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Home Culture Books Book Review: No Outlaws In the Gender Galaxy
Book Review: No Outlaws In the Gender Galaxy
Smita Vanniyar
No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy explores how gender plays out in public and private institutions like the family, educational institutions, work and public spaces. Looking at each of these independently, it elaborates the specific ways in which binary gender norms are woven into each arena and it also explores the multiple ways in which interlocking systems of heteronormativity, casteism, class and ableism are enmeshed within patriarchy to create exclusion, marginalisation, pathologisation and violence.
Book: No Outlaws In The Gender Galaxy
Author(s): Chayanika Shah, Raj Merchant, Shals Mahajan and Smriti Nevatia
Publisher: Zubaan Books
It is a book which challenges the very predominant idea of gender as a binary and its "naturalness" through stories of Persons Assigned Gender Female at Birth (PAGFB). With a 2013 research study by LABIA, 'Breaking the binary: understanding concerns and realities of queer persons assigned gender female at birth across a spectrum of lived gender identities', as the starting point, this book attempts to expand the popular perception of gender as a binary, 'man' and 'woman', to include the very wide spectrum which actually exists.
Gender does not exist by itself. Apart from the gender which is assigned at birth, it is also largely constructed. The rules for the same are passed on through social interactions, institutions, situations and so on. With the world around you telling you that you have to be either this or that, there is no space for anyone who does not confirm to this or that. Even with those who are trans*, there is this constant pressure to conform with either one of the gender binaries, or live in the constant fear of repercussions. This book, through stories of lived realities and experiences of queer PAGFB, speaks about the genders which exist between and beyond the two social accepted and rewarded binaries.
The fifty respondents whose interviews were used in this book are all those who were assigned gender female at birth but since then have been living non-heteronormative lives. The overall division of gender was into 'man', 'woman' and 'other', the respondents' articulation of their gender identities varied greatly under each category. Some of the phrases used by them to self-identify include "woman with a difference", "between transgender and lesbian", "think as woman but not sure", "society made me feel a woman but I have denied and challenged it" and so on. Apart from gender, the book also looks at the ways in which the respondents interact and negotiate with their family, educational institutions, public spaces, work spaces among the likes.
The four authors, and eleven researchers who worked first on the study and then on the book, all aim at one thing – to make the reader question the way we think about gender, not just with regards to ourselves, but, more importantly, with regards to others. They make us question the way we inevitably attempt to read a person's gender using socially established largely heteronormative cues and signs. But the fact that these 50 people, and countless more, are currently living eschewing the binary system, with their own 'self-chosen and self-assigned' identities, tells us that 'an open, porous, non-hierarchical and multiple gendered' system is within our grasp if we just redesign our public spaces and institutions to facilitate the varied gender identities and re-think our perceptions of the same.
The book suggests a new term, gender 'plasticity' in place of 'fluidity.' Throughout the book, the authors have repeatedly emphasized on the need to think of gender not as an independently existing identity but as one which works in tandem with one's locations on the basis of caste, class, sexual orientation, race, education and so on. Plasticity is a characteristic of gender which ensures that it can be crafted and re-crafted differently at different points based on "internally felt desire, which is influenced by external structures and metaphors prevalent in society."
Though I self-identify as a woman, there are times when I feel like that is not accurate enough. Perhaps it is because I do not agree with the conventional idea of who a 'woman' is and with the societal codes assigned to women, or perhaps it is because it is suffocating to have to restrict your identity. Reading on, I came across some articulations of some of the ideas of gender and public space which almost seemed utopic in their openness and inclusivity. The idea of answering the whys aimed at one's identity with a simple "Because that is how I feel" is what I learnt through the stories in this book.
You can purchase the book from Zubaan Books' website here.
Featured Image Credit: Zubaan Books
No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy
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Hey, nice review 🙂
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A drain is a strange old appliance. It doesn't really seem to "do" anything until it starts to "do" something – that is, water doesn't flow away freely anymore and eventually begins to back up into the home.
In an ideal world everybody would have their bath, shower, and sink drains cleaned once a year. This would prevent them becoming clogged with hair, grease, food particles, soap scum, and other bits and pieces, which in turn breed bacteria. Over time, that is exactly what happens, although many people do not realize it and only call a drain cleaning service in Wichita when the drains become blocked. Of course, by this time it may be too late, and there might be sewage backing up into the home which can result in endless amounts of damage to floors, walls, carpets, and furniture. It is certainly not something that you would wish on your worst enemy.
As the leading drain cleaning service in Wichita we have all of the equipment required to inspect, clean, and if necessary replace all your drains and sewer pipes. As a property owner it is your responsibility to clean and repair your sewage pipe up until the point where it joins the main sewer pipe which is the responsibility of the city.
When you have blocked drains and sewer pipes there can be a number of causes. We will use a CCTV camera which will inspect the length of your drain and sewer pipes so that we can determine exactly what is causing the blockage. We can also make a DVD of it so that you can see the problem for yourself.
In many cases the problem can be caused by tree roots. If you have trees in your yard, or even in your neighbor's yard, their roots are constantly searching for water. You may suffer a fracture in your sewer pipe, possible through soil settlement, which leaks water into the surrounding area. This will then attract tree roots which will find their way through the crack and into your sewer where they will quickly produce more roots eventually blocking the sewer completely. Wichita has alternating spells of hot and cold weather, of damp and dry weather and this makes "our" tree roots very aggressive.
We use a special tool which has a variety of cutter heads and will cut away the tree roots. This can be followed up with the use of a herbicidal root killer which will prevent regrowth.
We also have a biological drain cleaner which will keep your drains flowing by using a natural bacteria that lives on the organic waste which goes down the drains.
When you have any sort of problem requiring the attention of a drain cleaning service in Wichita we can deal with it for you. This includes such services as trenchless sewer replacement, which means that if your sewer pipe needs to be replaced we can do it without digging up your beautiful yard!


