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Film: Making a Location Aware Audio Guide for SFMOMA
By Keir Winesmith
How do you create a revolutionary location aware audio guide for a museum?
This presentation was made by Keir Winesmith, Head of Web + Digital Platforms, SFMOMA at MuseumNext Melbourne in February 2017.
in May of 2016, after a three year closure, an expanded SFMOMA reopened. To coincide with the opening the museum launched a gorgeous, immersive, location-aware, audio-first app.
This being San Francisco, where there's a cultural expectation of risk taking and an embrace of failing forward, they built the app as a partnership with a young start-up, using unproven technology, in a half-finished building site, with voices and stories rarely heard in a museum and, two weeks from opening, it still didn't work. Every bit of this project, the partnerships, the technology and the content, were risky.
A lot happening in the last two weeks, including the development of a workaround for a previously undiscovered iOS bug, and the museum got the app onto devices the day before opening. Since the launch the museum has fielded a lot 'how on earth did you do that?' questions from peers. Here's how.
Keir Winesmith : Hi everyone. That is what it looked like, actually, inside the museum, in one of the more finished spaces. This is the refurb of one of the older parts of the building, when we started working on something that was supposed to work indoors. I was wondering, could I flip from the presentation timer to the notes? Is that possible [over the back]? They were showing … yeah, great, thank you. So, I'm going to cover a few things today: I'm going to cover the SFMOMA context; like why we did it and where we were; I'm going to talk about what we actually built, and the way we did it … I'm going to try to answer the question 'Does it work?' and talk a little bit about what comes next.
So, when we started working on SFMOMA's location-aware app, we started looking around the city for different ways that we could tell this story. How could we make the SF in SFMOMA stand out? When I arrived at San Francisco from MCA in Sydney, the first frame of that video you just saw was how the building looked; we'd just knocked it down … and I had this idea of what I call just-in-time storytelling, this idea that we would provide relevant content to someone in the moment that they needed it, and I wasn't sure exactly how to do it, I wasn't sure how we were going to do, and who we were going to work with to make it happen, but I did inherit something that was really valuable, which is this incredible psychographic study of San Francisco. So I can give you that, because it's a little bit different to maybe this context. So we looked, as we were closing, at the whole city, and a lot of the tourist population, we learnt that the city was very smart, and it was art-interested but not necessarily art-knowledgeable, and so what does that mean? That means that something like 80% of people who live in San Francisco or visit San Francisco are considered arts-interested. So that means that they're interested in film or literature or the visual arts, performing arts, music … so that's a really big chunk, it's higher than most places. So that really encouraged us, we thought, there's an audience here, we can triple in size and still be sustainable; SFMOMA, for the five years before we closed, was largely a five and a half to six and a half, 100,000 people visiting every year; very stable.
But we wanted to be three times as big, just about, and we wanted to grow our audience to make us survive in a city that we love and have been in for a long time. We wanted to do the SF in SFMOMA. So we then started looking if those arts-interested people, like who really gets modern and contemporary art? Who really … who's our audience? So, the big wedge is people who were somewhat … a tiny bit confident about the visual arts, and the thin wedge is people who are highly confident about the visual arts. You know, the stuff that we do. And then the really, really thin wedge is people with a visual arts degree. And so we largely programme for them, which makes it really hard to stay open, and I would guess that in most of the cities that most of you work in, it is really similar, and it may be science knowledge if you're a science museum, it may be history knowledge if you're a history museum. Definitely in San Francisco, it's art knowledge. So we knew that in order to attract that larger cohort, that bigger group, we needed to do something that was relevant to them, we couldn't speak in the way that we have spoken in the past. We're pretty good at wall labels, we're pretty good at intro text, we're pretty good at publications … if you measure them by their scholarly aspect, we've been pretty good at telling that authority voice in a kind of deep, I'm sure masculine baritone, that says, you will understand the power of this work; here is the knowledge that you must have.
And working with our curatorial peers over a number of years, we have been working on that voice, trying to move from telling this story of the artwork to telling a story about the artwork, that gives you, the audience, a way in. We are pitching you a reason to look at that work. And we got good at that, we got better at that, it was a real … it was a serious intent of the opening of the new museum, was to sort of change that voice, make it more welcoming, make it more approachable, make it more understandable. But it was still us speaking, and it was still that authority, it was still that feeling that you get when there's a joke and you don't know the punchline, or there's a language and you don't know all of the words. And that's a lot of what we hear from people who are giving these post-visit surveys, is that sometimes they'll laugh at the art because they don't have the language or the skills to talk about it. And so, if we're going to be sustainable and relevant in our city, we need to talk about the art in a different way. We need to do the [Bay Area] for the work that we're doing. And so this project is one of many projects the museum did that's a direct response to that need.
So, what did we build? We built something that was location-aware, and we built it for three reasons: navigation. This is a new museum that not even we had been inside; we did it because we wanted a phone-in-pocket experience, we wanted people to look at the art, we wanted people to listen, but look with their eyes, we didn't want people looking at their screens unless they were taking great Instagram photos and promoting us for free. If they're having an art experience, we wanted them to be present with the work. And we wanted to enable what we call 'multi-gallery stories'; so this is this idea that you can take someone on a narrative through the museum that's going to be relevant to them in their voice. And what does that mean? Relevant to them in their voice? So we decided … because it was San Francisco, and there's a lot of fun, interesting and smart people around … to not be the only people speaking in our tours. I think I've done in the order of 50 museum audio guides as part of this … the research that led into this project … and almost all of them were terrible. I built three before this one … they were all terrible, too. I'm just going to say it out loud. And they're almost always the dry voice of authority; sometime dressed up with a really energetic [attar], or a local historian or someone, with a really great tone, and really engaging tone, but it's almost always the same nuggets, pearls of wisdom that we're dropping from on high that you could scoop up and suck in.
And so we've taken a really different approach to that; so we've got a diverse set of voices throughout, because we know that people are looking for different things. So, on my right, on the right of the screen, is [unintelligible 00:06:57] who were comedians from the [HPO] series, Silicon Valley, which is incredibly popular in San Francisco. They are sardonic, irritating, hilarious comedians in real-life and in the show. They make fun of each other, primarily, these two, and they're also confused about modern and contemporary art, which the majority of our audience is also confused about modern and contemporary art. So we paired them with one of our curators, and they walk you through a tour that [we feel, I don't get it]. It's 20 minutes, it takes you in 16 galleries, and they're baffled throughout. Like, there's a urinal on its side, next to that really beautiful painting? I get the painting, that's a pretty thing, but why is the urinal there? And along the way, the curator gives them feedback and chats with them, and by the end, they're kind of having ahah moments, you're like, oh, wait, so the urinal is in response to this? Oh, that makes sense, hah, that's kind of cheeky, isn't it? And so they're discovering the work in a way that is really attainable for anyone in … for most people in our audience.
Then we spoke to Philip [Petee], who we asked on Facebook; we just messaged him on Facebook, we had a …. hey, we're doing an audio tour about unbalanced artists; would you like to narrate it for us? And he, within an hour, said yes, and within a week had recorded his content, and it is kick-arse; he can read anything and it sounds great. The person on your right is Errol Morris, documentary filmmaker … one of the problems we have for this sort of immersive storytelling … and think of it like a podcast you walk around inside … is that some of the work we have up is up for a really short period of time. So the first two, they take you through our permanent collection, parts of it … Errol Morris takes you through our photo floor. So the photography collection rotates every three months, so how do you do deep storytelling for something that's up for three months? Well, in our case, you get Errol Morris to talk about the themes of looking at photographs. And so we know he's going to tell a story about looking at portraiture. Not which portrait he's going to look at or talk about, but just the idea of looking at a face coming out of the frame at you. And so we trigger that content when you move into any gallery that has a face in a photograph.
He talks about landscape photography; there's always a landscape photo somewhere in the museum, and so we can navigate you through any of our shows … photography, and his voice is there with you as he tries to unpack the looking that happens when you look at this sort of work. And we've done it in five languages, and there's about 20 hours of content in there. We also took a chance on what we call nearby audio, so these immersive walks are very subjective, the production value's a little bit like radio lab … when I first pitched this idea to the director, I said, it's kind of like the film 'Her', [amidst This American Life] and he said 'Uhuh', but then after a lot of demos, he really got it, and is now a big fan. So we also took this sort of radio approach to our storytelling, so on your right … sorry, on my right, on your left, is Kiki Smith's Lilith, so this is a sculpture that's hanging from the wall, with two piercing blue eyes sticking out at you, and it's Lilith, you know, the person Adam was with before Eve … and we then grabbed an [aerial] dancer and we hung her from the wall in exactly the same position as Kiki Smith, and we recorded her describing the feeling of fragility and power that happens when you are presented up on the wall like this. And so we have her talking about that, then we have a curator explaining some of the art historical notes, and the artist, who is actually a crazy person, but is wonderful, talking in this really expansive way about this particular work.
And so you've got these three voices all in dialogue, and then we [coast back to the end], so that person's been hanging there for the whole audio [to stop]. Still hanging there, kind of sweating now, describing what it feels like to be hung off the wall like that. So we took that approach. We know that people get more out of museums if they have it as part of a social experience, so we made it social; you can sync groups together and they all hear the same thing at the same time, and we give you a timeline; if you want to, after you leave … and the thing that's most popular about that is people take photos, and they want their photos; if you don't give them their photos, they will find you where you sleep. It's possible because of this partnership that we made with Detour, so Detour is a really smart but very small outdoor touring company, and they made some production tools that for us were the key to this project. It's an audio word-processor that allows you to edit text that's editing the audio in real time, and allows you to place that audio in space.
So think of it like there's a … you're walking through a new city with two friends; one of them's playing a guitar track, the other one knows where to go and is telling you a story. So the music track just plays the whole time, so if you want to spend five minutes looking at something, that's fine, you're still there. As soon as you move again into the next gallery, the next bit of the story kicks in. And because you're with a friend, they know where you're going, they know where you're going next, and they only tell you the commands on where to turn left and where to turn right when it is the moment to get those commands. And these direction tools allow that to be possible. And does it work? I mean, well, getting a little bit deeper about it, does it work? But when we look at the analytics, it doesn't always work. Some of the times it works, and some of the times it doesn't.
So German, to me, is this very subjective, kind of like radio lab in many ways, it's a story of a German-American radio producer, who interviews her mum and her grandmother, who are both still living in Germany, about living through the war and growing up in post-war Germany, through the lens of work by people like [Polker] and [Richter], who were on the walls. And so she takes photos of Richter and talks about and asks them about their childhood, and what it was like to grow up through the war, when these paintings were being painted, and they reflect on their identity and she reflects on hers, and so it's really like a self-discovery of modern German identity through familial relations, as told as you walk through space looking at paintings … and that is not something that museums traditionally do, it's certainly not something that we'd ever done before, and what blows me away is that big bar on the right … that's all the people who make it to the end. It's 40 minutes. So a bunch of people at the very beginning say, uh, this is not for me, I'm not interested … and then the drop-off rate is very low throughout, and an enormous number of over 80% of people make it to the end, of forty minutes of very personal audio.
The one next to that is called Play by Play. My boss and I were convinced there's a massive overlap in the [Venn] diagram of people who love modern and contemporary art and people who are sports-mad, but they don't actually [hit], it turns out. So as you can see, a huge chunk of people just leave straight away … you can also see the numbers. That says '160 people left straight away.' You can see the other numbers … '1,600 people made it to the end.' So the numbers are even very different, so Play by Play is this sports analogy looking at contemporary art; so taking sports stars and sportscasters to talk about contemporary art. We thought it would be a slam dunk, it's very funny if you know a lot about both worlds. It turns out people don't know a lot about both worlds. This isn't in the app anymore, we've taken it out.
So some of the times it works and some of the times it doesn't, but if you're going to do something chancy, it does not do you any favours if you don't go in knowing you're going to evaluate, go in costing the evaluation, do the evaluation, and then respond to it, make change. And that's one of the things that we did at the beginning, SFMOMA actually took an early decision to kill two big projects in order to pay for evaluation on all the projects we did do, and leave enough money to tinker with them and improve them over time. So, three months after opening, we started our evaluation phase, and we've just finished all of that, before Christmas, and we're already making changes to all of the digital projects that my team and I worked on as part of the opening. But in the process, we killed some darlings. Because it's not good enough to take risks. Take risks, measure them, and make change based on the outcome. I think that's critical.
