The Debates - Best in Show

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I was going to have one of my Twitter parties during the first Presidential Debate the other night (#DebateExp), but I decided against it for fear of it being too much to handle ... go ahead and say it ... Chicken!

But now I wish I had because it would have been easy to do my typical "Best in Show".  "Best in Show" from a marketing standpoint, not to pick a "winner" of the debate.  But having watched the debate and then following all of the comments after, it's SO easy for me to do it anyway.

Best in Show from the Debate is ... Big Bird!

Sesame Street hasn't gotten this much attention in years.  All sparked by Romney's comment that he will cut funding for public television.  People are coming out in droves to defend PBS, recounting childhood memories of Big Bird and Julia Child, and talking about how important it is to this generation as well.

This is brand equity in action, watching your loyal fans come to your defense all based on an emotional connection.  Not just a product, not just a television network, but an emotional experience that has had value to their lives.  Big Bird (and Ernie and Elmo and and and) are all more than just characters, they stand for something and people are standing up for them.  Me, I always loved Bob!


Now the whole debate about PBS funding is a separate issue in my mind.  Just look at the power of the Sesame Street brand and its admired spokespeople!  I'm not even sure that they need the funding and I know of many a brand that would step in with support.  I just love seeing marketing in action.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU

NBC News Targeting

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I taught Day Two of my weekend intensive class at NYU this past Saturday, and as usual I really enjoyed the experience.  Since the students come from all walks of life and countries around the world, hearing their perspectives on marketing is so enlightening for me.

We spoke a lot about getting to know your consumer, which is a constant ongoing pursuit that never ends. It's the marketers daily duty.

The key to consumer learning is to look at both the demographics and the psychographics of your target ... we need to understand both the facts and figures about our consumers as well as the attitudes and behaviors.  In fact, it's the psychographics that are generally more telling.

Evidently we are not alone in this thinking.  NBC News just announced that they are no longer just going to target their audience based on demographics, something that up until now has been a generally accepted practice.  So instead of just targeting by age, income, sex, and geography, they are going to target their audience by the behaviors they exhibit when searching for, gathering, and consuming the news.

Smart.

So news junkies who constantly sweep online sources for the news will be targeted and nurtured by NBC differently than those who just seek the news once in the morning or in the evening.  Regardless of their age or sex.

The truth is that just because people share a demographic classification does not mean that they are at all alike.  In fact, it's more likely that people who share a common belief or behavior are more likely to be similar and hence look for similar products and services.  Just because two women are both the same age and live in the same city doesn't mean that they have anything else in common.  But two people who share a desire to be constantly connected to the news are likely to have a lot in common, and can be marketed to accordingly.

I find it very interesting that NBC News is shifting their outlook, particularly at a time when it seems that they are struggling.  Getting closer to your consumer is always a good bet in times like these!

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Marketing Professor, NYU

GQ for Gap

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File this under "surprising match ups!"

GQ (as in the fashion magazine) recently launched a limited edition line of menswear at select Gap locations and at Gap.com.  The line features items designed by "the best menswear designers," (GQ would know) and as the magazine states, "gives them the opportunity to reach a massive audience."

The line is quite impressive.  Like the leather bomber jacket by Lindeberg for $348.  Lindeberg, wow!

I happened to be walking by the 5th Avenue location in Manhattan on Saturday and noticed the displays.  The collection even had a separate entrance and entirely different, distinctive merchandising.  A little bit of Gap and a little bit GQ if you can imagine that.  Gap is obviously taking a page out of J.Crew with its highly designed line of menswear with its own unique look, and separate merchandising strategy.

Quite smart, actually, even though the pairing may seem a bit mis-matched at first.  High end fashion meets everyday casual?  Yup, I think that's the point.  Perhaps this will put Gap back on the map.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Marketing Professor, NYU

Does This Brand Make Me Look Fat?

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The NFL released their new uniforms for the 2012 season, designed and created by Nike.  This is not a new event, the brands have collaborated many times in the past with new uniforms to launch a new season.

But this year is a little different.  Nike decided to use their new "body-contour fit" technology to (I guess) make the players look better, except it ran into a little drama.

So what's the problem?  Many of the players think the new uniforms make them look fat!  Sure, the slim and fit guys probably love how the new cut makes them look, and in fact they look pretty darn good.  A nice aspirational look coming from an aspirational brand like Nike.  But the big guys (and they are BIG) are not so happy.  They are complaining about how their guts are hanging out, and how it highlights their love handles!

Who knew these guys could be, shall I say it, vain?

So is the brand going back to the drawing board?  No, they say that the uniforms are meant for players of all sizes.  Indeed.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Marketing Professor, NYU

Meme and Enterprise

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I love when people toss around buzz words, it makes me not only giggle but chuckle.  Now there's a word you don't hear very often:  chuckle.

I even wrote a whole section in my first book about it:  Buzzwords Need Not Apply.

The problem with buzzwords is that they lose their meaning.  They become such standard fare and batted about so much that no one remembers what they are supposed to mean.  It cracks me up.  I even stopped someone (politely) the other day and asked them what one of them meant.  I couldn't really get an exact answer.  Exactly.

I actually have two favorites right now:  Meme and Enterprise.  I hear them all day long, and I'm sure you do too.  What exactly do they mean?  I mean, I know what they mean ... but what exactly do they mean when they get used constantly?  Try it ... ask different people and you will definitely get different answers!

I was in a meeting yesterday, and much to the collective giggles (not chuckles) of my colleagues I actually kept track of how many times the word "enterprise" came up.  I lost track after 20 minutes and 8  mentions.  I kid you not, all chuckles aside, it gets rather .... irritating, don't you think?

What's your favorite buzz word of the moment?  What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Marketing Professor, NYU

Election Marketing

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'Tis the season, I suppose. With the election just a few weeks away, we are getting bombarded with election marketing day in and day out. 

Sure a lot of it is about the candidates, but there is also a lot of activity coming from brands who are capitalizing on the pop culture moment. I thought I'd highlight a few of my faves here, just for a little election day fun.

Manhattan Storage - being political is a major part of their brand experience so there's no time like the present to continue the aggressive outdoor and online campaign featuring witty quips about the candidates. There's no question what color this brand is. 

7-11 - speaking of color, this huge convenience store brand is continuing its previous election campaign by tracking cups it sells. You can pick a blue cup or a red cup to reflect your own views. As one of the largest sellers of coffee and soda, this is pretty big.  Question is whether this is a predictor of the final results!

