text:
← "My Interest Was in the Background of the Music":
Raymond C. Hamrick and Alan Lomax in Conversation
Sojourn in the South: Billings Among the Shape-Noters →
The "Ins" and "Outs" of Revision
Posted on December 31, 2016 by Raymond C. Hamrick
Editor's note: Raymond C. Hamrick wrote this previously unpublished article on the revision and publication of The Sacred Harp: 1991 Edition in August of 1995. He hoped that the essay—the first on the revision of any edition of The Sacred Harp written by a music committee member—could be useful to members of a future committee tasked with revising the songbook, remarking that "maybe someday when they're doing another revision, they might want to know how in the world that y'all did so good on it and didn't have any complaints."1 Alan Jabbour, founding director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, wrote to Hamrick after reading the essay that "It is just the sort of account we'd all love to have for the early revisions, but at least we have it now for the 1991 revision."2
Hamrick offers a detailed description of the extraordinary song selection and removal process the committee designed, including measures taken to avoid bias toward particular composers and to keep from alienating singers when identifying songs to remove from the book. Hamrick reports on the committee's strict exclusion of gospel music (a departure from mid-twentieth-century editions of the songbook), the inevitable creeping in of "some elements of modern composition," and the deliberate inclusion of songs by northern and western singers given the "vastly increased field of endeavor" that had resulted from Sacred Harp singing's then-recent spread across the United States. The essay also discusses the many aspects of revision aside from its "ins" and "outs," such as researching the song and hymn writers, reworking the book's "Rudiments of Music," and arranging for its printing.
Hamrick was satisfied that the music committee had succeeded in its goal of "maintain[ing] the musical integrity of the book." The continued popularity of the 1991 Edition today, twenty-five years after its publication, is a testament to his and his fellow committee members' efforts.
When first appointed to the Revision Committee for The Sacred Harp in 1987, I felt honored but apprehensive. I knew nothing of the problems to be faced and handled but took comfort in the fact that six other dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists were to be with me. Hugh McGraw was chairman and had had some experience in a previous minor revision in 1971. I had the greatest confidence in his abilities, the full scope of which I was to learn during the five years we spent on this project. Other members were Jeff Sheppard of Alabama, a pillar of the tradition if there ever was one; Toney Smith of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a fine singer and a man I came to like very much; Terry Wootten of Sand Mountain, Alabama, another fine singer and a prominent member of the well-known Wootten singing family; Richard DeLong of Carrollton, Georgia, a singer all his life and a fine teacher; and David Ivey of Alabama, a young computer expert and a staunch traditionalist.
Together we brought about 200 years of experience to the task. Another plus was that we were all very compatible, most of us having been friends for many years. We also all felt that the Book was in need of a full revision, not having had one since 1935 when the Denson edition was brought forth. Also, within the past twenty years, Sacred Harp had spread slowly but surely out of its 150-year secluded home in the South to New England (its birthplace), to the Midwest (especially the Chicago area), and even to the West Coast, where small groups had been trying to sing the music with only a few tattered books of one sort or another. We had a vastly increased field of endeavor now and it was deemed imperative that we do what we could to ensure loyalty and love for what we were to bring forth.
So, the word went out—
A revision is going to be done and you are invited to submit tunes of your composition for possible consideration. The songs must be in dispersed harmony and similar in every respect to the style found in the book already. No gospel music style!
We had immediate response, albeit a trifle thin. Our first step was to call together a picked group of twenty-[three] singers from over the United States—people who could read shape notes like professionals. About half of the group consisted of singers from all over the country—even to California. These singers are listed at the end of this article.
Raymond C. Hamrick's copy of the anonymized manuscript of his "Invocation" (p. 492), from the singing held to record songs submitted for potential inclusion in the new revision of The Sacred Harp.
We met on a Saturday morning at the Samford University music department in Birmingham, Alabama. Hugh passed out a stack of music to each participant—about ninety-three pieces to the stack. I had suggested that all reference to composers be removed and numbers be assigned to each piece so that no personal consideration could enter into the impressions we had of the suitability of each piece. I was doubly thankful for this having been done when I discovered that Hugh had included twenty-one pieces of my composition in the package. I insisted on removing two anthems, leaving nineteen to be considered. For several years Hugh and I had indulged in composing tunes and swapping back and forth and singing them in pick-up quartets. To my surprise I found he had saved them all and put them in the pot with the rest. When I told him I didn't want all of those to be considered, he asked, "Don't you at least want to hear how they sound with a good singing group?" I had to admit that would be nice, so the nineteen songs went into the list.All of the ninety-three songs were taped with professional equipment and the results were excellent. We ran through each song once and then taped. The ability of that group to read music cold was remarkable.
We spent all day Saturday and until 3 PM Sunday and wound up tired and hoarse, but on fire with the realization that we had an endless body of music to choose from. Each member of the group later received a copy of the tapes made at that session.
We of the Committee were directed to sit down at home, listen carefully to the tapes, and make recommendations as to which numbers we considered suitable for inclusion in the revision.
http://originalsacredharp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/492-at-1988_01_17-practice-session-for-91-edition.mp3
Raymond C. Hamrick's "Invocation" (p. 492) at the January 17, 1988 practice session.
At our next meeting in Carrollton, the tapes were played and each tune assigned a number on a scale of one to ten, ten being our first choice. Anything below eight was not really considered. Early on, we found that we were having so many tens that an effort had to be made to cut down this figure since we would have more music than space in the new book. We therefore used "ten plus" and most of the tunes that eventually made the cut were in this category.
We found many tunes that had such an authentic sound that we had difficulty in telling whether they were new or quite old. Some elements of modern composition did creep in inevitably as some of the new composers were trained musicians rather than the amateurs of previous generations. Some of it was quite good, however, and we included it for that reason and also to give our northern and western singers an interest in the book to be published. This has proven to be the right decision.
The second and most difficult aspect of our work now appeared—what to take out of The Sacred Harp book so as to have room for this new material. The book was already as large as we wanted, so the weeding-out began. Computer print-outs of the minutes for the previous ten years showed what songs were never or very rarely used and from these print-outs we compiled a list of those songs that had to go. A strong effort was made to ensure that no song that was a favorite of any living singer would be removed. Also, the pagination was not to be affected for the rest of the book.
Contributors to The Sacred Harp: 1991 Edition at the singing unveiling the book's new songs, Birmingham, Alabama, December 15, 1990. Seated (left to right): P. Dan Brittain, Jeff Sheppard, Judy Hauff, Raymond C. Hamrick, Charlene Wallace, Joyce Harrison, Ted Mercer. Standing, front (left to right): John Hocutt, Glen Wright, Neely Bruce, Bruce Randall, Hugh McGraw, David Ivey. Standing, back (left to right): Phil A. Tabor, Ted Johnson, Richard DeLong, Terry Wootten, Toney Smith, Jim Carnes. Not present: Timothy R. Gilmore, David Grant.
Some changes were made that were considered beneficial to the singers, such as the printing of titles and poetry being standardized and an intensive perusal for errors in spelling and note placement, which resulted in several hundred corrections. It was suggested, and agreed upon, that the footnotes which had first been put in place by Joe James in 1911 would be left out. The material in these footnotes in many cases was incorrect and repetitive and we felt that the added space achieved could be used to put in more new music. This, I think, is probably the only step that brought some degree of criticism—mostly, I think, from academia. The singers themselves seemed not to mind.
At the time, the idea was that a "Companion to The Sacred Harp" be issued at a later date and these footnotes and biographies of the composers be included. To date, this has not been followed up—there having been little demand. [Singers' interest in a companion to the songbook did build, leading eventually to the 2010 publication of David Warren Steel's Makers of the Sacred Harp, available from the Sacred Harp Publishing Company.—Ed.]
At any rate, the weeding-out process proceeded and some sixty pages were made available for the new music. The public was given ample opportunity to protest any tune being removed but no objections were recorded and we moved ahead with filling in the slots. Each member of the Committee was given a group of new music to study and asked to make recommendations to the full committee. Each song was played, the recommendations made, and discussion among the members took place. There was a surprising unanimity of opinions on practically all of the compositions. We finished this with most of the music selection completed. Other music had been trickling in, however, and it was decided to have a second session of recording at the headquarters building in Carrollton. At this time, a somewhat different group of singers recorded the later submissions and several of these were deemed good enough to be added to the original selections.
http://originalsacredharp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/50t-practice-session-2-1991-edition.mp3
Daniel Read's "Mortality" (p. 50t) at the trial session in Carrollton, Georgia.
With the selection process completed, the burden then shifted to Hugh and two or three of the committee who had some experience in layout and printing. Every song, old and new, was closely checked for accuracy in spelling and in note placement. Several hundred corrections were made. Also, Dr. [Warren Steel] and Dr. [William J.] Reynolds and Mrs. [Mary Lou] Reynolds were asked to provide up-to-date corrections on composers and dates. This turned out to be a very complex and time-consuming operation—and one in which a huge vote of thanks was due these researchers. [Read Michael Hinton and David W. Music's tribute to William J. Reynolds, a recipient of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company's posthumous citation, in vol. 4, no. 1 of the Newsletter.—Ed.]
It was also felt that the rudiments needed re-working, these being somewhat jumbled and incomplete. Dr. John Garst of the University of Georgia at Athens, a widely known and knowledgeable student of early American music, was asked to do this job. His first submission was a remarkably complete treatise on music. The only drawback was that there was not space available for the complete work. Additionally, some parts were too advanced for the usual singing school. Asked to re-do it and compress it into a smaller package, he agreed and produced a model of brevity but with all the essential ingredients.
Now the emphasis was on printing, and Hugh began a long series of trips to Tennessee to choose the paper, the cover, the type, and the thousand other details that had to be settled. In this phase I began to appreciate the remarkable talents of Hugh McGraw, and the tremendous dedication of the man. He showed why his influence has been so strong throughout the years—not only in the Sacred Harp heartland, but in the emerging areas especially.
Packet featuring the new songs added to the 1991 Edition.
As the publication date drew near, Hugh began to formulate plans for an elaborate introduction of the new music to the singers. This was to be in the auditorium of Samford University in Birmingham. Special books containing only the new music were printed for the approximately 350–400 singers from all over the country who were invited to attend. All contemporary composers were to be honored by leading this huge group in singing his own music. All but one composer attended and the ability of these singers to sight-read new music was phenomenal. It was professionally audio recorded and the sound is probably the best ever put on tape. Many copies were sold and singers everywhere used them to learn the new songs. It was a preparation like this that practically assured the new book of wide acceptance—and that's what happened.
Raymond C. Hamrick leads from a special packet featuring the new songs added to the 1991 Edition, Birmingham, Alabama, December 15, 1990.
http://originalsacredharp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/RCH-leads-503-at-91-edition-launch.mp3
Raymond C. Hamrick leading his song "Lloyd" (p. 503) at the 1991 Edition unveiling in Birmingham, Alabama.
The 1991 edition of The Sacred Harp was first used by a Sacred Harp class at an all-day singing at Jacksonville, Alabama, on February 2, 1992.
The first printing was quickly exhausted and also the second. The third printing is now half gone. Fifty books were recently shipped to London, England, as a result of a teaching trip to England in 1994 by one of our committee, Terry Wootten.3
This, then, is a brief record of a successful and extended five-year program to complete a thorough, and, I think, memorable revision of the venerable Sacred Harp. Our goal was to maintain the musical integrity of the book and I feel we succeeded.
Hamrick directs readers to a list of the twenty-eight singers he reports as having gathered to sing the first batch of songs submitted for potential inclusion in the new revision of The Sacred Harp, but no such list is appended to the typescript of Hamrick's that is the only known surviving copy of this article. Hamrick's box of notes from the 1991 Edition revision process, however, includes these two lists of twenty-three and fifteen singers, respectively, at the singings of submitted songs held in Birmingham and Carrollton.
First Recording Session of Music to Be Considered for 1990 Edition
All Attribution (Tune) Removed
Music sung by select group of Sacred Harp singers in Birmingham, Alabama, January 16–17, 1988, at Samford University. From this music the Music Committee will choose the music to be put into the new edition of The Sacred Harp.
Texas: Tom Owens, Dr. William Reynolds
Mississippi: Dr. Warren Steel
Louisiana: Dr. Harry Eskew
Chicago, [Illinois]: Ted Mercer, Ted Johnson, Marcia Johnson, Judy Hauff, Melanie Hauff, Mary Rose Ogren,4 Larry Nohrwehr
Georgia: Charlene Wallace (Waco), Richard DeLong (Carrollton), Hugh McGraw (Temple), Raymond Hamrick (Macon), Martha Ann Stegar (Atlanta)
Virginia: Dan Brittain
Alabama: Toney Smith (Tuscaloosa), Buell Cobb (Birmingham), Jeff Sheppard (Glencoe), Shelbie Sheppard (Glencoe), Terry Wootten [(Ider)], David Ivey [(Huntsville)]
Second Recording Session, Music Being Considered for 1990 Edition (44 Pieces)
[Sacred Harp Publishing Company Headquarters, Carrollton, Georgia,] October 1989
Treble: Buell Cobb, Richard DeLong, David Ivey
Alto: Judy Hauff, Charlene Wallace
Tenor: Jeff and Shelbie Sheppard, Terry Wootten, Ted Mercer, Melanie Hauff, Hugh McGraw
Bass: Toney Smith, Dan Brittain, Ray Hamrick, Jim Carnes
Thanks to the Hollingsworth family for sharing the version of this essay that Raymond C. Hamrick shared with them—the only known surviving copy—enabling its publication in this issue of the Newsletter.
Raymond C. Hamrick, interview with the author, Macon, GA, April 3, 2014. [↩]
Alan Jabbour to Raymond C. Hamrick, August 4, 1998, Box 3, Folder 7, Raymond Hamrick Papers, Archives and Manuscript Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. [↩]
Hamrick later added the following: "Note: in 1996, eight cases of books—a total of sixty-four books—were shipped to London."—Ed. [↩]
Hamrick notes that the group that gathered in Birmingham included singers as far from Alabama as California, yet his list of singers does not include a Californian. Hamrick may have had Mary Rose—who moved to California soon after this session—in mind.—Ed. [↩]
About Raymond C. Hamrick
Raymond C. Hamrick (1915–2014) served as a member of the Music Committee that edited The Sacred Harp, 1991 Edition and was president of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company. A watchmaker by trade, Hamrick was a prolific composer. In addition to his six songs in The Sacred Harp, hundreds of his compositions are collected in The Georgian Harmony.
View all posts by Raymond C. Hamrick →
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2 Responses to The "Ins" and "Outs" of Revision
Janet Fraembs says:
This was such an exciting time for me as we in Charleston, Illinois, eagerly anticipated the release of the new book. Several of us were able to attend the introductory singing in Birmingham. It was obvious, as Raymond Hamrick details, that everything about the book and its release was well-planned. It has certainly stood the test of time!
Robert Vaughn says:
In his recollections Raymond wrote, "Some elements of modern composition did creep in inevitably." Any idea what kind of composition he was referring to with the words "modern composition"? Thanks!


