Could we use open-source tools to improve politics? ? Tech News ...

Open-source principles have helped create a host of useful software, including the Linux operating system and the crowd-powered resource that is Wikipedia ? but could the same approach be used to open up the process of producing government legislation? Clay Shirky argues that it could.

The philosophy behind open-source software has been used to create an operating system and a pretty powerful crowdsourced encyclopedia, among other things, so could adopting that same approach change the way that politics and government work for the better? That?s the idea media theorist Clay Shirky has proposed in a TED talk in Edinburgh. The idea is an appealing one ? to use the same process behind Linux and Wikipedia to make government more collaborative and open ? but would it work? Developing software and web services is very different thing from creating legislation, and the history of the open-source movement is fraught with infighting among quasi-religious factions. But it may be the best hope we have.

After providing a kind of whirlwind tour of the open-source movement in his talk, including the rise of Linux, Shirky devoted much of his discussion to Github ? a kind of crowdsourced platform for maintaining code that Linux creator Linus Torvalds also created, which allows anyone to edit, to ?fork? or create their own version, and to track the changes that others make. It?s not a big stretch to get from that idea to the idea of crowdsourcing legislation, which is what Shirky seems to have in mind, and there have already been some attempts at doing this via Github: for example, a German software developer has uploaded all of Germany?s laws to the platform so that citizens can recommend and track changes.

It?s an appealing idea: that a simple software platform aimed at collaboration could change the way legislation is developed and implemented, much like the process that powers Wikipedia has created a crowdsourced encyclopedia that evolves and changes over time. But is it realistic? There were plenty of skeptics who said Wikipedia would never succeed, and yet it has an excellent track record when it comes to reliability, despite some hiccups in the process, such as the recent incident involving author Philip Roth. That said, however, there are also plenty of critics who believe that the ?cabal? of editors who control the crowd-powered encyclopedia have too much authority.

Of course, some would argue that we?re already in that kind of situation with most governments anyway, and therefore Github couldn?t make things any worse. And Shirky is not the only one to make this argument: developer Abe Voelker has proposed a ?Github for laws? that would take exactly the same approach to crafting and crowdsourcing legislation. There have also been some initial experiments with similar ideas ? including Iceland?s new constitution and similar types of project in Finland and Ireland ? which shows that others are also open to the concept.

One of the problems with applying a technical solution like Github to a massive cultural and political process like government, however, is that creating laws ? even small ones ? is very different from changing a piece of code so that Linux can duplicate Windows-style typefaces, or changing the Wikipedia entry on George Bush. And if even those kinds of prosaic examples can lead to the equivalent of a Linux or Wikipedia holy war, which in many cases they have, what hope do we have that politicians can actually use a similar process to change the way that government works? As Shirky suggests in his talk, there?s also a pretty entrenched bureaucracy that has become part of most governments and likely has no interest in relinquishing that control to the crowd.

In his book ?Here Comes Everybody,? Shirky described the potentially massive impact of crowdsourcing and crowd-powered social change, and his admiration of Github seems to be part of an attempt to find tools that will help us deal with the tidal wave of human-driven collaboration. This is something we clearly need, so it?s worthwhile to start looking at solutions ? and while Github may not be the answer, at this point just about anything is probably worth a shot.

Post and thumbnail images courtesy of Flickr user Fabio Venni

Source: http://gigaom.com/2012/09/29/could-we-use-open-source-tools-to-improve-politics/

cruise ship italy patriots broncos game saints willis mcgahee willis mcgahee ship aground off italy nfl playoff schedule 2012

Rio Rancho mayor takes heat for church speech

The New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union is criticizing the Mayor of Rio Rancho for holding a speech at a local church.

Mayor Tom Swisstack held his annual ?State of the City? Friday afternoon at the Destiny Center Church, a Christian-based house of worship.

"What it suggests to the public is that the city endorses that particular religious perspective and we don't think governments should be putting themselves in a position where it selects one religion or one denomination over another," said Peter Simsonson, Executive Director of the New Mexico Chapter of the ACLU.

Swisstack said he personally did not pick the venue for the speech. The event?s organizer, the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce chose the church, according to Swisstack

?It?s a non-denominational venue and has the acoustics, visuals, and the seating arrangements that are conducive to making this presentation," Swisstack said.

The ACLU argued a speech as important as the "State of the City" should be at a secular building such as a city facility, a high school gym, or even the Santa Ana Star Center.

"In principal, it certainly suggests government is endorsing a particular religious viewpoint and that is strictly forbidden by our Constitution and for good reason," Simonson said.

Another point of contention is that the speech was a paid event. Non-members of the Chamber of Commerce were required to pay $45 to see the mayor deliver the speech.

Swisstack said his speech will be available online at the city?s public website and will be played on the city?s public access channel.

Source: http://riorancho.kob.com/news/people/131211-rio-rancho-mayor-takes-heat-church-speech

kobe bryant David Boudia David Rakoff Bourne Legacy Chad Johnson London 2012 Soccer dwight howard

The Fallacy of the 'Critical' Debate (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/252124297?client_source=feed&format=rss

ufc 145 weigh ins record store day 2012 detroit red wings jose canseco zimmerman derek fisher lyrid meteor shower

Smoking Cigarettes

Hooked! ? There would be no better way to describe my years of dependence on cigarettes. I had to have a cigarette. That is the way it was for me once upon a time. Smoking cigarettes is one of greatest mistakes I ever made.

It was the cool thing to do. Nobody I knew knew it was a deadly habit. People smoked around babies, in restaurants, in movie theaters, and even on public transportation. You smoked wherever you wanted. It seemed everybody smoked.

There was no such thing as second-hand smoke. It was unheard of. In the 1960?s people spent many hours in smoke filled rooms, whether they were smokers or not. If you were a smoker you would walk a country mile if you ran out of cigarettes and had no other way to get to a store. You were hooked.

Cigarette smokers will spend their last penny or beg for extra change if they run out of cigarettes. They will do just about anything to support their habit. Quitting is no simple matter, either. It could very well be one of the hardest things you do in your life. But it can be done.

I tried to quit for years. I just couldn?t do it, at the time, and continued to puff my life away. One day fate stepped in when an old friend I hadn?t heard from in years called. ?Just wanted to see how you were doing,? he said. The last time I saw him he was a 2-pack a day smoker.