The fact that these brands are doing election marketing isn't the only point ... The fact that they've tied it so close to who they are as a brand makes it all so brilliant.  They've got my vote (sorry, just couldn't resist).


What's your experience?  Jim. 

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect
Marketing Professor, NYU

If it's not a hoax, what is it?

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Dennis O'Connor and I are running a "Model Lesson" workshop tomorrow at the Midwest Educational Technology Conference in St. Charles, MO.

As part of the session, we're offering up four different challenges that demonstrate search and evaluation techniques. For this, we're using a spin-off of the RYT Hospital site: genochoice.com.

While students may not be able easily to detect the fictive nature of the site, the site is loaded with Red Flags.

What is not easily understood by seasoned investigators--and I expect most of the participants in tomorrow's session--is whether the site is a hoax or not. There is sufficient evidence to suggest it is not a hoax, contrary to numerous .edu sites that include genochoice on their hoax lists. The hoax theory starts to unravel the more you tug at it.

But if it isn't a hoax, what is it?

That's the challenge.

And it's a pretty good (i.e., deep) one. I'd like to hear readers' opinions on it. Why does this site exist?

By the way, the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is another site that is likely in this shadowy category. Sure, it's bogus. But what is the purpose of the site?  Why would someone go to the trouble of keeping it fresh and perpetuating the fiction of a tree octopus? If you've never asked your students to figure that out, they've missed a real investigative challenge.

Google's Really Advanced Search

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You've know doubt heard of Advanced Search. How about Really Advanced Search?

I spotted this at the bottom of a Google Search Results page today and had to take a look.

Among the search features, including the usual ones, are:

• words almost, but not quite entirely unlike:
• rhyming slang for:
• this exact word or phrase, whose sum of unicode code points is a mersenne prime:
• subtext or innuendo for:

and this:

• the words , but not , unless they contain either the intersection of phrases , , and or a gerund in which case the disjunction of and will also be taken into account (on Tuesdays). 

At the bottom of the page are also several links:

You can also... Tickle a unicorn Download our ranking code so you can run Google at home Search by odor Some of the features of really advanced search might make a good coding project. They might also be a challenge to explain. But they really make a better April Fools Joke.

Tips from Google: What's Missing?

To contact us Click HERE
One of my colleague's recent bookmarks caught my eye:  How to solve impossible problems.  
The link is to a story by John Tedesco of the San Antonio Times about Google search guru Daniel Russell who posed a daunting challenge to a room full of investigative journalists:

What’s the phone number of the office where this picture was snapped?

Here's the photo:
What makes this challenge difficult is that there is no direct information about the office from which the picture was snapped.
According to the article, "(Russell) wasn’t asking for a phone number for the skyscraper in the picture, which sounds hard enough. He wanted the phone number of the precise office where the photographer was standing when the picture was taken.  Nothing in that office was even in the photo. Yet in a few minutes, Russell, a research scientist at Google, revealed the answer by paying attention to small details and walking us through a series of smart Google searches."

Yes, most of us don't put Google's full power to use. Advanced features can make searching more surgical.  The article goes on to illustrate Boolean modifiers (what works and doesn't) as well as operators many people haven't tried lately, if ever. It's a good summary; take a look.
But Google is all about finding. Nothing about how good a result may be. This is typical of most students. We laugh when we hear "If it's on the Internet, it must be true," but that's how students actually behave. We're getting better at finding. We've made little progress at evaluating.
It's really not Google's business to tell us what to believe. And we resist attempts at interference when it comes to second-guessing what we want to see--although search engines are paying attention to what we click and are influenced by our choices.  Which is why it becomes all the more important that we develop good investigative habits.
Spoiler Alert
I managed to find an answer I'm pretty sure is right, but there is still some conjecture involved. If you'd like to solve Russell's challenge, go ahead. Answers are easy to find, thanks to Google.  Here's Russell's blog, and some answers.  Did I/they get it right?

A Search I Couldn't Find

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I'm certain it happens to all of us.  We just can't find something we're looking for. We run out of options and/or energy and have to give up (for now or for good). It's one reason why I consider information research mastery on the Internet to be somewhere around 80%.

This happened to me recently while looking online for information about a musical score. A member of my church (where I'm the music director) recommended an arrangement of a hymn she heard while on vacation. Here's an excerpt from her email:

"I was in Albuquerque in May for my granddaughter's high school graduation; she played a recital on violin accompanied on piano. There was a beautiful arrangement of "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, arranged by Paul Bailey and Charles Romer.  It would be a beautiful piece to play on a Sunday morning if you know of a violinist."

Normally, this would be plenty of information to track the piece down to a source.  I was hoping to find a copy to download (for free or a license), but would have settled to find the publisher and order a copy.

A sensible query would be:  come thou font of every blessing paul bailey charles romer.  It's pretty long, but to find the song title and the arrangers, this seems like the best path.  But it doesn't work. In Google, you get about six relevant entries matching the title and arrangers before Charles Dickens references start popping up--apparently the most popular match for Charles. None of the results is a musical score or a path to a score.

Putting quotes around the title is risky. Am I sure the title is spelled correctly or includes only these words?  There is another spelling for fount (font). Putting quotes around the arrangers names may also eliminate all the instances where a middle initial is used. But it's worth a try. Quotes around the title returns 2 results, neither of which is relevant. Quotes around the arrangers names (separately) returns about 6 results, none of which is a musical score. The results are mainly bulletins that shows the song was performed in a service.

Hmm.

I thought I would try a Deep Web search by going to a database of scores and publishers. The biggies in this field (e.g., www.sheetmusicplus.com, jwpepper.com, etc.) don't list the song with these arrangers. There are plenty of arrangements of the song, but by different arrangers. This is starting to feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. But which Deep Web haystack?

Advanced search filters didn't help, limiting results to violin and title or arrangers produced no relevant results that lined up all the information.


I did find the music online and downloaded it. But the granddaughter first had to share a link with me. Sometimes the quickest way is still to ask someone who knows.

There are other clues such as the publisher of the music that may be found just with good searching.  I found that before I gave up. I'll leave that as the challenge. Who published the music? And if you're up for a tough challenge, where can you download a copy?

Savage Sex Assaults on Western Women in Egypt Continue

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I never managed to get myself all weepy-eyed with joy over the alleged "Arab Spring," when tinpot despots were challenged and toppled, but what sometimes rose in their place were vile Islamic radical thugs with their barbaric attitudes toward women.