Every Shabbat, the community gathers in our social hall for a Kiddush following Shabbat services. Kiddush is usually around noon. Thanks to our Kiddush Sponsors!
To sponsor an upcoming Kiddush, please fill out the form below.
Thank you! To pay your Kiddush pledge by mail, please send your check to Anshe Sfard, 2230 Carondelet St, New Orleans, LA 70130.


text:
Tech Student to Travel to Budapest on a Fulbright Fellowship
Atlanta | Posted: May 6, 2003
Georgia Tech Media Relations
Laura Diamond
laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu
Jason Maderer
maderer@gatech.edu
Last spring, computer science and applied mathematics major David Eger left Budapest, Hungary, after studying math in a semester abroad program. He's been trying to find his way back ever since. So he did what any enterprising student would do: he applied for a Fulbright Fellowship. This spring, Eger found out he'll be returning to Budapest courtesy of the U.S. State Department, making him the second Tech student in two years to win the fellowship.
"If you go to a country where the food is wonderful and the people are awesome, you just can't wait to get back. There is a great candidness to the people and to the country. Their mathematicians are second to none. It's just beautiful ,and I want to go back," said Eger.
The Fulbright program was created in 1946 with legislation sponsored by Sen. J. William Fulbright. A fervent believer in cultural exchange, he reasoned that nations would be less likely to go to war against each other if people could study abroad and learn about each other's culture, a philosophy Eger has taken to heart.
"There are a lot of far off places that we may hear about on the news, but we have no concept of what they are really like," said Eger.
On his first trip, Eger rented a room from an 85-year-old Hungarian woman. Eger didn't speak much Hungarian and she didn't speak much English, so they spoke to each other in the only language that was mutual - German. Living with her was an amazing experience, Eger said. Her husband was in the military, and she had lived through several wars. She was an eyewitness to history.
Fulbright advisor Amy Bass Henry said Eger's enthusiasm made him the perfect Fulbright candidate. "I'm so glad he was awarded the Fulbright. He is very passionate about Hungary and math."
Eger will spend a year taking graduate-level math in Budapest and then plans to return to the states to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science.
"There's a beauty to math. There's a bit of finality. Once you're done proving something in math, you're done," said Eger.
The Fulbright Fellowship will pay for his travel, tuition, books, as well as room and board. Sponsored by the U.S. State Department, the domestic component of the international program awards about 1,000 grants for American students to pursue international research. More than 140 countries participated in the program this year.
Fulbright Fellowship Program
Created By: Matthew Nagel
Created On: May 5, 2003 - 8:00pm

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Here are only a few examples of what members of the OBEA proudly do for the community of Old Bridge.
Jonas Salk Middle School– Teachers make friendly sidewalk greetings with chalk to welcome the students to the new school year.
The photos below show my room before and then after 23.5 hours of (volunteer) work over the course of five days.
Before and After photos of my classroom at McDivitt School, Colleen Kenny, Second Grade.
Madison Park School– Speaking with parents and providing information at Open House Night.
Southwood School– Open House Night, giving out free materials for students.
Sandburg Middle School– Giving out highlighters for students to use in their classes.


text:
Q: C# : Use different fields from class in a generic method according to it's type parameter I have a class that has multiple generic fields and a generic method that has to use an field according to it's type parameter. Is this possible and how to do this ?
public class MongoService
{
    private readonly IMongoCollection<User> users;
    private readonly IMongoCollection<Function> functions;
    private readonly IMongoCollection<Group> groups;

    public MongoService(IMongoSettings settings)
    {
        var client = new MongoClient(settings.ConnectionString);
        var database = client.GetDatabase(settings.Database);

        users = database.GetCollection<User>("user");
        functions = database.GetCollection<Function>("function");
        groups = database.GetCollection<Group>("group");
    }

    // User, Function and Group derives from MongoDocument
    public async Task<T> GetById<T>(string id, string[] fieldToFetch) where T : MongoDocument
    {
        FilterDefinition<T> filter = Builders<T>.Filter.Eq("id", id);
        ProjectionDefinition<T> projection = Builders<T>.Projection.Exclude("_id");

        // SOMETHING should be :
        //  - users if GetById<User> is called
        //  - functions if GetById<Function> is called
        //  - groups if GetById<Group> is called
        var document = await SOMETHING // ?
            .Find(filter)
            .Project<T>(projection)
            .FirstOrDefaultAsync();

        return document;
    }
}

A: I would just add a private method to get the relevant collection, instead of keeping them as members of the class:
private IMongoCollection<T> GetCollection<T>()
{
    var collectionName = typeof(T).Name.ToLowerInvariant();
    return database.GetCollection<T>(collectionName);
}

and then use it like this:
public async Task<T> GetById<T>(string id, string[] fieldToFetch) where T : MongoDocument
{
     // ... filter and projection code here ...
     return await GetCollection<T>()
        .Find(filter)
        .Project<T>(projection)
        .FirstOrDefaultAsync();
}

Note: This only works well if you name the collection the same as the type you use to represent it in c#, only with all lower letters - as the code in the question shows.

