The Impact of Religion Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy ...

An interdisciplinary conference at Uppsala University

Uppsala, Sweden, 20-22 May 2013

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This conference offers a forum for sharing recent research on the role of religion in both the public and the private sphere ? locally, nationally and internationally. Its design reflects the work of its host: a multi-disciplinary research programme at Uppsala University known as the Impact of Religion: Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy. This programme pays particular attention to the links between religion, law and wider social developments. For example, extensive migration has brought new forms of religion to European societies (including the Nordic countries) for many different reasons; their presence raises new issues for lawyers, healthcare workers and other service providers. At the same time, European populations live longer; their families reconstitute themselves in new ways; the workplace changes in nature; and the explorations of science render commonplace what was unthinkable one or two generations earlier. All these shifts interact with the changing nature of religion to make new demands on our understandings of democracy, law, family life, healthcare, well-being, welfare and science itself. Why, for instance, does legal pluralism appear to challenge the democratic order considerably more than its cultural equivalents? And how can we understand better the role of religious agents in a modern liberal democracy???

Religion, it is clear, has become a crucial research area in a wide variety of academic disciplines. The Uppsala conference provides an opportunity to disseminate, share and obtain results within this expanding field. We expect contributions from lawyers, human rights experts, social scientists, specialists in social policy, health and welfare, philosophers and scientists as well as those engaged directly in theology and religious studies. We are particularly interested in how religion (in all its diversity) influences different sectors of society and how they in turn influence religion.???

Among the plenary speakers are:

Katarina Boele Woelki, Netherlands?????????????????????????? Effie Fokas, Greece

Grace Davie, UK????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Ayelet Shachar, Canada

Yilmaz Esmer, Turkey????????????????????????????????????????????????? Linda Woodhead, UK

Call for papers

Submissions are invited on the following themes, which ? broadly speaking ? mirror the Impact programme. Further sub-themes will be developed as the submitted papers arrive; these will be displayed on the conference website. Papers on comparative research are particularly welcome.? Theoretical, methodological and substantive issues will be given equal weight. The conference language is English.

A variety of formats are envisaged:? plenary sessions, paper sessions, roundtables, academic exchanges and policy debates. Please indicate your preference when you submit your abstract. Pre-organised sessions are welcome.

  • Religious and social change ? including the role of the media in these shifts
  • Integration, democracy and political culture
  • Families, law and society
  • Well-being and health
  • Welfare models ? their organization and values
  • Science and religion

Deadline for the submission of abstracts (max 200 words): 30th November 2012

The conference is hosted by The Impact of Religion programme and Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre at Uppsala University.

Up to date information on the programme, registration, abstract format, venue etc. is available at: www.impactofreligion.uu.se, where you also find more details about The Impact of Religion programme itself.

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Source: http://www.isa-rc22.org/blog/?p=393

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Smart as a bird: Flying rescue robot will autonomously avoid obstacles

ScienceDaily (Oct. 30, 2012) ? Cornell researchers have created an autonomous flying robot that is as smart as a bird when it comes to maneuvering around obstacles.

Able to guide itself through forests, tunnels or damaged buildings, the machine could have tremendous value in search-and-rescue operations. Small flying machines are already common, and GPS technology provides guidance. Now, Ashutosh Saxena, assistant professor of computer science, and his team are tackling the hard part: how to keep the vehicle from slamming into walls and tree branches. Human controllers can't always react swiftly enough, and radio signals may not reach everywhere the robot goes.

The test vehicle is a quadrotor, a commercially available flying machine about the size of a card table with four helicopter rotors. Saxena and his team have already programmed quadrotors to navigate hallways and stairwells using 3-D cameras. But in the wild, these cameras aren't accurate enough at large distances to plan a route around obstacles. So, Saxena is building on methods he previously developed to turn a flat video camera image into a 3-D model of the environment using such cues as converging straight lines, the apparent size of familiar objects and what objects are in front of or behind each other -- the same cues humans unconsciously use to supplement their stereoscopic vision.