In Egypt, for example, there have been numerous savage sexual attacks on Western women, especially reporters, by Alahu-Akbar-chanting male thugs. The most recent occurred during the celebrations after a winner was chosen in Egypt's first free presidential election, when a British student journalist was brutally assaulted by the mob in (where else?) Tahrir Square.

That mob assault on that young woman, Natasha Smith, was similar to assaults on other female journalists, including a horrifying mob sexual attack on CBS News correspondent Lara Logan and one on Egyptian-U.S. journalist Mona Eltahawy last year. There have been other attacks on other female journalists too.

Ms. Smith, wrote about the attack on her blog and spoke about it in an interview with CNN.

Dozens of Egyptian men stripped her naked, repeatedly sexually assaulted her and dragged her by her hair across Tahrir Square. Her story is horrifying, as were the others.

Incidentally, here's an important take on the issue, and the idea of blaming the victim, on the important Web site devoted to combating street harassment against women, IHollaback.org. However, I don;t think even IHollaback is doing enough to focus on the harassment and assaults on female visitors in places like Egypt and other Moslem countries that attract foreign tourists, including Morocco. (Re Morocco, see this by a Peace Corps volunteer)

Meanwhile, officials in Egypt are hoping to repair the extreme damage that has occurred since the Arab Spring to tourism, which until recently has accounted for more than 10 percent of the country's GNP.

Not to worry, the boosters say (abetted by credulous media). Tourists can have fun in Egypt!

"There will be no bans on wearing bikinis and drinking alcohol for tourists coming to Egypt after the Islamist Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected president on June 24, Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily quoted Egyptian Ambassador to Russia Alaa El Hadidi on Friday as saying. Here's a link via the travel industry trade publication Global Travel Industry News, which adds:

"Hadidi’s statement came after Morsi’s allies said during the presidential campaign that there will be a number of restrictions for tourists if Morsi is elected, including a ban on selling alcohol, wearing bikinis outside hotels and dividing beaches into male and female zones."

The U.S. State Department, which is after all the department of being diplomatic, has issued only a "travel alert" rather than a more pointed travel warning for Egypt, of which this is an excerpt: "The U.S. Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens to avoid all demonstrations in Egypt, as even peaceful ones can quickly become violent and a foreigner could become a target of harassment or worse."

Or worse? Hey, not to worry!

Really! They probably will not behead you for wearing that bikini or drinking that beer. After all, this is the 15th, ... uh, 21st Century! Welcome!

###

Whose Bloody Hand Ye Shakin'?

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Depends on whose bloody hand is being shook, I suppose. But it's interesting that the old German lady Queen Elizabeth II (you don't really buy that name change to "Windsor," do you?) had no issue with ungloved hand-shakes when the Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad came calling in 2002.

But when the ex-Irish Republican Army leader Martin McGuinness came around the old castle last week, note that the Queen -- who sits on a throne that has known a lot of bloody hands -- was wearing protection.

And on my, the Irish-American twee brigade never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

And please, spare us the tears on the odious "Uncle Dickie" Mountbatten.

###

TSA 'Business As Usual," Defending the Indefensible. Again

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I bend over backwards at times giving the TSA the benefit of the doubt, including in its remarkably timid responses to the guns that more people are trying to bring through checkpoints because those people think they have a God-given "right to carry" their firearms anywhere they choose, including onto an airplane.

TSA=We're vigilant about old ladies in wheelchairs, but we're terrified about upsetting the gun lobby.

Now here, as if to prove that the TSA just doesn't make sense many times, is the agency's intrepid mouthpiece, "Blogger Bob" Burns, defending the indefensible -- that is, he airily waves off protests about TSA agents waylaying passengers as they queue to board airplanes, and "testing" whatever beverages they have in hand.

Now, it's a given that if you have a soda or a bottle of water in hand at the gate, you have purchased or obtained that drink within the secure area of the airport, because they wouldn't have let you carry it through the checkpoint in the first place. The TSA says, as a matter of optics and a tactic of preemptively covering its butt, that of course nothing is "100 percent secure," yada-yada. Yes, that is correct. Except when the TSA has some asinine gate-theater to defend, and then it's "CSI Airport."

"Blogger Bob" is correct in saying that this is nothing new, despite the current outpouring of online protest about the agency testing drinks at the gate. And, let note here the absolutely predictable response from the Brigade of Official Reassurance on public radio that there's nothing to see here, folks. Why, silly, the government told us so!

Yes, they have had this ludicrous procedure in place for a while -- but my guess is that they've stepped up the performances lately of this particular comic act on the security-vaudeville playbill.

Agents waylaying passengers at the gate may be designed to present "another layer of security," as "Blogger Bob" says, but in fact what we, the public, see is another ridiculous manifestation of make-work for a vastly bloated federal jobs program, the TSA -- which is without doubt the most hated agency of the federal government. The most hated, yes. The possibly also the least trusted. And lack of trust in your security is a basic security flaw, as any expert in the field will tell you.

Here's "Blogger Bob" on the TSA blog today, pooh-poohing objections to this nonsense by insisting that this all is "business as usual." Business of security theater as usual, I would add.

Emphasis is mine:

"While browsing the web this morning, I saw that the topic de jour was that TSA was now screening liquids at the gate. We've talked about random gate screening here before, and if you travel frequently, you've likely experienced a gate screening. Not a big deal really... Heck, even I have been pulled aside for random gate screening.
So, the most popular question that comes up with this topic is: "Isn't this redundant?" On the surface, it does seem that way, and it's the first logical thought that many have. However, any security expert will tell you that nothing is ever 100% secure. So, gate screening is kind of like our safety net to keep up with anybody who might be trying to get things past conventional screening.
We stay away from static security tactics. Layered security is common practice, providing the necessary unpredictable measure that makes it more difficult to do malice to the transportation infrastructure. If everything we did was always the same, it would provide a checklist for people to know exactly what to expect. While this would be extremely helpful for passengers, it would also be useful to those wishing to do us harm. ...

As far as the testing of liquids at the gate, this is just one of the many options we have to choose from when deciding what additional tactics to use each day. We started using test strips back in the summer of 2007 and continue to do so. The test involves a test strip and a dropper containing a nontoxic solution. In case you're wondering, our officers don't place the test strips in your beverages/liquids. They simply have the passenger remove the cap/lid and they hold the strip over the opening of the container. Procedures call for moving the test strip to the side and applying the solution from the dropper to test the strip. If the test results are positive TSA will conduct additional testing to make a final assessment.
In a nutshell, liquid screening at gates is random and it isn't happening at every airport every day. So other than possibly taking a few moments of your time before boarding your flight, it's business as usual."

