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"I would argue that we have returned to the failed farm policies of the most recent past," says Ray — the "most recent" being from 1996 forward. He's been getting a growing number of nods and agreements via e-mail regarding his views.
From his Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Ag Policy as director of the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee, Ray dispenses his oft against-the-grain prescriptions in weekly columns.
A sampling of headlines from his weekly columns reads: Top Ten Reasons to Start over on the Farm Bill; Cost of avoiding real issue: $17 billion a year; Conservation programs are not a substitute for commodity programs.
He believes the problem lies in the perception that agriculture responds to supply and demand like other industries. He feels that high prices could hurt farmers in the long-run just as much, if not more, than low prices. He believes the perception problem is with both the general public as well as his ag economist colleagues at large.
A central Iowa farm-boy-turned economist, Ray comes to his job influenced by a traditional view that agriculture is different from other industries. In short, agriculture on the whole doesn't respond to the same supply and demand dynamics as other industries. (Southern crops such as cotton and rice are the exceptions) And he preaches those differences he learned as a youngster growing up on a Midwestern farm. "After all these years, agriculture hasn't changed after all."
Ray cites a "number of problems" with the new farm bill. Farm policy lacks the backing of society in general because of large disaster payments and subsidies reported in the media.
"I argue that these payments are going to people who are buying cheap grain," Ray says. He believes livestock companies and agribusiness are the ones benefiting from the payments. "I don't understand why we shouldn't require agribusiness and cattle, livestock and poultry to pay the full cost of grain and soybean meal because that's what they'd have to expect to do for other things.
"I don't think we're recognizing that agriculture is going to produce no matter what," Ray says. Because farmers produce full-out, prices are low for agribusiness. "But farmers could receive the same income as now from the market with other programs such as short-term land retirement. The government checks go to the farmers' addresses, but it's agribusiness and grain users that really receive the benefits."
The other real problem, Ray says, is the lack of "buffer stocks." That makes the markets subject to high prices in the event of an extreme yield reduction. "We don't have a mechanism to put a top on prices."
While grain farmers would love to see prices double, Ray argues that "ratcheting up prices too fast" would do as much damage as low prices. Skyrocketing commodity prices in the 1970s provided the impetus behind Brazil's initial grain expansion.
"It's foolish to be worrying about raising the loan rate by 25 cents while we don't have a mechanism to deal with the problems that could be caused by short-falls in production," Ray says.
Ray would create a farmer-owned grain reserve to have a "moderating effect on a yield event. "The price of soybeans can go up to $6 before there's a tremendous impact. If you get up into the $8 to $10 neighborhood, that wouldn't be good."
The economist calls for a set-aside, not aimed at individual commodities, but at the major cropland base. "Then farmers could produce whatever they wanted to after they had met that reduction," Ray proposes. "Try to get the prices above the loan rates so we could do away with the LDP. At least there would be a larger share of the total production costs not borne by the taxpayers."
On an as-needed basis, Ray would go for rolling a disaster program into farm legislation, if production fell below 75 percent of the normal. He favors giving the farmer an equivalent of the loan rate to "allow him to know exactly what he would get if he had a disaster. If they want more, they could buy crop insurance — but not rely on crop insurance for the entire thing."
Ray says his written-in disaster program would eliminate the need for emergency legislation.
Changing economic circumstances — either positive or negative — could be addressed.
Growing up on a diversified crop and livestock farm in central Iowa, Ray learned the ethic of getting up early and working late. To that he adds with a chuckle, "keep your head down and don't worry too much, because you don't have control over much of what happens."
Ray says he might still be back on the farm had it not been for his interest in academic work. He sort of backed into economics through a winter course in farm operations. That led to a two-year degree and eventually a B.S. from Iowa State.
"I had the good fortune of meeting the right people in the ag economics area," Ray says. He got hooked up with Earl Heady, an expert in policy, farm management and production economics. Heady was the founder of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development at Iowa State.
"From the very beginning, he lobbied me and almost assumed that I would get a Ph.D.," Ray says. "I went from a winter quarter program to getting a Ph.D. in a relatively helter skelter way."
His economics go back to a time before what he calls the "aberration of the 1970s." He learned about ag economics from the likes of Willard Cochran of Minnesota, author of "The City Man's Guide to Farm Policy"; and Dale Hathaway of Michigan State and others who had the same understanding that agriculture is different from other industries.
Ray says the shift started to occur in the 1970s, when economists made the mistake of extrapolating an explosion in export demand into the future. "People kind of backed away from the traditional understanding of agriculture and tried to frame it in the same way you would talk about other industries.
"There were some logical arguments to support that and it's what everybody wanted to believe anyway," Ray figures. "Many folks in graduate school didn't have any practical farm experience and did not see the aberration in the 1970s. We had a generation of folks who wanted to believe that the economic response of agriculture would be like any other industry. But food is not batteries. Food is different and we must understand that when we talk about farm policy. That's one of the things I press home in my writings and talks."
Ray says exports and free trade have been oversold.
After all these years, "we have learned that the characteristics of agriculture haven't changed after all," Ray says.
"Farmers will continue to grow crops as long as they can get the planter out of the shed or until their banker doesn't lend them any more money," Ray says. "…Then another farmer will farm the land."


