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Entrepreneurs are a tricky bunch. Notorious risk takers, they are passionate, time-stretched and sometimes self-reliant to a fault. The Next Big Thing may be hardwired into their DNA but financial savvy? Not so much.
"Real entrepreneurs view risk differently. They have a very sophisticated algorithm sitting in their head. They know they have 10 or 20 different levers they will have to pull and push — and they understand the levers they need to pull and push to win," observes Ray Padrón, president of Brightworth, an advisory firm in Atlanta. "Translating that isn't easy. The hardest thing is having a conversation around risk and reward. You don't want them to apply the same principles to their portfolio as they do to their business model."
Entrepreneurs, quintessential do-it-yourselfers, also tend to seek out financial counsel not as a preemptive action but after a problem has surfaced. As business advisor Gene G. Wright, who heads Atlanta-based Northstar Consulting, puts it: "They've stretched the rubber band as far as they can."
Wright calls entrepreneurs an "incredibly underserved" but lucrative market that requires special handling on the part of the financial advisor.
"Providing advice to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company is a very different process than to someone who's just built a $10 million business and hasn't had a vacation in five years," says Wright. "You need to be results-oriented. You need to remember that entrepreneurs are time-compressed. There's no time or need for formal reports. I'd be laughed out of the room if I showed up with a PowerPoint. Above all, recognize that entrepreneurs value relationships. You may have an incredible pedigree, but that won't matter a twit if someone doesn't trust you."
What are the chief challenges facing advisors who want to develop a practice that features the entrepreneur? Here's our four-part primer — with expert commentary from advisors and entrepreneurs themselves — on how to target the market, communicate to best advantage, build trust, and engage in a way that pulls it all together.
Target the market — Just as no two entrepreneurs are alike, neither is there one best way to make an approach. The experts' advice? Make it simple and keep it real.
For starters, the advisor needs to understand the entrepreneur in advance as fully as possible, according to Herb Sih, a former financial advisor who heads Think Big Partners, an early stage business incubator based in Kansas City, Mo. It is one of 30 businesses he has started.
In essence, Sih says most entrepreneurs (and their spouses) are highly stressed; favor short, on-site meetings ("not death by a thousand PowerPoints"); and may have backgrounds that have nothing to do with their current endeavor. While their jobs are innately high-risk, the advisor should not assume that they have or want a high-risk investment profile.
Personal referrals and networking events are Sih's preferred method of introduction. Sih says he gets a lot of pops on LinkedIn, which he ignores or deletes. "Not worth my time," he says.
When Padrón meets with a prospect, it is typically through a referral — a source that gives him instant gravitas. However, he says, "I don't sell Brightworth. I probably spend 80 percent of my time trying to understand him or her and their business. That usually communicates a level of sophistication." It also gives him entrée to begin asking probing questions. He advises clients across the spectrum of the business cycle but he prefers to work with them three to five years in advance of a liquidity event because that's when he believes he can add a lot of value.
Wright, who has started three businesses himself, has created what amounts to a Meet-the-Entrepreneur template. First, he uses a marketing service to identify businesses with the profile he wants: a five-year track record, a certain number of employees, a demonstrated cash flow. Next, he hires another firm to call the entrepreneurs he wants to target and offer them a complimentary consultation.
"Then I show up, sign a confidentiality agreement when I walk through the door, and listen to business issues," he says "You let them do most of the talking. If you can add value, you probe. It's the quality of the questions you ask that stops them in their tracks — questions they don't have answers to."
Be a savvy communicator — Entrepreneurs often think fast, talk faster and they're big multitaskers. As Dominic Rubino, executive vice president of FocalPoint Business Coaching in Henderson, Nev., notes: "Entrepreneurs have a very unique headspace and it takes strategy to get inside it."
Rubino uses the behavioral assessment tool DISC to educate financial advisors about different entrepreneur personality types. Financial DNA is another well-known assessment tool. Basically, the tools examine a person's conversational style to help determine the type.
Many entrepreneurs, he adds, are "drivers": quick, to the point and strong-willed. "If we were all birds, the driver would be an eagle. He'd just eat us and not care," says Rubino. The lesson for the advisor? "They are the four-star general and you are the three-star general. You both are strong personalities and you have to step back."
The savvy advisor is also likely to use a different approach with an entrepreneur who owns a gravel business as opposed to someone who creates avatars for online gaming. The message here: Match and mirror. "To be successful, I have to talk in your language back to you," Rubino says. "That means I have to know what my style is first in order to modify to you."
Other top tips: Don't be rigid about scheduling and keep meetings under one hour. Make a point of including the spouse. And be concise.
Entrepreneur Scott Alvord, who operates three businesses in Sacramento, has a good friend who is a financial advisor but after a year and a half of pitches, Alvord had failed to hire him.
"Part of the problem is he would offer suggestions on things and I'd be too busy to deal with it. You've got to give me something very succinct. I have no time to look at a 50-page document," he says. "Summarize it for me." After his friend adjusted his approach, Alvord hooked up with him on a project.
Build trust — Most entrepreneurs will reject high-pressure sales techniques outright, preferring the slow and steady creation of trust. Any approach, according to Alvord, must include tact, non-pressure education and logic.
"The trick to a lot of it is just trusting somebody," he says. "An advisor will have to gently impress upon the entrepreneur that the advisor cares and is not in the relationship just to make a sale but is instead trying to help prepare them for financial success and protect them from downturns or disasters."
The best advisors, adds Wright, will also be proactive about deepening the entrepreneur's network by providing introductions to other professionals. "I can't solve every problem my clients encounter and it's important to have a good network of accountants, attorneys, information technology and human resources professionals who can help out along the way," he says. "This is a big trust-builder."
Wright also uses what he calls "education-based selling" with his entrepreneur clients. "I like to raise logically provocative issues that make the business owner think about what it is they do and how they're doing it." A simple question like "How does the retirement account look?" could lead, for example, to a discussion that could transform the relationship.
It's also important to have answers and insights.
As Rubino notes, "You want to offer solutions from a position of wisdom. You want to make sure your solutions seem very easy to implement. You want to take the work and worry away from the entrepreneur. 'I just need this piece of information and I'll take care of all the details.' That's what they want to hear. They like to delegate — if they can."
Create a lasting engagement — Some advisors deal with the entrepreneur's personal wealth, some with the business — some with both.
"Many entrepreneurs are looking for someone who can be a sounding board — who can ask the right questions, almost like a personal board member," says Padrón. "You become their trusted counselor."
One issue that might arise: a spouse or children who have taken a back seat to the building of the business.
"You may have a spouse at home who has suffered through 20 hard years of building this thing. That 20 years is now sitting in an investment account and it represents different things to both of them," he adds. "Understanding that and the dynamics taking place are huge for the advisor. You've earned the right, in your role as advisor, to help your clients in ways you might not have foreseen."
Often, with entrepreneurs, the line blurs between business and personal financials. "It's not always cut and dried," says Derek Holman, co-founder of EP Wealth Advisors in Los Angeles. "There's a lot of opportunity out there."
Holman's best advice? Set expectations up front.
"We want to show them our process when it comes to investments and making larger business decisions. An entrepreneur wants to be engaged but not involved. They don't want to be in the weeds of the decisions. And deliver what you promise. Obviously, trust is fragile and it's earned and it can be broken pretty quickly."
John Koudsi, CEO and chief strategist of Core Financial Partners in Venice, Calif., helps his 80 entrepreneur clients with corporate strategic tax planning but he also often reminds them about why they became an entrepreneur in the first place.
"Business owners forget sometimes that they went into this for a reason. They're passionate about what they're doing, but they did it to create personal wealth and to create a better life for their family. Sometimes they're so deep inside of it they fail to look at what they are really generating and how it's affecting their personal life," says Koudsi.
"You need to remind them: Here's what you want to accomplish. Let's let your business feed those personal goals. The business is your engine," he adds. "There's some personal reason why you work so hard and why you put all that risk out there. You need to keep that close."


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James wrote:I agree completely with Tigger here... and I think you're seriously underestimating this problem, Ranbir. The Muslim community has been muscling in with its laws through Europe for quite some time now and they are steadily gaining ground. Ignoring the problem and depending on it to right itself will be just as effective as ignoring Germany's advances during World War II. The problem won't go away, the threat is devoted and dedicated.
What bothers me most about the courts is the involvement of the women inside them. Sure, they can say all involved parties gave consent, but those women didn't have much choice. To decline would have surely been affront to their culture and their families, and that would have been a big mess in many cases. Laugh if you will, but sometimes a strong arm and a good smack is what you need to deal with an awful problem.
I still think it's rather naive to think that even moderate Muslims, with their strong sense of civil society, will not want to be actively involved as Muslims in their own community affairs, and even more naive to think that Christian churches haven't already been doing this for centuries (and to a certain extent, still are). The more alienated a religious group feels from civil society, the more attractive more radical options look to them. Unless you are suggesting - as Ranbir rather satirically pointed out - that we should also consider as 'threats' rabbinical law and the influence of Christian churches on law (in both the United States and in Britain), this view seems more than a bit alarmist. Also, there's something about the 'strong arm' and the 'good smack' that disturbs me a little bit - I think the Russian Tsarist justifications for pogroms against Jewish communities (which were considered 'an awful problem') used similar language, and I don't think that's a route you really want to seriously consider, lest Britain take the Yugoslav road to hell.
It's better for those representing the law of the land in Britain to be engaged in discussion with those in the Muslim community who are willing to sit down and discuss, so as to better equip the Muslim community and the society at large against the extremists who don't want to sit down and discuss what it means to be a Muslim and Britain, but would rather blow up subways. That's the essence of what Dr Williams was trying to convey at the Royal Courts of Justice, and I think his view was quite prescient.
James wrote:Having mosques around is religious freedom.
Altering society's laws or legal structure based on a religious perspective is quite another thing, especially when it is such a lop-sided religious view. Preaching the standard 'love thy neighbor' stuff is fine, but demonstrating an interest in relegating women to the rank of second-class citizen, among other things, is quite another matter.
I'd agree, but again, you want to have a forum of open communication in which to discuss this. The Cromwellian option in this case would be more than a little ridiculous in a society which over the past 300 years has made religious tolerance one of its defining marks.

