Do you enjoy going to the dentist?
What do you dislike about the experience? Missing time from work? Getting bad news about the state of your teeth? The anticipation of being in pain?
And what would make a visit to the dentist more enjoyable, if not exactly delightful? Maybe shortening the duration of your appointment. Maybe minimizing the amount of pain involved in procedures. Maybe minimizing your anxiety about the pain.
Most of us can relate to the experience of going to the dentist. But fewer can relate to the experience of being the dentist. And if you're designing a product for the dentist, that's exactly what you need to do.
Since a sci-fi consciousness-switching device doesn't exist, the only way to experience being the dentist is to ask questions. The only way we understand other people is by asking questions. Even if you're selling business-to-business, the entity making a decision about buying your product is a person.
These can't be random questions. Rather, they need to be part of a process designed to delve deeply—in an unbiased way—into your potential customers' experience.
And there may be another person further along the chain who is equally important: the end consumer—the dentist's patient, the architect's client, the restaurateur's diner. In a B2B setting, the more you know about your customer's customer, the better chance you'll have of creating a product that delights your customer.
Even if you are a dentist, your experience will not be identical to that of all other dentists in the world. We have much in common as human beings. But we also have many differences—in age, demographics, culture, attitude, knowledge, and skill, to name a few. Often, we don't have a clue what life is like for other people. That's why relying on personal experience as a basis for creating and marketing products goes only so far.
Many startups are born from a founder's need for a product or a new technology in search of a problem it helps to solve. Apple and Google are classic examples. However, for a company to thrive and flourish beyond a single product, it needs to develop processes and adopt practices that let its designers understand the broader world—and the needs of people who are different from themselves.
But talking isn't the same as asking and listening. When I asked the product manager what was the biggest problem his customers had with operating his equipment, he could only guess. When I asked which new products he had introduced with higher margins than previous products, he could cite none.
Innovative new products don't come from talking. They come from asking, listening, and observing. When asking questions of customers, it's never about you, your products, or your company. It's all about how the customer does the customer's business.
Steve Jobs is famous for not talking to his customers. Google evolved from a particular question asked by a graduate student. But for those companies to evolve into the behemoths they are today required a shift that allowed designers to feel what potential customers were feeling. Despite public assertions to the contrary, these companies understand the problems their potential customers experience by asking questions directly or by studying how customers behave.
Entrepreneur First (EF), a new kind of entrepreneurial venture fund, based its funding model on the belief that business ideas—the "aha" moments traditionally so valued in the startup world—are of secondary importance. EF seeks to fund individuals rather ideas. It looks for potential founders who are inquisitive and who want to make a difference in the world. This discourages founders from creating a product in search of a problem.
Even a large organization that employs a range of individuals with different life circumstances and attitudes can get in trouble by relying on internal ideas of what the market wants. Often, such reliance leads to shouting matches based on unprovable assertions. The most vocal or powerful faction wins the argument—and the prevailing view doesn't represent the true needs of the market.
In our personal lives, art, music, literature, and film offer opportunities to transcend individual experience and see the world from a different point of view. In that sense, they become a kind of consciousness-switching device. Businesses, however, require more rigorous methods: ethnographic research, interviewing, data analysis. These tools allow you to put yourself in the position of a potential customer.
If you develop dental instruments, you listen to dentists. But not just dentists. You also listen to dental office managers, dental hygienists, and yes, patients. Where's the pain—literally and figuratively? What are the challenges of each of the constituents who might need your offering?
I was interested to find that someone in the dental instrument market has been thinking about these things. And not just thinking about them, but creating solutions that researchers have studied. "Computer-controlled local anesthetic delivery (CCLAD) is one the method to reduce patient pain during local anesthesia; it is a device that slowly administers anesthetics by using a computerized device to control the injection speed." The additional capabilities CCLAD provides had the potential to delight the end user—the apprehensive patient lying back in the dental chair with his or her mouth open wide—although research didn't show as much of an advantage in pain reduction as its creators might have hoped.
Who will pay, and how much?
It's great to have a solution that will delight dental patients and thereby turn their dentists from pain inflictors to heroes. But dentists have to deem the solution valuable enough to pay for. Does it improve significantly on existing solutions?
To answer this question involves—you guessed it—asking. Go back to the research and dive deeper. What's the value proposition? Maybe the device saves time, allowing a dentist to see more patients. Maybe it makes patients happier and more relaxed, so they recommend the dental practice to friends or on ratings sites. Or maybe the dentist simply has the desire to practice dentistry in a more humane way, and so is willing to make sacrifices in other parts of the practice to be able to afford to reduce patients' pain.
Whatever the impetus, the dental instrument company needs to find the motivator that will entice the dentist's practice to invest in new equipment.
And that's accomplished with the right questions, asked in the right way.
How do you understand the varied experiences of your potential and existing customers?


