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Starting Sunday at 10pm, San Francisco Preemptively Adopts Stricter 'Stay at Home' Protocols to Deal with COVID Surge
Written on December 4, 2020 .
Contact: San Francisco Joint Information Center, dempress@sfgov.org
*** PRESS RELEASE ***
SAN FRANCISCO TO JOIN BAY AREA COUNTIES TO PREEMPTIVELY ADOPT CALIFORNIA'S REGIONAL STAY AT HOME ORDER IN AN EFFORT TO CONTAIN COVID-19 SURGE
Due to the aggressive increase in COVID-19 cases and continuing rise in hospitalizations across the city and region, Bay Area counties will voluntarily implement the State's Regional Stay at Home order to significantly reduce gatherings and additional activities in an effort to stabilize COVID-19 cases and preserve region-wide hospital capacity.
San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax today announced San Francisco will join counties across the Bay Area to impose significant restrictions across the region in an effort to mitigate the current surge in COVID-19 cases. The City's case rate and hospitalizations continue to increase unabated since late October and are now prompting San Francisco to take further action.
San Francisco and the other Bay Area Counties are opting into the Regional Stay at Home Order that Governor Newsom announced Thursday, December 3rd for regions with less than 15% capacity in ICU beds. Although San Francisco and the Bay Area have not yet met that threshold, the City in partnership with Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara and City of Berkeley, is preemptively implementing these restrictions in an effort to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases, which continue to surge, and prevent hospitals from being overrun across the region.
As of 10 p.m. on Sunday, December 6, San Francisco will close all personal services, outdoor dining, public outdoor playgrounds, outdoor museums, zoos and aquariums, drive-in theaters, and open-air tour busses and boats. Additionally, San Francisco will halt indoor limited personal training in gyms and limit outdoor gyms and outdoor fitness classes to a maximum group size of 12 people at a time, including instructors and participants. Low contact retail such as pet grooming, electronics or shoe repair services, may only operate in a curbside drop-off context. All other retail, including grocery stores must reduce capacity to 20%, and all indoor businesses that are open to the public, such as retail stores, must create a metering system to manage and enforce indoor customer capacity. This metering system must be in place no later 10 p.m. on Sunday December 6, when other amended order becomes operative.
Hotels may remain open for essential workers and critical infrastructure support, including isolation and quarantine. Out of town visitors who are not essential workers or here for critical infrastructure support must stay in the hotel for the full amount of time required to quarantine. Real Estate viewings must take place virtually. The City will limit any outdoor gatherings to members of the same household up to 12 people.
"Given the steep increase in COVID-19 cases in San Francisco, we must do whatever is necessary in order to get the virus under control," said Mayor Breed. "This is about protecting people's lives. We see how quickly it moves and how devastating the effects. We need to do everything we can to prevent our hospital system from becoming overwhelmed and to save lives. We know that the faster we flatten the curve, the less time it takes us to move out of the danger zone. We are taking these actions now in order to contain the spread in our communities, and I urge everyone to take this very seriously."
San Francisco, along with California and the United Sates, is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 more aggressive than what the City has experienced to date. Local COVID-19 cases have quadrupled during the last month. San Francisco is currently averaging 142 new COVID-19 positive cases per day compared to the 34 per day that it averaged in late October. Moreover, the City currently has approximately 900 COVID-19 cases diagnosed per week and hospitalizations have tripled over the last month. As a result, the City's hospital capacity will be under considerable stress. At its current rate of COVID hospitalizations, the City would run out of hospital beds by December 26. Unlike in previous surges, the rest of the State's hospital capacity is strained and reaching patient limits and it is unlikely there will be additional hospital capacity in other counties if San Francisco's is compromised.
"We are in our worst surge yet of COVID-19. It is stressing health care systems across the state of California and taxing our health care workers," said Dr. Colfax. "We need urgent intervention now if we want to be able to care for the sick in mid-to-late December. We do not want your parent, your spouse, your child, your grandparent or any loved one to be in need of help and our hospitals too overwhelmed to properly care for them."
San Francisco's Health Order is expected to be in effect through January 4, 2021. If, after a week of this order being in effect, the City's indicators show a consistent reduction in case rates and hospitalizations for three additional weeks (for a total of 4 weeks) and ICU capacity is holding at 25% availability or more, San Francisco will lift this health order. If however, the Bay Area continues on its current trajectory and reaches the 15% ICU capacity threshold, it would trigger the State's Regional Stay at Home Order and mandate that the region continue these restrictions for at least 3 weeks from that time and until ICU capacity exceeds 15% and forward-looking indicators would allow easing the restrictions. In either scenario, once this order is lifted, San Francisco would be returned to the State's blueprint tier system.
In addition to the measures the City is taking in order to reduce close interactions by people from different households, the City is increasing its focus on compliance and enforcement activities. In an effort to promote responsible behavior in higher risk contexts, such as high traffic areas in neighborhoods experiencing increasing case rates, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development has funded the Creative Corps, a pilot program to deploy community health ambassadors to street closure locations. Additionally, the City's Community Education and Response Team (CERT) is addressing complaints regarding Health Order violations to ensure that business owners and operators are fully aware of and adhere to health orders and directives. Further, with expanding contact tracing capabilities and infection monitoring efforts, CERT is strategically focusing its proactive outreach and education efforts to business corridors in areas of the City with high infection rates, low compliance, and/or elevated risks.
The following activities will be required to suspend operations until further notice:
Personal services. Establishments offering personal care services including hair and nail salons, barbers, tattoo, piercing, estheticians and massage must cease operations, including both indoor and outdoor operations.
Outdoor dining. Restaurants and any other establishments offering meal service, may only operate for delivery or take-out. Eating and drinking on the premises is prohibited.
Outdoor museums, aquariums, and zoos. Outdoor installations or exhibits associated with museums, aquariums, or zoos may not allow entrance to visitors. Outdoor botanical gardens and historic sites may remain open.
Indoor gyms. Limited 1:1 personal training within gyms and fitness centers that was allowed under the previous health order must cease, but may take place outdoors (see below).
Drive-in gatherings. Drive in theaters and other performances delivered in a drive in context must cease.
Outdoor playgrounds. Public playgrounds including climbing structures and walls, slides swings, sand pits, etc. must close.
Outdoor family entertainment centers. Outdoor family entertainment centers including skate parks, roller and ice skating rinks, batting cages, go kart racing and miniature golf must close.
Open-air bus and boat operators. Operators of open-air busses offering sight seeing and other tour services and open-air boat excursions, including leisure and fishing expeditions, must cease operations.
The following activities will be required to restrict their operations:
Low Contact Retail. Service oriented retail such as dog groomers, electronics repair services and shoe repair services can operate in a curbside drop off context only.
Retail. All retail establishments such as shopping centers, hardware stores, convenience stores, equipment rental, and specialty shops, and including standalone grocery stores, must reduce capacity to 20% (down from 25% and 50% in the case of grocery stores) and implement a metering system (see below).
The following activities will be required to proceed with modifications in place:
Hotels and lodging. Hotels may only accept reservations from essential workers travelling for work purposes or to support critical infrastructure including accommodations for isolation and quarantine purposes. If an individual who is not travelling for essential purposes makes a reservation, it must be at least for the number of days required for quarantine. The persons identified in the reservation must quarantine in the hotel or lodging facility for the entirety of the time required.
Small gatherings. Small outdoor gatherings, must limit themselves to members of 1 household with a maximum number of 12 people (down from up to three households or no more than 25 people). Face coverings must remain on at all times and no eating or drinking is allowed.
Outdoor gyms. Outdoor gym or fitness center activities as well as outdoor fitness in-person group classes (such as boot camps, dance, yoga, tai-chi, etc.) are limited to groups of 12 people, including personnel, and must maintain strict distance and face covering requirements. Running groups are prohibited.
Youth sports. Youth sports activities affiliated with a childcare program, Out of School Time program, or other organized and supervised youth sports program may continue operating outdoors only without competitions or spectators and with strict social distancing and face covering requirements in place.
Indoor activities open to public. Any establishment allowing members of the public to access indoor areas, including shopping centers, grocery stores, corner stores, financial services, hardware stores, pharmacies, etc. must establish a metering system to monitor capacity thresholds and ensure capacity does not exceed limits. In effect, a business will need to assign a specific staff person to monitor the number of people in the establishment and ensure that the 20% capacity threshold is maintained at all times. This system must be in place as soon as possible and no later than Sunday, December 6th at 10 p.m. when the amended order becomes operative. Additionally, special hours should be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
Adult Recreation. No/low contact adult recreational activities such as golf, tennis, pickle ball, and bocce ball may continue outdoors but must be limited to participants within the same household.
Additional information about which businesses and activities can operate in San Francisco and what modifications are required at this time is available at sf.gov/step-by-step/reopening-san-francisco.


