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139. Brand
On this week's show we're joined by Ryan Carson to discuss building an online brand. We look at promoting your site with minimal budget and Marcus shares his views on working in an office.
Understanding progressive enhancement
Its funny how we spend our whole lives telling clients to avoid jargon and yet web design has more jargon than most. Every few months we seem to make up some new term that is thrown around like everybody knows it.
In reality some we have never heard certain terms, while others seems so similar to one another that the difference escapes us. Take for example 'graceful degradation' and 'progressive enhancement'. Have you heard of them? Could you tell me the difference?
I have to be honest, I couldn't. In fact in a few weeks you will hear an interview I recorded with Paul Annett from clear:left where I make a comment about graceful degradation and he said 'no its more like progressive enhancement'. I had no clue why one was right and the other was wrong and I am supposedly a web design expert. Does that make me thick? Possibly. However, more likely I just missed the memo on that one.
The trouble is we are all too busy looking intelligent to clearly communicate with one another.
I have to some extent criticised A List Apart (among others) in the past for perpetuating this kind of 'in the know mentality'. However, I am now being forced to eat my words (gratefully so) as they published an excellent article on Progressive Enhancement and why you should care about it.
Now if only somebody could explain what Web 2.0. really is.
A free conference (kind of)
I realise that some of the advice I give on this show is unrealistic for some. For example, I talk about the importance of attending conferences. However, when a conference can cost hundreds of pounds it is not always possible.
One alternative is to listen to the podcasts that most conferences published. Unfortunately, they are slow to appear and are hard to follow without being able to see the slides.
Fortunately, the FOWA in London has significantly raised the bar and other conferences will be forced to follow suit.
FOWA has released video of most talks. These appeared within hours of the speaker taking the stage, and are beautifully done including both speaker and screen.
There are also 'highlights reels' for most talks. These are a cut down version of the presentation, ideal if you are too busy to watch the whole thing.
With some of the most influential people in web design taking the stage, this is an invaluable resource and Carsonified should be congratulated for making it freely available.
Talking of useful resources check out Design Float. Design Float is basically a Digg clone. However it is a clone aimed at designers.
I have to say I don't like sites that rip off Digg. I have huge respect for what people like Daniel Burka and Joe Stump are doing at Digg. I hate to see people directly ripping off their work (normally badly).
However, Digg does have one flaw. It doesn't serve the niche very well. Even Kevin Rose recently said: "We don't really do a good job of servicing the long tail of content." And he is right.
As a web designer, categories such as technology or design are just too broad for me to bother following Digg regularly. Until this problem is resolved, Design Float is an alternative.
Design Float allows me to only see stories relating to web design and although the smaller community means that stories are posted less regularly, what is posted is pretty good.
I recommend checking it out. However, if you are a designer don't just limit yourself to web design posts. Also look at the other design posts. There is some pretty inspiring stuff there.
Can we stop supporting text scaling?
Finally today, a post by Dave Shea in which he discusses page zooming.
Most modern browsers now support page zooming. The only exception is Safari and that will soon change. This allows users to zoom an entire page, not just the text. Obviously this is beneficial to those with visual impairments. However, is also exciting for web site owners and designers.
Traditionally websites have been forced to support text resizing. This significantly increased development time as well as making design integrity challenging. As text scales, designs often breakdown especially when fixed sized images are involved.
With page zooming these problems go away. It provides the designer with more control and reduces the costs of development. A cost normally passed on to the website owner.
Dave asks whether it is time to support page zoom rather than text resizing. As can be seem from the comments, there is no wrong or right answer. Nevertheless it is an interesting question and one you might want to start considering for your own site.
Interview: Ryan Carson on Building an Online Brand
Paul : So I'm really excited to have joining me today Ryan Carson from Carsonified. Good to speak to you Ryan.
Ryan : Thanks for having me Paul. Good to be here.
Paul : It seems that we are crossing paths more and more often with me doing various things with Future Of conferences and you guys kindly giving discounts to my listeners, so it's good to finally actually have you on the show.
Ryan : Thanks. It's great to be here.
Paul : So the reason I have asked Ryan on to the show today is to talk a little bit about building an online brand. Carsonified have got lots of different brand identities going on with obviously Carsonified itself and then Future Of and ThinkVitamin and various other things. Ryan's a bit of an expert really, or he comes across like that anyway, at building an online brand and I wanted to talk to him about how he's gone about doing that. But before we get into that, Ryan, tell us a little bit about the background of Carsonified. How did it come into being, so to speak? How did it end up being what it is today?
Ryan : Well, it was kind of born four years ago. It started off basically as just me in our top bedroom. I used to be a developer in a web design studio and when Jill and I, my wife and I, got married four years ago we just decided to start our own company. At that point it was just me and I was trying to build web apps and attempting to make money and didn't really do a great job of it. Then I kind of slowly moved into doing sort of more workshops and things and then we built our first proper web app, which was DropSend, and then we just kept growing and growing and doing more web apps and more websites, for ourself not for clients, and then we launched a couple big conferences, Future Of Web Apps and Future Of Web Design, and all of a sudden now we're about eleven people. Located in Bath and just love what we do and are really excited to be part of the web industry. So that's us kind of in a nutshell.
Paul : It's quite interesting, the approach that you've taken. You've come from the same background as the vast majority of us yet your business has gone in a completely different direction. You haven't gone down the road of delivering solutions to clients but you've done this quite eclectic thing of a bit of web apps here, conferences here. Was that an intentional thing or has it just kind of naturally evolved that way?
Ryan : It kind of naturally evolved but my mother, and your mom always knows you best, she always said there's a vein that's been running through my life for a long time, which is just connecting people. I don't know, for whatever reason I just get a lot of joy out of connecting people and physical events are just a great way to do that. I'm passionate about the web and therefore it's kind of like, well, connecting people in the web industry, in the technology sector is just kind of made sense. It did start off with this thing called BD4D which you probably don't remember, By Designers For Designers. A friend and I did that and it was bd4d.com which is now gone but the idea was we got together designers for free just at a bar and people showed their work. It was in London originally and it kind of took off and I think then it was always just a for fun thing. We called it the Creative Fight Club. I think that was kind of the genesis of our events career. We don't really see ourself as an events company we see ourselves very much as lovers of the web and technology and we just kind of happen to connect people at events so, it just kind of worked that way. I'm also not a big fan of working for clients because it's just so hard. I really respect what you guys at Headscape and any web designer web developer because constantly doing work for clients is really hard work and it's fun but it's hard and because we run our own conferences and build our own web apps thankfully we're our own client which gives us a bit more freedom. So that's kind of how we ended up there.
Paul : It depends on how you look at it Ryan because from my point of view you've got thousands of clients while I only have one at a time because you have all those users of your apps and the people who come to your conferences. You've got far more trouble in my opinion.
Ryan : I guess you could look at it like that but they tend to be less demanding. They're not paying us thousands of pounds each so it kind of. But you could look at it like that. We try to treat all of you who come to our show with the same respect as clients, it's just a shorter term, lower economic value relationship.
Paul : OK, so let's talk about brand a little bit and profile and stuff like that. Carsonified has kind of built quite a significant online profile and I'm just quite interested in some of the techniques that you've used to achieve that. You know, how have you made that happen?
Ryan : OK, well I think underlying everything we do is genuineness. I think that we care very much about honesty and being genuine and being kind and friendly and that sounds a bit fuzzy and happy but that's just kind of, I don't know, the way we are. And I think that's been the key to our success, that when we do things people know that we're not trying to pull the wool over their eyes or secretly sell them something. We have a genuine interest in the web and the tech industry and so when we do things people kind of know there's real people that are behind this, we're not some company. And I think we've always been very personal and very human and very transparent and I think that at least set the stage for being successful, but obviously we just follow through with pumping out tons of hopefully valuable content. We see building a brand as basically building friends and I think that on our blogs and through our tweets and at our events and through our communications we try to treat everybody as friends and that's kind of, I think, a little bit of the key to our success.
Paul : I like that idea of talking about treating people as friends. I think that's a good way. Too many people treat people as potential customers in preference to actually having any real interest in them as human beings I guess. So it's good.
Ryan : Well yeah. I just kind of think about who do you like being around? I mean, It's your friends and there's a reason for that. I think why does business have to be different? Of course there's an element of professionality but when you go to the pub and you relax it's because you feel comfortable with people and I think that whole idea should permeate business. You know with your friends you just buy them a beer, but with your customers there's significant money being exchanged I think that should involve even more trust than friendship. Hopefully our customers, our attendees and our sponsors really believe that we're doing the right thing for them. You guys probably do something very similar when you work with your clients. You want them to know that you care about them. That this isn't just about money that you actually are trying to build something beautiful and worthwhile for them.
Paul : Yeah. I mean it's interesting. You talking about friends reminds me a little bit of the Innocent smoothie guys that I heard talking at Fuel, which is obviously one of your conferences, where they were talking about how they refer to their customers as family, don't they? And I always thought was quite a. It sounds naff when you say out loud, referring to your customers as family but if you kind of treat them with that kind of respect, I don't know, it's good but it depends on how you get on with your family I guess.
Ryan : Yeah. It could be good or bad but the problem is that would never work if you didn't actually think Innocent cared about you. If you looked on their bottle and there was E numbers and preservatives and stuff you'd think, "Well, they talk this stuff, but they don't really seem that committed to doing this." So I think it really needs to be backed up with a sincere and real effort to support. I mean, we've been talking about accessibility, this is a good example, at Carsonified for years. You know, "Yeah we care about accessibility and it's a great thing," but we don't actually know what we're doing and so we just met with AbilityNet yesterday with Robin and we said we want to get serious about this. I know that you guys are really good at accessibility and sort of putting our money where our mouth is. We want people with disabilities to be able to attend our shows and to use our websites. Let's actually spend some money on that and get serious about it so at the bottom of each page we're going to put a little thumbs up symbol that will go to a site that explains why accessibility is important to us and what we've done to move towards that with also sort of some tips and hints for people who are disabled like how can you use this site better and get more out of it so trying to put our money where our mouth is really.
