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Let's talk about technology, specifically in conjunction with media.
There are a few absolutes we can work with.
1. New formats and vehicles are invented that will replace old formats and vehicles.
I'm using the word "vehicle" as a term for the delivery of media, and I'm labeling "media" as content in the form of information or entertainment.
Media can be a novel, a song, a movie. It exists via various formats. A "format" is the form a medium takes.
A song's format can be on a cassette tape, vinyl, CD, mp3, wma, flac, etc.
The vehicle used to play the song depends on its format. We can listen to vinyl on a turntable stereo, mp3s on an iPhone, flac on a computer.
Often formats and vehicles compete with each other until one dominates (vinyl vs. cd, cd vs. mps, VHS vs. Beta, BluRay vs. HD DVD.)
When new formats and vehicles are created, they usually allow a user to enjoy experience media in a superior way over previous formats and vehicles.
The mp3 format allowed for compression of large digital files, which was needed because years ago memory was more expensive. These digital files could then be stored, traded, and many could be carried portably on an mp3 player.
2. As formats and vehicles improve, so does media.
Formats and vehicles often evolve in tandem. For example, as computers improve, software improves, which requires better computers, which allows for better software.
In the case of music, we now have lossless files, which sound better. These files can also carry data other than the music itself; cover art, song title, liner notes, lyrics.
DVD didn't just have a better picture than VHS, it also allowed for extras. Commentary. Alternate endings. Different cuts.
3D is changing movies and video games, taking them in new directions.
3. Prices drop.
This always happens. Once upon a time, a VCR was $1000 (in 1981 dollars) and a copy of Wrath of Khan would set you back $39.99 on VHS. Now you can get a DVD player new for $30 and Khan for $4.99. Or you can stream Khan on Netflix and only pay $9.99 a month for unlimited films.
As prices drop, more people leave their old formats and vehicles and adopt the new, superior ones. Eventually, the old formats and vehicles become niche markets, and the new tech becomes mainstream.
Until another tech takes over and restarts the cycle.
So what does this mean for books?
For hundreds years, the format and vehicle for novels was the bound book.
Then the ebook came along.
The ebook was different than many other new types of technology, because it required users to have both a format and a vehicle for their media.
Readers were used to buying a book and being able to read it. Now they needed special ereaders, and had to buy their media in a specific format.
But the superiority of the technology eventually won out, and now ebooks outsell print. As ereader prices come down, and the technology improves, more and more readers will adopt it.
Being able to hold a thousand books on a single device, adjust font size, and buy ebooks instantly, are just a few of many advantages ebooks have over print.
I have no doubt we'll see $99 ereaders by the holiday season.
Those paying attention to the publishing world may have heard that my upcoming Jack Daniels thriller, Stirred (co-written with Blake Crouch) is being published by the Thomas & Mercer imprint of Amazon.
Amazon is pricing it competitively at $2.99--something no other publisher will do. (In fact, I pulled my second Timecaster book from Berkley because they wouldn't work with me on lowering the ebook price.)
But if prices are coming down, and vehicles are getting better, what about my second rule of tech?
So far, ebooks are just text, which isn't an enhancement over print.
There have been a few efforts to blend video with text, but these require even more expensive vehicles ($500 iPads rather than $140 Kindles) so I don't see these being widely adopted anytime soon. Plus, I don't think a video/text hybrid is what draws people to books.
So I spent some time pulling a Steve Jobs. Instead of guessing what the future holds, I looked at what people are currently doing.
Jobs, as you know, paid attention when music fans began converting and trading mp3s. While the music industry tried to fight it, Jobs created a user-friendly portable device (the iPod) that played mp3s. As a result, a computer company is now the biggest music retailer in the world. All because he watched what fans are doing with music and gave them something to make it easier for them.
That made me look at at what readers are doing with books.
On sites like Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, Shelfari, Goodreads, and Librarything, readers are running book groups, reviewing, recommending, sharing what they've read (and how much they've read), and discussing books.
When a book is very popular, readers are writing their own fan fiction.
Readers often contact the author, to ask questions, or say how much they enjoyed a book, or demand a sequel.
It's important to note that readers are doing these things independently, without the author or publisher prompting them. This is what readers enjoy doing with book, above and beyond reading it.
Which makes me ask: why aren't we giving readers what they want?
Enter the Active Ebook.
I'll make an admission. It kills me that my print books are still owned by publishers, who are pricing them too high and sticking it to me with poor royalties.
Because my agent reserved the "interactive multimedia" clause in my contracts, I've been salivating to come up with a way to release these on my own.
So I thought about enhanced ebooks like the Big 6 did. Maybe I'd add some video and audio. Maybe an mp3 director's commentary at the end of each chapter, explaining things about why I wrote it. Linkable footnotes, pictures, and maybe even some games like word search.
But that wasn't evolution. That wasn't Ebook 2.0.
I was missing something. Something big.
User aggregated content.
I've talked about this before. Google is a billion dollar company because they allow users to navigate websites that other people created.
YouTube is all content created by uploaders, for free.
Most of the big internet successes of the last decade were because of users adding to the site.
And as I explained above, users are eager to add content concerning books. The want to do reviews and recommendations and talk to authors and even write fan fic.
All of this happens outside of a book.
What if it happened inside of a book?
What if you don't join a social network to discuss books, but instead you joined a book that was a social network?
Here's how this scenario plays out in my head:
I'm on my ereader, and I get an electronic invitation from a trusted friend to buy Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath. It's only $2.99, and the description looks good. Not only that, but it has a community of 12,393 people, so there will be plenty to do.
I buy the book with the click of a button. But rather than begin reading right away, I message my friend who is also in the book, and we decide to join the 4:00pm Whiskey Sour Book Club. There are eight other people signed up for that time slot, and we can all read and discuss the book together. There is also a 3pm slot open, but that's for fast readers, and my speed is moderate at best. The 4pm is a moderate speed club.
Since 4pm isn't until later, I browse the Whiskey Sour Forum, and read a few reviews. I also join a chat session and meet two of the other readers who are in my 4pm Book Club. One of them is a bit abrasive, but the bot monitoring the chat session warns him, then kicks him off. Typing on my keyboard becomes tedious, so I plug in my headphones and we voice chat for a bit, talking about thrillers we liked.
Four o'clock rolls around. I'm in the kitchen, making a sandwich, but my ereader calls my home phone to remind me of the start time.
I read a few pages, enjoy them, then let the ebook read to me until the chapter ends. There are already two people in the bookclub forum, discussing what they read. I join in. Others enter, and my friend links to the FAQ and Author Notes on Chapter 1, which we all discuss.
Whiskey Sour has a full length, author-read commentary, where Konrath explains where, why, and how he wrote certain scenes.
Some of the group wants to continue, but I'm curious to listen to the mp3 commentary, so I beg off and decide to join the 6pm Club for Chapter 2.
The commentary is interesting. Konrath is an entertaining guy, says a lot of funny things. But I realize I'd enjoy it more after I finish, so I pop into the next book club.
Me and another guy read straight through and discuss the book all night, and when we finish I write a review of it in the forum and recommend it to my friends via my ereader. I also notice that Konrath is having a live chat tomorrow, and sign up for it.
The next morning, I find I can't get some of the characters out of my head, so I pop into the forum again and read some of the user created stories. These are fans who have written about the characters in Whiskey Sour. Most of them suck. Some aren't bad. Some are even as good as Konrath. I rate a few, recommend a few, and vote for the top five.
I watch TV for a bit, until a screen comes up saying it is chat time. I sync my ereader with my TV and watch Konrath's talking head as he fields a Skype chat. Several people express that they wanted a longer ending. Konrath says he's working on one, as well as three new chapters which will be inserted into Whiskey Sour at the end of the week.
"Hemingway said that a book is never finished, it's simply due," Konrath says. "But now, books no longer have to be finished. They can continue to grow and improve for as long as the writer is alive. And beyond."
He says that the new additions will be marked as such. People can read the original, or the new version.
I get on my ereader, and ask it to call me when the new material is uploaded. I also ask for updates when people respond to my forum comments, or vote on my review.
Then I finish listening to the audio commentary, pop into the forum to discuss it, and wind up text chatting with Konrath, who is talking about his latest book.
Sounds pretty good. I click on the link to buy it.
Sure beats surfing the internet and watching TV.
Okay, some of the tech isn't there yet. But most of it is.
The idea of a book as a community (which is basically what a website is) makes complete sense if you look at what readers are already doing.
I also love the idea of a book that never ends, where the author can keep adding to it. That may not be for everyone, but there are dozens of books I wish had been longer. Some authors (Stephen King's The Stand, David Morrell's The Totem, my Trapped) have put out different versions of the same book. But if King wrote an extra chapter to Salem's Lot, I'd be the first in line.
Instead of books simply being static text, this scenario allows them to become active. Alive. Growing. Readers continually generate content about books they're read, in dozens of places. Why not centralize all of that content in the one place it should be; within the book itself.
With an Active Ebook, you would have more than a novel. You'd have an ongoing, regenerating, constantly biggering community that brings fans together, encourages user aggregated content, and allows the author to reach a lot of readers at once.