A: Easy. You can just use: if (typeof(T) == typeof(Function)). But if the fields all work the same you should prefer Zohar's solution

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Dr. Sara Bekyan graduated from Yerevan State Medical University in 1997 and New York University College of Dentistry in 2007. She is also a graduate of a one year full time advanced postgraduate program in Cosmetic Dentistry from NYU College of Dentistry. Dr. Sara Bekyan is using the latest technology, the best labs in the USA, and materials to ensure that her patients receive the most comprehensive and advanced dental care.
A vested member of the dental community, Dr. Sara Bekyan holds membership in the American Dental Association, American Dental Education Association, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Pennsylvania Dental Association, Dental Society of Chester County and Delaware County, and Academy of General Dentistry. Dr Sara Bekyan continues to take continuing education courses, always surpassing the state license requirements.
Dr. Cabrera graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine and completed his General Practice Residency at the State University of New York in Syracuse, NY. His desire to treat medically compromised patients and restore complex cases in dentistry led him to practice hospital- based dentistry and treat bedside medically- fragile patients. He then expanded his knowledge in Periodontology, Prosthodontics and Oral Surgery, including dental implant placement and wisdom teeth extraction, by attending Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry and went on to complete his Master's in Oral Biology. Furthermore, he continued to treat patients with complex oral conditions at Temple Episcopal Hospital and trained under the Misch Institute of Oral Implantology, becoming a Diplomate of the International Congress of Oral Implantology.
Dr. Cabrera focuses on complex implant placement cases using the latest CT scan technology for sinus lifts, complete maxillary and mandibular restorations, "All on Four" hybrids, ridge augmentation techniques, impacted wisdom teeth extractions and immediate dental implant placements. Throughout his career,he has acquired his passion for soft tissue grafting, and practiced with the latest materials and techniques to assure good results and minimum patient discomfort.
Dr. Cabrera is dedicated to providing the best possible results for his patients. He is bilingual in Spanish and English, and has various affiliations such as, the American Dental Society, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Academy of Periodontology, the Golden Key International Honor Society, and the International Congress of Oral Implantology.
Outside of dentistry, Dr. Cabrera enjoys running, biking, offshore fishing, mechanics and traveling.


Italian food isn't just pasta in red sauce or hearty slabs of lasagna. From fish that's served very simply to bucatini alla gricia (pasta with pork jowl), Kansas City's Italian restaurants range from the old-school to places that veer towards lighter fare.
On KCUR's Central Standard, the Food Critics discussed the difference between Italian and Italian-American food — then they searched for the best Italian food in and around Kansas City.


text:
Nato nel Massachusetts, fece la sua apparizione sul palcoscenico nel 1863 a Utica (New York), ne La figlia del reggimento di Gaetano Donizetti. Qualche tempo dopo, ebbe grande successo ne Le Blanc the Notary e in Evangeline (1873). Attore versatile, passò a recitare Shakespeare o Mirabeau diventando, in seguito, uno degli attori preferiti dal pubblico dell'epoca. Nella sua carriera, prese parte - dal 1911 al 1924 - anche a diversi film.
In uno di questi, Lo sciocco del 1920, trasposizione per lo schermo di una sua commedia di Broadway, interpretava il padre di Buster Keaton: il film fu il primo lungometraggio dove il comico ottenne, per raccomandazione di Douglas Fairbanks, un ruolo da protagonista, e servì a lanciarne definitivamente la carriera.

Filmografia
 The Coward's Flute, regia di Ulysses Davis - cortometraggio (1912)
 Fathers and Sons - cortometraggio (1912)
 Lucky Jim - cortometraggio (1912)
 David Harum, regia di Allan Dwan (1915)
 Lo sciocco (The Saphead), regia di Herbert Blaché, Winchell Smith (1920)
 Tre pazzi saggi (Three Wise Fools), regia di King Vidor (1923)
 True As Steel
 So This Is Marriage?, regia di Hobart Henley (1924)

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: SQLException: Io exception: The Network Adapter could not establish the connection WHEN I GAVE MY LOGIN id,pwd ...
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    org.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.list(SessionImpl.java:1121)
    org.hibernate.impl.QueryImpl.list(QueryImpl.java:79)
    com.fanniemae.rbc.rollup.service.RLSchemeMgmtService.getLoanAttributes(RLSchemeMgmtService.java:82)
    com.fanniemae.rbc.rollup.ui.UICache.initialize(UICache.java:42)
    com.fanniemae.rbc.rollup.ui.RollupActionServlet.init(RollupActionServlet.java:22)
    javax.servlet.GenericServlet.init(GenericServlet.java:212)
    org.jboss.web.tomcat.security.SecurityAssociationValve.invoke(SecurityAssociationValve.java:182)
    org.jboss.web.tomcat.security.JaccContextValve.invoke(JaccContextValve.java:84)
    org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:102)
    org.jboss.web.tomcat.service.jca.CachedConnectionValve.invoke(CachedConnectionValve.java:157)
    org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:262)
    org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:844)
    org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.process(Http11Protocol.java:583)
    org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$Worker.run(JIoEndpoint.java:446)
    java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:595)

A:
java.sql.SQLException: Io exception: The Network Adapter could not
  establish the connection

This line in the stack trace looks like it's not able to connect to the database. Either the URL is wrong or the server is not running. Check both the server and the URL.

A: You need to check several things, check if the username and password are ok, check if the server accept remote connections, check the privileges of user, check if the database port is open (firewall), check the local firewall and check if your host has access to the server (ping ip server)


It's "go" time. Your team has painstakingly done their research and now you are on deck to pitch a significant talent management investment to key stakeholders in your organization.
Before it's your turn to enter that conference room, take a moment to review these guidelines that will help lead your team to "buy-in" success. After all, business units across your organization have competing priorities. You need to show them why an investment in talent management serves their business area well. This is your team's chance to bring everyone on board.
Clearly, a solid talent management strategy can pay off. Be sure to share relevant stats like this in case some colleagues still labor under the outdated "HR is a cost center" mindset.
Go deeper: Join me and Saba CFO Pete Low on March 15, 2018 for a webinar, "Building the Business Case for Investing in Talent Management."
Below you'll find some ideas for pitching to key internal business leaders. Remember, everyone has a competing priority for company budget, so you'll need to skillfully communicate what's in it for them. Remember, you're not just pitching an abstract concept-you're offering strategic approaches and tools that can help these stakeholders and the organization reach its goals.
Pitching a #talentmanagement investment to your organization? Here's what to say.
You know that the primary objective of the sales organization is to meet and exceed their sales targets. Show them how a talent management solution will take away their pain on issues that matter to them. Use real and relevant examples such as how a currently onerous product launch and sales training process can be transformed by real-time micro-learning, access to videos and a central place to socially share sales best practices, challenges and solutions. Show them how they can link development and performance management and measurement, so their reps can outperform.
Insider tip: Find your hero in sales. The sales VP understands why the current patchwork talent management platforms and tools just don't cut it for their busy sales organization.
The IT organization aligns their investments to strategic corporate priorities, but chances are, HR may not be at the top of that list. To secure buy-in with the CIO, you'll need to speak to what the talent management investment isn't. It's not a gigantic IT time drain because it's usually a cloud-based platform which requires significantly less internal technical support. They'll want to understand how it fits into the HR IT ecosystem, any HRIS integration considerations and they'll want technical details on cloud security and data governance, as well as total cost of ownership.
Insider tip: Ideally, you'll have worked with IT in advance on articulating requirements for the solutions you're proposing and developing the business case. If you haven't, spend some critical time with them before you present to the rest of the organization so that they are a trusted ally in the pitch meeting.
Know your audience, and remember HR and finance have more in common than you think! The CFO balances the responsibilities of financial controls with business partnership and performance. This means the finance leader must help the organization develop strategy, obtain resources, and deliver its strategic objectives sustainably. Show finance how a talent management investment aligns with the overall strategy and can help support performance measurement and analysis to drive business outcomes.
Insider tip: Don't forget the finance leader is also a people leader. Aligning the F&A function with delivering the organization's objectives also involves developing an effective talent recruitment and management strategy to attract, develop, and retain finance talent and the skillsets required to build practice excellence for their team. Your talent management investment can help them do this.
These are your people. Get ready to wow them! Set the table with metrics from any internal surveys that show employees want better ongoing feedback and connection to business objectives or more opportunities for professional career growth and development. Tout the benefits of better employee engagement, higher employee satisfaction and increased rates of employee engagement.
Insider tip: Share stories about high performers and high potentials who are making a difference in the organization. Paint a picture of how these employees can become employer brand advocates with succession planning, career development and leadership training. And with HR analytics close at hand, the HR team can help drive evidence-based decision making for the company.
Want to know more about how to pitch a talent management investment to your C-Suite? Check out our on-demand webinar, "Building the Business Case for Investing in Talent Management" featuring Saba CFO Pete Low. Or, check out our ebook "Making The Business Case for Talent Management."
Learn how to develop an effective business case that delivers compelling facts and figures to back up the benefits of investing in talent management systems and processes.