Paul : Yeah. I tell you one of my favorite moments I ever had at one of your conferences was, I can't even remember who the speaker was but the question that came out for the panel was about promoting your business and can you do that outside of San Francisco and California and this guy said you had to be in California you had to be at San Francisco if you wanted to launch a web app and you stood up afterwards and you completely laid into this guy and you said, "No no no, that's not the case, blah blah blah." But it does strike me, you know, you're a Bath-based company and Bath isn't exactly the beating heart of the web design world and I'm quite interested as to whether you feel that that's been a barrier to you in any way, being based where you are.
Ryan : That's a great question. It makes it harder, for sure. You know, we have to go to London to have meetings to go to drink, parties, to network, blah blah blah, but the way we make up for that, and I think a lot of your listeners won't be in London necessarily or New York or Silicon Valley so this is applicable to all of you out there. It's all about being visible on the web. And you guys do a good job of this as well. You just have to get yourself out there. So we blog as much as we can, we tweet as much as we can. We try to gather a community around us and that's the way we make up for the fact that we're not in London or Silicon Valley. I was going to say another important thing about building a brand, and this fits into that, you need to have an opinion in order to be heard, and that means that you have to be comfortable with the fact that people will completely disagree with you sometimes. You know I think in a way I've been successful at building a brand because I'm willing to say something that pisses people off really. You know and I think it's only interesting to hear from someone who has an opinion. When Paul Graham said that "You know you need to be in the startup hub," it just really made me angry, because he was basically saying to every one of us, well, you know you're just kind of screwed, and I just thought, "You know what? That's just not true, and it makes mad and I'm gonna sort of put my reputation on the line by going on stage and disagreeing with you, a well known entrepreneur." And if I kind of was afraid to do that you know, not so many people know about et cetera. So yeah, get out there, blog, be as controversial as you can, you know as long as you're being genuine and be ready for people to say mean things about you really.
Paul : Talking about mean things and people say mean things about you. You've come under some criticism for being somewhat pushy in your self-promotion. Do you think that's kind of justified in any way? Do you think maybe there's a cultural difference there, the fact that you're American and are us English more uncomfortable with marketing and promoting ourselves?
Ryan : Yes, I think there is a cultural difference. But I'm also kind of, I like to think I'm friendly but I am sort of a brash person. I'm not afraid to tell you my opinion and do what I think I need to do. While being kind, I don't want to sort of hurt anybody, but I think there is a cultural difference and I do think that, I mean my wife is English so I'm obviously very familiar with English culture now and British culture and I think there is kind of a slight uncomfortableness with getting on stage and blowing your own horn. I think that in the UK we need to get over that. Not change our culture here but be willing to admit that in the UK if we don't start to step up to the plate and start talking about ourselves, the rest of the world's just gonna carry on in the tech space. Mike Harrington, he's not going to shut up. You know and unless we really start to kind of compete with that and start talk about all of the great things that are going on in the UK and really kind of get out there I think unfortunately it means that the startups and the web designers and web developers that are British are going to start to fall behind in the world stage. For instance, I was trying to think, who are the rock star developers in the UK? Who can you name? I mean I can name a couple but who do you think?
Paul : It's hard. It's hard to say. I think there are more rock star designers than there are developers. You know you can think of people like Rachel Andrew, and Drew. Two that spring to mind. Jeremy Keith is kind of a developer but maybe not really.
Ryan : Matt Biddle. You know, there's a few but it's just. It's not the plethora that are sort of being spoken about, in the US particularly, but I have no doubt there's just as many talented people here. It's just that, that hesitancy to say, "I'm going to do my own startup. I've got a good idea. I've got what it takes. I'm gonna start talking about it." It's just less common over here. I'm not saying that's a bad thing and that everyone here should change but I think if you want to build a brand in the web space you just need to admit that I've got to get out there. You know I had an interesting conversation with Alex Hunter who is sort of really big in Virgin, The Virgin Group, he's high up and he's met Richard Branson a bunch of times. And you know what was crazy? He said that Richard was really shy. And I was like, "Really?" That's a great example I think of a guy, he's obviously driven and I don't think everyone should be like Richard Branson but he's obviously driven and he understands that in order to get Virgin talked about, to build a brand he's got to be kind of crazy and get out there. He's always hanging from helicopters or you know flying spaceships and you know, that's why people talk about him.
Paul : I think there's also a little bit within the web design community here in the UK of kind of almost false modesty and a little bit of trying to persuade the world that we're being very altruistic in what we're doing and not being up front. I receive criticism for the fact that I'm very open about the fact that Boagworld is a marketing tool and that we make money out of it.
Ryan : But it's the truth.
Paul : Yeah, exactly. So I think I prefer to be up front about those things, than kind of hide them behind a façade of false modesty to be honest.
Ryan : Well yeah and that kind of goes back to my thing I said earlier about being genuine. I think you'll always be better off if you're genuine. And of course we're sort of painting with broad brushstrokes here, but there's some very talented people here and I just think, let's get on our soap boxes and sort of shouting back at the Americans really. And people are doing it, I just think there should be more of it.
Paul : Talking about effective marketing tools, ThinkVitamin, let's talk about that for a little bit. ThinkVitamin is a website that you run which is basically web design related and web app related kind of articles and stuff like that. I'm guessing that was set up as a marketing tool. Tell me a little bit about why it exists and how you came about setting it up and what its aim is for you.
Ryan : Yes. So thinkvitamin.com has two purposes. It's to build good will and to give back to the community but it's also a marketing tool and those things are actually very related. If we pump out great content we give away for free it will be valuable, but those of you who read thinkvitamin.com will also probably come to our shows. It's a symbiotic relationship. We're very happy to do that. There is a little bit of altruism there, we do actually want to provide good content and give it away for free but we also realize we needed a platform to talk about our shows. We kind of kept calling in favors like, "Do you mind blogging about Future Of Web Apps?" and "Can you mention it?" We just thought we need to build a big site that people go to so we can tell them about that and we're fortunate to have great connections. We know people like you and Molly Holzschlag and Kevin Rose and just big Internet people and they all agreed to be on the advisory board and really that's just a group of people that we trust that occasionally write for us but we're actually taking ThinkVitamin in a new direction where we want it to pretty much become it's own little business. So we've hired a full time Editor named Simon Mackie and he was really high up at SitePoint actually. And he's come over and he's taken the reigns and we're gonna, yeah we're gonna basically grow that team and expand that out into its own little business.
Paul : That's interesting.
Ryan : It'll be better for the readers. It kind of was dying. The publishing schedule was going down and I think we realized, "Man this is so valuable we have over 50,000 RSS subscribers, closer to 70 if you count the news feed," and we thought, "This is great, we should grow it."
Paul : Yeah. I mean it's interesting in some ways you've kind of taken the same approach that we have at Headscape using ThinkVitamin that you could have created a blog on the Futures Of website and you could have put this content there. There's actually a value in separating it out and making it a standalone thing. It feels less salesy I guess. The same way as I could have posted my Boagworld stuff on the Headscape site. You know it could be the Headscape podcast instead of the Boagworld one. All the rest of it. It just comes on a bit too strong if you do that I guess.
Ryan : I totally agree. And it's interesting because I had a good conversation with Mike at FreshBooks, and freshbooks.com for those of you who don't know is an app that helps you send out invoices. He had this blog and he was really slogging his guts out on it and at freshbooks.com/blog or something and he said, "I don't get it. No one's really reading it," and to me it was obvious for that reason you just said. Well it's clear that this is just a marketing tool. Why would you put a blog on your company's site, on your product's site? It's just kind of obvious and that's exactly why we haven't done it for our events, you know we put occasional updates there but it's hard. As much as I like Web 2.0 Expo or something I would never read a blog from Web 2.0 Expo. It's just too blech, you know what I mean?
Paul : Yeah totally. It's interesting that the other thing that you've done, which again is something that I do, which is that you haven't just relied on people coming into your sites, whether it be ThinkVitamin or the Futures Of sites or even the Carsonified site. You've made a big deal of kind of going out there and using tools like Twitter and Qik and YouTube. I'm just interested as how effective you've found those things.
Ryan : I find Qik to be really effective, or Qik, however the heck you say it qik.com and I was really shocked as soon as I started broadcasting was that just tons of people were interacting and I almost couldn't wait to do the next one. Annoyingly 3G is kind of spotty in Bath so it makes the quality a little bit bad but I'd highly recommend Qik or any other comparable service. It's so fun you just take your phone with you, I had to get a kind of crappy Nokia phone or something, because I use my iPhone for normal business but just grabbed it from the 3 store, got a plan I think it's 20 pounds a month that gives you unlimited data which you'll need if you're streaming live video from a phone, and whenever I'd walk to Starbucks or something I'd just turn it on and start talking and people would show up because the way Qik works for people who don't know is you actually see comments live on the phone screen.
Paul : That's very cool.
Ryan : Yeah, it's great for interaction and any tool you can use to interact with your fans will increase your connection and that friendship. It will show you want to be real and you want to connect with people and I think hopefully we've achieved that where people think, "Gosh you know Carsonified we know who's there we know it's not a company it's really these people that are there and they're interested in hearing from me and talking to me," so that's been good. YouTube has been amazing, I mean I hate YouTube, it's ugly, it's a bit crude you know but man there's just a lot of people on it. I used this cruddy little video camera, filmed myself giving some tips about business, threw it in iMovie, put some music to it and popped it on YouTube and I think I can't remember the figures it's up to, it's up to like 10 or 15,000 views in literally like two hours work.
Paul : Yeah, I keep meaning to get around to that myself and I've never quite managed it.
Ryan : Now you can use a Flip camera. Flip is just a type of camera, you just record and then it's got a USB dongle built right into it. You pop it in and it actually automatically uploads it to YouTube.
Paul : That's nice.
Ryan : There's a couple tools you can use to make it easier. And then Facebook, I've been using Facebook a lot just to connect with people and remember people's birthdays and say hello and just be a friend to them. The more connections you can have to people the better, which builds your brand and I feel that, like a mercenary when I say that, and I don't like it, like I do believe it's just a better way to live to connect with people and it happens to build your brand which is great and I like that as well, but I think it's important that you need to be genuine and actually care about people for this to connect.
