Podcasts about sympatico

JUST IN TIME FOR BEETLEJUICE 2!! Beetlejuice Movie Reaction Watch Along:  https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Follow Us On Socials: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  https://www.tiktok.com/@thereelrejects?lang=en With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opening THIS WEEKEND, Coy Jandreau & Aaron Alexander return to Tim Burton's CLASSIC for a FIRST TIME Reaction, Commentary, Analysis, Breakdown, & Full Movie Spoiler Review for the Supernatural Comedy directed by Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Alice in Wonderland, Wednesday) and starring Michael Keaton (Batman Returns, Birdman) in his iconic turn as the hilarious & vile bio-exorcist, Betelgeuse, & Winona Ryder (Heathers, Stranger Things) as goth girl icon, Lydia Deetz. Beetlejuice centers on the spirits of a deceased couple played by Alec Baldwin (The Departed, 30 Rock) & Geena Davis (The Fly, Thelma & Louise) who wake up dead only to be harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, causing them to hire a malicious spirit to drive them out... The film also features Catherine O'Hara (Best in Show, Schitt's Creek), Glenn Shadix (A Nightmare Before Christmas), Dick Cavett (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors), Robert Goulet (Scrooged), Annie McEnroe (Wall Street), & MORE! Coy & Aaron REACT to all the Best Scenes & Zaniest Moments including It's Showtime!, Netherworld Waiting Room, Free Demon Possession with Every Exorcism, You Guys Really Are Dead, We're Sympatico, Scary Snake, Never Trust the Living, Til Death Do Us Part, The Sandworm, & Beyond!! Follow Coy Jandreau:  Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coyjandreau?l... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coyjandreau/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CoyJandreau YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYH2szDTuU9ImFZ9gBRH8w Follow Aaron On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealaaronalexander/?hl=en Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Music Used In Manscaped Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drs. John Sweetenham and Marc Braunstein discuss practice-changing studies in hematologic malignancies that were featured at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, including the ASC4FIRST trial in chronic myeloid leukemia and IMROZ and CARTITUDE-4 in multiple myeloma.  TRANSCRIPT Dr. John Sweetenham: Hello, I'm Dr. John Sweetenham from UT Southwestern's Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and host of the ASCO Daily News Podcast. On today's episode, we'll be discussing practice-changing abstracts and other key advances in hematological malignancies that were featured at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting. Joining me for this discussion is an old friend, Dr. Marc Braunstein, a hematologist and oncologist from the NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center.  Our full disclosures are available in the transcript of this episode. Marc, it's great to have you back on the podcast again. There were some important studies in the heme space at the Annual Meeting this year, and we're very pleased that you're able to share your takeaways.  Dr. Marc Braunstein: Thank you, John. It's great to be back again. Dr. John Sweetenham: Let's start out, Marc, with LBA6500. This abstract reports the primary results of the ASC4FIRST trial, and this was a trial comparing asciminib with investigator selected tyrosine kinase inhibitors in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Could you tell us a little about the trial and how you think it's going to impact clinical practice? Dr. Marc Braunstein: Absolutely. So, asciminib is an oral tyrosine kinase of the ABL kinase domain. As we know in CML, the BCR-ABL translocation is characteristic of the disease, and asciminib is approved for chronic phase CML with a T315I resistance mutation or for patients who have received 2 or more prior lines of therapy. So the ASC4FIRST trial was a randomized trial of 405 patients with newly diagnosed chronic phase CML who are randomized one to one to receive either asciminib at 80 milligrams once daily, or investigator's choice of a first generation TKI imatinib or one of three second generation TKIs nilotinib, dasatinib, or bosutinib. The primary endpoint of the study was the major molecular response, or MMR, at 48 weeks. Pretty much, the study met its primary endpoint with a 67% rate of MMR at 48 weeks, with asciminib versus 49% in patients treated with the investigator's choice of TKI. And in addition, the major molecular remission or MMR of 4.5, which is a deep remission, those rates were higher as well, with asciminib versus investigator's choice at a rate of 39% versus 21% when comparing the groups. Furthermore, when we looked at toxicity, there were fewer grade 3 or higher adverse events, with the asciminib at 38% versus either 44% with the first generation, or 55% with the second generation TKI, and fewer discontinuations as well with asciminib.  So I think this abstract is practice-changing. I think it offers compelling data to use asciminib upfront for chronic phase CML. Those who don't agree with that sentiment might argue that we want to see longer term follow up. There's a planned follow-up at 96 weeks. We would want to see the rate of progression to acute myeloid leukemia and of course overall survival as well. But I think the abstract certainly shows an improvement in outcomes with asciminib versus our current array of TKIs. Dr. John Sweetenham: Yeah, I think it certainly is, at least at minimum, potentially practice changing. I agree with you. Just one question, and this may be a little bit speculative, but do you have any thoughts about treatment free survival with asciminib and how that might line up against some of the other TKIs? Dr. Marc Braunstein: Yeah, that's a great question. The abstract did not necessarily address that, patients were treated until progression, but we know that with the current landscape of TKIs, that in patients who have achieved a deep MR of 4 or 4.5 for at least 2 years who discontinue their TKI, the rate of relapse is about 50%. The current study, the ASC4FIRST, doesn't address that, but I think it's a really good question about whether, for those patients who have achieved a deep remission, whether they can eventually stop asciminib down the line. Dr. John Sweetenham: Yeah, I guess it's one of those ‘watch this space' things.  So we'll see how the data mature out. And let's move on to what I think is another potentially practice-changing study, at least in certain parts of the world. And that's [the] LBA7000 study in classical Hodgkin lymphoma. As you remember, this was a German Hodgkin lymphoma study group trial which looked at the tolerability and efficacy of a novel regimen, BrECADD versus eBEACOPP for patients with advanced stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma in their study, which is known as GHSG HD21. Can you give us your thoughts and take home messages from this trial? Dr. Marc Braunstein: Yeah, John, absolutely. So the German HD21 study is a phase 3 study of 1,500 patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The majority were stage 3 or 4, 84%, that compared two regimens BEACOPP to BrECADD. The major difference between these 2 groups being that the newer BrECADD regimen swaps out bleomycin for brentuximab vedotin, which is an anti-CD30 antibody drug conjugate. Also, in the BrECADD regimen they eliminate vincristine that's incorporated into BEACOPP. Those are kind of the global differences between these 2 regimens. And when comparing these, they looked at the primary endpoint of progression-free survival. Of note, in this study there was a PET adjusted approach where if patients achieved interim PET negativity after 2 cycles, that was followed by an additional 2 cycles of their treatment as opposed to 4 cycles if they were PET positive after the initial 2 cycles of their respective treatment. And of note, there were similar rates of PET2 negativity between both arms, about 58% in both arms.  So at a median follow-up of 48 months, the 4-year progression-free survival was significantly better with the brentuximab containing BrECADD regimen at 94% versus 91% with a hazard ratio of 0.66. And the overall survival of the BrECADD arm was 98.6%, which is very high and impressive. The 4-year overall survival was similar between the arms at around 98%, but of note, there were fewer severe adverse events with BrECADD, the brentuximab containing arm versus BEACOPP at about 42% versus 59% and interestingly less peripheral neuropathy with the brentuximab containing BrECADD. So we're doing extremely well in treating advanced stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma. So the bar is set very high. But in this study, the rates of progression-free survival and overall survival are very impressive.  While these intensive regimens tend to be used outside of the U.S., there are several notable benefits of the study, including greater than 50% PET2 negativity and high rates of progression-free survival at 4 years. In discussing this abstract, it's worth noting that there are other competing regimens, if you want to call it that, that are more commonly used in the U.S. So the ECHELON-1 study looked at brentuximab AVD compared with ABVD with bleomycin and it was a 94% versus 89% 6-year overall survival rate favoring the brentuximab containing A+AVD regimen. And lastly, more recently, the SWOG S1826 study that hasn't been published but was presented in abstract form looked at nivolumab AVD versus brentuximab AVD at a median follow up of 12 months showed a progression-free survival of 94% versus 86%. And that study still has yet to be published and needs to mature. But both of those regimens are in the NCCN guidelines. So, we're definitely pushing the bar higher in terms of improving responses in treating advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma. Dr. John Sweetenham: I think that there's no question that these results from BrECADD are very impressive. But I'm taken back to what I think has been a kind of philosophic discussion in Hodgkin lymphoma now for a number of years about balancing disease control and efficacy against the potential short-term and long-term toxicity of the regimens, particularly when you have very effective salvage therapies for those patients who may suffer a relapse. So I think that this is a discussion over whether you take a very intensive, upfront approach to Hodgkin lymphoma versus something that may be less and slightly less intensive. I suspect that's a discussion that's going to continue for a long time. I don't know what you feel, but my own feeling about this is that this study will likely have a major influence over treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma, particularly in western Europe. Less likely in the US.., I would think. I don't know what your thoughts about that are. Dr. Marc Braunstein: Well, it's a great question. In SWOG S1826, that study did include pediatric patients. In HD21, the median age was 31 and did not include pediatric patients. So I think we have to be selective in terms of fitness and which patients may be better suited for different regimens. But I think what all these studies show is certainly when we incorporate novel immunotherapies, whether it's brentuximab vedotin, nivolumab, we improve progression-free survival and even overall survival. Dr. John Sweetenham: Absolutely.  