I am so happy.

Today was awesome.

Who will save book publishing?

What will save the newspapers?

What means 'save'?

If by save you mean, "what will keep things just as they are?" then the answer is nothing will. It's over.

If by save you mean, "who will keep the jobs of the pressmen and the delivery guys and the squadrons of accountants and box makers and transshippers and bookstore buyers and assistant editors and coffee boys," then the answer is still nothing will. Not the Kindle, not the iPad, not an act of Congress.

We need to get past this idea of saving, because the status quo is leaving the building, and quickly. Not just in print of course, but in your industry too.

If you want to know who will save the joy of reading something funny, or the leverage of acting on fresh news or the importance of allowing yourself to be changed by something in a book, then don't worry. It doesn't need saving. In fact, this is the moment when we can figure out how to increase those benefits by a factor of ten, precisely because we don't have to spend a lot of resources on the saving part.

Every revolution destroys the average middle first and most savagely.

Absolutely brilliant

Tell me where did they lay you down

Tell me where did they lay you down?

Two graves in Mississippi, and nobody knows,

 Tell me where did they lay you down?

- “Robert Johnson’s Tombstone, by Thunder

 

On our way from Clarksdale to Jackson, we went in search of the final resting place of perhaps the most legendary, and certainly the most mysterious of all the Delta bluesmen.  There were three sites of interest, though one is simply a memorial stone commemorating his life and work, and though it rests in a churchyard, it has never laid claim to being his final resting place.

Between the other two, however, there is some contention. We set off from the Crossroads memorial (where else?) and made our way down Highway 49 south to Greenwood. Outside of the town, on Money Road, there stands Little Zion Church.  At the Roadside there is a blues trail marker. The unassuming little wooden church has a graveyard to the left, and there towards the back under a tree was Robert Johnson’s Grave.

There was a small collection of ‘tribute’ surrounding the headstone, from beer bottles and whisky bottles (toasts, no doubt, drunk to his memory) to CD’s and guitar picks. We added our own, one of Miki’s leaflets and a photo of Christie.

Our next stop was Payne Chapel in Quito to the West. It was originally thought Johnson was buried here due to its proximity to the Juke joint behind Three Forks store where he was allegedly poisoned.  There is a small marker in the graveyard there, and we were quickly welcomed by the guy ‘in charge’ of the graveyard who managed to finagle a couple of dollars out of us towards graveyard upkeep. Nice one!  In a curious coincidence, his brother is the Pastor at Little Zion church. Looks like a family business…..

Our third and final stop on the Robert Johnson trail was the marker erected in recognition of Robert Johnson’s legacy by the people of Mississippi. It takes the form of a small obelisk, situated in the graveyard  of the Zion Church north of Morgan City, and is notable in that it lists every one of his recorded songs on one of its faces.

 

                                                                               Hounded by Papparazzi – Even in Death

Our pilgrimage complete, we began to make our way south to Jackson, State capital of Mississippi.  I pondered on what we had seen. I believe, as do the majority, that he is buried in Little Zion Churchyard, and there were wintnesses who said they saw him being placed beneath the tree.  Once again, as with Elvis, I had such a deep emotion sat by that simple grave.  There is an inscription on the Little Zion headstone that says everything -

 

“He influenced millions beyond his time.” 

This was the closest I’d come to touching the blues.

Kev Moore

What a fantastic post, recommended for all who love the blues.

Harmony Church 1st Anniversary weekend

19-22 February 2010

Harmony Church started February 15th 2009.

To celebrate our first year we are holding a series of events over the anniversary weekend.

Friday February 19th 7.30pm - Hannah Donald (http://www.hannahdonald.com) Stephen James and Rock Band Grace Falls in Concert. (http://www.amplifier.co.nz/artist/34564/grace-falls.html?full=1)

Saturday February 20th  1-4pm Worship seminar with Bob Fitts.  7.30pm Concert with Bob Fitts. (http://www.bobfitts.com/)

Harmony%20Church%20lores.mov

Monday February 22nd 2-5pm Healing seminar with Joaquin Evans from Bethel Church, Redding.  7.00pm Healing meeting with Joaquin Evans.

More details to follow.  Mark this weekend in your diary and plan on being there!

Book fast, places are limited.

This manual, as the title suggests, is about how to protect children
from sexual violence and sexual
exploitation, specifically in disaster
and emergency situations. It is not
intended to be an academic report
but instead is a practical guide that we
hope will be of use to people working
directly in the field. The aim is to
provide fundamental information
to assist personnel working in
emergency situations in responding
to protect children, in terms of what can be done before disaster strikes
(which might be called ‘mitigation’ efforts), in the immediate aftermath
(the ‘response’) and in the longer term reconstruction phase (sometimes
called the ‘recovery’). Also included are recommended actions and
key considerations to be taken into account in the event of sexual
violence or sexual exploitation.

According to figures of the US Chamber of Commerce statistics an estimated 75% of all employees steal from their employer, costing billions per year. The FBI claims that employee theft is the fastest growing crime. A large number of business failures can be traced back to employee theft and fraud. And be aware employees may not just be stealing property but also time or information assets.

Why Employees Steal

What is probably more important is the reasons why employees steal.

