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Last mission to repair the Hubble telescope Hubble space telescope discoveries have enriched our understanding of the cosmos. In this special report, you will see facts about the Hubble space telescope, discoveries it has made and what the last mission's goals are.
For their own good
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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Daily fishing report
By ED WALKER
Published May 4, 2005
You may have noticed one bait that gets mentioned a lot in this column: the scaled sardine. This is because time and again, these small, lively baitfish will produce better than everything else. Sometimes you have to have them, which can present a problem. Locating and catching enough can be as challenging as hooking up the big fish. One of the best places to look for them is along the beaches. When the bait is on the beach, it is usually thick. This is because the gamefish offshore have forced large numbers to seek safety in the shallows of the swash channels and sandbars. All it takes to give away their location is a few diving pelicans and/or terns. One or two throws with a cast net to where you see the birds diving often produces all the bait you can carry.
Grass flats are also good places to find sardines, but because they are usually more spread out when over grass, you may need to chum to draw enough together to bother casting. Again, there is no better sign when choosing a spot than a diving pelican. The best mixture of ingredients for chumming sardines is one of the great debates in flats fishing. The base ingredients are fish-flavored cat food and canned fish such as sardines or jack mackerel. After that, each angler seems to have his own recipe. Some add scents such as menhaden oil or anise oil while others mix in extenders such as bread, oatmeal, cornmeal and even instant mashed potatoes. When chumming in deeper water, sand can be added to help get the chum down in the water column. | <urn:uuid:cc7bb16a-fed3-47f1-a9f2-03fa7357a97c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sptimes.com/2005/05/04/Sports/Daily_fishing_report.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962341 | 480 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Faultolerant says in a comment on this post
You touch on one issue which is ALWAYS overlooked in econ/lib circles:
The people who are most affected by these changes [more international trade] (as you say, fair or
not). Econ/Libs are happy to toss them out like yesterday’s trash – and
say these people should be thankful for it. I love it when folks in
this forum argue FOR job losses in the US and then primp and pose that
we should be happy for it. It’s fine to have such high-and-mighty
morals when it’s not your ass on the line – and when there’s no skin in
the game. (Or in the case of a lib, when you can still get your cheap
chinese crap at wal-mart). But let someone say that there are BOTH
short and long-term consequences and you get lots and lots of feedback
- all of it negative.
Faultolerant misunderstands the argument.
No part of the argument for free trade celebrates job losses per se. No one I know — not a single soul — denies that losing a job is typically an unpleasant experience, and often a very difficult one. And no one I know — again, not a single soul — is happy to toss workers out "like yesterday’s trash."
The argument for free trade is that over time, more and more persons are benefitted by a regime of open trade. Some persons suffer in the short-run, it’s true. But those who suffer do so only because they are part of an economy made prosperous by free markets. That is, the very benefits such persons lose when trade works to their disadvantage are benefits that these persons have in the first place only because these persons are employed in market economy.
The steel-worker, for example, would never have been a steel worker — and would never have had the opportunity to consume so abundantly out of his steel-worker’s wages — had he not been part of a market economy.
"But ‘market economy’ doesn’t necessarily mean an economy with free trade," someone might reply. True (although, in fact, many of the jobs lost today in the U.S. to imports would never have existed had America been closed to imports).
The crucial point is that for Joe or Suzy to be part of a market economy is for Joe and Suzy each to accept the enormous gains that come from continual entrepreneurial innovation, from consumer sovereignty, and from a free labor market in exchange for Joe and Suzy each agreeing not to prevent these forces from working when these forces happen to go against the short-run interests of Joe or Suzy.
Whenever consumers change their spending patterns, and whenever producers find new ways of producing some output, some jobs will be eliminated while other jobs will be created. Imagine how many jobs were lost when consumers, enthrall to the Atkins Diet, reduced their purchases of donuts, beer, pasta, and other foods loaded with carbohydrates. Imagine how many jobs were lost when medical researchers discovered an effective vaccine for polio. How many house painters have been put out of work by vinyl siding? How many persons who worked in film-developing labs are today not working in those labs because of the widespread use of digital cameras?
And this train of thought then points us to another important feature of the argument for free trade: because any change in consumer spending patterns and producers’ production practices will create some jobs and elminate others, there’s nothing at all special about that particular change in consumer spending patterns that comes about when consumers voluntarily purchase more goods and services from abroad. There’s simply nothing economically relevant about the fact that a supplier happens to live on one side of a political border and many of that supplier’s consumers live on another side of that border.
The only thing relevant about the political border is political. The greedy, unjustified quest of every producer to be excepted from the rules that make markets work so productively for the benefit of all is easier to justify, it seems, if these producers present an "us" versus "them" horror story, alleging that there’s something nefarious about foreigners offering to sell things to us.
Finally, an important part of the argument for free trade is recognition of human deceitfulness — recognition that making exceptions to a policy of free trade whenever someone alleges that foreigners are behaving "unfairly" too easily is abused. Who knows if Chinese steel producers are behaving fairly or unfairly? These terms have no hard and fast meaning in such a context. But let’s say that some Chinese firm is indeed (say) selling its steel to Americans at a price below that firm’s cost of production. Well, good for us. We get cheap steel.
Oh, but what about U.S. steel workers who lose their jobs? They are in the same boat they’d be in if the Chinese steel producer enjoyed a genuine comparative advantage over American steel producers. If a foreigner insists on selling things to us at a discount, it is not the government’s place to prevent Americans from accepting such generosity. | <urn:uuid:6e05efc0-053a-4756-aadc-d40dad437f53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cafehayek.com/2006/10/more_on_steelin.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958507 | 1,081 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Charlottesville, Virginia, is a Southern town that has charmed more than one U.S. president and countless tourists. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello home is located here, and today visitors can tour his architectural masterpiece and its 43 rooms, eight fireplaces, and 13 skylights. James Monroe also resided in the area, and his home and its 200-year-old gardens are also open to guests. The historic Court Square in the city of Charlottesville is home to the slave block, where public auctions of slaves took place, as well as the old Town Hall.
Flights to Charlottesville land eight miles north of the city at Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport. | <urn:uuid:59125965-5147-4905-bba6-0ce1b55c3529> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-guides/page.php?id=3900288 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978519 | 138 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Ph.D., Yale Univ. (1983)
M.A., Yale Univ. (1979)
B.A., Goucher College (1976)
Professor Woldu graduated from Goucher College with a B.A. in Music, and she earned the M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. Before coming to Trinity, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley and she taught at Bates College.
Her scholarly work centers on two divergent fields: French music and culture at the turn of the twentieth century and gangsta rap. In all of her classes—whether they are on American popular music, the music of black American women, or music in France between 1850 and 1930—Professor Woldu encourages students to “think outside the book,” to respond critically to academic writing, and to use the substance of their individual experiences to understand the musical traditions explored. | <urn:uuid:f34b6df5-fb18-4c00-9189-f2817e0eccab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://internet2.trincoll.edu/facProfiles/Default.aspx?fid=1000608 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951036 | 190 | 1.601563 | 2 |
As the weather gets colder, snowier, and nastier in the North East I find myself struggling to run outside barefoot without getting numb. Since the purpose of running barefoot is the sensory feedback, being numb is dangerous. I’ve explored the options, and tried many of them, but still have much to learn. Here are the options I’ve tried so far and what has worked.
Barefoot/Shodless. Frostbite is a serious concern as temperatures drip into the 30F and below and snow settles onto the ground. Cities spray the roads with salt and other chemicals, lowering the freezing point of water and creating a more caustic environment for skin. These are serious concerns and should not be taken lightly. They should also not be feared without being understood.
Being barefoot in the winter takes adaptation, just like any other type of activity that your body is not used to. The trick is to adapt slowly. The question is, can we truly adapt to such a thing? At this time I don’t have an answer for you. My limited experience with running barefoot outside has involved numbness in ~30F weather. I promptly stopped, got inside, warmed up, and went back out slightly shod.
Perhaps I’m erring on the side of caution but the purpose of running barefoot is to increase the sensory perception and feedback. The moment things start to get numb, I am in a situation where I can easily overextend, over-stride, or simply overstep what I am capable of. Not to mention the heightened risk of frostbite.
Barefoot Rick has written some fascinating information regarding his barefoot running over the past 5+ years. The pictures are not for the squeamish and show him with various stages of frostbite and other injuries.
It’s definitely possible to run barefoot in the winter; the jury is still out on the duration, adaption time and risk of lasting injuries.
Socks. Pulling on a pair of running socks (or wool socks) and just going out for a run seemed like a reasonable idea. After all, it’s still pretty close to barefoot right? Well, not so much. The wool socks bunch in the front and felt extremely awkward. I had to take them off half way through 8 miles and run the rest barefoot. They did manage to keep my feet warm.
The running socks were no better. These provided very little warmth and the actual “sole” of the sock would have worn through after another 2-3 runs.
Just socks is not a viable option.
Vibram Five Finger Classics with Injinji Socks. The classic VFF have no strap over the top and are the most minimalistic of the Vibram options. Coupling these with the Injinji toe socks provides a warm and wicking solution. The actual running in “classics” is difficult since the elastic around the back pinches at the heel. If you remove this elastic the heel of the shoe is difficult to keep secured. Perhaps you will have better luck with this setup, however it is not feasible for me due to these limitations.
Vibram Five Finger Flow. Marketed as “ChiRunning in colder temperatures or crossing a stream with your kayak, the FiveFingers Flow provides comfortable barefoot protection”, these definitely kept my feet warm. The 1.2mm Neoprene lining and 2mm EVA footbed provide the thermal insulation and protection.
Despite having a thicker sole than I would like, these have proved the best solution for me, thus far. The feeling is as close to barefoot as I can simulate while retaining feeling in my feet.
Since the shoes cover the entire foot, they do not feel as though they are going to slip off, like the VFF classics which allows for a more natural gait. As long as you are used to running barefoot, your form should allow to adapt to these without too much effort.
Treadmill. Barefoot running on the treadmill should not be dismissed as a winter alternative. Even if you are going to adapt your feet to the cold, the treadmill can help.
I’ve used the treadmill to both log miles barefoot and to warm up before heading out the door. I find that having muscles loosened up and my body temperature higher helps me ease into the cold without stiffness.
Snowshoes. I have yet to attempt this. Once there is some snowfall here in Michigan I will be trying my new Atlas Run Snowshoe. I’ve never “shoed” before but it sounds like a great way to run through the winter trails.
So how do you run in the winter? What have you done to keep your little footsies from freezing solid? I’d love to read about your trials and tribulations.
Edit: A more comprehensive winter running article is also available. | <urn:uuid:07a2fd18-759c-4d59-9d60-afaf884208f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shodless.com/winter-running/barefoot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952831 | 1,031 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Growler increasingly suspects this project is not really about turning around the troubled school by redressing the stark segregation at Jefferson-Houston that resulted from the 1999 redistricting. It's about something else.
To confirm that theory, let's start by looking at some of the key players and their records, beginning with ACPS Superintendent Morton Sherman. Is there any sign he is willing to buck the system by a bold redistricting or closing Jefferson-Houston in favor of a fresh start at a Potomac Yard school, an idea which has gained traction in the neighborhood recently?
Judge for yourselves, readers.
1. Before arriving in Alexandria, Dr. Sherman's recent experience has been in school districts like Cherry Hill and Tenafly, New Jersey which are less diverse than Alexandria and more reflective of their general population's demographics.
Dr. Sherman was quoted in a May 29, 2000 Philadelphia Inquirer story stating that 6% of Cherry Hill's 11,000 students were black, between 15 and 18% Asian and about 4% Latino. Cherry Hill's racial makeup in the 2000 Census was 84.7% white, 8.9% Asian, 4.5% African American, and 2.5% Hispanic or Latino of any race. According to the American Community 2006-2008 estimates, median family income is $102,554 in 2008 dollars. For the 2001-2002 school year, Cherry Hill High School East received the Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.
New Jersey Department of Education statistics from 2007-2008 indicate Tenafly schools are 66% white, 30% Asian, 1.3% African American and 3.6% Hispanic. In the 2000 Census Tenafly was 76.8% white, 19.1% Asian, 1.0% African American, and 4.7% Hispanic or Latino of any race. Median family income was $111,029 in 1999 dollars. The borough's public high school -- also a Blue Ribbon Award winner -- has gained national recognition repeatedly as one of the best in the U.S.
Contrast this with Alexandria. According to the latest ACPS demographics our local schools are 24.7% white, 6.2% Asian Pacific, 36.5% black, and 27% Hispanic. But the Census Bureau's 2006-2008 American Community Survey reveals the population of Alexandria as a whole is 65.9% white, 20.6% black, 4.4% Asian and 13.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race. Median family income is $106,985 in 2008 dollars, slightly ahead of Cherry Hill. (Income numbers for Tenafly for 2006-2008 were not available but are likely even higher.)
Clearly although Alexandria is comparable in income there is a much greater skew between school demographics and the general population here that results from Alexandria's legacy of segregation and white flight. And T.C. Williams, the City's only high school, has recently been tagged as a "persistently lowest-achieving" school, despite a shiny and costly new building.
2. During Dr. Sherman's tenure, the Cherry Hill school system was ordered by state officials to redress its racial imbalances. The school system had significant disparities in test scores and graduation rates between minority students and whites as well as a long-standing dispute (predating Dr. Sherman) between its two high schools, one on the affluent east side and one on the west side, which included the majority of the district's Title I schools.
In May 2000 according to the Philadelphia Inquirer Dr. Sherman set up a committee of students, parents and teachers to look at how the achievement gap could be bridged. Cherry Hill pledged to come up with a plan to balance its 12 elementary schools and Dr. Sherman announced the focus would be on boosting minority achievement. Redistricting, magnet schools and open elementary school enrollment were all on the table.
Cherry Hill submitted a multi-year equity plan — a three-year survey mapping the district's educational equity measures — and assured officials that the district was meeting equity laws, even as racial imbalances persisted. The state rejected that plan and ordered the district back to the drawing board. The Inquirer reported in May 2001 there was widespread grumbling that Cherry Hill, with its small minority population, was being unfairly targeted (which the state denied). The article quoted Dr. Sherman saying "It's not as if we have schools that are segregated. I don't see one kid off here, two kids off there, creating a segregated school."
By December 2001, Dr. Sherman announced that he was halting desegregation plans. Proposals like pairing schools had brought both white and black parents' wrath down upon him. Calling the state's balance formula "flawed," Dr. Sherman stated "I have come to the firm grasp of the obvious: The formula is not working in its application to us. We have not been spending enough time on our primary mission as a school district: focusing on the achievement of all students. Racial imbalance by itself does not control the conversation any longer."
3. Dr. Sherman left Cherry Hill in late 2006 and spent two years with the Tenafly school system before he was hired in May 2008 by the Alexandria School Board, at that time chaired by Claire Eberwein. Ms. Eberwein, a former Council member, served previously on the School Board and is widely credited as the architect (with former superintendent Dr. Herbert Berg) of the 1999 redistricting plan.
The tacit goal of the redistricting, in the opinion of the many black leaders who testified against it at the time, was to encourage greater white participation in Alexandria schools by removing minority children from affluent neighborhood schools like George Mason Elementary in Beverly Hills and concentrating them in one or two sites, such as Jefferson-Houston. Our neighborhood school's problems date from then.
Ms. Eberwein stepped down soon after Dr. Sherman's arrival when her husband's job transfer took her family overseas, but does anyone doubt that she would have vetted Dr. Sherman carefully to ensure her work was not undone? Did his demonstrated ability to stand up to state authorities over race issues and his mostly suburban experience make him the standout candidate for someone with Ms. Eberwein's agenda?
4. During an Alexandria School Board work session on the public-private partnership back on January 12, board member Marc Williams asked if selling the Jefferson-Houston site altogether was still a possibility. Dr. Sherman responded:
When I first came here a mere 16 months ago, one of the conversations that was bubbling around was to sell the Jefferson-Houston property in total and moving that school somewhere else, and as your Superintendent I must tell you that I am taking the position that there is a school and community responsibility to the Parker-Gray community to maintain that heritage, to maintain that school on that site, and to give up any of the public property surrounding that, I think would be going in the wrong direction. (January 12, 2010 School Board Work Session 0:51:45)"Heritage" is a curious choice of words, given that Jefferson-Houston was built on the site of a formerly all-white high school. In fact, is the term a euphemism for segregation?
5. As recently as January 2010, Dr. Sherman told the Alexandria Times that "The idea of redistricting is something we've looked at real closely and it just doesn't work ... the darn kids move in where we have no space rather than where we have the space."
However, Dr. Sherman didn't note that the exception is this neighborhood, which is having a baby boom. Nor did he disclose that Parker-Gray families are regularly fleeing our community for Rosemont, North Del Ray and especially Arlington.
6. Even while school officials predicted skyrocketing enrollment and crowding at a number of Alexandria elementary schools, Jefferson-Houston remains half-empty. As noted in an earlier comment on this side, when it first opened in the early 1970s the Washington Post noted that Jefferson-Houston accommodated more than 900 children. As late as 1999, before redistricting, the school served 669 students. A decade later in September 2009, the school had only 229 students.
Dr. Sherman's approach was to announce that Jefferson-Houston would become a K-8 school, offering classes beyond the 5th grade — a move seen by some Alexandrians as an attempt to raise performance levels at George Washington Middle School by keeping Jefferson-Houston pupils out.
It is worth noting that this year ACPS announced a Modified Open Enrollment policy that outlines plans to send children in overcrowded schools to nearby facilities. Jefferson-Houston is not eligible now or next year for such transfers in because it has not met standards under No Child Left Behind, even though it has plenty of capacity. So any notion that overcrowding in other schools might work to Jefferson-Houston's benefit is out the window for at least two years.
In the end, one might truly ask who Dr. Sherman is marketing this school to? Certainly not the parents in this neighborhood, who still have the ability to opt-out.
7. According to an October 2009 article by T.C. Williams teacher and long-time Washington Post contributor Patrick Walsh, Dr. Sherman ordered principals throughout Alexandria "to post huge charts in their hallways so everyone — including 10-year-old kids — could see differences in test scores between white, black and Hispanic students. One mother told me that a black fifth-grader at Cora Kelly Magnet School said that 'whoever sees that sign will think I am stupid.' A fourth-grade African American girl there looked at the sign and said to a friend: 'That's not me.' When black and white parents protested that impressionable young children don't need such information, administrators accused them of not facing up to the problem. Only when the local NAACP complained did Sherman have the charts removed." Do we have a sensitivity problem here?
So readers, it appears from this evidence that Dr. Sherman will continue to avoid dealing frankly with racial issues and will keep Jefferson-Houston open with cosmetic changes like a new building (plus the new International Baccalaureate curriculum, a hallmark of his years at Cherry Hill).
But what explains Dr. Sherman's strong advocacy for the public-private partnership and the gargantuan redevelopment proposed for the Jefferson-Houston site? It's a risky plan if a new school is built and then, like T.C. Williams, continues to perform poorly. One would think that a cautious approach would be prudent.
Instead, Dr. Sherman is clearly passionate about this proposal. So what will he get out of this proposal, and is that the "something else" that is really driving the project?
Stay tuned for the Growler's next installment ... | <urn:uuid:ad9a7a41-0e23-4906-a2ee-58c8dc882165> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://parkergray.blogspot.com/2010/07/heritage.html?showComment=1279299269052 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972779 | 2,221 | 1.773438 | 2 |
By Jessica Allen - Friday, January 11, 2013 - 0 Comments
What’s not to like about a man who bakes his own bread?
Near the back of the Cookbook Store in Toronto on a November evening, two men lingered in the bread-making section. Shane Carruthers, a cook who’s started to experiment with baking bread, carried How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou in an Indigo bag. And Matt Harris, who doesn’t bake, left with a copy of Nick Malgieri’s Bread—for his wife.
That gave store manager Alison Fryer pause, considering that in the past 30 years, she and her staff have observed that roughly 90 per cent of their bread-making books have been bought by men. “When you point it out to people, they’re not really aware of it,” she explains. “But then the penny drops and they go, ‘Oh, that’s right. It is all males.’ ”
What exactly fascinates men about mixing flour, water and yeast is debatable. It could have something to do with the fact that the most prominent European bakers of the past 200 years have been male, explains food historian Heather Evans of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. And although she notes that “cookery-book purchasing patterns don’t necessarily bespeak patterns of cooking,” the only bread-making cookbook Evans and her partner own in their vast collection was bought by him. “Perhaps,” she suggests, “all these bread-making books are being purchased with a view to integrating bread-making into the courtship process. What’s not to like about a man who bakes his own bread?” | <urn:uuid:8b8dcc47-8213-4ade-8dbe-44b4983f82d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.macleans.ca/tag/heather-evans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971402 | 375 | 1.625 | 2 |
I uninstalled the broken one and brought it in with me. On the bottom of it, there was a "9006" identifier. The lady at the store helped me find another "9006" low beam headlight and it took about a minute to install.
It sort of reminds me of how relatively simple COM is at its core.
For the past decade, the sum of all of my knowledge about COM was approximately:
- It stood for Component Object Model
- It looked painful: avoid it like you'd avoid eating at a restaurant publicly condemned by the Board of Health.
- Somehow it involved interfaces.
- You had to manage your own memory.
- Windows uses it everywhere... somehow.
- It was replaced by .NET, so forget about it.
- I could use COM classes (like the one for IE) in VB and .NET, but I had no idea how it worked under the covers.
- Nothing on earth was worse than "DCOM," or so I'd been told.
Recently, I had to break down and actually learn enough about it to get some things done. I learned that it's really not that bad. Please consider this as the absolute minimum that a Windows programmer should know about COM. I wish I had, it would have made things faster to learn.
The first thing to learn is that there are three major figures in COM:
A client is somebody that wants to get a job done. Maybe he's trying to get a light bulb for his car. Or, perhaps it's someone who's trying to play some music. Another possibility it's someone that wants to display a web page or talk to Outlook. It doesn't really matter, it's someone that wants to do something.
A server is something that wants to do some tasks for you. He's the guy that the client is pushing around. He only does a few tasks that are on a menu that the client knows about.
(Bee) "Hive" Keeper (a.k.a. "Registry")
The bee "hive" is buzzing with activity. Imagine a bee keeper that stores all of his notes on the individual "cells" of a honey comb. It's sort of like a big telephone directory, but one that was designed by someone who hates bees.
Now that we know the key players, let's get back to our light bulb. Imagine that all you had in the world were the three major players above. What would have need to have happened?
Well, the server in this case would be a light bulb. Wanting to copy Apple's naming convention, let's call him iLight, or more boringly: ILight. Now ILight had to advertise himself to the world. The menu of things that the client can request him to do include "Turn On" and "Turn Off" and maybe "CalculateWattage." He has a boring part number just like my real light did (e.g. 9006). Let's say that he walked over to the hive and wrote down in the directory that "ILight is part #9006" and also wrote down exactly where in the store to find him. The only real requirement is that this must happen before any clients can use him.
The client is just like me and knows he needs something that can "Turn On," "Turn Off," and "CalculateWattage." He looks in his car manual and finds out he needs an ILight. He goes to Hive and finds that "ILight" is part number "9006." Next, he goes to the "cell" where information on part "9006" is stored and finds exactly where to find it. He picks up the ILight and lives happily ever after.
See? Not too hard right? At a high level, it's pretty simple. For fun, let's dive deeper into the reality that is COM.
"ILight" would more than likely have started his life in Visual Studio as an ATL (ActiveX Template Library) project. ATL is just a simple way of dealing with the gooey parts of COM that don't really matter that much. ATL projects are written in C++, so they're sure to bring fond memories of your college days back.
In the project, we'd create a new class of type "ATL Simple Object" (see, it's simple :))
And give it a name of "Light" and have the wizard automatically fill in the details:
It doesn't matter if we get scared after clicking next, we just need to hit finish and trust the defaults (remember, this is the absolute minimum you should know):
Next, go to the class view window on the right hand side of their screen and right click on the "ILight" interface and add a few methods:
The first method being "TurnOn" (and similarly turn-off) that has no arguments:
To make it interesting, let's say there was one more method called "CalculateWattage" that takes two parameters (volts and amps) and returns the wattage:
Now, one would go to the Light.cpp and fill in the definition of these functions. In this example, we'll just show a message box for the turn on/turn off commands. Note that for the "CalculateWattage" function, we return the result via a parameter pointer. This is important since the return value for COM methods is almost always the status of whether it succeed or not. Successful responses always start with "S_" and errors always start with "E_". The COM-ese for this is the "HRESULT" that you can think of as "here's the result of the function call."
If you actually spent your time in C++ as a client, you'd have to make calls like this:
You can't simply check a value to be equal to something since any result that starts with "E_" is a failure (popular ones include E_FAIL and E_NOINTERFACE). The "FAILED" macro just checks to see if the most significant bit is set.
Now, when going to build the project on Vista, a curious error is reported:
What happened? Well, answering that will take us back to the hive.
When we created the ILight interface and its concrete implementation, Visual Studio automatically created a "part number" for us that is a really huge number called a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID). The number is so big that it makes us yearn for the days of simple part numbers like 9006. In order for clients to be able to find our component, they need to look up our part number or our name in a special area in the registry/hive. Specifically, the servers need to put their details under the hive key (HKEY) that is the root of all classes/servers. This is conveniently called "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT":
But we don't want just anyone being able to write there right? If any ol' server could just write into that area, they could replace a good implementation of ILight with one that say, recorded all your keystrokes and sent them to some COM-enlightened hacker several timezones away. This is just one of the reasons why setup programs require a User Account Control (UAC) elevation before they will start. Microsoft is guessing that setup will probably want to register some COM server or write to a directory that the standard user doesn't have permission to write to (e.g. "C:\Program Files"), and gets it out of the way early.
When you go to build the project, Visual Studio will create a helper batch file for you in your project's debug directory and run it. If you use a tool like Process Monitor, you can see all of this happening:
If you're really quick, you'll be able to copy the batch file before Visual Studio deletes it after it gets an error. Here's what the batch file looks like:
All that the batch file does is call out to "regsvr32," which clearly stands for "register 32 bit COM server." I say that a little tounge-in-cheek because I had seen the "regsvr32" name hundreds of times before and never really understood what a server meant. "What's a server?!" However, in hindsight, it's quite simple. It's just a COM class that can do work.
When regsvr32 goes to write into the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT area (abbreviated HKCR), it gets denied:
Note that the text after the "VCReportError" label in the batch file is exactly what was reported to us in Visual Studio's error window.
What are we to do now? Well, the simple answer is to run Visual Studio again, but this time with administrator privileges and try it again:
This time, DevEnv.exe has administrator credentials and this causes the batch file to run under administrator credentials which, you guessed it, causes regsvr32.exe to run with administrator credentials and therefore allows us to write into HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.
Now, our component is registered. To learn exactly what this means, we need to use another tool called "OLE-COM Object Viewer" (oleview.exe) that's part of the Windows SDK. OleView simply lets you see all of the components/servers that are registered on your machine. It's like browsing an auto parts store. If we search for our "Light" component, we'll see a screen like this:
Which is full of all sorts of great information about our Light pulled from many different areas of the hive. For example, it says that our light class implements the ILight interface that has the interface identifier of "BBABC3ED-E2B6-4023-AE58-1B04E80E0DAE" and the concrete class has a part number/class identifier of "98C0E3FF-264C-4919-8DE6-F4D87B83D779." Furthermore, the location in the "store" is on the file system at "C:\Users\Jeff.Moser\Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\LightBulb\LightBulb\Debug\LightBulb.dll". The class has a version specific name of "Acme.Light.1", and it also goes by the version non-specific name of "Acme.Light".
Impressive! It's a little more complicated than the auto parts store, but not that much. The hive is buzzing with information about how to find our component and what it provides.
Now, let's jump over to client land. The client can be anything that supports COM. For example, VBA in Excel. We can either add a reference to it by clicking Tools*References:
and then write some VBA code to use it:
Note that we can do the exact same code in C# in a similar way:
Neat huh? Note that we didn't have to check for HRESULTs like we would have done in C++. The reason is that under the covers, the VBA runtime (and C# .NET Runtime Callable Wrapper and CLR) do that for you. If the function returns an error, an exception is generated so that you can't ignore it.
Another nice feature is that we can take advantage of the fact that the hive can retrieve information about our class just by its string name (ProgID). The following code has the same result for the CalculateWattage call:
We can do the same thing in C#, but the syntax will be little messier until C# 4.0's support for dynamic lookup is available:
It's the exact same idea, but we get less language support.
So that is what COM is all about. Well, that's what I would say is an absolute minimum to get by without assuming things are just magic. I left out a few details that aren't 100% necessary to know:
- No sane person would write a COM implementation without using a framework like ATL to handle all the "goo."
- A middleman like COM (or CORBA for that matter) must exist because in the wild, you get inconsistencies that prevent you from using raw binaries directly in your code. For example, different C++ compilers mangle function names differently. If you try to allow binary interoperability, you'll inevitably recreate something like COM.
- COM actually creates a factory class from your DLL that, in turn, creates your class.
- Your don't have to implement your class as a DLL (in process). You can have it be an EXE (out of process) that is running. In this case, the EXE runs and registers itself with the OS and says that it's running and ready for work. If it isn't already running, the OS will start it.
- All classes must implement the IUnknown interface. This interface lets you "cast" your pointer to another interface (via the QueryInterface method) and it also keeps track of memory.
- The pointer that you get back from COM is actually an entry into your class's v-table for the requested interface. This is what ultimately drives the requirement that interfaces must never ever change once published in the wild. Note that all "casts" of a pointer must go through COM. This is because it's important that you do essentially static_cast instead of a reinterpret_cast. The latter would give you weird results if you tried it on a pointer that didn't have the method you wanted.
- Since an interface cannot change once it is published, and because a v-table is used, the common pattern is to use an increasing number after the base name for each successive revision and have the new interface inherit from the old one. For example, IWebBrowser2 inherits from IWebBrowser and adds methods to the end of it.
- COM doesn't have a garbage collector like .NET and Java does. For this reason, you have to explicitly keep track of how many instances of your COM class there are. When the number drops to 0, it can be removed from memory. IUnknown handles this. ATL gives you a good implementation of this automatically.
- By default, COM uses a message queue for coordination. This introduces several different "apartment threading models." These strictly exist to make sure you're careful with multithreading and access to shared state. You'll eventually need to know more about these. The apartments get created when you call COM/COmponent Intialize (CoInitialize) or the simpler, CoCreateInstance.
- When a .NET class calls a COM class, a Runtime Callable Wrapper (RCW) is created to handle all the IUnknown goo.
- When a COM client needs to call .NET code, an aptly named "COM Callable Wrapper" (CCW) is created and used. The neat trick is that this is essentially a reference to the .NET core runtime with your assembly passed in as an argument. This is how the .NET side of the house is bootstrapped.
- IDispatch is an interface that essentially lets you call functions by name and gives you a poor-man's version of .NET's reflection. This is the magic that allows scripting languages to work so well. Instead of binding to a specific function at compile time and getting compiler support, you can do runtime lookups. It essentially allows for the differences between my first and second example. Note that my Light class implemented both ILight andIDispatch. Again, ATL handled all the magic here.
- As you dig deeper into COM, you'll note that the Interface Description Language (IDL) plays an important role in making sure all languages of COM understand the details about your component properly. Basically, languages agree on how they'll handle things defined in IDL. Once again, ATL hides most of this
- Note that to use a COM class, we had to make an entry into the registry. This entry requires elevated permissions like I mentioned earlier. This is a bit of an overkill if your application is the only one that uses it. I think that Microsoft realized this as they were making the big UAC push in the development of Vista. This led to an update in XP SP1 called "Registration-Free COM" which allows you to create a file that is named the same as your .dll/.exe except that it ends in the ".manifest" extension. It's an XML file that has the same type of information that the hive/registry has. However, it doesn't require you to have the elevation to get an entry into HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. It's useful for using in low permission environments.
- There are a lot of good articles on COM, they're just hard to find. I've tagged a few that were helpful to me on del.icio.us. Please let me know if you think I missed a good one and I'll check it out.
COM is a necessary layer due to the binary incompatibility problems. Since we now have .NET, when you look back at COM, it's sort of like your grandparents telling you how they washed clothes without electricity. It was a bit more involved and tedious, but it got the job done. COM started in the early 90's, well before Java and the CLR with its unified type system.
Since many of the core classes/servers of Windows and Microsoft Office use COM, it will be around for a long, long, long time.
It's good that I finally understand it enough to make use of it effectively!
How did you learn about COM?
UPDATE: I wrote about "Using Obscure Windows COM APIs in .NET." | <urn:uuid:bbfd0a39-1f87-4c96-8b6d-afd87c5ab748> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moserware.com/2008/01/finally-understanding-com-after.html?showComment=1234621140000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957451 | 3,718 | 1.796875 | 2 |
I enjoy bicycling the most in cities that provide separate lanes for bicyclists - Portland and Boulder come to mind. In addition to bicycle lanes, what other governmental/civic actions ensure a safe ...
If I am riding down a marked bike lane on a road which is adjacent to the curb, and I need to stop for a very short time (e.g. to adjust something, turn on lights, or drink some water), how far should ...
In my nearest town centre there is a fearsome one-way system with three lanes of traffic. This cuts through the town and is unavoidable - you have to cross it to get anywhere. It is always busy but ... | <urn:uuid:9bb253b0-d070-46ed-939e-73c3ad90cf61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/traffic+bike-lane | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955189 | 136 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Impact Of Fiscal Cliff Agreement
Financial - Taxes
Information about how the recent "fiscal cliff" agreement, that the Senate passed 89 to 8, and the House passed 257 to 167, will affect local paychecks is becoming available.
The 154 page bill was signed into law by President Obama in Hawaii using autopen instead of signing the original documents. The documents were in Washington D.C. passed just in time to meet the deadline.
Initial summaries from the associated press and CNN say that it will preserve the expanded parameters for the American Opportunity Tax Credit and extend the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit for 5 more years. The agreement will also continue a federal extension of unemployment benefits for one year.
The social security tax reduction, aka the "social security tax holiday" in effect for 2011 and 2012, has ended. The 4.2% rate will now revert to the 6.2%. For someone earning $40,000 a year, that amounts to a $800 annual increase in social security tax withholdings starting now. Those earning $30,000 a year will take home $50 less per month. Those earning $113,700 will put $189.50 more a month in to Social security.
Federal income tax rates will remain about the same so far in 2013, for all but high income households. High income was defined as those making over $400,000 year or $450,000 for couples. Earnings above those amounts will be taxed at a rate of 39.6 percent, up from 35 percent.
The capital gains and dividend tax rates for these high-income households will increase to 20% from 15%. For everyone else, investment tax rates will remain at 15% or below.
The legislation will preserve the current estate tax exemption level of $5.12 million but index it to inflation for future years. And it will raise the top rate to 40% from 35% currently.
The Biden-McConnell compromise will prevent a scheduled 27% cut in reimbursement for Medicare services for one year. The so-called "doc fix" could boost the deficit by $31 billion.
Close to 30 million middle-class taxpayers will be excluded from having to pay the so-called wealth tax or Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for 2012. The IRS has warned lawmakers that up to 100 million taxpayers would not be able to file their 2012 taxes until late March if an agreement wasn't reached. The AMT patch made up a big piece of the fiscal cliff, by Budget Office estimates it will boost real GDP by about 1.25% in fiscal year 2013.
The bill will extend for two years several tax breaks for businesses, including a production tax credit for developers of wind projects, the research and development tax credit, and a measure allowing for bonus depreciation.
$109 billion worth of across-the-board spending cuts were delayed for two months. Other issues including the debt ceiling and a continuing budget resolution are also still to be addressed in coming months.
With many key issues delayed only a few months, the stock markets were up a bit but traded near flat today. The Dow added 4 points to 13,417 on mixed December retail sales. Nasdaq rose 4 points to 3116.
Local representatives Republican Congressmen Jeff Denham and Dan Lungren voted in favor of the Senate package. Republican Congressman Tom McClintock, whose district will add Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties, voted in opposition.
McClintock spoke on his views in an interview for "Mother Lode Views" recently which is posted here.
Written by Sabrina Ambler | <urn:uuid:b458eac9-521e-4813-855f-2455423f9348> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/1925935/Impact-Of-Fiscal-Cliff-Agreement.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957525 | 738 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Hate your job? Floundering in a career that is boring or toxic to your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being? Are you waiting to be rescued…by someone else, fate, or a big lottery win?
Perhaps it’s time to try something different. Perhaps it’s time for you to be your own superhero.
In the current issue of Training Mag, Bill Treasurer (founder of a courage-building company) writes about Building Career Courage. Here are his 3 tips followed by my observations and how-to suggestions.
Tip 1: Strike Out Fear – assess the times in your career when you acted with courage.
My how-to: create a career timeline and mark your pivotal courageous moments. Go one step further – what were the outcomes of those moments of career courage? Even what appear to be negative outcomes on the surface often have hidden positive lessons. Remind yourself that you do have the capacity for game-changing courage in your own life.
