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For over 35 years Framingham Dental Center has been the premier dental practice in metro west.
Framingham Dental Center was among the first to introduce treatments including dental implants, Invisalign alternative Six Month Smiles, TMJ treatments, and the new sleep apnea oral appliance CPAP alternative.
All your care in one place! If you require a consult our periodontist will see you in our office. You will get complete, coordinated care without the hassle of traveling to different providers.
The best education and technology will never be more important than compassionate care. Our entire staff is committed to outstanding service. Schedule a visit to see just how good a dental practice can be!


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Trailer for Liquid Assets (Click Here if you don't see it above)
Last week I ordered a copy of Liquid Assets from the WPSU media store and had a chance to watch it over the weekend. The documentary debuted Fall 2008 on public television stations across the country. It provides an informative overview of the issues facing our Nation's water infrastructure and the need to address it. Through a series of interviews and helpful computer animations, the video examines the infrastructure for our drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater, primarily concentrating on the public health and economic development issues. The documentary is a sobering look at the great need to maintain or replace our aging water systems. It was able to capture the magnitude of the problems while offering hope by showing how cities are addressing the problem. Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Washington D.C., New York City, Pittsburgh, Herminie,PA, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Atlanta are profiled.
The audience for the documentary is not design and engineering professionals who are steeped in these issues and have a firm grasp on them. The video is intended for a general audience that may not have a thorough understanding of water issues. My seven year old daughter sat with me to watch it and surprisingly she lasted over an hour before getting bored. She seemed to take a lot of way from the portions she did watch. Some of the basics the video teaches people is what watersheds are, how we get our water, and what a combined sewer overflow is. As an entertaining tool for bringing the general public up to speed with the issues, the documentary is excellent. A complementary community outreach toolkit is provided on-line. This toolkit provides information on how to conduct public workshops in your city and facilitate discussions about water issues. In addition, the documentary is broken into chapters that address specific topics, allowing for groups to tailor it to specific needs within their community. However, I would highly recommended watching the entire 86 minutes. In context of the whole, the chapters are much stronger.
My only major disappointment was that green infrastructure was not addressed to any great depth. The Pittsburgh segment touched on it. The work of the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association was highlighted and concentrated on the Nine Mile Run Restoration. During this segment, there was some mention about street planting and rain barrels. Liquid Assets does however illustrate the issues green infrastructure can address within these troubled systems. This includes combined sewer overflows, protection of water sources, and non-point source water pollution.
Overall the video is a high quality documentary that can spur great discussions about the past, present, and future of our water system.

subset: commoncrawl


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During each of the twelve days of Christmas, the 1709 Blog is bringing readers some information concerning an author, composer, artist or creator who died in 1941 and whose works fall into the public domain in 2012 in countries which operate a "life plus seventy years" term for copyright in authors' works. Today's feature focuses on late-developing novelist and children's poet Elizabeth Madox Roberts.
Roberts' first novel, The Time of Man (1926), was an international success and inspired her to write several further works, including The Great Meadow (1930), and A Buried Treasure (1936). Her poetry was known for its strong rhythmic qualities, and idiosyncratic language. As public recognition grew, Roberts received a number of major poetry prizes in the later years of her life, and her poetic style had a strong influence on the development of fellow Kentuckian poet and writer Robert Penn Warren.
This series has been authored by Miriam Levenson, whom the 1709 Blog gives its grateful thanks.


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LLPH was excited to learn that our endorsed candidate, Frank Roche was featured in the widely read Conservative HQ website. This is great news and momentum for his campaign against RINO Rep. Renee Ellmers.
Read more here: http://www.conservativehq.com/article/16180-its-primaries-stupid-north-carolina-house-district-2
Visit Frank Roche's website and help him out: http://frankrocheforcongress.com/
Read the article below:
North Carolina Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers (NC-2) was one of the earliest disappointments of the 2010 Tea Party wave election. After being written-off by the GOP establishment, squeaking into office and having to beg for help from national Republicans to fund a recount to save her seat Ellmers, quickly joined the business-as-usual crowd that just months before had been hoping her Democratic opponent, New Democrat Coalition Congressman Bob Etheridge, would prevail.
Far from being a solid vote for conservative principles, out of the Tea Party wave class of 2010 Ellmers has proven to be one of the most reliable votes for the principle-free big government, big spending Capitol Hill establishment.
Her brief career in the House has been defined by talking a good game on a few issues, such as opposing Obamacare, while regularly surfacing to criticize conservatives for actually holding to their principles and fighting Obama's agenda.
Nothing exemplifies why Renee Ellmers has got to go better than her hypocrisy on Obamacare.
In a "Bloggers Briefing" at the Heritage Foundation, Ellmers told an audience in March 2011 she would push GOP leadership to use a continuing-resolution bill to defund Obamacare.
Two years later, as our friend Jonathan Strong of National Review noted: "Ellmers took to Twitter today to bash conservative lobbying outfit Heritage Action and its strategy of trying to defund Obamacare with the next continuing resolution.
"Should we stop #Obamacare? YES! But @Heritage_Action's strategy w/ Continuing Resolution is WRONG," she said. Why, Ellmers asked, is Heritage Action spending $550,000 to attack "conservatives" and not using it to attack Democratic senator Kay Hagan, "who was the deciding vote on Obamacare?"
Then, the North Carolina Republican twisted the knife, as Strong put it, relaying a question about the group's integrity. "'Those groups only care about raising money, they want Reps back in the minority in the House' – comment to me re: @Heritage_Action," she said.
Now Renee Ellmers has come out in favor of the House Republican proposal for amnesty for illegal aliens.
It is worth noting that Ellmers has come out in favor of the amnesty proposal before it has even been made public saying, according to Neil Munro's reporting for The Daily Caller that the federal government should allow illegal immigrants to stay in the United States, and should welcome a new inflow of foreign guest workers.
We have some free political advice for Renee Ellmers and other House Republicans who are prepared to buy the lie and support amnesty for illegal aliens – if you want to destroy the coalition that brought Republicans back to the majority in the House, and make the Republican Party not just a minority in the House, but irrelevant to national politics, go right ahead and pass an amnesty bill.
Ellmers' opponent in the upcoming North Carolina Republican Primary is Frank Roche, a FOX News commentator and economics lecturer at Elon University.
Roche reminds us of another economics professor turned political candidate – former Congressman and Senator Phil Gramm of Texas. Whip smart and a principled conservative Roche understands the tie between the declining quality of life and wages of America's working families and the wave of illegal and legal immigration swamping this country and is prepared to fight for what makes America exceptional.
If you want a principled limited government constitutional conservative Republican, who shares the optimistic pro-growth ideas of Jack Kemp and Phil Gramm, then get in this primary and back conservative Frank Roche in the NC-2 Republican congressional primary.
To learn more about Frank Roche and how you can help him beat principle-free Republican Renee Ellmers click this link.
We need to get Frank Roche elected and sent to Congress in 2014. He is a true conservative who will have the backbone to stand up to the Washington Establishment!


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(2017) Drama (Valor) Patch Darragh, Michael Rispoli, Charlotte Kirk, Michelle Ventimilla, Gia Crovatin, Anthony LoCascio, Hampton Fluker, Suzette Gunn, Michael Sorvino, Jennifer Bassey, Lucas Salvagno, Jesse R. Tendler, Randy DeOrio, Wally Marzano-Lesnevich, Leon Gonzalez, Alexander C. Mulzac, Tom Coughllin, Chuck Obasi, Peter Barkouras, Lisa LoCascio. Directed by Jamison M. LoCascio
Sometimes in order to be a successful writer you have to go somewhere you wouldn't necessarily or even want to. You have to explore places that might be abhorrent to you, think thoughts that are alien to you and become people you don't want to be. Sometimes, to write a great screenplay you have to plumb the depths.
Ray (Rispoli) and Mickey (Darragh) are best friends and aspiring screenwriters. They have been working two years on a screenplay about a pair of brothers who become killers; one repelled by it, the other becoming addicted to it. It seems like a swell idea and they take their completed masterpiece to a powerful producer but he passes on it, advising the two aspiring Oscar winners to "write what they know."
Ray takes this to heart, arranging for him and Mickey to go on a call with a homicide detective. Mickey though thinks that scrapping the script and starting from scratch is the way to go. The two men get into a disagreement about the direction they want their script to go. The bad blood is fueled by Mickey becoming friendly with Chloe (Kirk), a prostitute who Ray had been seeing but whose relationship had been falling apart because of Ray's jealousy and combative personality.
Mickey gets fired from his job at a hardware store because he is consistently late (having to do very much with his inclination to party) and decides to go full bore writing his own version of the script. He also gets addicted to cocaine, which is not a good idea when you're unemployed. With Ray working on his own script, Mickey has faith in his writing skills and creative ideas (which he has a notebook to jot them down in) and believes his script will be the better of the two…until he finds that his precious notebook has been stolen. Things are bound to get ugly from there.
This was the first full-length feature by writer-director-producer LoCascio who also helmed this year's Sunset. This outing is dramatically different in tone and construction; it's nice to know that LoCascio isn't a one-trick pony. There is almost a noir-ish feel to the film although in many ways it's more street-gritty, sort of like what noir would be if it had been started forty years later.
Although the main cast aren't household names, they are solid actors all with some strong resumes behind them. Darragh (Sully, Boardwalk Empire) does a good job as Mickey who starts off as a sweet screw-up and gradually sinks into an abyss of coke-fueled paranoia. Rispoli (Kick-Ass, The Rum Diary) goes from being the heavy to being sympathetic. He's the most Noo Yawk of the two which fits the grittiness of the film to a "T." Kirk (Vice, Oceans 8) is not only breathtakingly beautiful but also has the right amount of world-weariness and vulnerability to make the brassy Chloe more than just a stereotype.
The last third, as Mickey sinks further and further into delusional behavior becomes a bit more cliché than the rest of the film which is understandable but still drags the overall rating down a tad. The film also shows its minuscule budget pretty obviously, with only a handful of sets but it must be said that LoCascio manages to do a lot with a little. Nonetheless this is the kind of first feature that any director would be proud to have, and with those two films under his belt I think we can expect a lot more from him in the future.
REASONS TO GO: The film is marked by good performances and a strong story.
REASONS TO STAY: The story loses a little cohesion towards the end.
FAMILY VALUES: There is profanity, drug use, disturbing images, violence, partial nudity and sexual content.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The film won Best Narrative Feature at the Manhattan Film Festival in 2017.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft, Vudu, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 7/24/18: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet. Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Nightcrawler
NEXT: Ready Player One