And is it working? Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's working. This is the average session length during a particular period last year of how long people [were] actually experiencing the app. That says 120, that's 120 minutes. The average session length is 116 and a half minutes. So that's from the first bit of content listened to to the end of the last bit of content. It's a little bit bloated, some people have lunch in the middle … but largely, you can see it's pretty consistent through time. We had a show, you can see, in early August we had a new show open, and that had a peak, people were really engaged with that new show, but it's largely flat. It means that most of the people using the app, and this is 60,000 people who've used the app, listened to over two million minutes of audio since we opened in May last year. Seven hundred and eighty thousand individual clips have been listened to. They're listening to it for a long time, we've got a few completionists. Someone has listened to all of the tours, and Tweeted us about them, and cried. So some of that really works, and even in that, we're also not counting anyone who listens to less than three bits of content, because we think we've failed there, and so they don't fit in our metric of success. So it's sort of working.
So how did we do it? We partnered with a company called Detour; it being San Francisco, the first thing that we did when I started the museum and a couple of others came from elsewhere is basically step away from the contractors that we currently had, and started doing the thing that you do in San Francisco, which is take smart people to lunch and hope they'll do something for free for you. And so we took a bunch of different smart people to lunch, and one of the people we took to lunch was Andrew Mason, who founded Groupon, left Groupon, founded Detour, and he came to us wanting us to do outdoor content for Detour, and we were seeking him out trying to get him to work indoors. And so they brought their indoor project that they had in their minds, they brought it forward two years, and then we together approached Apple and tried to convince Apple to help support real-time indoor location using Apple's indoor-location, core-location tools. We sat down with Apple and we said 'Where does this work the best?' Because we'd tried light, we'd tried sound, and we'd tried beacons, and none of them were accurate enough for us to get the sort of storytelling that we wanted to do.
So, we sat down with Apple and the guy … I can really distinctly remember this … he kind of cocked his head on the side and he said 'Well, we were kind of hoping you …' And so, when Apple hasn't done it yet and no-one's done it yet, it was a little bit risky, and it didn't always work, especially at the beginning. So now it's out and it's got all of these beautiful, superlative, very positive reviews, and for the first four or five months that we were open, we had almost solely four- and five-star reviews on Apple iTunes. And so we decided to do the thing that you really shouldn't do, which is, instead of waiting for the evaluation and fine-tune the product, we started to keep taking more risks. So we made this kind of non-linear spatial kind of walking tour that wasn't a linear path from space to space, it was like you walked into any one space, and we used the backing-track feature in Detour to basically trigger these environmental audios that were the story of Bruce Connor, who's a … at least in San Francisco … a famous American artist who worked across all sorts of mediums pastiched together, and some people call him the founder of the [music] video … and so we wanted to honour him by making something really experimental and kind of crazy, with a re-imagined floorplan, so this is the floor that Bruce Connor was placed in, we changed the walls, we added new walls, we added this little [sinarettes] and [theatre-ettes]. We sent all of the updated floorplans to Apple, and they were supposed to process them and get back to us really quickly. We ended up having to string new wi-fi access points into this part of the museum, because it was one of the old parts of the museum, that didn't have the same coverage as everywhere else. I had to sneak under a crawlspace and just put wi-fi access points wherever I could, to try and improve the reception.
But … it didn't work, actually, and we started to get one-star reviews and two-star reviews. We started getting hammered. We went from all four or five to all one or two in a week, because we pushed too hard, and once you've committed to location being sublime … and we had committed to location being sublime, to the point where people would feel anxiety … which we never expected … people would feel anxiety, because for the 15 minutes before that, the storytelling was so on-point and so seamless, it was like someone was in their ear and knew exactly what to tell them, that they took a phone call or sent a text or looked out a window for a bit, and forgot what their command was next, forgot what their next bit of navigation was, and expected this thing in their ears to go like, oh, you've finished with that phone call, as we were, we were just heading down a corridor to the left. And so people were feeling really anxious, and so we didn't expect that. And if a location doesn't work, if you bet everything on it, you actually have a brick in your hand. And so we created a brick for some people some of the time.
So it is dangerous, and we have pulled back, so we're kind of not doing that anymore, and we're increasing the rate that we re-survey the museum, and we're increasing the rate that we have an ordered run on the wi-fi to see if anything has changed, because if something changed, it throws you into the street … you're walking along, and you're three-quarters of the way through, 'I don't get it', and you're laughing with your friends, and all of a sudden, you literally can't get to the next bit of content. And that's a problem. So we started this project when the museum was an idea, and we finished the project when it's this shiny, new reality, and we managed to get some of our more attractive members of staff to pose for it, and thinking about where we go next, a lot of what we're doing is taking the evaluation that was just finished to improve the product, and looking at the questions that we're getting and improving our processes around keeping it up to date … because it is … we have created a monster. And doing things like giving away headphones to people who've downloaded the app but don't have headphones with them, so we ordered 10,000 headphones like the ones you see in this picture, to give out, and we're even thinking about financial incentives and other incentives.
We do this thing whenever we do evaluation of an interpretive or investigative space: we ask you 'When you arrived, did you feel like SFMOMA was for you?' and then we ask you 'When you left, now, as you leave, do you feel like SFMOMA is for you? Is it relevant to you?' And it's just a slider, you just use your finger. And then we also ask you 'Is modern and contemporary art a thing that you get, understand, is it for you?' And we ask you when you leave the same thing. And we look at is there a delta. You know, have we made a difference, has the visit made a difference? And in general, the visit … unquestionably, the visit makes a difference, but what we're seeing is, the people who use the app, the visit makes an enormous difference; like of 40% more than the average [unclear 00:22:45], like a crazy big difference. And those people are more likely to come back, more likely to be members, and more likely to bring a friend. But when the app sucks, when it doesn't work, when you have technical difficulties, it's evens. We've made no difference at all. And so for us, we need to fix the technology, but we need to get it in more people's hands, because if we want to be relevant, and we want to be sustainable, then we need to use the tools that we've created that we have statistically proven are changing people's connection with the museum, and connection with the work that we put on the walls, [and you get in] more people's hands. So that's kind of where we want to go next.
So my name's Keir, and I'm going to stay here for a bit and answer questions.
Female voice: Questions, down the front.
Female voice: Yeah, thank you very much, that was really interesting. I've got loads of questions that [I'm interested in] [unintelligible 00:23:39] why, now. I'm interested in the ideation process for the content itself, because you talked a lot about putting the SF in SFMOMA, and all the knowledge you had about that audience. For the concepts, did they come from your extraordinarily creative team alone, or did you go out and source some of those ideas? Aside from the experts who you already knew were great storytellers, did you go to the audience beyond that, and …
Keir Winesmith: That's a really good question. So I get asked two questions usually … the first one … and it's always the same question, which is 'How did you do it?' And when it's nerdy technical people, they're like, 'How did you build it?' or 'How did you convince someone to build it for you?'
Female voice: Yeah.
Keir Winesmith: And when it's kind of content-focused people, it's like 'How did you convince the curators to let you do this?' And so it wasn't an active convincing the curators; we brought them along throughout, and so when the museum was closed, we had these massive maquettes … about half the size of this room was filled up with models of the building that we were building, with magnetic walls … they were all about this high, you know, kind of two wingspans … with every painting that was going to be on view when we opened stuck to the wall. And we would meet with the curators for each of the shows, and they would walk us through the narrative of every show, and talk about specific works and specific vantages and specific connections, and so we took that internally, and we came back … we called them 'hooks meetings' … and then we came back and presented what we thought were like the great stories for the different shows and the different artworks, and then working with them we kind of picked out the ones that would really sing, and then together, we generated ideas about who would be a great person to speak to that.
And a good example was, there's this beautiful work that's basically about a couple in crisis, and the way that it's been painted is, it's kind of set up like a film set, or like a stage set, and they're in different parts of the stage set, and both of the parts represent their thoughts, and so the curator talked a lot about this, the way this relationship is depicted, and said, you know what, you should get a set producer or a set designer to talk about this work. And so we were kind of led by … then we met the set designer, and we talked about it and the ideas of the curator, and they came out with a bunch of their own ideas, and so, led by the curatorial intent, then with our group focusing on a story that would be a hook, we then found someone who'd be a great person to speak to that hook, and then in the end, it went back to the curator to say, did we get it?
And so it's certainly not a thing we just did and said, hey, it's all done now. We absolutely involved our peers throughout.
Female voice: And did the audience … did any audience members contribute ideas around that too, or …
Keir Winesmith: We've done two projects in the past, before my time, that were focused on getting audience voices in front of other audience, and both of them were both success and failure. Both of them were incredibly successful in getting audience voices, and total failures in that audiences have no interest in other audience voices. Then I challenge anyone to find me a project where that's not the case. But people love leaving a mark, have no interest in other people's marks. Yeah. I think the trick to that is expertise, I think people are really interested in expertise, not necessarily where it comes from, but expertise. So …
Female voice: Thanks.
Keir Winesmith: Just sing out.
Female voice: Hi, thank you so much for that presentation. I'm from the National Gallery of Singapore, and we also have a location-based app for audio tours, so we'd love to talk to you later about how we've done our app.
Keir Winesmith: Sure.
Female voice: But my question is about tour retention. You showed a slide earlier about a tour that had a 40% rate of users completing the tour, so how does that compare to the tour completion rate for your other tours?
Keir Winesmith: It definitely varies from tour to tour. So, we have one about how the building is built, and how it's designed, and it has a lot of stairs in it, it takes you up through the stairs … it's narrated by a producer from 99% Invisible, a really great design podcast … [I encourage] you to check out [Avery Truffleman] … and most people make it to the end, well over 50% of people make it to the end. Whereas we have another tour, actually the Philip Petee tour, has this big … it's like pretty much most people make it through, but there's a big drop off at the first set of stairs. And so, we're really curious, is it the content just before the stairs, is it the fact that you have to go up the stairs, and you're kind of like, oh, it's been good, but maybe I can try something else now. And so now that we've got this really … great analytics, and enough people have used enough of the tours, we really know what is and isn't working, we're now diving into the particular moments to understand why there's these sudden peaks and troughs of use. But overall, the vast majority of people finish the vast majority of tours, which is something that we didn't expect, we expected more like a drop off of a sensible curve, but it's more like a U-shape. Most people make it to the end if they don't leave right at the beginning, for the ones that are working, and the ones that aren't working have these very pronounced moments where they're not working, and so we're thinking, do we actually make that one end there? And can we change it, or do we leave that bit out and bring you to the end earlier? So we're starting to re-do some of the content based on how it's being used.
Female voice: One more question, up in the middle.
Male voice: Hi, super-quick question, actually, just in relation to what you just said. In regards to stairs, are the tours accessible for people in wheelchairs and things like that, and how does it deal with that if you're telling someone to go upstairs?
Keir Winesmith: Luckily, the stairs are all adjacent to elevators, and so we have this sort of joke, because the stairs are really architectural, and quite beautiful, there's a lot of signage inside the museum that says 'Take the stairs, they're beautiful.' And they're just about the most photographed thing in the museum at the moment. But every tour is designed so you can do it in a wheelchair, and so [it always] says 'Take the stairs, or if you don't or you don't want to, the wheelchair … it's on your left', and they always converge back into the same trigger point, and so the next bit of content will trigger either way. And I know this because five weeks before the museum opened, I tore my Achilles tendon, and so I was working on a walking tour, and I was in a wheelchair at first, and then on crutches, and so I did all of my testing either on crutches or in a wheelchair.
So I advise not doing that when you're building something that's an immersive walking experience. OK, the last point I just want to make about accessibility is, SFMOMA really genuinely takes accessibility seriously. We're not as good at it as we should be, and I don't think anyone's necessarily that good at it, but in talking with our blind and partially-sighted peers, they [sited] the shared audio-experience, so we have 15 or 20 of the artworks, of the most-viewed artworks, have a little short description, sort of a 90-second description of what the artwork looks like, for blind and partially-sighted, and it plays before the narrative, and so you can do a kind of … essentially blind-and-partially-sighted tour of the museum. But what people have reflected to us is the fact that you can sync means that what is largely an isolating experience, what [unintelligible 00:31:38] calls 'Visiting a museum is like following around some friends who are having fun' if you're a blind person, and so we can sync, and everyone can be hearing the same story at the same time, and that's been a … I think that's a huge gift that's not obvious.
And so we want to do more of that work, we're starting to make all of our interactives have blind-and-partially-sighted sort of modes, so you can plug in headphone, and you can swipe left and right and hear the content, and hear the work described, and I think too often, visual arts organisations focus on themselves, so they look White, they look educated, and they don't necessarily look like their audience, and so I think that's something that as a sector we need to address, and we'll need to start with every project we do.
About the author – Keir Winesmith
In 2018 Prof. Keir Winesmith returned to Sydney after 5 years the digital helm of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).
Prior to SFMOMA, he led the digital efforts of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Keir currently wears three hats; he's Chief Technology Officer at Old Ways, New, Professor of Practice at UNSW Art & Design, and Principle at Winesmith Digital Studio.
He has been working at the intersection of digital and culture for the last 15 years and was named in Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business for his work in this area.
Film: Personal activism for Museum professionals	October 10 2017