?Guess what, I quit smoking, he continued ... been 4 years.? He said he was amazed that he had actually succeeded and that he had used sunflower seeds to do it. I thought that over for about a week before I went out and bought a nice big bag of sunflower seeds in the shells.

My friend explained that you have to get the sunflower seeds in the shell, not the shelled kind. You need the shells for the cracking and splitting activity ? it is something to do with your hands and your mouth. Cigarette smoking is an oral fixation. It supplies continuous hand-mouth activity.

The sunflower seeds substitute the hand-mouth activity through the hard parts of withdrawal. They replace the cigarettes and offer you a substitute while you are detoxing. Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, something in your hand to put in your mouth. Just like cigarettes.

Instead of sucking up the smoke and blowing it out, you chew open shells and spit them out. Much healthier! I haven?t had a cigarette in over a decade. The sunflower seeds did the trick for me, too. Remember the cigarette smokes you?re just the sucker. Good luck!

Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/pure-opinion/smoking-cigarettes

jefferson county colorado extenze tenacious d steve smith zou bisou bisou tim tebow press conference tebow press conference

B2B Sales - Business 2 Community

B2B sales has been transformed by the application of many B2C Internet marketing techniques, but there are limits to the Internet where I think B2C can learn something from B2B. For example, with so many cool, self -service real estate websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin available online, why is it that the vast majority of people still prefer to use local real estate brokers to buy and sell their homes? Why not just do it yourself?

Buying a home is complicated. All real estate brokers are required to pass professional certifications, and good real estate brokers spend years honing their craft in the course of many transactions in their local markets. The Internet can serve up all the information you want, but it won?t make you an expert. Plus, buying a home is an emotional roller coaster ride. For the first time home buyer, it can be downright scary. You can get all the disclosures, appraisals, comps and inspections you desire online, but the Internet will not hold your hand and tell you everything will turn out OK in the end.

This is the third post in a series that discusses the new breed of B2B buyer that has evolved in adaptation to the Internet and explores new rules of engagement that mirror those behaviors to maximize B2B sales and marketing effectiveness. The first two posts in this series explored customer self-service and B2B marketing. In this third and final post we turn our attention to B2B sales.

The Self-Service Limit in B2B Sales

A customer?s desire for sales engagement increases in direct proportion to purchase complexity. Thus, purchase complexity is a key element in identifying the right B2B sales model for your business. Simple purchases can be consummated with 100% customer self service, whereas more complex purchases require greater sales engagement as depicted in the image below adapted from the post Three SaaS Sales Models.

Price and complexity define a strategic spectrum of B2B sales approaches
that gravitate strongly toward three distinct B2B sales models:
self-service, transactional and strategic.

Purchase complexity comes in two flavors: informational and emotional, both of which are clearly present in our earlier home buying example. Informational complexity arises when the buyer requires education to consummate the purchase. Emotional complexity arises when the purchase entails a personal risk to the buyer. When either or both of these purchase barriers becomes high enough, the buyer simply will not make the purchase without the aid of a salesperson. In response, successful B2B sales reps adopt sales behaviors that complement the buyer?s purchase behavior, offering expertise and trust in direct proportion to the respective amounts of uncertainty and fear felt by the buyer.

When a purchase requires extensive knowledge and risk,
the B2B buyer will look to the B2B sales rep to reduce the complexity.
Successful B2B sales reps adopt behaviors that complement the buyer?s behavior,
offering expertise and trust in direct proportion to the uncertainty and fear
arising from the the respective informational and emotional needs of the buyer.

The B2B Sales Arms Race ? The New Informed B2B Buyer

The new breed of B2B buyer is online and impatient. When she engages with a B2B sales rep, she?s done her research, but is stuck and doesn?t want to waste the time figuring out how to get unstuck. She doesn?t get something about your website, your product, your pricing or your company, so she sends an email or makes a call to sales. She is well informed, but the purchase complexity has worn out her patience. The worst thing a B2B sales rep can do at this point is wear her patience even thinner.

The new B2B buyer and B2B sales rep are engaged in an information arms race. Having followed the first two new rules engagement, you?ve published deep and wide and enabled efficient self-service. You?ve given in to the new breed of B2B buyer?s hunger for knowledge and speed, and in the process you?ve exacerbated the B2B sales rep?s challenge by eradicating the B2B sales rep?s information advantage. In fact, when the truly savvy B2B buyer knows more than your newbie B2B sales rep, you have a recipe for disaster. Today?s B2B sales rep must quickly assess the purchase knowledge and needs of the new B2B buyer and then lead, follow or get out of the way.

New B2B Buyer Rule of Engagement #5 ? Consultative Selling

Consultative selling is hardly new. What is new is that the B2B sales rep that fails to step up to the information arms race runs the risk of becoming at best irritating and at worst irrelevant. It is difficult, if not impossible for a sales rep to assess a buyer?s knowledge and needs if the buyer knows more than the rep about the purchase. There are few things more irritating to the new B2B buyer than having to listen to a script explaining something she already knows. Or worse, having to explain the product itself to the newbie B2B sales rep with insufficient training and experience.

If there are inherent complexities to purchasing your product, then your B2B sales rep must master them. The B2B sales rep can?t win the B2B sales information arms race simply by memorizing the website content, because the new breed of B2B buyer is already there. If all your B2B sales reps does is usher buyers around your website and take orders, then you are either leaving money on the table or your website isn?t simple enough, because your business should be 100% self-service. The new breed of B2B buyer expects fast answers to questions she can?t answer for herself. Therefore, today?s B2B sales reps must be purchase experts that are skilled at consultative selling in order to adapt their expertise quickly and efficiently to the needs of the new B2B buyer.

B2B Sales is Risky Business ? The New B2B Buyer is Only Human

While the Internet has wrought dramatic adaptations in the new breed of B2B buyer, its influence is minuscule compared to the millions of years of evolution that have preceded it. In the end, the new breed of B2B buyer is still an emotional creature that despite great attempts to cover it up in the form of ROI analyses, vendor comparison matrices, technical evaluations and the like is often driven by fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of public opinion. Fear of failure. What is portrayed as rational decision making and risk reduction is often better characterized as rationalization and CYA. There is no shame in this. This is who we are. We are not machines and it is critically important to us to feel good about the decisions we make. The savvy B2B sales rep understands this.