text:
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Folks, Google has just announced the accepted projects on the GSoc website. We had an excellent line up of students and proposals this year and were able to accept 12 projects! Thanks for all the students who have applied this year and congratulations to all accepted!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monday, 20 January 2014
Product review: Lucetta Lights
LUCETTA, magnetic bike lights from Palomar on Vimeo.
They may sound like a type of pasta and look like a contact lens case but this dinky little kit is actually a set of magnetic bicycle lights.
Detachable lights are a good option if you have to park your bike in public and you don't want your lights to be nicked but sometimes the attaching and detaching can be faff. Especially on a cold wet evening when you just want to get on your bike and go home This is one of the Lucetta lights big plus points - they are magnetic so all you have to do is tap them on the frame of your bike and they stick and automatically light up. If you want to change the function from flashing to constant you just tap the light against the frame again.
And when you take them off the bike they snap together and you can easily pop them in your bag, safe in the knowledge that they will stay together and they won't switch themselves on in your bag and run the batteries down.
They are also very useful lights if, like me, you have a basket on the front of your bike which obstructs lights on the handlebars. These lights can be places down on the fork or wherever it is that means your light is visible. Similarly if you have a rack on the back or child seat that obstructs the seat post (the usual place for a rear light) these lights are the perfect problem solver.
Very clever little lights indeed! Lucetta lights, £24.99 (pair), available in red, white and black at Cyclechic.co.uk
Labels: Product reviews
2 comments:
- Fat-bottomed Girl said...
What an excellent idea! And extra points to them for knowing how to cut an informative product video without it being too long, boring or self indulgent.
- 21 January 2014 at 05:33
- Caz said...
Thanks Jen!
- 24 January 2014 at 11:39
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text:
Saturday, March 12, 2011
So, where we at?
Although nothing is ever certain, there were a few areas of this year's Blue Jays squad that, heading into camp, seemed fairly easy to predict. Funny how that works. Turns out those areas of "certainty" are drawing more questions than answers as the preseason crawls on. But maybe that's just me. Probably just me. But let's discuss, shall we? I mean, we're here anyway.... let's just.
The Rotation
Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil, Kyle Drabek, Marc Rzepczynski. Bingo bango bongo. Done. Maybe three weeks ago.....
The new "big 3" are certainly set. But the 4/5 spots in the rotation? Wiiiiide open, it seems. Nothing but a personal vibe here, but all of a sudden, it seems like the phenom Drabek is no longer a lock to "head north" with the big club, and Rzepczynski seems more likely to be on the outside looking in with regards to the rotation. And why? New skip John Farrell seems enamored with Jesse Litsch (which, for this guy anyway, isn't the worst thing... LET HIM PLAY! LET HIM PLAY!), and out-of-options (and Tao fave) Jo Jo Reyes is pitching well enough that the "option play" might give him an edge.
Keeping in mind..... come June 1 (or whenever the magical arb cutoff date is), the spring battle will likely be long forgotten as Drabek (for sure) and Zach Stewart (for maybe?) will lay claim to the jobs if they haven't already.
All of this to say.... depth is good.
Brett Lawrie
Now, this is going to come across as an endorsement for Lawrie to skip AAA altogether and start the season in the homeland.....and it's not, necessarily..... but at what point does the usual spring hype give way to "maybe this kid really is ready" conversation?
Oh, I know all the usual caveats apply. Gabe Gross. Simon Pond. Chuckle chuckle snicker snicker. But wasn't the primary concern with Lawrie his conversion to 3rd base and questions on his defensive ability in general? And haven't all those actually there been saying how remarkably strong he's looked fielding the position? And if this club really is gearing towards actually trying to contend in 2012.... wouldn't it be better to get the kid a year of experience leading up?
Of course, it's not that simple. There's the service clock issue (don't you wish we didn't ever have to take "service clock" into consideration? Because I know I'm sick to death of it. But that's another post...). There's the fact he's probably not really ready to handle the grind of a full major league season. There's probably a multitude of additional reasons that space restrictions just will not allow me to flush out (nothing at all to do with being lazy, friends).
So how about this. How about we all agree - you too, AA - that Lawrie starts the season in Vegas under the guise of "seasoning", and once the arb date passes, and assuming Lawrie is indeed raking and not butchering the position defensively, he's recalled and handed the keys to the hot corner indefinitely. Seems obvious and logical, right? Right. Done and done.
Juan Rivera
Serious question: is he really part of the team? And if he is, why can't I fathom that? And if the club is really in need of left-handed thunder, can't we just give the job to Eric Thames and see where that takes us? If we can't have the Stewart bone, and if we have to wait out Lawrie, can't we have this?
OK, not really.
(But would you be against it necessarily? In a platoon at least? C'mon.)
The Bullpen
Oh boy. I'm not ready to even attempt to sort this one out yet. Maybe next weekend. Until then.....
14 comments:
- bakatron said...
brett lawrie needs his ego inflated even further by being sent to the pcl and then deflated by being sent down once or twice before he's a major league option. i dont want to ruin another prospect because of early exposure to the majors and then having him to trade because he's an enigma (similar to what the mariners did with morrow).
- March 13, 2011 at 1:45 AM
- mike in boston said...
it's hard to get very invested in who makes the roster out of ST since, as you point out, we know who will be here by the middle of the season.
with that in mind, it seems to make sense to play the guys you might want to trade (Litsch, Rzep, Reyes, Rivera) in order to increase their value. This means leaving Drabek and Laurie in the minors until you have cleared roster spots for them. This approach has the advantage of protecting service time as well.
- March 13, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Bakatron - I'm just going to assume you've met Brett Lawrie and are 100% certain his ego is inflated to such great heights that he'll waltz into the batter's box on April 1 and DEMAND he receive a fastball down the middle on every pitch, just because of who he is.
C'mon - since when is it illegal for a kid to say he thinks he's good enough to make the big club? He didn't say he expects to make the team, or AA is an idiot if he doesn't make the team, or that he won't put the work in to make the team. He said he thinks he's ready. And he's doing all he can this spring to prove himself right.
I just think that's fucking awesome.
And Morrow got jacked around between the pen and the rotation - that doesn't make him an enigma, that makes the Mariners fucking stupid for disrupting the growth curve of a high-ceiling pitcher with sickening stuff.
I agree with Ack and think Lawrie should start in Vegas, but it has nothing to do with his supposed 'ego'.
- March 13, 2011 at 10:36 AM
- Chad said...
You don't demand a fastball, you indicate with the bat where you want the pitch. Don't you know anything about baseball?!?
- March 13, 2011 at 1:21 PM
- Gil Fisher said...
I`m sort of thinking the rotation is Romero-Morrow-Cecil-Litsch-Drabek with Rzep heading to AAA to be first in line for recall. I think Reyes will join Purcey as the lefties in the pen.
- March 13, 2011 at 5:02 PM
Chad - You've never heard of someone sitting on a fastball?
They don't know where it's going, they're just ready for it, and sometimes they hit it a mile.
Hardly my point, though.
- March 13, 2011 at 5:17 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
Please stop reading into Spring Training results, both Thames and Lawrie should not start the season in the minors. What's the rush? Further development is not only a good idea, but probably much needed for both players.
Also what is all this hate on for Juan Rivera? Let him play and hopefully he hits close to .300 with 25 home runs. He could either become a nice piece to trade at the deadline or return coveted draft picks when he leaves as a free agent.
- March 14, 2011 at 7:25 AM
- Peter DeMarco said...
That should have been "should start the season in the minors" in reference to Lawrie and Thames.
Also, I predict that if Jesse Litsch and Reyes make the Jays, they will both suckity suck suck. Litsch probably deserves a shot, but that won't change the results, and before we know it Reyes will be gone and Drabek and Rzep will get their shots at the rotation.
- March 14, 2011 at 7:30 AM
- The Ack said...
Why even have spring training then, right? And we can't read anything into minor league stats either - especially the PCL - so hot starts in AAA won't mean anything either, right? And it doesn't matter how well they field their positions or how advanced their approaches are at the plate. Every player who has yet to crack the MLB needs more time.....
See, now I'm in a position where I'm advocating both those guys make the club. I'm not at all (though I'd make more of an argument for Thames > Lowrie).... but it just seems the defacto argument for every young player is "what's the rush? they need more time", regardless of any evidence to the contrary.
It's becoem the easy argument, and I don't know how it can be the correct position to take 100% of the time.
- March 14, 2011 at 9:44 AM
I'm all for Lawrie starting in the minors but I am hoping he is up mnuch sooner than September. My hope is that we can find a contender to take Rivera and Put Jobau where he belongs , the OF. Thus leavign the keys to third in lawrie's pockets, with no realistic hopes of contetnion, I cant see how this is a bad play.
- March 14, 2011 at 2:26 PM
- Chad said...
Gee, Buck, you really switched horses in mid-stream there. Great sense of humor!
(Debated on US or Canadian spelling, but judging from your defensive dumbness, opted for US.)
- March 14, 2011 at 6:17 PM
- Peter DeMarco said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- March 15, 2011 at 7:07 AM
- Peter DeMarco said...
What's the rush means why start a players service time when they have never played a game above double A and you already have proven major league players at their positions.
Say for a second you bring both Thames and Lawrie up to start the season. Does that mean you would bench Travis Snider so that you could have Lawrie at 3B, Batista in RF and Thames in LF?
Not to mention you are going to be benching a guy in Rivera that hit 25 home runs in 2009 and you're paying $5 million for. And for what? To most likely find out that you brought up your prospects too soon?
- March 15, 2011 at 7:09 AM
Not sure I agree on Lawrie. I haven't confirmed this, but I read that he's only hitting .250 vs pitchers with MLB experience. Small sample size, no doubt, but doesn't that say maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves a bit?
After the arb date sounds good to me...
- March 15, 2011 at 10:32 AM


text:
Commerce Secretary, New USPTO Head Suggesting They Want More Patents, Approved Faster
from the that-doesn't-seem-good dept
On the subject of quality, there has been speculation in the IP community that examiners are being encouraged to reject applications because a lower allowance rate equals higher quality. Let's be clear: patent quality does not equal rejection.I don't think I could disagree any more strongly. Patent quality absolutely means keeping out bad patents -- something the USPTO has failed at for years. Considering the massive monopoly power handed out by a patent, one should only be granted in the rarest of cases -- when real quality, and a real need for the patent can be shown. After a lot of criticism about the way that patent system was run for the past few decades (where "when in doubt, approve" was the norm) since about 2004, the USPTO has finally started to become more aggressive in rejecting patents. Having the USPTO switch back in the other direction would be a massive mistake.
Meanwhile, an even more worrisome issue is that Kappos' boss, Gary Locke, the US Secretary of Commerce, seems to buy into all sorts of disproved myths about the patent system. It doesn't help that the journalists at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel seem to believe them too. Check out this quote, for example:
And economists concur that patents are the best known indicator of innovation.Um, actually, a rather large number of economists do not concur at all on that statement (and note that two of those are Nobel Laureates), and can stack up study after study after study that suggests the opposite. But why let facts get in the way of an old myth?
The real problem, which becomes evident in reading the article is that since the USPTO is funded based on patent application fees, it has every incentive in the world, as an institution, to approve more patents. The more patents it approves, the more applications it gets, which means more money as well. This isn't to say that the individual examiners don't take their jobs seriously, and approve stuff just to get the fees. Obviously, they're not directly a part of that calculus. But the incentives put in place at higher levels are to bring in more fees to better fund the USPTO. Of course, if it functioned as originally intended, and only narrowly approved patents that were clearly shown to be a new and non-obvious invention that promoted the progress, the staff and the budget could be cut down significantly. But since when has a gov't agency ever willingly looked for ways to cut its own budget?


text: Look, three home consoles to look after, that's OK. It's doable. Throw a PC in there, still doable. A couple of prominent handheld platforms, you're stretching it, but we can manage. The iPhone, though...well, that was almost a bridge too far. So we're less than thrilled to hear that there's now another major mobile device on the market that'll support games. Launched yesterday to quite a bit of fanfare, Google's Android phone may just give Apple a run for its money in the "do everything" phone market. May. Won't with its initial games lineup, though. Where the iPhone's app store launched with a range of big-budget titles from the likes of Sega and EA, the Android has...Pac-Man. Uh, great, thanks. On the bright side, the phone's meant to be an open source dream, so hopefully it's not too long before some more interesting titles come along. That or someone gets SCUMM working. US, September 23, 2008 - Namco Networks, a leading publisher and developer of mobile games and entertainment for mass-market casual gamers, today announced the availability of the arcade classic Pac-Man on the first Android-powered device, announced today by T-Mobile. When the phone launches, Pac-Man will be available to consumers in the Android Market at no charge, giving owners of the new T-Mobile G1 handset full access to the game which usually retails for $9.99. "We are thrilled to launch Pac-Man on the flagship Android-powered device," said Scott Rubin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Namco Networks. "To encourage consumers to checkout Pac-Man on the G1, we are picking up the tab for the game. We want consumers to see how great Pac-Man looks on this device and how well it plays on the Android platform." Who can forget the countless hours and quarters spent avoiding the pesky ghosts while chompin' on the dots? In addition to the classic and addictive game play, Pac-Man, the most popular video game in American arcade history, has been upgraded to fully utilize the T-Mobile G1's features. Taking advantage of the device's large screen, Pac-Man on the T-Mobile G1 includes three unique control schemes: Swipe Mode allows players to direct Pac-Man's path by simply swiping in the direction you want to travel. Track Mode lets players zip through mazes using the phone's trackball. Accelerometer Mode allows players to control Pac-Man by tilting the phone in the direction they want to move. For more information on Pac-Man for the G1 or other mobile games by Namco, please visit www.namcogames.com.