A book could be its own, miniature website, self-contained on an ereader.
Or you could ignore all of that and just read the book normally.
Either way, isn't it worth your $2.99?
Thursday, May 19, 2011
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by Lou Mancinelli
It hangs from above like a flying saucer attached to a string from the heavens. When it spins it sounds like a finger rimmed around the lip of fine crystal.
What it actually is, is a gyroscopic wheel hanging from the bottom of the deck of local inventor Fran McCabe. The floor of his deck forms a roof behind his garage at his Mt. Airy home. If he's right, McCabe's work might provide the world with a capacity to create energy heretofore unrealized by humankind. It's a discovery that Nikola Tesla would celebrate.
In fact, Tesla is part of McCabe's tale of his investigations of gyroscopic motion, a 30-year string of experiments carried out mostly in a Bucks County barn, but more on that later.
McCabe claims his discovery of the power of gyroscopic precession can reduce greenhouse gases, thus reducing pollution, and be used to fight disease.
"If [Isaac] Newton ever saw this thing, the world would be a different place today," said McCabe, 76, about his gyroscopic wheel. It's essentially a top used as a mechanical device.
Raised in Philadelphia, McCabe graduated from North Catholic High School in 1954. He joined the Navy after he was thrown out of Drexel University in the early 1950s, where he studied mechanical engineering. He served for six years in the Navy as a flight training class leader and left in 1964.
Later, in 1968, he founded Prefco Products, a fire and smoke damper manufacturer. The company played an instrumental role in changing laws on fire regulation and safety. From the air and wind technology created during his time running Prefco, McCabe created the world's fastest and lowest wind-responding wind-turbine airfoil. With his company Lev/Air he created the most powerful max-torque windmill airfoil system.
His work has taken him around the world as a speaker, consultant and writer. In the 1990s he was arrested in Russia. The Russians had commissioned him to write six papers on gyroscopics, and one way or another, the word "spy" became involved, albeit wrongly. He bought his freedom from his jailer for $100.
McCabe is a rocket scientist, according to his NASA certification. Our talk with him proceeded as if our reporter was a high school kid sitting in on a graduate quantum physics class. Names of prominent scientists rolled off McCabe's tongue as if he were a coach talking quarterbacks.
We talked about the Higgs particle, known as the God particle. We talked about how the universe came into existence. We talked about what happened before the big bang. It is here, in the process that led to the big bang, that the fundamentals of McCabe's gyroscopic discovery are rooted.
But first, some further credentials. McCabe is the owner of more than 100 patents – with more than 100 pending – in machinery, aerodynamics and more. He has worked for and with Boeing, MDI and NASA engineers. He spoke to members of parliament in England about reducing germs in hospitals via pressurization. He is the father of two daughters.
"The earth is a gyroscope," McCabe said. "If you ask me, everything is a gyroscope."
Gyroscopic physics is a study rooted in motion. Before the big bang, according to McCabe, there was static time. There was no basic energy but time. That energy contained an encrypted plan. When something bent the energy, a force the religious call God, an arch was put into motion.
"If you're gonna build the universe you do it with motion," McCabe said. " If there's a direction that takes you somewhere random, it's just a game whoever's putting it in motion is playing."
This energy, now in motion, spun along a spiral, sometimes condensing other times diverging until it found an electron. From there, it continued along its encrypted plan and found protons and neutrons and eventually whole molecular structures and organisms. This is known as evolution.
And this spiral energy is gyroscopic precession. According to McCabe, physicists stop their gyroscopic investigations at this point of understanding. But McCabe wondered if there was power created from the procession, and he wondered how to channel that power.
As he built his companies, manufactured inventions and traveled around the world, he experimented with what he hypothesized would be the world's most powerful generator of energy and power.
After three decades, and many talks with professors, physicists and inventors, McCabe had not discovered the right mix of energy and spinning wheel. If you take a wheel and spin it the wheel has an arm and a pivot, like the galaxy, McCabe explained. His theory is that a spinning wheel shaped like a disc put into gyroscopic motion by a certain amount of torque could, in turn, produce an exponential amount of torque.
Essentially, he's modeled his generator after the mechanism allegedly responsible for the energy that created the universe. He fumbled with discs that were too heavy and too large.
The great discovery came through a talk with a medium, through an alternative discipline like that of a psychic. After being urged, first saying "no thank you," and then eventually accepting a fellow physicist's suggestion, McCabe visited the medium. That's where Tesla told McCabe through the medium to change to a smaller aluminum wheel, according to McCabe. He'd been using steel.
He also changed the size of the wheel. The result: McCabe discovered that when he used an air pressurizer to put 1.2 pounds per square inch (PSI) of torque into his gyroscopic wheel, it created 1,200 psi of torque out. But more importantly, he discovered the in-to-out relationship grew in an exponential manner. Add a second wheel, put in 25 psi, and the result is 4,200 psi out.
The implications are astounding. Today, gyroscopes are used to guide satellites and missiles. They are used in PlayStation's three controllers and in iPhones.
But apply this understanding to the current applications of physics.
"They struggle with this – people in universities," McCabe said about the usual challenges posed to him by students and professors during his presentations around the world. Many argue that his invention is simply a fly wheel. Still, he's realizing some success.
McCabe believes the energy created by gyroscopic motion can change the world in a green way. He claims gyroscopes would use far less heat to create far more energy. Less heat emitted into the air means less greenhouse gas. He also envisions it being used in DNA re-encryption. If cancer is represented by a bump along a DNA spiral, gyro energy can theoretically smooth out the bump.
He's spreading his findings by teaching gyroscopic science to young students through The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential and at The Quaker School at Horsham. He has submitted the idea to NASA as a way of replacing rocket propulsion. NASA has named gyroscopic propulsion as a pending game changing technology.
McCabe moved to Mt. Airy three years ago. His explorations in mechanics started in the hot rod shop he owned as a young man. There he modified a 1958 Corvette engine to go faster than 200 mph with his own engine accessories. He's a member of numerous groups and served as director for the Central Bucks County Chamber of Commerce and Buck's County Association for Retarded Citizens.
At his company Levr/Air, he created the first car to run on compressed air, something that requires no gas or electricity. The car is powered by a low RPM high torque windmill. His explorations in wind technology led him to found Omniwind in 2009. It seeks to power homes and cars through free wind energy.
If gyroscopic propulsion is anything like some of his other inventions, it could change the world. It's a science in its early stages. And there are many questions. What does it cost? What are the politics of it? If it goes the way of many of Tesla's discoveries, themselves poised to change the world 100 years ago and offer the world free energy, the world may never know.
For more information visit www.FranMcCabe.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tokelau aims for 100% renewable energy in 2012May 7, 2012
Pacific Island Countries are among the most petroleum-dependent nations and territories in the world. However, Tokelau, a group of three small atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, will be the first to meet its electricity needs entirely through renewable energy by the end of 2012.
Tokelau has a total land area of 10 square kilometres and a population of around 1,400. Its small size, isolation and lack of natural resources are all restraints on its development. Worse, it has to spend approximately NZ$1million (approx. US$ 800,000) annually on imported fossil fuels.
Since 2001 UNDP has worked with national partners and communities in Tokelau to undertake feasibility studies and prepare the ground for promoting sustainable energy. UNDP's efforts were significantly boosted with the generous funding from NZ in the amount of NZ$8.5 million (US$ 6.8 million). UNDP began to work with the Taupulega's – the village councils on each atoll - in the area of sustainable energy. With additional funding and technical assistance from UNDP, the first Tokelau National Energy Policy and Strategic Action Plan was endorsed by the government in 2004. Its primary objective was to make Tokelau energy independent through the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. In strategic partnership with New Zealand, France, and UNESCO, UNDP supported various preparatory work including resource assessment, feasibility and design studies and the implementation of a solar system pilot demonstration. The organization contributed around US$450,000 and significant technical support during 11 years.
The new solar plant is planned to become operational in September 2012. Around 4,032 solar panels and batteries will be installed across all the three atolls of Tokelau, making the plant one of the largest standalone solar system in the world. The plant will provide 24-hour high quality electricity supply for all islanders, eliminating diesel use, and even produce surplus electricity to allow Tokelaunans to expand on their energy use.
During periods of prolonged cloud cover generators that run on coconut oil will supply power and simultaneously recharge the battery bank.
This hybrid solar-coconut oil system will enable Tokelau to be self-reliant for its electricity needs and be more energy secure, and set it on a carbon-free development path. It will also create employment opportunities and help the local population generate additional income. More importantly, the amount spent annually on the import of fossil fuel will be spared to support social benefits for the islanders.
Tokelau's ambitious goal could not be achieved without the sustained commitment of the government supported by its development partners, including UNDP. The government's long-term determination has been pivotal in overcoming barriers along the way – such as the 25-30 hours boat journey from Samoa to Tokelau to transport materials and other resources.
Tokelau will be the first Small Island Developing State to obtain 100% renewable energy by 2012, while Tuvalu and Cook Islands aim at 2020.