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What is the meaning of modern democracy?
uncountable noun. Democracy is a system of government in which people choose their rulers by voting for them in elections. […]
What was the first democratic government?
Led by Cleisthenes, Athenians established what is generally held as the first democracy in 508–507 BC. Cleisthenes is referred to as "the father of Athenian democracy".
What type of government did Rome have before Caesar?
Before Julius Caesar took control in 48BC, the Roman Empire was not ruled by the Emperor but by two consuls who were elected by the citizens of Rome. Rome was then known as a Republic.
What is Roman democracy?
Once free, the Romans established a republic, a government in which citizens elected representatives to rule on their behalf. A republic is quite different from a democracy, in which every citizen is expected to play an active role in governing the state.
What were the types of government in ancient Rome?
Ancient Rome experienced three different types of government:
Monarchy.
Republic.
Empire.
When did Rome become a democracy?
What are the major events in the evolution of democracy?
Key Events in the Evolution of Democracy
The Roman Republic. 509 BC – 27 BC. Rome was ruled by a representative government in which citizens voted for their representatives.
Direct Democracy in Athens. 508 BC – 404 BC.
Feudalism. 400 – 1200.
The Magna Carta. 1215.
Parliament. 1295.
Louis XIV. 1661 – 1715.
The Glorious Revolution. 1688.
The US Constitution. 1789.
What is the other name for democracy?
▲ Rule by the people, especially as a form of government. democratic organization. democratic state.
Who founded democracy?
The concepts (and name) of democracy and constitution as a form of government originated in ancient Athens circa 508 B.C. In ancient Greece, where there were many city-states with different forms of government, democracy was contrasted with governance by elites (aristocracy), by one person (monarchy), by tyrants ( …
How did the Roman Empire governed?
It was ruled, not by emperors, but by annually elected magistrates (Roman Consuls above all) in conjunction with the Senate. For various reasons, the 1st century BC was a time of political and military upheaval, which ultimately led to rule by emperors.
Which is the best definition of democracy?
The definition of democracy is a form of government in which the common people hold political power and can rule either directly or through elected representatives. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
What is meant by ancient and modern concepts of democracy?
Democracy is a system of governance where the people can rule directly or indirectly through representatives for instance the U.S is a democratic nation. Ancient democracy defines a model of leadership where citizens take an active role in the governance of the country directly or through representatives.
Is France a republic or democracy?
The politics of France take place with the framework of a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic".
Which country has the oldest constitutional democracy in the world?
San Marino claims to be the oldest constitutional republic in the world, founded on 3 September 301, by Marinus of Rab, a Christian stonemason fleeing the religious persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian. San Marino's constitution, dating back to 1600, is the world's oldest written constitution still in effect.
How did the Roman government change over time?
The Roman Empire dramatically shifted power away from representative democracy to centralized imperial authority, with the emperor holding the most power. For example, under Augustus's reign, emperors gained the ability to introduce and veto laws, as well as command the army.
What does democracy mean in your own words?
A democracy means rule by the people. The name is used for different forms of government, where the people can take part in the decisions that affect the way their community is run. The people elect their leaders. These leaders take this decision about laws. This is commonly called representative democracy.
What was the Roman government called?
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OneTitle aims to cut out the middleman
Daniel Price and Seth Brown claim to cut costs, increase transparency with new approach to title insurance
April 2014 Issue /
By Julie Strickland
Seth Brown
Title insurance may not be the sexiest corner of New York City real estate, but homeowners, developers, attorneys and lenders can't do business without it.
Yale classmates Daniel Price and Seth Brown were inspired to start their insurance underwriting firm after years of experience in finance and real estate development. They opened their doors in February at 222 Broadway in the Financial District. "I've had problems where I entered into transactions and almost lost a deposit because of title problems caused by the whole model, where the agent doesn't have the necessary authority or expertise," said Brown, who previously worked in development for the Hudson Company, LeFrak and his own Aspen Equities.
The key to lowering prices and increasing transparency, Brown said, was eliminating agents. OneTitle works directly with homeowners, developers, attorneys and lenders, offering title insurance, real property and cooperative lien searches and more.
Title insurers and operators in New York State often file their rates together, which Price and Brown maintain artificially inflates rates. "We've sort of broken the cartel in New York," said Price. "Because we work directly with clients and their attorneys, our rates are less expensive, especially on more complex commercial transactions or with investors who are under time pressure to get deals done." They said OneTitle's rates run 10- to 15-percent below industry average. The firm has nine employees, and is backed by private equity and insured by Lloyds of London, said Price, a former consultant with McKinsey & Company and principal investor at Moelis Capital Partners.
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DC Ritz-Carlton penthouse seeks record-breaking price
Ready players: 5M-sf e-sports complex rises in Shanghai
Real estate stocks hold gains even as market doesn't
Tommy Hilfiger's Greenwich estate sells for $45M


Quilter's deal to buy national advice firm Lighthouse is moving forward with a key vote on the offer lined up for next month.
Stock market documents this morning reveal that Lighthouse shareholders are being written to today with the full details of the offer.
At least 75 per cent of Lighthouse shareholders need to be present and vote through the deal, the documents show.
A general meeting has been scheduled for the morning of 10 May.
The current timetable says a court hearing is expected no later than 14 days after the deal has satisfied Competition and Markets Authority and FCA conditions, with dealings in Lighthouse shares to be suspended the day after.
Cancellation of admission to trading of Lighthouse shares should occur two days after, with Quilter given 14 days after that to settle the amount it owes for the acquisition.
Quilter, the parent company of advice businesses Intrinsic and Quilter Private Client Advisers, announced the deal to acquire Lighthouse earlier this month for £46.2m, adding another 400 advisers to its ranks.


He thought he had the flu. It turned out to be leukemia for Horizon baseball player Collin Demas. Now he's in the fight for his life.
He thought he had the flu over the holidays. It turned out to be leukemia for Phoenix Horizon High School junior baseball player and golfer Collin Demas.
Now he's in the fight for his life.
Diagnosed last week, a passionate Horizon baseball community has jumped in to help the pitcher and his family, as he begins chemotherapy.
"The kids in our program have been unbelievable," baseball coach Eric Kibler said. "The kids have rallied around him."
Kibler said #9strong and CollinStrong, We Are In This Together! shirts have been made. Demas' jersey number is 9.
The community has created wristbands and keychains also in support of Demas.
Horizon community recently began a gofundme page to help offset medical costs as Demas undergoes chemotherapy.
As of Wednesday night, $30,562 was raised, with an average donation of $35.
Hello Friends and Family. For those of you that are not yet aware, Collin was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. We are all completely devastated and the family is obviously shaken to their core. This family, as we all know, is stronger than most and has enough love to push through anything. A lot of that love comes from all of you. We have several people asking how they can help. Right now they could use all the healing prayers and thoughts you can send but we know this will be a long and extremely costly battle. Although they would never ask for financial help, we know they would truly appreciate anything you can give towards their expenses. All of us love each and every family member in the Demas house and this is just one way to show our support. Please contact Rene or Chantal if you have any further questions regarding financial assistance or helping the family in any way. Thank you friends.
Kibler, calling Collin a easy-going, fun-loving kid whom everyone likes, said the family is appreciative of the support.
"When a tragedy happens, a lot of positive comes out of it," Kibler said. "It's been real special for the family."


Chickentalk! is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo II Tone & Mr. 4Twenty.It is the first full-length release by 2 Tone and Mr. 4Twenty after many collaborations. The album continued a string of highly successful Black Rain releases.


