personality. In exploring the novel, we come to develop a rich understanding of Frodo, a deep understanding of his motivations and personality and his relationship with other members of the party, including the Ring.

For the literalists out there, I am not suggesting we create anything as vast as a novel, particularly one as expansive as The Lord of the Rings, but I am suggesting that we move beyond attributes and create stories that more fully develop the people behind the personas. Several pages of engaging writing is sufficient. Not only does it provide deeper insights, but it engages the reader more fully, inspiring them to go beyond the “data” and explore a wider array of design, brand and marketing options. Again, it isn’t meant to replace personas (or the research report), but to add to it. It requires more effort and time on the part of the person creating it as well as the person consuming it, something people are often disinclined to do, but the end result is better design, greater innovation and a more complete vision of what could be.


Men's Basketball: UConn 85, Central Florida 82

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The Huskies held off Central Florida in Orlando Friday.

The game story.

The box score.

Wich coach is responsible for this win?? Was it George or Jim??

But when the tuff get going, they win. Thebeet staring down the opponent fans?? Is he finally becoming a husky?? Craig making an issue of a made basket--is this Caron or Craig???

Sounds like they had the right stuff for this one...Congratulations all around..


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Financial Planning / Tax Strategies

Subject:  Choosing investments to minimize taxes? Date:  11/29/2000  9:59 PM
Author:  Arlyne Number:  42309 of 121095

My 3 (S) corporate partners and I need help understanding some of the tax implications of invest ing some of our assets long term (7-10 year time frame). Since we are responsible for taxes on interest income, dividends, and capital gains at our respective individual rates, should we try to find investments that tend to give capital gains rather than dividends because of the lower tax rate?

How would different investments such as an S&P 500 Index Fund, tech sector fund, or individual stocks ?

Would a fund managed to avoid taxes be something to consider? We are now investigating if we should pick mutual funds (or other vehicles) designed to avoid or lower taxes. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!


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What does the EEO Access Office do when it investigates my complaint?

What happens if the issue I complained about is not illegal but is unfair?

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Bouchaine Vineyards
Napa, California

Bouchaine VineyardsWhen Gerret and Tatiana Copeland purchased the vineyard property that is now Bouchaine Vineyards with a group of investors in 1981, only a few winemaking pioneers recognized the potential for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Carneros. But the Copelands sensed they were onto something big, became sole proprietors in 1991, and completely rebuilt the winery from top to bottom. A few years later, they acquired adjacent acreage that included two steeply terraced hillsides. Little did the Copelands know that Michael Richmond who founded the nearby Acacia Winery in 1979, secretly envied the potential of their elevated hills, set amidst Carneros' rolling plains.

In 2002, Michael came to work as Bouchaine's general manager and winemaker and encouraged the Copelands to also hire his close colleague Greg Gauthier, who had an impressive background in wine marketing. Together, Michael and Greg help lead a vital team dedicated to growing exceptional grapes and making exemplary wines.

Bouchaine Vineyards has a total of 120 acres planted almost evenly to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with the exception of several acres planted to Pinot Meunier and Pinot Gris. Devoted to sustainable practices as an entire way of life, Bouchaine focuses on deficit and minimal irrigation to achieve the intensity of flavors often associated with dry farming. Rather than the customary 100 gallons of water per plant per year, the winery uses around six to seven gallons. This approach conserves water and encourages the vines to develop deep, self-sustaining roots.

There is a lot to learn about sustainable farming and winemaking practices at Bouchaine. A fascinating small group tour--including a trip through the vineyard via truck, barrel sampling, and wine tasting on the winery's lovely redwood deck--is given each morning to those who make reservations in advance. The winery is bicycle friendly, picnic friendly, and just an all-around friendly place to linger and learn more about the renowned Carneros region and how Bouchaine Vineyards expresses it in the glass.