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text:
Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura
I. Fragata, J. BalanyÀ, C. Rego, M. Matos, E. L. Rezende, M. Santos
In fewer than two decades after invading the Americas, the fly Drosophila subobscura evolved latitudinal clines for chromosomal inversion frequencies and wing size that are parallel to the long-standing ones in native Palearctic populations. By sharp contrast, wing shape clines also evolved in the New World, but the relationship with latitude was opposite to that in the Old World. Previous work has suggested that wing trait differences among individuals are partially due to the association between chromosomal inversions and particular alleles which influence the trait under consideration. Furthermore, it is well documented that a few number of effective individuals founded the New World populations, which might have modified the biometrical effect of inversions on quantitative traits. Here we evaluate the relative contribution of chromosomal inversion clines in shaping the parallel clines in wing size and contrasting clines in wing shape in native and colonizing populations of the species. Our results reveal that inversion-size and inversion-shape associations in native and colonizing (South America) populations are generally different, probably due to the bottleneck effect. Contingent, unpredictable evolution was suggested as an explanation for the different details involved in the otherwise parallel wing size clines between Old and New World populations of D. subobscura. We challenge this assertion and conclude that contrasting wing shape clines came out as a correlated response of inversion clines that might have been predicted considering the genetic background of colonizers. © 2009 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Chromosomal polymorphisms
Clinal variation
Contingent evolution
Drosophila subobscura
Founder effects
Wing shape
Wing size
Dive into the research topics of 'Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Drosophila subobscura Agriculture & Biology 100%
cline Earth & Environmental Sciences 92%
phenotypic variation Agriculture & Biology 64%
inversion Earth & Environmental Sciences 46%
world Earth & Environmental Sciences 14%
correlated responses Agriculture & Biology 12%
evolutionary biology Agriculture & Biology 11%
Americas Earth & Environmental Sciences 10%
Fragata, I., BalanyÀ, J., Rego, C., Matos, M., Rezende, E. L., & Santos, M. (2010). Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23(1), 112-123. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01873.x
Fragata, I. ; BalanyÀ, J. ; Rego, C. ; Matos, M. ; Rezende, E. L. ; Santos, M. / Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura. In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 2010 ; Vol. 23, No. 1. pp. 112-123.
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abstract = "In fewer than two decades after invading the Americas, the fly Drosophila subobscura evolved latitudinal clines for chromosomal inversion frequencies and wing size that are parallel to the long-standing ones in native Palearctic populations. By sharp contrast, wing shape clines also evolved in the New World, but the relationship with latitude was opposite to that in the Old World. Previous work has suggested that wing trait differences among individuals are partially due to the association between chromosomal inversions and particular alleles which influence the trait under consideration. Furthermore, it is well documented that a few number of effective individuals founded the New World populations, which might have modified the biometrical effect of inversions on quantitative traits. Here we evaluate the relative contribution of chromosomal inversion clines in shaping the parallel clines in wing size and contrasting clines in wing shape in native and colonizing populations of the species. Our results reveal that inversion-size and inversion-shape associations in native and colonizing (South America) populations are generally different, probably due to the bottleneck effect. Contingent, unpredictable evolution was suggested as an explanation for the different details involved in the otherwise parallel wing size clines between Old and New World populations of D. subobscura. We challenge this assertion and conclude that contrasting wing shape clines came out as a correlated response of inversion clines that might have been predicted considering the genetic background of colonizers. {\textcopyright} 2009 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.",
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Fragata, I, BalanyÀ, J, Rego, C, Matos, M, Rezende, EL & Santos, M 2010, 'Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura', Journal of Evolutionary Biology, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 112-123. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01873.x
Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura. / Fragata, I.; BalanyÀ, J.; Rego, C.; Matos, M.; Rezende, E. L.; Santos, M.
In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 23, No. 1, 01.01.2010, p. 112-123.
T1 - Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura
AU - Fragata, I.
AU - BalanyÀ, J.
AU - Rego, C.
AU - Matos, M.
AU - Rezende, E. L.
AU - Santos, M.
N2 - In fewer than two decades after invading the Americas, the fly Drosophila subobscura evolved latitudinal clines for chromosomal inversion frequencies and wing size that are parallel to the long-standing ones in native Palearctic populations. By sharp contrast, wing shape clines also evolved in the New World, but the relationship with latitude was opposite to that in the Old World. Previous work has suggested that wing trait differences among individuals are partially due to the association between chromosomal inversions and particular alleles which influence the trait under consideration. Furthermore, it is well documented that a few number of effective individuals founded the New World populations, which might have modified the biometrical effect of inversions on quantitative traits. Here we evaluate the relative contribution of chromosomal inversion clines in shaping the parallel clines in wing size and contrasting clines in wing shape in native and colonizing populations of the species. Our results reveal that inversion-size and inversion-shape associations in native and colonizing (South America) populations are generally different, probably due to the bottleneck effect. Contingent, unpredictable evolution was suggested as an explanation for the different details involved in the otherwise parallel wing size clines between Old and New World populations of D. subobscura. We challenge this assertion and conclude that contrasting wing shape clines came out as a correlated response of inversion clines that might have been predicted considering the genetic background of colonizers. © 2009 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.
AB - In fewer than two decades after invading the Americas, the fly Drosophila subobscura evolved latitudinal clines for chromosomal inversion frequencies and wing size that are parallel to the long-standing ones in native Palearctic populations. By sharp contrast, wing shape clines also evolved in the New World, but the relationship with latitude was opposite to that in the Old World. Previous work has suggested that wing trait differences among individuals are partially due to the association between chromosomal inversions and particular alleles which influence the trait under consideration. Furthermore, it is well documented that a few number of effective individuals founded the New World populations, which might have modified the biometrical effect of inversions on quantitative traits. Here we evaluate the relative contribution of chromosomal inversion clines in shaping the parallel clines in wing size and contrasting clines in wing shape in native and colonizing populations of the species. Our results reveal that inversion-size and inversion-shape associations in native and colonizing (South America) populations are generally different, probably due to the bottleneck effect. Contingent, unpredictable evolution was suggested as an explanation for the different details involved in the otherwise parallel wing size clines between Old and New World populations of D. subobscura. We challenge this assertion and conclude that contrasting wing shape clines came out as a correlated response of inversion clines that might have been predicted considering the genetic background of colonizers. © 2009 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.
KW - Chromosomal polymorphisms
KW - Clinal variation
KW - Contingent evolution
KW - Drosophila subobscura
KW - Founder effects
KW - Hitchhiking
KW - Wing shape
KW - Wing size
JO - Journal of Evolutionary Biology
JF - Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Fragata I, BalanyÀ J, Rego C, Matos M, Rezende EL, Santos M. Contrasting patterns of phenotypic variation linked to chromosomal inversions in native and colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 2010 Jan 1;23(1):112-123. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01873.x

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home Culture No Fairytale Ending for San Diego's Villainous Lair
Retailing & Marketing
No Fairytale Ending for San Diego's Villainous Lair
Nicholas Eskey
Another closing of a comic shop; another end to a piece of one's comic community.
For the last six and a half years, Villainous Lair has served as not only a comic and game store, but a hub for many comic book and popular culture fans in San Diego, California.
Villainous Lair Comics first opened in 2011, located in the neighborhood of Normal Heights. The following year, they opened a separate but nearby store for gaming, appropriately called Villainous Lair Gaming. When the opportunity arose a couple years ago to join the two stores into "one-nerdy-entity" in a larger location still close-by, they jumped on it. Since then, the fun décor, the knowledgeable staff, and the caring management had always set the store above others.
I wish I could say here that Villainous Lair lived happily ever after, but then there would be no point to this article. By various sources, it seems that the increased cost of the new location's rent coupled with stunted sales throughout 2017 made it all too apparent to management that they couldn't keep it going for too much longer. Despite attempts at finding buyers or investors, as well as a Gofundme page with a goal of $40,000, the store couldn't find a way around the closure, now slated for the 31st of this month.
On their last day, Villainous Lair will stay open "till the stroke of Midnight," as their website announced. Though they will still be open for a few days afterward to give customers a chance to pickup their final pulls, they will be done with normal operations. Posted on their website, owner Alison Flynn had this to say at the end of the store's closure announcement:
"I'm taking solace in the fact that, for the last six and a half years, I've owned a community space that has brought some measure of happiness to some of the awesomest people I've ever met. You guys have been the best minions and customers an Evil Overlord could ever have asked for. The creative energy, the nerdy camaraderie, the long nights of geeky discussions, the dreams and the quests and the stories, oh, all of it, the stuff makes us human, it all comes back to the storytelling…"
It's not hard for us all to become numb to these stories of independent comic shops having to close, the last couple years seeing the end of Bonanza Books and Comics, Zanadu, and Legacy Comics. Though, still, at the end of the day, we are all left with the holes that these fine establishments have left behind, of which no online store can truly fill.
Goodbye Villainous Lair. From one San Diegan, you will be missed.
comicbooks
Villainous Lair
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Nicholas Eskey is an avid reader and writer. When not contributing to The Beat, he works on his personal projects, the latest being a fantasy novel called "My Personable Demon." He lives in San Diego, California, and is frequently bossed around by his cat.
Taika Waititi directing a fourth THOR movie for Marvel Studios!
Mark 01/30/2018 1:43 pm at 1:43 pm
Main problem for me is the same it's been for a while now, I simply can't afford comics at 3.99 and 4.99 an issue.
George 01/30/2018 4:09 pm at 4:09 pm
Feels like a return to the mid-1990s, with all these comic shops going under.
I recall a comment I saw tweeted: it may be a mistake to aim comics at anyone but "traditional fans," because only traditional fans are stupid enough to pay current prices for them. Even that doesn't seem to be true anymore.
NicoH 01/31/2018 12:57 pm at 12:57 pm
That really annoys me that people say they can't afford comics. I bet half these people that complain about comic prices also go to bars and coffee shops and get either $5 beers or lattes almost every day.
Nope, I don't like coffee and I don't go to bars. My money goes to food and utilities and every month I'm on a knives edge and that's the way it's going to be for another year at least. Think of the average comic book storyline and how long it goes, five or ten issues, crossovers, special events… Add it all up and you're looking at a minimum credit card payment or paying an ever increasing electrical or tuition bill. Comics are entertainment for those who can afford it, and they aren't affordable to me at 3.99 or 4.99 an issue.
NicoH 01/31/2018 7:25 pm at 7:25 pm
@Mark
I'm sorry about your situation. Going to school and paying bills is tough. Still I believe comics are affordable and a lot of people could afford more if they budgeted better. The amount of work that goes into comics, from conception to print is insane. I honestly believe $4 is a reasonable price. For me, I'm more likely to believe that comics aren't selling as well because of quality instead of cost.
But really the whole comic book industry is in a bad situation. Right now there are so many free comics online that people can read (regardless of quality) so why would people want to buy a $4 comic? I'm sure internet caused a lot of competition to print comic but at the same time a lot of internet comics are giving away their work for free just for exposure. I think a lot of problems come down to the fact that the average person feel that art should be free.
This probably sounds like a bunch of rambling but whatever, this is just what I've been thinking about comics and art lately.
Lamont Cranston 02/01/2018 4:13 pm at 4:13 pm
One of the great things about collecting comics is that you can spend as little or as much a month as you like. While I agree Marvel raised cover prices to $4 just because they could and should lower their cover price to $3 that's not likely to happen. My recommendation for fans on a tight budget is to find just one monthly title they like, follow that title, and resist the urge to be a completist.
Tommy Raiko 02/01/2018 4:44 pm at 4:44 pm
If you scratch beneath the surface of many "I can't afford comics" comments, you often find that people aren't literally saying "I don't have $4.99 to spend" but rather "it isn't worth it to me to spend $4.99 on that comic" That is–it's a comment not about price, but about *value*. If people who don't feel that they get $4.99 worth of enjoyment from 20-some pages of stapled-together comic book goodness nonetheless feel that they do get $4.99 worth of enjoyment from a latte or a beer, that's certainly reasonable.
@Lamont and Tommy:
Yeah these are both very good points. Right now I only regularly buy one comic series because there aren't many comics I think are worth it right now quality wise. I actually buy a lot more graphic novel collections of comics because they keep better than stapled comics and I can trick people into thinking I have a real book shelf.
Adam Reith 03/13/2018 1:53 pm at 1:53 pm
Agree, the cost of comics, games and figures has risen higher then the price of inflation. Adjusted for inflation and cost of living from 1960 Marvel – DC titles would be around $1.50 each. The stores are probably just adding a normal retil markup-doubling their wholesale prices. Add on rents in trendy neighborhoods like Normal Heights, where Villianous Lair was, and the fact that large numbers of gamers spend nothing in stores. All those things should change.
Report: Harry Styles will star as Prince Eric in Disney's live-action...