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Message Board
Rose Saposnek Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Saposnek has written!
Author Saposnek's Book Reviews
Mama, Are We There Yet?
When the Bolshevik Revolution erupts in 1917 persecuting Jews, murdering Mama's family, she and her six-year-old daughter, Raizle, flee to Odessa where her family is again attacked. Mama decides to leave for America to join her husband who left earlier. Sympathetic Christians assist them, but along the way to Romania, Mama is raped. Traveling to the Rothschild House in Paris, the train leaves without them and they board a cattle car for the trip. Pari...


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Going Green On St Patricks DaySt Patrick's day is know for green beer, shamrocks and green underwear, at least in my mind. I think I've had green beer once, just to say that I did it, but this year my interest is more on green foods for St Patrick's day.
A very simple habit to begin is to eat green food every day, and I think St Patrick's day is a good time to start.
With that in mind, I offer some tips for going green this March 17th.
1. Start your day with a green smoothie. Smoothies offer up their nutrients in an easy to digest format, are usually high in water content and can be spiked with ground flax seeds for increased fiber and EFA's. A recent poll on liquid breakfasts brought some interesting comments and opinions.
2. Eat a green salad every day. Choose from the wide variety of nutrient dense foods on the top 10 super foods list along with high water content vegetables like peppers and cucumber. Choose a healthy salad dressing over store bought and you're good to go.
3. Make green soup. Combine over 7 green vegetables and 1 green bean into this wicked green soup. Made with nutrient dense, vitamin rich vegetables and "creamed" with cashews instead of dairy, this is a perfect St Patrick's Day Green Soup and one of my all time favorites.
4. Replace oranges with kiwi fruit. Instead of getting your daily dose of Vitamin C from Oranges, choose Kiwi fruit instead. Kiwi fruit has more vitamin C than oranges and is considered to be one of the healthiest fruits you can consume and makes it into position four of the top 7 fruits for vitamin C.
5. Eat Broccoli. Learn more about how to steam vegetables and then add steamed broccoli to your meals. Broccoli is a great base for a green soup as well.
6. Consider increasing your fiber with heart healthy green lentils. This lentil loaf recipe is a regular around our house and is not only great fresh, but goes well as the main content of a wrap. Grab an Ezekiel wrap, lay down some hummus or red pepper spread, some day old lentil loaf, a handful of fresh mixed greens, some avocado, a pump or two of Braggs liquid amino's and it's "green lunch" time.
I'm restricting my alcohol consumption this month to a few select days. St Patrick's day is one of them, as I'm looking forward to the yearly tradition. Then, back to the bulk of my diet - green foods.
Labels: green foods, nutrient-density, Recipes, st-patricks-day


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Markets were off to a strong start after a strong jobs report.
But that rally has been losing steam. And the S&P 500 just turned negative.
In November, US companies added 146k new nonfarm payrolls, which was much higher than the 85k expected by economists.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent. Economists were expecting this metric to remain unchanged at 7.9 percent.
Consumer confidence, however, unexpectedly plunged to 74.5 from last month's reading of 82.7. This was much worse than the 82.0 expected.


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We found no results!


text: First of all sorry for my english (I'm from argentine) I have a server wich I setup with this great guide http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-debian-squeeze-with-bind-and-dovecot-ispconfig-3 and is working great with a few websites and domains. Now, looking for information for setup a second server (for failover purpose) that will be in another phisical place with another ip and internet connection I found this 2 excelents howtos: http://www.howtoforge.com/setting-u...lancer-with-haproxy-heartbeat-on-debian-lenny http://www.howtoforge.com/setting-u...ancer-with-haproxy-keepalived-on-debian-lenny and I was wondering what about mail server; my server actually have a few domains with somes mails accounts and I want to have a second server not only for web sites, I want a failover system for mail too. Is there a way to setup this?? Thanks in advance


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The Week In Review: When Rights Collide, Seek Common Sense
The collective freakout Canadian commentators seem to be having about a collision of religious and gender rights is overblown. Yes, some decisions must be made that won't please everyone. But usually the people involved can figure things out sensibly, without human rights commissions or TV commentators dictating the correct answers. Because realistically, those answers will differ in each case. If we concentrate more on protecting the overarching right of individuals to act as they see fit, then the complicated calculations (Does gender trump religion? Does creed trump sexual orientation?) will take care of themselves.