'09 Estate Chardonnay Bright yellow flower notes, Carneros lime, grapefruit, hint of vanilla cream, butterscotch $25
'08 Estate Pinot Noir Blueberry, black cherry, freshly turned earth, mocha, roasted coffee $45
'08 Carneros Pinot Noir Pomegranate, plum, cherry, nuances of coffee, toffee $30

Tasting Room Open Daily 10:30–6
1075 Buchli Station Rd
Napa, CA 94559

Vineyard tours by appointment, certified sustainable farming, wine club discounts, picnic baskets by reservation


Robert Barrett, PhD

GET UPDATES FROM Robert Barrett, PhD

Beware Syria, Here's Why Ceasefires Fail

Posted: 03/26/2012 8:16 am

A number of years ago, I was asked to help facilitate a weekend retreat for UN diplomats in upstate New York. Attendees were to discuss the nature and complexity of multilateral negotiation. The green forested hills, trickling streams, and deep fireside armchairs were artfully offered up as nature's muse -- sublime props to purge the mind of grey buildings, cafeteria sandwiches, and thick stacks of unanswered mail. Unbound by diplomatic formalities, the esteemed participants were given license to discuss the travails of the world with specific reference to the challenges of multilateralism.

Despite the calming environment, it did not take long to discern two prominent, albeit somewhat contradictory themes in the discussion. The first was the indisputably strong desire by the diplomats to protect citizens of the world against tyranny and violence. Such enlightened vision was, however, made blurry by the complex variants to which the diplomats actually measured violence and oppression. The Achilles heel of multilateral engagement was therefore not that different countries wished to ignore violence, but that they couldn't agree on how to define it -- let alone handle it. Moreover, not everyone agreed on what endgames should look like. Who are the enemies? Who are the terrorists? What is sustainable peace?

Sharing conversation with diplomats of all stripe -- from junior advisors to Security Council members -- proved highly prognostic in view of the multilateral challenges surrounding Syria.

The recent six-point multilateral agreement on Syria is a breakthrough for those seeking to end the country's horrific yearlong bloodbath. The failure of two previous Security Council resolutions fell largely on the broad shoulders of Russia and China, who vetoed the proposals amidst concern that they would ultimately lead to armed intervention in favour of the, as of yet, largely unknown and unproven grassroots opposition groups.

Despite overwhelming agreement that the killing must stop, a lack of shared opinion on whom or what to support now threatens to dash any hope of a ceasefire taking effect. Easier said than done, the theatre of multilateral ceasefire declarations bears many long shadows that conceal any number of well-known perils. In order for Syria's ceasefire to gain traction it is important to understand and be prepared to tackle these known impediments.

The first and perhaps most common reason ceasefires fail occurs when one or both of the parties feel they can still win. In Syria, the opposition feels it has the momentum, while the Syrian army has sustained little real damage. Alternatively, when parties do agree to a ceasefire, it is most commonly attributed to a shared belief that they can achieve more substantive gains at the negotiating table than they can on the battlefield. In Syria, this is unlikely to be an organic process and may require serious multilateral coordination to entice the parties to put down their weapons.

The second most common thorn in the side of ceasefires is the spoiler group. Typically, spoilers feel that the ceasefire is nothing more than a ruse or position of surrender and that the ultimate aim of their efforts -- for example, in Syria, the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad -- will have been thwarted. Spoilers can also arise from the goal-gradient effect, in which parties believe they have simply sacrificed too much to give up or turn back. Responding to spoilers requires significant multilateral cohesiveness, as spoilers will test the resolve of ceasefire participants. Preventing an escalation of renewed warfare is only realistic when parties to a ceasefire agree to jointly denounce and dissociate spoilers as fringe elements -- external to the intent, core principles, and signatories of the agreement.

A third stumbling point for ceasefires comes in the form of warlords or criminals who benefit from continued violence. Whether profiteering from underground trafficking or basking in new group leadership positions, opportunists of all stripe can be found in the chaos of war. As is often the case, continued support for "the cause" is a routinely advertised slogan for these types of combatants who wish nothing more than to see ceasefires put asunder.

Fourth, the resurgence of simmering hatreds and grievances can quickly undo ceasefires. In Syria, ethnic and religious divides and the power differential between them provides for a tenuous ceasefire foundation. True peace, in this sense, is not simply the temporary cessation of hostilities -- it is an amending of the relationships between the parties through power-sharing agreements, new institutions, and cooperative social initiatives.