###

Border Patrol Nabs Castro Sneaking Dirty Bomb Into U.S. ... Oops! Make That Ex-Arizona Gov. Castro, 96, and He'd Just Had Radiation Treatment

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[Photo: Mr. Castro, the suspect in suspected nuclear-bomb plot that was thwarted by vigilant U.S. Border Patrol agents]

The former governor of Arizona, 96-year-old Raul Castro, of Nogales, Ariz., was waylaid recently by intrepid agents of the U.S. Border Patrol in southern Arizona, where they don't have as much to do these days because fewer Mexicans are risking death illegally trudging 100 miles through the brutal heat of the Sonoran Desert.

A radiation detector, it seems, signaled some radiation on the elderly gentleman's person during one of those pesky stops by the Border Patrol agents who are all over the region.
Governor Castro, it seems, was emitting traces of radiation from a medical procedure. So he was detained and humiliated in the 100-degree heat because he could have posed a "nuclear threat" to the Homeland.

This occurred a good ways from the border itself on Interstate 19 north of Tubac, Ariz. (Border Patrol claims to have martial-law authority in a zone within 100 miles of the border, which includes the city of Tucson.)

You think I'm kidding? Read this.

Mr. Castro was elected in 1974 as the first (and only) Mexican-American governor of Arizona. He is also a former U.S. ambassador to Argentina, Bolivia and El Salvador.

This appalling incident has been well-known in the area since it occurred three weeks ago, and I've been amazed that the national media ignored it for so long, till it got picked up out of a local Nogales publication. (The Phoenix and Tuscon media are too lazy and too craven to rouse themselves much and report this out. They're afraid some right-wing screwball might write them a stern letter of complaint, after all.)

Finally, Salon has got on the case. Here.

###

Thank You from American Airlines: Those Old Miles That Were Never Supposed to Expire? They're Expiring! !

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I will never, ever understand the propensity of airlines for clumsily insulting the intelligence of their customers. The tin-ear syndrome is always on full display.

Here's a beauty that one Suzanne L. Rubin, who runs the AAdvantage loyalty program, sent out in e mails to customers, thanking them for their loyalty while advising them that those "miles with no expiration" will now expire. It's a "streamline," she says!

***

"For more than 30 years the American Airlines AAdvantage program has been making travel special. Thank you for your loyalty for so many years as an AAdvantage member.

In order to streamline our program, we are announcing a change to AAdvantage miles earned before July 1, 1989, also called Miles With No Expiration.

Starting November 1, 2012, these miles will automatically be converted to Miles Subject to Expiration, and because of your tenured loyalty, you will earn a 25% mileage bonus on every unredeemed mile earned prior to July 1, 1989. To have your Miles With No Expiration converted and to earn the mileage bonus, you do not need to take any action. For more information about this change, please visit AA.com/MileConversion.

Once your miles have been converted, as long as you earn or redeem AAdvantage miles at least once every 18 months, your miles will not expire. This is our normal mileage policy and more information can be found at AA.com/AAdvantageTerms.

It is easy to keep your account active! In addition to earning AAdvantage miles for travel, you can earn miles for making everyday purchases such as dining out, shopping and paying your electricity bill. Plus, you can redeem miles for hotel stays, rental cars, flight awards, and more! Find out more ways to earn and redeem miles by visiting AA.com/AAdvantage.


...Thank you for your continued loyalty!

Sincerely,

Suzanne L. Rubin
President
AAdvantage^® Loyalty Program"

###

If it's not a hoax, what is it?

To contact us Click HERE
Dennis O'Connor and I are running a "Model Lesson" workshop tomorrow at the Midwest Educational Technology Conference in St. Charles, MO.

As part of the session, we're offering up four different challenges that demonstrate search and evaluation techniques. For this, we're using a spin-off of the RYT Hospital site: genochoice.com.

While students may not be able easily to detect the fictive nature of the site, the site is loaded with Red Flags.

What is not easily understood by seasoned investigators--and I expect most of the participants in tomorrow's session--is whether the site is a hoax or not. There is sufficient evidence to suggest it is not a hoax, contrary to numerous .edu sites that include genochoice on their hoax lists. The hoax theory starts to unravel the more you tug at it.

But if it isn't a hoax, what is it?

That's the challenge.

And it's a pretty good (i.e., deep) one. I'd like to hear readers' opinions on it. Why does this site exist?

By the way, the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is another site that is likely in this shadowy category. Sure, it's bogus. But what is the purpose of the site?  Why would someone go to the trouble of keeping it fresh and perpetuating the fiction of a tree octopus? If you've never asked your students to figure that out, they've missed a real investigative challenge.

Google's Really Advanced Search

To contact us Click HERE
You've know doubt heard of Advanced Search. How about Really Advanced Search?

I spotted this at the bottom of a Google Search Results page today and had to take a look.

Among the search features, including the usual ones, are:

• words almost, but not quite entirely unlike:
• rhyming slang for:
• this exact word or phrase, whose sum of unicode code points is a mersenne prime:
• subtext or innuendo for:

and this:

• the words , but not , unless they contain either the intersection of phrases , , and or a gerund in which case the disjunction of and will also be taken into account (on Tuesdays). 

At the bottom of the page are also several links:

You can also... Tickle a unicorn Download our ranking code so you can run Google at home Search by odor Some of the features of really advanced search might make a good coding project. They might also be a challenge to explain. But they really make a better April Fools Joke.

Tips from Google: What's Missing?

To contact us Click HERE
One of my colleague's recent bookmarks caught my eye:  How to solve impossible problems.  
The link is to a story by John Tedesco of the San Antonio Times about Google search guru Daniel Russell who posed a daunting challenge to a room full of investigative journalists:

What’s the phone number of the office where this picture was snapped?

Here's the photo:
What makes this challenge difficult is that there is no direct information about the office from which the picture was snapped.
According to the article, "(Russell) wasn’t asking for a phone number for the skyscraper in the picture, which sounds hard enough. He wanted the phone number of the precise office where the photographer was standing when the picture was taken.  Nothing in that office was even in the photo. Yet in a few minutes, Russell, a research scientist at Google, revealed the answer by paying attention to small details and walking us through a series of smart Google searches."