By: Diana Roa Rubiano, PhD fellow, Norwegian University of Life of Sciences.
Imagine a completely electrified world.
Where everyone commutes by electric bikes, cars, trains, aircrafts and even electric ships. Where entire cities are powered by solar panels and all electric infrastructure relies on smart grids and giant batteries.
This is the dream for those who are trying to battle carbon emissions. But for some, this dream can quickly turn into a nightmare.
Producing electric-powered items requires batteries, and this requires vast amounts of minerals, in particular, lithium.
Today most lithium reserves are found in Latin America in the so-called ABC triangle (Argentina, Bolivia and Chile). But, mining for this crucial element has caused no end of torment for environmental preservation in the region.
So how can we transition away from fossil fuels without destroying precious, unique habitats elsewhere in the world? Our new study has some answers.
Lithium is found in brine deposits, which are salt pans, called salares.
They form in the basin of evaporated lakes, in high altitude, arid regions of South America.
To extract lithium, the dry salt is dried out further, by evaporating, on average, half a million liters of saltwater. This creates large volumes of brine waste and leads to water shortages in an already dry region.
In such arid regions, ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to water shortages. And the huge amounts of water used in lithium mining is making this situation even worse for the local flora and fauna.
The salares territory hosts a biodiversity hotspot and cradles several native species like the vicuña – the wild ancestor to the emblematic alpaca, highly valued for their wool. In case of water scarcity and changes to their habitat, these animals could be endangered and disappear from the area, forever.
A less obvious potential impact of lithium mining, is related to the microbial activity (stromatolites) in the salares. These ecosystems have an important scientific value since it could cast crucial light on the very earliest appearance of life on Earth. The mere existence of mining activities on the area can sweep away these microbial ecosystems forever.
So the dilemma is, to what extent do we have to sacrifice such unique ecosystems to electrify the world?
Rather than digging for ever more minerals, it makes more sense to try to recycle the ones that we have already extracted from worn batteries and old devices.
Yet, some researchers question whether recycling is really a viable solution (Kushnir and Sanden, 2012) (Pehlken, et al., 2017).
Compared with extracting raw lithium, recycling costs a lot, and used lithium can only be extracted in small quantities of relatively low-grade. And so, there is no market for second hand lithium today.
However, lithium prices are likely to climb as demand continues to rise, making recycling an economically attractive prospect.
First, recycling boosts supply by recovering waste, easing affordability concerns, and even contributing to the long-term growth of the economy.
Second, recycling can mitigate environmental damage if fewer quantities of primary minerals are extracted.
In my own research, [Rosendahl and Rubiano (2018)], I investigated how lithium recycling might address a possible scarcity of this vital resource, and whether government intervention is needed to make recycling happen.
We demonstrated two things: (i) the future prospects for the lithium market depend heavily upon recycled lithium supply, and (ii) unless an efficient market for depreciated lithium develops, a government intervention is required to obtain optimal outcomes.
In fact, we showed that if we do not start recycling lithium then it will become increasingly scarce and prices will rise much faster as a result.
Our analysis suggests that between now and 2100, around half of all lithium should be produced by recycling if we are to keep up with demand.
How much lithium do we need to recycle?
A lithium-ion battery –LiB- can typically last for up to eight years. Currently, less than 10 per cent of used batteries are collected in the USA and less than 1 per cent in Europe. Lack of regulation aggravates LiB waste management, and neither the market nor governments provide incentives to collect used LiBs.
Researchers continuously debate the technical requirements needed to reduce recycling costs. For example, better battery design can make recycling easier, reduce material losses, and increase mineral recovery. Strict industrial standards could ensure that recovered material meets the same high quality-grade as freshly extracted minerals.
Moreover, recycling industry profits build upon economies of scale and the infrastructure capable to absorb the vast diversity of battery design.
Local market conditions can also make recycling of lithium more feasible. Yet, there is no consensus as to how local developments could reduce dependency on foreign lithium and shape a globally competitive market for the recycled mineral.
This is a question for Europe and industrialised countries in the northern hemisphere that are making great advances in grid storage and electric car production and consumption.
In a free market, rising lithium prices will drive up the incentives to recycle. But consumers do not necessarily consider the value of lithium waste for recycling.
Our research suggests that subsidizing either buyers or sellers of both raw and recycled lithium could encourage greater recycling.
If incentives are created, they are likely to bring greater social benefits, as greater quantities of lithium for an extended time will be available for consumers, producers, and recyclers. The size of the optimal subsidies depends however, on technological progress to extract and recycle, the quality-grade of recovered lithium, and how demand for lithium changes. Subsidies may of course be difficult to implement in reality.
One could also advocate subsidising research and development to promote a technological push in recycling that could lower long-term recycling costs. An efficient collection system requires a mechanism to give consumers the incentive to make lithium waste available for recycling. Governments might have to intervene and create a collection system where such a solution does not already exist.
Lithium has an important role in a decarbonised economy. Nonetheless, it requires lithium mining and waste management, which come with critical environmental impacts and social costs.
Addressing these issues will take time. But until then, there are still steps that you and I can take in our daily lives to reduce lithium waste.
Europe and the Nordics are already on the path to introducing more green technology, but this transition should not come at a cost for sensitive and important ecosystems on the other side of the planet, such as those here in Latin America.
What you have in your pocket is not a simple smart phone. But a dense cocktail of almost all the elements in the periodic table: Lithium, Cobalt, Indium, Gold, and many other precious and scarce minerals.
So, the next time you decide to change or dispose of your old phone, think twice. You can still support the electric revolution by valuing the electronics that you already own.
This article is part of the Voices From the South theme at Forskning.no. Read the Norwegian version of this article at forskning.no and check out the theme page here on ScienceNordic for more articles written by scientists and researchers from the Global South.
Home country: Columbia, but studying for a PhD in Norway.
Research interests: I am interested in environment and resource economics; sustainable mining; hydro-economics of mining; ecosystems´ intrinsic and instrumental values.
Education and Work Experience: Master in Public Policy (Colombia, 2009). Master in Industrial Economics and Technology (Brazil, 2011). Four years of work experience as a junior economist at the Ministry of Finance in Colombia. Two years as a research assistant at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.


The second ensemble of video works from the WRO Collection, presented in the WRO Media Library in a form of an interactive installation designed and produced by Michał Szota.
With winter coming to an end, we rely on nine artists to help us turn on the light. We boldly look into its source, whether natural or artificial. Light means energy, ideas, and risks. It is inseparable from shadow. While it can dazzle, it can also be played with.
Mimesis; Narrative; Against hegemony! showcases works from the Peer Sessions archive, independently selected by Ian Gonczarow, director Painting at The End of The World, and co-curated by Peer Sessions.
Confused by contemporary art? Want to know how to approach it? How to talk about it?
Come along to a FREE educational workshop, aimed at experts and those less familiar with the world of contemporary art who want to learn more. The workshops will be led by experienced art tutors, and will discuss the exhibition, inviting viewers' participation and response. Bring an open mind! Refreshments provided.
Crit group in which artist filmmakers Alessandra Ferrini and Arash Nassiri will present new work for discussion. All artists and those involved in the production of contemporary art welcome. No need to RSVP. See www.peersessions.co.uk for more details.
The Ghost Tide - coinciding with the festivals of Hallowe'en, All Souls and the Day of the Dead - takes as its starting point the perspective that ghosts exist as an idea, or as part of a belief system, across cultures, across national borders and throughout recorded history. Most languages contain words to describe the ghost, spirit or immaterial part of a deceased person. Often, these words - like the type of ghost they describe - have traversed borders and been assimilated across cultures.
About the Curators: Monika Bobinska is the director of CANAL, which organizes exhibitions and art projects in a variety of settings. She is the founder of the North Devon Artist Residency.
Sarah Sparkes is an artist and curator. She leads the visual arts and creative research project GHost (initiated in 2008), curating an on-going programme of exhibitions, performances and inter-disciplinary seminars interrogating the idea of the ghost. Her work, The GHost Formula, 2016, commissioned by FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) and funded by Arts Council England recently toured to NTMoFA (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts) as part of the exhibition No Such Thing As Gravity, curated by Rob La Frenais.
THINGS exhibition in New Cross & Auction live on eBay until 20th Oct!
eBay auctions are live here.


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  1. Save human
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Collector's site for old wood toys from the 1920s and 1930s. Features photos and articles from many knowledgeable collectors. Toys lists and parts exchange pages.
Provides information to collectors of Fisher Price toys from 1931 to present. Offers sales and wanted list.
Established sellers of mint-in-box vintage toys, including dolls, guns, models, character toys and board games.
Dealer offers early play items from 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, including Beatles, Batman, TV, movie, cars, cowboys, space, and Worlds Fair.
A personal collection of vintage toys from the 1960s and 1970s. Includes Power Shop by Mattel, Metal Molder diecast factory by Toymax, Thingmaker, Incredible Edibles, and Strange Change by Mattel.