A fifth impediment to ceasefires is a failure of international ceasefire proponents to adequately monitor the post-ceasefire reconstruction of the society as well as the host nation's security sector reform. Generally, we are very good at starting wars and delivering crushing military defeats, yet we are very poor at following up with costly post-conflict reconstruction plans. Failure to do this may create deep and lasting grievances as citizens experience a palpable divergence between real and anticipated outcomes. Indeed, where little substantial change has followed a ceasefire, the risk of renewed violence is significant. Multilateral peace-building initiatives need to be at the ready any time ceasefires are proposed.

All of this is to say that a strong collective diplomatic call for a ceasefire is only the first step. In this, participatory nations can agree. From here, signatories will be tasked to collectively prepare for the most common impediments and pitfalls to a ceasefire. Syria, being an exceptional complex case, will offer substantial challenge to concerted multilateral efforts. Yet given what is now known of ceasefires -- their successes and their follies -- the international community should be well advised and prepared to help guide Syria and its people through this most challenging time.

Follow Robert Barrett, PhD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Rob_S_Barrett


Vice President for Marketing, Communications and Enrollment

Mr. Cornelius (Kip) Darcy became the Vice President for Marketing, Communications and Enrollment in April 2012.  He is head of all activities involving marketing, public relations, communications, admissions, financial aid and enrollment services.

Mr Cornelius (Kip) Darcy

Most recently, he managed field enablement and communications for Blue Coat Systems, Inc.  At Blue Coat Systems, he developed a communications strategy and organization for a technology-focused 400+ member field team.  Mr. Darcy also spent several years with HP Software, where among other programs he was responsible for expanding technology initiatives to micro banking organizations in Africa.

Mr. Darcy is from San Francisco.


Swollen Lymph Nodes

By McBratney, Susan PhD

What are swollen lymph nodes?

Swollen lymph nodes are also known as lymphadenitis, lymphadenopathy, swollen nodes, or swollen glands. They can occur in any age group or population, but generally occur most often in children.

Your body relies on the lymphatic system to fight off germs, infections, and abnormal substances such as cancer cells. Lymph nodes are an important part of your body’s immune system. Swollen lymph nodes can result from infection, malignancy and autoimmune disorders.

Swollen lymph nodes due to a viral infection often get better without treatment. However, some infections that are due to bacteria or other pathogens need medical attention. Seek prompt medical care if your lymph nodes have been swollen for more than two weeks, or are red, tender, hard, or irregular feeling, or if swelling is increasing.

What other symptoms might occur with swollen lymph nodes?

Swollen lymph nodes often occur with other symptoms that vary in severity depending on the underlying disease, disorder or condition.

Symptoms that may occur along with swollen lymph nodes

Swollen lymph nodes may occur with other symptoms including:

  • Bleeding gums

What causes swollen lymph nodes?

The most common causes of swollen lymph nodes are viral infections, such as the common cold, and bacterial infections, such as strep throat. Immune system disorders and some types of cancer can also lead to swollen lymph nodes.

Common infectious causes of swollen lymph nodes

The more common infectious causes of swollen lymph nodes include viral and bacterial infections.... Read more about swollen lymph nodescauses

We'd like your feedback.

Thank you!

Your Guide to Leukemia

Take a Personalized Health Test


Primitive Decor - Amish Decor - Christian Decor

4-shelf unit made from pallets- laundry room, garage, or outside

DIY Coffee Table. You can buy these crates at any craft store.

Hanging cupboard - I've always wanted a corner cupboard

I only have a few small ones...and none are the genuine ones. I tend to find the ones that are "knock-offs" or I use a lot of "baskets" in my decorating.

I love to display the items in my home that are "treasures"

Primitive Wall Hangings - They are all over my home. It's one of my favorite ways to decorate...along with pictures of my precious children.


Essential Tremor Treatment

How is essential tremor (ET) treated?

A Answers (2)

  • There is no cure for most tremors. The appropriate treatment depends on the accurate diagnosis of the cause.

    Symptomatic drug therapy is available for several forms of tremor. Drug treatment for parkinsonian tremor involves levodopa and/or dopamine-like drugs, such as bromocriptine mesylate  and ropinirole. Other drugs used to lessen parkinsonian tremor include amantadine hydrochloride and anticholinergic drugs.

