Facebook's Instant Personalization Is the Real Privacy Hairball
Liz Gannes Apr 22, 2010 - 11:00 AM CDT
Facebook at its f8 conference yesterday launched tools for websites to add a social layer by bringing over Facebook friend connections. These social plugins are available to any web developer and use a simple piece of code to add a Facebook frame onto a page, instantly make that page social. So, for example, if you visit CNN.com, you could see what news stories your friends liked and shared there.
CNN doesn't actually see that happening — to the news org it's just a box it leaves open on its site for Facebook to populate — but it's presumably happy because users get a more personal experience and stick around longer. And users don't get identified for simply visiting a site; they have to log in to Facebook through a dialog box in order for their presence and activities to be shared with their Facebook friends.
Facebook also introduced a way for certain sites to push this further than everyone else. Three carefully chosen launch partners — Microsoft's Docs.com (s MSFT), Yelp and Pandora — have access to what Facebook is calling "instant personalization." This is a powerful, inventive and creepy tool that the company hopes to extend to other partners but is testing the waters with these three first.
Ta-da! It's personal
Instant personalization means that if you show up to the Internet radio site Pandora for the first time, it will now be able to look directly at your Facebook profile and use public information — name, profile picture, gender and connections, plus anything else you've made public — to give you a personalized experience. So if I have already publicly stated through my Facebook interests page that I like a musical artist — say, The Talking Heads — the first song I hear when I go to Pandora will be a Talking Heads song or something that Pandora thinks is similar.
The idea is that Pandora is a somewhat hard concept to explain to new users — before it existed, people didn't have their own personalized radio stations based on similarities between artists and song. Now, new users will derive value from Pandora before they even sign up. The first time they load the page it will be to their favorite music.
This new sign-up customization has the biggest privacy implications of everything Facebook unveiled yesterday. Until now, when you browsed the web, it was safe to assume you were anonymous until you actively logged into a site. But in recent years, behavioral advertisers have started following us around as we browse, using cookies to find out where we've been in order to offer up customized ads on new pages we visit. (So if I've been shopping on Kayak for an upcoming trip, I might get ads about similar flights and travel destinations showing up on a page I visit later that day.) In the post-f8 world, when you show up to Yelp having never been there before, the page will now show a feed of restaurants and stores that your Facebook friends have liked and reviewed using Yelp before you go there.
I spoke with Facebook platform engineering lead Mike Vernal at f8 yesterday about instant personalization after having trouble grokking the concept when CEO Mark Zuckerberg threw it in as a "one last thing" during his f8 keynote. Vernal described the goal as that of creating a "magical" experience for users. However, he said Facebook is well aware that these privileges could be abused. "We've very cognizant of balancing building great user experiences and respecting privacy," was how Vernal put it.
Vernal said Facebook has not finalized any plans for allowing additional sites into the instant personalization program. Users are also able to opt out entirely via a new option found at the bottom of the list on their privacy settings page. And further, if they want to prevent their friends from sharing their information with an instant personalization partner, users must block that specific application individually. Multiple Facebook employees told me the company was unsure about how to label the sensitive product and which partners were launching on it until the last minute.
I made this just for you
The problem is, users aren't accustomed to instantly personal services, and we have no idea where that personal information is coming from. Going back to the relatively benign social plugins from the beginning of this story, it probably won't be obvious to the casual visitor to CNN.com that CNN doesn't know anything about the story recommendations Facebook is providing. To most of us, it will look like CNN knows who we are. And further, while going to a brand-new website that instantly knows who you are might ultimately be useful, the first time it happens you're going to freak out.
Facebook's way of addressing that reaction is by placing an icon in every social plugin that leads back to an explanation on Facebook, and layering a big blue bar on top of the three sites — again, Microsoft's Docs.com, Pandora and Yelp — that are getting the special treatment. So when I go to Yelp today I'm greeted right up front with: "Hi Liz. Yelp is using Facebook to personalize your experience. Learn More – No Thanks." That's fine, but the fact is, this tool is designed to help users become acquainted with sites they've never been to before. So the experience is necessarily going to be foreign.
I recently signed up for a new web photo service by giving an email address and password. When I went to fill out my profile, there was already a picture of me staring back. Whoa. That's useful, I guess — I didn't have to find a headshot to upload yet again — but it weirded me out. It turned out the site was probably using Automattic's (see disclosure below) Gravatar, to match my email with my profile pic. Clearly, Facebook's not the only platform that wants to enable shortcuts to make my new web experiences better — expect this instant personalization to catch on, if users and privacy advocates don't revolt and drive the company to drop the feature. We saw that happen with a cousin of this product, Facebook Beacon, three years ago.
But if my Facebook stream is any indication, some users have already caught onto this latest privacy tweak. Here's one message making the rounds:
"Do NOT forget to OPT OUT of the new FB Instant Personalization sillyness. Under your Privacy Settings so 3rd parties cannot collect your personal data. Account–>Privacy Settings–>Applications & Websites–>@bottom is the Instant Personalization thing–>Uncheck Allow."
But then, lots of people just hate change; every Facebook redesign, ever, has been protested. And so, like Facebook, we'll have to wait to see how much instant personalization freaks people out. [digg=http://digg.com/tech_news/Facebook_s_Instant_Personalization_The_Real_Privacy_Problem]
Disclosure: Automattic, maker of WordPress.com, is backed by True Ventures, a venture capital firm that is an investor in the parent company of this blog, Giga Omni Media. Om Malik, founder of Giga Omni Media, is also a venture partner at True.
Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
How Facebook Should Fix Its Privacy Problem
Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my bio.
instant personalization
Mike Vernal
110 Responses to "Facebook's Instant Personalization Is the Real Privacy Hairball"
KeveneveK May 1, 2010
Maybe my friends don't have a clue on how to share my info? I mean, most of them are my relatives and people that I have known for years.. And I'm pretty good at knowing what sites to go to. Or does this only work if your on your facebook at the same time as browsing the net?
Dean April 26, 2010
There's a number of resources my friends and I are actively using. So for me this new Facebook feature is really cool as I can view what my friends have commented or share the news by clicking the only button.
Joel Duggins April 24, 2010
Perhaps it's already been mentioned, but Yahoo Launchcast was similiar to Pandora in some ways, and I think it may have existed first.
Alex April 24, 2010
I also opted out. I think it is CRAZY to have a site track your surfing habit, absolutely crazy. Inside FB, track me all you want, outside leave me alone. I can't wait until the first fall out comes from unsuspecting FB users who have unwanted page links sent back to their wall and then to all their friends.
Huey April 24, 2010
I deleted my profile after a friend told me about it.
The way I approached the matter is not through the "so what" idea but actually I asked myself, why is it so important to facebook to "leak" information out? I mean, fair enough you can disable it, but why shouldn't I be the one to actually enable this? Why is it so important to this "networking service" to manage to leak information out, even just for a few seconds i click disable?
I never received any message saying, Btw huey we have this new feature which can enable and it does this and that. All i got was a friend saying that, btw guys, if you don't want this then do this and that.
And I'm sorry but just because we are not paying customers we shouldn't be taken for granted.
Scope April 23, 2010
Can I trust companies with personal details or private issues?
What will happen to my interests when they are looking at their last cents and people make and offer for the information?
But I am confused by all these… Is it that if you never used an application, nobody will get any more personal stuffs from you?
lizriz April 23, 2010
I can't decide if I care about this one. Most of my Facebook content is locked down to friends-only or friends of friends for some stuff. So these sites aren't pulling my restaurant commentary for my friends, as I understand it. But I just jumped on Yelp, and I can tell that it's pulling from one of my friends in particular, who must have her status updates set to public, I'm thinking? And I suppose that's of interest, and she was posting in publicly anyway. So it's just aggregating already public info.
The one thing that is creepy is Yelp recognizing me before I've even signed in. That's a little much. I do prefer to have to manually choose to link websites.
Sardar Mohkim Khan April 23, 2010
This would cause Facebook dearly. We have seen quite a few people already opt out who had been advocating a 'more social web'. But this present move is simply very ambitious and offensive if i can put it that way.
rim ouji April 23, 2010
i don t understand what is it exactly!!!!!!
AH April 23, 2010
I don't see what all the damn fuss is about. Instant Personalization only allows sites to parse your PUBLIC PROFILE. Prior to this, if my site had your email address (as many do), and your email is searchable on facebook (as many are), I could've scripted the same functionality. If you're that concerned about privacy, lock down your public profile.
Cris April 23, 2010
Doug April 23, 2010
I, and no doubt plenty of others use a throwaway email for sites like yours, so you wouldn't be able to link it to one's FB account. And there are plenty of sites that do not have my email. So yes, this is a BIG deal.