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She studied Web site design and completed her Master's in Business Administration in 2003. She has also earned her Master's in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Elsa Cordero is a regular contributor to professional martial arts publications and is in the process of co-writing a book that will help martial arts school owners take their internet marketing to a different level.


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RSD/5/2 - University Hall
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RSD/5/2 - University Hall - 1898 - 1980
Administrative records including minute books (1898-1952), Annual Reports (1899-1921); Prospectuses (1908-1911; 1928-1931 onwards); report on travel bursaries (1932-1938); Committee and Warden correspondence and Papers. Also records relating to University Hall Association: newsletters (1911-1946); A...
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Liverpool UniversityStudents
Liverpool UniversityBuildingsHalls of ResidenceUniversity Hall
Administrative records including minute books (1898-1952), Annual Reports (1899-1921); Prospectuses (1908-1911; 1928-1931 onwards); report on travel bursaries (1932-1938); Committee and Warden correspondence and Papers. Also records relating to University Hall Association: newsletters (1911-1946); Annual Bulletins (1927-1960, 1967); minutes (1932-1935) and membership records (1908-1921, 1951-1952). Students' minutes books 1920-1945; copies of Phoenix magazine (1912-1916). Portraits of staff and benefactors, annual group photographs of staff and students (1911-1966; 1974-1980) and views of the interior and exterior of the hall.
RSD/5/2
A copy of rules of University Hall, Liverpool, womens' hall of residence is held in the Rathbone Papers (Also held at the University of Liverpool Special Collections and Archives) reference number RP XVIII.4.3
Separated Material:
S247 contains minutes relating to Sub-Committee of University Hall and Rankin Hal dating from 1941-1957.
Biographical/Administrative Information:
A Hall for women students was opened at 163 Edge Lane, Fairfield (then a fashionable neighbourhood) in October 1899, as a result of private donations organised by a voluntary committee, among whose members Miss Emma Holt, Miss Eva Melly and Mrs Herdman were the most prominent. The Principal of University College sat on the committee, but there was no other official relationship with the College at first. In 1904 the Board of Education recognised the hall as a hostel for Day Training College Students at Liverpool. There were extensions of the original site in 1902 (187 Edge Lane), 1904 (Beech Hill and new wing), 1906 (playing field), 1914 (new wing), 1916 (Holly Bank and 19 Beech Street), 1918 (6 & 8 Holly Road, 293 Edge Lane (Devonshire House), 289 Edge Lane). In 1924 there was considerable rebuilding of the older houses. For a time there was a branch hostel at Aigburth, and during 1939-1945 the Hall was evacuated to Rankin Hall, Ullet Road.
The Hall came under the control of Liverpool University in 1921, when the General Committee was dissolved and the executive committee continued as University Hall Sub-Committee of the Hostels Committee of the University. By the 1970s University Hall was used by both male and female students. University Hall was closed before the start of the 1984-85 session.
Lists of committee members, Wardens and other staff may be found in the special edition of the Bulletin of the University Hall Association, University Hall Fiftieth Anniversary, 1952 (a series of essays on the Hall at various periods of its history). (no. 8/43 below)
RSD/2/3 - Dale Hall
D461 - Otty, Avril
RSD/4/1 - Melville Grove
D454 - Berry Mrs M. C. (nee Endall)
D438 - Young, John Alfred, photographs of University of Liverpool students

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: C - msgrcv adds characters to message received, very strange so my msgrcv() function call works great, but it adds on characters to what is received from the other process.
Where the sender process sends hello, the receiver process receives hello@\n or hello\n@ or hello@,because it prints different things randomly, this is very hard to cheat fix with some character pruning.
Code:
    if (msgrcv(clientQueueID, &msg, sizeof(msg.data), 0, 0) == -1)
    {
        // No message received from client
    }
    else
    { .........

