text:
The California Polytechnic State University Institute for Advanced Technology & Public Policy is working on a video archival system that gives residents immediate insight into state legislative committee meetings.
A new online tool that combines video archiving with social engagement could usher in a new era of legislative transparency in California.
Called "Digital Democracy," the database identifies specific segments of footage from all California Senate and Assembly committee and floor hearings based on keywords. Spearheaded by former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee, the platform allows users to re-post those video clips on social media networks and rate the usefulness of each segment for the particular search criteria they used.
Archiving video and making it searchable obviously isn't new – The California Channel live-streams many committee meetings and has its own database for people to use. When someone types in a keyword, the site's archive returns a list of videos arranged by bill number and a description of what the bill is. People can also obtain hearings from the state on DVD.
But Digital Democracy takes archiving a step further by creating a searchable transcription of everything that was said about a topic during a committee meeting or hearing. For example, if a person types in "renewable energy," the results show up in the form of "utterances" – video clips – directly related to the search term parameters. So every time a lawmaker says that term, it pops up as a clip.
In an interview with Government Technology, Blakeslee said the idea for Digital Democracy stemmed from a need to recall the mountain of bills and amendment discussions he was involved in during his eight years as a state senator. He noted that it was frustrating at times to discuss and ultimately vote on bills without any type of archive or transcription to remember who agreed to what during the course of negotiations.
Blakeslee added that one of the goals of the project is to make researching a legislative topic more of a Google-like "organic process," which empowers a user to explore nimbly.
"One search will lead you to another, and there's this sort of exploration process," Blakeslee said. "[It's] opening up government to the point that you can immerse yourself in a space where you can understand what's happening, as opposed to just getting a DVD and sitting through two hours of testimony."
California could use the help with regard to improving its legislative accountability and transparency. The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for open government, gave California a "D" grade on its 2013 Transparency Report Card.
The report judges legislative websites in relation to how government information is publicly available. Six criteria are evaluated in establishing the overall letter grade. Those factors include completeness, timeliness, ease of electronic access, machine readability, use of commonly owned standards and permanence.
While Digital Democracy wouldn't be an official site of the state, it would give journalists and watchdogs another way to keep tabs on what's happening in the state's legislation committee meetings.
Rebecca Williams, a policy analyst for the Sunlight Foundation, told Government Technology in an email that she felt the project was encouraging, although she'd like to see the log-in requirement removed in the final version of the platform.
"This site is a great example of the kind of comprehensive democracy tools can be built with open structured government data," Williams said. "I'd love to see more states provide legislative information in structured ways so sites like these were easier to build."
One of the project's major challenges is to keep someone from "drowning in irrelevant content," according to Blakeslee. As a result, Digital Democracy is being designed so that users will be able to rate and rank the utterances they view.
The development team is working on a system of symbols in the vein of Facebook's "thumbs-up" icon to enable someone to convey whether a particular search result was useful. This way, when someone types in the same search parameters in the future, they'll have a better idea about what clips they should check out first.
With user engagement high on the priority list, Digital Democracy could develop as more of a community, which is exactly what Blakeslee is hoping for.
"We want this to open up government in a way that kind of re-distributes power back into the hands of the public," Blakeslee said. "And right now, all the power is in the hands of a very small clique of insiders, including legislators and lobbyists in Sacramento."
Another hurdle Digital Democracy must overcome is funding. Right now, the platform is in a beta testing phase, populated with only California state budget hearings and information. Blakeslee revealed that his team is looking to secure funding from a foundation or a nonprofit organization to expand Digital Democracy and ultimately see it cover all legislative committees.
If the funding issues are addressed in a timely manner, Blakeslee expects the platform to be online and up-to-speed by July 2015.
Looking for the latest gov tech news as it happens? Subscribe to GT newsletters.


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U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy, III, announced Thursday that he will run for re-election to his 4th Congressional District seat.
Kennedy, a Democrat who was elected in 2012, is currently serving his first term in Congress.
�It has been an honor to be the 4th District's voice in Washington," Kennedy said. "From building a first-rate constituent service operation to partnering with our communities on local economic development projects, we have worked hard to ensure the needs and concerns of 4th District residents and families are priority number one.�
Kennedy currently serves as a member of the Science & Technology and Foreign Affairs committees in the U.S. House, where he has focused legislatively on workforce development, American manufacturing, and technological innovation.
"But there is no lack of work left to do in Washington,� Kennedy said. �Whether it's raising the minimum wage, fixing our broken immigration system or supporting an economic climate that gives our businesses that chance to succeed, I hope to continue to fight these important battles on behalf of my constituents.�
U. S. Rep. Joe Kennedy to seek re-election
U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy, III, announced Thursday that he will run for re-election to his 4th Congressional District seat.

subset: commoncrawl


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Winsted town attorney confirms that former finance manager Henry Centrella has been fired, faces criminal investigation
WINSTED >> Former finance manager Henry Centrella may face criminal ramifications for the accounting irregularities which have impacted Winsted, but the first repercussions occurred one week ago.
Town attorney Kevin Nelligan stated that Centrella has been fired, with cause, after not attending a pre-termination hearing and waiving his right to such a hearing. The termination occurred on Jan. 17, according to Nelligan, who said after a Jan. 16 special Board of Selectmen meeting that he would have an update on Centrella's status.
"The activity that the auditors have discovered is the reason that you are here," said Nelligan at Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting.
Centrella was placed on leave on Nov. 9, 2012 as a result of what were described at the time as "accounting irregularities." These irregularities were unearthed by BlumShapiro, a New England based auditing firm, in the process of completing the town's 2011-12 audit. BlumShapiro informed Nelligan of preliminary findings in the audit on Jan. 11, describing these preliminary findings in detail three days later.
Subsequently, Nelligan followed up with the Board of Selectmen at a special meeting on Jan. 16, informing the board of what was going on with the audit. Nelligan and the Selectmen discussed the matter in an executive session at the special meeting before announcing that the matter was now in the hands of state police. Nelligan -- speaking on behalf of the Board of Selectmen -- promised an update at the board's Jan. 22 meeting.
One day after the special meeting, town officials scheduled a pre-termination hearing with Centrella, but Centrella waived his right to the hearing and was subsequently terminated. Centrella, who was the only finance manager in Winsted's history until his suspension, declined to discuss the matter with the press on the night of Jan. 17, instead deferring to his attorney.
Nelligan stated that BlumShapiro will work with state police in their investigation, which is a criminal one, and that the Connecticut Office of Policy Management has been notified of the situation. According to Nelligan, due to the circumstances regarding the audit, the Office of Policy Management has reacted accordingly.
"They understand the situation and they're not going to press the town," said Nelligan.
Interim finance director Jane Wall was on hand to discuss her findings with the Selectmen, as well as a capacity crowd at Winchester Town Hall, and the measures she has taken in her six weeks with the town. Wall took the office of interim finance director on Dec. 10, and expects to leave the post no later than March 10. By this time, Wall said, the town should have hired a finance director. Martin said that the town is conducting a background check on the finalist for the position. Additionally, the town has also changed the signature plates for their checks so that they now include purchasing director Mark Douglass and the town treasurer.
Reach Jason Siedzik at (860) 489-3121, ext. 321 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RCjsiedzik.


text:
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text:
Similar situation here. Can someone please reset my trial as well?
Similar situation here. Can someone please reset my trial as well?
I downloaded previously but only tried for a day or two. Can you please reset my trial as well? Thanks!
i have the same problem, can you reset my trial?
I tried Ext Designer when he was released but now I want a new round of trial if it's possible to test <class name>.ui.js and Linked Instances and Promote to Class to be prepared for conference questions :P
To my knowledge setha, that is not correct. Ext JS + support does not mean you also receive the Designer. They are sold separately. There was confusion on the store in the past, but it's been since reworked to eliminiate the confusion. There is a small checkbox at the top of Ext JS licenses that says "see licensing and support separately". In the past, the text hinted that Designer was a part of Ext JS + Support, but really it was priced in. Truly, Ext JS + Support is cheaper than Ext JS + Designer + Support. It was a bundle in essense. That is my understanding.
Hope that clarifies it.
I'd also like to request a reset. Same general issue as the others ... other stuff got pushed onto my to-do list and I didn't get around to checking it out before it expired.
please reset my trial too. same problem as all the others. thanks.
Same here, opened it once, did not know what to do with it....
by the way Price is way to high, it should be free4all as not everybody is earning money with their open source projects....
or way below $100,- for say $49,- I would buy it.
The more people use it the more licenses of Extjs will be sold....