Yes, most of us don't put Google's full power to use. Advanced features can make searching more surgical.  The article goes on to illustrate Boolean modifiers (what works and doesn't) as well as operators many people haven't tried lately, if ever. It's a good summary; take a look.
But Google is all about finding. Nothing about how good a result may be. This is typical of most students. We laugh when we hear "If it's on the Internet, it must be true," but that's how students actually behave. We're getting better at finding. We've made little progress at evaluating.
It's really not Google's business to tell us what to believe. And we resist attempts at interference when it comes to second-guessing what we want to see--although search engines are paying attention to what we click and are influenced by our choices.  Which is why it becomes all the more important that we develop good investigative habits.
Spoiler Alert
I managed to find an answer I'm pretty sure is right, but there is still some conjecture involved. If you'd like to solve Russell's challenge, go ahead. Answers are easy to find, thanks to Google.  Here's Russell's blog, and some answers.  Did I/they get it right?

A Search I Couldn't Find

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I'm certain it happens to all of us.  We just can't find something we're looking for. We run out of options and/or energy and have to give up (for now or for good). It's one reason why I consider information research mastery on the Internet to be somewhere around 80%.

This happened to me recently while looking online for information about a musical score. A member of my church (where I'm the music director) recommended an arrangement of a hymn she heard while on vacation. Here's an excerpt from her email:

"I was in Albuquerque in May for my granddaughter's high school graduation; she played a recital on violin accompanied on piano. There was a beautiful arrangement of "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, arranged by Paul Bailey and Charles Romer.  It would be a beautiful piece to play on a Sunday morning if you know of a violinist."

Normally, this would be plenty of information to track the piece down to a source.  I was hoping to find a copy to download (for free or a license), but would have settled to find the publisher and order a copy.

A sensible query would be:  come thou font of every blessing paul bailey charles romer.  It's pretty long, but to find the song title and the arrangers, this seems like the best path.  But it doesn't work. In Google, you get about six relevant entries matching the title and arrangers before Charles Dickens references start popping up--apparently the most popular match for Charles. None of the results is a musical score or a path to a score.

Putting quotes around the title is risky. Am I sure the title is spelled correctly or includes only these words?  There is another spelling for fount (font). Putting quotes around the arrangers names may also eliminate all the instances where a middle initial is used. But it's worth a try. Quotes around the title returns 2 results, neither of which is relevant. Quotes around the arrangers names (separately) returns about 6 results, none of which is a musical score. The results are mainly bulletins that shows the song was performed in a service.

Hmm.

I thought I would try a Deep Web search by going to a database of scores and publishers. The biggies in this field (e.g., www.sheetmusicplus.com, jwpepper.com, etc.) don't list the song with these arrangers. There are plenty of arrangements of the song, but by different arrangers. This is starting to feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. But which Deep Web haystack?

Advanced search filters didn't help, limiting results to violin and title or arrangers produced no relevant results that lined up all the information.


I did find the music online and downloaded it. But the granddaughter first had to share a link with me. Sometimes the quickest way is still to ask someone who knows.

There are other clues such as the publisher of the music that may be found just with good searching.  I found that before I gave up. I'll leave that as the challenge. Who published the music? And if you're up for a tough challenge, where can you download a copy?

New Release of Publisher Challenge

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I spent some time this week revising and refreshing the Publisher Challenge, a tutorial to help learners track down the publishers of online information.

Periodic maintenance is needed due to link migration: users get those nasty 404 errors (which are not usually a dead end, but that's another challenge). In the case of the Publisher tutorial, designed in Action Script 2, I wanted to add the functionality of Action Script 3, and that required rebuilding the code from scratch. My apologies to iPad and iPhone users, but the tutorial is still Flash which you can't use.

In the tutorial you'll find three sections: a techniques practice page--methods you'll need to use to solve the challenges, a "find the publishers" page and an "investigate the publishers" page. Together, these require the type of investigation involved in determining whether content is trustworthy based on who published it. This fill-in-the-blank/click the appropriate button tutorial is paired with a MicroModule about the Publisher, to give background and explain why it's important to know about the publisher. That has also been refreshed.

Give them a try. Use them with students as part of a lesson on Web evaluation, the ownership of ideas, or one of these specific cases/themes you'll find in the tutorial: poetry publishing, gun laws or school health.

Publisher Challenge

Captain Dave, where are you?

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Position: 40 east of KMCI (Kansas City)
Altitude: 36,000 feet
Groundspeed: 445 knots (511 mph)
Equipment: A321 V2500 A5 Enhanced New Metal
Pax-on-Board: 183 + 3 jumpers

Airborne... I am here.

That would be in the front of a pressurized tube; long enough that the rear galley is in another zip code. I am working a heavy flight schedule with few days home between trips... Barely enough to keep up with the honey-do lists. My blog posting is falling further behind than its usual six o'clock position and ten miles.

The crew meal from the forward galley food replicator is on the floor behind the center jumpseat... Silverware is rattling on the tray from the light chop at 36,000 feet. I am too nervous to eat... KSEA is still a long way over the dark horizon. Our fuel load is 800 pounds below the flight plan estimate at the last checkpoint. One hundred miles to the right... Level Six storms towering into the night sky. The end of the storm line is one o'clock and 150 miles.

Thirty miles ahead, a company 319.  Below, in our two o'clock... A pair of Navy boys from ATL in a Mad Dog ninety. Also, below and behind, two Longhorns crewed by cowboys from DAL.

And in PPOS (present position), three old silver-haired pre-geezers and a young female co-pilot sitting in the torture jumpseat (left-hand corner of the cockpit). In the center jumpseat, one of our senior captains riding home. The co-pilot is a double re-tread, about my age and has resigned himself to his fate... Never sitting in the captain's seat again. It is a black hole known only in the airline industry. But, that is a can of worms I will not open here.

Twenty prior to push...

Captain... May I ask for a ride home, sir?

Who dares talk to me like that? Twisting in my seat, I see a kid in a pilot's uniform. A pretty little female, shiny brown eyes, about 15 years old. I began to tell her she has to ride in her assigned seat in the back... The pilot outfit is kind of weird, but in today's society, nothing surprises me.

Sir, here is my stuff.

She hands me her airline ID, and other pertinent paperwork. Date-of-birth is 1990. As my British friend Trevor is fond of saying, hang about... I have shoes older than that. I tell her to quit calling me sir and then ask her a few questions about her aircraft (Dash 8-Q400). She gives all the correct answers. Obviously a smart kid to be co-piloting, at her age, a large turbo-prop for a regional carrier. She is small and petite, the perfect size for the torture jumpseat. Plus, she will add some badly needed class to this flight-deck.

On the downside, the rest of us will need to behave and act like gentlemen, if that is possible.

Radar returns...