Graduate students Ian Lenz and Mevlana Gemici trained the robot with 3-D pictures of such obstacles as tree branches, poles, fences and buildings; the robot's computer learns the characteristics all the images have in common, such as color, shape, texture and context -- a branch, for example, is attached to a tree. The resulting set of rules for deciding what is an obstacle is burned into a chip before the robot flies. In flight the robot breaks the current 3-D image of its environment into small chunks based on obvious boundaries, decides which ones are obstacles and computes a path through them as close as possible to the route it has been told to follow, constantly making adjustments as the view changes. It was tested in 53 autonomous flights in obstacle-rich environments -- including Cornell's Arts Quad -- succeeding in 51 cases, failing twice because of winds. The results were presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Portugal Oct. 7-12.

Saxena plans to improve the robot's ability to respond to environment variations such as winds, and enable it to detect and avoid moving objects, like real birds; for testing purposes, he suggests having people throw tennis balls at the flying vehicle.

The project is supported by a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cornell University. The original article was written by Bill Steele.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/SBxanr6uZfw/121030173047.htm

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15 Email Marketing Lessons for Small Businesses from FutureM 2012

If you?ve been keeping up with our coverage of this year?s FutureM Conference?you know we?ve been looking at things through a bit of a ?smaller? lens than some other companies.

Not smaller in terms of insight or innovation, but smaller in terms of the type of businesses we have in mind when looking toward the future of marketing.

We can?t help it! We?re passionate about small businesses.

And, as you might have guessed, we?re also passionate about email marketing.

So, looking back at all of the great information that was shared at the conference this past week?

Here are 15 lessons about the future of email marketing small businesses can use to propel their business forward:

1. ?It?s not about the mic.? Chris Brogan ? President, Human Business Works

The reality is?whatever tool you use to communicate with your audience?it?s the way in which you use it that matters most.

Don?t think you need to be using every tool or network available.

You don?t. Focus on the tools that allow you to best engage current customers, connect with new ones, and build the type of relationships that can help grow your business.

2. ?We need to strive to address the deeper needs of our customers.? Clark Kokich ? Chairman, Razorfish

Small businesses need to continue to dive deeper into understanding the needs of their customers. Consumers are more informed than ever before and as a result, have begun to set higher standards for the content they receive from brands.

Nothing is more powerful for building loyalty than being able to help a customer overcome a challenge or achieve a goal. You should strive to do that with every email you send.?

3. ?Offline interactions continue to be the biggest driver for referrals.??Dave Gilbertson ? Vice President and General Manager, SaveLocal, Constant Contact

One of the biggest misconceptions about all of the stuff businesses are doing online (email, social, mobile, etc.) is that it has replaced offline interactions.

It?s just not true. Offline interactions are still a driving force behind the type of word-of-mouth that is essential to growing your business. And that?s why it?s so important to make sure those offline interactions don?t end when someone walks out the door.

Make it easy for customers to join your list by using an email signup sheet. Or consider using text-to-join or scan-to-join from Constant Contact?two tools that will simplify your signup process.

4. ?If you don?t know what you?re trying to accomplish, how can you ever measure success?? Corinne J. Munchbach ? Analyst, Forrester Research

Far too many businesses overlook one of the most basic steps of planning email marketing: setting achievable goals.

Understanding what it is you?re actually trying to achieve from all the stuff you?re doing online, is the only way to drive real results for your business offline. When it comes to email marketing, higher open-rates and more clicks are great, but what are they actually doing for your business?

Define your goals and create content that helps lead your readers to the type of action that will allow you to achieve it. Don?t forget to make that action clear to your readers and to make it easy for them to take the next step.

5. ?Humanize your marketing whenever you can.? Marty St. George ? Senior Vice President, Marketing and Commercial Strategy, JetBlue Airways

With all this technology?it?s easy for people to forget that behind every email newsletter, Facebook post, or Instagram photo is a real business, and more importantly?a real person.

There is no business that?s more real than a small business, and more often than not?it?s the person that?s writing the content for an email newsletter (hey, that?s you!) that has to pay the bills each month.

Use photos and videos to showcase the ?human side? of your business, and create content that connects your personal experiences to those of your customers.

6. ?Arm your advocates with the highest level of knowledge.? Stacey Howe ? Global Digital Marketing and Brand Management, New Balance

People who subscribe to your email contact list are among the most knowledgeable, loyal, and vocal members of your customer base. These are people who know your business, have requested to learn more, and want to be given the highest level of information possible.

Keep that in mind when creating your next email newsletter. What is it you want readers to be telling your friends and families? How can that word-of-mouth help you to achieve your next goal? How can you reward them for their loyalty.