Tip 2: Anti-brownnosing Agreement – Gain permission from your boss to speak out and not be a brownnoser. Set the ground rules.
My how-to: diplomatic assertiveness is a much-needed requirement in just about every aspect of career (and personal) life. Ask for feedback from others and give your feedback to them if they agree. Mutual respect grows when honesty is tempered with social and emotional awareness. If you do not make your opinions and ideas known, no one else will do it for you.
Tip 3: Do Your Lead-ups – little acts of career courage lead up to bigger acts of courage.
My how-to: When did you last feel brave and courageous about your career? Consider it a lead-up to the acts of career courage you can begin today. Flex your courageous muscle…exercise it daily in little and big ways so it will grow. Understand that I am not advocating reckless risk-taking. Get informed, have some solid ground beneath your feet, and then LEAP.
As Douglas Wood says in Prescriptions from the Dock (one of my favorite books), “Look before you leap. But leap!” | <urn:uuid:52cb2b2b-3bd5-4a93-a5df-7a0f1806f85c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.careergoddess.com/blog/2013/02/be-your-own-superhero-practice-career-courage.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936602 | 444 | 1.617188 | 2 |
If you are a keynote speaker or just giving a small speech, Gene Griessman offers some excellent tips. » More
Employing diversity in a small business
Why is diversity in a small business a best practice? Gene Griessman talks with Jim Blasingame about the many facets and benefits of employing a diverse team of employees.
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Can you face a loss with humor? Gene Griessman joins Jim Blasingame to reveal how athletic coaches and President Lincoln overcame professional losses by being able to find a humorous perspective.
Coaches and Lincoln offer lessons on recovering from losses. Gene Griessman joins Jim Blasingame to reveal the keys to recovering from losses with lessons from athletic coaches and President Lincoln.
All decisions have elements of good and bad in them.. Gene Griessman joins Jim Blasingame to celebrate Lincoln's birthday and talk about his thoughts about how to make difficult decisions, especially where human lives are at stake.
What was at the heart of Lincoln's feeling about slavery? Gene Griessman joins Jim Blasingame to celebrate Lincoln's birthday and reveal what was at the heart of his anti-slavery conviction, plus his income tax plan.
What Lincoln said about the "must" in your resolutions. Gene Griessman joins Jim Blasingame to reveal President Lincoln's position on being resolute in our work and in our lives, even against all odds. | <urn:uuid:2349a874-36bf-43be-ad78-963c09607d54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smallbusiness.forbes.com/small-business-interviews/eugene-griessman-6425 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96386 | 295 | 1.5 | 2 |
Cardiff youth worker urges ban
Mohammed Dualeh says khat should not be allowed in the UK
A Somali youth worker is calling for the UK government to ban the legal high, khat.
Mohammed Dualeh of the Somali Youth Association in Butetown, Cardiff told BBC Radio Wales that the stimulant is killing his community.
There are also concerns that excessive chewing of khat is leading to mental health problems and family breakdowns.
The Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs is carrying out a review and preparing a report.
In an interview for the Eye On Wales programme, Mr Dualeh said: "Khat is a killer, it's deadly, and it's really sad that the UK government allows it to come here, when the USA and much of Europe bans it.
"I hope the government comes to its senses and bans this material from the UK."
Khat is illegal in the United States and many countries within Europe.
Earlier this year, Holland banned it, and the pressure will now be on the government to stop khat from entering the UK.
“Khat tears everyone apart and is destroying our families and community”
Mohammed Dualeh Somali Youth Assoiation
Taken within normal social boundaries, it acts in the same way that a few shots of espresso coffee might. The user becomes more alert and sociable.
But concerns have been raised by some people in the affected UK communities that the younger generation is taking the drug out of its normal social context.
They are worried that excessive chewing is leading to mental health problems and to the breakdown of families. One of the concerns is that it is time consuming.
Saeed Ebrahim from Butetown in Cardiff said: "The khat arrives in Cardiff in the afternoon. By the time they sit down and start chewing, it can be seven in the evening until seven in the morning.
"If you chew 10 hours, then you need another 12 hours to sleep. It takes up their lives."
Mohammed Dualeh told BBC Wales: "Children are losing their dads. Men don't wake up in the morning and take their responsibilities seriously. Wives are left carrying the pieces.
"Khat tears everyone apart and is destroying our families and community."
Khat was last reviewed by the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs in 2005.
The council advised that it should not to be classified under the misuse of drugs act.
It recommended instead that there should be targeted education about the dangers of khat if it is chewed excessively and repetitively.
Khat comes from plants grown in East Africa and is chewed as a stimulant
But Unlike Mr Dualeh, she believes a blanket ban on the drug could make matters worse.
"Could banning it lead to other things?," she said.
"Would the younger generation find something else to socialise with, like cannabis or cocaine? How many young people would we be visiting in prisons?
The Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs will report to the government later this year. | <urn:uuid:1ecf095c-654e-4544-a739-4a2d9dcd8cb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wardheernews.com/News_2012/May/27_Cardiff_youtth_worker_urges_ban_on_Khat.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961826 | 630 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Theo nguồn tin trên mạng của irs.gov.
IRS Has $917 Million for People Who Have Not Filed a 2009 Income Tax Return
RS YouTube Videos:
Haven’t Filed a Tax Return in Years?: English | Spanish | ASL
IR-2013-29, March 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — Refunds totaling just over $917 million may be waiting for an estimated 984,400 taxpayers who did not file a federal income tax return for 2009, the Internal Revenue Service announced today. However, to collect the money, a return for 2009 must be filed with the IRS no later than Monday, April 15, 2013.
The IRS estimates that half the potential refunds for 2009 are more than $500.
Some people may not have filed because they had too little income to require filing a tax return even though they had taxes withheld from their wages or made quarterly estimated payments. In cases where a return was not filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window of opportunity for claiming a refund. If no return is filed to claim a refund within three years, the money becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.
For 2009 returns, the window closes on April 15, 2013. The law requires that the return be properly addressed, mailed and postmarked by that date. There is no penalty for filing a late return qualifying for a refund.
The IRS reminds taxpayers seeking a 2009 refund that their checks may be held if they have not filed tax returns for 2010 and 2011. In addition, the refund will be applied to any amounts still owed to the IRS or their state tax agency, and may be used to offset unpaid child support or past due federal debts such as student loans.
By failing to file a return, people stand to lose more than refund of taxes withheld or paid during 2009. In addition, many low-and-moderate income workers may not have claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). For 2009, the credit is worth as much as $5,657. The EITC helps individuals and families whose incomes are below certain thresholds. The thresholds for 2009 were:
$43,279 ($48,279 if married filing jointly) for those with three or more qualifying children,
$40,295 ($45,295 if married filing jointly) for people with two qualifying children,
$35,463 ($40,463 if married filing jointly) for those with one qualifying child, and
$13,440 ($18,440 if married filing jointly) for people without qualifying children.
For more information, visit the EITC Home Page.
Current and prior year tax forms and instructions are available on the Forms and Publications page of IRS.gov or by calling toll-free 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676). Taxpayers who are missing Forms W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 for 2009, 2010 or 2011 should request copies from their employer, bank or other payer.
If these efforts are unsuccessful, taxpayers can get a free transcript showing information from these year-end documents by filing Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return, with the IRS or by calling 800-829-1040.
Individuals Who Did Not File a 2009 Return with a Potential Refund
State or District
Potential Refunds* ($000)
District of Columbia
* Excluding the Earned Income Tax Credit and other credits.
Theo nguồn tin The Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants trên trang mạng PRNewswire
MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants (MNCPA) recently surveyed its CPA members about the most creative tax deductions proposed by their clients. Responses included everything from swimming pools and manicures to poodles and non-existent children.
“Creativity is rewarded in many parts of society, but not by the IRS,” said MNCPA Chair Barbara Steinhauser . “And many of the creative deductions our members identified in the survey would’ve resulted in intervention by the IRS had a CPA not interceded and encouraged the tax filers to remove them from their tax returns.”
With changing tax laws on both a state and national level, taxes have grown more complex, underscoring the value of CPAs to their clients.
“Claiming an error on your tax calculations because tax preparation software said it was ‘okay’ is not an acceptable defense with the IRS,” Steinhauser added. “CPAs are professionals who understand and monitor changing tax laws and serve as valuable counselors to their clients.”
Here is the MNCPA list of strange—and unacceptable—deductions for 2012:
Ab-solutely not: A ballerina was surprised to discover that she couldn’t deduct the cost of a tummy tuck.
A new wrinkle: One woman’s attempt to deduct BOTOX® expenses as an “image enhancement” expense? Not a smooth move.
Filing expenses: Sing us a song, you’re the piano man. Just don’t try to claim your manicures as a business expense, as one piano player proposed.
Beware of the very small dog: A farmer who tried to claim food and veterinary expenses for his toy poodle as a farm-building “guard dog” was barking up the wrong tree.
Not a deduction? Bingo!: One woman took a chance on deducting gambling losses as a charity donation. Mark that down as another gambling loss.
Off the deep end: Many reasons for deducting the cost of a swimming pool were offered, but they didn’t all float.
Children need to be seen: While children/dependents are considered an acceptable deduction, one filer failed to realize that he needed to actually have children/dependents in order to claim them.
Not a bright move: Try to deduct tanning-bed expenses, as one filer did, and you’ll get burned every time.
No sweat: One woman hoped to shed some pounds and add a deduction by writing off the cost of “Zumba” exercise classes. One out of two isn’t bad.
Questions about what you can and can’t deduct on your taxes? Contact a CPA. Don’t have one? Visit www.mncpa.org/referral, or call 800.331.4288.
SOURCE Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants
Theo nguồn tin trên trang mạng www.irs.gov
IR-2013-25, March 4, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that it has finished updating its tax-processing systems allowing all remaining individual and business taxpayers to file their 2012 federal income tax returns.
Over the weekend, the IRS completed reprogramming and testing of its systems for tax-year 2012 including all remaining updates required by the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) enacted by Congress in January. This final step clears the way for those claiming residential energy credits on Form 5695 and various business tax credits and deductions to file their returns.
The IRS began accepting 2012 returns in phases as it worked quickly to update various forms and instructions and made critical adjustments to its processing systems to reflect the current law. As a result, the agency began accepting most returns filed by individual taxpayers on Jan. 30. Additional returns could be accepted in February. All remaining returns, affecting in relative terms the smallest group of taxpayers, can now be filed.
With just six weeks to go before this year’s April 15 deadline, the IRS reminds taxpayers that the best way to file an accurate return is to e-file, choose direct deposit if expecting a refund and take advantage of the wide variety of tax-filing and tax-help resources available on IRS.gov. People who need more time to finish their returns can easily get an automatic six-month tax-filing extension by going to the Free File link or filing Form 4868.
Theo nguồn tin của Capital One trên trang mạng PRNewswire
MCLEAN, Va., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The April 15th tax filing deadline is approaching and according to the latest IRS statistics, the average federal tax refund this year will be $2,803. For the third year in a row, Capital One Bank’s annual Taxes and Savings Survey found that most Americans (85 percent) expect to get a refund and more than a third (35 percent) plan to spend all or part of it.
Navigating the Impact of the Payroll Tax
In gauging the response to the recent elimination of the payroll tax holiday by Congress—which will increase the amount of taxes taken from employees’ paychecks—42 percent of those surveyed were “very aware” that their take-home pay would decline in 2013, while nearly a third (30 percent) said they weren’t aware at all.
47 percent of men are very aware that their take-home pay will decline, compared to 38 percent of women
53 percent of men and 36 percent of women don’t plan on changing their spending habits despite the decline in take-home pay, and
Of all the respondents, 44 percent don’t plan on changing their spending habits.
“At a time when people are seeing smaller paychecks, now more than ever they should take a step back, evaluate their financial goals and consider saving their tax refund,” said Mickey Konson , Managing Vice President for Retail Banking at Capital One Bank . “People tend to think of their tax refund as free money or an annual bonus, which makes it very tempting to spend it right away, but remember, that refund is your own money – without added interest. Tax season is a great time to plan ahead, with an eye toward your financial goals.”
How Americans are Using Their Refund
Capital One’s survey found that the majority of Americans (65 percent) do not calculate their tax refund or tax payment into their annual budget. More than a third (35 percent) plan to spend all or part of their refund. Nearly a quarter (22 percent) of Americans plan to use their refund to pay down debt, while a relatively small percentage will save (16 percent) or invest (4 percent) their returns. Of those who plan to spend all or part of their refund this year:
30 percent plan to spend it on everyday expenses and necessities,
23 percent plan to spend it on a vacation,
16 percent plan to spend it on clothing and accessories,
15 percent plan to spend it on an iPad, TV, smartphone or other electronics, and
16 percent plan to spend it on other major purchases.
The survey findings also showed that most people have some anxiety when filing their tax returns:
19 percent worry about owing taxes,
18 percent worry about not getting as much money back as expected,
17 percent have anxiety about filing incorrectly, and
Eight percent are afraid of being audited.
Only 14 percent of Americans feel no anxiety in filing their taxes.
Capital One Bank Tax Season Tips
Capital One Bank offers the following tips for consumers considering how they can boost their savings, whether it’s making a savings plan for a tax refund or planning to set aside cash to pay taxes they might owe for next year:
Pay yourself first. If you’re eligible for a refund, start building your savings cushion for the year by depositing all or at least a portion of your refund into your savings.
Strong rate, nice return. When reviewing your savings options choose the product with the best rate of return that matches your lifestyle and needs. Some checking accounts are offering higher interest rates than even CD accounts, giving more flexibility and access to your funds than a CD would. Capital One Bank ‘s High Yield Checking account currently earns an interest rate that is five times the national average. The rate is guaranteed for one year.
Make saving automatic, easy and excuse-free. Don’t stop contributing to your savings after getting your refund. It’s always a good idea to get into a routine of putting aside money. One of the easiest ways is to have funds automatically moved to your account every month or paycheck. This is important if you need to set aside savings at the end of the year for taxes.
Make the safest deposit. Make sure any savings tool you use is FDIC-insured.
If you must spend, do it wisely. Reinvest refund money into your biggest piggy bank, your home. Some home repairs will help you financially in the long term, from more efficient windows that reduce monthly heating and cooling to taking advantage of the energy tax credit. Make your house a better home while saving on your next tax return.
The findings reported in this release are from a telephone survey conducted by the opinion research firm, Braun Research of Princeton NJ. The survey was sponsored by Capital One Financial. Braun Research completed 1,006 landline and cell phone interviews with US resident adults age 18 and over. All interviews were with one household member only selected at random. The interviews were conducted February 5, 2013 through February 10, 2013. The margin of error for the national sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Interviews were monitored at random. Sampling for this study was conducted using a national probability replicate sample. All interviews were conducted using a computer assisted telephone interviewing system while the cell phone completes were dialed manually to comply with federal laws. Statistical weights were designed from the United States Census Bureau statistics.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., had $212.5 billion in deposits and $312.9 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2012. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has more than 900 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 100 index.
Contact: Laura DiLello
SOURCE Capital One | <urn:uuid:c3c8275f-c773-4a43-ac8d-830ea93618cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://khaithue.info/?hg=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938394 | 3,075 | 1.679688 | 2 |
New Organization VaxTruth Fights Vaccine Damages
August 7, 2012
A new national organization called VaxTruth is dedicated to telling people about their rights to legally refuse vaccines for themselves and their children.
As an article by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. posted at the alternative health website Mercola.com points out that in the early 1980s, autism presented itself in 1 of 10,000 births. By 2005, that was 1 in 250 births, and as of 2008, it was 1 in 150 births and still rising.
While the medical establishment refuses to consider it as a cause, the biggest change during this time had to do with a radical rise in vaccines being given at a very early age. It is this rise that an increasing amount of parents with autistic children hold responsible.
In fact, the problem may be considerably larger than autism. There is apparently virtual worldwide genocide going on thanks to vaccines. In the US it’s been noticed because of the startlingly high rates of autism … but commentators such as Guylaine Lanctot, M.D. have noted that vaccines may have wiped out whole populations in Africa where vaccines are provided aggressively.
While naturopaths and some others hold that vaccines’ efficacy is entirely the result of elitist propaganda, a less radical view that circulates within the alternative media accepts that vaccines are utile but that they are over-used and under-analyzed.
It is quite likely, according to this view, that a proportion of children are either sensitive to vaccines or become prone to injury because of the amount of vaccines they are receiving. Children in the US for instance are now scheduled for nearly 20 vaccines, and the number keeps rising.
It is likely that a portion of the population has an increasingly attenuated immune response because of vaccines and this makes them susceptible to conditions such as AIDS (whatever it actually is).
Pfizer settles foreign bribery charges to the tune of $60 Million
August 7, 2012
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will pay $60 million to settle charges that it paid millions in bribes to foreign officials, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
Pfizer will pay roughly $45 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that the company, along with fellow pharmaceutical firm Wyeth, which Pfizer acquired a few years ago, violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The SEC says staff from the companies’ subsidiaries paid bribes to foreign government officials to boost sales and obtain regulatory approvals. The violations occurred in Bulgaria, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia and Serbia, the SEC said.
Filed Under: HEALTH/EUGENICS
About the Author: | <urn:uuid:b7dc87ca-f488-4848-b445-5661e9909fc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://truthfrequencynews.com/big-pharma-news/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962873 | 556 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Remember back in 2008 when electric car maker Tesla Motors changed its mind and decided to move the production of its Model S electric car from New Mexico to California? Well, so does the developer that was going to build a 150,000 square foot facility in New Mexico that was going to produce the Model S. The developer, Rio Real Estate Investment Opportunities, has now filed a law suit against Tesla for fraud, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and negotiating in bad faith, over Tesla’s decision to abandon the deal and is seeking damages and attorney fees.
The complaint, filed back in May (and embedded below), says that Tesla was going to lease a building that Rio Real Estate Investment Opportunities was going to build for $1.35 million per year for ten years, plus a 2 percent annual increase. The developer says it spent money on creating environmental reports, obtaining government approvals, and developing engineering designs for the site. Rio Real Estate says it entered into a binding development agreement with Tesla on February 19, 2007, and as a result of the lost deal, they’ve suffered financially.
Tesla denies the allegations and also is seeking to the move the trial to federal court from New Mexico state court. I’ve reached out to Tesla for more details, but the company isn’t commenting at this point.
I’m not sure about how valid the complaint is or how binding the contract was, but I do know that the deal between New Mexico and Tesla had progressed to the point that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had publicly announced that the Model S would be built in New Mexico back in early 2008. The state of New Mexico had committed millions in incentives for the deal, and Tesla was supposed to get $20 million in incentives, according to the court filings.
But instead of sticking with New Mexico, Tesla opted to build the Model S in California. At the time that Tesla announced the California deal in the Summer of 2008, Tesla said having its manufacturing and headquarters close by in California would provide benefits. The Chronicle also reported at the time that California offered such strong incentives that the equipment incentives in California could save Tesla $9 million.
At the press conference where Tesla announced the manufacturing deal in California, then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that when Tesla had previously decided to manufacture in New Mexico it “drove me absolutely insane. My administration does not like to lose.” Governors Richardson and Schwarzenegger’s teams reportedly had an “entertaining rivalry,” over getting more clean power into their states.
The suit comes at a time when Tesla is looking to ramp up its manufacturing — and spending — to get more of its Model S cars on the roads. Tesla plans to ship roughly 500 of the car in the third quarter of this year, and another 4,500 before the year ends. In 2013, Tesla plans to ship 20,000 of the Model S. | <urn:uuid:ba76f257-2549-4af0-a994-c150953f4289> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thenumbers.marketplace.org/publicradio/news/read?GUID=21917060 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968665 | 590 | 1.539063 | 2 |
A PILOT instructor at HMAS Albatross has reached a rare milestone – more than 9000 flying hours.
723 Squadron pilot instructor Lieutenant Commander Tony Reyne has spent the equivalent of 375 days airborne.
LCDR Reyne started in naval aviation in 1977, and over the years has flown in most types of aircraft in the RAN inventory.
LCDR Reyne joined the navy in 1970 as an apprentice at HMAS Nirimba. Since then he has flown the CT4 and Macchi and the Bell Iroquois UH-1B, Wessex 31B, Bell 206 B-1 Kiowa, Gazelle HT-2, Squirrel AS 350B, Sea King and Seahawk helicopters.
In his 43-year career, he has conducted operations from aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne; received the Fleet Commander Commendation for successful surveillance tasking of the USSR’s scale model Space Shuttle Indian Ocean recovery; successfully rescued five Wessex (819) crew members after they ditched off Bondi Beach following an engine failure; spent over five years as senior pilot/executive officer with 723 Squadron “working with the best team in the Fleet Air Arm”; received the Active Service Medal for his work with Squirrel Flight for Operation Warden/
Stabilise in East Timor, and a Cat A QFI in recognition of his considerable experience in 2009, a Federation Star in 2010 and, in the same year, he was granted the first Specialist (Pilot) category.
In 2011 he achieved 4000 hours in the Squirrel helicopter and was awarded Navy Commendation – Silver for 723 Squadron service.
LCDR Reyne said he felt “really chuffed” with his latest achievement.
“I really find it hard to believe that I have spent so much time conducting military flying since being awarded my wings in September 1977,” he said.
“I have spent my whole working life involved in naval aviation and I have loved every moment, flying and instructing is a passion and the navy has given me the opportunity to indulge that passion for a long time.”
“I hope I’ve given good service in return and I hope the milestone is a good example for the junior aircrew coming up the line.
“I guess the biggest buzz on the day was to achieve this milestone while conducting an instructional sortie with a student, I think he was also chuffed and will have that memory for a long time.” | <urn:uuid:771578af-5cbf-44f3-b1df-134e5f1a4307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southcoastregister.com.au/story/1360667/local-aviator-notches-up-9000-hours-flying/?src=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968894 | 513 | 1.5 | 2 |
For those of you who hate brushing your teeth under normal circumstances, think about how much harder it is to clean those pearly whites in space, with zero gravity and no sink to get water from or spit into afterwards.
In another in his series of entertaining how-to videos from space, International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield shows how to take care of those chompers in space. Does the toothpaste go up your nose? How do you get the toothbrush wet in the first place?
Check out the below video in which Hadfield answers those questions and more. And here's a spoiler: he has a unique way of cleaning his toothbrush post usage. … Read more | <urn:uuid:563b9b56-0f56-4368-80b0-5284f801c847> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnet.com/8300-5_1-0.html?keyword=toothbrush | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957055 | 139 | 1.820313 | 2 |
PC Games Digital Downloads Analyst Report, during the first six months of 2010, more video games were purchased online and downloaded digitally than were bought at retail stores.According to the
This marks the first time that digital downloads comprised the majority of total PC game sales. And although retails sales still make up a greater share of dollar revenue, it was simply because games that come with a CD or DVD in a box sell for a higher price.
Overall, however, the combined sales of both digital and physical PC games were down 21%, with unit sales down 14% compared to the same time next year.
While some might see future of PC gaming in question, it's clear that gaming itself is far from in decline, as an August study by Nielsen demonstrated, showing that 25% of our time online is spent gaming. That study also found that digital download sites like Steam continue to capture an increasing market share.
But even digital downloads face competition from browser-based and online-only gaming options. Cloud computing gaming platform OnLive launched in June, for example, and is just one of several platforms that offers video gameplay without having to download software or worry about hardware requirements.
And while access to Assassin's Creed (for example) remains a draw for these platforms (for me, at least), the rise of social gaming too is changing not just the delivery method but the content of what counts as gaming.
And while companies like OnLive are promising an escape from hefty hardware requirements, it may be that this move, in turn, also liberates games (and game developers) from the requirements of intensive 3D graphics.
Photo credits: Flickr user Mykl Roventine | <urn:uuid:d4c2efd6-3789-4ae4-80cb-69946e227f6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://readwrite.com/2010/09/30/how-cloud-computing-is-changin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962649 | 339 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Oboe Concerto : Work information
- Vincenzo Bellini ( Music, Images,)
- Performed by
- Guy Touvron (Trumpet), Camerata de Versailles, Amaury du Closel (Conductor)
- Work name
- Oboe Concerto
- Work number
- E flat
- 1823-01-01 02:00:00
- Forlane CI
- Ivan Pastor
- Jean-Martial Golaz
- Recording date
- 1987-01-01 00:00:00
On the island of Sicily Bellini was born in 1801, the eldest of seven sons of an organist and composer. He showed such talent at an early age that he was given a grant from the city council of Catania to study in Naples, at the Real Collegio di Musica. His first opera, Adelson e Salvini (1825), was produced there, and it led to his being commissioned to write the opera Bianca e Fernando for the Teatro San Carlo.
With his third work (Il Pirata, 1827) began Bellini's partnership with the librettist Felice Romani, which lasted through to Bellini's penultimate opera. Although successful, his next work was even more so, as Bellini began developing his own style, casting off the superfluous orchestration and ornamentation which was the inescapable influence of Rossini. Long melodically winding vocal lines of Romani's meticulously composed text, paired with a simple accompaniment became Bellini's trademark.
More operas followed, I Capuletti e i Montecchi (1830) and La Sonnambula (1831) being particularly outstanding examples. Bellini travelled to London and Paris, making friends with leading artistic figures such as Chopin, Liszt, and Victor Hugo. Because of a falling-out with Romani, Bellini worked with Count Carlo Pepoli on what was to be his last opera, I Puritani (1835). It was a triumph, outshining Donizetti's Marino Fahero which opened simultaneously, to Bellini's great pleasure. That year the 34 year old died of amoebic infection, at the height of his genius. | <urn:uuid:56e63a66-6d29-4fff-bddd-ef8983b42f27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.classical.com/work/2147484419 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944891 | 467 | 1.59375 | 2 |
I am wondering what allocation method does UFS use? I know there are several options: contiguous, linked allocation and indexed allocation. Which one is for UFS?
The details are in the paper A Fast File System for UNIX:
Your example terms don't coincide with anything I'm familiar with in file systems. The two proper forms of allocations I know of relate to disk space and inodes.
Where disk space is concerned, the two key forms for traditional file systems are extent-based and block-based. UFS is block-based.
Inodes are allocated statically (i.e., at file system creation time) or dynamically. UFS allocates inodes statically.
Does your question refer to some other facet of UFS, perhaps? | <urn:uuid:6b813389-1c03-4d41-812e-97bb16ae7078> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/11048/about-ufs-allocation-on-freebsd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960112 | 156 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Hudson County will be participating in the American Medicine Chest Challenge today.
“The national event allows people to drop off unused or expired prescription medications in order to prevent prescription drug abuse,” said North Bergen spokesman Phil Swibinski.
He also noted that the event is being run locally by the Hudson County Coalition for a Drug-Free Community.
There will be two local collection sites: the North Bergen Police Department, 4233 Kennedy Blvd., and the Hudson Plaza, 257 Cornelison Ave, in Jersey City.
According to americanmedicinechest.com, both locations will be participating in the event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that prescription medications are the second most likely drug to be abused and 70 percent of users say they obtained these drugs from unused prescriptions.
As part of the initiative, Hudson County residents are challenged to take inventory of their prescription and over-the-counter medicine; lock their medicine cabinet; dispose of their unwanted, unused and expired medicine in their home or at a collection site; take their medicine exactly as prescribed, and talk to their children about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. | <urn:uuid:f11b2e1e-5f69-4814-81f6-5f25531d5e2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2011/11/hudson_county_residents_can_pa.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932959 | 248 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Documenting your design
Thursday, 1st January 1970 at 1:00 am
The importance of high-level paper design
Right now the Ruffian design team are diligently working away on the design of our current project.
Aside from the final balance and tweaking stage, we’re right in the middle of what I believe is one of the most important stages of game production. Get this part wrong and you’ll likely spend the rest of the project struggling to keep your team motivated and your publisher happy – which is a marriage destined for divorce.
So, while it’s obviously a huge responsibility, it’s also that golden time at the start of a project. You can discuss incredibly ambitious features without fear of your producer telling you to go sit on the naughty step and you genuinely feel like there are no bad ideas – which I should point out is total bollocks. There’s usually an abundance of truly awful ideas, but we put them forward all the same, as a bad idea can occasionally coax a good one from a creative mind.
This month I’ll discuss how well thought out, well presented design documentation is essential to properly manage publisher expectations, plan the production of the project, and generate that crucial buzz within the development and publishing teams.
Ensuring that your own plans as a developer match those of the publisher is vital if your working relationship is going to be a successful one. At Ruffian we strive to include the publisher at every stage of development of the game, especially the early high-level paper design.
While you’re looking for a contribution from the publisher, it is still advisable to go into this stage armed with a solid paper design that explains the core game and the feature set. Trust me, it will help make this entire process run far more smoothly. This early inclusion of the publisher in the design process can cause tension at times but I can testify that it’s definitely worth the stress, as it creates a unity between the developer and publisher, allowing you to begin the production planning stage with everyone fully behind the design and 100 per cent focused on the same set of goals.
When the high level paper design has publisher approval, you can then begin the process of fleshing out the requirement documents for the game. Everything must be documented – features, mechanics, story, visuals – and for each of these you need detailed requirements for each discipline: code, art, audio, design. It’s a huge task, but it must be done properly. These documents are then reviewed by the developers responsible for the work to ensure everything is as it should be and that there are no obvious issues with the design.
Only when you have gone through this process are you really ready to start planning the production of the game, which allows you to know whether the team you have can make the game you have envisaged within the defined timeframe.
This may seem like an odd one, but keeping the development team excited about the game can sometimes be a tough job. Yes, they may be working on a great game, but it’s also likely that they’re working on a small feature in a game with hundreds of features which can make it difficult for them to realise its significance or importance in the game.
Thankfully we have talented designers at Ruffian who can create design documentation that has solid, easily understood content that is also easy on the eye. This kind of high quality design documentation allows our team to understand the game design and see how their own work fits into the bigger picture and benefits the game.
Ensuring that the development team believe in the game is important for morale, but keeping the publisher excited is absolutely vital. If your game design is well presented and excites your publisher early on, they will back you all the way: big marketing budgets, coverage at the best press events, everything your game needs to be a commercial success. If the excitement isn’t there they will put their weight behind another game in their catalogue, leaving your potentially great game with very little marketing spend. If this happens, the best you can expect is critical rather than commercial success, and while praise is fantastic it can’t buy you a pint in the pub.
Documenting a game design can be an exhilarating, freeing experience as well as an incredibly daunting time for a designer. One day you can feel like the gaming world is your bump mapped oyster, then the next you feel completely overwhelmed by the amount of content you’re ultimately responsible for. In the end, the process of defining a game on paper is ultimately the most important task a designer is responsible for during the development of any game.
© Develop 2013. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:831a1073-6d15-4645-a6ad-13fdde3656e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.develop-online.net/printer/blog/16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951276 | 966 | 1.8125 | 2 |
- Published on Thursday, 22 March 2012 12:25
- Written by IVM
Analysis on Beijing’s MOTOR VEHICLE USAGE RESTRICTION Policy
Santiago de Chili, 25/01/2012
Beijing’s case is very attractive; first of all due to the gigantic proportions of the phenomena public policies must tackle. Secondly, because in the light of such a challenge the strategy is twofold: On the one hand temporary measures are taken with mandatory implementation which must be obeyed publicized through public communiqués, and on the other hand, the implementation is carried out through a trial and assessment process, both before it’s launch for the Olympics then afterwards to shift from an exceptional measure to one which is sustainable over time.
Although the comparison is quite out of proportion, it is surprising if we look a the Santiago de Chile experience, where the practical implementation of a radical change of public transport system (Transantiago), overnight, led to a big-bang with severe consequences.
A second element of surprise in the case of Beijing is the restricting of Local Government and Public Administration vehicles. Although we don’t know their share in traffic congestion, it is impressive for two reasons: it must have had some impact on public services, and this measure wasn’t only implemented during the trial period before the Olympics, but also during the sustainable phase afterwards; and finally, because of the symbolic value of demonstration and example for citizens, set by public administration behavior.
A third element of surprise is the capacity to be disciplined, and the social support given to the proposal for these measures. These seem obvious given the successful results achieved. The user surveys regarding the adoption or refusal of those measures were also very positive. Going from temporary measures to a long term strategy is also very interesting: including when there were mixed results. But, given their success during the first phases, it isn’t clear why these measures were reduced over time, when they were becoming part of everyday practices and part of a routine. It would have been interesting to find out what their impact had been on passengers.
One of the elements debated in this case study is the underlying assumption that the basic reason for traffic congestion results from a discrepancy between the growing transport demand, due to the sustained increase in cars and limited offer of infrastructure. This is due to the slow construction of roads. One of the remediation measures would be to build additional infrastructures in order to improve capacity. In the case of Chile, the same argument was used in order to justify the construction of the urban highway network, with opposite short-term results: it has increased the congestion in the city as well as the number of circulating cars.
To conclude, the need to expand the scope of the measures, ranging from urban restructuring to behavioral changes, and public transport development, is obviously relevant, but the interesting part of the Beijing proposal lies in the challenges posed by the idea of diversifying public transport modes and the environmentally conscious travel modes. | <urn:uuid:644e2042-aa20-476e-8a6f-d00157c39d9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://movemaking.com/welcome/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=725:analysis-on-beijings-motor-vehicle-usage-restriction-policy-rosanna-forray&catid=90:case-studies&Itemid=667 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964298 | 615 | 1.648438 | 2 |
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The Holy Spirit is working everywhere
The following quotations are from Jean Vanier’s (the founder of L’Arche, a world wide community that looks after the mentally handicapped) in his book “Community and Growth,” revised edition, published in 1991. When he wrote the book, he has already lived day by day for 28 years with people who have mental handicap. He still lives with them today.
1.A shepherd who yearns for Unity (p.151-152)
As I think of all the communities throughout the world, struggling for growth, yearning to answer the call of Jesus and of the poor, I realise the need for a universal shepherd---a shepherd who yearns for Unity, who has clarity of vision, who calls forth communities and who holds all people in prayer and in love, who is a guardian of unity and a servant of communion.
How long will it take before people realise this deep need for a universal shepherd? How long will it take for Roman Catholics to understand the depths of their gift and be confounded in humility, and to open themselves up to others in understanding and love? How long will it take them to recognise the beauty of the Orthodox Church with its sense of the sacred; and the beauty of and gift of the Church of South India and of Protestant Churches, especially with their love of Scripture, of announcing the Word, and their desire to live in the Holy Spirit? How long will it take them to see the light of truth and the presence of God in so many men and women of other religions?
Yes. I yearn for this day of unity.
Roger Schutz, founder of Taize, has a prophetic passion for unity and I would wish to have the same passion. In the Acts of the Council of Youth 1979 it is Written:
A way exists to put an end to the scandal of the divisions among Christians and to allow the Churches to join in a common creation: that every local community refer to a ministry of reconciliation at the heart of the People of God. These past few months, the eyes of many men and women have been opened more than ever before to the ministry of a universal pastor: ‘attentive to serve humanity as such and not only Catholics, to defend above all and in all places rights of the human person and not only those of the Church’. (John XXIII).
2.Vatican II (p.172-173)
It is good that different types of Christian community meet to share their hope and their vision. It is good too that Christians meet to see how the Spirit is acting among them. It is encouraging and strengthening to discover the network of the Holy Spirit and the marvels of God across the world. We realise then that we are not alone with our problems and that there is a universal hope.
It is important to know what the Spirit is doing in the Church, be cause he is always raising up, providentially men and women to show us new ways. The most prophetic are sometimes the most hidden during their lifetime. Few people knew Therese of Lisieux or Charles de Foucauld before their deaths.
Today Roger Shutz and his brothers in Taize are truly prophetic. Their community is bringing forth much fruit. Truly the Taize community, and Brother Roger’s words and gestures, are a sign of God in our broken world. Their yearning for unity amongst Christian churches is a sign of the yearning of God. It is important to listen to such signs and to integrate them into the vision of our own community. The same is true of the vision of Mother Teresa; she also is a sign of the presence of God in our world. She is reminding all our communities that we must be open to the poorest and the weakest of our world, for they are a presence of Christ. Such prophets are showing us a way.
Vatican Il announced so clearly that the Holy Spirit is working in all the Churches, not just in the Roman Catholic Church. It seems to fl1 that this teaching is not always put into practice. It remains a theory, a doctrine, a vision. Shouldn’t we all look at the consequences of it? Roman Catholics are often enclosed within their own groups, their own club, their own community. They are not sufficiently alert to see the signs of the Spirit present in other Churches, other communities, or in people of other religions. Yet the Spirit of God is at work there. God is speaking to them; he is revealing himself there. We must be attentive to others, to notice in them the presence of the Holy Spirit. If we confine ourselves only to the workings of the Spirit in ‘our’ group or in ‘our’ Church, we will miss something; we will be lacking in a gift of the Spirit. Communities have so much to offer to each other. They can offer each other their food, their nourishment.