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The Peace dollar is a United States dollar coin minted for circulation from 1921 to 1928 and in 1934 and 1935, and beginning again in 2021. Designed by Anthony de Francisci, the coin was the result of a competition to find designs emblematic of peace. Its obverse represents the head and neck of the Goddess of Liberty in profile, and the reverse depicts a bald eagle at rest clutching an olive branch, with the legend "Peace". It was the last United States dollar coin to be struck for circulation in silver.

With the passage of the Pittman Act in 1918, the United States Mint was required to strike millions of silver dollars, and began to do so in 1921, using the Morgan dollar design. Numismatists began to lobby the Mint to issue a coin that memorialized the peace following World War I; although they failed to get Congress to pass a bill requiring the redesign, they were able to persuade government officials to take action. The Peace dollar was approved by Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon in December 1921, completing the redesign of United States coinage that had begun in 1907.

The public believed the announced design, which included a broken sword, was illustrative of defeat, and the Mint hastily acted to remove the sword. The Peace dollar was first struck on December 28, 1921; just over a million were coined bearing a 1921 date. When the Pittman Act requirements were met in 1928, the mint ceased production  of the coins, but more were struck during  1934 and 1935 as a result of further  legislation. In 1965, amid much controversy, the  Denver mint struck over 316,000 Peace dollars dated 1964, but these were never issued, and all are believed to have been melted.

In 2021, the U.S. Mint produced a special 2021 issue Peace Dollar to celebrate the design's 100th anniversary, with minting of the coins to continue from 2023 onwards.

Background and preparations

Statutory history

The Bland–Allison Act, passed by Congress on February 28, 1878, required the Treasury to purchase a minimum of $2 million in domestically mined silver per month and coin it into silver dollars. The Mint used a new design by engraver George T. Morgan, and struck what became known as the Morgan dollar. Many of the pieces quickly vanished into bank vaults for use as backing for paper currency redeemable in silver coin, known as silver certificates. In 1890, the purchases required under the Bland–Allison Act were greatly increased under the terms of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Although the Sherman Act was repealed in 1893, it was not until 1904 that the government struck the last of the purchased silver into dollars. Once it did, production of the coin ceased.

During World War I, the German government hoped to destabilize British rule over India by spreading rumors that the British were unable to redeem for silver all of the paper currency they had printed. These rumors, and hoarding of silver, caused the price of silver to rise and risked damaging the British war effort. The British turned to their war ally, the United States, asking to purchase silver to increase the supply and lower the price. In response, Congress passed the Pittman Act of April 23, 1918. This statute gave the United States authority to sell metal to the British government from up to 350,000,000 silver dollars at $1 per ounce of silver plus the value of the copper in the coins, and handling and transportation fees. Only 270,232,722 coins were melted for sale to the British, but this represented 47% of all Morgan dollars struck to that point. The Treasury was required by the terms of the Act to strike new silver dollars to replace the coins that were melted, and to strike them from silver purchased from American mining companies.

Idea and attempted legislation

It is uncertain who originated the idea for a US coin to commemorate the peace following World War I; the genesis is usually traced to an article by Frank Duffield published in the November 1918 issue of The Numismatist. Duffield suggested that a victory coin should be "issued in such quantities it will never become rare". In August 1920, a paper by numismatist Farran Zerbe was read to that year's American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention in Chicago. In the paper, entitled Commemorate the Peace with a Coin for Circulation, Zerbe called for the issuance of a coin to celebrate peace, stating,

Zerbe's proposal led to the appointment of a committee to transmit the proposal to Congress and urge its adoption. According to numismatic historian Walter Breen, "Apparently, this was the first time that a coin collector ever wielded enough political clout to influence not only the Bureau of the Mint, but Congress as well." The committee included noted coin collector and Congressman William A. Ashbrook (Democrat–Ohio), who had chaired the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures until the Republicans gained control following the 1918 elections.

Ashbrook was defeated for re-election in the 1920 elections; at that time congressional terms did not end until March 4 of the following year. He was friendly with the new committee chairman Albert Henry Vestal (Republican–Indiana), and persuaded him to schedule a hearing on the peace coin proposal for December 14, 1920. Though no bill was put before it, the committee heard from the ANA delegates, discussed the matter, and favored the use of the silver dollar, which as a large coin had the most room for an artistic design. The committee took no immediate action; in March 1921, after the Harding administration took office, Vestal met with the new Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew W. Mellon, and Mint Director Raymond T. Baker about the matter, finding them supportive so long as the redesign involved no expense.

On May 9, 1921, striking of the Morgan dollar resumed at the Philadelphia Mint under the recoinage called for by the Pittman Act. The same day, Congressman Vestal introduced the Peace dollar authorization bill as a joint resolution. Vestal placed his bill on the Unanimous Consent Calendar, but Congress adjourned for a lengthy recess without taking any action. When Congress returned, Vestal asked for unanimous consent that the bill pass on August 1, 1921. However, one representative, former Republican leader James R. Mann (Illinois) objected, and numismatic historian Roger Burdette suggests that Mann's stature in the House ensured that the bill would not pass. Nevertheless, Vestal met with the ANA and told them that he hoped Congress would reconsider when it met again in December 1921.