New B2B Buyer Rule of Engagement #6 ? Trust

Why is it that throughout history salespeople have had to deal with such bad raps? Because it?s assumed that they know things buyers don?t and the more they lie, the more money they make. Things have changed. This is the era of the new breed of B2B buyer. The stereotypical slick salesman is truly dead and the Internet killed him. Today?s B2B sales reps realize that open information and long term relationships require building trust, not breaking it. And while the marketing department can publish all the case studies, videotape all the customer testimonials, and get all the online recommendations it wants, when the stakes are high and the fear is real, there is no substitute for the B2B sales rep?s personal relationship with the buyer.

Developing trust with the new breed of B2B buyer is not easy, because most communication is virtual and terse. Emails must be crafted with care and skill. While the pre-millenium B2B sales rep needed to be a smooth talker, today?s B2B sales rep must be a smooth writer as well. Moreover, today?s B2B sales rep must actively cultivate opportunities to expand and personalize the relationship with the new B2B buyer. Although the days of the traveling B2B sales rep are over for all but the most expensive purchases, it is essential not to fall into the trap of hiding behind email. When it comes to building rapport and trust, chat is better than email, phone is better than chat, video is better than phone and face-to-face it better than video. When your business depends on trust, you must provide the technologies and opportunities for your B2B sales reps to engage with your new B2B buyers at a personal level. Because sometimes, they just need someone to talk to.

Note: I?d like to thank the Sales Leadership Council at ExecWorld for their conversations and contributions to this post.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/b2b-perspective/b2b-sales-the-new-breed-of-b2b-buyer-series-part-3-0293864

constitution day constitution day coachella 2012 dolly parton stephen colbert running for president richard threlkeld moonrise kingdom

Bizarre 2012 earthquake signals birth of world's newest tectonic plate

After millions more years of similar earthquakes, the ruptures will begin to favor a particular path, giving rise to a new plate boundary, and separating today's existing plate into two.

By Andrea Mustain,?OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer / September 27, 2012

The earthquake that struck Sumatra was a big one. Here's how it compares to some record holders.

OurAmazingPlanet

Enlarge

On the afternoon of April 11, 2012, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded ? and now revealed to be among the weirdest ? struck in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Sumatra. It's a region all too familiar with geological catastrophe.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

Eight years earlier, in December 2004, the?third largest earthquake on record?had ripped through a nearby region of the ocean floor. The magnitude-9.1 earthquake and the monstrous tsunami that soon followed killed more than 227,000 people in 14 countries,

So when a magnitude-8.7 earthquake (some put the magnitude at 8.6) shook the Indonesian island on that Wednesday afternoon earlier this year, many expected the worst. Yet,?no monster wave appeared. A wave did come ashore, but it was a miniature tsunami, just 12 inches (31 centimeters) high.

All told, the earthquake did very little damage ? yet only five higher earthquake magnitudes have ever been recorded. So what was the deal? [Video: What Earthquake 'Magnitude' Means?]

New research published today (Sept. 26) in the journal Nature delves into the intimate details of this earthquake, along with the powerful, magnitude-8.2 quake that followed two hours later. The new studies add to an existing body of research that shows this was a remarkable event ? one of the most surprising earthquakes ever recorded ? and one that offers an unlikely snapshot of a geological process millions of years in the making.

Turning a corner

Data captured by a global network of seismometers on April 11 revealed almost immediately that this quake was a strike-slip earthquake ? the sort that races along?the San Andreas Fault. Strike-slip earthquakes occur when two sides of a fault jolt horizontally, displacing the ground sideways. Since these earthquakes don't shove the ocean floor upward ? a required move for tsunami generation ? no deadly wave appeared. [April 2012 Sumatra Quake (Infographic)]

Tsunamis are typically the devastating handiwork of quakes known as?subduction earthquakes. They're the most powerful earthquakes on the planet, and they occur at plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is grinding inexorably beneath another. When the bottom plate suddenly lurches deeper, a colossal amount of energy is released, unleashing the sorts of massive earthquakes and calamitous tsunamis that hit the Indian Ocean in 2004 and the coast of Japan in March 2011. [7 Craziest Ways Japan's Earthquake Affected Earth]

It quickly became apparent that the April 11 earthquake was the most powerful strike-slip quake ever recorded. Which was strange.

Not only was the quake of unparalleled power, it?hit in the middle of a tectonic plate, not at a plate boundary, like the San Andreas Fault. "So already it has two unusual attributes," said Thorne Lay, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an author on one of the papers published today.

Lay and his team set out to construct a blow-by-blow account of how the earthquake progressed, and what they found added to the quake's mystique. This earthquake was able to turn corners.

"It's totally unusual," Lay told OurAmazingPlanet. It turns out that the quake began on one fault, streaking along at more than a mile per second, and, when it reached an intersecting fault, it ruptured that one, too. In all, it ruptured four different faults over the course of 150 seconds, unleashing an amount of energy equivalent to about four magnitude-8.0 earthquakes.

Lay said that, typically, when earthquakes spread to connecting faults, the rupture rips along faults that branch away from the initial fault like the branches of a river. These earthquakes raced along in a grid-like pattern,?making 90-degree turns along faults?that resemble a lattice.

"Here, they really do seem to go along perpendicular faults, and we haven't seen anything like that with a big earthquake," he said.

However, he said, the weird rupture pattern reflects the weird geological circumstances at play in the neighborhood where the earthquake hit. The April 11 earthquake occurred in a region that is giving birth to the Earth's?newest tectonic plate.

Birth pangs

The earthquake hit in the middle of the Indo-Australian plate, a plate that is being torn asunder. And in fact, it is this process that helped trigger this astonishingly powerful earthquake. In a way, the area where it hit was primed for a major earthquake ? scientists just had no idea how major such an earthquake could be.

"It's a pre-existing zone of weakness," said Matthias Delescluse, a marine geophysicist at Paris's Ecole Normale Sup?rieure and an author of another Nature paper on the earthquake published today.

The faults that the earthquake ruptured are, essentially, the bones of an?ancient volcanic seam?that once snaked across the ocean floor, giving rise to new crust. The system fell silent 45 million years ago, but the fractures it created in the tectonic plate are still there. ?

And this particular tectonic plate is undergoing some major stress, Delescluse told OurAmazingPlanet. "I like to represent it with the sidecar analogy," he said. Think of the Australia region of the plate as a motorbike, and the India region as a sidecar. Both are hurtling northward at a fast clip ? for a tectonic plate at least ? at about 2 inches (5 cm) per year.