But of course, in order to really appreciate the Spirit working in the hearts of other communities and Churches, we have to be well rooted in our own; we have to belong. Otherwise we risk living in
some confusion, without roots.
3.We want to help each person to deepen in their own faith(198-200)
In those communities of l’Arche which are interdenominational, I would like to see the words, ‘I thirst for unity’. Jesus is saying to each one of the members: ‘Are you prepared to suffer for unity? Will you follow me along the road and carry the cross of this pain?’
With all the suffering of a divided Eucharist and of divided churches, we can be nourished by this bread of pain. We know the road is uncharted and painful, but we are walking with Jesus; we are walking towards unity.
However, all of us hate pain. We try to flee from it; we do every thing to avoid it. So, time and time again in our communities, the question of intercommunion comes up, sometimes in quite an aggressive way, especially as new assistants arrive. It is not easy to keep walking on the right path, particularly as we do not always receive the necessary encouragement from the clergy in the different Churches. Each priest or minister belongs to a particular church, where they have their own problems; they are not always concerned about an interdenominational community. To whom does such a community belong? Perhaps to all the Churches involved, but only as long as they are yearning for unity as Christ does.
The danger for interdenominational communities is that the people in them begin to see religion and the Churches as a source of division. It is so easy to slip away then from all spiritual values and religious activities, and to put all our energy into leisure activities and community celebrations where we can be united. But such activities are not sufficient for building and sustaining community. L’Arche communities could easily become good group homes and forget they are communities, with all that that implies.
To live ecumenism, each person is called to live and deepen what is essential to their faith in Jesus: to be in communion with the Father and to grow in love for others. But they must live and deepen what is specific to their own Church too. True ecumenism is not the suppression of difference; on the contrary, it is learning to respect and love what is different. The members of the community must then be grounded in their own tradition and love it. It means also that they feel truly called by Jesus to eat the bread of pain in order to further that unity. In such communities each person must be truly nourished spiritually, in order to grow in wholeness and in holiness.
If interdenominational communities cannot be nourished by the Eucharist, there must be other moments when the presence of Jesus is signified to bring about communion. Communities, as I have said, are places of communion before being places of cooperation. This communion must be nourished. Members of interdenominational communities are called to deepen their prayer life together. They are called to celebrate all that unites Christians of different traditions: in particular baptism; the Word of God; the cross of Jesus and carrying our cross; living in the Holy Spirit, prayer and the presence of Jesus. Together, all the members are called to holiness and love. If they cannot celebrate the Eucharist together, they can celebrate the washing of each other’s feet; living it as a sacrament.
In l’Arche, if we cannot eat at the same Eucharistic table, we can all eat together at the table of the poor. ‘When you give a banquet,’ says Jesus, ‘invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, not your friends or relations or rich neighbours’ (Luke 14:13-15). If we cannot drink together from the same Eucharistic chalice, we can all drink together from the chalice of suffering (cf. Matt. 20) caused by division amongst Christians and by the rejection of the poor and the weak. These are the specific gifts of l’Arche.
We can discover also the intimate link between the broken body of Christ in the Eucharist and the broken and suffering bodies of our people. We can discover that the poor are a path to unity. As we are called to love them, and to be loved by them, we are in some mysterious way brought together in the heart of Christ.
What I have said of interdenominational communities can also be said, but in a different way, about inter-religious communities. Here the bread of pain is perhaps even greater. We have to discover how to celebrate our common humanity. We must discover the cycles of nature and the presence of God in all the beauty of our universe. We must learn how to celebrate a common prayer to God, the Father of us all.
In our communities of Asha Niketan in India where we live, Hindus, Muslims and Christians together we are struggling to live this Unity and diversity. We want to help each person to deepen in their own faith and find the essence of love at the heart of their faith; and at the same time we seek to celebrate our common humanity, our love for God and for each other.
In all this, we must discover that l’Arche is called to be a prophetic place of peace and reconciliation. That is our call and our gift. And our beloved God will give us the nourishment we need as he gave it to his people in the desert with the manna and the waters springing from the rock. If we cry out in our pain he will feed us.
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Dr Ford explains about the eClinic
Dr Rodney Ford can help you. He is a medical doctor and food allergy specialist. He has spent years setting up and improving the eClinic so that he can give you immediate on-line help (for a small fee of only US$9.99 – the same price as his eBooks).
On-going common symptoms
If you or your children have chronic symptoms such as:
- Eczema (itchy and scratchy skin)
- Tummy troubles (gastric reflux, sore tummies, diarrhoea, constipation, bloating)
- Brain things (being cranky, irritable and behavior troubles)
… then think about the possibility of it being: a food allergy |or a food intolerance |or a gluten reaction.
eClinic can help you get diagnosed
After decades of working in a food allergy |food intolerance clinic, I have found that many health professionals are not confident to make a food-related diagnosis. So the eClinic has been designed to help you take the next steps.
All you have to do is (the process):
- Just put in your symptoms (on your computer keyboard) when you get asked your questions (There could be up to a 100 questions – this depends on how many symptoms and food issues you have).
- You get an immediate eReport from the eClinic to take to your own doctor.
- Your doctor can read it with you, and help you organize any tests that you might need.
- Later (in a few weeks), when you have your tests results, you put these results into your computer.
- This gives you another detailed eReport: your specific interpretation of those blood test results … and specific suggestions of you what you can do to get better again.
Good value for money
Most people say it is great value for money (now only US$9.99). Compared to a private consultation that would cost about $300.
So the eClinic costs less that 4% of a face-to-face consultation (a saving of 96%).
And, you also get FREE copies of 2 Food Allergy ebooks (see items 4 and 5: your FREE purchase code will be given to you in your first email from the eClinic).
- Also, you get your own individualized medical recommendations to diagnose and manage possible food allergy | intolerance | gluten and celiac issues.
- Also, once you have completed the eClinic, Dr Ford also offers limited discussions by email and on facebook.
- Or, you can buy our informative print books (for around $20) from our website shop.
- Or, you can buy the ebook Food Allergies: What Symptoms? (all you should know about food allergy/ intolerance) for just $4.95.
- Or, buy the ebook Food for Food Allergy (Egg | Dairy | Peanut): How to get started (Get practical useful food/feeding help: What foods to avoid? What foods are safe?) for $4.95.
People find it useful
We have already helped a lot of people work out if their symptoms might be from a food allergy | intolerance.
Read what they have written about their experience with the eClinic.
You too can get our help to make your own diagnosis online. | <urn:uuid:9c0fae76-67c5-47d1-b733-d08ae6025613> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drrodneyford.com/the-eclinic/dr-ford-explains.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943677 | 694 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Here we are again the unbeatable Daring Bakers with the challenge for May. As soon as April's challenge was completed we all were eagerly checking the Daring Bakers blog to see what our next challenge and also who the newest members would be. Well after what seemed like an excruciating lapse of time, we were presented with our newest members, the Zeta Class including the first male member, and the challenge.
Helene was the host this month, which meant she was the person who would decide on what creativity (or monstrosity) would be coming out of our kitchens. Together with Anita she finally presented us with our challenge for May.
The Gâteau Saint-Honoré - [ga-TOH san , -toh-naw-RAY]
is a traditional French cake named after Saint Honoré, the patron saint of pastry bakers. May 16th actually is Saint-Honoré Day, which honors the patron.
When I was is Paris for 3 months, learning French as an exchange student, I remember always making a huge detour around this cake. The lovely French patisseries and bakeries would have this gâteau arranged beautifully behind the glass counters. It looked so impressive. It also looked like a million calories per bite.
After reading Helene's instructions of how the cake was put together I was scared. I mean really scared. Puff pastry, choux pastry, pastry cream the list of elements making up the cake just did not seem to stop. I read and re-read the instructions. I even went to the library to find other books and pictures for the cake. I asked Helene 101 questions and she was there for each of them. Her wonderful, gentle and soothing way of explaining things slowly but surely took away my jitters. So much so that I actually started to look forward to making this. I was even convinced of making my own puff pastry.
The cake is made up of the four components:
- Puff pastry base
- Pâte à Choux, used for the rings on the base and the cream puffs
- Saint Honoré Cream to fill the cream puffs and cover the base
- Whipping cream to decorate and hold the cream puffs to the cake
- The puff pastry can be store bought or made follwing the recipe provided
- The liqueur in the cream filling can be omitted or changed, oranges or lemons can be used, but no chocolate or coffee
- The shape/size of the cake can be modified
- The cream puffs can be set on the cream or dipped in caramel and glued to the base
Making Puff Pastry or Pâte Feuilletée
No type of dough is more elegant than the puff pastry and nothing in the kitchen gave me more jitters than making this flaky, buttery and light dough. It is sumptuous, sensuous and time-consuming. The hundreds of layers, folding blocks of butter, rolling, folding and doing it over and over so that layer upon layer the pastry will rise - or puff - dramatically when baked. The idea is to distribute the butter evenly in sheets throughout the dough. When the pastry bakes, the moisture in the butter creates steam, causing the dough to puff and separate into many layers.
Making this delicate, flaky pastry took me about half a day to make, but the result - hundreds of puffed, crisp, and buttery layers - was, for me, the ultimate achievement.
420g all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
105g cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
60g unsalted butter - chilled and cut into pieces
300ml cold water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
405g unsalted butter - chilled
Make the dough package
In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours with the salt. Scatter butter pieces over the flour mixture; using your fingers or a pastry cutter, incorporate butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Form a well in center of mixture, and pour the water into well. Using your hands, gradually draw flour mixture over the water, covering and gathering until mixture is well blended and begins to come together. Gently knead mixture in the bowl just until it comes together to form a dough, about 15 seconds. Pat dough into a rough ball, and turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly, and place in refrigerator to chill 1 hour.
Make the butter package
Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon flour on a sheet of waxed or parchment paper. Place uncut sticks of butter on top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon flour. Top with another sheet of paper; using a rolling pin, pound butter to soften and flatten to about 1/2 inch. Remove top sheet of paper, and fold butter package in half onto itself. Replace top sheet of paper, and pound again until butter is about an inch thick. Repeat process two or three times, or until butter becomes quite pliable. Using your hands, shape butter package into a 6-inch square. Wrap well in plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator until it is chilled but not hardened, no more than 10 minutes.
Assemble and roll the dough
Remove dough package from refrigerator, and place on a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, gently roll dough into a 9-inch round. Remove butter package from refrigerator, and place it in the center of the dough round. Using a paring knife or bench scraper, lightly score the dough to outline the butter square; remove butter, and set it aside. Starting from each side of the center square, gently roll out dough with the rolling pin, forming four flaps, each 4 to 5 inches long; do not touch the raised square in the center of the dough. Replace butter package on the center square. Fold flaps of dough over the butter package so that it is completely enclosed. Press with your hands to seal.
Using the rolling pin, press down on the dough at regular intervals, repeating and covering the entire surface area, until it is about 1 inch thick. Gently roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 9 by 20 inches, with one of the short sides closest to you. Be careful not to press too hard around the edges, and keep the corners even as you roll out the dough by squaring them with the side of the rolling pin or your hands. Brush off any excess flour. Starting at the near end, fold the rectangle in thirds as you would a business letter; this completes the first single turn.Wrap in plastic wrap; place in refrigerator 45 to 60 minutes.
Remove dough from refrigerator, and repeat the process above, giving it five more single turns. Always start with the flap opening on the right as if it were a book. Mark the dough with your knuckle each time you complete a turn to help you keep track. Chill 1 hour between each turn. After the sixth and final turn, wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before using.
Preparing Puff Pastry
WikiHow: How to Make Puff Pastry
Making Pâte à Choux or Choux Pastry
When it comes to pastry doughs, pâte à choux is in a class of its own. Where other doughs can be formed into various shapes, pâte à choux is so soft that it hardly supports itself before baking. Before baking, the choux pastry must either be spooned or piped into shape. Furthermore, pâte à choux contains eggs, in addition to flour and fat, which give the dough the ability to rise dramatically when baked.
I absolutely love Dorie Greenspan's description of the Pâte à Choux in the cookbook she wrote with Pierre Hermé - Chocolate Desserts:
"Cream puff dough is pastry's Little Engine That Could. Put a spoonful of it in the oven and, as it's expanding, you can just about hear it chanting, "I think I can, I think I can.""
This wonderful dough makes the decadent profiteroles and luxurious éclairs. Both belong to my list of favorite pastries. Here it makes the base and the puffs for the Gateau Saint Honore.
140g all-purpose flour
60g unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
4-5 large eggs
Sift the flour and set aside.
Bring the water, butter and salt to a full rolling boil, so that the fat is not just floating on the top but is dispersed throughout the liquid.
Stir the flour into the liquid with a heavy wooden spoon, adding it as fast as it can be absorbed. Avoid adding it all at once or it will form clumps.
Cook, stirring like mad and breaking up the lumps if necessary, by pressing them against the side of the pan with the back of the spoon. The dough will come together very quickly. The bottom of the pan will be covered in a white film and form a slight crust, but you still need to stir vigorously for another 2 to 3 minutes. Once it comes together and has slightly dried the dough will be very smooth.
Transfer the dough to a mixer bowl. Allow the dough to cool slightly so that the eggs will not cook when they are added. You can add and stir the eggs by hand but it requires some serious elbow grease.
Mix in the eggs, one at a time, using the paddle attachment of a mixer on low or medium speed. Add the eggs one by one, beating until each egg is thoroughly incorporated. When you add your first egg the smooth dough will separate - don't worry about that - it's supposed to and as you keep adding the eggs and beating it will re-form into a smooth paste. At the end the dough should be thick, shiny and have the consistency of thick mayonnaise.
About.com - Pâte à Choux
Making Saint Honoré Cream or Crème Chiboust
This is a typical pastry cream used to fill various pastries, however the most famous one is certainly the Saint Honoré Cake. Lightened with egg whites or whipped cream this pastry cream was created by Chef Chiboust in Paris around 1846 to fill his specially created Saint Honoré Cake. The pastry cream can be flavored with lemon or orange zest, liqueurs or vanilla flavoring.
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
60ml cold water
130g + 2 Tablespoons sugar
70g all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 egg yolks
500ml whole milk
1 vanilla bean - scrape the insides of the bean. Safe pod for other use
60g whipping cream
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
Soak the gelatin in the 60ml of cold water.
Combine sugar, flour, and salt into a saucepan and whisk until the ingredients are incorporated. Add the yolks and enough milk to make a paste. Whisk in the remainder of the milk and beat until the mixture is pale yellow.
Over medium heat cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Simmer for a few seconds, and remove from heat. Add the vanilla and the gelatin, stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in the whipping cream, then place the mixing bowl in cold water and stir until the cream has cooled.
In a clean bowl pour in the egg whites and using clean beaters, whip them with the dash of salt. As soon as the whites begin to stiffen, gradually add the 100g of sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Fold the egg whites into the cooled cream.
Assembling and Decorating Cake
Once the above three components for the Saint Honoré Cake have been prepared, the cake is ready to assemble. There are many small variations to doing this. For example you can caramelize sugar and dip the bottoms and tops of the puffs in the sugar and then hook them onto the cake. I chose not to meddle around with hot caramel this time round and decided to use whipping cream. While I was researching this cake I also saw that some recipes did not fill the cream puffs with the Crème Chiboust, while others did. Here the puffs are filled and I recommend doing this over to leaving it unfilled, because it simply adds to the incredible decadence. I also used a few raspberries I had in the refrigerator to decorate the cake. This final touch was not only a visual feast, but also it added a wonderful fruity and tart flavor to the cake.
250ml heavy cream
1 teaspoon sugar
150g fresh raspberries
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Roll the puff pastry out to 3 mm thick, 30 cm square. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and refrigerate covered for at least 20 minutes.
Fill the Pâte à Choux into a piping bag with a #4 (8mm) plain tip. Set aside.
Take the puff pastry out of the fridge and leaving it on the sheet pan, cut a circle (approx. 28 cm) from the dough and remove the scraps. I used the base of my smaller spring form, which is 18 cm, and made two bases by simply pressing down onto the puff pastry. Prick the circles lightly with a fork.
Taking the piping bag filled with the Pâte à Choux, pipe concentric rings on the puff pastry base. Depending on the size you used (either 28 cm or 18 cm) you can pipe 3 to 4 circles.
Bake the puff pastry base for 10 minutes until the choux pastry has puffed up. Then reduce the heat to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 35 minutes.
In the meantime line a separate baking tray with parchment paper. With the remaining Choux pastry, pipe out individual cream puffs the size of Bing cherries (mine were larger) onto the baking tray.
Once the base is ready take it out of the oven and increase the heat of the oven back to 200C. Place the baking try with the cream puffs and bake for 10 minutes, then once again reduce the heat to 180C and bake for another 8 to to minutes, until golden and puffed.
Place approx. 115g of Saint Honoré cream in a pastry bag with a #2 (4mm) plain tip. Use the pastry bag tip or the tip of a paring knife to make a small hole in the bottom of each cream puff. Pipe the cream into the cream puffs to fill them and then refrigerate.
Pipe the remaining cream filling on the cake. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to set the cream.
Whip the 250ml of heavy cream and teaspoon of sugar to stiff peaks. Place the whipped cream in pastry bag fitted with a #5 (10mm) star tip. Pipe a border of whipped cream around the top of the cake. Arrange the cream puffs, evenly spaced, on top of the filling, next to the cream. Pipe the rest of the cream in the middle of the cake and a small smudge of cream on top of each cream puff. Decorate with raspberries.
Serve and enjoy immediately.
This was served as a finale to a French dinner I had for a few friends. As the kids were also present I did not use any alcohol in the cream. While I was making the cake I naturally tasted everything individually. I was finding everything rather sweet for my likings and that really is saying something. I have the sweetest tooth ever. That is why I decided to add the raspberries to cut the sweetness a bit. However, in the evening when I cut a slice for each of my guests and we all sat down to enjoy this cake, I realized it was not as sweet as I thought it would have been. The puff pastry and choux pastry took away a major part of the sweetness from the pastry cream and whipping cream. I found that the raspberries were an incredible improvement to the entire cake. The tartness of the berries was so perfect combined with the rest of the elements. The cake itself only gets it's flavor from the pastry cream. The other components, puffy pastry and choux pastry are more or less neutral, so the flavoring used in the cream has to really stand out.
Would I make this again?
I think I would but not in this form. I have my eye on a delicious chocolate version from Pierre Hermé's Chocolate Desserts.
What did I learn from this challenge?
This was an amazing challenge. Helen motivated me so much into making my own puff pastry and getting over my fear of this dough. Homemade puff pastry, I now realize, is unbeatable and mastered made me feel like a billion bucks. I will now be making this in larger amounts and freezing it in portions to use in other dishes. As a matter of fact, this recipe yielded so much that I was able to make two other dishes with it. These recipes are coming soon ;-)
Making choux pastry is something that I think I will cherish the most from this challenge. I love eclairs and profiteroles and with this I can make them at home now. So, this challenge was great as a whole, but for me, learning to make the individual components were the most valuable.
Helen, I thank you from the bottom of my heart - not only for choosing this cake as our challenge but for going out of your way to motivate me, advice me and inspire me each step of the way. I had my own personal instructor by my side and your valuable lessons will be used in the future to showcase a few great recipes, which I am already looking forward to.
So, that was May's challenge with the incredible Daring Bakers. Visit each member on the Daring Baker blog roll to see their amazing creations. I am now looking forward to the June challenge and to our new June DB members. I know we are going to be joined by our second male member Jef, whose blog I am really enjoying for a while now. To all the June members I'd like to say my official hello and welcome to the team.
For future reference I have added the three main elements - puff pastry, choux pastry and the chiboust cream, to the sidebar section "The Know-Hows of Food" under the drop down menu "How Tos". So, if you do not fancy making the entire cake but would like to make one of the elements found in this cake for another dessert, all you need to do is click on the sidebar drop down menu and select the desired item. You will be forwarded to that exact item in this post.
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All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2007 Meeta Albrecht unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First | <urn:uuid:631320cb-bc7f-4fbb-ad14-1031cfc45068> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whatsforlunchhoney.net/2007/05/gteau-saint-honor-daring-bakers-strike.html?showComment=1180355400000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948901 | 4,008 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Trying to conceive
okay, so im trying to have a baby, and i have irregular periods, every time i think i am it turns out that my period is like weeks late. We have been trying for 6 months now, and i am only 18. How is this possible? i should be very fertile. i do not have hormone problems either. any advice on how i can boost fertility? or any other advice?
Posted: 08/25/2012 by a BabyCenter Member
Sort by: best answers | most recent answers
1 - 1 of 1 answers
One of the best things you can do is figure out when you're ovulating, especially if you have irregular cycles. There are a few ways to do this, including temp charting and ovulation tests. Temping is cheaper, but ovulation tests will tell you before you ovulate, rather than after. You can get ovulation test strips for fairly cheap, but you have to pee in a cup, so they're not super convenient. You can also pay more for the kind that you pee on directly. Make sure you have sex a few days before ovulation as well as during and just after ovulation. We would go every other day in the days leading up to ovulation and then switch to every day for a couple of days once I ovulated. You can also try staying in bed with your legs up for half an hour afterward. And try starting prenatal vitamins, as some of them have nutrients that can help boost fertility. Lastly, don't use regular lube, as it can inhibit sperm motility. You can get sperm safe lube too (Preeseed). Good luck!posted 08/29/2012 by sunflowerseeds
Answer this question | <urn:uuid:42acf323-8771-4efe-8456-57770e48b662> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babycenter.com/400_trying-to-conceive_12777570_689.bc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966676 | 356 | 1.757813 | 2 |
China's pilot emissions trading system in a €25 million finance agreement with the European Commission.
The European Commission and China have today (20 September) signed a €25 million financing agreement for the EU to provide expertise and assistance in setting up China's pilot emissions trading system, along with other environmental goals.
The agreement, signed in the margins of the EU-China summit taking place today, will see the EU participate in the development of China's emissions trading system. The EU will also assist Chinese cities in adopting energy solutions and make resource use more efficient. Further cooperation will be taken in projects to reduce water and heavy metal pollution and to implement sustainable waste treatment.
The cooperation comes as the EU and China are locked in a diplomatic battle over the EU's decision to include foreign airlines in its own Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The EU is encouraging other countries to include aviation in their own emissions trading system or for a global market mechanism to be developed at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Last month Australia and the EU signed an agreement to link their emissions trading systems to create the first intercontinental scheme. Australia's ETS was launched 1 July. China's ETS is only in a pilot phase, so any linkage with the EU ETS would be a long way off.
"Today's agreement is an important step for an ever closer co-operation towards a robust international carbon market,” said Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for climate action, after the signing. “Needless to say that it makes a significant difference when now also China wants to use carbon markets to reduce emissions cost-effectively and boost low-carbon technologies.”
© 2013 European Voice. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d35b2ceb-3772-4676-bba5-b48683b6432a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2012/september/eu-and-china-team-up-on-emissions-trading/75199.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939685 | 348 | 1.835938 | 2 |
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Protests in Egypt; Mexican President-Elect Meets With President Obama
Aired November 28, 2012 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: You might get in trouble for having a messy room, but some students are helping clean up their country by trashing their school. That`s coming up. I`m Carl Azuz, this is CNN STUDENT NEWS.
We are going to start things off today in Egypt. The country is going through some problems, some political unrest right now. People are angry with Egypt`s president and their protesting against him. If that sounds familiar, it should: nearly two years ago, Egypt was part of what some called the Arab Spring: the series of uprisings across the Middle East and Northern Africa. That led to Egypt`s long time leader being forced out of power. Egypt held its first free elections after that, and Mohamed Morsi was elected president. We reported on Monday that Morsi announced that any decisions he makes can`t be reviewed or overturned. He says he is trying to protect Egypt as it build its new government. The protesters say, President Morsi is grabbing up power, kind of like a dictator. Some of those protests have turned violent. Hundreds of people have been injured, at least one person was killed.
We are going to hop across the Atlantic and head to Washington, D.C, specifically to the White House for a meeting between a president and a president-elect. Enrique Pena Nieto was elected Mexico`s president back in July. Now, he`s officially going to become president, to take office on Saturday. Yesterday, he was in Washington, D.C. for a meeting with U.S. President Obama.
Immigration, security and the drug war in Mexico have been some of the biggest issues for these two countries recently. They were expected to come up in yesterday`s meeting, too, but President Elect P said he wants the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico to go beyond that. He said one of his biggest goals is to strengthen the economic ties between the neighboring nations. The U.S. is Mexico`s biggest trading partner, sharing billions of dollars in imports and exports.
A lot of the action in our next story is happening at the U.S. Capitol. That`s where members of Congress are considering the fiscal cliff and how to avoid going over it. Now, really, what this comes down to, is debt. The U.S. government has it: trillions of dollars worth. It`s got to try to find ways to reduce that debt, and that`s where the fiscal cliff comes in. Now, it`s not an actual cliff, it`s an economic one. And it involves two main things: one, how the government takes in money through taxes and two, how it spends money.
If the country goes over this fiscal cliff, taxes will go up for everyone, plus government spending cuts will automatically go into a fact. That would effect the military, national parks and other government services. If Congress and the president can agree on ways to cut government debt, then the country won`t go over the cliff. They`ve been working on that for a while, both sides have presented ideas, there was even the special super committee in Congress that tried to come up with ways to reduce the debt. So far, though, no deal. And the deadline now is January, First. If a deal is not reached by then, that`s when the U.S. would go over this fiscal cliff.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this legit? Salmonella is a type of virus.
This one is not true. Salmonella are bacteria that can cause food poisoning and other health problems.
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AZUZ: Back in June, 41 people in 20 U.S. states got sick because of a salmonella outbreak. Officials with the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, traced this outbreak to a peanut butter plant in New Mexico. On Monday, regulators shut it down. Back in 2011, new food safety laws gave the FDA the power to shut facilities down. This is the first time it`s done it. And an FDA report found the conditions at the plant might have led to the products there being contaminated with salmonella. A spokeswoman for the company that owns this plant says it`s working with officials to get the proper health and safety procedures in place.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s "Shoutout" goes out to coach Cochran`s, coach Julian`s and Mrs. McClanahan`s classes at Winfield High School in Winfield, West Virginia.
What Central American country is highlighted on this map?
You know what to do. Is it Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua? You`ve got three seconds, go!
That`s Guatemala, a country that`s home to more than 14 million people. That`s your answer and that`s your "Shoutout."
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AZUZ: A German fashion designer who lives in Guatemala came up with an idea to help clean up the country: stuff trash inside empty plastic bottles. After a hurricane ripped through her village, she realized her bottles could be used to rebuild. That`s when the ecobrick was born.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m Susanna Heise (ph), I`m the founder of the Pura Vida Movement.
We are here in like Atitlan (ph), and this is in Guatemala in Central America. And this is called the most beautiful lake on earth.
In the `60s, this new material plastic came. That was totally new for them, plastic is also -- it`s not a bad material, it helped them a lot. But nobody told them like, look, this is not a leaf, this is not going to decompose. This is going to stay here for 20, 30, 50, 100, 500 years.
CHRIS BARRY, FMR. PEACE CORP VOLUNTEER: The trash problem is affecting these communities in several ways. Tourism is a big issue. Cyanobacteria blows up in the lake. Tourists are no longer allowed to swim, and that region is very much dependent on tourism.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the Pura Vida, famous Pura Vida wall, built out of 1,000 ecobricks. And these ecobricks have been (inaudible) by many children, kindergarten children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is trash and it is a container for trash. And when it`s filled with trash, it has sufficient integrity to be a building block.
BARRY: And you use those as a basic building material, and you are also -- are able to clean up the community and teach about environment education and importance of maintaining a clean environment around you, trash management, all that kind of good stuff.
GERSON GUITZ, HUG IT FORWARD: We are building a two-classroom school in a community in Pachai (ph). This school serves about 200 kids. As you can see, it takes about 6,000 bottles to finish a whole construction, and this is the last square that we are making right now. And we are tying all the bottles, all the bottles have to be the same height.
BARRY: People are really catching on to the idea. Projects are growing in El Salvador, Guyana, I`ve heard of a similar type building in Thailand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes me so glad that the idea of the (inaudible) is spreading from like Atitlan towards all Guatemala, towards the whole world. That`ll be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem anymore.
AZUZ: All around Indianapolis, people are showing their support for Chuck Pagano. He is the head coach of the NFL`s Indianapolis Colts and he`s fighting cancer. A team cheerleader offered to shave her head if the team`s mascot could raise $10,000 for cancer research. He raised $22,000. The cheerleader says she was happy to lose her locks for the cause.
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MEGAN M., COLTS CHEERLEADER: I wasn`t freaked out. I was just so excited and proud of our city for pulling together for a great cause. The cheers were deafening, it was just phenomenal, I was able to have another cheerleader join me at the last minute and be able to hold her hand while we both went through this process. It was just absolutely phenomenal, and, you know, everyone hopes to make an impact in their life, and I was just lucky enough that Blue (ph) came up with this idea and we were able to do something really good.
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AZUZ: Yesterday, we told you about the college basketball record set by Jack Taylor. Most of you think, he is a basketball star. On our blog, Haylie wrote, "Taylor deserves the new record because if you have skill, you should be able to shine!"
Brandon says "It`s unusual for anyone to score that many points. Plus, he had the help of his coach and the team to get him the ball to make those shots."
And Ashley argues, "If Taylor`s team members thought of him as a ball hog, they wouldn`t have continuously passed the ball to him."
Brennan believes that scoring 138 points would not make him a hero because he basically embarrassed the other team, and that beat down could turn those other players off to basketball.
Mark says, that while Taylor`s skills are exceptional, "his teammates deserve more credit for things like playing great defense and hustling down the floor."
And from Olivia, "I do think he was a ball hog, but does that term always have to be negative? He did his job and what he was told to do. He is a star and the ball hog, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Remember, when you were a kid, and you would sit in the cart at the grocery store, that was kind of fun, right? This is the grownup version. It`s 12 feet long, 9 feet tall. That guy must need a lot of groceries.
This is just a publicity stunt, the super-sized cart draws lots of lookers and shoppers, or at least that`s the plan. The store`s owner spent two years and tens of thousands of dollars building it. He admits, he`s better with food than four wheelers. So, it`s possible he had to work out some buggies, probably needed a detailed map to figure it all out, that`s when you call on a cartographer.
It`s time for us to hit the road, for CNN STUDENT NEWS, I`m Carl Azuz. See you later. | <urn:uuid:212a5fba-06e6-4d92-b4f3-c4f916f6576b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1211/28/sn.01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970066 | 2,353 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Our New System
Paper ballots are the wave of the future in New Mexico
During the 30-day State Legislative session earlier this year, a bill requiring all precincts in the state to use paper ballot voting systems (SB 295/HB 430) passed in the Senate and House. The legislation was later signed into law by Gov. Bill Richardson. Now state officials are in the midst of trying to meet the new requirements (uniform paper ballot voting systems across the state and an adequate number of voting machines) before this fall’s midterm election.
Paul Stokes, coordinator of United Voters of New Mexico, one of several groups pushing for paper ballots, says, “With the governor’s backing and so forth, I’m not surprised [the bill] ended up passing.” Stokes adds that his organization is extremely happy with the substance of the bill; however, he says they are unhappy with certain provisions in the bill that he refers to as “poison pills.” These require the state, not the counties, to pay for all ballots, machines and equipment.
An appropriations bill that would have covered $4 million of the cost for the changeover failed to pass during the Legislative Session, which means it’s still up in the air as to where the funding will come from. According to Stokes, the provisions could prevent or give counties an excuse to not switch to paper ballots. “I don’t know if that’s what will happen, but that’s what could happen if this is allowed to fester.”
Last December, Attorney General Patricia Madrid asked county clerks across the state to place an order for Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant voting machines, which are required by law by this year and will be paid for at the federal level. Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera originally wanted touch screen machines for Bernalillo precincts, but now must comply with the new state requirements as well [Newscity, “Forging Trails,” December 15-21, 2005]. Herrera says none of the counties have received funding for the machines as of yet. She says her office placed Bernalillo County’s order for voting equipment on February 26. “We have not received any equipment that we’re going to need as of this date. We don’t know whether they’ve been ordered.”
Herrera says she wishes the new system could have been up and running in time for the primary election on June 6, but they’ve already certified existing machines and are conducting early voting. She says it would have been better to introduce a new system during the smaller, upcoming primary election. However, Herrera says the system will definitely be ready for this fall’s midterm election; otherwise Bernalillo County will be violating the ADA. “There are two different laws; one is the state’s, one is federal. The state law gives us until 2007, but we have to comply with the federal law this year.”
Call 346-0660 ext. 247 with news tips. E-mail your guest editorial or letter to [email protected]. To contact the author, e-mail [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:1576aba0-a620-4bb6-8bab-33ad53853c62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alibi.com/news/15137/Our-New-System.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963458 | 683 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Cleveland — American Jews are long famous for their political engagement. But Jews here in Cleveland just want this presidential election to end.
In this fiercely contested swing state, every commercial break on TV features ads for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama; radio broadcasts are packed with super PAC attack messages and — worst of all — the phone won’t stop ringing with robo-calls.
If there is one issue Ohioans can agree on in this politically divided electorate, it is the wish to get back their peace and quiet. The candidates and their partisans stress the historic turning point this election represents. But many in the Jewish community don’t even think the outcome will make much of a difference.
“I just turn the channel when the ads come on,” Ester Lebovitz of Cleveland said, using the hand gesture for turning the TV channel knob known only to people of a certain age.
Stable voters in a swing state, most Cleveland Jews appear entrenched in their political views despite the fierce campaign around them and changing economic and social realities. It is a community with “economic vulnerabilities,” a recent study by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland found, with more than one-third of its members “just managing” to get by, but it is also a community reluctant to swing.
For middle-class Jewish families in Ohio, managing to get by is, at times, a subtle change. Cutting down on restaurant outings and making more use of hand-me-down clothes for the kids is how Jodie Bromberg from the Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike describes the changes her family has gone through in recent years. Bromberg actually views herself as among the lucky ones; her husband’s business has done well. Her greatest concern is having the financial means to keep three children in Jewish day school. “It’s our No. 1 priority,” she said.
The Gross Schechter Day School her three children attend has seen a drop in enrollment in recent years, many families pointing to the $9,000-a-year price tag per child as having become prohibitive.
Data collected for the Cleveland Jewish Population Study, conducted in 2011, after the new economic reality settled in, revealed how the shrinking of free income and the lack of financial security have taken their toll on the ability of Cleveland Jews to participate in Jewish institutions. A quarter of middle-income families said they could not afford to send their children to Jewish day schools. More than half of lower-income Jewish families had to stop sending their children to overnight summer camps. One-third said they could not pay for synagogue membership.
Jewish life in Cleveland, a stable community of 80,000 members, has been shifting in the past two decades. Religiously Orthodox Jews are increasing in numbers and in their share of the community.
Despite these changes, the community’s strong institutions and committed members have given Cleveland Jews an image for decades as a “model community,” one that leads the pack in fundraising and in providing services. As the community geared up for its “Super Sunday” fundraising drive, scheduled for October 21, officials noted that fundraising numbers were starting to grow again after being hit hard by the 2008 financial crash. Some communal officials said they could return to pre-recession levels this year.
Geographically, the community’s center has moved to the East Side suburbs from the neighborhoods known as the Northern Heights. Beachwood is among those growing Jewish neighborhoods with a state of the art Jewish community center, just opened with an $18 million investment and a variety of synagogues of all denominations.
But older Jewish strongholds are languishing. “There are so many houses around us that just can’t be sold,” Rina Hazony of University Heights said. A resident of the Cleveland area since 1964, Hazony is a strong Romney supporter. She is disappointed with the shape of the economy, but states that her greatest concern is Israel. “For me, Israel is the first issue, but the economy is also a big issue,” Hazony said, explaining that Romney would be better on both issues. She finds herself at times representing the minority view when talking politics to other members of the Jewish community. “A lot of my friends — for themto vote Republican is like for an Orthodox man to eat pork.”
Rick Lichaw, 63, is among those who see no reason to reconsider his Democratic vote. “Israel is not a factor,” the retired plumbing supplies businessman said as he exercised at the JCC’s gym, where community members meet to shmooze while working out. “Either president is going to be 100% behind Israel,” he explained. Lichaw was not personally affected by the economic downturn, and feels that things have improved since Obama took office. In the next four years, he’d like to see more government investment in infrastructure and an increase in taxes for wealthy Americans.
But for die-hard partisans, Israel is not only an issue, it is also a rallying call. Jewish Republicans in Ohio have zoomed in on the perceived tensions between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and continually stressed this issue in reaching out to Jewish voters.
“He angered Netanyahu but has no problem reaching out to Arabs,” Tybee Zuckerman said. “If Israel goes, we go.”
Zuckerman said she voted for Obama in 2008, but has since devoted much of her time to writing and advocating against his re-election. She stopped her subscription to “mainstream media” publications (including the Forward), and receives information from Internet websites about Obama and what she views as the threat of a Muslim takeover of America.