Competition

Sometime after the December 1920 hearing requested by the ANA, the chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, Charles Moore, became aware of the proposed congressional action, and decided to investigate. Moore, together with Commission member and Buffalo nickel designer James Earle Fraser, met with Mint Director Baker on May 26, 1921, and they agreed that it would be appropriate to hold a design competition for the proposed dollar, under the auspices of the Commission. This was formalized on July 26 with the Commission's written recommendation to the Mint that a competition, open only to invited sculptors, be used to select designs. The winner of the competition was to receive $1,500 prize money, while all other participants would be given $100. On July 28, President Harding issued Executive Order 3524, requiring that coin designs be submitted to the Commission before approval by the Treasury Secretary. In early September, following the failure of the bill, Baker contacted Moore, putting the matter aside pending congressional action.

By November, proponents of the peace coin had realized that congressional approval was not necessary—as the Morgan dollar had been struck for more than 25 years, it was eligible for replacement at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury under an 1890 act. The Morgan design was then being used for large quantities of silver dollars as the Mint struck replacements for the melted coins under the Pittman Act. Though Congress had not yet convened, Baker contacted Fraser in early November to discuss details of the design competition. According to Burdette, Baker's newfound enthusiasm came from the fact that President Harding was about to formally declare an end to the war with Germany—a declaration needed because the US had not ratified the Treaty of Versailles. In addition, the Washington Conference on disarmament, for which the administration had great hopes, was soon to convene. On November 19, Fraser notified competition participants by personal letter, sending official rules and requirements four days later, with submissions due by December 12. Competition participants included Hermon MacNeil, Victor D. Brenner, and Adolph Weinman, all of whom had designed previous U.S. coins.

The artists were instructed to depict the head of Liberty on the obverse, to be made "as beautiful and full of character as possible". The reverse would depict an eagle, as prescribed by the Coinage Act of 1792, but otherwise was left to the discretion of the artist. The piece also had to bear the denomination, the name of the country, "E pluribus unum", the motto "In God We Trust", and the word "Liberty".

On December 13, the commission assembled to review the submitted designs, as well as a set produced by Mint Chief Engraver Morgan at Baker's request, and a set, unrequested, from a Mr. Folio of New York City. It is not known how the designs were displayed for the Commission. After considerable discussion among Fraser, Moore, and Herbert Adams (a sculptor and former member of the Commission), a design by Anthony de Francisci was unanimously selected.

Design

At age 34, de Francisci was the youngest of the competitors; he was also among the least experienced in the realm of coin design. While most of the others had designed regular or commemorative coins for the Mint, de Francisci's sole effort had been the conversion of drawings for the 1920 Maine commemorative half dollar to the finished design. De Francisci had had little discretion in that project, and later said of the work, "I do not consider it very favorably."

The sculptor based the obverse design of Liberty on the features of his wife, Teresa de Francisci. Due to the short length of the competition, he lacked the time to hire a model with the features he envisioned. Teresa de Francisci was born Teresa Cafarelli in Naples, Italy. In interviews, she related that when she was five years old and the steamer on which she and her family were immigrating passed the Statue of Liberty, she was fascinated by the statue, called her family over, and struck a pose in imitation. She later wrote to her brother Rocco,

Breen wrote that the radiate crown that the Liberty head bears is not dissimilar to those on certain Roman coins, but is "more explicitly intended to recall that on the Statue of Liberty". Anthony de Francisci recalled that he opened the window of the studio and let the wind blow on his wife's hair as he worked. However, he did not feel that the design depicted her exclusively. He noted that "the nose, the fullness of the mouth are much like my wife's, although the whole face has been elongated". De Francisci submitted two reverse designs; one showed a warlike eagle, aggressively breaking a sword; the other an eagle at rest, holding an olive branch. The latter design, which would form the basis for the reverse of the Peace dollar, recalled de Francisci's failed entry for the Verdun City medal. The submitted obverse is almost identical to the coin as struck, excepting certain details of the face, and that the submitted design used Roman rather than Arabic numerals for the date.

Baker, de Francisci, and Moore met in Washington on December 15. At that time, Baker, who hoped to start Peace dollar production in 1921, outlined the tight schedule for this to be accomplished, and requested certain design changes. Among these was the inclusion of the broken sword from the sculptor's alternate reverse design, to be placed under the eagle, on the mountaintop on which it stands, in addition to the olive branch. Baker approved the designs, subject to these changes. The revised designs were presented to President Harding on December 19. Harding insisted on the removal of a small feature of Liberty's face, which seemed to him to suggest a dimple, something he did not consider suggestive of peace, and the sculptor then did so.

Controversy

The Treasury announced the new design on December 19, 1921. Photographs of Baker and de Francisci examining the final plaster model appeared in newspapers, along with written descriptions of the designs, since the Treasury at that time took the position that it was illegal for photographs of a United States coin to be printed in a newspaper. Secretary Mellon gave formal approval to the design on December 20. As it would take the Mint several days to produce working dies, the first strike of the new coins was scheduled for December 29.

The new design was widely reported in newspapers, and was the source of intense public attention. A Mint press release described the reverse as "a large figure of an eagle perched on a broken sword, and clutching an olive branch bearing the word, 'peace. On December 21, the New York Herald ran a scathing editorial against the new design,

At the time, according to Burdette, given the traumas of the Great War, Americans were highly sensitive about their national symbols, and unwilling to allow artists any leeway in interpretation. The Mint, the Treasury, and the Fine Arts Commission began to receive large numbers of letters from the public objecting to the design. De Francisci attempted to defend his design, stating, "with the sword there is the olive branch of peace and the combination of the two renders it impossible to conceive of the sword as a symbolization of defeat". Baker had left Washington to visit the San Francisco Mint, a transcontinental journey of three days. Acting Mint Director Mary Margaret O'Reilly sent him a telegram on December 23, urgently seeking his approval to remove the sword from the reverse, as had been recommended by Moore and Fraser at a meeting the previous afternoon. Due to the tight timeline for 1921 strikings of the dollar, it was not possible to await Baker's response, so on the authority of Treasury Undersecretary Seymour Parker Gilbert, who was approached by O'Reilly, the Mint proceeded with the redesign. To satisfy Harding's executive order, the Fine Arts Commission quickly approved the change, and by the time Baker wired his approval on December 24, without being able to see the revisions, Gilbert had already approved the revised design in Secretary Mellon's absence. A press release was issued late on December 24, stating that the broken sword which had appeared on de Francisci's alternate reverse would not appear on the issued coin. In its December 25 edition, the Herald took full credit for the deletion of the broken sword from the coin's design.

Farran Zerbe, whose paper to the ANA convention helped launch the dollar proposal, saw de Francisci's defense and the press release, and suggested that the sculptor had mistakenly thought his alternate design had been approved.

Production

Initial release

The removal of the sword from the coinage hub, which had already been produced by reduction from the plaster models, was accomplished by painstaking work by Mint Chief Engraver Morgan, using extremely fine engraving tools under magnification. Morgan did the work on December 23 in the presence of de Francisci, who had been summoned to the Philadelphia Mint to ensure the work met with his approval. It was insufficient merely to remove the sword, as the rest of the design had to be adjusted. Morgan had to hide the excision; he did so by extending the olive branch, previously half-hidden by the sword, but had to remove a small length of stem that showed to the left of the eagle's talons. Morgan also strengthened the rays, and sharpened the appearance of the eagle's leg. The chief engraver did his work with such skill that the work on the dollar was not known for over 85 years.