Guy At HockeyBias dot com April 23, 2010
Thanks for referencing the 'opt out' feature…
Gem April 23, 2010
So, as you mentioned, in teeeeensy tiny grey lettering it says "Please keep in mind that if you opt out, your friends may still share public Facebook information about you to personalize their experience on these partner sites unless you block the application."
How does one go about doing this? I can't find anything on FB about blocking this particular application.
Liz Gannes April 23, 2010
We have another story on that if you want to check it out: http://gigaom.com/2010/04/22/your-moms-guide-to-those-facebook-changes-and-how-to-block-them/
Keith April 23, 2010
Why didn't my previous comment appear?
Sorry, please disregard this thread
You had a nice article here, right up to the end where you blew it:
"But then, lots of people just hate change"
First, that isn't journalism, it's generalizing and opinionated. Second, it's completely inaccurate. I have no problem with the exploration of new technologies or uses there-of. I think it's actually a good idea that FaceBook pursued this and I will be interested to see where it goes and what it is capable of.
The problem is that it is enabled by default and furthermore than users are virtually uninformed that the new service exists at all.
Services like this should be opt-in, especially when its introduction will go completely unnoticed by most users so they have no idea they have even been signed up for the service in the first place.
How did you miss this basic fact in your article's conclusion?
Jim April 23, 2010
That people who use Facebook are very opposed to change isn't hard to see. The change from "Fan" to "Like" alone has caused mass outrage.
And they are telling people about Instant Personalization. It says so in the article right here:
"Facebook's way of addressing that reaction is by placing an icon in every social plugin that leads back to an explanation on Facebook, and layering a big blue bar on top of the three sites — again, Microsoft's Docs.com, Pandora and Yelp — that are getting the special treatment. So when I go to Yelp today I'm greeted right up front with: "Hi Liz. Yelp is using Facebook to personalize your experience. Learn More-No Thanks"
G April 23, 2010
For me, the cost-benefit doesn't stack up. As an averagely experienced web-user I am able to winnow out items of interest without this assistance, and I like to discover new things that could not be predicted from my profile. I would get quickly bored of all my favourite topics and songs were they to appear on every website. The benefits seem doubtful.
The potential cost is that holes appear in the security either through my human error or hacker resourcefulness, and my privacy and identity is compromised.
Can we not just let the monkey happily browse the jungle at his leisure instead of firing bananas at him through a cannon?
Tom April 23, 2010
I've always been interested in privacy, but never really worried because we all are hiding among the masses of users. This thing, however, really bugs me, and it got me to wrap my first layer of foil around my head. I tweaked my FF with Noscript and Cookie whitelist, basically blocking everything that I don't need. FB is still open all the time, but I'm using a different browser for it.
And finally, I do not want a personalized internet. Like someone here put it well, internet loses it's weirdness.
meatwad April 22, 2010
If you don't uncheck "What your friends can share about you" options then your info is still shared through your friends account. Everything but relationship details and religious views are checked by default. I am unchecking mine until I see how it works and, would it be so hard for them to put a big button to opt-in or opt-out on the home page. Seems like it would clear up a lot of confusion and not cause a controversy.
David J. April 22, 2010
Facebook's quickly becoming despicable. I, for one, am becoming a Facebook minimalist and might quit altogether. These guys need to know that we care about our privacy and won't be stomped on.
Jon April 22, 2010
Studies have shown that users want a personalized experience on the web and Yelp and Pandora are natural choices for this. The problem for me is that the internet loses its weirdness and becomes bland when every site starts looking for things that my friends like, I want to be able to find something new. Also, I worry about Fb handling the secruity aspect of this correctly.
I will disable for now but will continue to watch this because if implemented correctly I think it could provide a lot of value.
james April 22, 2010
Sounds creepy… What's stopping someone from turning their website into Hal…
Please Enter Your Credit Card Dave…
(I would opt-out, but I haven't signed up yet.)
Pode April 22, 2010
It's not that we hate change. We hate change where the default is to invade privacy. I don't mind yielding that privacy but someone else just giving it away without asking is theft. Google Buzz is a great example: evil == gone.
Glogster April 22, 2010
Here in canada, it's an opt-in rather than an opt-out…
son April 22, 2010
As of today, there is a new privacy setting called "Instant Personalization" that shares data with non-facebook websites and it is automatically set to "Allow." Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites and uncheck "Allow". Please copy & repost
Sanjay Maharaj April 22, 2010
Where do we draw the line between personalization and privacy? How much of this information is information overload? I think this is a bit scary
Daniel April 22, 2010
Am I the only that is not "creeped out" by instant personalization? If this services makes a website more useful and relevant for myself, I don't mind.
The way Facebook is going you might as well delete your facebook account if you don't like these "innovations".
Well Daniel, the fact that your life is an open book, and you're fine with that is ok by me. On the other hand, I suppose we should go back to the gold standard since you're a fan of Ron Paul? To me that's crazy and irresponsible. And guess what, I'm assuming you're crazy and irresponsible too, since you're his fan, or whatever you call it on FB. Maybe I'm mistaken, but that's what happens when your life is an open book, right?
Gilad April 23, 2010
I tend to agree with Daniel, but I don't like when FB sets applications like "instant personalization" ON as a default.
They should let me know about the service, and let me decide whether I want to join it or not.
Josh April 23, 2010
Oddly doesn't bother me either. I'm keep 99% of my profile set to private, and instant personalization follows those settings when sharing w/ external partners.
Leo April 22, 2010
interesting that in germany they haven't launched yet the new instant personalization.
Maybe because of the big anti-facebook-hype in our country due the open ('attack')letter to zuckerberg from our consumer protection minister Ilse Aigner?
steve April 22, 2010
127.0.0.1 facebook is now in my hosts file
Thanks for bringing the opt out to my attention
Dave April 23, 2010
Hey steve, what do you mean? Does this block FB? Also have you checked out where you Flash Cookies are on you hard drive. Scary. Friggen internet knows everywhere I've been.
TB April 22, 2010
It seems that you can only disable it if your language is set to US English.
Thank god I'm not using FB. This is insanity, and anyone who gives the slightest f*ck about maintaining their privacy should be afraid, VERY afraid of this.
Otto April 22, 2010
After reading this, I opted out too. It's stupid to have sites know who I am just by visiting them, and I want no part of that.
Brandon Richardson April 25, 2010
I agree Otto. But at least you have the ability to opt out.
With http://www.dirtyphonebook.com and others of that ilk you don't even
have the OPTION to opt out and that's scary to me.
I think we need to really think about where these and location based services are going.
Steph May 18, 2010
I think Facebook should have turned that option off by default though. Or could have at least made proper announcements about the feature so that everyone knew what was going on.
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Richard Lochhead, SNP MSP for Moray, has welcomed the announcement of a further £1.75 billion Scottish Government investment in affordable housing across Scotland, which includes £24m investment in Moray.
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Without Fox News, Republicans Would Be In a World of Hurt
Political BloggerBio | Follow
A couple of years ago I wrote about an NBER study showing that Fox News induces people to vote Republican. Not too surprising. But now this study is finally being published, so it's getting renewed attention. Are there any differences between the old and new versions? Well, there's this:
Old paper: Were a viewer initially at the ideology of the median Democratic voter in 2008 to watch an hour of Fox per week, her likelihood of voting Republican would increase by just over 15 percentage points.
New paper: Were a viewer initially at the ideology of the median Democratic voter in 2008 to watch an additional 3 minutes of Fox News per week, her likelihood of voting Republican would increase by 1.03 percentage points.
Hours have turned into minutes. That's about it. The basic results stay the same, as illustrated here in colorful chart form:
In 2008, John McCain won 45.7 percent of the popular vote. This paper is therefore suggesting that if Fox News didn't exist, he would have won only 39.4 percent of the vote. That would have been quite the epic shellacking for a two-person race, right up there with Barry Goldwater and Alf Landon.
This seems a little excessive. For one thing, if the numbers were really that high it implies that Democrats would have occupied the White House continuously since 1992 if only Fox News had never existed. I'm not sure anyone buys that.
Still, even if the effect isn't this big, other studies have confirmed that Fox News has a clear effect on voting while liberal outlets like MSNBC don't. This means we can thank Fox News for both the Iraq War and Donald Trump. We can also thank them for their decades-long effort to weaponize the aggrieved white vote. Thanks, Fox News!
POSTSCRIPT: Why the focus on presidential races? There's a lot more data available for House races, and it's more geographically concentrated too. Somebody should do this kind of research to see how much effect Fox has on House and Senate races.