Helping to energize Ohio Republicans is the local U.S. Senate race in which the state’s treasurer, Josh Mandel, is running strong against incumbent Sherrod Brown. Mandel has little support within the Jewish community, because of his conservative views on social and fiscal issues, but his campaign, with the national attention and massive cash flow it has been receiving, has helped Republican Ohio Jews get activists out for rallies and phone banking.
In one of these rallies, in heavily Jewish Shaker Heights, anti-Obama protesters waving “Oy Vey Obama” banners could have noticed Avi Cover driving slowly by with his Hebrew Barack Obama sticker, still adorning his bumper since it was placed there before the 2008 elections. A self-described “traditional Democratic voter,” Cover, 39, intends to vote for Obama again, though he is not actively engaged in convincing other voters.
But for the many Jewish voters, interest in these elections does not even reach the level of plac ing bumper stickers on their cars.
Sitting around tables at the Warrensville Community
Apartments senior housing building in Cleveland Heights, elderly voters showed little concern over the upcoming elections. Senior citizens are a prime audience for Obama campaign ads warning them of cuts Republicans might make to Medicare.
For those younger than 55, Romney has promised to change Medicare into a defined benefit — or “voucher,” as the Democrats put it, that senior citizens would apply toward an approved menu of private plans with varying benefits, or spend on Medicare. Some studies predict that this will ultimately mean higher premiums or more out-of-pocket expenses for seniors as medical costs outpace voucher increases. The Romney campaign denies this and warns additionally that Medicare as it now exists will soon go broke.
Despite all this, the issue seems to have gained little traction. “They are both the same on Medicare,” Milton Steinbock said. “Politicians, they promise everything, but when they win they don’t do anything.” Steinbock added that he does not follow politics closely, a statement that triggered a round of nods from other seniors at the table.
Cleveland has seen its fair share of difficulties trying to fund senior care in years of economic uncertainty. Jim Samuels, a commercial real estate developer who has held lay leadership roles in the city’s Jewish community, has seen the difficulties up close. As a trustee of the Menorah Park Center for Senior Living in Beachwood, he experienced a federal funding drop of $2 million when the economy turned bad, forcing the nursing home to cut staff and appeal to donors in order to maintain services to the most vulnerable seniors who rely on Medicaid to fund their stay.
The proposed budget being pushed by Republicans in the House of Representatives and supported by Romney would slash Medicaid severely.
“When you hear what might happen, it’s frightening,” Samuels said. With social issues as his leading priority, Samuels made the Democrats his party of choice.
Back at the community apartment center, seniors said they enjoyed watching presidential debates. But most said also that they had already made up their minds. “As long as most of the things go the way you want, it’s okay,” Kurt Kohr said, “and if they don’t — well, you shrug your shoulders. What else can you do?”
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:67c5b70e-d32e-46cc-a867-68b920ec008d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forward.com/articles/164539/ohio-jews-tune-out-presidential-election/?p=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97374 | 1,915 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Lock your door at night. You probably hear that statement pretty frequently in college, especially if you live in a dorm. If you are anything like me, you’ve probably acknowledged the fact that it is good advice, and promptly ignored it. But don’t be like me. Instead, remember that this is college and anything can and will happen. So if nothing else convinces you to lock up before you go to sleep, hopefully this will.
We will call our main character Jen. Jen attends a small college and lives in the on-campus dorms. Jen is your average student—she works hard in school, has a pretty busy social life, and likes to go out and have a good time on the weekend, but never does anything too crazy.
One winter night Jen and her friends decide to have girls’ night in, and sit around in a dorm room playing drinking games and having a pretty good time. Jen has quite a few drinks, but nothing out of the ordinary. She decides to crash on her friends futon because its cold out and she doesn’t feel like walking all the way back to her dorm. She brushes her teeth, gets in her pj’s and goes to sleep.
At 7:30 am, Jen wakes up. She looks around and finds herself utterly perplexed—she has no idea where she is. She gets up and realizes that she was sleeping on the window seat in an unfamiliar room. She runs out of the room and looks at the door. Apparently it is inhabited by 3 girls she has never met in her life. Jen looks around at the other doors and realizes she is on, lets call it Brown hall, which is not the hall that that her friends room is on. She runs back to her friends room (where she went to sleep) and burst into the room to tell her friend what had happened. Her friend confirmed that last night Jen had been sleeping on the futon. Jen and her friend had no idea how Jen ended up on some strangers window seat, but they had a good laugh about it. To this day, the owners of the room with the window seat have no idea Jen slept there.
As the day progressed, things became more and more strange. Jen’s friends laughed about Jen waking up in a stranger’s room, but as the story spread, they started to hear new things. Apparently late in the night, residents of Brown hall said that some “crazy drunk chick” had been running down the hall, opening people’s doors and shouting odd greetings like “Yohooo!”.
A few friends joked that this could have been Jen, but both they, and Jen herself, doubted that this could be true because such behavior was uncharacteristic of her.
A bit later in the day, someone told Jen that not only had this “drunk chick” on Brown hall shouted into peoples rooms, but she also ran into one students room and pushed his very tall wardrobe over. The wardrobe was in front of the student’s bed, so it fell down and stopped inches in front of his face.
Jen refused to believe that it could possibly have been her that, not only slept in a stranger’s room and ran shouting through a hall, but also almost killed someone with their own wardrobe.
By the end of the day, multiple sources confirmed that the girl they had seen running through the hall had indeed been Jen. And then Jen had to face the extremely awkward situation of apologizing the kid who she almost killed (who found the entire incident to be quite hilarious), even though she had no memory of doing it. And, since the school Jen attends is so small, she had the pleasure of sharing a class with this student in the spring, which was uncomfortable at best. She also had to deal with the fact that the entire school heard about the incident and all the students found it so hilarious, that Jen became known around campus as “that crazy girl from Brown hall”.
Now, if the students on Brown hall had locked their doors that night, they wouldn’t have had a “crazy drunk chick” barging into their rooms, a random triple would not have had a “crazy drunk chick” sleeping on their window seat, and one student might not have been almost killed by his own wardrobe. While the mystery of Jen’s sleepwalking terrorism continues to perplex her and her friends, they at least have learned to lock their doors at night because you really never know what’s going on in the night on a college campus. | <urn:uuid:7ef82805-272e-4c02-8cc0-0c2584d17608> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecampuscompanion.com/2012/08/21/sleepwalking-and-doorlocking-an-unconventional-story/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988604 | 950 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Sunday Times has removed the Gerald Scarfe cartoon from all of its digital editions following the controversy about its print publication.
The retrospective removal of the cartoon reported by Press Gazette this morning challenges a traditional role fulfilled by printed journalism as a paper of record. The removal of the image changes the paper of record, post publication.
We believe that such “digital cleansing” is harmful to the expression of opinion in publishing, in either print or pixel form. If the cartoon was good enough to see the light of day in ink on Sunday 27 January, 2013, then it should exist in the enduring pixelated editions too.
To be clear, we do not think this act of removal is “censorship” – that would have prevented Scarfe’s opinion cartoon being published at all. And the owners and editors of the newspaper also have a right to do as they will with the content they purchase from contracted contributors.
But when retrospective editing of “controversial” published items becomes acceptable practice inside digital newsrooms then we start to worry about access to provocative drawn opinions, and probably also written ones.
Are we right? If you have things to say about this, please do so in the comments below.
- The Scarfe cartoon was certainly a provocative image, but that is to be expected from a political cartoonist. One of our members, Martin Rowson, helpfully explains why such cartoonists do what they do here. | <urn:uuid:28dd4379-433f-4c53-b0b5-e6bb8bf04c43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://procartoonists.org/tag/journalism/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962806 | 296 | 1.78125 | 2 |
. In fact, the best place to observe them is a 5 minute walk from our cabin. We have gone down several times in the hopes of catching a glimpse, but, as of yet, have not been successful. They are the largest bird in North America and have a wingspan of nearly 10 feet and weigh up to 23 pounds.
We were back to our cabin for lunchtime and then spent a couple of hours in the heat of the day, napping and writing postcards. Then we headed out to the town of Tusaya which is just south of the Park and filled up Odie with gas in anticipation of our drive to Zion National Park tomorrow and also filled up our propane bottle which was getting dangerously low. We are now set with cooking fuel for another couple of weeks. The highlight of the afternoon was the Grand Canyon movie which we saw at the National Geographic Imax theater in Tusaya. We all enjoyed this compelling 34 minute film which detailed the history of the canyon in terms of people whom had lived there over the years, Major John Powell who led the first expedition to travel the Colorado River through the length of the canyon and the animals who make the canyon their home. It was a great movie and the kids' first exposure to the Imax experience. I sense, that having been once, we may need to stop and view more Imax films along our journey.
The funny story of the day was that we had planned to attend the 3:30 showing of the above film
. Tim went in early in order to buy tickets in order to ensure seats at the time that we wanted and asked for tickets to the 3:30. The man selling tickets said "what about the 2:30 showing?" Tim replied, "well that's started, we're too late." To which he was informed that in this area, maybe in Arizona, maybe in the Mountain time zone, (we're still not clear on the details) Daylight Savings time is not observed. Therefore our sleep-in and late start had meant that we were really up at 5:30 and out of bed and into the park by 7:30. It also explains why, when we went to dinner last night at (what we thought) was 6:30, the restaurant was so empty and why it suddenly filled up later on. Oops……these time zones sure are tricky!
After the Imax, we topped up on groceries, mailed all of the postcards we had written and cruised back to the hotel in anticipation of the dinner in the Maswik Lodge Cafeteria. Then bedtime and on the road to Zion tomorrow.
Today we lay in bed and enjoyed the cool weather and breeze that was blowing through the windows of our quarter cabin at Maswik Lodge. It was a slow start because we were already in the Park and saw no reason to rush into our day. As it turned out, as I will explain later, our plan backfired and we were up much earlier than anticipated. Anyway, after breakfast we headed out into the park in order to walk along the Rim Trail and stop at various overlooks in order to stare at the vastness of the canyon and contemplate the process of its creation and existence. We spent a few hours in just this pursuit and even took a few short walks beneath the rim. It was harder than expected to climb back up after we walked down due to the elevation and our chronic colds which seem to have been in place for a couple of weeks now. Nevertheless, we persisted and really enjoyed our time along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We also went to the Visitor Center and watched their film about the park. One of the facts and interesting tidbits that we learned was that California Condors have been successfully reintroduced into the park | <urn:uuid:488e27f0-69c5-4d7d-bf45-48c3c7da1f32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/h.o.t./1/1339007955/tpod.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987535 | 764 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Enterprise Resource planning is the back-bone of a business. The superior resource planning initiative strongly reflects in the future return on investments. But as the scale and complexity of business processes grows, there arises a need of an automated solution that seamlessly integrates all business processes and plans resources considering all the influential macro and micro parameters.
Specialized application packages are developed for this purpose and are called the same, ERPs. An ERP is a software tool that looks at all the enterprise wide resource availability and plans resource allocation in the most optimized manner.
As with many other software products, customers have the choice of choosing between an off the shelf ERP product or developing a custom ERP solution. The off the shelf solutions are apparently friendly but they are rarely deployed without some customizations. Moreover the expense of buying ERP packages from the best vendors like SAP, Oracle etc. is not economically and practically viable for most medium scale businesses.
Custom developed ERP solutions on the other hand are made to meet specific needs. The focus and suitability to business scenarios is such that most small and medium businesses prefer to pick such solutions. Provided the vendor can grasp the true need of the organization, a successful ERP deployment can increase the ROI manifold. | <urn:uuid:2f0da814-3bab-4303-8a82-066640445bdd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.isummation.com/products/erp-systems/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934963 | 250 | 1.53125 | 2 |
It is not uncommon, yes?, for us to be approached by people who will begin their words with, "I need to tell you...". Experience confirms that this opening line is profound and significant because what we are about to hear will doubtless be gratuitous at best and irritating at worst. The opening words make it clear - the person before us has a personal agenda (sorry for the psycho-babble term) and it is for their satisfaction that we are about to be "blessed" with a generally thoughtless, selfish and often inane commentary.
So, I'm beginning to learn that best response to "I need to tell you..." is "Oh no you don't!" - end of that particular conversation. And if you find that a little unncessarily confrontational, why not try, "Are you really sure you need to tell me?".
Talking with couples before their wedding and marriage, I generally hear of people (sometimes well-meaning, sometimes not) who wish to proffer their advice, counsel and direction. My suggested response is to look the person in the eye, smile as sweetly as possible and say, "Thank you". Often the couple will respond and ask, "And then what do I say?". "Nothing, you say nothing more". This is not easy, requires a lot of practice and self-confidence but ultimately we get it and, perhaps more ultimately, eventually those offering the unsolicited counsel "get it" as well.
Try it! I know, you're saying "Thank you, Alan". | <urn:uuid:a254050f-face-4fcf-955e-701b4070d977> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whitecollarviews.blogspot.com/2012/02/simple-responses-for-sometimes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974758 | 316 | 1.6875 | 2 |
I wanted to know how can I get info on what sites are owned by certain company.I need it for bug bounty programs. For example how can I find what sites are owned by paypal company, like what sites have paypal in it's web address etc... Thanks
I find BGP Toolkit from Hurricane Electrics Internet Services quite useful for providing insight into any
For example, searching by term
which gives you a single
What is HE?
HE is one of the largest Internet backbone providers and can thus collate loads of infrastructure related information like the ones mentioned. You can search their database by
This is from their About page:
Also interesting (and relevant) to read is the page about their network. It gives a bit of insight into how they can collect all the data available through their search.
Of course, I'm not saying that HE is the only place to go. There are lots of other tools available, some paid and some more or less free to use and query. HE's one is however one I most frequently rely upon and I thought you might find it useful as well.
What do I use this information for:
I mostly use this information to compile
To answer your example directly, collating information from HE gives us this list of
(limited to include only
Some pages duplicate information from others as they're providing information on a sub-range of a larger range (smaller mask), like for example an IP range 220.127.116.11/22 would already be included in a 18.104.22.168/20 IP range.
What sites have 'paypal' in it's web address?
I'm going to make an attempt on answering this part of your question, however (as you probably can imagine) my answer can't be as straight-forward, because there isn't a single list of all registered domain names available to public, at least not that I'm aware of. Here's what I'd do:
The www.who.is website provides a bit difficult to navigate or search through domains index. Where do they collate all this information from is beyond my knowledge, I can only suspect they query individual registrars' databases on a regular basis.
Anyway, if you navigate their pages a bit you'll soon discover that the lists are organized in alphabetical order and then by page numbers (static URLs to individual pages). I guess you (or a CP savvy friend) could write a small utility crawler that would parse all this information into a single table and then do your search on it. If that's agreeable to the website operators and within their
If you did this, you would soon discover tens of thousands (educated guess) of registered domain names that include 'paypal' keyword in it. Most, I gather, are actually parked domains, expired domains, and the most awful of the bunch - phishing locations trying to lure unsuspecting Internet users to their addresses by mimicking official PayPal domain names. For example, take a look at this page and search for 'paypal' in it. 1883 matches in a single page, and only God knows how many pages are actually relevant to our search without resorting to crawling and collating data of each individual index page. They can't possibly be all registered by PayPal, Inc.!
I hope that at least partially answers also your 'other' question.
I'm a big fan of Robtex. Share and enjoy.
Robtex is a service that does forward and backward DNS and IP searches. You can search on a domain name, for example, and it will show give you information about: IP, IP Block, IP ownership, hosting servers, load balancing information, route mapping graphs, trace route latency information, AS numers and macros, DNS whois, DNS ownership, DNS reverse ownership, etc. You can also get information about if and where the domains are published on black lists IP records analysis, and more.
|show 1 more comment| | <urn:uuid:ff3aed33-67be-4ec3-96a4-76a5a972cded> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/29898/how-to-get-info-on-company-company-owned-sites-etc/29899 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944297 | 816 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The business world is slowly waking up to the fact that video conferencing such as that featured on conferencegenie.co.uk could help to improve their operations in so many ways. You may wonder what video conferencing is, and what makes it so good, but there are reasons why your business should use it.
As with Conference Calling at conferencegenie.co.uk, it’s designed to make meeting with clients a breeze. It allows those with the technology to talk to people from different locations worldwide, meaning that a meeting can be arranged and held almost straight away, which takes the traveling and expense previously involved in meetings out of the equation.
Video Conferencing is a must for any company looking to save money, save time and boost levels of productivity. However, you may wonder how it works, and whether it requires a lot of work to set up.
To get started, you need the following equipment:
• Two or more webcams or video cameras
• The same amount of microphones
• A large monitor or projector, but a TV will work just as well
• A strong internet connection
• A data compressor
• Video conferencing software
Once you have all the right equipment, you need to decide whether you want to just do point-to-point or multi-point video conferencing. The former is for one-to-one meetings between two different locations. Meanwhile, multi-point video conferencing is for three or more locations.
Multi-point video conferencing is very useful, not least because it makes potentially complicated meetings easy. It requires a multi-point bridge to help make it possible, as this will ensure that real-time conversation can go ahead as planned. Usually, connection to a server is the way to go about it.
As soon as everything’s in place for you to make full use of video conferencing, you’ll be free to enjoy its many benefits.
Your business could save money and time by not traveling to meetings. Also, workers who get tired from traveling will be less prone to tiredness during working hours, while communication with clients will be streamlined and much easier to keep going over long periods of time. | <urn:uuid:c16b565c-7805-4581-9bc8-97da73d05dd0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gadgetteaser.com/tag/webcams/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96427 | 458 | 1.539063 | 2 |
By Jude Cartalaba
Manila, Philippines, November 5, 2012 - C. Virata Advisory and Gillian Joyce Virata, in cooperation with Repertory Philippines, ARTS in the City, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, Jinggo Montenejo, and TeamAsia, present American author Paul Fleischman's "Mind's Eye," starring Joy Virata and Jenny Jamora, at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza on Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10. Jaime del Mundo directs.
Virata, the founder and artistic director of Repertory Philippines' Theater for Young Audiences, plays Elva, an old lady with Alzheimer's disease.
Jamora plays Courtney, a friend that is helping Elva to travel to Italy.
"The play simply encourages anyone to read. Reading provides an active mental process: as opposed to sitting in front of a boob tube, reading makes one use his or her brain," Virata described the essence of "Mind's Eye" at a press conference.
Also according to Virata, the production is ideal for senior high school and freshmen college students to watch. For Virata, the play, which was first broached by her daughter Gigi, teaches audience members to improve their memory as studies show that if one does not use his or her memory, one may lose it. Reading helps stretch one's memory muscles to stave off Alzheimer's disease.
Jamora's character (Courtney), a nursing home resident, together with Elva, supports the premise of the play, "It improves one's creativity. Reading about diversity of life, and exposing one's self to new ideas and more information will definitely help develop the creative side of the brain."
"Mind's Eye" is a classic example of unexpected friendships. Courtney and Elva's friendship may be bumpy, but theirs provides the audience the vehicle to travel through reading, which is one powerful experience.
Elva made a promise to go to Italy with her husband before he died. Since she is too weak to travel, she confines herself to small spaces, and has to take an imaginary trip instead. However, due to procrastination, Elva, her eyes also failing her, is not able to do her mind travel on her own. Courtney comes into the picture to help Elva.
Reading requires remembering details, facts and figures, plot lines, themes, and characters. Both Courtney and Elva use their imaginations to travel to three cities in Italy - Naples, Rome, and Florence.
"Mind's Eye" (the book version) received an American Library Association Award for Best Book for Young Adults.
For tickets to the play, please contact Elaine Coloma at (63) 9054392027 or (632) 9287419.
For more information, visit "Mind's Eye's" FB page at www.facebook.com/MindsEyePlay.
Photos by Jinggo Montenejo | <urn:uuid:65ec8aff-8694-425c-b360-447d397c5736> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://philippines.broadwayworld.com/article/Paul-Fleischmans-MINDS-EYE-Runs-This-Weekend-119-10-20121106 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954347 | 613 | 1.5 | 2 |
Green Planet Reports Continued Orders from Dallas County Schools
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Planet Group, Inc. (OTCPink: GNPG) announces today that it has received additional orders for its XenTx (pronounced "zen-tex") diesel fuel savings and clean emissions additive from the Dallas County School System in Texas.
Dallas County Schools (DCS) has a transportation team of over 2,000 professionals who strive daily to serve Dallas County's 14 independent school districts. DCS has the 3rd largest pupil transportation fleet in the United States operating approximately 1,900 buses which consume 2 million gallons of diesel fuel per year and that transports approximately 71,000 students to and from school safely each day.
DCS has stated, "Working with Green Planet Group and using their XenTx fuel additive has proven to be a great solution for our school system and will provide an estimated $600,000 in fuel savings and maintenance costs during the first year of use. This is a perfect fit with our initiative to reduce both costs and emissions while improving the air quality for our student population."
Edmond L. Lonergan, President & CEO of Green Planet Group stated, "Dallas County Schools is one of the largest in the nation and we are very proud to be able to provide them a viable green solution that saves them money and reduces harmful emissions. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with a group like DCS and look forward to finding new and exciting ways to create additional cost savings that benefit our environment and our nation's students."
Green Planet Group's XenTx fuel savings and clean emissions additive improves fuel mileage and reduce emissions in many types of vehicles. In addition, added benefits in using XenTx show reduced maintenance costs, and reduced failure of certain engine parts such as fuel injectors, differentials, and carburetors.
About Green Planet Group
Green Planet Group, Inc. (OTCPink:GNPG) is based in Scottsdale, Arizona and engages in ongoing research and development to create Greentech and Cleantech products and services that enhance our environment and reduce pollution.
The Company's revenues are currently derived from the production and distribution of fuel-based energy conservation and clean-air products. For additional information, please visit www.greenplanetgroup.com. Kindly note that we have recently changed our office phone number to: 480-998-2400.
For more information on the Dallas County Schools, please go to www.dcschools.com
SAFE HARBOR: Certain information included herein may contain statements that are forward looking, such as statements relating to plans for future expansion and other business development activities. Such forward-looking information is subject to changes and variations which are not reasonably predictable and which could significantly affect future results.
Investor Relations Contact:
TEN Associates, LLC
Tom Nelson, Managing Director
Phone: (480) 232-5469
SOURCE Green Planet Group
Browse our custom packages or build your own to meet your unique communications needs.
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Request more information about PR Newswire products and services or call us at (888) 776-0942. | <urn:uuid:0dcf9e21-78ba-4812-a3e6-6e9b751c4a32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/green-planet-reports-continued-orders-from-dallas-county-schools-189805601.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940446 | 661 | 1.539063 | 2 |
1. Write a letter to a bank manager for getting an ovrdraft facility to meet increased business operation?
2. Discuss the points you would consider in preparing reports
3. Give a detailed account of the different channels of communications in an organisation.
4. Give an example of the current year sales report presented by a sales executive of a consumer goods company?
This is not really the place to ask questions about coursework.
© Blackboard, Inc. | <urn:uuid:b527f31a-a754-49f7-a772-ee91d5b00b00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://discussions.blackboard.com/forums/p/52045/160142.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932757 | 95 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Activists and community leaders called on President Barack Obama and Congress to take out "enforcement first" approaches to the immigration reform debate, which is expected to be back in the spotlight in 2013.
Instead, on Monday they demanded "humane" immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship, reunification of immigrant families and protection of immigrant workers' rights.
"Enough is enough," said the executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, Fernando Garcia, during a news conference held on the 64th annual International Human Rights Day. "We already have in place harsh immigration enforcement policies, a border wall and thousands of Border Patrol agents. We don't need more of that. What we need is humane immigration reform."
The Border Network for Human Rights has worked for the last decade with legislators to draft a piece of legislation to reform immigration laws.
Garcia said that Democrat and Republican legislators are expected to introduce an immigration reform draft the last week of January in the House of Representatives as well as in the Senate. A new immigration reform could be accomplished as early as October or November of 2013, he added.
Although it is good news for the immigrant community, the debate is likely to come with some conditions as a trade-off for the legalization of undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States, he said.
Those conditions include having more
boots on the ground, infrastructure and technology to seal the border.
According to the Border Network current immigration policies have resulted in about 10,000 deaths of immigrants along the Mexican and U.S. border since 1993, including 17 fatal shootings that involved Border Patrol agents in the last two years.
They have also resulted in the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, legal and undocumented, during the first term of the Obama administration. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, deportations reached record levels by the end of December 2011, rising to an annual average of nearly 400,000 since 2009, about 30 percent higher than the annual average during the second term of the George W. Bush administration.
Current immigration policies have also made immigrants hesitate to report crimes to police for fear of being deported, the director of the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project, Jed Untereker, said.
He added that El Paso and other border communities are more affected by enforcement-fist immigration policies.
"We see more violations of civil rights and excessive force by law enforcement," he said.
Activists and community leaders, who conducted a vigil Monday afternoon at the border fence in Downtown after the press conference, said existing immigration enforcement should be changed to be smarter and more accountable.
They also said resources should be redirected to the ports of entry to improve infrastructure and add more customs officers to expedite legal border crossings.
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- Why So Many Top 'Car Guys' Are Actually Women | <urn:uuid:a3692a6a-8a2c-415b-b9aa-856711ca5a55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2012/12/11/activists_seek_humane_immigration_reform.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957532 | 702 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Durham, N.C. — Dermatologists at Duke University using rituximab (Rituxan, Genentech) for the management of patients with treatment-resistant bullous pemphigoid (BP) have found that this anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody allows corticosteroid-dependent patients to successfully taper their immunosuppressive therapy.
They are hopeful their research may lead to a new understanding of disease pathogenesis and better approaches to its treatment.
Russell P. Hall III, M.D., and colleagues have reported on a series of six patients with BP who could not be tapered off a relatively high dose of prednisone (mean ~30 mg/day). Two infusions of rituximab 1 gm were administered at an interval of two weeks. After about 100 days, all patients were able to decrease their prednisone dose to about 10 mg, and during continued follow-up, some patients were able to discontinue prednisone completely, while others could be maintained at a dose as low as 5 mg/day.
Serology studies showed IgG anti-BP180 titers decreased gradually in all patients, falling significantly below the baseline level after nine months, but never disappearing. Thereafter, IgG anti-BP180 antibody levels slowly increased, although the rise occurred without any worsening of disease activity, reports Dr. Hall, J. Lamar Callaway Professor of Dermatology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
“These observations suggest to us there may be pathogenic and nonpathogenic populations of anti-BP180 antibodies. Therefore, we are also speculating there may be two populations of antibody-producing plasma B cells, a short-lived subtype that produces disease-causing autoantibodies, and a long-lived subtype that produces antibodies against the same antigen, but yet are not pathogenic,” he says.
“We hope that further research will lead us to understand the pathogenesis of BP, because, ultimately, that might enable us to develop therapy targeting the B cells important in disease etiology, while hopefully minimizing any impact on production of antibodies responsible for natural immune function.”
When it first became commercially available, rituximab was only approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s (B cell) lymphoma. However, there had been reports of its efficacy in treating other autoimmune diseases, and, more recently, evidence indicates that rituximab is very effective in treating other autoimmune blistering diseases, particularly pemphigus, Dr. Hall says.
Serology studies performed to elucidate the mechanism of action of rituximab indicated it did not affect memory plasma cells responsible for antibody production against naturally occurring antigens, as there were no significant changes in total IgG or IgG anti-varicella zoster virus antibody levels. Other investigators using rituximab to treat pemphigus have reported a similar finding, Dr. Hall says.
“This finding suggests production of the autoantibodies and long-lived antibodies are controlled by different mechanisms, and this is encouraging, because it suggests it may be possible to find a treatment able to control the disease without causing general immunosuppression,” he says.
While rituximab initially depleted the circulation of B cells, flow cytometry studies performed to type B cell subsets showed that when the B cell population was reconstituted, it comprised a lower proportion of memory B cells (CD38-/IgD-) and an increase in the proportion of naïve/transitional B cells (CD38++/IgD+) relative to before rituximab treatment.
Dr. Hall notes that the observation that rituximab treatment was associated with a change in the B cell population provides evidence that circulating B cells are important in the pathogenesis of BP. Going forward, Dr. Hall and colleagues will be investigating whether features of the B cell response and reconstitution might be prognostic variables.
“Undoubtedly, as we treat more patients, we will find variations in response to rituximab. One hypothesis we will be exploring is whether treatment response and its longevity can be predicted by the nature of the B cell population and the speed of repopulation,” he explains.
Disclosure: Genentech funded this research, but Dr. Hall reports no relevant financial interest in the company. | <urn:uuid:57006777-a97a-4263-962d-51142f786493> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pemphigus.org/ja/rituximab-offers-hope-treatment-provides-steroid-sparing-response-in-refractory-bullous-pemphigoid/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937086 | 933 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The information about the sources and the particular context of each song is a work in progress. These summaries, variously based on the observations of composers, writers, and/or authoritative interpreters of each song, are provided to assist in the presentation, teaching, and performance of this music. We welcome additional or corrective information to this resource, which may be sent to [email protected].
Go Lifted Up
Written by Mortimer Barron, and he writes, “When I was music director at Murray Unitarian Universalist Church, Attleboro, MA, Natalie Sleeth's Go Now in Peace was often sung at the end of the Sunday services. Whereas I liked its words but not its music, I composed new music for this sung benediction. The congregation loved this new version and continues to sing it to this day. This new “Go Now in Peace” also became the traditional sung benediction at my present church, First Unitarian and Universalist Society of Middleboro, MA. Go Lifted Up is very easily learned by a congregation and may be accompanied by piano, organ, or guitar, or may be sung a cappella.”
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Monday, April 9, 2012. | <urn:uuid:eb2c72a7-23a3-4a3a-a90d-b03d5e7ef7ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uua.org/worship/music/hymnals/journey/songinformation/93778_7.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962256 | 279 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This is my fourth year teaching the Civil War course and as all of you know I thoroughly enjoy it. When I planned the first year I was very concerned about the balance between battle coverage and broader political, cultural, and social issues. Basically, I was concerned that teaching a course on the Civil War in the heart of Virginia would bring young boys with a voracious appetite for the Lost Cause and the kind of battlefield coverage that I am not qualified or even comfortable teaching. In yesterday’s post Hugo Schwyzer briefly touched on this tension in reference to his own Western Civilization course:
In my survey courses, I do very little military history. In my Western Civ classes, there are a few battles so vital I describe them in detail: Salamis and the Somme, for example. But I always fall short of what some of my eager young men want. Every prof who teaches survey courses knows the type: the earnest lad who comes to office hours, filled with righteous anguish because I chose to talk more about the unique status of Spartan women than the heroics of their husbands and brothers at Thermopylae! I’ve noted that the most consistent complaints I get as a professor is the lack of military history in my survey courses. I emphasize religious, gender, and social history at the expense of battle tactics time and again, and given the time constraints, I make no apologies for it.
What is interesting to me is that most of my students in this class over the past four years have not pushed or questioned the amount of straight-forward military history in the class. I’ve never had a student come to my office and complain that I didn’t do justice to Jackson’s flank march at Chancellorsville or Meade’s defense at Gettysburg. Since this course is structured thematically we tend to touch on broader issues over time rather than a strict chronological approach. For example, last week we talked about the broader issue of emancipation and the Federal government’s steps towards the Emancipation Proclamation. The Seven Days’ Battles and the battle of Antietam were discussed in this context, but were not covered in any serious detail apart from their connection to the transition from "Limited" to "Hard War," emancipation, and foreign recognition. Even our trip to the Chancellorsville battlefield, which is fast approaching and will be focused heavily on the realities of battle, will also be used to address a whole host of issues beyond the battlefield.
To be honest, I don’t think my students really care about the kinds of things that drive most Civil War enthusiasts. The "Lee To The Rear" accounts simply fail to stir. I remember once during that first year where I gave a fairly detailed lecture about the actual battle of Antietam. Now, I should say that I am a pretty good lecturer, especially when I am discussing something that I care about. By the middle of the class at least 75% of the students had lost focus or had that look of complete despair. This doesn’t mean that military history is ignored – far from it. What it does mean, however, is that at least in my class the battles and campaigns must be connected to the bigger issues of the war. So, I tend to agree with Hugo’s bold comment in reference to the balance between religion, gender, social history (I should also add politics) and battle tactics. And I also make no apologies for it. | <urn:uuid:76526665-0113-4d79-b66d-af0a7ecca48a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cwmemory.com/2006/10/17/where-is-the-war-in-my-civil-war-class/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960332 | 711 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened the Knesset (parliament) winter session by demanding that the Palestinian Authority wage "a real war" on terrorism. And if they don't, Israel will. "Israel will continue to defend itself and hit the perpetrators of terrorism," Sharon said. He also expressed support for the internationally-backed "roadmap" peace plan. "The 'roadmap' is the only plan that gives hope for peace and security for both [the Israeli and Palestinian] peoples," the Prime Minister said. Sharon vowed to strengthen Jewish settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria and to complete construction of the security barrier. | <urn:uuid:cf93c2ab-3e59-4fe5-84f4-fcb380567345> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/5057/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941112 | 127 | 1.523438 | 2 |
RAPTORS a look into the future ?
By: Henk de Brueijs.
RAPTORS…………………a look into the future ?
Following the discussions regarding this subject in all kind of “pigeon” media I like to give from this place an insight in this subject in The Netherlands.
The surface area of the UK is 6 times that of The Netherlands while the number of inhabitants is 3,6 times larger. The so called Randstad, a continuous development of industry and houses and an estimated population of 7.100,000 is one of the largest conurbations in Europe covering an area of just approximately 8,250 sq.km. ( 860 per sq.km). The ethnic groups are 80% Dutch and 20% “multi-cultural’. The House of Representatives has 150 members of which an important part “green” or same color thinking. Even a political party with the name “Animal Party” is represented with 2 members.
In our neighborhood it happens already several times that families taking a walk through one of the very few woods were attacked by breeding raptors. The advice of the “authorities” was a simple “go out of their way”. Don’t think you can undertake any action. Once they are missing a moving “blip” of the chip on the screen they must find the bird or remains and will investigate the “case” as it was a murder. Fine, as one said € 3.500,00 only and if you have no luck even a sentence. Even you show them the places where 30 or more rings are found they shrug their shoulders and has the opinion that nature has her own device.
What can the fancier do to solve this problem? As we noticed already a very few. The national federation of pigeon fanciers in The Netherlands undertook action to the authorities but till now without any result. What can we do by ourselves ? In my direct neighborhood we are with 4 fanciers within a radius of 300 meters. Last spring and summer we lost in the beginning altogether a 30 birds and 2 of my birds were found half eaten in the immediate vicinity of my home. Together with one fellow fancier we decided to toss the young birds every day at a distance of 40 km instead to let them fly out direct from the loft. As the lost birds were almost all youngsters we noticed also that the old pigeons get used to the raptor and followed their instinct. In the beginning you will lose also old birds but after a 3 or 4 weeks you will see a change in the way the pigeons are leaving the loft and their way of training. From the young birds we did not lose one single pigeon anymore to the birds of prey. May be we were lucky but will see next month March. Follow our findings on the website: www.pigeoncare.nl
The only solution for this problem I can see is that our “superiors” in Brussels give a green light to do at least something to reduce this nuisance in the near future. With the present worldwide crises there are more important subjects to discuss but I’m sure that nobody will blame us if we talk with each other about this, for the pigeon fancier specific problem. . | <urn:uuid:b33165f7-c0e5-433d-bad9-a01b669233b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pigeoncare.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123%3Araptors-a-look-into-the-future-&catid=8%3Aarchive&Itemid=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964938 | 680 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Hockey fans throughout the social media sphere were up in outrage on Monday afternoon when the Twitter account representing the hockey agent/PR firm Uptown Sports proclaimed statements against gay marriage. Representatives from the firm ended up on sports radio in Toronto, Canada Monday night further talking about their view.
Uptown Sports has a small stable of NHL players it represents, including Mike Fisher, the husband of American Idol winner and country music sweetheart, Carrie Underwood.
Aside from the moral argument for gay marriage (because gay or straight, everyone deserves the right to have someone to argue with over what to have for dinner and putting your shoes in the boot tray), there are statistical and marketing reasons why those who don’t agree with gay marriage may want to keep their thoughts personal. From a statistical perspective, hockey businesses of any kind may need to stay away from an anti-gay marriage perspective.
Statistically, NHL fans are notable in two areas: the high number of them who are quite active online, and the number of them who have a college degree or higher. According to Sports Business Daily, in 2010, 14.9% of NHL fans admitted to spending 20 hours or more per week on the Internet, more than any other of the major North American sports. According to Experian Media in late 2009, NHL fans are more likely than non-NHL fans to earn a college degree or higher.
Additionally, both Sports Business Daily and Experian Media show a growth point within the 18-34 year old age range. 33.4% of NHL fans are within that age range.