So let's shift gears now and take a look at Abstract 7500, the IMROZ study. This was the study of isatuximab, bortezomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone versus VRD alone for transplant ineligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. I know we discussed this in our preview podcast a few weeks back, Marc, but I just wonder now, having seen the data in more detail, what do you think of the important takeaways? And again, are we looking at a new standard of care? Dr. Marc Braunstein: You know, there are many standards of care in multiple myeloma, but we're always looking to make improvements on the regimens we have at our disposal. So, just to recap, IMROZ is a phase 3 randomized study of the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody isatuximab with the backbone of bortezomib, lenalidomide, dexamethasone or VRD versus VRD alone, specifically, in transplant ineligible newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients age less than 80. They studied 446 patients in this study, randomized 3 to 2 to Isa-VRD versus VRD alone, with the primary endpoint of progression free survival. Now, similar to other studies where they included a monoclonal antibody up front, the study met its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival with the quad regimen containing the monoclonal antibody isatuximab versus VRD alone.  So what was interesting about the study, it's really the first of its kind to be presented that specifically looked at transplant ineligible patients, which is presumably a less fit or perhaps more frail population that wouldn't go on to consolidation with stem cell transplant. And in this study, the progression-free survival at 5 years was 63% versus 45%, clearly superior when you included isatuximab. And the rates of complete remission and MRD negativity were all significantly improved, too. However, that was also met with slightly more grade 3 or higher treatment emergent adverse events, 92% versus 84% in the control arm. There are also 11% grade 5 treatment emergent adverse events with the isatuximab group versus 5.5% with VRD alone. Although there was no major difference in treatment discontinuation. One small caveat worth noting, too, is that high-risk patients in this study, when presented at ASCO, did not necessarily show a difference in benefit, although there wasn't necessarily a detriment either.  So, John, I think that clearly quadruplet regimens are superior in outcomes of efficacy to triplets, even in transplant-ineligible patients. But I think we have to tailor these treatments to individual patients because I think when it comes to transplant-ineligible patients, it's a spectrum of patients who may be more or less fit for quad regimens versus triplet regimens. It's also worth noting, though, that in this study, the patients are really only getting a quad regimen for 4 cycles. They get their Isa-VRD, and then you drop the bortezomib.  So when we think about quads, it's not that they're getting the quad regimen indefinitely, it's really for the induction cycles. But still, I think we have to be aware of potential safety issues. Dr. John Sweetenham: Okay, great. And let's stay on the theme of multiple myeloma, Marc, and talk a little bit about Abstract 7504, which was a subgroup analysis of the CARTITUDE-4 study. This is a report on the use of ciltacabtagene autoleucel versus standard of care in patients with functional high risk multiple myeloma. Can you give us your thoughts on this and maybe put it into a bit of context for us?  Dr. Marc Braunstein: Absolutely, John. It's really a great time to be in the field of multiple myeloma. We're making tremendous progress, but when we think about one of the unmet needs, it's just consistently the high-risk patients who have shorter responses and are at higher risk for poorer outcomes. Just to review, cilta-cel is one of the 2 available anti-BCMA CAR T-cell products available for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Very recently, the FDA approved cilta-cel for lenalidomide refractory patients after 2 or more prior lines of therapy based on the CARTITUDE-4 study, which was published by San-Miguel and colleagues in New England Journal of Medicine in July 2023. And that study randomized 419 patients with multiple myeloma with 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy to receive either cilta-cel or physician's choice of standard of care, which was either 1 of 2 triplet regimens, a pomalidomide, bortezomib, dexamethasone or daratumumab, pomalidomide and dexamethasone. It's worth noting that about 25% of the patients in the CARTITUDE-4 study had prior anti-CD38 antibody treatment previously and the carfilzomib was not included in one of the standard-of-care arms, and we know that those regimens containing carfilzomib do increase survival in relapsed myeloma.  Nevertheless, the primary outcome of progression-free survival was not reached in the CAR T-cell arm versus 11.8 months in the standard-of-care arm, with a significant reduction in progression of 74%. So clearly a positive study and CAR T-cell therapy is included in the NCCN guidelines for patients who have an early relapse from their myeloma. The current abstract by Costa et al focused specifically on a subgroup of 79 patients from CARTITUDE-4 in second line of treatment and looked at what they called functional high-risk myeloma, defined as progression of disease within 18 months of initial treatment or after stem cell transplant. Again, the study showed a retained benefit of cilta-cel with significant improvement in progression-free survival either not reached or 12 months with the control standard of care arm, as well as complete remission rate and rates of MRD negativity of 65% versus 10% in the control.  The overall survival outcome was still immature and not presented. Nevertheless, cilta-cel is clearly superior to standard-of-care triplet regimens. I think that for patients with high risk, they clearly derive a benefit from CAR T-cell therapy if they have short progression-free survival after initial therapy.  Dr. John Sweetenham: Thanks, Marc. So let's round this out by talking about another area of unmet need, I guess in a way in a difficult to treat patient group. And that's Abstract 7007, the SYMPATICO study. This is a study which looks at the efficacy and safety of ibrutinib and venetoclax in patients with mantle cell lymphoma who had a mutated TP53. Can you just briefly review this for us and tell us what you think we should be taking away from this studys? Dr. Marc Braunstein: So, mantle cell lymphoma typically has an aggressive behavior, but the subgroup of patients with a P53 mutation tend to have the poorest outcomes and do represent an area of unmet need. Although BTK inhibitors are making important improvements in mantle cell lymphoma, they have yet to be approved in newly diagnosed mantle cell lymphoma. Acalibutinib and zanubrutinib are FDA-approved BTK inhibitors for previously treated mantle cell lymphoma. Ibrutinib was withdrawn from the market in the U.S. for mantle cell lymphoma. Dr. Michael Wang's group presented late-breaking data from the phase 3 SYMPATICO trial at ASH 2023, in which 267 patients with relapsed refractory mantle cell lymphoma were randomized to receive either ibrutinib plus the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax or ibrutinib plus placebo after 1 to 5 prior lines of therapy. And that study showed a 32 versus 22 months progression-free survival at a median follow up of 51 months. The current abstract, also by Dr. Wang and colleagues, looked at the subgroup of patients who had a P53 mutation and included an open label cohort of 44 patients in the first line of treatment and a relapse refractory cohort of 75 patients, and compared this subgroup of patients with P53 mutation to those without. When we look at the outcomes, the patients who did not have a P53 mutation clearly did better in terms of progression-free survival being not reached in first-line treatment compared to 22 months progression-free survival in those patients with first-line [treatment] with a P53 mutation. As well as in the relapsed refractory setting, the PFS without the P53 mutation was 47 months versus 21 months with the mutation. However, when you look at these patients treated with ibrutinib and venetoclax comparing whether they got treated in first line or the relapse refractory setting, the overall response rates are very similar at about 80% to 90% and the CR rates were very similar at about 55% to 58%, which to me suggests that although patients with P53 mutation do worse than those without it, whether they're treated in the first-line or the relapse setting with this combination of venetoclax, they tend to do somewhat similar, suggesting that you can overcome resistance to prior therapy in the relapse setting. So I think further data are certainly warranted to explore the role of combination therapies that include novel agents such as BTK inhibitors in the first line setting.  It's worth noting that the TRIANGLE study was recently published, and this study looked at including ibrutinib at various phases, including at induction in combination with intensive chemotherapy and during the maintenance phase. And that study showed encouraging outcomes in patients who received ibrutinib even without stem cell transplant compared to those who received stem cell transplant. So the role of BTKIs in mantle cell lymphoma is certainly evolving, and I think it offers a very effective intervention without the same kind of toxicities we see with cytotoxic chemotherapy that's traditionally used in mantle cell lymphoma. But I think the subgroup of patients with P53 mutation in this disease still represent an area of unmet need that unfortunately have worse outcomes. But novel agents may be able to overcome some of those adverse outcomes. Dr. John Sweetenham: Yeah, I agree. I think these are intriguing data, and obviously it needs more follow-up and probably more prospective studies. But nevertheless, I think there are some signals there for sure that need to be followed up on.  Marc, as always, it's great to have your insights on key advances in the heme space from ASCO. An important year this year, and we really appreciate your time and effort in sharing with us your thoughts on what we've learned this year. So thank you as always. Dr. Marc Braunstein: My pleasure. Dr. John Sweetenham: And thank you to our listeners for joining us today. You'll find links to the abstract discussed today in the transcript of this episode. Finally, if you value the insights that you hear on the ASCO Daily News Podcast, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.   Disclaimer: The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.   Find out more about today's guest:  Dr. Marc Braunstein  @docbraunstein    Follow ASCO on social media:   @ASCO on Twitter   ASCO on Facebook   ASCO on LinkedIn     Disclosures:  Dr. John Sweetenham:  Consulting or Advisory Role: EMA Wellness  Dr. Marc Braunstein:  Consulting or Advisory Role: Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Celgene, Adaptive Biotechnologies, GlaxoSmithKline, ADC Therapeutics, Janssen Oncology, Abbvie, Guidepoint Global, Epizyme, Sanofi, CTI BioPharma Corp  Speakers' Bureau: Janssen Oncology  Research Funding (Institution): Janssen, Celgene/BMS   