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The Case For And Against Software And Business Model Patents
from the and-the-battle-begins dept
As you might imagine, with 30 different amici briefs filed, they represent a wide variety of opinions, with some companies like Accenture and American Express in favor of allowing these patents, and others like IBM and SAP explaining why these patents don't make much sense. Red Hat (expectedly) explained how software patents harm open source development (and how open source shows that patents aren't necessary for software innovation). The group End Software Patents highlighted some ridiculous lawsuits resulting from software patents (and even noted that CAFC's own website violates some software patents). The EFF focused in a bit more on the very specifics of the argument at hand and suggested a three-step litmus test to determine whether an invention is actually technological.
So How Come Software And Business Models Are Patentable In The First Place?
For many years people simply assumed that software and business models weren't patentable. It was pretty well established that patents needed to be tied to a real, tangible technology -- even if there didn't need to be a working model. The courts had recognized for many years that a "process" could be patentable, and that was codified in the law in 1952 by the patent act written by Giles Rich. Rich later went on to serve on CAFC interpreting the very law he had a major hand in writing, almost always in favor of extending what could be patented.
In 1981 the Supreme Court ruled in the Diamond v. Diehr case, saying that the patent office shouldn't dismiss a patent application just because it's software, noting that if it was tied to a technology, then the entire combination of technology and software could be patentable. It made it clear, however, that algorithms, by themselves, were not patentable. That's somewhat problematic, as it assumes a concrete world where the technology and the algorithms aren't mixed together. Following this, most decisions on patents were left to CAFC, who went through a series of cases trying to refine and hone in on what was and was not patentable when it came to software. This went on until 1998 when CAFC decided the State Street case, which basically said both software and business models are patentable -- and that they've always been patentable, quoting a phrase first used in a Congressional report in 1952 that "anything under the sun made by man" is patentable. This statement has all sorts of problems, of course, because when you get into intangible goods and algorithms and business models, it's not always clear if that's something "made by man" or merely an explanation of something that was already there. Either way, the State Street decision opened the floodgates.
Suddenly there was a massive rush to the patent office to apply for both business model and software patents. Researchers, for example noted that from 1995 (before the lower court ruled on State Street) to 2001 (two years after the Supreme Court refused to hear State Street) the number of business method patents grew by nearly 3,000% (yes, 3,000%). Things became even worse because there were so many fewer software and business method patents prior to this case, patent examiners had much less "prior art" to go on. Typically, examiners use things like earlier patents as well as journal articles to determine prior art. But, there weren't patents on earlier software and business models and not many journal articles either. So plenty of bad patents got through. The patent system itself became overwhelmed, and the incentive structure started encouraging examiners to approve patents when it doubt. And that's how we got to some of the mess we're in today.
The Case For Software and Business Model Patents
Let's start with the case being made in favor of such patents. Again, with so many amici, there are a ton of different opinions offered here (and they certainly don't all agree with each other). But the simplest argument being made is reflected in the BSA's opening argument which is the same core defense of the patent system overall. It goes like this: patents are supposed to promote the progress, and we want progress promoted, so of course software and business models should be patentable. This argument, obviously, ignores the question (and all of the evidence) suggesting that patents don't actually promote the progress, but we'll leave that aside for now. Related to this, companies like American Express and Accenture trot out the claim that patents have tremendous beneficial impacts on the economy (again, without proof).
From there, a few of the briefs jump off into claims about how our modern economy is different than in the past. Rather than tangible goods and manufacturing, we're now a society of services and intangible goods, leading to the claim that if patents were helpful in those old days, they should also be extended to this new economy. Regulatory Data Corp. takes this point a step further by claiming in its second argument that "applied economics" is a part of "the useful arts" that are supposed to be protected under patent law. RDC, by the way, also has a bit of fun at the beginning of its brief talking about how its software stops terrorists, hinting at the idea that without patents, the terrorists would win. Many of these briefs also argue on the precedent of prior cases and the idea that creating a specific "exemption" from patentability is a bad thing and would do more harm than good.
Effectively, the arguments are:
- Innovation is good, patents encourage innovation, therefore, of course patents should apply to software and business models.
- The world we live in is different than it was in the past. When patents were first conceived of, everything was mechanical and tangible, but the world is different now. This argument, effectively suggests that intangible things (software, business models) don't have any different characteristics than tangible things (which is absolutely incorrect, but it sounds good).
- Courts have held (and the law has been changed to reflect) that processes can be patented, even if ideas cannot be. Software and business models are processes, not ideas.
- Anything under the sun made by man can be patented, and software and business models are made by man.
- Drawing dotted lines about what is and what is not patentable decreases the flexibility of the system and makes it ineffective (which I believe is the strongest argument made in these briefs).
The Case Against Software and Business Model Patents
For folks who read Techdirt and work in the software industry, I'm sure the basics won't come as much of a surprise. The arguments revolve around the fact that you're not supposed to be able to patent an idea -- and then making it clear that software and business models by themselves are really just ideas. They need to be tied to some sort of tangible technology to actually be considered patentable. Microsoft, Dell, Symantec, IBM, SAP and others all make that point. The EFF takes things a bit further to suggest its test for whether or not something is "technological." The EFF also highlights how much harm patents on purely non-technological material may cause -- noting that it limits the normal delivery of important information. The ACLU picks up on this as well, suggesting in its brief that software and business model patents fundamentally run the risk of violating one's First Amendment rights and argues that First Amendment rights should trump patent rights.
Effectively, the arguments are:
- You cannot patent an idea, and business models and software are really ideas, not technology or processes.
- There needs to be some actual technology for it to be patentable
- There is real economic harm being caused by these types of patents
- Software and business models, due to being intangible, work differently than tangible goods, and therefore do not need patent protection for innovation -- and, in fact, such protection can harm them.
- The fact that these patents can get in the way of the Freedom of Speech should be a concern
So Should The Court Get Rid Of Software And Business Model Patents?
To be honest, this question is a lot trickier than it sounds at first, and my answer may surprise some people. Part of the issue is how you look at the question being discussed -- and on this I agree with some (though definitely not all) of what Stanford professor Mark Lemley wrote in his brief. While I disagree with the claims in his brief that a loss of these patents would decrease innovation, he does make an important point: the real problem isn't in what's being patented, it's in patents that shouldn't be granted getting approved in the first place. Furthermore, if the court cuts out all software and business models, people will just rewrite their patents in a manner to make it appear as though their business models and software really have a "technology" component. In other words, the real net effect may be meaningless.
He then argues that it doesn't make sense to create a special "exemption" for software and business models. This is the same sort of thing that many others arguing in favor of software and business method patents claim. It's effectively a "why should we carve out a special exemption for these things?" And they're right. We shouldn't carve out a special exemption -- but not for the reasons they think. Carving out an exemption implies that these types of things really do deserve patent protection, except for the fact that they're software or business models. It's granting the premise that they're patentable. That's a problem.
The real issues is that most software and business model patents shouldn't be granted at all in the first place, but not because they're software or business models, but because they don't meet the criteria of what deserves a patent. They are often neither new nor non-obvious to those skilled in the art -- and patents on them most certainly do not promote progress. So there doesn't need to be a special exemption because they already shouldn't qualify for patents.
As anyone who has worked in business or in software knows, both business models and software evolve constantly over time. They are not static at all, but highly dynamic -- often driven by changes in the market. It is that market that forces the innovation to occur, and doing anything to limit the ability for anyone to change or modify their model or software only hinders that innovation. So, there shouldn't be a special "exemption" for these goods -- it should just be recognized that they are unlikely to qualify for patent protection in the first place.
So while I agree that software and business models should not be patentable, the Bilski case worries me somewhat. If the court does effectively create an "exemption" for software and business models, it's setting a dangerous precedent that could be revoked (or gamed). It also could make things worse for all other kinds of patents. Instead, there should be straightforward rules that apply to all patents that determine whether or not an invention meets the basic criteria of being new and non-obvious and whether or not a patent is necessary to promote the progress of that space. With that sort of recognition in place, you don't need a special exemption at all. It would just make it clear that software and business methods would almost never qualify for patent protection in the first place, while also raising questions about the patentability of many other things as well.
So, in the end, I don't think that software and business models deserve patent coverage -- but I worry that the results of the Bilski case could lead to many more problems for the entire patent system by suggesting that software and business methods get "special treatment." In the end, it seems unlikely that the courts are going to see it this way at all, so a decision in Bilski severely limiting software and business method patents may be a short-term solution, but it would really just be a band-aid on a much bigger problem.
Links to other posts in the series:
- On The Constitutional Reasons Behind Copyright And Patents
- Patents, Copyrights And Trademarks, Oh My!
- If Intellectual Property Is Neither Intellectual, Nor Property, What Is It?
- What Kind Of Progress Are We Promoting?
- Why Do Patents Tend To Cause More Harm Than Good?
- The Case For And Against Software And Business Model Patents