Whether it's your first real estate purchase or your next real estate purchase, getting the keys to that new home after a successful closing transaction is a feeling you'll remember forever. You'll be both excited about your new digs – and relieved that the buying process is behind you.
If you choose the right real estate lawyer to represent you in your house purchase, you can also rest assured that your legal rights and financial interests have been protected. Whether you choose new construction, a resale or a short sale, you can count on Joel R. Spivack, Esq.'s experience as a buyer's lawyer. He has been helping homebuyers complete their purchases in Cherry Hill, Medford, Voorhees and throughout South Jersey for more than 25 years. Contact him for a phone consultation about your real estate transaction.
When you decided to buy a new home, it's likely you will choose a real estate professional to take you to open houses and show you properties on the market. They did their job well! However, now that you've chosen a home you want to live in, it's time to switch your attention to the legal side of the transaction.
Realtors are experts in the real estate market, not real estate law. In fact, they are not legally permitted to offer you legal advice about your home purchase. Instead, now is the time to hire a professional who can take care of the contract, major document reviews and closing transaction. It's time to contact Joel Spivack; he knows the community and the laws. You can rely on Mr. Spivack to make sure your checkbook and rights are protected throughout real estate deal.
Regardless of what you are purchasing, a small condo or a mansion or something in between, buying real estate is a major financial investment. New Jersey real estate law is complicated – and costly. In fact, there are so many hidden costs when you are involved in a real estate purchase deal. Not dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" can make the difference between whether or not your transaction goes smoothly.
Contract: Mr. Spivack will prepare the sales contract.
Attorney Review: Mr. Spivack will negotiate all aspects of the deal – from beginning to end. For example, in addition to the initial contract, you can rely on Mr. Spivack to handle requests that arise from the house inspection.
Communication: Mr. Spivack will deal directly with the seller's lawyer, not only during contract negotiations but throughout the deal. He will also manage the relationship with your lender.
All Report Reviews: There is a mountain of paperwork involved in a real estate transaction. Mr. Spivack will review all of it, making sure you are protected at every turn. This includes inspections, survey, title reports, surveys, etc.
In addition to participating in making sure all aspects of the deal are in your best interests, Mr. Spivack will also be the "team lead;" he will organize the entire team including mortgage lender, title company, inspectors, contractors, etc., to make sure you get those keys in hand on closing day.
Mr. Spivack is happy to answer any of your real estate-related questions. Start by visiting our FAQ page for information.
Mr. Spivack has considerable experience with local municipal laws in Camden County, NJ. This means that if you are having issues with zoning or associations, for example, he knows how to foresee these challenges and manage them successfully.
Contact the Law Office of Joel R. Spivack for a consultation about your real estate transaction. If you hire him, you can feel comfortable in knowing that Mr. Spivack and his team prioritize excellent communication with clients. We work hard to make sure your real estate buying experience is as painless – and even enjoyable – as possible! After all, we know you are excited about your new home and we would be honored to be a part of this important time in your life.
Contact us today to find out how having the right real estate lawyer representing you can make a difference in New Jersey real estate transactions.