Paul : What about Twitter? How have you got on with that? Have you found that a useful tool?
Ryan : I love Twitter. And it's been probably the best way I think for me to communicate I've got I think around 4,200 followers now and I don't know why people follow me. I don't think I'm particularly interesting but I do whenever I tweet I try to imagine if I was somebody else and I was reading it if I would find it interesting. I think with Twitter don't tweet too much, maybe a couple times a day max. If you tweet too much people unsubscribe.
Paul : That will explain my problem then, I tweet too much.
Ryan : I still follow you so it's not too bad. But you know Evan Williams had a good tip he said you should tweet things every so often that you're not quite sure if you should tweet because they're a bit too personal or a bit too blech, because that's the type of stuff that's actually fun and interesting to read. Initially we had a twitter account for Carsonified and we deleted it. I think we decided that that was kind of exactly what not to do. People don't really want to hear from a company, they want to hear from you.
Paul : That's almost the same as having a blog on your own corporate website isn't it? Having a kind of corporate Twitter account. After saying that we have set one up for GetSignoff but more as a for announcements. If something goes down with the service or if we've done some bug fixes or stuff like that. By far the majority I do via the Boagworld Twitter account which is just me talking about my life. I agree with what you're saying about putting personal stuff there as well that people seem to like to know what's going on with each other's lives. I like to know how Jackson's doing. People like to know, I don't know. Making it personal, it's about that personal connection again isn't it really?
Ryan : Definitely. And I think that that's the future, you know just in general. Humankind you know it's just kind of being personal and not hiding anymore behind companies or brands or policies or terms and conditions. It's about, "Hey, how can I help you and how can I take care of you?" and that's just a better way to live and it will massively benefit your company which is great. What's interesting though is that everybody, including us, continues to look at the Signal vs. Noise blog from 37signals and kind of scratch our heads it's like, it's the one blog where it is a company blog, I mean yes it's called Signal vs. Noise, but it's on their domain, and yet they have over 90,000 subscribers. It's funny because I think everyone is kind of, "How do you do that? I want to replicate that." In the end I think you know, they were kind of first. You can't have that many of those type of blogs and I think most of us are gonna have to be happy with just doing a good blog that is real and personal whether, and I mean ours is carsonified.com and it seems to work and we have about 4,000 subscribers and for us that's a pretty good number. We should post more but that's something I haven't quite figured out yet and I'd be interested to hear from your listeners what they think about that. Is it possible to have a company blog that people care about or is it just not possible? I don't know.
Paul : I think what you said there about being first is quite significant. I think originality goes a long way. I mean even with the Boagworld podcast. Simply the fact that I was the first web design podcast it seems to give it a momentum that keeps things going, you know because you keep delivering the goods so to speak which obviously the guys at 37signals really have done. I think there is a momentum in being first in something.
Ryan : Yes and that's probably the secret sauce.
Paul : OK, So let's wrap this up with kind of a last question which is: What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs seeking to increase their profile? Let's have some kind of top tips if you've got some.
Ryan : OK. The first tip I give is to start connecting with people that you feel are influential. You know, spend some time and try to get out and physically meet these people, get to know them and to not be creepy about it, but to get out there, to get in front of them and to get to know them. See if you can do something to help them out, to get on their radar, and I think building sort of a group of friends that trusts you but is also influential is just instantly valuable. So I'd do that and you can use all the tools we talked about for that: Facebook, Twitter, etc. etc. but physical meeting is always the best. I mean you want to have a beer with people.
Paul : And you say you do that by trying to help them out in some way? Because that's always the difficult thing. It's all well and good to say, "Get to know influential people," but how you do that's the tricky part isn't it?
Ryan : Well my dad always did something that worked. If it was someone he really respected or cared about and wanted to get on their radar he would find an article about them in a magazine and he'd actually go to a framer and have it framed and then write them a personal note and just kind of say and send it to them and say, "You know, I bet you haven't had time to actually frame a picture of your article so I thought you might want this for your wall."
Paul : What a genius idea. I love it.
Ryan : And it's genuine. I'm not trying to get anything out of you but I respect you and here you go. It's very subtle. You have to be very careful to not try to sort of bribe people. If you come across that way it's exactly what you don't want to do. If you feel, and kind of think deep down, "Do I actually want to be friends with this person or am I trying to use them?" I think you should steer very clear of a person if you just think actually I don't really like this person I'm just trying to get something out of them. But if you think there's some synergy there, that's a great way to do it. Remember people's birthdays, it's just a nice thing to do. Stuff like that is a great way. Most people's friends don't even do that for them. I've had people send me stuff and you know it just makes me smile and I'll always take their call or answer their email now. So I think that's a good idea.
Paul : Any others?
Ryan : Um, other tips. Um, probably put a real emphasis on customer service and build a real base of caring in your company. Not just for your customers but for your own team. I think that your team will never be able to treat your customers well if they don't think that they're treated well. So I think as entrepreneurs grow and they start to hire people I think it's important to remember to take care of your staff first and then your customers second. And a really great resource for that is what zappos.com does. Zappos.com has an amazing company culture. They have this book called the Culture Book and every year it comes out and you can buy it and it's basically a bunch of testimonials, thousands of them from the Zappos employees about why they love their job. And it's just packed full of ideas of how to take care of your team and it's a great inspirational resource. I think you can either get it on eBay or Amazon or you can buy it straight from Zappos. A couple hopefully useful tips?
Paul : Yeah that's excellent. Ryan thank you so much for coming on the show, it's been really good to get you on and I think there's some really good useful advice there for anybody looking to kind of build an online brand so thank you very much and no doubt we will have you back again soon.
Ryan : Thank you, it's an honor.
Thanks goes to Todd Dietrich for transcribing this interview.
Site promotion with minimal budget
Our first question is from Adam in the boagworld forum:
I have got a site that needs an awful lot of promotion to work, and have got very little budget to do it with. I could probably spend a little bit on Google AdWords but on nothing else. So, how can I promote my site for little money?
Adam went on to tell me it was a charity website. This makes it challenging. As Adam said…
There are thousands of Charity sites, and many better funded, and just altogether bigger.
In this situation search engine optimisation or Adwords is going to be tough. The competition is fierce and so it will be expensive to be highly ranked.
The other problem with a charity site is that unless it is niche (e.g. bird protection) the potential audience is open ended. However, with limited resources there is little point in targeting 'the general public'. You will have no impact on such a broad audience.
Target a specific group as it will be easier to gain momentum within a smaller audience. For example, there are Christian charities who do general humanitarian aid. Even though anybody could be a potential supporter, they instead target other christians. Therefore they are well known in that circle. Better to have a lot of support from a niche audience than a small amount of support across the general populous.
Once you have picked the audience use three techniques to reach them:
Offline promotion – Engage with your audience offline as well as on. Attend conferences, produce offline promotional material and target magazines your audience reads. As web designers we often forget to power of offline marketing.
Social marketing – Identify the social sites your audience You should be wherever your audience is interacting. Finally, seek out key figures who your audience admire and respect. See if you can get them on board and encourage them to promote your site.
Editorial promotion – Find out if your audience reads online blogs or magazines. Offer to write articles for these sites. Do not overtly promote your charity but instead write content which will be of interest to the audience. Failing that make use of comments to join in the discussions and increase your sites profile among that audience.
However, be careful. In your haste to promote your site do not spam. The key is to offer something of value. You must earn the right to promote your site.
Sitepoint has an excellent article entitled '10 rules for driving traffic using forums'. Although it is focused on forums, its advice is applicable to most forms of online promotion.
Office Or Not
This from Brad:
A question from Canada! I'm a long-time listener of the show, and I thank you both for your entertainment and inspiration.
A little bit of background first… Two years ago I co-founded a small web development company, and to date we have not yet invested in office space. As we slowly move on to 'higher profile' clients, we find it increasingly important to have someone in-house, to answered the phones, do the books, etc, etc, so we can focus on growing the business.
That said, I'm obviously touching on a huge spectrum of possible questions, so I'll try to narrow it down. I don't think this is something you have covered specifically on the show before…
Is office space really important for a creative business? If so, what steps would you recommend. And if not, are there better areas to spend $2000 / month?
If I had been asked this question only two years or so ago I would have said that office working for a web team is not important at all. If anything, I would have said that home working was better. The following extract from Paul's blog, written in 2005, underlines this:
The benefits of a virtual company
By virtual company, I mean we do not have a central office. Each member of staff works from home and we communicate and file share with tools such as Skype, CVS and Groove.
People are often curious about an entire company home working and ask how well it works in reality. My answer is usually that it is brilliant. From the employee perspective, you do not have to commute and you can see a lot more of your family. For example, if I were still working for IBM when I used to commute an hour and a half everyday, I would only see my 2-year-old son at weekends. As an employer, I love it because my staff tend to work the hours they would commute and generally home working is seen as a big bonus that keeps people at the company longer. Not to mention the savings made on premises.
Communication really is not a big problem. There are so many tools out there these days that help, and broadband means that even telephone conversations are now free.
Paul goes on to say that the only drawback of home working is that it lacks the social aspects of working in an office.
Not true I'm afraid. Though of course home working does give you an environment to 'get your head down' without interruption, what it really lacks, that phone/email/IM cannot replace, is creative collaboration. People simply do not bounce ideas around like they do if they work together.
Our current office is open plan and there's nowhere to hide yourself away. This has meant that I haven't really frequented it that often – I need 'calm' to write. However, watching particularly our development team grow and work really effectively together underlined to all of us the value of working together.
So much so that we are about to move into our 'dream' offices where there will be a mixture of open plan spaces and areas where we can work quietly.
So (finally!), in answer to Brad's question, I think that office working is better for the business in the long run and I would say warrants the additional associated cost (though beware the costs, they can mount up – another podcast topic I think). That said, we have managed for nearly seven years before doing it properly (i.e. pretty much all of us will be in together most of the time) so it won't necessarily damage you if you leave it awhile.