In this case, printing msg.data shows that it has extra characters attached.
This is how I'm printing:
printf("RECEIVED MESSAGE LENGTH %d: '%s'\n", (int)strlen(msg.data), msg.data);

Anyone have any ideas why this is happening?

A: I knew this was a strange issue...Turns out it's a problem with my client. I had a simple little function that scanned for '\n' and replaced it with '\0' to "remove" it so the new line wouldn't be sent.
Anyway, the solution was to just not remove the new line from the client. Somehow the server is reading everything correctly now, new line and all. Hope that helps somebody down the line.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Steve Bruce: no time for tantrums
April 25, 2011 by Colin Randall
Thanks to Bernard Platt, Wigan Athletic AFC & This Northern Soul
We'll take a long time getting round to it, but the question is simple enough: what possible interest was served by Steve Bruce refusing, if the reports are correct, to attend the post-match press conference? …
Salut! Sunderland supports Sunderland AFC with absolute passion. It was created by a journalist who started his career in the North East and later moved to Fleet Street (though he has also spent thousands of pounds and devoted countless hours to following the club since boyhood).
None of that will ever stop this site criticising SAFC when criticism seems merited, or criticising the press when that is merited, too.
A fair-minded review of the archive would show that we are short of neither commitment to SAFC nor a willingness to express forthright opinions. We raise eyebrows about transfers, tactics, policy decisions and all sorts of other matters on which supporters are fully entitled to take a view. We are happy to point out media idiocy when it seems to us to have occurred (as during the ludicrous Angeleri v Bruce saga).
We receive no favours from the club, and have effectively stopped hoping that any should be granted.
Niall Quinn did respond magnificently to a Salut! Sunderland request for a letter to be sent for use at the funeral of a supporter, but the only other contacts between site and club have barely been worth the effort on our part.
Once, when new shirts were unveiled and we offered to publicise them and maybe drive a few buyers towards the club shop, permission to show the tops was refused (Tombola, which sponsors the blasted things, has proved a happier hunting ground in that respect). There have been other instances of co-operation unreasonably denied, but none of sufficient interest to bear repeating; it is a scandalous state of affairs, as I believe, or entirely acceptable business practice, as the club undoubtedly sees it.
Equally, we expect and receive little mainstream media exposure beyond a link when Pete Sixsmith does the honours for The Observer's fans' verdicts slot. So there are no further interests to declare, no real axes to grind.
And that, at long last, leads us to the point.
Steve Bruce must either produce a good reason for being absent from the post-Wigan press conference – pressing business elsewhere, a family crisis etc – or he should be told by the club in no uncertain terms that it is his duty, not his choice, to attend such occasions. The Guardian, more eloquent than the rest, said: "Perhaps celebrating, Bruce body-swerved the post-match press conference." Most reports merely parroted the "did not conduct it" line put out by the Press Association and a few said he "snubbed" it.
The press is always a useful scapegoat when things go wrong. By and large, however, far worse things are said down the pub and at work about a team going through a frankly atrocious run, and about the manager and team responsible for that run, than will ever be found in the nastiest of newspaper reports.
And what about the electronic media?
OK, Steve still sent me his usual e-mail – whoever writes it, I hear some mischief-maker saying – but he also did the on-screen stuff after the match. Don't football phone-ins include the same barbed comments you find in the press? Isn't it perfectly easy to find destructive as well as constructive criticism on the TV and radio, and on TV and radio websites? If you wish to be principled, Steve, and say "up with this I will not put", do not pick and choose in the pretence that it is always a case of printed press=bad, electronic media=good.
Steve Bruce is a talented man, was an outstanding footballer and may well be a great manager of Sunderland AFC. Writers and readers at Salut! Sunderland are divided on the last of those points, which is no more than a moderately intelligent person would expect given what we endured between Jan 22 and 10 minutes into Saturday's second half. For the record, I believe – and have already stated – that the time to judge Steve Bruce on this season's performance is some time after 6pm on May 22.
But it must also be pointed out that Steve is exceptionally well rewarded for what he does, pressure and all, and owes it to the public to accept the most robust criticism when the club is letting down its supporters week in, week out.
He must be as open as duty permits even if that requires him to meet a bunch of ghastly hacks in the SoL media room after a game. Once there, after a result as gratifying as Saturday's, he can by all means rub noses in it. In my humble view, he has no reason to throw a tantrum and refuse to attend. And if there is a good reason for non-attendance, someone from the club should let that be known.
If the reports, including Eric Black's apparent confirmation that he simply preferred not to attend, are wrong, Salut! Sunderland will apologise unreservedly.
Monsieur Salut
Categories Content Tags media, press, Steve Bruce, Sunderland, Wigan Athletic 24 Comments Post navigation
The Wigan Soapbox: winning, whisky and a Villa wind-up
French Fancies: sing your heart out for a ban
24 thoughts on "Steve Bruce: no time for tantrums"
yet again we get an inaccurate rant. I will challenge you to provide a single post that I have done that has called for SB's head. I questioned his appointment, I continue to question his tactics.
As I have said previously, I would love for him to prove me wrong, and I wholly endorse him being given a third season as per his original contract.
You did not offend me, I was merely pointing out that on a supposedly mature blog site petty name calling and the rubbishing of others comments just because they do not correspond with your own opinion is rather juvenile. It would be very interesting to view again the games of this season and just count how many sexy displays of football we have actually put together.
Additionally, my comments relating to the may 2012 position were not directed at you as you seem to think, but were there as prod for further debate.
CSB – Oh dear – I offended the chap. You didn't want Bruce in the managers chair from the start, but he's the catalyst for the sexiest football you've seen at S'land since you took your first breath. Therein lies my problem.
I didn't say I don't give a dam about your opinion, I said I don't give a shiny one what you think I should do. As for your opinion, I don't give a damn about it.
Your opinion reflects your initial prejudice, and in your mind you are vindicated because of the appalling run we've had. You didn't like the appointment from the beginning, so naturally you're going to jump at any chance to muller the guy. But there's no escaping the fact that he's responsible for the best football you've ever witnessed at our place. Does that in itself not warrant a little patience?
Your attitude about Steve Bruce is fickle, irrespective of how long you've worn the shirt. Sorry I have to explain that for you. You are calling for his head at a time when anyone with a third of a brain can see that he's had a ridiculously horrendous run of bad fortune. Prior to the bad fortune we were beating Chelsea away, and were up to 6th in the Prem. I'm willing to wager that you weren't whining then! But after the team he's built, and the football they play, to berate him and want him out is more fickle than I can adequately put into words.
What he's doing on the pitch is in direct relation to the plethora of missing players. Do you really have to have this explained to you? Please tell me you're not going to do what the other raw talent did and whine about Sess playing out of position? SB gets a hammering even when his tactics work! He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't!
Well said Martin W and Davey. You restore some belief into my bones! SB shown us more than enough to warrant another season at least at the helm. Any supporter with a modicum of appreciation for the much higher standard than we've ever been accustomed to, will support this notion.
Over and out.
MartinW
My confidence in bruce has been shaken in this bad run of form. Especially as it happened last season too and his previous clubs have reported similar events. Surely SB should have learned lessons by now? However, I don't want to see us changing manager every few seasons. We need stability and Bruce has shown the potential to lift us to better things so lets give him a chance to turn this round. We've had 2 top half prem finishes in how many years?! So if he can keep us consistantly top ten its a vast improvement on the yo-yo club we were. Most of the signs this season have been good. As people have mentioned we have played much better football than we've been used to (although i'd suggest peter reid's 7th place seasons as an equal – both of those seasons we had very bad form in feb too!).
Yes, the club is much healthier now than then and bruce has had WAY more cash than any manager i can remember but i think most of his signings have been cut from a much finer cloth than any we've had previously. There have been mistakes- the paraguayans, angeleri – but far more good than bad. The club has seen a huge change in a very short time. These kinds of changes take time to have their full effect but i think we're headed in the right direction for the most part. If we ever return to the days of players like murphy, the Nose, etc. We've come a long way in a short time so we just need patience and we'll get to where we deserve to be. I have faith in Quinn and Short. They have the best interests of our club at heart.
It's good to see a lively debate here . Obvioulsy anyone with a different opinion to mine is an ignorant **** . However that's free speech for you
I think , although Bruce has his faults – the main one is his obvious inability to hide his frustration , anger etc – as he changes colour to a very fetching beetroot red !, he is much better than the previous managers we have had to suffer . Keane apart – who , i thought raised our profile , and got us back on track , but who didn't have the necessary experience and patience to take us to the next level . Bruce has in my opinion got it – so we need to give himn another season at least – before becoming like the unwashed up the road who need a new manager every couple of weeks
I hope after our second half display on Saturday , especially that of Sess and Muntari , Elmo too (who had his best game to date ) , that BB and the likes are not advocating the return of such greats as Murphy , Edwards and Nosey
Seeing as you don't give a dam about my opinion (however you still respond to it) and I appear to make you want to vomit and additionally I am ungrateful, impatient, fickle, and I completely lack an appreciation of what Steve Bruce is trying to do is mainly based around my oft repeated comment that I did not want Bruce in the managers chair from the start. That being the case it is up to SB to impress me to such an extent that I change my mind. To date he has not done that.
Additionally I also take issue with several of your other comments, ungreatful, what do I have to be greatful for, impatient, I have been a supporter home and away since the start of the 60's, fickle, see previous comment.
I do however agree with your final comment about being unable to see what SB is trying to do on the pitch, me and quite a few other folk.
You are obviously elated with SB's performance to date and are not afraid to put your point, good for you. However there are those who are not elated and have every bit as much right to put there point as you. Those who do not agree with your analysis will not be silenced by your insults or rants.
Read more: https://safc.blog/2011/04/steve-bruce-no-time-for-tantrums/#ixzz1Khw24nZl
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Birflatt Boy
There are legitimate questions to ask about the training regime in operation and whether players have been rushed back too quickly. Nobody should be criticised for that when SB was saying that this issue needs to be investigated (on the Match of the Day), interview. Football management is a complex task, and has a lot more to do with general management of resources as in any other business than we sometimes think. There's a lot more to do than sign and train footballers. Our injury list and the recurrence of injuries to certain players is a serious matter and I'm pleased to see that this has been recognised by our manager, as it's been such a headache this season.