On December 28, Philadelphia Mint Superintendent Freas Styer wired Baker in San Francisco, reporting the first striking of the Peace dollar. The Mint later reported that 1,006,473 pieces were struck in 1921, a rate of output for the four days remaining in the year that Burdette calls "amazing"; he speculates that minting of 1921 Peace dollars continued into 1922. The first coin struck was to be sent to President Harding, but what became of it is something of a mystery: O'Reilly indicated that she had the coin sent to Harding, but the inventory of Harding's estate, prepared after the President died in office less than two years later, does not mention it, nor is there any mention of the coin in Harding's papers. Breen, in his earlier book on U.S. coins, stated that the coin was delivered to Harding by messenger on January 3, 1922, but does not state the source of his information. A few proofs of the 1921 production were struck early in the run, in both satin and matte finishes, but it is unknown exactly how many with either finish were created; numismatic historians Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis estimate the mintage totals at 24 of the former and five of the latter.

The Peace dollar was released into circulation on January 3, 1922. In common with all silver and copper-nickel dollar coins struck from 1840 to 1978, the Peace dollar had a diameter of , which was larger than the Mint's subsequently struck modern dollar coins. Its issuance completed the redesign of United States coinage that had begun with issues in 1907. Long lines formed at the Sub-Treasury Building in New York the following day when that city's Federal Reserve Bank received a shipment; the 75,000 coins initially sent by the Mint were "practically exhausted" by the end of the day. Rumors that the coins did not stack well were contradicted by bank cashiers, who demonstrated for The New York Times that the coins stacked about as well as the Morgan dollars. De Francisci had paid Morgan for 50 of the new dollars; on January 3, Morgan sent him the pieces. According to his wife, de Francisci had bet several people that he would lose the design competition; he used the pieces to pay off the bets and did not keep any.

According to one Philadelphia newspaper,

Modification and production
From the start, the Mint found that excessive pressure had to be applied to fully bring out the design of the coin, and the dies broke rapidly. On January 10, 1922, O'Reilly, still serving as Acting Mint Director in Baker's absence, ordered production of the dollar stopped. Dies had been sent to the Denver and San Francisco mints in anticipation of beginning coinage there; they were ordered not to begin work until the difficulties had been resolved. The Commission of Fine Arts was asked to advise what changes might solve the problems. Both Fraser and de Francisci were called to Philadelphia, and after repeated attempts to solve the problem without reducing the relief failed, de Francisci agreed to modify his design to reduce the relief. The plaster models he prepared were reduced to coin size using the Mint's Janvier reducing lathe. However, even after 15 years of possessing the pantograph-like device, the Mint had no expert in its use on its staff, and, according to Burdette, "[h]ad a technician from Tiffany's or Medallic Art [Company] been called in, the 1922 low relief coins might have turned out noticeably better than they did".

Approximately 32,400 coins on which Morgan had tried to keep a higher relief were struck in January 1922. While all were believed to have been melted, one circulated example has surfaced. Also, high relief 1922 proof dollars occasionally appear on the market and it is believed that about six to 10 of them exist. The new low-relief coins, which Fraser accepted on behalf of the Commission, though under protest, were given limited production runs in Philadelphia in early February. When the results proved satisfactory, San Francisco began striking its first Peace dollars using the low-relief design on February 13, with Denver initiating production on February 21, and Philadelphia on February 23. The three mints together struck over 84 million pieces in 1922.

The 1926 Peace dollar, from all mints, has on the obverse the word "God", slightly boldened. The Peace dollar's lettering tended to strike indistinctly, and Burdette suggests that the new chief engraver, John R. Sinnock (who succeeded Morgan after his death in 1925), may have begun work in the middle of the motto "In God We Trust", and for reasons unknown, only the one word was boldened. No Mint records mention the matter, which was not discovered until 1999.

The Peace dollar circulated mainly in the Western United States, where coins were preferred over paper money, and saw little circulation elsewhere. Aside from this use, the coins were retained in vaults as part of bank reserves. They would frequently be obtained from banks as Christmas presents, with most deposited again in January. With the last of the Pittman Act silver struck into coins in 1928, the Mint ceased the production of Peace dollars.

Production of Peace dollars resumed in 1934, due to another congressional act; this one requiring the Mint to purchase large quantities of domestic silver, a commodity whose price was at a historic low. This Act assured producers of a ready market for their product, with the Mint gaining a large profit in seigniorage, through monetizing cheaply purchased silver—the Mint in fact paid for some shipments of silver bullion in silver dollars. Pursuant to this authorization, over seven million silver Peace dollars were struck in 1934 and 1935. Mint officials gave consideration to striking 1936 silver dollars, and in fact prepared working dies, but as there was no commercial demand for them, none was actually struck. With Mint Chief Engraver Sinnock thinking it unlikely that there would be future demand for the denomination, the master dies were ordered destroyed in January 1937.

Striking of 1964-D Peace dollars

On August 3, 1964, Congress passed legislation providing for the striking of 45,000,000 silver dollars. Silver coins, including the dollar, had become scarce due to hoarding as the price of silver rose past the point at which a silver dollar was worth more as bullion than as currency. The new coins were intended to be used at Nevada casinos and elsewhere in the West where "hard money" was popular. Many in the numismatic press complained that the new silver dollars would only satisfy a small special interest, and would do nothing to alleviate the general coin shortage. Much of the pressure for the coins to be struck was being applied by the Senate Majority Leader, Mike Mansfield (Democrat–Montana), who represented a state that heavily used silver dollars. Preparations for the striking proceeded at a reluctant Mint Bureau. Some working dies had survived Sinnock's 1937 destruction order, but were found to be in poor condition, and Mint Assistant Engraver (later Chief Engraver) Frank Gasparro was authorized to produce new ones. Mint officials had also considered using the Morgan Dollar design; this idea was dropped and Gasparro replicated the Peace dollar dies. The reverse dies all bore Denver mintmarks; as the coins were slated for circulation in the West, it was deemed logical to strike them nearby.

Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon was strongly opposed to restriking the Peace dollar and in early 1965 informed President Lyndon Johnson that such coins would be unlikely to circulate in Montana, nor anywhere else; they would simply be hoarded. Nevertheless, Dillon concluded that as Senator Mansfield insisted, they would have to be struck. Dillon resigned on April 1; his successor, Henry H. Fowler, was immediately questioned by Mansfield about the dollars, and he assured the senator that things would be worked out to his satisfaction. Mint Director Eva Adams was also against striking the silver dollars, but hoped to keep the $600,000 appropriated for that expense. Senator Mansfield refused to consider any cancellation or delay and on May 12, 1965, the Denver Mint began trial strikes of the 1964-D Peace dollar—the Mint had obtained congressional authorization to continue striking 1964-dated coins into 1965.

The new pieces were publicly announced on May 15, 1965, and coin dealers immediately offered $7.50 each for them, ensuring that they would not circulate. The public announcement prompted a storm of objections. Both the public and many congressmen saw the issue as a poor use of Mint resources during a severe coin shortage, which would only benefit coin dealers. On May 24, one day before a hastily called congressional hearing, Adams suddenly announced that the pieces were deemed trial strikes, never intended for circulation. The Mint later stated that 316,076 dollars had been struck; all were reported melted amid heavy security. To ensure that there would be no repetition, Congress inserted a provision in the Coinage Act of 1965 forbidding the coinage of silver dollars for five years. No 1964-D Peace dollars are known to exist in either public or private hands. In 1970, two unknown specimens were discovered in a Treasury vault and were ordered destroyed. Rumors and speculation about others surviving in illegal private possession immediately began and continue to appear from time to time. Pieces appearing to be 1964-D dollars have also been privately restruck using unofficial dies and genuine, earlier-date Peace dollars.