text:
package com.clark.app;

import com.baidu.javalite.DBConnection;
import com.baidu.javalite.DBHelper;
import com.baidu.javalite.Database;
import com.baidu.javalite.PrepareStmt;
import com.baidu.javalite.SqliteException;
import com.baidu.javalite.Transaction;
import org.apache.commons.cli.BasicParser;
import org.apache.commons.cli.CommandLine;
import org.apache.commons.cli.CommandLineParser;
import org.apache.commons.cli.Options;
import org.apache.commons.cli.ParseException;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileReader;

/**
 * Created with IntelliJ IDEA.
 * Date: 14-8-26
 */
public class DBCrash {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            doMain(args);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
            System.exit(1);
        }
    }

    private static void doMain(String[] args) throws ParseException, SqliteException, FileNotFoundException {
        CommandLineParser parser = new BasicParser();
        Options options = new Options();
        options.addOption("f", true, "百度地图 Crash 日志文件路径");
        options.addOption("o", true, "数据库文件名称");
        options.addOption("sv", true, "导入的地图版本");
        CommandLine commandLine = parser.parse(options, args);

        File file = new File(commandLine.getOptionValue("f"));
        if (!file.isFile()) {
            System.out.println(file.getAbsolutePath() + " 文件不存在!");
            System.exit(1);
        }

        Database database = new Database(commandLine.getOptionValue("o", "a.db"));

        String version = commandLine.getOptionValue("sv", "all");

        DBConnection connection = database.open();

        System.out.println("数据库文件打开成功!");

        try {
            if (!Utils.isTableExist(connection, "crash")) {
                createCrashTable(connection);
            }

            BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(file));
            String line;

            Transaction transaction = connection.newTransaction();
            PrepareStmt stmt = null;
            try {
                System.out.println("事务开始……");
                transaction.begin();
                stmt = connection.prepare("INSERT INTO crash " +
                        "(time, sv, sw, sh, os," +
                        "pd, mb, ov, cuid, net," +
                        "act, locx, locy, pages, threadnum," +
                        "maxmem, totalmem, freemem, detail, feature, " +
                        "detailOwner, comsInfo, maps, nl_success, nl_fail, " +
                        "cpu_abi, cpu_abi2, tm)" +
                        "values (?, ?, ?, ?, ?," +
                        "?, ?, ?, ?, ?," +
                        "?, ?, ?, ?, ?," +
                        "?, ?, ?, ?, ?," +
                        "?, ?, ?, ?, ?," +
                        "?, ?, ?)");
                int count = 0;
                while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
                    line = line.trim();
                    if (line.length() == 0) {
                        continue;
                    }
                    try {
                        Crash crash = Crash.parse(line);
                        if (version.equals("all")
                                || version.equals(crash.sv)) {
                            addToDb(stmt, crash);
                            stmt.reset();
                            stmt.clearBinding();
                            count++;
                            if (count > 5000) {
                                System.out.print(".");
                                count -= 5000;
                            }
                        }
                    } catch (Exception e) {
                        e.printStackTrace();
                    }
                }
                System.out.println();
                transaction.commit();
                System.out.println("事务结束!");
                reader.close();
            } catch (Exception e) {
                System.out.println();
                transaction.rollback();
                System.out.println("事务回滚!");
                e.printStackTrace();
            } finally {
                DBHelper.closeQuietly(stmt);
            }

        } finally {
            DBHelper.closeQuietly(connection);
        }
    }

    private static void createCrashTable(DBConnection connection) throws SqliteException {
        System.out.println("没有 crash 数据库表,需要创建!");
        connection.exec("CREATE TABLE crash (" +
                "id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY," +
                "time INTEGER," +
                "sv TEXT," +
                "sw INTEGER," +
                "sh INTEGER," +
                "os TEXT," +
                "pd TEXT," +
                "mb TEXT," +
                "ov TEXT," +
                "cuid TEXT," +
                "net INTEGER," +
                "act TEXT," +
                "locx INTEGER," +
                "locy INTEGER," +
                "pages TEXT," +
                "threadnum INTEGER," +
                "maxmem INTEGER," +
                "totalmem INTEGER," +
                "freemem INTEGER," +
                "detail TEXT," +
                "feature TEXT," +
                "detailOwner INTEGER," +
                "comsInfo TEXT," +
                "maps TEXT," +
                "nl_success TEXT," +
                "nl_fail TEXT," +
                "cpu_abi TEXT," +
                "cpu_abi2 TEXT," +
                "owner2 INTEGER DEFAULT 1, " +
                "tm FLOAT, " +
                "UNIQUE (tm, cuid) ON CONFLICT IGNORE);");        // 同一时间用户只能做一件事
        System.out.println("数据库表 crash 创建完毕!");
    }

    /**
     * @param stmt
     * @param crash
     * @throws SqliteException
     */
    private static void addToDb(PrepareStmt stmt, Crash crash) throws SqliteException {
        stmt.bindInt64(1, crash.time);
        stmt.bindText(2, crash.sv);
        stmt.bindInt(3, crash.screenSize.width);
        stmt.bindInt(4, crash.screenSize.height);
        stmt.bindText(5, crash.os);

        stmt.bindText(6, crash.pd);
        stmt.bindText(7, crash.mb);
        stmt.bindText(8, crash.ov);
        stmt.bindText(9, crash.cuid);
        stmt.bindInt(10, crash.net);

        stmt.bindText(11, crash.act);
        if (crash.loc != null) {
            stmt.bindInt(12, crash.loc.x);
            stmt.bindInt(13, crash.loc.y);
        } else {
            stmt.bindNull(12);
            stmt.bindNull(13);
        }
        stmt.bindText(14, crash.pages);
        stmt.bindInt(15, crash.threadnum);

        if (crash.memInfo != null) {
            stmt.bindInt(16, crash.memInfo.max);
            stmt.bindInt(17, crash.memInfo.total);
            stmt.bindInt(18, crash.memInfo.free);
        } else {
            stmt.bindNull(16);
            stmt.bindNull(17);
            stmt.bindNull(18);
        }
        if (crash.detail != null) {
            stmt.bindText(19, crash.detail.toString());
            stmt.bindText(20, crash.detail.getFeature());
            stmt.bindInt(21, crash.detail.detailOwner);
        } else {
            stmt.bindNull(19);
            stmt.bindNull(20);
            stmt.bindNull(21);
        }
        stmt.bindText(22, crash.componentsInfo);
        stmt.bindText(23, crash.maps);
        stmt.bindText(24, crash.nl_success);
        stmt.bindText(25, crash.nl_fail);
        stmt.bindText(26, crash.cpu_abi);
        stmt.bindText(27, crash.cpu_abi2);
        stmt.bindDouble(28, crash.tm);

        stmt.step();
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Wireless Controller from QuickShot is, as the name suggests, a wireless third-party controller. It was built for the Sega Master System, and is very similar to the Starfighter 3W in design. The package bundled two controllers with a receiver, and also has extra leads for the NES.
The official name of this peripheral is not currently known, however its code name is QS-127. In Brazil it was licensed by Tectoy as an official product.