I will be the first to admit if I'm wrong. But CSB – I'm asking you directly. Have you ever in the last 40 years seen football anywhere near as good as it has been for the majority of the season. The answer is – You haven't – because I've seen most of the games, and the team we have now play football play a way more superior level to any other Sunderland team in decades. As a Sunderland fan I am grateful for that. It's SUCH a refreshing change from the utter scrimshank I've had to witness over the years. So – frankly I don't give a shiny one about what you think I should do if or when he fails. Because to me, for the first time since I fell head over heels with the club, some of our play is beautiful to watch. You and all the doubters make me want to reach for a bucket. You are ungrateful, impatient, fickle, and you completely lack an appreciation of what Steve Bruce is trying to do. You react when results don't go your way, and in difficult times. We all want the same – but we are unlikely to bring any success when we bring out the guillotine whenever times get tough. I am relieved to see that there seems to be more people agreeing with me than not. That gives me at least a little hope that most people can appreciate what he's done, and what he's likely to do if he's not booted out. I know football management is a fickle business, but Brucie has shown us in abundance that he is capable of taking us to where we want to be. All he needs is a change of fortune, because the injuries he's had are off the map. People like Bill Taylor (I had you wired from the start mate) support SB when things are going well, and offer supportive comments (even to the extent of confessing that his initial judgement of him was harsh)but as soon as there's any signs of unrest, he's back on the bandwaggon – if not a little gingerly! The words "turncoat" and "hypochrite" spring to mind. All Generals won the war when their troops were behind him. We need to support Steve Bruce and his depleted squad, and we'll see what he can do next year.
PS – who said they didn't rate Onuoha – Crazy person!
Personally, I think we have gone off kilter on this. The point of the article was that Bruce should have attended the press conference. His non-attendance looks like he is snubbing the press because of the criticism that has been coming his way due to our horrendous form (and injuries) suffered since the new year.
I think it would have been better for him to attend and meet head on the hacks to put his point of view, which is something he does do in the press an awful lot, sometimes too much. Bruce was uncompromising as a player and he should be the same in management and i thought he was, so I am suprised at this situation.
Regardless of your opinion of SB's manangement skills, I hope that all who are exponents of his ability are willing to step up to the plate by May 2012 to either gloat or eat humble pie, I know I will and I also know which it will be.
Debate is healthy, and we all want the same thing, we just differ in how best to achieve the prize.
P.S. Rome was not built in a day but have you seen the stae of it now!!!
That's right Bill. It was me.
Rome wasn't built in a day? Colin obviously wasn't the foreman on that job.
Larry:
You question playing Sess on the left, when "Steed is much better on the left, we've seen that over the last few seasons" …
But where did three of the goals on Saturday come from – Sess on the left (2) and Malbranque crossing from the right!
We've also relied on too many loan signings. Just to keep us at the standard we are at right now, we will have to buy 4 or 5 players. Yes, more often than not this season we have been a much better team than in previous years, but much of that team doesn't belong to us. To be honest i'm not fussed on onuaha, elmo or mensah. Wellbeck has been good but we'll never get him. Summer will be interesting but i can't see bruce getting a blank cheque like previous seasons.
mr bruce has shown the potential to take us to greatness but there are (at the moment) too many question marks regarding our regular season drop him for sess who was clearly short of fitness. And, of all things, play sess on the left when he is a right sided player. Steed is much better on the left, we've seen that over the last few seasons. I sincerely hope steve proves me wrong and goes on to have much success with our club but at the minute i can't see it. Its all just too inconsistant.
BB states – Martin – there are few who can equal your enthusiasm for Mr Bruce I hope you were including me in those few – as I have stated on numerous occassions – we have the nucleus of the best team I have ever seen at Sunderland – (I saw my first match in the late sixties at home to Man Utd – Baxter dazzles Utd were the headlines I remember from that match)
Again as previously stated by yours truly – all we needed was a little bit of luck – a change in fortune – the rub of the green . We played very well 2nd half on Saturday – Sess and Muntari were excellent – they have been unfortunate to join the club when confidence has been rock bottom – I thought Muntari – linked defence to attack brilliantly . Sess and Steed were unplayable . Just look a the last 4 minutes of the match – they kept the ball – to run down the clock – something we have been incapable of doing for years
I cannot buy everything Martin says, and naturally stick to my guns on the thrust of my original post, but each of his points rings at least partly true. We have seen some unusually bright, skillful football, some of our players, his players are – or should be – among the best 20-30 per cent in the Premier and he has, unless responsibility is shown to rest with him or backroom staff he trusts, been incredibly unfortunate. And like Robin at the other thread, I would regard top 10, preferably (not, for me, essential) above Newcastle as a success. But success and failure can be very finely balanced and the tightness of the league makes that even more so, and also means a couple of points could separate respectability and disappointment. So even the judgement I make on or after May 22 will have to take account of how close it is likely to have been to going either way.
Sanddancer – My affection for Niall Quinn is even greater! But even he would tell you the skill level has nothing to do with him. Remember his reign as manager??
Players have been rushed back too soon, but in most circumstances it was out of necessity. One thing I like about Brucie is that he owns up to his mistakes and is always willing to take responsibility for getting it wrong. Can you imagine that twisty faced, miserable, serial complainer, "woe is me", everyone's plotting against us – Arsene Wenger doing that? NO WAY PEDRO.
Look – water is wet, the sky is blue, and Steve Bruce – WHO GOT US UP TO 6TH, AND ORCHESTRATED A 0-3 THUMPING OF CHELSEA AT THE BRIDGE, is the best manager we have ever had.
Everyone slates his stints at Birmingham and Wigan, but he was operating on a shoestring budget, and if Whelan hadn't decided to cash in on most of their best players, Brucie would have created history at Wigan. Some of his purchases were undeniably inspired. Valencia, Palacios. Bramble, Rodellega, Figeuroa, Heskey etc. Same at Birmingham. Most of his buys were top notch, and he saved them from relegation. And despite all the turmoil at the club at the time, he maintained their status and saved their hyde when everything around him was falling apart. Of course when he flees the nest, there's going to be a hate campaign, and that's inevitable.
Some of the best managers around have been given time to prove themselves, and the relevant Chairman has bucked the sacking trend, and handed the lucky guy carte blanche to go out and do his stuff. Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Chris Hughton (joke), Harry Redknapp (great coach!), Tony Pulis, Arsene Wenger. They all have one thing in common. The organization put their faith in them, and supported them, despite opposition from a hard core of impatient fans. That's what we need to do with SB. He ticks all the boxes in terms of becoming a top manager – without exception. but the way you lot are going – in your ignorance you're sending him to an early grave. Nobody has been more devastated than me, witnessing yet another catastrophic Sunderland collapse. I was close to heart failure when the Mags played us off the park – twice. But I have the sack to admit that despite everything, Steve Bruce has given us a pretty damn decent team. But we're not going to go from zero's to hero's overnight. We have to give him, and the team some breathing space. But if by next season we're still falling short, I will join the boo boy club.
Niall is a talented negotiator and sells the club well, but the likes of Gyan will tell you that the major influence behind their decision to join was the manager.
Give him a chance guys. Shut up and support him. I know when I'm right – and at the risk of sounding arrogant – you"re wrong!
Sanddancer
I have sympathy with Martin's argument but like many my faith with Bruce has been shaken. To me there are two questions to be answered.
1) Is the upturn in the skill level of the team down to Bruce or Quinn? Previous managers have had to manage the club with far less money available to them. Even I could buy canny players if money was no object. Quinn sells the club to them.
2) Is the bad luck truly that or down to poor training methods and rushing players back too soon, as has been rumoured recently? If it's down to the latter then he must change drastically or go.
I agree with you on both counts Birflatt boy.
It hasn't been easy supporting Sunderland over the years. I mean – the Villa fans are disgustingly coy, and sickeningly arrogant, but they're right. We've been a laughing stock for years. Some of the utter dross we've had to put up with over the years is not befitting of our passionate, sizeable support, and for the longest time we've been a "sleeping giant". Almost every time we muscle our way into the big league, we're back down again. Why? Because we haven't been able to attract top players and the club refused to meet excessive wage demands. UNTIL NOW!
For the first time in my 40 odd years of supporting Sunderland, we are competing with the big clubs for International standard players, and the brand of football is more superior than I have ever seen it at Sunderland. Some of our link up play, and one touch passing has been a pleasure to behold, and hand on heart,
for the life of me – I can't understand the petulance and ill-feeling towards the guy who's given us that, especially considering the unbelievably horrible luck he's had. You lot have walked the same mile in the same shoes as I have, and if you haven't been able to appreciate the vastly superior play, compared to the pitiful pants we've been accustomed to for decades, then you should all join a Stevie Wonder tribute.
It's at the very least a little dim to mug the guy, when he's shown us that he's capable of building a squad to compete with the very best. Peter Reid did a fantastic job for us, but the football still wasn't the best. Since Steve Bruce was appointed, he's bought and loaned some great players. Sessegnon (alright – he's taking time to settle in) but the fella's got so much skill. Muntari is a flippin Champs League winner. Turner – great player, Cattermole – when fit is a top midfielder. Onuaha, Welbeck. Darren Bent – now playing for Shiteston Villa – inspired buy. He didn't want Bent to leave – but he took the can for it. Anyway – the list goes on.
Let's face it, it was always going to be a struggle post Bent. But the unforeseen catalogue of injuries has cost us far greater. But to slam dunk Mr Bruce, and rub vinegar in his wounds is stupid, fickle, and unintellegent. He needs at least another season to show what I already know he's capable of.
So BB in response to your one swallow doesn't make a summer. Rome wasn't built in a day youngster! Compredez?
Well Martin. There are few who can equal your enthusiasm for Mr Bruce. I think that you may find that one swallow doesn't make a summer; even if it gives you a good feeling on a Saturday night. 😉
I couldn't care less either about the convenience or otherwise of my fellow hacks.
All I am saying is that to be true to his convictions, he should have been nowhere near the MOTD camera/microphone either. I've explained why.
Top-class tennis requires players to attend post-match press conferences. There is no stipulation that they have to like doing it, nor anything to stop them slagging off the media. It is just seen as part of the job, and the media – all, not selective bits of it – are their route to public ears and eyes. If they refuse to attend, they're fined. QED.
Steve Bruce has given us the fans potentially the best team we've ever seen at our place. I don't care if this is perceived as an excuse – he's had the stinkiest luck of any manager in history! We have the nucleus of an amazing team. When can anyone remember us taking the game the way we have done this season to the likes of Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal (twice), Man City, Aston (arrogant) Villa, etc? From challenging for Europe to fighting relegation has been crushing, devastating, bitterly disappointing. But to lay all the blame at the feet of the manager with all the bad luck with injuries is mind-bendingly lame. Considering how depleted our ranks are, I can't see us getting many more (if any) points and undoubtedly the Chairman will bow to the pressure of fickle, impatient supporters, and Steve will be shown the door. The guy's doing his utmost best with the resources he has available, but in the past few weeks he's been the target of relentless, over-the-top abuse. At least he has a few bob though. In his interview on match of the day he went out of his way to thank and congratulate our fans for sticking behind the team. It's a little bit of a shame that his loyalty to us isn't reciprocated by the intolerant majority. Well done indeed for not turning up Steve. I care not a jot. I sincerely hope his doubters receive a large custard tart in the face – I for one still believe they will.
Whereas I can understand and appreciate the sentiments expressed in the two replies (above) my sentiments are more accurately reflected in the article.
So, I would say "well said" and agree that the club should hold him to account.
I really couldn't care less about him missing the press conference. It may be tough for the journalists who cover the club etc, as these guys need to earn a living but as far as the fans go it's not a big deal at all.
I'd be careful using such glowing terms about a manager presiding over one win in ten.
Ian_SAfc
SB missing the press conference is no big deal for me as a fan.
He's attends often when we lose to face the press. Maybe he went out to celebrate?
Sure I wanted to know what happened to Bardsley and Gyan in terms of injury, but I could get that news from the website.
No big deal.