text: Louisiana bowler ends drought at 2012 OC Matt Cannizzaro June 19, 2012 BATON ROUGE, La. - Andre Trahan from nearby Houma, La., rolled the 18th perfect game of the 2012 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships on Tuesday, ending a drought that lasted more than five weeks. The 25-year-old right-hander started doubles slowly with a 162 game, but he found his stride and connected on 12 consecutive shots to record the first 300 at the Baton Rouge River Center since May 8. He finished with a 199 game for a 661 series and teamed with his father, Kirk Trahan, for a 1,228 doubles total. Matt McNiel of Prior Lake, Minn., and Charles Vashaw of Deephaven, Minn., lead Regular Doubles with 1,489. "It's an honor for me to have a 300 here because not a lot of people expect to come out here and shoot really big scores," said Trahan, who made his fourth USBC Open Championships appearance. "It's awesome to be one of the few to do it this year, and I'm excited that my name will always be on the wall next to so many great bowlers." In three previous trips to the Open Championships, Trahan's highest series was 562, so his only goal heading into this year's event was to shoot 600. He added 631 in singles and 604 in team for a career-best all-events total of 1,896, more than 350 pins better than his previous high. "After shooting 600 in team yesterday, I was pretty confident heading into doubles and singles today," Trahan said. "I knew what I had to do and where I had to throw the ball, but I didn't do that at the beginning. I was able to focus more on bowling in the second game, and it paid off." Trahan has stood on the approach in leagues or other events with 11 consecutive strikes nine other times, but his 300 on Tuesday was only the second of his bowling career. To make it even more special, it was the first one he got to share with his father, a 10-time Open Championships participant."It might not be the same for some people, but my palms started sweating, my heart started racing and I tried not to let my legs buckle underneath me," said Trahan, who bowls league at Creole Lanes in Houma. "It was a relief when the last pins went down. My dad wasn't there for my first one, so this makes it even more special."Kirk Trahan had 589 in singles, 567 in doubles and 552 in team for a 1,708 all-events total. "My dad knows what I can do and what I can't do, so he helps me a lot when we're bowling," Trahan said. "I think he's one of the best bowlers around who never really had the chance to go out and prove it. He's taught me a lot about bowling and this tournament, and it definitely helped me today." Sponsors for the 2012 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno. Other sponsors include the Belle of Baton Rouge, official brackets sponsor; Kegel, official lane maintenance provider; Humana, official registration sponsor; Bud Light and Budweiser, official beer sponsors; The Advocate, official publication sponsor; Brunswick, official lane provider; Steltronic, official scoring system; Storm Bowling Products and Nationwide Insurance.


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all I can say is…
These were
I was inspired by this image
(click on image for source)
I went to town making some of our own…
Here's how:
1) vanilla flavored orange candy melts (from Michael's)
2) marshmallows
3) lollipop sticks
4) finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
(whirled them up in my bullet!)
(& some mini chocolate chips which
may or may not have been used & quickly consumed! sorry no pics of the mini choc chips = no evidence that they existed!)
get the marshmallows all ready
& set aside the graham crumbs in a little bowl
then melt the candy
cover the marshmallows
(using a metal icing spatula to remove the excess)
and then dip in the crumbs (or mini choc chips - mmmm!)
and then place on waxed paper lined cookie tray
You can pop the whole tray in the fridge to help the candy to set more quickly
when all done - let the kids have a treat of one (or two!)
and wrap in little bags
I used green little twist ties curled around a chopstick to make
the little pumpkins tendrils (my favorite part!)
enjoy, enjoy, enjoy
We're sharing with friends & teachers!
Chat soon -
(click here to go to Northern Cottage blog home)
Check out my Pinterest Pins/Boards here
linking to: diy show off * lolly jane * keeping it simple * making the world cuter * my junk drawer * running with glitter


text:
Episode 71 – Cigarillos and Blow: the Rise of Simon Glassman!
The podcast crew gets FELT UP by Special Guest, Simon Glassman (yeah we had to say it). Be sure to catch his show on BITE TV this fall as well as right now on the BITE TV web!
Ep71 - Cigarillos and Blow [ 1:28:34 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download


text: Bring your workout routine along for your modern luxury cruise. Eclipse fitness facilities feature a jogging track, sport court, and a full suite of state-of-the-art cardio, core, and weight training equipment for every fitness level. Get shipshape and enjoy beautiful ocean panoramas through the fitness center's floor-to-ceiling windows. Equipment includes treadmills, rowing machines, stair climbers, recumbent bikes, elliptical, cross trainers, and free weights. Join one of many daily group fitness classes, or have a personal consultation with a wellness professional on exercise, diet and lifestyle. After your session, relax and rejuvenate in the sauna or Solarium pool.


text:
The nine-member IRS Oversight Board was created by Congress under the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The Board's responsibility is to oversee the IRS in its administration, management, conduct, direction, and supervision of the execution and application of the internal revenue laws.
The Board was created to provide long-term focus and specific expertise in guiding the IRS so it may best serve the public and meet the needs of taxpayers. The National Commission on Restructuring the IRS recommended the creation of the Board to provide "experience, independence, and stability" to the IRS so that it may move forward in a cogent, focused direction.
Seven Board members are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate for five-year terms. These members have professional experience or expertise in key business and tax administration areas. Of the seven, one must be a full-time federal employee or a representative of IRS employees. The Secretary of Treasury and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue are also members of the Board.
Candidates must be appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate, and must have professional experience and expertise in one or more of the following areas:
Members are appointed based on qualifications without regard to political affiliation.
The Board operates much like a corporate board of directors, but is tailored to fit a public sector organization. The Board provides the IRS with long-term guidance and direction, and applies its private-sector experience and expertise in evaluating the IRS' progress in improving its service. It reviews and approves IRS strategic plans and its budget requests, and evaluates IRS efforts to monitor its own performance. The Board reviews the evaluation and compensation of senior IRS officials. It also recommends candidates to the President to serve as IRS Commissioner, and can recommend a commissioner's removal.
The Board reaches out to a wide variety of stakeholders to understand their views on tax administration and its impact on taxpayers. The Board interacts regularly with external groups that include tax professionals, taxpayer advocacy groups, representatives of state tax departments, IRS advisory committees, IRS employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, and other groups that have an interest in tax administration. The Board also conducts an annual survey of taxpayers' attitudes about compliance and other issues relating to tax administration.
The Board regularly meets in sessions and holds at least one public meeting each year. The Board's web site at www.irsoversightboard.treas.gov provides information on the Board's meetings. Following its public meetings, the Board posts its agenda and stakeholder statements on its web site. Press releases describing regular meetings are also available on the web site.
The Board publishes an annual report, as well as a report reviewing the progress of IRS' electronic tax filing efforts. The Board may also publish interim reports throughout the year on specific topics, such as the budget. All reports are available on the Board's web site. The Board also is invited to testify before Congress periodically. The Board's testimony is posted on its web site. The Board distributes press releases describing its activities to the media at the end of each of its meetings.
Under the law, the Board cannot be involved in specific IRS law enforcement activities, including examinations, collection activities, or criminal investigations. The Board also cannot be involved in specific procurement activities or most personnel matters. The Board does not develop or formulate tax policy on existing or proposed tax laws. However, the Board has an ongoing interest in IRS operations and administration and would be interested in the insights and observations of those working with the IRS. These insights can be helpful in understanding the IRS' progress in communicating and implementing its long-term plans.
The Board maintains a staffed office in Washington, DC.
Correspondence should be sent to: IRS Oversight Board1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20220
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
The Board is prohibited by law from getting involved in individual tax matters. Please do not submit ANY personal tax information to the Oversight Board. This includes your Social Security Number, Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN), Employer Identification Number (EIN), or Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN).
If you have feedback on the overall strategic direction of the IRS, please contact us at:
IRS Oversight Board1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20220 Phone: 202-622-2581Fax: 202-622-7944Email: email@example.com