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VELVET CRUSH
VERONICA VAMPS!
DIVA DEVINE
Objects of Desire
STORYBOOK Holidays
Year's End in Oregon
GOTHAM GLITTER
CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH
THE OTHER, OTHER WHITE MEAT
THE BEST OF LAMBERTVILLE
FIRST, THERE'S A MOUNTAIN
LUXE PROPERTIES
COOLER BY A MILE
TOUCH OF GENIUS
TWO-FOLD MISSION
A TIME OF MAGIC
TRANSFORMING CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE
BIG RESULTS, MINIMAL EFFORT
STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION
HIGH & MIGHTY
Be Scene
GREAT NAMES TOGETHER
A NIGHT OF SUPERLATIVES
REMEMBRANCES OF SUMMERS PAST
PURR'N POOCH SUMMER GALA
Kick Back in the Caribbean
From mustique island to st baths, the most exclusive and luxurious getaways in our close-to -home tropical paradise
by Nubia DuVall Wilson
The holidays are over and now you're simply beat as a new year and new responsibilities roll in. How to re-energize? Make an escape to a tropical isle where you can unplug and zone out, and between now and April, sun seekers will experience some of the best weather of the year on picturesque islands like St. Lucia and Mustique. Our guide to some of the most exclusive experiences in this simply amazing region, where you can kick back and relax like a royal, stay fit with adrenaline-fueled activities, or replenish with spa and wellness indulgences.
Unquestionably one of the most romantic resorts in the Caribbean, Jade Mountain is a hotel within Nick Troubetzkoy's Anise Chastened resort. The retreat is comprised of 24 sanctuary suites with private infinity pools that offer unparalleled views of the sea and St. Lucia's Pitons volcanic mountains (a UNESCO World Heritage site). Guests have exclusive access to the Jade Mountain Club restaurant, featuring James Beard Award winner Chef Allen Sussex's cuisine, plus the resort's 600-acre beach, six restaurants, water sports, and spa.
The four accommodation categories (Star, Moon, Sun, and Galaxy) reflect each suite's particular elevation and square footage. Each has an open layout that features a bedroom, living area, and an extravagant infinity pool that all glide into one another, forming platforms that float out into nature. All have 15-foot ceilings and are designed with the fourth wall open to the views, while at the same time allowing for complete privacy. Five sky Jacuzzi suites feature a large hot tub for two, but no private pool.
Customized experiences at the resort include touring the Emerald Estates plantation to pick produce (to be included in a meal made for the guest) and making sweets at its chocolate laboratory. Gourmet cooking classes with wine pairings are also available.
A wide range of spa services can be enjoyed in the privacy of the Jade Mountain sanctuaries or at Kai en Ceil, Jade Mountain's boutique spa and fitness studio. The Alchemy of Two is a romantic treatment for couples that begins with relaxing in a hot tub containing Body Bliss Elixir Male and Elixir Female Oils while sharing a variety of delicious treats, and ending with a synchronized aromatherapy massage.
There are two beaches, Anse Chastanet and Anse Mamin, connected via a coastal walkway. Palm thatched beach huts and beach lounge beds and towels are available for resident guests. Beach butlers provide food and beverage service, cool minted towels, sorbet, and fruit surprises throughout the day. The Watersports Center offers guests complimentary windsurfs and sunfish sailing boats (beginner lessons with the beach attendants can be provided). Off property, guests can go on a half-day sailing trip on the skippered resort yacht Serenity, jungle bike in Anse Mamin Valley, go on a guided boat snorkel trip, and walk through the volcanic Sulphur Springs Park. Rates start at $1,375 per night. One of the most exclusive private islands in the world, Mustique is a 1,400-acre retreat in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. There, guests choose from 70-plus villas available for weekly rent or stay at the five-star hotel Cotton House. In addition, the island has one guesthouse called Firefly, along with a quaint downtown, a handful of restaurants, and multiple beaches. None of the world's modern disturbances can be found here.
Ever since Princess Margaret built her stunning villa Les Jolies Eaux in the 1960s, Mustique has been a sanctuary for royals and celebrities (you won't find any paparazzi here, thanks to the strict security). Travelers love the designer villas and wide range of services, amenities, and recreational activities. A 30-minute transfer from Barbados on a Grenadine Airways flight, booked through The Mustique Company directly, brings you to this small gem. Each individually-owned villa has a private pool and features a distinct style of architecture and design, from Balinese and contemporary to Italian- and Moroccan-inspired. They range from two to nine bedrooms and include a minimum of three dedicated staff (chef, housekeeper, and gardener), plus a golf cart- like vehicle called a "mule." A handful were recently renovated and refurbished, including Fisher House, Palmyra, Villa America, Plantation House, and Greenstone. Weekly rates range from $5,000 to $50,000 per week, depending on number of bedrooms and size.
The Cotton House Hotel was originally an 18th century cotton warehouse sugar mill, restored by the late British Designer Oliver Messel. The hotel's complex is set on 13 acres and includes a pool, two restaurants, a spa, and 17 luxurious one-bedroom, suites, and cottages. Eleven rooms have their own plunge pools and the two-bedroom Cotton Hill Residence has a swimming pool and its own 24-hour butler. Guests have access to all island activities, including the weekly Tuesday evening cocktail party hosted by The Mustique Company at the Great Room Bar.
Breakfast and dinner are served at Veranda Restaurant (which wraps around the Great Room Bar); its fare, inspired by traditional Caribbean flavors, includes snapper cooked in coconut butter and roti spices and Barracuda baked with lemongrass and tamarind. For beachside meals, visit the Beach Café just steps from the water at Endeavour Bay. Fresh fish, lobster, light dishes, and a children's menu are available throughout the day, with afternoon tea laid out by the lily pond. Rates start at $865/night for a Garden Cottage.
Activities include kayaking at the Water Sports Centre on Endeavour Bay, scuba diving, fishing, tennis, horseback riding, yoga, outdoor movie nights, and relaxing at the hotel's spa, which recently partnered with the award-winning organic spa treatment line ilia.
One cannot have the true Mustique Island experience, however, without visiting Basil's bar on Britannia Bay. This open-air watering hole has been hosting an international crowd for over 25 years. Check out "Jump Up" there on Wednesday nights in high season to enjoy a barbeque buffet dinner and live music. Laid back luxury at its best can be experienced in Jamaica's Montego Bay, the capital of St. James Parish on the north coast. This bustling city has multiple restaurants and bars, mostly on Gloucester Avenue, which create a hot party scene at night known as the "hip strip."
Beyond its epicenter are numerous beach resorts, adventure activities, and golf courses. Popular sandy stretches include Doctor's Cave Beach and Walter Fletcher Beach (the latter home to an amusement park). Coral reefs in the protected waters of Montego Bay Marine Park are perfect for snorkeling and diving. Chukka Tours will take thrill seekers on a series of activities at the Good Hope Estate Park, such as dune buggy rides, zip-lining, challenge courses, and river tubing. Duffers can play on one of the most complicated and beautiful golf courses in the Caribbean at The Try all Club, which has a rich legacy, hosting professional legends such as Nick Faldo and Ernie Els, as well as a number of Johnnie Walker World Championship events.
For a luxury resort experience, stay at the 110-acre resort Round Hill, which features villas, boutique oceanfront rooms, a spa that lies on a hillside along a private bay, and award-winning seaside dining. There, guests can enjoy a made-to-order breakfast, swim among the natural coral reef along the beach (then have lunch in the hotel's organic garden) and further relax during a massage treatment with renowned Elemis products. On Monday nights, guests are invited to the property's Beach Party.
The oceanfront accommodations in Pineapple House, designed by Ralph Lauren, are steps from the white sand beach and main infinity pool, and some have private patios. Complete villas ranging from two to six bedrooms are available with private pools, freestanding tubs, and a dedicated staff. Couples who want a private pool, an ocean view, and extra space can book Deluxe Villas 4 or
24, which offer almost 2,000 square feet. Larger parties can stay in Premium Luxury Villas, which range up to 8,850 square feet and feature amenities like two pools, game rooms, and libraries. Oceanfront room rates start at $769 per night; complete two-bedroom villas start at $2,349 per night. Like its sister island Aruba, Curacao is just 800 miles north of the equator, which positions it below the hurricane belt and guarantees sunny skies and minimal rain. There are more than thirty beaches available, and Jet Blue began direct-flight service in 2015. The Dutch colony is fascinatingly diverse, with influences from Spanish, Arawak, French, West Indian, Portuguese, and African cultures. The capital, Willemstad, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is separated into two sides divided by Santa Anna Bay: Panda and the Otrobanda ("other side"). Travelers often feel as though they are in Amsterdam while walking around the historic buildings and shop, dine, and venture across the swaying Queen Emma Bridge.
In addition to exploring the capital, be sure to rent a car and beach hop. Playa Kenepa is a popular small cove 50 minutes northwest of Willemstad, where the water is shallow…perfect for snorkeling. Cas Abao is also to the north and has a water center with restroom facilities and chairs, snorkeling gear, and kayaks for rent. The Daiquiri Bar serves lunch and cocktails.
Curacao also has art lovers covered, as it is home to more than thirty local and international artists and four major art galleries. A good bet is to pick up some authentic folk art made by locals at Gallery Alma Blou (which also features contemporary art and photography), then relax in the patio cafe with coffee. Visit 3rd Project Gallery (the newest addition to the island) to see 15 local artists on display. End the day exploring the sprawling 270-year-old property of Landau's Bloemhof, where there are large-scale outdoor exhibitions such as Cathedral of Thorns by famous Dutch artist Herman van Berge.
One of the largest resorts on the island is Santa Barbara Curacao Beach and Golf Resort. This AAA Four Diamond beachfront property on 2,000 acres offers various all-inclusive plans, seven restaurants and bars, luxury suites, three pools, a Pete Dye-designed championship golf course, four tennis courts, and Atabei Spa and Wellness services. Meal plans range from simple daily breakfast-only and three-meals per day plans to the Ultimate Luxury Plan for those who want all meals and drinks included, plus unlimited watersports rentals from the Dive &
Watersports Center.
All of the 350 rooms offer full balconies or patios. Sea Tradition Rooms offer guests a private pool and upgraded amenities among three separate buildings in a private enclave. Couples who want to stay in a luxury suite have multiple options, including the Tula Suite—an 820-square-foot accommodation with a foyer, half-bath, parlor, king bedroom, master bath, and a balcony with commanding views of the resort grounds. Rates range from $244 per night to $482 per night, depending on the chosen plan. St. Berths (short for Saint-Barthélemy), one of the Caribbean's most elite and expensive islands, has been a playground for the rich and famous for decades. With
14 white-sand beaches, designer boutiques, art galleries, a hot nightlife scene, and multiple luxury hotels, it is small wonder that celebrities and models alike make this French island their preferred tropical getaway.
Start your trip by visiting the bustling port town Gust via to shop and enjoy gourmet cuisine in the plethora of restaurants helmed by international chefs.
One of the most unique properties is Eden Rock St Berths, perched on a rock promontory surrounded by St. Jean Bay and just a short drive from downtown Gust via. The hotel was opened in the 1950s by aviator adventurer Remy de Haenen, and quickly attracted Hollywood A-liters, artists, and business friends. Today, it is owned by David and Jane Matthews, who have combined their passion for art, music, and fashion into a luxury hotel experience where guests can choose from an array of guest rooms, suites, and villas. The hotel features a pristine beach, two Jean Georges Vongerichten restaurants, the Eden being fashion boutique, a rotating art gallery, and ER
Wellbeing spa services.
Accommodations are individually designed and based on themes, such as the Howard Hughes Loft: a discerningly masculine 1,500-square-foot one-bedroom with aviation themed décor, two copper clad bathrooms, three terraces, and a 360-degree view of the bay. The latest to the collection is the 2,200-square-foot Christopher Columbus Suite, inspired by its namesake. The luxurious one-bedroom features artwork by international artists, a custom-made private bar stocked with wine and spirits, a living room, large terrace, spa bathroom, and walk-in dressing room.
One of the most sought after accommodations in the hotel is Villa Rock star, a 16,000-square-foot beach house with six bedrooms, a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, living room, kitchen, gym, whiskey bar, and personal butler. Musicians and wannabe rock stars alike can rent time in the private recording studio with the legendary Nave music mixing console (used by John Lennon himself to record "Imagine"). Rates for the villa start at $19,686 per night. Starting rates at Eden Rock St Berths begin at $710 per night.
Tags: Lifestyle, travel
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Protect your valuable property, fish population and boat docks from costly ice damage during the winter. Kasco De-Icers can help you prevent ice damage and save you time, money, and headaches with winterization methods of the past. Fully salt water compatible and Arctic proven, Kasco De-Icing products are the cost effective, energy efficient solution to your ice damage problems. Maintaining surface water will allow light penetration and maintain oxygen levels, preventing a winter kill situation and keeping your fish safe all winter.
Unless, you are fortunate enough to live in a climate that never get below freezing, you're going to need some type of device that keeps a hole open in the pond during the winter months. A pond deicer is one of the best ways to use melt a small hole allowing toxic gases to escape your pond.


The Strategic Water Partners Network (SWPN) is a dynamic and cutting edge partnership working collectively to close a 17% gap between water supply and demand that is anticipated to manifest by the year 2030 in South Africa.
Through SWPN private, public and civil society actors contribute to the development and implementation of efficient and innovative solutions to water challenges in South Africa. International corporations are a part of the network. Projects include Coca Cola which aims to improve its water efficiency in SA by 20% through reuse of water in the production. Nestlé participates in the network with an extensive information campaign about water conservation and monitoring of water use. Learn more here.


I got myself a Nokia 6680 phone and wanted to connect it to my Ubuntu Linux machine.
Here are some quick notes on what I had to do to get it running.
The Nokia 6680 comes with a DKU-2 USB cable which can be used to connect the phone to your computer.
When I used obexftp I had to use the '''-F''' flag to get listings.
To keep a backup of all contacts and Calendar events I use msynctool to backup all data to my computer.
Since the file-sync backend can only sync to one directory per group I had to create two groups, one for Contacts and the other for Events (Calendar).
Below is a instruction on how to set up this in the same way as I did.
First to you create the nokia-contact group using msynctool and add members to it. First a file-sync and then a syncml-obex-client.
Then configure the file-sync member to set the directory into which the data is to be saved.
In the XML change the ''path'' element to contain ''/home/user/Documents/PC_Suite/Contacts/''.
Now configure the syncml-obex-client member.
And now the create the nokia-events group.
Configure the file-sync member and set the ''path'' to ''/home/user/Documents/PC_Suite/Event/''.
Configure the syncml-obex-client member and set the same data as for the nokia-contact group above.
And we are done. To help running the synchronisation I use the following shell script.