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Win £500 Off Your Next HolidayDon't miss the opportunity to have your holiday FREE. Enter our prize draw for a chance to WIN £500 for your next holiday, honeymoon or wedding abroad. Share your name and email address with us and we'll select a random winner each month!*
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Call 020 7644 1755 to speak with our award-winning travel consultants.
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Meet Blandon, Brinn, and Harper. They're a gorgeous family who is ready to adopt and it's my privilege to help them get the word out! I asked them a few fun questions that would help all of us get to know them better. Here goes:
5 facts in 5 words or less:
1. we are total beach bums.
2. we make awesome blanket forts.
3. we love being active.
4. we have a stinky bulldog.
5. we love new adventures
What led you to adoption?
we have been struggling with unexplained secondary infertility for 4 1/2 years. after much prayer, thought, and more prayer, we have been gently led to adoption and we couldn't be more excited about it!
Do you have any prior experience with adoption?
we don't have any prior experience with adoption, besides having friends who have placed, adopted, or been adopted.
What excites you most about potentially being placed with a sweet child?
this is the hardest question to answer! What doesn't excite us? We are so excited to add another sweet spirit into our family and watch our family dynamic change, strengthen, and grow. We are so excited for the relationships an open adoption can provide. We are so excited to see our little guy blossom into the best big brother ever. We are excited to go to the temple as a complete forever family. We are honestly excited for everything, bring on the sleepless nights, we've been waiting!
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
so many to choose from! my new favorite is one that we came up with this year. Our son wished and hoped for a white Christmas this year, but unfortunately it was 70 degrees. We decided to take things into our own hands and created our own white christmas using paper and cotton balls. The look on his face in the morning was worth the hours spent creating the winter wonderland. It was such a hit that we have decided to make it a yearly tradition. you can see pictures here.
I couldn't be more excited for Blandon, Brinn, and Harper. Thanks for answering all of our questions. Our thoughts, prayers, and best wishes are with you!
Visit their adoption blog here
Visit their profile here


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CHICAGO — Tuesday is the last day to register if residents in Illinois' 2nd District want to vote in the primary to pick a candidate for the congressional seat formerly held by Jesse Jackson Jr.
Cook County Clerk David Orr says Cook County residents who haven't registered have until Tuesday if they want to vote in the Feb. 26 special primary election. Orr says voters who have moved or changed their names also must register again before the deadline.
Jackson resigned in November, citing health problems and acknowledging he's under investigation. The Chicago Democrat gained the 2nd District seat in 1995.
The February primary will determine which Democratic and Republican candidates will be on the April ballot.


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No objections at first hearing on Manitou Springs urban renewal
Morrison pleased at new city, county interest in rest of 'No Man's Land'
No property owners from Manitou Springs' "east corridor" spoke out against a proposed city urban renewal authority (URA) at the first of two City Council public
hearings on the subject Oct. 17.
Manitou's seven council members also offered no objections to the plan before unanimously giving it first-reading approval.
The second public hearing is scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 21. Council approval at that time would finalize an ordinance stating that "one or more blighted areas" exist in the city, causing a "need for the redevelopment and rehabilitation in such areas in accordance with Colorado Urban Renewal Law."
The findings stemmed from a study this year by a consulting firm funded through a state grant obtained by Manitou's Economic Development Commission (EDC). The study area covered a roughly 1 ˝-mile area of Manitou and Colorado Avenue between the Manitou interchange and 33rd Street.
Only the portion within Manitou city limits would be part of the city's URA. The goal would be to use such an agency's financial flexibility to encourage and help private investors to upgrade properties within that area.
The main comments on behalf of a URA were provided by EDC Director Kitty Clemens. "Many of the structures there are for sale, and owners have expressed a desire for public/private investments," she told council.
George James, whose Dillon Motel in Manitou Springs is within the study area, also spoke for the proposal. "I think it would beautify the gateway into Manitou Springs," he said. "It's an opportunity we should take advantage of. And it will bring more tax money in."
The only comments questioning the concept came from well-known Manitou Springs artist C.H. Rockey, who expressed concern that urban renewal could wipe out the "little motels" that are so prevalent in that area now. "We need some of them to handle those people who don't make a great deal of money," he told council. Also, he worried that in their place could come development that would make the city look less unique. "It's very special, and I want to keep it that way," he said.
Mayor Marcy Morrison, who helped spur the urban renewal effort, said she did not expect such a negative eventuality to occur, and City Planner Dan Folke added that the city could hammer out goals for the area that would serve as guidelines to private developers.
Tim Haas, an EDC member, also responded to Rocky's comments, saying that the east corridor needs attention because of crime problems, including meth labs that have had to be cleaned up.
In her comments, Clemens also mentioned crime, reporting that Manitou police show a "high number of domestic violence calls" from some of the area's roughly 20 motels, where many people make permanent homes on a weekly or monthly basis.
The blight study also noted crime issues, as well as site deterioration in about half the 100 properties in the study area. Also adding to blight were public infrastructure problems, including bad or missing sidewalks, poor streetlighting and vulnerability to flooding from Fountain Creek, the study stated.
Before the Oct. 17 Manitou council hearing, there had been several informal meetings with property owners, the EDC and the consultant this year. Some property owners in the study area had raised questions at those meetings - chiefly regarding the impacts of a URA on their small businesses - but none of these appeared at council.
Without opposition, council's chief uncertainty seemed to be whether the URA, when formed, should consist of the council itself or a separate board appointed by the mayor. Morrison postponed discussion on that matter until the Nov. 21 meeting.
Westside Pioneer article


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Pacheco Directs Noises Off at Vanityby Jim Amidon • March 11, 2005 Share:
Wabash College junior Reynaldo Pachecho is directing the Crawfordsville Vanity Theater production of Noises Off, which opened March 10 and runs through March 19. In addition to Pachecho's direction, four Wabash students are acting in the show.
Performances are scheduled March 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 with an 8:00 p.m. curtain each night. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the Vanity Theater at 122 S. Washington Street or by calling 362-7077.
Joining Pachecho, who is directing his second Vanity Theater production, are fellow Wabash students Andrew Dits, Tyler Bernet, Joey Smith, and Frances Raycroft.
Noises Off was written by Michael Frayn. It's the story of Lloyd Fellowes, who is the director of a theatre company producing a farcical play called Nothing On. Fellowes is desperately trying to get his production together, despite the best efforts of the cast, the crew, and Lady Luck. The audience follows production from final rehearsals, through opening night, and onto the tour. As with any group of actors forced to work closely together for any great length of time, romances and arguments break out. Quite often, what's happening on stage is nothing compared to what's happening backstage.