Dr. John Sweetenham and Dr. Marc Braunstein look ahead at key abstracts across the spectrum of hematologic malignancies that will be presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, including the OPTIC trial in chronic myeloid leukemia, treatment options for transplant-ineligible patients with multiple myeloma, and the 7-year analysis of the ECHELON-1 trial in classical Hodgkin lymphoma. TRANSCRIPT Dr. John Sweetenham: Hello, I'm Dr. John Sweetenham from UT Southwestern's Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and the host of the ASCO Daily News Podcast. I'm delighted to be joined again this year by Dr. Marc Braunstein, a hematologist and oncologist at the NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York. We're going to be discussing some of the key abstracts in hematologic malignancies that will be featured at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting.  Our full disclosures are available in the transcript of this episode, and disclosures of all guests on the podcast are available at asco.org/DNpod.  Marc, it's great to have you back on the podcast. Dr. Marc Braunstein: It's a pleasure to be back, John.  Dr. John Sweetenham: There are some exciting abstracts to be presented at this year's meeting, and I would like to begin, if we can, with Abstract 6501. As you know, this reports the four-year results from the OPTIC trial of ponatinib in patients with chronic-phase CML and the T315I mutation. Can you tell us about the trial and about these latest follow-up results? Dr. Marc Braunstein: Sure. Well, we've made tremendous progress in managing patients with CML in the past two decades using these oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as ponatinib. Ponatinib is a third-generation TKI that has activity in both Philadelphia-positive ALL as well as CML, and can overcome the resistance mutation you mentioned, called the T315I mutation, which is sometimes found following prior TKI therapy. The OPTIC study is a multicenter phase 2 randomized study of various doses of ponatinib in 283 chronic phase CML patients who had received 2 or more prior lines of therapy or those who had the presence of a T315I mutation, with the current analysis examining the major remission at 48 months, PFS, as well as OS. Of note, in this study, after patients have achieved a major remission with a transcript level of 1% or less, the study allowed for dose reduction of ponatinib from the original dose of either 45 milligrams or 30 milligrams to a reduced dose of 15 milligrams.  So, when we look at the results, we find that the patients who had the highest overall response rates and higher rates of molecular remission were those who received the 45-milligram dose. And remember, these patients were allowed to be dose-reduced to the 15-milligram dose once they achieved a molecular remission of 1% or less. In addition, the rates of overall survival were highest in the 45-milligram dose as well. When looking at the T315I subgroup, the rates of molecular remission, the depth of remission, and the rates of progression-free survival, in general, were lower in that subgroup, but still higher in the 45-milligram dose than the 35- milligram dose.  Furthermore, when looking at the rates of treatment-emergent adverse events leading to discontinuation, they were 8% in the 45-milligram dose compared to 14% in the 30-milligram dose and 5% in the patients who only received the 15-milligram dose. The authors have concluded that the 45-milligram dose, with the potential to be reduced to 15 milligrams after achieving 1% or less of the BCR-ABL transcript level, seems to be the right balance between efficacy and safety.  Dr. John Sweetenham: Thanks, Marc. In the longer term, do you think that this study will, in any way, affect the position of ponatinib in the treatment algorithm for CML? Is it going to remain as a second or third-line option, or do you think there's any chance it will be moved up? Dr. Marc Braunstein: Well, that's a great question. There are other TKIs, such as asciminib, that also target the T315I mutation, and that mutation tends to develop after prior first-line or second-line TKI therapy. But given its activity in both ALL and CML, I think it's certainly reasonable to expect that ponatinib will be used in earlier lines of therapy given its efficacy in later lines. Dr. John Sweetenham: Let's change gears and move the focus to acute myeloid leukemia. There has been a lot of discussion around frailty in many different malignancies, but the impact of frailty on outcomes in AML is maybe something that hasn't been quite so well studied. In Abstract 6506, investigators did a population-based study in Ontario, Canada, that assessed the patient's frailty risk and the impact that might have on outcomes. What are your takeaways from this study, and how do you think these data will help optimize treatment decisions?  Dr. Marc Braunstein: Yeah, I'm glad we're talking about this abstract John, because frailty scores are increasingly being used in hematologic malignancies to help guide goals and intensity of care. And as opposed to using age or performance status alone, these composite frailty assessment tools, such as the MFI tool that they used in this particular study, take into account multiple variables that are both physiologic, such as the patient's comorbidities, as well as social, and what kind of support system do they have, and things of that nature. And that accounts for their overall fitness. So, in this retrospective cohort study that was a population-based study in Ontario between 2006 and 2021, they looked at 5,450 patients retrospectively with acute leukemia and grouped those patients into 3 categories based on this frailty index. Patients who are either fit, somewhere in the middle between fit or frail, which they call pre-frail, or frail. And they looked at outcomes such as overall survival, comparing patients who got intensive chemotherapy regimens for induction or those who got non-intensive therapy for induction. Patients in either group could have been assigned to either fit, pre-frail, or frail although there are much more fit patients than those who got intensive induction.  And so, looking at their findings, it was noted that patients who were in the frail category, not entirely unexpectedly, had lower overall survival when compared to those who were fit or pre-frail. I think the value of a study like this is not just to highlight the benefit of frailty scores to help predict which patients may ultimately have a shorter survival, but also to help potentially guide which patients may be more suitable for intensive versus less intensive induction. I will note that this study was conducted in an era where we didn't have the same sorts of less intensive induction that are very effective in less fit patients, such as the combination of azacytidine and venetoclax, which is commonly used in less fit patients nowadays. So, the study may encompass patients who didn't have access to that therapy because it wasn't available during that time. But I think it still, overall, does highlight the fact that assessing fitness or frailty in acute myeloid leukemia is important for predictive value. Dr. John Sweetenham: I agree. Marc, I don't know what your thoughts are on this, but it goes either way. I mean, I think that, if I remember the numbers correctly, 25% of fit patients received non-intensive therapy. So, is there a missed opportunity there for that group of patients who actually may have tolerated the intensive therapy but it was never offered? Dr. Marc Braunstein: That's an excellent point, John, and I think that highlights the importance of frailty indices because they take into account much more than one particular factor, or even just a subjective assessment of the patient in real time when they're first presenting. And they may have disease-specific features that are decreasing, say one element of their assessment such as their performance status. So, really taking these composite fitness scores into account may actually allow you to escalate therapy in a patient who may actually be fit but maybe perceived as less fit when they present. Dr. John Sweetenham: Yeah. So, I think, as you mentioned, there are better treatment options out there now maybe than there were at the time this study was conducted. Nevertheless, there may still be that opportunity for more intensive therapy for some of these patients when they are more holistically assessed.  Let's move on and switch gears once again and talk about a study in multiple myeloma, the so-called IMROZ study, which is Abstract 7500. So, this is a study looking at treatment options for transplant-ineligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Some of these patients may not have a chance for subsequent therapy if they are not eligible for transplant. What are your thoughts on this study? Do you think we're closer to a new standard of care for patients who are not going to proceed to an autologous stem cell transplant?  Dr. Marc Braunstein: It seems like every year there's a new standard of care for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma because there's so much data emerging, which is just wonderful. So, I think as background, at the 2023 ASH meeting, the IsKia study was presented, which is a randomized phase 3 study in newly diagnosed transplant-eligible patients. And that was using isatuximab with carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone upfront and that study did show a benefit in terms of reducing minimal residual disease compared to carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone alone. But that study was looking at fit newly diagnosed patients who were going on to stem cell transplant. Right now, the standard of care for patients who are not eligible for transplant is generally to use a 2 or 3-drug regimen, such as daratumumab, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone, based on the phase 3 MAYA study. But this study is really unique in that it looks at using a quadruplet regimen in patients who are transplant ineligible or not intended to go for transplant.  So, the phase 3 IMROZ study was a randomized study of 446 patients that compared isatuximab, bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone to bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone alone. So, a quad versus a triplet regimen. The primary endpoint in this study was progression-free survival, but they also looked at secondary endpoints, such as complete response rate and minimal residual disease negativity.   Just to quickly highlight the results and then discuss the standard of care, the median duration of treatment in this study was 53 months in the quad regimen and 31 months in the control arm. At a median follow-up of about 60 months, the progression-free survival was not reached with the quad regimen versus 54 months in the triplet, and that was a significant difference. In addition, the safety profile was pretty much consistent with the class, there were a bit more grade three or higher treatment-emergent adverse events with the ESA-containing regimen, 92% versus 84%, but no difference in adverse events leading to discontinuation in either arm.   So, this study is certainly compelling in terms of using quadruplet-based regimens that contain an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody for newly diagnosed patients who are not intended to undergo transplant. I think at the meeting, I will be interested to see the patient population that was included. Patients who are over the age of 80, for example, are excluded. So, I would like to know more about their fitness level and performance status. But I think it's clear, John, that using quad regimens over triplet regimens is just consistently superior in terms of efficacy outcomes. Dr. John Sweetenham: Right. I guess that, even though maybe we can't focus on the specific agents right now, it looks as if quad regimens are going to be the standard of care regimens for the future in this group. Do you think that is fair?  Dr. Marc Braunstein: Very likely. Dr. John Sweetenham: Absolutely. Well, that's a pretty challenging group of patients.   And so to move on again, let's talk about another, perhaps equally challenging group - patients with mantle cell lymphoma, particularly those who carry certain mutations. The so-called SYMPATICO study, which is reported in Abstract 7007, presents data on the efficacy and safety of ibrutinib and venetoclax in patients with mantle cell lymphoma who carry a TP53 mutation. We know that this mutation confers a high risk of early progressive disease and poorer outcomes when these patients are treated with standard chemoimmunotherapy for mantle cell. Trials to date have been limited to small single-arm studies. Can you tell us a little bit about this study and the outcomes and what you think it means for the future?  Dr. Marc Braunstein: As a background, although BTK inhibitors such as ibrutinib have yet to be approved for newly diagnosed mantle cell lymphoma, acalabrutinib and zanubrutinib, which are second-generation BTK inhibitors, are FDA-approved for previously treated mantle cell lymphoma. Ibrutinib was withdrawn from the market. The lead author of this abstract, Dr. Michael Wang, had presented a late-breaking data from the phase 3 SYMPATICO trial at ASH last year, in which 267 patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma after one to five prior lines of therapy were randomized to receive the combination of ibrutinib plus the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax or ibrutinib plus placebo. That study showed there was a 32 versus 22-month progression-free survival with a hazard ratio of 0.65 at a median follow-up of 51 months, indicating the PFS benefit of the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax compared to ibrutinib with placebo.   So that leads us to this subgroup analysis in the current study being presented at ASCO, in which they looked at a subgroup of patients with mantle cell lymphoma who are at very high risk for treatment failure and early relapse - those are patients who have a mutation in TP53, which again is high risk for treatment failure. This abstract examined an open-label cohort of 44 first-line patients, as well as 75 patients who were in the relapse/refractory cohort, and compared to patients who either did or did not have the P53 mutation. When we look at the progression-free survival outcomes, the median progression-free survival in the first-line cohort of patients who did not have a P53 mutation was not reached, whereas those with the P53 mutation had a median progression-free survival of 22 months, which is still meaningful but still less than those who did not have a P53 mutation. Which again is not entirely unexpected. But the overall response rate of the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax was very high at 90%, and the median duration of response was about 21 months.  Now comparing this to the relapse/refractory cohort, in those without a P53 mutation, the progression-free survival of the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax was about 47 months versus those who don't have the P53 mutation was about 21 months with an overall response rate of 80%. I think one takeaway looking at this comparison of the first-line and relapse/refractory setting is that patients seem to do very similar in terms of overall response rate and progression-free survival, whether they were in the first line or in the later lines of treatment if they had the P53 mutation, which says that the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax is effective no matter which phase of the disease the patient might be in, indicating its overall activity and being strong.    Dr. John Sweetenham: Yeah, I thought that was an interesting observation, actually, how similar the outcomes were in those two groups.  Dr. Marc Braunstein: No, I agree. And I think although patients with TP53 mutations did comparatively worse than those without the mutation according to progression-free survival, overall response rate, or complete remission rates, they did seem to be similar whether a patient was in first-line or relapsed refractory if they were P53 mutant and were treated with this combination. So, I think we need further data in the first line, such as the data that's awaiting publication from the TRIANGLE study, which is examining upfront ibrutinib. But certainly, BTK inhibitors have significant activity in either the first line or the relapse setting of mantle cell lymphoma.  Dr. John Sweetenham: Great. Thanks, Marc.  Let's wind up with one more abstract, and this is Abstract 7053. It's a 7-year analysis of the so-called ECHELON-1 study. This was a study comparing the standard of care, ABVD, with the same regimen with bleomycin substituted by brentuximab vedotin for patients with previously untreated advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The study at the time it was originally reported, resulted in a significant practice change in the first-line therapy of Hodgkin's lymphoma. We now have mature follow-up. What are your take-homes from this study? Dr. Marc Braunstein: The ECHELON-1 study has certainly been a practice-changing clinical trial where, as you said, brentuximab with the backbone of AVD was compared to ABVD, which was the prior standard. And this was examined in newly diagnosed patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma who were at advanced-stage, stage 3 or 4. The publication, first of the progression-free survival, and more recently, in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2022, where we saw the 6-year overall survival was 94% with the brentuximab-containing arm versus 89% in the control arm, established the brentuximab AVD, or otherwise called AAVD, as the standard of care in advanced stage newly diagnosed classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The current study is now reporting 7-year follow-up on about 1,300 randomized patients who were enrolled in this impressive study.   Though at a median follow-up of 89 months now, the 7-year overall survival was quite similar, 94% versus 89%, again favoring the brentuximab-containing arm. In particular, this was driven by patients who had stage 4 disease or those patients who were aged less than 60 in subgroup analyses. So, what I take away from this abstract in the 7-year follow-up of the ECHELON-1 is that brentuximab with AVD remains the standard of care for previously untreated advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma. It is worth noting that the SWOG S1826 study that was presented at ASCO last year compared nivolumab with AVD compared to brentuximab AVD and did show a slight PFS advantage of 94% versus 86% with nivolumab AVD. Obviously, these were different studies with different patient populations enrolled, so we're really just cross-comparing different studies. But I think brentuximab AVD, given the survival benefit that is retained now at seven years in the current abstract, still remains the standard of care for advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The role of immune checkpoint inhibitors like nivolumab is making headway in terms of treating newly diagnosed patients as well. Dr. John Sweetenham: Yeah, thanks, Marc. I mean, one of the observations that I thought was of interest in this study was the outcome for patients who were PET-2 positive, when you compare AAVD and ABVD. It does seem as if even in those patients who are PET-2 positive, having had AAVD, they still apparently have a better outcome than those who received ABVD in that situation who were PET-2 positive. So, I think that's another interesting observation. I'm not quite sure what it means, except speaking to the overall superior efficacy of that regimen. Dr. Marc Braunstein: You make a great point, John, because it's worth noting that in ECHELON-1, a PET scan was done after cycle 2, but the study was not PET-adapted. So even if you had a positive PET, you continued for the full six cycles of treatment. But PET-2 status is often used in various studies of Hodgkin lymphoma to guide whether to give additional cycles or escalate therapy. So, I think the benefit of presenting those subgroups is that even if you were PET-2 positive, you still did better by continuing on the brentuximab-containing regimen. Dr. John Sweetenham: Yeah, exactly. I mean, the other important takeaway message, I think, is that the outcome for patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma seems to continue to steadily improve, which is great news and also really remarkable. And I'm excited to see there may be some additional data presented at one of the late-breaking abstracts in this year's meeting, so it will truly be interesting to see what that shows us as well.  Dr. Marc Braunstein: Incredible. Dr. John Sweetenham: Well, Marc, as always, thank you for sharing your insights with us today on the ASCO Daily News Podcast. We look forward very much to hearing the updated data from these abstracts at the meeting.  Dr. Marc Braunstein: As do I and thank you so much for inviting me again.  Dr. John Sweetenham: And thank you to our listeners for joining us today. You'll find links to the abstracts discussed today in the transcript of this episode. Finally, if you value the insights that you hear on the ASCO Daily News Podcast, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Disclaimer: The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.   Find out more about today's guest: Dr. Marc Braunstein @docbraunstein   Follow ASCO on social media:  @ASCO on Twitter  ASCO on Facebook  ASCO on LinkedIn    Disclosures:  Dr. John Sweetenham: Consulting or Advisory Role: EMA Wellness   Dr. Marc Braunstein: Consulting or Advisory Role: Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Celgene, Adaptive Biotechnologies, GlaxoSmithKline, ADC Therapeutics, Janssen Oncology, Abbvie, Guidepoint Global, Epizyme, Sanofi, CTI BioPharma Corp Speakers' Bureau: Janssen Oncology Research Funding (Institution): Janssen, Celgene/BMS