We have had a small problem recently with some students trolling the Peer Feedback system. If you are a teacher, you will know well that student empowerment can come at the cost of students being empowered to do the things they want and not the things you want.
95% of these inappropriate comments got caught by our filters and human moderators, so it wasn't a major issue, but I felt it was time to reverse the trend. I wrote to our power users – the teachers who set the most assignments, and who therefore, statistically, must be teaching the largest number of trolls. I showed them where to check their students' Peer Feedback statements, and asked them to address any issues they found with their own students.
Many thanks for sending me those lists, I will certainly use this as an opportunity for a constructive lesson on how to provide feedback to others and netiquette.
That's the way to turn a problem into an opportunity!
This entry was posted in Yacapaca and tagged BIS, international school, peer feedback, Sharples, SPA, zahid razzak. Bookmark the permalink.


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Q: Website loads slowly When I make a search or just simply browse on my site it is really slow. I am using Zen Cart for my new Web Shopping.
My site is: http://shopfarmacia.it

A: A good place to start would be to check the page using some tools such as Google Pagespeed, Yahoo Y!Slow and Pingdom Tools and follow their recommendations for speeding up your site.
It doesn't seem like Zen Cart is much of a problem, every page you view requires you to download 700k of data, most of which isn't cached.

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Peter and the Wolf by Iceland's Figura Theatre
Posted by Jason Vance on Sunday, February 23, 2014 · Leave a Comment
The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Society proudly presents Peter and the Wolf on Sunday, February 23rd 2014 at 2:00 and 4:00pm at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre. Peter and the Wolf is the final show in the Society's 2013/14 Kids series.
Originally composed by Russia's Sergei Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf was created to introduce young audiences to the various instruments of the orchestra. Puppet master Bernd Ogrodnik, the national puppeteer of Iceland, has added a visual aspect to this classic tale by creating a set and hand carved wooden puppets in the Russian/European tradition. Guided by Prokofiev's original score, this award winning production of Peter and the Wolf will draw young audiences to the wonderful world of music.
"I adore the music Prokofiev created for Peter and the Wolf" says Ogrodnik, "To be able to introduce such beautiful music to young audiences with the help of my puppets, and to give them the opportunity to really appreciate the gift of classical music gives me tremendous joy."
With formal training in classical music, fine woodworking, and movement arts, Ogrodnik has been a prominent figure in the world of puppetry since 1986 and currently works as a performer, designer, builder, teacher, and director for his company, Figura Theatre. He has toured internationally as a performer, lecturer and director at international theatre festivals, universities and conferences. His exquisite marionettes and puppet creations are frequently featured in film, television, museums and theatres around the world.
"Observing a child playing with a little toy action-hero, you will notice that the child himself will turn into this action hero, his demeanor, face and voice are entirely dedicated to this character… The great side effect of course is that the audience (even the adults) can really understand and relate to this way of performing, as we have played this way in our youth." explains Ogrodnik, "We all have been puppeteers at some point in our lives!"
Created for the National Theatre of Iceland, Peter and the Wolf is a stunningly picturesque and musical play sure to delight young audiences while parents will be enamored with beautiful craftsmanship and talent.
"The performance delights audiences of all ages. Though nothing really frightening will happen on stage, the youngest are always best accompanied by grown-ups." adds Ogrodnik, "Grown-ups though will not need the excuse of being accompanied by small children to enjoy the music and story of Peter and the Wolf."
There are two limited-audience performances to choose from starting at 2:00 and 4:00pm on Sunday, February 23rd. Tickets for Peter and the Wolf are $12 each and on sale through the Ticket Seller Box Office by calling 250-549-SHOW (7469) or online at www.ticketseller.ca.
The Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support: TD Financial Group, Kal Tire, Valley Medical Labs, the Vernon Morning Star, the Okanagan Advertiser, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the North Okanagan Regional District, and the Sustainable Environmental Network Society.


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Q: Add someone as watcher to github repo How do I add someone as a watcher to my github repo?
Note:

*

*The repo belongs to an org

*The repo is private

A: To add to the comment, you can consider the GitHub API on Activity Watching
That API allows to list watchers, or for an authenticated user to "set a repository subscription".
But that call cannot be done "for another user", only for the current authenticated account.
This assumes, in your case, that account has access to the org and the private repository.
If there is no API allowing to add another user as watcher, it is probably not an existing feature.


A full refund with free postage and shipping. After trying up to 3 patches, if you are not satisfied simply email us at sales@heliopatch.com within 30 days of your purchase to receive your full refund.
State one of three reasons (claiming the guarantee, incorrect item received, or unable to use the patches due to medical reasons) in your email to sales@heliopatch.com. Other reasonable reasons for return may be accepted.
Please allow up to 7 business days for processing refunds.
Our only request upon return of Heliopatch for any reason, is that you provide feedback on the patch and your experience with it. This will allow us to refine our product and create a more user friendly experience for customers worldwide.


You may ask - what makes eresource ERP different from other ERP software available in the market? The first and foremost reason being that eresource is an Indian browser based ERP software developed exclusively for the Indian market, especially the Small and Medium scale Enterprises.
Looking at the contribution made by the SMEs in the Indian manufacturing industry, eresource felt it is necessary to provide them with a suitable business application that will ease their operational methods and bring growth to the industry. A browser based ERP solution will be an ideal solution to suit their needs and budget as eresource ERP needs a limit financial investment.
We were sure that the implementation web-based browser supported eresource ERP will definitely change the way they work and also it can make the impact on their production sector, in both quality and quantity wise.
Another matter of success with browser based eresource ERP is its quick implementation. Unlike other ERP systems, browser based eresource ERP system could be brought into action within a limit time as its implementation process takes a minimum time. When the conditions are approved by an organization the system could be deployed to its operational level within 90 days of time. That is a record time period when considering other ERP systems implementation process.
Over and above, eresource Infotech serves all our ERP customers directly, unlike some ERP vendors who have a strategy to serve the large client directly whilst, directing SMEs to their re-sellers or consultants. Though our client list too include many large enterprises, when it comes to business we are impartial. That's our policy practice, indeed.


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Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor of Lung: A Case Report.
Gyeongsin Park, Kyungji Lee, Sun Mi Lee, Kyo Young Lee, Sang In Shim, Chang Suk Kang, Youn Soo Lee
DOI : https://doi.org/
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The Korean Journal of Cytopathology 2006;17(1): 63-68.
Department of Hospital Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. lys9908@catholic.ac.kr
Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT), normally referred to as inflammatory pseudotumor, is a fairly rare condition. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of IMT has only rarely been reported. Here, we describe one such case of pulmonary inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. A 30-year-old man presented with a 2.8cm-sized mass in his lung. Chest CT revealed a well defined, poorly enhancing mass. FNAC showed some fascicular or swirled clusters of spindle cells, admixed with occasional inflammatory cells and foamy histiocytes. The majority of the tumor cells evidenced bland, elongated nuclei, but infrequent pleomorphic nuclei. Some of the tumor cells evidenced nuclear grooves and intranuclear inclusions. Although the cytological differentiation of IMT from malignant lesions is not immensely problematic, due to the general paucity of cytological and nuclear atypia, a definite cytological diagnosis of IMT cannot be rendered simply by FNAC. Therefore, a diagnosis of IMT may be suggested via exclusive diagnosis.
Key Words: Inflammatory pseudotumor; Lung; Fine needle aspiration cytology
Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology of Carcinosarcoma in the Salivary Gland: An Extremely Rare Case Report 2017 March;52(2)
Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology Practice in Korea 2017 November;51(6)
Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor of the Thyroid Gland: A Brief Case Report 2014 August;48(4)
Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Warthin-like Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Brief Case Report 2014 April;48(2)
Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Parathyroid Lesions 2013 October;47(5)
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Copyright © 2022 The Korean Society of Pathologists and the Korean Society for Cytopathology.