text:
Pressure Mounts in Some States Against Common Core
Opponents of common core redouble legislative efforts
Opponents of the Common Core State Standards are ramping up legislative pressure and public relations efforts aimed at getting states to scale back—or even abandon—the high-profile initiative, even as implementation proceeds and tests aligned with the standards loom.
Critics of the common core have focused recent lobbying and media efforts on Colorado, Idaho, and Indiana, all of which have signed on to the standards. Forty-six states have adopted the standards in English/language arts, and 45 have done so in math.
And just last week, Alabama announced it was withdrawing from the two consortia developing tests aligned with the common core.
Opinion on the common core does not break down neatly along party lines, and critics cite a variety of reasons for their views.
Some see the new standards providing a pipeline for the private sector to access taxpayer dollars. Others say Washington is using the common core to lay the groundwork for a national curriculum, with an assist from such prominent supporters of the standards as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative's emphasis on student testing also has prompted concern.
Opponents of the core have claimed some progress in Indiana and Utah. The latter state, for example, withdrew from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium last year, a move that anti-core advocates there counted as a small step forward.
Common-core supporters say the opposition is small, with a track record of failure. They point, for example, to the foes' setback in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative think tank in Washington that provides model legislation on a number of issues. In November, ALEC rejected an internal push against the standards and announced a policy of neutrality.
But opponents aren't fazed.
"All of a sudden, I find myself in opposition to some of the most politically powerful people in our state," said Stephanie Zimmerman, a public school parent in Boise, Idaho, who testified last month against the common core before state legislators. "My goal is to educate people."
The common-core initiative was shepherded by two major organizations of state leaders, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Groups of experts were assembled to write the standards, which were issued in 2010 and are aimed at ensuring students' readiness for college and careers.
But critics say the position of the NGA and the CCSSO as the public-sector face of the push masks what they assert is a strategy of coercion by the U.S. Department of Education. They note, for example, that the agency has tied federal Race to the Top grants to adoption of college- and career-ready standards.
State and federal officials deny charges that Washington is pulling the strings.
Time is short for opponents of the common core, as states get ready for assessments aligned with the standards starting in the 2014-15 school year.
"At least in some states with politically conservative voters or tea-party–influenced legislators, it's more than just venting," said Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, the director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, who led the Education Department's research agency during the George W. Bush administration.
Hoosier Hearing
Perhaps no state epitomizes the pushback better than Indiana.
When state schools Superintendent Tony Bennett, a Republican and a champion of the standards, lost his November re-election bid to a common-core skeptic, Democrat Glenda Ritz, opponents of the common core attributed his loss in part to his support for them.
Then, early last month, state Sen. Scott Schneider, a Republican member of the Senate education committee, introduced legislation that would require the state to drop the common standards.
Mr. Schneider said that the standards are inferior to Indiana's prior academic-content standards, and that the common core has frustrated legislators because it was adopted behind a "veil of secrecy" and without good estimates of its financial costs.
"We really lose a lot of local input and a lot of local control," Mr. Schneider said. "And there's no parental input, there's no teacher input."
The Indiana Department of Education disputes such assertions. It says the state board of education discussed, provided input on, and received public feedback about the common core from February to August 2010, when the board adopted the standards.
Mr. Schneider argued, in addition, that the common core would corrode Indiana's school choice program, because some private schools would eventually feel compelled to bend their curricula in order to prepare for the common-core-aligned tests, which they would have to administer to get state voucher money.
At a hearing on Jan. 16 on Mr. Schneider's proposed Senate Bill 193, former Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott told Indiana lawmakers, "These standards have not been piloted anywhere to show that they lead to better student performance." (Texas has not adopted the common core.)
Mr. Scott said parents and teachers have had little input on the common core.
Sandra Stotsky, a professor emerita of education at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, told lawmakers the common core "makes it impossible for English teachers to construct a coherent literature curriculum."
Ms. Stotsky, who helped develop highly regarded state content standards in Massachusetts, an adopter of the common core, has also testified against the new standards before state officials in Colorado and South Carolina.
Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president of the Washington-based Thomas B. Fordham Institute, who served as a federal education official under President George W. Bush, told the lawmakers that the U.S. government may have pushed for the standards inappropriately by what he called the "heavy handed" way it tied adoption of college- and career-ready standards—in effect, the common core—to grants for states. But he stressed that dropping the common core would be like reverting to rotary phones.
"Indiana has been this classic case of good standards not actually having an impact in the classroom," Mr. Petrilli said, referring to what he said were the state's relatively low score gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in recent decades.
Mr. Schneider said his committee was set to vote on his bill Feb. 13.
Private-Sector Role
Support for the standards from the private sector and higher education is clear, said Michael Cohen, the president of Achieve, a Washington nonprofit group that helped develop the standards and now helps state governments and others prepare for the common core and its assessments.
"These standards reflect the knowledge and skills needed to go on for higher education and careers," said Mr. Cohen, who was an assistant education secretary during the Clinton administration.
But the private sector's involvement and support are seen very differently by opponents of the standards.
Through the common core, public schools will be used to foster "economic fascism" in education, charged former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer, a Republican from Colorado, who until the start of this year served as the chairman of the Colorado state school board before he left the board.
"This is a 100 percent government-regulated industry emerging before our eyes," with potentially billions of dollars being sent in its direction, said Mr. Schaffer, who is the principal of Liberty Common High School, a charter school in Fort Collins, Colo.
Legislators previously desperate for federal cash attached to the standards, he said, are "just becoming alerted to what's going on."
In early December, anti-common-core advocates like Emmett McGroarty of the American Principles Project, a conservative Washington think tank, and Williamson Evers from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, were interviewed on Denver-area radio stations.
On Dec. 6, opponents also spoke at a discussion about the common core hosted by the state board with Mr. Schaffer presiding. On the same day, Mr. Schaffer participated in an event at the pro-free-market Independence Institute in Denver, where analysts criticized the standards.
Mr. Cohen dismissed those he called out-of-state advocates lecturing states that have already made their own decisions: "State legislatures have been no more cut out now than they were when the standards movements began in the '90s."
Others applaud what they see as the common core's ability to create a national marketplace for innovative K-12 technology.
"When there's a potential market for high-quality digital instruction, it's a game-changer," said Arizona state Sen. Richard Crandall, a Republican who fought in support of the common core within ALEC.
Interstate Aid
In Idaho, the support of conservative officeholders hasn't assuaged some fears.
Although Ms. Zimmerman, the Boise parent, was initially comforted that Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, both Republicans, supported the common core, she soon learned more that disturbed her.
In her view, the common core was conceived by Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder who co-chairs the foundation that bears his and his wife's names, to advance the agenda of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO.
As evidence, she referred to an agreement Mr. Gates signed with UNESCO in Paris in 2004 to promote shared educational objectives. Mr. Gates, in turn, would benefit, she said, through "crony capitalism" benefiting Microsoft.
In response, the Gates Foundation said in a statement: "The Gates Foundation is a strong supporter of the Common Core State Standards, a state-led initiative focused on ensuring all students in U.S. public schools are taught to the same high standards. The foundation's work has nothing to do with Microsoft's efforts to support education in developing nations as part of the UNESCO plan."
(The Gates Foundation helps support Education Week's coverage of business and K-12 innovation.)
"Assessments drive curriculum. Standards drive curriculum. We are on the road to a national curriculum," Ms. Zimmerman said.
Some common-core opponents say it is part of an intricate web of K-12 policy decisions designed by a few powerful groups in order to gain authority over public schools.
According to the group Restoring Oklahoma Public Education, which opposes federal involvement in public schools, those forces include Teach For America, the Civil Rights Data Collection program (maintained by the office for civil rights at the federal Education Department), and the international publishing and testing company Pearson, based domestically in New York City.
Ms. Zimmerman said she has relied on the Boston-based pro-free-market Pioneer Institute for information, as well as Hoosiers Against Common Core, a group run by two private school parents in Indiana, Erin Tuttle and Heather Crossin.
Ms. Tuttle said she and Ms. Crossin called Sen. Schneider's attention to the common core in 2011 after seeing math material that matched the common core in her child's textbook, published by Pearson, that in her view was not as rigorous as previous standards her children had learned. She said proponents of the standards are proclaiming a national crisis by saying that current standards don't prepare students for college and careers, then exploiting that crisis.
"It's like a snake-oil salesman standing up in the town center," she said.
In response, Mike Evans, the senior vice president for mathematics at Pearson, said in a statement: "We realize that there are some who are opposed to the [common core], but we agree with the creators of the standards that these new, more rigorous requirements will set our U.S. students on the track to move ahead to college and career readiness so that they will be competitive with their global peers."
Testing Concerns
In Indiana, Ms. Ritz, who drew strong teacher support in winning the state chief's job, has made a case against the common core echoed by many self-described progressives. She bases much of her opposition on the additional—and in her view improper—emphasis on testing she believes the new standards will create. She told state lawmakers the common core should be studied further, though not yet voided in Indiana, because "so many concerns are coming up," the Evansville Courier & Press reported.
The common core also is likely to negatively affect disadvantaged students as well as teacher evaluations, argued Robert A. Schaeffer the public education director of the Boston-based National Center for Fair and Open Testing, or FairTest, which opposes basing high-stakes decisions on standardized tests.