Some Peace dollars using an experimental base metal composition were struck in 1970 in anticipation of the approval of the Eisenhower dollar; they are all presumed destroyed. This new dollar coin was approved by an act signed by President Richard Nixon on December 31, 1970, with the obverse to depict President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had died in March, 1969. Circulating Eisenhower dollars contained no precious metal, though some for collectors were struck in 40% silver.

Modern Peace Dollars

On January 5, 2021, President Donald Trump signed legislation to issue Morgan and Peace dollars in 2021 to mark the centennial of the transition between the two designs.

The US Mint released order information in the spring, with the coins priced at $85. The coins were released in "0.858 troy oz. of .999 fine silver with an uncirculated finish" Peace Dollars were available beginning August 10, 2021, shipped at the beginning of the next fiscal year, in October 2021. They have no mint mark, as the original coins from Philadelphia had none, and a Household Order Limit of 3.

The US Mint originally decided to continue the Morgan and Peace Dollar program for 2022 and beyond minted in San Francisco (S) with a proof finish, but on March 14, 2022, announced that the planned 2022 releases had been scrapped due to "supply chain issues, production capacity and shipping logistics", and the rising price of silver, with plans to resume the program in 2023.

Mintage figures

None of the Peace dollar mintages is particularly rare, and A Guide Book of United States Coins (or Red Book) lists low-grade circulated specimens for most years for little more than the coin's bullion value. Two exceptions are the first year of issue 1921 Peace dollar, minted only at the Philadelphia mint and issued in high relief, and the low-mintage 1928-P Peace dollar. The prices for the 1928-P dollar are much lower than its mintage of 360,649 would suggest, because the U.S. mint announced that limited quantities would be produced and many were saved. In contrast the 1934-S dollar was not saved in great numbers so that prices for circulated specimens are fairly inexpensive but mid-grade uncirculated specimens can cost thousands of dollars.

Notes and references

Bibliography

Other sources

External links

 Peace dollar pictures
 VAMworld Morgan and Peace dollar VAMs and varieties reference site
 An Interview with Peace dollar Historian Roger Burdette

Currencies introduced in 1921
United States dollar coins
United States silver coins
Goddess of Liberty on coins
Dollar
Eagles on coins
Sun on coins

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Hi Joanna! I'm following you! Hope you'll stop by and follow me too!
Hi! My computer is being fickle and not letting me leave comments on your blog...I'll try to enter the giveaway later. Anyway, as far as Alice in Wonderland goes, I would not let the younger two watch it, because of the dark/scariness, and I would say 9 is borderline...tough call if you ask me!
Oh, and I WILL be following you back as soon as the computer decides to do what I tell it to!
My name is Sarah and I run a blog called Sprout Reviews, www.sproutreviews.com and I was writting a special peice for April on autism since it's autism awareness month and I was wondering if you would be interested in perhaps maybe participating in a guest post on our blog about your parenting experiences with autism.
Hi, Joanna! I am following your blog, and can't wait to start reading it.
I am following you now too! Thank you I hope you can read my book to them one day. Thank you for the follow.


text:
July 30, 2013 / 9:34 AM
GOP takes up Keystone XL job mantle
WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- President Obama is off the mark in dismissing the potential economic gains from the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline, a Republican leader said.
Obama said in a weekend interview with The New York Times he was wary of the long-term employment prospects from the Keystone XL oil pipeline. He said the jobs gained from the pipeline would be a "blip" compared to the sustained needs of the U.S. economy.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Obama was standing in the way of the pipeline despite seven bills passed in support of the project. Upton said Keystone could put Americans back to work.
"Mr. President, Keystone's jobs are no laughing matter," he said in a statement Monday.
TransCanada, the project's planner, issued a separate statement in defense of the project. It said the pipeline would provide approximately 20,000 construction and manufacturing jobs.
The U.S. Department of Labor in its July report said 28 states reported increases in unemployment, 11 reported decreases and 11 states and the District of Columbia reported no change. The national jobless rate of 7.6 percent is 0.6 percentage point lower than in June 2012.
A presidential permit is needed to build the cross-border section of the pipeline planned from Canada.
Kazakhstan draws more oil interest Oil-by-rail remains best alternative Canadian rail traffic declines Hess to work on shale oil in China Growth seen in mid-Canadian oil
Energy News // 11 months ago
BP to be more transparent about climate efforts amid investor concerns
Feb. 1 (UPI) -- BP on Friday announced plans to increase disclosure on its efforts to fight climate change after requests from two groups of investors.
Crude oil prices rise early Friday amid supply concerns
Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Oil prices rose early Friday amid supply concerns following reports of smaller-than-expected stocks, and amid reduced expectation of interest rate hikes.
Oil nearly flat in pause after previous session's gains
Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Oil prices were near flat early Thursday in what was seen as a pause after gains in the two previous sessions, as traders considered geopolitical developments.
Petrobras sells Chevron $350M Texas plant bought for $1.2B
Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Chevron bought a Houston refinery for $350 million from Petrobras that had cost the Brazilian state oil company over $1.2 billion little over a decade earlier.
Oil prices rise amid ongoing concern about Venezuela
Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Oil prices rose Wednesday amid expectations that Venezuelan oil shipments would see some disruption following U.S. sanctions.
IEA: Greater use of rail would save energy, lower emissions
Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Increased railway use would save energy, help the environment, and also be safer, according to reports prepared by international environmental experts.
Crude oil prices rise amid renewed Venezuela concerns
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Oil prices were higher early Tuesday amid renewed concern about Venezuelan supplies but market worries about China-U.S. trade issues prevented higher gains.
U.S. fuel prices near last month's levels, unlikely to change
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Average fuel prices in the United States started the week at $2.26 per gallon, showing little change from the last month or last week, and may remain flat.
Venezuela's Guaido to name new boards of PDVSA and Citgo
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Venezuela's President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, will name new director boards at state oil company PDVSA and its United States subsidiary Citgo.
Major companies, cities buying into Texas' green energy boom
Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. wind industry is in a scramble to get a batch of turbine farms running in the next two years, before the federal government phases out a key tax credit.


IP solutions is a technology support company, but we like to think of ourselves as your technology department. We act as your consultant, your support staff, your installer, your 'go-to' in helping make good decisions with the many options out there.
We provide advice and expertise in all these areas. We provide the answers to your IT questions.
We are your technology department. And we provide solutions.


text:
Q: How do I use jQuery to extract part of a dynamically loaded mustache template In an attempt to avoid repetition, I am trying to use mustache for templating on both the server and client side. I have a template something like the following:

...