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Lazy Susan 20"-Bohemian
Lazy Susan 20"-Bohemian
Sale Sold out
Regular price $600.00 USD
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One-of-a-kind, hand painted lazy susans by Sticks with a bohemian vibe.
Please allow 3-6 weeks for delivery.
If you love this design, but the size isn't right, we can easily adapt it to another size lazy susan.
All Sticks furniture, sculpture, and accessories are hand painted by very talented artists and are "one-of-a-kind." Special orders are welcomed. Please contact us for themes and available color palettes. All paints and finishes are water based and non-toxic. Surfaces are durable for everyday us.


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FLOW – For Ladies Of Windsurfing – http://www.flowindsurfing.com/ – is an online information resource designed specifically for female windsurfers. [more]
Founded by Amy Carter, the website is brimming full of stories, experiences, tips and pointers all relevant to the fairer sex within the sport. It sets a clear aim to not only encourage more females into windsurfing, but also to provide a much needed support system and a sense of community for those already enjoying the sport. Discussing the objectives of the FLOW concept, it is hard not to feel the amount of passion Amy (a distinguished racer herself) has put into the project:
"Windsurfing has always been the sport I've loved! After years involved in the sport I have become increasingly frustrated with the perception that you must be tough and strong to windsurf. I felt that something needed to be done to breakdown this misconception.
By providing information for women, by women, FLOW aims to create a fun, friendly 'club atmosphere' so that we can help each other learn, develop, enjoy and achieve together in the sport."
Whilst much of the location information is focussed around Amy's native UK at the moment, many of the articles and tips are relevant to women wherever they are. So whether you're looking to crack that next manoeuvre, don't know which kit to buy, have an article, photo or tip you want to share … or have a female friend you want to get into the sport (boys!), visit http://www.flowindsurfing.com/ and get involved.


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Google has decided to stop censoring its results in China and could end up closing its operations and shutting down its search engine there, the company said Tuesday.
The decision follows an attack on Google's servers in mid-December that targeted the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google said in a blog post.
The search giant said it was not the only company targeted.
"As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses — including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors — have been similarly targeted," wrote David Drummond, chief legal officer for Google.
The company said that it is in the process of notifying those companies and is working with U.S. authorities.
(More to follow.)


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Wow, people really seem to love La La Land. People love this movie so much that it was actually difficult to find a decent seat in a theater in LA the last few weekends to see it. What's going on here? Why do people love La La Land? What am I missing?
Here's the thing with me – I often find myself unable to find the suspension of disbelief necessary to properly enjoy a musical. I am a bit of a misanthrope and I simply find it difficult to believe that humans would jump into song and dance at any moment. This is for good reason, as I have never seen anyone jump into song and dance in my entire short life. I have never seen song and dance routines taking place in the post office, restaurants, or on the freeway in traffic. However, if a song and dance routine played out upon a Los Angeles freeway sounds intriguing, La La Land is the film for you.
Damien Chazelle's brightly colored film centers on the story of Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress who works as a barista in a Warner Brothers lot cafe, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a brooding aspiring jazz musician who pays the bills by playing corny piano tunes in restaurants. The opening scene of the movie is a song and dance routine enacted by the bored motorists of Los Angeles. Not only was the song forgettable and useless, but the scene bothered me for another reason. Apparently the only freeway that Chazelle was able to shut down was the 105, which runs east to west and is located several miles south of Pico Boulevard, running west toward LAX. Pico Boulevard is relevant here because the people in the film most likely would balk at the idea of traveling south of that street. They are that lame and self-protective. To see a collection of people singing and dancing atop the 105 freeway, which runs atop one of the most dangerous and deadly neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles (Westmont), is truly disturbing. The routine ends when Mia fails to realize that traffic is moving ahead, and Sebastian, perhaps in the only realistic moment of the film, cuts her off and unwittingly gives his future lover a dirty look.
One of the themes of this film is of course love, but I think what is most important about the twist in La La Land is that it does have some cynicism within it. If anything, this movie would have been better with even more cynicism. There was something so boring about both Mia and Sebastian, and when you put them together, it's like watching two pieces of toast fall in love with each other just because the other one is there. Mia wants to be an actress (duh) and Sebastian wants to be a jazz musician (okay so why isn't he in New York), but they both are boring and flat characters with no real motivations for doing anything.
Perhaps the most pointless scene in the film comes when Mia gets angry with Sebastian for having to tour with a band nearly nonstop. She asks him if he likes the music that he's playing. Sebastian isn't sure. The scene then escalates over this nothingness of a conflict. Mia is mad that Sebastian will have to keep going out of town while making a living playing music. Who cares if he doesn't love what he's playing? Who is paying the bills in this relationship? Is Mia's job as a barista supporting them? It makes no sense as to why this scene would serve as the rising action of the film. Mia is mad at Sebastian for being a responsible adult. Horrifying. It then gets even worse, but I will leave the rest of the details a mystery.
There are some redeeming, enjoyable scenes. The dance scene that took place in Griffith Observatory is perhaps the most memorable. Most others are forgettable and lacking imagination. Throughout the film, Chazelle appears to be paying homage to the film musicals of the past, but never quite as strongly as the actual musicals originally did it.
La La Land also appears to have been slapped together in a short amount of time. The choreography is very basic and both Gosling and Stone seem stiff. The ending of the film is perhaps the only redeeming sequence and the only part that gave me some inkling of emotion. However, I do not think many people will be satisfied with the ending. In fact, the woman next to me let out a big shrug and exhaled deeply, like she was glad to be done with something taxing.
It did not feel as anyone in the audience was moved throughout this film. There is a very strange disconnect between the audience and the characters of Mia and Sebastian. Let's face it – Mia and Sebastian are carbon copies of stereotypes of stereotypes of what women and men in LA are like. They are self-absorbed, boring, vapid, and singularly focused on their alleged careers. This stereotype is true for the most part – people in LA are self-obsessed. And the ending to this film, in a way, confirms this. This is perhaps the only redeeming moment of the film – the ending.
Overall, I give La La Land a 4.5 out of 10. Would not watch again unless it was on TBS ten years from now and nothing else was on.


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Normally I complain about these, but this might be his best one yet.
Subject: Fwd: Friendship thingee
Are you tired of those sissy 'friendship' poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality?
Well, here is true friendship.
You will see no cute little smiley faces on this ~ Just the stone cold truth of great friendship.
1. When you are sad ~ I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.
2. When you are blue ~I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile ~I will know you are thinking of something that I would probably want to be involved in.
4. When you are scared ~I will rag on you about it every chance I get until you're NOT.
5. When you are worried~ I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.
6.. When you are confused ~I will try to use only little words.
7.. When you are sick ~ Stay the hell away from me until you are well again.. I don't want whatever you have.
8. When you fall ~I will laugh at your clumsy ass, but I'll help you up.
9. This is my oath …I pledge it to the end … because you are my friend.
Friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth.