An "elite-versus-grassroots" dynamic has evolved, he said, in which those closest to the classroom, like parents and teachers, are most skeptical about the increased amount of testing under the common core, while Washington think tanks and others are pushing for it.
"The amount of testing will increase, and the misuse of testing will be unchanged," he said.
Contributing Writer Michele Molnar provided reporting for this article.
Vol. 32, Issue 20, Pages 1, 26Published in Print: February 6, 2013, as Standards Draw Heat in States
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The SENTINEL-5 mission is part of the European Earth Observation Programme "Copernicus" which is a coordinated and managed by the European Commission (EC). The space component of the Copernicus observation infrastructure is developed under the aegis of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The Copernicus Space Component comprises a series of space-borne missions called 'Sentinels' that are developed and procured by the European Space Agency. The missions SENTINEL-4, -5 and -5 precursor (S4, S5, S5P, respectively) are conceived as complementary elements of a constellation serving the specific needs of the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Services (CAMS). These services will provide coherent information on atmospheric variables in support of European policies and for the benefit of European citizens and will cover ozone and surface UV, air quality, and climate applications. SENTINEL-5 is focused on air quality and composition-climate interaction with the main data products being O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, CHOCHO and aerosols. Additionally SENTINEL-5 will also deliver quality parameters for CO, CH4, and stratospheric O3 with daily global coverage for climate, air quality, and ozone/surface UV applications.
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Jef Raskin
American computer scientist
Jef Raskin (9 March 1943 – 26 February 2005) was an expert in human-computer interaction who began the Macintosh project for Apple Computer.
- Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
- Interview in Doctor Dobb's Journal, also quoted in The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners (2004) by Geoff Tibballs, p. 128
- It would be wonderful if we could just tuck in a few loose ends and change a handful of details of present systems to have them work properly. Unfortunately, we have learned that the GUI concept has fundamental flaws that cannot be corrected by small changes. These flaws have to do with incompatibilities between the designs of both GUIs and command-line interfaces and the way our brains are wired. As we cannot change the way our minds work, we must change the interface design.
- Sourceforge.net article "THE Is Not An Editor... So What Is It?" (2003)
- Right now, computers, which are supposed to be our servant, are oppressing us.
- On the potential to improve human-computer interaction, in interview with Berkeley Groks (3 March 2004)
- I am only a footnote, but proud of the footnote I have become. My subsequent work — on eliciting principles and developing the theory of interface design, so that many people will be able to do what I did — is probably also footnote-worthy. In looking back at this turn-of-the-century period, the rise of a worldwide network will be seen as the most significant part of the computer revolution.
- Interview in The Guardian (21 October 2004)
The Humane Interface (2001)Edit
- Full title: The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems
- Once the product's task is known, design the interface first; then implement to the interface design.
- Users do not care about what is inside the box, as long as the box does what they need done.
- As far as the customer is concerned, the interface is the product.
- The system should treat all user input as sacred.
- A computer shall not harm your work or, through inaction, allow your work to come to harm.
- A computer shall not waste your time or require you to do more work than is strictly necessary.
- An interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate of human frailties.
- An unlimited-length file name is a file. The content of a file is its own best name.
- When you have to choose among methods, your locus of attention is drawn from the task and temporarily becomes the decision itself.
- If I am correct, the use of a product based on modelessness and monoty would soon become so habitual as to be nearly addictive, leading to a user population devoted to and loyal to the product.
MacUser interview (2004)Edit
- Interview: "Jef Raskin: the man who should be king" (11 June 2004)
- Now there is little difference, except packaging, between a Mac and a Windows machine. Not no difference, but at home we have — along with six Macs (one for everybody plus my travelling iBook) — three PCs and one Linux box, and I can move from one to the other without having to think about it much. What used to be a night-and-day difference in usability has become a small increment in Apple's favor (or favour for you Brits).
- I've moved on, grown and learned in the years since then, and am designing interfaces that make the Mac's GUI feel as clumsy to use as the Mac made the old DOS-based systems feel primitive.
- I'm developing cross platform now, and I'm as interested in helping as many people as possible to have a better experience when using computers. Morality demands that I write for Wintel machines first (Linux comes along free), and port to Macs when there is time.
- MacUser: Which person do you most admire?
Jef Raskin: For what attribute? Once again you ask a question that linearises a complex matter. I can name many. Let's start with people named George: George Cantor for moving infinity out of philosophy into mathematics, George Washington for showing how a leader should relinquish power, and George Bernard Shaw for his humanity... Or we can do it by subject and admire Aristotle, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein for their pulling from nature comprehensible laws; or Euclid, Gauss and Gödel for their contributions to mathematics; or people who have influenced me very directly, in which case I'd mention my very admirable parents and the teacher who taught me to be intellectually independent, L R Genise; or how about Claude Shannon without whose work on information theory I would have been lost.
- MacUser: If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Jef Raskin: To not have people assume you can rank every-thing one dimensionally. Or have everybody realise that killing people is not a way to solve problems.
If Books Were Sold as Software (2004)Edit
- If books were sold as software and online recordings are, they would have this legalese up front:
The content of this book is distributed on an 'as is' basis, without warranty as to accuracy of content, quality of writing, punctuation, usefulness of the ideas presented, merchantability, correctness or readability of formulae, charts, and figures, or correspondence of (a) the table of contents with the actual contents, (2) page references in the index (if any) with the actual page numbering (if present), and (iii) any illustration with its adjacent caption. Illustrations may have been printed reversed or inverted, the publisher accepts no responsibility for orientation or chirality. Any resemblance of the author or his or her likeness or name to any person, living or dead, or their heirs or assigns, is coincidental; all references to people, places, or events have been or should have been fictionalized and may or may not have any factual basis, even if reported as factual. Similarities to existing works of art, literature, song, or television or movie scripts is pure happenstance. References have been chosen at random from our own catalog. Neither the author(s) nor the publisher shall have any liability whatever to any person, corporation, animal whether feral or domesticated, or other corporeal or incorporeal entity with respect to any loss, damage, misunderstanding, or death from choking with laughter or apoplexy at or due to, respectively, the contents; that is caused or is alleged to be caused by any party, whether directly or indirectly due to the information or lack of information that may or may not be found in this alleged work. No representation is made as to the correctness of the ISBN or date of publication as our typist isn't good with numbers and errors of spelling and usage are attributable solely to bugs in the spelling and grammar checker in Microsoft Word. If sold without a cover, this book will be thinner than those sold with a cover. You do not own this book, but have acquired only a revocable non-exclusive license to read the material contained herein. You may not read it aloud to any third party. This disclaimer is a copyrighted work of Jef Raskin, first published in 2004, and is distributed 'as is', without warranty as to quality of humor, incisiveness of commentary, sharpness of taunt, or aptness of jibe.
- "If Books Were Sold as Software", NewsScan.com (18 August 2004)
Programmers At Work (1986)Edit
- What I proposed was a computer that would be easy to use, mix text and graphics, and sell for about $1,000. Steve Jobs said that it was a crazy idea, that it would never sell, and we didn't want anything like it. He tried to shoot the project down.
- Jobs took over. He simply came in and said, "I'm taking over Macintosh hardware; you can have software and publications." … And then a few months later Jobs said, "I'm taking over software; you can have publications." So I said, "You can have publications too," and left. That was in May of 1982. He and Markkula said, "Please don't leave. Give us another month and we'll make you an offer you can't refuse." So I gave Apple a month; they made me an offer, and I refused.
- After he took over, Jobs came up with the story about the Mac project being a "pirate operation." We weren't trying to keep the project away from Apple, as he later said; we had very good ties with the rest of Apple. We were trying to keep the project away from Jobs' meddling. For the first two years, Jobs wanted to kill the project because he didn't understand what it was really all about.
- I was very much amused by the recent Newsweek article where he [Jobs] said, "I have a few good designs in me still." He never had any designs. He has not designed a single product. Woz (Steve Wozniak) designed the Apple II. Ken Rothmuller and others designed Lisa. My team and I designed the Macintosh. Wendell Sanders designed the Apple III. What did Jobs design? Nothing.
- We have a whole valley full of people talking UNIX versus MS-DOS. What do you need any of that for? Just throw it all out; get rid of all that nonsense. Maybe you need it for computer scientists, but for people who want to get something done, no. Do you need an operating system? No.
- Have you ever noticed that there are no Maytag user groups? Nobody needs a mutual support group to run a washing machine.
- I hate mice. The mouse involves you in arm motions that slow you down. I didn't want it on the Macintosh, but Jobs insisted. In those days, what he said went, good idea or not.
- It's absolutely ugly, but unfortunately quite true of the world today; the more money you make, the more people tend to listen to you. If you're not quoted in Fortune or Forbes or the Wall Street Journal, then nobody listens. If you say something that makes a lot of money, whether what you said is true or not, people listen.
- Icons, windows, mice, big operating systems, huge programs, integrated packages.... I would like to remind the world that just because two things are on the same menu doesn't mean they taste good together.
Quotations about RaskinEdit
- His role on the Macintosh was the initiator of the project, so it wouldn't be here if it weren't for him.
- Making technology work simpler, he was at the heart of that from the first days at Apple. Jef Raskin is one of the most important people in personal computers, to this day.
External linksEdit
- Archive of some Raskin center web pages at Retrocomputing.net
- Jef Raskin's Humane Environment at SourceForge
- Audio interviews with Jef Raskin and photos from various periods of his life
- Articles from Jef Raskin about the history of the Macintosh
- History of Apple PASCAL poster made by Raskin
- List of Jef Raskin articles
- Jef Raskin - Userati
- Jef Raskin, interviewed in MacUser, October 2004
- Jef Raskin, interviewed in The Guardian, late 2004.
- Creator of first Apple Mac dies, BBC News
- Joy of Tech tribute to Jeff Raskin
- Programmers at Work : Interviews with 19 Programmers Who Shaped the Computer Industry - book by Susan Lammers
- ↑ Jef Raskin; Innovator Behind Macintosh Computer, Obituary, Washington Post, AP 2 March 2005.
- ↑ Father of the Mac Dead at 61 - Ex-Apple Employee Made Computers Easier to Use, San Jose Mercury News, Mary Ann Ostrom 28 February 2005.