"Now imagine the sidecar ? not the motorbike ? runs into a wall," Delescluse said. "The sidecar would compress, and the motor bike, depending on the violence of the shock, would finally detach from the sidecar."

That wall that our India sidecar is hitting is the Eurasian plate. The colossal collision has produced some impressive side effects: the Himalayas, the highest mountains on Earth. Australia is able to continue its progress largely unhindered, because that portion of the plate is diving under another tectonic plate ? a process that produces the sort of massive earthquake that hit in 2004.

The evidence suggests that the Indo-Australian plate began to be ripped apart between 8 million and 10 million years ago. The 2012 earthquake is just one of many that have likely ripped along the same region since this process began.

After millions more years of similar earthquakes, the ruptures will begin to favor a particular path, giving rise to a new plate boundary, and separating today's existing plate into two.

Delescluse said that the singular earthquake measured in 2012 offers a glimpse of this process in unprecedented detail. ?

"This event is really illustrating what happened in the past and will happen in the future," he said.

Because the continental plates are built differently than oceanic plates, which are far more brittle, it's unlikely that such a colossal strike-slip quake could hit on land, Delescluse said.

Rare event?

A third paper published today shows that the?April 11 earthquake likely triggered earthquakes?around the world for a short time afterward.

Together, the papers offer an unprecedented look at the geological setup for the earthquake, how it unfolded second by second, and its aftermath.

"The fact that within six months we have understood this much ? that is really quite impressive," said Hiroo Kanamori, a professor emeritus at Caltech, and a revered figure among geophysicists. He was not involved in the research.

Kanamori, who has studied large earthquakes for decades, said that vast improvements in both the quality and quantity of instruments, and of methodology, has allowed the science to make unprecedented strides forward.

"If this had happened 40 years ago, it would have taken a few years to even understand what it was," he told OurAmazingPlanet.

And although he said the event certainly was surprising, he noted that it's only surprising from the perspective of a human lifetime ? "not on the geological time scale," he said.

Lay echoed Kanamori's long-term perspective.

"When you're dealing with a process that may be taking millions of years, we're getting a very short window of observation from which to make generalizations about the past," he said. "Astronomers can look farther away, and they can see farther back in time ? we see what we see today," he said. And the Earth may have more geological surprises in store, he said.

Reach Andrea Mustain at?amustain@techmedianetwork.com, or follow her on Twitter?@AndreaMustain.Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet.?We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/7nMIZ_QpWwI/Bizarre-2012-earthquake-signals-birth-of-world-s-newest-tectonic-plate

iman shumpert mayweather vs cotto shumpert hopkins hopkins dear john derrick rose torn acl

Advice That You Can Use When Buying A Home | Eric Chua : Life ...

There never existed a better time in our economy to buy real estate. This is a very profitable market and comes with lower rates and a lower investment to begin with. The advice provided in this article will assist you in finding a property that is both affordable and profitable.

When you are buying a property, have some extra money so that you can pay for costs that you did not expect. Buyers will often calculate the final closing costs by combining the amount for the down payment, any points that go to the bank, as well as any prorated taxes for real estate. You have to keep in mind that the closing costs might include other items like school taxes or improvement bonds.

Ask for closing cost assistance from the seller to save yourself some up front expenses. For example, you could ask for a seller to buy down your interest rates for a limited period of time. Keep in mind, though, if you request financial incentives from the seller, he will probably be less willing to negotiate on the home?s selling price.

TIP! Keeping an approval letter with you will make you much more attractive to your sellers. If you wait to get an approval, it will lengthen the amount of time it takes to buy the home, which could cost you more in the end.

Assume that needed repairs are a given when you are considering purchased any foreclosed home. Many of the foreclosed homes that are on the market have been vacant for quite some time. Regular maintenance has more than likely not been done on the home, which means significant repairs should be expected. Foreclosed homes often will require HVAC systems installed, and may be infested with pests.

If you get any home you are looking to buy appraised, accept an appraiser with no less than five years of experience. Don?t hire appraisers recommended by real estate agents. There is possibly a pretty stern conflict of interest. The appraiser that you hire must be state-certified or state-licensed.

TIP! When negotiating with a seller, make a reasonable offer. A lot of people adopt an aggressive attitude in the hope that the other party will cave.

Always obtain home warranty protection. It doesn?t matter whether you are buying a new home from the person who builds it or from a previous owner. You should still ask them for a home warranty. Any quality builder will stand behind the home he or she has built for a certain period of time. Prior owners of your newly-purchased home should have no problem providing a home warranty of some duration as a way of compensating you for repairs that may need to be made.

When you are plunging into real estate, make sure you have clear goals in mind. Categorize your long-term and short-term goals. If the investment doesn?t match the goals you have in place, don?t bother with it. If you don?t consider your own needs before investing, you?re likely to lose money on the deal or get frustrated with your investment.

Be pre-qualified for a mortgage loans before looking at houses. You don?t want to end up coming across the house of your dreams to be told that you can?t get a large enough loan to buy it. Also, getting a loan can be a long process that you do not want to wait until last minute to begin.

TIP! When purchasing a foreclosed home, it is wise to assume that there will be repairs that will need to be made. Most foreclosed properties are in need of repair, because they have not been maintained for a very long time.

If you are interested in a home with a beautiful view, don?t pay that much more because of the viewing possibilities. Even though you might appreciate the view, in the long term, potential buyers may not. Therefore, you can buy the house with the view, just make sure you don?t overpay for it.

Get a professional to look at the building you want to buy. It will cost a bit of money, but do not have a friend or relative inspect the home, because should they miss something, there is nothing you can do.

Those who are wise and jump into this swirling market should follow the above article closely. It will help you avoid trouble and walk away with real estate that is under-priced and growing constantly in value. The key is to purchase the property and hold until the time is right before you make your big

TIP! If you?re thinking about relocating, you may want to consider looking online at the neighborhood of the house you?re thinking of purchasing. There is a wealth of information available on the Internet, even for small cities and towns.

Join me on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/maynaseric

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/advice-that-you-can-use-when-buying-a-home

kola boof burmese python national signing day ferris bueller god bless america earned income credit super bowl commercials

NBA finalizing flopping procedures

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) ? The NBA is about to act in hopes of stopping the floppers.

Spokesman Tim Frank said Thursday the league is finalizing procedures to deal with flopping, the art of falling down when little or no contact was made in an effort to trick referees into calling a foul.