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Rebecca Hopkins
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, Associates, News
Tom Kopp didn't really want to go to jail. But, after living all over the world, he's learned a couple of important things that he wants to share with others — first, that God is with him wherever he goes, and second, that God cares about everyone.
So, this past fall, he joined a group of missionaries to speak at perhaps the first missions conference in an American prison.
"What can I say to them?" Kopp asked. "How can I possibly relate? So, first I prayed and prayed that the Lord would give me the strength."
The next question was easily answerable. Why would prisoners want this when they can't actually go overseas themselves?
They can pray, Kopp recalls a prisoner saying.
Plus, they wanted to know what God was doing in other places. This church is 100-people strong with some seminary graduates in their midst and their own inmate pastor. The group of missionaries had experiences to share from South Africa, Bolivia, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Ethiopia.
Kopp and his wife, Bonnie, spent 15 years living in South Africa. Then, when he taught missions at Multnomah University for 20 years, they took students on short trips to various countries. Since they joined Paraclete in 2012, they've been to about a dozen more. But the story that came to mind to share with the prisoners in Florida was about an experience they had in Rwanda.
In 2004, the Kopps were invited to teach about forgiveness at a church by a Rwandan pastor who'd lost 37 family members in the 1994 genocide. Some reports say the genocide may have killed as many as 1 million people during a 100-day period.
First, the Kopps' hosts took them to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial so they'd be able to visualize and better understand some of the horror of the event. It was one of those trips, though, when Kopp felt overwhelmed by the task, that could offer no easy answers, and he had to trust the Holy Spirit to work.
The church members were wrestling with the trauma and pain. Some of those who were jailed for the killings became Christians in prison. But when they were released, they began attending church alongside some of the people they'd harmed. And the church members couldn't trust them, Kopp said.
"They said all of their anger and their hatred and bitterness came back because the (trauma) was still in their minds that they hadn't processed," Kopp said. "One pastor stood up at our meeting, and he said, 'How can I possibly forgive? When I'm preaching, I look out there, and I see the very two men who did this to me.' He pulled his collar back, and you could see this very deep gash in the back of his neck."
Then things got worse. As Kopp and his team were teaching about forgiveness, many there even became angry and said they hated the speakers. The crowd got louder. The Rwandan pastor told the team to spread out and pray. That's when things changed.
"One pastor fell to his knees and began sobbing, crying out to God for forgiveness," Kopp said. "All this pent-up emotion was coming out of him. Pretty soon, the whole room was sobbing and wailing and crying out to God for forgiveness."
A woman from one tribe turned toward a woman from another tribe on the opposite side of the room, Kopp said. They ran toward each other and, without realizing it, they caught Bonnie up between them in a huge hug.
"It's like they didn't even see her," Kopp said. "They lifted her off the ground. And they're both wailing on either side of her, tears making her wet."
These were the stories Tom Kopp told the prisoners, not just so that they could pray for Rwanda, but so that they could apply forgiveness to their own journeys.
"A lot of them have a lot of regrets and probably a lot of sorrow," Kopp said. "The prisoners had specifically mentioned they really appreciated the story about forgiveness because those are issues that they are all dealing with. There's so much anger and frustration and misunderstanding in their families."
And in turn, the prisoners were able to encourage the missionaries.
"Sometimes we wonder if our faith would stay strong if we were in very adverse circumstances," Kopp said. "But you realize the Holy Spirit does do amazing work, empowering work. He does change lives. And I think I was probably more encouraged than the prisoners."


The tradition of Navreh & Navratri in Kashmir
Navreh is the 1st day of the new year (Hindu calendar-Lunar) which starts from 'Nav-varsh Pratipada', that is Chaitra Shukla-Pratipada. Kashmir has a very distinct tradition of Navreh, and it is celebrated with the pious sight (darshan) of "Thaal" early in the morning.
by Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo
in Culture
These are the days of "Navratris". It would be prudent to debate the significance of the Navratris in a historical and cultural context. Indian subcontinent comprising the areas from Kandhar and Kabul to Dacca and Rangoon and from Tibet to Sri Lanka is a hub of the greatest and richest civilisation in the world. It is invariably a unique chunk of land that has its own existence, history and geography. While its history dates back to around ten thousand years, there are more than five thousand years of documented and written history of this civilisation.
Bharat has been the centre of the civilisational and cultural flow of the whole subcontinent from the times immemorial. Besides the documented history, the tradition and customs form a significant part of the cultural and civilisational aspects of the history of the land. In this context, the people's usage of the almanac (calendar) plays an important and significant role.
India has one of the oldest calendars (almanac) in the world. It is called the Yugabd Samvat and was started immediately after the Mahabharata war. It commensurates the change of era (Yug-Parivartan, i.e. the start of Kaliyug). On 2nd April, Yugabd Samvat-5124 began. However, in Kashmir valley, the scholars and rishis of the land found an indigenous almanac 26 years post the Yugabd Samvat. This almanac is known as the Saptrishi Samvat, and it is 26 years younger than the Yugabd Samvat. On the same day, the 2nd April 2022, the Saptrishi Samvat-5098 also began. These two Samvats (Yugabd Samvat and Saptrishi Samvat) are the oldest contemporary almanacs globally. This narration of facts also recognises the importance of Kashmir as the centre of knowledge, culture, civilisation, astronomy and tradition.
Besides the two oldest almanacs that have been in vogue for the last five thousand years, two other functional almanacs are also in use. They are the Vikrami Samvat and the Shalivahan-Shaka Samvat. The first day of the year of all these almanacs is called the first Navratri. In Kashmir, the first Navratri is called Navreh (the new flame). Kashmir has a very distinct tradition of Navreh, and it is celebrated with the pious sight (darshan) of "Thaal" early in the morning.
The Hindus of Kashmir (Kashmiri Pandits) have a unique and wonderful tradition of thousands of years of "Thaal-Barun" that they observe on the last day of the year (both the Solar and the Lunar year). The next morning is the first day of the new year (both solar and lunar). The first thing they do is have the 'Darshan' of the 'THAAL'. It is considered auspicious and is also deeply connected with our day-to-day life requirements and obligations.
The preparation for this "Thaal" is called "Thaalbarun", which is done one day prior to Navreh in the late evening so that it is ready for 'darshan' on the next morning. All important things used in daily life are symbolically decorated on a 'thali' filled with rice. In fact, this "Thaalbarun" is done on two occasions, so it is important to understand the correlation of Thaalbarun on these two occasions, i.e., "Navreh" & "Sonth".
Sonth is the first day of the new year (Hindu calender-Solar), starting from the 1st of Chaitra month. It used to be the 1st day of the new year officially and administratively as well up to the Maharaja's regime in the Jammu and Kashmir state and even after that up to 1957. The first day of the solar calendar month is also known as Sankrant (Sankranti). So, 14th March 2022 was the "Sonth" this year.
Navreh is the 1st day of the new year (Hindu calendar-Lunar) which starts from 'Nav-varsh Pratipada', that is Chaitra Shukla-Pratipada. Kashmiri Pandits, in particular, observe this day also as 1st Vasant Navratri. We already know that this year Navreh (Nav-varsh Pratipada) fell on 2nd April 2022. Therefore, the Navratris also began the same day. During the Navratris (nine-day festival of the Goddess of supreme energy) starting from Navreh, people observe complete vegetarian life followed by fasts during the Navratris and feasts in the end.
The Indian subcontinent has fifty-two Shakti-sthal (centres of supreme divine energy), and all are dedicated to the Goddess Shakti. They are like Kamakhya in Assam, Hinglaj Mata in Baluchistan, Jwala Devi in Himachal, Dacceyshwari in Dacca, etc. These centres of the Goddess Shakti in various manifestations are the places where various physical parts of the Goddess Sati fell. There is one such divine centre in Jammu and Kashmir as well. It is called Chichi-Mata and is situated on a small hillock in district Samba.