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Posted on August 18, 2021 August 21, 2021 by stratyve_podetize
When we think of go-to-market, we rarely see it as a long-term journey. Timescales are often quicker, thinking in terms of weeks, days, months, or even quarters. However, Pradeep Nair, the VP at Microsoft Azure, looks at the go-to-market as a multiyear journey. In this episode, he joins Vijay Damojipurapu to talk about why he believes this is so. Pradeep discusses how you can learn from almost every go-to-market opportunity, using it to inform you when you are about to do something new. He takes us deep into the go-to-market strategy for Azure—from the new markets to enter to the existing markets they grow in—and the enterprise privacy compliance and security. Plus, Pradeep also shares his thoughts on high-performance cultures, building that into his team, and applying the growth mindset.
I have the pleasure of hosting Pradeep Nair, who is the VP at Microsoft Azure. He will tell more about the role. Pradeep has a very storied and diverse background. He has been with Microsoft for many years. He has grown and risen to the ranks. Think of it as he has risen to the ranks as Azure grew, Pradeep's career also grew and its responsibilities and impact overall. It's my pleasure. Welcome to the show, Pradeep.
Thank you. It's nice to be on the show.
I always start the show with this question to all my guests. How do you define go-to-market?
Go-to-market is a big aspect of any product you launch, especially in the software industry, anything we take to the market. For me, go-to-market is probably in some of the big activities that we do. This might be an activity that includes engineering, marketing, sales, or outfield. It's starting with planning, knowing your customers, having a clear understanding of what are the customers you want to target, what is your product strategy, and what is the completion of a product. A lot of us call that MBB. What should be there for a preview? We call it general availability. That's the concept that we use when we launch. How is it there? What is your entry to the market? How do you sustain that? How do you start growing it?
You will break this into multi milestones and then work around that. I will do a preview. I get good customer feedback. If I feel the product is right, then I start expanding, which also includes identifying the pilot customers and having a deep relationship with them. Also, when we go from a preview to GA, the go-to-market becomes a broad scale motion. This is where having the field-ready material or having the sales team ready to go and do this massive broad adoption thing is super important. That's how I look at go-to-market. It's probably a multiyear journey broken down into multiple milestones. Once you go through a milestone, you look back and understand, "What did we learn? Do we need to change anything here?" It's an evolution as we go through the milestones.
You touched upon several key points there. One is you look at go-to-market as a multiyear journey. That is key. For me, I was off late. Often, I speak to go-to-market leaders or even founders at startups. Their timescale is a lot quicker. It's more in terms of weeks, days, months, or even quarters. Having a conversation with you took me back to my days at Microsoft. It's a multiyear journey completely. I also liked the emphasis that you placed on preview versus GA. As you're building out, going from preview to GA, you need to have the entire sales enablement piece in place. You need to work with the field sales regions and the marketing organization. Those are all the key elements there.
You can almost learn from every go-to-market opportunity. Click To Tweet
One of the interesting things we have also done is learning with each go-to-market opportunity as key. What we've also seen is doing the data analysis to see. For example, you're launching in Europe or the Middle East, "What has been our experience launching in one of the countries?" If there's enough data to show that, "It took six months to get the product adoption going. Here are the key customers, banking customers, or retail customers," analyzing those data points is super important because that has to feed into some of your go-to-market motions.
For example, we launched in Europe in multiple countries like, "What did I learn after this internal launch? What did I learn with the general launch?" Each country or region has its own charters, but there is still a set of common learnings, analysis, and data points you could use. An interesting option is also looking at the competition to see what they're doing or what is their go-to-market plan be. That's all interesting things to do.
We look at it from different viewpoints. One is the overall go-to-market, which is broad and common across the geographies, verticals, customers, and use cases. There are the nuances, which is, "I'm entering this new market or maybe it's an existing market like Switzerland. What was our launch experience and GA cycle in that case?" Given your charter, because Microsoft Azure is so broad in terms of use cases, services, products, verticals, and customers, clearly, there will be a lot of variations across that once a year.
You can almost learn from every go-to-market opportunity. We look at a process called RCA, Root Cause Analysis, in laying out the good things and the bad things to assess the learnings for the tremendous or across customer feedback like our field team. For me, that was super interesting because my career with Azure was Azure is smart and growing. We had each of these learning across. Every time we had to do something new, we learn from there and then we think about, "How do you do the scale motion of it?" That's how we always start our mornings.
That's a good segue into the next topic. Can you share, for the benefit of the readers, around your broad career journey? Who do you serve? What's your role at Microsoft?
A little bit about my career, I started my career in India for a firm called Ernst & Young. I used to do consulting travel across Africa and in multiple countries in Asia and then I shifted to the US. It has been every immigrant's journey, starting with a little bit of a tough time because I came in 2008 when we had all the housing crises. It was fascinating to see suddenly the projects, especially in the consulting space, because clients wanted to spend less money. I went through that journey. I worked at Microsoft as a consulting partner and that's when Azure was starting to go into preview and GA or our initial offering. That's when I joined Azure.
In Azure, for over ten years, I completed the tenth in February 2021. Interestingly, I did so many different roles. I started with doing security compliance. I did privacy for a little bit and then ventured into Azure worldwide expansion. That has been every two years. I will either try to build a new skillset or try to take on a new role. That has been my career journey. Now, what I do is I lead a team, which is now the Azure Global Infrastructure. I'm primarily responsible for two things.
One, the Azure worldwide expansion, which country Azure would we go next for Azure or what's the architecture and then also launching those. Plus, the other portion is what we call enterprise promises. This is our privacy compliance and some of the security promises we need to meet to unblock new countries, markets, and industries. That's what my role is, leading a relatively large team of both program managers, product managers, and developers.
Go-To-Market: Go-to-market is starting with planning, knowing your customers, having a clear understanding of what are the customers you want to target, what is your product strategy, and what is the completion of a product.
That's a very impressive career that you had. It goes back to one of the career growth principles, which is, if you are in a product on a team that's on a fast-track road, you always latch on and do a coattail along that. Clearly, you played that playbook very well. Kudos and congratulations to you there.
The other thing is I also felt that the work helped me. I always looked good at work and start over. I said, "Every two years, I would think about a job change." In this case, I didn't have to do a job change outside of Microsoft or even Azure. I could do different roles. When it accumulated for over ten years, it gave me a breadth of experience, which I wouldn't have normally had if I had from a single road. That startup helped me to look at things from a bigger picture, stepping back like the way you say it. You can start to see it fall from the trees.
On a lighter note, what would your parents say that you do for a career?
It's too hard to make them understand. My parents are a little bit older from that perspective to understand and explain about the cloud. It's easier for my kids. For them, they were explaining and asking me, "What do you do?" Two interesting concepts. They play Minecraft. I was like, "I can work on building these big factories with Minecraft," so they start doing this in there. Interestingly, the last was Teams. They used Teams for their school. Now, I say like, "I build the data center factories, which are on these Teams of what you're using for your class." Those are the easy ways to do it. Xbox, Minecraft, and Teams that are on Azure. I enabled that. That's how the way I explained it to them. Their parents are tied up.
I love the use of the word factories. That's a very neat terminology that you used in explaining to your twins. That's fantastic. Coming back to the go-to-market strategy for Azure, you mentioned a couple of things. One is which new markets to enter. You're also looking at which markets you grow in, in the existing markets. You also mentioned about the second point around enterprise privacy compliance and security is also a big part. Talk to us about overall Azure's approach and how do you think through those two areas.
If you've read about what we call Azure as the World's Computer, that's our mission and vision for the whole product. Our goal is, if we take Azure as the World's Computer, then some of my goals, like OKR in my leadership score has been to go, "I want to get Azure available in our markets and be able to serve all industries." That has been our kind of model. If I have the worst computer, then I need to have the computer in every country. Also, the computer is ready to serve every industry. It doesn't matter what regulatory or compliance requirements they have. That's our go-to-market strategy to be fair.
Going back to Bill Gates' principle, how do we have a PC in every household? It's the same philosophy, which is, how do we have Azure? Now, which we see that as a computer. It's not a PC anymore. How do you have that in every geography?
In a cloud-first, mobile-first world, data is super important, but computing being closest is important. Click To Tweet
It's an evolution of what Bill Gates said. To his point also, in a cloud-first, mobile-first world, data is super important, but computing being closest is important. That's where we are looking at, "The computer needs to be closer to every user who is doing a lot of computing/internet activity on mobile, laptops, or systems." That's how we look at that.
From that viewpoint, Azure has had many successes rolling out to different geographies. You're competing with the big names that include AWS and GCP. Talk to us about how you think about a go-to-market for a new region. What's your playbook like?
When we look at go-to-market, I will take Europe as an example. It's very interesting because Europe is some place where new regulations keep happening and new things come out. We are constantly growing our Azure business in Europe and also launching in new countries in between Europe. What we have taken some of the learnings in the go-to-market is when we know there's a new requirement coming out of a region or a broader geography like for example, Europe, we've taken that to be understanding the requirements and look to apply it globally so that it's much easier to scale. GDPR was one of the things which came in in 2018. A lot of companies took an approach of like, "I will do GDPR only for European customers. We will offer it."
What we took the decision was, "Let's go. This is a very important requirement. Let's do it for every customer in the world." That made sure that it was much easier for us to scale. We also got a lot of positive feedback from customers because they saw that as Microsoft being the leader and changing the game here rather than saying, "Only if you're in Europe, you get this." We said that, "We will offer this consistently globally across for our customers." That's some of the go-to-market approaches we started taking. This is where I said, "Learn from your global stuff and then apply that globally so it's consistently you can scale." We would still meet local requirements in a market like, "If I have to be operating in France and serve the telecom industry, I need to get a particular telecom regulatory certification." We will do that, but there's a set of common global things we will do consistently.
That's the way we became some of the global leaders and thought leaders in many of these places. That started being our go-to-market opportunity, "Learn from your global thing." Anytime there is a big global thing happening, it could be coming out of a particular region, but understand it and think about applying that globally because, in many cases, it overall improves the product. Look at the specific market and say, "If I have to do operate in this place, I got to do something specifically, then we would still do that." Try to learn from the global thing and apply it globally.
That approach and mindset has put you in the forefront when it comes to privacy. Especially when it comes to RFPs that have a big privacy checklist, I can imagine now Azure is being or even acing out other big players, including AWS and GCP. The reason why I like this approach is it's multifold. The bond is privacy. For enterprises and governments, it's more of a checklist, but for a consumer, it's top of mind.
Europe has taken the lead when it comes to GDPR and enforcing it. If you look at any of these verticals or the companies that you serve, it includes banks, telecoms, or even hospitality for that matter. Eventually, they all cater to an individual or a consumer. Given that you have taken the leap and say that, "Privacy is important. We're going to take a lead in that," that's putting you guys front and center in that.