Mad Catz ships the Tritton Detonator stereo headset, the first official co-branded gaming headset designed for use with Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming system. The Detonator is a wired headset with 50mm neodymium drivers, padded adjustable headband,plush around-the-ear earcups, detachable boom microphone, and in-line remote control.
Mad Catz's Detonator features Selective Voice Monitoring (SVM) that allows gamers to enable or disable the ability to hear their own voice. Other than use with XBox 360, the headset also works with wide range of music player, mobile phone and audio devices. It will be released in 7 October for $79.99.


This remix was inspired by the events following Jenova's escape from Shinra Headquarters resulting in the death of Shinra Sr. I view this is an homage to Rufus, Jenova and also the confrontation between Cloud and Rufus on top of Shinra HQ.
There are fragments of the Shinra, Jenova and Those Who Fight themes lurking in this Electronic Orchestral Composition. Hope you like it.


When you're shopping for a new or used car there are many dealerships near Sanford that you could choose to visit. But not all of those dealerships offer the high-quality inventory and stress-free buying experience that you'll find at Hendrick Chrysler Jeep. We're committed to creating a simple and enjoyable environment for our customers to shop for their next favorite Chrysler or Jeep, and we do this by offering a large variety of reliable vehicles, quality auto repairs, and easy car financing. You'll feel right at home at our dealership, as our friendly staff is happy to assist you with any of your automotive needs. You can browse our new Chrysler and Jeep inventory or shop for used cars near Sanford, NC. When you find something you like stop by our Chrysler Jeep dealership for a test drive. We're located a short drive from Sanford - simply enter your location below to get step-by-step directions to our showroom!


text:
Q: Automatically simplify redundant arithmetic relations I am looking for a way to automatically determine, e.g., that (a < 12) & (a < 3) & (c >= 4) is the same as (a < 3) & (c >= 4). I looked into Matlab's symbolic toolbox and SymPy in Python, but these are apparently only capable of simplifying purely Boolean logic (e.g., simplify(a & b | b & a) -> ans=(a & b))
Is there a way of using these symbolic math tools like described above?
Edit
As noted in the comment to @user12750353's answer, I would like to also simplify systems of relations that are concatenated with a Boolean OR, e.g., ((a < 12) & (a < 3) & (c >= 4)) | (a < 1).

A: You can take a look in sympy inequality solvers for some options.
I could apply reduce_inequalities to your problem
from sympy.abc import a, c
import sympy.solvers.inequalities as neq
t = neq.reduce_inequalities([a < 12, a < 3, c >= 4])

And it results
(4 <= c) & (-oo < a) & (a < 3) & (c < oo)
It also works with some more complex examples

as long as you have one variable per inequality.

A: SymPy sets can be used to do univariate simplification, e.g. ((x < 3) & (x < 5)).as_set() -> Interval.open(-oo, 3) and sets can be converted back to relationals. The following converts a complex expression to cnf form, separates args with respect to free symbols and simplifies those that are univariate while leaving multivariate arguments unchanged.
def f(eq):
    from collections import defaultdict
    from sympy import to_cnf, ordered
    cnf = to_cnf(eq)
    args = defaultdict(list)
    for a in cnf.args:
        args[tuple(ordered(a.free_symbols))].append(a)
    _args = []
    for k in args:
        if len(k) == 1:
            _args.append(cnf.func(*args[k]).as_set().as_relational(k[0]))
        else:
            _args.append(cnf.func(*args[k]))
    return cnf.func(*_args)

For example:
>>> from sympy.abc import a, c
>>> f((a < 1) | ((c >= 4) & (a < 3) & (a < 12)))
(a < 3) & ((c >= 4) | (a < 1))