Frank said the competition committee met two weeks ago and discussed plans that would go in place this season. Commissioner David Stern believes too many players are deceiving referees by flopping and has been seeking a way to properly penalize them.

The procedures will likely involve a postgame review of the play by the league office, rather than an official calling an infraction during the game, Frank said. Players would likely be fined if the league determined they flopped.

The proposed plan mirrors a "postgame analysis" option Stern discussed after the competition committee met in June. The league already retroactively reviews flagrant fouls to determine if they need to be upgraded or downgraded.

"If you continue to do this, you may you have to suffer some consequences," Stern said about flopping during the NBA Finals. "What those exactly should be and what the progression is, is to be decided, because ... we just want to put a stake in the ground that says this is not something that we want to be part of our game, without coming down with a sledgehammer but just doing it in a minimalist way to begin stamping it out. And I think there are ways we can do that and we'll have to wait and see exactly what we come up with."

The league's 62-person referee staff is holding its training camp, its first under the leadership of former NBA player and longtime league executive Mike Bantom. Bantom replaced Gen. Ron Johnson as executive vice president of referee operations earlier this month.

"I think one of the things that I'd just like to focus on is I think there's a perception out there that kind of throws into question sometimes the competence of our officials and even the integrity of them at times, and I think that that's not true to begin with and unfair, and I want to try and change that perception," said Bantom, who had been the league's senior vice president of player development since 1999.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-09-28-BKN-Flopping-Penalties/id-c67a5cb6766948d8bbe10bf0b43d605a

dennis kucinich apple ipad kony kony 2012 jim irsay the new ipad apple announcement

U.S., Gulf countries agree to strengthen trade ties

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday said it has signed a framework agreement with Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to explore ways to boost trade and investment with the oil-rich region.

The GCC also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Total two-way trade between the United States and the GCC totaled almost $100 billion last year, with the U.S. running about a $24 billion trade deficit.

"This important trade and investment agreement will help to grow and strengthen our economic ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is a key strategic U.S. partner in the Middle East and North Africa region," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement.

U.S. goods exports to the GCC totaled nearly $38 billion in 2011, led by vehicles, machinery, aircraft, electrical machinery, and optical and medical instruments.

The United States imported nearly $62 billion of oil, aluminum, fertilizers, organic chemicals and other goods from the region last year.

U.S. foreign direct investment in GCC countries was $23.5 billion in 2010, USTR said.

The United States already has free trade agreements with Oman and Bahrain and individual trade and investment framework agreements with the four other GCC members.

The new regional forum will complement the existing bilateral pacts, USTR said.

(Reporting By Doug Palmer; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-gulf-countries-agree-strengthen-trade-ties-155246349.html

sean young arrested matt kenseth bridge to nowhere primary results dale earnhardt jr michigan primary school shooting

Canadians, Chinese buying into the American Dream

Alan Diaz / AP file

Among all foreign browsers of Realtor.com, Canadians rank No. 1, routinely checking out Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, according to data provided by the website.

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

With many U.S. consumers still lukewarm about buying into the American dream, Canadians, Chinese and Mexicans are burning up Realtors? cell phones and emails, grabbing up swank vacation nooks, secure places to stash their cash, or just old-fashioned bargains.

Foreign purchases of U.S. homes have climbed by 24 percent since 2011, reports the National Association of Realtors, reaching $82.5 billion in total annual sales,?and helping brace once-creeky markets like Miami.

?They love the U.S. because their money is safe here. Even if they only break even on a property, they know they can get their money out,? said Matey Veissi, broker-owner with Veissi & Associates in Miami. She estimates that 35 to 40 percent of her firm?s business is conducted with foreign buyers. ?South Beach and Miami Beach are popular with the Brazilians ? they like the water. The west coast of Florida is popular with the Europeans because it?s quieter. The Canadians like the middle of the state.?

But even as residential prices perk up in many U.S. cities, international interest in American homes is expected to hold firm ? simply because with many international buyers, it?s not all about the dollar signs, said Jed Smith, an NAR economist.

As with some American homebuyers, it?s also about status.

?Foreigners purchase for a variety of reasons: trophy homes, desire to put money in the U.S. for safety, desire to have a place to visit for vacation, desire for a rental unit,? Smith said, adding that about half of those buyers move to the United States. ?These factors ? tend to dampen the effects of changes in total overall cost."

Case in point: Miami, where home values bumped 2.1 percent higher from June to July, according to the S&P Case-Shiller index released Tuesday.??That?s very much an international city that tends to attract people from a variety of places who also have quite a bit of money and who are looking to make a statement,? Smith said.

Through March 2011 to March this year, Canadians led the international housing invasion, comprising 24 percent?of foreign sales, or about $16 billion in collective purchases, Smith said.

For Canadians, proximity is the prime enticement to buy American and many seem drawn to the balmy breezes of Florida, said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Realtor.com, operator Move, Inc.

?A second home in the U.S. provides a relatively inexpensive way for Canadians to escape snowy weather and below-freezing temperatures,? Berkowitz said.

Among all foreign browsers of Realtor.com, Canadians rank No. 1, routinely checking out Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, according to data provided by the website.

?One of the things about international purchases: Once that community gets established in that area, it tends to attract like people from that community,? said NAR?s Smith. ?So the Canadians have been coming to those areas for quite a while.?

Chinese consumers also are frequent visitors to Realtor.com, virtually exploring neighborhoods in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the site reports. Chinese comprised 11 percent of all international transactions from March 2011 to this past March ? forming the second-largest group of foreign buyers and spending about $9 billion during that span on American housing, according to NAR.

Income levels largely drive the consumer tastes of Chinese house hunters, experts say.

?On the West Coast, you might have five or 10 families from China who pool their resources to purchase something, have a student live in it and then rent out the rooms. At the end of the student?s time, hopefully they sell the place for a capital gain. Those are the middle-class Chinese, buying for an investment,? Smith said. ?There are also a fair number of wealthy people in China who are buying for a major second home.?

In San Francisco, upscale high-rises that have attracted venture capitalists and members of the San Francisco 49ers now are drawing affluent Chinese residents, said Realtor Matt Fuller. Such plush condo buildings include Millennium Tower ? which boasts three sets of concierges and a salt-water pool ? and One Rincon Hill where, he said, prices can touch seven figures. Those exclusive, residential spires are relatively new to the Bay Area, he added.

?It?s hard to say if the number of Chinese buyers is increasing because we have more interest (from China) or if we?re noticing this trend because this is a style of construction and a level of service that we didn?t used to have here,? Fuller said.