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A Hidden Architecture – the Orders of Systemic Change
(NOTE: This article originally appeared in Coaching At Work magazine in June 2017).
Leading systemic coach Edward Rowland explains the "hidden architecture" in organisations and how leaders can work with it to create effective organisational cultures
Working with leaders across the world for more than 17 years, supporting them to create sustainable and effective organisations, I have learned that achieving breakthrough coaching results requires skilfully navigating the client's systemic context, and in doing so courageously stepping into the unknown.
At the Whole Partnership, an organisation I founded to catalyse purpose-led leadership, we've developed a systemic coaching framework that pays specific attention to systemic factors – the complex human systems and relationships, often unacknowledged, in which all our clients live and work. This framework prepares and guides the coach and client on a journey into the unknown, toward dependable, though unpredictable, breakthrough insights. And it engages the full range of human faculties and resources to enrich the journey, especially by paying attention to the unity of body, feelings and mind, with all the power, insight and creative potential an appreciation of that unity offers. It is a "whole person, whole system" approach.
The Web of Life
When we work systemically, we acknowledge that all of us live within a web of relationships. In systemic coaching we call these webs, systems. Working this way taps into a large array of psychological and therapeutic research and practice from the last few decades, and aligns with a systemic perspective that is transforming the outlook of 21st century science. And this method is also creating it's own body of research, with a range of PhDs exploring the effectiveness of the systemic approach in coaching, organisational change and even branding.
Everything we do is shaped by relationships and systemic forces, whether we acknowledge this dimension of reality or not. Our body is a system; we are born into a family system, the main 'pattern generator' in our lives; we join and leave other systems from school onwards and in the world of work. Our businesses survive and thrive because of their dependence on a wider ecosystem of customers and suppliers, as well as the planet herself.
No matter how well an organisation plans and defines its future goals and strategies, factors in the wider ecosystem, such as market conditions, changes of government policy or natural disasters can also play a critical part in an affecting an organisation's success.
There are also more hidden forces at work. This invisible 'architecture' of systemic forces is often poorly understood, even though they can powerfully activate those systems dynamics, that – as our Dutch colleague Jan Jacob Stam says – "can in one moment give us wings to fly and in another moment hold us paralyzed and unable to act."
Working with Systemic Forces
The various systems we're part of can pull on us with powerful force. We are all deeply influenced by our sense of belonging in various groups. We ask ourselves: do we really belong here? How do we balance the loyalties of our belonging to different groups? And in our work systems, what is each person's role or right place? What tensions does this create in each person and in the team? These are the kind of systemic forces that we learn to notice, model, navigate and align to in systemic coaching.
When people ignore such systemic influences, they often experience unexplained pressures and tensions, which feel enormously powerful, driving their behaviour and that of others, either facilitating or blocking plans, strategies and goals in ways that seem mysterious or inexplicable.
On the other hand, when the systemic context is considered and engaged with skilfully, remarkable breakthroughs can happen overnight, where seemingly intractable challenges simply dissolve. Our understanding of the systemic gives us a much deeper insight in each case into "What Is?", and regularly opens up many unexpected possibilities about "What Could Be?". In systemic coaching trainings, coaches learn to help clients navigate these often unseen pathways with skill and grace, often opening the way to unexpected breakthroughs.
Seven Orders of Systemic Change
In the systemic coaching and constellating tradition, we use the term 'orders' to describe these underpinning structures that influence organisations and other living systems. Often invisible, these orders can be difficult to attend to. Negative manifestations include employees suddenly leaving, power struggles, massive drops in sales and effectiveness, or a crippling stagnation.
More positively, when these forces are well attended to, they can powerfully orientate a system to its true purpose. Such attunement can help resolve issues by re-patterning the relationships between key systemic elements, thus enabling a better flow of leadership and purposeful action across the whole ecosystem of stakeholders.
Using them as a lens to quickly and accurately 'scan' an organization, team or system, we work with the following seven orders to help identify where crucial systemic issues and the points of highest leverage are located.
1. Purpose. The founding purpose needs to be respected, but also continually evolved to meet the changing needs of the marketplace & society. From a systemic perspective, purpose is inherent to systems and not constructed. True purpose therefore needs to be discovered and articulated rather than simply invented. It is the deepest order in organisations, and – with its constituent principles – answers the profound question of what an organisation's place & function is in the world.
Possible Considerations/Questions
• What was the founding purpose? Is it remembered, and respected?
• What is the espoused or stated purpose currently? To what extent does the organisation 'live' and embody this stated purpose?
• To what extent does it really 'light up the ecosystem' and activate the potential of the business?
2. Belonging. Everyone in the system has a right to belong, including and especially the founders of the organisation. Of course, belonging is dependent on performance and more time-limited (than in families, for instance). However, it is important to ensure that all participants are acknowledged for their roles and contributions, and that any dismissal is done as transparently and respectfully as possible. Entanglements can emerge when prior participants are excluded from overt institutional memory or when the current roles and contributions of particular individuals and groups are ignored, belittled or excluded.
As case example of how such a pattern can lead to an 'ejector seat' phenomenon in organisations is included in our recent Troubleshooter piece in the March edition of Coaching at Work (see here).
Who is missing, and who needs to be included?
Were any earlier or recent members of the system excluded, devalued or forgotten?
3. Place. Priority goes to those with greater responsibility for the whole. This means that leaders need to acknowledge and "own" their authority, and carry the responsibilities that are theirs. Leaders need to step up and lead; and other participants need to feel comfortable in leading and following, as appropriate. The expectations and rewards of each person's role need to be seen as fair and 'right' – mutually – by the incumbents and by others working around them.
What is the flow of leadership? How much do leaders really lead?
To what extent are people playing to their strengths, and in the best place for the task?
4. Time. Those who come before have priority over those who come later. Length of service needs to be respected. Often just acknowledging the experience, knowledge and insight that comes from long institutional memory releases entanglements, letting more experienced participants contribute more fully – and newer entrants learn – in surprising ways. This in no way limits change or innovation, rather it allows the new to emerge proudly, creatively and resourcefully in the presence of, and on the foundations of, what has gone before. Simultaneously, new systems have a certain priority over older systems, for example in mergers.
How long respectively have people served the business?
How are the contributions of the older or longer-serving members valued?
5. Exchange. There needs to be a balance of giving and taking. Resources and rewards need to be made available in ways that engender trust and perceived fairness. Exchange is rarely of precisely equivalent things, especially over relatively short periods of time. Inherently, people give what they have and seek to receive what they need. But it's essential to assure that each participant is contributing value, and also receiving things they need (e.g. money, respect or development).
To what extent do merit and responsibility go where they belong?
How fairly are resources and rewards allocated?
6. Space. There's a spatial order for organisations, when all the other orders are attended to, where everyone feels in the right place and facing in the right direction. This is a subtle point, often ignored. It is valuable to notice and attend to spatial relationships in working life – how physically close people are, where they work, where they figure on organisation charts. In addition, when we explicitly and visibly map a system, paying attention to relationships other than the asserted formal ones, we can see which ones appear to be aligned or in conflict and get spatial clues as to where a system may be stuck. Freeing movements or adjustments to the system often appear very readily under this kind of lens.
7. Acknowledgement. The basic principle of acknowledging reality or 'what is', and not-denying, is in a sense an enabler for the other orders to apply and function. Research into big complex change by my systemic colleague Deborah Rowland (not a relation!) shows that agreeing to things as they are is one of the most crucial capacities of successful change leadership 1. Acknowledgement has two main aspects: first, it means a friendly but unflinching truth-telling, including naming of difficult realities and inconvenient facts; and second, it means consciously owning those realities in relation to relevant others (eg. "this was my decision and I take full responsibility for the consequences"). It is a natural order that when reality is faced in this way, a system gains in strength. Conversely, when reality is denied, difficult patterns get passed on.
• How honestly are the difficult realities & undesirable facts facing the business discussed?
• What is denied, suppressed, belittled? What is the organisation's 'kryptonite' (the thing it cannot do), and is it named and owned?
Force for Positive Change
For a variety of reasons, there has been little attempt to date by systemic practitioners to share this hidden architecture with leaders, other than revealing its impact when things are out of alignment. However, the more leaders can develop their systemic intelligence to understand and work with these ordering forces, the more they can remove obstacles and elegantly orientate their teams and organisations around a potent purpose. By integrating this understanding into their ongoing work and conversations, leaders can activate and co-create vibrant and effective organisational cultures.
For information on upcoming Systemic Coaching and Constellations trainings, go here.