“Simpatico, exotico, neurotico, you're my narcotico. Ask me how I feel, I'll say, alot-ico.” Special thanks to Justin Timberlake for writing our intro; it's so fitting for our fabulous guest KK and her Brazilian Lover who shan't be named. They just seem so aligned with all things sex and we're here for it! Every couple is different and we love getting the behind the curtain peek into how everyone is making it work! Listen in for their secret erogenous zone …oops, I guess it's not a secret anymore ;) And a new special guest is joining us this week: “Fantasy Reagan,” every man's fantasy, the wife who's libido surpasses every man's libido. She's a handful, you'll love her!

How best to treat patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma has been made clearer by a report from the multinational Phase III Sympatico Study, presented at the 65th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition held in San Diego. Lead author Michael Wang, MD, Professor in the Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told the conference how a combination of two targeted drugs—ibrutinib and venetoclax—improved outcomes.

Dr Phillips discusses the utility of ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, and zanubrutinib in mantle cell lymphoma, the impact of long-term follow-up data with ibrutinib, and findings from the phase 3 SYMPATICO trial that could shake up the treatment paradigm.

Daisy Turnbull is the Director of Wellbeing at an independent girls' school in Sydney (in fact my own alma mater), where she has also been a teacher for eight years. She has taught across school systems including some time at a behavioral school, working with students from diverse backgrounds. Before going into teaching Daisy worked in interactive advertising as a producer and in strategy roles tapping into demographic changes and running nationwide qualitative surveys. She is an accredited Lifeline Crisis Support counselor and regularly volunteers on the crisis support line. She is the mother of two children, holds a Combined Bachelor's degree in Arts/Commerce, a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching, and a Master of Arts in Theological Studies. Daisy is on the NSW board of the Australian Republican Movement. In January 2021 Daisy's first book ‘50 Risks to take with your kids' was released, providing a guide on developing independence and resilience in young children. Hear from Daisy on: Do you think we are less risk-averse as a society now than say when you grew up or just more aware of the risks around us in 2021? Especially with a pandemic! Explain your views. As a teacher, what is your biggest challenge when it comes to encouraging sensible risk-taking if that is possible? Why is taking risks so important to young people? Is there a cost to not do this? E.g. less resilience later. Risky actions and rash thinking and teenagers seem to be Sympatico – the adolescent brain is evolving but has not fully developed into that adult brain and I have heard boys in their 20s are still not always 100% there yet. Do we need to rethink our expectations of teens and younger people and allow them risks but with consequences if they fail or do something foolish? Take away: What is your final thought or message for us on The Politics of Taking Risks? For more from Daisy: LinkedIn: (4) LinkedIn Twitter and Instagram: Ms_dzt

Jazz Guitar Records presents Lou's latest collection of soulful originals. Lead lines and tones are featured over a rhythm guitar on this one. With some "interplay" between them. Hear the new grooves on: FULL STORY, HOME BASS, HOT LIKE JULY and JUST A FLEETING GLANCE. Enjoy!   