Those elite addresses are fancied by British buyers as well, Fuller said.?Online shoppers from the United Kingdom comprise one of the thickest clumps of foreign lookie-loos at Realtor.com. They?ve also been checking out Los Angeles, Orlando and Las Vegas, according to the site?s stats.

McMansions favoured
And when they do peruse American real estate online, the Brits ? like many other Europeans ? tend to click on larger ?McMansions,? said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia. After reviewing user trends at that real estate website, Kolko noticed that Dutch consumers check out the biggest American abodes, with a median size of 2,400 square feet, followed closely by U.K. consumers, whose targeted homes have a median size of 2,342 square feet.

Americans who use Trulia examine properties with?a median size of 1,854 square feet.

?The rest of the world might make fun of Americans for our big portions, big homes and big butts, but it turns out that most foreigners look at bigger homes than what most Americans look at ? among all searches of U.S. homes on Trulia,? Kolko wrote in a blog last week.

By comparison, Mexican consumers who tap Trulia?s listings are focused on even smaller homes ? those with a median size of 1,794 square feet, Kolko reported.?

But Mexicans currently spend about $6.5 billion a year on U.S. homes, NAR says, ranking Mexico at No. 3 among the nations that lately have been gobbling up American properties.

?They are focused heavily on proximity, namely Texas,? Smith said. ?They?re buying mainly for safety as well as for a better environment. ?There?s been quite an influx of Mexican money into this country in recent years just based on the safety issues in that country.?

On Realtor.com, Mexicans have been inspecting homes in San Antonio and Laredo, Texas, the site reports.

And in Miami, one Mexican client taught Realtor Veissi just how careful people in that country have become about protecting their monetary secrets. Although Veissi was representing that Mexican family in its house search, her description of the artful process sounds like it involved all the cunning of a big-stakes poker game.

?They started with a price point of $250,000 and asked me about the price of eggs and milk here,? Veissi said. ?They led me to believe they were on a budget. Then they gradually increased the price (for their hunt), which I found interesting, and ended up with a home at close to $1 million.

?They don?t want to tell you a lot about their finances unless they know you better. Initially, they didn?t trust me. Most Americans don?t have any patience with that,? she added. ?But when you develop the relationship, you get the entire family, their friends, everyone they?re connected with (as future clients). It just takes a long time to develop that trust.??

More money and business news:

Follow NBCNews.com business on Twitter and Facebook

With interest rates at all-time lows, is now the time to rush out to buy a house? Barry Habib, Residential Finance Corporation, offers perspective.

Source: http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/27/14104991-foreign-residential-invasion-why-the-new-neighbors-may-not-speak-your-language?lite

hunger games review jeff saturday jason smith jon corzine austin rivers austin rivers sweet home alabama

How to Improve Business Security with Twitter | Blogmemes

Twitter is one of the most popular social media networks nowadays, which benefits businesses particularly in increasing brand awareness and website traffic. It is therefore significant to maintain protection from fraud people and scammers to maximize the benefits this networking site gives.

?

?

Source: http://www.blogmemes.net/how-to-improve-business-security-with-twitter/

restaurant week type 2 diabetes occupy congress juan williams victor martinez alcatraz cruise ship

12 Tips To Building A Successful Startup Community Where You Live

Editor?s Note: This is a guest post by Mark Suster (@msuster), a 2x entrepreneur, now VC at?GRP Partners. Read more about Suster at?Bothsidesofthetable In the first phase of the Internet - roughly from 1995-2005 it was difficult to build massive Internet-based companies outside of Silicon Valley. The big companies to be built and scaled were mostly infrastructure: databases, routers, browsers, spam filters, search engines and the like. Plus the obvious initial pioneers of the web like Yahoo!, eBay, Craigslist and so on. But the infrastructure is now in such a state the we're seeing the emergence of large tech businesses being built all across the United States including Gilt Groupe & Etsy in NYC, Living Social in DC, Groupon in Chicago, DemandMedia & Cornerstone OnDemand in LA. And many more. What does it take to build a successful entrepreneurial community? Can you build one locally? This post explores the 12 components of every successful startup city. Details after the jump.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ZbCFhNkVHuw/

travis barker get back on board rob lowe peyton manning what is sopa marianne gingrich ibooks author gabrielle union

Bitten Highschool - Love

Eight teenagers, all vampires, have to try and survive the trials of love and highschool. Only problem is, they're surrounded by humans.

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Bitten Highschool - Love?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

---

---

---

Dibs on Alex Pettyfer if you're accepting reservations!

hxcdreamer

Member for 0 years

---

could i have the second female vampire Ariana Grande?

emotionless

Member for 3 years

---

Could I have Taylor momsen I will have her up ASAP

ISo stick that in your juice box and suck it!

Tayloremond

Member for 0 years

---

---

May i reserve Ashely Greene FC?

ScarnyLuv

Member for 0 years

---

Hiya I was wondering if I could change the face claim of Candice Accola to Crystal Reed, please?

ForeverADream

Member for 0 years

---

---

Post a reply

RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.

If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.