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Kia unveiled their latest all-electric concept crossover vehicle, the Naimo — which literally means "square shape" in Korean — at the Seoul Motor Show this week. The sporty car, which features a glass wraparound windshield and suicide doors — we are suckers for suicide doors — is the Korean automaker's third electric concept car in the past year. Unlike some of their other ideas — like the futuristic Pop concept— this electric car seems more grounded in a commercial reality. Fear not though, this commuter design has some sneaky elements that add interest to this functional four door.
The Naimo's Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor is powered by dueling 27kWh lithium-ion polymer batteries and it has a 125 mile per charge range. The car's exterior is remarkably smooth and actually has no windshield wipers — it uses air blasts from the engine to clear water from the glass. It features dotted LED lights at the front and rear that offer extra visibility and a bit of futuristic glitz. The company says it can be charged up to 80% in just 25 minutes (a full charge takes 5 1/2 hours).
Kia also uses handcrafted materials on the interior, including floors and doors trimmed in Korean oak. "The uncomplicated overall design is accentuated by a number of striking key details, such as the wraparound windscreen and asymmetric sunroof design, and the front and rear dot-style LED head- and positioning-lamps," a statement by Kia says. "This juxtaposition of simple and complex is a common trait of many traditional Korean arts and crafts." We have to say, we're a little enamored by the Kia Naimo — pronounced "nee-mo", like the fish — concept vehicle. Its jaunty real-world style and quirky details have us wondering if this is the Kia EV concept that will become a reality.
Via The Motor Report


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The act of eating a girl out while she's taking a steamy dump. The female version of a Blumpkin.
Rebecca was so horny but also ate a huge bowl of chili cheese fries, so we had no other option than to clarf in the public bathroom of the Applebee's.
by JJV35 July 04, 2013
via giphy
by DioTwasMe July 26, 2018


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Lone Wolf Knives Paul Executive New Handles
Lone Wolf Knives creates some great knives. The Paul Knives have been a hit since they reintroduced them years ago. These Executive models are really great and the handles are striking. The Snakewood is just really classy. The inlaid model is worked by Santa Fe Stoneworks and is really handsome.
Here is the material from Lone Wolf Knives: Continue Reading


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Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes
Lorde, the New Zealand singer behind the breakout hit "Royals," is nominated in four categories and is slated to perform at the "56th Annual Grammy Awards." 8 p.m. CBS
Past contestants Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici will be pronounced husband and wife after saying their "I do's" on a very special episode of "The Bachelor." 8 p.m. ABC
Peter has a bone to pick with the man upstairs vis–a–vis the outcomes of pro football match-ups on a new "Family Guy." 9 p.m. Fox
"Castle Secrets & Legends" stops by the Tower of London – a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to lose your head there. 10 p.m. Travel Channel
Those who felt that sinking feeling and lived to tell the tale do so in the special "Sinkholes: Swallowed Alive." 7 p.m. National Geographic Channel
The titular mother (Cristin Milioti) finally tells her side of the story on the 200th episode of "How I Met Your Mother." Does that mean Bob Saget got the day off? 8 p.m. CBS
Viva España! Adam Richman, Samantha Brown, et al., sample the sights, sounds and smells of Spain in the special "The Trip: 2014." 8 p.m. Travel Channel
The debate over illegal immigration in "The State of Arizona" is mapped out in this new documentary on "Independent Lens." 10 p.m. KOCE
Auto enthusiasts restore classic cars to showroom condition in the new unscripted series "Rods N' Wheels." 10 p.m. Discovery Channel
Jon Stewart and Ted Koppel are among those saluting the late, great Washington Post editorial cartoonist Herbert Block in "Herblock: The Black & the White." 9 p.m. HBO
Hip-hop's J. Cole kicks off a six-night/six-concert "Super Bowl Blitz" hosted Nick Cannon and Stacy Keibler. 11 p.m. VH1; also Tue.-Sat.
Broadcast and cable channels over live coverage of President Obama's "2014 State of the Union" address. 6 p.m. CBS, NBC, KTLA, ABC, Fox, KCOP, KOCE, CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News Channel, Fox Business News, MSNBC
"The Capones" are descendants of mobster Al Capone, but their "family business" is just a humble Italian restaurant in this new series. 7 and 7:30 p.m. Reelz
See how the stars slim down for their big-screen roles – the camera adds ten pounds, don't you know – in the special "Celeb Boot Camp." 9 p.m. E!
"Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials 2014" surveys memorable spots from big games past. Boomer Esiason and Sarah Shahi host. 8 p.m. CBS
Hey, hey, they're the monkeys: Indonesia's endangered crested black macaques are featured on a new "Nature." 8 p.m. KOCE
The 2013 doc "Who Is Arthur Fogel?" (expletive deleted) profiles the music promoter who helped U2, Madonna and others make big bucks on the concert circuit. 8 p.m. Epix
Remains to be seen: "Nova" examines some Bronze Age corpses exhumed from a bog in Ireland in "Ghosts of Murdered Kings." 9 p.m. KOCE
Hawking, Stephen "Hawking." The superstar theoretical physicist is profiled in this new documentary. 10 p.m. KOCE
Fleming, Ian "Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond." Dominic Cooper plays the novelist who created Agent 007 in this four-part docudrama. 10 p.m. BBC America
Nathan Fillion ("Castle," "Firefly") guest stars on "Community." 8 p.m. NBC
So long! Ann and Chris (Rashida Jones, Rob Lowe) prepare to bid Pawnee adieu on a new "Parks and Recreation." 8:30 p.m. NBC
Unsportsmanlike conduct: "Saturday Night Live Presents a SNL Sports Spectacular" compiles sports-themed sketches from the late-night comedy show. 9 p.m. NBC
Sportsmanlike conduct: Pro football's finest speak out against bullying, prejudice and discrimination on the third-annual "Characters Unite: NFL Stars." 7 p.m. USA
Acting legend Christopher Plummer portrays legendary actor John Barrymore in William Luce's bio-drama "Barrymore" on a new "Great Performances." 9 p.m. KOCE
Sing us song, you are "Piano Man," da? "Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust – The Bridge to Russia" recalls the musician's 1987 visit to the Soviet Union. 9 and 10:30 p.m. Showtime
Fiddle-dee-dee! Vivian Leigh and Clark Cable star in the Oscar-winning 1939 adaptation of the Margaret Mitchell novel "Gone With the Wind." 7 p.m. TCM
Into the woods: Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Beyoncé Knowles and Colin Farrell lend their voices to the animated 2013 forest-fable "Epic." 7:15 p.m. HBO
You gotta be a football hero to be among the players feted at the "NFL Honors." Alec Baldwin hosts. 8 p.m. Fox
Good as gold: The TV movie "The Gabby Douglas Story" tells the true-life tale of the Olympic gymnast. Gabby Douglas, Regina King and S. Epatha Merkerson star. 8 p.m. Lifetime


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One Last Chance for Stump Removal in Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls residents who still have a tree stump on their property in the public right-of-way are running out of time to get the stump removed.
City officials said recently that the grinding of tree stumps was nearly finished, and now residents are being told they have until November 8 to request a contractor do the work during one final pass of stump-grinding.
The City says trees in the public right-of-way that were removed either by residents or private arborists after the April ice storm are eligible for this service.
It has been a big undertaking. More than 1,300 stumps have been removed at no cost to property owners.
Tree and branch clearing operations on City-owned drainage properties is going on now, with the work scheduled for completion by the end of November.
For more information or to request a tree stump be removed, you can call the City Public Works Department at 367-8600.