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CONCORD — An independent commission has determined there were deficiencies in the planning and execution of the April 12 drug raid that led to the death of Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney.
CONCORD — An independent commission has determined there were deficiencies in the planning and execution of the April 12 drug raid that led to the death of Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney.
At a press conference in Concord on Friday, Attorney General Michael Delaney detailed the findings of a five-member commission that has studied the police operation during the past seven months.
New Hampshire State Police also conducted a thorough investigation of the operation, which was executed by members of the New Hampshire Attorney General's Drug Task Force (DTF).
Made public for the first time on Friday, the State Police investigatory files and the incident review commission's report together provide a "comprehensive accounting" of the tragedy in Greenland, Delaney said.
In an introductory passage, the authors of the report praise the law enforcement officers involved in the operation for their actions immediately following the call of "shots fired," calling them "nothing less than heroic."
Investigators say 29-year-old Cullen Mutrie, a suspected drug dealer, opened fire on a team of six Drug Task Force officers as they attempted to search his home at 517 Post Road.
Four officers were shot in rapid succession. Maloney was then shot through a basement window while he was leaning over the side of his cruiser, which was parked in front of the home.
"Your immediate response to one another could only be described as both brave and courageous," the report states. "Those efforts to render first aid, find cover positions and to summon help were remarkable when considering the hostile environment all of you found yourselves in. We have no doubt each of your actions during these tragic moments saved lives."
Police were searching for evidence of cocaine and the prescription painkiller oxycodone when they arrived at his home, according to court documents. Police were also carrying a warrant to arrest Brittany Tibbetts, a 26-year-old Maine resident who was his alleged accomplice in drug sales.
Mutrie eventually killed himself and shot Tibbetts dead in the midst of a lengthy standoff with police, investigators have ruled.
In its report, the Greenland Incident Review Commission highlighted a range of concerns around the DTF operation, including the decision to forcibly gain entry to the home without the assistance of a better-equipped tactical team.
Given the nature of the threat posed by Mutrie, a trained tactical team should have been called in once police decided to break down the door, the review commission determined.
A tactical team would have been equipped with gear including rifles, level three tactical body armor, ballistic helmets, individual medical trauma kits attached to uniforms, portable radios with microphones for everyone in the operation, and ballistic shields, Delaney said.
The review commission characterized the decision to make a forcible entry as a "last minute plan."
It also noted a gap in the planning for the operation: Police knew how they were going to respond if Mutrie wouldn't come out of the house, but they hadn't prepared for a scenario in which it was unclear whether Mutrie was home.
The commission also drew attention to the fact that at the time of the drug search, the Drug Task Force did not have a policy in place requiring officers to use a threat-assessment tool to gauge the risk posed by a suspect.
Such a tool lays out risk factors objectively, and asks police to assign numerical values to each risk factor. A score above a certain threshold immediately deems a search warrant to be "high-risk," requiring the assistance of a tactical team.
The Attorney General's Drug Task Force did not have a policy in place on April 12 that utilized such a tool in the field, according to Delaney.
The review commission characterized the operations plan, the tool used to prepare for the event, as "lacking sufficient detail." The commissioners noted the absence of portable radios in the possession of DTF detectives on scene, who only had Nextel mobile phones.
The review commission also noted that during the debriefing prior to the execution of the search warrant, the DTF didn't have access to a layout of the interior of the home. The review commission found the layout would have been readily available to them.
The commission also critiqued the date and time the search took place. The commission noted the absence or unavailability of supervisory command staff at the time.
On April 12, the senior commander of the Drug Task Force -- assigned to the Concord headquarters, and directly supervising the DTF Seacoast team -- was on vacation, and had no knowledge the search warrant was being executed in Greenland, according to Delaney.
The Seacoast DTF team leader was assigned to a protection detail for an appearance by Vice President Joe Biden in Exeter on April 12. He arrived late to the briefing that took place immediately before police staged the Greenland drug raid, which took place at about 5:30 p.m. The team leader did participate in the planning of the operation, and he was part of the team that attempted to enter the home.
The assistant team leader was not scheduled to participate in the event. He was off-duty on April 12, and was in Massachusetts on vacation at the time.
"Therefore, we had a situation where the commander in Concord, the team leader in the Seacoast, and the ... assistant team leader were unavailable, and the review commission questioned why the event had to occur on that date," Delaney said.
The warrants to search Mutrie's house and arrest Tibbetts were obtained on April 9. Under state law, police had another four days to conduct the operation before they would have expired, according to Delaney.
The commission also questioned why the search took place at 6 p.m., in the early evening. Searching the house at a different time might have minimized lighting issues.
"Many of the officers could only see a very dark room with a silhouette prior to the gunshots being fired," Delaney said, "and they [the commissioners] felt that a different time may have minimized the silhouetting that the officers received when they faced the threat from Mutrie."
In addition, while two members of the Seacoast DTF team have extensive tactical training, the commission recommended additional training for all members of the team involved in the operation.
The report also calls into question the structure of leadership within the Attorney General's Drug Task Force. The commission found that "clear and unambiguous lines of authority and responsibility," did not previously exist within DTF.
The DTF consists of four distinct teams, and leaders of those teams exercise differing levels of influence over operations, according to the commission. Some are very hands-on, and others delegate "significant responsibility and influence to team members," according to the report.
"The policies and procedures provided to DTF members do not clearly outline a chain of command and the requisite areas of responsibility for each position within the organization," the report states.
It continues: "Absent are clear written policies and enforcement of those policies. As a result, team members are granted license to develop their own methods of operation which exposes the entire organization to unacceptable levels of inconsistency and therefore risk and liability."
Delaney announced Friday that he has accepted all findings of the Greenland Incident Review Commission's report, and will implement the report's recommendations in full.
New Hampshire State Police Captain Scott Sweet was hired in October as the new commander of the Drug Task Force, according to Delaney. Sweet has already overseen the implementation of numerous recommendations from the report, according to information provided by the attorney general's office.
Among those changes are a new policy regarding the service of warrants, and the adoption of a "Warrant Risk Assessment (WRA) matrix," to assess suspects targeted in DTF operations. Command-level approval is now required for all warrants, according to the AG's office.
The practice of executing "no knock" search warrants without a tactical team has been suspended, and the DTF commander or his designees are now responsible for requesting SWAT team assistance when necessary.
New gear has also been purchased, including ballistic vests and first aid kits for undercover vehicles.
DTF officers are now required to use the portable radios assigned to the team or radios loaned to them from municipal police departments during the execution of arrest and search warrants, according to the AG's office.