      {{rows}}

{{row}}

      {{/rows}}

This works great for my server side templating. On the client side however, I'm having some trouble. I can successfully load the template using ajax, but I don't need the whole thing to update the rows of the table.
$(function () {
    var template;
    $.ajax('templates/thetemplate.mustache', {
        success : function (data) {
            template = $('#this', data).html();
        },
        dataType : 'html'
    });
});

When I use the above jQuery to get at the contents of the #this element however, the {{rows}} and {{/rows}} lines are stripped from the result, while the
{{row}}
 between them are returned successfully. How can I get the entire contents?
I've tried $('#this', data).contents(); which gives the same results, and $('#this', data).val(); which returns an empty string. Using $(data).find('#this') instead has the same three results. I've also tried setting the dataType of the ajax call to 'text' with no apparent effect.
I realize that I could probably accomplish what I want (not duplicating parts of my templates for client vs server side use) by using partials, and that it would have the added bonus of avoiding the transfer of more template than I actually need to the client just to have it thrown away, but that doesn't answer my question. (tho slick solutions are appreciated)
Thanks

A: first, your template is not a good structure of table (of couse, it's template), it will become an good table after you do $(data), something like this:
[" {{rows}} {{row}} {{/rows}} ",
…
]

{{rows}} are not in table element, so you can not get what you want by $('#this', data).html();
My solution:
data.replace(/\n/g, '').match(/
(.*)<\/tbody>/g)[0]

A: The problem has already occurred at $('#this', data), which sends data via the browser's HTML parser to convert it to a DOM fragment. Being error tolerant, the HTML parser does what it can with the template but it's not what you want because the template itself is not valid HTML. For this reason $('#this', data).anythingYouLike() or $(data).anythingYouLike() will not work.
As the HTML must be valid before submitting to the browser's HTML parser, there's no other choice than to perform Mustache rendering before submitting valid HTML to the browser with a $(renderedHTML) expression.
With that constraint in mind, there are two realistic options regarding the order of events :

*

*strip down data to just
...
 (with
a regular expression), then Mustache render, then $tbody = $(renderedHTML).

*Mustache render data in full, then $tbody = $(renderedHTML).find('tbody')
As far as I'm aware, either approach will work. In both cases, you end up with a jQuery object, $tbody, containing a populated tbody node, which can then be inserted into the DOM with $tbody.appendTo($('#myTable')) or similar.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Diane Cowen Sep. 14, 2018 Updated: Oct. 16, 2018 9:35 a.m.
Jennifer and Farzad Askari didn't want to build a new home, but by the time they finished remodeling one they bought in Tanglewood, they might as well have because they went through nearly every phase of new-home construction.
The couple, who both work as oil traders, already lived in Tanglewood, but it was Farzad's dream to live off of Tanglewood Drive. They found a 1990s Mediterranean-style home and decided it was exactly where they wanted to live, even if it didn't come close to matching the more contemporary vision they had.
So after a year of working with their interior designer, Lucinda Loya Interiors, their architect, Javier Medina of Origin Architects, plus a builder and engineering firm, LBJ Construction and BEC Engineering and Consultants, the Askaris moved into a dramatically different space than what they saw the first time they looked at it.
Gone are the arched doorways, numerous hallways, awkward entrances and a nearly hidden staircase. Closets are bigger and better arranged, and a new backyard pool and new landscaping make the exterior a different place to play.
This modern makeover is one of nine homes that will be on the Sept. 22 Modern Architecture + Design Society Home Tour, an annual event that opens a handful of homes to people who are fans of modern design. In addition to Medina's Origin Architects, other firms whose work is included on the tour are studioMET, Builders West, MASA Studio Architects, refuGe Design Studio and Carnegie Homes, On Point Custom Homes, Hollenbeck Architects, Origin Architects, Intexure Architects and Design DCA.
And the homes are scattered throughout Houston, in Tanglewood, Colquitt Court, Montrose, Southampton, Lamar Terrace, Meyerland, Museum Park and Lynn Park.
Even if most of new-home construction in Houston remains traditional, people of all ages are embracing a more contemporary — if not completely modern — look with less ornate detailing, less crown moulding and fewer arched doorways.
Medina called this home the "most adventurous" project he's worked on in the five-and-a-half years he's operated his architecture firm. Though the bulk of his work remains traditional architecture, more clients are asking for more contemporary designs.
The Askaris, who have a 3-year-old daughter, are one of those families who started out not wanting a traditional home but not quite envisioning what modern could mean to them.
With the quantity of work at the Askaris' 6,000-square-foot, six-bedroom home — they didn't change the home's footprint, but they revamped nearly all of its floor plan — many people might have simply waited for a home with a better fit to come on the market.
But Jennifer said that their choice was driven by location. Farzad has wanted to live off the beautiful Tanglewood Drive — its wide boulevard and canopy of live oaks rival the natural beauty of Broadacres — for years.
The house had the arched windows you'd expect to see in a Mediterranean-style home, plus it's stucco and stone exterior was awash in earthtones. The stone is still there, but new rectangular steel windows and white stucco modernize the look.
Removing walls and hallways wasn't just about completely reframing the home's interior; it took a fair amount of structural engineering by BEC Engineering and Consultants for safety issues and to strengthen newly wide-open spans.
In the foyer, a geometric black-and-white marble design amid dark wood flooring and a contemporary staircase with a thick glass side make it hard to believe the space once looked very plain. Originally, the staircase wasn't even inside the front door — you had to access it from a hard-to-find bedroom wing on the side of the home.
Another hallway that ran along the family room, breakfast area and kitchen was removed to create a bigger open space. They also created a small bar between the great room and the dining room, which earlier didn't have direct access from the kitchen.
Perhaps the biggest transformation is the kitchen. Formerly a traditional space with wood-stained cabinets, tan granite counters and a mosaic tile backsplash, the space now sparkles with white Silestone counters, Carrara marble backsplash and, on one wall, contilevered open shelves that hold gleaming white dishes.
An under-the-stairs powder bathroom that once had pink wallpaper and a white porcelain pedestal sink has morphed into the sexiest half-bathroom in the city, wrapped in wallpaper that looks like gorgeous natural stone and chunky modern plumbing fixtures.
Every bathroom got a makeover, with a first-floor guest Jack-and-Jill that had only a walk-in shower gaining a bathtub. The master suite grew when they eliminated hallway space from the original staircase. Now, Jennifer and Farzad each have their own, and the bathroom is a combination of stone tile and glass. There's a hexagonal pattern on the floor and herringbone style on a feature wall backing the glass steam shower and freestanding bathtub.