12 distractions on one landing page: Is your website better?
They're trying to understand what you offer and how it fits their needs. But, they have too much going on in their head to process it all.
Your cluttered, over-designed and complex website isn't helping. You may be surprised how little it takes to tax their understanding.
You see, our brains are like computer CPUs. We may think we're smart, but we have limited processing power and any "application" we run can use it up and reduce our ability to process other applications (e.g. other streams of information).
Your prospects arrive on your website with pre-existing thoughts, concerns, feelings, questions, and external influences. They're trying to understand what you're telling them, but their attention span is stretched thin.
Then, they arrive on your landing page. Every design element, graphic, product option, copy block, unanswered question, misalignment, etc. gives them one more thought to allocate their limited capacity to.
It's one of the six conversion factors in the LIFT Model. It means that the more visual stimulus and action options your visitors have to process, the less likely they are to convert. Minimizing distractions like unnecessary product options, links and extraneous information can significantly increase the conversion rate.
Distraction is common in websites. Here's an example of a typical PPC landing page (also a home page!) for Enterprise Rent-A-Car which has some major Distraction issues.
Think back to the last time you were driving a car to a new location. Maybe you were looking for street names, landmarks, or a building address. Did you turn down the music in the car?
If you did, you're not alone.
Directing attention to listening effectively "turns down the volume" on input to the visual parts of the brain. The evidence we have right now strongly suggests that attention is strictly limited—a zero-sum game. When attention is deployed to one modality—say, in this case, talking on a cell phone—it necessarily extracts a cost on another modality—in this case, the visual task of driving.
When we focus our attention on something, we reduce our ability to think about or even perceive other things, even when those other things would otherwise have been obvious. Our brain-CPUs get clogged up with the earlier things they process and run out of power.
Can you spot the gorilla?
There's more research on this subject too.
A study by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, authors of The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us, demonstrate this odd characteristic of people. In the study, Simons and Chabris instructed viewers to watch a video and count how many times the players wearing white passed a basketball.
As viewers concentrated on counting the passes, a gorilla walked through the middle of the basketball players and beat its chest. In the research, fully half the people who watched the video missed the gorilla as though it was invisible. It's not that the viewers didn't recognize the gorilla—their mental processing power was simply focused on performing one task, at the expense of their other mental applications.
If you've conducted usability tests on your website or applications, you've probably wondered how people can miss the most obvious things on your page. You may have questioned how they could be so clueless.
The good news is that they're not. They're completely normal. As people, they can process only so much information at one time. Another mental process is using up their ability to see the obvious thing that you want them to.
This is an important concept to understand when conducting heuristic analyses of your communications. Even small changes to your messages, page layouts, and user interactions can have a significant impact on freeing your prospects' mental capacity so they can understand your message.
Understanding is the basic prerequisite to motivation. By smoothing out these mental difficulties, you'll be more successful at persuading your prospects to act.
That's where a conversion rate optimization framework like the LIFT Model can help. By analyzing your marketing experiences from the perspective of your prospects, you can get into the mindset of minimizing barriers to cognition.
Start by looking for the Distraction points. Extraneous information, copywriting, design gradients and boxes, and complex forms. Test cutting out the unnecessary, smoothing the jagged and cutting your copy.
Run an A/B test with your original and your lower Distraction variations to find out which elements cause the biggest problems.
Here are many more case studies with landing page examples.
Have you tested to reduce Distraction in your marketing communications? What results have you seen?


Ken's wine review of 2016 Dry Creek Vineyard Chardonnay "DCV Estate Block 10"
Home / Reviews & Ratings / Winery Search / Dry Creek Vineyard / 2016 Dry Creek Vineyard Chardonnay "DCV Estate Block 10"
2016 Dry Creek Vineyard Chardonnay "DCV Estate Block 10"
Wine Name/Vineyard: "DCV Estate Block 10"
Winemaker Notes: Our estate-grown Chardonnay is balanced, rich and harmonious, year after year. At first swirl, aromas of baked apple, Asian pear and apricot fill the senses. After a few moments of airing, nuances of fresh lime, honeysuckle and candied ginger come forward. The palate is filled with rich flavors of poached pear, Meyer lemon and pineapple, with notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. The mouthfeel is broad and expansive with juicy, delicious acidity. The balance between fruit, oak and acid is harmonious from start to finish.
Buy it: Use 1000 Corks to find stores that sell Dry Creek 2016 DCV Estate Block 10 Chardonnay.