subset: commoncrawl


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PREORDER - this item is a preorder and may take 4-6 weeks to ship. I will be making masks in the order received, and want to be 100% honest about my turnaround time. It depends how many orders I receive, but please be aware that it may take UP TO 4-6 weeks to ship.
This listing is for a three-layer 100% cotton face mask. Contains a pocket for a filter made with a different fabric, and elastic ear loops.
Wash on cold, tumble dry low.
I make no claims of efficiency against anything, and filter is not included.
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I accept PayPal, credit cards and Etsy gift cards. I start working on your item once payment is received.
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Upshaw, Gene
Upshaw, Gene (Eugene Upshaw, Jr.), 1945–2008, American football player and labor union leader, b. Robstown, Tex. He attended Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M, Kingsville), where he starred in football and track. Drafted (1967) by the Oakland Raiders, he played left guard (1967–81) in 217 regular-season games, and his power, aggressiveness, and speed on the offensive line helped propel his team to Super Bowl victories in 1968, 1977, and 1981. After his retirement as a player, Upshaw became the first African-American executive director of the National Football League Players Association, serving from 1983 until his death. Tough and plain-spoken, he led the union in the contentious 1987 strike and through lengthy contract negotiations that led to free agency, high salaries, revenue sharing, and other significant player benefits. Upshaw was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Sports: Biographies


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The TCC Collector Zone Transaction Manager generated the following agreement:
crpalmi receives:
vito receives:
All cards pulled from your team(s) in the Boxbreakers Hobby FB Group Break which is linked here;
Payment has been received and I'll update again upon mailing out the cards. Thanks again for participating!
Additional notes:
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Consulting, training, and other services
We provide free consultations and workshops to Stanford University faculty, staff, researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
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There are a bunch of apps out on iOS for kids, from educational apps to sports apps and more. Sure, you can get reviews of these games by adults, sometimes even from parents of kids who use them.
We thought it'd be fun, though, to ask the kids themselves.
Welcome to Kid APProved, a series of videos in which we ask our own children what they think of apps on the App Store that they're using.
This week, it's a game about bringing rainbows of happiness to sad, grey creatures, TCHOW Rainbow from TCHOW. Here's what our Kid APProved reporter "Battle" thinks.


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Frogskins Urban Jungle
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Urban Jungle Collection Frogskin Sunglasses by Oakley. Each pair comes with an Oakley Iridium lens that is optimized with High Definition Optics. It features lenses that give off neutral transmissions to help maintain color recognition. Including a Microclear bag for storage and lens cleaning..
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Spogo App Lets You Bet on Live Sports (Sort Of)
Sometimes, it seems like sports are impervious to the Internet.
Long before anyone had heard of social media, sports — both in the stadium and on TV — has been a social experience. That holds true today, even when "live" events can be anything but.
Still, "second-screen" apps, which aim to supplement live television for smartphone and tablet users, could yet have value for sports.
Case in point: Spogo.
The Boston start-up is awkwardly named, but clever in execution. Users download an app to their iPhones (Spogo plans to release an Android app after it finishes a round of seed funding) and use it to wager on what's going to happen throughout the live game. But instead of betting money — a tricky affair in the U.S. — they bet points that can be exchanged for prizes.
Co-founder Andrew Vassallo said Spogo has a total of 50 prize-awarding partners in its two launch cities, New York and Boston. Most of those partners are sports bars, paying for both exposure through the app's prizes (e.g. free beer or half-off a hamburger) and for data on the users who redeem those rewards.
It's a simple gamification-lite twist that seems likely to get new people in the doors … if Spogo can attract an audience, of course.
To that end, Vassallo said he and his partner, David Shack, want to expand into other cities with the "big four" sports of football, basketball, baseball and hockey, starting on the East Coast and eventually moving west.
Right now, the app only covers football and offers rewards in those two Northeastern cities, so here in San Francisco, my betting on the 49ers-Pats game over the weekend didn't do me much good.
On a broader scale, Vassallo and Shack also plan to branch out into betting on the outcomes of non-sports entertainment like the Oscars. And, of course, the prizes would be tailored for that decidedly different audience.
"Something like movie tickets through a partnership with AMC or a subscription to Netflix," Vassallo said.