All uploads on this channel are for promotional purposes only! The music has been converted before uploading to prevent ripping and to protect the artist(s) and label(s). If you don't want your content here (that goes for audio or images) please contact me immediately via email: unpluggedtube@outlook.it and I WILL REMOVE THE EPISODE OR ARTWORK IMMEDIATELY! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avril Lavigne Live Acoustic. Team UNPLUGGED.

Femme aux multiples talents, GINETTE BLAIS est spécialiste de l'astrologie et de la numérologie. Elle maîtrise et enseigne aussi le tarot et l'analyse des rêves, en plus de donner des formations en développement personnel, ainsi que des conférences. Au Québec, elle a été la première astrologue à établir des prévisions qui tiennent compte de la réalité astronomique. Elle écrit des chroniques dans le magazine La Semaine, le journal Métro et sur Sympatico.ca. Ses capsules astrologiques ont été diffusées sur plusieurs plateformes radio, télé et Web. L'année 2021 sera-t-elle plus paisible que la précédente ? L'astrologue sidérale Ginette Blais vous dévoile avec précision ce qui vous attend ! Quels aspects de votre vie amoureuse, familiale, financière ou professionnelle seront affectés par les placements planétaires ? Vers quels pièges pourront vous conduire les éclipses lunaires et solaires ? Quels défis devrez-vous relever lorsque la planète Mercure rétrogradera ? Vous trouverez toutes vos réponses dans ce livre !

Sitting down with actor, writer, director, historian, Marine, sweetheart, great friend, Jim Beaver, is always a treat, today perhaps even more so... reunited with a treasured, entertaining friend, what better way to spend a pandemic evening? We started there, how Jim, Sara, and Maddie have been managing this past year... more COVID careful than crazy, but certainly still, Sympatico. We got into life... and work... from education and early career goals, complete with some hysterical self-realizations, enlisting in the Marines out of spite, some more self -realization hysteria there, early jobs, more fun.... for us, writing, early literary and then TV success, and then, opportunity meeting preparedness and his acting break, his long-held dream, with Norman Jewison and Bruce Willis. Lots of work and then the career game-changer, Deadwood, to the life-changer, Supernatural.Highlights from Dexter, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul, his decades-long quest to tell the definitive story of Superman, George Reeves, and the three roles he's keen to conquer. Antidote for the pandemic weary... this thing right here. Jim Beaver on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson Wed, 3/10/21, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET Live on The Facebook Replay here: http://bit.ly/38wK0zM All BROADcasts, as podcasts, also available on iTunes apple.co/2dj8ld3 Stitcher bit.ly/2h3R1fla tunein bit.ly/2gGeItj Thanks to Rick Smolke of Quik Impressions the best printers, printing, the best people people-ing. quikimpressions.com Nicole Venables,of Ruby Begonia Hair Studio Beauty and Products for tresses like the stars she coifs, and regular people, like me. I love my hair, and I love Nicole. http://www.rubybegoniahairstudio.com/ Blue Microphones and Kevin Walt Lisa Lynn and LynFit Nutrition by Lisa Lynn

In this episode we discuss: The south still isn't great with beer laws Boo Anchor Why Where did you go Good on Town The post Episode 370 – Sympatico first appeared on The Craft Beercast.

Femme aux multiples talents, GINETTE BLAIS est spécialiste de l'astrologie et de la numérologie. Elle maîtrise et enseigne aussi le tarot et l'analyse des rêves, en plus de donner des formations en développement personnel, ainsi que des conférences. Au Québec, elle a été la première astrologue à établir des prévisions qui tiennent compte de la réalité astronomique. Elle écrit des chroniques dans le magazine La Semaine, le journal Métro et sur Sympatico.ca. Ses capsules astrologiques ont été diffusées sur plusieurs plateformes radio, télé et Web.   L'année 2021 sera-t-elle plus paisible que la précédente ? L'astrologue sidérale Ginette Blais vous dévoile avec précision ce qui vous attend ! Quels aspects de votre vie amoureuse, familiale, financière ou professionnelle seront affectés par les placements planétaires ? Vers quels pièges pourront vous conduire les éclipses lunaires et solaires ? Quels défis devrez-vous relever lorsque la planète Mercure rétrogradera ? Vous trouverez toutes vos réponses dans ce livre ! Mots clés : astrologie, femme entrepreneure, numérologie, développement personnel, rêves, analyste, tarot, formatrice, conférencière, auteure, succès.   Liens et ressources de l’épisode :   Pour rejoindre Ginette Blais, voici les liens pertinents: Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002918898058 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginette-blais-3bb80551/ Sympatico : http://www.sympatico.ca/horoscope/traditionnel Pour retrouver les liens pour me rejoindre: Mon site internet: www.janieduquette.com Ma page Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janieduquette7/ Mon profil LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janie-duquette-0988855 Mon profil Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janieduquette Mon profil Twitter:  https://twitter.com/janieduquette7

Michele Ferrari dropped out of University after a mental breakdown; in her first job, the males walked off the factory floor when she showed up; her family didn't always have enough money growing up... BUT Michele did not let her situation define her. In her own words "based on the rules it shouldn't have been possible... I am not supposed to be respected, I am not supposed to be listened to, I am not supposed to be significant in my field, and I AM because I never believed people when they told me that it wasn't possible."Michele leads MF Consulting and has always believed that one individual can be the catalyst for monumental change. Some of the most rewarding years of her career were spent as a part of an executive team building a mid-sized travel firm into an organization recognized as one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada. Fourteen years later, Michele became the President of L(earn)2 Inc where she was able to live her purpose and also got to coach the 2010 Canadian Olympic Team on how to live a gold medal life. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Michele jumped into a role in Digital Media in 2010 heading one of Canada's largest English portals, Sympatico.ca. Now as a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and a certified administrator of The Leadership Circle Profile, Michele brings her knowledge gained from working with many of Canada's leading companies to her clients at MF Consulting.I am grateful that Michele chose to share her life story with us on this episode. Be sure to check it out!

You have been listening to the Related To Geeks Book Club, recorded April 20, 2020 in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. For more about our geeky family visit relatedtogeeks.com. For more information about the book club go to Gamer+, a social network for gamers, at gamerplus.org. Megan and Larry discussed The "Darklord of Derkholm" by Diana Wynne Jones. The music for this show is "Sympatico" by Hairy Larry recorded at the ASU Fine Arts Recital Hall on October 28, 2014.

Can We Keep It Real With You? Playlist (in order of appearance) Song - Artist - AlbumLove You Better (Ft. The Dream & Lil Wayne) -Ty $ Sign - Beach House 3.Higher (Ft. Pusha T & Ma$e) -The Dream - Kanye West Presents Good Music Cruel Summer.No Church In The Wild - Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne.M.F.T.R (Ft. The Dream) - Pusha T - King Push - Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Randy is officially Hand to Mayor Joe. Dennis considers a nefarious scheme by a do-gooder trying to return lost items. The gang has divisive takes on self check-outs. Sherri has ideas about what to do with your leftover plastic bags.

Making a music video is an exciting decision, but you might not know where to start, who to work with, or how to budget for what can be a very complicated project. TuneCore's Amy Lombardi sat down with Everett Glovier and Brandon Lescure of Sympatico Production Company to discuss how independent artists should plan out a music video, how to save some money in the process, and how to have fun with it. Learn more about Sympatico at: http://sympatico.media/ Check out TuneCore at: bit.ly/2BllJhN

We welcome back Jen Schachter to the cave as she's visiting this week to work with Adam on a to-be-announced project. Jen and Adam talk about how they get into the zone when they fabricate and collaborate with others, and how collaboration changes when builders go from the physical to the digital.

Adam has some problems, he's just not that into true, duration of a little mastaba shape on your nutmeat head, methods for subtracting people from future movies.