Make sure you?re answering all of their questions and provide them with links to other online resources (website, blog, social media, etc.)

7. ?Ground yourself in relationships. Make them your North Star.? Corinne J. Munchbach ? Analyst, Forrester Research

Plain and simple?customer relationships will define the future of marketing, just as they have defined its past.

While email, social, and mobile have had a profound impact on the way brands grow their business; they do not define who you are and what your business represents. Instead, they present an opportunity to reground yourself and your brand in the relationships you have with customers, and use that to inform your marketing decision making.

8. ?You can?t ask for something from your customers, unless you plan to act on it.? Stacey Howe ? Global Digital Marketing and Brand Management, New Balance

Few things can ruin a good first impression like asking someone to join your mailing list, having them give you their contact information, and then ? nothing.

People expect that if you?re asking them to join your list, or become a member of your social community that you?re actually going to engage with them on those platforms. Failing to follow through on those promises will set a low standard for future interactions and will likely make first-time customers weary of turning into repeat ones.

Don?t ask until you?re ready to act, and remember: never commit to something you?re not entirely sure you?ll be able to follow through with.

9. ?It?s not the third screen or second screen??it?s the first screen. It?s one of the few things we walk around with all day.? John Caron ? Vice President of Marketing, Catalina

The influence of mobile is being felt across all marketing channels?whether it?s on social media, in your email newsletter, or on your website.

Your subscribers are no longer static when reading your email newsletter. They are on the go: at home, at work, and even at your place of business. As email marketers, we need to begin to rethink the type of content customers will be most likely to engage with on a smartphone or tablet screen that?s less than a quarter of the size of a typical monitor.

Expect mobile to have a profound impact on all your marketing efforts, here?s eight things you need to be aware of.?

10. ?Customer?s don?t care about our products, they care about what products enable them to do.? Stacey Howe ? Global Digital Marketing and Brand Management, New Balance

The first question any customer is going to ask when receiving an email from your business: ?What?s in it for me??

It?s something we all do?whether conscious of it or not?and it?s exactly the question you?ll have to answer when your email arrives in their inbox.

If all you?re offering in your email newsletter is information about what you?re trying to sell or promote, with no consideration for why its important to your readers?it?s likely you?ll be talking to a rather unresponsive crowd. Think of why people become customers in the first place. What is it your business can do for them that other businesses cannot?

Or as Marty St. George, Vice President of Marketing and Commerical Strategy for JetBlue put it, ?If our competitors could slap their logo on it and no one could tell the difference?we?re not interested.?

11. ?The strongest relationships are built upon shared beliefs.? Jeff Freedman ? CEO, Small Army ? FutureM

In addition to doing business with organizations we think can help us achieve our goals, most people do business with businesses in which they share a common interest or belief.

In fact, 71% of consumers would recommend a brand that supports a good cause over one that doesn?t, and 72% would switch brands to a different one if they supported a good cause.

Think of the causes you already support, and give your customers an opportunity to get involved.

12. ?It?s not always about new customers. Engage with customers you already know and drive repeat business.? Gail Goodman ? CEO, Constant Contact ? FutureM

Don?t let the hunger for new customers distract you from the value of engaging with your current customers.

While new customers will be essential for growing your business, it?s those whom are already receiving your emails, engaging with you on Facebook, and visiting your place of business that will have the biggest impact on your bottom line.

Remember: customer experiences are what drive loyalty, which will drive repeat sales and word-of-mouth.

13. ?We ignore 98% of the products when we walk into a grocery store.? John Caron ? Vice President of Marketing, Catalina

One thing you need to remember about your customers is that, more often than not, they know what they want.

As consumers, we love to find new businesses and tap into the explorative side of our personalities?but we also have certain interests and tastes that guide our purchasing decisions.

That?s why it?s so important to ask customers what type of content they?re most interested in at the point of sign up. Use a customizable signup form that let?s users automatically segment into interest-specific lists and consider sending an online survey to see if those preferences are still relevant.

14. ?Gamification doesn?t have to only be about playing. It can also be about getting people to the next level of performance.? Gail Goodman ? CEO, Constant Contact ? FutureM

Gamification is a concept that is having a growing influence in the world of marketing. At its most basic level, gamification means taking characteristics of gaming (competition, rewards, challenges, etc.) and applying them to an online strategy.