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I'd like to add some comments on a political science subject, with a bit more emphasis on the science–which is not to say the political implications are less important in our present day.
I write a lot, more non-fiction than fiction, but I have written fiction and still have ideas along those lines. I had an idea, about 12-15 years ago, that I have yet to fully develop, which I titled "Without Power." The premise was that suddenly during morning rush hour, all power goes out around the globe. Wherever you happen to be at the moment, you're stuck there. Your car won't work, your cellphone, anything with electronics including microchips won't work. NPR goes out. Talk radio goes out. BBC is down. Your cigarette-lighter powered shaver goes out during a last-minute cleanup up in the rear-view mirror. So, what do you do? You get out of your car and walk. Where do you walk? Home. How do you survive without communication, conveniences, ease of mobility, all of the things we take for granted? Not just that, but the infrastructure of world power goes out as well. How well is that one going to work out?
One of my thoughts that I never fully researched was how electrical systems would just suddenly go out throughout the world. One early thought was that it would remain unexplained, mysterious and supernatural. The story, instead, would focus on the drama of everyone suddenly being "equaled out." Struggles for power would form on local and regional levels. What system(s) would develop out of the crisis?
I found out recently, to my surprise, that country-wide power outages are possible, and I thought I would give some resources in case anyone is curious–because, as we all know, if the technology is there, then those who would use it are there. Any naysayers can just check out the villains in Austin Powers or any of the James Bond films:)
I've written, on this blog, about some results of fear ("Election Year Fear" and "Goodness Breeds ~ Goodness!") The full truth is that fear can be a good thing. Generally, it's true that good has a bad side, and bad has a good side. That's why the balance of powers between Congress, the President and the Supreme Court is a good thing. Balancing power so that the bad can't get an edge over the others is a good thing. On a current note, President Obama last night stated that he would seek more power for his executive branch and that he would bypass Congress, if necessary, any time they didn't agree with his political agenda. This is not a good thing. Let's say he does consolidate power around the presidency, and then Mitt Romney wins the November election. How well is that one going to work out for Democrats?
Fear is now and has seemingly forever been used politically from every direction as a bad thing, but it's also a natural, human instinct. If you hear someone walking around your house at night, leaves are rustling around outside when they shouldn't be, you're probably going to get up and take a look. It's natural.
So, the first step to eliminating any fear that develops is that you make yourself aware of what's really going on outside. Probably a deer or racoon, or a stray dog, and then you can sleep good that night. That's the same premise here, with the concept of suddenly being "without power." Awareness is the first step. You know the technology exists. You know there are those who would use it for not-so-good purposes. You're hearing the leaves rustling outside. Awareness allows you to sleep good each night–or, to take further steps toward your own, your family's and your friends' safety.
It's simply saying that given that this scenario can happen, ask yourself: "What would I do if…?" It's up to you. My aim here is just toward the awareness part. Or, to give some writers out there a decent story line about this dark premise. NOT! It's my story. Actually, a thriller, titled "One Second After," was written in 2009, and has been optioned a second time as a film. (A lesson that when you get an story idea, jump on it. I could have had a book out on the subject ten years ago if I had knuckled down.) The author of the 2009 book, however, is tied as a cowriter of separate books with a prominent politician now running for president, so it's up to you if you want to check it out.
Here's where to find the scoop on the technology itself, and its "already-tested" history that dates back to July, 1962. Funny how it usually takes so long for the "little people" to become more aware of what the "big people" have been up to. Makes you wonder what else they've hidden up their sleeves since 1962. A lot, I think. As an aside, I was seven years old, almost eight, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union detonated a series of these nuclear EMP devices over the Pacific and the Soviet Union. This was during the Cuban Missile Crisis with John F. Kennedy as president and Nikita Khrushchev as leader of the Soviet Union. Maybe because I've always been more on the arts side than the science side, I never became aware of those tests, and the technology, until now.
[ http://www.futurescience.com/emp.html ].
[Excerpts from the article]:
Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse by Jerry Emanuelson, B. S. E. E.
Futurescience, LLC Colorado Springs, CO
In testimony before the United States Congress House Armed Services Committee on October 7, 1999, the eminent physicist Dr. Lowell Wood, in talking about Starfish Prime and the related EMP-producing nuclear tests in 1962, stated,
|"Most fortunately, these tests took place over Johnston Island in the mid-Pacific rather than the Nevada Test Site, or electromagnetic pulse would still be indelibly imprinted in the minds of the citizenry of the western U.S., as well as in the history books. As it was, significant damage was done to both civilian and military electrical systems throughout the Hawaiian Islands, over 800 miles away from ground zero. The origin and nature of this damage was successfully obscured at the time — aided by its mysterious character and the essentially incredible truth."
The Starfish Prime Nuclear Test
from nearly 900 miles away
Although nuclear EMP was known since the earliest days of nuclear weapons testing, the magnitude of the effects of high-altitude nuclear EMP were not known until a 1962 test of a thermonuclear weapon in space called the Starfish Prime test. The Starfish Prime test knocked out some of the electrical and electronic components in Hawaii, which was 897 miles (1445 kilometers) away from the nuclear explosion. The damage was very limited compared to what it would be today because the electrical and electronic components of 1962 were much more resistant to the effects of EMP than the sensitive microelectronics of today. The magnitude of the effect of an EMP attack on the United States, or any similar advanced country, will remain unknown until one actually happens. Unless the device is very small or detonated at an insufficiently high altitude, it is likely that it would knock out the nearly the entire electrical power grid of the United States. It would destroy many other electrical and (especially) electronic devices. Larger microelectronic devices, and devices that are connected to antennas or to the power grid at the time of the pulse, would be especially vulnerable.
. . .
The Starfish Prime test (a part of Operation Fishbowl) was detonated at 59 minutes and 51 seconds before midnight, Honolulu time, on the night of July 8, 1962. (Official documents give the date as July 9 because that was the date at the Greenwich meridian, known as Coordinated Universal Time.) It was considered an important scientific event, and was monitored by hundreds of scientific instruments across the Pacific and in space. Although an electromagnetic pulse was expected, an accurate measurement of the size of the pulse could not be made immediately because a respected physicist had made calculations that hugely underestimated the size of the EMP. Consequently, the amplitude of the pulse went completely off the scale at which the scientific instruments near the test site had been set. Although many of the scientific instruments malfunctioned, a large amount of data was obtained and analyzed in the following months.
When the 1.44 megaton W49 thermonuclear warhead detonated at an altitude of 250 miles (400 km), it made no sound. There was a very brief and very bright white flash in the sky that witnesses described as being like a huge flashbulb going off in the sky. The flash could be easily seen even through the overcast sky at Kwajalein Island, about 2000 km. to the west-southwest.
After the white flash, the entire sky glowed green over the mid-Pacific for a second, then a bright red glow formed at "sky zero" where the detonation had occurred. Long-range radio communication was disrupted a period of time ranging from a few minutes to several hours after the detonation (depending upon the frequency and the radio path being used).
In a phenomenon unrelated to the EMP, the radiation cloud from the Starfish Prime test subsequently destroyed at least 5 United States satellites and one Soviet satellite. The most well-known of the satellites was Telstar I, the world's first active communications satellite. Telstar I was launched the day after the Starfish Prime test, and it did make a dramatic demonstration of the value of active communication satellites with live trans-Atlantic television broadcasts before it orbited through radiation produced by Starfish Prime (and other subsequent nuclear tests in space). Telstar I was damaged by the radiation cloud, and failed completely a few months later.
. . .
A nuclear EMP attack could come from many sources. A missile launched from the ocean near the coast of the United States, and capable of delivering a nuclear weapon at least a thousand miles inland toward the central United States, would cause problems that would be devastating for the entire country. A thin-cased 100 kiloton weapon optimized for gamma ray production (or even the relatively-primitive super oralloy bomb of more than 56 years ago) detonated 250 to 300 miles above Nebraska, would destroy just about every unprotected electronic device in the continental United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico. Such a weapon would also knock out 70 to 100 percent of the electrical grid in this very large area. Nearly all unprotected electronic communications systems would be knocked out. In the best of circumstances, as completely unprepared for such an event as we are now, reconstruction would take at least three years if the weapon were large enough to destroy large power grid transformers.
The more that preparations are made for an EMP attack, the less severe the long-term consequences are likely to become. In comparative terms, being ready for an EMP attack would not cost a lot, and the benefits would include a much higher reliability of the electrical and electronic infrastructure, even if a nuclear EMP attack never occurred. Adequate preparation and protection could keep recovery time to a month or two, but such preparations have never been made, and few people are interested in making such preparations.
Hardening the electronic and electrical infrastructure of the United States against an EMP attack is the best way to assure that such an attack does not occur. Leaving ourselves as totally vulnerable as we are now makes the United States a very tempting target for this kind of attack.
By not protecting its electrical and electronic infrastructure against nuclear EMP, the United States invites and encourages nuclear proliferation. These unprotected infrastructures allow countries that are currently without a nuclear weapons program to eventually gain the capability to effectively destroy the United States with one, or a few, relatively simple nuclear weapons.
Severe solar storms can cause current overloads on the power grid that are very similar to the slower E3 component of a nuclear electromagnetic pulse. There is good reason to believe that the past century of strong human reliance on the electrical systems has also, fortunately for us, been an unusually quiet period for solar activity. We may not always be so lucky. In 1859, a solar flare produced a geomagnetic storm that was many times greater than anything that has occurred since the modern electrical grid has been in place. We know something about the electrical disruption that the 1859 Carrington event caused because of the destruction it caused on telegraph systems in Europe and North America. Many people who have studied the 1859 event believe that if such a geomagnetic storm were to occur today, it would shut down the entire electrical grid of the United States. It is likely that such a geomagnetic storm would destroy most of the largest transformers (345 KV. and higher) in the electrical grid. Spares for these very large transformers are not kept on hand, and they are no longer produced in the United States. Protection against nuclear EMP is also protection against many kinds of unpredictable natural phenomena that could be catastrophic.