However, Kashmir valley had its own Shakti-sthals (seats of divine energy), which are perceived as sacred, pious, full of divinity and great spiritual satisfaction. All these temples and shrines have a great devotional aura attached to them. The main Shakti-sthals of Kashmir valley comprise the following:
Hari Parbat, Srinagar
Kheerbhawani, Tullamulla
Jwala Devi, Khrew
Bala Tripursundari, Balahama
Shailputri, Baramulla
Jeshtha Devi, Zabarwan
Kheerbhawani, Taekkar
Kulvageyshwari, Kulgam
Bhadrakali, Kupwara
Bargshakha, Mattan
Kheerbhawani, Devsar, Khanabaran
Bhuvneshwari, Chandpura, Srinagar
Mahakali, Gainkhan, Srinagar
Umanagri, Brariangan, Anantnag
Durga, Durganag, Srinagar
Kheerbhawani, Manzgam
Raginya Bhagwati, Logripura
Shiva Bhagwati, Akingam
Navratris are dedicated to the nine manifestations of Maha-Durga. The Nine manifestations of the Goddess worshipped on each nine-day of Navaratri are nine incarnations of Goddess Shakti. The nine goddesses worshipped are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skanda Mata, Katyayani, Kala Ratri (Kaalratri), Maha Gouri and Siddhidayini (Sidhadatri). Each of these goddesses has her own seat in the Kashmir valley. The first manifestation, Shailputri, is seated on the banks of river Vitasta (Jehlum) in Baramulla and is considered a very high seat of divine energy. For a number of reasons, this shrine is in a dilapidated condition nowadays. Thanks to the management of the shrine and the government support, renovation work has started and is also being monitored very well.
Mata Raginya (Kheer Bhawani) has a very special place among the Kashmiri Pandit community, and so are her shrines and temples all over the Kashmir valley, Tullamulla being the main seat of the Goddess. The Sharika Mandir on the Hari Parbat also has a great significance among the Shakti-sthals of Kashmir valley. All families of Kashmiri Pandits are especially attached and dedicated to one of the following Isht-Devis among the Shakti-sthals of Kashmir valley. These are Sharika Mata-Hari Parbat, Jwala Mata-Khrew, Raginya Mata-Tullamulla and Bala Devi Mata of Balahama. It needs to be mentioned here that Bala Devi Mata, Balahama, has a very special significance among the Kshatriya-Rajputs of Jammu and Kashmir since it has also been the Isht-Devi of their clan for the last thousands of years. Unfortunately, most of them lost their connection with the shrine after 1947.
The 'Vasant-Navratris' that are being observed currently conclude on the ninth Navratri, which is also the Ram-Navmi. This year it falls on 10th April. People conclude their nine-day fast, spiritual penance, worship of the Goddess and other religio-cultural usages and customs with the "Nav-Durga pujan", which is also called the "Kanya-pujan". On this occasion, nine small virgin girls (as the nine incarnations of the Goddess) are specially worshipped and offered garlands, flowers, towels, Channey-Halwa-Puri and some coins of money, fruits and items of cosmetics. Thereafter, the festivities and feasts are organised to celebrate the conclusion of the whole "Navratri" festival of nine days that stands inaugurated on Navreh-the first Navratri.
(The author is a senior BJP and KP leader and Incharge, Deptt of Political Feedback, BJP-J&K and can be reached at [email protected])
Topics: NavrehKashmirKashmir HindusHindu festivalsNavratriHindusKashmir Pandits
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OpenStack Days Silicon Valley 2016 (The Unlocked Infrastructure Conference) Day 2
Jodi Smith, Ilya Stechkin, Nick Chase, Catherine Kim- August 11, 2016 - unlocked infrastructure
The second day of OpenStack Days Silicon Valley continued with conversations about containers and the processes of managing OpenStack. If you missed the event and the live stream, no worries; here are the highlights.
Christian Carrasco – When OpenStack Fails. (Hint: It's not the Technology)
Christian, a cloud advisor at Tapjoy, started off the day by sharing what Tapjoy has learned from working with OpenStack. Tapjoy is an SaaS player that from early on set its sights on OpenStack. The company has grown to be the leading player in the mobile app monetization space, with more than two million daily engagements, 270,000 active apps, and 500 million users.
However, interestingly, most of the lessons Christian has learned while working at Tapjoy have less to do with the technology or maturity underpinning OpenStack or the many components necessary to its deployment. Instead, they revolve around the people, process, and organizational choices that are necessary for your OpenStack cloud to succeed.
Christian urged the audience to stop focusing on building a better buggy, and to instead focus on making a better cloud—the next generation of cloud. Christian argued that before we can hyper-converge the cloud, we need interoperability standards, arguing that there were many industries that couldn't have existed without standards, such as the internet, the automobile industry, and healthcare.
Luke Kanies – DevOps: Myths vs. Realities
Next up was Luke Kanies, the founder and CEO of Puppet. Luke spoke to the audience about the myths that surround DevOps in the enterprise, and argued that we need to leave behind the old way of delivering software to adopt the new world of DevOps practices.
Luke made it clear just why: top performing DevOps teams deploy 200 times more often and recover from failure 24 times faster, he said.
Luke argued that the fears companies have about adopting DevOps practices are due to two beliefs. First, that certain practices just won't work for an organization, due to factors such as legacy environments, traditional enterprises, or hierarchical organizations. The second belief, he said, is that DevOps practices are simply unworkable when enterprises are subject to a host of external regulatory and compliance requirements.
Luke said that most organizations (97-98 percent) that had fears about introducing DevOps practices had legacy issues, but he argued that ignoring those legacy issues undermined their work.
Luke ended his talk by discussing how to overcome misconceptions by dispelling the most common myths. He said that adopting DevOps practices didn't have to be all or nothing, they could be simpler than it appeared, and that often the largest returns come from unexpected areas. Ultimately, he argued, you have a choice—do you want to start using DevOps practices, or would you prefer for your competitors to beat you to it?
James Staten – Hybrid Cloud is About the Apps, Not the Infrastructure
James Staten, Microsoft's Chief Strategist for the Cloud and Enterprise division, was next up on stage to talk about building and deploying true enterprise cloud apps.
James said the key to this is understanding how to blend your environments, as leading enterprise examples of cloud computing are not exclusively private or exclusively public cloud deployments, but are instead a mixture of both plus multiple public clouds. He said that even Microsoft runs on a hybrid cloud.
James argued that the hybrid cloud is here to stay, and not just because of the legacy code that can't move anywhere (let alone to the cloud). He pointed to statistics that showed 74 percent of enterprises believe a hybrid cloud will enable business growth, and 82 percent have a hybrid cloud strategy (up from 74 percent a year ago).
He said that organizations used to be worried about application integration, security, and data sovereignty when considering moving apps to a public cloud. However, now organizations say they don't use public clouds because of needing compute on premises, the Internet of Things, optimization of economics, and wanting to leverage the right resources in the right places.
James ended his session by outlining new hybrid models with many elements, including local resources, public clouds, and SAAS apps and microservices. He said that hybrid isn't just about location, but the programming languages, devices, and operating systems. He said that the apps we are building need to have compute capability everywhere, because a hybrid cloud is about the apps you are designing.
Alex Williams, Frederic Lardinois, Craig Matsumoto, Mitch Wagner – Open Source and the News Media
The first panel discussion of the day was about Open Source and the News Media, with four technology journalists: Alex Williams (founder of The New Stack), Frederic Lardinois (writer for TechCrunch), Craig Matsumoto (Managing Editor at SDxCentral, and Mitch Wagner (Editor, Enterprise Cloud, for Light Reading).
Key takeaway: People are often confused by messages coming from open source projects and companies that build products and services using them, and acronyms, clever names, and not-for-profit foundations had further contributed to this confusion. Alex said that some people would say that cloud service providers are the greatest threat to open source.
In addition, the panelists discussed the difficulties they had with tracking and learning all of the players and their interests in the Open Source movement.
Kim Bannerman (Director, Advocacy & Community – Office of the CTO, Blue Box), Kenneth Hui (Senior Technical Marketing Manager, Rackspace), Patrick Reilly (Founder and Former CEO of Kismatic) — All Open Source Problems Solved in This Session
Next, Kim Bannerman, Kenneth Hui, and Patrick Reilly, a group of open source veterans, discussed critiques that are common for open source projects and looked at how to address them.
Patrick pointed out that OpenStack really is a community, and to have OpenStack work better you really need to participate. He argued that if you have a complaint, you should follow up and work to fix those issues.
Interestingly, the panel discussed the idea that often criticisms about open source projects, such as their governance, roadmap, and focus, are often just the downsides of advantages open source provides: transparency, inclusiveness, and agility.
Jonathan Donaldson (VP & GM, Software Defined Infrastructure at Intel) — The Future of OpenStack Clouds
Following the two panel discussions, Jonathan Donaldson of Intel and Craig McLuckie from Google talked to us about their collaboration and the future of OpenStack clouds.
Craig said that Google wants to be an enterprise software company, using OpenStack, because the market is too big to ignore. However, Craig said that Google is pretty behind.
During the talk, Jonathan discussed Intel's Cloud for All initiative. It began last year and Intel began heavily investing in the OpenStack platform in an effort to improve OpenStack for the enterprise and to speed up its rate of adoption around the world. He said that Intel cares so much about a cloud for all because fostering innovation leads to use cases and creates value.