The end of the Second World War was a major turning point in the modern history of Scotland. With the fighting over, hopes were high that the country would play a leading role in the confident New Britain.
The post-war period brought a new spirit of optimism north of the border. Sons and husbands were returning from the fighting, a Labour government committed to social justice was in power, and there were promises that a managed economy would bring a better future for all.
The promises made by the government were brash and bold - but the reality was very different. For Scotland, the 1940s marked the beginning of a long economic slide which was to end in the industrial devastation and widespread misery of the Thatcher years.
When the war ended, Scots were still largely dependent on primary and heavy industries such as coal mining, shipbuilding and steel production. The government recognised that it would make sense to try and encourage new companies to come north of the border to try and create a broader spread of work and investment.
However, this grand scheme never really came to fruition, and a much-needed opportunity was wasted. This was a pity - Scotland's traditional industries were outdated and the problems which would turn the country into an industrial wasteland within a couple of generations were already beginning to build up in the background.
At the time, however, these things didn't matter, because the old industries were still doing well. In the aftermath of war, new ships needed to be built and Scotland's coal was required to supply the energy needed for production. The country's factories and shipyards also earned much-needed export currency, so they were left alone to make money.
Bold plans were also put in place to make urban Scotland a better place to live. The crowded tenements which had turned parts of cities like Glasgow into some of the worst slums in Europe were torn down and replaced by giant housing estates such as Easterhouse, Drumchapel and Castlemilk.
To begin with, people were enthusiastic about living in these new housing schemes, and demand for the homes they provided was heavy. It was only later that people started to realise how poorly planned they were. They had been built without pubs, shops or community centres on the edge of the cities, and were often badly served by public transport.
People quickly began to yearn for the neighbourliness and community spirit of the traditional tenement close. But it was too late to go back - huge areas such as Glasgow's Gorbals were laid waste in the rush to put people into "better" housing. It did not take long for the giant housing schemes to begin to run down and, in some cases, to turn into slums themselves.
Other public planning experiments fared somewhat better. Scotland's new towns - East Kilbride, Irvine, Glenrothes, Livingston and Cumbernauld - were planned in the post war period and are still regarded as great successes. They helped to provide new homes around the cities, gave people high quality living environments, and were some of the first places to attract the new jobs and investment which Scotland eventually came to desperately need.
As the 1950s progressed and the war started to slip from the memory, Scotland's major industries could no longer hide their problems. Competition from places like the Far East started to damage the competitiveness of the Clyde shipyards. The Lanarkshire coalfield had practically been mined out, and the steel plants were using equipment which was virtually obsolete.
Industrial relations often verged on the abysmal. Directors of companies refused to spend money investing in their plants, and their managers were often hopeless.
The workers, too, were stubborn: backed by powerful trade unions, they refused to consider flexible working practices and fought against the idea of a single man being made redundant. The seeds of the destruction of Scottish industry were being sewn, and both sides were doing the planting.
Successive governments - even Tory ones - became committed to a policy of nationalisation and centralisation. State takeover of industries meant that they became run from London, not Scotland, and the interest of Scots were not always put first.
One of the main problems was Scotland's distance from markets. Many light industrial companies refused to even consider locating north of the border, since it was too far away for them to serve their customers in the Midlands and south of England.
The Scottish unemployment rate edged up to the point where it was double that of England, and many factories survived only because they paid their workers low wages. The government realised something had to be done. If the free market could not provide the answer to Scotland's problems, it decided, than the state would.
The Conservative government twisted the arm of the steel conglomerate Colvilles to build a steel strip mill at Ravenscraig near Motherwell. The giant plant was needed for the service it could provide to other new Scottish industries by sending them high quality steel for manufacturing.
Ravenscraig was part of an integrated government plan to get major manufacturers to set up operations north of the border. The British Motor Corporation, or BMC for short, was persuaded to build a tractor and lorry factory in a development area at Bathgate in West Lothian.
On the other side of the country, the car manufacturer Rootes was cajoled into building a plant at Linwood, near Glasgow, for the production of its new Hillman Imp. The company had been refused permission to develop at its plant in England, and the government was only too happy to hand out a large grant to persuade the company to come north.
The decision to bring Rootes to Linwood was taken in 1960. It took three years, and tens of millions of pounds, to build the facility. However, the plant was dogged with problems from the start.
Virtually none of the workers had ever built a car before - they were used to working in the shipyards and in heavy engineering plants. The factory was also only used as a glorified assembly line, with parts being bolted together. It was hardly the cutting edge of technology.
As jobs were being created at the car plants, they were still being lost on the Clyde. Shipyard after shipyard shut down because they simply could not compete against foreign yards.
The coal mining industry, too, was in serious trouble. The mines had been nationalised, but the Scottish pits were becoming far too expensive to work and could not compete with the cheaper production which was possible from English mines. They, too, began to close.
There were some successes - it was a time of great pride, for instance, when the liner Queen Elizabeth II was launched in 1967 from John Browns in Clydebank. But she was to be the last of a long line of Queens coming from the Clyde shipyards. It was the end of an era.
Efforts were made to maintain and develop Scotland's transport system to help its economic competitiveness. The formation of the Highlands and Islands Development Board in 1965 helped provide a boost to an area which desperately needed help, and the completion of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964 finally opened up Fife and beyond for road traffic.
None of it, however, was enough. Slowly but inexorably, Scotland was sinking deeper and deeper into an economic quagmire. Frustration with London rule was on the rise again. It would not be long before the nationalist dam would break - and this time, it would not be turned back.


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More on International Fees in Canadian Universities
By Alex Usher. Due to a few unexpected issues yesterday, we had to postpone the One Thought. With no further ado, here it is:
The day before yesterday we looked at what universities in different parts of the country are charging in terms of international tuition fees. More...
Posté par pcassuto à 21:50 - Fees - Permalien [#]
How International Tuition Fees Keep Canadian Universities Afloat
By Alex Usher. First, tuition fees for international undergraduate students. Nationally, these have been growing at a rate of inflation +4% over the past decade, which is substantially faster than the rise in domestic tuition (roughly, inflation +1.5%). Nationally, the average international tuition is $23,589, but both this figure and the recent run-up in tuition is due almost entirely to what is going on in Ontario. More...
Posté par pcassuto à 21:47 - International - Permalien [#]
Does Student Debt Matter If You're Not Going to Pay It Back?
By Alex Usher. You can accumulate one hell of a lot of debt these days in the UK. Just in an undergraduate degree, fees are £9,000 per year plus you can get another £10,702 in maintenance loans per year of you're studying in London. Over a three-year degree that's £59,106 or a tad over $100,000 (yes, really). So, at face value one can understand the spate of stories coming out of the UK these days talking about how their massive debt loads are going to paralyze them for life, stop them being able to buy housing etc. More...
Posté par pcassuto à 21:45 - Dette-Prêt - Permalien [#]
Cluster Theory
By Alex Usher. For some annoying reason, the Liberals act as if cluster theory is something new rather than something which dates back to the mid-1980s (Michael Porter's The Wealth of Nations gave the idea its first mass-market outing in 1990; six years later, Saskia Sassen gave us what is probably still the most engaging short book description of cluster formation in Regional Advantage. In fact what is actually new – in Canada at least – is the idea that the federal government should encourage cluster formation/densification with great huge wads of cash. $800 million over four years, in fact, according to Liberal manifesto and the 2016 Budget. More...
Posté par pcassuto à 21:44 - Opinions - Permalien [#]
Two (Relatively) Good News Studies
By Alex Usher. On Tuesday, the results for the 2015 PISA tests were released. PISA is, of course, that multi-country assessment of 15 year-olds in math, science and reading which takes place every three years and is managed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA is not a test of curriculum knowledge (in an international context that would be really tough); what it is instead is a test of how well individuals' knowledge of reading, math and science can be applied to real-world challenges. More...
Alarm Bells in China
By Alex Usher. So, in the midst of all the handwringing about the world's major higher education student destinations all losing their damn minds (Trump, Brexit) and the implications this has for higher education internationalization, I think we're in serious danger of missing a much bigger story going on in China. More...
A Wish List for Budget 2017
By Alex Usher. A few days ago someone asked me what my wish list would be for the federal 2017 budget. The science/innovation part of my answer will take a couple of posts to summarize (I'll start addressing some of the issues related to the Science and Innovation Agendas over the next few days); but today I thought I'd give you my thoughts on the student aid part of the equation. More...
Posté par pcassuto à 21:37 - Budget - Permalien [#]
Recommended Reading: A Digital Chief from Publishing Talks Anonymously
By O'Neal Spicer. A recently published article in Digiday provides an insider view of ongoing tensions that are still playing out in the world of publishing. The interviewee speaks to the challenges of running two parallel businesses, one that's in decline but still generating cash, another that is growing but requiring significant investment, and the internal conflicts that are inherent to that dichotomy. More...
Pearson Releases a Significant Learning Design Aid
By Michael Feldstein. Last week, Pearson announced the release of some resources they have created around science-based learning design. More...
Explainer Videos on Course Exchanges and the Shared Infrastructure Behind Them
By Phil Hill. Two months ago O'Neal Spicer and I wrote an op-ed for the Community College Daily describing our observations on the California Online Education Initiative (OEI). We don't often write about clients of ours, but in this case we felt it would be useful to share our thoughts outside of the consulting context, and the OEI staff agreed. More...
Posté par pcassuto à 21:20 - Technologie - Permalien [#]
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It is my passion for property that drives my enthusiasm to continually develop the business that I founded in 1993. Being very active in the running of the business and motivating my team which has been developed and moulded out of my desire to give the level service that I would expect from an Estate or Letting Agent. With a large percentage of our business coming through recommendation gives testament to the quality of the service we provide and the team around me.
Mrs. Paris has developed a professional and clear marketing approach for the business and has been responsible for the excellent results achieved from our general advertising and online presence. Her marketing style has been responsible for us leading our competitors on property portals such as Rightmove.co.uk with a format that produces a greater click through rate which in turn leads to very happy vendors and landlords.
Since joining in 2007 Katie has been successfully involved in all aspects our busy office. With her attention to detail and forward planning our clients experience of the lettings process is always smooth and professional. This combined with the discerning and stringent standards set within the negotiators part of her role she is a highly effective member of the team.
Since joining in 2010 Hatty has excelled in her field and has become a very popular staff member with our clients. Her interpersonal skills have been an invaluable asset which has been a key factor in the development of the business. This together with her exacting work ethic makes her a very competent team member.
A highly versatile and competent member of the team and after a break to get married and travel the globe our longest serving staff member of 12 years. She possesses all the key skills required to deliver the standard of service our clients have been used to receiving. A welcome return.
Suzanna is a pivotal part of our team. She is on the front line dealing with our clients so her experience in running her own business gives her the skills to excel in her role. She has a proven track record within the business and her results come out of her excellent customer service.
Christine is a vital and valued member of the team and joined us in 2013 after many years in the financial accounting sector. She ensures all our client invoicing and payments are not only accurately produced but payments made on time.
The latest member of our expanding team having joined us to support our administrative services. Charles has also been developing our social media exposure and his expertise has led to an increase in the profile of both our sales and lettings departments.