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Williams and Cabot have started releasing maps about the so-called I-88 alternative. However all it is doing is shifting the impacts to about 500 new landowners in Delaware, Otsego, and Schoharie Counties. Open houses will be held this coming week in Cobleskill and Oneonta.
Wednesday, September 12
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Best Western hotel at 121 Burgin Drive, Cobleskill
Thursday, September 13
6:30 to 8:30 pm.
Holiday Inn at 5206 State Highway 23, Oneonta
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Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes Recipe
This recipe is adapted from the recipe featured on the back of Joy Ice Cream Cone boxes. Joy sells a special baking and storage pan that fits the cones perfectly, but I've found that a popover pan works perfectly. (And a regular cupcake pan should work, too—you may need to use aluminum foil to stuff the pan so the cones don't shift too much in the oven.)
- Yield:Serves 24
- Active time: 1 1/2 hours
- Total time:2 hours
- Rated:
- For the Cupcakes
- 1 box cake mix (plus any required ingredients: water, oil, eggs etc)
- 24 flat bottomed wafer cones
- For the Frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, unsalted
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Food coloring (optional)
- Sprinkles (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare cake mix according to directions. Fill ice cream cones 2/3 full and place in baking tray.
Bake in 350°F oven until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely (be sure to leave ample room between the cones so they don't get knocked over).
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined. Divide frosting between several ramekins and add food coloring, as desired.
Once cupcakes have cooled completely, frost and decorate with sprinkles. Store covered up to two days.
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Chicago's Best Bars for Whiskey, Gin, Tequila, and Other Spirits
Chicago is without a doubt a whiskey town. Ask a local where to find the best selection, and you'll likely be faced with a long and detailed list of options. From dives like Delilah's to more upscale joints like Longman & Eagle, one can find a good place to down a dram in almost every neighborhood.
Yet bars with new liquor focuses are also opening with each passing month, making it easier to find the best spot for rum, gin, tequila, and even Italian amari within city limits. Here are some of the best spots to explore, whether you want to sip a spot of rum, taste your way through a flight of agave spirits, or sample some homegrown vodka.
For Whiskey: Delilah's
One of Chicago's most renowned spots for whiskey with an attitude, Delilah's has rocked a great selection of over 600 whiskies since 1993. The small Lincoln Square "rock n' roll booze emporium" is divey without being too disheveled, and the bartending staff are friendly without being in-your-face about customer service. With $3 daily specials ($4 for mixed drinks), you'd be hard-pressed to find a more affordable place to throw back a shot of Maker's or Jim Beam before a night on the town, but their vast selection also plays host to more prestigious offerings as well; the bar stocks Scotch from over 70 distilleries, including some rare single cask offerings from private bottlers. They also team up with a different distillery every year to make a new whiskey for their anniversary parties; last year they collaborated with revered Compass Box Whisky on a bottling that is now available internationally.
Delilah's: 2771 N Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614 (map) 773-472-2771; delilahschicago.com
More Whiskey: Fountainhead
This welcoming Ravenswood/Lincoln Square gastropub is known for its great craft beer selection, but what most people don't realize is that their whiskey collection is also extensive. 10 pages of the 29-page house drink menu are dedicated to a wide variety arranged into sections based on origin, including bourbon, American whiskey, Scotch, and Irish whiskey. They also have a special selection of rare Scotch selected by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Edinburgh, including Cask No. G3.3, a 26-year-old "Curious But Good" whisky aged in a bourbon barrel, and the 22-year-old Cask No. 30.70 called "Venus in Furs," whose quirky flavor notes include "well-matured Dundee cake washed down with black currant and cordial," and "horse shoes and fresh mud." It's a fun list to explore.
While the mahogany-clad bar is warm and cozy in the winter (with plenty of natural light, something not all gastropubs enjoy), one of the biggest perks is the rooftop patio, which opens for sunshine-hungry patrons as soon as the weather warms up. And if their vast selection of whiskey and friendly ambiance isn't enough to please, the bar also hosts regular whiskey education sessions and tastings in the Barrel Room.
Fountainhead: 1970 W. Montrose Avenue, Chicago IL 60618 (map)773-697-8204; fountainheadchicago.com
For Gin: Scofflaw
Even before Scofflaw opened their doors in March 2012, the crew responsible for the Logan Square bar (alumni of The Whistler and Boiler Room) knew they wanted to team up with a local distiller to make a house liquor reflective of their focus—gin. The Scofflaw Old Tom Gin was created in collaboration with North Shore Distillery. Co-owner Danny Shapiro says it's "a bit higher proof than the others on the market (45% ABV / 90 Proof) and contains a subtle floral note due to the inclusion of osmanthus blossoms."
But the house Old Tom is merely one of over 80 bottles of gin stocked at the cozy antique-clad bar. Traditional London Drys share shelf space with Dutch-style Genevers and a broad selection of New American gins, like the lavender-forward Waterloo from Treaty Oak Distilling in Texas, and a local gin from Few Spirits that boasts a lemon peel and vanilla profile. A house cocktail list also explores the versatility of Mother's Ruin, with a small selection of drinks listed at an affordable $8 each. Warm up to the fireplace in the slightly disheveled Victorian-style back room with one of their well-balanced gin cocktails for one of the most relaxed, intimate drinking experiences in Chicago.
Scofflaw: 3201 W Armitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60647 (map) 773-592-9700; scofflawchicago.com
For Vodka: CH Distillery and Bar
There is something truly special about drinking a spirit from a barstool within eyesight of where it was created. While several new distilleries have opened in Chicago in the last year that also have in-house cocktail bars and tasting rooms, CH Distillery and Bar easily has the most captivating space. They also happen to make outstanding vodka.
Made from red winter wheat and rye grains sourced 50 miles from the city center, CH mills, ferments, and distills the grain in-house, which is pretty rare. Not many distilleries make vodka from scratch. The spirit is soft and slightly sweet upon first sip, then evolves into a slightly dry and almost peppery finish. Try it the "traditional" way at the bar, with a slice of rye bread and pickles, for the full effect.
CH Distillery and Bar: 564 W Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60661 (map) 312-707-8780; chdistillery.com
For Rum: Three Dots and a Dash
There are few bars in Chicago that provide more of an escape from the real world than Paul McGee's Three Dots and a Dash. Between an on-point tiki atmosphere, extensive list of Polynesian-inspired cocktails, and impressive back bar selection, this whimsical bar is one of the best places in the entire country for discovering and exploring rum.
With over 255 bottles hailing from a wide geography including Martinique, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Bermuda and 21 other exotic locales, finding a pleasing style or vintage would be difficult without the help of the knowledgeable and friendly staff. Ask about some of the house's most exclusive bottles, like the Black Tot Rum, which was last distributed to the British Royal Navy on July 31, 1970 or the Dewar Rattray Caroni 15 Year, a 15 year old rum from a defunct distillery in Trinidad. Overwhelmed by the sheer volume and quality of choices? The bar will begin offering flights soon to help customers taste through a spectrum of styles, ages, distillation methods.
Three Dots and a Dash: 435 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654 (map) (312) 610-4220; threedotschicago.com
For Tequila: Mercadito
Mercadito offers a thoughtful selection of tequila and an upscale Latin vibe to match. The menu features over 60 options ranging from $9 to $50 per serving, and is appropriately split up into the various types of tequila—blanco, reposado, anejo, and extra anejo. Cousin spirits mezcal and sotol also have a place, with a small but considered selection.
When it comes to cocktails featuring tequila, you're not limited to Margaritas and Palomas. The contemporary list, determined by the famous drink slingers the Tippling Brothers, features inventive and thirst-quenching concoctions like the Little Market ($11.50), a splash of sunshine with pineapple juice and warm guajillo chili spicing up the oaky Olmeca reposado, and El Pirata ($8.50), a spunky twist on your average Michelada with pineapple juice replacing the standard tomato, and Negra Modelo complementing a crisp Cazadores blanco. Looking to avoid the busy upstairs rush? Check out Double A, the downstairs bar that features great weekly specials on drinks, and regularly hosts special tequila-related events.
Mercadito: 108 W Kinzie Street, Chicago, IL 60654 (map) 312-329-9555; mercaditorestaurants.com/chicago
For Other Agave Spirits: Masa Azul
One of Chicago's best hidden gems, Masa Azul is a small but upscale Logan Square restaurant and bar with a focus on hand-selected Mexican spirits. While they have an excellent selection of tequila, the real stars at Masa Azul are the other agave spirits—mezcal, sotol and bacanora. Partner Jason Lerner takes special care to work with distributors to find high-quality small-batch agave spirits for the roster, which rotates often depending on what unique producers he believes are worth showcasing at the time. The list often includes hard-to-find bottles that not many other bars fight to acquire, like the Ocho Cientos Sotol and the Cielo Rojo Bacanora from Sonora.
You don't need to be an expert before you arrive: the menu offers a brief history of each spirit and other helpful tips for those new to tequila's agave cousins. Flights ranging from $15-30 allow customers to sample a wide range of ages and styles. Agave is also celebrated on the list of classic cocktails, where mezcal or tequila are typically subbed into traditional recipes. Try the Oaxacan Old Fashioned, which features mezcal joven, tequila reposado, agave, mole bitters and Angostura. It's a sultry, boozy exploration of everything that makes aged agave spirits shine.
Masa Azul: 2901 W. Diversy Avenue, Chicago IL 60647 (map) 773-687-0300; masaazul.com
For Local Spirits: Watershed
Finding local spirits on the shelves of Chicago bars usually doesn't pose too much of a hassle, but if you're looking for the best place to drink your way through a portfolio of locally-made booze, River North's Watershed is the place to visit. The intimate "parlour room", located underneath the team's popular Champagne bar Pops for Champagne, boasts an entire menu of spirits and craft beer from around the Great Lakes region. From Wisconsin vodka to Michigan gin and Chicago's mouth-puckering favorite Malört, the menu lists liquors by category and includes the state and distillery of origin for each, making it easy to navigate through the options.
If you're not one to sip a spirit neat, they also offer a hearty selection of house cocktails ($10) made with the same crop of ingredients. Try the Phenomenal Genius, a cheeky mix of local New Holland Bourbon, Yahara Bay Coffee, Grapefruit cordial, and 5 Vulture Beer from Chicago's 5 Rabbit Brewery. It's an evolving wash of rich coffee, sweet oak and vanilla, and slightly smoky ancho chili beer—all made within a stone's throw of the bar itself.
Watershed: 601 N. State Street, Chicago IL 60654 (map) 312-266-4932; watershedbar.com
For Amari: Billy Sunday
Open just slightly over a year, Billy Sunday rapidly rose to many "best of" lists throughout the country thanks to an inventive list of exceptional cocktails. But what makes this Logan Square bar extra special is the rows of dusty bottles that rest behind the back bar cabinets—a treasure trove of vintage Amari, or Italian bitters.
Thanks to diligent research and a few dedicated contacts in Italy, the bar stocks over 500 different bitter liqueurs (although they are not all for sale). In the menu, or "Good Book" as they call it, there are over 45 different offerings just in the Fernet category, organized by origin location in Italy, and featuring vintages from the 1930s to today ranging from $15 to 45 per sample. The "crown jewels" of the collection, as bartender Alex Bachman describes them, are several bottles from a 1930s collection that were originally marketed as medicine.
An abundance of various other amari are also listed in the book, such as the five different kinds of Rababaro, bottles of Campari Cordial from the 1960s and 1990s, and vintage Genepy from not one, but two different producers. The whiskey selection is also nothing to sniff at, if bitters aren't your thing; the Scotch options range from accessible to very rare, with some decades-old bottles costing upwards of $500 per drink.
Billy Sunday: 3143 W. Logan Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60647 (map) 773-661 2485; billy-sunday.com
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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CSRE 140C: Stand Up Comedy and the "Great American Joke" Since 1945 (AMSTUD 140)
Development of American Stand Up Comedy in the context of social and cultural eruptions after 1945, including the Borscht Belt, the Chitlin¿ Circuit, the Cold War, censorship battles, Civil Rights and other social movements of the 60s and beyond. The artistry of stories, monologues, jokes, impersonations, persona, social satire, scatology, obscenity, riffs, rants, shtick, and more by such artists as Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Margaret Cho, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, as well as precursors such as Mark Twain, minstrelsy and vaudeville and related films, TV shows, poems and other manifestations of similar sensibilities and techniques.
Last offered: Winter 2016 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CSRE 142A: What is Hemispheric Studies?