text:
Cheerful Ghost
Cheerful Ghost CG
Released on July 4, 2013 by SQUARE ENIX
Developed by SQUARE ENIX
iOS PS4 PS1 Android PC
In Midgar, a city controlled by the mega-conglomerate Shinra Inc., the No. 1 Mako Reactor has been blown up by a rebel group, AVALANCHE. AVALANCHE was secretly formed to wage a rebellion against Shinra Inc., an organisation which is absorbing Mako energy, destroying the natural In Midgar, a city controlled by the mega-conglomerate Shinra Inc., the No. 1 Mako Reactor has been blown up by a rebel group, AVALANCHE. AVALANCHE was secretly formed to wage a rebellion against Shinra Inc., an organisation which is absorbing Mako energy, destroying the natural
🐉 Do you love text based, sword and magic mini-MMO's? Play Tale of the White Wyvern for free right now! ⚔
The Latest Final Fantasy VII Remake Trailer Is Gorgeous
By Travis on 09/11/2019
I mean just look at it.
Wow, this is hard. I am trying not to get overhyped but the more we see of the FFVII remake, the harder that gets.
In this trailer, we get a glimpse of a few of the mini games, and more battle footage. But mostly, it's just showing off how pretty everything is. And boy is it ever.
Graphics aren't everything, you have to have gameplay to keep it interesting. We haven't seen a lot of that. But even if the gameplay isn't fun, this might like one of those movies that's just pure schlock but worth buying because of the visuals.
This has been a day-one buy for me ever since the rumors started circulating like the year the PS3 came out. Before I... Read All I mean just look at it.
This has been a day-one buy for me ever since the rumors started circulating like the year the PS3 came out. Before I bought a PS3, I said I would buy a PS3 for this game. I drooled over that tech demo Square did for a Sony presentation and hoped every year that we'd get more info.
It took a while, but shockingly we are only six months away. The hype is real, no matter how hard I try to suppress it.
GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 09/11/2019 at 04:47pm
That looks awesome! I don't think I'm going to buy a PS4 though, so I hope it comes to PC. I look forward to reading your review of it.
Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/11/2019 at 05:55pm
I would buy a PS4 for this probably but honestly I would have done the same for a lot of PS4 exclusives. It's an amazing console with so many bucket list titles.
I'm not familiar with very many titles I'm interested, although I'm about to contradict that a bit. I think I'd like to try this one, although I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. There's also the new Kingdom Hearts game and remasters of all the others. I know it seems Spider-Man is good, too. Red Dead Redemption 2 is something I might enjoy as well. I don't know, for some reason I've been focusing so much on PC gaming that I've pretty much almost totally ignored console gaming. Plus, I've already started seeing news of the PS5, so it kind of feels like you have to buy a new console every few years. Although, that could probably be said about a GPU when it comes to PC gaming and they can be as expensive or more depending on what you want.
Oh and I must admit I really love Aerith here, she is absolutely gorgeous! I've always loved her and Tifa.
GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 02/15/2020 at 09:12am
The opening gives me chills! Aerith is so beautiful! I hope this comes to PC. https://youtu.be/cqskSeNORoE
Gaming Bolt gives the game a perfect 10! https://youtu.be/U6ilUU_qROY
jdodson Admin wrote on 04/07/2020 at 03:08pm
I'll give it a 10/10 simply for being released. Figured this would be like Duke Nukem forever.
adahn Super Member wrote on 04/07/2020 at 05:39pm
I played the demo (I'm sure ya'll did too), and man, its Good ... I don't love the new combat system, but the "Classic" mode is perfect.
I don't have a PS4, so I'm hoping it comes to PC.
I actually skipped the demo on this entirely. I am aware that it's not the safe play to make, but I gambled on it possibly sucking really badly so that I can go in fully fresh when it arrives.
They showed my comment at the beginning of the video in the top right!!! https://youtu.be/9HNHCQ396r8
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The Final Fantasy VII Remake Releases March 3, 2020
I had planned to roll this into my Square Enix roundup post but I'm way under the weather today so that may be later and I wanted to get it out there.
The Final Fantasy VII Remake will be with us on March 3, 2020, exclusively on PS4.
We are sure to get more at the Square Enix presentation, but a trailer was shown at Square Enix's recent Final Fantasy concert.
This looks shiny, and I can't wait. This has been on my radar since rumors started years ago. You may remember, in our predictions for 2019 episode of Cheerful Ghost Radio, I jokingly predicted that we would learn nothing about the remake this year, hoping that reverse psychology would take hold and they'd give us... Read All I had planned to roll this into my Square Enix roundup post but I'm way under the weather today so that may be later and I wanted to get it out there.
This looks shiny, and I can't wait. This has been on my radar since rumors started years ago. You may remember, in our predictions for 2019 episode of Cheerful Ghost Radio, I jokingly predicted that we would learn nothing about the remake this year, hoping that reverse psychology would take hold and they'd give us some details. And so they have!
There are a few dozen amazing reasons to own a PS4, and this may be another one. I'm tempering my expectations for now, but I'm excited to learn more.
I'm not sure how I feel about it, I guess I'd have to play it to find out, but it's a PS exclusive, so not within my radar.
AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/11/2019 at 02:03pm
If I owned a PS4, I would preorder the crap out of this! I loved FF7 back in the day, and tried playing the PC release that came out a few years ago, but just couldn't get back into it, as it *really* shows it's age. But this looks amazing and I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I had the means to play :)
It will come to PC sometime after PS4 launch I imagine.
The Playstation Classic Is Tried In the IUPG Courtroom
By jdodson on 02/05/2019
I think we were all very excited about the prospect of a Nintendo Classic styled Playstation that contained the best games of that era. When Sony dropped word that one was coming and that one launch title would be Final Fantasy VII the excitement was very palpable. As someone that missed the Playstation era of gaming I was excited to get one and learn what some of the best games from that system were. That said, when the final list of titles was released it was as if the air was let out of the fan excitement balloon and when the Playstation Classic dropped it didn't land well.
I've decided to not write about the Playstation Classic launch until now because I haven't... Read All I think we were all very excited about the prospect of a Nintendo Classic styled Playstation that contained the best games of that era. When Sony dropped word that one was coming and that one launch title would be Final Fantasy VII the excitement was very palpable. As someone that missed the Playstation era of gaming I was excited to get one and learn what some of the best games from that system were. That said, when the final list of titles was released it was as if the air was let out of the fan excitement balloon and when the Playstation Classic dropped it didn't land well.
I've decided to not write about the Playstation Classic launch until now because I haven't had a lot to say as someone that didn't buy one. Franky none of the reviews game me a reason to pick one up but with the recent release of Cygnus Destroyers Innocent Until Proven Guilty episode, I might. Cygnus gives the unit a fair shake and he notes that at a reduced price point getting one makes quite a bit of sense.
The Playstation Classic Is Coming December 4th!
Because Nintendo made a ton of money doing it and fans loved it Sony is releasing the Playstation Classic this December featuring 20 games such as Final Fantasy VII, TEKKEN 3, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, Jumping Flash! and Wild Arms. Looks like the mini system is very similar to the NES and SNES classic in that features game saves, HDMI output and faithful recreations of the original controller. The difference here is the base unit + 20 games + controller is more expensive at $100 and that's not a bad value at all if these games are something you are looking to re-play. So far Sony has only released details of 5 games on the system with more information to come up till... Read All Because Nintendo made a ton of money doing it and fans loved it Sony is releasing the Playstation Classic this December featuring 20 games such as Final Fantasy VII, TEKKEN 3, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, Jumping Flash! and Wild Arms. Looks like the mini system is very similar to the NES and SNES classic in that features game saves, HDMI output and faithful recreations of the original controller. The difference here is the base unit + 20 games + controller is more expensive at $100 and that's not a bad value at all if these games are something you are looking to re-play. So far Sony has only released details of 5 games on the system with more information to come up till the final launch. One thing I like about this system is that the controller ports are USB and the base system looks like you can just plug it in where your NES and SNES Classic units already sit under your TV.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/playstation-classic/
Travis Admin wrote on 09/20/2018 at 03:35am
I'm highly on the fence about this.
1. I feel like if you aren't announcing the full list of games by the time preorders are available, you'd probably start with your heavy hitters, and these don't get me super excited and make me want to preorder. That kinda makes me worry about the rest of the games, but maybe they're teasing us now, with a big reveal of amazing games to come. Who knows... but that list needs to be amazing to push these because...
2. The Playstation line, especially the first two consoles, sold like hotcakes, and the PS3 is fully backwards-compatible with PSX games except for a couple. There are modern devices hooked up to people's TVs still that can do this well and...
3. The original games are disc based, so they're cheaper than retro carts, with the exception of some rare games. Getting your ideal set of games is pretty easy. Combine that with the fact that most people into this idea probably already have a device capable of playing them, and it's less of a drive to get it.
4. Only one game, Ape Escape, absolutely required the dualshock controller, but those analog sticks made plenty of games way more enjoyable, and this is releasing with the original d-pad only controllers.
So yeah the game list will be the main deciding factor for me, for sure. A secondary factor is whether we can use PS3/4 controllers with direct USB, or PS2 controllers with a USB adapter. It is handy that it comes with two controllers out of the box though.
Either way, I want it, I definitely want it. I just don't know if I $100 want it.
Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/21/2018 at 03:31am
Ouch, yeah I didn't notice that the controllers didn't include the analog sticks. That sucks.
The PSX had a pretty incredible line up of games, so there's plenty of great titles to choose from but these first couple announced games is kinda lackluster.
Let's speculate wildly about what other games will be included because that's fun! I'm thinking one game that could get people excited would be Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/21/2018 at 03:48am
I want this too, I think, but so far the only game I'm interested in is Final Fantasy VII. That said, you are right and these games are really easy to get used or even on Steam. Hoping the rest of the lineup is great but if it's not then it's a harder sell for something that, to me, is already a hard sell. I think the big reason is I skipped the Playstation and PS2 and went straight to the PS3. I loved the PS3 but nearly all the games I loved are on PC.
Games that seem like the are required: Spyro, Crash, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Chrono Cross(that's for you Tim) & Tony Hawk.
Travis Admin wrote on 09/21/2018 at 04:37pm
Wow, I heard myths about the lone gamer who never bought a PS2 but I never imagined that I'd know that person.
I was looking through the PSX games list and there were sooo many great RPG's out on that system. Seriously if they just loaded this up with RPG's this would be a must buy for me.
jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/22/2018 at 12:42pm
Yeah, it was a really popular system. So at the time I was going to college and had less money. I played PC games on my laptop.
This In Absolutely Crazy Gaming Achievements - Grinding To Level 99 In The Final Fantasy VII Reactor!
In 2015 YouTuber CirclMastr had a dream. Slowly... and I mean slowly... grind to level 99 with Cloud in Barrett in the first reactor in Final Fantasy VII. It's an impressive feat he captured over a recent Twitch stream you watch above as he finally hits level 99 in an hour long stream. In 2015 YouTuber CirclMastr had a dream. Slowly... and I mean slowly... grind to level 99 with Cloud in Barrett in the first reactor in Final Fantasy VII. It's an impressive feat he captured over a recent Twitch stream you watch above as he finally hits level 99 in an hour long stream.
Oh god why!?
I thought I was crazy to grind enough to learn Meteorain before leaving midgard! This is insane on another level.
What he said. I guess the answer is always "because you can." But damn.
47:12 "Life has no inherent purpose and things have no inherent meaning. It's up to us to assign meaning and create metaphor for our own lives and our own actions."
Alright, now I want to hear everyone's most insane gaming "accomplishment."
I got the highest ranking on every level and collected every single item in We Heart Katamari. I made spreadsheets. I hated those gray boxes where items should be!
When Beautiful Katamari came out for Xbox 360 all that practice paid off, by some measures of "paying off," because for about two weeks I had the highest score on the last level's leaderboard. But I never obsessed over it, or any other Katamari game, like We Heart Katamari
(interesting side note: don't use the less-than symbol in comments. Trying to make less-than-three hearts broke the comments!)
Well I did this:
http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/656/super-turbo-turkey-puncher-3-high-score
But that's not insane crazy but it is pretty high I guess.
But Travis is the king of trophies and achievements and i've asked him to write a post about his Steam achievements, trophies and badges and talk about his most impressive ones for games like Terraria and others. Like seriously, I have nothing even close to the collection he has.
> 47:12 "Life has no inherent purpose and things have no inherent meaning. It's up to us to assign meaning and create metaphor for our own lives and our own actions."
I actually think that's really beautiful and something to really think about. I know not everyone would agree, but there is some courage in that kind of outlook because it means you are on the hook for your choices in a way other outlooks might not. Glad he found meaning here, I wouldn't maybe but I respect it even before I knew he had such a cool quotable viewpoint.
Hmmm... I already mentioned my grind for Meteorain. I beat Link to the Past using only one bottle, the least amount of hearts possible (only picking up hearts from bosses) and never upgrading my armor/tunic.
I was less successful in playing Ocarina of Time without a shield. There are certain parts of the game that require you to use one, so I'd have to equip it, use it where needed, then find a way to lose it since you can't completely unequip one manually.
The craziest thing I've tried to do was master all jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics as soon as the first random/repeatable battle opens up. I never made it, but I came closer than I'd like to admit.
> Hmmm... I already mentioned my grind for Meteorain.
That reminds me. Back in High School in FFIII/VI, for some reason, I wanted to grind up to 99 experience eggs and you can do that by betting a tonic and fighting up to the experience egg. Some quick googling found the old grind which was Tonic->Elixir->Rename Card->Marvel Shoes->Tintinabar->Exp. Egg.
Not really sure WHY I wanted to do it but I did it. Because, you know, we assign meaning to our lives.
Final Fantasy VII Steam Review
By GregoPeck on 02/02/2016
GregoPeck gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale
This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.
GregoPeck gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale
The most popular Final Fantasy game now on Steam
Updated HD graphics, achievements, optimizations, and a Character Booster
Final Fantasy VII is undoubtedly the most popular game in the Final Fantasy series. While it is a greatly epic game, it's actually not my ultimate favorite of the series. That honor goes to FFVIII, which was the first in the series I played and fell in love with.
After being introduced to FFVIII, and therefore the FF series, I decided to play FFVII once I finished with VIII. I played both games many years ago on the original Playstation. Unlike, VIII, I've only played through VII a few times. I believe I finished it at least... Read All Review
After being introduced to FFVIII, and therefore the FF series, I decided to play FFVII once I finished with VIII. I played both games many years ago on the original Playstation. Unlike, VIII, I've only played through VII a few times. I believe I finished it at least once in my college years and I've picked it up again a few times since then without completion. I've played both games on the PC, original Playstation (PS1), PS2, and even on the PS3. However, the very best version of both games that I've played was most recently on Steam.
It's been a long time since these games were released. If you look back at video from the original games, you may be put off by their quality. However, the Steam editions come with updated HD graphics that make them so much better looking. I found this alone to be extremely impressive. But, I've already written about VIII on Steam, this post is about VII.
The game also got Steam achievements, hardware optimizations, and a "Character Booster" that lets you cheat. I haven't tried the Character Booster, so I can't really report on what it entails. The description says that with it "you can increase your HP, MP and Gil levels to their maximum, all with the simple click of a button, leaving you to enjoy your adventure." Considering the level of difficulty this game has, this is a tool that could be very advantageous. There are certain boss fights that are extremely tough including the final boss and optional bosses.
I'm kind of surprised that I've only clocked 44 hours in the game on Steam. Not only did I finish the game with characters around level 60, but I also took part in various side quests, some of which I've never completed before. I did not defeat the Emerald and Ruby Weapons. The wiki I was reading for a walk through recommended having mastered some special Materia. I did, however manage to collect all three Bahamut summons along with Knights of the Round, which is an extremely powerful summon.
This time around was also the second time that I actually did the Chocobo breeding and racing side quests. Luckily, the walk through I was reading made it easy to find the necessary wild Chocobos I needed for breeding. Since the game gave me instructions on how to operate various parts of the game by telling me what to press on the keyboard, I often became confused as to which button that linked to on my Xbox 360 controller (that I bought specifically for PC gaming). So, I decided to let my Chocobos race automatically on their own instead of controlling them myself. Luckily, to breed certain kinds of Chocobos you only have win a certain amount of races between the pair you're trying to breed. So in order to breed a blue Chocobo, for example, you have to win four total races with one or both of the Chocobos you're trying to breed. So you could win 2 with Chocobo "A" and 2 with Chocobo "B." The information I found made this side quest much simpler than the way I attempted it many years ago.
Other media FFVII continues to be greatly popular and fans continue to want more. Because of this, many other games and media were created as a FFVII compilation. Dirge of Cerberus is a shooter game for the PS2 featuring Vincent from the original game. There is also a PSP game called Crisis Core which features Zack and Sephiroth, giving fans a bit of story that happened before the events in FFVII.
A CG movie was also released on DVD called Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. It was later released on Blu-Ray as FFVII: Advent Children Complete with an additional 30 minutes of story enrichment. It also included a few extra bonus features. I really enjoyed the movie and have watched it a few times.
Fans have been wanting a remake and we thought we might see one on the PS3. I still have the FFVII technical trailer on my PS3. Recently, however, trailers for FFVII: Remake have been released. It seems as though characters have voice-overs similar to FFX. It also seems as though battle occurs in real-time instead of turn-based. I doubt it will be released for the PS3, but it may be a good reason to get a PS4 when it's released. We'll see how it turns out and whether or not it satisfies the huge hunger FFVII fans have for a remake. Right now, the Steam version is, in my opinion, the best to date.
So, if you're a fan of FFVII or the series, I strongly recommend getting the Steam version. I'm really glad that I got to enjoy this great game again. I look forward to the remake and playing even more Final Fantasy games on Steam.
Compilation of Final Fantasy VII: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Compilation_of_Final_Fantasy_VII
FFVII Steam page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/39140/
jdodson Admin wrote on 02/02/2016 at 03:31am
Not sure if I am going to play Final Fantasy VII or VI next. I love VI so much but I haven't played VII yet.
Such a hard choice.
GregoPeck Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/02/2016 at 05:14am
It is a tough choice. I started playing VI again after I finished VII. I'm going backwards. I actually have a few different versions of it.
Jon, you should play Final Fantasy VII just because it's kind of a gaming icon, but go into it with managed expectations. The graphics don't hold up well to time like later games, even VIII, do.
Greg, you're welcome for the introduction to Final Fantasy :D
@Travis, yes, thank you very much! Just introducing me to the game significantly changed my gaming life. I became quite totally obsessed with the entire series and I've played almost every one of them (some of them multiple times). There hasn't been a lot of disappointment that I've had with the series, but some does exist. Anyway, the original version of my FFVIII post mentioned that you introduced it to me, but I ended up editing it to make it a little less personal.
I agree with your recommendation to Jon. I agree with you that the graphics in the original versions of many games in the series don't "hold up well to time," however (as I mentioned), I was greatly impressed with the Steam versions.
Good points. VII does look a bit odd to my modern eyes, but it's always been on my "list of shame" and it's worth a look even if I walk away from it I think.
Classic Game Final Fantasy VII Comes To iOS. Head Back To Gaia On Your Tablet!
Classic game Final Fantasy dropped on iOS a few days ago and so far is getting good reviews. Pricing in at $15 this is one of the more expensive iOS titles but for as beloved as this is and as much time as people have dedicated to it, it doesn't seem to bad. Final Fantasy VII may be a beloved classic but it's a game that came out on a system I never owned. Because of my lack of access to a Playstation I never picked this up and have no nostalgic love for it. I wonder if I play this now how I will take it compared to how I would have appreciated it back then?
It seems like a perfect fit for a phone or tablet so if you pick this up let me know what you think of it. Classic game Final Fantasy dropped on iOS a few days ago and so far is getting good reviews. Pricing in at $15 this is one of the more expensive iOS titles but for as beloved as this is and as much time as people have dedicated to it, it doesn't seem to bad. Final Fantasy VII may be a beloved classic but it's a game that came out on a system I never owned. Because of my lack of access to a Playstation I never picked this up and have no nostalgic love for it. I wonder if I play this now how I will take it compared to how I would have appreciated it back then?
It seems like a perfect fit for a phone or tablet so if you pick this up let me know what you think of it.
Your video is broken!
But Jon...
"Because of my lack of access to a Playstation I never picked this up and have no nostalgic love for it. I wonder if I play this now how I will take it compared to how I would have appreciated it back then?"
Dude, you need to play the PSX Final Fantasy games. All three are great, in different ways.
Video updated.
I am seriously considering playing VII on PC. After that, I might continue I've hard hoot things about 8.
JaBo wrote on 08/24/2015 at 06:50pm
6-7-8-T are the glory days of FF, I can't express my love of them properly.
People had some issues with the way some of the mechanics worked in 8, some reasonable, but I loved it.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Announced at E3
I just found out that Sony announced at E3 that Final Fantasy VII Remake was going to be released, at least for the PS4. Remember that Final Fantasy VII teaser/technical trailer we saw for the PS3? I think I still have it on my system. I think fans have been wanting to see a remake of the game that was more true to the original game.
What are your thoughts? (see link below)
This just adds to my list of reasons to get a PS4, which already includes Final Fantasy Type-0 HD that includes a demo for Final Fantasy XV. I saw a FFT-0 PS4 bundle on Amazon, which is tempting to get. There's also the new Batman and Fallout 4. I'm also waiting for some Kingdom Hearts news.
Here's a... Read All I just found out that Sony announced at E3 that Final Fantasy VII Remake was going to be released, at least for the PS4. Remember that Final Fantasy VII teaser/technical trailer we saw for the PS3? I think I still have it on my system. I think fans have been wanting to see a remake of the game that was more true to the original game.
Here's a link to the announcement and video: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-7-remake-announced-by-sony-at-e3-201/1100-6428174/
It really was such a great game... But I bought it a year ago on my PC (through Steam) and it just felt clunky and dated. It turned into a fond memory of a game I decided to leave in the past. But this looks really great. I'd love to play through it again, and this might finally be a reason to.
GregoPeck Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/16/2015 at 09:12pm
"Final Fantasy VII PC Delayed to Winter" http://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-7-pc-delayed-to-winter-also-coming-t/1100-6428228/
Final Fantasy App: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-portal-app-announced-at-e3-2015/1100-6428230/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLnWf1sQkjY
Sorry, that means I'm REALLY excited! Favorite game of all time I think, will buy PS4 and FF7 remake most likely...
This is such a well loved game, I imagine it will sell a load of next gen systems.
A good jumping off point.
By Zach_Foster on 07/01/2014
As someone who's never written anything about video games before, i figured this game would be a good one to start with.
Final Fantasy VII has held title of my favorite video game for about twelve years now. When i got my first copy in 1999, i didn't know anything about it. in fact, I believe my father got it for me as a gift as a mistake, thinking it was another game that i had asked for. It was terribly exciting to me when i started playing it, as a six or seven year old, because it had bad words in it like "damn" and it made me feel very adult and grown up, so it peaked my interest. At the time, i didn't quite have the capacity to undertake a game as involved as... Read All As someone who's never written anything about video games before, i figured this game would be a good one to start with.
Final Fantasy VII has held title of my favorite video game for about twelve years now. When i got my first copy in 1999, i didn't know anything about it. in fact, I believe my father got it for me as a gift as a mistake, thinking it was another game that i had asked for. It was terribly exciting to me when i started playing it, as a six or seven year old, because it had bad words in it like "damn" and it made me feel very adult and grown up, so it peaked my interest. At the time, i didn't quite have the capacity to undertake a game as involved as this one, so i grew bored with it about halfway through the first disc and i set it aside.
A few years ago, i picked it back up again, hearing that it was gathering monetary value as a cult following game and that it might be worth some money. I was not too turned by it's value, but instead by it's refound popularity. i decided to give it another go and ended up playing through to the part where Cloud and Cid (and whomever else is in your party at the time) fight Palmer and his goons and take off on the Tiny Bronco, and got stuck at that spot due to an error in the disc. i held that spot for several months waiting to find a cheaper copy at my local used game store. I ended up getting a very nice black label copy for i believe $20, which was incredible since at the time it was going for $75-150 on ebay depending on it's condition. I took it home, popped it in the playstation, played through the battle several times (I was rusty), and jumped for joy when the Tiny Bronco flight scene played through without a hitch, and i continued the game. A few weeks later, finding little bits of down time here and there to play, i finally beat the game, and it was one of the most accomplished feelings i had ever had in my life. So, now that i've poured out my soul, i will talk about the game.
The game, in my humble opinion, holds its own today against modern video games as far as plot thickness and the ability to convey an extremely lengthy story while still being an action packed RPG. It has everything! Romance, comedy, suspense, confusion, even a twist! The sheer depth of this game still blows me away as something that came out on the original playstation platform. Yes, it had three discs, but it was hours of gameplay. i mean HOURS. the first time playing all the way through, i logged about 56 hours into this game. A ridiculous amount of time. (though it pales to the over 150 hours i have into Fallout 3 on my pc...) There's just so much going on in the story of this game, it's like an interactive television series, with all it's twists and turns, new characters, new areas, plot twists, good guys, bad guys, good guys who turn out to be bad guys but are still kinda on your side in the end, side quests, and for the most part, it's an open world game. Sure, you have to follow the story line, but you can go pretty much wherever you want.
I'm not terribly good at writing about things. You should just go play the game.
I think you're just fine at writing about things. And yes, Final Fantasy VII is an incredible game. I also loved VIII, which many people seem to dislike. It was different in quite a few ways, but I have probably put more hours into it than any game besides Elder Scrolls games, Fallout games, and Terraria.
Travis, who commented here before I did, was the one who introduced me to Final Fantasy VIII. I agree with him with regards to how much I love FFVIII. It is actually my favorite of the Final Fantasy games. Aside from the game play, it's probably also because it was the first one I was really introduced to and loved so much. Since he introduced me to FFVIII, I decided to play all of the others that I could. FFVII is definitely one of the greatest of the series and likely the most popular of the series. You're right, that the game is hard to find now, extremely popular, and worth a lot of money. I can't recall how many times I've played it, but I've played it plenty of times. I didn't play it until I went off to college even though I've had a demo of it from PC Gamer for a very long time. I remember when the PS3 came out, we were all hoping that Square was going to give us a Final Fantasy VII remake, after all they did tease us with a trailer. Sadly, the game has not yet been remade. Still, there's a movie out for it. If you really enjoyed the game I suggest you find a copy of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Even still, if you have a PSP, I recommend getting Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. It's basically a prequel and is a really great game. I must admit that I cried at the end of it, but found out that I'm not the only guy who felt so emotional at the end of it. There's also Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus for the PS2. That game is about Vincent Valentine (the guy that I decided to name my son after). It was a short game and I don't think it was well received, but I think I liked it, but I've only played it once or twice. Thanks for posting!
Crisis Core is a reason to own a PSP. It's so good. Very different, but so much fun.
Not only that, Travis, but many other of the Final Fantasy games were made for the PSP and are awesome! I have FF Tactics, FFI-III, Crisis Core, and FFIV: The After Years, although I played it more on the Wii and very little on the PSP.
Yeah, IV on the PSP is basically the definitive version. I need to actually play it. It's sitting on my hard drive... er... I mean... game shelf, yeah, that's the ticket... just waiting to be played.
The after years really interests me. Hope it comes to Steam at some point.
I remember this game blew my mind back in the day, such a deep and engaging story line. Always great to read about it!
Zach_Foster Post Author wrote on 07/03/2014 at 12:16am
I have crisis core and i agree that if you didn't have a reason to own a PSP (which i already did), that game would be that reason. As a prequel i believe it exceeded my expectations. I also have Dirge of Cerberus, which was an off-base sequel to FFVII that followed the story line of Vincent, who was a lesser known almost secret character of FFVII, but ultimately one of the coolest characters in my opinion. The movie was pretty good, i do enjoy watching it. I also have a copy of FFVIII and a sealed copy of FFIX (i've never played it). FFVIII is alright, but i've not had enough hours into it to get a real feel for the game yet as i picked it up pretty recently.
I really appreciate that people are commenting on this. I found a flier for this site from my trip to PRGE last year and thought i'd give it a go if for no other reason than to compile a list of all of my games and consoles. Thank you for making this website!
CSI: Final Fantasy VII
By AdamPFarnsworth on 10/26/2012
"Should Aerith have died based on her wounds? Did she die at all? The results will shatter what you thought you knew about this iconic and heartbreaking moment of game history."
This video is amusing enough to not feel long at all. Plenty of pictures to entertain whilst the narrator makes his point. "Should Aerith have died based on her wounds? Did she die at all? The results will shatter what you thought you knew about this iconic and heartbreaking moment of game history."
This video is amusing enough to not feel long at all. Plenty of pictures to entertain whilst the narrator makes his point.
This video was really entertaining. Thanks for sharing it.
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The summer in Seattle brings loads of new activities for residents and visitors, and finding activities you might not have experienced before is easy when you live in a sprawling city that's surrounded by some amazing scenery and features. If you have some time to relax this summer, here are some excellent activities you might want to try near your Seattle apartment.
When we think of summer activities in Seattle, we often imagine water sports, hiking, cycling, and other outdoor adventures. However, some of the best times in the summer can come from meeting with friends for a weekend barbecue, heading to one of the city's parks or the shoreline for a meal.
If you enjoy eating out on the weekends with a significant other or friend, you might think about trying one of these restaurants each week during the summer or whenever it's hot outside, and you're more likely to find something fun to do indoors.
Summertime means Seattle residents have access to several outdoor pools that are seasonal and only open during the middle of the year. Public pools in Seattle aren't too expensive to visit and cost a little over five dollars for adults. Colman Pool is at 8603 Fauntleroy Way, which is on the west side of Seattle and is near the beach and offers an excellent summertime experience.
If the beach is more appealing to you, Seattle also has several spots all along the shoreline for relaxing, sports, and weekend beach barbecues. Popular beaches include Madison Park Beach, Mathews Beach Park, and Alki Beach Park. You can also extend your visit to some of these beaches by staying in the towns that are nearby for a few days of relaxation.
Most of the waterways and beach areas around Seattle also offer opportunities to play sports, so if relaxing isn't on the menu and you'd like to get active while near a body of water, you can rent kayaks, jet skis, and even boats to have fun in the water. It's much less expensive to rent these items a few times a year than to invest in them by buying them and renting means you can try all the different sports you want without being tied to a single, expensive purchase.
Our apartments are ready and waiting for you to create a home at our excellent Seattle apartment community. Get in touch today to arrange a visit or for more information about our Seattle apartments.