Gamifcation can and should have a role on that way that small businesses use the power of email marketing. This doesn?t mean every new email needs to provide a new challenge for readers to overcome?but it does mean that each newsletter should provide readers with a new opportunity to do something new, do something better, or do something they never thought possible.

Or as Stacey Howe said, ?Nothing is more social than a successful experience.?

Create content that helps your readers achieve those positive experiences and celebrate their success each step of the way.

15. ?Consumers today, expect to be rewarded for their loyalty.? Josh Grossman ? Director of Marketing, SavingStar ? FutureM

At the end of the day, those costumers who are so important to your business, expect and deserve to be rewarded for their loyalty.

That doesn?t mean you need to throw a party every time someone joins your list, but it does mean you should be providing exclusive offers to those who sign up. That offer could be something as simple as exclusive content (A secret recipe that?s just for our readers!), a local deal ($10 for $20 gift certificate), or a coupon (10% off your next purchase) that customers can redeem at your place of business.

Rewarding your readers for their loyalty?and I promise?they will reward you back.

The best way to predict the future is to create it

One of the last lessons of FutureM was a quote delivered on the last day of the event:

?The best way to predict the future is to create it.?

I can?t think of a more relevant quote for those businesses learning, starting, or actively using email marketing to grow their business, than that.

Small businesses have gone through a lot of change over the last few years and have unquestionably come out on top. You have led the charge in email and on social, and will likely be central to defining the future of marketing.

All you need to do is go out and create it.

Did you miss any of our posts from FutureM 2012? Read them all here.

Source: http://blogs.constantcontact.com/product-blogs/email-marketing/futurem-small-business/

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Police search for Chinese-food eating Pa. burglar

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-search-chinese-food-eating-pa-burglar-125243248.html

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Bobby Brown charged with DUI counts

Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images

By Josh Grossberg, E! Online

Call it the prosecutor's prerogative.?The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has officially charged Bobby Brown with multiple DUI counts stemming from his arrest Wednesday for drunken driving.?

The 43-year-old New Jack Swinger was pulled over for driving erratically around 1 a.m. in Tarzana, Calif. Brown was driving without his court-mandated dashboard Breathalyzer, according to city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan.?

According to the first count against him, Brown was driving under the influence with a prior conviction and refused to take a chemical test when he was collared.?

Bobby Brown's latest hit: Another DUI hit

The refusal allegation carries a mandatory, minimum two-day stay in the slammer, while driving with a prior conviction carries a four-day jail term.?

Not only that, but the R&B star also was driving on a restricted license and ignored a court order to only drive vehicles that have alcohol-monitoring ignition interlock devices, which requires him to take a breath test before he can start the engine.?

The second and third counts carry a maximum of six months each in the slammer and up to $5,000 in fines.

An attorney for the singer, who's out on $25,000 bail, was not available for comment.

Bobby Brown busted for drinking and driving

This is Brown's second DUI bust this year. He was popped back in March in the San Fernando Valley and ended up pleading no contest and receiving three years' probation, after which he completed a stint in rehab.?

Bobby Brown's not the only celeb in trouble with the law

An arraignment on the new DUI charges is scheduled for Nov. 16, and if a judge finds that the New Edition crooner violated his probation, he could receive six months in the pokey and a $610 fine for that as well.?

Of course, if Brown heads back to rehab, it's possible he could get a reprieve.?

Related content:?

Also in TODAY Entertainment:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/10/26/14720955-bobby-brown-charged-with-multiple-counts-of-dui?lite

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Marissa Mayer Makes Her First Acquisition in ... - Business Insider

Twitter/@Marissamayer

"Got to visit our new acquisition, Stamped, this morning - happy to be reunited with Robby (rmstein) and his team," Mayer posted on Instagram.

Update: Stamped has written a blog post about its acquisition. We've updated the article with information from the founders' post.

Stamped, a mobile app founded by two ex-Googlers, has been acquired by Yahoo.

It's Marissa Mayer's first acquisition (and one of Justin Bieber's first successful outcomes as a startup investor*), and it's no coincidence that Yahoo's CEO and Stamped share Google ties.

Stamped's CEO, Robby Stein, used to work for Mayer at Google where he was a product manager.? He also worked?