Will attempt to open up "America," beyond the United States. Have we reached the end of an era in our national literary imaginations? What is the utility and durability of the idea of the nation in a global era? New developments in hemispheric, Black Atlantic, and trans-american studies have raised questions about the very viability of US literary studies. Should we, as Franco Moretti suggests, map, count, and graph the relationships in our close (rhetorical) and "distant" readings of texts in the Americas? Topics include the definitions of concepts such as coloniality, modernity, time and the colonial difference, the encounters between world views of Europeans and indigenous Native American peoples, and the inventions of America, Latinamericanism, and Americanity.
Last offered: Spring 2012 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
CSRE 145B: The African Atlantic (AFRICAAM 148, AFRICAST 145B, COMPLIT 145B, COMPLIT 345B, FRENCH 145B, FRENCH 345B)
This course explores the central place Africa holds in prose writing emerging during early and modern periods of globalization across the Atlantic, including the middle passage, exploration and colonialism, black internationalism, decolonization, immigration, and diasporic return. We will begin with Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789), a touchstone for the Atlantic prose tradition, and study how writers crossing the Atlantic have continued to depict Africa in later centuries: to dramatize scenes of departure and arrival in stories of self-making or new citizenship, to evoke histories of racial unity or examine psychic and social fragmentation, to imagine new national communities or question their norms and borders. Our readings will be selected from English, French, Portuguese and Spanish-language traditions. And we will pay close attention to genres of prose fiction (Conrad, Condé, Olinto), epic and prose poetry (Césaire, Walcott), theoretical reflection (Gilroy, Glissant, Mudimbe, Benitez-Rojo), and literary autobiography (Barack Obama, Saidiya Hartman). Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take COMPLIT 145B for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED
Instructors: Ikoku, A. (PI)
2017-2018 Winter
3-5 units |
UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED |
Class #
Section 01 |
Grading: Letter or Credit/No Credit |
01/08/2018 - 03/16/2018 Wed 11:30 AM - 1:20 PM at Encina Hall C464 with Ikoku, A. (PI)
Instructors: Ikoku, A. (PI)
CSRE 146J: Studies in Ethnomusicology: Listening to the Local: Music Ethnography of the Bay Area (ANTHRO 146J, MUSIC 146J, MUSIC 246J)
An introduction to music ethnography through student research on musical life in the Bay Area. Focus is on the intersections of music, social life, and cultural practice by engaging with people as they perform music and culture in situ. Techniques taught include participant-observation, interviewing and oral history, writing field-notes, recording, transcription, analysis, and ethnographic writing. Pre-/co-requisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED
Instructors: Schultz, A. (PI)
2017-2018 Spring
3-5 units |
UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED |
Class #
Section 01 |
Grading: Letter (ABCD/NP) |
| Students enrolled: 3
04/02/2018 - 06/06/2018 Tue, Thu 10:30 AM - 11:50 AM at Braun102 with Schultz, A. (PI)
Exam Date/Time: 2018-06-11 12:15pm - 3:15pm (Exam Schedule)
Instructors: Schultz, A. (PI)
Additional Resources: (Login to view additional resources)
CSRE 147J: Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: The Soul Tradition in African American Music (AFRICAAM 19, AMSTUD 147J, MUSIC 147J, MUSIC 247J)
The African American tradition of soul music from its origins in blues, gospel, and jazz to its influence on today's r&b, hip hop, and dance music. Style such as rhythm and blues, Motown, Southern soul, funk, Philadelphia soul, disco, Chicago house, Detroit techno, trip hop, and neo-soul. Soul's cultural influence and global reach; its interaction with politics, gender, place, technology, and the economy. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Winter 2015 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED
CSRE 149: The Laboring of Diaspora & Border Literary Cultures (COMPLIT 149, ILAC 149)
Focus is given to emergent theories of culture and on comparative literary and cultural studies. How do we treat culture as a social force? How do we go about reading the presence of social contexts within cultural texts? How do ethno-racial writers re-imagine the nation as a site with many "cognitive maps" in which the nation-state is not congruent with cultural identity? How do diaspora and border narratives/texts strive for comparative theoretical scope while remaining rooted in specific local histories. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED
Instructors: Saldivar, J. (PI) ; Pearce, A. (TA)
2017-2018 Spring
3-5 units |
UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED |
Class #
Section 01 |
Grading: Letter or Credit/No Credit |
| In Person
| Students enrolled: 9
04/02/2018 - 06/06/2018 Tue, Thu 10:30 AM - 11:50 AM at 300-303 with Saldivar, J. (PI); Pearce, A. (TA)
Instructors: Saldivar, J. (PI); Pearce, A. (TA)
CSRE 152K: Mixed-Race Politics and Culture (AFRICAAM 226, AMSTUD 152K, ENGLISH 152K)
Today, almost one-third of Americans identify with a racial/ethnic minority group, and more than 9 million Americans identify with multiple races. What are the implications of such diversity for American politics and culture? This course approaches issues of race from an interdisciplinary perspective, employing research in the social sciences and humanities to assess how race shapes perceptions of identity as well as political behavior in 21st-century U.S. Issues surrounding the role of multiculturalism, immigration, acculturation, racial representation, and racial prejudice in American society. Topics include the political and social formation of race; racial representation in the media, arts, and popular culture; the rise and decline of the "one-drop rule" and its effect on political and cultural attachments; the politicization of census categories and the rise of the multiracial movement.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED
Instructors: Elam, M. (PI)
2017-2018 Winter
5 units |
UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED |
Class #
Section 01 |
Grading: Letter (ABCD/NP) |
| Students enrolled: 13
01/08/2018 - 03/16/2018 Tue 3:00 PM - 5:50 PM at 380-380X with Elam, M. (PI)
Instructors: Elam, M. (PI)
CSRE 162A: Spirituality and Nonviolent Urban and Social Transformation (RELIGST 162X, URBANST 126)
A life of engagement in social transformation is often built on a foundation of spiritual and religious commitments. Case studies of nonviolent social change agents including Rosa Parks in the civil rights movement, César Chávez in the labor movement, and WIlliam Sloane Coffin in the peace movement; the religious and spiritual underpinnings of their commitments. Theory and principles of nonviolence. Films and readings. Service learning component includes placements in organizations engaged in social transformation. Service Learning Course (certified by Haas Center).
Terms: Win | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ED, WAY-SI
Instructors: Karlin-Neumann, P. (PI)
2017-2018 Winter
3 units |
UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ED, WAY-SI |
Class #
Section 01 |
Grading: Letter (ABCD/NP) |
| Students enrolled: 4
01/08/2018 - 03/16/2018 Tue, Thu 9:30 AM - 10:20 AM at 160-323 with Karlin-Neumann, P. (PI)
Instructors: Karlin-Neumann, P. (PI)
Additional Resources: (Login to view additional resources)
CSRE 167: Feminism and Contemporary Art (ARTHIST 176, ARTHIST 376, FEMGEN 176)
(Same as ARTHIST 176) The impact of second wave feminism on art making and art historical practice in the 70s, and its reiteration and transformation in contemporary feminist work. Topics: sexism and art history, feminist studio programs in the 70s, essentialism and self-representation, themes of domesticity, the body in feminist art making, bad girls, the exclusion of women of color and lesbians from the art historical mainstream, notions of performativity.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED
Instructors: Lee, P. (PI)
2017-2018 Winter
4 units |
UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-ED |
Class #
Section 01 |
Grading: Letter (ABCD/NP) |
01/08/2018 - 03/16/2018 Mon, Wed 9:30 AM - 11:20 AM at McMurtry Building rm 350 with Lee, P. (PI)
Exam Date/Time: 2018-03-20 8:30am - 11:30am (Exam Schedule)
Instructors: Lee, P. (PI)
Additional Resources: (Login to view additional resources)
CSRE 177: Dramatic Writing: The Fundamentals (FEMGEN 177, TAPS 177, TAPS 277)
Course introduces students to the basic elements of playwriting and creative experimentation for the stage. Topics include: character development, conflict and plot construction, staging and setting, and play structure. Script analysis of works by contemporary playwrights may include: Marsha Norman, Patrick Shanley, August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel, Octavio Solis and others. Table readings of one-act length work required by quarter's end.
Last offered: Autumn 2016 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-CE
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The street is known for its dazzling Yuletide light show and displays, which start on Thanksgiving and end after New Year's. And right in the middle of it is the annual "Cocoa for a Cure" fundraiser held in the courtyard of the Freitas family at 3616 Garrison St.
This year, the 14th installment of the hot-chocolate charity event is being held from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. The fundraiser will benefit the fight against juvenile diabetes, which has impacted several local families in the Point Loma community.
Last year's Garrison Street charity fundraiser recipient was Will Barton, a 21-year-old Point Loma High School alum who was shot in a case of mistaken identity near Balboa Park and critically wounded — only to rebound slowly but surely beyond the wildest expectations of doctors, who gave the victim almost no chance of survival. The neighborhood raised over $4,000 for his family.
Festivities, the charity fundraiser among them, are all in the spirit of the holidays and giving back, said Kyle Ybarra who, along with wife, Carrie, run Cocoa for a Cure and are among neighbors on the street who pitch in to make things happen every year.
Kyle Ybarra said the charity fundraiser has really taken off from what it started out as.
"Our daughter and three of her friends 14 years ago wanted to raise a little money to buy Barbie dolls and other things for a young girl up from Mexico who had surgery while she was in the hospital," he said.
That inaugural fundraiser netted $60.
"Every year for 14 years it's (revenue's) increased. Last year we raised $5,000 in one night. We're hoping to exceed that this year, he said.
Someone or something different benefits every year from the "chocolate charity," Kyle said.
"Over the years, we've always tried to select either a charity that can assist local families, or a specific individual, like a friend of our daughter's who was diagnosed with lung cancer a few years ago," he said.
Guests at Cocoa for a Cure can purchase hot chocolate for $1 a cup, as well as other family baked goods and a number of items donated by local merchants selling for 50 cents to a dollar.
"We also have a jar, as well fo,r folks who don't want cocoa and just want to make a straight donation," said Ybarra, "One hundred percent of all the proceeds go to charity. Absolutely nothing comes out to pay for the light displays."
But Cocoa for a Cure is just one aspect of the Garrison Street Christmas celebration on the block between Chatsworth Boulevard and Garrison Place. The annual tradition of lighting up the block was begun by the mother-daughter team of Nazare Caboz and Carolynn Freitas, neighbors on Garrison, in an attempt to "brighten up the street."
The holiday lighting tradition began without anything elaborate — just a small nativity scene. Then there was a Santa in the window. Then angels in the windows. Then Mickey Mouse characters in the windows.
Other homes nearby joined in adding lights and other things, like big blow-up displays of Santa Claus and his reindeer, snowmen and other Christmas icons.
"It's really only eight or nine homes total, but it seems like a lot more because of all of the lights," said Kyle.
Garrison Street neighbor Richard McLaughlin said his Christmas display, which one neighbor likened to "Disneyland," started out small with add-ons every year, and has turned into something quite large a decade later.
"My daughter, Casey, started doing it (lights). It was a nice hobby for her," he said. "We built some little houses out front and filled them up with Santa Clauses and other things with lots and lots of lights."
McLaughlin said Christmas Eve is the biggest — and best — night for viewing everyone's holiday display.
"It's just chaos that night," he said. "People from the bus line stop off. We have Santa Claus out front talking to all the kids. Christmas Eve is the big event. After that it starts slowing down."
Nazare Judd, a granddaughter in the family that started the Garrison Street Christmas tradition, said the "light show" started as a friendly competition 27 years ago between her mother and her grandmother that "got out of control."
"Year by year, it grew and all the neighbors started doing it and new families came and joined in and it's become a great tradition that's adored by people around the county," Judd said. "We have people who've been coming back every year who say, 'I used to come here as a little kid.' Now there are second- and third-generations of people coming back to see it. It's really neat."
Judd said most neighbors are modest about discussing their Christmas displays, which she said have evolved into something really remarkable.
"Every window has a little display," she said. "There's possibly hundreds of thousands of lights. You can get out of your car and go down a walkway that connects all the different individual displays. There's even a display honoring fallen heroes from the police, fire and military."
Judd said it now takes as long as three or four weeks to set up some of the Christmas displays, which collectively consume so much power when all the lights are on that "SDG&E electric meters start going in the opposite direction there's so much power (used) in our block."
McLaughlin admits the annual Christmas light display is no small expense. But he said it's all worth it.
"We do it for the community," he said. "We get a lot of thanks from people for doing it."