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Below are the serving sizes and macros per serving of our Keto Baking Mixes:
Keto Brownie Mix
- Serving size: 1 brownie
- Macros per serving (1 brownie) [prepared]:
Net carbs: 2g (6g carbs - 6g fiber - 8g sugar alcohol)
Fat: 10g
Protein: 2g
Keto Pancake Mix
- Serving size: Two 3-4" pancakes
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Net carbs: 2g (9g carbs - 4g fiber - 3g sugar alcohol)
Fat: 10g
Protein: 6g


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Well, here we are back at the world's biggest arts festival, with more than 2000 shows to navigate. In a one week visit, we'll manage around 20 to 25, a mere 0.01%, but at 3 to 4 a day, a still impressive attempt I'd say.
We started with main festival opera at the Komisher Opera Berlin's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin**** at the Festival Theatre, sometimes called the opera where nothing happens! What does happen is gorgeous music, played and sung here as well as I've ever heard it, in an unusual outdoor staging in gardens and woods which looked as gorgeous as it sounded.
The fringe started at 10am the following morning at my second home, the Traverse Theatre, with the highly original and very thought-provoking Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Iran****. Opening with the alternatively revolutionary instagram feeds of the privileged sons and daughters of Iran's revolutionary guard, it bounced around as a modern day illustrated lecture covering all sorts of current issues and prophesies, with the audience joining in on instagram. It divided the group, but I really liked it.
Back at the main festival, Robert Icke's modern take on Sophocles' Oedipus*** for Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (formerly Toneelgroep) at the Kings Theatre was a bit of a mixed bag, largely because of the pacing, at times very slow. I've seen this group many times, but what struck me on this occasion was the quality of the acting and the chemistry between the performers, which I suspect is the result of regularly working together over long periods.
It would be impossible to kick-start a Sunday more thrillingly than with The Patient Gloria****, the retelling of the true story of a woman exploited by psychotherapists as a third wave feminist tale, back at the Traverse. Brilliantly staged, defiant, ballsy (!) and very very funny, with Gina Moxley superb as both writer and co-lead. Perfect festival fare.
It was good to catch Eugene O'Neill's short play Hughie*** and add it to my 'collection' of this favourite 20th Century American playwright. It got it's stage premiere in Stockholm in 1958, 16 years after it was written, but has since attracted stars like Burgess Meredith, Jason Robards, Ben Gazarra, Al Pacino, Brian Dennehy & Forest Whittaker. Here comedian-turned-actor Phil Nicol was outstanding as the gambler who never stops talking, with Mike McShane superb as his 'straight man'.
Back at the main festival, in the Usher Hall, Elgar's underrated oratorio The Kingdom**** sounded superb, even with a stand-in conductor and two stand-in soloists. Whatever you think of this somewhat incomprehensible work the music is lush and it's hard to imagine it better played than here by the Halle, or sung better than by the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and four fine British soloists.
Amy Booth-Steele is a musical theatre actress I've often admired, and I loved her one-woman musical #HonestAmy***** at Pleasance Dome, a 50-minute heart-warming and, well, honest gem, with the songs played by her on ukulele. She was so engaging performing this autobiographical material.
Daughterhood*** at Summerhall, in Paines Plough's Roundabout Theatre, is a play about two sisters born nine years apart whose mother left home and whose father is terminally ill, but its really about their relationship. With actors playing multiple roles and scenes moving forward and back in time, it took a while to get into the rhythm of the piece, but it packed a lot of story into 80 minutes and the performances were excellent.
West End Producer*** is a bit of a Twitter phenomenon, the Banksy of theatre, permanently masked, and Free Willy, the casting of his new musical, was his first Edinburgh outing. Despite a small audience, he managed to engage us and take us with him, with participation key to the show's success. I will be in the chorus of the show. Apparently.
Simon Evans**** wove a very personal story into his politically incorrect stand-up routine, a bit like Mark Steele's search for his parents a few years back, and it was all the better for it, becoming very moving at the end. Surprising and rewarding.
So far good. Back at the Traverse with a 10am start again……


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Collective Bliss, Collective Soul at the Tenth Annual Taos Solar Music Festival, June 28, 2008, photos © 2008 by Jim. All rights reserved.
Here are my souvenirs from Taos — numbness in my right ear and sore calves. Plus, that good kind of exhaustion you get from a night of dancing outdoors, near the stage, to the beat of your favorite band.
We spent the weekend at the Tenth Annual Taos Solar Music Festival. It's a three-day, multi-band, two-stage event held in Kit Carson Park. Dee and Em's first concert, not counting local gigs where no one would even think of lighting up a joint. No, Taos caused me pause — Do I even mention what that smell is?
I didn't. Instead, I danced to the fabulous band who in the mid-1990s gave us "December," the song I swear I wanted to record so I could play it on continuous loop during labor.
Soulful. That's a good way to describe lead singer Ed Gould's voice. He hails from Stockbridge, GA, son of a Southern Baptist minister. And I couldn't believe I finally got to hear him in person. Twelve years I've been carrying around those lyrics, buying up CDs, and belting tunes in my car.
Define bliss: (outside-of-ten-years-if-they're-lucky) middle-aged singers reaming strings and throwing microphone stands, wearing tight jeans and blowing kisses to their (assuming-we're-all-destined-to-be-centenarian) middle-aged fans.
I danced my socks off, shook like I was possessed, rattled my arms in the air, whooped, hollered, whistled myself and everyone around me temporarily deaf, and caused my children to wonder, Is this what they mean when they say someone is speaking in tongues?
My one saving grace? I wasn't wearing a leather halter top.
Sweet Nectar
It was only natural that Jim, the Hummingbird Whisperer, would be mesmerized two bands earlier by the liquid flute of native son Robert Mirabal, who hails from Taos Pueblo. A man with a message, Mirabal thanked us for bringing our children. Not me and Jim directly, but all of us Glad-Bag-for-raincoats parents and grandparents.
Kids need music. "They hold the future in their hands," he said. I shivered, stared up at the sky and wondered if the rest of the bands would get rained out.
Then he sang a Circle Song and laughed away the wind, bringing us a still night.
Circle Song, Robert Mirabal at the Tenth Annual Taos Solar Music Festival, June 28, 2008, photos © 2008 by Jim. All rights reserved.
Neither Jim nor I (nor anyone in the audience) could keep our eyes off of Silvana Kane, the Peruvian-born singer of Canadian band Pacifika. This woman was pure beauty, inside and out.
"Qué linda las mujeres de Taos," she cooed. "How beautiful the women of Taos are, dancing in their skirts."
We chanted back: "Qué linda!"
Beautiful Spirit, Pacifika at the Tenth Annual Taos Solar Music Festival, June 28, 2008, photos © 2008 by Jim. All rights reserved.
Swimming Down Morada Lane
We stayed at Casa Benavides — the Mabel Dodge Luhan House was full — and what a delight! Homemade granola, yogurt, and fruit as first course at breakfast, along with coffee so strong that even half-and-half couldn't tame it. Baked goods, French toast, waffles, an egg quiche smothered in red or green.
And another round of baked anything-you-crave from 3-6 pm. Afternoon tea, Taos-style.
From our patio we could hear the music almost as well as if we were at the concert, so we took many walks down Morada Lane, from the park to the inn and back again.
The girls rested, played cards, watched cable, ate lemon bars and pecan pie. Jim and I walked, rested, rocked, rested. Besides the bands mentioned here, we saw or heard Latino sounds, reggae, hip hop, and more.
If you asked my daughters what they loved the most, they might not mention the music. They might say, instead, that they liked shopping the best. Window shopping during our many rounds back and forth, but even better were the Fair Trade vendors at the festival. Tye-dye and sterling silver earrings and beads. Girls love beads.
So in between ice cream and burritos and roasted corn — festival food — not to mention tea, my daughters visited all the vendors many times. Each round, Dee and Em would return bearing bracelets or rings, bought with their own money. I helped Dee pick out her first two single earrings, which is to say, earrings worn without a partner. As in a third piercing, perhaps. Hmmm.
I loved being with my family doing something we all enjoyed, together and individually. Jim danced his Grateful-Dead-inspired shuffle and it was as if our pre-children lives suddenly merged with our post-children lives. Why hadn't we thought of this before?
My favorite moment? Me in the mosh pit (well, Taos-style) swaying and shaking with friends and strangers; Jim and the girls a safe distance, watching and doing bopping of their own.
Folk Mandala, yarn laid into intricate pattern, seen at the Tenth Annual Taos Solar Music Festival, June 28, 2008, photo © 2008 by Jim. All rights reserved.
"I love Collective Soul, Mom," Dee tells me as we make our way back to our room.
"You dance like this, Mom," Em giggles and wiggles her little body as she navigates the sidewalk, throwing her arms this way and that.
I can tell the girls see me anew. For once I'm not just Mom. I'm one with the music, one night in Taos.
That and shin splints.