“Because they need the money, because of job insecurity, out of greed, duhh”

All those reasons may be there but the simple fact is that most employees steal because the opportunity to do so is there and at the same time there often is little fear of being caught or discovered. While opportunity is most important, there may be other relevant factors. Low morale can lead employees not only to steal, but can also lower productivity. Feelings of being wronged or mistreated may ust offer that rationalization when the opportunity presents itself. The same applies to feelings of under-appreciation.
Lack of punitive measures in place or there is a lack of preventative and detection measures including but not limited to appropriate policies and procedures and control measures are similarly factors that could lead to an increased risk of employee theft and fraud.

10-80-10

There is this sort of golden rule that 10 percent of the employees will not steal no matter what the opportunity, 10% will steal in any event and for 80% it depends on the circumstances and the nature of the opportunity, including but not limited to chances of getting caught and potential consequences.You challenge as a business owner/manager/director: make sure that opportunities and possibilities to rationalize the actions are kept to a minimum.

Address Opportunity

It is noted that no system will ever be completely 100% fail safe. Where motivation is high people will ind a way. Opportunity essentially boils down to: procedures, employee autonomy and perception. Procedures should provide checks and balances with inventory, cash, time and expense records, and the list goes on so as to minimize or eliminate the opportunity for an employee to circumvent controls. Implement extra layers and let your employees know about them.

When employees have a high level of autonomy, consistent oversight is a must. The employee who works with little or no supervision has incredible opportunity for theft and random checks and redundant monitoring systems limit opportunity.

The more employees believe they will be caught, the less likely they are to steal. This perception is vital. You can promote this perception through effective training. Communicate an anti-theft message clearly to all hires early and often and tell your employees what is expected from them. Let them know what theft is – not only outright stealing, but also things such as taking a long lunch break without approval, using sick leave when not sick, doing slow or sloppy work, or coming to work late or leaving early. Ensure they understand their roles, responsibilities and are not having problems. Finally, train ALL your employees to recognize theft – this can reduce opportunity.

When Theft Takes Place

When employee theft is discovered emotion driven reactions are often there: DO NOT react on the basis of your emotions. Sure, you feel violated but remember  this is a business problem and addressing it in that frame of mind will produce a faster resolution and help prevent more theft.Don’t. Not only can your emotions cause more problems, but also you could potentially open yourself up to other liabilities. Remember that employment law is a minefield and a personal grievance is the last of what you want.

Furthermore learn from your incidents!

Facts, Facts, Facts: Investigate

If you have legitimate suspicions, you should conduct an investigation. Legitimacy is based in the facts, evidence and not from rumors, gossip and hunches. Investigations need to be impartial and facts based. Consider us instead of doing it yourself as professionals like ourselves have the required professional and emotional distance. Moreover in nowadays IT driven business environment it is all to easy to make mistakes, and the same applies to interviewing potential witnesses. Do not accuse before an investigation is complete and even then, be very cautious. The word “theft” implies an intent to steal and employers who throw around the term can get into trouble.

Whenever you do find evidence of employee theft, start an investigation immediately. The longer you wait, the more theft can occur, evidence could be corrupted and the more other employees see the damage being done. Prompt investigations send the message that theft is not tolerated and that you are watching. Most of all: be honest with your employees and they will usually reciprocate. It’s hard to expect your employees to be honest if you aren’t honest. The example you set yourself goes a long way.

How Am I Doing?

You may want to know by now how you are doing, what opportunities there are in your business and what to do about it.why don’t you contact us and see what we can do for you.

For anywhere between $250 and $1500 (for most businesses. Depending on the size and nature of the business and operations) you could opt for a RISK ASSESSMENT to identify where you weak spots are.
You could consider going a step further let Dierckx & Associates help you closing the gaps, evaluate your suspicions or investigate incidents and train up your staff members so they learn to recognize the signs.

I look forward to hearing from you and see how our integrity management services may serve your business. There is nothing to lose as the first telephone, skype, email consultation (up to two and a half hours) is free. So don’t wait and contact us now.

I don’t really think it’s unreasonable that a lot of photographers out there aren’t entirely savvy about all aspects of technology. Take me for instance: I can barely figure out all that @soandso and #britneyspears. If you use Twitter, you’ll know what I mean. If not, then you’re lost with me.

So here I am writing a painfully simple introduction to preparing your images for viewing on the internet and the 4 top ways I accomplish this.

Why do anything to your photos before uploading them to your blog? File size is a big reason. Full-sized images can be 4,000 pixels wide (their eyeball will take up your screen at that size) and uploading it will take dog’s years, use up precious space on your account and when viewers view it, it won’t pop up instantly on their screen. It will take a few seconds to download. So that’s reason one. Reason two is that if someone was so inclined to swipe your image, they could steal it at the original size and do pretty much whatever they want. Not a huge likelihood, but lots of people are concerned about that sort of thing.

A treatment you can add to your images is sharpening for the screen to enhance the look of your image on a computer screen. Not to be used for printing, but very useful for Facebook (FB sucks by the way – they take resolution down to a detestable bare minimum).

Here are four ways I prepare my images for the internet depending on my mood

A very nice an helpful article, at least for me, but then again I am only a beginner at all this.

To celebrate the arrival of 2010 and a whole new decade I thought I’d take a quick look back on the year that was here at DPS and share a list of the most visited tutorials and image collections on the site in the last 365 days. Enjoy!