So what do these numbers have to do with gay marriage? Because these growth points within NHL fan demographics (these points being those that the NHL has over its sports league peers) are also demographic strong holds within the gay marriage debate. According to the Pew Research Forum in 2010, 53% of 18-30 year olds support gay marriage. Also, 52% of college graduates and above support gay marriage.
Though statistics are difficult to come by, there are studies that suggest that those who don’t feel strongly on either side of the gay marriage debate are less likely to be online. Thus, if hockey fans are spend the most time online of all sports fans, they are the least likely among sports fans to be what the Pew Research Center calls a “tune-out,” someone who doesn’t have a feeling on the topic. Thus, hockey fans most likely have a strong feeling on the topic on either side of the debate.
So look where all of those statistics overlap? In the NHL, your key populations – the one those involved in the business operations side of hockey want to encourage – align with a segment of a population that will statistically most likely support gay marriage.
Thus, anyone who represents a player or a fan-oriented product is doing themselves a demographic disservice if they publicly promote an anti-gay marriage agenda. More so than in the other major North American sports, NHL fans will more likely fall in the pro-gay marriage camp, and paired with their high level of internet usage, are more apt to be active in sharing their views with others and adopting online activism.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this anecdotal piece of evidence. The popularity of college hockey continues to grow year after year. With that growth, college hockey has become a gateway to NHL fandom within a population not exposed to the sport previously. Geographically, college hockey fandom continues to grow in New England, a region with great traditions in the sport, a recent history of national success…and one of the nation’s highest levels of support for gay marriage. | <urn:uuid:25e831ae-93e6-4b96-987d-12cf1f9e1f7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sportsgirlkat.com/2011/05/09/uptown-sports-sean-avery-gay-marriage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95572 | 748 | 1.75 | 2 |
I got a fundraising e-mail from Amnesty International the other day. It was from a celebrity, as so many non-profit fundraising e-mails are. But this one really made me stop and look. It was from actor Patrick Stewart and it was about supporting Amnesty International's campaign concerning violence against women. He wrote:
I know too much about violence against women – as a child I watched in terror as my mother was abused by an angry and unhappy man who could not control his emotions, nor his hands.
Amnesty was instrumental in the passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 – signed into law by President Obama in July. This law begins to reverse the alarming rate of sexual violence against Native American and Alaska Native women. Survivors of sexual assault finally stand a real chance of getting a police response, a rape kit and the opportunity to see their case prosecuted.
Amnesty is also a driving force behind the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), which aims to revolutionize the way U.S. foreign policy confronts abuses like domestic violence, rape, honor killings and human trafficking worldwide. If passed, IVAWA will support measures to prevent violence, protect survivors and bring perpetrators to justice.
I knew this about Amnesty International but I didn't know this about Patrick Stewart. So I did some research and came across this powerful video.
As someone who grew up in a home much like Stewart's, a good bit of this resonates with me. The first time I dialed 911, I was ten years old. I watched in fury as one police officer after another refused to arrest my step-father. He was walked around the block. He was believed when he said my mother open wounds were the result of a fall. Not only was my step-father never sanctioned in any way for beating my mother, no police officer ever called an ambulance or offered to help her get medical care. As a ten, eleven, twelve year old, it was my job to mop up the blood. And there was a lot of blood. Night after night.
The neighbors knew, of course, but no one helped. I was never even offered a safe place to stay for the night as we waiting in fear for my step-father to bang on the door.
As an adult, when I was Litigation Coordinator at the Women Against Abuse Legal Center in Philadelphia in the early 1990s, I found that not much had changed since I argued with New York City police officers in the 1970s. My clients were accused of provoking the men who broke their arms. My clients lost their children to protective services because there was violence in the home but I could not get protective orders enforced that would keep abusers out of the home. And one day I got a call from a priest who ran an in-patient drug rehab program. He wanted to talk to me about a man in his facility. The man was distraught to discover his wife had filed for a protective order against him. The priest told me he thought the man was a good man. That he wasn't dangerous. That I should help him resolve this without going to court. He put the man on the phone weeping bitterly about losing his family and never having hit her. I told them when the next court date was and that he could make his arguments there. The priest thought me heartless.
Indeed I did make a huge mistake that day. A fatal mistake. I did not confirm whether the man was free to leave the facility if he wanted. If I had known, I would have called the client immediately to report the conversation. I would have, and should have, warned her. But I didn't. And within a few hours of that phone call, the man left rehab, went home, and stabbed his wife twelve times in front of their two toddlers. I will live forever knowing that maybe, just maybe, I could have saved her life.
The violence I and Patrick Stewart saw as a child, and that I saw as a lawyer, continues today. The law has changed significantly in most places in the U.S. but enforcement is still woefully inadequate. Women who defend themselves end up going to prison while their abusers are still walked around the block.
Domestic violence often increases during the holiday season. Families are stressed. And during an economic depression, conditions are even worse and escape is even more difficult. This is also a time for giving. So I am giving to one of my favorite non-profits: The National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women. This organization provides support for women imprisoned for defending themselves against abusive partners.
Please give. If not to the National Clearinghouse, find a local battered woman's shelter and give generously.
Has domestic violence touched your life? Is ending violence against women something you are working on? How has your experience of violence against women changed your life? | <urn:uuid:83796269-5581-4d08-8648-734d31171e26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sustainablemothering.com/tag/alcohol/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988168 | 993 | 1.640625 | 2 |
This is an old article, but a good read.
"First let's clarify some nomenclature. Dolby and DTS have both introduced new audio codecs. The lossy ones are DD+ (Dolby Digital Plus) and DTS-HD (High Definition). The lossless codecs are Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio).
Everything a receiver does to the soundtrack, up to and including D/A conversion, requires the soundtrack to be in uncompressed PCM form. In fact, when you send your receiver a DD or DTS bitstream, the first thing it does is decompress the soundtrack to linear PCM. Only then can it apply things like bass management, time alignment, etc.
Just like editing the document requires unzipping the file first, doing any of this live-mixing to the soundtrack requires decoding it to linear PCM first. This is why it has to be done in the player. They're not going to transmit every option to your receiver, just one soundtrack. You choose what you want to hear, it is mixed in the player (i.e. the soundtrack you want to hear is literally built in real time inside the player) and transmitted as a final mix to your receiver.
Current HDMI allows 8 channels of 96/24 PCM to be transmitted (more than enough resolution for any soundtrack), but not the new codecs in their native form. When HDMI 1.3 arrives, it will allow the new codecs mentioned above to be transmitted in their native bitstream, but only if they were authored in 'Basic' mode (no interactivity). If the soundtrack was authored in Advanced mode, then it cannot be transmitted in undecoded form; decoding in the player is mandatory because of live mixing.
So far, all HD DVD soundtracks have been authored in Advanced mode. Which means nothing will change when new receivers arrive on the market. Despite having HDMI 1.3 transmission and decoders built into the receiver, decoding will still have to take place in the player.
Currently, Blu-ray discs are authored in Basic mode, since they haven't gotten interactivity yet. As soon as BD Java is up and working, they'll all be authored in Advanced mode too. At that point, what are the decoders in the receivers going to do? Decode the relatively few BD titles that were released before interactivity? Most of those titles will be re-issued anyway.
Personally, I'm glad that decoding is shifting to the player. I wish it had always been that way. Since receivers need the data in PCM form anyway, that's what every player should be outputting (irrespective of what format is used to store the data on the disc). As mentioned before, when new audio codecs and formats arrive, you'll have to buy a new player. But as long as the players keep outputting the audio in PCM form, current receivers will always remain compatible with anything that shows up in the future. How elegant is that!" | <urn:uuid:8ec752de-8ae3-4e15-b3f1-16d8b63d9675> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avsforum.com/t/1196455/ada-mach-4-wow/1470 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965327 | 626 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Hostess Brands, maker of such iconic brands as Twinkies and Wonder Bread, is closing down after a labor fight and putting the company’s assets up for sale, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Irving, Texas, company, which has a Wonder Bread plant in Denver, said most of its 18,500 employees will be laid off. Hostess Brands is asking permission from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to sell off its assets. All of the company’s bakery operations have been suspended.
CEO Gregory Rayburn posted a statement online announcing the decision. In the statement, he said: “Many people have worked incredibly long and hard to keep this from happening, but now Hostess Brands has no other alternative than to begin the process of winding down and preparing for the sale of our iconic brands.”
Wow this is the end of a legacy. Hostess Brands, Inc.—founded as Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) in 1930—was the largest wholesale baker and distributor of bakery products in the United States, and is the owner of the Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature’s Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake’s brands.
Here is a complete list of what will cease:
If there are any workers out there who want to speak on what happened, let us know!
Originally seen on http://elev8.com/ | <urn:uuid:df9a0a89-24ae-472b-8132-8e9c937f8aba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mypraiseatl.com/975954/twinkies-ding-dongs-wonder-bread-is-no-more/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949502 | 294 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The Explainer: Father’s little helper
Is testosterone therapy the fountain of youth? If so, WWWD? (What Would WADA Do?)
As a retired lawyer and long time cyclist, I thoroughly enjoy your column.
Here’s one that might be arising more in the Masters’ ranks, which have had their share of doping positives, recently.
Doctors are increasingly treating below normal testosterone levels with (and Big Pharma is increasingly promoting) testosterone replacement therapy for older men. The therapy is based on research that tends to show that below normal T levels lead to various premature aging symptoms, low energy levels and low sex drive.
For those who race in the masters’ classes, is a TUE available for this therapy, with or without limitations? If not, is there any effort by WADA to consider it?
Given the threshold method of triggering tests, the ratio of epitestosterone to testosterone, would it even come up in testing if the therapy resulted in levels in the “normal” range?
Your hypothetical for the day.
First off, let me thank you for your kind words. Given my relatively short time as an attorney (I’m just three years out of law school), I am always nervous when other lawyers – especially the experienced ones – read this column. Like anyone, I appreciate the kudos, but I do want to encourage anyone to send me a note if they notice a bone-headed mistake. I will correct those and make note of them.
Now, to your questions. The quick and simple answer regarding testosterone is yes. The World Anti-Doping Agency does make an allowance for the therapeutic use of testosterone. However, before we see the entire middle-aged masters’ peloton veer off to the doc’s office, you need to keep in mind that according to the rules, a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for testosterone is issued under the narrowest of circumstances. Most of us would probably not qualify.
Under the current WADA Code, a national doping agency is permitted to issue a TUE for testosterone only after an athlete has been diagnosed with primary or secondary “hypogonadism.” In other words, the testes are not producing enough of the hormone to bring the level of what is considered “normal.” (NOTE: While testosterone replacement therapy is offered to women in rare cases, WADA has concluded that there are more effective alternatives, so no TUE for testosterone will be granted to females under current rules.)
The definition of “normal” is based on several factors, chief among them age. Measured in nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL), normally blood testosterone levels in the general population of adult males run anywhere between 300ng/dL and 1000ng/dL. Of course, a 24-year-old with blood levels of 300ng/dL would be a cause of concern for his doctor. That same level in his 85-year-old grandfather might be considered to be within normal parameters.
Generally in a healthy and relatively young male, a serum testosterone level below 350ng/dL is considered to be a cause for concern and would make the patient a candidate for treatment.
However, it’s important to note that low testosterone levels due to the normal aging process are usually characterized as “functional” hypogonadism and would not qualify for a WADA-issued TUE. What would qualify is hypogonadism that is the result of a medically defined cause.
Rather than get into an analysis of each contributing factor recognized by WADA, I am simply including the causes of primary and secondary hypogonadism for which the agency says it would consider a TUE:
Klinefelter syndrome, bilateral anorchia, cryptorchidism, Leydig cell aplasia, male Turner syndrome, Noonan’s syndrome, congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
panhypopituitarism, idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, Kallmann’s syndrome, constitutional delay of puberty, LH deficiency, Prader Willi syndrome
That’s the general list and there are other contributing factors for which WADA – or a national anti-doping agency – could consider a TUE request. The bottom line, though, is that anyone seeking a TUE for testosterone must submit a detailed diagnosis, with supporting medical evidence, to justify the claim that his low serum testosterone levels are due to one of the medically recognized causes.
In the words of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), “It is extremely unlikely that a Therapeutic Use Exemption will be approved for ‘functional’ hypogonadism (a diagnosis of hypogonadism based on low testosterone levels but without a defined etiology).”
Getting old sucks. Is there a cure?
So let’s assume that the members of our hypothetical field of masters racers are not suffering from any of the aforementioned afflictions, but merely “functionally” hypogonadistic. The theory is that these men, too, would benefit from testosterone replacement therapy and you’re right, Larry, there has been an increase in interest (and marketing) in recent years, especially as we Baby Boomers get older.
Aging is a key factor in reduced testosterone levels in men. According to one study (Vermeulen A and Kaufman JM “Ageing of the hypothalamo–pituitary–testicular axis in men.” Hormone Research 43, 25–28) about seven percent of men between the ages of 40 and 60 have serum testosterone levels below 350ng/dL. That number increases to 21 percent for men between 60 and 80 and 35 percent for men 80 and older.
The symptoms of low testosterone levels – even those due to aging – are not pretty. There is the whole diminishing libido thing. (Of course, if that’s a problem, then the other common symptom, erectile dysfunction, probably won’t bother a guy as much.) But beyond those, there is a decrease in muscle mass, fatique, increased abdominal fat, loss of bone mass, frequent urination, high cholesterol and depression (probably caused by all of the other symptoms).
Like the Stones said, “what a drag it is getting old.”
So, would restoring those levels back to the way they were when you were 25 help reverse some of the symptoms of the normal aging process? Some studies say yes … and some studies say no. There is a big study going on right now, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, which involves tracking 800 men over the age of 65 who are using a gel-based testosterone supplement. So, we may have a more definitive answer once all of the data is reviewed in the next year or so.
One thing is for certain, though. While there may be benefits that accompany testosterone replacement therapy for functional hypogonadism, there are risks, too. One key concern is the effect testosterone supplementation will have on the reproductive system, especially the prostate.
Exogenous testosterone can contribute to an enlarged (but non-cancerous) prostate, a problem known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BHP) and some studies indicate that it can also contribute to the growth of cancer cells in the prostate.
Exogenous testosterone can also result in a decline in the production of natural testosterone, as the body adjusts in response to unnatural increases in serum levels of the hormone. That can also result in decreased production of sperm to the point that fertility may be put at risk.
The natural conversion testosterone to estrogen can also contribute to the growth of the much feared “man boob,” with men experiencing enlarged and tender breast tissue.
Indeed, the aforementioned side-effects are to be considered so potentially serious that any male with high risk factors for prostate or breast cancer (hey, it does happen) is automatically off the list of potential candidates for testosterone replacement therapy.
There are other side-effects, including liver toxicity, sleep apnea, fluid retention and increased risks of other cancers.
On a somewhat positive note, doctors also warn of one side-effect that would actually play pretty well with our little peloton of aging cyclists, though: Polycythemia. Yup, that’s an increase in the production of red blood cells. Unfortunately, that is also accompanied by an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke, not something you want to toy with in an age group whose cardiac risk factors are already on the increase.
Gee … this “therapy” sounds appealing, doesn’t it?
Since we’re in hypothetical mode, though, let’s assume that the NIH study comes back with stellar results and all of the 800 test subjects emerged from their two years with the strength, energy and looks of a 25-year-old. As a result, our masters all opt to take the chance and go with the therapy …. USADA be damned.
You asked if they might test positive in the rare event that USADA’s testers show up to request samples from the men’s 55+ field. The simple answer is yes. The initial test is based on the famed T/E ratio, the same test that caught Floyd Landis at the Tour de France. That test, for all of its flaws, is based on the assumption that the body produces testosterone and epitestosterone at about the same levels. WADA allows for some wiggle room, and the Dope-O-Meter™ isn’t tripped until the T/E ratio exceeds four-to-one (Landis, by the way, was 11-to-1).
Further study – using the Carbon Isotope Ratio test – would show that the elevated ratio is due to the presence of exogenous testosterone and that could result in a two-year suspension. In other words, that lucrative masters’ racing career could be at risk.
So in conclusion, testosterone therapy should probably be considered by a relatively small number of those for whom it might prove beneficial, especially if you want to live by the rules of our sport.
For the rest of us … well, I always like to remember the words of Mark Twain, who observed that “age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
The Explainer is now a weekly feature on Red Kite Prayer. If you have a question related to the sport of cycling, doping or the legal issues faced by cyclists of all stripes, feel free to send it directly to The Explainer at [email protected]. PLEASE NOTE: Understand that reading the information contained here does not mean you have established an attorney-client relationship with attorney Charles Pelkey. Readers of this column should not act upon any information contained therein without first seeking the advice of qualified legal counsel licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. | <urn:uuid:249fdaaf-df62-4f02-bedb-4e1da872e6a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redkiteprayer.com/2012/01/the-explainer-fathers-little-helper/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941419 | 2,298 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Alfred Music Publishing, in partnership with National Guitar Workshop, releases Therapeutic Guitar, a comprehensive resource for therapists and guitar teachers of students with special learning needs, written by board-certified music therapist Dr. Robert E. Krout.
Therapeutic Guitar is an innovative guitar method designed and extensively field-tested for students with unique learning and lifestyle needs. Music therapists, child life specialists, special education teachers, music teachers, camp counselors, and anyone working with people who have medical, emotional, and behavioral disorders will be met with sound methodology and principles for working with special needs students. Features include a page-by-page teacher’s guide with tips and pointers for every page, lessons in basic guitar technique, therapeutic session activities, songs to learn and play, a CD that demonstrates all the examples in the book, and information on working with special-needs learners.
The unique method book provides suggested therapeutic activities while teaching basic strumming, chords, and fun tunes for a deeper, meaningful student/teacher interaction. The book was designed to impart a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, and self-worth to the student, all while highlighting the therapeutic benefits of guitar playing.
Dr. Robert E. Krout is the professor and director of music therapy at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where he was named the SMU Meadows School of the Arts Distinguished Teaching Professor for 2010-2011. He received his bachelor of music degree from Ithaca College, and his master of arts, master of education, and doctor of education degrees in music therapy, special education, and music education from Columbia University. He is the author of numerous articles and books about using guitar with students who have special needs. Robert has released several CDs and songbooks, and has been interviewed about his music therapy songwriting in Grammy and Acoustic Guitar magazines.
As part of Alfred’s ongoing commitment to improving the environment, this book is printed on 100% recycled paper.
Therapeutic Guitar Book & CD (00-35025) is now available for $19.99 at music retail stores and at alfred.com/guitar. | <urn:uuid:b3bc225e-a923-4694-ae0f-23738282cc52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/therapeutic_guitar_method_helps_teach_students_with_special_needs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958331 | 444 | 1.796875 | 2 |
- russell lester
- Manson, WA
- United States
Should US laws have expiration dates?
There are a number of laws that are passed in this country and that over time with the change of issues importance become less relevant or irrelevant yet remain on the books unless actively repealed. Would it be better to have laws automatically be reviewed every 10 or 20 or even 50 years? Should the sitting congress not renew them, or the sitting president not sign them then they would no longer be in effect. What laws would be exempted from this if any? What laws would you wish to see with such a expiration date? Why? Why do you not like / like this idea? | <urn:uuid:d26fd1ff-e1ce-4c56-86c4-e338cccb66c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ted.com/conversations/15795/should_us_laws_have_expiration.html?c=585768 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954046 | 138 | 1.609375 | 2 |
You Are Not Your Past
Our past does not define who we really are.
We are not our past. End of story.
Each one of us has probably endured situations that were life-changing and seemingly earth shattering. And, we each had a choice on how to handle those situations.
At first, we may feel anger, fear, frustration, hurt, physical pain, grief, depression, etc. Those feelings try to take hold of us and claim we have every right to feel that way.
I like to think back to a story in the book of John in the Bible.
“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
Isn’t that beautiful! The disciples wanted to know whose sin resulted in the man being blind. But Jesus pointed out that it was no one. He claimed it was that “the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
I love thinking about that and realizing that when we seem to be dealing with challenges, the point of it is so “that the works of God should be made manifest in” us.
When I deal with a difficult situation, I absolutely demand to find a blessing in it. When I choose to be sad, upset, angry and depressed, my life is not enriched in any way at all. As a mother of two, those emotions will negatively affect my children as well as everyone else around me.
So, what can I do about it? As I mentioned earlier, we have a choice in every situation. We can choose to cling to God and His Truth, or we can succumb to defeat. Get rid of the serpent lie that tries to tell you, you are justified in feelings of revenge or hurt or loss. Do you think God would ever tell us to feel that way? Of course not. God is a God of Love.
He intends for each of His children to have an overabundance of good. When we hold on to things in our past, even if the past was yesterday or ten years ago, we are focusing on something other than God and good we must let it go.
As God's children, we are His ideas. His thoughts. God had a thought, and it was you. His thoughts are fresh and new every moment. You are fresh and new every moment. What a freeing concept.
Let's join together and choose to see ourselves the way God sees us. He’s not holding onto our past. He is seeing that right this moment, we are safe in His care. He also knows that every single moment of our existence, we have forever been protected and will forever continue to be.
I’m not going to go into detail here, but like most of you, I have endured unimaginable pain and abuse. The secret to letting it go is focusing on seeing myself and others as divine Love sees us. God could never see His children as less than beautiful. So, why would we see ourselves that way?
Let today be a new day. It IS a new day filled with grace, peace, and love. | <urn:uuid:a7822224-2190-49d4-8626-3883f97a80b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://northeastcobb.patch.com/articles/you-are-not-your-past | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981738 | 701 | 1.609375 | 2 |
ROCKWOOD, Tenn. (WVLT)-- It was once a forgotten piece of land. The final resting place for Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers that was overgrown and neglected for years; until one man cared enough to help. But now he needs help to keep the historical land from eroding away.
Noel "Buddy" Marsh made a promise to a woman 30 years ago that he would take care of the Kendrick Cemetery.
To this day he still maintains the area even though he's a triple amputee.
Buddy lost his arm and both legs during the Vietnam War but doesn't let that hold him back from taking care of the cemetery.
However, over the years the edge of the cemetery has eroded away into the Watts Bar Lake.
Buddy has been in touch with TVA and they told him that it would cost about $10,000 and they'd be willing to split the cost with him. However, Buddy doesn't own the land he just takes care of it so now TVA has to work on finding the owner of the land.
For now, Buddy keeps doing what he's always done by taking care of the cemetery. However, he worried what will happen in the future when he's not able to care for the cemetery.
We got in touch with TVA and they released this statement:
"TVA has assessed the shoreline condition of the Kendrick Cemetery and have discussed the situation with the caretaker. After reviewing our land records as well as researched court house records, TVA has been unable to locate the owner of the property, but will continue to monitor the erosion closely. TVA certainly acknowledges the importance of this cemetery, which is why we have been working to identify the property owner." | <urn:uuid:cfcf79b2-9b3a-40bc-a933-86e7558f880b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.local8now.com/news/headlines/Roane-Co-cemetery--185706732.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987207 | 356 | 1.75 | 2 |
My partner and I often play a game called, “So, what I hear you saying is …” In this game, we take a statement and turn it into something completely opposite of what the other person said. For instance, if my partner says, “I like the way you fill out those jeans,” I would reply, “So, what I hear you saying is, I’m fat and need to drop a few pounds.” Or, if I tell my partner, “I love doing things for you,” she may reply, “So, what I hear you saying is, you think I’m high maintenance.”
The folks over at the National Organization for Marriage know this game we play very, very well. NOM has always been known for turning what an opponent says completely on its head in an effort to make themselves look better and their opponent worse. So, it’s no shock that NOM, which only has a passing relationship with the truth, plays this little game while trying to get in a personal attack on me.
Their first shot across the bow is to be too lazy to actually fact check how to spell my name. There is one “o” in my name, not two. It’s Chellew-Hodge – two “e’s,” and one “o.” Hello, cut and paste is your friend!
Then, they get on to their “So, what I hear you saying is …” portion of the game by quoting a piece I wrote in Religion Dispatches:
“To win civil rights, one of the last steps is to make it shameful to be against the rights of the group fighting for recognition.”
Anyone who is not bent on reading demonization and hatred into every little thing written about them would find that sentence quite clear. But in their little game of “So, what I hear you saying is …” the sentence apparently means “it must become ‘shameful’ for people to believe that children deserve a mother and a father, and that marriage is between one man and one woman.”
Not even close.
Instead, since they can’t fathom my meaning, let me spell it out simply for them (Note to NOM, read slowly and several times if you must for it to sink in):
I am saying that marriage rights for gays and lesbians will be won when those who oppose it are shamed by their belief that gay and lesbian couples are somehow “less than” a heterosexual couple raising children. No one should ever be shamed for believing children deserve a mother and a father – hell, I wish my own childhood had not been destroyed by the heterosexual shame of divorce. Every child deserves two parents – or even one parent – who loves them beyond all measure, who provides for them, and is dedicated to raising them with integrity and pride in who they are.
What is shameful is that anyone would deny a child the love (and the protection of that child that marriage currently offers) to any set of parents simply because of the gender mix of said parents.
So, NOM, what I hear you saying is that the only way you can make your argument look good is to distort and lie about the arguments of your opponents. | <urn:uuid:912e9abe-417f-4087-9cf4-ff55345dadfb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whosoever.org/blog/?p=240 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977748 | 698 | 1.585938 | 2 |
People taking part in the 35th Annual Crops and Conservation Tour last Wednesday listen in as speakers talk about Willow Creek rehabilitation and establishment of a western larch seed orchard on the Glen McKenzie farm. The tour attracted 250 to 300 people. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer
Union County agriculture was showcased in a big way last Wednesday, with 250 to 300 people turning out for the 35th Annual Crops and Conservation Tour.The event, sponsored by businesses, individuals and organizations involved in the local farming and ranching industry, introduced the public to people who work in the fields every day, and stressed the importance of agriculture to the economy.
As noted in the tour literature, alfalfa hay, wheat, grass seed, peppermint for oil, wheat and other crops grow well here, and always have. At last count, in 2007, there were almost 900 farms in the county, with an average size of 550 acres.
Craig Nightingale of Banner Bank, one of many presenters who took up a microphone during the tour, said agriculture is no less a major local employer than Boise Cascade or Eastern Oregon University.
“It’s a $67 million industry. It’s the biggest economic driver we have in the valley,” he said.
Following some introductions and opening remarks early in the day at Crop Production Services on Booth Lane, tour participants loaded into buses and traveled through the mid-Grande Ronde Valley, making stops at three local spreads.
On Brett Rudd’s farm at the corner of Booth Lane and Wallsinger Road, tour participants had a look at a money-saving irrigation device called the Variable Frequency Drive pump.
As tour guides noted, irrigation consumes more power in the Grande Ronde Valley than anything else. The VFD reduces pressure on systems and saves energy by adjusting a pump’s revolutions-per-minute to demand.
“It’s an aggressive and pretty effective solution,” said Dave Whelan of Pendleton Grain Growers.
About 20 percent of irrigation pumps in Union County feature the device. Installation costs run into the thousands, but there are a number of programs to help.
Oregon Trail Electric Co-Op offers a rebate to farmers installing the pumps, as does the Bonneville Power Administration.
The OTEC rebate is based on the horsepower of the system, while the BPA rebate, available in addition to the OTEC award, is based on kilowatt hours of electricity saved.
“There is grant funding through the utility. This thing (VFD) is going to pay for itself in a couple of years,” Charles Koenig of BPA said during the Rudd farm stop.
Mike Burton of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service also spoke at the Rudd farm, saying the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is another source of funding for those installing the device.
Second stop on the tour was the 2010 Union County Conservation Farm of the Year owned by Kirk and Mikki End.
Kirk End told the crowd he is a third generation farmer successful thanks to loving guidance from his parents and grandparents.
“Every year it’s a different challenge, but I’ve had good people to follow,” he said.
The Ends are dryland wheat farmers always willing to experiment. Currently they are raising soybeans as a rotational crop. They also raise garbanzo beans as part of their effort to keep the soil healthy and productive.
“Beans put nitrogen back in the ground,” said Kirk.
Northeast Oregon never has been considered good soybean country, mainly because of cool nights during the growing season.
But Oregon State University Extension Agent Darrin Walenta said recent experiments in the valley have been moderately successful. He said he helped local farmer Matt Insko plant and grow five different varieties last year.
“Yields were respectable from our point of view, though people in the Midwest might laugh at us,” Walenta said. “Union County never will be the soybean capital of the world. We’re just trying to find out where they fit in the rotation.”
From the End farm, the tour traveled to the Glen McKenzie farm on McKenzie Lane along Willow Creek near Summerville.
The farm, formerly the home of the late Glen and Jean McKenzie, is overseen by the Oregon Agricultural Foundation, a group founded by Glen McKenzie in the 1990s.
Jean McKenzie died in 1993, and the foundation took ownership of the farm after Glen McKenzie’s death in 2006. According to his wishes, the farm benefits Eastern Oregon University.
“If we make money, we make generous donations to scholarships and so on,” said Foundation President Bill Howell.
In 2007, the foundation liquidated the cattle, machinery and equipment. Today, the croplands are leased while the foundation, in cooperation with many agencies, concentrates on environmental stewardship.
“We’re completing the work that Glen started but didn’t have time to finish,” Howell said.
Partners in the improvement efforts include Grande Ronde Model Watershed, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Together, those agencies are working to protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat, maintain commodity production, contribute to the EOU Foundation and provide educational opportunities.
Under way is a major effort to rehabilitate Willow Creek on the farm. The agencies are working to improve salmon habitat, reduce streambank erosion and more.
“I’m confident that had Glen lived, this would have been a program of his,” Howell said.
Willow Creek restoration isn’t the only innovative project happening on the farm. Tour presenters also talked about the Oregon Department of Forestry’s establishment of a western larch seed orchard on the property.
Half of the 66 trees selected for the start of the project were planted in April, and the other half will be planted in 2012. People involved with the project hope eventually to raise some 600, five-to-six-foot tall trees.
Generally, western larch trees don’t produce cones until they are 55 years old, but a grafting process will greatly speed production in the orchard.
“What’s amazing is that we’ll start to see cones in seven or eight years,” said Jamie Knight of the Oregon Forestry Department.
From the McKenzie ranch, the buses drove to the Pendleton Grain Growers grain storage facility, where a steak dinner was served. Along the way, guides pointed out damage caused by this year’s severe floods.
In May, the Grande Ronde River, Catherine Creek and other drainages spilled their banks. That, coupled with a generally long wet spring in the valley, wiped out some crops and in other cases caused delays in planting.
Agricultural and infrastructure damage in the county is estimated at more than $2 million. Tour guide Reed Stewart, who works for Pendleton Grain Growers, called attention to farms along the route that were devastated.
But Stewart added some optimistic words. A hardy green-up followed the wet weather.
“If there’s a silver lining in the spring we’ve had, it’s that the crops that aren’t underwater look exceptional,” he said. | <urn:uuid:c33666c7-175d-4774-8207-af065cead0c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Business/35th-Annual-Crops-and-Conservation-Tour-shines-spotlight-on-local-agriculture | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944547 | 1,554 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The chairman of the Legislative Audit Advisory Commission, Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-Lancaster, on Thursday confirmed the figure in a copy of the preliminary financial audit obtained by The Associated Press.
The figure is about $5 million lower than the previous year's cash reserve, and the Legislature has since committed $50 million to a program that benefits public schools called accountability block grants.
Denlinger and other lawmakers defend the reserve as necessary to defend state government's balance of power and keep the Legislature—which costs about $300 million a year—operating during a budget stalemate with the governor.
But the Legislature has created no special rules to limit the use of the money, and such a large and unfettered surplus is nearly unheard of in other states. Also, the Legislature does not wall off the money to prevent it from being shifted to another purpose—which can be done by small committees of top lawmakers that meet in secret.
Meanwhile, state government is dealing with an anticipated shortfall of several hundred million dollars in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The Legislature has not passed a law or even created an internal policy that caps the size of the surplus. The surplus
The reserve peaked at $215 million on June 30, 2006, and the latest audit shows that for the fifth straight year it shrank.
Denlinger said that, counting the $50 million payout to public schools, the reserve can't go much lower if the Legislature is to have enough cash to keep it operating for four or five months if the executive branch chokes off the flow of money.
"We're really right at the edge of the ability to take any further reduction in the reserve if, in fact, we're going to have a reserve in place," Denlinger said.
Critics of the Legislature's handling of the surplus charged that approval of the audit was being purposely delayed until after Tuesday's primary. But Denlinger blamed the later-than-usual approval of the audit over a months-long delay by House and Senate leaders before appointing him as the new commission chairman.
As a result, the commission was late in engaging an outside auditor, he said.
Since at least 2008, the auditor hired to report on the surplus, Ernst & Young, has recommended that the Legislature consider adopting a policy that establishes and monitors the appropriate amount of surplus—recommendations the Legislature has ignored.
The surplus money also has been used in ways over the years that have nothing to do with a budget stalemate.
In 2005, lawmakers underwrote a generous midterm pay raise for themselves. A public outcry prompted them to repeal it four months later. The Legislature also has used the money several times to help fund executive-branch programs that are favored by its members. | <urn:uuid:2c61fe01-eca9-48e5-82a7-5eedb059ae3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_20488647/ap-pa-legislatures-cash-reserve-184m-last-year?source=most_viewed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965665 | 561 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The New York Times has taken the plunge. In a report today about the Israeli government’s decision to build 1,600 housing units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood — which, like most of Jerusalem, lies across the “Green Line” separating pre- and post-1967 territory, the NYT headline proudly refers to the “new settlements” that are, according to another NYT headline about the responses to the declaration, “clouding” the visit of Vice President Biden to the Middle East, who had arrived to announce the renewal of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians. An earlier version of the piece, which has since been edited, described Jerusalem as home to “thousands of settlers.” This whole terminology is fairly new, but we can hardly blame the Times. It is, after all, the official position of the U.S. government.
Netanyahu is denying that he knew of the decision, and the NYT piece takes him at his word. Many commentators in Israel are not so quick to believe it, seeing in his denial a classic Bibi move to fake Left, go Right, deny and obfuscate whenever it serves his purposes. Assuming he really did know about the decision, why did he do it? And if he didn’t, why doesn’t he intervene to stop it?
The NYT puts the blame on his coalition partners: ”when he formed his coalition a year ago,” we are told, “he joined forces with several right-wing parties, and has since found it hard to keep them in line.” This is, of course, a bizarre distortion: Netanyahu chose his coalition partners as a product of their strength, which in turn reflects what the voters actually wanted on issues like these. It’s also a distortion because the left-wing Labor party, which is in the coalition, doesn’t seem to be pulling out any time soon. And it’s a distortion because the Kadima party, the leading opposition party and the only alternative to Netanyahu’s coalition partners, was founded on a platform that included the indivisibility of Jerusalem.
What Netanyahu knows, and Biden apparently does not, is that the vast majority of Israelis, including those who favor a land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians, do not, and will never, look at Jerusalem as a settlement or at residents of its neighborhoods as “settlers.” We can fully understand why Biden might have thought the move to be “precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now.” At a time when he’s trying to show the American public that he and the president are capable of bringing a new era of peace in the region, such an announcement certainly does not make his job easier. But unlike the U.S., Israel is an actual party to the negotiations and has a right to draw red lines. One such line that must not be crossed is undoing the unification of Jerusalem that happened in 1967 and that still captures the imagination and commitment of both the great majority of Israelis and a very large number of Diaspora Jews. Jerusalem is home to more than 700,000 citizens, of whom two-thirds are Jews. It has granted far greater and more liberal access to non-Jews worshiping at its shrines than the Palestinians have ever done with regard to Jewish (and Christian) freedom in the territories it controls. This is a great deal to ask in time of ongoing war.
One of the worst things about the Oslo Accords was the logic that said, “Let’s take care of the easy things first, and wait on the hard issues until later.” And so, while the Palestinians were allowed to create a heavily armed, ideologically belligerent, terror-supporting government in the territories Israel vacated, Israel gained nothing in terms of security, while the “hard issues” like Jerusalem and the repatriation of millions of Palestinians remained up in the air, not as questions to be resolved, but as threats hanging over Israelis’ heads: You can give us these, and face demographic and symbolic decimation; or you can refuse, and face a renewal of violence. When it became clear to Arafat that Israel had no intention of giving in on these core issues, all the “trust” that had been built was suddenly meaningless. He launched the second intifada, and the rest is too well known.
In making the move on Jerusalem, the Israeli government is trying to avoid the ambiguities that were the undoing of Oslo. Anyone hoping for a successful negotiation leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, they are saying, had better forget about the division of Jerusalem. Sometimes, it’s the timing that drives the point home. | <urn:uuid:2acfbf8f-d333-4b77-b07f-de0cd2f048ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2010/03/10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974147 | 990 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Boeing: FAA will have 787 battery test results soon
Boeing has begun certification tests of its redesigned 787 battery system and expects to hand over the results of all scheduled tests to the Federal Aviation Administration “within the next week or two” for a decision on whether the grounded passenger jet can return to flight, a company official told reporters Friday morning.