    Clonazepam and primidone may be prescribed for primary orthostatic tremor.

    Physical therapy may help to reduce tremor and improve coordination and muscle control for some patients. A physical therapist will evaluate the patient for tremor positioning, muscle control, muscle strength, and functional skills. Some therapists recommend the use of weights, splints, other adaptive equipment, and special plates and utensils for eating.

    Surgical intervention, such as thalamotomy and deep brain stimulation, may ease certain tremors. These surgeries are usually performed only when the tremor is severe and does not respond to drugs.

    - Beta blockers, primidone and other drugs for essential tremor.

    - Levodopa or dopamine-like drugs for Parkinsonian tremor.

    - Intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin for dystonic tremor.

    Doctors may also recommend eliminating substances that can trigger tremors including caffeine and other stimulants from the diet. Patients with tremor often benefit from physical therapy, which can help improve coordination.

Did You See?  Close
When is deep brain stimulation used to treat tremor?


Marvel studios planning to make female superhero film

Marvel studios planning to make female superhero film Johannesburg: Marvel studios, which has enjoyed incredible success with movies such as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, is hoping to release a comic book movie featuring a female protagonist.

Speaking at Entertainment Weekly`s CapeTown film Fest, studio boss Kevin Feige said that they have a number of candidates from the comics and from the movies they`ve already made, but it`s just a matter of finding the right storyline, the right filmmaker and the right time, News 24 reported.

Responding to a suggestion from the crowd for a `She-Hulk` movie, he said that it would be pretty great.

So far, the movie studio has only introduced one crime- fighting femme fatale in its films- Scarlett Johansson`s S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow.


The Career Center Internships

Internships can be very helpful to students looking for hands-on expertise. As an intern, you can develop knowledge, competencies, and experience related directly to your career goal.

In addition to learning valuable new skills and getting the practical experience that employers want to see on your resume, you are also given an opportunity to explore your field of interest before “officially” entering it.


If you see fire or smoke in your immediate area, use the RACE acronym as a guide:

R = Remove anyone in immediate danger.
Advise students, staff and visitors to evacuate the building. Evacuate the building via the closest exit doors located away from the fire. Do not use elevators. Assist handicapped individuals to the nearest stairwell landing and advise police and/or firemen of their location. Move well away from the building (500 feet is recommended).

A = Activate the fire alarm.
Pull the nearest fire alarm station. Call the University Police at 424-1212 to report the location of the fire/smoke and any other pertinent information. If the call can not be made safely from the building, call as soon as you find a safe place.

C = Confine and contain.
Close all doors as you leave the building. Do not lock the doors.

E = Extinguish.
Only if you know the location of a nearby extinguisher and can do so without endangering your safety.

If you hear a fire alarm:

  • You must evacuate the building. Ensure that all present in your area also evacuate.
  • Shut off your room lights and close the door. Do not lock the door.
  • Take your backpack, briefcase, purse and coat with you. Do not retrieve these items if doing so would delay your evacuation.
  • Evacuate the building via the nearest fire exit and remain well away from the building (at least 500 feet), until informed by a University Police officer that you may re-enter.


Richmond Coliseum

Virginia's premier event facility, the Richmond Coliseum is located in the heart of historic downtown Richmond. Annual events include Richmond Raiders Indoor Pro Football, Arena Racing USA, WWE, Monster Jam, Harlem Globetrotters, Circus and Disney on Ice, in addition to concerts, comedians and spectaular touring producations like Cirque du Soleil.

For larger conventions, the Richmond Coliseum is located adjacent to the  Richmond Centre, offering an additional 50,000 square feet of space and  14,000 seat sports and entertainment arena. TOTAL EXHIBITION SPACE: 50,000 SQUARE FEET. TOTAL ARENA SPACE: 23,000 SQUARE FEET. SEATING: 13,000 . DIMENSIONS: Lower level: 22,000 square feet. Main arena: 122' visible ceiling height. 22,000 square feet in areas surrounding arena. SPECIFICATIONS: Floor size: 22' x 108' oval. 23,760 square feet, no floor seats. 17,577 square feet, side risers. 15,309 square feet, side/end risers.