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When you read a certain kind of news, the words smash you point blank in the face like a projectile fired from a flaming trebuchet. And when you regain consciousness and examine said projectile, you realize it is actually a matryoshka doll...filled with live grenades.
That, dear readers, is this kind of news.
According to the Swiss news site The Local, a Swiss Army officer lost a USB drive "containing codes" at military barracks in Columbier, Switzerland. When all else failed, the negligent soldier put his trust in the astral plane:
A colleague suggested turning to a clairvoyant after searches failed to turn up the item. The woman, who was not identified, said the man had lost the device "while peeing."
Army spokesman Daniel Reist downplayed the clairvoyant's "powers", saying that "things can get lost when you loosen your clothing to take a leak," [...] The device was found in a nearby bush, where the officer said he had relieved himself.
Was the psychic on military retainer? Does the Swiss military have latrines? Did a naughty chimpanzee break into The Local's offices and dance on a keyboard until serendipity intervened and this news popped out? This story raises more questions than it answers.
Thanks Johan!


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1944 : Churchill and Stalin confer1944 : Churchill and Stalin confer
On this day in 1944, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin begin a nine-day conference in Moscow, during which the war with Germany and the future of Europe are discussed.
Germany's defeat now seemed inevitable, and Stalin was prepared to commit the USSR to intervening in the war against Japan once Germany had formally surrendered. This optimistic outlook enabled a significant portion of the talks to center on the relative spheres of influence of the two superpowers in a postwar European environment. Churchill ceded the disposition of Romania, which Stalin's troops were liberating from German control even as the conference commenced, to the Soviet Union. But the British prime minister was keen on keeping the Red Army away from Greece. "Britain must be the leading Mediterranean power." They made a deal: Romania for Greece.
Churchill was more accommodating elsewhere, willing to divvy up the spoils of war. Yugoslavia could be cut down the middle, east for Russia, west for the West. Churchill also laid out a plan by which the German populations of East Prussia and Silesia would be moved into the interior of Germany, with East Prussia split between the USSR and Poland, and Silesia handed over to Poland as compensation for territories Stalin already occupied and intended to keep.
But Churchill was insistent on one issue that would be harder to negotiate in 50-50 terms-freedom. Churchill wanted every nation to be free to select the government most amenable to its people, especially smaller, more vulnerable nations. "Let them work out their own fortunes during the years that lie ahead." Churchill was frank about the West's fear of expansionist communism. But none of what was discussed was carved in stone or even put on paper--a fact that would be all too obvious as the Cold War commenced.
From: www.History.com


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Your contraception guide
Contraceptive diaphragm or cap
Open all pages about Your contraception guide
Main navigation
Getting started
Methods of contraception
Which is best for me?
- Things to consider
- Methods that may help heavy or painful periods
- Methods you need to think about every day
- Methods you need to think about every time you have sex
- Methods that last months or years
- Methods that protects against STIs (sexually transmitted infections)
- Permanent methods
Worries and questions
- Using contraception effectively
- I've had unprotected sex
- Contraception after a baby
Questions about the pill
- Missed pills and extra pills
- Being on the pill
- Periods and the pill
- The pill for men
A contraceptive diaphragm or cap is a circular dome made of thin, soft silicone that's inserted into the vagina before sex.
It covers the cervix so sperm can't get into the womb (uterus) to fertilise an egg.
At a glance: contraceptive diaphragm or cap
- When used correctly with spermicide, a diaphragm or cap is 92-96% effective at preventing pregnancy – this means that between 4 and 8 women out of every 100 who use a diaphragm or cap as contraception will become pregnant within a year.
- There are no serious health risks.
- You only have to think about it when you have sex.
- You can put in a diaphragm or cap with spermicide any time before you have sex.
- More spermicide is needed if it's been in place for more than 3 hours.
- The diaphragm or cap needs to be left in place for at least 6 hours after sex.
- It can take time to learn how to use it.
- Some women develop cystitis (a bladder infection) when they use a diaphragm or cap. Your doctor or nurse can check the size – switching to a smaller size may help.
- If you lose or gain more than 3kg (7lbs) in weight, or have a baby, miscarriage or abortion, you may need to be fitted with a new diaphragm or cap.
- By using condoms as well as a diaphragm or cap, you'll help to protect yourself against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
How the contraceptive diaphragm or cap works
A diaphragm or cap is a barrier method of contraception. It fits inside your vagina and prevents sperm passing through the cervix (the entrance of your womb). You need to use it with a gel that kills sperm (spermicide).
You only have to use a diaphragm or cap when you have sex, but you must leave it in for at least 6 hours after the last time you had sex. You can leave it in for longer than this, but don't take it out before.
You need to apply more spermicide if:
- you have sex again with the diaphragm or cap in place
- the diaphragm or cap has been in place for 3 hours or more before you have sex
Don't take the diaphragm or cap out to reapply spermicide.
When you first start using a diaphragm or cap, a doctor or nurse will examine you and advise on the correct size.
A diaphragm or cap doesn't provide reliable protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). If you're at a high risk of getting an STI – for example, you or your partner has more than one sexual partner – you may be advised to use another form of contraception.
You shouldn't use a diaphragm or cap during your period as there is a possible link with toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a rare condition that can be life threatening.
Inserting a diaphragm or cap
Your doctor or nurse will show you how to put in a diaphragm or cap.
Some women squat while they put their diaphragm or cap in; others lie down or stand with one foot up on a chair – use the position that's easiest for you.
Inserting a diaphragm
- with clean hands, put two 2cm strips of spermicide on the upper side of the diaphragm
- put your index finger on top of the diaphragm and squeeze it between your thumb and other fingers
- slide the diaphragm into your vagina, upwards – this should ensure that the diaphragm covers your cervix
- always check that your cervix is covered – it feels like a lump, a bit like the end of your nose
- if your cervix isn't covered, take the diaphragm out by hooking your finger under the rim or loop (if there is one) and pulling downwards, then try again
Inserting a cap
- with clean hands, fill one-third of the cap with spermicide, but don't put any spermicide around the rim as this will stop the cap staying in place
- the cap has a groove between the dome and the rim – place some spermicide in this groove
- squeeze the sides of the cap together and hold it between your thumb and first two fingers
- slide the cap into your vagina, upwards
- the cap must fit neatly over your cervix – it stays in place by suction
- depending on your type of cap, you may need to add extra spermicide after it's been put in
Your doctor or nurse may give you a temporary diaphragm or cap to practise with at home. You can learn how to use it properly and find out if the method is suitable for you.
During this time, you're not protected against pregnancy and need to use additional contraception, such as condoms, when you have sex.
When you go back to see your doctor or nurse, wear the diaphragm or cap so they can check it's the right size and you've put it in properly. When they're happy that you can use it properly, they'll give you one to use as contraception.
Removing a diaphragm or cap
Hook your finger under its rim, loop or strap and gently pull it downwards and out. You must leave your diaphragm or cap in place for at least 6hours after the last time you had sex.
You can leave them in for longer than this, but don't leave them in for longer than the recommended time of 30 hours (including the minimum of 6 hours).
Looking after your diaphragm or cap
After using, you can wash your diaphragm or cap with warm water and mild unperfumed soap. Rinse it thoroughly, then leave it to dry and put it in its container. Keep it in a cool, dry place.
- Never boil a diaphragm or cap.
- Don't use disinfectant, detergent, oil-based products or talcum powder, as these can damage it.
- Use water-based or silicone-based lubricant rather than oil-based lubricant, if needed.
- Your diaphragm or cap may become discoloured over time, but this doesn't make it less effective.
- Always check your diaphragm or cap for any signs of damage before using it.
You can visit your GP or nurse when you want to replace your diaphragm or cap. Most women can use the same diaphragm or cap for a year before they need to replace it.
You may need to get a different size if you:
- gain or lose more than 3kg (7lb) in weight
- have a baby, miscarriage or abortion
You're advised to wait until 6 weeks after having a baby before using a diaphragm or cap.
Who can use a diaphragm or cap?
Most women are able to use a diaphragm or cap, but it may not be suitable for you if you:
- have an unusually shaped or positioned cervix (entrance to the womb), or if you can't reach your cervix
- have weakened vaginal muscles (possibly as a result of giving birth) that can't hold a diaphragm in place
- have a sensitivity or an allergy to latex or the chemicals in spermicide
- have ever had toxic shock syndrome
- have repeated urinary tract infections
- currently have a vaginal infection (wait until your infection clears before using a diaphragm or cap)
- aren't comfortable touching your vagina
- have a high risk of getting an STI – for example, if you have multiple sexual partners
Research shows spermicides that contain the chemical nonoxynol-9 don't protect against STIs, and may even increase your risk of getting an infection.
A diaphragm or cap may be less effective if:
- it's damaged – for example, it's torn or has holes
- it's not the right size for you
- you use it without spermicide
- you don't use extra spermicide with your diaphragm or cap every time you have more sex
- you remove it too soon (less than 6 hours after the last time you had sex)
- you use oil-based products, such as baby lotion, bath oils, moisturiser or some vaginal medicines (for example, pessaries) with latex diaphragms – these can damage the latex
If any of these things happen or you've had sex without contraception, you may need to use emergency contraception.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of a diaphragm or cap:
- you only need to use a diaphragm or cap when you want to have sex
- you can put it in at a convenient time before having sex (use extra spermicide if you have it in for more than 3 hours)
- there are usually no serious associated health risks or side effects
- you're in control of your contraception
Disadvantages of a diaphragm or cap:
- it's not as effective as other types of contraception, and it depends on you remembering to use it and using it correctly
- it doesn't provide reliable protection against STIs
- it can take time to learn how to use it
- putting it in can interrupt sex
- cystitis (bladder infection) can be a problem for some women who use a diaphragm or cap
- latex and spermicide can cause irritation in some women and their sexual partners
There are no health risks associated with using a contraceptive diaphragm or cap if you use it according to the instructions that come with it.
Where you can get a diaphragm or cap
Contraception is free to all women and men through the NHS.
Places where you can get contraception include:
- community contraception clinics
- some genitourinary (GUM) clinics
- sexual health clinics – they also offer contraceptive and STI testing services
- most GP surgeries
- some young people's services (call the Sexual Health Line on 0300 123 7123 for more information)
Find your nearest sexual health clinic
Contraception services are free and confidential, including for people under the age of 16.
Find out about the different types of contraception in Which contraceptive method suits me?
If you're under 16
The doctor, nurse or pharmacists won't tell your parents (or carer) as long as they believe you fully understand the information you're given, and your decisions.
Doctors and nurses work under strict guidelines when dealing with people under 16. They'll encourage you to consider telling your parents, but they won't make you.
The only time a professional might want to tell someone else is if they believe you're at risk of harm, such as abuse. The risk would need to be serious, and they would usually discuss this with you first.
Page last reviewed: 30/01/2018
Next review due: 30/01/2021