The digital multi-scan radar is in MAN mode, antenna tilted a quarter degree down as I look at slices of the storms. They bubbled up fast, changing from rising columns of moist air to planetary scale atmospheric water pumps, complete with their own power source... Fearsome creatures of the night. Their tops punched the tropopause with ease and are spreading out in the stratosphere.

Over at two o'clock and 100 miles, a sucker hole... About 30 miles across. But, there is a reason they are called sucker holes. When I was a young night-freight pilot, I found out the hard way. That's a story for another post... Maybe.

Turning the end of the line...


The lightning flashes are intense and continuous as we five high-flying metal birds turn the end of the line. Bluish-white, spherical explosions of electric light illuminate the storm clouds and our flight-decks. The storm's outer skins are covered with brilliant electric webs that undulate in the thin, high velocity winds of altitude. It is a sight that few see in their lifetimes. There are no words...

Back lighting...


Finally, west of the line, smooth conditions and visibility unlimited ahead. The flight-deck windscreen posts are being back lit by electric flashing from our six. Our little covey of 600 plus souls breaks up as new data is entered into the nav computers and courselines diverge. It was fun while it lasted...

Twenty minutes of hold fuel...


I figure we will be arriving KSEA with twenty minutes of holding fuel on top of minimum arrival fuel. That is acceptable with the current KSEA weather forecast. Navigating south of the storms cost 1,000 pounds of Jet-A.

My stomach starts growling over KDEN... When I think of the chicken breast, one each, lowest bidder, cold, on the cockpit floor, I reconsider. I have emergency rations in my crew-bag, so I ask the Dash 8 co-pilot to dig them out of the coat closet for me.

I can make KSEA with a peanut butter energy bar...

Life on the Line continues...

Engine Magic

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Position: Taxiway Echo, radome pointing west, KPHX (Phoenix)
Groundspeed: Zero
Altitude: Zero
Equipment: A321 Enhanced New Metal
Pax-on-Board: 183 plus 3 jumpers
OAT: 111 degrees F
Taxiway temperature: 115 degrees F

Not airborne... Yet

I count ten, twelve... Probably fifteen tails ahead in the shimmering heat. The sun is brutal on my side of the cockpit, not to mention there are four pilots in a space built for two. Number one engine is turning and burning; the APU (small turbine engine in the tail) is providing pneumatics to the packs (air conditioning and pressurization units). The cockpit temperature is 90 F; pax cabin is 86 F.

A heavy three-engine freighter roars past with its nose flying, but the main gear still rolling on the hot concrete... The aircraft ahead of us moves (slowly) forward. I release the parking brake and creep ahead. What a change from this morning...

KSNA/Orange County... 0545 hrs


Third floor, facing south, palm tree rustling in the early morning breeze, sun rising to my left... On the balcony rail, a steaming cup of Starbucks instant coffee. The atmosphere is cool, fragrant, and invigorating. I am relaxing, momentarily, before suiting up for a long day of industrial strength flying.

My brain is starting to compartmentalize... Most of it is enjoying this sweet little moment, but the performance section is worrying about the hot take-off coming in KPHX. The weather section is worrying about the line of thunderstorms building across the center of the Empire. And, of course, the fuel section, always the fuel section...

Taxiway Echo... KPHX


Fuel tank temps are above 40 C... Yeah, it's summer in the desert. A company A319 climbs away from the runway, landing gear doors closing, airframe at a ridiculous nose high angle. It is impressive and I watch it go by until the sun forces me back into the warm shadow of the flight deck.

The co-pilot, after reviewing performance data emailed to us from Mother, informs me that we are looking at a max effort take-off... Thrust levers all the way to the forward stops, APU providing pneumatics to the packs so that the engines are used 100% for thrust. After we set up for max effort, we have one more little trick; bumping, or as I call it, boosting.

It is engine magic, allowed sparingly (a fixed number of times between engine overhauls), that squeezes a little more thrust out of the engines. Each time an engine is boosted for take-off, that event is recorded by Maintenance Control.

Boosting is a double edged sword... It gathers a little more thrust, but it also results in higher temperatures, usually approaching the limits on days like this...

A bright-and-shiny mad-dog 88 goes roaring by, all tires still rolling on the runway. Its engines are loud and smoky, crackling thunder, as it passes. It'll be awhile before they are airborne... They need a lot of runway.

Parking brake released and we creep forward a little more...

Master Caution... "Ding"


Now what? Uh-oh... The APU has quit. Of course it has... The APU system page shows the little turbine spooling down. Yep, it has left the party... Not sure why and I don't really care at this time.

Quickly, I reach overhead and push a few buttons, turn a knob and re-plumb the pneumatic system, drawing bleed air from number one engine to operate the packs. The engine's fuel computer senses the increased demand and automatically raises the idle speed. Not enough, so I move the thrust lever forward watching the fuel flow... About there, I think.

No APU... No problem. We can use number one engine to start number two engine. We can make an unpressurized take-off (we need all available thrust, so the engine bleeds will have to be OFF.  After flaps UP, we can ease the packs back on-line to pressurize the cabin.

iPhone to the rescue...


We are allowed to use personal cell-phones to call Mother as long as the parking brake is ON. My dispatcher and I concur that we can operate without the APU, then  agree to use aircraft email for the remaining communications before take-off; iPhone OFF, parking brake OFF and creep forward...

I promise Maintenance Control that I will...


Yes, of course I will complete the paper trail before we land in KBOS. That promise takes about three feet of mini-printer paper, a trail unto itself. The center jump-seater tears off each message, reads them to us, and then neatly adds to the growing pile of email. Parking brake OFF and creep forward...

Cross-bleed engine start...


I count five vertical fins between us and the runway... Time to start engine two. The co-pilot reaches overhead and opens/closes pneumatic valves to draw air from number one engine to spin the number two starter. I ask the ground controller for clearance to cross-bleed... She allows us to turn onto the parallel taxiway for the start so that we do not blow FOD (trash) into the engines behind us. The co-pilot moves number one thrust lever further forward to increase available bleed air and opens the start valve for number two. The right V2500 A5 begins to spool up... Yeah baby!

There is an old saying about a knife and a cat that is appropriate.

MAX cooling...


Both engines are at high idle, all pneumatics returned to normal configuration before take-off. Each engine is feeding its on-side pack, each pack demanding HI FLOW, trying to cool the cabin further. We are next for take-off... I take one more look at the overhead panel. We have been pushing buttons and turning knobs up there; need to be sure that everything is back to normal configuration.

Arm the boost, please...


There ya go... The co-pilot pushes a little red button, hidden by a thumbnail sized flap.