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-377 – Alex Runs Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4377.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -   Hello, and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-377, I will be Chris your host, thank you for joining me.  I am speaking with you the day after US Thanksgiving.  The weather has finally started to turn here and it is below freezing outside.  Teresa and I went and ran the Ayer Fire Dept 5K on Thanksgiving morning.  I get to see many of my friends from the running club.  One of our members, Anthony was the original race director who created the race.  I used to go up and run the Feaster 5 miler in Andover but this is so much more convenient.  The Feaster gets almost 10,000 runners and a bunch of local running celebrities show up to take pictures with McGilvary.  It’s a good race but Ayer is less hassle for us being the next town over.  I can’t say I had a good race.  I can’t say I had a bad race either.  In terms of how I felt and the pace I ran it wasn’t my best effort, given how I actually tried to train for the race and am coming off a successful marathon campaign. But, on the other hand, being out on a cold, sunny morning with my daughter and all my friends – there’s really no complaining about that! Today, we speak with friend of the show, Alex, about his epic adventure at the Ultra-trail du Mont Blanc at the end of the summer.  If you pay attention to the ultra world you may have heard of Leadville or Western States.  UTMB is the Western States of Europe, if you will.  It gets all the best international mountain and trail runners.  It’s over 100 miles long and has an insane amount of vertical.  Alex, used to volunteer to edit the audio for the interviews on RunRunLive.  Another one of those Sympatico friendships I’ve been graced with through the podcast.  I think you’ll enjoy it.  Remember a couple episodes back when I gave you my new Apple sauce recipe?  Well, I tried an excellent variation.  I’ve started putting overripe bananas and ripe peaches in with the apples. And I’ve discovered you don’t have to peel the apples either.  Just throw it all into an oven-safe dish, covered and bake it on low all day long and you get amazing, healthy apple sauce for your morning oatmeal.  In section one of this episode I’ll talk a little about how I attempted to pivot from the marathon to the 5K and in section two I’ll write about running in the city of Boston.  … I finally got around to getting my flu shot.  I try to get in each fall because I think it’s important to do my part in keeping the herd healthy.  I usually don’t’ get sick since I started training regularly.  A number of people I know, work with and even my wife who is usually healthy as a horse came down with this nasty chest cold this fall that seemed to last for 2-3 weeks.  I went down to the local drug store, CVS, where they give the shots on a Saturday.  It wasn’t a very productive day for me.  The dump was closed because of veterans’ day and I didn’t know it until I loaded up my truck and drove over there.  I found it impossible to get in for a haircut two weekends in a row due to some bizarre spike in the demand for haircuts locally.  But, I did manage to get the flu shot.  While I was sitting there an old man came in and joined me.  It was veterans’ Day and he was wearing a WWII commemorative hat.  He told me that he enlisted in 1942 at the age of 17.  He was in Normandy 6 days after D-day.  He was stationed in Czechoslovakia.  Then he went to the Pacific theatre and was in the Philippines and Japan.  He’d be about the same age as my Dad would be if he were still alive.  Local guy.  Grew up in the town.  Lived his life there.  Still there.  Getting his flu shot.  Imagine the changes he’s seen? That was a couple weeks ago.  Today is thanksgiving.  I find myself thankful.  On with the show. … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Pivoting from the Marathon to a 5K - Voices of reason – the conversation Alex Cooke Alex is 43 and hails from Birmingham in the UK. Like many of us, he started running in early middle age to improve his health, but quickly found benefits in multiple dimensions. He’s got a busy life, and uses running dreams to keep him motivated to train and live a bit cleaner. After [not quite] conquering the Boston marathon and falling in love with the European Alps on a family holiday, he set his sights on trail running and, specifically, the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc -  a 106 mile, 33,000 feet mountain race as his next goal. Three years after setting the goal, did the reality live up to the dream? Twitter: @TrustCooker Instagram: trustcooker UTMB stats and videos:  Section two – Running in the City - Outro Excellent job my friends, you have slipped, crawled and struggled through 30 hours of the RunRunLive podcast Episode 4-377.  The intro for this podcast was written just around Thanksgiving.  Now it is 2 weeks later.  Apologies for the tardy publishing cadence.  My new gig in the city is very intense and time consuming.  I don’t have any place to record.  By the time I get to the weekend I have a full slate of other activities and no time to record either – I’m also fairly wrung out intellectually.  But that’s not your problem!  It’s not a problem for me either.  I’ll figure it out.  I have spent these few weeks well and wisely.  I ran my turkey trot 5K and it was as struggle but I did ok.  I got to spend some time with my friends and Teresa. It’s a nice event to kick off the day.  Last weekend I ran the 4.7 mile leg, leg 2, of the Mill Cities Relay.  I ran 7:30’s as I predicted but it was hard work and I was fairly sore on Monday of this week.  Basically I’m feeling the effects of a active fall racing season.  Coach wants me to start training for Boston but I kind of want to take some time off and do something different.  I was looking at Comrades Marathon in June – but that’s probably outside my reach – as epic as it is.  I’ll figure something out.  I’m so busy I find I’m falling into the ‘switching cost’ trap. This is what happens when you work on many important things in parallel.  Every time you go from focusing on one important thing to focusing on the next important thing you pay a penalty.  It takes your brain a certain period of time to transition out of the one thing and then refocus on the next.  It’s like when you’re working on a project and you are deeply focused and the phone rings.  It’s important so you answer.  Now you’ve lost the flow of that project. What ends up happening eventually, as you try to string more projects in parallel, is the time spent switching and absorbing the impact of the switch begins to outweigh the value of the thing you switched to.  They discovered this concept in the early computers.  Eventually the entire CPU is tied up switching tasks and nothing gets done.  What do you do?  Unfortunately, the answer is to work longer and try to carve out appropriately large and specific chunks of time for important tasks.  You may find that the only time you can find is outside of work hours.  Or, you can say no.  You can identify those things that are not urgent but are important and make sure those get done.  Because those are the things that will pay off over the long run.  For example, you are having to deal with customers because you don’t have enough qualified employees.  What should you do?  If you don’t deal with the customers, you’ll take a high profile hit for being unresponsive.  But, if you don’t focus on hiring and training you will never get out of the trap. You’ll be tempted to try to do both.  Deal with customers and hire and train in the spare time.  What happens? You end up being mediocre at both.  As painful as it is you have to focus on the thing that will give you the long term win, not the thing standing in front of you screaming.  It comes down to knowing what you’re trying to accomplish and aligning your tradeoffs with those strategic goals.  Sounds strangely intellectual when I talk about it this way.  In reality it’s the chaos of daily life.  I’m going to keep plugging along, doing the right thing, and I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-377 – Alex Runs Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4377.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -   Hello, and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-377, I will be Chris your host, thank you for joining me.  I am speaking with you the day after US Thanksgiving.  The weather has finally started to turn here and it is below freezing outside.  Teresa and I went and ran the Ayer Fire Dept 5K on Thanksgiving morning.  I get to see many of my friends from the running club.  One of our members, Anthony was the original race director who created the race.  I used to go up and run the Feaster 5 miler in Andover but this is so much more convenient.  The Feaster gets almost 10,000 runners and a bunch of local running celebrities show up to take pictures with McGilvary.  It's a good race but Ayer is less hassle for us being the next town over.  I can't say I had a good race.  I can't say I had a bad race either.  In terms of how I felt and the pace I ran it wasn't my best effort, given how I actually tried to train for the race and am coming off a successful marathon campaign. But, on the other hand, being out on a cold, sunny morning with my daughter and all my friends – there's really no complaining about that! Today, we speak with friend of the show, Alex, about his epic adventure at the Ultra-trail du Mont Blanc at the end of the summer.  If you pay attention to the ultra world you may have heard of Leadville or Western States.  UTMB is the Western States of Europe, if you will.  It gets all the best international mountain and trail runners.  It's over 100 miles long and has an insane amount of vertical.  Alex, used to volunteer to edit the audio for the interviews on RunRunLive.  Another one of those Sympatico friendships I've been graced with through the podcast.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Remember a couple episodes back when I gave you my new Apple sauce recipe?  Well, I tried an excellent variation.  I've started putting overripe bananas and ripe peaches in with the apples. And I've discovered you don't have to peel the apples either.  Just throw it all into an oven-safe dish, covered and bake it on low all day long and you get amazing, healthy apple sauce for your morning oatmeal.  In section one of this episode I'll talk a little about how I attempted to pivot from the marathon to the 5K and in section two I'll write about running in the city of Boston.  … I finally got around to getting my flu shot.  I try to get in each fall because I think it's important to do my part in keeping the herd healthy.  I usually don't' get sick since I started training regularly.  A number of people I know, work with and even my wife who is usually healthy as a horse came down with this nasty chest cold this fall that seemed to last for 2-3 weeks.  I went down to the local drug store, CVS, where they give the shots on a Saturday.  It wasn't a very productive day for me.  The dump was closed because of veterans' day and I didn't know it until I loaded up my truck and drove over there.  I found it impossible to get in for a haircut two weekends in a row due to some bizarre spike in the demand for haircuts locally.  But, I did manage to get the flu shot.  While I was sitting there an old man came in and joined me.  It was veterans' Day and he was wearing a WWII commemorative hat.  He told me that he enlisted in 1942 at the age of 17.  He was in Normandy 6 days after D-day.  He was stationed in Czechoslovakia.  Then he went to the Pacific theatre and was in the Philippines and Japan.  He'd be about the same age as my Dad would be if he were still alive.  Local guy.  Grew up in the town.  Lived his life there.  Still there.  Getting his flu shot.  Imagine the changes he's seen? That was a couple weeks ago.  Today is thanksgiving.  I find myself thankful.  On with the show. … I'll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don't have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member's only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Pivoting from the Marathon to a 5K - Voices of reason – the conversation Alex Cooke Alex is 43 and hails from Birmingham in the UK. Like many of us, he started running in early middle age to improve his health, but quickly found benefits in multiple dimensions. He's got a busy life, and uses running dreams to keep him motivated to train and live a bit cleaner. After [not quite] conquering the Boston marathon and falling in love with the European Alps on a family holiday, he set his sights on trail running and, specifically, the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc -  a 106 mile, 33,000 feet mountain race as his next goal. Three years after setting the goal, did the reality live up to the dream? Twitter: @TrustCooker Instagram: trustcooker UTMB stats and videos:  Section two – Running in the City - Outro Excellent job my friends, you have slipped, crawled and struggled through 30 hours of the RunRunLive podcast Episode 4-377.  The intro for this podcast was written just around Thanksgiving.  Now it is 2 weeks later.  Apologies for the tardy publishing cadence.  My new gig in the city is very intense and time consuming.  I don't have any place to record.  By the time I get to the weekend I have a full slate of other activities and no time to record either – I'm also fairly wrung out intellectually.  But that's not your problem!  It's not a problem for me either.  I'll figure it out.  I have spent these few weeks well and wisely.  I ran my turkey trot 5K and it was as struggle but I did ok.  I got to spend some time with my friends and Teresa. It's a nice event to kick off the day.  Last weekend I ran the 4.7 mile leg, leg 2, of the Mill Cities Relay.  I ran 7:30's as I predicted but it was hard work and I was fairly sore on Monday of this week.  Basically I'm feeling the effects of a active fall racing season.  Coach wants me to start training for Boston but I kind of want to take some time off and do something different.  I was looking at Comrades Marathon in June – but that's probably outside my reach – as epic as it is.  I'll figure something out.  I'm so busy I find I'm falling into the ‘switching cost' trap. This is what happens when you work on many important things in parallel.  Every time you go from focusing on one important thing to focusing on the next important thing you pay a penalty.  It takes your brain a certain period of time to transition out of the one thing and then refocus on the next.  It's like when you're working on a project and you are deeply focused and the phone rings.  It's important so you answer.  Now you've lost the flow of that project. What ends up happening eventually, as you try to string more projects in parallel, is the time spent switching and absorbing the impact of the switch begins to outweigh the value of the thing you switched to.  They discovered this concept in the early computers.  Eventually the entire CPU is tied up switching tasks and nothing gets done.  What do you do?  Unfortunately, the answer is to work longer and try to carve out appropriately large and specific chunks of time for important tasks.  You may find that the only time you can find is outside of work hours.  Or, you can say no.  You can identify those things that are not urgent but are important and make sure those get done.  Because those are the things that will pay off over the long run.  For example, you are having to deal with customers because you don't have enough qualified employees.  What should you do?  If you don't deal with the customers, you'll take a high profile hit for being unresponsive.  But, if you don't focus on hiring and training you will never get out of the trap. You'll be tempted to try to do both.  Deal with customers and hire and train in the spare time.  What happens? You end up being mediocre at both.  As painful as it is you have to focus on the thing that will give you the long term win, not the thing standing in front of you screaming.  It comes down to knowing what you're trying to accomplish and aligning your tradeoffs with those strategic goals.  Sounds strangely intellectual when I talk about it this way.  In reality it's the chaos of daily life.  I'm going to keep plugging along, doing the right thing, and I'll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