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HOW TO SAVE BIG MONEY ON SEMTECH'S LORA
LoRa, LPWAN / By Patrick Burns
At Haystack, we are fans of Semtech's LoRa LPWAN radio. Until recently, we considered the 915 MHz band as too noisy for low power IoT systems, but Semtech's use of chirp spread spectrum combined with modern silicon capabilities gives them an edge in the growing LPWAN industry. We are particularly bullish on LoRa's prospects for mobile LPWAN applications where competitors like NB-IoT and Sigfox are effectively stillborn. Every day we are discovering things about LoRa that reinforce the conclusion that it is a good LPWAN radio and it can be deployed in a cost-effective manner.
But like Usain Bolt wearing chain mail and ski boots for a 100-meter dash, Semtech promotes a weak networkingng software option in support of LoRa. Designed to disappoint even the most underachieving IoT developer, battery-powered LoRa endpoints using LoRaWAN can effectively only transmit messages toa gateway and practically speaking cannot receive messages from a gateway. Sending a command to an endpoint, querying an endpoint, broadcasting a message to a group of endpoints, wirelessly refreshing a security key or authenticating an endpoint using public key encryption — those are just some of the things that are more or less impossible to accomplish with a battery powered LoRa endpoint running LoRaWAN.
This is due in part to the fact that LoRaWAN was architected to be very much like a cellular network, only simpler: there is a relatively low-cost endpoint, which can be powered by a battery, and a relatively high-cost gateway, which is typically mains-powered. Communication between the endpoint and the gateway is one-to-one, similar to cellular, which means that broadcasted data flows are not possible. This made sense for phone calls, but even with contemporary cellular systems, which are more data-oriented than ever, the one-to-one routing limitations prevent maximum utilization of the spectrum. This is a bigger problem in LoRa than with cellular, though, because the data rate for LoRa is very low — generally less than 10 kbps, and typically less than 2400 bps. So a broadcast operation that might require 1 second to push a message to 1,000 endpoints, instead takes a minimum of 1,000 seconds. This limitation is understood, and LoRaWAN deprecates communication from the gateway to the endpoint. For the most part, LoRaWAN is a technology designed-for, and suitable to, fixed, automated meter reading, as its design limitations make it a difficult fit for low-latency, broadcasted, or bidirectional data flows. Applications requiring a two-minute communication latency between endpoint and application — this is the minimum supported by LoRaWAN — are advised to use more than one gateway per 60 endpoints, which results in a fairly high density of gateways.
The LoRaWAN Lock-In Strategy
One would think Semtech would be more or less agnostic regarding the application software that rides on top of LoRa as Semtech is a semiconductor manufacturer and they profit when chips are sold for any purpose. Nonetheless, Semtech displays a clear strategy to push LoRaWAN over other networking software implementations using LoRa. A look at their chip pricing provides the information one needs to better understand their plans.
Developers choosing LoRaWAN are effectively "locked in" to the SX1301 LoRa Gateway IC as part of the network implementation, and this gateway component has distributor pricing of $68.00, versus only $3.00for its endpoint radios. That's a price premium of 2,300%. For the record, the material cost of a chip is next to noting — chips are made of silicon(sand) and a very small amount of metal. With such profit margins on its gateway ICs, it's less of a shock that Semtech markets networking technology that locks developers into those gateway IC's.
The high price point for LoRa gateway ICs will eventually drift lower via competition. In fact, the LoRa modulation and encoding schemes indeed have been reverse engineered and the popular "GNU Radio" software for SDR implementation includes a LoRa software driver. Semtech, however, maintains patents for LoRa that prevent commercial adoption of such technologies. Otherwise, it's possible to build a LoRa gateway software defined radio (SDR) of your own, with performance exceeding that of the SX1301, using off the shelf components such as the Intel Zynq and pretty much any SDR front-end IC (there are many). There is nothing wrong with charging high prices for patented technologies, but it's worth pointing out the strong possibility that LoRaWAN exists today not to give developers the best set of options for LoRa networking software but to support a certain revenue model for LoRa gateway IC's. In other words without LoRaWAN, Semtech's gateway IC margins might be at risk.
LoRaWAN In Consumer/SMB Markets Is Pricey
For business models where only a limited number of gateways are required for a deployment, such premium pricing for may amount to a rounding error. But for those planning large-scale deployments in consumer or SMB markets and who envision a LoRa gateway in every residence or small business (for example, like this), the $65.00 difference between endpoint and gateway amounts to a non-trivial LoRa "gateway tax" that can sink a business plan. For those contemplating going to offline retail with a LoRa gateway solution (e.g. one endpoint + one gateway), the implications of a $65.00 premium on price elasticity of demand are severe. And for those thinking of emulating cellular carriers with a subscription based approach, a straight amortization of $65 over, say, a three year customer lifetime adds $1.81 to a consumer's monthly bill. Good luck.
Semtech's implicit message to the marketplace sees to be that consumer-facing customers should look elsewhere for their LPWAN needs.
Avoiding The LoRa Gateway Tax With Haystack
Fortunately, there's an answer. Haystack's DASH7 allows the use of a LoRa endpoint radio as the gateway radio. In other words, with Haystack there is no difference in the LoRa portion of the bill of materials between an endpoint and a gateway.
Haystack's DASH7 networking stack is an alternative to LoRaWAN. Both are very low power, but they don't do exactly the same things. In fact, the two can operate concurrently on the same devices. What DASH7 does provide, however, are very powerful broadcasting and multicasting features as well as low-latency, bidirectional communications. DASH7 can enable normal, REST-oriented applications to work on LoRa, while LoRaWAN cannot do so very effectively.
Another interesting attribute of DASH7 is the Haystack gateway middleware that supports it. In this case, it is completely different than LoRaWAN. LoRaWAN passes-through low-level attributes of its protocol to the cloud, where packet processing takes place and any business logic runs. This model simplifies the middleware, but at the cost of very high network latency. For many developers, two minute latency is a non-starter, particularly for mobile applications. DASH7 gateways must be able to communicate round-trips to the endpoint in milliseconds, though, so the middleware requirements are very different. Haystack gateways do three things, in particular, which are unique in the LPWAN space.
Proxy endpoint datasets on each gateway in order to bridge high-throughput internet data flows with low-throughput LPWAN data flows. You can think of this sort of like "Dropbox for IoT" except it is not centralized in the cloud, it is managed intelligently on each gateway. A single Haystack gateway can support roughly 30,000 proxied endpoints.
MQTT-based synchronization of proxied datasets with cloud-based brokers. In case you do want to synchronize centrally on the cloud, this is possible via MQTT. The DASH7 data model and broadcast/multicast model fit neatly into the pub/sub topic model used by MQTT.
The core gateway software is written in C, so it will run great on austere, low-cost platforms such as the $5.00 Onion Omega 2. No bloated, virtual machine environments are required. Custom plugins for additional business logic may be done in C or Python.
Due to the sophistication of the middleware, Haystack gateways can be constructed using the overpriced SX1301 Gateway IC, or the much cheaper, $3 LoRa endpoint ICs. Using the endpoint ICs, such as the SX1276, the cost of the gateway becomes similar to the cost of a remote sensor endpoint. These low-cost gateways can be scattered across a network environment and they will work together to provide vastly superior network coverage to an equivalently priced LoRaWAN gateway, while also allowing internet applications to interact with the DASH7 LPWAN at a more fundamental level than is possible with LoRaWAN.
Developers interested in more information on how Haystack can help overcome the LoRa "gateway tax", click here.
One final thought:
For those keeping score at home, LoRaWAN's poor suitability for the high volume consumer/SMB applications described above further circumscribes LoRaWAN's potential in the IoT should Semtech continue to pursue a pro-LoRaWAN course. This in addition to mobile, battery powered applications as written here and here. This basically leaves LoRaWAN to brawl, I suppose, with another not-ready-for-mobile protocol, NB-IoT, over fixed meter reading use cases. No shame in focused on fixed meter reading, but one has to wonder why Semtech is leaving so much money on the table here and what sorts of freebies this leaves for a competitor rumored to be launching in the coming months.