The other interesting aspect we did is the compliance stuff, too. We have over 100 plus compliance certifications. At any point of time, my team is working with some regulator in Korea, some auditor in Japan, or somebody in Australia. We did a similar framework like each of the country had their own thing. We took that and understood into how we globally market. We have our big global standard. If you do that global standard, then everything is a subset of it. That's another approach we took. We have over 200 plus external-facing services. We are taking all of these services to a consistent product scale.
Go-To-Market: As a leader, when you have a large team, the best thing is to enable everybody to do their best, bring their A-game, and operate in a trusted environment.
There's also minimum expectation of customer meet. When I'm launching a service in this thing, they expect us to be compliant on X, Y, Z and meeting these privacy laws. How do we do that for 200 plus services, which maps back to so many services internally within my services concept? Taking that global approach, I said, "I would do this as a superset. We would meet consistently all of these and that helps us scale." We ship new services almost every 90 days. There's a new service coming in various places with AI and IoT. We're constantly innovating. That's our USP, "Why would a company come to us?" The pace of innovation we are doing is so fast that they don't need to invest there in that. Rather, they could focus on their core business. I would use the latest technology of what Azure is providing.
I love the fact that you have baked in privacy and compliance checklists at a global level as part of the go-to-market. That's fundamental and a big shift in how you guide your go-to-market teams. If I'm a sales leader, let's say, in France. For me, I have stringent laws and compliance and regulatory laws that I need to meet. It makes my life as a leader in France easy.
You don't need to worry about that. The customer doesn't know if you meet that. That's not our point of discussion. It's already done. You already talked about, "What's my business opportunity? What's the digital transformation?" What we want is the sales team to enable the transformation of the applications rather than worry about this, "Do you meet this and that?" It's like, "When you get the product, it's already compliant and certified. It meets all of this. Let's spend our energy on focusing on the transformation because, in many cases, some of their customer apps have to be rewritten or they have to use the newer stack. Let's focus the sales team and the service architects on that rather than worrying about these things."
I'm shifting gears a bit over here. In your go-to-market when it comes to Azure and doing the rollout in different geographies, I'm sure there will be a lot more successes than failures. Can you walk us through how you assess? It's a multiyear play. That's one. At the end of the day, to your CFO, you need to show, "Here's the ROI and here's how I've been going to see returns by keeping the customer success and the business transformation in play." How do you do that assessment and pitch it internally?
When we are planning for go-to-market, there is financial/CapEx investments are totally looked at to say, "What's the revenue opportunity?" In terms of the engineering effort, we would also look at to say that, "If we do this, what unblocks or what customers do we bring in you?" It's also important to keep hearing the customer feedback. We have our big customers who could be big banks or big manufacturing companies. We normally look at their requirements when we build all our programs. If I'm launching in a new region, I know who are going to be my top five customers there. I'm thinking ahead to make sure that their regulatory requirements are met and we know what services they need.
If I'm going to Germany, I need to make sure that the IoT services are present because it's a manufacturing hub. You want to have that. If I go there to sell, I want to make sure that I'm meeting all the regulatory requirements from a banking perspective. Looking at that and early identifying that is super important. That's why I said when you said, "When we look at it, it's a multiyear journey." We got to start now. While we build a data center, I'm doing all of this planning to make sure that when we launch the product, it's ready for the sales team to sell. We also do the concept of inviting specific customers for the preview process so that we know you don't have to wait long to know the product feedback. They are already there.
We also have those global partners who come with us everywhere in the world. We have a strong tie-up there as well. These are the ways we look at them. We have built a standard playbook when we launch in a region like, "Does this meet X, Y, Z? What's the service's scope? What capacity do we want to launch with?" Doing this for many years, we have a standard playbook. The playbook gets updated if you learn something new. In that playbook, what we build is tying it back with the sales motion as well. They know, "Here is the timing of what it comes." They need to start planning towards that side of things. That's how we have done. Initially, there were a lot more learnings. Now, it becomes a standard playbook for us. Still, we had gained some new learnings when we go to new markets, but then we reflect that back onto our global playbook.
If you're able to provide a trusted environment and encourage the team to bring their best game, they become a high-performing team. Click To Tweet
I can totally relate to that for several reasons. One is, back in the days when I was at Microsoft, I was leading product marketing for the IPD platform video room, which was part of Microsoft back then. In that role, I was responsible for, first of all, creating a sales playbook for the entire IPD portfolio. When I put myself in your shoes or in the shoes of your go-to-market leaders, I can see what front and center is. First of all, you need to capture the several years of learnings into one playbook, but there's also an ongoing effort that needs to happen. For example, whenever we make a new acquisition, we need to update, change, and re-evaluate the positioning and the messaging, as well as what message I'm leading with when it comes to marketing and sales campaigns.
It's also super interesting for us. When we go look at regions, there are Microsoft regional leaders. Their inputs are key because they are in the market and they know the customers. Being very closely aligned with them and getting the plans aligned with them is super important. If you think about it, they are the local ambassadors selling the product there. That's another interesting aspect here. While we can have the global playbook, we will make sure the local team is part of the launches, understand the go-to-market plan, take their inputs, and modify it to meet that thing. They have a strong sense of feedback in, "What are the first set of customers we want to bring to them when we are launching?" Those are key things for us.
Shifting gears a bit over here, I know a couple of things. Besides go-to-market, another area that is big on your mind is around high-performing teams. It also bakes into the whole culture. I believe you're also part of the Azure Culture Council and you're one of the executive sponsors. Let's dive into that area. We talked about go-to-market. Now, let's dive into more of the high-performance cultures. What does it mean? What are you doing in that effort?
This reflection of my journey started where my team is spread across in roughly twelve countries in different time zones. The projects we're doing are big and massive projects, which are making a big impact for society in general and driving the Microsoft Azure revenue. I started looking at, "As a leader, when you have a large team, the best thing is to make sure to enable everybody in the team to do their best, bring their A-game, and operate in a trusted environment." That started off there because if you're able to provide a trusted environment and encourage all of them to bring their best game, they challenge each other and it becomes a high-performing team.
I've been following one of the worldwide explorers called Mike Horn, who had trained the German soccer team and the Indian cricket team for World Cup wins. He is known as a high-performance coach. I've been following some of his documentations and journey. This is where I said, "We need to start replicating some of these." I started inviting people to come talk about it. In fact, we had Mike talk through a session. It was fascinating. People then started openly talking about like, "What does it mean to be there?" In many cases, we are in between both professional and personal things. Sometimes you got to get a control of your personal situation to manage the professional the other way.
What I started doing was to bring those things and have a lot of discussion in the team. We have been having a lot of discussion about, "What does high-performance mean, being disciplined, and there's a trust environment?" Another thing that I told is being able to publish RCAs. At the end of each program or a project when we launch something, that is super important. People have to do it such that it is seen published to the growth mindset like, "I don't want to write an RCA and thinking that if I'm sharing with everybody, everybody looks at it as, 'These are the drawbacks.'" No, it's a growth-mindset thing. I learned, "These are the things I felt went well and these are the things that didn't go well."
Being able to openly publish it within the team, that's where I felt like the trust is important because if somebody thinks somebody is going to misuse that information, then that trust is not there. When you publish that, one of the biggest things I realized with this is when one portion of my team does something and publish as an RCA, I want to share with the rest of the org because there's always something I can read. My strong belief is you don't need to be always in the driver's seat to learn the driving. You can be on the passenger seat with a bunch of experiences. When I read something in RCA, "This is what happened." That's flexible for me. When I'm going through a similar experience or when I'm in similar project, I may be able to connect the dots.
A lot of my career has been built on connecting the dots. I wanted to make sure that, "How do I translate it to the team?" My vision is, "Learn and grow together as a team." Initially, it used to be I would go for training or somebody else in the team would go for training. They would come and try to apply it, but sometimes their core system doesn't let them do that because their core system is not ready for that or they don't understand your perspective. When we did these group trainings, we do trainings with 200 to 300 people online. We had to do this all in COVID time. Suddenly, what happens is when I'm trying to build an environment with a trust or when I'm trying to do this, the people are able to understand where I'm coming from because we took the same training or the concepts are starting to be seen.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
That's where we started translating it into our vision and mission culture to create a safe space and growth mindset. That's super important. As a leader, I tell the team, "Don't worry. There are some learnings. If there's a failure, come back and tell me first. Don't think of it as a failure. I want to know that first to see what we can do to help fix that because it's not people failure. It's more of a process or a program failure, so we need to fix that." Now, in some of my team reviews, I was doing one. The team was calling on, "Here's what we learned. Here are the things we are looking at."
For me, as a leader, all I'm providing is asking questions or providing insights with my broader team, but the team is self-reflecting on what they learned and how they think they should change the program. They are coming in with the recommendations. I was telling my chief-of-staff, "This has been fascinating to see them coming and providing recommendations. I feel like then they are pushing themselves and looking at their program."
A couple of things caught my mind over there. One is the fact that you see high-performance teams as a top priority for several reasons. Distributed teams is one thing, but there's also the intent which you're driving, not just for yourself but for the team. How do you help connect the dots for the team? That's one. The other piece is, how do you create that environment of trust? As you're talking to that, there's an anecdote and story from Satya Nadella's book, Hit Refresh, which is I believe they were involved off-sites early on.
One of the exercises involved is where each of them share a story and be vulnerable. I believe they were also asked to stand on top of a chair by talking about that. I'm not 100% sure about that, but that's not the main point here. The main point over here is being vulnerable and showing the human side to your colleagues. Often, especially in the leadership roles, people think from the title point of view versus, "You're a human first and then a leader helping drive the team."
One interesting thing when we left off in my conversation was, he said, "Asking for help to your colleagues, leaders, and managers is super important." You should not see that as a vulnerability. It's rather, "I have a trusted space where I can ask for help." Creating that is something super important because it's creating the environment and each of the person is feeling that, "When I ask for help, I'm not seen as I failed. It's seen as I'm thinking about it from a growth-mindset perspective."
I've been a big believer of the growth mindset like, "Everything there is hard, but I'm trying to engage that." That means to your point, it's like, "When I have a growth mindset, I will not hesitate to ask for help because I know this is a way for me to get better on the team and the program." For me to do that, then I need to create a trusted environment. I should not feel like, "If I make a help, I'm going to be not considered a good writer." If you mix three of these things, creating the trusted environment, like people having the growth mindset, then it becomes a high-performance team across everywhere.