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As we neared the top of the winding, picturesque road to shoot Lauren Conrad's house in the hills, the first thought to strike us was the breathtaking views over the Pacific Palisades. The air is definitely different up there. It's fresh, clean, and slightly salty thanks to that ocean breeze direct from the shores of Malibu. When she needs to seek sanctuary from her very public life, this idyllic setting was the perfect retreat, an oasis of sorts, for the television personality, designer, and author to share with her husband, William Tell. "I think when you're in L.A., it's nice to sort of step away to a place that's a little quieter at the end of the day," she told MyDomaine. "So that was a major draw for us."
Naturally, the born-and-raised California girl's home was a master class in swoon-worthy, texture-rich bohemia, with that timeless glamor we've all come to know and love from her. In collaboration with interior designer Katherine Carter, Conrad struck a stylish balance between her West Coast sensibility and a traditional, almost colonial aesthetic for a clean and polished look with major Cali-cool vibes.
Aesthetics aside, the home's abundance of natural light (which pours in from every angle) is what really had us swooning. Conrad made sure to maximize this design feature by keeping the palette neutral, only mixing in soft, washed-out colors to keep the overall feeling fresh and airy. "I like my living space to feel clean but welcoming," she said. "I feel like your home should be a representation of your style so I like to include personal items throughout." Ahead, Conrad shared her favorite room in the house, the danger of baking at home, her morning routine, and career advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The Martha Stewart of the millennial generation, Conrad had to have a stylish yet practical space to entertain (and bake!). So as soon as she moved in, she completely redid the kitchen, which included repainting the cabinets, adding white subway tile, and installing Mystery White marble countertops. "Mystery White is much more stain-resistant stone than Carrera, and I'm a hurricane in the kitchen, so it's a must," she said.
For someone who loves to entertain, the La Cornue range was essential, as was the giant island. "When you have people over, everyone just ends up in the kitchen … so I thought that [this space] was great not only for entertaining but also for food preparation," she said. "It's so great to spread everything out. It's a nice way to prepare a meal. I really love how open and spacious it is—and the storage in this kitchen is incredible."
For these reasons, the kitchen is one of Conrad's favorite rooms in the house. Her morning routine starts here, with a hot green tea or coffee with agave, cinnamon, and almond milk, but it's also where she loves to bake. "I love baking," she said. "I try to only do it when we have a special occasion, and it can be served to guests because it can be dangerous having too many sweets in the house."
Open shelving was another important design feature for Conrad. After tearing out the old closed cabinet in the kitchen, she replaced it with natural timber shelves against the subway tiles. "It's just easy for me," she said. "I can grab things as I need." This fashion-and-function fusion can be seen throughout the entire house. Any renovations were practical choices (such as in the bathroom) while keeping the home's architectural features firmly intact.
"I definitely like cleaner-looking spaces, but I think you have to work within the bones of the house," she said. "My last place wasn't Spanish style at all, so I think it's about making a place your own without changing it too much. I think when you try to completely change a space to be something it's not, it doesn't look as natural; it looks look a little awkward. So I wanted to work with what was here and customize it."
Conrad's love for open shelves extends into the dining room, where she displays her vintage bottles and antique teacup collection. "I'm not sure how my husband let me keep it there," she said. "I just sort of unpacked it there and then didn't say anything, and he was really cool about it." Of the room overall, the length of the dining table is perhaps most impressive. The modern hostess loves to have friends over, and, in fact, the whole house has been designed around this passion. "I love that it's a great space to entertain both inside and out," she said. "I feel like a lot of thought went into the layout of this home."
While the entire home has that Cali-cool edge, the living room is where this aesthetic really ramps up. Wanting the home to "feel very calm," Conrad stuck to a neutral palette, incorporating midcentury-modern pieces and vintage chairs she found on Chairish. "I had them all reupholstered in neutral fabrics, but I found some great shapes," she said. "The house has a lot of open space and natural light. I wanted to bring in a variety of white and washed-out colors to keep the overall feeling very light and airy."
The overarching goal of the living room design was to create a space where Conrad could really unwind and disconnect with her husband. "I love our living room because there are no electronics in there—just books, instruments, and a Victrola," she said. "When we are in the living room, we aren't watching television or glued to our phones. We are talking or playing board games in front of the fire."
Since this place is different from their last in both scale and style, most of the couple's furniture was purchased new, except for one piece. "One of my favorite pieces is the brass-and-glass coffee table that I've dragged through several homes now," she said. The designer utilizes this space to display all of her favorite coffee table books and crystals.
When she's not unplugged in the living room, Conrad is cozying up in the TV room on the large white sectional, which was the first thing she ordered for the house. Because the couple couldn't find one they both agreed on, they decided to have it custom-built from a photo Conrad found online. "The only way that my husband agreed to a white couch was if we had it upholstered in Sunbrella fabric," she adds. "Looking back, it was probably a good call."
While Conrad's office headquarters is in L.A., she frequently works from home and designed a small office to ensure personal and professional don't mix, at least not too much. She's still learning how to separate the two—and delegate. "One of the biggest things that I've learned is how to delegate but not lose control," she said. "It's a very careful balance of you wanting to be involved in everything but knowing that you also can't do everything. You have to learn to hire people you trust. I think being able to assemble a team is very difficult and something I've had to learn how to do."
Conrad knows the importance of balance. Running a hugely successful online free-trade shop, Little Market, on top of her fashion label for Kohl's, she recognizes how easy it is to burn the candle at both ends very quickly. "I think that I tend to over-commit myself," she said. "It's something that I've learned and I'm getting better about. I just take on a lot. Then when it comes time to execute it all, I'm exhausted and I haven't slept, and you know, life's all about balance. You want to make sure you're leaving time for your personal life and to enjoy the things you do."
Despite a very public profile and heavy workload, Conrad is incredibly private, and she definitely believes in balance. "Just know your boundaries. Like you can say, 'Listen, I would love to take on this project, or I would love to get involved with this, but I just simply don't have the time right now.' And that time includes scheduled time for yourself." While the latter sounds good in theory, it's not always achievable in real life, right? Well, Conrad makes sure it is.
"I think the best way that I've found is just to make sure that I block out days for myself," she said. "So whether it's a day every other week where I just block it out and don't schedule anything, I think that that's okay. I think a lot of people, especially people who work really hard, feel guilty about taking a day off and doing absolutely nothing. That's really difficult for people to do, but I think it's important."
To ensure the pendulum swings evenly in both camps, Conrad doesn't stick to a traditional schedule. "I tend to work weekends, which is really nice because then if I want to take a day off, it can be a Tuesday, and things tend to not be as crowded," she said. This interchangeable agenda also helps with her stress levels, not that this is something she experiences that often. "I don't stress too much," she said. "I definitely get stressed when I have a lot going on, but I always know that passes. I've gotten a lot better at (managing) it."
Make sure you're doing something you feel really passionate about, and you will feel confident because I think when you're passionate, you tend to work a lot harder for something.
Conrad's even keel has a lot do with the old adage: "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." This passion for her work is also the impetus behind her confident persona. "I think confidence comes along with feeling really passionate about something," she explains. "If you really love something, then it's a lot easier to feel confident in it. I think people tend to feel married to the first career decision they've made and they feel stuck with it, and I think it's okay to say, 'You know what? That's not for me—I'm going to try something else.' Careers can be long, and you want to make sure you're in love with what you do at least some days. Make sure you're doing something you feel really passionate about, and you will feel confident because I think when you're passionate, you tend to work a lot harder for something."
With such an impressive career and thriving design business, Conrad sure has her work cut out for her, but she keeps a level head, thanks in part to her haven in the hills. "What's nice about this home is that it's very private," she told MyDomaine. "It's kind of removed, you know. It feels like a getaway, but it's home. So I just wanted it to feel like a very relaxing space." We think she nailed it.


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Major Misnomer: 8 things you need to know about Rocky Mountain spotted fever 06/05/2012Posted by thetickthatbitme in Diagnosis, TBI Facts, Treatment.
Tags: Arizona, CDC, coinfection, dogs, doxycycline, fatality, Lyme Disease, medicine, rash, Rickettsia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, tick, transfusion
3 comments
The fact sheet for Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Rickettsia) is up today. Here's the cliff notes version:
1. You don't have to be in the Rocky Mountains to catch RMSF. There are four types of ticks in the U.S. that can transmit this bacteria to you: the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), and the Cayenne tick (Amblyomma cajennense). Cases of RMSF have been reported all over the U.S., and there have also been some in Canada. In 2008, all but 8 states reported cases of RMSF to the CDC.
2. Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be a deadly disease if not treated promptly. The national fatality rate is about 3%, but this rate is much higher in certain states like Arizona, where the fatality rate is 10%. This is likely due to delayed diagnosis.
3. Patients infected with the Rickettsia rickettsii bacteria that causes RMSF may experience any combination of the following symptoms: chills, confusion, fever, headache, muscle pain, rash, diarrhea, light sensitivity, hallucinations, loss of appetite, nausea, thirst, and vomiting. Though 90% of patients develop the spotted rash, this often comes late in the illness, so if other symptoms are present, you shouldn't wait to get treated. Ten percent of patients never develop the rash.
4. RMSF can be diagnosed with a blood antibody test called an IFA (indirect immunofluorescence assay), but this test is often negative in the first week or so of infection. If you are showing symptoms of RMSF, your doctor shouldn't wait for blood test results before putting you on antibiotics, because the longer treatment is delayed, the higher the risk of fatality.
5. RMSF is treated with Doxycycline in both adults and children. The usual course is between 7 and 14 days. The CDC recommends treating for at least 3 days after fever subsides.
6. Another way to get RMSF is by squashing ticks that you find on your dog (or anywhere else) with your bare fingers. When you squish a tick, the bacteria inside it can come out and enter your body through your skin. When checking your pets for ticks, always wear gloves, and use tweezers for tick removal.
7. Although very rare, it is possible to get RMSF from a blood transfusion. If you experience symptoms of RMSF following a transfusion, see your doctor right away.
8. The symptoms of RMSF can mimic those of other TBIDs, like Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis. Luckily, all three of these are treated with Doxycycline.
If you want to read more about RMSF, check out the fact sheet, which is full of links to additional information.