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text:
ATM customers continue to withdraw
Mike Ebstein
Director, MWE Consulting
Way back in 2014, I pondered the role of the ATM in a piece for bluenotes (then styled BlueNotes) titled "Death to the ATM - it's a matter of time". Seen as the harbinger of electronic banking when introduced in Australia in the late 1970s, I questioned if the death of the ATM was nigh.
The analysis at that time concluded: "Maybe it is premature to predict the ultimate demise of the ATM but its primary role as a dispenser of cash is less and less important as less and less cash is used. It's just a matter of time until this staple of late 20th century banking morphs into something else or disappears."
"ATM activity has been reducing at a huge rate over the last eighteen months with volumes down by more than a quarter in 2020 alone."
Seven years (and a pandemic) down the road, it feels time to revisit a technology, which has actually remained a key network for the distribution of cash, to see if views have altered.
As a starting point, the use of cash must be a key consideration. On that score, the evidence is strong that big changes had been occurring to the way we pay. The Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) surveys of consumer payment patterns have measured the share of cash payment transaction numbers by households as having fallen from 69 per cent of total payments in 2007 to 37 per cent in 2016. By 2019, this figure had dropped again to 27 per cent - accounting for just 11 per cent of the value of total household payments (down from 38 per cent in 2007).
A year after the RBA's 2019 survey, the world suddenly faced upheaval from the COVID-19 pandemic. Several payments behaviours quickly shifted as Australians coped with avoiding infections and following restrictions.
The changes to the ways Australians worked, played and communicated did not necessarily introduce any fundamental differences to the way people made payments but they did accelerate trends that had already become apparent.
Overall, this meant the use of cash declined - but at a markedly greater rate; the use of digital payments grew throughout the lockdowns - but skewed significantly towards transactions where the cardholder and merchant were apart; and, where the cardholder was present, the transaction was invariably contactless and increasingly via a mobile device.
Because of this, ATM activity has been reducing at a huge rate over the last 18 months with volumes down by more than a quarter in 2020 alone. With many merchants discouraging or prohibiting the use of cash, the fact payment card transactions continued to grow through 2020 and are now increasing in double digit territory in 2021 is not a great surprise.
The growth in payment card activity was already skewed towards card not present (CNP) transactions, such as online shopping, in 2019 but this became considerably more pronounced in 2020 when the ability to process remote purchases was the salvation for many retailers facing closed doors.
Since 2014, the share of value of CNP transactions at Australian merchants has increased dramatically and the growth in such transactions means an increase in payments where cash is just not an option.
With the metrics as they are, there is no doubt the next RBA Consumer Payments Survey will register a further significant decline in the role of cash in payment activity. From a 69 per cent share of household payment numbers in 2007, MWE Consulting estimates it will have reduced to about 20 per cent in 2021 with an approximately 6 per cent share of the value.
The number of ATMs is also continuing to decrease, moving from 27,519 in June 2020 to 26,318 in March 2021 and 26,047 in June. This is 20.8 per cent below the peak of 32,879 in December 2016.
Growth in ATM transactions came to an end in 2009 and by June 2021 had contracted 15 per cent in 12 months. The decrease in total ATM transactions and value was clearly apparent pre-pandemic but the arrival of COVID-19 led to a marked increase in the rate at which Australians stayed away from what was perceived as "dirty" cash.
In 2009, annual ATM transactions in Australian were at 900 million. The outcome of the rates of contraction is total transactions in the 12 months to June 2021 were less than half at 400 million.
The decline in the number of ATMs has been outweighed by the decline in number of transactions, leading to a steady and considerable fall in the utilisation of the ATM network. In the 2014 article for bluenotes, I noted the average monthly transactions per ATM in 1995 was almost 5,000. Over the last 10 years, the average number has almost halved from 2,417 to 1,257.
The average ATM today is processing just one quarter of the volume of 1995.
The decline in ATM activity is analogous to the pattern of cheque processing. Twenty years ago, an average personal cheque account issued almost 33 cheques a year while a commercial account issued 166. Those numbers in 2021 are down to 1 and 9 respectively.
Unsurprisingly, discussions are now being had about the efficacy of expending resources to operate at these low levels. RBA Governor Phillip Lowe has indicated on several occasions he thought it in the national interest to close the cheque system but technology was required to satisfy those still reliant on cheques.
Are ATM terminals in a similar terminal spiral? MWE Consulting thinks not but they are quickly heading towards a scenario where they will require life support to continue providing cash to those who - for whatever reason - see the need to access it.
In the seven years since we first questioned the lifespan of the ATM for bluenotes, annual volumes have reduced from 757 million to 401 million. Should that decline be emulated again over the next seven years, many ATMs will need to have the cobwebs brushed away before use.
Mike Ebstein is Director at MWE Consulting
Payments Banking Technology
Death to the ATM – is it a matter of time?
Mike Ebstein | Director, MWE Consulting
A few of us can still recall our first tentative use of an ATM – an 'automated teller machine' - 35 years ago. The concept of accessing cash from your bank account via an unattended machine was then an alien concept that many people found somewhat confronting. Presenting a passbook at a bank branch counter to withdraw funds was how you got cash. And as with many technology led changes, there was suspicion of this newfangled device.
Paying the way through 2020
Cash crisis, credit risk: use of physical cash and credit cards contracted majorly in 2020 as consumers flocked to debit and digital payments.


Team fit is one of the most important factors in a rookie's success. Talent matters, but if there is not a team that is willing to adapt their offense to the rookies skill set, then there will not be much production. I am going to discuss the best team fits for the top 3 offensive rookies in this upcoming class.
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: Perhaps the most boom or bust offensive prospect in this class. Scheme fit is one of the most important aspects in Murray's NFL career. There is an obvious best fit for Murray and it's the Arizona Cardinals. Kliff Kingsbury is bringing his air raid scheme to the NFL, and it involves a lot of movement in the pocket, quick hitters, and play action deep throws. Look no further than Murray to be the best QB in this offense as he is the most athletic quarterback to be in the draft since Michael Vick.
D.K. Metcalf, Green Bay Packers: This might not be the best spot for Metcalf to be a true number one wideout, but this is the best spot for Metcalf to be a productive rookie receiver. Who better to have him throwing the ball than Aaron Rodgers? Also with Davante Adams being the alpha receiver, Metcalf can feast on number two corners that he can overpower with speed and power.
Marquise Brown, New York Giants: Brown might not make it to pick 17 and the Giants might not even want to take him here. Man oh man, this would be a great fit though. After trading OBJ, the Giants could use another playmaker. The addition of Brown gives the Giants a proven vertical threat and homerun hitter that they currently do not have on the roster. Pairing Brown, Tate, Shepard, and Engram gives the Giants a reloaded receiver group.
Next Corey Davis: Will He Finally Break Out in 2019?


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Conductors/Arrangers
Pam Tillis**Admin2017-02-20T09:46:48-05:00
Pam Tillis
As the child of Country Music Royalty, Pam Tillis was determined from a young age to find her own way in music as a singer and songwriter. After many false starts with her own recording career, including a pop single on Elektra and 1984's "Above And Beyond The Doll Of Cutey" for Warner Brothers, Tillis came to the attention of Tim Dubois who headed up the Nashville office of Arista records. After much soul searching, Tillis made the commitment to make an honest country record. The album "Put Yourself In My Place" yielded 2 number ones, 2 top five singles, and one top twenty hits and in its first year the album was certified gold. Tillis followed with 3 platinum albums on Arista "Homeward Looking Angel" in 1992, "Sweethearts Dance" in 1994 and an Arista "Greatest Hits" in 1997. Tillis achieved 6 number 1 songs during this time including "Shake the Sugar Tree", "Mi Vida Loca", "When You Walk In The Room", "In Between Dances" "Don't Tell Me What To Do" and "Maybe It Was Memphis" while 14 of Pam's other singles landed in the top ten and top twenty.
Pam Tillis fell in love with music at an early age. Band, chorus, talent shows, church and the creative community of Nashville all helped to shape the young singer. Growing up, Pam was in a variety of bands, spanning from jazz and alternative country to top 40. She sang demos and lent her voice to many national jingles including Coke, Country Time Lemonade and a Coors Silver Bullet with country superstar, Alan Jackson. At the same time, Tillis worked as a staff writer for Elektra Asylum Publishing and later took a job writing for Warner Brothers Publishing, which resulted in…
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Sturridge has not featured for his club since a 3-0 win at Tottenham in late August, missing subsequent action with thigh and calf injuries.
The striker's initial injury sparked a club-versus-country row after Brendan Rodgers criticised England counterpart Roy Hodgson's training methods.
But Sturridge - who netted 21 goals in 29 Premier League games last season - featured in training this week and is targeting the trip to Selhurst Park for his first-team return after the upcoming international break.
"I'll be ready for that one," he told BT Sport. "God willing, I'll be ready. I'm looking forward to it."
Liverpool have sorely missed Sturridge's goals in his absence, slipping well off the pace of leaders Chelsea after 10 rounds.


Rupert Spira published a small book, titled, Being Aware of Being Aware. The Sufi saying, "I searched for myself and found only God; I searched for God and found only myself" becomes clear in this small volume.
Being aware is a continual state, although the focus of your awareness is variable. Your level or focus of conscious awareness clearly changes; the underlying awareness does not. (That awareness is sometimes called the life force within.) What you experience is what you are aware of.
For now, you get to choose. How involved are you in the movie being played on the great movie screen of life? Are you the participant, the watcher of the movie, or the screen itself? Your choice.