amounts of Andorran diners (divided into 100 centim) were minted after 1982. 2 Also .cat, shared with Catalan-speaking territories. 3 Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also widely spoken and understood.
Andorra's independence is traditionally ascribed to Charlemagne, who recovered the region from the Muslims in 803 CE.
Andorra has long had a strong affinity with Catalonia; its institutions are based in Catalonian law, and it is part of the diocese of Urgel (Spain).
Andorra, a play in the Expressionist manner by M. Frisch, written between 1958 and 1961 and published in 1961. It was first performed in the Schauspielhaus, Zurich, in November 1961. It is described as a 'Stück in zwölf Bildern'.
Democratic Party (PS), and Andorra for Change (ApC) Party. Suffrage: Universal at 18. Economy GDP (2009): $3.6 billion. Natural resources: Hydroelectric power, mineral water, timber, iron ore, lead. Agriculture: Products-tobacco, sheep.
Andorrans live in seven valleys that form Andorra's political districts. Andorrans are a minority in their own country; they make up only approximately 38% of the population or about 32,000 native Andorrans.
by Andorran authorities, who pay also for Andorran teachers. French and Spanish schools pay for their own teachers. About 32% of Andorran children attend the French primary schools, 31% attend Spanish, and 37% attend Andorran schools.
Andorra is a small (pop. 73,100, size 464 km2), mountainous country in the Pyrenees mountains in Europe, and is on the Iberian Peninsula, on the border between France and Spain, in Southern Europe.
For 715 years, from 1278 to 1994, Andorrans lived under a unique co-principality ruled by the French chief of state and the Spanish bishop of Urgel.
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is one of the smallest states in Europe. At 180 square miles (468 sq. km.), it is about half the size of New York City.
Andorra was created by Charlemagne to serve as a buffer state in order to keep the Muslim Moors from advancing into Christian France.
might add that Andorra la Vella, its capital and only town, is a fuming traffic jam bordered by palaces of consumerism. (Fact: Andorra has over 2000 shops – more than one for every 40 inhabitants). They're right to a point, but also way off course.
in France with easy access to Andorra, I found this site useful for other… 2.
hi ppl, I am thinking of doing some trekking in Andorra in the next few weeks, departing from Girona. Does anyone have any info on transportat… 3.
El Principado de Andorra (en catalán, Principat d'Andorra) es un pequeño país del sur de Europa con una extensión de 468 km2, situado en los Pirineos entre España y Francia, con una altitud media de 1.996 metros sobre el nivel del mar.
Andorra la Vieja, está formado por siete parroquias con una población total de 84.484 habitantes en 2008.
Andorra, para diferenciarla de las banderas de Moldavia, Chad y Rumanía. Himno La letra del himno, titulado El Gran Carlemany, la escribió Joan Benlloch i Vivó y la música fue compuesta por Enric Marfany Bons.
For 715 years, from 1278 to 1993, Andorrans lived under a unique co-principality, ruled by French and Spanish leaders (from 1607 onward, the French chief of state and the Spanish bishop of Seu d'Urgell).
form: Andorra local long form: Principat d'Andorra local short form: Andorra Government type: Field info displayed for all countries in alpha order.
Andorra's first written constitution was drafted in 1991; approved by referendum 14 March 1993; effective 28 April 1993 Legal system: Field info displayed for all countries in alpha order.
Andorra is nestled high in the Pyrénées Mountains on the French-Spanish border. Government = A parliamentary coprincipality composed of the bishop of Urgel (Spain) and the president of France.
An autonomous and semi-independent coprincipality, Andorra has been under the joint suzerainty of the French state and the Spanish bishops of Urgel since 1278. It maintains closer ties to Spain, however, and Catalán is its official language.
Ask a snow-and-ski lover to locate Andorra on a map, and they'll show you a small little country located between France and Spain that's famous for its winter runs.
square miles, Andorra is packed full of picturesque scenery. Lined with lakes, forests and plenty of mountains in the backdrop, travelers vacationing in Andorra will have plenty to do and see.
Andorra is just the kind of break with the past that he needed after 2005's relatively lackluster The Milk of Human Kindness.
Andorra is a 2007 album by Caribou. The gatefold vinyl record release also features an MP3 download coupon for the album. On September 29, 2008, the album was named the winner of the 2008 Polaris Music Prize.
The Principality of Andorra is a small, mountainous, European country (population 70,000) in the Pyrenees, between France and Spain. Historically jointly governed by representatives of both countries, since 1993 it has been an independent democracy.
In July 1997, the University of Andorra was established. The number of students makes it impossible for the University of Andorra to develop a full academic program, and it serves principally as a center for virtual studies, connected to Spanish and French universities.
Until recently, Andorra's political system had no clear division of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches. A constitution was ratified and approved in 1993. The constitution establishes Andorra as a sovereign parliamentary democracy that retains as its heads of state two co-princes.
* Andorraner / Andorranerin / andorranisch - Italian - Italian Wikipedia has an article on: Andorra Wikipedia it Proper noun Andorra f.
Situated in Andorra la Vella, this hotel is close to Perfume Museum, Caldea Spa, and Saint Esteve Church.
Situated in Andorra la Vella, this hotel is close to Placa del Poble, Saint Esteve Church, and Caldea Spa.
$73 $86 Hotel Magic Andorra This hotel is rated 4 stars out of 5 Area: Andorra La Vella Show Map Situated in Andorra la Vella, this hotel is close to Saint Andrew Church, Caldea Spa, and Saint Esteve Church.
* Belgium: Embassy of Andorra in Brussels www.andorra.be * World Factbook: Andorra Covers geography, population, government, economy, transnational issues, and more. www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/an.
* Andorra: Mountain Paradise History, map, and basic facts for the country located in the mountains which separate France and Spain. www.medinnus.
LIVING IN ANDORRA IS FUN, EASY AND TAX FREE If living in a Tax Haven in Europe (Andorra) appeals to you then you should consider a place that has all the normal tax haven benefits without the high living costs.
Andorra is calculated at approximately 19%, well below the European average. Coupled with social charges significantly lower than those of its European neighbors, Andorra offers very interesting and competitive operating costs.
Andorra has already converted to an all-digital broadcasting network (September 2007) and has UMTS coverage over its entire territory.
Andorran diners (divided into 100 centim) were minted after 1982. 2 Also .cat, shared with Catalan-speaking territories.
to Andorran people in return for fighting against the Moors. Overlordship of the territory passed to the local count of Urgell and eventually to the bishop of the diocese of Urgell. The Bishop then handed over the territory to the Lord of Caboet.
travel to Andorra, Andorra's real crowd-drawer is the Pyrenees. During the snowy season, visitors flock to the country from all over Europe. Beyond its fantastic skiing and snowboarding opportunities, the natural beauty of the Pyrenees rewards travellers with great hiking terrain as well.
The earliest known document to mention Andorra is the act of consecration of the cathedral of Santa Maria of Urgell in 839 AD, which names the Parishes (administrative divisions) of Andorra.
the valleys of Andorra in fief. The 13th century witnessed bitter struggle between the Counts of Foix and the See of Urgell to reduce the rights of the bishops over Andorra.
the size of New York City, the principality of Andorra is best known for its unique history.
Andorra enjoys a good relationship with the US, primarily because of its relatively good human rights record and desire to be a accepted member of the international community.
Here you will find Andorra maps, locations list and information links. With comprehensive destination gazetteer, this page enables to explore Andorra through detailed satellite photos — fast and easy as never before.
Andorra satellite map sightseeing is here! the world » europe » andorra » Andorra maploading... Click on the map and drag your mouse to move the map around. Changes also the Latitude/Longitude of the map. (Current place Latitude: 42.5, Longitude: 1.
Andorra la Vieja) is the capital and the most important city. Drained by the Valira River, Andorra comprises several high mountain valleys. Highways link the country with Spain and France. Andorra is administratively divided into seven districts.
are made up of Andorrans of Catalan stock (about 33%), Spanish (43%), Portuguese (11%), and French (7%), the remaining being mostly recent immigrants from other countries. Catalan is the official language, although Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also spoken.
Andorra now has a prosperous tourist industry; skiing is particularly popular. Trade is duty-free and lack of taxation is attractive to foreign investment. The banking sector is also important to the economy.
* Andorran National Commission for UNESCO (in Catalan only) National office for Andorra. * UNESCO Communication & Information - Andorra Country profile, news and links to related projects and web sites.
Andorra from the World Health Organization (WHO). * WHO/Europe Official site of the World Health Organization Europe (WHO/Europe).
Map of Andorra CLICK FOR INTERACTIVE MAP Andorra la Vella http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Andorra/Andorra_la_Vella-318534/TravelGuide-Andorra_la_Vella.html 109,208,60 Arinsal http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Andorra/Arinsal-318528/TravelGuide-Arinsal.html 59,47,21 Soldeu http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Andorra/Soldeu-318418/TravelGuide-Soldeu.
Andorra is a small (pop. 73,100, size 464 km squared), mountainous country in the Pyrenees mountains in Europe, and is located on the Iberian Peninsula, on the border between France and Spain, in Southern Europe.
Andorra is arguably a city-state and has no distinct cities as such. * Andorra La Vella - capital city (pop. 23,300) of Andorra, and the main shopping destination.
For 715 years, from 1278 to 1994, Andorrans lived under a unique co-principality (except in the 1930's, when a Russian crowned himself king of Andorra, and make laws and even a constitution!) ruled by the French chief of state and the Spanish bishop of Urgel.