text: Async CTP on WP7 26. February 2011 Galcho .NET Development (2) I just came across an interesting article how to use C# Async CTP about digging to internals and using some custom code to make t it applicable to Windows Phone 7 projects. Check it out: Async CTP on WP7. In case you haven't played with C# Async CTP you probably should know this is next big thing in the world if multithreaded programming. Nowadays CPUs have more cores and by using I/O completion port and async programming model would make software solutions more scalable and threads will have less contention. For more info check this PDC 10 video of Anders Hejlsberg


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Prices: 10 years ago (2002)
oil ($22 / barrel)
gasoline ($1.45 / gallon)
bread ($2.00 / loaf)
milk ($2.00 / gallon)
gold ($300 / ounce)
Prices: today (2012)
oil ($110 / barrel)
gasoline ($4.00 / gallon)
bread ($3.75 / loaf)
milk ($3.75 / gallon)
gold ($1,700 / ounce)
Prices: percentage increase
oil (500%)
gasoline (276%)
bread (188%)
milk (188%)
gold (567%)
"In a grim sign of the enduring nature of the economic slump, household income declined more in the two years after the recession ended than it did during the recession itself, new research has found".
"An Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis predicted that average incomes, adjusted for inflation, will fall by 3% this year and further in 2012. The director of the IFS, Paul Johnson, said: "In the period 2009-10 to 2012-13, real median household incomes will drop by a whopping 7.4% – a record matched only by the falls seen between 1974 and 1977…Pay growth for workers in Britain hit a record low between 2010 and 2011, according to official data last week. Pay was up just 0.4% on a year ago in terms of gross weekly earnings, meaning that incomes are tumbling in real terms, given that inflation stands at 5%. The Office for National Statistics also said the gap between Britain's highest and lowest paid workers had widened dramatically over the past year".


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You've all been following what's up in Turkey, right? Of course you have.
Turns out that park occupations continue to produce libraries. Seems that folks have up and built one in Taksim Gezi Parki in Istanbul.
Further images & text in Turkish here; brief article in English here.
[crossposted at LibrarianShipwreck]
ETA: This following photo landed in our inbox this morning. Enjoy.


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Our Newest Profiles


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Since his appointment as Yahoo's CTO last June, Raymie Stata has been on an intense ride. He is part of the executive team charged with building Yahoo's technology strategy and spurring innovation to drive growth and attract more users to the site. Stata has been with Yahoo since 2004 and was previously its chief architect. Other members of the team include Chief Scientist Prabhakar Raghavan and Stata's boss, Chief Product Officer Blake Irving, both of whom report to CEO Carol Bartz.
At the same time, Stata is learning the ropes as CTO, a role Yahoo redrew after last year's departure of Ari Balogh, who was CTO and also chief product officer. IDG News Service talked with Stata recently about his challenges and accomplishments as CTO, and about what Yahoo is doing to jumpstart innovation in 2011, a pivotal year for the company. An edited version of the interview follows:
IDG News Service: What do you focus on as CTO?
Raymie Stata: The CTO role has changed quite a bit recently at Yahoo. Historically, it had been an operations CTO, head of all engineering. Now we have a [separate] CPO and CTO and shifted into a functional model for the CTO. I set the technology direction but don't actually manage all the engineers. That's a big shift for the company. We're still working that out.
An important focus area for me is technology exploration and advancement, which involves looking at new ideas and doing early R&D work to get [projects] off the ground.
Within technology exploration, mobile applications is one area of focus. We're looking at tablets as a proving ground for Web experiences of the future. We're pushing our advance innovation thought and development in that direction, versus on the PC side.
I also focus on our content platform. It's an extensive back-end content management, personalization and optimization system that we've been building over the past 18 months. It will power everything we do, on PCs, mobile [devices], tablets, across the board, and also all types of content. Bringing all our content together in a very powerful platform is a huge area of focus for us. This year you'll start to see a lot of innovation coming to market because we have that underneath us.
Another area of focus is cloud. We're on our second generation of cloud infrastructure here. Hadoop is part of the story but it's not all. There's a lot going on under the covers.
IDGNS: You've been on the job for about eight months. What's been your biggest challenge and your biggest accomplishment so far?
Stata: The last eight months haven't been business as usual in terms of my new role as CTO. With Blake and a lot of new talent coming on board at the executive level, we've spent a lot of time looking at the market, looking at our assets and strategizing.
When you do strategy, it's easy to get wrapped up in the grand and glorious three-year view. While we have a [long-term] view, we're also focused on how to connect that back to this quarter and next quarter so that we can advance user engagement. The number of users and top line [revenue] are critical focus points for the company in 2011, so that we can deliver against those important [goals] in the context of where we want to go as a company versus where we've been. The leadership team has not only articulated a strategy that makes a lot of sense for Yahoo but also thought really hard about how to execute against that strategy.
We're getting into a regular execution rhythm which is nice, and for me it's an opportunity to stick out my head and say, now that we have some direction, what is this CTO job? I've been operating more as a member of the leadership team than as CTO per se.
The biggest challenge for me is getting a bit out of the weeds. As chief architect, I was pretty deep down into the code of what we do around here. That's always been my approach: to dive in where there's a critical strategic issue that's stuck, survey what we're doing and unstick it.
That's a great thing for a chief architect to do but a CTO needs to provide a lot more visibility in terms of, what's the road map of the company, what's the technology direction and strategy. It needs to provide that, first and foremost, inside the company, because we have a lot of people who need to align to that, and also outside.
For the leadership team and myself, top-line growth broadly defined in terms of dollars and users and user engagement is a focus this year, but as CTO it's important for me to not hit the end of 2011 and not be on a ramp for the future. As CTO, I need to make sure we have a pipeline of technologies that mature at just the right time and to be looking one, two and three years ahead to make sure we're anticipating changes and building the right capabilities.
IDGNS: Yahoo has been criticized in recent years for lacking technology innovation and vision, and letting competitors capitalize on hot trends like social networking, video sharing and microblogging. Do you agree with that criticism?
Stata: There are important elements of truth in that criticism. As part of that strategic process that I mentioned earlier, that was a first-order question for us. But that criticism doesn't account for everything we've done and is therefore a bit unfair.
Something that's visible is what we've done in the advertising side. We saw [ad] exchanges and their many variances in terms of demand-side and supply-side platforms. We saw those trends early and made huge investments, including acquisitions of market-leading companies, which were integrated very well [into Yahoo]. We've done tremendous scientific and technology achievements that we've poured into that platform. I don't think we get recognition for being out ahead and for the innovation that we brought to that market.
Internally, we're on our second generation of cloud computing that is very innovative. One bit that we made external, Hadoop, has taken off and is fundamentally changing the large-data space as an industry.
On top of that cloud, we're building a platform for content ingestion, enrichment, relevance and personalization, that is second to none in the industry. We bought Associated Content so we can fuel that, in addition to having enormous content relationships ourselves and great original programming. On top of that platform, you'll see much more consumer-facing innovation coming in 2011.
Those are some things we've been doing that either people haven't seen because we haven't told them about it or maybe they haven't given us as much recognition as we deserve.
Having said that, when it comes to new product categories and deeply innovative features in existing product categories, Yahoo hasn't delivered and the first step in getting better is to acknowledge that. In strategy conversations late last year, we did acknowledge that, and we've put in place innovation programs inside the company to support the development of new product categories and of very innovative features.
I don't think we'll be turning out two "home runs" a year, if a "home run" is a Facebook, but you'll see us: a) putting out innovative stuff and b) fostering that over time, which is very important. A struggle companies face with innovative new product categories is that you get that early hit, and it's the coolest thing ever, but then you get to year two or year three and then it's not [as cool] anymore, yet you have to continue to invest in it. We recognize that as another pitfall to innovation and are prepared to create a structure that makes sure we see it through.