The club have received international clearance for Germaine 'Kemy' Agustien, who has been signed from Danish side Vendsyssell IF.
The 29 year old midfielder has 19 youth and u21 caps for Netherlands, but 4 full caps for Curacao. He is off there tomorrow to play for them during the international break.
He has played for Willem II, AZ Alkmaar, RKC Waalwijk and Roda Kerkrade in Netherlands, and with Swansea, Birmingham, Crystal Palace and Brighton (last season) down south.
he has signed a short term deal until the end of the season.


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reBlog Lezgetreal : Kalamazoo Churches Pull Out Of Charity Over One Church's Support For LGBT Rights
Posted on December 18, 2009 December 18, 2009 by Melanie Nathan
"Nice People The Jones'" …………………. if you get my drift….
Three churches in Kalamazoo, MI have chosen to leave Martha's Table, a charity which provides services and meals for those in need. The reason why they are leaving is simple- the church, First Congregational, that houses the charity is inclusive of the LGBT Community, and the three churches who either have or will quit are unwilling to associate with First Congregational over that issue. They talk about "guilt by association. "The founding principle of Martha's Table was that churches would come together and put aside their differences in light of what unites us, which is our common commitment to serve Christ and others. But now this difference has risen above our common commitment to serving Christ," Pastor Matt Laney has said. Representatives from Agape Christian Church and Word for Life Church of God will withdraw from the charity at the end of the year, and Centerpoint Church already has. Kalamazoo Churches Pull Out Of Charity Over One Church's Support For LGBT Rights, Dec 2009
You should read the whole article.
Churches to leave homeless ministry over sexuality conflict
By Margaret DeRitter | Kalamazoo Gazette
Reported by December 16, 2009, 6:45AM KALAMAZOO — Theological disagreements over homosexuality are causing a divide within a downtown ministry that serves the poor, homeless and lonely.
Martha's Table, through which eight churches have provided Sunday afternoon worship and meals for the needy at First Congregational Church, is losing three of the churches because of the issue of homosexuality, even though the ecumenical ministry takes no position on it, said the Rev. Matt Laney, pastor of First Congregational.
Mark Bugnaski | Kalamazoo GazetteMinistry unveiled: In this photo from October 2007, when the Martha's Table ministry was launched, the Rev. Matt Laney, left, and Jeff McNally pose at Laney's First Congregational Church. Agape Christian Church and Word for Life Church of God plan to withdraw from Martha's Table at the end of the year, and Centerpoint Church (formerly Third Reformed Church) has already done so, Laney said.
"The founding principle of Martha's Table was that churches would come together and put aside their differences in light of what unites us, which is our common commitment to serve Christ and others," Laney said. "But now this difference has risen above our common commitment to serving Christ."
Laney said representatives of all three churches have been "very clear" that they don't want to be "guilty by association" with First Congregational and its inclusiveness of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, said Laney, who publicly supported an ordinance passed by Kalamazoo voters in November that protects GLBT people from discrimination in housing, jobs and accommodations.
"To me, it's incredibly disappointing," Laney said. "That's the best word I can give it. It's also mystifying. I was very shocked and surprised when they pulled out."
The man who came up with the vision for Martha's Table — Jeff McNally, pastor of Word for Life and owner of McNally's Kitchen, which provided most of the meals — declined to comment on the reasons for his withdrawal from the ministry that began in 2007.
"I would just as soon let it go," he said. "We are just pulling out. That's all. … We would just as soon take a position of silence."
But Ron Vestrand, senior pastor of Agape Christian Church, said it was conversations with McNally that led to his church withdrawing from Martha's Table.
"As time went on, Pastor McNally was becoming concerned with Pastor Matt Laney's stand on homosexuality. I believe it was causing some disunity. … I think the primary issue was that we felt that Matt's stance on homosexuality as a valid Christian lifestyle violated our biblical worldview."
Vestrand added that "ecumenical ministries are a great challenge because sometimes there can be issues that can rise up. We probably were a bit remiss in not talking more extensively about some of the possibilities."
Kim Sandelin, a lay pastor from Agape, said churches can tolerate some theological disagreements and work together, but "an immoral lifestyle has eternal ramifications in Scripture."
Yet, he said he wanted to emphasize that "none of the pastors in this ministry have any ill will or bad feelings toward one another."
He said he talked to Laney about his church's decision. "When Matt and I were done, we shook hands and considered one another brothers in ministry," he said.
The Kalamazoo Gazette was unable to reach a representative of Centerpoint for comment.
A pastor from another church in the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition, the Rev. Ken Baker of Third Christian Reformed, said his church will continue its commitment to Martha's Table.
"I feel very sad about the decision of three partner churches to pull out," Baker said. "Everything about the ministry of Martha's Table reflects the heart of Jesus, who came to preach good news to the poor. Surely, all our churches would agree that mercy and compassion were at the heart of the ministry of Jesus."
He noted that his denomination takes a "theologically conservative" position on homosexuality, interpreting the Bible to say the practice is wrong but that it is not a sin to have a homosexual disposition. "But I fail to see how our integrity is violated by participating in Martha's Table," he said.
Laney said his church and the other remaining churches — St. Luke's Episcopal, First Presbyterian and First Methodist — are also committed to continuing the ministry, and he is trying to recruit other churches.
The church that leads the Martha's Table worship service on a given week will now bring the meals, Laney said. Attendance can vary widely, from about 50 to 120, although Martha's Table usually draws 80 to 90 people, he said. About 20 to 30 of the attendees are volunteers.
McNally and Vestrand also say they remain committed to serving the poor and homeless. "Our heart toward the homeless has not deviated at all," Vestrand said.
Baker said he intends to write a letter to the three churches leaving Martha's Table.
"My hope and prayer is that these other churches will reconsider and change their minds," he said. "What better time of year to do that than this season of the year when Christ followers ponder the mystery of God coming in the flesh to 'lift up the humble and fill the hungry with good things.
61070M 40th Street
Paw Paw, MI 49079
Posted in U.S.A.Tagged Agape Christian Church, Centerpoint Church, Church, Kalamazoo, LGBT, Life Church of God, Martha's Table
reBlog from lezgetreal.com: Fenty To Sign DC Marriage Equality Bill Today – Chaffetz Vows Fight
ANOTHER American Exiled! – UAFA Now or 1,666 years of Stories-