text:
Yuguang Fang, Ph.D.
Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Yuguang (Michael) Fang conducts research in developing technologies in cybersecurity, wireless networks, mobile computing and smart grid.
Fang's lab — the Wireless Networks Laboratory (WINET) — has been consistently supported by external funding, totaling over $6.5 million from highly competitive sources such as the NSF and the Office of Naval Research. Currently, his team is developing flexible cognitive capability harvesting network architecture to efficiently manage network resources in both time and space and develop corresponding technologies to support users' services effectively. This network architecture can be applied to address crucial design issues in the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile health, smart grid and intelligent transportation.
"Explosive traffic generated from a huge number of IoT devices has already exerted tremendous pressure on our existing telecommunications infrastructure, leading to serious network congestion," Fang said. "The proposed network architecture provides a viable solution."
Fang and his team are also exploring privacy-preserving mechanisms and their applications in areas such as mobile health, public health, infectious disease control, and online social networks. He is responsible for developing a location-based solution to addressing security attacks on wireless sensor networks.
Since his arrival at UF in 2000, Fang has been engaged in a variety of multidisciplinary research efforts. His most significant contributions have been in the cross-layer optimization and protocol design of wireless networks, designing many innovative medium access control protocols. One such protocol received an award for the best paper from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Technical Committee on Gigabit Networking, and has been cited over 540 times.
Fang was also named the editor-in-chief of IEEE Wireless Communications, the IEEE Communication Society flagship magazine and editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society flagship publication. In addition to publishing over 400 papers, he has been awarded the UF Doctoral Dissertation Advisor and Mentoring Award, the College of Engineering Ph.D. Dissertation Advisor and Mentoring Award four times, and the College of Engineering Faculty Mentoring Award.