A little "B" appears over each N1 gauge... Boost is armed. Have I said that I love this aircraft yet? No I don't believe I have...

One more time; I review the engine failure scenario. Nose to 12 point 5 degrees, landing gear UP clear of the runway, lots of rudder into the good engine. If it is on fire, let it burn until the flight path is under control... Maintain control of the aircraft first and foremost.

KPHX Tower: Wind two thirty at five knots... Cleared for take-off runway seven left.


Checklists are done as I oversteer the A321 to line up on the centerline. One last glance at the OAT shows 45 degrees C on the runway... That would be about 113 F.

The co-pilot closes the engine bleed valves for an unpressurized take-off... Amber FAULT lights illuminate in each pack button. Perfecto...

Captain's silent runway checklist: flaps set at 50%, trim set, fuel adequate... We are good to go here.


Thrust levers forward enough to stabilize the engines before moving the levers quickly to the forward stops. Hardly any engine noise in the 321 cockpit, mostly visual cues on the engine gauges and the feeling of thrust.

Engine temperatures spike at about 545 C, and then roll back to about 500 C before starting their climb toward the red line. The long fuselage starts to wiggle in the way that only a 321 does... It freaked me out the first time I felt it, but now it's cool.

80 knots...


Everything looking good with engine temps crossing the 600 C mark. The acceleration is strong for such hot weather.

120 knots...


Engine temps 620 C and still climbing... Boost envelope temperatures.

140 knots...


Engine temps 630 C and climbing... I can feel the wings loading. The nose wheels want to fly. Not yet... Hang on just a little bit more. The cockpit temperatures are rising from the unpressurized take-off.

Vee one...


We are past the reject point. Not enough runway ahead to stop. Get ready for an engine failure el cap-i-tan.

Rotate...


Using two fingers, increase back pressure a tiny bit on the control stick and the nose gear leaves the runway. A super-quick glance at the engine temps show #1 at 634 C and #2 at MAX of 635 C. The main gear follows... We are airborne. Positive climb rate and the co-pilot selects the landing gear handle to UP.

Everything is looking good; both engine temperatures are at 633 C as the gear doors slam shut covering her folded legs and hot Michelin Aeros... Got 18 point 5 degrees nailed on the $65,000 primary flight display; the $200 stand-by artificial horizon next to it, also shows exactly 18.5 degrees. Loving it!

1,000 feet above the ground...


Ease the thrust levers back from MAX; watch the engine temps and fuel flows roll back into friendlier territory. That's better... Now ask the co-pilot to raise the flaps from 50 to 25%. Fi-Fi likes that and leaps ahead more than twenty knots. She climbs at 700 fpm as the speed trend arrow points at the top of the instrument case. Flaps UP speed rolls past the pointer; the co-pilot raises all slats/flaps. The Electric Jet wallows a little as the wing goes sleek and clean, but quickly recovers and increases climb rate and airspeed.

The co-pilot opens number one engine bleed and the rush of cool, pressurized air feels wonderful. After we are comfortable with the behavior of the left pack, he opens number two engine bleed and the right pack comes back from its nap. I can feel cabin pressurization in my ears as well as see it on the pressure display.

3,000 feet above the ground...


The critical climb envelope is now below us. I push a button and turn airspeed control over to the flight management computers. The NAV computers turn further left to a heading of 45 degrees tracking the departure's course. Indicated airspeed is 250 knots and climb rate is holding steady at 2,800 feet p/min. The outside air temperature is 28 C (82 F), so the temp dropped 31 F in 3,000 feet. That definitely falls into the cool category.

10,000 feet above sea level...


I reach overhead and stow the lights, cycle the seat-belt sign to let the flight attendants know they can un-buckle... Fi-Fi NAV rolls the speed bug to 309 knots and begins to get serious about climbing into the cold blue.

Pulling up the wheel-well display shows temperatures steady at 200C... We could bake bread down there. In the movies, there would be a hatch to get into the wheel well.

Flight Level One Eight Zero (18,000 feet)...


Set all altimeters to 29.92 inches... And relax. The Electric Jet is climbing at a steady 1,800 feet p/min. I start composing a message to dispatch asking about the growing line of thunderstorms ahead... Still over the horizon. After we get through that mess, it will be a straight shot to KBOS.

Life on the Line continues...

Flightdeck Lights to BRIGHT

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Position: KPHX; taxiway Echo; number 21 for runway 25R
Equipment: A321 Enhanced New Metal
Pax-on-Board: 183
Winds: 180 degrees at 29, gusting to 40 kts



It's one of those nights that airline pilots dread. Thunderstorms all quadrants, intense lightning, moderate rain, blowing mud, hot and gusty crosswinds at or above the limits... Everything at the performance limits. Except for the captain, that is...

This is my speciality... Nasty electric weather in an Electric Jet. We arrived from Mexico in an A319, did a bag drag to another gate where a new A321 was waiting with 183 passengers already boarded and waiting for the pilots... Where you guys been? You can see it in their faces.

The whole system is weather crippled tonight with monsoonal moisture flow thunderstorms.

Not enough Jet-A...

The fuel tanks have enough to fly the flight-plan route to KSFO, using KOAK as the alternate, 45 minute reserve, 30 minutes of hold, 18 minutes of taxi, and a smidgen of extra. Not enough for tonight. My dispatcher is pulling her hair out... Flights diverting with minimum fuel.

I give it my best guess on what will happen to us:

1. Re-route- fly north hundreds of miles, then a 90 degree turn toward the west around the north edge of the weather... It will happen out on the taxiway. Better have some fuel to handle the extra miles, or you will be forced to return to the gate, and that gets ugly in a hurry as multiple aircraft are doing the same...

2. Intense storms will close the airport as they pass overhead. Taxi fuel burn will be outrageous. I do not like to shut down both engines (especially during a storm) and rely on the APU for power and pneumatics. If it fails, you are totally out of luck until a company tug arrives for that embarrassing tow back to the gate.

3. The winds will change and PHX tower will be forced to turn the airport around... Uh-oh! What number were you for departure?

Yes, we need more fuel. I look at the take-off weight, and subtract the flight-plan fuel burn... We can carry another 9,000 pounds. That will give us tanker fuel, too. It is cheaper to carry fuel to California, than to purchase at the airports. A quick email to my dispatcher... Then hurry up and wait. She is very busy. Since I am confident she will go for it, I call the fueler back to the aircraft.

The pax are informed via my best Robert Stack captain's voice that we will need another twenty minutes of their time... By now, they can see the lightning flashes, blowing dirt, and feel the big vertical tail-fin moving in the gusts.