Who is online

Registered users: - Kikuchiyo -*, _NotTheNormalOne_*, AceofSpade, Addrinvan, Ahri*, aipsylon*, Akantha, Alexander Hamilton*, amyreinreaper, Andrea Rose*, Angelfire*, angelpink, Animality Opera*, AppleSauce*, Aradia*, Arch_Demon666*, ArhaHitomi888*, arpiainen, Asper*, AthenaUndying, Auricambrflaym, ayuta*, AzricanRepublic*, barney_fife*, Battie*, Beach-Born-Boy, Blazewind*, BleedingCrimson, BleedingLover*, Bloogle*, BlueWind_22, bnrdhdu*, Brenflakes*, Breyerluv*, Bromander Shepard, BunnyWabbit*, CalamityJane, Canibelle*, CarliaRhian123*, ceh12*, Centi85, ChaosBlade*, Chynacat32, cirrus_sd*, cmpuncle, ColeMaibara, Colonel_Masters*, conor*, CookieCupcake, Cooper*, Corpse of Ruin, CrashQueen, crazygumbomb*, Crystal Flamedance*, Curtsive*, CussingChild, Cynique*, DA_SHADOW_PHOENIX*, Dante Angelico*, Dark Star*, Deallo*, Dekar*, delfiler, DemonataQueen, dig17, Digital_Muse*, digs*, drampire, ebon15*, Eisenhorn, EKRonnie, Elkcubra, Elrith Eldwind, ElvenEllis, emotionless*, Erik7622*, Essence, EverFrost*, FamishedPants*, Fearful-lover*, Fencer*, Firewind*, flyingninjas, ForeverADream, Forevveru, Genesis Rhapsodos*, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, gypsyprincess*, HitoriRaven*, hxcdreamer*, Hyperiant*, Ice_prince, Imagine That!, infernadragon*, IridescentMoon*, Isladhiel L?thien, jackrules158*, Jadeling Hawkins*, JEDH3*, Jinx911*, John_234*, JokerofSpades*, JustQuit*, KagamiTheQuiet, Kaire23*, kexia*, Korrye*, KumoriRyuu, Kyrie, Lady Inali*, Lambie*, LazuliMetempsychosis, Leli, Leon21, Lexen*, Lifecharacter*, LithiumCaretaker*, Little Fox, Little Troll, lovelyzombie*, Loxley, LRmember, Lufia, LunaSpirit, Magix, Majestic-12 [Bot], MaliceInWonderland*, MarchHare, Marco Chain*, masato22*, Mazzyrazzy*, Memento-Mori*, Midnightclub, Miss_Dreamer*, MoscowHetalia*, Mr_Doomed*, MSNbot Media, Nekohina*, NethanielShade*, Nevan*, Nevermore90*, nicolbaka*, Nulix*, Oblivian*, Oborosen, palestparamour*, pandalover*, Patcharoo*, PINKanime, PirateofPie, pokeman114*, Popeno, Princess Awinita*, PrincessBoy*, Protoman X*, qbsuperstar03*, Raidose*, ReaperGirl4, Riverstyx777, Roku Mushabuki*, RoseAmedori*, Rougeshadow*, Rulke*, Runika*, S1mon, Saarai, Sage Akia*, SalamanderKebab*, SarahLiaa, sasha-jen*, Saviarre, Saxious, ScarnyLuv*, Script*, Seirei*, Shadetree76, ShadowsoftheNine*, ShaShaBoomStar, Shifter13*, Sil*, silentawakening*, SilverStar89, SkullsandSlippers*, Skyeblueme3, slcam, SMinSC, smrtazz13*, Snow*, Sokka25, SoldierScript, Sonicx00*, Sorella, Sorichyeobwa*, stormwolf321*, SugarPlum2*, Susie Maddy Daison, Sweet Angel Jocelyn*, sweetgal*, tachyglossus*, Tainted Twinkee, Tash, Tayloremond, TemplarWarden*, Temple*, Terrus*, The Afterman*, The Great Thundorz*, The Illusionist*, The*Lucky*Teacup, The_Fallen_Ones, thedjismine*, TheGoddessReborn, Thundergod1020*, tigerking1292*, Tiko*, Tilting Clock, Tonks*, Trickster*, True Grave*, Tsukiakari*, typo1212*, ultimas308*, Uriel*, Vain, Verum Umbra, VindicatedPurpose*, VitaminHeart*, Wake, whatyoufancy, Wudgeous, XavierDantius32*, Xiiver, XShishioX*, xXBaybaykidXx*, xXChocobeanXx*, XxEvil1xX*, Yahoo [Bot], YoureStillAnInnocent*, ZacharyTC*, Zenia*, zeno3111*, Zentose*, ZoeyAutopsyx

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/49ucuzjzo0I/viewtopic.php

huntington disease west memphis three taxes game of thrones season 2 trailer sag award winners girl scout cookies screen actors guild

Can Google Map a Path Back to iOS?

Google is reported to be working on a standalone map app for iOS, about three months after Apple replaced the original Google map app in iOS with its own product, for iOS 6. The news comes as Apple is plagued by almost daily reports of problems with its own mapping app. Whether Apple will approve a standalone Google Maps app for inclusion in its iTunes App Store remains to be seen.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/23e20414/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C762560Bhtml/story01.htm

emily maynard kola boof burmese python national signing day ferris bueller god bless america earned income credit

'HabCam' Opens Unique Window on Seafloor Life

The oceans are getting the red-carpet treatment with a new project from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: HabCam, an optical imaging endeavor that provides researchers with a one-of-a-kind glimpse of the seafloor.

The "Cam" part of HabCam is a camera system that is towed over the ocean bottom along the continental shelf (where a continent drops off under the ocean) off the East Coast of the United States. The system snaps six images per second ? that's a half-million images per day; then, a process corrects the color and an algorithm stitches the pictures together to create a giant panorama of the seafloor. Each day, HabCam can capture 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) of ocean floor.

Amber York, a biology research associate at Woods Hole who works on HabCam, told OurAmazingPlanet that pictures have already sparked her interest: She has spotted an anemone and a worm that could be new species.

"As a biologist, I think what excites me more than anything about this project is the ability to see these organisms in a large scale in their natural habitat," York said. "A lot of these off-shore species are not as well-documented as the coastal ones on the beach. It's intense detective work trying to identify them." [HabCam Images: Peek Beneath the Waves]

Zigzagging over the seafloor

HabCam's 2-megapixel camera is towed on a large metal skeleton by a 103-foot (31 meters) sea scallop trawler, above coastal regions of the Northeast, including Georges Bank, the Mid-Atlantic Bight, and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.?To collect the photos, HabCam is towed from a ship and travels in patterns from zigzags to spirals through the ocean about 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) above the seafloor, collecting more than 40 million images in total. The newest version of the system also includes a side scan acoustics system that gathers information on seafloor roughness ? something that is difficult to see with the photos alone.

The pictures also give scientists a window into how marine life on the seafloor acts. In the past, biologists have used giant trawlers to scoop up critters and dump them on the deck of ships for analysis. The problem, York said, is that the creatures look different when they come up than they do in their natural habitat.

"They may change their color as they come up, or they get broken up too much in the process," she said.

HabCam also gives a peek into the way the creatures live on the floor. For example, sea stars were thought to be relatively spread out, but York has noticed that they tend to gather in armies ? she calls them hordes ? and eat everything in their path as they move across a scallop field.

Counting scallops and sea stars

The camera is helping scientists count scallops on the seafloor, and helping them understand the health of the ecosystem. Right now, it's being used to count scallops in a way that is much more rigorous than previous methods. They want to create a quantifiable marker for the habitat, including factors such as species richness, diversity, the composition of the material the creatures live on, and ecosystem change through time and over different areas. HabCam will help create an historical baseline for the seafloor health to be evaluated in the future.