This has led to Intel and the broader community making OpenStack production-ready for enterprise workloads. He said that this has led to new features and significantly lower barriers for businesses that want to deploy private and hybrid clouds.
Randy Bias (VP of Technology, EMC), Sean Roberts (Director Technical Program Management, Walmart Labs), Mike Yang (GM of Quanta Cloud Technology) – The State of OpenStack on Commodity Hardware
The first discussion of the final session was about OpenStack and commodity hardware. In the early days of OpenStack, open cloud software with "open" or commodity hardware was seen as a perfect match.
One question the panel discussed was whether BOMs that mix commodity and proprietary components were the norm, or whether pre-integrated and fully commodity BOMs with components from one manufacturer were more popular.
Randy pointed out that the bottom line is that open or commodity hardware is not free, as it still takes skill to deploy. He argued that while it eventually will be easy to deploy open hardware, it's not there yet.
Adrian Cockcroft (Battery Ventures Technology Fellow), Boris Renski (Mirantis Co-Founder and CMO) – Infrastructure Software is Dead… Or is it?
Next up Boris Renski from Mirantis and Adrian Cockcroft, a Battery Ventures Technology Fellow, conversed about Boris' premise that Infrastructure software is dead.
As the two discussed the cloud revolution, Boris argued that the cloud revolution isn't just about software, but also the delivery model, and that the delivery model for enterprise on-premises software has changed radically. Adrian agreed, adding that traditional hardware and software procurement cycles have collapsed with the cloud.
The two finished their talk by discussing the future of OpenStack. They said its future will not be in making the most "enterprise ready" software, but in building models for delivering customer outcomes that move the needle. Adrian said that he believed that unless you had very specialized or very large scale workloads, there is no competitive advantage to having your own data center.
Michael Miller (President of Strategy, Alliances and Marketing, SUSE) – OpenStack Past, Present and Future
To wrap-up the conference, Michael Miller from SUSE discussed OpenStack's journey from inception to the present and shared some thoughts on what to expect next, discussing just how quickly enterprise IT is now adopting OpenStack, despite initial apprehensions.
From hallway conversations, to expert commentary, to the swarms of people who were visiting sponsor booths, the OpenStack Days Silicon Valley conference was a great success in getting people talking not about whether OpenStack was a success—that part's a given—but why. Users were talking about where OpenStack fits in, how it's still important for enterprise workloads, and how to most efficiently leverage new technologies such as containers.
So here's our question to you: what do you think we'll be talking about next year?


WV AG Urges Court to Advance Lawsuit Against Wheeling-Charleston Diocese
September 5th, 2019 by WCBC Radio
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey urged a circuit court to allow the state to proceed with allegations that the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese violated state law through its knowing employment of pedophiles and its failure to conduct adequate background checks for those working at its schools and camps.
The Attorney General's response, served late afternoon Wednesday, argues the Diocese's motion to dismiss mischaracterized the state's intent and distorted state law.
"The Diocese's motion to dismiss is yet another attempt to duck our calls for transparency," Attorney General Morrisey said. "Our response proves the strength of our case and why it should be decided in court. The decades-long pattern of cover-up and abuse must end and public trust must be restored."
Wednesday's filing argues the lawsuit does not seek to dictate how the Diocese can hire, teach and operate, rather it seeks to enforce state law that requires honesty in advertising when the Diocese markets its fee-based schools and camps.
These facts include allegations that the Diocese hid its knowing employment of abusive priests and its failure to conduct the comprehensive background checks it promised.
The Attorney General contends attempts to dismiss the state's lawsuit rely upon a flawed reading of the state's Consumer Credit and Protection Act. The state argues a consumer transaction occurs every time a parent or other person pays a fee for the Diocese's education and recreation services, and that enforcing the law's requirement for honest communications does not intrude into any constitutionally protected area.
The state's response also takes issue with factual disputes set forth by the Diocese. While it contends such differences are irrelevant at this stage in the case, it argues many allegations contained in the lawsuit were based upon documents the Diocese provided to the state, describing conduct purposely hidden from public view for 44 years after the state Consumer Credit and Protection Act became law.
The Diocese did not issue its list of credibly accused priests until after issuance of the Attorney General's first investigative subpoena in fall 2018. The lawsuit that followed has been instrumental in educating the public on the issue, and the state's response argues there is much more to reveal that can only be accomplished by advancing the state's case.
The civil complaint alleges the Diocese's conduct lacked transparency and stood in sharp contrast to its advertised mission of providing a safe learning environment.
The Attorney General, who initiated the investigation in the fall of 2018, brought the action against the Diocese and former Bishop Michael J. Bransfield for violations of the state's consumer protection laws, in addition to seeking a permanent court order blocking the Diocese from the continuation of any such conduct.
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The Alberta Pension Plan is no slam dunk: memo
While the case for creating an Alberta Pension Plan looks straightforward on the surface, it's far from a slam dunk, according to a memo published by the C.D. Howe Institute.
In the memo responding to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's plan to consult on whether the province should withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan and start its own pension system, Ottawa-based pension expert Bob Baldwin weighed the arguments.
Since Alberta is a relatively young population, he wrote, many argue the province could create an APP that would be similar to the CPP in its benefit provisions and financing with a lower contribution rate. This same group says the contribution rate for base benefits — those in place before the creation of the CPP's enhanced benefits currently being phased in — in an APP could be about two percentage points or more below the CPP rate of 9.9 per cent.
Read: Alberta launches panel to examine involvement in CPP, national pharmacare
"So convinced are some prominent Albertans of this line of argument that the advantage of a separate APP has been called a slam dunk," wrote Baldwin. "If Alberta could be sure of staying forever young, this argument would have merit. As always, however, there is uncertainty about the future and, in Alberta's case, there is real uncertainty about its ability to remain forever young."
While Alberta's demographic factors are similar to Canada as a whole, noted the memo, the province has experienced a very large inflow of young interprovincial migrants moving for jobs in the strong oil and gas industry. However, referring to challenges for the future, it said any stagnation or even contraction of that industry will bring a significant decline in inbound migration, undermining "Alberta's relatively youthful status and its lower-cost APP benefits."
In the memo, Baldwin put forward Quebec as an example of this type of demographic gamble. When it created a separate Quebec Pension Plan, the province was relatively youthful, he wrote, though that's no longer the case and the QPP contribution rate for base benefits is higher than the CPP rate.
Read: Alberta will study already 'compelling case' for its exit from CPP: Kenney
The memo also said it's worth noting some analyses that promote the advantage of an APP by focusing exclusively on the base benefits and ignoring the new enhanced CPP benefits. "Alberta's demographic advantage is basically irrelevant to the additional benefits because they are to be fully funded with invested contributions and returns."
The cost advantages of the enhanced benefits will be determined by the rates of return garnered by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Alberta Investment Management Corp. While Baldwin noted the AIMCo has a good track record as an investment manager, he said it will be relatively small compared to the CPPIB, even after an equitable asset transfer.
"So it isn't clear AIMCO would have any advantage over the CPPIB in generating the returns necessary to sustain the additional benefits."
The memo also referred to some analyses that assume administrative costs for the APP will be at the same level as for the CPP, which is very unlikely given the economies of scale that exist in pension administration, wrote Baldwin. He noted startup costs will be substantial and Alberta will have to create a capacity to collect contributions, calculate and pay benefits, maintain earnings records and adjudicate disputes.
"All things considered, the creation of a separate APP looks less like a slam dunk than a three-point shot from mid court."
Read: Can CPP have a provincial bias?


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Determination of Exception for Certain HHS-Conducted or -Supported Cooperative Research Activities Subject to the 2018 Requirements
Regulatory history
In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, HHS and other Federal departments and agencies revised the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the "Common Rule"), codified with respect to HHS at subpart A of 45 CFR part 46. The Common Rule is followed by 19 other Federal departments and agencies, either as Common Rule signatories, or as required by Executive Order or statute. The revised Common Rule, including amendments made by a January 22, 2018 interim final rule (83 FR 2885) and June 19, 2018 final rule (83 FR 28497) (also referred to as the "2018 Requirements"), became effective on July 19, 2018.
The revised Common Rule requires that U.S. institutions engaged in cooperative research must rely on a single institutional review board (IRB) to review and approve the portion of the research conducted at domestic sites. See 45 CFR 46.114(b). The compliance date for the single IRB requirement is January 20, 2020.
The revised Common Rule applies to all research initially approved by an IRB on or after January 21, 2019. See 45 CFR 46.101(l)(5). As of January 20, 2020, the compliance date for the single IRB requirement, all cooperative research subject to the revised Common Rule will be required to use a single IRB, whether the research was initially approved by a single IRB or multiple IRBs.