The buyout fits every hint Mayer has dropped about her acquisition plans:

  • She's bringing talent
  • She's bringing in mobile developers and engineers (Stamped has about 10 employees)
  • She's investing in a relatively cheap social startup that she and Yahoo can try and grow into a much bigger business.
  • The acquisition was in the right price range. While we don't know the exact amount, a source tells us it was "a nice size" but nothing wild.

Stamped launched one year ago as a mobile review app for places and things curated by friends.

This summer, the app was completely revamped, and Stamped brought on a list of all-star investors including Ryan Seacrest, Justin Bieber, Ellen DeGeneres and The New York Times. It has raised $3 million to date.

Although Stamped's app will be wound down, the acqui-hire is still a great win for New York tech. Mayer plans to use Stein's team to help build out something more robust for Yahoo on the east coast.?

"The Stamped team will be creating a brand new product and engineering office for Yahoo in NYC?s Bryant Park," the founders have written on their site. "After everything we learned from building Stamped, we?re excited to start work again on something big, mobile, and new -- but we can?t discuss the details just yet. And we?re really stoked to be able to hire lots of talented engineers and designers for this new project."

The acquisition is also a very Google-centered move on Mayer's part. Mayer is an ex-Googler; Stein's an ex-Googler. Google Ventures and Metamorphic Ventures (comprised of ex-Googlers) were two of Stamped's investors.

"As a team of mostly former Googlers, we?ve all worked with and are big fans of Marissa," the founders wrote.

"At the end of the day great teams win, we are excited to watch Robby and Bart help NYC and build out the next phase of Yahoo," Metamorphic's David Hirsch says.?

Back in August, we interviewed Stein about his thoughts on his former boss becoming the CEO of Yahoo (and what it's like to work for her).

Here's what he had to say:

?

<div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div>

*We originally wrote it was Justin Bieber's and Scooter Braun's first startup exit, but the team has had other exits as well.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-mayer-makes-her-first-acquisition-and-its-one-of-her-former-colleagues-2012-10

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Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookie Recipe from Tv Food And Drink ...

Thin Mints are now relics of your past. THIS is the cookie recipe girl scouts will kill to keep out of your hands!

Forget what The Bossa Nova favorite, ?Once I Loved? tells you. ?I am here to testify that love is in fact not the saddest thing when it goes away. ?A plate of these chocolate mint sandwiches disappearing is far far worse. ?It?s enough to send me to the bottom of the swimming pool in my apartment courtyard, sucking my thumb and desperately holding on to a lead teddy bear.

Think ?chocolate covered mint Oreos? and you?re pretty much on board.

Here is that phenomenal cookie that will keep you up at night, as it quietly calls your name from that easily infiltrated plastic dessert container on your kitchen counter. ?You know? the one you have every intention of taking with you to work the next day because you truly mean to share these sinfully rich cookies ? gooey on the outside, crispy on the inside, and a rich chocolaty peppermint center ? with your co-workers.

But really, is that actually going to happen? ?What have your lousy co-workers really done for you? ?A sheet cake with your name misspelled for your birthday and a Darth Vader Get Well card when you were sick (?I sense a disturbance in the force!?).

Fuck ?em.

Share these with nobody. ?And I guarantee that at least one of these cookies you end up eating while your pajamas are on.

Leftover chocolate peppermint ganache makes a great mid-day treat. Just ask my sister!

Chocolate Mint Sandwiches from Martha Stewart

**A Note from Gary: These cookies are well-worth the little bit of extra effort involved, but this recipe yields only 18-20 cookies. ?Also remember that they are very, very rich. ?Only piggy people like myself and my sister will really want more than one or two. ?Keep that in mind.

For The Cookie

  • 1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • Confectioners? sugar, for work surface

For The Ganache

  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

For The Glaze

  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped

Make cookies: Whisk together cocoa powder and flour in a bowl. Put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg until well blended. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour (or overnight).


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer dough to a work surface lightly dusted with confectioners? sugar. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out cookies using a 2-inch round cookie cutter (take your time? the dough is a little sticky and breaks apart easily); space 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining scraps of dough. Bake cookies until firm, rotating sheets halfway through, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

While cookies are in the oven, make ganache: Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chocolate. Cook, stirring constantly until chocolate is smooth. Stir in peppermint extract. Let cool slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.