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A free trial of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2's Revolution DLC is available to download now on PlayStation 3.
The trial offers players unrestricted access to the DLC's four multiplayer maps and Zombies campaign until Monday.
A similar trial has previously been available on Xbox 360.
Released on PS3 in February, Revolution is Black Ops 2's first map pack, and includes multiplayer maps Hydro, Downhill, Grind and Mirage, and the Die Rise Zombies campaign.
Black Ops 2's third map pack 'Vengeance' is due to go on sale on Xbox 360 next month.
Source: @Treyarch


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Tibbetts was born in Santa Fe, N.M. His father, Bill Tibbetts, was considered an outlaw – on the run after being charged with rustling cattle, a claim that Bill Tibbetts insisted was false. After turning himself into the sheriff, Bill was told by his lawyer that if he didn't find a way to escape jail, he was going to be hanged. He escaped and spent the next few years on the run, living under an assumed name. During that time, he met his wife, Jewel, and Ray was born.
When Ray Tibbetts was still a young child, the family returned to the Moab area, where he has spent most of his life.
"My dad was born and raised in this country, so that's where we came back to," he said.
After high school, Tibbetts served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a military policeman. Upon his discharge, he returned to Moab.
"It was right in the middle of the uranium boom," he said. "There were trailers and little cardboard shacks in everybody's backyard."
Tibbetts went to work for the Grand County Sheriff's Office as a deputy in 1954. He enjoyed the work, and it was a busy time for law enforcement.
"About half the people in town were wanted for something," he said.
He met his wife, Carolyn, at a dance in town in 1955. Shortly thereafter, he left law enforcement.
"I quit because I couldn't make a living," he said. "I enjoyed it very much ... I probably would have done it the rest of my life if I could've made any money at it."
Tibbetts then went to work staking and selling mining claims in the area. Two years later, he started a cattle ranch at Anderson Bottom on the Green River with Carolyn's father, Ralph Miller. While tending the cattle, Tibbetts spent quite a bit of time in what is now known as the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park
"Talk about wilderness and solitude," he said.
But being so far away from town was too much, with Carolyn and a new baby still at home in Moab, so Tibbetts returned to Moab where he and his brother-in-law purchased Miller's Clothing and Dry Goods.
Tibbetts ran that store for the next 36 years. In the 1970s, after the uranium business went bust, business at the store declined. Tibbetts began to look for ways to help increase traffic in the area. Opportunity presented itself, he said, when his friend, Bates Wilson came into the store one day.
At the time, Wilson was the superintendent of Arches National Park. He was trying to convince the federal government to create a new park in the area, but he needed help. He asked Tibbetts to take members from the Park Service Board and the Bureau of Land Management on a tour of some of the more desolate country around Anderson Bottom. Tibbetts agreed, and after his return to town, he convinced many of the other storeowners in Moab to write letters supporting the creation of a new park.
"I didn't know much about parks, but I wanted to help increase visitation to the area," Tibbetts said.
In 1964, Wilson's dream became reality when Canyonlands National Park was created. However, Tibbetts said the newly formed park did little to help increase tourism, and several people in the area were upset that the government had not followed through on promises they'd made regarding the park's establishment.
"They promised that they'd allow ranchers to continue to graze their cattle out there," he said.
Tibbetts said that he was told that they were going to build new restaurants and stores within the park's boundaries. None of those things happened.
While Tibbetts said he's happy he was able to be a part of Canyonlands' history, he opposes any further wilderness designation in the area.
Tibbetts held the position of Grand County Commissioner during part of the 1970s and 80s. He was a strong supporter of the Sagebrush Rebellion, a political movement that advocated the return of federally owned lands to the control of state and local authorities.
Though Tibbetts is now in his 80s, he strives to stay involved in local politics, and he has a lot to say about the recent proposal to create a Greater Canyonlands National Monument.
"We need to respect the balance of the land," he said.
Tibbetts stressed that money from oil and potash development on public lands is returned to the county, putting money into the schools.
"Locking up the land stops that," he said. "You have to respect the flow."
Tibbetts said he feels that the current parks encompass enough land.
"We just need to arrive at something that makes the community click," he said.


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Lea Michele: Hike with Jonathan Groff & Dinner with Parents!
Lea Michele heads into Sugarfish restaurant for dinner with her parents Edith and Marc on Thursday (April 11) in Studio City, Calif.
The 26-year-old actress is seen out and about for the first time since her boyfriend Cory Monteith checked into rehab.
Earlier that day, Lea went on a hike with her Spring Awakening and Glee co-star Jonathan Groff!
"Just went on such a great hike with Jon Groff! I <3 him :)" Lea tweeted along with the adorable photo. "Living the fit life!"
20+ pictures inside of Lea Michele out for dinner with her parents…


text:
Featured Links
Court Directory / Locate a Court
Jury Room (Juror Service Information)
An overview of what you can expect if selected to serve on a jury, including an online Juror Qualification tool.
Court Calendars
These calendars list all scheduled District Court activity for a two-week period. They are updated daily.
Utah Code
Search statutes in the Utah Code or constitutional provisions in the constitution. Provided by Utah.gov
Divorce Education Classes
Classes are required ONLY for all parents with biological children under the age of 18 who file for divorce in the state of Utah.
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Employment Opportunities
Job Announcements for the Courts.
Basic Guidelines for Court Appointed Guardians and Conservators
In order to be appointed as a guardian or conservator, you must teach yourself about the responsibilities of the position.
The Utah State Courts mission is to provide the people an open, fair, efficient, and independent system for the advancement of justice under the law.


text:
- Jackbacks - Replace your Iphone 4 back with a real wood bezel.
- Natasha Wozniak Jewelry - Beautiful, hand-crafted jewelry.
- Give Dap - Gifts for men, perfecting the art of casual appreciation.
- Raz War - Quality shaving. Fair prices.
- Play Lashes - Premium handmade 100% mink hair strip lashes.
Join 446,005 entrepreneurs who already have a head start.
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6 comments
September 07 2011, 03:59PM
Just wanted to post publicly here that I really appreciate Mike, Gary, and the whole Shopify team for hosting this contest. It's pretty cool that they support the growth of small businesses with opportunities like this. Thanks again, and congratulations to Raz*War.
September 07 2011, 05:23PM
Congrats Raz-War :)
Thanks for the kind words Gary! and thanks for the opportunity Mike! My video has turned into my goto for when I need to explain exactly what JackBacks is.
September 08 2011, 09:29AM
Thank you for the reward and the congratulations. I really look forward to get this 1-to-1 session with Gary. Thanks to the people at Shopify who host our shops since June 2009!
September 10 2011, 12:50PM
Congrats David! I wonder if you could record the one-on-one session so we can all learn from it.
September 21 2011, 09:41AM
how does one submit a video on their store?
September 21 2011, 12:52PM
@Chris – Sorry, the contest is over.