On this edition of Dave's Corner Garage, Dave Redinger and Alan Gelman welcome guests Mike Banovsky and Mike Lynett from the Sympatico.ca Autos Forum and Terry Lobzun from the Classic Car Auction.

On this edition of Dave's Corner Garage, Dave Redinger and Alan Gelman welcome OPP officer Dave Woodford to discuss child safety seats, Dave's brother Bob Redinger and Jerome Flanagan talk about a new service called Renew It and Alan and Dave also speak to Mike Lynett from Sympatico.

Max returns to the BuckAround to forcefully rebut Rich's outlandish recruiting claims from episode 134 (SPOILER: they really don't disagree that much, sorry). They also share a #hypothetical from longtime friend Bizarro Max and answer a show history question from Wes in LA.  SHOW NOTES 1:45 Return of Return of the Max 4:15 Sympatico views on recruiting the offensive side of the ball 6:00 QB recruiting and injury luck 8:00 TE and how Hescock is NOT from Connecticut 10:15 Recruiting in Michigan and the Michigan schools 12:30 Recruiting nationally and Chryst recruiting at Pitt 15:30 Max rambles on about Hayden Fry and the greatness of Iowa... For 15 seconds 25:30 Bret Bielema as a developer 29:30 Bizarro Max on hypothetical B1G trades 36:00 Wes from LA on the origins of the Buckaround pod

Jack Straw New Media Gallery resident artist Carlisle Roveto talks about her installation Sympatico. The post Jack Straw New Media Gallery Interview: Carlisle Roveto appeared first on Jack Straw Cultural Center.

Cette semaine à Ça s'branche où? : des casques d'écoute sans fil avec Eza Paventi, une barre d'alimentation monstrueuse et des processeurs à toutes les sauces. Sylvain Massé, notre branché de la semaine, nous présente le service Nomade de Sympatico et teste le SlingBox pour nous. Le top branché, 1re partie Écouter tranquillement la télévision ou de la musique est habituellement très agréable. Mais lorsqu'on est un oiseau de nuit, nos proches ne l'apprécient pas nécessairement. Heureusement, il y a une solution très intéressante à ce problème. C'est le casque sans fil à processeur ambiophonique de la compagnie Sennheiser. Le top branché En ce qui concerne les casques d'écoute, les besoins peuvent varier d'un consommateur à l'autre. Eza Paventi, notre chroniqueuse cette semaine, vous propose alors des options qui sauront plaire à chacun, que ce soit un système de transmission à infrarouge ou les écouteurs sans fil à grande portée. C'est beau, mais c'est quoi? Avec ses 8 pieds de fil, elle se branche n'importe où et 20 possibilités de rencontres s'offrent à elle. De plus, elle fait sonner au mieux vos investissements en système de son. Qu'est-ce que c'est? C'est la barre d'alimentation high tech PowerCenter HTS de la compagnie Monster Power. Voyez les avantages. L'attrape techno Qui n'a jamais rêvé d'être de sang noble? Et bien, pour Bernard, plus besoin d'être nommé par la Reine, car il lui est maintenant possible d'avoir du sang bleu virtuel grâce à un site Internet Suisse. Ouff! Il nous avait déjà impressionné par son titre de propriété lunaire, mais là, il bat tout! Eza ramène notre prince au rang de simple citoyen.

I know, I know. Two episodes in two days! It's so out of character for me. Once you get over the shock, download this new episode (by clicking this posting's title) . Better yet subscribe to the feed in iTunes, Odeo or other aggregator. This episode is a sound seeing tour of Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, California. Temperature: about 70 degrees F. I hope you feel like you are there yourself. I suggest you pick up a bowl of clam chowder. You are going to want to when your done listening to it.Theme Music: Bay Bridge by Sympatico

While I am preparing my next episode, I wanted to share with you a special project that I'm really excited about. It's called Podsafe for Peace. A group of independant musicians has released this collaborative Christmas anthem. All proceeds from the sale of the song, which is available online at www.podsafeforpeace.org will go directly to UNICEF. To get the song, go to www.podsafeforpeace.org. To HEAR the song, download the episode here.Merry Christmas Everyone!Theme Music: Bay Bridge by Sympatico

TTWP Episode 6 - 11/19/05ShownotesUpdate: I inadvertently uploaded an episode of the Biddy Cast (Lascivious Biddies) which may contain some language not appropriate for some of my listeners. My apologies to anyone who may have been offended. A corrected episode 6 is now available by clicking the title of this post or clicking here.Today's podcast is all about podcasting and how to get podcasts. In case you are new to this new media form, consider this your introduction to this new world. I'’ll share some of my favorites with you and share a commentary with some reflective thoughts I had after listening to one of my favorites. So, enjoy the show!Get iTunes version 6 - Audio and Video PodcastsSpeaking of great podcasts, here are a few of my favorites. Search for them on iTunesTech- Geek News Central Podcast, HomeNetworkHelp, Radio Leo, TWIT (from Leo Laporte of TechTV fame), MacCast, One Minute Tip, Diggnation, Typical PC User (another good podcast for new computer users),Teaching - Connected Learning (David Warlick), One Big Head (Jeff Moore), Teach42 (Steve Dembo), EdTech Musician (just to name a few)General/Other- 1954 and Counting (SF Giants), Gold Rush (SF 49ers), Adam Curry: Daily Source Code (Language!), Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor, Mashup of the Week, Podfinder (highlights new and interesting podcasts), The Bitterest Pill, and various old time radio shows (making a comeback and inspired me to do a class at school of OTR), The Word Nerds, BiddyCastPodcast: Biddycast9/30/2005 episode:Interview with Amanda (Guitar) about her musical training and influences. I present some reflections on the importance of arts education.Stay tuned for our next podcast with more tips and tricks to make your life easier in the digital age.Feature Music: Betty, Lascivious BiddiesTheme Music: Bay Bridge by SympaticoThere's a wonderful digital world out there. Go live it!

Yes, I'm baaaack! Back and ready for action!! In this episode of TTWP, I take my digital pictures from computer to prints without a photo printer. I cover what's available from two commercially available photo printing do-it-yourself kiosks. Plus, another music track feature by Duarte.Episode #5 LinkFeature Music: Batucaje by Tom Duarte (from the Diamante album)Theme Music: Bay Bridge by Sympatico

Whoa! This one is a long one! 1 hr. long and 13 MB is size! I guess I had a lot to cover and had fun doing it! :) Don't worry, this won't be my typical length. Topics covered include my Digital Camera Buyer's Guide, BIG news from Apple on iTunes 4.9, e-mail feedback and more!I should have TTWP Episode #5 in 10-14 days. My feature for that podcast will be a discussion of things you can do with the digital pictures in your camera. What do you want to learn? Let me know. I'm your online computer teacher!! Just e-mail me!!Comments? Questions? Email me at thetechwizard@gmail.com. Enjoy!Episode #4 LinkFeature Music: Gloria by Tom Duarte (from the Diamante album)Theme Music: Bay Bridge by SympaticoOther Links: Audible Faith

Yes, Episode 3 of The TechWizard Podcast is now available. In it, I cover the following...Updates from Episodes 1 and 2EmailLogitech Harmony 880 Universal Remote NEWWords You Should Know: MP3, bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, compressionProduct of the Day: Tivo (PVR's)New email list lets you know when there' s a new episode availableSteve Jobs address to the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference -- see it hereincludes mention of plans for incorporating podcasting into ITunes version 4.9 in minutes 6:50 - 12:25.Music by Sympatico, Bay Bridge (courtesy Podsafeaudio.com)Additionally, you will hear the debut of my daughter, Ashley, and my son, Jordan, as they assist me with the podcast.Just click the link below to download it to your computer. There's no need to subscribe using additional software.Link