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2007 saw 28 movies earn $100 million or more (or much much more), and 7 of them scored an Oscar nomination of some sort (American Gangster, The Bourne Ultimatum, Enchanted, Juno, Ratatouille, Transformers, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Please God, Make This World End). Clearly the typical blockbuster is not Oscar bait — and doesn't need to care that it's not. But thanks to popcorn movies and the big bucks they rake in, studios can afford to hand out $30 million here and there for the projects that may barely break even, but sustain the higher artistic aspirations of the industry.
We all wish blockbusters were better cinema — and every year a half-dozen of them surprise us and deliver a experience that transcends the thrills. Even the ones that don't can usually be counted on to dazzle with their technical wizardry. The big-budget blockbuster filmmakers want to entertain us. We want them to succeed in that goal. Here's a list of this year's candidates (I'm sure I've left some out, and equally sure you'll let me know about it). Vote for the 5 most promising. The 5 blockbusters most likely to knock you out at mindless afternoon matin√©e — and try to include a couple you hope will have the substance to make them worth seeing again and again.
(We're close to 5000 votes on yesterday's poll of potential Best Picture contenders. Please vote if you haven't yet. The bigger the sample size, the better the results.)


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Post by Former NIMH Director Thomas Insel: Investing Wisely in Public Health
The biomedical philanthropist Mary Lasker once famously quipped, "If you think research is expensive, try disease." This comment is even more relevant today, especially in thinking about the high costs of mental disorders.
Of course, this is a time of reduced funding across the federal government as Congress looks to rein in government spending. Members of both parties have stressed the need to reduce the deficit and cut spending. But this is why we must reframe the issue: is research an expense or an investment? The data argue for research as an investment — not a subsidy, entitlement, or conventional government cost.
Consider that NIH funding is an economic engine, creating $68 billion in new economic activity and nearly 500,000 jobs across 50 states in 2010. Recognizing the benefits of such an engine, other countries have begun making large new commitments to biomedical research. The Beijing Genome Institute has just purchased 128 of the new Illumina genomic sequencers, giving China a global edge for commercial sequencing. The Chinese government seems to have no doubt that the economic benefits of research accrue to those making the largest and smartest investments.
One such investment closer to home, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), can now be viewed as an experiment in investing new research dollars. As part of ARRA, NIMH received $374 million for a two-year investment in 2009. Some of those funds supplemented grants that had been cut back in the preceding years. Some expanded the pool of grants with short-term awards. Some was used to boost the Institute's autism portfolio.
But the biggest portion went into four signature projects aimed at changing our science. Two years later we can see the return on this investment in a series of new, transformative resources. The Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) Project, now in 35 sites, is optimizing the various approaches to early intervention following a first episode of psychosis. RAISE has the twin goals of improving clinical outcomes for patients and informing payors of what they could and should cover to avoid long-term disability.
The Army STARRS project has enrolled over 10,000 soldiers in the largest study ever undertaken to understand risk and resilience in the military. At a time when suicides outnumber combat deaths, this project has emerged as a national priority.
A third project, the Developmental Neurogenomics study, is following cognition and brain development in 10,000 children to yield the trajectory and range of normal neurocognitive development.
Finally, the first human brain atlas showing the development of gene expression will be fundamental for the study of mental disorders, most of which are now viewed as neurodevelopmental. This one time investment gives scientists a reference for genomic discoveries. It not only accelerates the pace of discovery, it avoids the need for each group to map their gene of interest, at great expense.
Each of these projects was an investment. And each is paying off scientifically in the short-term but changing research or policy in the longer-term with huge potential economic savings. Mary Lasker was right — research is expensive, but research is our best investment to reduce the much greater cost of disease.


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Mares Dive Products
Mares scuba diving equipment | Buy in Kota Kinabalu
Welcome divers and snorkelers, here at Borneo Dream we like to stock a wide range of diver gear from various manufacturers. But, we feel that Mares is is out there as one of the best. Mares is a manufacturer of scuba equipment and founded in 1949 by Ludovico Mares in Rapallo, Italy. The company initially made diving masks and spearguns. It has since expanded to become one of the largest scuba manufacturers, having merged with US manufacturer Dacor.
Choose from a wide range of Mares diving equipment, all at the best prices, and then simply pay and collect from the Borneo Dream dive shop in Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.
Want to Buy? Click here to email us to check this product is in stock. If it is, then come into our Kota Kinabalu diveshop and pay and collect. It's that easy !


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Katy Perry Nearly Has Wardrobe Malfunction at ASCAP Pop Music Awards
Katy Perry's boobs are often a topic of conversation. From the singer celebrating their size to Sesame Street' yanking her segment for showing too much cleavage, Perry's twins are stars in their own right. At last night's (April 18) ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Hollywood, Perry nearly had a wardrobe malfunction involving her gals.
Perry was wearing a long, column-style, white, strapless gown without a bra. It had an embroidered pattern and was gorgeous. However, the flimsy strap slipped off her shoulder multiple times, forcing the singer to fidget with it throughout the night. Given her well-endowed nature, Perry made a critical mistake by going commando, as she nearly popped out when the straps slipped. She was in dire need of support and this dress just didn't provide it. It was gorgeous, yes, but better suited for a much smaller chested woman.
Perry, who recently traded her asymmetrical, blunt blue bob for long, deep purple waves, looked pretty, but she was distracted by the construction of her dress. Bras are your friend, Katy. Big-chested gals need em! Some double-stick tape may have helped, too.


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Ofcom has published a consultation showing how it will create a fairer spread of 900MHz ownership, if the industry can't come up with something better before the end of April.
Vodafone and O2 are going to have to hand over 5MHz of spectrum each, in the 900MHz band, which will be auctioned off in 2010 and will have to be cleared for use by the new owner in 2011. The rest of their 900MHz holdings (29.8 MHz each) will move to Administrated Incentive Pricing* along with the 1800MHz spectrum owned by T-Mobile & Orange, everyone will be able to trade their spectrum, including "3G" licenses, and deploy whatever technology they like wherever they like.
Lord Carter's proposals, published last month, called upon the regulator to allow the use of 3G, aka UMTS, technology at 900MHz, but recognised that currently only Vodafone & O2 have holdings in that frequency: a situation that will have to change. The industry has been given until then end of April to come up with a plan for achieving that, after which Ofcom's new proposal will probably be forced on it. Given the speed at which the mobile industry moves Ofcom's proposals should be seen as close to the likely outcome, if not a description of how things will be.
What that means is that Vodafone & O2, could be deploying UMTS900 later this year, providing mobile broadband with decent in-building penetration and coverage, for those able to obtain one of the small number of handsets and dongles currently supporting the technology. UMTS900 is already being used elsewhere, and shifting the frequency isn't technically difficult so more handsets should appear pretty quickly - which will be good news for those who decide to bid for the 5MHz chunks stripped from O2 & Vodafone come 2010 (O2 & Vodafone being forbidden from buying back their spectrum).
Cleaning out of those chunks shouldn't present any particular problems, though that won't stop Vodafone and 02 screaming blue murder and predicting the fall of civilisation if they can't hang on to their freebie spectrum. Equally loud will be the screams from 3 that the whole thing is unfair and that it wants some free spectrum too, rather than the ability to bid for a little bit on an open market.
The regulator is acutely aware of the arguments that will be arrayed against it; the 2007 proposal to strip Vodafone & O2 of their entire holding at 900MHz brought those to light, so this proposal comes with 12 appendices comprising almost six hundred pages of explanation and analysis to forestall many of those arguments.
Argument is fine, and Ofcom is pleased to receive comment on the proposals until 1 May, but the real concern will be a legal challenge that could see the whole process mired in court until the only winners are the lawyers. But if the legal challenges can be seen off, and Ofcom has tried hard, then we should see ubiquitous 3G and early deployment of the networks, assuming anyone has money left to use them. ®
* A system by which Ofcom works out what the spectrum would be worth at auction, and makes the owner pay a commensurate amount.