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I am Australian, married to an EU national, and have just been issued with a 5 yr residence card. I want to travel to Malta with a friend. My husband and I run an import business in the UK and my husband travels a lot to China. He stays there for 3 to 4 months at a time sorting product and branding etc.
Am I free to travel and come back to the UK without him? Will they question this at the airport? I'm worried they might class him as not living here in UK, as he is kind of living in china. I worry that they won't let me back in the UK to run our business.Or do they not question this at all when I go through customs?


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An Army veteran's response to a note left on his car is making the rounds on Reddit.
After parking in a disabled parking spot, one disgruntled passerby had some brain vomit they decided to put down on paper and place on the windshield.
But they're probably cowering in shame after receiving this response from the vet.
Moral of the story: You can't tell if someone is handicapped by how they "look."
- Reposted by


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Donald Morton dies at 79; renowned cancer surgeon and researcher
Certain types of cancer, particularly melanoma and breast cancer, metastasize by shedding malignant cells into the body's lymph system, where they travel to nearby lymph nodes and form new colonies. From there, the cells can spread to other organs, ultimately involving large areas of the body.
Until about 30 years ago, physicians surgically treating breast tumors in advanced stages would remove many nearby lymph nodes in an effort to forestall such spread. That could involve removing 20 to 40 lymph glands in the axillary lymph system under the armpits, a procedure that in itself could produce many adverse effects, including fluid retention and tissue swelling.
Moreover, microscopic analyses indicated that as many as 80% of the removed nodes had not been infiltrated by tumor cells.
In the 1970s, Dr. Donald Morton, then at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, reasoned that before cells could spread to many lymph nodes, they must first pass through the lymph node nearest to the tumor, which he called the sentinel lymph node. He developed a technique for injecting a dye — and later radioactive tracers — into the tumor and identifying the first lymph node it reached.
This lymph node could be surgically removed during the same operation that removed the tumor and examined for traces of cancer cells. If no malignant cells are present, there is a very high probability that the cells have not migrated to other lymph nodes and no further surgery will be necessary.
If malignant cells are identified, however, then other lymph nodes can be removed.
This procedure not only allows time for a more careful and thorough examination of the sentinel lymph node, but it also prevents large numbers of unnecessary surgeries. By some estimates, the use of sentinel lymph node evaluation saves the U.S. healthcare system more than $3.8 billion per year in the treatment of melanoma and breast cancer.
Morton, who also spent more than four decades attempting to develop a therapeutic vaccine for melanoma, died of heart failure Jan. 10 at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica. He was 79.
"Don Morton was one of the most famous cancer surgeons in the world and was instrumental in changing the face of cancer and cancer research," said Dr. Anton J. Bilchik, chief of medicine at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's, where Morton spent the last 23 years of his career. "His contributions have been monumental, literally saving countless lives."
In a 2011 editorial in the Journal of Surgical Oncology, Dr. Charles M. Balch of Johns Hopkins University wrote that "Donald Morton is truly a legend in surgical oncology, an icon as a surgical investigator, a pioneer in melanoma, a valued mentor, an authentic role model and a cherished friend…."
Donald Lee Morton was born Sept. 12, 1934, in the small coal-mining town of Richwood, W.Va., and grew up in poverty. He enrolled at Berea College in Kentucky, which provided free enrollment to disadvantaged students. He completed his undergraduate education at UC Berkeley in 1955, then received his medical degree from UC San Francisco in 1958.
"For me," Morton once said, "I think the greatest accomplishment was making it from rural West Virginia to the Westside of Los Angeles. I grew up during the Depression in a house that my dad built. We had no running water, no indoor plumbing and no electricity."
After a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, Morton joined UCLA, where he rose to become chief of general surgery and chief of the division of oncology. One of his patients was John Wayne, who died in 1979 after a long battle with cancer. With Wayne's family, Morton established the John Wayne Cancer Clinic at UCLA in 1981.
Ten years later, seeking more space, Morton and some of his associates moved to Saint John's, establishing the John Wayne Cancer Institute there.
Early on, Morton developed an interest in melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer. Believed to be caused by sun exposure, melanoma has been increasing in incidence for three decades. This year, an estimated 76,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society, and about 9,500 people will die from it.
Researchers had observed that — rarely, perhaps once in every 2,000 to 5,000 melanoma cases — the cancer would regress spontaneously. Frequently, this occurred after an unrelated bacterial infection. Morton reasoned that the body's immune system could fight off a melanoma if it could be stimulated to attack.
Initially, he hoped to take tumor cells from a patient, irradiate them so they could no longer replicate, and inject them back in the body to provoke an immune response. That immune response would be accelerated by injecting a weakened bovine tuberculosis bacterium known as bacille Calmette-Guerin, or BCG, which has long been used as a tuberculosis vaccine.
University officials were reluctant for him to inject the tumor cells, however, so he began by injecting BCG directly into tumors. In many cases, it appeared that the tumors regressed and were destroyed.
Eventually, Morton developed three separate lines of melanoma cells that displayed the most common antigens, or surface proteins, found in human tumors. The three types of cells were combined with BCG in a therapeutic vaccine called Canvaxin, which seemed to prolong lives in early trials at Saint John's.
The National Cancer Institute funded early trials of the vaccine, which appeared promising, but researchers were concerned that the vaccine may have been given to patients who were most likely to survive. In 1998, Morton founded the private company CancerVax to obtain sufficient funds for much larger trials at other institutions.
Those trials were abandoned in 2005 when an independent data review committee concluded that the vaccine did not produce lengthened survival. CancerVax subsequently merged with the German company Micromet, which was then purchased by Amgen of Thousand Oaks.
In 1989, Morton noticed a mole on his abdomen that turned out to be melanoma. It was caught early, however, and successfully removed surgically. He did not take his own vaccine. "If the chance of a cure is 90% with surgery," he told the New York Times, "why would I even want to give myself an experimental vaccine?"
Morton co-wrote more than 1,000 research papers and received numerous scientific awards.
His first wife, the former Wilma Miley, died in a car accident in 1982. He is survived by his second wife, Lorraine, whom he married in 1989; daughters Danielle Morton, Christin Kazmierczak, Laura Morton Rowe and Diana Morton McAlpine; son Donald L. Morton Jr.; eight grandchildren; a brother, Patrick; and a sister, Carolyn Morton Karr.
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Here's something odd: David Cage, the maker of Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain, now has something in common with Marcel Marceau, Jacques Cousteau and Alexis de Tocqueville: all are members of France's Legion d'honneur, an award akin to being knighted in the United Kingdom.
Le Figaro reported this weekend that Cage, 44, (pictured) the founder of studio Quantic Dream, would become the first video game developer to earn the award. Of course, the discipline is relatively new when compared to an order dating to 1802. When you consider that more than 94,000 people (some of them from nations other than France) have been awarded the Legion of Honour, it sounds even more special. The Legion of Honour is France's highest national decoration.
Cage will be inducted at the rank of Chevalier, or knight, which requires a minimum of 25 years of professional activity (or 20 of public service) and "eminent merits." Membership is capped at 113,425 Knights; the order currently has 74,384 (living and dead).
Le Figaro notes that in 2006, France's minister of culture presented the Chevalier of Arts and Letters to Shigeru Miyamoto, Michel Ancel and Frederick Raynal, but that is a separate award.
Jeux vidéo: la Légion d'honneur pour David Cage [Le Figaro via Gamasutra]
Image by Getty