text:
Jim DeMint
Jim DeMint is a former U.S. Senator from South Carolina. He is now president of The Heritage Foundation .
Jim DeMint's Website
Latest Fact-checks of Jim DeMint
stated on March 7, 2014 in an interview:
"The big Wall Street banks, the big corporations" give "many times more" political donations to Democrats than Republicans.
By Tom Kertscher • April 16, 2014
stated on April 3, 2014 in a broadcast of "Vocal Point":
"A lot of the move to free the slaves ... did not come from the federal government. It came from a growing movement among the people, particularly people of faith."
By Jon Greenberg • April 15, 2014
stated on June 15, 2012 in a news release:
Says President Obama's new immigration plan "is amnesty."
By Jon Greenberg • June 20, 2012
stated on August 3, 2011 in an interview with "The State" newspaper:
The debt-ceiling bill "doesn't cut the debt. It will add about $7 trillion in new debt over the next 10 years."
By Louis Jacobson • August 8, 2011
Says U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is responsible for "over $14 trillion in debt."
By Mark Naymik • July 11, 2011
Latest Fact-checks About Jim DeMint
Americans United for Change
stated on March 9, 2009 in a cable TV ad:
Republican leaders said "no" to "tax cuts for 95% of working Americans."
By Robert Farley • March 9, 2009

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


"Drumpf" political poster by Dennis Larkins, 2016. In addition to designing concert posters, Dennis Larkins designed this political art for the 2016 US Presidential Election. After Moonalice's performance on September 14 at Union Square Live in San Francisco, this was one of 10 posters handed out to every guest in attendance. See more art at dennislarkins.com Watch the show now at Moonalice.com.


text:
Vaccine mandates contrary to CDC's own playbook
Joshua Sharf
Complete Colorado
Last week, AEG Presents: Rocky Mountains, which produces concerts at the Ogden, Gothic, and Bluebird Theaters, as well as Fiddler's Green and Ball Arena, announced that it would be requiring proof of vaccination for all concert-goers. While most bars and restaurants are resisting doing so, that list has been growing in recent days, too. That follows vaccination requirements for state and local government workers put in place by Governor Polis and Denver Mayor Hancock. (Governor Polis followed his lockdown playbook by instituting the vaccinate-or-get-tested requirement days after denying he was considering it.)
Ironically, decades of well-established research suggests that mandates will have the perverse effect of increasing suspicion and fears of vaccination rather than mitigating them. Even more ironically, we know this from a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) document from 2018 about how to keep public trust during an epidemic....
In this case, the risk involved isn't the risk of COVID [the China virus], or the latest iteration of the coronavirus. By now, after nearly two years of following the story, most people think – rightly or wrongly – that they basically understand that. It's the risk of vaccination, which is what community leaders are trying to persuade them to do....
... studies from Israel, England, and the Cleveland Clinic strongly suggest only marginal benefit from vaccination....
Compelling Perspectives on Politicization of the China Virus
Three articles on the China Virus, Mass Psychosis, and Marxism
Luciferian elites will continue to steal elections and terrorize humanity until they meet overwhelming resistance - They sense now is the time to make their final move toward a lockdown technocratic surveillance state, by Leo Hohmann, August 12, 2021


There is little wonder why the Perfetto is named as it is. Time and again it's been labelled as perfect, with an ability to keep riders protected from wind and rain and yet have the aero performance and breathability more akin to of a standard jersey. The perfect jacket? You decide.


The actress is avoiding microwaves during her fifth pregnancy—is this something you should worry about while you're pregnant?
It's been said that women become progressively more "chill" with every pregnancy. While you probably freaked out over every little symptom during your first, chances are you barely batted an eyelash throughout subsequent pregnancies.
But despite the fact that Tori Spelling is pregnant with her fifth child, the actress still has one slightly odd fear—the microwave. The 43-year-old star opened up about the fact that she still tries to stay away from the microwave—but being a mom of four kids already makes that hard.
"I know I should feel like 'Oh I'm old.' But I have more energy now," she told PEOPLE. "It's not an option not to. And I'm so crazed running around with four little ones under 10 that I don't have time to worry about the things I did the first time. I used to have a fear of standing in front of the microwave. Now I stand to the side, but I still have to get things done."
While Tori is every mom in some ways (not having time to worry so much about your pregnancy because you're busy parenting? Sounds familiar!), here's the thing: Microwaves are actually perfectly safe for pregnant women, according to Medical Daily. The FDA has also deemed microwaves safe.
When it comes right down to it, we all have certain fears we hold on to while we're pregnant. As much as we want all preggos out there to feel stress-free during gestation, we definitely can't fault this mom for being too careful.
Do you have a weird pregnancy-related fear? Find out if it's safe—or if it's not.