text: « All Events This event has passed. Cat Adoptions May 18 @ 11:00 am - 6:00 pm|Recurring Event (See all) Event Navigation « Dog Adoptions Cat Adoptions » Come visit all of our cats available for adoption. All of our animals have been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, FeLV tested and microchipped. + Google Calendar+ iCal Export Details Date: May 18 Time: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Event Category: Cat Adoptions Website: https://www.hcws.org Organizer Heaven Can Wait Animal Society Website: https://www.hcws.org Venue Petsmart 7050 Arroyo Crossing Parkway Las Vegas, NV 89113 United States + Google Map Phone: (702) 407-0330 Event Navigation « Back Next »


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"Spinnerbaits in White or Chartreuse colors work good on any day, work then along the banks of the lake...." Lake Howard
"Drop shots and spoons are taking a lot of good fish. They are just hanging on those bluffs looking for baitfish to go by...." Mitchell Lake
"Buzzbaits are taking some good bass, too, on the outside edges of the grass, but you have to use a trailer hook because they are just kind of slapping at it and short..." Lay Lake
"A good current break is a rock upriver. The spots will sit right behind the rock to ambush prey as it washes by. Throw your bait upriver, and tight-line it over the..." Jordan Lake
"The bass fishing in the Coosa River is amazing. I have had tons of fun floating down it casting spinners, crankbaits, and swimbaits. Deeper holes, under dams, and fallen..." Coosa River


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Vancouver Whitecaps FC have an idea of what they want to do with Paulo Jr. And the Brazilian's future in British Columbia could be wide open.
The club attained the rights to Paulo Jr. on Friday, selecting him with the 10th pick of Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft. While the 23-year-old's natural position is striker, he has played wide as well – and this could be where he fits in with the 'Caps given their lack of a natural right-sided midfielder.
"I think [head coach Martin Rennie] saw him play on the right side with Miami FC [now Fort Lauderdale Strikers] and feels that might be his strongest position," Greg Anderson, Whitecaps FC director of professional teams, told MLSsoccer.com on Friday evening. "If we are able to get something done with him, that's probably the position that Martin would be looking at for him."
The club now has seven days to tender the player a "genuine" offer in order to secure his rights for next season.
Paulo Jr. played in 22 matches in 2012 for Real Salt Lake, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Twelve of those matches were starts.
While he's a player that could bolster Vancouver's lineup should he come to terms with the club, the side also said farewell to one of its original MLS Whitecaps, John Thorrington.
The 33-year-old spent much of his two seasons with the club on the sidelines due to a number of health problems related to a back injury, but was a key figure when healthy, often starting in central midfield. Even when unavailable to play, he was seen as a mentor, and had spoken of his enthusiasm for helping the club's younger players as they made their push for first-team minutes.
"John was an important piece of our club for two years, and we really enjoyed having him here," Anderson said. "We wish him all the success with his next club."
Anderson said the club had extensive talks with Thorrington and his agent, but the two sides couldn't come to an agreement that worked for both parties.
"We had a lot of discussions with his agent trying to make something work," Anderson said. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to get to that point – but we did have a lot of discussions over it."
Martin MacMahon covers Vancouver Whitecaps FC for MLSsoccer.com.


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Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
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But isn't that what the spoiler threads are all about?? lol
I kinda think what Weezie said at sucks was good Terry chooses supplies over a clue and then "thrives". He will find it later.
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Tom Udall on Free Trade
Democratic Jr Senator; previously Representative (NM-3)
Proponents support voting YES because:
Rep. RANGEL: It's absolutely ridiculous to believe that we can create jobs without trade. I had the opportunity to travel to Peru recently. I saw firsthand how important this agreement is to Peru and how this agreement will strengthen an important ally of ours in that region. Peru is resisting the efforts of Venezuela's authoritarian President Hugo Chavez to wage a war of words and ideas in Latin America against the US. Congress should acknowledge the support of the people of Peru and pass this legislation by a strong margin.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
Rep. WU: I regret that I cannot vote for this bill tonight because it does not put human rights on an equal footing with environmental and labor protections.
Rep. KILDEE: All trade agreements suffer from the same fundamental flaw: They are not self-enforcing. Trade agreements depend upon vigorous enforcement, which requires official complaints be made when violations occur. I have no faith in President Bush to show any enthusiasm to enforce this agreement. Congress should not hand this administration yet another trade agreement because past agreements have been more efficient at exporting jobs than goods and services. I appeal to all Members of Congress to vote NO on this. But I appeal especially to my fellow Democrats not to turn their backs on those American workers who suffer from the export of their jobs. They want a paycheck, not an unemployment check.
Proponents support voting YES because:
Rep. RANGEL: In recent years, trade policy has been a dividing force. This legislation develops a new trade policy that more adequately addresses the growing perception that trade is not working for American workers. The Trade and Globalization Assistance Act would expand training and benefits for workers while also helping to encourage investment in communities that have lost jobs to increased trade--particularly in our manufacturing sector. The bill is a comprehensive policy expanding opportunities for American workers, industries, and communities to prepare for and overcome the challenges created by expanded trade.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
Rep. McCRERY: We should be considering trade adjustment assistance in the context of trade opportunities generally for US workers. That is to say, I think we should be considering modifications to our assistance network in the context of the pending free trade agreements that are before the Congress. Unfortunately, we are not doing that. We are considering TAA in isolation. [We should instead] restructure TAA from a predominantly income support program into a job retraining program. Other problems include that H.R. 3920 would:
Write New Rules for the Global Economy
The rise of global markets has undermined the ability of national governments to control their own economies. The answer is neither global laissez faire nor protectionism but a Third Way: New international rules and institutions to ensure that globalization goes hand in hand with higher living standards, basic worker rights, and environmental protection. U.S. leadership is crucial in building a rules-based global trading system as well as international structures that enhance worker rights and the environment without killing trade. For example, instead of restricting trade, we should negotiate specific multilateral accords to deal with specific environmental threats.
Declares that the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact should be allowed to expire under its own terms on September 30, 2001. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Article I, section 10 of the United States Constitution should not be used to renew the interstate economic protectionism of our Nation's early history.
The mission of the Cato Institute Center for Trade Policy Studies is to increase public understanding of the benefits of free trade and the costs of protectionism.
The Cato Trade Center focuses not only on U.S. protectionism, but also on trade barriers around the world. Cato scholars examine how the negotiation of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trade agreements can reduce trade barriers and provide institutional support for open markets. Not all trade agreements, however, lead to genuine liberalization. In this regard, Trade Center studies scrutinize whether purportedly market-opening accords actually seek to dictate marketplace results, or increase bureaucratic interference in the economy as a condition of market access.
Studies by Cato Trade Center scholars show that the United States is most effective in encouraging open markets abroad when it leads by example. The relative openness and consequent strength of the U.S. economy already lend powerful support to the worldwide trend toward embracing open markets. Consistent adherence by the United States to free trade principles would give this trend even greater momentum. Thus, Cato scholars have found that unilateral liberalization supports rather than undermines productive trade negotiations.
Scholars at the Cato Trade Center aim at nothing less than changing the terms of the trade policy debate: away from the current mercantilist preoccupation with trade balances, and toward a recognition that open markets are their own reward.
The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.
Ratings by USA*Engage indicate support for trade engagement or trade sanctions. The organization's self-description: "USA*Engage is concerned about the proliferation of unilateral foreign policy sanctions at the federal, state and local level. Despite the fact that broad trade-based unilateral sanctions rarely achieve our foreign policy goals, they continue to have political appeal. Unilateral sanctions give the impression that the United States is 'doing something,' while American workers, farmers and businesses absorb the costs."
VoteMatch scoring for the USA*Engage ratings is as follows :
The Progressive Caucus opposes awarding China permanent Most Favored Nation trading status at this time. We believe that it would be a serious setback for the protection and expansion of worker rights, human rights and religious rights. We also believe it will harm the US economy. We favor continuing to review on an annual basis China's trading status, and we believe it is both legal and consistent with US WTO obligations to do so. The Progressive Caucus believes that trade relations with the US should be conditioned on the protection of worker rights, human rights and religious rights. If Congress gives China permanent MFN status, the US will lose the best leverage we have to influence China to enact those rights and protections. At the current time, the US buys about 40% of China's exports, making it a consumer with a lot of potential clout. So long as the US annually continues to review China's trade status, we have the ability to debate achievement of basic worker and human rights and to condition access to the US market on the achievement of gains in worker and human rights, if necessary. But once China is given permanent MFN, it permanently receives unconditional access to the US market and we lose that leverage. China will be free to attract multinational capital on the promise of super low wages, unsafe workplace conditions and prison labor and permanent access to the US market.
Furthermore, giving China permanent MFN will be harmful to the US economy, since the record trade deficit with China (and attendant problems such as loss of US jobs, and lower average wages in the US) will worsen. For 1999, the trade deficit is likely to be nearly $70 billion. Once China is awarded permanent MFN and WTO membership, the trade deficit will worsen.
|Other candidates on Free Trade:
|Tom Udall on other issues:
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On average, European Union adults aged 15+ years drink 27g alcohol per day, more than twice the world's average. One in eight of this consumption is from unrecorded alcohol, which, with the exception of ethanol, is not normally a health risk. One in eight citizens consume 60g or more of alcohol at a time at least several times a week (1, 2).
- Shield KD, Kehoe T, Gmel G, Rehm MX & Rehm J. Societal burden of alcohol. In: Anderson P, Møller L, Galea G, editors. Alcohol in the European Union Consumption, harm and policy approaches. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2012. [Download]
- Rehm J, Shield KD, Rehm MX, Gmel G & Frick U. Alcohol consumption, alcohol dependence and attributable burden of disease in Europe: Potential gains from effective interventions for alcohol dependence. Canada: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; 2012. [Download]