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The class of 2012 is leaving college with something that many graduates since the start of the Great Recession have lacked: jobs.
To the relief of graduating seniors — and their anxious parents — the outlook is brighter than it has been in four years. Campus job fairs were packed this spring and more companies are hiring. Students aren't just finding good opportunities, some are weighing multiple offers.
In some ways, members of the class of 2012 got lucky. They arrived on campus in September 2008, the same month that Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, touching off a financial crisis that exacerbated the recession.
On campus, they were largely insulated from the collapsing U.S. economy. While older brothers and sisters graduated into a dismal job market, they took shelter in chemistry, philosophy and literature classes.
They used their college years to prepare for the brutal realities of the job market that would await them. They began networking for jobs much earlier, as freshmen in some cases. They pursued summer internships not simply as resume boosters, but as gateways to permanent jobs. And they developed more realistic expectations about landing a job in the ideal place and at the ideal salary.
On campuses across the country, spirits are more upbeat this spring, and the employment outlook is especially promising, according to interviews with three dozen seniors and career center directors.
"It's just been such a dramatic change from what we saw in 2008," says Mercy Eyadiel, who oversees career development at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. Back then, openings disappeared overnight and companies were calling recent graduates to rescind offers. "It was a very bad, ugly situation."
The job market remains tough, even for those graduating from the best universities. Hiring is not back to its pre-recession level and plenty of seniors are leaving campuses without jobs. Yet this year's graduates are less likely to face the disappointment of moving back in with mom and dad, or being forced to work at a coffee shop to pay off loans.
"I was nervous that my college degree would go to waste," says Laura Mascari, who arrived on the University of Delaware's Newark campus in the fall of 2008. Mascari, who received two job offers, will work in marketing — her major — for chemicals giant DuPont.
Between September 2008 and August 2010, 6.9 million American jobs were eliminated. In the last year and a half, 3.1 million jobs have been created. The strengthening job market has made a big difference to seniors who are job-hunting in their final semester.
The unemployment rate for college graduates 24 and under averaged 7.2 percent from January through April. That rate, which is not adjusted for seasonal factors, is down from the first four months of 2011 (9.1 percent), 2010 (8.1 percent) and 2009 (7.8 percent.) For all Americans, the unemployment rate is 8.1 percent.
Wake Forest senior Lesley Gustafson started her job search during her freshman year.
She met with a career counselor to discuss her goals. Gustafson picked a double-major — computer science and political science — that made her more marketable. And she found internships every summer that helped her build skills and a network of professionals to offer advice. Gustafson was aggressive in other ways, too: she took part in mock interviews offered by the campus career center so that she'd be better prepared for real employer interviews.
Gustafson's work paid off. In March, she was offered a job with consulting firm Accenture.
"I knew I would find something," Gustafson says. "I was more nervous finding something that I would be interested in rather than having to take a job just to take one."
College career centers across the country are reporting seeing more students and seeing them earlier.
At the University of Chicago, just 46 percent of freshman sought advice in the 2008-2009 school year. This year, it is expected to be more than 80 percent.
Students' expectations have also changed. That dream job might just be a dream. Seniors are instead focusing on stepping-stone positions that will hopefully lead to better opportunities.
Jonathan Fieweger, a senior at New York University, doesn't have a long-term job offer. But he was able to turn a public relations internship with TV network Showtime into a year-long, post-graduation job.
Others are willing to move to less desirable locations and settle for lower salaries. Pay for new graduates fell 10 percent during the recession, according to the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. Few expect it to climb back soon.
Despite the lower pay, students today have more confidence in the job market. Two years ago, career directors say, seniors were so afraid of the recession that they flocked to graduate schools to wait out the dark times.
"This is a generation of kids that got trophies whether they won or lost the soccer game," says Farouk Dey, director of career development at Carnegie Mellon University. "They were afraid of being rejected. What would that say about them? Would their parents be disappointed?"
That trend is reversing. The number of U.S. students taking admissions exams for graduate business school and law school are down 8 percent and 16 percent.
This year's grads also have an advantage over those a year or two out of school with equal qualifications. Employers would rather have somebody fresh out of college than somebody who spent two years working at a local book store waiting out the market.
"As a matter of convenience — and you can call it a bias if you will — a lot of employers have said: let's get started quickly by going back (to campus) and getting the new graduates," says Philip D. Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. Companies cut their recruiting staff during the recession. Instead of sorting through thousands of resumes, it's easier to do targeted searches on a few campuses.
Gardner estimates that about 7 percent more college grads will find jobs this year than last year, based on a survey of 4,200 companies.
The recovery is not consistent across all majors. Students seeking jobs in architecture — hit hard by the collapse of the construction industry — are having a tougher time finding employment than those in education and health care, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education.
Colleges say the strongest growth in job offers has come from Fortune 500 companies, investment banks and consulting firms, all of whom make offers in the fall for jobs that don't start until the summer. Most smaller employers hire much closer to when an employee is needed. That means graduates won't get offers until late spring or summer. But college career directors say that, based on conversations with employers, it will be a strong year.
At Florida State University in Tallahassee, the number of job listings jumped from 1,379 last spring, to 2,299 this year. That is down from 5,000-plus listed before the recession.
At Arizona State University's Tempe campus, 1,698 companies have attended job fairs or interviewed on campus, up from 1,357 two years ago but below the roughly 2,000 that visited before the recession.
"We're about halfway back," says Matthew Brink, director of career services at the University of Delaware.
Packed career fairs and increased job listings don't necessarily translate into employment, warns Sheila Curran, a career consultant who used to run career centers at Duke University and Brown University. Companies might take the time to meet potential employees in case they start hiring again, but it doesn't mean they are going to make job offers.
Those seniors who do have offers say they treated their search like a full-time job and, after some setbacks, managed to secure employment.
Max Gompertz, a senior at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, with degrees in psychology and communication, knows how hard it can be. Many of his friends who graduated last year are still nearby, working in bars and restaurants. Gompertz, however, got an offer in the middle of October for a job he'll soon start providing customer support for financial data provider FactSet.
"I was lucky," he says. "Thestars aligned."
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Are you looking for a workspace? A meeting place? Tired of trying to run your business from the dining room table? Welcome to Firework!
Firework is a collection of offices, workspaces, and meeting spaces located atop the Healy Building, home to the Siren's Song in Old Town. Go around to the left of the building to access the entrance. There is an ELEVATOR, relatively rare in Old Town, and the views from Firework are spectacular. If I were to rent there I would have to arrange my furniture so that I couldn't see out the window because just in the short time I was there I got very involved in watching the birds on the roof of the building opposite.
The space is simply beautiful- lots of light and polished floors. There is a group workspace where several people can work independently at the same time, with headphones. There are cleverly designed "phone booths" where you can have a private conversation and there are two kitchens. They offer different levels of membership to suit your needs. There is 24-hour access and if there's a better location in Eureka, I haven't seen it.
Like many good ideas, Firework was born of necessity. Mark Sullivan, who owns Firework with his wife, Kiva, is a telecommuter who does marketing for a firm in Atlanta. Check out their gorgeous website and get ready to move, but hurry. Their spaces are about half occupied already. Here's a link to the Times-Standard coverage of their recent ribbon-cutting.


text: David Mathog wrote: > Donald Becker wrote: >> On Mon, 30 Mar 2009, David Mathog wrote: >> >>> Joe Landman wrote: >>>> Vendors have an nVidia supplied *GEMM based burn in test. Been > thinking >>>> about a set of diagnostics end users can run as a sanity check. >>> My suspicion is that vendors run such burn in tests only for a very >>> brief time. That time being "the minimum time required to find the >>> percentage of failed units above which it would cost us more if they >>> were found to be bad in the field" - and not a second longer. >> I don't know about other vendors, but that's not Penguin's approach. > > By "vendor" I meant graphics card vendors, not cluster or HPC vendors. > My interest in this sort of diagnostic arose in relation to an > inexpensive graphics card bought at Newegg. I was asking here > specifically because it seemed likely that HPC vendors _would_ have > the sort of GPU diagnostic I was seeking, and might be willing to share > it. (As opposed to the tool Joe referred to, which seems not to be > generally available.) FWIW, we agree with (and implement something similar to) Don's burn in procedure, and yes, it sometimes annoys customers who want it *now*. But it also (massively) reduces infant mortality rates (and we we have even designed new disk packaging to reduce the impact of the sometimes fatal disk malady named UPS/Fedex-osis). This said, there really isn't a memory checker for GPUs just yet. Could be done, and probably should be ... Also, likely we should have a long term crunching diagnostic, where we already know the answer to a computational problem, and simply have it burn cycles. But GPUs are more complex than this, we need to worry about PCIe bus transfers, several different flavors of memory, etc. Really, since there is very little you can do if a GPU card is toast, other than replace it, it might be better to have the test done at this granularity. -- Joseph Landman, Ph.D Founder and CEO Scalable Informatics LLC, email: landman at scalableinformatics.com web : http://www.scalableinformatics.com phone: +1 734 786 8423 fax : +1 734 786 8452 cell : +1 734 612 4615