Spoon 1 teaspoon ganache onto the bottom of 1 cookie; sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and ganache. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.
Make glaze: Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring constantly. Let cool slightly. Dip one flat side of each sandwich into melted chocolate to coat; gently shake off excess. Place sandwiches, chocolate sides up, on wire racks set over baking sheets. Refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes.

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Posted in Cookie Season and Desserts and Homemade 16 hours, 58 minutes ago at 9:47 am. 3 comments

Source: http://tvfoodanddrink.com/2012/10/season-cookie-chocolate-mint-sandwiches/

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Imgur, Now With 1.2B Daily Image Views, Adds New Gallery, Sorting, Reputation Tracking To Its Buzzy Image-Sharing Service

imgurlogoToday, the popular image-sharing platform Imgur is announcing a significant change to its user experience in hopes of increasing the viral potential of its images. In what founder and CEO Alan Schaaf calls "the biggest update" made since launching the site in February 2009, Imgur's users can now upload their photos directly to the community on Imgur.com via a new icon which will appear in the navigation bar on every page. The full release is scheduled for Monday.

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

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Companies-These-Days-Should-No-Longer-Just-Bank-On97 - PDF

Companies these days should no longer just bank
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SEO services can really make a difference in making one web site more
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bringing in more potential customers For some companies however, budget
constraints can play a big role in how they sign up for such services
Thankfully, there are ways to find affordable SEO services, helping these
companies to better market their products and services The first thing to keep
in mind when looking for affordable SEO services is for companies to take note
of the kinds of services that they actually need

This gives companies the opportunity to narrow down their choices for SEO
services, limiting their choices to those companies that can provide them with
what they want Keeping a list of the services that a company needs can also
help them avoid service packages that actually cost more money Such service
packages cost more because companies end up paying for extra services that
they don&#39;t really need

Getting to the bare bones necessities can help a company determine what
they really need to invest money for Businesses with web sites should also
consider the idea that affordable SEO doesn&#39;t always mean cheap, but
should be about investing smart in services that jive with what a
company&#39;s goals are Businesses should look over the company profiles
of service providers they&#39;re interested in signing up for

They should also take time in researching a little bit about each
company&#39;s history, who their past clients were, and how those projects
turned out Some of the best service providers aren&#39;t always the biggest
companies In fact, it can even be the other way sometimes, as smaller
companies are a lot more eager to prove their worth and have more time to
devote to each project

Quality control with larger companies can also be harder, so why seo service
company meticulous companies should carefully weigh their options Some
service providers can also create custom packages for certain clients Finding
good quality companies that offer such packages is pure gold, and can
definitely make for a really affordable SEO investment

Businesses that plan to have more success on the internet can make the most
of such services and really get an advantage over their online competitors
SEO services that provide custom packages make sure that companies only
shell out their money for the services that they really need, making for really
sound investments that can really contribute to a company&#39;s growth
There are other ways for businesses to find affordable SEO services that can
provide them with their needs

However, knowing what to look for can definitely make a difference in a
company&#39;s attempt at finding success online Quality SEO services
don&#39;t have to be expensive, but they do have to help you rank higher on
those search results

why seo service company

Source: http://pdfcast.org/pdf/companies-these-days-should-no-longer-just-bank-on97-1

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5 Bizarre Business Decisions Social Media Could Have Prevented ...

These days it?s difficult to imagine the business world without its obligatory Facebook and Twitter pages; almost every company has them as they help one-to-one customer support and other business decisions. Decades ago, however, industry moguls weren?t in the same position. Connecting with the public was difficult and often not even attempted; as a consequence some businesses suffered greatly due to a lack of communication. Here we take a look at half a dozen examples of such bad decisions, and what could have happened had social media been around.

The Coca Cola Re-Brand

11 300x487 5 Bizarre Business Decisions Social Media Could Have PreventedIn April of 1985 one of the biggest brands in the world made an almost catastrophic blunder. The decision was made to tamper with the famous recipe following the continued success of rival Pepsi?s marketing plan ?The Pepsi Challenge?, which showing alarming signs the public preferred the taste to Coca Cola. Paranoid Chief Executive Roberto Goizueta launched New Coke in an attempt to win over old and new customers alike. This didn?t go to plan.