As you pointed out, it's about creating that environment that it's okay to fail because that's fundamental. Also, it's okay to share and say that you're vulnerable and you're asking for help. I've it seen personally where I'm helping guide my consulting clients is, how do you shift the mindset from, "It's not about you, but it's about helping and doing the right thing for the team or the customer eventually?" If you shift that perspective from, "I'm not in a position or I feel awkward or belittled when I ask for help," that's a very me-mindset versus the mindset, "What is needed for that customer to succeed? Now, let me go and tap into the sphere who has worked on that or tap into someone else."
When you have a growth mindset, you will not hesitate to ask for help because you know this is a way to get better. Click To Tweet
The way we say we succeed and fail together as a team is like, "If we fail, it's all the learning stuff for the team. What did I miss?" This is all the way up. Even having the team talk to each other, it's like your point of being vulnerable and asking for help is, "I'm facing through this issue." You're asking your colleagues saying, "Have you faced this? Do you have any suggestions?" That's important. I said the whole publishing of RCA. I'm very passionate about that.
Sometimes if you read those, some of the failures remain in your memory more than the success, to be fair. You will read that failure and then you see this. Maybe there's one a-ha moment when you're going through this dark connection like, "I saw this somewhere up there. How do I look at this?" That's my thinking in that direction. I've been spending a lot of my leadership in that. It's fascinating to see the discussions and the teams are starting to come together and proposing changes.
I'll be on the lookout for your LinkedIn posts. As I know, that's one of the areas where you share linked posts and articles around those. I'll be on the lookout for how you're helping the team become more of a growth mindset, leader, and high-performance team. Good for you on that. I'm shifting gears to the next section. We broadly covered different areas about your role, the Azure rollout, as well as your emphasis on culture and high-performance teams. I know for Microsoft, the financial year is from July 1st to June 30th. That's a fiscal year. What are your big goals that you can share around 20, 21, 22, and 23?
For us, the important role is to continue expanding into more countries. That's one big role of what I have. These are publicly announced. We have Azure regions coming up in fifteen plus countries. Delivering in those regions is our one broader goal. We also have some interesting more regulations happening in Europe. There was a post from Brad Smith, who is part of the SLT. We took a decision to be a taught leader and being ahead of the game there. Some of those happened to be my big thing. We continued to help grow the Azure business by expanding into more regions and then meeting some of the additional privacy regulations, which are coming up in parts of Europe.
Looking at all of those, where do you think are the most areas where either you need to bring in outside help or when you need to invest a budget around those areas?
What is happening is, as we expand in places, we are also adding a new team. The COVID situation is very interesting. We're supposed to be going back to office. Now, it's going back to be hybrid. A lot of my budget and energy focus is to help grow the people. We're in a remote culture. We have a lot of learnings and success to be fair going into the COVID state of everybody has to be remote, being inclusive, and being able to participate irrespective of the time zone. Continuing that is my big thing because we are a global team. We are adding more regions globally, so how do we sustain this growth? I feel like if I had extra budget, I would keep spending on people with these additional trainings.
The other one I brought in was Greg McKeown. He has written a book on Essentialism and Effortless, two books. I'm a big fan of Essentialism because, as my responsibilities grew, I cannot figure out, "How do I focus on the most important thing?" That's a session we did and a lot of people found it useful. In a work-from-home thing, people are still always battling between the professional priorities and the personal priorities. How do you focus on the essential things by saying no? We're continuing to invest in the people. Growing them is going to be important while we continue to grow our business around the world.
You mentioned about high-performance culture and Essentialism. Besides those, what are the topics you are most curious about, especially when it comes to go-to-market? Who do you or what do you lean on when you want to ramp up on these areas or figure out what's the best practice of what's working or what's not?
Go-To-Market: Keep learning and applying the growth mindset. It's okay to fail, but at the end of the day, what do we learn from it?
I typically get a chance to talk to my different Microsoft people around the world. I hear it on the sales calls or multiple calls. I'm curious to learn multiple things of what's happening in a country. I happened to be in one of the meetings where some of the European Microsoft sales team meet. I can get it here and there so they can tell what's happening in this market. A lot of things are happening locally in the market. I'm curious to step back, sit there, and listen. That helps in forming some strategy for me as I'm looking at things, "What's happening in Spain and UK? What's the digital transformation journey for customers is happening?"
You as being some of the key technology providers, some of the global companies are taking their offerings into each of the region. Reading through those strategies also inform. Things like Tesla opening up a factory in India, that's different. It's an art. I've been following some of the articles about, "What happened then? How much it took hard for them to open a factory? When does the production come?" If you look at that as that's like a go-to-market, having the Slack apps that are made in India, they're going through an up and down.
Every article is interesting, too. Since you already closed to the go-to-market, you could look at each of this business and see what's happening. It could also be Amazon entering into a different industry like healthcare. There are a lot of these things happening. You could sit there and learn the experiences from there. That probably also helped me formulate, "If I have to go to X, Y, Z place or if I have to grow, what are the things I see others are pointing out?"
There are two things that you called out. One is you're leaning on the resources in people and the learnings from and within Microsoft. That's one key area. Second is it's not Microsoft only. You're keeping mind open and even looking at "competitors" but it's not from a competitor point of view. It's more from a learner's perspective. It's not a competitive analysis perspective. That's why when you mentioned about Amazon and taking a new market like Tesla, it's all about, "What are their pitfalls or learnings, but more importantly, how can I bring those into then back to my team?" I love that approach. If you look back at your career, you've had a series of stints in India and then it was Ernst & Young and then Microsoft. If you look back the entire span, who are those 1, 2, or 3 people that you think played a big role in your career?
Personally, my father has been a big role model because he had a tough financial situation. He had to probably almost drop out of high school because of health and then financial conditions. He struggled his way through, but he never gave up. He was constantly fighting it and made sure that we all got the education where I could take on what I wanted to do. That's an inspiration. Every time I see him, I always saw him as hardworking. He used to work 12 to 13 hours. I would never see him complain in the woodshop and office, even on Sundays. I would never be able to match that. It was fascinating. Until the day he did that, he was 100% dedicated wherever he worked. He is also tenured in many places he worked.
Within Microsoft, I've seen and felt Satya Nadella's culture changes and how he is as a leader. It has been fascinating when I get to hear or when I get to present to him. What I've seen is he applies the growth mindset and curiosity. He is constantly asking questions. He is reading and learning. That inspired me to go and modify my leadership style to be more curious and have the insights. You'll find about me going and reading these multiple articles about what it is. When I do my own team reviews, I'm looking at all of these data and providing more insights or be curious and ask questions.
That's something which I saw fascinating with him in terms of him learning. Whenever you've got to talk about any topic, he is asking 5 or 6 questions. These questions are coming from either his reading or him talking to different leaders and understanding the business. He would say, "I spoke to X, Y, Z. This is their business strategy and this is what they're thinking about. How does this align with us? How do we think about partnering?" Partnering is one of the big things he brought as a culture change to Microsoft. You could see now Microsoft as one of the biggest partners everywhere. That leadership style, I felt that change is happening.
That inspired me to be curious, keep learning, keep reading, ask curious questions, try to connect the dots, and see how this is going to help the business. That has been a big inspiration. Every time I get the chance to have a meeting in one of the reviews with him, I'm like, "Wow." With so many dark connections that are happening and then asking more questions, it frames the biggest strategy for what we want to do.
Growing people is going to be important while we continue to grow our business around the world. Click To Tweet
That's an inspiration for many. For me, it's that one line, which is permanently edged. He is also the reason which helps shift Microsoft culture and thinking from, "Do it all to learn it all." That is fundamental.
One other interesting thing is, normally, the Asian leaders are seen as more of a CTO or some technical people. He brought a change to look at, "They can be the business leaders or more of the CEO." That's a very interesting paradigm shift, which started with him as well. Now, you see a lot more. That's interesting if you think about the mindset change of the shift which happened how you brand a set of leaders.
A final question for you is, if you were to turn back time and go back to your younger self, maybe it's the day one of your go-to-market journey when you were leading the program management and other areas within Azure or maybe sometime earlier. If you were to turn back the clock and time, what advice would you give to your younger self?
Enjoy the journey because, in some cases where I felt I could have properly stepped back and enjoyed the journey. That's my reflection. I was more curious or how I expect this to be successful. When things are not going well, I was not super excited about that. If you go back, look at it in your career, your go-to-market, sometimes it's more than six months journey. You will have success and failures. It's super important to enjoy the journey. Also, keep learning and applying the growth mindset. It's okay to fail, but at the end of the day, what we do learn from it? That will help you when you get the next job if you're going to do it. Be a part of it because every learning is an opportunity for you next time when you get to do something similar.
Thank you so much for your time. On that note, I enjoyed our conversation and that's advice to all, which is enjoy the journey. Any parting words?
This is great. It's different from the business that it takes. It was great having you with day-to-day. I'm looking forward to reading your blog more as well. I like hearing from other people. That's another way to listen and learn. That's another way I look at shows.
Thank you so much. Do hit subscribe. It's a big help if you can spread the word. I'm happy to host other go-to-market leaders within Microsoft and Azure as well. Thank you so much.
Azure Global Infrastructure
LinkedIn – Pradeep Nair
Essentialism
Effortless
About Pradeep Nair
Pradeep is an Executive Leader in Azure leading several Products across Data Center and Enterprise Promises areas. Pradeep as a Vice President in Azure currently leads a very diverse Product team of 400+ comprised of Product Managers, Technical Program Managers and Software Developers. Pradeep has built a team that develops great products that focuses on designing and building a comprehensive, efficient and market leading cloud infra that enables faster time to market and meets customer expectations. He has experience defining product strategy, building cloud infra products from the ground up and driving multibillion-dollar growth and profitability
Pradeep has a successful track record of leading complex, high-profile multibillion-dollar products spanning multiple geographies, requiring collaboration with multiple teams and under aggressive timelines. Strong technical background, effective communicator and experience working with Senior Leadership. He holds multiple patents covering hyperscale computing, infrastructure operations, and security.
Significant strengths in areas of :
• Exec Leadership Management
• Building and Managing Strong Leaders and Diverse Teams
• Product Management
• Cloud Services Deployment and Delivery
• Cloud Security and Privacy
• Compliance Certifications, Standards and Frameworks
• Team Management
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) – (ISC)2
• Project Management Professional (PMP) – PMI
• ITIL Foundation Certification in I.T Service Management
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) – ISACA
Pradeep graduated with Bachelors in Computer Science and with Masters in Information Technology.
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Posted in PodcastTagged Azure, Failure, Go-To-Market, Growth Mindset, High-Performing Team, LeadershipLeave a comment