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Saving Soil, Nutrients and Money with Cover Crops
December 17, 2012 | SARE
News Release – Many vegetable farmers want to improve soil quality, but because they operate in a competitive, rotation-intensive environment, any soil-building practice they are likely to adopt needs to be backed by solid data.
That is why Oregon State University (OSU) Extension specialists have spent six years studying the role cover crops play in fertility management, to the benefit of hundreds of farmers in the highly productive Willamette Valley. To date, the OSU researchers' main contribution is a calculator for estimating the cost and nitrogen (N) contribution of cover crops, compost, and organic and synthetic fertilizers. The calculator has been used by more than 620 people since 2010, representing more than 52,000 acres.
The profit potential from cover crops' role in nutrient management is immense: In one trial, the OSU researchers found a vetch cover crop could replace 110 pounds per acre of feather meal for a broccoli crop, leading to a cost saving of $500 per acre.
This research was supported by two Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grants, and is only one example of how SARE is at the forefront of supporting the innovative producers, educators and researchers who are making cover crops one of the most indispensable cost-saving tools in the soil-health toolbox.
SARE grantees all over the country are exploring cover crops' dynamic and vital role in soil and fertility management. For example:
- A 2003 project involving University of Maryland researchers and farmers showed that forage radish can capture and hold up to 150 pounds of N per acre that remains in the soil after fall harvest. This work also helped lead to the widespread adoption of forage radish as a powerful method for alleviating soil compaction.
- In 2008, an Ohio State University graduate student found compelling evidence of cover crops' role in protecting soil from erosion, and water from nutrient leaching. During simulated rainstorms, cover crops and no-till in a corn-soybean rotation nearly eliminated runoff loss of soluble N and phosphorous.
- An ongoing project at North Carolina State University is finding evidence that the termination method for leguminous cover cropsaffects how much N is made available to the subsequent cash crop. Roll-killed hairy vetch provided more available N six weeks after termination than other combinations of legumes and kill methods, including herbicides, flail mowing and tilling.
This only scratches the surface of the hundreds of research and on-farm demonstration projects SARE has supported on cover crops in the last 25 years. To discover more, and to find the practical tools and guides arising from such projects, visit SARE's Cover Crops Topic Room.
The SARE Cover Crop Series highlights 25 years of SARE-supported research on cover crops. Tools and information are available on: selection and management; economics; establishment; rotations; soil and fertility management; water management; pest management; and no-till. Visit the Cover Crops Topic Room for more information.


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Colman Domingo, the theatrical triple threat (actor on stage, film, and TV, playwright, and director) and someone from whom I've always been able to count on getting a hug since the day we met in 2007 during the Public Theater run of "Passing Strange,"is at it again.
His latest play, "Dot," had its first performance Thursday night at Manhattan's Vineyard Theatre a place that's shown him a lot of love over the years.
The "Fear the Walking Dead" star's heartwarming autobiographical "A Boy and His Soul" had a good run there in 2009, and he appeared there in the off-Broadway premiere of "The Scottsboro Boys" the following year before he went to Broadway with the show. (His second play, "Wild With Happy," was presented at the Public Theater.) Continue reading


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I am going to sea next week boarding the R/V Sikuliaq in Nome, Alaska to sail for 3 days north into the Arctic Ocean. When we arrive in our study area after all this traveling, then we have perhaps 18 days to deploy 20 ocean moorings. I worry that storms and ice will make our lives at sea miserable. So what does a good data scientist do to prepare him or herself? S/he dives into data:
The image above is my first attempt to determine, if our planned mooring deployment locations are free of sea ice or not. The darker tones of gray are sea ice with the white spots probably thicker or piled-up ridges of rougher sea ice. The speckled gray surface to the north is probably caused by surface waves and other "noise" that are pretty random. There is a data point ever 40 meters in this image. It also helps to compare these very high-resolution ice data with products that the US National Ice Center (NIC) and the National Weather Service provide:
The above is a wonderful map for general orientation, but it is not good or detailed enough to navigate a ship through the ice. The two maps agree, however, my patch of ice to the south of the moorings are represented as the orange/green patch on the top right (north-east). The orange means that 70-80% of the area is covered by ice and this ice is thicker than 1.2 meters and thus too thick for our ship to break through, but there are always pathways through ice and those can be found with the 40-m resolution maps.
In summary, on Sept.-29, 2016 all our moorings are in open water, but this can change, if the wind moves this math northward. So we are also watching the winds and here I like the analyses of Government Canada
It shows a very low pressure center over Siberia to the south-west and a high pressure center over Arctic Canada to our north-east. This implies a strong wind to the north in our study area. So the ice edge will move north into our study area. If the High moves westward, we would be golden, but the general circulation at these latitudes are from west to east, that is, the Low over Siberia will win and move eastward strengthening the northward flow. That's the bad news for us, but we still have almost 2 weeks before we should be in the area to start placing our fancy ocean moorings carefully into the water below the ice.
While this "operational" stuff motivated me to dive into the satellite radar data that can "see" through clouds and fog, I am most excited about the discovery that the radar data from the European Space Agency are easy to use with a little clever ingenuity and a powerful laptop (2.5 MHz Mac PowerBook). For example, this hidden gems appeared in the Chukchi Sea a few days earlier:
It is a piece of art, nature's way to paint the surface of the earth only to destroy this painting the next minute or hour or day to make it all anew. It reminds me of the sand-paintings of some Native American tribes in the South-West of the USA that are washed away the moment they are finished. Here the art is in the painting, just as the pudding is in the eating, and the science is the thinking.


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Faith and politics helped set the stage for a festive evening during the 12th annual second night of Passover Seder hosted by the Hittner family.
George and wife, Erica, Judge David Hittner and Dr. Helen Mintz-Hittner invited friends, family and associates of all faiths to read from the Haggadah and break bread during a traditional seder dinner of bitter herbs, eggs and wine.
The memorable moment of the evening happened when George, general counsel for American Traffic Solutions, presented souvenir red light camera signs to City Attorney Dave Feldman and Paul Kubosh, who led the successful fight to take down red light cameras in Houston.
With the Texas primary only weeks away, there were also plenty of political candidates and elected officials in the crowd including U.S. Senator candidate Ted Cruz, State Representative Candidate Gene Wu and City Councilwoman Ellen Cohen.
Other VIP guests: Public Relations Whiz Cindy Clifford, Jason Fuller, former Kemah Mayor Bill King, Grant Dorfman, Carl Davis, Bob and Carol Martin and many others.
I have enjoyed being invited to the Hittner's annual tradition. George mentioned that the event could move to Phoenix next year, where he and Erica live.


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Version 10 of Premiere Elements, though a flexible and competent video editing program, was mired by a complex-looking interface. Its companion software, Organiser, which helps you catalogue your photos and videos, was possibly worse.
Get Premiere Elements 11 from Adobe
So Adobe went back to the drawing board and redesigned both extensively, making them much more welcoming. Even though they offer more features - as most major releases do - they are in fact much easier to use as a result.
If you're used to iPhoto, there'll be no surprises where Adobe got its inspiration from for the new Organiser app. You can see all your media or break it down by people, places and events. Sound familiar?
One distinct advantage over iPhoto when it comes to video is that you can label clips with the people in shot, making it quicker to find the footage you need - once they've all been properly labelled. It's also possible to share clips directly from the Organiser in a myriad of ways, from email to Facebook to Vimeo.
The redesigned Premiere Elements is also very welcome. Prior to this version, you had two editing modes defined by the cryptic and confusing terms of Sceneline and Timeline. They've now been renamed more accurately to Quick and Expert respectively.
The emphasis in this version is to make everything clearer. The buttons are bigger and easier to differentiate, and information is better organised, leading to fewer clicks to find what you need.
For instance, the effects still offer a tiled series of thumbnails to visually choose the effect's intensity, as well as sliders to make manual changes, but these two options are now grouped together, which also has the advantage of making people realise those finer controls are actually available.
The new Film Look applies a set style to your chosen clip like Dreamy, News Reel or Horror. But curiously, if you'd added effects to your clip prior to applying a Film Look, those effects will be removed - yet, you can insert those effects again once Film Look has been added. This could get frustrating.
The new Time Remapping feature is a welcome addition: instead of speeding up, slowing down or reversing an entire clip, you can actually choose exactly which part of it you'd like to affect. Better still, you can set different speed changes over different sections of your footage, making this tool a very welcome and powerful addition.
The same goes for the Blending modes. If you're used to Photoshop, you know you can blend layers together to create striking effects. You can now do the same with video in Premiere.
- Not sure if this is the one for you? Check out our list of the best video editing software in 2019


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Daily Chess Puzzle
To start 2019, I will on most days post positions, moves, or games that have given me pleasure during 2018. I will intersperse these with two further items: (i) a pot pourri of puzzles taken from my years of newspaper clippings, printouts and other pieces of paper which I have collated over the years. I have piles of the latter, and made a new year's resolution to go through them, clearing out those which no longer interest me. I hope to find some gems in these old papers. (I made the same new year's resolution last year, and the pile has grown, not reduced…)
See here for the solution.
Leave a Comment


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white tulips&
by Ronald Baatz
(c) Ronald Baatz. 94 haiku dedicated to Norbert Blei (1935 – 2013). Metropolis Press France.
White Tulips was originally published in a very limited edition by Leonard Seastone at Tideline Press in 2003. Also thanks to: BASHO'S ROAD | CULTURAL WEEKLY | DURABLE GOODS | FROGPOND | HARBINGER ASYLUM | ISSA'S UNTIDY HUT
All is emptiness
except where snow is piled
in a bird's nest
Horny all night long
so when dawn's light comes
I crave its untouched pinkness
The curves of your body
in the curves of mine-
when we are old and blind
If you are interested in buying this book, please go here… or just click the images above.
Editors Note: Please allow 2 weeks for shipment. The book will be produced only on demand and is handmade from A to Z.