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I honestly do love the fact that they have their own rankings. I think it is an awesome slap in the face to the U.S. News ranking which literally has as much merit as Cooley's system does. In fact Cooley's actually is a better formula, because at least they do use objective standards even if it is the amount of chairs a school has at least that is measurable.
Quote from: bigs5068 on May 03, 2010, 08:03:56 PMI honestly do love the fact that they have their own rankings. I think it is an awesome slap in the face to the U.S. News ranking which literally has as much merit as Cooley's system does. In fact Cooley's actually is a better formula, because at least they do use objective standards even if it is the amount of chairs a school has at least that is measurable. This fails at all levels.
Why Cooley like U.S. News out of nowhere decided to come up with ranking system. It is identical neither ranking system was required or even approved by anybody they both just a system up out of thin air. I know Cooley might be a little biased on it's face since it is Cooley's ranking, but honestly you think these "Peers" are not biased as well? They went to law schools and I am sure are favorable to certain schools. Me and you can make a ranking system right now (Schools that have students that post on LSD make up 80% of a schools ranking) (average daily temperature of city school is located in 18%) (we will bring a little objectivity into the rankings also so like U.S. News amazing formula we will put in that moderatly important aspect of bar passage 2% just like U.S. NewsFSU and GGU we both post on here and Florida and California are hot. I think FSU has a better passage rate so I will be content with ranking FSU #1 of all schools GGU #2 of all schools That is a pretty good formula it has much merit as Cooley's or U.S. New's Nobody asked me to come up with and I made it up, but it works right. Both systems are a complete joke they make absolutley no sense. Are Harvard and Yale better schools than GGU? Ummmm YES! I knew that when I was 5. Is Williamette better than FIU? Who f'ing knows they are both law schools. Honestly if you came to San Francisco with a degree from Florida State you would probably have a hard time finding employment and if I went to Miami or Jacksonville I would have a hard time finding employment, despite the fact that FSU is ranked higher. You are going to end up in Florida and I am going to end up in California. Obviously, there will be some exceptions, but at the end of the day number 62 or 93 doesn't matter. It's like someone playing basketball at University of Wyoming and transferring to Univeristy of Idaho their sophomore year because Wyoming went to 72 or Idaho moved up 56. It wouldn't matter freaking matter. If the guy from Wyoming could transfer to Duke then yes that is another story, but who the hell cares whether someone plays at Idaho or Wyoming the player will be good at basketball. Who cares if you go to law school at Gonzaga or Texas Wesleyan? You will know the law and you were smart enough and worked hard enough to get into law school and pass the bar. Obvioulsy Harvard or Stanford will open more doors, but why the hell does anybody waste their time ranking between 72 and 98?? It makes no sense particularly on a HORRENDOUS FORMULA that doesn't measure anything it literally has as much merit as the ranking system I just made up.
Yea do it like the NCAA and rank the top 25 make it honor to be listed not a requirement. I think if are deciding between Penn and NYU then the rankings might matter. Just like if you are a college basketball player and you are choosing between North Carolina and Duke the ranking would matter. The NCAA doesn't rank out of the top 25 because it didn't matter. Would you be shocked if San Jose State beat UC Irvine in basketball? If San Jose State was ranked 92 and Irvine was ranked 109 I imagine not. Would be shocked if San Jose State beat Duke yes. So rank the top 25 law schools and no more.


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Aptana Studio v3.1.2
Vista / Win7 / Win8 / WinXP
Aptana Studio supports common web-application coding languages such as Javascript, AJAX, php and Ruby on Rails as well as HTML and CSS. With Aptana Studio you can also develop applications and programs for Apple iPhone. There are official forums for idea exchange and help at the Aptana website.
Other editions:
HTML code for linking to this page:
aptana studio ide html css ajax javascript
1License and operating system information is based on latest version of the software.
(No user ratings yet)


text:
Is this your brand on Milled? You can claim it.
August 10, 2012
Sales in the spotlight
A Boston Newbie Takes Center Stage
Revere Hotel Boston Common
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008
New Asian American Tween Novel "1001 Cranes" Out Now (Win an Autographed Copy!)
When I was a senior in high school, o so many years ago, I submitted a short story, set in a WWII Japanese American concentration camp, to a contest being run by LA's longstanding bilingual JA daily newspaper, the Rafu Shimpo. Like many of my generation, my exposure to the paper was via my grandmother's subscription, her copies being handed off to my parents, and then to me, every week or so, bundled up in grocery store plastic bags. When, to my surprise, I won the contest, the editor of the English-language section asked me if I'd be interested in writing an occasional column as part of their perennial quest to connect with younger readers. [Which, of course, now that I'm in the newspaper business, I know is a quest not limited to the ethnic press. Heh.] Honored by the request, I wrote an erratic series of navel-gazing columns over the next two years, looking at stuff like mixed-race identity, the evolution of community, and going off to college from a self-absorbed and self-described "hapa yonsei perspective." (It was called, wait for it—"In The Mix," natch.) If it'd happened today, I'd have been just another teenaged blogger with an audience of 1, but back then, pre-World Wide Web, an editor saw something in a kid who wanted to write, and took a chance on him. And the stuff she let me write about—race, identity, community—is the stuff I'm still writing about, 16 years later. The editor's name was Naomi Hirahara.
In the time since I met her, Naomi left journalism to tackle full-time her dream, to write novels. Naomi is now the award-winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, featuring an LA-area JA gardener (like both her father and my grandfather) turned sleuth. And now, I'm proud to announce the publication this week of her first novel for middle-grade readers, 1001 Cranes (Delacorte Press for Young Readers).
The book follows 12-year-old Angie Kato, a Bay Area girl forced to spend the summer at her grandparents' flower shop in Gardena to avoid her parents' impending divorce. We follow her journey of growth and self-awareness as she learns to fold the titular origami wedding displays that her family's shop sells [we have ours hanging in our living room!]. I can't wait to put a copy of this on The Pumpkin's "for future reading" shelf.
Naomi's kicking off a whole bunch of SoCal readings with this coming Saturday's Japanese American National Museum's Summer Family Festival, part of the opening weekend of LA's Little Tokyo's historic Nisei Week festival. If you're in the LA area this Saturday, I highly recommend you check it out.
Now, to the contest! Naomi's been kind enough to give Rice Daddies an autographed copy of 1001 Cranes to give away to one lucky reader. All you have to do to enter is, by midnight PDT on Saturday, August 16, write in a comment on this post about one tradition—familial, cultural, whatever—you want to pass down to your kids, and why. The winner will be chosen at random (probably, if one time makes a tradition, by The Pumpkin pulling a slip of paper out of a rice cooker), but you gotta write a comment to enter.
And finally, congrats, and thanks, to Naomi! Yay, more diverse literature for kids! Go get your copy now!
11 comments:
- ka_jun said...
Language, first and foremost, language. The literature indicates that first gen speaks the mother tongue, second gen is bilingual, and third gen speaks the new country's language. I'm second gen, and I'll be damned if I let the language disappear on my watch.
- 8:15 AM, August 13, 2008
- Anonymous said...
Ohhhh! I just received the Mas Arai series for my birthday!! (tomorrow) I am so excited about this book.
Well, what I want to pass down is a sense that our family is Japanese no matter how much we "look" it.
- 9:49 AM, August 13, 2008
- naechstehaltestelle said...
One of the traditions we try to pass down, as a mixed race family living in Europe, is cooking Chinese food together as a family. Even though ingredients aren't always easy to come across, we take one night out of the week to only have Chinese food.
- 10:02 AM, August 13, 2008
- b.q. said...
Such a co-winki-dink that you posted this blog about the exceptional author, Naomi Hirahara. I recently wrote to Naomi about:
(1)The Mas Arai mysteries (had to tell her how Arai-san reminded me of my own Kibbe Dad!), &
(2)Asking her if she knew of any links to Sansei Moms' blogs. Kindly, Naomi referred me to Rice Daddies & a few other blogs. I do think RD is a great find. So, as a Sansei Mom, with Hapa kids, passing on any & all aspects of our culture is always a happy task. We have Samurai blood in our veins, & my 4 Girls have true warrior spirits, & love all things Japanese. My Grandkids will follow the same path. Pass it on...never forget. Now, I'm looking forward to exploring more of Naomi's books, & can't wait for the next Mas Arai mystery! And, although I can't seem to find a widely used Sansei Mom's blog, I think I'll keep visiting RD.
Arigato, & Gambare!
- 12:11 PM, August 13, 2008
- Anonymous said...
a tradition we keep alive in my small (and divorced) family is the passing of recipes from one generation to the next. not only is food yummy, but it's a simple way to share culture. mixing green onions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and _secret family ingredients_ into the marinade for bulgogi allows us to slow down, contemplate, and talk. many a conversation was discussed with my mother and many a topic is discussed with mine now. =)
- 2:39 PM, August 13, 2008
- Asianmommy said...
We don't have any unique traditions, but the things we do together as a family are important to me to pass on: having dinner together almost every night, going on family vacations at least once a year, having a big Thanksgiving dinner, Xmas dinner, and birthday dinner with the extended family every year. For Chinese New Year, we'll eat Chinese food and give out red envelopes with money.
- 5:11 PM, August 13, 2008
- papa2hapa said...
That's great to have a new book for that age group. I haven't seen many lately, and especially in big bookstores.
- 9:04 PM, August 13, 2008
- Superha said...
how wonderful for you to have someone like Naomi champion your entry into journalism. the book sounds like a great read!
i'd like to pass on the tradition of visiting relatives. in my family, i am the only one who regularly visits my grandpa (and up until 2006, my grandma). i hope that my kids will not only obligatorily visit their grandparents and great-grandparents, but they'll want to visit them.
- 10:21 PM, August 13, 2008
- thisislarry said...
As a hungry asian man, I loved reading the comments above about passing on food traditions.
I would love to pass on the tradition of authentic family-style chinese food: foods made by the immigrant generations in the tradition of the mother country, dishes that you'd only find at a restaurant if you read the Chinese-language portion.
Both my mom's mom and my own dad are great cooks in this tradition. But I never remember seeing either crack open a recipe book, so there's no formula to pass down. When I ask my dad for his recipe, even as he's making a dish, he finds it hard to explain what he's doing.
We once made passable Shanghai egg rolls like grandma's -huge, fat, greasy, crispy, delicious things, but they weren't quite the same.
- 10:43 PM, August 13, 2008
- Anonymous said...
This book looks great, and I will definitely be checking out the Mas Arai series for my classroom library. Thanks for posting this.
One tradition that I hope we are able to pass on to our children is a love of reading!
- 10:37 PM, August 16, 2008
- Mama Nabi said...
(I'm not even playing since SuperHa has thrown her entry in the hat - do you know she WINS every freaking contest?)
One tradition I would like to pass on is the kind of friendships my parents had in which we called all of my mother's friends "imo" (aunt) and we'd all get together for New Year's eve (or whatever) and do one huge food and sleep over fest. Our lives were truly communal.
- 9:05 AM, August 17, 2008