text:
Ivan Duknović (Ioannes Dalmata, Giovanni da Trau), (Vinišće, oko 1440. — poslije 1509.), hrvatski kipar.
Sin protomagistra trogirskih kamenara, vjerojatno je kod kuće izučio klesarski zanat, a u Italiji nastavio umjetničku izobrazbu. U sedmom desetljeću XV st. javlja se u Rimu kao zreo majstor spreman i sposoban za vrlo vrijedne narudžbe. Istaknuvši se na njima osobnim likovnim shvaćanjima i samostalnim stilom nesumnjivo se uklapa u vrhove tamošnjega renesansnoga kiparstva.

Kao njegova rana ostvarenja prepoznaju se dva monumentalna portala na Mletačkoj palači u Rimu i razvijene skulpture završnoga dijela pročelja hrama Sv. Jakova u Vicovaru kraj Tivolija. Petnaestak godina tijesno surađuje s A. Bregnom i Minom da Fiesole, zadržavši vlastiti izraz prepoznatljiv po energičnoj impostaciji figura i temperamentnoj obradi površine. S prvim umjetnikom izrađuje oko 1466. u crkvi Santa Maria sopra Minerva u Rimu grobnicu kardinala G. Tebaldija, oblikujući lik pokojnika na sarkofagu i veći dio dekora s puttima. Zasad jedini arhivski podatak o njegovu radu ukazao je na dva kipa s pet reljefa izrađenih 1469. za klasično koncipirani oltar Gospe u crkvi Sv. Ivana u Norci. Oko 1485. Duknović odlazi na dvor Matije Korvina u Ugarsku i tu proširuje tematiku rada.

Premda su mu djela stradala već u provalama Turaka, figuralna fontana Herakla s lernejskom hidrom i kruna zdenca iz kraljevske vile u mađarskom Višegradu te reljefna pala oltara iz pavlinske crkve u Diósgyőru potvrđuju njegovu visoku vrsnoću. Zaslužan za prenošenje likovnih spoznaja talijanske renesanse na Dunav i unaprjeđivanje tamošnje umjetnosti, Duknović je dobio plemićki naslov i feud dvorcem Majkovec u Hrvatskoj. Smatra se da je portretirao uglednike iz humanističkoga kruga, te mu pripisuju niz plitkoreljefnih portreta po europskim muzejima, uključujući fragmente nadgrobne ploče biskupa Baratina, čuvane u Zagrebu.