In the summer of 1996 I presented a series on CBC Radio’s Island Morning program, produced by Ann Thurlow, called Consumed by Technology. I’ve managed to recover the audio of the episodes, along with the “show notes” and transcripts, from The Internet Archive and I’m posting each episode here for posterity. This second episode of Consumed by Technology focused on the economics of moving around information on the Internet; it aired on July 16, 1996. Karen Mair was the host. In 1837, a retired school teacher named Rowland Hill wrote an essay which shook the world of “moving information from place to place,” an essay which is perhaps even more relevant today than it was when he wrote it. Show Notes These are the original links that I released with the episode; each is a link to the Internet Archive’s cache of the site at the time. About Rowland Hill and the Mail Royal Mail History Mass Postal Service after 150 Years: A Review Essay The Post Office Canada Post United States Postal Service The Royal Mail The Phone Company Island Tel Bell Canada AT&T; International Telecommunications Union Telecom Digest and Archives Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission Paying for the Internet Basic accounts fees at PEINet, Sympatico, Atlantic Connect (all here on Prince Edward Island) and AT&T WorldNet, Mindspring, The Well (all bigger U.S. Internet providers) How big is this? Anne of Green Gables The Canadian Constitution Transcript INTRO: In 1837, a retired school teacher named Rowland Hill wrote an essay which shook the world of “moving information from place to place,” an essay which is perhaps even more relevant today than it was when he wrote it. To talk about this retired school teacher and about “moving information around from place to place,” Peter Rukavina joins me now in another in the series “Consumed by Technology.” QUESTION: What exactly was in this essay that shook up the world? ANSWER: Well, in 1837, Rowland Hill was living in England after retiring from a career as a teacher and administrator. He was quite an eclectic man; he was know for his somewhat innovative teaching methods and his interests in printing, astronomy, mathematics, and transportation. And in that year, 1837, he produced a pamphlet called “Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability”. And, quite simply, the theories he forwarded in this pamphlet revolutionised the postal system, not only in England, but around the world. And not only in 1837, but in ways which live on today. You see up until that time, the cost of sending a letter was based on a rather complex set of factors like the distance the letter was to travel and the number sheets of paper you sent and so on. And in fact the cost was usually charged to the person receiving a letter, not the person sending it. This all resulted in the need for something of an overwhelming postal bureaucracy: not only did the people delivering the mail have to charge for every letter they delivered, but they had to charge a different amount for each one. And that amount had to be figured out. The system required large number of people, cost so much that is was hard for the common person to use it, and was just generally inefficient. And then Rowland Hill can along with three relatively simple suggestions: Postal rates should be lower. The cost of sending a letter should be the same, regardless of distance. Costs should be paid by the sender, not the recipient Although Hill faced some political challenges getting his ideas across, in the end, nothing could stop common sense and by 1840 uniform postal rates, and postage stamps purchased by the sender, were in place across England. Within 25 years his ideas had spread around the world. What we end up with, 159 years later, is a system here in Canada where you can send a standard letter to any of 12 million addresses in the country, for just 45 cents. QUESTION: So Rowland Hill gave us a world with cheap, universal postal rates? ANSWER: Exactly. And not only that, but his ideas changed the model for the way that information was moved from to place to place. Now that we live in an “information economy” where we’re moving around more and more information and less and less tractors and sheet metal and rolls of carpet, how we pay to send and receive information becomes only more important. Imagine, for example, a world where it cost $73 to send a letter to Toronto. Or what if international telephone calls were free? Or we had to pay for Island Morning by the minute? What if it cost five dollars to run a TV commercial during Compass? In a world where money is so important to us, how we pay to move information dramatically affects how we deal with that information. Generally, the cheaper it is, the more we use it. Now, in addition to the sort of “all you can eat” way we pay for postal service — one fee, as much information as you can stuff in an envelope — there are generally three factors used to charge for moving information from place to place: how much, how far, and how long. Which of these is in place for a particular “information moving device” tends to determine how we use that device in our daily lives. QUESTION: Well what about telephone service as an example? Telephone service is an interesting case because the way we pay for it changes depending on where we’re calling. Local calls are “all you can eat” and long distance calls are charged using a combination of time and distance — not unlike postal service before 1837. Now think of the difference in the way we make local phone calls versus the way we make long distance calls. In any given day, I might make 20 or 30 local phone calls. Because I don’t have to pay for each one, I don’t even think about picking up the phone at the drop of a hat to make a local call. Long distance calls, however, are a different matter. Because I have to pay for each one, even thinking about making a long distance call is a different kind of thing altogether from making a local call, to say nothing of the experience of actually making a long distance call with the clock silently ticking all the time in the background. Not it sort of seems a little silly to be describing all of this is such intimate detail; it seems like such a natural part of our lives that we just take it for granted that to call across the street is free and to call Halifax costs. But sometimes it’s useful to step back for a minute and realize that all of these distinctions are ones we’ve allowed to be put in place; take these arbitrary distinctions as to where is “near” and where is “far” and multiply their effect over millions of phone calls over the years, and you’re talking about a pretty major issue. And an issue which not only affects the size of our phone bills at the end of the month but which can determine how communities relate to each other. Take North and South Granville, for example, close to Hunter River in the middle of the Island. South Granville is in the Hunter River “964” telephone exchange and North Granville, just over the hill, really, is in the New London “886” exchange. Now I’ve been told that the natural inclination of people in South Granville is towards Hunter River and Charlottetown, both local calls, whereas the natural inclination of people in North Granville is towards Kensington and Summerside, again, both local calls. As a result, the natural inclination of North and South Granville is not towards each other. It seems like such a simple and insignificant thing on one level, but when you start to think about all of the friendships and marriages and business arrangements that have been subtly affected by this over the years, it looms pretty large in the grander scheme of things. And again, it’s really all about how we charge for moving information from place to place. QUESTION: You mentioned the “information economy”… how do things like the Internet fit into all of this? ANSWER: Well, although the Internet has been around, in one form or another, for over 20 years, it’s only in the last couple that people like you and me have started to use it. And so how we pay for using it — what “information moving” model will apply is only in the process of being figured out. By far the dominant model right now is something which shares something in common with long distance phone service and something in common with the revolutionary postal system of Rowland Hill. In most cases when you sign up for an Internet account you pay a certain fixed monthly fee which allows you to spend a certain number of hours connected to the Internet… $30 for 30 hours, for example. Any time that you spend online over that fixed monthly amount is billed by the hour. QUESTION: So the clock is always ticking? ANSWER: Yes indeed, and, as you might imagine, that affects the way that people use their time online. The Internet is often compared to the public library; they’re both places where lots of information is stored and organized. Think of the feeling you get from wandering around a public library: you might wander over to the magazine section and read the latest issue of the New Yorker, browse though the Irish travel book section for a while, maybe try and find the latest John Grisham novel. Because using public libraries is free, and because you can take as much time as you want to find what you need, there’s a certain kind of freedom that libraries bring to gathering information. On the “billed by the hour” Internet, however, that freedom is gone. Although you can wander around the Internet in much the same way you can wander around a library, and although you’re not paying for the actual information you’re browsing, there’s always that feeling that the clock is ticking. It’s not unlike the feeling that you get making a long distance telephone call. One of the reasons I know this is true is because I’ve experienced another way of using the Internet, a model which is gradually becoming more common, and that is paying a fixed monthly fee for unlimited Internet use. This is a model very similar to the way we pay for cable television; in essence, “all you can eat.” Without that invisible clock ticking in the background, “surfing the net” is an entirely different experience. QUESTION: Do you expect that this “all you can eat” approach is going to be the way of the future? Well, it’s certainly preferable from a consumer’s point of view, but it also makes it hard for someone in the Internet business to make any money. The third possible model for paying for the Internet, and the one which perhaps makes the most amount of sense for someone in the Internet business and the least amount of sense for consumers, is the “pay by the byte” model. This is similar to the way we pay for telegrams: by the word. In essence, we would pay for the actual amount of information we browsed on the Internet, no matter how long it took. If we look up two books in the Library of Congress online catalogue, it might cost us 5 cents. I we look up ten books, it might cost us 25 cents. Just to give you some idea of the relative size of pieces of information: the book Anne of Green Gables weighs in at just under half a million bytes — one byte equals one letter or space in the book. The entire Canadian Constitution is about 100,000 bytes long while the American Declaration of Independence is about 7,000 bytes long. The Encyclopaedia Britannica article on dandelions is 508 bytes long. Now remember, in this “pay by the byte” model, the clock isn’t ticking, but the “information meter” is. It’s more the bookstore way of doing things than the public library way of doing things. The “pay by the byte” way of charging for Internet use isn’t really common for consumers yet, but it’s becoming an increasingly common model for charging businesses for Internet access. QUESTION: So the Internet will be “pay by the minute,” “all you can eat,” or “pay by the byte?” ANSWER: In the end it will probably be some combination of the three. No matter what the final model is, however, its going to have a dramatic affect on the role that the Internet plays in our life. Just to introduce one final wrench in the works: there’s a lot of talk now about “convergence” — about telephone and television and radio and the Internet all merging into one sort of “digital appliance.” When you hear people talking about a “set top box” this is what they’re talking about. Things start to get really weird when you start thinking about telephone service — the new “digital appliance” telephone service — being billed not by the minute or by distance like we’re used to, but by the amount of information that is communicated. “Hello mother, I’m doing well” might cost you a tenth of a cent, “Hi Mom, all okay!” might cost you half as much. We could end up with a whole generation of people talking in a weird abbreviated code. QUESTION: We’d have old Rowland Hill rolling over in his grave… ANSWER: Indeed. Just remember, the next time that you pick up the phone or send a letter or pick up the newspaper, or watch TV, you’re helping to move information from place to place. And how you’re paying for it probably has a lot more to do with how you’re doing it than you realize. EXTRO: Peter Rukavina operates Digital Island in Kingston. He’ll be back next week for another in the series “Consumed by Technology.”