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5 Nib Calligraphy Set
by Manuscript
Explore calligraphy, the artistic expression of writing, with this exemplary set. The set includes one Standard Calligraphy Pen with band, four cartridges of black calligraphy ink, converter, and 5 nibs: Fine, Medium, Broad, 2B and 4B. It also comes with metal storage tin and an informative instructional leaflet to help you get started. Replacement ink cartridges are also available.
Replacement ink cartridges are also available.
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Average User Rating: Based on (7 Reviews)
5 7
Carol W. from Marysville, CA says:
This set is wonderful while traveling on a 64-day Mediterranean Cruise. It is great to have choices of nibs-fine, medium and broad at your fingertips to use with various black lettering styles.
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ProTrainings Health & Safety Products Store
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We are only able to ship to mainland UK and there may be additional delivery if you are from Scotland or Northern Ireland. Please ask for a quote. All items are sent by trackable delivery, so you will need to sign for them when they arrive or arrange redelivery with the carrier/post office.
You may also visit the ProTrainings Apparel and Merchandise Shop to purchase ProTrainings T-Shirts and other items with our logo. If there is something you need and cannot find it here, visit our First Aid Equipment Store, which has more than 1000 items.
ProTrainings Online Certification Courses
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There are many different first aid kits available and a selection are listed here. if you would like other types please email us.
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Connectives and Collectives: Learning Alone, Together
box - Dabbawala - one who carries the box. This is a network of people who collect and distribute in excess of 200,000 meals a day in Mumbai.
encyclopedia - Wikipedia.
news site - Ohmynews.
marketplace - Seekers, solvers and a marketplace.
MIT Center for Collectove Intelligence: how can people be connected in order to work collectively?
Don't fight the internet. Don't fight human nature.
In most colective and collaborative activities, human nature is overlooked. For example, 'wearesmarter' tried to get people to collaborate to write a textbook. But people don't want to be submerged in a project like that.
The basis os any collective activity is the self.
- the brain is physical and confined; but the mind is flexible, the mind is external (you rely on external thoughts, external reminders). The mind is social.
- The individual mind *must* communicate - to connect, to form relations.
- our ability to speak is in essence a way to externalize the self. Language is a tool to demystify myth - we make it clear and understand.
- at its core, language is a social function (Wittgenstein's box of beetles).
- symbols - 'carriers of previous patterns of reasoning' - reflective of how we thought at one time. Symbols, then, are things we use to externalize ourselves.
Technology as language?
Our concets, then, are help at least partly externally. These are expressed socially, and as socially, are socially shaped. [Image of 'Formula of Concepts'] Example of how we understand the word 'right' in a context. As the context changed the collectively help viewpoint of language, our understanding changed.
Roy Pea: Intelligences are distributed across minds - but also across technologies. Rubber hands (we substitute touch sensation to the rubber hand we see) and bananas (when a monkey eats a banana, or watches another monkey eating a banana, the same area of neurons (mirror neurons) are firing).
Polysensory data: substituting video information with stimulations on teh tongue - we csn replace 'sight' with sensaion. Hence the phenomenon of 'blindsight'. (Paul Bach-y-Rita)
(SD: numerous examples showing the same sort of thing)
We can extend ourselves with tools, with technology, with language, with signals. The mind is enormously robust, enormously plastic.
BUT: our intgration and extension of self involves a preservation of self. (*key point*)
Our notion of self is not just physical, but still also the way we extend ourselves. It isn't created through socialization, but it is shaped, and manifests itself socially.
Connectives maintain an autonomy of self. A mosaic. It's the difference between creating a blog and creating a wiki.
Collectives, hoever, involve a subsumption of self. There is a coercion of a sort. These all involve a complexity of activity that requires the inclusion of many people. Creating an LMS, for example. The identity of many people has been subsumed. In many cases, that's fine, but we need to look at where it's not. Because, after all, innovation is deviation.
We used to assign names to inventions. Bt with contemporary corporatization, we have removed the name from the invention. The iPod should be the 'wePod'. In 75 years, we have gone from the individua to the company to the network as th innovator.
But - this raises issues of freedom and control. At the heart of collaboration and maships and the rest, you are playing with such issues.
Networks can result in complex tasks. Underlying all this is the idea of the network. And the network is based on the idea of the individual.
Look at the continuum of strength by connection: from individual (atoms) to groups (or what Geprge is calling collectives here). Individuals create new ideas, novelty, are diverse. Groups require some sort of normalization, some sort of subsumption of identity.
We need the diversity of opinion. Scott Page: diverse people working together and capitalizing on their indviduality outperform groups of like-minded people.
We say we like diversity, but diversity is a pain. It's the person who says "Wait a miunite, what about...?" who is the pain.
Pedagogical implications:
Three areas of choice:
- degree of agent autonomy
- degree of complexity
- degree of task specialization
When we design learning (and other systems) we have to decide which element to stress. Flying a plane, for example - should we grant the pilot complete autonomy?
These are the three key elements we need to look at when we consider what degree of individual freedom we want. (SD - this is a great point)
Robert Calliou - we need to solve the problem of combining our thinking as individuals to solve the enormous problems - global warming, food shortages, etc...
The impact, thn, starts to be seen in the design o technology. Neil Postman - techn ology has a 'give and take' element. Technology gives, but does it take? Plato: does writing impair our faculty of memory?
The technology we use is embedded with social and political artifacts. But does this hinder technology, or help? It creates a new medium for previously unconnected others to communicate. (haythornewaite)
Downes: to know' something is to be organized in a certain way, to learn is to acquire these particuar organizations.
So - is this learning?
- Core content? Our typical model.
- Core content that is co-created with external experts? That's better.
- Let's also bring in peripheral learners - list members, discussion group members, etc. Creates more diversity of input - we will likely have better quality content.
- Let's distribute the idea of 'faculty' among these diverse groups. Open , external experts, the rest. A very rich, very diverse learning experience.
We have a model where we say that:
- we recognize each learner has to have a unique stance, a unique identity