Regulatory allowance of exceptions to single IRB review requirement
The revised Common Rule provides that the agency conducting or supporting cooperative research may except the research from the single IRB mandate. To do so, the agency must both determine and document that using a single IRB is not appropriate in the particular context. See 45 CFR 46.114(b)(2).
Research contexts qualifying for exception
With respect to HHS- conducted or supported research, OHRP has determined that the following research is excepted from the single IRB mandate: (1) cooperative research conducted or supported by HHS agencies other than the National Institutes of Health (NIH), if an IRB approved the research before January 20, 2020, or (2) cooperative research conducted or supported by NIH if either (a) the NIH single IRB policy [1] does not apply, and the research was initially approved by an IRB before January 20, 2020, or (b) NIH excepted the research from its single IRB policy before January 20, 2020.
Cooperative research approved before January 20, 2020
In May 2019, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), the Association of American Universities (AAU), and the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLGU) wrote to the director of OHRP expressing concern regarding the application of the single IRB requirement to cooperative research subject to the revised Common Rule when the research was approved before January 20, 2020 (available at https://www.aamc.org/download/497410/data/finaljointassociationlettertoohrponsingleirb.pdf ). The organizations asserted that much of the research community did not fully understand the way this requirement would operate, and informed OHRP that shifting a multisite study in midstream to a single IRB review system would be difficult and expensive. On this basis, the organizations requested that OHRP issue an exception to the single IRB requirement for cooperative research conducted under the revised Common Rule and initiated before January 20, 2020.
OHRP has considered this request. One of the objectives of the revised Common Rule's single IRB requirement is to reduce administrative costs of cooperative research. For cooperative research that already has been initially approved by multiple IRBs, the cost savings associated with reduced IRB reviews would not be achieved by making the single IRB requirement applicable to such cooperative research. Members of the regulated community report that transitioning cooperative research from multiple IRBs to a single IRB would, conversely, be costly for most institutions. Further, excepting such research from the single IRB mandate would not adversely affect the rights and welfare of the research subjects. For these reasons, OHRP has decided to except cooperative research approved before January 20, 2020, from the single IRB mandate. This general exception does not apply to NIH research; an NIH-specific exception is discussed infra.
OHRP has determined that a relatively small number of HHS protocols (other than NIH research) will be eligible for exception. OHRP surveyed the HHS agency, other than NIH, that OHRP expects conducts or supports the majority of such human subjects research. Based on the information provided by that agency, OHRP understands that this agency is supporting five ongoing cooperative research studies that are subject to the revised Common Rule. Approximately three to five additional cooperative research studies supported by this agency that would be subject to the revised Common Rule are expected to be initiated before January 20, 2020.
Cooperative research conducted or supported by NIH
The NIH policy on the use of a single IRB for multi-site research has been in effect since January 25, 2018. It requires all U.S. sites participating in NIH-funded multi-site (i.e., two or more sites) studies involving non-exempt human subjects research where the sites are following the same protocol to use a single IRB for the review. Exceptions to this policy are made where review by the proposed IRB is prohibited by a federal, tribal, or state law, regulation, or policy, or if there is a compelling justification for the exception. NIH determines whether to grant an exception after an assessment of the need. NIH's single IRB policy is largely coextensive with the Common Rule single IRB requirement, although NIH designed its policy to exclude certain categories of cooperative research (e.g., training protocols for activities that do not involve human subjects research at initiation). NIH also has issued case-specific exceptions to its single IRB policy for particular research studies. However, on January 20, 2020, the revised Common Rule single IRB requirement will take effect for certain studies, regardless of whether they are subject to NIH's policy, which would require this NIH-conducted or supported research to use a single IRB review structure.
As stated above, if more than one IRB initially reviewed and approved cooperative research, imposition of the single IRB mandate in mid-stream could result in increased costs and burdens to regulated entities, rather than cost savings. Excepting such NIH-conducted or supported research from mandated single IRB review will not adversely affect the rights and welfare of the research subjects. Further, NIH has given thoughtful consideration to these research contexts, and already determined that single IRB review should not be required. NIH deliberately structured its single IRB policy such that certain research would fall outside the scope of coverage. Likewise, in issuing case-by-case exceptions to its single IRB policy, NIH concluded that single IRB review is not appropriate for those particular research contexts. Thus, OHRP has decided to except NIH cooperative research from the Common Rule single IRB mandate if either (a) the NIH single IRB policy does not apply, and the research was initially approved by an IRB before January 20, 2020, or (b) NIH excepted the research from its single IRB policy before January 20, 2020. For more information on the NIH single IRB policy, see: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-16-094.html .
This exception is an exercise of OHRP's enforcement discretion, as specifically permitted by 45 CFR 46.114(b)(2), that affects relatively few research protocols for a limited time. As required by 45 CFR 46.114(b)(2), OHRP determines and documents that using a single IRB is not appropriate for the described categories of research, and, for the reasons stated above, OHRP excepts this research from the single IRB mandate. The full text of the exception is listed below, and may also be found in the "Single IRB Requirement" tab in the "Regulations, Policy, & Posting" section of the OHRP website (see https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/index.html ).
II. Determination of Exception: Required Use of Single Institutional Review Board for Cooperative Research
The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) has determined that for HHS cooperative research subject to the 2018 Requirements, and for purposes of 45 CFR 46.114(b)(2)(ii), an institution may continue to use multiple IRBs, in lieu of a single IRB, for the following research:
(1) Cooperative research conducted or supported by HHS agencies other than the National Institutes of Health (NIH), if an IRB initially approved the research before January 20, 2020.
(2) Cooperative research conducted or supported by NIH if either:
a. the NIH single IRB policy does not apply, and the research was initially approved by an IRB before January 20, 2020, or
b. NIH excepted the research from its single IRB policy before January 20, 2020.
Note that this determination is only made for purposes of section 46.114(b)(2)(ii) - namely, for determining whether certain cooperative research may be excepted from the single IRB mandate. This determination does not prevent, nor should it be viewed as discouraging, the voluntary use of a single IRB in cooperative research subject to the 2018 Requirements that would fall within the above two categories. Further, note that category (2)(b), above, applies for the duration of NIH's exception from its policy for the particular research study; categories (1) and (2)(a) apply for the duration of the research.
[1] See "Guidance on Exceptions to the NIH Single IRB Policy" released October 11, 2017. Available at: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18-003.html
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Content last reviewed on August 1, 2019
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Squeezing in: is there room for GM's all-new '97 minivan?
Finally. General Motors Corp. is squeezing into the minivan mainstream. But what a long, strange seven-year trip it has been.How badly does GM need a new front-wheel-drive minivan? Consider this: The U.S. industry sells about 1.2 million minivans a year, but the APVs -- Chevrolet Lumina, Pontiac Transsport and Oldsmobile Silhouette -- only once, in 1990, topped the 100,000 sales mark.Chrysler's still
Gardner, Greg | Apr 01, 1996
Finally. General Motors Corp. is squeezing into the minivan mainstream. But what a long, strange seven-year trip it has been.
How badly does GM need a new front-wheel-drive minivan? Consider this: The U.S. industry sells about 1.2 million minivans a year, but the APVs -- Chevrolet Lumina, Pontiac Transsport and Oldsmobile Silhouette -- only once, in 1990, topped the 100,000 sales mark.
Chrysler's still on top of the minivan heap. Ford is figuring out how to put a fourth door on its Windstar. And Toyota is coming next year with a U..S.-built Camry-based front-drive van. Honda follows Toyota's suit in 1998.
From a styling standpoint, GM's first foray into front-drive vans was about as far ahead of its time as democracy in China. And their marketing fate was only slightly less tragic than the Tiananmen Square massacre.
The radically sloping windshield has prompted many jokes. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, National Public Radio's zany "Tappet Brothers" car repair comedians, once cracked that if you tossed a pair of sunglasses on top of the dash they would slide into a different zip code.
Unfortunately, those cosmetic blemishes obscure a more-than-adequate powertrain that holds its own against the first two generations of Chrysler'skid-haulers.
"People come in and say, `Frankly, you just don't have what we need,'or they say, 'It drives fine, but how am I going to clean the windshield ?"' says Lou Lariche, a Chevrolet-Geo dealer in Plymouth, MI. "I' m just sick and tired of seeing all these Chrysler vans going around when we're missing one of the fastest-growing segments of the market."