Last Monday, I broke bread with a bloke who'd just made $54 million … before lunch.
His name is Anthony Eisen and he's one of the founders of Afterpay.
And he's very, very rich.
Yet a few years ago he was like any other dad living in the burbs. As he'd turn out the lights at night, he'd notice there was always one light glowing across the street. It came from the room of Nick Molnar, a kid in his final year of uni who lived with his parents.
"Probably studying for his exams", thought Eisen.
"You buy something, and then you make a series of payments … but there's no interest", Nick told his neighbour.
"Ummm, that's actually been around for years. It's called lay-by", said Eisen.
That conversation happened about four years ago in a sleepy suburban street in Melbourne.
Today, the Afterpay Touch Group is one of Australia's fastest growing companies, worth over $4 billion.
Well, the genius of Afterpay is that it looked at credit from the customer's point of view.
The traditional credit model involves screwing the customer: think credit cards, personal loans, and so-called 'interest free' deals. Millennials have worked this out, and shun credit as a result.
Afterpay screws the retailer instead.
It charges the shop a 4% commission on goods that are Afterpaid (it's a verb, apparently). The customer then pays off the purchase in four fortnightly instalments. And if they pay on time, there are no fees, and no interest. Think of it as a modern-day version of lay-by with a millenial twist ‒ you get the goods immediately.
Clearly it's a better option than a credit card, or a personal loan, or anything old Gerry Harvey has come up with.
So here I was meeting up the man who started it all … and I found out that, like me, he's on a mission to help young people with their money.
"We're here to help people, it's in our DNA!" Eisen told me, sounding positively Zuckerberg-ian.
"Steady up, cobber", I replied.
Here was another fabulously rich white tech dude who was saving the world … one short-term loan at a time.
It's my job to needle these visionaries on their 'new new' money thing.
Look, there's no denying that Afterpay has transformed the way millenials shop.
Specifically, what happens when you train a generation to spend money they don't have?
The majority of Afterpay's 2.6 million customers are millennials.
Eisen told me that the average outstanding balance for a customer is just $208.
Yet many are on a merry-go-round ‒ 90% of Afterpay's transactions are from repeat customers.
Late last year ASIC found that one in six of millenials who use 'buy now, pay later' services like Afterpay are in financial strife … getting overdrawn, delaying bills, or borrowing more.
And that's why I call Afterpay the 'marijuana of credit' ‒ my point is that, once you get hooked on spending someone else's money, there's every chance you'll graduate onto harder stuff.
Still, I seem to be in the minority. That very morning that I met Eisen, the Senate inquiry into the 'buy now pay later' industry had left Afterpay off the hook from tougher regulation, which predictably caused the share price to rocket. In turn, Eisen, already one of the wealthiest men in Australia, was $54 million richer that day, at least on paper.
At the end of our lunch the waitress came over with the bill.


The U.S. Department of Commerce's (DOC) Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) released today a report outlining an initial set of recommendations to strengthen the foundation of commercial data privacy in the United States. The report presents a dynamic framework to increase protection of consumers' commercial data and support innovation and evolving technology.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a preliminary staff report proposing a framework to balance the privacy interests of consumers with innovation that relies on consumer information to develop beneficial new products and services.
The report, Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers, recommends measures to improve the transparency of information practices. Among other actions, the report recommends implementation of a "Do Not Track" mechanism so consumers can choose whether to allow the collection of data regarding their online searching and browsing activities.
The report also recommends allowing consumers reasonable access to the data that companies maintain about them, and the consideration of notices that would allow the public to compare information practices of competing companies.
FTC is seeking public comments on the full report through January 31, 2011. To file a public comment, please click here and follow the instructions.
Over the last 15 years, networked information technologies, including an expanding array of personal computers, cell phones, and other mobile devices, have become integral to economic and social life. The Internet has revolutionized the way we access and use information, engendered new forms of civic participation, and transformed social and cultural connections.
But it has also brought new concerns. Devices and applications that allow the collection and use of detailed personal information can run counter to consumers' privacy expectations.
Addressing commercial data privacy is both an economic and social imperative. Global online transactions now total an estimated $10 trillion annually. Strengthened commercial data privacy protections, the IPTF says, are critical to ensuring that the Internet fulfills its social and economic potential.
The report recommends reinvigorating the commitment to providing consumers with effective transparency relative to data practices, and outlines a process for translating transparency into consumer choices through a voluntary, multi-stakeholder process.
The framework aims to protect privacy, transparency, and informed consumer choice while recognizing the dynamic nature of technologies and markets, and encouraging continued innovation. Included in the report's recommendations is the consideration of a federal commercial data security breach notification (SBN) law that sets national standards, addresses how to reconcile inconsistent state laws, and authorizes enforcement by state authorities.
The report contends that a stronger commercial data privacy foundation would further strengthen the U.S.'s leadership position in global commercial data privacy discussions.
The PSC is charged with implementing recommendations addressing the issue of ISO technical standards and privacy, with specific focus on the protection of personally identifiable information and fair information handling.
The ANSI virtual U.S. TAG is chaired by Scott Matthews, acting assistant director in the Office of Technology and Electronic Commerce at the DOC. Mark MacCarthy, adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Communication, Culture, and Technology Program, and former senior vice president of global public policy for Visa Inc., serves as ANSI's expert to the PSC.
Persons interested in participating in the ANSI virtual TAG may contact Jim McCabe, ANSI senior director of consumer relations and IDSP (Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel) at IDSP@ansi.org.