Of course, it's a lot of work sifting through all those images. To help, those running HabCam have reached out to the Citizen Science Alliance and launched an interactive website called "Seafloor Explorer," where people can help identify scallops, sea stars and other creatures in the pictures. The project is starting with 100,000 images to annotate.

"We are interested in finding out what is happening to the seafloor over time, but we also need help in identifying individuals in all the photos," York said. The research group is working on a system to train computers to classify the images, but first they need people power to interpret what they're seeing.

York is positively pumped over the future of the field.

"I think this is just the start of a whole field of research ? imaging of marine life on the seafloor," she said.

Copyright 2012 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/habcam-opens-unique-window-seafloor-life-142613587.html

honduras prison fire do not call list sports illustrated westminster dog show 2012 words with friends words with friends phlebotomy

This Trotter-Shaped Bench Looks Good Enough to Eat [Art]

There are few things more pleasant in life than having a nice comfortable sit down. Apart, perhaps, from pork. So why not combine the two? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/M-whOy9t0A0/this-trotter+shaped-bench-looks-good-enough-to-eat

Revolution TV Show Carly Rae Jepsen bankofamerica nfl schedule revolution rosh hashanah rosh hashanah

How to build a strong business community | Escape From Cubicle ...

I push myself to continually challenge my assumptions about business. I actively solicit advice from friends and mentors, because I want to grow and develop as a person, in addition to growing my business.

But sometimes, I get very stubborn.

Last year, I got lots of advice for building higher priced walls between me and my market, to ensure that my work was valued. It makes a lot of sense, since I know that I don?t always charge as much as my peers.

But there was a part of me that still resisted the advice, because it felt like if I implemented it, I would become someone I am not.

I shared my thoughts with my best friend Desiree, who said:

?Of course that advice would not work for you. You are not an empire builder, you are a community builder.?

And the light bulbs started to flash in my head.

It is why I loved delivering Lift Off retreats so much. And promoting the work of my clients and students on social media. It is why I spent 10 years as a volunteer executive director of a martial arts organization. And why, as a Connector, I love introducing people to each other. And why I enjoy the family atmosphere at my martial art studio. And why I get teary when I watch a bustling park filled with families laughing and playing.

And why I got a degree in International Service and Development in college (sometimes I miss blinding flashes of obvious).

Building community is my strength and it fits in the center of my personal values.

Knowing that, I can take great advice about ratcheting up the value and pricing in my business, and apply it in a way that is consistent with a community builder.

You might be wired differently, and have different strengths and interests. Maybe you are a maven and love building deep and elegant products. Maybe you are a salesman and get truly excited by expanding your empire.

Community building has a place in every kind of business. Here are some ways to do it.

10 Ways to Build Your Community

1. Use ?success of others? as one metric of your success.
   We often view our success in terms of how much we have personally. How much money did we make? How many Twitter followers and Facebook fans do we have? What kind of press did we get? What if you ask that same question of everyone in your community? If the success of your community is your success, you start to feel pretty wealthy.
2. Share the work of others.
   When you have a new product or program, it is absolutely necessary to share it throughout your marketing channels. Do the same for others in your network. If you see great work that would benefit people in your community, get it in the hands of those who need it.
3. Introduce people to each other.
   Every couple of months, I get an email from my friend Michael Port, introducing me to someone in his network. Michael is a bestselling author and expert in small business marketing. In traditional terms, he would be direct competitor. But Michael places a huge value in building community, and has a passionate fan base as a result. I love and appreciate him for it.
4. Give encouragement on a daily basis.
   In every part of your life, people are sending subtle messages when they hurt. A parent on the playground might look slightly stressed. Your favorite server at Starbucks might be harried. A friend on Facebook might post a call for help. It doesn?t take much to help ? often a simple word of encouragement like ?you can do it!? or ?hang in there,? or even a smile and a hug can really turn things around in someone?s day.
5. Ask for help.
   If you spend a lot of time nurturing and encouraging others, you must also ask for help. If you don?t, you will start to build an unhealthy dynamic where you are the savior rushing in, and they are the victim. This is not healthy, or accurate. In a community, every person is an equal contributor; no matter his or her financial situation, job title or life circumstance. When you ask for help, you give people the opportunity to feel valued.
6. Encourage your community to learn from and interact with others.
   Sometimes in the coaching or teaching business, we get possessive of our favorite clients. We want them to stay by our side forever, and get jealous if they work with someone else. This is not good. You want to push your clients to make great choices, to expand their circles, and to get the exact support they need. If they are flourishing, you are flourishing.
7. Push yourself to grow and produce.
   A community is only as strong as its weakest link. If you are asking your community to grow and produce, you must also push yourself to grow and produce. Take on new and scary projects. Take pride in your work. Admit failure and struggle, and learn from the experience. Do great things.
8. Do what needs to be done.
   When I was interviewing my Dad for my new book, I asked him why he and my Bonus Mom Dee recycled all the glass and aluminum for their town as volunteers for 13 years. ?It needed to be done,? said my Dad. If you see a glaring need for help in your community, do something about it. That is what my friends at Laid Off Camp Arizona do on a daily basis. They see people who can?t find jobs, so they call on expert volunteers in the community to teach workshops. When a big part of your community is unemployed, it affects everyone. Do something about it.
9. Welcome a diversity of opinions.
   A healthy community has a mix of different strengths, perspectives and values. In my home of Mesa, Arizona, I have many friends who have radically different political views than I do. Rather than fight about it, I try to understand their perspective. I welcome dialogue. And I base my relationship on how they treat me and others on a daily basis, not on their choice of political candidate.
10. Stand up for each other.
    Yesterday, a news story from Michigan made its way around the Internet. A high school softmore, Whitney Kroop, was nominated to the homecoming court at her school as a joke, because she was so unpopular. The community got wind of this cruel hoax, and rallied around her. Local businesses donated everything so she has a great outfit. Scores of people will fill the football stadium to cheer her on homecoming night.? A Facebook fan page was created, which now has more than 50,000 likes. If you see bad behavior, call it out.

Adding strength to your community will only make you stronger.

Thank you for all that you do every day. Your strength fuels me.

Source: http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/2012/09/25/how-to-build-a-strong-business-community/

presidents george washington russell westbrook horsetail falls ice t downton abbey new york knicks