Ron Hinderberger, vice president of 787-8 engineering, declined to speculate how long the FAA might take to review the results but said Boeing had already passed many, if not all, of the tests before submitting its plan to the FAA last month. The FAA approved the certification test plan on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters 14 hours after his bosses provided a 787 battery update via webcast from Japan, Hinderberger also gave more details about the fix itself.
He described the glass laminate that will insulate the lithium-ion battery cells from each other, the stainless steel containment box that will prevent any overheating from igniting, and the one-inch titanium tubes that will vent any overheating from the battery out of the airplane.
“With these changes, we think the likelihood of a repeat event is very unlikely,” Hinderberger said. “That said, I have no intention whatsoever of sitting here in front of you today and telling you we will never have a battery failure.”
The 787 Dreamliner was grounded in January after a pair of smoky battery incidents aboard Japanese-owned planes, one parked in Boston and one flying over Japan. Boeing had delivered 50 787s by that point, including four made in North Charleston.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the Boston fire while its Japanese counterpart has been investigating the other incident. While the root cause of the battery malfunctions has not been determined, the NTSB did conclude a short circuit led to “thermal runaway” in the battery.
Hinderberger disputed that determination during Tuesday’s conference call, instead calling it “thermal propagation.”
Terminology aside, he said, Boeing has taken the battery issue extremely seriously, drawing in hundreds of engineers from around the company and outside to develop what is being advertised as a comprehensive and permanent fix.
Boeing South Carolina was not involved in either the fix and is not involved in the testing, a spokesman confirmed.
Check back later for more details.
Reach Brendan Kearney at 937-5906 and follow him on Twitter at @kearney_brendan. | <urn:uuid:eddb6d30-5b8e-4d08-a9f3-6f43ec63ee5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130315/PC05/130319490/1010/boeing-faa-will-have-787-battery-test-results-soon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958079 | 523 | 1.6875 | 2 |
By Scott Canon and Judy L. Thomas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Freelance writer and Kansas City travel book author Katy Ryan is a deeply rooted citizen of the Facebook world.
It’s a place to promote her book, stay in touch with friends and post musings “three to five times a day — even more.”
Ryan, 27, also is part of a growing segment of the nearly 500 million Facebook users. She’s irritated about the site’s ever-changing privacy rules. She feels as if she’s been invited somewhere for intimacy only to find the private made ever more public.
“I can’t quit because I need it professionally, and I’m addicted to it,” Ryan said. “But the privacy thing does bother me. I was online the other night trying to adjust my privacy settings, and I didn’t understand everything. … Mostly I don’t like that you have to opt out of sharing information when it seems like you should have to opt in.”
A Digital Age society that seemed so intent on sharing so much appears to be in retreat, awakened to how technology makes uncomfortably communal what people assumed was confidential.
For now, the biggest revolt is at Facebook — a virtual community so large that if it existed in the real world it would trail only India and China in population.
Boycotts are forming over Facebook’s move to extend its network to other websites. Federal regulators have been called on to instill order on privacy rules, and breakaway republics are calling for an exodus to alternate utopias.
People old and young are shifting their privacy standards — and they are frustrated at what a tricky feat that poses.
Despite the perception that modesty is dead — fueled by anecdotes of teenage girls sending sexually explicit photos and messages on their smart phones or star athletes tweeting dish about their coaches — research suggests Americans also want the private kept private.
One study found that the number of teens who blog dropped by half in three years. Another study concluded that almost two in three teens let only friends see their online profiles. A third survey found that nearly nine in 10 Americans — and the numbers hold steady across age groups — have refused to surrender information about themselves online to companies on the grounds that a request was too personal.
More than half of Americans say they now worry more about privacy on the Internet than they did five years ago. Just one in 20 is less anxious.
Things that have long been public, such as property tax records, court filings and campaign donations, now feel more public. What once required a trip to a courthouse and some record-searching savvy now can be found by your neighbor or ex-husband with a few mouse clicks.
“People search” engines such as ZoomInfo, Intelius and Spokeo collect names, addresses, phone numbers and real estate information from online public sources. The services also gather personal information from social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.
Within seconds, a search of a person’s name on Spokeo, for example, turns up his age, address, education, hobbies, the number of people in his home, the home’s estimated value and median neighborhood income. For a fee, the website promises even more. However, the data aren’t verified, and sample searches quickly show that in many cases the information is wrong.
Some of the websites let you delete your name, but that doesn’t scrub your presence from the rest of the Internet.
Data mining has become an industry, a silent harvest of information about where you travel on the Web, what you buy and the online friends you’ve chosen.
That information is very valuable to marketers, and it is essentially what pays for your time on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the growing universe of social networking. It also is what has made Mark Zuckerberg the villain of the month.
The wunderkind started Facebook in 2004 in his Harvard University dorm room.
When a friend asked how he had amassed more than 4,000 e-mails, pictures and addresses of people on the Cambridge, Mass., campus, Zuckerberg reportedly e-mailed that “people just submitted it. … I don’t know why. … They trust me.” And then he profanely called them dumb.
Facebook was an instant sensation. It quickly encompassed all the Ivy League, then dozens of colleges, and then the world.
Zuckerberg has rejected many offers, some for as much as $15 billion, to sell the company. Yet only this year is Facebook finally expected to turn a profit on revenue approaching $2 billion.
What makes it so valuable? Data.
Advertisers and marketers see gold in the identities revealed through social networking — people sharing their ages, the beers they drink and the musicians they idolize.
Part of the reason people flocked to Facebook in such large numbers — compared with sites that drew similar traffic before — was its offer of a seemingly safe space of friends. If a college student wanted to reminisce about last night’s kegger, she could post pictures so only campus friends would see. If she wanted to talk about a preacher’s sermon that moved her, well, that’s a post that Dad could see, too.
In 2005, the default privacy settings for Facebook shared your pictures and thoughts only with people in your various networks on the site. By last month, virtually everything — your pictures, the organizations you clicked to “like,” your friends and more — were made available to the entire Internet unless you tweaked your settings.
The company readjusted the default settings in response to user backlash. (Facebook and MySpace in recent weeks stopped sharing consumers’ names and personal details with advertisers in response to queries about the practice from The Wall Street Journal. The companies had said they only shared broad demographic information.)
In the face of a fresh wave of criticism, Zuckerberg on Wednesday announced changes to simplify privacy settings. Facebook also scaled back the information everyone can access, limiting to a user’s name, gender, network and profile picture. It also made it easier to opt out of the site’s “instant personalization” feature.
But politicians have joined the backlash for privacy, pressing the Federal Trade Commission to impose privacy standards on social networks.
Privacy groups have filed complaints with the commission, accusing Facebook of “deceptive practices” in the way it sets and periodically changes its privacy policies and user settings.
“It’s a bait and switch,” said Wendy Seltzer, a fellow with Silicon Flatirons, a law and technology think tank at the University of Colorado. “They keep opening up much more information by default. They change the space without telling users clearly enough.”
Critics say social networks that can’t be trusted should be left behind, and some are campaigning for a mass walkout from Facebook on May 31.
“We just can’t see Facebook’s current direction being aligned with any positive future for the Web, so we’re leaving,” says the website QuitFacebookDay.com.
Last month, four New York University students began raising money to create an alternative to Facebook called Diaspora, a “decentralized social networking framework.” In three weeks they raised more than $178,000 from 5,400 donors. The creators are promising “full control of your online identity.”
Why do people even want online identities?
“To be the stars of their own reality shows,” said Parry Aftab, an expert on cyberspace security and the executive director of WiredSafety.org, an organization that serves on Facebook’s Safety Advisory Board. “They get attention. They think people are interested in when they’re brushing their teeth, when they just had a cup of coffee, every time they start a diet and when they start dating.”
But just like in the real world, even information shared only with friends gets passed on — sometimes by those same friends.
“Once you put something online, there’s no pulling it back in,” said Jeff Lanza, a former FBI agent who now consults on Internet fraud and security.
Launched earlier this month, the website Openbook.org combines all public Facebook posts into a continually updated stream, making it easy to search for embarrassing comments.
A search of the phrase “my boss is” resulted in tons of posts, including “My boss is an (expletive). I wish I could punch him out.” Mike in Texas wrote, “My boss is driving me crazy, he actually EXPECTS good work in reasonable time. Forget it man u cant have both so choose.”
Just this month, a waitress at a pizza place in Charlotte, N.C., was fired after complaining on Facebook about some customers who stayed for three hours, forcing her to work beyond her shift, then left what she thought was a paltry tip.
Buck Sommerkamp of Lee’s Summit, Mo., a website developer, is keen to the dangers of online sharing. He takes care with all his Facebook settings and is cautious about what he posts.
“They’re putting people in the position of constantly monitoring. And I’m getting tired of it,” he said. But Facebook is key to his business and a valued part of his social life.
“Someday I might reach the point where this isn’t worth it,” he said. “I’m not there yet.”
WHAT SHOULD BE PRIVATE?
According to a University of California at Berkeley survey:
—88 percent of Americans believe “anyone who uploads a photo or video of me to the Internet where I am clearly recognizable should first get my permission.”
—68 percent of Americans “think there should be a law that gives people the right to know everything that a website knows about them.”
—92 percent of Americans “think there should be a law that requires websites and advertising companies to delete all stored information about an individual.”
—Half of Americans “hardly ever” or never read the privacy policies of websites and only 14 percent do so often.
A FAST-GROWING GIANT
Facebook, the world’s largest social networking site, was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, then a 19-year-old computer whiz at Harvard University who started writing software in the sixth grade.
Originally called TheFacebook, the site began as an online student directory created by Zuckerberg and two roommates. After spreading across the Harvardcampus, the site expanded to other universities, becoming so popular that Zuckerberg dropped out and moved to California to run it.
The number of users skyrocketed as Zuckerberg expanded Facebook access from college students to high school students and, finally, to adults. Initial funding for the company consisted of $500,000 from Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, in 2004. In 2005, the company received $12.7 million from Accel Partners and later received $27.5 million from Greylock Partners. It also received funding from Meritech Capital Partners.
Facebook was sued in its early years by ConnectU, a similar social networking site whose creators said Zuckerberg stole their idea in 2003 when they hired him to create a campus dating site. Zuckerberg denied the allegations, and last year Facebook settled the lawsuit.
Today, Facebook has nearly 500 million users, 1,200 employees and a custom-built search engine that serves millions of queries a day.
The company headquarters is in Palo Alto, Calif., with offices throughout the United States and in Ireland, England, Italy, France, Sweden, Australia andCanada. CEO Zuckerberg, who turned 26 this month, is often referred to as the world’s youngest billionaire.
LET’S GET SOCIAL
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project:
—73 percent of American teens used social networking websites in 2009, compared to 65 percent in 2008 and 55 percent in 2006.
—47 percent of U.S. adults used social networks in 2009, compared to 37 percent in 2008.
—Of adults who use social networks, 52 percent have two or more different profiles.
—74 percent of all adults go online, compared to 93 percent of people aged 12 to 29.
Facebook says that 60 percent of teens on the system use privacy controls, compared with 25 to 30 percent of adult users.
(c) 2010, The Kansas City Star.
Visit The Star Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.kansascity.com.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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Fish and Game Q&A: Can I use a spear to kill nuisance wild rabbits?
In support of the California Department of Fish and Game and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Outposts, on Thursday afternoon or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly Q&A column:
Question: I live in an association complex in San Clemente. The cottontail rabbit population has exploded and the rabbits are doing a lot of damage to lawns and vegetation. The association said they can do nothing because the rabbits are protected. What can be legally done by the association or me? Can I take them by spear? Thank you. (Gary A., San Clemente)
Answer: Because you are within city limits your best alternative will be to put up some type of exclusionary fencing to prevent further damage. Associate wildlife biologist Randy Botta suggests that a fence of two-foot-high chicken wire with the bottom buried a few inches in the soil should be sufficient to exclude rabbits from an area. Mesh size should be one inch or smaller.
To protect trees or landscape plants, construct a barrier around the plants in the form of a cylinder made of plastic tubing or 1/4-inch wire hardware cloth that extends higher than a rabbit's reach and stands far enough away from the trunk in such a way that rabbits cannot eat through the mesh. Mesh size from 1/2 to 3/4 inch can be used but hardware cloth will best guarantee protection.
Taste and odor repellents may also be used but are most effective when dealing with small numbers of rabbits and at the first sign of damage. These repellents usually have to be reapplied at regular intervals, especially following rains. In some cases, habitat manipulation to remove their living and hiding places may be effective but this may require official approvals and authorization from your association.
If you or your association decides all of these passive persuasions are not enough and more drastic measures are needed, a ruling by the Attorney General in 2006 now authorizes that cottontails and brush rabbits may be killed at any time if they are found to be damaging landscaping, ornamental plants, crops and/or gardens (FGC Section 4186). In Orange County, you have the authorization to use box traps in addition to the other methods of take authorized by the regulations (CCR T14 section 311). Box traps have been used successfully to capture cottontails, or you may want to hire an authorized trapper to catch and remove the animals. Firearms and other methods of take may be used only where local ordinances allow, so check with local authorities first before attempting to do so.
And finally, even if all of these methods fail, you still cannot take them by spear.
Question: I know there is a law prohibiting spearfishing in the ocean within 100 yards of a stream or river outlet. Is it OK to enter the water from the beach and swim out past 100 yards with our equipment before we start fishing? Or would we have to find a beach with no outlet at all? (MJH)
Answer: The regulation you are referencing was designed to protect salmon and steelhead that are entering or exiting a river. FGC Section 28.90, which refers to diving and spearfishing, states that “no person may possess or use a spear within 100 yards of the mouth of any stream in any ocean waters north of Ventura County."
According to Lt. Dennis McKiver, because the regulation says "no person may possess ... within 100 yards," it would be unlawful to even stand on the beach with a spear in hand if you are within 100 yards of the mouth of a stream. This means that you will need to find an entry point more than 100 yards away from the mouth of the stream to enter the water to go spearfishing.
Question: I would like to make my own abalone irons. What are the specifications to do so legally? (Jim B., Oakdale)
Answer: Abalone irons must be less than 36 inches long, straight or with a curve having a radius of not less than 18 inches, and must not be less than 3/4-inch wide nor less than 1/16-inch thick. All edges must be rounded and free of sharp edges (FGC Section 29.15[e]).
Question: Our dog ate our fishing licenses … really! What can we do to replace them without having to pay full prices for new ones? (Christie R.)
Answer: If you still have the carbon copy receipt from your original, take it to a DFG license agent office, and for a replacement fee of $9.20, you can get a new license. Any stamps on your original license must be purchased again at the full price. If you no longer have proof of your original license purchase (carbon copy receipt or a clear photocopy of your original license), you will need to purchase new licenses at full cost.
Photo: Wild rabbits such as this may create problems for homeowners by damaging landscaping, ornamental plants, crops and gardens. Credit: Carrie Wilson / DFG | <urn:uuid:157123ad-c44b-4d4b-86c9-a2f36bb11791> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/07/fish-and-game-qa.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941541 | 1,044 | 1.671875 | 2 |
I've recently been appointed as Academic Dean at United (effective July 1), so I've been thinking through the ways in which I conceive of the work of theological education. Here's a brief statement of what I've come up with. Of course, it's subject to revision, so if you have comments, I'd like to receive them.
I believe that theological education should involve four main characteristics. First, we should aim to deepen the faith of our students by helping them to explore the riches of the Christian tradition through the centuries. Scripture, creeds, sacraments, spiritual disciplines, and other resources are all part of the rich heritage passed down to us by our fathers and mothers in the faith. They are ports of entry into the life of God, ways in which we receive the Holy Spirit and become the people that God wishes us to be.
Second, we should try to instill within our students intellectual virtue and help them avoid intellectual vice. Intellectual virtue is characterized by traits such as listening, coherence, wisdom, empathy, critical judgment, and truthfulness. Intellectual vice, on the other hand, involves the rejection of these. If we cannot genuinely engage the positions of other people, most especially those with whom we disagree, the end result will always be division, and I do not believe that division is God’s will for the church.
Third, we should in all things strive to equip students for the work of ministry. In the classroom we must always have an eye toward the work of parish ministry, so while we take students into detailed discussions of our various disciplines, the goal is always the same: to create faithful and effective pastors. Scholarship is crucially important, but our scholarly work should be in service to the church. I want to maintain a vibrant conversation with church leaders about ways in which we can work together to prepare people for faithful and effective ministry.
Fourth, we should proceed in all humility. The work that God has given us is humbling work. We are constantly confronted with mysteries of the faith that we can never fully understand. We must be good listeners, first to God, but also to our students, to church leaders, and to one another. Insofar as we disagree, we should carry out our conversations in humility and Christian gentleness, keeping in mind that we serve Christ, who humbled himself for our salvation. | <urn:uuid:f04160c4-255a-4de7-aa75-1807b2afb92a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drwatsonselementaryblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-philosophy-of-theological-education.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96523 | 480 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Parent Organization: Department of Student Life
A PLACE TO TALK is student-to-student peer listening for the Hopkins community. We provide a cozy environment for anyone to discuss anything, from everyday frustrations to serious concerns. Peer listeners are undergraduate students who have been trained to listen and respond without giving advice. We'll help you to explore your thoughts and feelings and come to your own solutions. All talks and visits to APTT are always confidential.
The APTT rooms are located in AMR I and Wolman and are open from 7 p.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday.
We are the one stranger you should always accept candy from. We listen without judging. We have board games, coloring books and nail polish. We nod a lot. We can't offer advice, but we can offer stuffed animals, a kind smile, and people who care. We will always have free food on hand. We are empathetic. We love cookie cake. Stop by the room and meet us -- and within five minutes, you will want to hug us. | <urn:uuid:356de518-92cf-4e10-b10f-3650c0bc5557> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://johnshopkins.collegiatelink.net/organization/aplacetotalk/about | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97401 | 216 | 1.695313 | 2 |
It's pretty obvious that the 3 hokages knew of the technique. I don't think Madara created the jutsu, his pride in his mangekyou sharingan was too great for him to be relying on others for power. Most likely Rikudou Sennin or the 1st Created it. But what I'm thinking is that it was a secret technique, along with other death-related jutsus, of the Senju Clan, reason why they were so powerful, enough to rival the EMS and his uchihas.
The Mokuton bloodline of the senju clan had the power to create life, it would make sense if they had also successfully learned to control the power of death, giving them godly powers. The first himself could've used the technique to overpower and defeat madara who wouldn't really have a counter to it. Then after defeating madara, when peace was coming to konoha, he declared the death jutsus forbidden, only to be studied by the hokages in case to use them as a last resort to protect the village. That's why the 4th used that knowledge and created shiki-fujin.
But Oro's ambitions led him to discover and study those jutsus. It would also mean that Tsunade has acquired that knowledge and being the granddaughter of the 1st, she should be able to master the kinjutsus very well. I think that Shiki Fujin balances Edo Tensei in that souls brought back from the underworld will be caught within the belly of the deathgod, but only a person strong enough would be able to summon them back from the shinigami's belly as Oro was trying to do with Fourth Hokage.
It would be cool if the 1st had actually used Edo Tensei to summon the Rikudou Sennin and help him fight against Madara, and then released his soul with some sort of life-giving jutsu until the sage was reincarnated as Pain aka nagato years later during a time of massive war and suffering. And now, in a twist of fate, Madara's using the rinnegan power for his own benefit. | <urn:uuid:570529d2-76e2-44d8-9ea0-d744fc164c3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mangashare.com/forums/threads/4868-Edo-Tensei-who-created-it?p=103138&mode=linear | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989757 | 451 | 1.679688 | 2 |
I am just curious about herpes and the outbreaks...I don't think I have herpes but I was just wondering what people mean by bumps and such when they describe the appearence of herpes...are the bumps small? I get big pimples that hurt not burn...What are signs to look for such as appearence? Would someone be able to know when they were having an outbreak? Is it always really painful for the most part? Thanks for reading my thread...any help would be appreciated...::hugs::
Painful pimples could be simply pimples, or cysts, or infected hair follicles, but painful bumps in the genital area would be suspicious for herpes and perhaps it is something you should check by being tested.
Herpes is usually, but not always, somewhat painful, although sometimes people get very mild outbreaks. | <urn:uuid:ac8b1cc9-95e8-490f-a7c8-c925bb735f99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthboards.com/boards/herpes/268565-herpes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983797 | 171 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Way back at the beginning of the school year I was sent a box of review items from Greek 'n' Stuff. In the box was the Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek Level 1 Workbook, answer key and pronunciation CD. Greek 'n' Stuff has been the only review I've done that had requested such a long review period--months really, and I think it was wise of them. You can only know if a product stands the test of time if you spend time with it, and that's just what we on the Homeschool Crew did with this product.
Greek 'n' Stuff offers 8 levels of workbooks to teach the student Greek. Level 1, the level we received is for the child who knows no Greek, and who is capable of paper and pencil work. It focuses mainly on learning the Greek alphabet--writing the letters, knowing their names and sounds. The CD is a must when using this level since it tells you how to pronounce each letter.
The level 1 workbook is $14.95, and the Answers Only Answer Key is $4.00. The pronunciation CD is $10.00 and includes pronunciation for the words and letters in both Level 1 and Level 2. Greek 'n' Stuff also offers partial starter sets and complete sets if you want to order more levels at a time.
Little Bean started this when he was 5 and is now 6, which is the target age range for this level. He really enjoyed the workbook, which has a variety of activities to keep things interesting. Cut out flashcards are at the back of the book, and are at the heart of this program, since they provide frequent review and opportunities for memorization beyond what a workbook can provide. Greek 'n' Stuff recommends that older children or adults begin at level 3 in their study of Greek.
This was a very thorough program, but I'll be honest, my son could probably have learned the Greek alphabet in just a few short weeks or days. There aren't a ton of letters, and many of the sounds are intuitive, it seems. Thus, while we did take our time using the workbook, doing only one letter per week, we could have moved at a much faster pace and probably been on the next level or two by now. It's a very simple program, I think my son would have enjoyed something a little more engaging, but for many children, a no-frill program works well since it doesn't have anything to distract the child from the work at hand.
Will we be continuing our study of Greek at this time? No, probably not. However, if we do go back to Greek at some point, I now know of a source for quality workbooks that I will look into if we do decide to go that route one day.
Note: I was given this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine. | <urn:uuid:f9ccabcb-ceb2-4a76-b7ea-2bd8f39ceac3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mytwohappyhomeschoolers.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981572 | 594 | 1.523438 | 2 |
|It was George’s Birthday over the weekend! George turned 2!
This Happy Birthday Sensory Bin, that No Twiddle Twaddle is sharing today, would have been a perfect activity during the party, and may just be something we do for the fun of it this week to extend his birthday!
Hi! I’m Bethany from the kid lit and play blog No Twiddle Twaddle, and I’m excited that Jamie is letting me share with you today my Happy Birthday Sensory Bin.
One of my closest friends’ Elisabeth recently invited our family to her preschool daughter’s birthday party. Elisabeth often tells me that she wishes that she had time to put together some of the activities that I create and write about. Actually, all my activities are incredibly simple [otherwise I would never do them myself], but I understand that the thought of dying pasta and assembling a sensory activity might be overwhelming to a mom who has never tried it before. So, I decided that I would make a special Happy Birthday themed activity as a gift for Elisabeth’s little girl.
I filled the bin with a variety of brightly colored objects to reflect the happy spirit of a child’s birthday.
Some of the objects were chosen for their fun textures and colors:
- colored pasta
- small balls
But, I also added birthday themed items:
- curling ribbon
- birthday-themed confetti
To add an extra level of fun to the box, I put a in:
- plastic cupcake tin
- a measuring cup
- plastic spoon in the box
Every preschooler loves to make pretend cupcakes!
I packaged the whole sensory activity in an inexpensive plastic tub with a lid that I found at a dollar store. Elisabeth’s kid is a huge fan of Dora the Explorer, so I made sure to give her a package of Dora stickers to decorate her bin with.
The kids immediately all gathered around the bin when Elisabeth’s daughter opened our gift and started playing with it at the party. Fortunately, no one dumped out the whole bin! If I were to make it again, I would seal all of the sensory objects in a clear plastic bag and tape it shut.
This sensory activity not only makes a great gift but also would be a great bin to put together and bring out as a special treat on birthdays in a school or home setting.
If you enjoyed this sensory bin, you may also enjoy my other sensory bins and bottles:
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Sensory Bin [Guest post on Make and Takes]
- Old Bear Four Seasons Sensory Bin and Bottles
- Chrysanthemum Flower Sensory Bottles
- Fireworks in a Bottle
I would love to hear what you think.
Have you ever made a special birthday activity for a child?
Bethany started No Twiddle Twaddle in January, 2012, to create a kid lit and play blog that combines love for great literature with a down to earth perspective of a mom with small children. When she’s not writing (or folding the never-ending stack of laundry), you might find her killing dragons in the backyard, joining a mission to Mars, or if lucky curled up on the couch reading to her kids.
Not only does Bethany write about fun sensory activities, but she also writes a daily list of the best free kids’ eBooks, reviews children’s books, and creates literary activities for parents and teachers. | <urn:uuid:ed8b7d09-ae82-42b9-aaa3-55bf0b177adf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://handsonaswegrow.com/happy-birthday-sensory-bin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956422 | 733 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Top 10: Real-Life Gordon Gekkos
© Everett Collection
Gordon Gekko is a villain. He is supposed to be a cautionary tale of an intelligent and ambitious man who allowed greed to turn him into a criminal who became wealthy off the pain of others. However, the next generation of Wall Street embraced Gekko as an icon and followed his business model.
Gekko's infamous speech on greed was inspired by a commencement speech Ivan Boesky delivered at the University of California, Berkeley. He called greed healthy. Later that year he was forced to pay a $100 million penalty to the SEC and went to prison for insider trading charges. Despite Boesky and Gekko's fall, their mantra on greed wove its way into American business, and personal wealth became the most important thing above all else.
The following men are all highly intelligent, however, they have proven that they are not above making millions at the cost of innocent Americans losing it. They're ranked by the levels of their greed and low ethics. As Gordon Gekko said: "If you need a friend, get a dog."
Here are the top 10 real-life Gordon Gekkos. | <urn:uuid:e35a7f0a-774b-4f25-b3ee-27f461d65442> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment/top-10-real-life-gordon-gekkos.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976614 | 245 | 1.835938 | 2 |
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|| Austria 2003 Home | Program description | Other current programs ||
Vienna 1Friday January 10, 2003
Some of the easiest things to do at home are the hardest to do while you're a foreigner. For example eating lunch today at a local pizza place our waitress spoke little or no English. We were so tired from the plane ride the night before we were giggling like little school girls, because we found everything funny. Like Mike's (Carpenter) pizza came back with corn, ham, and a giant pepper, which was not a pepperoni pizza which he tried to get through to our server.
This culture is not wasteful at all; eat all your food on your plate, keep your place colder, drinks are warmer with no ice, and no shopping bags at the grocery store. These are just a few that I have to get adjusted to. I found if I did not do these things properly I would get looks, telling me that I was an American. | <urn:uuid:ada3cb7a-249c-49e3-ad5c-e102fdcd6a50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://emu.edu/crosscultural/austria2003/vienna1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972831 | 208 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Tips On Lunging: Part 1
Hi this is Will Faerber from Art2Ride and I am here with Dave Murphy and he is lunging his horse Zoe. We have had quite a few questions come in on the internet asking about lunging and how to start their horses, so I thought this would be a good opportunity. You can watch Dave who is still learning himself and we can talk about what he is doing right and what he is doing wrong.
As I have stated before in some of my answers to some of you, the most important thing you have to establish when you are lunging a horse is the horse staying out at the end of the line. Don’t worry about if the horse is trotting or walking and especially whoa. Most people worry about whoa, when in fact you need to worry about go. The horse needs to go out to the end of the line using the whip as your leg essentially. You are basically moving the horse into your hand, which is your rein. If this is done correctly the horse will move out and stay out there. The next important thing once you can keep the horse out there, is you can begin to worry about what gait the horse is in and the quality of that gait. But the first thing that has to happen as I said, is the horse has to stay out there.
As you can see in the video, Dave has let Zoe become too slow so he needs to keep his whip up and send her on forward so she will go out into the rein a little more. He has to be a little more active, notice how he is always walking forward with the horse and never backing up, which was a problem that he had when I first started working with him, he was always backing away from the horse. Body language is so important! It is so important that you stretch up and stand tall when lunging because that will help the horse respect you. Once again there is a visual aspect, the horse must respect your position on the ground. Zoe gets a little too slow again, can you see how she started to come in on the line? So once again, he needs to send the horse out on the line and keep her more active. Then Dave must begin to look for a working trot, that is when the horse is reaching deeply underneath the body.
Now this is a horse that is quite nervous so she goes into a little tizzy fit there because a car drove by. A few months ago, that little fit would have lasted a half an hour or so with her running around like a lunatic, now he is able to bring her right back down by sending her forward. So the most important thing to remember, just like when you ride, you can’t constantly stop and let the horse look at everything that it wants to look at. If you do that, you will never get from point A to point B because pretty soon they will want to look at everything and you will get nowhere at all. So the best advice in the classical school is to ignore whatever it is that is making them nervous and just send them on forward. Just send them on actively forward, even if it’s too actively forward you can just settle them down after the fact, just don’t try to whoa! That’s the biggest mistake that people make with horses, especially hot blooded horses, is they worry about if the animal will stand still before they can actually channel the horse forward.
So you kind of have to think how a stallion works a herd, watch what a stallion does (you can probably find some videos on youtube), he controls the herd by pushing it forward, just like we are controlling this mare by sending her forward on the lunge line. A stallion never stops a horse, in fact he has to woo the lady to get her to stand still and that’s only after he has had her moving around a while. So if you watch a stallion move a herd, it is exactly how you must lunge a horse. The stallion will get right behind them and nip them right in that fleshy part of their buttocks above the hocks, which is the place that you ought to touch the horse with the whip. There are only three places that we ever want to touch the horse with the whip: the fleshy place above the hock, right at the point where your leg would be and want the horse to move away, and the third place that is okay to use the whip on if the horse spins around on you is the shoulder because it get them to switch back around to the other direction.
So now we see that Dave has Zoe moving better, she has a nice swinging trot now and she is relaxing over her topline though she tends to go up and down. This is a horse who’s mouth was very nervous and busy, so we spent quite a bit of time just letting her relax. Notice how the side reins are correctly adjusted on this horse, they are at such a length that the horse is not confined in any way but if she were to throw her head way up in the air it’s going to encounter the contact with the bridle. If she stretches down there is something there for her to stretch down into and accept that contact. So that is the correct length of side reins, unless you are working a much more advanced horse into collection, and that’s a whole new lesson. For right now, most of you and even advanced level horses they need to mostly lunge in this length of rein. The idea of lunging is getting them soft and round over the back and stretching into the contact instead of confining their necks as most people are doing today in riding. You see all these horses with their necks crimped in and that’s not the same thing as collection. After the horse has developed the back, collection is the degree to which the horse lowers the three joints of the hind leg. It’s very simply one thing, it’s not a horse that is actively snapping it’s legs up either as we see in the show ring today. Those horses are just active, they are not really collected.
So happily, we see Dave on his way to some good and active work there now, she is starting to swing into the contact and she is starting to relax even though there are cars going by. He is keeping her working. She spooks a little bit, same thing here, he is not going to try and stop her, he is going to send her on a little bit with his whip and then he is going to settle her down. Instead of making her whoa first, he is going to make her go a little bit. My father taught me at a very young age that if I had a horse that was a runaway, he would say to take it out into a field and gallop it until it doesn’t want to gallop anymore and then ride it for a few minutes and it won’t runaway anymore. That is the most important lesson you will ever learn with horses, if you try to force them to stand still you will be in trouble.
Remember our primary goal that has to happen before anything else before the pieces will all work is the horse needs to stay out on the lunge line into the hand so that we can control it. Just like when we ride, we want the horse to move into the contact with the bridle not fall behind it nor bear down on it. We want it to respect it yet take soft and supple contact with it that allows us to communicate with the horse. Very nice, this is Dave Murphy lunging Zoe today. I hope some of these points have helped you by watching Dave lunge. You can see the proper development of the horse now, she is starting to stretch into the contact though she could be a little more active there and once we get everything else we have to be sure that we get the working trot. The working trot is the horse working over the topline with a good swinging trot, that is the deepest step underneath with the slowest rhythm. Those are the things we are trying to put together. When we put those things together we usually have the working trot, that is the horse working over it’s back. See how nicely she is starting to stretch into that contact now?
Thanks a lot, this is Will Faerber from Art2Ride and we will see you next time! | <urn:uuid:9b92600d-5f6c-4ce3-8f1c-2ebb38d814c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.art2ride.com/blog/tips-on-lunging-part-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981208 | 1,753 | 1.671875 | 2 |
brought to you by Kollel Iyun Hadaf of Yerushalayim
& Revach l'Neshamah - http://www.revach.net
It is forbidden to buy wood or fruit from people who guard fruit; however it is permitted to buy produce from a sharecropper because we assume he is selling his own portion in the produce.
It is permitted to buy fruit from a person who guards fruit if he is selling it publicly, but if they instruct you to hide the fruit it is forbidden.
It is permitted to buy fruit from a person who guards fruit if he is selling it at the entrance of the garden, but not if he is selling it behind the garden.
Rav says it is permitted to purchase items from a Gazlan if the majority of his possessions are not stolen property, while Shmuel holds it is permitted even if only a minority of his possessions is not stolen property.
It is a Machlokes between R. Huna and R. Yehudah whether it is permitted to destroy the possessions of a Moser. (1)
R. Yochanan says when someone steals the value of a Perutah from his friend it is tantamount to taking his Neshamah and the Neshamos of his children. (2)
It is permitted to buy woolen garments from women in Yehudah and linen garments from women in Galil but one may not buy wine oil and flour from women, servants, or children. (3)
A charity collector may take small donations from women but not large donations.
It is permitted to buy large amounts of olives or olive oil from the wives of oil merchants but it is forbidden to buy small amounts.
The shreds of wool that detached from a garment when it is laundered belong to the laundryman, but the shreds of wool that detach from the garment when it is being combed belong to the customer. (3)
A laundryman may keep the three threads at the edge of a wool garment but if there are more than three threads it belongs to the customer. (4)
If a tailor received material from a customer and he has enough leftover thread to sew with, or he has leftover material the size of three Tefachim by three Tefachim it belongs to the customer.
If a carpenter received wood from a customer the leftover wood chips belong to him, however the wood that is leftover after cutting the wood with a hatchet belongs to the customer.
If the carpenter is working in the house of the customer even the shavings belong to the customer.
It is forbidden to buy shreds of wool from a wool comber because it is forbidden for him to keep them but in a place where the custom is that the comber keeps the shreds it is permitted to buy it from them.
It is always permitted to buy a pillow or mattress stuffed with wool because even if he stole the wool he was Koneh it with a Shinuy.
A BIT MORE
1. One opinion holds that since it is permitted to kill him it is certainly permitted to destroy his money, while the other opinion holds we may not destroy his money because of his children will be a Tzadik and he will inherit the money.
2. Even if he pays for the object that he took by force and even if he only took money from the person by way of Gerama it is as if he took his Neshamah
3. It is the custom for women to make woolen garments in Yehudah it and linen garments in Galil and they usually receive permission from their husbands, however it is not usual for women to receive permission from their husbands to sell wine oil and flour and therefore we are concerned for the possibility that they stole it from their husbands.
3. When a woolen garment is combed large shreds of wool detach from the garment and the owner is Makpid on these pieces of wool therefore it may not be kept by the comber.
4. The makers of wool garments weave three threads of a different type of material at the edge of the garment and the laundryman removes these threads and evens out the garment and he may keep the threads if there are no more than three threads, however if the threads are black and the garments is white he may keep the threads even if there are more than three threads.
Index to Revach for Maseches Bava Kama | <urn:uuid:faf45f04-2965-4167-a8af-f4405e9b0c74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dafyomi.co.il/memdb/revdaf.php?tid=21&id=119 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97787 | 924 | 1.8125 | 2 |
June 19, 2013
Missouri Engineer Receives Prestigious Government Achievement and Service Award
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 31, 2009) Amy Ruggieri, P.E., was recently awarded the prestigious Professional Engineer in Government Achievement and Service in the United States (PEGASUS) Award by the National Society of Professional Engineers.
The PEGASUS Award, also known as the Government Engineer of the Year Award, recognizes a professional engineer employed by a state, regional, county, special district, or municipal government who has made the most outstanding contribution to the advancement and practice of engineering. The winner is selected from nominations received through NSPE's state societies and is judged by a panel established through NSPE's Professional Engineers in Government (PEG). Nominees are judged on civic and humanitarian activities, formal and continuing education, engineering achievements, professional and technical society activities, and licensure or professional registration.