text:
Introduction to GWP
Spiritual Warfare – What does God say about War – Fight of Faith – Holy Spirit
How To Use God's War Plan
Bible Battles
Secular Battles
War History
Promise of Life
Joseph Morris
Steve Ciccolanti – End Times
J D Farag – End Times
Word From Yerushalaim
Discover Ministries
Key Life
Main Index – God's War Plan
Timelines of End Times
Key Players of End Times
Wars of the End Times
Syrian War Timeline
God's War Plan
Bible Battles BATTLE of AI | Joshua 8; Achan's sin; Stealing the plunder; Tithing
BATTLE of AI | Joshua 8; Achan's sin; Stealing the plunder; Tithing
Andy January 1, 2018 Bible Battles4 Comments
Bible Battle #12 – C. 1406 BC
The Battle of Ai was a victory that began in defeat; the taking of the Promised land was put in jeopardy because of Achan's sin in disobeying God.
Following the Battle of Jericho, Joshua attacked the Ai fortress. He misjudged its defences and its defenders, resulting in a defeat, at first. Joshua did not rest and launched an immediate second attack which was unexpected and caught the enemy off guard.
ANCIENT HISTORY before the Battle of Ai
As the Battle of Jericho served to gain a foothold west of the Jordan, the Battle of Ai would help to anchor the people's position in the central mountain massif. The Ai fortress would serve as a first longer-term strategic base of operations.1
The Canaanites may have been under the protection of Egypt at the time, but the Pharaohs rarely responded to their call for help. The Egyptians had no interest in any battles, provided the conflicts took place inland, away from coastal areas. Their primary concern was to ensure to keep their routes into Syria open.
The Bible speaks of another military alliance closer to home: the Canaanites with the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites were a tribal confederation, reasonably new to the area, with a problematic historical background. Although Scripture mentions this union taking place after the Battle of Ai, some Bible-friendly historians suggest it happened before the battle as a prerequisite for it.
CONFLICT BACKGROUND leading to the Battle of Ai
The Canaanites used the Ai fortress as a vantage point from where they observed the movements of the Army of God. It also lay dangerously between two Israelite positions: the recently conquered Jericho and the new ally town of Gibeon. It may have been the Canaanite occupants of Bethel that reinforced Ai as an outpost for the region's defence. The Ai fortress itself would hold maybe 240 defenders.
The Hebrew people had become a reasonable force, comparable to light infantry over the years they spend in the wilderness, but they lacked the technological advances.
Joshua knew that a pitched battle out in the open plain against Canaanite armies with colossal chariot contingents would end in defeat. Hence a fight in the mountains would significantly reduce the edge that superior numbers brought the enemy. With less population than the plains, the higher altitudes would also allow the Hebrews to entrench and colonize.
Mussolini invaded Albania and Greece in 1940, counting on his army's superiority in land and air forces. He clearly underestimated the Greek soldiers who had an advantage by fighting in the restricted space of their mountain passes. It ended in a humiliating defeat for Italy, forcing their German ally to come to their rescue when they invaded Greece in April 1941.
An attack on Bethel was considered at first instead because this location was thought to control the ascend to the Judean watershed. Scouts dissuaded Joshua on this target, which was the correct decision because it was Ai that proved to control the access to this drainage.
Ai's inhabitants had fortified it about one thousand years before this time. The current local name "Ha-Ai" ("The Ruin") suggests that these walls may have already been in abandonment at that time. Nevertheless, after the Battle of Jericho, the people of Bethel undoubtedly spread the word to their neighbours at the Ai fortress, preparing them for an Israelite attack.
MILITARY HISTORY of the Battle of Ai
Military History – FIRST ATTACK at AI – DEFEAT
Joshua was aware that an invading force advancing into enemy territory is under the natural strain of war that weakens it. This military reality is why he decided on the economical use of soldiers for this attack instead of sending a large force. It has its merit, for rarely does any commander send an overwhelming force into battle, even when he has the apparent advantage.
The rules of war dictate particular caution, but this is where Joshua made a mistake common to many commanders. He underestimated the enemy and overestimated his forces for the attack due to his recent past success, assuming 3000 troops were more than enough. The Hebrews attacked and were defeated humiliatingly. The Aites chased the Israelites back down and killed 36 men. The forces were mostly disproportionate – Joshua enjoyed an approximate 150 to 1 superiority. We must remember however that the Hebrews were tired after the steep march while the Canaanites in the Ai fortress were well rested and on the defensive.
In January 1879, at Rorke's Drift, South Africa, 151 British soldiers held a fort against an attack of over 3,000 Zulu warriors. Despite the ferocious battle the British stood their ground and the natives retreated.
The small number of casualties was no doubt due to Joshua's keen ability for quick decision and flexibility on the battlefield. He was expecting a quick victory as in so many previous towns he had conquered. As soon as he saw that his troops had lost the initiative, he must have sounded the retreat, not letting his pride get in the way and thus avoiding a greater disaster.
Nevertheless, although this was not a severe reversal, it tactically broke Israel's status of invincibility in the region. It was perhaps this succession of victories that got Joshua too reliant on of victory. He cried out to God in despair, questioning the people's fate now that they had fallen short in battle. Let us remember that until this point Israel had enjoyed a northward successful blitz from the wilderness of Moab all the way to Syria.
God rebuked Joshua and quickened him to take courage and reminded him that the reason for defeat was that some of his men had unlawfully helped themselves to recent past spoils. Joshua called up the clans individually and corrected this wrong; the people returned the loot.
Military History – SECOND ATTACK at AI – VICTORY
When Joshua restored confidence, he drafted a new, more sophisticated, attack plan. As Joshua had been deceived and beaten, he now planned to outwit and defeat his enemy. He deployed ten times the numbers of troops from the previous attack.
Joshua divided the Army of God into two groups for this second attack at the Battle of Ai. Joshua naturally commanded the first force. The second unit was, almost certainly, commanded by Caleb. 2
The Army of God – JOSHUA'S BRILLIANT MILITARY STRATEGY
The main Israelite force of 25,000 advanced to a point north of Ai, well within sight of the city with a valley between them and the city.
Meanwhile, an elite detachment of 5,000 gathered in the rear for executing an ambush, positioned west of Ai (between Bethel and Ai)
The main body advanced seemingly for another frontal assault as before
As the King of Ai delivered a spoiling attack 3, the Israelites feigned a retreat, as had happened in the earlier assault, and retreated
This maneuver lured every Canaanite soldier of Ai and Bethel out into the open deep gorge (Wadi Muheisin) in pursuit of the retreating Israelite attack
The rear ambush force entered the city and set it ablaze
The two groups made up of the ambush force, and the main body turned around again towards the Aians, effectively trapping them in a vic
Another detachment had been deployed to block any assistance sent from Bethel to help Ai.
BIBLE HISTORY AFTERMATH of the Battle of Ai
In between both attacks, God revealed to Joshua the reason for the first failure. Someone had kept plunder from the fall of Jericho which should have been set aside for God alone. This theft was a grave affront towards the leadership and sin towards God. Joshua was moved to investigate and narrowed down to Achan, a member of the Zerahite clan of the tribe of Judah. Achan repented, but the sentence had to be carried out: the people executed him and his family, and all his possessions burned at the Valley of Achor.
The fate of that region's Canaanites themselves was horrific. They were annihilated and their king hanged.
The plunder of Jericho was holy unto God just as a tithe. For the following cities, starting with Ai, God allowed the people to plunder as much as they wanted.
On Mount Ebal, Joshua built an altar and sacrificed offerings there. He had half of the people stand with their backs to Mount Ebal and the other half to Mount Gerizim and read to them the specifics on the curse and the blessing, just as God had done before.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE in the Battle of Ai
Joshua: Spiritual Warrior at Ai – The END FROM the BEGINNING
At the first military setback, Joshua was greatly discouraged. He had trusted God all those times before and had kept in right walking and obedience, and now it seemed not to work. He questioned God despairingly about their future. Joshua did two things wrong
Assumed that all was lost in the initial phase of the battle. In fact, it hadn't even started.
Associated this defeat with God. He didn't exactly blame the Father for the setback, but he did lose hope and assumed that if God had, apparently, abandoned them in the fight, He might forsake them in the future campaign for the occupation of the land.
We can understand Joshua's frustration. So many times he had seen God at work and hand victory to His people. All the way from Egypt. Sometimes the people had been in disobedience, but God had still not forsaken them. His mercy ended up coming through. So what happened here? Why now, after finally obeying God in unity did success over the enemy seems to elude them?
The answer was right there in the testimony. Had not God come through, always, matter how undeserving the people were? So, of course, he would come through now. All Joshua had to do was to stand on
(a) the promises of God; and
(b) the nature of God that he already knew better than most.
Anyone can lose their nerve. Joshua needed to up his measure of boldness and a little patience.
We should not give up just because the results are not apparent at once. We pray, we declare, we thank God, and then we hold on and wait in faith. Faith that God has the con and knows the result.
Isaiah 46:9-11 [9] Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, [10] Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: [11] Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it , I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it , I will also do it.
Achan's sin – The MANY PAY FOR the FEW AFTER the BATTLE of AI
On top of it all, God revealed the reason for this failure: the people's disobedience, through Achan's sin. They took a little plunder destined for destruction. It may have seemed small, but the whole assembly suffered because of it.
By being outnumbered and out-weaponed Israel had always been "naked" like Adam. Nevertheless, they were unafraid, bold and caused their enemies to tremble. When sin entered into the equation, their nakedness left them exposed just as Adam's left him embarrassed. They lost God's protection because of their unholiness, and it was their turn to tremble because of the enemy. God was only able to deliver the victory he had promised all along when Achan repented. When he came clean before his commander, Joshua, God stepped back in to carry the day. The fact that God also allowed the people to take plunder was an indication that they had not disobeyed Him as Achan had. When Achan took spoils that were not his he effectively "ate his seed", "ate his tithe". Israel lost the next battle because their "war chest", under God's hand, had been compromised. It brought a curse to himself, his family and his nation.
The first thing Achan had done wrong was not having been there when Joshua spoke to the people about God's instructions. Achan was not in unity, and this disabled him from being prepared to face temptation. It is also interesting that the Babylonian garment he stole had demonic symbols attached to it. Achan not only became connected to wealth but unholy objects (the appearance of evil).
There are local churches which have a robust and well-grounded pastor who God has anointed with a mantle for a specific assignment. However, the congregation sometimes holds them back. A pastor cannot move further along than his flock; this is why rebuking (in love) is vital for a spiritually healthy church.
History of the Bible – JOSHUA'S DETECTIVE WORK AFTER the BATTLE of AI
Joshua had the people, particularly Achan, first confess and then correct their wrong. He did this in an ever-loving way by bringing Achan to the remembrance of God's gentle paternal nature as opposed to the one people in fear sometimes have a punishing dictator. God is not like that. He wants us to do right, to be right so that He doesn't have to spend any time away from our company. For the invasion of Canaan to succeed, there was no room for such rebellious behaviour. Disobedience caused Achan's execution. Joshua could not afford to have sin contaminate his flock as had happened so often before since crossing the Red Sea earlier.
While reading this episode I had assumed God would spare Achan because of his repentance. When I read of his summary execution, I became very emotional. I thought Achan would be saved and asked God straight out: "why did he have to die"? God told me very clearly: "What you feel is the same thing I felt for Achan. I didn't want this for him." The good news is that Achan had repented and he is probably in heaven now. God is merciful, but in the natural world, there are wars, movements, logistics, occupations, and rebellions. The people had to protect their hearts from all vestige of sin he could not contaminate the land. In Heaven all is possible, but on earth, we function, to an extent, according to natural rules.
Oh God, holy and righteous, whose Spirit is sensitive to things that are amiss, and who, in your self, are repulsed by that which is offensive and brought into the family setting of the body of your Son, to you be given praise, honor and glory. May your grace not be abused, my God, or your mercy taken for granted. Cause, great one, that your glory be priority for us in all things. 4
You need only to be still – FASTING AFTER the BATTLE of AI
God wishes to bless us in His time and in His way. When he tells us to abstain from something it is for our good. Restraint is one of the principles of fasting. This self-imposed abstinence makes our spirits more sensitive, and it is through this that we receive the leading of the Holy Spirit. After the first defeat, Joshua and leaders laid on their faces before God until evening. Fasting does not change God; it changes us. In this case, the Hebrews grew ready to receive God's message.
The God of War – RESTORING TRADITION AFTER the BATTLE of AI
After the brilliant battle was won Joshua built an altar as directed by God's instructions and sacrificed on it (Joshua 8;30-31).
He started this invasion campaign with the discipline of following God's traditions before the Battle of Jericho and ended it the same way, following directions, after the Battle of Ai.
Scripture is sure to convey Joshua's recap of the blessing and the curse precisely and literally from Moses previous account. We see how the repetition of the Word is meant to keep the people safe
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
BIBLE BATTLE on LOCATION around the Battle of Ai
Jewish village of Bethel (Beit El)
Bethel observatory
Arab village of Beitin. Ai was most likely located between Beitin and Bethel
WORLD HISTORY TIMELINE at the Battle of Ai
Events in History
Below is a history of the World timeline pertaining to the Ancient Middle East joined with the history of the Bible.
This world history timeline shows ancient calendars dates prior to 664 BC based on Rohl's New Chronology. For a detailed explanation on the coherence of the Bible history timeline with other ancient history events please refer to our chapter "Chronological Discrepancies" for clarification.
[next time; February 2018: "The Battle of GIBEON"]
BATTLE of GIBEON | Joshua 10; the Gibeonites; Five Amorite Kings; Occupation of Canaan
BATTLE of JERICHO | Joshua 6; Angel of the Lord; Walls of Jericho; Rahab helps spies; Invasion of Canaan
Ai is mentioned in Genesis 13:1-7 as a place where Abraham pitched his tent before parting ways with Lot.
Scripture usually mentions the name of a notable commander. We do not know for sure in this case, but because Joshua had the main force, we can speculate on Caleb being the second commander on the field, mainly as he has a more important command later in the Canaan invasion campaign.
An attack destined to disrupt and disorganize enemy formations on the advance.
Jos. 7:1,15. Trevor M Chase
Tags:Achan's sin, ancient history, ancient maps, army of god, Battle of Ai, bible history, bible timeline, events in history, Joshua 7, Joshua 8, kingdom of Isra, military history, prayer warrior, religious wars, spiritual warfare, spiritual warrior, the battle belongs to the Lord, the god of war, war in heaven, warfare definition, warfare prayer, wars and rumors of wars, world history timeline
4 Comments on "BATTLE of AI | Joshua 8; Achan's sin; Stealing the plunder; Tithing"
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Liliya Andriychuk
I was fascinated in learning God's battle instructions for the Israelite. I wanted to see the layout, go deep and then I came upon your page. God answered.
Your study is deep. The Holy Spirit definitely revealed the meaning behind this battle! God's blessings!
Thank you Liliya. I'm so glad this was an actual answer to your prayers. Stay with us and we shall reach Armageddon by 2030!
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The BATTLE of MEGIDDO 1102 BC | Thutmose III defeats Canaanites December 8, 2019
EMPIRES FIGHT for the PROMISED LAND | Mitanni; Kassites; Hittites; Egypt September 29, 2019
Bible Battles | ABIMELECH AGAINST GAAL | Judges 9; Abimelech 70 brothers; Jotham escapes; revolt in Shechem; Wars of the Judges September 8, 2019
Bible Battles | SPRING of HAROD | Judges 7; Gideon puts out a fleece; Gideon's 300; defeats the Midianites March 4, 2019
Bible Battles | KISHON RIVER| Judges 4; Deborah and Barak; Sisera; King Jabin of Hazor; tent peg January 7, 2019
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Battlestar Galactica cast members Mary McDonnell and Michael Hogan will take part in a World Science Festival panel on artificial intelligence and ethics on Friday in New York.
The will join leading roboticists Kevin Warwick and Hod Lipson in a live program that explores the rapidly developing world of cybernetics.
The World Science Festival, which runs Wednesday through Sunday, is a celebration of imagination, ingenuity and inventiveness that takes science out of the laboratory and into the streets, theaters, museums, parks and public halls of New York.
From the Bronx to Lower Manhattan, in nearly two dozen venues and through a wide assortment of entertaining and interactive events, people from every walk of life come together to learn about science and state-of-the-art research and to discuss some of the most pressing issues of our time. For tickets and information, go to the official Web site.