After three months of boycotting, hostility and general vitriol from customers, the company?s head executives re-released the original version as Coke Classic. To their bemusement this went on to outsell every other drink on the market!

The Solution: It seems, at the time, customers may have preferred the taste of Pepsi, but their loyalty lay with Coca Cola. A simple Twitter campaign could have solved this! ?Remember why you love @CocaCola!? would send the customers hurtling to the shops. Or the soft-drinks giant could simply ask its millions of followers if they would like a new taste range.

Atari?s E.T. Disaster

21 300x201 5 Bizarre Business Decisions Social Media Could Have PreventedIn 1982 Steven Spielberg?s film E.T proved a huge success; inevitably, spin-offs began in numerous industries. The burgeoning video games industry wanted in on this, so market leader Atari created an adaptation for their Atari 2600.

The game was rushed through production in five weeks. Meantime, anticipating vast Christmas sales, Atari ordered over four million cartridges to be produced. On its release the game performed well on a commercial level, but was critically maligned, and once customers realised just how awful the game was they sent their copies back in disgust.

With millions of E.T. cartridges finding their way back home to Atari?s headquarters, the dismayed company took the extreme measure of burying them all in the Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill! The failure of E.T. is attributed to their eventual downfall in the videogame market.

The Solution: A number of simple activities could have saved this disaster, but when the worst came to the worst Atari could have avoided the need to use a landfill. Tweets, and a vigorous Facebook campaign, would have informed customers to dispose of the cartridges sustainably to save public face.

Donkey Kong VS King Kong

31 300x411 5 Bizarre Business Decisions Social Media Could Have PreventedIn 1982 the growing success of video game company Nintendo attracted the attention of movie giant Universal City Studios. They contended the Japanese firm?s popular arcade game, Donkey Kong, was a breach of their copyright for King Kong.

A brief court battle later and Nintendo won after their lawyer, John Kirby, highlighted the rights to King Kong were in the public domain. MCM had not helped their cause by proving the point themselves when releasing a King Kong film decades earlier. Nintendo received a hefty sum from Universal Studios, the latter being criticised for their attitude towards litigation. The incident was also voted one of the ?dumbest? moments in video game history.

The Solution: A round of e-mails, Tweets, Google searching and foresight could have avoided this humiliation for MCM. The moral of the story here is to always research. Thoroughly. Something easier to do than ever thanks to the internet age!

Missing The Beatles

41 300x300 5 Bizarre Business Decisions Social Media Could Have PreventedDecca Records messed up the biggest opportunity in music history, circa 1961.
A Decca executive by the name of Mike Smith had heard a Liverpudlian group, The Beatles, and believed they had displayed significant talent to warrant their signing. They were invited to audition in London, which the band duly did.

Shortly after their New Year?s Day try out, Decca executive Dick Rowe contacted the band?s manager, Brian Epstein, and informed him, ?Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, but we don?t like your boys? sound. Groups are out; four-piece groups with guitars particularly are finished.?

The Solution: Little would have stopped The Beatles being signed. A campaign of Tweets, Facebook updates, and much more would have raised public awareness for the band. As for Mr. Rowe; a search across the internet could have established just what was really popular!

AOL?s Billion Dollar Blunder

51 5 Bizarre Business Decisions Social Media Could Have PreventedIn 2009 AOL parted company with Time Warner after 8 years in a business merger which proved, unequivocally, to be one of the most disastrous in history.

AOL bought the firm for $160 billion in 2001 and immediately began losing money. Business insiders have pointed out the losses were due to a lack of understanding about the future of the internet. One of the more expensive errors of theirs was to buy out social media site Bebo in 2008. For $850 million! At the time the firm had 40 million users; in the two years following AOL?s takeover this figure plummeted to 12 million. Undeterred, AOL continues to fight on to this day!

The Solution: Using Google Analytics, or SEO Moz, would have shown the stunning growth of Facebook and its effect on other social media formats. Again, thorough research of Bebo and its figures could have averted this disaster.

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Alex Morris works for an ink cartridge shop in Manchester where he keeps an eye on Ink and toner cartridges. We haven?t had any strange business decisions? yet.

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Posted on: October 24, 2012

Source: http://www.dreamgrow.com/5-bizarre-business-decisions-social-media-could-have-prevented/

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