text:
Q: Does System.Web.Mvc.ListItem no longer exist in ASP.NET MVC RC? Trying to create a list to return some JSON data to a view.  Following a few tutorials on the web that were created during the beta but it seems in the RC the code does work.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace MvcApplication6.Controllers
{
    [HandleError]
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public JsonResult list()
        {
            List<ListItem> list = new List<ListItem> {
                new ListItem() {Name="value", Something = "more Values"}
            };
            return Json(List);
        }
    }
}

The problem is ListItem is not found in the System.Web.Mvc namespace.  I can't seem to get this to work.  If ListItem has been removed how do you accomplish this in Release Candidate MVC?
Here are the tutorials I am trying to use:
http://geekswithblogs.net/michelotti/archive/2008/06/28/mvc-json---jsonresult-and-jquery.aspx
http://nayyeri.net/blog/using-jsonresult-in-asp-net-mvc-ajax/

A: ListItem is in the System.Web.UI.WebControls...you probably don't want to use this.  You could use SelectListItem which is in the System.Web.Mvc namespace, but you'll have to change the property names (you'd have to do this for ListItem as well).
    public JsonResult list()
    {
        List<SelectListItem> list = new List<SelectListItem> {
            new ListItem() { Text="value", Value = "more Values" }
        };
        return Json(List);
    }

I'd be tempted to do this with List<object> and anonymous types so that I could define the property names to my liking.
    public JsonResult list()
    {
        List<object> list = new List<object> {
            new { Name="value", Something = "more Values" }
        };
        return Json(List);
    }

A: I would go with the MVC version. ListItem follows the web forms model, moving forward you probably want to go with SelectList and SelectListItem, respectively.
public JSonResult lstResult()
{
   SelectList lst = new SelectList( new List<SelectListItem>()
   {
        new SelectListItem { Text = "Text here", Value = "0" },
        new SelectListItem { Text="Second Text", Value="1"},
        new SelectListItem { Text="Third Text", Value="2" },
        new SelectListItem { Text="Fourth Text", Value="3"}
    });
        return JSon(lst);
}


text:
Trio fail to overturn conviction for attempting to murder taxi driver
The men appealed, claiming the trial judge wrongly allowed jurors to hear an "unauthorised" covert police recording of a conversation between Mahmood and Kajla in the back of a police van
Imran Khan was jailed over a plot to kill taxi driver Qadir Hussain
Three men jailed indefinitely for trying to murder a Lower Earley taxi driver cannot complain about their convictions, despite police "breaching their human rights", top judges have ruled.
Coventry men Amjed Mahmood, 33, and Jaspal Kajla, 37, along with Imran Khan, 35, of Lower Earley, denied plotting to kill father-of-three Qadir Hussain, in connection with a land dispute in Pakistan.
They were handed open-ended sentences at Reading Crown Court in April 2012, with each ordered to serve a minimum of 10-and-a-half years, after they were convicted of attempted murder.
Men on life sentences claim sentence was tainted by "unlawful" police surveillance
The men appealed, claiming the trial judge wrongly allowed jurors to hear an "unauthorised" covert police recording of a conversation between Mahmood and Kajla in the back of a police van.
However, three senior judges at London's Appeal Court said their convictions are "safe" even though police "breached their privacy".
Mr Hussain was shot in the chest, arm and shoulder outside his home on September 27, 2010.
In March 2011, Khan, Mahmood and Kajla were arrested, but declined to answer questions. In a statement Khan said he knew Mahmood, but contacted him only occasionally.
However, a jury later found that Khan, of Wickham Road, Lower Earley, had recruited Mahmood, of May Street, to kill Mr Hussain – his cousin on his father's side.
Jurors accepted the prosecution's case that Mahmood enlisted Kajla, of Hepworth Road, Binley, in the murder plot.
Police had authorisation to use covert recording while chasing the suspects, but only before they were charged, sparking questions as to whether officers had gone too far in bugging a police van in 2011.
The men's lawyers said the decision to capture a conversation between Mahmood and Kajla on their way from Reading to Slough Magistrates' Court on March 5, was disproportionate and "unlawful".
Dafydd Enoch, QC for the pair, said the decision by Judge Zoe Smith to allow the tainted evidence to go before the jury meant the panel was unfairly prejudiced and the convictions could not stand.
But Lord Justice McCombe, sitting with Mr Justice Wyn Williams and Mr Justice Patterson, said: "It is accepted that there was a failure to observe the limits of the authorisation obtained... the result was a breach of two appellants' rights of privacy, contrary to Article 8 of the (European) Convention (on Human Rights)."
But he added the court had "no hesitation" in ruling Judge Smith's decision to admit the evidence entirely correct, adding: "Their appeals must accordingly be dismissed."
Earley
Reading Crown Court