text:
Q: Veewee, Vagrant and Berkshelf integration I'm trying to learn how to set up a virtual development environment using VirtualBox, Veewee, Vagrant and Chef-solo with Berkshelf.
Since I'm very new to this, I've read all I could find online, but I think I'm missing something crucial. Hopefully somebody here can help me understand.
The part I'm having problems with is provisioning the Veewee-generated Vagrant box using Chef-solo and Berkshelf.
From my point of view, the main advantage of using Vagrant and virtual environments is that they're reproducible and portable, so I do not understand why I have to install the Berkshelf gem and download recipes on my local host machine.
Why isn't all this done on the guest?
If I give my customized Vagrantfile to someone else, vagrant up will not work on their machine because the Vagrantfile references local recipes the other person will not have by default. Installing Berkshelf and recipes on their machine as well kinda defeats the purpose and so does referencing recipes available on the web somewhere.
Isn't it a better idea to just install the Berkshelf gem on the guest, download recipes locally there and tell Vagrant to use the recipes on the guest? I couldn't find any reference in the new Vagrant documentation on how to do this, but in the old version specifying cookbook folders within the virtual machine was an available option.
So basically what I'd like to know is:

*

*Is my reasoning a valid option or am I missing either a useful tool or the general picture?

*If my reasoning is valid, could you please point me in the right direction of how to do this? I was thinking of finding out how to customize the Veewee templates for building the Vagrant base box, using a post installation script to add Berkshelf and download recipes, but perhaps it's either overkill or the wrong way to go about this?
Thanks in advance!

A: Jepp one could think that managing the cookbooks outside the designation guests is against the principle of portibility but this gap can be filled with two simple plugins for Vagrant that integrate librarian-chef or berkshelf (which are doing merely the same in different ways) so that before every vagrant up run e.g. berkshelf is executed automatically - sure the dev has to install this plugins + Vagrant + Virtualbox + Veewee/some other baseboxes but this setup is a one-time effort.
For librarian-chef which I'm using such a plugin might be this.
HIH

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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> Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a Music phenomenon when I was growing up. You watched it religiously, every Thursday evening at 7pm.
It was broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. and had always been shown on Thursday evening on BBC One, before being moved to Fridays in 1996, and then moved to Sundays on BBC Two in 2005.
Each weekly programme had performances from some of that week's best-selling music artists, with a rundown of that week's singles chart.
The way the programme worked in my generation is you had a studio audience who stood behind the presenter, who - to raucous screams and cheers - announced who you had just seen, and what countdown was of the top 40 singles that week. The studio audience always seemed slightly mental to me, they cheered and made so much noise – they seemed so constantly excited! What did the TV executives do to them to make them so excited?!
I bet you don't know this – but in 1990s, the show's format was sold to several foreign broadcasters, and at one point various versions of the show were shown in nearly 100 countries! And right now… a local version of TOTP is still regularly running in Italy!
The show was originally intended to have only a few programmes but ran for over 42 years, reaching an amazing landmark 2000 episodes 2002 (Shortly before it was axed!) 42 years though! Imagine Jools Holland running that long!
In the 1970's it had 15 million regular viewers every week. It was phenomenal EVERY act appeared on it. The Beatles, David Bowie, even the Sex pistols. All the acts that you would never find on TV screens now, performed on that show. It was seminal and a massive issue! It was where you got your pop music references, you would discuss it at school the next day. How strange Gary Glitter looked, or what Slade were wearing!
It's still very much in the Nation's consciousness – in 2007 Comic Relief revived it for a pastiche Top Gear of the Pops. Or on 13 March 2009 Top of The Pops there was a special live Comic Relief edition, airing on BBC Two while the main telethon took a break for the BBC News at Ten on BBC One.
Discuss Top of the Pops on the message boards
Do You Remember Top of the Pops?
fbatkin on 2013-04-26 23:19:13
Who could forget Pans people?
Andrew Dexter on 2011-11-18 09:45:28
I used to watch this reguler during the 1970's and 1980's, and was probably at its best then, with jimmy saville, tony Blackburn, Dave lee Travis, Noel Edmunds, with the most memorable sounds of that time, now top of the pops is sadly gone and the music of today is mostly dreadful!
Pans People
Dr Hook
The Wombles
Loadsamoney
The Timelords
The Larry Grayson Show
Simon And Simon
The Secret World of Polly Flint
Harry's Game
Mel Smith
Wear'em Scare'em
It Ain't Half Hot Mum


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Greenwich Design is a global web design agency which works with top brands such as Milton, Shell Helix and Avantis Gas.
One of Greenwich's clients in the super-yacht industry was unsure why their online marketing was not delivering new leads, despite having invested in a website, and built up a large audience on social media. Getting their online strategy right is crucial for the future of the business, which has aggressive growth plans. Greenwich commissioned us to trouble-shoot their client's online marketing activities, and develop a strategy for them.
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We ran a full review of everything the client was doing online, looking in detail at their website content and structure, Search Engine Optimisation, social media activity and behind-the-scenes stats, sales funnel etc. To uncover why they were not generating enough leads, questions we asked included: How many people are reaching you, and who are they? Is your website user-friendly? Is the content relevant to the audience? Are there mechanisms to convert visitors? Are proper internal processes in place? And more….. At the same time, we examined the competition, to uncover any gaps in the market, and any successful examples which the client could build upon. We determined their strengths and weaknesses online, and the areas which must be a priority to in order to achieve the results they want. We are currently building a full-fledged strategy, which clarifies their goals, the needs of their audience, their key messages, the platforms they need to use and how, and the sales funnel they must develop to get more business online.
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Staff members from Covenant Day School received their digital camera after winning in September's Promotion Commotion drawing.
The October drawing winners in Walsworth's Promotion Commotion marketing contest were announced this week, with four more schools joining the list of prize winners.
Schools continue to enroll each month, sharing the tactics they are using for marketing and promoting the yearbook.
The winners are already reaping the rewards, too! Covenant Day School in Matthews, N.C., the first place winner of a Nikon digital camera in September, recently sent us photos from the day they were presented with their prize by their Walsworth yearbook sales rep, Carolyn Henderson.
If you're a Walsworth school, it's not too late to start taking part in Promotion Commotion. You can see all the content particulars here.