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Matthews: The Fifth Bee City in the NationMatthews was designated a Bee City in December 2014, making it just the fifth city to receive the designation. Today, there are nearly 50 Bee Cities.Bee City USA is a national nonprofit organization that celebrates and raises awareness of the contribution bees and other pollinators make to our world by endorsing a set of commitments, defined in a resolution, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators.According to Bee City USA: While more than 80% of flowering plants and one-third of our foods rely on hundreds of thousands of species of insects for pollination, many pollinators are imperiled due to disease, parasites, pesticides, and starvation caused by habitat loss. Together we can reverse this trend. Certified Bee City USA communities galvanize neighborhoods, businesses and municipalities for pollinator conservation. Learn more about the benefits of BEE City USA. Martha Krauss, a beekeeper and former Town Commissioner, and Carol Buie-Jackson, founder of the Matthews HAWK (Habitat and Wildlife Keepers) have been leaders in the effort to earn Matthews the Bee City designation. They continue their work along with the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resource Advisory Board. To learn more or become involved, please contact Martha Krauss at 704-841-8900 or email@example.com. Follow Bee City Matthews on Facebook for updates and event information.June 12, 2017 - Town of Matthews proclamation declaring "National Pollinators Week"
Pictured at the Victorian Lawn Party at the Reid House in April 2017 from left to right: Will Krauss, Daphne Traywick, Martha Krauss, Hazen Blodgett (Matthews Town Manager and beekeeper), and Stacy Feldstein.


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Cloris Leachman Would Like To Do Dancing With The Stars All Stars (Video)
This news is from Celebuzz. I'm not sure if Cloris is serious, but, you never know?
"I want to be [on it]!" the 86-year-old told Celebuzz at the Critics' Choice TV Awards. "I was voted off on the sixth show. It was good that I was voted off then — I got kind of tired and it was appropriate. I was getting fours and fives from the judges. I thought that wasn't quite fair — I thought I was better than a four! Four and three quarters, at least."
I liked Cloris, but, I think I'd rather see the better dancers compete. What do you think?


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Plasma Protein Online Campus
Welcome to the Plasma Protein Online Campus. Siemens is committed to providing educational opportunities for our customers. Through symposia, webcasts, hands-on workshops, and online education, we strive to keep you abreast of important information and emerging trends in plasma protein determination.
The products/features (mentioned herein) are not commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons their future availability cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens organization for further details.


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Abstract and Keywords
Basques formed a minority ethnic group whose diaspora had a significant impact on the history of colonial Latin America. Basques from the four Spanish or peninsular Basque territories—the Lordship of Vizcaya, the provinces of Álava and Guipúzcoa, and the Kingdom of Navarra—migrated to the New World in significant numbers; the French Basques were also prominent in the Atlantic, particularly in the Newfoundland fisheries.
The population density of the Basque Atlantic valleys, which was the highest of any region in Spain, was an important factor that encouraged emigration. And, in response to demographic pressure, in the second half of the 15th century most villages and towns adopted an impartible inheritance system that compelled non-inheriting offspring to seek their fortunes outside the country. Castile was the immediate choice for the Basque émigré, but after 1492 America gradually became an attractive destination. Outside their home country, their unique language and sense of collective nobility (hidalguía universal) were to become two outstanding features of Basque cultural identity.
The Basques' share of total Spanish migration to the New World increased significantly in the second half of the 17th century. By the 18th century they were one of the largest and most influential peninsular regional groups in America. The typical Basque émigré was a young, single man aged between fifteen and thirty. In the New World they left their mark in economic activities that their countrymen had developed in their homeland for centuries: trade, navigation, shipbuilding, and mining. Furthermore, Basques' collective nobility and limpieza de sangre (blood purity) facilitated their access to important official positions.
Keywords: Basque diaspora, Atlantic diasporas, Atlantic history, transatlantic migration, Spanish America, colonial merchants, silver miners, religious congregations
Access to the complete content on Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.


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Pressure tactics: Taliban cut power supply to Faryab
Pressure tactics: Taliban cut power supply to Faryab
MAIMANA (Pajhwok): Taliban militants have cut electricity supply to the capital and four districts of northwestern Faryab province, depriving 57,000 families of the facility.
Qari Wakil, Taliban chief for Khwaja Sabzposh district, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had cut power supply to Maimana, the provincial capital, and Pashtunkot, Khwaja Sabzposh, Sherin Tagab and Dawlatabad districts.
He said the electricity would remain off until 'three residents' of the area were released by the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
About one and a half month back, Haji Amin, a Taliban commander, snatched three security personnel including a public order policeman, an Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier and a traffic officer from a passenger bus on the Faryab highway. The Taliban killed the ANA officer but the policeman and traffic sergeant are still in their captivity.
Afghan forces then detained three suspected Taliban -- relatives of Haji Amin. Last Monday, the fighters blocked the highway for pressing the government to release the three suspects.
Power utility officials in Faryab confirmed that Taliban cut electricity supply to the mentioned areas in Khwaja Sabzposh district at around 12pm.
Ahmad Javed Baidar, the governor's spokesman, said the three suspects were members of the Taliban movement and the government would never accept any deal. "The road would be reopened and the militants defeated."
Hundreds of passengers have been stranded on both sides of the Maimana-Jawzjan highway after the Taliban blocked it for traffic.
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The final figures aren't official yet, but the University announced Sept. 6 that there is good news on the enrollment front.
Detroit Mercy's preliminary full-time undergraduate enrollment is eight percent higher than last year on this date and total enrollment is 5,037 students. That compares with 4,828 at this time last year.
First-time freshmen enrollment is 554, four percent higher than fall 2016. This marks the third consecutive year that Detroit Mercy's first-year undergraduate enrollment has increased. The University also has a 24 percent increase in freshmen enrollment from Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The major reason for this increase is the University of Detroit Mercy Catholic Education Grant, which was established three years ago.
The number of full-time transfer students is 56 percent higher than last year at this time.
Preliminary second-year retention data for fall 2016 freshmen is 86.8 percent, an increase of almost four percent from 2016 and the highest second-year retention rate since 1993.
"University of Detroit Mercy's numerous strategies to recruit academically talented students in the metropolitan area, Michigan and other states are proving to be successful," said Detroit Mercy President Antoine M. Garibaldi. "And it is evident that our service-oriented students are choosing Detroit Mercy because of the University's neighborhood and community engagement initiatives, such as The Live6 Alliance, and because they want to be a part of the city's revitalization."
Final enrollment census data for fall 2017 will be available in early October.


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FRIDAY, February 25
"SMALLVILLE" — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)
"Fortune" (TV-14 sptv050769) (HDTV)
ZATANNA GIVES THE GANG A SERIOUS HANGOVER — After Zatanna sends a magically spiked bottle of champagne to Clark (Tom Welling) and Lois (Erica Durance) for their bachelor/bachlorette parties, the gang blacks out after the toast, only to wake up the next morning and realize they can't remember anything about the night before. While trying to retrace their steps, Lois realizes she lost her engagement ring and drags Oliver (Justin Hartley) back to the Fortune Casino where she thinks she lost it... The two run into Fortune (guest star James Kidnie), the eccentric casino owner, who accuses them of stealing money from him. Meanwhile, Clark tells Chloe (Allison Mack) he has a memory of stealing an armored truck the night before. Christopher Petry directed the episode written by Anne Coffell Saunders (##3X6015).
Source: CW
Smallville - Episode 10.15 - Fortune - Press Release
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Sailing Shoes, Boots and Footwear
Moving about on a sailboat requires sure footing. For this reason, sailing shoes feature no slip and non-marking soles. Depending on the type of boat you sail and your range of activity, your sailing footwear needs will vary. Here you will find dinghy boots, offshore boots, sneaker style shoes sandals, flip flops and socks. Sandals and flip flops are the least protective, and as they slip on and off they are recommended for shore wear. Sailing shoes offer non slip soles and foot protection while onboard or ashore, and come in classic leather or high tech styles. The sneaker style shoes offer a sporty footwear solution for men and women, and are great for wear on a range of boat sizes for racing or active cruising. Sailing boots will range from flexible dinghy styles to waterproof and breathable offshore boots. Sailing socks are wicking and vary in insulating thicknesses. Waterproof or neoprene socks provide extra protection or insulation.
Advice & How To