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text:
Nearly half of all infants develop a flat spot on their heads by the two-month check up -- largely from being put to bed face up, per doctors' orders -- according to a Canadian study published online Monday in the journal "Pediatrics."
That's the bad news. The good news is that the spots frequently correct themselves, and they may be worth the risk: Back sleeping has reduced the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by more than 50 percent since 1994, according to the National Institute of Child and Human Development.
Canadian researchers studied 440 infants ages 7 to 12 weeks, finding that 205 of them -- 46.6 percent -- had some degree of flat spot from sleeping on their backs, known as "positional plagiocephaly." Most of the spots were mild (78.3 percent) and on the right side (63.2 percent), an apparent sleeping preference for babies.
The Mayo Clinic, which was not involved in the study, says the spots usually go away on their own as babies age, though parents can help lessen them by giving infants lots of tummy time while awake, holding them upright and encouraging them to turn their heads in different directions when they're going to sleep.
Positional plagiocephalyhas been on the rise since the early 1990s, when the American Academy of Pediatrics found that more infants died from SIDS if put to bed on their bellies. The academy soon launched a campaign recommending that babies sleep supine.
Tricia Bishop is a new mom who covers family issues for the Baltimore Sun.


text:
Dec. 8, 2005
There's no place like home, even if it isn't a holiday.
Lipscomb's Bisons played their first regular home game of the season Thursday night and they liked the feeling, rolling to a 75-62 victory over Jackson State at Allen Arena.
:"It seemed like it was forever since we had been home," said Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson. "We had our home rims and our home background. Being at home helped us shoot the ball better in the first half."
The Bisons evened their record at 3-3. Jackson State fell to 2-6.
In the first half the Bisons led from the opening basket, a jump shot by guard Brian Fisk on the first possession. The largest lead for the Bisons in the first half was 21 points , the intermission score of 46-25.
The Bisons ended the first half on a 12-0 run in the final 3:27. They extended the run to 17-0 with the first five points of the second half.
"The last 10 minutes of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half I thought we were very good defensively," said Sanderson. "We were all over the basketball rebounding and we were shooting well.
"In the first 10 minutes of the game I didn't think we defended very well. In the last right minutes of the game I thought we turned the ball over too much. We played 32 minutes of good basketball. The last eight minutes were not so good."
The biggest lead for the Bisons was 28 points, 55-27, with 14:15 left to play.
With 8:40 left in the game Jackson State went on a 17-2 run cutting a 63-36 Lipscomb lead to 64-53 at 3:44.
The Bisons placed five players in double figures. Freshman Michael Lusk led the way with 15 points. Center Shaun Durant added 13 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the double-double. Forward Cameron Robinson also had a double-double with 12 points and a new school record 17 rebounds. Fisk finished with 12 points, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Forward Eddie Ard chipped in with 10.
"If you don't get a body on Cameron he is going to get to the glass," said Sanderson. "He had 17 rebounds in 23 minutes. That shows he was doing some work."
It was the second double figure scoring performance for Lusk in his last three games.
"Michael can shoot the ball," said Sanderson. "He also can get to the ball defensively. He had a great game."
Sanderson, on the other hand, wants to see more rebounding consistently from Ard.
"Against Kennesaw State Eddie got zero rebounds," said Sanderson. "Against East Tennessee State he gets 14. Against Jackson State he gets zero rebounds. He's a good rebounder, but he is not focusing on his rebounding. He needs to focus more, especially at the No. 4 spot."
Sanderson had praise for freshman center Thomas Pfaff who scored his first points of the season, hitting three free throws. In nine minutes of play he hauled in five rebounds. He also complimented Brandon Hartwell who hit a crucial pair of 3-pointers in the first half.
Sanderson played a variety of lineups with 11 players getting time on the court.
"We are just trying to build our bench before we begin conference play again Jan. 2," said Sanderson. "We are trying to figure out a rotation. There are 10-to-11 guys I feel comfortable with. If someone is not producing they are not going to be on the floor."
Another reason for the various combinations was to try to fill the gap left by point guard James Poindexter who did not play in the game due to a groin pull.
"James has not been able to practice since the East Tennessee State game Saturday," said Sanderson. "We don't know when he will be back."
Guard Trey Johnson had a game-high 28 points for Jackson State. Dakari Wallace added 15.
The Bisons shot 41.1 percent from the field while Jackson State shot 40.7.
The Bisons held a 47-23 advantage on the boards.
The two teams will meet again Dec. 17 in Jackson, Miss. Guard LaKory Daniels will be eligible to make his Lipscomb debut in that game.


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Officially, there are around 200 countries in the world – that's a lot of ground to choose from when booking your next trip, so how do you decide? Luckily, the Rough Guide to 2014 is out to help you whittle your choices down to ten.
The Rough Guide to 2014: top ten countries
From Africa, to Asia to eastern Europe – these are the places you should be looking to book your next holiday, as Ethiopia's national parks and coffee plantations sit alongside Bulgaria's balmy beaches in our top ten countries run-down.
We've also got a selection of the top ten cities and best-value destinations, as well as a comprehensive month-by-month guide to travel in 2014. See the entire Rough Guide to 2014 here.


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Center for Healthcare Policy and Research Membership
Membership Advantages
- Access to award-winning CHPR grants development team.
- No up-front costs or recharges associated with proposal preparation for Center members.
- Experienced project teams who understand how to conduct the kind of research you do.
- Opportunities to establish collaborative relationships with other Center members.
- Available workspace with computers for your research project and personnel.
- Information about CHPR Seminars, Conferences, and other important educational events.
- Mentoring and educational opportunities in Outcomes Research, health economics, statistics, and other Health Services Research areas.
Membership Types
Faculty Members: Full-time faculty researchers within the university.
Affiliate Members: Individuals from other universities, government, industry and other outside organizations. Affiliate members may participate in Center activities in accordance with university policy.
Visiting Faculty: Temporary appointment with access to Center resources negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Availability of resources and eligibility to serve as a principal investigator for CHPR-housed projects may depend upon membership status (for complete details, please see our Policy Guidelines).
To Apply
Please download and fill out a membership application if you would like to apply for membership.
Send your completed application with supporting materials to:
Kirstin Truitt


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The average listing price on SpeedList for this year, make, and model is $18,995.
This vehicle has been on SpeedList for 155 days.
Guaranteed credit approval!!!! This vehicle comes with our 12 month/12,000 mile powertrain warranty!!!!
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Fergie: Pointy Green Nails at LAX!
Fergie makes her way through LAX Airport after arriving on a flight from NYC on Thursday (November 1) in Los Angeles.
The 37-year-old showed off her pointy green nails while exiting the terminal.
Fergie was in the Big Apple to attend the Avon Foundation's gala earlier in the week, but the event was canceled due to weather conditions caused by Hurricane Sandy, which also delayed her travel plans.
In case you missed it, check out Fergie dressed up as model and actress Angelyne for Halloween!
15+ pictures inside of Fergie at the airport…


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Comfort Inns Sealy properties are provided below. Search for cheap and discount Comfort Inns hotel rooms in Sealy, TX for your upcoming meeting or individual travels. We list the best Comfort Inns Sealy properties so you can review the Sealy Comfort Inns hotel list below to find the perfect place.
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Murdoch's The Times Accused Of Blatant Copying, Just As It Tells The World You Should Pay For News
from the oooops dept
You can't make this stuff up.
Yes, just as Rupert Murdoch is calling aggregators (sites that simply summarize and link to stories) parasites (even as he owns a bunch of aggregators himself), one of his papers didn't aggregate, it flat out copied, without permission, a blog post that was written by Edgar Wright as a tribute to Edward Woodward, who recently passed away. The Times eventually put up a "clarification" online that had a link to the original site, but that hardly explains the original copying -- especially during the very week that they're trying to convince the world that news should be paid for....