In five minutes the email alert light flashes... She is go for the kerosene upload. I see the fueler pulling his ladder over to our right wing. Things are coming together on this text book example of a dark and stormy night.

45 minutes on the taxiway...

Number one is turning, two is waiting. As I suspected, a re-route was given to us on the taxiway. After that, a large cell moved over the airport causing havoc... Departures stopped and the wind switched directions. The Conga Line had to do a one-eighty and face east. More than a few crews are giving up and returning to the gate for more fuel.

I am totally relaxed inside our digital cocoon while the storm segment of my brain runs scenario after scenario. We are now about number six for the runway. PHX tower is doing a magnificent job dealing with the heavy weather. Wide swaths of the sky flash with incredible brilliance every few seconds illuminating the whole airport in pure white light... The points of origin from all quadrants. Between airport illumination moments, heavy lightning bolts hit the ground to the west, south and east... Thick electric trunks with hundreds of branches sizzling in all directions. Yeah Baby! This is indeed one of those nights.

Light rain, blowing mud, wind socks extended straight out as I ask my young co-pilot to start number two, please. He told me earlier he was glad it was my leg and I think he meant it. Number two  starts without a problem in the 35-40 knot crosswind. Love these engines! It rolls back to idle and we check flight controls, speeds, weight, navigation, and warn the flight attendants.

I reach overhead and ring the lead flight attendant for a little last minute chat about the weather. I tell her, again, exactly what to expect and in what sequence it will happen and not to worry. Next, a mini-pep talk to the pax advising them what to expect, i.e., bright flashes flooding the cabin, lots of rain, light to moderate turbulence for about ten minutes and please, please do not get out of your seats.

Wipers to HI...

We are lined up with 25 Right... Wipers on HI. The best radar money can buy is looking at the weather in our twelve, antenna angle at eight degrees above the horizon. Moderate rain, crosswind at the limit, sky flashing bright and white, as I move the thrust levers forward. A lot of rudder is required to stay on the centerline. Outside, the wet, dirty, hot airmass is moving from left to right, momentarily frozen by electric flashes. It is a surrealistic scene with ramifications an airline pilot clearly understands.

New IAE-V2500 engines ignore the hot and humid conditions and mash us back in our seats with authority. The crosswind is pushing on the airframe, especially the vertical fin, as we churn the rain into steam behind us. Cockpit Flightdeck vibrations change frequency as velocity increases; hard to wordsmith, but there is a side node to the rapid vibrations causing flight instruments to blur momentarily at each end of the wave. Whatever, it is very cool... Definitely caused by wind loading on the fuselage.

V1... 145 knots...

Past the go/no-go point and still strong acceleration. The wind is trying to lift the left wing which I counter with quick aileron movements, but not enough to raise the spoilers. Finesse makes Fi-Fi happy and when she is happy...

Rotate... 153 knots...

On the instruments as the nosegear levitates... The bursts of electric light are rapid and intense in our twelve. Rudder pressure released as the mains leave the runway and the airframe rotates left briskly toward the wind component. Call for the gear UP... We are out of here, finally.

Electric mist...

One thousand feet happens fast... Thrust levers back to climb power, flaps/slats UP, check pressurization, run the after take-off checklist. The ground lights begin to fade as an electric mist envelopes the aircraft. Without being told, the co-pilot requests twenty degrees right to thread the needle between rain shafts shown on the radar.

At 2,000 feet we are in thick clouds, heavy rain, fifty knots from the southwest, light turbulence, and brilliant electric flashes. I reach overhead and turn the flightdeck lights to BRIGHT. The departure controller gives us a heading of zero three zero and maintain 230 knots. Roger that...

At 3,000 feet... Moderate turbulence, heavy rain, smell of ozone as we climb out of the hot Phoenix basin. Underwing lights are boring twin photon tunnels ahead; bright rain drops moving toward us at 250 knots. Small corrections left and right to  miss the heaviest rain and turbulence depicted on the radar screen. Anything loose in the cockpi flightdeck is rattling. On a heading of 030 degrees, I engage the number one auto-pilot. The airspeed fluctuations are too much, though, and it disengages with a red flashing light and a warning bell. It's all yours captain... I'm not flying in this mess. Regrip the left joystick with a giggle; eyeballs on the shaking instruments.

At 6,000 feet... The airliner ahead of us, a mad-dog 90, is getting hammered. The pilot on the radio is struggling to make a complete sentence in the turbulence. My co-pilot asks for twenty left... The long 321 is whipping and twisting in the turbulence as I lower the left wing and try to get an average fifteen degree bank angle... It varies from thirty five to zero. Airspeed is all over the place... Plus or minus twenty knots. Climb rate is averaging 3,000 fpm.

At 10,000 feet... Static electricity on the radio antennas is making communications difficult. Our radar shows the heaviest rain is mostly behind, west, and east of us now. Just because I can, I depress the radar antenna and sweep the ground ahead. Yep, it's still there... No radar shadow ahead.

Polaris...

At 15,000 feet... Movement at twelve o'clock high. Flightdeck lights OFF... Oh yeah, I see it. Brief glimpses of stars as the clouds start to crack. Back on the instruments el cap-i-tan. No star gazing.

18,000 feet... set three altimeters to standard (29.92 inches of mercury)... The cloud cracks are getting bigger. Stars and clouds blurring with velocity. The electric flashing is mostly in our six now and radio comm is back to normal as we contact ABQ ATC.

There it is... Twelve high... Big Dipper... And, uh... Yep, Polaris. See it?

Got it... Beautiful!

A crack in the sky...

Our lovely stretch Fi-Fi ascends into the night. To our left and right are towering piles of cumulus rain clouds, interiors illuminating every few seconds. Auto-pilot one ON... She takes it and I relax a bit. The sky is smooth here. I ring the lead flight attendant... How's it goin' back there? She reports all is well and asks about the ride ahead. Smooth as my wife's tiny hin... Uh, it'll be smooth.

Our compass heading will be about 350 degrees for several hundred miles as we fly to the northern edge of the storm system. Keeping Polaris above the center windscreen post will do nicely.

Cold air...

The storms are behind us and west of us as we climb into the cold, thin, dry air. It's been one of those summers of heavy storm activity that comes every third or fourth year. Another month and it will begin to settle into perfect October flying weather. I am looking forward to it.

Flight Level 340...

Looks like we will be about one hour late at the KSFO gate; not bad considering. Now that the adrenalin is gone, I am getting tired. Welcome to Life on the Line...

And it continues...