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Story highlights
- "Angel Baby," a new book by author Richard Lange, debuts this week
- The book follows a woman on the hunt for the daughter she left behind
- It's written like a long chase, from Tijuana to the U.S. border
- Lange: "My novels always seem to end up on the grimy end of the spectrum"
Critics and a growing number of fans call Richard Lange an up-and-coming name in crime fiction, but don't tell him that.
"I don't even call myself a crime writer," Lange recently said. "I'll take the title but I would call myself more of a grime writer because my novels always seem to end up on the grimy end of the spectrum."
The award-winning author's new noir novel, "Angel Baby," is hitting stores this week. The story is set in the criminal underworld of Tijuana and Southern California, but to Lange, it's more than just another crime tale -- it's a way to explore how humans interact. "Angel Baby" is intense, extreme and definitely grimy and readers will find that's a good thing.
In the book, Luz, the trophy wife of a vicious drug lord called "El Principe" goes on the run from her prisoner-like life in Tijuana. She steals a gun and a pile of cash from her husband and flees for the border, hoping to sneak into the United States and find the daughter she left behind years ago. Along the way, she gets help from an alcoholic ex-surfer, all while a crooked border patrol officer and a scary hit man nicknamed "El Apache" try to track her down.
The story is thrilling and cinematic, told as one long chase scene. Lange says that's by design, "I wanted to tell this compelling tale, a chase, that begins in chapter one and carries readers along with it to the final page."
Beyond the basic plot, Lange inhabits his novel's characters. There's no pure black and white to them, only varying and unexpected shades of gray.
"Even the worst characters in the book, the villains and the bad guys, I always try and give them some human element that makes them recognizable to people. You might not agree with their motivations but I try to make the reader understand them," Lange said.
Lange compares his writing process to that of an actor, working out a backstory, delving into psychological motivations so each character can develop a voice.
"If you've done a good enough job they will surprise you," he said, "and if it surprises you, it will surprise the reader."
Readers will also enjoy Lange's dangerous and desperate portrayal of Tijuana, what he lovingly describes as "a wild west town." The dichotomy of a former tourist hot spot was part of what sparked him to write the book.
"It's possibly the quintessential border town. There's smuggling going on there, both human and drugs. There's a sense of lawlessness," Lange said. "What fascinated me was here you have all this poverty and then right across the border you can actually see these nice new subdivisions going up on the hills on the American side overlooking Tijuana. I had this idea of these people sort of trapped there. It just seemed a very rich terrain."
This is only his third published book -- his second novel -- and he believes he can only get better.
"In a way every novel is a failed project because it never lives up to what's in your head. You can never get everything down on paper," he said.
Lange is a 2009 winner of a Guggenheim fellowship, a former magazine editor turned full-time writer. He's a fan of writers as diverse as Elmore Leonard and Raymond Carver. He's also a self-described adrenaline junkie and a long time Los Angeles resident. He loves his hometown, calling it a wild place to live, with a very real air of danger.
"I saw a guy get shot two blocks from my house last year. I was out eating at a pizza parlor and across the street we hear POW, POW, POW, 'Look out!' It was a gang shooting, two guys in hoodies go running up the street and a guy was dead on the sidewalk," he said.
Despite the danger, Lange said he couldn't live anywhere else.
He's already hard at work on his next novel, also set in the criminal underworld. It's only in the early stages but it's the story of a con man.
Lange said he's enjoying his new fans and all the critical praise.
"I'm extremely happy about any accolades I get because the book business is extremely hard right now, so every little bit helps," he said.
Lange is also "taking meetings" with people from Hollywood about possible future film or television projects, but adds, "I don't let my head get too swollen with dreams of Hollywood glamor. My bread and butter are the books. That's what I most enjoy."
Crime fiction fans will enjoy "Angel Baby" for now and fans can look forward to more of Lange's "grime" in the future.
"I don't even know if I'm a success yet," he said, "but I'm a contender. I'm in there."


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Graduate student and photographer Sara Naomi Lewkowicz learned about the Prancing Elites the same way most people did: through a video of the dance group's performance at a basketball game, which became an Internet hit after Shaquille O'Neal tweeted its praises.
"I see lots of things online that are funny or unusual, but then it's usually out of sight, out of mind," Lewkowicz says. "But I knew there were so many layers to their story that couldn't be explored by just watching a viral video."
In July 2013, Lewkowicz traveled from Ohio University, where she's studying, to Mobile, Ala. to meet the Prancing Elites. Founded in 2004, the Elites perform a variation of J-Sette, a dance style long-associated with Southern, all-female drill teams and defined by sharp movements performed within a tightly choreographed routine. All five of its current members are gay, African-American men (one identifies as a transgender woman), and much of the commentary sparked by the viral video noted how unlikely -- indeed, incredible -- it was that such a group could flourish in, of all places, the Deep South.
For her part, Lewkowicz saw in the Prancing Elites an opportunity to examine the always fraught and deeply fascinating intersection of sexuality and race in American culture.
"This project has potential to take a deeper look at a group of men [who embody] two very 'othered' subsets of the American population," says Lewkowicz. "I've seen a great number of stories profiling the LGBTQ communities in places like New York and San Francisco, but it's also important to try to find the stories of people living in areas of the country that are hostile toward them."
For a week, Lewkowicz followed the group around as they rehearsed, performed and spent time with family and boyfriends. "I found them to be really charming, fun and super interesting to talk to," the photographer says. "Hearing their stories was harrowing at times—they've all had some level of hardship growing up or being accepted—but I was also surprised at the level of acceptance they did receive in Mobile. They'd get sideways glances from time to time, but a lot of people were really friendly and supportive. They're kind of celebrities there."
But celebrity status was never what the Prancing Elites dancers were striving for, and the recent wave of attention—including an offer to be part of a reality TV show—has been both eye-opening and, at times, disheartening. "It's weird that it took a basketball giant to get people in our hometown to recognize what we're doing," says Kentrell Collins, team captain. "But it's been great because now people can't deny our talent."
Another benefit of the attention, says Collins, has been the chance to connect with others around the country who also feel marginalized.
"Our mission has always been to be who we are, embrace what we do and not worry about what the next man wants us to do," Collins says. "We didn't realize until after we blew up that just by dancing and doing what we love, we were inspiring others to live their lives without worrying about judgment. That response has been amazing."
Sara Naomi Lewkowicz is a photographer and first year graduate student at Ohio University in Athens. Her essay, "Photographer as Witness: A Portrait of Domestic Violence," was published by TIME in February 2013.
Feifei Sun is an Atlanta-based writer.


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In a statement issued last week, Mozilla criticized some of the restrictions that Microsoft plans to impose on the ARM version of Windows 8. The platform is not designed to support conventional native third-party applications, including rival browsers, in the classic desktop mode. Mozilla and Google say that the policy is detrimental to competition and user choice.
As we pointed out in our coverage of the issue, Microsoft's policy is consistent with the that of other mobile platform vendors, including Apple. Modern mobile platforms increasingly confine developers to a platform-supplied API stack so that the operating system can more tightly control application behavior as needed to accommodate the limitations of a resource-constrained computing environment.
Mozilla's recent objection to such policies focused entirely on Microsoft, ignoring the similar conditions that are present on Apple's iOS platform. Harvey Anderson, Mozilla General Counsel, addressed that issue on Friday in a statement published by ComputerWorld. According to Anderson, the relevant factor is Microsoft's monopoly status on the desktop.
"The difference here is that Microsoft is using its Windows monopoly power in the OS market to exclude competition in the browser market," he said. "Given that IE can run in Windows on ARM, there is no technical reason to conclude other browsers can't do the same."
Of course, the dominance of Windows doesn't extend to the mobile space or ARM architecture. In the tablet market, which is the principle target of Windows on ARM, Microsoft will face an uphill battle against Apple's entrenched position. It's not clear that competition and choice are materially harmed by Microsoft's decision to block rival browsers in the legacy desktop mode on ARM devices.
Mozilla's concerns about Windows on ARM attracted a lot of interest last week, but there are number of other bullet points to include in our roundup.
- Google published a post on the official Chromium blog that demonstrates the Web Worker debugging features included in the Chrome developer tools. The feature can be used to simplify debugging multithreaded Web applications.
- The developers behind PhoneGap, a runtime for deploying HTML5-based applications on mobile devices, published a philosophy statement that describes their goals. They want to drive forward open Web standards that expose device capabilities to Web applications, eventually eliminating the need for custom runtimes like PhoneGap.
- Google has been working on some improvements to V8 that will help the JavaScript engine make better decisions about when to perform code optimization. The improvements, which primarily involve using counters to track frequently-used functions and loop blocks, reportedly offer a 25 percent boost in JavaScript execution speed on the SunSpider benchmark.
- Mozilla is preparing for the release of Firefox 13, which is scheduled to occur on June 5. The browser's developers recently documented how the new release and its new features will impact add-on compatibility. Mozilla also recently wrote about performance improvements that are arriving in the new version.


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Amazon.co.uk is due to offer Spam Cube's automatic anti-malware home-network gadget to British buyers before this coming Christmas, the hardware maker revealed today.
The 11.5 x 11.5cm unit sits between your broadband modem and scans incoming email messages for attempts to flog viagra, male member enhancement products, schemes to steal personal information and so on. It works with POP3 email accounts and can cover up to four networked computers, be they Windows PCs, Macs and/or Linux boxes.
Amazon.co.uk will sell the box for £99. The price covers the hardware and automatic updates. Spam Cube may also sell UK buyers a extra, premium subscription service Security OnDemand which adds anti-virus and anti-phishing, but at this stage the company has not announced its UK availability or price. ®