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It's the Wing One Place Study's birthday today! Well, sort of - the website for the study was born six years ago today, while the study itself was technically around for several months before that. If you have ancestors from Wing but haven't explored the study lately then why not take a look at the sitemap for the website and see what you might have missed?
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Happy Birthday
Posted by Unknown at 8:30 am
Labels: Wing-OPS website
1 comments:
- Brett Payne said...
Congratulations Alex. Here's to another six years!
- 17/9/11 10:45 am
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Colorado native Anna Keating was raised in a home where Catholicism was lived and breathed: Communal meals expressed the liturgical seasons and the feast of the Epiphany was anticipated for its use of indoor candles and holy water. Now, she and her mom, Melissa Musick, run The Catholic Catalogue to share the beauty of Catholicism as a life lived.
The project currently exists as a website at thecatholiccatalogue.com. A book is forthcoming and scheduled to be released in spring 2016 by Image Books.
The project highlights the cultural practice of Catholics and is aimed at those who are looking to live a more meaningful life but don't know where to start. The inspiration for the project came from a similar book for cultural Jews, according to Keating. "There was a book in the '70s called 'Jewish Catalogue,'" she said. "It was a guide for people who were Jewish but didn't know what it meant. That was a jumping-off point, because there are so many people who grew up Catholic but don't practice. So much of Catholic media is for the choir, so we thought it would be cool to do a field guide."
The rich content of the site varies from book, music and movie recommendations, to how to celebrate the feast of St. Isidore the Farmer in May. The upcoming book will include chapters such as "How to Name a Baby" and "How to do Eucharistic Adoration."
The project grew out of discussions between mother and daughter beginning in 2011, and the website was launched in March 2013. Currently, it serves thousands of daily viewers and has more than 60,000 followers on Facebook.
The creators' emphasis is on Catholic practices, rather than politics, debates or even points of doctrine. "Catholicism is a life," Musick explained. "We wanted to do something that affirms and celebrates that. Prior to any discussion, prior to any catechism or encyclical, there were these practices."
The duo highlights practices that are applicable at different life stages. Keating said she appreciates this aspect of the project. "It's been really fun to work with my mom," she said. "She's older and brings a different perspective; she's a grandma, she's caring for my grandma, and I'm starting my family. It's birth to death, baptism to funeral."
Throughout these stages, a vibrant, rich life is what is being offered to us by God. It's also central to evangelization. "I think a lot about the apostle Philip," Musick said. "He goes with Jesus, he comes back to tell his friends, 'I found the Messiah,' and they say, 'What does that mean?' He says, 'Come and see.' He doesn't argue or make a formal apology, he just says, 'come and see,' and says [confidently] that if you come and see, you'll follow in love. That is what we are hoping here, too: Just come and see."
Through the Internet, the project provides a way for people to "come and see" with a presence on Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest and Twitter, in addition to its own website.
Both Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI have emphasized the importance of utilizing social media for evangelization, which has encouraged Keating with the project despite an initial prejudice against social media.
"I had to learn Twitter. It's an awesome way to reach people all over the world. I have to get over my snobbery and say if someone wants to read a book about Julian of Norwich, and they go to the library, it's probably not there, but I can tell them about it and how to find it," she said.
Pope Francis most recently expressed the importance of learning these mediums on the feast of St. Francis de Sales in January. "We are called to show that the Church is the home of all. Communication is a means of expressing the missionary vocation of the entire Church; today the social networks are one way to experience this call to discover the beauty of faith, the beauty of encountering Christ. In the area of communications, too, we need a Church capable of bringing warmth and of stirring hearts," he said.
The Catholic Catalogue aims to stir hearts by presenting the beauty of the Church, because beauty "speaks of who God is," Musick explained. The project uses Chau Nguyen's original illustrations to help convey this beauty. A Houston-based artist, Nguyen reads through the book chapters as Keating sends them, brainstorming imagery. Then she does pencil sketches followed by watercolors, with an aim to keep "the illustrations loose and imperfect, to add a little more whimsy to everything," Nguyen said.
Keating, who asked Nguyen to provide illustrations, appreciates her insight and skill: "I always feel like her illustrations bring a fresh perspective and say it better than I could say it. It's really fresh, but not sentimental, and it's reverent."
The illustrations complement the written content to encourage readers to participate in a small act of prayer. Musick explained how important these small acts are to our lives.
"It's very easy to think marriage is being partners in an unsuccessful plumbing venture; or easy to believe that you're a worker, or laundry doer, or carpool driver," she said. "But the Mass remembers us to our true nature as sons and daughters of God. These daily acts do these same things, so it's not just one thing after another."
"The Angelus at noon is to remember that you're not an ox, you're a human being, and Mary is your mother," she said. "That is the whole work of this project: to remember."
Anamaria Scaperlanda Biddick writes from Oklahoma.
Copyright © 1996-2019 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.


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MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT Is the GOP brand in trouble?
If the Republicans are moving away from a confrontation with President Obama on the debt ceiling, a just-released NBC/Wall Street journal poll may hold the answer as to why: 49 percent of Americans view the GOP negatively, while only 26 percent view the party positively.
In contrast, the Democratic Party, in the survey conducted January 12-15, had a 44% favorability rating.
Looking toward the 2014 mid-term election, the Republicans (at this moment – and polling can shift like the wind) face the possibility of a wave election that breaks like a tsunami washing over their gerrymandered Tea Party House majority. According to Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
While Republicans still hold the House majority, they lost seats in the 2012 election and acknowledge that they held onto the majority only because of gerrymandering. Majorities of Republican voters reject key proponents of the GOP agenda, including cuts to Social Security and Medicare. In fact, 63 percent of GOP voters say the congressional GOP is out of touch. (That's a Rasmussen number, by the way.)
Bookman points out that it appears that the Republican legislators on Capitol Hill may now be backpedaling on creating a crisis over the debt ceiling, in part because it might lower them even further in the polls – and put Obama and the Dems in a better position in 2014:
According to a new AP poll, 80 percent of Americans say that refusing to raise the debt ceiling, as House and Senate Republicans have promised to do, would touch off a major economic crisis.
Under those circumstances, threatening to force that major economic crisis unless the president implements politically unpopular policies would be the act of a fool. And fools there no doubt be.
However, a handful of Republican senators have now publicly acknowledged that the party would lose and lose badly by threatening to shut down the government. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, chair of the House Budget Committee, warned his fellow GOP congressmen at a retreat yesterday that their strategy has to match their capability.
Now that the economy has been showing signs of recovery, perhaps most Americans are recognizing the GOP obstructionism on injecting stimulus into the economy for what it is: sabotage to the future economic vitality of the nation.
Obama is not going to be running again for president, so endlessly using him as a dart board for a debt that was largely run up under President Bush with full support of the Republicans in Congress is quickly proving to be politically counterproductive.
It may be that the Tea Party, and its plutocratic funders, is about to get dunked into a kettle of boiling reality.
(Photo: DonkeyHotey)


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Building A More Decentralized Internet: It's Happening Faster Than People Realize
from the you-bet-we-can dept
Over at the New Yorker, they have a pretty good status update on "the mission to decentralize the internet," though, unlike a big centralized project, that "mission" is done in a decentralized and open manner as well. The short summary might lead some to dismiss this whole trajectory -- as many of the initial attempts have failed to gain much traction. But that would be a huge mistake. One of the things that you will see, if you study the history of innovation, is that this is exactly how it always happens. The early projects may have some minor successes here and there, but are littered with failures. But the amazing thing about a rapidly changing world where people are doing things in a decentralized and open way is that each of those failures only contributes to the knowledge for future projects, in which more and more people are testing more and more things, getting closer to hitting that point in the "innovator's dilemma" curve, where the new systems actually serve people's needs much better than the old way.
It often feels like these new systems suck at first, and it's easy to dismiss them as not being real competition for the established ways of doing things -- but the rapid rate of improvement, and the almost underground nature of many of these advancements means that when they suddenly catch on, they'll catch on quickly, and the folks who previously dismissed them as not being viable won't know what hit them. In fact, I've seen a few much more ambitious projects than what Joshua Kopstein discusses in his article, which suggests we're already well on our way to creating much more distributed systems that will make many of the debates we have today about the internet, internet governance, surveillance, copyright and much, much more totally obsolete. It's an issue I'm planning to explore in much more detail in 2014, so stay tuned...