Strategically, the U-van, which debuted in Geneva in March and in New York this month, is a linchpin in Chairman John R Smith Jr.'s plan to leverage GM's global engineering and supply base. Think of it as a hedge on Cadillac's Catera bet. If high German labor rates make it risky to build a limited-volume luxury car in Europe, then a leaner U.S. work force and lower-cost suppliers from all over the world make a global minivan almost a sure thing.
So bury the jokes about Dustbusters and anteaters.
At first glance the all-new 1997 Chevrolet Venture, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Pontiac Trans Sport an Opel Sintra look much like every other minivan on the road.
"We made our styling statement the firs time out and we saw what that accomplished," says Fred J. Schaafsma, GM' vehicle line executive for minivans. " learned a lot from Chrysler customers They are very loyal. We talked to 4,00 people here and in Europe."
Take a closer look.
* This vehicle is 3 in. (7.62 cm.) narrower than Chrysler's vans so they can negotiate those narrow European streets.
* Oh, yes, and they will have sliding doors on both sides, a feature Ford Motor Co. won't add to the Windstar until the 1999 model year. The feature is standard on the Opel Sintra, and an option on the North American models. The convenient automatic sliding door option introduced on the old APVs will carry over.
* Like Chrysler Corp., GM will offer short- and long- wheelbase versions.
The big challenge will be the launch. GM must avoid another Lordstown (OH) debacle where in 1994 it took more than six months to produce the Cavalier/ Sunfire to adequately stock showrooms.
UAW Local 10 at Doraville, GA, whose members will build the new minivan, has seen its ranks dwindle for more than five years while building the Cutlass Supreme. The new minivan means a second shift begins work later this year and the plant will go from 900 workers to as many as 3,300 by early 1998 when a new stamping plant opens next to the assembly plant.
Donald E. Hackworth, head of GM's Midsize and Luxury Car Group, estimates that by 1998 and beyond some 40% of the vans, or as many as 100,000 a year, will be exported to markets outside the U.S., including Canada, South America and the Middle East, as well as Europe.
The crucial questions are: Has GM taken too long to get. its minivan act together? And how much growth is still left in the segment? The short answers are "no" and "probably not that much."
For the '97 model year they won't be a threat to anyone because the ramp-up will be very slow," says AutoPacific Group Inc. analyst Christopher Cedergren. "Eventually Chrysler will feel the pressure, but Ford really needs to be concerned because of the fourth door. We think they're going to price the Chevrolet Venture very aggressively perhaps even with or below Plymouth Voyager. They won't be left out of the fight this time "


10 Thrilling Short Story E-books on Amazon
by Womansliving Staff
Frightful Story E-books by Stephen Barnard
The 10 Lists of Amazon's Story E-books
Photo from Amazon
This kind of story E-books Frightful is a collection of short stories about Christmas horrors. This kind of story E-books is composed of five independent horror stories, each is equally thrilling and different. Three stories were newly written and the other two were a content of an earlier book. It comes for free for those who have kindle unlimited membership, and if you do not have kindle membership you can purchase it under $3.
The Trash Collector – Free
The Trash Collector is a short fiction story by Monica Shaughnessy. It is a 17 pages "quirky story", as the author says, published by Jumping Jackalope Press. Its pages are filled with heart-warming stories of tolerance, grief, and the persistence of memory. This kind of story E-books can be owned for free.
The Gun: The End Time Saga Origin Short Story
The Gun is a short story prequel to The End Time series. This kind of story E-books is a side story of The End Time series that talks about the origins of the series. A mystery-thriller and award-winning series filled with duty, treachery, honor, betrayal, and grim hope. It's available on kindle unlimited and audiobooks for free. It comes for free for those who have kindle unlimited membership, and if you do not have kindle membership you can purchase it under $3.
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies
A part of the Pottermore Presents by J.K. Rowling, Short Stories From Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies is a kind of story E-books published along with two other books of the same theme. The 68 pages book is filled with intricate information about the fictional characters, Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Sybill Trelawney, and Silvanus Kettleburn. They are teachers and staff members of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter book series. The book gained popularity like its predecessors and ranked first as a best-seller e-book on Amazon.
Choose: After Dinner Conversation Short Story Series
The book Choose is part of the After Dinner Conversations story E-books series that highlights the story about the main character's hypothetical ethical dilemmas and quickly discovers the consequences of her answers are all too real. It is a science fiction story brought to life.
Selling To The Goyim: After Dinner Conversation
Selling To The Goyim is another short story of the After Dinner Conversation series written by J. Weintraub. The story is about Hal, whose father was an owner of a liquor store although born on a family that runs a different business, Hal took a path on advertising. Later on, he realizes that even with a different path, he still ended up like his father who was betrayed by their own chosen path. The story is close to a 'Slice of Life' genre that reveals a businessman and an advertiser's point of view.
He Goes Deep
He Goes Deep is a third sequel of the series Unstoppable Alpha written by Jenna Rose. It is a romance fiction story E-books that revolves around a popular football player who fell for a girl he met at a frat party. Their story progress as they build trust towards each other. It comes for free for those who have kindle unlimited membership, and if you do not have kindle membership you can purchase it under $3.
Ghost Ship: A Sigma Force Short Story
The Ghost Ship book is part of the Sigma Force Series authored by James Rollins, published by William Morrow Impulse back in 2017. The 57 pages book is not only filled with action and adventures, but also with Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense. The story revolves around Commander Gray Pierce, whose vacation was cut short after discovering a burnt body sprawled at the beach. The story develops on the discovery of a much bigger mystery that was kept hidden thousands of years ago. Book critics have pointed out that this book along with its predecessors is "adventurous and enormously engrossing…". It comes for free for those who have kindle unlimited membership, and if you do not have kindle membership you can purchase it under $3.
Memorial Day 2020 is an anthology of twenty-two action thrillers books about twenty-two veterans who took their own lives written by twenty authors. This project was started to help support veterans organizations. All in all, the anthology consists of 5541 pages published by Front Line Publishing Inc. Last May 17 of the current year.
After Happily Ever After
After Happily Ever After is another anthology written by seven different authors who have come up with stories that revolve around what happens after the typical Happily Ever After. Stories about what happens the day after, the month after, and the year after 'Happily Ever After'. The book was categorized as a top LGBT romance story on Amazon.
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Rants 7/10/2009
What Do We Have to Do to Get a Phone Charger Around Here?Can we get all Andy Rooney on you for a second?
At the Greenmarket 7/9/2007
Bi-Color Corn's Got It All, But Golden Raspberries Have More Fun Summer's A-listers — think corn, tomatoes, striped bass, peaches, and chile peppers — have arrived at the Greenmarket en masse. Be there to greet them.


Vol. 3 Headlines
Synopsis: In Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, our favorite ragtag band of outcasts has taken on a slightly different look these days. Peter Quill, who is still mourning over the loss of Gamora, has the responsibility of rallying his crew around him in order to defend the universe and safeguard one of their own. A mission that, in the event that it is not accomplished successfully, has the potential to bring about the end of the Guardians as we know them.
Director: James Gunn
Cast: Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Will Poulter, Maria Bakalova and Chukwudi Iwuji
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Funko Pops Offer A Suitably Awesome Look At The Returning Team Of A-Holes
The first wave of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Funko Pops have been revealed, offering a new look at previously unseen costumes, Adam Warlock, and more. Check out the full gallery after the jump...
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Still Gives Us Our Best Look Yet At Will Poulter As Adam Warlock
Though we did catch a quick glimpse of him in the first teaser trailer, a new image from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 provides our best look yet at Will Poulter as the debuting Adam Warlock...
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA, GOTG VOL. 3, And SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE New Stills Released
New stills from three of this year's biggest Marvel movies have been revealed, including Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Sony's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse...
RESULTS: 2023's Superhero Movies Ranked From Least To Most Anticipated According To ComicBookMovie's Readers
We recently asked you to vote for your most highly anticipated superhero movie of 2023, and the results are in! These make for interesting reading, and you're bound to be surprised by how they stack up...
POLL: What Is Your Most Anticipated Superhero Movie Being Released In 2023?
2023 is a stacked year for superhero movies, with multiple visits to the MCU, DCEU, and Spider-Verse planned. The question we want you guys to answer, however, is which of them you're most excited for!
Fandango Reveals The Most Anticipated 2023 Movies According To Ticket Buyers And There Are Some Big Surprises
Fandango is back with its yearly list of the most highly anticipated upcoming movies, and while superheroes mostly dominate, there are some surprising inclusions...and omissions. Check it out right here!