Amy Ruggieri, P.E., is a senior engineer at the Power Station, City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri, where she is responsible for evaluating problem areas within the station with regard to equipment failure and performance and reliability and recommending improvements. She previously worked in water treatment and supply maintenance within the utility. Her current responsibilities include serving as coordinator between the operating plant and the team constructing a new $600 million generating unit at Southwest Power Station. Other achievements have included completing paving projects on time and within budget, successfully supervising and encouraging development of an engineering technician, coordinating the successful resolution of a boiler water quality problem, and consulting with a sister station on multiple structural projects.
In addition to technical ability, Ruggieri has been a member of PEG since 1991 and currently serves as the PEG director for the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers. She has served on the board of the Springfield chapter, PEG, and the Missouri society, as well as several committees and is very active at the local level.
Ruggieri is extremely involved in the local community, mentoring students interested in engineering, assisting junior high school girls in a Discovery Club, and participating in numerous charities, such as March of Dimes and the United Way. She was also instrumental in the success of local "Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day" events in her community. Ruggieri holds bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla.
The National Society of Professional Engineers is the national society of licensed professional engineers from all disciplines that promotes the ethical and competent practice of engineering, advocates licensure, and enhances the image and well-being of its members. Founded in 1934, NSPE serves more than 45,000 members and the public through 53 state and territorial societies and more than 500 chapters. For more information, please visit www.nspe.org. | <urn:uuid:81910023-80b9-435d-b918-e6162d45fba8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nspe.org/Media/PressReleases/pr_073109_PEGASUS.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964568 | 574 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Early Childhood Education
About the Early Childhood Education team
Established in 1998, Early Childhood Education (ECE) at UNE is committed to teaching that is engaging, meaningful and life long.
We offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses that specialize in Early Childhood Education. Our BEd(EC) will help you become one of Australia's 4-year trained Pre-School teachers.
OUR UNITS OF STUDY
Early Childhood Education units of study (EDEC prefix) are offered in undergraduate and postgraduate awards. For a detailed description, link to the Course and Unit Catalogue.
Our staff are involved in a wide range of projects, and we are actively involved in local, national and international professional and research communities, including:
- Summer Institute
- Life at One
- ECE in Bhutan
- ALA Project | <urn:uuid:f781ba1c-f2f6-4091-a0bd-1a24dbfee004> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.une.edu.au/study/early-childhood/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952003 | 173 | 1.65625 | 2 |
When the stakes are raised, making a decision can seem like a task that is almost too daunting.
But great leaders are also typically great decision-makers. And for this reason, they’re usually the ones burdened with this duty. When you’re forced to make a decision that can change the course of a company, the best practices process you will use to reach that decision should become exponentially more involved. Still, things should never be overcomplicated.
To reach the right decision, you need to make sure that you’ve weighed every factor proportionately. Make sure you’ve consulted management teams at your company during your deliberation. Also, consider looking at the available thought leadership on the subject to aid you.
More importantly, once you reach a decision, you should remain open to other possibilities. This doesn’t mean that you should waffle or second-guess yourself. It just means that you should stay open-minded, while being ready to move forward with your determination. For more information on this subject, read the full article by Amy Gallo. | <urn:uuid:0c54dd1c-7d5a-44e8-8835-72c59dd3a67f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://labs.openviewpartners.com/making-decisions-with-significant-consequences/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959605 | 225 | 1.664063 | 2 |
This post illustrates how I am developing my visual structures in the Psalter. One year after the Psalms conference in Oxford, when I had just completed a first complete marathon (for me) read of the Hebrew Psalter in 2 months, I am now ready to focus on seeing - and hopefully eliminate the tendency to blather on about
I find I write differently for paper than for the web. The design problems are different and there is a need for frequent revision and editing. Also - it's the-whites-of-their-eyes issue. The whole will emerge when I am given enough time. It will represent all the visual aspects of seeing the psalms that I discover - but with as little commentary as I can manage.
Now if you want to help, here's what I need. One or two persons willing to point out mistakes and unnecessary comment. And clarity of focus - when am I ambiguous or confusing? Matters of taste or gloss we might not agree on. And of theology, I hope to say little but let the text speak for itself. Also I don't think I am discovering magic - but rather the work of human poets and redactors with a devoted purpose. What I see must have been possible for them to see before and as they created the poems in their present form.
So I think the Psalter was deliberately constructed in the form I see it in, and I think it was perfectly possible for editors and writers to do such a thing as a response within their ordinary-extraordinary lives. There were great poets among them. Children also - Psalm 114 is the work of a young genius. Perhaps great musicians too. Psalm 89, on the demise of the Davidic monarchy, is like the Chaconne in D Minor, on the death of Bach's first wife. And Symphony? Psalm 78, Brahms, Psalm 84 later Mozart, 86 early Mozart, Psalm 90-91 The Art of the Fugue. 139 Bairstow, I sat down. I am getting carried away
What the Hilliard ensemble did with the Chaconne is illustrative of what I would like to hear in the text of the Psalter, the inner joins and the cantus firmus. | <urn:uuid:d60245ed-5e31-4038-908f-3d012f0e4dc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://meafar.blogspot.com/2011/11/psalm-1-illustration-of-my-new-approach.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969314 | 457 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The issue with "This Must Be the Place," Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino's first English language feature, has nothing to do with whether it makes light of the Holocaust. That might be a worthy debate if it didn't face other problems. Chief among them: An uber-campy Sean Penn performance, a gratingly quirky soul-searching plot, and character motives that barely make any sense. It's far too much of a godawful mess to merit serious moral scrutiny.
An Italy-France-Ireland coproduction, "This Must Be the Place" showcases the curious collaboration of an actor known for showing his soft side and a filmmaker prone to rejecting his own. Sorrentino's 2008 political thriller "Il Divo" was a brilliant black comedy about former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, brought to life with vampirish creepiness by Toni Servillo. At once pathetic and quietly creepy, Servillo's role benefited from Sorrentino's dark, expressionistic style. In "This Must Be the Place," however, Sorrentino has inexplicably crafted a cheery portrait of a fading rock star that's anything but subtle.
Donning a subpar Alice Cooper impression, Penn plays the weary-eyed Cheyenne, a leather-clad middle-aged retiree spending his aimless days in a Dublin mansion. Hidden behind eye shadow and lipstick, his whiny delivery comes across like a John Waters script reject by way of Truman Capote. Early scenes find Cheyenne wandering through life in a daze, staggering through supermall while an eager public snaps photos. His boredom has drained him of a personality. "I'm a tad depressed," he finally tells his unexplainably normal wife, Jane (Frances McDormand). "Maybe you're confusing depression and boredom," she says, which could double as a critique of Penn's performance.
If "This Must Be the Place" has any source of redemption, it solely belongs to David Byrne. The Talking Heads frontman wrote original music for the movie (and Will Oldham wrote the lyrics). Byrne also performs in movie's best scene, which has nothing to do with the story surrounding it save for reminding Penn's character that he has lost his touch. When Cheyenne chats with Byrne after his show, he admires Byrne's magnificent "Playing the Building" installation in lower Manhattan, a real exhibit that featured a gigantic organ hooked up to the Battery Maritime Building. Admiring Byrne's genius, Penn bemoans how he only wrote "depressed songs for depressed children." Since we never hear any of them, his wistfulness draws attention to the flimsiness of the character. In the single scene where Penn actually plays guitar, he also debates with a ten-year-old about whether the Talking Heads or Arcade Fire authored the song in the movie's title. It's the kind of in a one-note sketch that would fit better in a Will Ferrell farce.
Eventually, Cheyenne launches on a soul-searching journey to find the dying Nazi who tortured his recently deceased father in Auschwitz. Guided by an over-the-top Nazi hunter played by Judd Hirsch (clearly enjoying himself), Cheyenne begins a road trip through Middle American that goes nowhere, and Penn's mopey has-been routine starts to feel like a bad joke that just keeps getting worse. Accidentally or not, the script acknowledges as much: "We all play the fool sometimes," Cheyenne says.
After a brief and competent Harry Dean Stanton cameo, Cheyenne receives the tip he seeks, and "This Must Be the Place" careens toward its insipid anti-climax at the former Nazi's home. A few confounding monologues later, the movie ends with a shrug, as if Sorrentino never cared about the project in the first place. His capacity for balancing stylistic indulgences with heavy themes makes the tonal confusion especially troublesome. It's easy to imagine that the Sorrentino behind "Il Divo" and his acclaimed thriller "The Consequences of Love" doing something savvier with this material on his home turf. Instead, "This Must Be the Place" feels the product of a director wandering the wilderness, looking even more stunned than a makeup-clad Penn.
HOW WILL IT PLAY? Reviews are sure to tarnish any major commercial prospects, although it might do reasonable business in limited release if a distributor can capitalize on Penn's star power and Sorrentino's art house cred.
criticWIRE grade: D+ | <urn:uuid:1c13291c-da4a-4a0a-ac5a-080703d6e942> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indiewire.com/article/cannes_review_paolo_sorrentinos_this_must_be_the_place_puts_sean_penn_in_an | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959102 | 942 | 1.546875 | 2 |
You should read the previous note about problems with RedHat installations. It is entirely likely that your installation has start/stop/restart scripts which were built for an earlier version of Apache. Versions earlier than 1.2.0 had various race conditions that made it necessary to use
kill -9 at times to take out all the httpd servers. But that should not be necessary any longer. You should follow the directions on how to stop and
As of Apache 1.3 there is a script
src/support/apachectl which, after a bit of customization, is suitable for starting, stopping, and restarting your server. | <urn:uuid:94126cac-51a3-42db-bd1d-7795e5ca7f3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onlamp.com/pub/faqs/apache_faq_stopping | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956536 | 130 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Salem Community Patriot 10 - August 6, 2010
NH Department of Education Will Receive
ubmitted by NH Department of Education The New Hampshire Department of Education received notification that it has been awarded a charter-school start-up grant to support educational innovation in the state, thanks to the legislature lifting the moratorium on creating charter schools. The final details of the award, including the total amount, are not yet available, but the New Hampshire Department of Education requested $11.6 million in its proposal. Charter schools are public schools that operate with more organizational flexibility than most public schools, which allows them to act, in many cases, as the “research and design
a Grant to Support Educational Innovation in the State and urban settings.
arm” of the public system. Virginia M. Barry, Ph.D., New Hampshire’s Commissioner of Education, said “This grant will enable educators in the state to design bold and innovative educational opportunities for New Hampshire students.” She congratulated Roberta Denney, the Department’s Administrator for School Standards, who wrote the grant in collaboration with Matt Southerton, Director of the New Hampshire Center for Innovative Schools. The grant has five objectives:
• Objective 1: Increase the number of high-quality charter schools in New Hampshire, particularly those serving educationally disadvantaged students who are most at risk in rural
This new grant will help support
• Objective 2: Offer districts the opportunity to create charter schools within their district to promote innovative practices.
• Objective 3: Use federal grant funds to improve student achievement in secondary charter schools and increase graduation rates.
• Objective 4: Support the dissemination of best practices developed in charter schools to other public schools and districts in the state.
• Objective 5: Empower charter schools to become strong, independent organizations, while ensuring fiscally responsible practices.
innovators and provide the resources to continue school improvement and innovations for students. It is the NH Commissioner’s hope that school districts throughout the state will be inspired to tap into these funds in order to meet the needs of all learners. Under New Hampshire law, school districts are allowed to establish and operate charter schools. These charter schools are administered by the local school board and may be closed if they fail to serve their students well or fall short of their mission. Commissioner Barry also stated, “That this grant will help the Department advance its strategic plan and provide necessary support to struggling schools, including
Make school lunches and snacks nutritious and fun
As kids head back to school, parents are faced with the dilemma of finding foods to pack for lunch and snacks that kids want to eat and that are good for them. Most snacks available in the grocery stores are full of fat, sugar and/or salt with little nutritional benefit, so finding healthy choices that kids are willing to eat isn’t always an easy task. Luckily, many food and beverage manufactur- ers are beginning to make this task a little bit easier by adding ingredients with a variety of health benefits to many foods popular with kids. These ingredients are often called functional ingredients. Most kids know what they like when it comes to food choices, so the most successful functional ingredients are those that add nutri- tional benefits without changing the taste, texture or quality of the food.
One issue being addressed with functional ingredients is bone health. While many parents
may think of bone health as an issue for older adults, taking care of kids’ bones while they are young can help prevent problems like osteopo- rosis later in life. This is particularly important during the preteen and teen years, when bones are growing fastest. By the time teens finish their growth spurts around age 17, 90 percent of their adult bone mass is established, according to the National Institutes of Health. The primary nutrient involved with bone health is calcium. And, while milk is an obvious choice when it comes to calcium, not all kids like milk. And some are lactose intolerant. Food and bever- age manufacturers are making the job of choos- ing calcium-rich foods easier by adding certain calcium-rich functional ingredients to food products that are already popular with kids. One such functional ingredient that has been getting a lot of attention recently is calcified minerals. The main benefit of calcified minerals is their ability to enrich calcium content to enable food manu- facturers to make claims like “good source of calcium” and “excellent source of calcium.” Aquamin(R) calcified min-
eral source, which is offered by GTC Nutrition, a leading provider of functional ingredi- ent solutions, is one calcified mineral source being added to foods and beverages to enrich calcium content.
Unlike dairy-based sources of calcium, Aquamin is har- vested from a particular type of red seaweed found in the North Atlantic Ocean, which picks up multiple minerals from the local clean sea water. As a result of this process, Aquamin is a composite of more than 70 minerals, with calcium and magnesium being the two most predominant minerals present. Additionally, the ingredient has a variety of other minerals including magnesium, boron, copper, fluoride, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc, that are potentially ben- eficial for bone health, accord- ing to The National Institutes
Voted Salem’s Best Dance Studio
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of Health. To learn more about Aqua- min, visit www. gtcnutrition.com/
p. “Calcified miner- als are a great alternative source of calcium, particu- larly for kids who don’t like or can’t tolerate dairy,” says Dr. Anne Birkett, nutrition science manager with GTC Nutrition. “Parents looking for prod- ucts fortified with Aquamin or other calcified mineral sources should look for magnesium, cal- cium carbonate or magnesium carbon- ate on ingredient labels.”
In addition to
packing lunches and snacks rich in calcium, Dr. Birkett offers these three simple tips for parents when they choose lunch foods and snacks for their kids: * Always try and include at least one fresh fruit and vegetable when packing lunches. The USDA recom- mends 2 1/2 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit each day. To help ensure fruits and vegetables you pack actually get eaten, try and rotate between your kids’ favorites. * When it comes to breads and other grain products, try and include as many whole grains as possible. Whole grains have been shown to have a variety of health benefits, including reduc- ing the risk of heart disease.
efforts to improve teacher and leader effectiveness, strengthen school standards and assessments, and promote the use of performance data to drive school decisions.” New Hampshire currently operates
10 charter schools that provide innovative, mission-driven educational experiences to students, particularly those for whom an alternative approach to learning is beneficial. More information about New Hampshire’s Charter Schools can be found at www.education.nh.gov/
* Mix it up. Kids can get bored if they are
packed the same thing every day. Experimenting with different healthy food options is a great way to help your kids figure out what they do and don’t like and encourages them to have an open mind when trying new foods.
- Courtesy of ARAcontent
Call NOW to Get Your FREE AD!
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In this increasingly digital age, some might wonder why the majority of Milton’s voting public chose to double the size of its library, the home of more than 38,500 print titles.
But not Scott Murphy. Milton Public Library’s new director knows the library is more than a bastion for books; it’s a hub of information. And just three-and-a-half months into the job, Murphy wants to make that message known to more people.
“To me, you fill holes in the community,” Murphy said, adding, “Where do people go who don’t have access to the Internet or even to a computer? Well, they come to the public library, and that’s one of the many things we’re here for.”
Murphy, 39, started as director in October after trustees unanimously chose him after a four-month long search, Chairwoman Jen Dooley said. The library was without a formal leader since February, when the trustees terminated Heidi Cava. Murphy started at a $45,000 salary that will increase by $2,000 after a six-month probation period, his contract states.
Murphy shared the trustees’ vision of pushing book-centric libraries to be more relevant in a tech-friendly world, Dooley said.
“We wanted someone who was going to make that a priority,” she said. “It is a place where you can have access and information for everything.”
Murphy learned to appreciate all libraries have to offer while in a doctoral program in history at Ohio University. Hours of researching and paper-writing made the library feel like home.
Combined with his lifelong love of literacy (instilled by his parents, both teachers), Murphy’s coursework naturally led him to library science and the realization that free access to information is key to a successful democracy. He earned his library degree and never looked back at history.
Settling in Vermont, too, was somewhat unexpected. In June 2012, just before applying for the directorship, Murphy’s family booked a Christmastime vacation to Smuggler’s Notch. All the ski magazines he’d read heralded Vermont’s Green Mountains, but he didn’t know then he’d be living there when the holidays came.
Now working in Milton, Murphy has leveraged the library’s resources to bridge the “digital divide,” society’s unequal access to technology. He built the library’s website, miltonlibraryvt.org, and started hands-on programs that teach patrons to use anything from e-readers to the new Windows 8 operating system.
His “Tech Talk” class, named after a “Saturday Night Live” skit, is an open forum that could cover anything from accessing career-search websites or installing a video card.
“If we don’t know how, we’ll look it up,” said Murphy, who, as a broke grad student, fixed a few computers in his day. “It’s just a way for us as a community to get our brains together and solve issues.”
The trustees are pleased with Murphy’s new theme. Dooley said he hopes to set up a “technology petting zoo” where visitors can learn how to use three popular e-readers: the Kindle, Nook and iPad. Unlike salespeople, librarians don’t care if you buy one, she said.
“Their purpose is to show you how to use it to further that information trail,” Dooley said. “People can make their own decisions [on which to buy] or just come in and play.”
The modern library, especially in a down economy, is also a place to build résumés and execute job searches, Murphy said, skillsets he taught at his previous library in Ohio. While high school students have in-school counselors to help with these tasks, adults can consult librarians.
The new director has found Miltonians are receptive to his help. Dooley noted a patron stopped her at the store recently to tell her how Murphy gave every patron equal attention. Even in a world of tech, it’s nice to have a human touch.
“That is definitely how the library is going to stay relevant in the years to come,” Dooley said.
And Murphy plans to stick around for a while. He, his wife and their 4-year-old son are renting in St. Albans but spend every Sunday after church scouting for a Milton home.
“People are just great here,” he said, smiling. “[It’s a] really, really nice town.” | <urn:uuid:29930fce-6768-47f5-b4c1-5f61b8272917> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miltonindependent.com/for-new-director-library-is-more-than-books/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966546 | 1,014 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Dust Off the Bins, It’s That Time Again
It’s that time of year again when the snow disappears and spring brings a new beginning. Depending where you are, you might be seeing the birds just arriving back from migration, they might be just now courting or they might already be on eggs. Birds are such a killer way to celebrate spring, while you’re reading this we’re celebrating as I have for 24yrs, out on the lek with Greater Sage Grouse (it will be our 1st morning with them this season). While the portraits are very cool and an important part of the wildlife photography story, telling the whole story requires a little bit more biology, technology and time.
Be it Common Murres, Arctic Terns, Eared Grebe or a House Finch in your own backyard, they are make great subjects. Photographing nesting birds is a huge challenge and a great responsibility. I’m still of the opinion anyone can do it if they take great care, understand basic biology and start now when time is still in your favor. Where do you start? Well, there is a little read paper right hear on the site on photographing nesting birds that I personally think is a great place to start. But it’s not the end all!
For example, when you read that piece written a long time ago, you’ll notice technology has changed a lot. The biggest change for the 2011 season I’ll be making is employing the Pocket Wizard MiniTTl. One of the past issues has been having the flashes placement restricted by line of site. This can be a major problem when you have branches and the like between you and the flashes. Here’s the key to all of this, start now! So I’m testing the flashes with the Minis now but setting up the gear, finding obstructions and testing. You might not be at that place yet, you might be at the beginning. I highly recommend you read the paper here on the site on nesting birds and see if it even interests you first. If it does, you should then pick up a copy of Captured and give it a read. Now if you get through all of this and still are interested, give this video a watch. If you’ve made it this far, then get a pair of binoculars, get out and start looking. The rewards are huge IMHO but you pay the price with the investment in time. I’ve provided a the recipe, you’ve gotta do the baking but the cake when it comes out is oh, so schweet! | <urn:uuid:40bf6c93-d235-4250-a40d-b13497c47b33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moosepeterson.com/blog/2011/04/12/dust-off-the-bins-its-that-time-again/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934772 | 544 | 1.59375 | 2 |
MUSKOKA – If Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller wasn’t clear on how local teachers feel about his support for the Liberal government’s Bill 115 he will be shortly. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario Trillium Lakelands Elementary Teachers’ Local will be holding a rally at Miller’s office at 165 Manitoba Street in Bracebridge on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 4 to 5 p.m. to protest Miller’s role in bringing the controversial bill to fruition.
Bill 115, the Putting Students First Act, was passed into law on Sept. 15 by the provincial Liberal government, with the support of Progressive Conservatives, including Miller. The legislation imposes wage and benefit cuts on teachers and other education sector workers and significantly restricts the group’s collective bargaining rights.
Trillium Lakelands teachers have been participating in legal strike action since Monday, Nov. 26, and the local hopes for a good turnout at the protest from across Muskoka. The group represents over 730 elementary public school teachers and education professionals in Muskoka, the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton.
An earlier protest held Nov. 14 in Lindsay at the office of Laurie Scott, Progressive Conservative MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock drew a crowd of over 150.
“We had obviously our members the ETFO members, we had CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), OSSTF (Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation) and we also had someone from the Lindsay and District Labour Council come and speak as well,” said Karen Bratina, vice-president of the Trillium Lakelands local.
Speakers at Wednesday’s protest in Bracebridge include Bratina, and Trillium Lakelands Occasional Teachers’ Local president Tracy Blodgett. MPP Miller has also been invited, though his attendance has not been confirmed.
“He hasn’t responded,” said Bratina. “He’s been invited both by telephone and letter.”
The group is also inviting anyone who would like to support the teachers to join them Wednesday in protest of Bill 115. Pamphlets will be handed out to anybody who wants to learn more about why the teachers are opposing the legislation.
The OPP and surrounding businesses have been notified of the protest, said Bratina, and added the protesters will not block the main street thoroughfare.
Changes in local teacher strike action are expected to be announced
Check our website at cottagecountrynow.ca for updates. | <urn:uuid:5a42a93e-b362-485c-952a-8a2f164cf357> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cottagecountrynow.ca/community/northmuskoka/article/1546299 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942687 | 545 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Death With Dignity Act call to action
To the editor:
For the past year, the people of Massachusetts participated in an open and honest conversation about allowing terminally-ill patients the choice to end their suffering. The Death with Dignity Act offered the terminally ill the right to make that decision for themselves, but regrettably, we fell short. Our grassroots campaign was fueled by thousands of people from across this state, but outspent five-to-one by groups opposed to individual choice.
Even in defeat, the voters of Massachusetts have delivered a call to action that will continue and grow until the terminally ill have the right to end their suffering, because today, dying people needlessly endure in our commonwealth and do not have the right to control their most personal medical decision.
Editor’s note: Crawford is communications director of the Dignity 2012 campaign | <urn:uuid:33e8ce9a-eac0-4bd2-9275-663a1b5b1ef2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gazettenet.com/home/2691107-95/dignity-ill-terminally-act | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959473 | 178 | 1.632813 | 2 |
This summer I taught my own class for the first time, through the department I recently graduated from (Digital Arts & New Media at UC Santa Cruz). The class, somewhat inelegantly titled "Games as Literature: The Intersection of Writing and Play," aimed to introduce students to contemporary text-based interactive work, giving them ample opportunities to both play and author projects across a broad spectrum of electronic literature. I'd like to do a bit of a post-mortem to compare notes with other teachers and pass on my experiences.
The course was a five week, five credit summer course, which meant an intense schedule: nine hours of class time per week. I ended up with eighteen students, all undergraduates from mostly computer science and gaming backgrounds, but with a few literature and theater people mixed in. I wanted a focus on contemporary work, to emphasize that this is a living medium with active authors, so I limited the works we'd look at to those written in the 21st century (i.e. the last ten years or so). I wanted to move students through the various subgenres of electronic literature, roughly speaking adding a little complexity each week.
So: week one was hypertext fiction (taking traditional literature and adding the link), week two was IF (adding simulation of spaces and things), week three was (the more nebulously defined) computational and simulationist fiction (adding procedurality and systems), and week four was (the even more nebulously defined) spatial and collaborative fiction (adding multiple players or embodiment of fictions in real-world spaces). Finding good material for the third and fourth weeks was more of a challenge, since they're outside established genres and are much more sparsely populated. The final week would be spent working on and displaying final projects: during each of the first three weekends of the course, students were assigned a "weekend experiment" to create a short work using a tool we'd looked at in class for creating related projects.
My initial thought was to teach three different authoring systems in these first three weeks, then let students pick whichever they were most comfortable with to create their final project. I chose Twine for the hypertext week for its free, friendly, cross-platform interface that exports self-contained HTML. Somewhat predictably, I picked Inform 7 for week two. I had a hard time finding a system that meshed with my concept for week three, however. I considered Fox Harrell's GRIOT system, but it's not publicly released and its LISP syntax would probably terrify novice coders; Chris Crawford's StoryTron was another possibility, although the interface can be fairly overwhelming. Eventually I settled on the somewhat imperfect compromise of splitting the Inform 7 portion over two weeks, focusing on rooms and objects in week two and rules and routines in week three. This in turn led me to reluctantly assign my own book; I sort of hated to do this, because I think it puts a severe cramp in how honest students are going to be about whether the book is helping them learn anything or not, but there it was.
We touched on creative writing skills and techniques, but didn't have time to get into interactive story theory (despite there being several great resources out there these days). The "readings" assigned were all interactive pieces for students to read and discuss in class. While it would have been great to include the theory, I think the focus on encountering the works themselves (often missing in classes that teach older, more canonized e-lit often incompatible with modern computers) was more important.
Week one went well: establishing a routine for the rest of the course, we looked at a representative work in each mode together in class on Monday, discussed additional works read as homework on Wednesday, and took Friday to learn how to use a system to create such work. I tried to assign challenging work where I could with interesting themes, to emphasize that what we were looking at was literature, not (or not just) game. Starting with hypertext was a great way to emphasize this aspect of the course, and we had some great discussions about what interactivity adds to written fiction. The students did well with Twine, although we ran into a few technical problems, including some crashes and out-of-sync documentation. (I gather it's no longer in active development, which is a shame since it's an otherwise lovely and easy to learn tool.)
The two weeks we spent on interactive fiction were more challenging. I picked Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home (Andrew Plotkin, 2010) and The Warbler's Nest (Jason McIntosh, 2010) to show in class, two works that together are an excellent introduction to the medium's potential. Warbler in particular is wonderful at guiding players to the proper syntax and interaction points, and going around the table round-robin style suggesting commands, students could navigate to an ending without me offering any help (including a rousing discussion before submitting the final commands). We ran out of time before reaching the end of Heliopause but were doing well, and students got into the writing and fantastical setting.
For Wednesday, the class was assigned to read Earl Grey (Rob Dubbin and Adam Parrish, 2009) and Everybody Dies (Jim Munroe, 2008). Grey was maybe an odd choice: it has a clever central mechanic (adding and removing letters from words to change objects in the game world) but is railroaded with single-solution puzzles that are often far from obvious. Students were frustrated and complained, but (with no offense meant to Rob and Adam) the experience provoked a great discussion about what not to do in IF design. I think looking at some work with flaws was useful throughout the course, although in an academic setting there's always a risk that this will backfire. This happened more frequently during the close reading presentations students had to give on related work: I included some questionable projects on the list of works that could be chosen, including 1-2-3... (Chris Mudd, 2000; a much reviled piece which I've previously been an apologist for) and LASH (Paul O'Brian, 2000). Students didn't necessarily have the background or vocabulary to know how to engage with some of these pieces successfully, and I think if I taught the course again I'd replace some of these with more accessible works.
Also less successful was trying to teach students, some with no prior programming experience, a significant portion of Inform 7 in two weeks. In hindsight, I tried to move way too fast with this material: I was expecting students to be using rulebooks and extensions while they were still struggling with basic syntax. In week three I introduced them to two extensions, one for conversation (Conversation Framework for Sand-dancer, for synchronicity with the textbook) and one for combat (Inform ATTACK by Victor Gijsbers). The hope was that this would let them explore integrating systems and simulation into their projects without having to do a lot of heavy lifting from scratch. While partially successful (students were able to copy and paste from my examples to get the extensions to basically work), I think it might have been better to spend the time clearing up more fundamental questions about rulebooks, the subtleties of naming, synonyms, and the printed name property, and how named phrases (I7's version of functions) work and interact with other parts of the system.
I also have to admit that students had more difficulty picking up I7 than I'd have hoped. The squishiness of the syntax and the difficulty of determining where the boundaries are between the language proper and the Standard Rules (not to mention any extensions) led to a lot of frustration and confusion, especially among less-confident programmers. Of course, teaching any programming language is difficult, especially under such severely constrained conditions, and I'm hard pressed to think of better alternatives. One option might be to try using an IF design tool that offers a GUI (such as Quest or ADRIFT, although both sadly lack OS X versions, something of a dealbreaker when at least half of incoming students have Macs). This would let students working on basic projects about spaces and things focus more on content and less on syntax. The disadvantage of this would be robbing students of a base to build on: we certainly couldn't learn enough I7 in a single week to get to any of the advanced features that would let you do more than you could do with a simpler tool. When I floated this idea on the last day of the course, the students overwhelmingly agreed that despite the frustration, they preferred sticking with the same language for multiple weeks and building up a skill set with it over starting from scratch each week. I'm not sure there's an easy solution here.
The fourth week of the course was rather scattered (the category being a sort of "everything else" grab bag) but Echo Bazaar proved immensely popular, and we got to field trip outside to look at some augmented reality. During the final week I mostly gave class over to project work time, with an attempt to stress the importance of factoring end users into the design of any interactive work: students could beta test each others' projects in class.
Some impressive final projects came out of the course. Will Lee's Apothology switches between hypertext and IF to tell a story about the futility of choice, with a Kafka-like protagonist arrested for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death. The story's conclusion suggests that God is the only one with true choice, followed by a readout of the project's source code. Robert Segura's Peakstar's Legacy was a prequel to Morrowind that involved both combat and conversation systems, introducing a unique mechanism for conversation that bolded words you could ask about and italicized words you could tell about. Victor Nguyen also used Inform ATTACK to create a Left For Dead homage involving half a dozen characters, both allies and enemies, trading blows with various weapons in a gory, fast-paced free-for-all. All the final projects were damn impressive for students who had been introduced to IF and Inform 7 less than a month previously: I was very proud of all the work produced and how much effort the students put into the course.
Overall I think the course was a success, although I certainly learned a lot about teaching in general and teaching e-lit in particular. While exhausting, it was also incredibly rewarding. Maybe the best feeling came on the last day when several students asked me when I'd be teaching another course: I don't know the answer to that yet, but it was validating to hear. Even more validating was the genuine excitement about computational literature as an exciting, living movement: for students who weren't even born when Infocom went out of business, that was an encouraging thing. | <urn:uuid:0f605be8-b815-49cc-b416-f86d9bada029> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lacunagame.blogspot.com/2011/09/teaching-if-at-ucsc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978635 | 2,217 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Twitterizing Facebook: Some Suggestions for Better Interactivity
I have been digging into Twitter a bit as of late (micro-blogging is all the rage!). Although it’s been around for a while now, it seems like it has really caught on in the last few months. Unlike other social media applications/services (MySpace, Facebook), Twitter allows for some cool interactivity and utilizes some interesting coding to connect users and topics (here’s a Twitter primer for the uninitiated)
I recently connected my Facebook page with my Twitter account so that all my tweets automatically get posted as status updates on Facebook. But one thing I have noticed is that within the Facebook context, lots of my Twitter updates don’t make a lot of sense. This is mainly because I often use some of the extra coding and markings that work only with the Twitter application. For example, users can highlight certain topics by adding hashtags (the # symbol) to words (like #finalfour). This allows for all posts with those hashtags to be grouped together and searched (i.e. if you’re tweeting about the super bowl, it’d be #superbowl). Another really useful tag is the @ symbol, which allows you to tag and respond to another user by writing @username (for me @whitperson). These are key interactive features that have made Twitter such a popular social media tool.
After watching the way that integrating my Facebook book account with my Twitter feed has worked, I have been thinking that Facebook really needs to add some similar features to further extend Facebook’s interactive quality and, in a sense, to compete with the popularity of Twitter. Both features above (the hash tags for topics and the @name of friends), could really be useful within the Facebook context. For example, the @name feature could be useful if you want to call out a friend by name and have that update show up on their profile. I actually tried to do this in a recent status update, as I wanted to give a shout-out to some friends who have turned me on to music and musicians that I now love. I posted an update as a “musical discovery shout out” to my friend Dave, but he had no idea that I tagged him becuase it didn’t automatically show up in his profile. On Twitter I would have tagged him as @DaveSmith and he would have seen that on his feed and have been able to respond immediately. That kind of interaction seems to be exactly the kind of thing Facebook would want to encourage.
The #hashtag topics feature could also be very useful in discussing topics amongst your network of friends. For example, if you have a bunch of friends that are really into a certain TV show, they could easily post updates with a hash tag for the TV show, allowing for an ongoing and open discussion of the show with all your Facebook friends.
Given some recent updates to the Facebook profile pages, it’s clear that Zuckerberg and crew are taking a serious look at Twitter’s popularity and understanding that Facebook needs to continue to innovate and adapt. They recently made some changes to give Facebook a more real-time, immediate type of interactivity, but I’d think if they were going to take some cues from Twitter, they’d find ways to emulate some of Twitter’s best interactive features. These seem to be two obvious candidates, and with the ever-expanding largesse of Facebook, adding features like these could have some resounding affects throughout the worldwide FB network. | <urn:uuid:6fff359a-eafb-452f-8520-690665bb60db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whitperson.com/2009/04/04/twitterizing-facebook-suggestions-for-better-interactivity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95729 | 731 | 1.5 | 2 |
These four titles are new releases in the BBC Legends series. All feature 20-bit digital remastering of live performances and broadcasts from the BBC's archives. Each of the four titles has something worthy to offer the collector, even if he or she already owns studio-based recordings of these performers.
Moiseiwitsch's Rachmaninoff concerto was recorded in Royal Albert Hall on August 6, 1956; the Beethoven "Emperor" comes from Royal Festival Hall on March 6, 1963 – less than two months before the pianist's death. By this time, Moiseiwitsch was no longer the technician that he once was. Of course in any live performance, one can expect - and forgive – occasional wrong notes and imperfect passagework, but this pianist outshines many a younger colleague in technique alone anyway. The Rachmaninoff, while not precisely intimate, is played with quiet, confident rapture and a luminous tone. The chords at the end of the second movement chime ethereally, like Russian bells, and the "Full Moon and Empty Arms" melody in the third movement shows how warmly the pianist can play. No banging here! Sargent, not always the most imaginative of conductors, pulls the phrases around more than I would have expected – was this the pianist's influence? The monaural recording is cloudy, and some audience coughs and rustles are louder than the music. This is not a recording to build a library with, then. It is, however, an admirable portrait of a great Romantic pianist at the end of his career, but still hard at work to bring new insight to familiar repertoire.
Much the same is true of the "Emperor," although here the recording is brighter and more detailed. In the opening cadenza, Moiseiwitsch misses many notes. Nevertheless, he captures the music's masculine swagger right from the very first chord. Even the slow movement is incisive, with tonal beauty in abundance but no sentimentality. Sargent conducts dramatically, and an appealing military crispness characterizes this performance.
Adrian Boult recorded Schubert's "Great" Symphony in the studio three times, the last time in stereo, so perhaps there is no pressing need for the "Proms" performance recorded on August 11, 1969, and released here. However, this is one of the most enjoyable performances of the symphony that I know. Boult's rhythmically alive conducting prevents pomposity without removing profundity. His joy in music-making is palpable, and the love that he radiates is reflected back to him by the audience, as well as by the orchestra. At times, as in the coda of the first movement, the emotional release is transcendental. He also opens up the music's textures, clarifying orchestration that can seem muddy in other conductor's hands. The Royal Albert Hall sound, which can be cavernous, is tamed here, and actually works in the symphony's favor, increasing the feeling of spectacle. This memorable "Great" is book-ended by two overtures that, while obscure today, were once popular. Boult makes one wonder why they fell from favor. The Cherubini Anacréon overture is in the mold of Beethoven and Rossini, and not inferior to either, while the Peter Cornelius Barber of Baghdad overture is a sparkling confection. Boult recorded the latter, in mono, in 1954 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in their studios. This was for export, and so no audience was present. The Cherubini was recorded on March 8, 1963, for an understandably appreciative audience in Royal Festival Hall. As in the Schubert, the stereo recording is easy to listen to, if not as polished as a studio recording would have been.