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When the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of Arizona's 2010 immigration law on April 25, the weight of an eventual ruling will come to bear on far more than one border state's relationship to its own residents. A half-dozen states that have passed laws modeled on Arizona's and 20 that have considered doing so could all be affected by the outcome of Arizona v. United States, as could the practices of churches, employers and social service providers. "Copycat" legislation roiled other states over the last year, particularly Alabama. That state's law includes provisions that made it illegal to rent or provide utility service without proof of the customer's immigration status. Thousands of immigrants moved away, leaving Alabama's agriculture industry reeling.
The Supreme Court is being asked to settle the constitutionality of four key provisions centered on the question of whether immigration is solely the enforcement concern of the federal government or whether states can act independently. These key provisions require that state and local law enforcement verify the immigration status of every person arrested or detained if there is "reasonable suspicion" the person might be in the country without permission, make it a crime for immigrants to fail to carry their "alien registration document," criminalize working for pay without authorization from immigration authorities and allow officers to arrest someone without a warrant if the officer thinks there is "probable cause" that the subject is guilty of a crime that could lead to deportation.
A friend-of-the-court brief filed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes the church's teaching on family unity and the government's interest in having immigration policies that enable families to stay together. It also said state immigration laws pose "a serious threat to religious liberty" by criminalizing acts of assistance to undocumented immigrants. Churches have a moral and religious duty to help all in need, according to the brief, and Arizona's S.B. 1070 and similar laws "threaten this Catholic mission to provide food, shelter and other care to all."
The U.S. bishops argue that "a patchwork set of state 'harboring' regulations like those of S.B. 1070 would seriously threaten the Catholic Church's mission to serve all in need. The effort of the United States to establish a single set of immigration laws thus constitutes a sound federal objective that this court should particularly respect."
Another amicus brief, joined by more than 50 Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Jewish organizations, argues that Arizona's law assumes every person fits into one of two categories, "lawfully present" and those who are not. "In reality, even U.S. citizens often will not be readily identifiable, and where noncitizens are concerned, determining a person's immigration status requires a nuanced legal inquiry, which cannot be performed by police on the beat."
The brief, whose signers include the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Franciscan Action Network and about 30 congregations of women religious, said the court's ruling will "shape the fates of people nationwide."
"In states such as Utah, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, people of color will be subjected to constant scrutiny regarding their immigration status—and to the demeaning experience of criminal arrest and detention," it said. State immigration laws "divide our nation between those regions where people of all ethnicities can freely travel, live and work and those where they cannot."


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Media Contact: Michelle Jeffers
May 17, 2011
14th Triennial PCBA Members' Exhibition at San Francisco Public Library
In celebration of the extraordinary books designed, printed, and assembled by professional book artists and educators across the country, the Pacific Center for the Book Arts (PCBA) and the San Francisco Public Library are pleased to announce Bookworks 2011: the 14th Triennial PCBA Members Exhibition. Bookworks 2011 will be held in the Skylight Gallery of the San Francisco Main Library, Sixth Floor, 100 Larkin St. The exhibition runs from June 18, through August 7, 2011, with a reception from 2-4pm on June 18th.
Past highlights of this exhibition include letterpress, calligraphy, xerography, papermaking, hand illustration and innovative and traditional bookbinding. Two awards are given to coincide with PCBA's Bookworks 2011: The Steven P. Corey Award for an emerging artist, and the Alastair Johnston Fine Press Award for an outstanding fine press book.
The Pacific Center for the Book Arts was formed in 1980 to foster and support the new direction of book artists' various disciplines, and to provide a vehicle and focus for education, experimentation, and communication. Newcomers to book arts are encouraged to participate in PCBA's activities, workshops, lectures and the triennial exhibition. For further information about PCBA, please contact Terry McClain at 510-845-5853; email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
This public exhibition is sponsored by the Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts and Special Collections Center of the San Francisco Public Library. The exhibit is open to the public; all events at the Library are free.
Related Programs
July 9:
Book Artists Speak: Talking about ideas and techniques. Skylight Gallery, Main Library, 2-3:30 p.m.
July 23:
Printing in Digital Times: Panel discussion on traditions and innovations
Latino-Hispanic Meeting Room, Main Library, 2-3:30 p.m.


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Wednesday afternoon marked the last time 27-year-olds Alex Pyatt and Sam Frame would play in front of Black
Wednesday afternoon marked the last time 27-year-olds Alex Pyatt and Sam Frame would play in front of Black Bear Coffee Co.
Pyatt rocked a tambourine under his right foot and strummed his guitar, singing a Taylor Swift song. Frame slapped the sides of his Peruvian drum that doubled as a seat.
They were the first buskers to get "the memo" about the city's new law regulating street performers to the corners of Main Street. The new law, which went into effect with Hendersonville City Council's approval Dec. 5, requires buskers to make way for pedestrian and vehicular traffic. It bans them from performing within 25 feet of Main Street during any special event and from encroaching on the "stages" of other entertainers.
"I think with these designated areas, I think it's going to get pretty crazy," Frame said.
"I think it's going to create too much competition" for the corners, Pyatt said.
"I feel like it will cause a bunch of conflicts and nonsense and they'll be banned, and I really don't want that," he added. "They need to go back to the original system with the permits. That was the best thing."
When he first started playing on Main Street this summer, Pyatt said he obtained a permit from City Hall. He renewed it every two weeks and said he never had a problem with merchants, pedestrians or police.
But the permit requirement was halted this summer after a court decision regarding the regulation of free expression made local officials rethink their policy in Hendersonville for street performers.
"We wanted to make sure that we were in compliance with those court rulings," said City Manager John Connet.
When the permits ended, the flood gate opened to new buskers on Main Street. New buskers, new problems.
"I came in right after the permit thing was lifted and that's when you kind of saw this flood of everybody and their brother and their guitars. They started coming out, and that's when I think the problems started coming out," Frame said.
"We've done this all summer and never had a business owner complain, never had a cop issue, never had a problem," Pyatt said. "The problem they're having is just with disrespectful guys who don't want to do what they're told. They're too loud, they're being vulgar. If you're asked to move, just move."
Frame said they always try to be mindful of those around them.
Hendersonville Police Department Sgt. Robert Merz stopped by on his Main Street beat with a copy of the ordinance to share with Pyatt and Frame.
"They went down and they marked on the corners except for the ones that are just thru-ways," Merz told them.
Corner stage
City workers Wednesday spray-painted marks on Main Street sidewalks to flag the stage areas where buskers will be welcome to perform. Unmarked areas — like the Black Bear venue — will be off-limits to stationary musicians.
A former bassist and lyricist in a band, Pyatt decided to take up the guitar this summer. He came downtown to practice.
"I used Main Street as kind of a practice stage. I can't practice at home; it's too loud," he said. "I came out here to kind of test myself and see what I could do. I definitely failed the first couple times, but then I figured out how to play, how to sing loud and sing proud. I found my voice out here..."
Minutes after Pyatt and Frame started playing Wednesday afternoon, a small crowd had formed.
"At first, I was kind of skeptical of the whole thing and then I came out here and started doing it and realized people will stop and listen. We've had people pull up chairs and hang out with us," Frame said. "It's kind of funny because a lot of the businesses like it because you will draw people to where they are."
"We've met so many different people from so many different places," Pyatt said. "That's the fun part for me."
The two said they don't perform for money, although tips are accepted and they are often found at Main Street shops later paying for refreshments with piles of ones. Pyatt's call to busking came from watching the "Old North State" band busk in places such as Raleigh.
"I got the idea from them; they're like 'hit the streets man, go out there," he said.
Frame has seen the art of street performing take center stage in recent years.
"I guess the whole busking thing is kind of a countrywide movement," he said, adding that more portable drums like his cajon are growing in popularity. Frame made the switch from a suitcase drum to a cajon a few months ago.
"I got over stage fright out here. I found my voice out here. Now when I go play a show, I attack with full confidence. I feel battle-tested," Pyatt said. "I've played out here when it was like, 'dude, keep practicing, maybe some day' and now I'm like 'you got it.'"
The crowd around him Wednesday seemed to agree.
Three-year-old Ila Duplooy danced to the music next to her mother, Heather, while Pyatt and Frame performed their last song mid-block. The Duplooys were on their way to Hands! On when they heard the music and decided to stop.
She loves to listen to live music, so we had to stop, Heather said.
"We need more of these guys," added David Riley, who also stopped by to hear them jam.
David Zaja said he played on the streets of his hometown of Hendersonville all his life until he was cited a few years ago for playing without a vendor's license.
"I had longer hair then," he said with a smile.
He wishes the city would be more welcome to the musicians. "Good musicians attract people on the street," he said. "It draws the tourists in."
Connet said they had to strike a balance between Main Street merchants, visitors and buskers to find a solution that wouldn't infringe on the rights of any group.
"Street performers, really they're protected under the First Amendment freedom of speech. They're protected under freedom of expression. We didn't want to violate their first amendment rights," he said. "Merchants didn't want anything that would kind of impede customers getting in their stores."
The solution they come up with, he said, is one that will allow buskers to express their talents, "but at the same time have something that would not hurt the business owners."
Frame plays percussion for a band called The Red Coats Are Coming. He said "it seems like the music scene has opened up a lot" since he returned to Hendersonville this summer.
At the Dec. 5 council meeting, Councilman Steve Caraker called the issue of regulating the growing number of street performers a "good problem to have."
"It's cool to live in a town that appreciates music," Pyatt said. He and Frame have become regular performers at Southern Appalachian Brewery.
One of the first times Pyatt and Frame played together on Main Street, a merchant invited them to perform at a benefit. Pyatt said other gigs have also developed since they started busking.
"My last chance to rock this area," Pyatt said, as he unpacked his guitar. The alcoves of nearby businesses, he said, help create a natural reverberation they'll miss.
"As long as there's not some random dude with a four-string guitar coming at me for a corner, I'll be OK," he said, chuckling. "When that happens I'll be (like) 'OK, guys, this is weird.'
Reach Weaver at email@example.com or 828-694-7867.