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Members & Exhibitors
Register for Points
Cadets Horsemanship Program
Estate Lots
Conventions and Tradeshows
Things to do in Ocala, FL
Canine Shows
Expo Centers
Dragonfly Academy
The Gathering Place/Chapel
Things to do in Wilmington, OH
Conventions & Tradeshows
WEC / Ocala / Visit
Visit The Equestrian Hotel in Ocala
There is no other horse destination like the World Equestrian Center anywhere in the United States. World Equestrian Center – Ocala offers exhibitors, trainers, owners and guests an endless list of Florida horse show amenities for the ultimate Ocala, Florida equestrian resort experience.
An added benefit for competitors is on-site lodging provided during the show season. Horse show competitors and spectators will discover luxury accommodations in the stately hotel while visiting the World Equestrian Center – Ocala. The luxurious hotel features stylishly appointed rooms and suites. The equestrian facility also includes an RV park and adjacent access to Golden Ocala vacation rentals. A variety of Florida horse show lodging at World Equestrian Center – Ocala is available for all of your needs. Visitors can also take advantage of nearly 13,000 square feet of retail space in The Equestrian Hotel.
Once competitors and guests arrive at the World Equestrian Center – Ocala they will not have to look far for other amenities. The facility includes a retail shopping experience that suits all your needs as well as a well-stocked convenience store. Our Florida horse show amenities provide an unparalleled equestrian industry experience for exhibitors and spectators alike.
Enjoy an Equestrian Center dining experience like none other. We offer everything from luxury dining to field concessions and on-site catering options. Our largest restaurant is available at The Equestrian Hotel, seven additional restaurants and multiple eateries are located throughout the property. Additionally, our pastry chef makes daily home baked breads, donuts, rolls and sweets.
Salon & Day Spa
The salon and day spa is a 7,000-square-foot haven of the latest esthetics, body treatments, hair and nail care, makeup artistry and a renewed sense of well-being. The spa atmosphere is a perfect blend of casual elegance. Our team is committed to providing authentic, enjoyable experiences designed to enhance your mood and promote relaxation.
Things to Do in Ocala
Welcome to the heart of horse country and the World Equestrian Center – Ocala. This state-of-the art facility is an elite competition venue; an expansion of the original World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, Ohio. Competitors and spectators will find a wealth of things to do in Ocala, Florida.
Ocala: 352.414.7900
Hotel Reservations: 866.478.9267
Why World Equestrian Center
"We've been a vendor since 2016 and we love it at World Equestrian Center. Our boutique in Vendor Village is stunning. Vendor Village is so gorgeous and inviting, it's really encouraged shopping. There is so much support from the venue and camaraderie between all of the vendors, it's just a great place to be."
Dana Miller
Owner/Chagrin Saddlery
"AQHA was looking for more than just a facility for our Level 1 East Championship Show; we wanted to find a home where it could grow and impact as many of our members as possible. We found that and more in the World Equestrian Center. The family-friendly atmosphere is a perfect match for our exhibitors and one of many reasons why the Association is building a long-term relationship with WEC."
Cindi Clinton
Ohio Half Arab Horse Association
"Everybody loves it here at World Equestrian Center. The competition is great, the rings are great, and that makes people are happy and happy people shop, so that really helps the vendors."
Alan Gray
Owner, Mona's Monogram
"It's a very inviting and welcoming atmosphere. You just make connections with the exhibitors and all of the other vendors. And the staff—all they want to do is help. Everything is always a team effort at WEC."
Sarah O'Brien
Haygard Pharmacy
"We heard amazing things about WEC, about the facility, the management, and the ownership. That's what brought us here. And everything we were told is true! It really lived up to its reputation. It's really nice to be out of the tent and in a permanent structure. Being able to be in Vendor Village in such a beautiful environment, the décor and decoration are perfect and the flow of traffic and the people coming into your store, it's just a perfect fit for our products."
Will Wilson
Vice President of Sales/Baekgaard USA
"The World Equestrian Center is a first-class facility. They host three of our horse shows each year including The Madness, a Top 5 Quarter Horse show. The rings, stabling, amenities, and the customer service — everything at World Equestrian Center is always first-rate."
Judd Paul
President, Southern OH Quarter Horse Association
"It's no exaggeration that World Equestrian Center has absolutely accelerated my business."
Barbie Coleman
Equestrian Sundry/Urban Sundry
Ocala Equestrian Operations: 352.414.7900
Wilmington Equestrian Operations: 937.382.0985
Privacy Policy | User Agreement | © 2020 World Equestrian Center, Wilmington OH & Ocala FL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Spend 11 days treading along the paths of Zambia in this classic, adventure-packed safari tour of South Luangwa National Park and Lower Zambezi National Park.
Experience an authentic African experience as you partake in walking safaris and wildlife encounters in two of Zambia's finest national parks.
The Zambia safari camps that will accommodate you during your adventure are predominantly seasonal camps. Along with friendly staff and great service, you will experience dining at its most exciting during bush meals and sundowners on a river cruise on the Zambezi River.
This rustic experience is focused on introducing enthusiastic safari-goers to the lifestyle of legendary explorer, David Livingstone. Follow the paths first discovered by this Zambia wanderer and discover hidden gems of your own. With little movement of vehicles and without mass tourism, this tour will be unfiltered and completely natural.
Step onto Zambian soil for the first time upon arrival at Lusaka Airport, where you will board a connecting flight to Mfuwe Airport. From there, an air transfer will take you to Lukuzi Airstrip, where you will meet your 15-minute road transfer to Tafika Camp.
At this Zambezi safari lodge, you will stay in a chalet with an en-suite bathroom, as well as an outdoor shower. This safari lodge in Zambia is located outside the Nsefu Sector of the South Luangwa National Park, offering various opportunities to spot leopards, an elusive member of the big cat family.
The seasonally operated safari camp is open during the dry season and benefits from exciting wildlife encounters, making it the ideal place to partake in walking safaris. Known as the birthplace of these unique safaris by foot, the park has perfected the activity.
Surround yourself in a completely natural setting - lead by the sights, sounds and smells of the wilderness. Follow the spoor of the free-roaming wildlife as your guide assists you in identifying the animal behind the tracks. Wildlife species roaming in the park include baboons, elephants, crocodiles, buffalo and sometimes lions can be spotted lazing around. A late afternoon walking safari is sure to create a magnificent start to your Zambia safari. This activity can be complemented by other activities like day and night game drives, mountain bike safaris and cultural visits, or optional activities such as private and specialized game drives and microlight flights.
After rising with the African sun, indulge in a healthy breakfast and prepare for your morning excursion. Without the burden of your luggage, you will embark on a 60-minute walking safari to Crocodile River Camp. Your luggage will be delivered to Chikoko Tree Camp for your convenience.
After a day of exploring the wildlife of the South Luangwa, you will check in at Chikoko Tree Camp for a 2 night stay. This Zambia safari camp enjoys a seasonal position on the banks of the Luangwa River in the South Luangwa National Park. The elevated suite at this camp offers a unique view overlooking an acacia grove.
Walking safaris at this Zambia safari camp take place alongside an experienced guide as well as an armed National Park scout. Paths in the bush have been cleared by elephants, hippos and other large game. Follow these paths to sightings of the abundant wildlife species and bird life.
Game viewing can take place during various other activities such as day and night game drives, mountain bike safaris, cultural visits to a local village or an optional microlight flight. The endemic Thornicroft's Giraffe and Cookson's Wildebeest are unique to the Luangwa Valley, creating a game viewing experience unmatched by any other.
Travel down the banks of the Luangwa River until you reach the seasonal Chikoko Trail Crocodile River Camp, a short 8km from Tafika Camp.Accommodation at this safari camp in Zambia will be in your private twin chalet resting beneath an ebony tree. Your stay will be enhanced by attentive staff and a daily menu of culinary delights and dining options.
An adventurous stay awaits on the paths surrounding this seasonal camp, as guided walking safaris venture out into the unknown and untamed parts of the bush. This exhilarating activity will be a highlight of your stay in the Luangwa Valley, as you learn about the behavior of the free-roaming animals and often encounter elephants, giraffes, zebras and other animal species.
For 3-4 hours, you will be entirely submerged in a purely natural setting, with vehicles and buildings only present in your memory. Your guides will walk at a pace that allows everyone to enjoy the activity and people of all fitness levels will enjoy a walk on the fairly level grounds.
Depart from Luangwa and head towards Old Mondoro in the Lower Zambezi National Park via a road transfer to Lukuzi Airstrip. At the airstrip, you will board a flight to Jeki Airstrip, followed by a road transfer to the Zambia lodging. The Lower Zambezi National Park remains relatively undeveloped, succeeding in providing an authentic bush experience. This remote park shares a perimeter with the Zambezi River and lies opposite the Mana Pools National Park.
The park consists of an area of 4092 km², with an abundance of wildlife occupying the valley floor. Wildlife species include elephant, buffalo, waterbuck, zebra, lion, leopard, crocodile, hippo, as well as a prolific list of bird species such as the fish eagle. The elusive leopard is more commonly spotted in this park than in any other part of Africa.
Activities at this Zambezi safari lodge in Zambia include walking safaris, morning or night game drives, river safaris and fishing trips. Walking along the banks of the Zambezi River will offer you spectacular views and wildlife sightings. Canoe trips allow safari-goers to encounter the resident hippo pods frolicking in the waters of the river. Sundowners can be enjoyed on a sunset cruise of the Zambezi, or in a remote spot in the bush. Alfresco dinners can be organized by the lodge's friendly staff should you prefer a private, starlit setting.
A road transfer will take you from this Zambia safari lodge to Jeki Airstrip. There, you will board a light aircraft for an air transfer to Lusaka Airport, where you will meet your onward travel arrangements.


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Q: Google Map API (multiple maps on one page using different kml files) - Second map not loading I'm putting 2+ maps on one page of a website. Each map loads in a different kml file. The first map loads the correct kml file. However, the second one does not load the data from the second kml file. Just a blank map. Below is my code. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Here is my html...

Here is my Javascript...

A: It Seems, you're using the layer.setMap(..) only for the map object (your first map). You will have to add one more layer.setMap(...); for your second map as well.
Hope this helps!.


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Sunday, September 2, 2018School Spotlights
Teach Overseas in Saudi Arabia
Search Associates is pleased to represent Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan, Jeddah, an international bilingual school in Saudi Arabia. The school is located in a modern residential area of Jeddah, only 1,000m from the beautiful Red Sea, with all that it has to offer. The school follows the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) Curriculum and provides personalized education using the proven Kunskapsskolan Education (KED) Program™, which puts the student at the center of the learning process. The school's website says,
"Students . . . with the guidance of their personal coach, set and work towards their own personal goals, with the ambition of achieving high final results."
Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan is fully accredited by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education. The school has been expanding— almost doubling in size every year and adding Year 4 to its Nursery-Y4 program in 2018! Currently, 240 K–4 students of 10 nationalities are enrolled. More than three-quarters of the students are Saudi Arabians, with 4% from North America and the U.K. The teaching staff includes overseas teachers from US, UK and New Zeeland. The Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan curriculum also includes the U.K. Early Years Program. The school adds,
"The power of our model, and, ultimately, the essence of our vision reside in the integration of internationalism, bilingualism, and self-knowledge delivered through a personalized education framework by well-trained and passionate educators."
Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan can only hire female candidates and prefers to hire single teachers. They would consider a female who is married to a non-teaching spouse. Teachers must be certified and hold a degree in the subject they will be teaching. Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan will consider outstanding, newly-certified teachers and those accredited from non-English-speaking countries; however, English teachers must be native English speakers. Work visas may be obtained up to the age of 60.
Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan provides quality housing, complete with furnishings, within a housing compound of high standards, 10 minutes from the school by car. Teachers receive a settling-in allowance, and the school pays for one annual round-trip plane ticket home for the teacher and her dependents. Additionally, a tuition benefit of up to 100% is awarded for up to two children. Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan, as part of the Kunskapsskolan Education (KED) Network of 40 schools around the world, has a program in place for professional development. Local health insurance, including dental is also fully covered. All these benefits can allow for some savings.
To gain access to Nün Academy Kunskapsskolan's full profile on the Search Associates database, including a list of all open positions, candidates can apply for membership by clicking here. Candidates already registered can easily access the school profile directly through their dashboards.
Senior Associate Gez Hayden led the first international school authorized to offer all three IB programs in China.