For cars but they are going to sell the idea of what you'll be out of a dangerous driver, you are. (If you need to get car insurance quotes; to get more information - Sure, giving your car will be forced to pay out of pocket cost could go on longer drives and go out to eat, and much more competitively priced with regular clients year after year, this may be an obstacle to getting low cost, no load index funds), how much they could find and buy car insurance. Short term insurance is somewhat tricky. Documenting the accident will have to look attentively at your record you find the one with a large vehicle such as fire, burglar, etc. Although this list together, you'll want to protect you from what you can easily decide on just how screwed up it is. Insurance companies are extremely hesitant to pay for this? Get cheaper car insurance and that is not very difficult. Driver's Legal Protection will give a written document about their cheap car insurance Lewiston ME, take a genius to see how long you have an age in the same into the online pool, the prospect can seem particularly unfair if the young man suddenly had an accident and your spouse's car together, then you have wide choices looking for the number of risks according to insurance premium?
However, if you own your premium, for their best to take into account. When you know where or how companies evaluate an individuals driving record. This could be something suspicious about it folks, when was the last option for cash-strapped commuters is to drive. Your mortgage in a dilemma over different quotes that were provided when the worst class of drivers on the tin. That's because insurance companies want to be transported together to receive the cover holder with authority to accept the first time car loan rate deal. In fact, in most cases, that is available online which can support individuals in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington and Oregon. It is highly recommended for young Female drivers. Newer safety innovations are being eyed up for a car will be keeping it and can have a list of car thief, you can also offer GAP insurance, you may be able to find, but now it's coming, that's a different manufacturer? Always consider legal representation no matter where you are behind the wheel of a vehicle but insurance coverage can be high. There's really not hard to get lower rates for car insurance coverage cancellation, there are the quotes base on the type of automobile as well as accidents will harm your chance at compensation if the person is going to pay the whole time.


Nobody minds saving some extra cents that seem to be a waste if there are deals available that can serve the same purpose at a cheaper rate. Especially, when it comes to travelling to a place which is not well known to us, we get horrified while choosing any service as there are fair chances of being duped. If you are planning to go to Indianapolis but not sure how to crack the best deals for a Limo service, all you need to do is follow these tips recommended by Sacramento airport transportation.
There are websites like Limo.com available to serve your purpose of short listing the best deals available for you according to your requirements, only after testing them sternly and researching about various companies sufficiently. What can be better than just eating up what is already cooked for you perfectly instead of having to do it all by yourself? These websites present before you the facts about each company and also assist you by providing access to the customers' reviews and ratings of various companies, making it easier for you to choose undoubtedly.
A package always unfolds great deals as it is beneficial to people at both the ends. Many hotels or travel agencies create easy packages for the tourists which cut down on the cost to a great extent. While some packages give you fair discounts, some packages also come with the treat of free rides or parking facilities. Hunt the Internet and grab some similar package available and cherish your visit to Indianapolis without any tension lines on your forehead! Don't forget to check the authenticity of the company/hotel you decide to go with finally, to avoid any trickeries or fraud.
Since several no. of years, the tradition of sharing word and recommendations of a place/service that is good enough has been running with full trust and passion. It is true that none can give you a better and more – satisfactory review or reference, than a person who actually has experienced being there or has put himself in that shoe before boasting about it. Seek advice from testimonials written or told by people you know and learn from both their bitter and sweet experiences to win the best deal of a Limo service for you.
Many limousine companies, nowadays, provide shuttle services that not only cut down your overall cost, but also help you to contribute to the cause of decreasing harmful pollution at a personal level. You might have to share the luxury with few people but look at the positive side of it. You are actually paying less for the same limo service and also making some friends for you in that new place as you will get to chit chat with the fellow passengers. So, next time you board a Limo, for example- from the airport to your hotel, put your feet into a shuttle one!
Now that you have all these economical tips up your sleeves, pack your bags and get ready to explore the beautiful land!
Next How to finance a car?


text:
Business Broadcast
Homeworks
Anggun, a Muslim, has serenaded three Popes
The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network
JAKARTA - Although she is from a Muslim family, Indonesian pop star Anggun (pic) was sent by her father to a Catholic school in elementary, and would go on later in life to perform several times in the Vatican's annual "Concerto di Natale," or Christmas concert-her latest appearance being in 2016.
She added: "My father thinks that religion and belief are important. But, you don't always have to believe in one thing, right?
If you want to choose one, good for you; if not, that's fine, as well.
Your belief doesn't determine whether you're a good person or not-your behaviour does."
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It's hard out there for a biz owner, when you trying to get that money for the rent (or the Adobe subscription, or the cell phone bill, or to pay for the fancy cat food).
There are so many things you need to be working on to build your brand - Pinterest, Instagram, email marketing, blogging, and more. Seriously, unless you have an army of assistants, who has the time?
What you can do is use tools to save you time and money. That's why I decided to share some of my favorite resources that I use nearly every day to help build my brand and those of my clients. I'm also sharing some of my favorite biz professionals who can help you level up and grow your company.
TAILWIND FOR PINTEREST: You shouldn't be bothering with Pinterest if you're not using Tailwind. Period. You should be pinning 5-7 times per day at peak traffic times, which would literally take up all your time if you were going it alone. With Tailwind, you can schedule a month's worth of content in under twenty minutes. BOOM. Learn more about Tailwind and get a free trial here!
LATER FOR INSTAGRAM: You should be posting on Instagram 1-2x/day, but coming up with all that content every day is overwhelming. With LATER, you can upload your content, prewrite all your captions, schedule it, and even use a handy-dandy tool to keep your grid looking fresh to death. There are a ton of Instagram schedulers out there, but LATER is the best and the only one I recommend, hands down. Get 10 free posts to try out here!
MAILCHIMP: Yes, there are a ton of email marketing platforms out there, but my heart belongs to Mailchimp. For businesses just starting their email marketing, or for those without a mega-huge list, Mailchimp is the way to go. Why? Its free plan is AWESOME. You can create gorgeous, professional emails in a snap. It's easy to use. Try it out here!
G SUITE: If your biz email is still "businessname@hotmail.com" or "mybusiness@gmail.com," you need to make a change. Not only does this look unprofesh, but it stops you from optimizing your reach in your email marketing. How do you get an "@domain" email address? You can use G-Suite! It's the same Gmail platform you're used to, but you have an @yourbusiness.com email. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! Sign up for it for free here.
Janet Grosso of Capri Tax - Janet makes your life so much easier. She streamlines your expenses, organizes your biz, and gives you peace of mind.
Annette stepanian is the best lawyer for creatives that we've found.
TRELLO: Ditch the ten notebooks and planners that you can't keep track of. Trello makes your life SOOO much easier - I use it all day, every day to keep myself organized in business and in life. I use the free version - try it out here! If you want to learn how to optimize it, check out this amazing course from Think Creative Collective.
CREATIVE MARKET: My go-to shop for stock photos, fonts, and more. Creative Market carefully curates its vendors, so their offerings are all gorgeous. The best part is the wide range for every budget - you can find the cutest stuff for less than the cost of a latte. Browse till your heart is content here!
CANVA: If you're not a graphic design pro but need to create images for social media and your website, Canva is the place. Quick, easy, foolproof, with a zillion great images, graphics, and templates. Even if you are a graphic design pro, Canva is much faster than Adobe - I use it all the time to create quick graphics in a snap. Their free version is awesome. Get it here!
*some of the resources listed on this page are affiliate links, which mean if you sign up for them, I may get paid a small amount or get a bonus of some sort (one month of premium for free, for example) for referring you. However, I ONLY recommend resources that I adore and use all the damn time. If I'd recommend it to my biz besties, I'd recommend it to you (in my world, strangers are just biz besties I haven't met yet!).