German-born conductor Otto Klemperer died in 1973. Early the following year, Rafael Kubelík led the New Philharmonia Orchestra – an ensemble Klemperer had conducted – in the memorial concert preserved here. The two conductors had known each other, and Klemperer, almost twenty years Kubelík's senior, had advised the younger man. (Kubelík, always his own man, followed his own counsel!) In terms of style, the two men had little in common. Klemperer's early days as an innovator were followed by a ripe maturity in which the core repertoire of the German classicists and romantics was conducted with a austere, at times even forbidding, solidity. At heart, Kubelík was a traditionalist. His interpretations were more volatile than Klemperer's, but not less thoughtful, and not less cleansed of exhibitionism.
Both Mozart's Masonic Funeral Music and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony are works that Klemperer conducted impeccably. On January 14, 1974, the concert opened with Kubelík's take on the former work, a lyrical yet grave interpretation, especially in comparison to Klemperer's. Then, without applause, the soloists – of whom all had worked with Klemperer – came onstage and the Beethoven began. Unlike Kubelík's later recording with the Bavarian Radio Symphony (now on a Deutsche Grammophon CD), this performance is almost youthfully dynamic. That sense of occasion, already established in the Mozart, grows stronger from one bar to the next. The Finale is truly a momentous capstone. In spite of the mournful circumstances, the music leaps forward in joy – which is just the way it should be played. The recorded sound hardly gets in the way of the music – the BBC's recording team did a professional job, and a quarter-century down the road one can hardly complain.
Any artifact of Jascha Horenstein's lyrical Mahler is of interest, and the last of these four BBC Legends releases is no exception. The Symphony #9 was recorded with the London Symphony at a "Proms" concert on September 15, 1966. The Kindertotenlieder were recorded in Edinburgh on March 3, 1967 with the Scottish National Orchestra.
Horenstein made studio recordings of both of these works for Vox. (And Baker recorded the Kindertotenlieder with Sir John Barbirolli.) Many listeners, particularly those in the United States, first got to know these deeply elegiac works through the Vox LPs, which were released in 1954 and 1955. (In fact, this was the Ninth's first studio recording – the famous Bruno Walter/Vienna Philharmonic reading was made under concert conditions.) Vox's orchestra was the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the soloist was American bass-baritone Norman Foster. (These recordings are available together on VoxBox Legends CDX2-5509.) The present orchestra outplays the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, however, and the stereo broadcast sonics surpass Vox's monaural recording.
Horenstein's tempos, slow in the 1950s, are even slower here. The total timing for the Ninth is nearly 90 minutes, a full 20 minutes slower than Walter's. Walter, in his humanity, offers consolation, but Horenstein, while never overstating interpretive points, makes it clear that Mahler's Ninth represents a sort of musical terminus. The playing of the London Symphony (for example, right at the beginning of the symphony) is so gorgeous that it is tempting simply to melt right into the music, and to become one with it. In short, while this is a gentler Ninth than others, it is crueler than most. The 1967 Kindertotenlieder is radically slow too, particularly in the fifth movement – the tempest that is depicted seems to rage in slow motion. Predictably, Janet Baker is very moving, and she seems unfazed by the conductor's tempos – which is more than I can say for the Scottish National Orchestra! The sound in the symphony is of good broadcast quality; in the Kindertotenlieder it is more muffled.
Copyright © 2002, Ray Tuttle | <urn:uuid:1ff7de7e-249f-44f1-ae8a-21ef0f3af414> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/b/bbc04071a.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967111 | 1,679 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The NuvaRing is a flexible plastic ring, approved by the FDA in 2001, that delivers estrogen and progestin (like the Pill). It looks a lot like one of those glow-in-the-dark bracelets you get at stadium events and fairs. You place the ring in your vagina and leave it there for three weeks, then remove it for a week to allow your period to go through its normal cycle.
"You have to be pretty comfortable with your body to use the ring, but it's not as difficult as you might think," says Marjorie Green, MD, director of the Mount Auburn Menopause and Female Sexual Medicine Center and an instructor at Harvard. "Some women are very uncomfortable with putting things in their vaginas and taking them out," she says.
But women who stick with the ring seem to find it easier than most other methods.
Still, hormonal methods are not for everyone. The FDA advises that smokers or women with cardiovascular disease, blood clots, or certain cancers should not use these methods. So it's important to be screened for potential problems by a doctor before choosing any method of birth control. | <urn:uuid:1136210b-bacc-45c8-b9e8-277c854b65f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20326786,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970709 | 235 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Issue 13, August 27
Everyone, including Eduardo and the babies, is now using the low black walnut branch that overhangs the path to cross both to and from Holly Hill. On their way back, the GLTs almost always take the fence line down to the hemlocks. They have been visiting shed holly on a regular basis, taking the trees along Holly Hill and usually stopping to forage in trees 32 and 33. Once this past week they crossed to the Red Light District (the area of trees between the bathroom and the exhibit), moving through the hemlock branches above the path.
No new hangouts this week. The monkeys are spending a majority of their time in the bench holly, the shed holly, or in the main exhibit around the hemlocks and the small trees behind tree three.
August 20: A Cold, Wet, Quiet Day
The morning started out wet and cold and the family lingered by the nest box longer then usual. At around 7:30, the monkeys moved up the back of tree zero to forage. They moved slowly down and made their way toward the hemlocks before taking the ropes to the low black walnut and crossing to Holly Hill at 7:47. They were very quiet for about four hours in the bench holly, moving around the canopy and settling into a monkey ball.
At 11:45, Laranja crossed back to the main exhibit, running over the low black walnut and along the fence line. She spent a few minutes eating before crossing back to join the family. They were again very unusually quiet for a few hours until Laranja, Mara, and Moe crossed back to the main exhibit at three, again using the low black walnut. They ate for about 20 minutes before crossing back. Eduardo promptly led the way down to shed holly, foraging all the way. It wasn’t long before they turned back around and headed for the low black walnut once more at 4:35. This time everyone crossed, including Eduardo and the babies, trailing down the low black walnut branch and along the fence into the hemlocks. The monkeys foraged in the hemlocks until it started to rain at 5:45. They high tailed it to their nest box to get out of the wet and promptly disappeared below the platform, only making a few brief appearances on the nest cam for the rest of the evening.
August 21: Cold (and Wet) Snap
Yesterday’s rain carried over to Tuesday morning and it had obviously taken a toll on the exhibit hardware. The rope between trees zero and four had snapped during the night, but this didn’t stop the monkeys from foraging around the hemlocks and tree three for two hours. At nine, they all took the remaining ropes to the low black walnut and crossed to Holly Hill except for Moe who took a detour up tree seven and into the top of the low black walnut before crossing over. They moved around the bench holly and the tall trees to the left of it, foraging for a few hours.
At 11:30, Laranja and Mara crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut and started to take the fence until they spied a large coil of rope that had been set on the bench in the midst of repairing the ropes in the exhibit which seemed to startle them. Laranja wouldn’t let that stand between her and her food, though, and she and Mara took the hanging ropes to the food trays instead. Moe started to follow and got as far as the fence before seeing the rope pile and fleeing back over to Holly Hill. He moved into the white ash on the left of the bench holly instead, followed by Eduardo and the babies. After a few minutes of eating, Laranja climbed straight up tree five and crossed over into the high black walnut followed by Mara. The GLTs curled up into a monkey ball in the bench holly, undisturbed as a hawk flew over calling at 1:05.
About 15 minutes later, they broke their huddle and everyone crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They ate from the food tray near tree zero briefly before moving into the small trees behind tree three to forage. They have started to come into berry and the family’s been taking full advantage of it. After a while, they moved back into the hemlocks where they foraged and played for several hours. The cold, rainy weather finally got to the monkeys too and they moved into the box shortly after five, disappearing below the platform soon after.
August 22: Sting
Another cold morning for the monkeys found them below the platform in their nest box until 7:20. They emerged and moved into the hemlocks to eat breakfast, Baby 2 cuddled close on Eduardo’s back.
They all crossed to Holly Hill around 8:45, moving into the high branches of the bench holly. They were mostly out of sight for a few hours, until 12:42 when Laranja and Mara crossed over the low black walnut into the main exhibit. They ate for a few minutes before Mara climbed up tree five and crossed into the high black walnut. Laranja lingered on the food pan a little longer before taking the ropes to the low black walnut and crossing back into the bench holly. All the GLTs sat in a monkey ball in the high branches, napping in the chilly afternoon air.
They crossed back at 12:45, everyone taking the low black walnut except for Eduardo who carried Baby 2 down the tupelo tree to the left of the bench holly. They all foraged in the hemlocks and quickly found the apple that was hung on the rope by tree five. Not quick enough to beat the bees though—as Mara reached for the fruit, she got stung on her left hand. She jumped and ran into the hemlock to the left of tree four, and sucked on her hand for a good five minutes. Before long she was back at the apple though, showing perhaps a little more caution toward the little yellow insects.
At four, a deer wandered across Holly Hill, prompting the family to glare from the hemlocks, predator calling for quite some time. They all moved back to tree five around 5:40, settling into the box at 6:15. At 6:30 no monkeys were visible above the platform. At 6:50, the deer walked through the main exhibit, prompting the monkeys to leave their box and defend their home one last time before returning to bed.
August 23 Where Has the Sun Gone?
The GLTs were out of the box and in the hemlocks foraging at 7 a.m. They crossed to Holly Hill at 7:55, with Eduardo in the lead. Everyone hopped down to the fence briefly before running over the low black walnut. Baby 2 lingered longer than the others and crossed two full minutes after everyone else. They moved into the bench holly and played high in the branches.
At around nine, they moved down to the shed holly where they stayed until 10:30. When they moved back toward the bench holly, they all crossed to the main exhibit over the low black walnut, moving into the hemlocks to eat. About 20 minutes later, Mara jumped onto the fence from the hemlock to the left of tree four and ran to the low black walnut where she crossed to Holly Hill. Moe followed her along the fence and everyone else took the ropes to the low black walnut and over. They played and groomed high up in the bench holly, all the kids playing together sporadically.
At one, they all moved down to the shed holly again where they foraged in the high branches and neighboring trees. They headed back to the bench holly at three, and Laranja crossed to the main exhibit briefly to eat. Everyone crossed back for the day at 4:30 over the low black walnut. They ate from the food trays by tree zero and the hemlocks. It was to be another early night as they headed into the box at 6:10, quickly disappearing below the platform to sleep. At 7, Eduardo and Moe could be seen sleeping together on the upper half of the nest box.
August 24: A Strange New Animal
At seven, the babies were still playing in the box but everyone else was out eating from the food trays. The whole family crossed quickly over the low black walnut at 7:20 and settled into the bench holly. They were mostly out of sight in the high branches before heading down to the shed holly at nine. They foraged and played there, about seven meters high, until about 10:20 when they headed back toward the bench holly.
At 10:51, everyone crossed over the low black walnut except for Moe, who sat in the bench holly and long called despondently while the others ate. After a few minutes, Eduardo climbed up tree five and crossed into the high black walnut. When he joined Moe in the bench holly, Moe chased him around in circles through the branches, chattering. Laranja, Mara, and Baby 1 all hopped from the hemlocks onto the fence which they ran along to the low black walnut and crossed. Baby 2 ran along the ropes parallel to the others but stopped at tree five, jumping into the small trees next to the fence. He long called several times before jumping to the ground and running to the fence which he used to reach the low black walnut and climb over to Holly Hill.
In the meantime, Eduardo had crossed back over from the high black walnut into tree five, looking for his lost child. Finding no one, he climbed from tree five into the top of the low black walnut and over to Holly Hill. They stayed in the bench holly playing and foraging for two more hours. At 1:40, the entire family crossed over the low black walnut and down the fence to the main exhibit. They foraged in the hemlocks and surrounding trees until 2:15 when Eduardo and the babies ran down the rope to the low black walnut and back over to Holly Hill followed by Laranja and Mara. Moe stayed and foraged for a few minutes longer before jumping on the fence and running along it into the low black walnut and over.
They were mostly out of sight in the high branches of the bench holly until 4:30, when they came back on the low black walnut once again. They reached the fence and suddenly everyone ran back over to Holly Hill and sat in the bench holly for a few more minutes. At five, they gave it another try, crossing over the low black walnut. Laranja, Moe, and the babies ran along the fence and into the main exhibit to eat. Mara followed along the fence to about the area of the fence when she stopped and looked down.
Leaning on the fence was a walking stick, belonging to one of the Small Mammal House keeper aides, which was adorned with several fur tails. Mara reached down and hesitantly touched it, jumping back quickly and running on to join the others. Eduardo was also intent on the walking stick, staring at it from the trunk of the low black walnut. He refused to move, watching the potential danger for any signs of movement. I walked up and removed the walking stick from the fence, hiding it behind my legs on the other side of the path. He moved to the kiosk and continued to watch me, peering from side to side, watching for the tails I had hidden behind me. I had to walk it halfway down the path and hide it behind a trash can before he would give up and rejoin the family. He’s such a good father, defending his family from this strange new stick animal.
They all foraged in the hemlocks until six, when they moved toward tree zero. They moved in and out of the nest box for the last hour. At seven, Eduardo, Mara, and Baby 2 were in the nest box while the others sat and watched outside.
August 25: Left Behind
The monkeys were up and moving early, crossing over to Holly Hill at 7:15. They moved straight to the shed holly, foraging along the way. They stayed mostly out of sight in the high branches for two before heading back toward the bench holly at 9:45. They settled into the big holly tree until 11, when Laranja, Mara, Moe, and Baby 2 crossed to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. Eduardo and Baby 1 stayed put until the rest of the family rejoined them after a few minutes.
At 12:30 they all moved back to shed holly once again. They spent a good amount of time yelling at a trespassing deer before moving into the surrounding trees to forage for about an hour. At 2:45 they headed back to the bench holly and promptly crossed back to the main exhibit. Only five monkeys crossed—Baby 2 was nowhere to be seen. The rest of the family went to the food trays and quietly ate, making no sign that they noticed their missing family member. No baby vocalizations could be heard from Holly Hill, where he had last been seen. After about five minutes of chowing down, Laranja sat in the hemlocks and long called a few times. After what felt like an eternity, a tiny long call could be heard from way down at the shed holly. Baby 2 must have been napping and got left behind!
The entire family charged along the ropes, crossing to Holly Hill to retrieve the baby. Laranja reached the little one and tried to pick it up, but he refused to be mothered and climbed back with them on his own. In the meantime, Baby 1 had been left alone in the exhibit and he long called unhappily. Eduardo ran back from the shed holly, overshot the crossing point, and climbed down the magnolia tree in front of the bench holly. He jumped to the ground and ran across the hastily cleared path to the fence and into the exhibit to comfort the abandoned twin. What an episode!
Soon after three, they were all reunited in the main exhibit and went about foraging in the hemlocks with renewed vigor. At four they moved up tree three and foraged through it and the white ash tree behind it. Laranja and Mara spent a few minutes on the ground by the base of tree three. A storm rolled in shortly after six, sending the monkeys into their box for the rest of the night.
August 26: Fall’s Well that Ends Well
(The babies are three months old today!)
The GLTs spent the first two hours of their morning foraging in the hemlocks in the corner of their exhibit. They all crossed to Holly Hill at 8:55 over the low black walnut. They moved through the bench holly and foraged in the squirrels’ nests in the white ash and tupelo trees to its left. At 11, they all moved back to the bench holly for half an hour before Laranja and Mara crossed to the main exhibit to eat. After a few minutes Laranja crossed back, followed shortly after by Mara. They all moved about the bench holly until 1:30, when they all crossed back together over the low black walnut. They foraged in the hemlocks and then the small trees to the rear of tree zero and then by tree five. At four, Eduardo led the way over to the Red Light District (the area of trees between the bathroom and the exhibit). The whole family followed but they were back in the main exhibit 15 minutes later.
At 5:30, Mara was on a branch in tree three about nine meters from the ground when the branch broke. She fell into the branches of a smaller tree below which broke her fall somewhat but she continued through and hit the rocks below. She was up right away and climbed up into a small tree, where she sat stationary for a few minutes. Then it was monkey business as usual as she continued to play with her siblings.
At 5:50, Mara moved back into tree three and vomited. She was very active and ran back to tree zero, where she joined the rest of the family. She spent some time playing with the babies in the nest box. Later she was seen drinking water, playing, and grooming the babies and since has seemed no worse for having fallen. At seven, Eduardo and Laranja were outside the box keeping watch as Moe slept below and Mara and the babies played on the upper level. | <urn:uuid:d929cb68-55f6-4897-ab4a-7a39e1142929> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/EndangeredSpecies/GLTProgram/FreeRange/MonkeyMessages07/13.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978844 | 3,475 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Hess v. Pawloski – Case Brief Summary
Summary of Hess v. Pawloski, 274 U.S. 352, 47 S. Ct. 632, 71 L. Ed. 1091 (1927).
Hess (D), a resident of Pennsylvania, negligently struck and injured Pawloski (P) while driving in Massachusetts. Pawloski brought this action against Hess in Massachusetts. The court established personal jurisdiction over Hess under a statute whereby non-resident motorists involved in accidents in Massachusetts consented to the appointment of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles as the driver’s agent for service of process. Process was served on the Registrar of Motor Vehicles as Hess’s agent and Hess received actual notice of the suit. Hess contested jurisdiction.
The trial court and the Supreme Judicial Court on appeal held that the court’s jurisdiction was valid. Pawloski won the case on the merits in a jury trial. Hess appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the Massachusetts court did not have personal jurisdiction over him and the method of service of process used violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Was the Massachusetts law that stated that out of state drivers gave implied consent to the appointment of the Registrar as agent for service of process constitutional?
Holding and Rule
Yes. A state has the power to legislate that non-residents who use its highways consent to the appointment of a third party as agent for the service of process in that state for actions arising from use of the highways.
This decision came twenty years before International Shoe Co. v. Washington and used implied consent rather than minimum contacts to establish jurisdiction over the defendant. By choosing to drive in a state, a non-resident demonstrates that the state is not so inaccessible or remote that it would be unfair to subject him to suit in that state. The Massachusetts statute sought to put out-of-state drivers on the same level as resident drivers and did not discriminate against them.
This case is occasionally miscited as Hess v. Pawlowski. | <urn:uuid:f37d60ab-ef76-4e1e-9fd6-adae0a07847c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lawnix.com/cases/hess-pawloski.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953102 | 419 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Before delivering the keynote address at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association's 34th annual meeting last month in Granville, George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley took time for an exclusive interview with Ohio Farmer. In 1988, Siemon joined a group of family farmers in Wisconsin to found the Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools. More commonly known by its brands Organic Valley and Organic Prairie, CROPP has grown to become the largest organic farming cooperative in North America. The cooperative focuses on regional production and distribution, contracting with local production plants rather than building their own, which invests in local communities and farmers instead of "brick and mortar." Organic Valley producers farm without antibiotics, synthetic hormones, or pesticides.
Siemon also initiated Farmers Advocating for Organics, the largest organic-focused granting fund in the U.S., which is funded entirely by Organic Valley farmer-owners. He advised the USDA as part of the Livestock Standards Board; and currently participates on the boards of directors for The Organic Center and Global Animal Partnership. in 2012, George was awarded the Natural Resources Defense Council's Growing Green Award in the "Business Leader" category, and the Social Venture Network's Hall of Fame Impact Award in the "Environmental Evangelist" category.
OF: How did you become involved in organic dairy farming?
Siemon: I wasn't raised on a farm. I moved to the country in order to live close to the land. I milked cows for almost 20 years. I enjoyed farming, but I was increasingly frustrated by the marketing system. It wasn't rewarding or reasonable and commodity prices just didn't make sense, so the economics of it weren't satisfying. Then I discovered organic farming. I was very excited for something new.
OF How did you discover organic farming?
Siemon: Populist farm groups found the 1985 Farm Bill very disappointing and the Wisconsin Farm Unity had the idea of starting value-added co-ops to help[p themselves. It was very pioneering at that time. One of the board members was in our region and he wanted to start an organic produce co-op, vegetable co-op. So, it was really a political activist group that had the idea to start a co-op that would help do what the government was unwilling to do, which was trying to provide farmers with a viable market. We started our co-op in 1988 and had strong community support from the beginning.
OF: Do you miss the cows?
Siemon: I quit milking in about 1997 so it has been a long time. It is a wonderful way to raise a family but as the business leader of the co-op I am extremely busy. I am able to put my business background to use.
OF: How critical was it to create organic regulations?
Siemon: The organics movement is unique in that they actually asked for more regulations. Some states were starting to write laws defining organic, but they were conflicting. So in 1989 we began working to create a national bill. An organic labeling law was passed in 1990. It was clear that organic regulation was a fairly neutral political issue. It's a unique law in that it has the only Congressional advisory group in the United States called the National Organic Standards Board. It took a while -- between 1990 and 2002 to get the standard up and out. It was very challenging to have a program that covered all the commodities, but we now have the strictest standard in the world and we should be proud of that.
OF: What is Organic Valley's status here in Ohio.
Siemon: In the last 10 years we have expanded into Ohio. There is strong farmer leadership here. We have 139 farmers here now. Nationwide we are about one third Amish or Mennonite. In Ohio that number is even higher. We have enjoyed their leadership and impact. Most of our milk production at this point is on the West Coast, but we see an opportunity for steady growth in Ohio.
OF: Are you attracting young producers?
Siemon: We get calls from farmers who are interested all the time, especially from the younger generation. Times are pretty tough for all dairy farmers. Everyone is suffering from the drought. Organic producers tend to rely on less feed, but they still need to have organic feed. As a co-op we target family farms, but some of those have 300 cows or more.
OF: Are they attracted by your premiums?
Siemon: We were founded on the basis of providing a stable price versus big ups and downs. We've had some dips along the way, but basically we have done a good job of providing a stable price for our producers. It's a matter of very careful supply management over the years we have been very stubborn that organic milk should sell at a price that's sustainable and reasonable.
OF: What kind of production and prices are organic dairymen getting?
Siemon: On average we have about an $8 (per cwt.) premium for organic milk. Our average price now is about $31.Our farmers get state average production. Organic feed costs are higher, but our producers tend to use less feed. The margins are not as high as they have been in the past.
OF: Is the co-op model for business making a rebound?
Siemon: Co-ops are coming back to life, but they are still only 1% of the business. There are more co-ops being started. In the farm field they are a strong business model, but they are still not as well understood as they should be.
OF: What is ahead for Organic Valley?
Siemon: This is our 25th year and we are continuing to grow at a steady pace. We will soon be a $1 billion company. We have grown 15 to 20% a year for the last four years. That's been driven by educated female consumers, mainly young mothers who want a healthy product for their families. We have benefitted from a free market not subsidized by the government. We may have a 19% growth rate this year and if we continue to grow 10% starting in 2014, by 2020 we'll be a $2 billion company. We are looking forward to continued strong success. | <urn:uuid:bd95e9e7-a589-49b6-ab41-f3b44caf9c51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://farmprogress.com/story-meet-george-siemon-organic-valley-ceo-14-96112 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981947 | 1,267 | 1.648438 | 2 |
NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 (G80): GPUs Re-architected for DirectX 10by Anand Lal Shimpi & Derek Wilson on November 8, 2006 6:01 PM EST
- Posted in
We always get very excited when we see a new GPU architecture come down the pipe from ATI or NVIDIA. For the past few years, we've really just been seeing reworked versions of old parts. NV40 evolved from NV30, G70 was just a step up from NV40, and the same is true with ATI as well. Fundamentally, not much has changed since the introduction of DX9 class hardware. But today, G80 ushers in a new class of GPU architecture that truly surpasses everything currently on the market. Changes like this only come along once every few years, so we will be sure to savor the joy that discovering a new architecture brings, and this one is big.
These massive architecture updates generally coincide with the release of a new DirectX, and guess what we've got? Thus we begin today's review not with discussions of pixel shaders and transistors, but about DirectX and what it will mean for the next-generation of graphics hardware, including G80.
There has been quite a lot of talk about what DirectX 10 will bring to the table, and what we can expect from DX10 class hardware. Well, the hardware is finally here, but much like the situation we saw with the launch of ATI's Radeon 9700 Pro, the hardware precedes the new API. In the mean time, we can only look at our shiny new hardware as it performs under DX9. Of course, we will see full DX9 support, encompassing everything we've come to know and love about the current generation of hardware.
Even though we won't get to see any of the new features of DX10 and Shader Model 4.0, the performance of G80 will shine through due to its unified shader model. This will allow developers to do more with SM3.0 and DX9 while we all wait for the transition to DX10. In the mean time we will absolutely be able to talk about what the latest installment of Microsoft's pervasive graphics API will bring to the table.
More Efficient State and Object Management
One of the major performance improvements we will see from DX10 is a reduction in overhead. Under DX9, state change and draw calls are made quite often and can generate so much overhead that the API becomes the limiting factor in performance. With DX10, we will see the addition of state objects which hold all of the state information for a given pipeline stage. There are 5 state objects in DX10: InputLayout (vertex buffer layout), Sampler, Rasterizer, DepthStencil, and Blend. These objects can quickly change all state information without multiple calls to set the state per attribute.
Constant buffers have also been added to hold data for use in shader programs.
Each shader program has access to 16 buffers of 4096 constants. Each buffer can be updated in one function call. This hugely reduces the overhead of managing a lot of input for shader programs to use. Similar to constant buffers, texture arrays are also available in order to allow for much more data to be stored for use with a shader program. 512 equally sized textures can be stored in a texture array, and each shader is allowed 128 texture arrays (as opposed to 16 textures in DX9). The combination of 8Kx8K texture sizes with all this texture storage space will offer a huge boost in texturing ability to DX10 based games and hardware.
A new construct called a "view" is being introduced in DX10 which will allow resources to be used as more than one type of thing at the same time. For instance, a pixel shader could render vertex data to a texture, and then a vertex shader could use a view to interpret the data as vertex buffer. Views will basically give developers the ability to share resources between pipeline stages more easily.
There is also an DrawAuto call which can redraw an object without having to go back out to the CPU. This combined with predicated rendering should cut down on the overhead and performance impact of large numbers of draw calls currently being used in DX9. | <urn:uuid:6c9b9985-fce6-4887-8b6b-90b498150a78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index/2116?cPage=10&all=False&sort=0&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938717 | 865 | 1.59375 | 2 |
First, the law will cost more than originally advertised. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates the bill will cost upward of $1.76 trillion over a decade, and not the $940 billion that was initially projected. Why? Due to a clever budget gimmick, the law was written not to take full effect until 2014, meaning budget estimates only accounted for six years of implementation. Now that the CBO has enough information to forecast costs for nine years of implementation, the price has gone way up. And some project that when you factor in all 10 years, the cost could be a whopping $2 trillion!
Second, though the costs will rise, the projected scope of coverage will actually fall. The CBO found that the law will reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 30 million, not 32 million as first promised. And remember that assurance that if you like your health care coverage you can keep it? Don’t bank on it. The CBO also projected that in 2016, four million Americans will lose their employer-based health insurance—a massive increase over the one million originally forecast.
Third, the law is clearly bad for America’s job creators and workers. A sweeping new national survey of more than 2,300 small and large businesses shows that employers’ health care costs have gone up under the law. As a result, many will be forced to pass on costs to their employees. Businesses will have less money to hire, invest, and expand.
Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the law. While the Chamber is not weighing in on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, we believe the law’s fate should be settled as quickly as possible to restore certainty for business. And if the individual mandate is ruled unconstitutional, the whole law should be struck down.
Unfortunately, our original predictions about the negative consequences of the law have proved true. The Chamber has long fought for health care reform based on market solutions that will empower consumers, foster competition, control costs, and improve quality and coverage. We still need those reforms, and we will continue to push for them until we get it right.
Thomas J. Donohue is the President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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Unless otherwise stated, the copyright and similar rights to all material published on this website are owned by The Manufacturers Group Inc. DBA Manufacturing & Technology eJournal( mfrtech.com ). Reproduction of any article in print, electronic or any other form must acknowledge mfrtech.com as the Source and include a link to http://www.mfrtech.com | <urn:uuid:d28bc702-849f-4bf1-87f9-facf1ecc3eb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.mfrtech.com/articles/25264.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954829 | 606 | 1.703125 | 2 |
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Wednesday, 19.06.2013, 15:31
Latvia records EU's highest unemployment rate for third consecutive month in November
In November 2009, the next highest unemployment rates were registered in Spain (19.4%), Estonia (15.2% – third quarter), Lithuania (14.6% – third quarter), Slovakia (13.6%) and Ireland (12.9%), reports LETA.
The lowest unemployment rates among the EU member states were recorded in the Netherlands (3.9%), Austria (5.5%), Luxembourg (6%), Cyprus (6.2%), Slovenia (6.8%), Malta (7%) and Denmark (7.2%).
The average seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the 27 European Union (EU) member states was 9.5% last November, compared to 9.4% in October. The euro area unemployment rate reached 10% in November, up from 9.9% in October. | <urn:uuid:918fe7ff-f1f7-467a-a6d6-c77dd86e547d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/analytics/?doc=22300 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943249 | 201 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Roger Doiron, kitchen gardener extraordinaire and founder of the website Kitchen Gardeners International, actually DID the math.
Of course, your monetary mileage here in Colorado may vary — it’s likely that your water needs will cost you a little more and you may have to initially get more compost and/or (hopefully organic) fertilizer. Our soil is notoriously challenging and low in organic matter. Then again, you can maybe ditch that health-club membership, because digging in that dirt will keep you so fit and firm, and your doctor co-pays will likely go down. Then there’s all the intangibles — sunshine, excitement, learning, the incredible satisfaction of not having to buy lettuce for months on end, tomato bragging rights, gift-budget savings, tanning-booth savings … but mainly there’s this:
A big chunk of food independance. A lot of food community. Seed swaps. Block parties. Beets. Peppers. Leeks. Your own snap peas, picked seconds before you eat them. Your kids knowing what worms do.
Gardening means never having to wonder what to take to a potluck. | <urn:uuid:9bb9a1c5-3110-4c1c-9925-b59728001d02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.denverpost.com/diggingin/2009/03/02/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93001 | 242 | 1.671875 | 2 |
November 19, 2009 By Reid Goldsborough
The Sony VAIO CW Series laptops (pictured), start at about $720, and have large 14-inch screens and keys with about the same size and spacing as desktop keyboards.
For your next personal computer, should you go with a laptop PC even though you compute primarily at one location?
More people have been answering this question in the affirmative. Sales of laptop PCs surpassed desktop PCs for the first time in the third quarter of 2008, according to the market research firm iSuppli.
Several factors explain the trend. Traditionally, desktops far outperformed laptops with cost, speed, storage capacity and reliability. Desktop PCs still have an advantage in these areas, but the difference has decreased dramatically. The smallest laptops, the netbooks, are now priced equivalently to the least expensive desktop PCs.
The main advantage of laptops is the most obvious. Rather than being tethered to one spot, you can compute wherever you happen to be, whether from building to building, within an office, factory, house or even outside.
This portability is accentuated by the recent improvements in wireless Internet technology, with wireless network adapters now built into most laptops. This and other advances make it easier to set up a network in a business or home and to connect to an existing Wi-Fi network for Internet access in selected airports, hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, supermarkets, libraries and college campuses.
Stationary desktop PCs still have their benefits. Their greater speed and capacity make them better suited for video editing, computer aided design, and high-end gaming. A larger keyboard makes it easier to type and larger screen makes it easier to view. People using desktops are also generally less prone to ergonomic problems, such as neck and back strain from slumping over a small machine.
Unless you're near an outlet, laptops are also limited by their battery life. And laptops are more easily stolen than larger desktop PCs, which is a big factor in organizational settings.
Workarounds are available, however, to mitigate these issues. You can use a supplemental mouse, keyboard, and/or monitor with a laptop PC. Laptop stands can improve the ergonomics without requiring supplemental devices. AViiQ has recently introduced its Portable Laptop Stand which, unlike most other laptop stand, folds up so you can carry it along with the laptop.
Some people carry an external laptop battery with them, which can double computing time. Energizer's Energi To Go XP18000 is a portable power pack that can charge a laptop and two other devices at once while away from an electrical outlet.
Most laptops today have a security slot to secure the unit to a desk or other immovable object with a security cable and lock such as those from Kensington.
The word "laptop" has evolved into an umbrella term for "portable computer." Portable PCs today come in four main flavors, listed here by decreasing size:
Variations include tablet PCs with touch screens that can be used without a keyboard and "rugged" laptops built to withstand strong vibrations, heat and cold, moisture and dust
I've been experimenting with using a Sony VAIO desktop-replacement laptop as my main work machine to see how well it replicates my current desktop PC experience. Sony makes some of the most reliable laptop PCs, according to a study by
This Digital Communities white paper highlights discussions with IT officials in four counties that have adopted shared services models. Our aim was to learn about the obstacles these governments have faced when it comes to shared services and what it takes to overcome those roadblocks. We also spoke with several members of the IT industry who have thought long and hard about these issues. The paper offers some best practices for shared government-to-government services, but also points out challenges that government and industry still must overcome before this model gains widespread adoption. | <urn:uuid:752d528a-1ca0-4b5e-af3d-bf7ec614dd33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitalcommunities.com/articles/Personal-Computing-Laptop-as-Desktop-PC.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951873 | 789 | 1.6875 | 2 |
NEW YORK—As Hurricane Sandy continues to track northward along the East Coast in the Atlantic, officials in New York City are gearing up to protect the city from potential flooding and high winds.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo updated the city and state Sunday morning with the announcement that most public transportation, including subways and commuter rails, will begin to shut down at 7 p.m. Oct. 28.
“The transportation system is the lifeblood of the New York City region, and suspending all service is not a step I take lightly,” Cuomo said in a statement. “But keeping New Yorkers safe is the first priority, and the best way to do that is to make sure they are out of harm’s way before gale-force winds can start wreaking havoc on trains and buses.”
Buses will begin shutting down at 9 p.m. Service will be gradually curtailed and totally shut down by 3 a.m. on Monday morning.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), rain is not expected to begin in New York City until after 11 a.m. on Sunday, with heavier rain not expected until Sunday night into Monday. While the storm may not hit New York City directly, the heavy rain will likely bring flooding to low lying areas.
Evacuation of Zone A, which includes Battery Park, Coney Island, and portions of Staten Island, has been ordered and declared mandatory.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced the evacuation shortly before noon Sunday, said 65 shelters have been set up in public schools around the city. “If you don’t want to stay in your home and don’t have another safe option, they are available for use. They provide a safe place to sleep, they provide meals, and they have space for pets so bring your pets with you,” Bloomberg said the previous day.
The shelters have backup generators and have increased staffing.
East River Ferry service will be suspended starting on Saturday night and the Staten Island Ferry will run with delays until further notice.
Schools will be canceled on Monday and could be canceled Tuesday and Wednesday.
City offices will not be open on Monday.
Bloomberg said the storm will likely peak Monday night, and city officials expect a storm surge of 6 to 11 feet.
“Tomorrow you’re going to wake up and the weather is going to be a lot worse,” he said.
The mayor ordered all events at the city’s parks to be stopped by 2 p.m. on Sunday and the parks to be closed by 5 p.m.. Bloomberg also told New Yorkers hoping to surf during and before the storm not to do so.
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Take flight and soar with exciting opportunities for student involvement at Wright State. Going to Wright State is about making the most of your life as a student. As you get involved, you'll not only have a lot of fun, you'll also develop your leadership abilities, raise your consciousness, and acquire skills you'll use after college.
Getting involved is easy! Just go to the listing of organizations and contact the President of the organization(s) that match your interests.
Stop by our new office on the lower level of the Student Union or give us a call at (937) 775-5570 if you have questions or would like to get involved on campus!
Richard A. Danals, Ph.D.
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The Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Questioning and Ally (GLBTQA) Resource Room website is designed to collectively bring together information about GLBTQA programs and services in one convenient location for Wright State University students, faculty and staff.
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The announcement means that the Service, which provides assistance and advice to 80,000 Queensland households each year, will be able to continue helping vulnerable tenants after Premier Campbell Newman announced that the State Government was withdrawing all funding.
“This important service assists some of society’s most vulnerable families right across the state,” ACL Queensland Director Wendy Francis said.
“Some budget cuts may be necessary to address Queensland’s economic woes but TAAS provides an essential service which actually saves the government money in the long run by keeping people in private residences and reducing the need for public housing,” she said.
The ACL commends the role played by Federal Labor Member for Blair Shayne Neumann in securing the funding.
“Mr Neumann recognises the importance of this service in preventing homelessness and federal Labor is to be commended for ensuring it can continue,” Ms Francis said. | <urn:uuid:3896e0ea-d717-427d-be1c-a7620b4c67cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://au.christiantoday.com/article/acl-welcomes-federal-funding-for-queensland-tenant-advice-and-advocacy-service/14188.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94544 | 185 | 1.53125 | 2 |
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