Održavajući trajne veze sa zavičajem, Duknović se čvršće potvrdio u Trogiru. Osim kipova u renesansnoj kapeli gradskoga zaštitnika Sv. Ivana kao remek-djela iz zenita stvaralaštva i Sv. Tome sa znakovima staračke sustalosti — opus mu je dopunjen kipom Sv. Magdalene iz franjevačkog samostana, portalom s puttom grbonošom palače Ćipiko, lunetom s grbom obitelji Cega, te grbom s klesarskim priborom. To su ujedno i najbolja djela zrelorenesansnoga kiparstva u nas. Pošto su ga Dubrovčani odbili primiti u službu, zadnje godine života proveo je na susjednoj obali Jadrana; u Veneciji je 1498. prihvatio izvedbu monumentalnoga oltara Sv. Marka (sa 17 figura), ali ga nije završio, a ono što je učinio nije očuvano. Otada potječe izražajni reljef Blažene Djevice Marije u padovanskomu muzeju i poprsje A. Zena u muzeju Correr. Zadnji svoj rad, grobnicu Blaženoga G. Gianellija, Duknović je 1509. ostavio u katedrali u Anconi.

Zavrjeđujući visok položaj u ukupnomu razvoju renesansne skulpture Duknović se ubraja među najznačajnije strane umjetnike koji su pridonijeli talijanskoj umjetnosti i koji su ujedno tim iskustvom obogatili i baštinu svoje zemlje.

Hrvatski kipari
Životopisi, Trogir
Hrvatski klesari


Which, to my surprise, made me feel better, because it reminded me of the ways we encounter ourselves through language—all of us animals in pajamas, stumbling around, bumping into ourselves. It's like an ice palace, I thought. Like stepping into an ice palace. You walk inside and find yourself reflected, made numerous by light.
The study of words—their opacity and strangeness—forms a common theme among the pieces collected in this issue. Often, these linguistic explorations present themselves in the form of animals—some gentle, others swift, ardent, carnivorous. A word, we learn, can be a whale. A father's unspoken devotion may be symbolized by moths. Gradually, we can acclimate to the vocabulary of peacock and meadowlark, flounder and snail, spider and honeybee, hooked fish and horse. As readers, we may find ourselves caught up in the delicacy of these creatures—the slow work of words inching their way across the page.
And when, in the midst of reading, we find our own personal ice palaces, it is like the opposite of stubbing one's toe—the absolute, mathematical inverse of feeling doubt in the universe. Yes, we say to ourselves. Yes, of course. I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner.


What Is A Helicobacter Pylori Breath Test?
Helicobacter pylori or H. pylori is a bacteria that can infect the stomach or the first part of the small intestine. If left untreated, H. pylori bacteria can cause the inflammation or irritation of the stomach lining or gastric ulcers. It is normal to feel an ache or burning pain in your abdomen that's worse when your stomach is empty making you feel nauseous, have reflux or even have a loss of appetite. This can result in frequent burping, a bloating feeling, and unintentional weight loss.
How Do You Prepare For An H. Pylori Breath Test?
You should not have taken antibiotics, acid-reducing medications (PPIs or H2 blockers) or bismuth preparations (Pepto Bismol) for 4 weeks prior to the H. Pylori breath test.
Do not eat or drink anything for 1 hour prior to your scheduled appointment.
The test is non-invasive and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
*Phenylketonurics please note: The test solution contains 84mg/ unit dose of phenylalanine.
What Can You Expect During An H. Pylori Breath Test?
The H. Pylori breath test is performed by blowing into a bag, wait for 15 minutes and then blow in another bag. The bags are then sent to a lab for analysis.
What Is The Follow Up For An H. Pylori Breath Test?
Once the lab results come back your doctor will notify you. If the test comes back positive that you do have an H. pylori infection, it can be treated with antibiotics. A month after antibiotic treatment your doctor may repeat a breath test to make sure the infection is not there.


text:
Q: Do question authors receive a second notification if I undelete my previously deleted answer? When posting an answer, the question author's receives a notification. Let's assume I delete my own answer, edit it and then undelete it. Will the question author receive a second notification?

A: No.
Only the creation of the answer notifies the question author. However, you can leave a comment on their question letting them know that you updated your answer.

A: No, the OP won't be notified about of any changes of existing answers.
You can notify them yourself with a comment at the question though.


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Cox Digital Solutions Targeting Verticals With High-Impact Placements Such As Appetite Media Says Prez Shaw
by AdExchanger // Thursday, June 30th, 2011 – 8:17 am
On Tuesday, Cox Digital Solutions (CDS) announced that it is adding a new brand, Appetite Media, to its portfolio of vertically-focused site networks. According to the release, Appetite Media will focus on offering "food lover" audiences to advertisers who also seek high-impact, "premium" placements. The company says that Appetite will bring together 22 million unique users per month as measured by comScore. Read the release.
Steve Shaw, president of Cox Digital Solutions, discussed his CDS unit and the Appetite Media announcement.
AdExchanger.com: First, can you frame for us where Cox Digital Solutions fits within Cox itself, and why?
SS: Sure. So a quick background - Cox Crossmedia is the company that I founded in July of 2007 and it was started as a division of Cox Reps, which includes TeleRep and HRP.
Cox Reps is the biggest TV representation firm in the industry with about a 40 share of the business out there for spot television representation.
Cox Crossmedia was founded to become the digital equivalent to the broadcast job that Cox Reps was doing. In effect - be a digital rep firm for all these local media sites.
As you probably know, Cox bought Adify in April of '08 and the two companies kind of operated in parallel thereafter – one a technology company and one a sales company. As Adify started getting into the sales arena, we began to look at each other and see some duplication of effort and resources.
In December of last year, we put the two companies together. Around the same time, we bought the sales arm of Internet Broadcasting, IB. And those companies together became Cox Digital Solutions (CDS), which is both a sales and a platform technology company.
We report up through Cox Reps and we're a part of Cox, under the Cox Media Group umbrella.
In terms of the Adify technology itself, is it "sprinkled," if you will, within the CDS organization now?
It's more than sprinkled. We took the sales expertise side of the house, which was in the original Cox Crossmedia group and also developed some front end database technology, and then put that together with the Adify platform, where we have our own proprietary ad server and other cool tech.
The combination allows us to bring 2,000 local media sites that we're working with on the Cox Crossmedia side and the 6,000 sites or so that we're working with on the Adify side and offer the product in several different ways: specific verticals, such as Appetite Media; we use geo-targeted ads for both local media and national vertical sites in specific markets; and we also just launched the audience network a couple months ago.
We took the best of what the two companies had and combined it. That being said, we're only six months old, and we're still developing new products. But it seems so far to have been a really good marriage for us.
Looking at Appetite Media specifically, what was the trigger in creating that brand?
We have had a real strong partner in GourmetAds, which is a network of over 500 sites originally powered by Adify and now the CDS platform. That was a great point of entry for us. We want to be in the business of formalizing these verticals and be able to bring something with scale as well as provide a high impact placement-type business to the marketplace.
I also point out that this is our proof of concept, if you will. I think it's a strategy you'll see us roll out across other verticals as we move forward.
And so, where will these placements fit in within the network member publisher strategy? A guaranteed custom strategy or non‑guaranteed strategy?
It's pretty much all inside of guaranteed. We're not doing non‑guaranteed. If we bring a program to market with a major advertiser, and specifically with high impact placements, we're not doing that unless we know we can comply and deliver.
If you aggregate these sites and deliver the product with a commonality across all of them, you can engage a lot of people who are very passionate about what they're doing. I think that's what advertisers are kind of latching on to.
With all the backlash you're starting to see with behavioral - that's going to get it's wings clipped at some point – it may always be there, but it's not going to be the be all and end all. I think the good old fashioned targeting against content that people are passionate about is going to be a very effective way to reach audiences. I think advertisers agree.
In terms of CDS and three screen strategy, how close are you to developing three screens for advertisers?
We've done it and we're looking to dramatically increase that offering.
Quite frankly, I think we're there before the marketplace is. There aren't a lot of agencies that are set up to evaluate and buy it that way. We're set up to sell it that way now, so I think it's actually really exciting for us.
Let's face it. We're usually chasers. The industry comes up with what they want - or the marketers do - and then we react to it and bring solutions to the table. I think we have a solution that we can do almost in a turnkey fashion right now that they're not ready to buy. So I think we can help them define that market and bring it out for them.
I'm a big believer in the walk before you run philosophy. So have we certainly tested this… And you know that's the Cox Reps advantage, is that we have 350 TV stations across the country. It's the largest footprint of spot TV stations anyone can bring to bear that we can mix and match with our digital products at any time.
I feel good about the fact that we can get there before anyone else.
From a strategic perspective, do you see an opportunity with exchanges and real time bidding within CDS strategy?
Yes and no. We have a real-time bidding technology. We're hooked up to some of the DSPs. It's a business that you can't ignore and you have to play in, but I think when you talk about it… that's one type of media buy that people are trying to do for clients.
Still, there's always going to be that need to do some of the high impact specialization, content integration, etc. So, we are players in [the RTB/exchanges] side of the business but there are different ways of buying audiences. I feel good about where we are in the market because we can do both. Certainly, the Appetite Media approach and custom verticals do not lend themselves as much to the RTB exchange model.