 Varies by event


Does my friend have a right to demand conditional baptism if he isn't sure his original baptism is valid?

Full Question

A friend of mine is currently in RCIA. He was baptized as a Protestant, but he is unsure of the validity of his baptism because he does not remember how it was ministered. His priest told him it was valid, but he still wants to be conditionally baptized. Does he have a right to demand conditional baptism to ease his mind?

Your friend has a right to have his prior baptism attempt examined for validity and then, if the validity is seriously doubted, he should be conditionally baptized. Here is the applicable text from the Code of Canon Law:

§3. If in the cases mentioned in §§1 and 2 the conferral or validity of the baptism remains doubtful, baptism is not to be conferred until after the doctrine of the sacrament of baptism is explained to the person to be baptized, if an adult, and the reasons of the doubtful validity of the baptism are explained to the person or, in the case of an infant, to the parents. (CIC 869)

Jim Blackburn


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Paper Topic:

Explaining Relationships

Running head : Explaining relationships

Date : Explaining relationships

A relationship is an association or connection between two or more entities and associated mutual contact . An association is regarded as symbiotic if the parties to the relationship coexist for prolonged periods of time and derive benefits . Many mutualisms encompass intricate control mechanisms and exhibit reciprocal usefulness

Leguminous plants of the Fabaceae family have a certain kind of association with Rhizobium bacteria that exists freely in soil and invades root nodules . Legumes include alfalfa , clover , beans

, peanuts and lupines . Both the legume and the bacteria can exist separately , are facultative . Nitrogen fixation , a bacteria-plant partnership , can however be achieved when the two entities work in coordination . The bacteria intrude into the plant occasioning the appearance of root nodules owing to the increase of plant cells . The bacteria are always alienated from the plant cytoplasm by a protective membrane . Both organisms benefit from this mutual relationship . This relationship allows legumes to synthesize proteins ( HYPERLINK "http /users .rcn .com /jkimball .ma .ultranet /BiologyPages /N /NitrogenFixati on .html http /users .rcn .com /jkimball .ma .ultranet /BiologyPages /N /NitrogenFixatio n .html

Plants require nitrogen to manufacture nucleic acids , amino acids proteins and numerous cellular nitrogenous components . Nitrogen in form of gas (N2 ) is very much abundant in the atmosphere- more then 78 composition . The existence of a triple bond between two nitrogen atoms makes it unavailable fro use by plants . To be utilized by plants nitrogen must be fixed ' or , joined in the...


I'm adding this little bit of fun for our UGN Security members. I'm going to be the orchestrator of this tournament, and will reside over all games that are played to verify wins between UGN Security members.

I've setup a page on my website to provide ranking statistics and information on upcoming games. If you wish to watch a game, let me know, and I'll give you further details.

(redirect to: http://serialcoders.sytes.net/UCC/ )

I need to know all the chess players of UGN Security who is willing to participate. I have written a chess program that may be used by windows and linux WINE users to play the game over the internet. If that is not an option, we may choose to join a Yahoo Games! chess table or something to play the game. Time and date and the means will be negotiated by me with the people playing in a given game.

A chess match between 2 players involves playing 2 games where each player plays white then black. The winner of both games is the match winner. If both players win once, then it is a tie. They can either leave it as a tie, or play 2 more games etc until a match winner is determined. If only one game was played, and one of the players do not choose to play another game, then they forfeit the balancing game resulting in at best, a tie.

The ladder ranking of players is determined by me. Just because a person has the most match wins doesn't make them the best player, and so, I'll rank them according to my best judgement.
Domain Registration, Hosting, Management


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multiple house fires

(WWJ Photo/Pat Sweeting)

Arson Suspected In Trio Of House Fires

WWJ Newsradio 950–07/25/2012

detroit fires-2 062512

Arson Suspected In 16 Detroit Fires

Detroit firefighters kept busy by a suspected arsonist Monday morning. Crews had to tackle 16 fires on the city’s east side. One firefighter was hurt.

WWJ Newsradio 950–06/25/2012