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I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe
1h 20m
VENUE #17: Manhattan Theatre Source
Performance seen: Fri 26 @ 2:45
Rating: 10
(using the BroadwayWorld rating system of 10=effusive praise; 9=excellent; 7/8=positive with some reservations; 5/6=respectfully unenthused; 3/4=mostly negative; 2=little to recommend; 1=offended, insulted, angered)
I don't know how Dawson Nichols came up with the show "I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe" but it's fun—and might even be integral to its experience—to wonder that he did.
"I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe" apparently started life as a fully-cast radio drama, but as a one-man show it opens with a man writhing on the floor while reciting a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. He stops to chat a bit with the audience, leading to the moment when he utters the title phrase. "Oh," he continues, "I know I'm not Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe is dead. I'm not Edgar Allan Poe." And yet. It's not the hesitation of an irrational person unsure he's not Edgar Allan Poe. It's that of a rational person presented by a strange set of circumstances that are best explained by a hypothesis he knows must be false. Plato asks in "The Republic" how a just man can live in an unjust polis. So too, how can a man be rational when he has the bad fortune to inhabit an irrational corner of the universe.
"I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe" inspires just such philosophical thoughts—on madness, reality, and the power of art to get under the skin of an entire culture and stay there for 150 years. It's impossible to listen to "The Tell-Tale Heart"—and yes, in the most forceful moments of a tour de force performance, Craig Mathers recites all of "The Tell-Tale Heart"—without remembering having read it, even if it were years and years ago.
As he does, the barriers between artist and art begin to dissolve. Remember back to the story. Madness is expressed with such power and intimacy that it's impossible not to wonder how the author could be other than mad himself. We have been wondering for half the play whether its central character is other than mad, and as he recites it— even though, within the context of the play, it isn't mad to be doing so—the equivalent question about him becomes insistent, and then finally answered.
The miracle of the play is that for a moment we even wonder this about the playwright. For a moment—just for a moment, but for that one long moment—madness is expressed with such power and intimacy by "I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe" that we wonder, how the author could be other than mad himself? This is powerful theatre.
We never wonder that about Mathers himself; indeed, it's a tribute to his acting abilities that we never question his sanity. He is, instead, a perfect vessel for 80 minutes of fine madness.
[more fringe 2011 reviews here]


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The slogan on the Morton Salt boxes is, "when it rains, it pours." For Republicans, the past few years must seem like monsoon season.
On the presidential level, the Gallup national tracking polls have shown Sen. with 50, 51 or 52 percent in every three-day moving average since Oct. 4, with Sen. between 41 percent and 43 percent in every average over that same period. No presidential contender in modern times has successfully closed this wide a gap in this short a time. At this point, a major international event would be required to shift the public focus toward foreign policy, McCain's strong suit, and away from the economy, his weak spot. It would be premature to say this is over, but the incline just seems to gets steeper every day for the Arizonan. This is a totally different dynamic than the one that existed last summer when Obama averaged a precarious 3-point margin over McCain. Obama's margin in the polling data today seems more durable than it previously had.
It's perfectly normal for a party to suffer a train wreck election from time to time, but it's really rare to have them in back-to-back elections. Indeed, only twice in the last 80 years has a party suffered significant, double-digit congressional losses in back-to-back elections, Republicans in 1930 and 1932 and Democrats in 1950 and 1952. Having lost 30 House and six Senate seats in 2006, not counting the three special congressional election losses earlier this year, Republicans now look to be on track to lose at least 20 more in the House and at least another half-dozen, perhaps as many as eight or nine, in the Senate.
Indeed, what appears to be two of the biggest factors in whether Democrats reach a theoretical 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate, at least on party-line votes, is whether you start off with an assumption of them having 50, that is, not counting Joe Lieberman, or 51, with the Connecticut independent in the count; and whether Alaskan incumbent Ted Stevens is acquitted or convicted in his ongoing trial for not reporting personal gifts. There is a general assumption that if convicted, Stevens is likely to lose his re-election bid, if acquitted, he more likely wins, but then again, given the unpredictable nature of the last couple of years in American politics, any assumption is probably dangerous.
It's hard to see the Senate as anything but grisly for the GOP. No one disputes that Democrats will pick up the open seats in Virginia and New Mexico. Republican nominee Bob Schaffer in the open seat in Colorado and GOP incumbents John Sununu in New Hampshire and Gordon Smith in Oregon all appear to be running behind their Democratic opponents by a handful of points. With just three weeks left, it's hard to see how they recover, barring an unforeseen event.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole is running a couple of points behind Democratic challenger Kay Hagan in North Carolina, but is well within the margin of error. Incumbent GOP Sens. Roger Wicker in Mississippi and Saxby Chambliss in Georgia are running slightly ahead of their Democratic challengers, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and former state Rep. Jim Martin, respectively. Both races are considered Toss Ups. Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman is locked in an intensely competitive and volatile three-way race against Democrat Al Franken and Independence Party nominee Dean Barkley.
On a really bad night, that's nine seats, with one more incumbent, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, holding on to a lead against Democratic businessman Bruce Lunsford. McConnell is holding right around 50 percent, perhaps 8 or 9 points ahead, but isn't likely to see many undecided voters fall his way.
While it is very unlikely that Republicans will lose all of these seats, anyone who doesn't think that one party can win just about all of the close races hasn't watched these things for very long, and in fact must not have been paying attention two years ago.
In the House, the chances of Republican losses remaining below 20 seats seem to be diminishing and the possibility of this race getting above 25 and approaching a 30-seat gain rising. It's astonishing to think that Republicans could be punished with such toxic political environments in two straight elections. In 2006, when they were in control of Congress, the war in Iraq and scandals cost them their majorities, and now, the economy and credit markets are seizing up and Republicans are being hammered being the party holding the White House.
Pollsters are privately saying that the public is evenly divided on the $700 billion economic rescue package, without much of a difference between Democratic and Republican voters. While at most they say that just 35 percent to 40 percent of voters know how their member voted, there is far greater intensity among those voters opposed to the package. While they say it seems easier to defend a vote against the package than one in favor, rescue package opponents have to be willing to say what they would have voted in favor of, what they would do in response to the crisis. In this case, "just saying no" doesn't work. In the words of one GOP pollster, "those candidates who are most hurt by this issue are those challengers who have not taken a stand. They look foolish."
Pollsters say that as the stock market and voters' retirement savings have slid, the rescue package has become less of a focal point than just a public that is apoplectic about where the economy is and what happened to their investments and worried about their jobs and future. Unless this changes, it really will be a horrible night for the GOP.