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The sun has set on Southland on TNT. The cable channel has decided to end the show after five seasons.
The ratings took a serious hit in season five, dropping to 1.44 million viewers and a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Some of the cast booked pilots just in case but pledged to return if Southland ended up getting a sixth year.
Here's a statement from TNT:
TNT has made the difficult decision not to renew Southland for another season. We are enormously proud of Southland, which stands as one of the best police dramas ever made.
Executive producers John Wells, Chris Chulack and Jonathan Lisco, along with creator Ann Biderman and our partners at Warner Bros. Television, have given us five seasons of powerful, unforgettable storytelling, for which we are deeply grateful.
We also want to thank the amazing cast for their impassioned, no-holds-barred performances, and the production team for their tenacity shooting on the streets of real-world Los Angeles. We wish everyone associated with Southland the very best.
What do you think? Are you sorry that the show has been cancelled?


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I've been thinking about saving some Flash videos from YouTube, Vimeo (videos without a download link), and other sites for playing on iPods and other platforms that don't support Flash video. Since most Flash video these days uses the h.264 codec, it should be possible to de-multiplex the .flv file to extract the video and audio streams, then re-multiplex them into an MP4 container, with no re-encoding.
On a Mac with Perian and QuickTime Pro installed, just open the .flv file in QuickTime Player 7, do "Save As," choose "self-contained movie," and after a few seconds, you'll get a copy of the video in a QuickTime .mov file.
There's also a more roundabout way to do it on Windows, if you really want a .mp4 container file.
- Download the Flash video file (.flv extension). The Firefox add-on DownloadHelper is one way to do this. You should probably download the highest-resolution version available.
- Run FLV Extract and drop the .flv file onto it to create .264 and .aac files, which contain the video and audio respectively. If it produces files with different extensions, your Flash video file isn't encoded in h.264 so the next step won't work, sorry.
- Run YAMB and add the .264 and .aac files to re-multiplex them into a .mp4 file.
- Play the .mp4 file and check that audio and video stay in sync before you delete the .flv file.


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Temperatures here in Utah have been nice so far, but they'll be dropping soon. Summer's officially over, and with snow soon to fall in the higher elevations (could happen as soon as Wednesday), my outdoors focus shifts from the mountains to the deserts.
I took this picture on Saturday. It's a mountain appropriately called Floating Island, and it's one of the coolest optical illusions I've ever seen. Floating Island is part of the Silver Island Range. While driving either direction on I-80 near mile marker 20, the range appears to part like Moses' Red Sea, with Floating Island drifting eastward until it seems to hover a good distance from the rest of the solid range.
The "floating" effect is created by a combination of empty distance and flat land nearly perfectly aligned with the curvature of the planet. From the vantage point of highway, Floating Island's base is behind the curve and thus is not visible.
I visited this island once a couple years ago and wrote about it here.
The desert is a strange, wonderful place. Here's to a new season of exploring it!


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"Sometimes it's the simple pleasures that get you through the day…like watching Jose Iglesias take infield practice." – Jason Grey, ESPN
That Theo's had a revolving door at the shortstop position since Nomar left town is well known. What's far less certain, at this juncture, is when and how that issue will be resolved. Because for all of his efforts this season, a major league team that features Nick Green as its starting shortstop has problems.
The one time shorstop of the future, Jed Lowrie, is coming off two straight injury marred seasons. So while the club would no doubt like to pen his name into the lineup as next season's starting shortstop, they are undoubtedly working on a Plan B, lest we end up with another year of the aforementioned Green.
Whoever Lowrie's safety net is, the bet here is that it will be short term. Maybe a discounted return appearance for the shortstop flavor of Gonzalez, maybe an Omar Vizquel, or maybe, in the words of Frank the Tank, it'll be something cool we don't even know about. But as we saw when the club decided against outbidding the Twinkies for the forgotten JJ Hardy, the Red Sox seem to believe that our shortstop of the future is already in the fold in Cuban defector Jose Iglesias. Whose father, in case you're interested, is a Boston fan.
There are better than 8 million reasons to suspect that's the case, but if you had any doubts, Theo's been surprisingly – shockingly, almost – candid on the subject.
Epstein said that as they search for a shortstop for this season, it's with the knowledge that Iglesias is the shortstop of the future.
Two questions occur: one, is this a good thing? Two, if the future isn't next year, when is it?
The answer to the first question depends on the expectations you have for the shortstop position. Or if you want to be more sophisticated in your approach, the makeup of the roster around the shortstop position: get more offense from other spots, of course, and you need less from the shortstop.
Given the premium that teams have been placing of defensive efficiency of late, however, defense would seem to be the clear priority for would-be candidates regardless of roster construction. Fortunately, Iglesias by most accounts has that in spades.
The BP guys killed him a bit when he hit the market, saying:
Iglesias has a similarly strong tournament record, drawing attention for his flashy glovework at shortstop, with one scout grading his fielding as an 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. His arm is enough to stick at shortstop, but his range is somewhat limited by his fringe-average speed. Iglesias makes the most of his ability, with instincts that enhance his tools and excellent makeup. He bats from the right side and while his overall offensive package leaves a bit to be desired, most scouts agree Iglesias will hit enough to allow him to profile as a big league regular. He has decent pop in his 5'10 frame, at a maxed-out 180 lbs., though he can get pull-happy at times. An international scouting director called Iglesias' total package, "Ryan Theriot with better hands." Iglesias is a defensive-oriented overachiever and executives say he would be more of a 2nd-3rd rounder if eligible for the recent draft.
But pretty much everyone else loves him at short.
Here's his manager in the AFL:
"He's got great hands—I mean, unreal hands—and they're quick," said Mesa manager Brandon Hyde, who managed Double-A Jacksonville (Marlins) this summer. "They're quick and they're soft, and his feet work. His footwork is lightning fast, with a good arm. You put those things together and you've got a really good shortstop."
And if that's not enough hyperbole for you, here's an NL scout: "He may have the quickest hands I've ever seen. Get a closet for his Gold Gloves." And a Cubs report: "he is the best defensive shortstop to come along in years."
That's the good news. The bad news? No, it's not just that he's a Cuban, and their track record – Kendry Morales and his 2009 .924 OPS aside – hasn't been great in recent years. The concern, for us, should be that the bat isn't generating quite the same reviews.
Here's Keith Law:
I don't see the argument that he'll never hit, but it would be hard to project him as more than a hitter for average and maybe some doubles power. He's very short to the ball with almost no load and has quick wrists, so getting to the ball and driving it to the outfield shouldn't be a problem. It's not a swing that's going to generate power and he doesn't square balls up consistently, although the latter could come with time. I could see an Adam Everett downside here unless he proves to be a degenerate hacker at the plate.
And Jason Grey:
$8.5 million or not, the 19-year-old still has to show he's not Rey Ordonez. He's the best defensive shortstop in the minors right now, but even when he squares the ball up, it doesn't really go anywhere. He's short to the ball with a good eye, but doesn't get a good load. There's at least some speed (he's a 60 runner on the 20-80 scouting scale), so he could eventually be an empty batting-average guy who puts up some stolen bases.
Gammons, for his part, relays the following:
In one person's words, "hyper," and will have to work hard at his plate discipline. Like so many young Cuban players, Iglesias swings at almost everything.
For all of the poor reviews, however, it should be noted that he's hitting in the AFL. Reasonably well, actually. .295/.348/.459 in 16 games. True, the AFL is not generally regarded as predictive – due both to the small sample sizes and the uneven quality of the competition – but it's always better to play well than not. Less positive than his overall line is the 4 BB's in 61 ABs, particularly since he's striking out twice as much.
Am I excited about the potential addition of an Adam Everett-ish bat to a lineup that has been – to put it charitably – periodically anemic the past two seasons? Not exactly. But the world in which a 32 year old Alex Gonzalez – he of the career .689 OPS – is viewed as an attractive option is clearly not a perfect one. I'll take the younger version if it saves me from having to watch us sadly overexpose a fine utility player at the position, thanks.
If we assume then, as I think is safe, that the club is not assuming that shortstop position will be a substantial source of offense whenever Iglesias arrives, it follows that they'll be looking to augment our production in some of the other roster spots. Does that mean Bay is going to be back? Maybe. But it certainly means that players who offer substantial offense from a defensive roster spot will be major target should they reach the market. Players like a Joe Mauer, who could be available in 2011.
Right around when Iglesias could be arriving. Hmmm…