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 New Still Reunites Star-Lord With AVENGERS: ENDGAME's Gamora Variant
A new still from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been released showing a reunion between Star-Lord and Gamora, while director James Gunn teases a threequel with high stakes for the franchise's leads.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Director Addresses Reports JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX Star Lady Gaga Is Voicing Lylla
With rumors still swirling that singer and actress Lady Gaga will make her MCU debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to voice Lady Lylla, director James Gunn has taken to social media to clear things up.
GOTG VOL. 3 Star Zoe Saldaña Says Marvel "Feels Like A Cult" When It Comes To Maintaining Secrecy
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Argentina: Twenty-Four Yachts Start Twelve Hundred Mile Race From Buenos Aries To Rio De Janeiro 1974
VLVA3Y3LW9CWIWTYBHJ4JCJ9PQ4LJ-ARGENTINA-TWENTY-FOUR-YACHTS-START-TWELVE-HUNDRED-MILE-RACE-FROM
Twenty four yachts from six countries are competing in twelve hundred mile (1930 Kilometers) race from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
G & SV Yachts out of harbour towards open sea
GV Yacht (A60) coming out of harbour
CU PAN Matrere and SV Crew waving (2 shots)
GV & MV Brazilian yacht out to sea (2 shots)
GV Crew member on top of mast
MV Typhoon (Chile) with crew in choppy water
GV Zoom out to LV Burton Cutter (GB)
GV zoom out to LV Beats underway (some with spinnakers) (2 shots)
SVs and GVs Yachts on way (3 shots)
Initials GM/1642
Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
Background: Twenty four yachts from six countries are competing in twelve hundred mile (1930 Kilometers) race from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The starting gun sounded Sunday (3 February) in Buenos Aires Harbour.
The participants had been arriving in Buenos Aires Harbour for a week prior to the race. As expected, the biggest contingents came from the two host countries. Eleven competitors are from Argentina and eight are flying Brazil's flag. Uruguay has two representatives in the regatta while there is one each from Chile, the United States and Great Britain.
The British entry is the 24-metre ketch, Burton Cutter, skippered by its owner, Leslie Williams. The Burton Cutter had been competing in the Round-the-World Race when it was forced to drop out on The Cape Town to Sydney leg because of damage to its aluminium hull. The Burton Cutter is using the Buenos Aires-Rio regatta as a competitive way of getting to Rio de Janeiro where it will rejoin the Round-the-World Race for the final leg to Portsmouth, England.
The Buenos Aires to Rio Regatta has run every three years since it was started in 1947.
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Reuters - Including Visnews


'I was waiting for Batman to save the day but he didn't show up': Tip jar 'thief' disguised as the Joker is arrested after terrorizing restaurants in Toronto
Wafels & More posted video on Facebook of the May 5th incident showing a man disguised as the Joker, stealing the eatery's tip jar
He has been identified as 29-year-old Timothy Lubin and he was arrested on Sunday for theft
Lubin is seen sauntering into the Toronto restaurant with his hair dyed green and white paint covering his face to resemble the Dark Knight's rival
People took to the comment section of the post to share that a 'painted face person' routinely bothered various stores in the area
By Matthew Wright For Dailymail.com
A Toronto man was arrested after he allegedly stole a tip jar from a local waffle restaurant while disguised as the Joker.
Wafels & More shared surveillance footage of the May 5th incident on its Facebook page, showing the suspect wearing face paint resembling the Batman villain.
'Summer is approaching and the thieves are back...I was waiting for Batman to save the day but he didn't showed up,' the eatery said in the post.
'If anyone has a good tip on how to secure the tip jar feel free to share. Kensington Market area.'
The suspect, identified by police as 29-year-old Timothy Lubin, is seen sauntering into the Toronto restaurant with his hair dyed green and white paint covering his face.
He walks toward the cash register and appears to try to nab the tip jar, only to stop once a staff woman from behind the counter turns to speak with him.
The two have a brief conversation before the woman walks off and Lubin uses the moment to grab the jar and take off.
Dance like EVERYONE'S watching! Boldly boogieing... Bodycam footage shows harrowing shootout between police and...
Timothy Lubin, 29, is seen sauntering into the Toronto restaurant with his hair dyed green and white paint covering his face to resemble the Dark Knight's rival. He steals a tip jar from the restaurant
People took to the comment section of the post to share that a 'painted face person' routinely bothered various stores in the area.
'This painted face person hits up many places along bloor west,' said Dean Labreche. 'He will attempt to enter "staff only" areas and take whatever possible. He also does drugs in restaurant washrooms. Heads up.'
Christophe Stevens, owner of the bar, wrote that he actually encountered the suspect before.
Wafels & More would later post that the Toronto Police Department arrested the suspect, applauding their 'quick and good work'
'Yes i kicked him out my toilet once before where he left me a nice present to deal with,' he said.
Wafels & More would later post that the Toronto Police Department arrested the suspect, applauding their 'quick and good work.'
Lubin was arrested on Sunday and charged with theft, according to a news release from the Toronto Police Service.
He appeared in court on Monday.
Toronto Police Service :: News Release #43867
Tip jar 'thief' disguised as the Joker is arrested after terrorizing restaurants in Toronto


Global (US)
Resources for asylum-seekers in the United States
This Land is Your Land
Violence forces Central African family into exile once more
Less than a year after returning home following a first spell in exile, Paul and his family again sought refuge in DRC following the latest wave of violence in the Central African Republic.
Paul Ouaki, 28, a refugee from the Central African Republic, uses palm leaves to build the roof of his shelter in Zongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
© UNHCR/Adrienne Surprenant
By Adrienne Surprenant in Zongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo | 12 March 2021 | Español | Français
On 13 January, Paul woke up to the sound of gunfire as rebels reached Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). He knew it would not be long before they got to his neighbourhood.
"It was happening again," said Paul, 28, who realized he would be forced to flee CAR for the second time.
Paul has now joined thousands of other refugees in Zongo, a town across the river from Bangui in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Insecurity and violence erupted in CAR after last December's presidential and parliamentary elections, forcing close to 250,000 people to flee. Most refugees – around 90,000 – are in DRC, according to local authorities there. Others have fled to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad, and the Republic of the Congo, while more than 130,000 people remain displaced inside CAR.
Paul sits with his family as Pascaline prepares food over a fire outside their shelter. © UNHCR/Adrienne Surprenant
Pascaline gives her young son's face an early morning wash shortly after waking up. © UNHCR/Adrienne Surprenant
Pascaline and her children emerge from their shelter after a night's sleep. © UNHCR/Adrienne Surprenant
The first time Paul and his family were forced to flee was in 2014, a year after rebels ousted former President Francois Bozize, sparking reprisal attacks and years of brutal violence across the country.
Back then, Paul joined hundreds of thousands of others who fled their homes. He crossed the Ubangui river along the border of CAR and the DRC, watching in horror as overloaded boats capsized before people could reach safety.
"I saw how people died in the water," he said.
Paul found safety in the DRC and spent six years living as a refugee in Mole, a camp in the country's north. In February 2020, the family decided to return home with support from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as part of a voluntary repatriation programme. Paul crossed the same river – this time calmly and safely – to return to CAR.
"I could see people falling down dead."
For almost a year, Paul and his wife Pascaline supported their four children by producing and selling traditional palm wine. When the violence reached the capital that January night, he was afraid.
"I could see people falling down dead. Some of them were my friends," Paul said.
Fleeing meant going back to a life of fear and uncertainty. For a few nights the family slept under the stars with no shelter. Paul worried his children would fall ill. They were always hungry, but the sound of gunshots on the other side of the river stopped Paul from going back to the fields they left behind.
"These weapons always have an impact on the population," he said, staring down at an empty cooking pot as thin rays of light pierced the dry palm leaves that form the roof of his simple shelter. "Look at the way we sleep with the children on the floor."
UNHCR is working with the government and partners to relocate thousands of refugees to safer, better equipped sites further from the border. The first site, which can house up to 10,000 refugees in Modale village, near Yakoma in North Ubangi province, is already under construction. A similar site close to Zongo is being identified.
See also: UNHCR to relocate thousands of Central African refugees to safer locations
"When people come here, they have no shelter and are not far from the river. It is very cold," said Tiaani Kawa, an information management officer with UNHCR in Zongo. "We are registering about 1,000 people a day, and then we give them blankets and other non-food items such as mosquito nets and mats to sleep on. The situation here is very precarious."
UNHCR is also taking steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19; distributing soap and buckets to refugees all along the border, as health and basic hygiene remain a major concern. As of 8 March, UNHCR and the government of DRC had registered close to 50,000 refugees newly arrived from CAR since January.
Paul helps other refugees build shelters and search for wood to earn a little money to buy food.
"What I believe in my heart is that peace should return, because if there is no peace, there is no way we will go back to our village."
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