- we recognize that each learner needs to be connected to others
Vannevar Bush: notion of associative trails of content. They experience content not just how we as experts present it, but from numerous sources, where they jump from one source to another to another - they become critical thinkers.
And we want this, bcausde it isn't the content that makes an education, but rather, th ability to continue to learn more.
Freedom of fragmntation: we used to have our wor presented to us. A newspaper. A book. Today, we have a very fragmented world, where we get our information from many sources. That kind of fragmentation gives us new freedoms and opportunities.
For example: when learning from a tecaher, I wuld typically listen, read sources recommended by, be tested according to, the ideas of the individual who has created the course. A very consolidated whole. But today we have fragmented sources. That allows us to repurpose the ideas.
There is:
- a freedom to fragmentation - to get fragments
- a freedom of fragmentation - to be a fragment - to fragment our own thought in numerous places, sources
(SD: this needs to be clarified)
It's the end of the grand narrative, and the beginning of the personal narative. We create narratives not just persoanly, but in particular contexts.
The downside of fragmentation: overload. Too many sources, too many ideas. Too fragmented, too distributed. So the challenge is now in how to pull things together. Some interesting technologies:
- Twitter - and simple social tools. Gossip and trivial talks is typically viewed as a distraction, but (see Zufecki (Dunbar) 2008 - these are in essence the human version of social grooming in primates.
So, the challenge is: how do we preserve the unique values of connectives and collectives. Eg. how do we retain our ability to focus when, say, reading a book? (I have a rule - read one journal article before reading email).
We need to:
- design for varying levels of connectedness
- value the collective effort (the contribution to the whole) - but - what is the role of the individual in that process? What is the role of the agent?
The need for human sociability outstrips the design of our courses, the design of our institutions. It outstrips the flow of information that goes top to bottom. We need to take into account how the mind can integrate all kionds of sources, with great fluidity. Technology plays a similar role to that of language.
We can really improve the learning of our students if we use D2L effectively. If we encourage them to learn socially, they learn much more than they could from me as a faculty member.
We are now at a point where we ned to say, we now understand enough about the social nature of learning (Vytgotsky, Papert, Seely Brown, Wenger), and we also understand the idea of using technology to connect. We have that unique broth, and we just need to season it. Our institutions are barriers, the design of courses is a barrier.
a box - social and procedural nature of interaction
an encyclopedia - a storehouse
a news site - a flow
a marketplace - a forum of exchange
We need to recognize that 'collective intlligence' is not neutral in and of itself. All of them exist as a network in nature, as a node and a connection. But these all vary in strength and connectedness.
The nature of the connectedness we design into our courses is essentially a power relationship. It is a way of defining who will have what identity, and how. It's why you can't just slap down a wiki and say 'contribute'.
3 comments:
- alexanderhayes said...
> It's why you can't just slap down a wiki and say 'contribute' <
I agree.
I recall the same thing being said to the founder of Wikipedia.
What transpired was something markedly different and if you were to remove all the ciphers and signs you'd have one big conversation which transcended all languages.
Somthing of value I would have thought.
It was also a consideration which guided the first iteration of the Mobilizethis06 event which drew together locals and glocals in a fusion of ideas.
The act of invitation as the personal political.
The idea of no keynotes, an open theme list and an opportunity for presenters to choose their preferred means of platform and style for engaging others cross-sectorally appeals only to a few.
Others charge indulgently for the opportunity to engage in acts of connectedness as identity building.
One cant seperate personal and political as one cant claim that a hive mind filtered through a value laden email list is any more a contribution to a body of knowledge than a sole blogger, a key noter or a link spammer.
The very nature of connectedness demands that courses take a new course. Designing in anything IS like slapping down a wiki and saying contribute.
Have we replaced 'value' with 'connectedness' in an attempt to map identity building ?
What becomes of the will of individuals when they guided by design to contribute in one long drawn out slap-down ?
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text:
Man Plays Dead, Survives Boko Haram Massacre. Now Seeking Assylum In U.S (pic)
Ikenna Nzeribe was the sole survivor after assassins from Boko Haram stormed his Nigerian church in 2012, just 60 miles from where the jihadists last month abducted more than 200 girls.The church massacre remains vivid for Nzeribe three years later -- as are the scars on his face, neck and arm.
The Muslim extremists fired shots into the air and shouted "Allah Hu Akbar," or God is great.
Nzeribe and 13 other Christians hit the floor.
They were mourning how Boko Haram earlier had killed three fellow Christians, but now Boko Haram was coming for them.
The masked gunmen shot the 13 worshippers in the head, fatally.
Now it was Nzeribe's turn.
"As soon as I saw the man, I knew it was over for me," Nzeribe, 33, said about the gunman. "The only thing I could do was say a last prayer, which was 'Blood of Jesus cover me.'
"And that was it for me," he told CNN.
Nzeribe, a handsome banker, was shot in the face with an AK-47 assault rifle, blowing away his jaw, lips and part of his tongue.
He faked death -- "until they finished," he said.
He bled profusely.
"I would say I died in the process," Nzeribe added. "But God brought me back to life."
Rescuers took him to a local hospital in Mubi, a suburban area in northeastern Nigeria where he was part of a Christian minority and where the mass shooting in church occurred.
He was later flown to London, where surgeons reconstructed his face.
Nzeribe recalled looking in the mirror for the first time post-surgery.
What he saw was "a very different person," Nzeribe said, shaking his head. He stopped the interview, wiping away the tears and finding composure after long breaths.
A zigzagging scar runs up Nzeribe's chin to his upper lip. His mouth is even more disfigured, but at least he can talk, in soft tones. And he has a great laugh, though he can't smile.
He's had more than a dozen surgeries, with more pending. He's now recovering in Houston, where he receives treatment and lives with his wife and their baby, joining a Nigerian immigrant community whose residents find the climate similar to their native country's. His attorney, Frank C. Onyenezi, is working on Nzeribe's immigration status.
"We've come a long way," Nzeribe said of his surgeries and reconstructed face.
He's flattered to hear how he appears younger.
"It gives me confidence," he said of his surgically reconstructed face. "It gives me hope."
A devout Christian whose tale has been publicized in the religious press, he said has forgiven the gunmen of Boko Haram, whose mass abduction of Nigerian schoolgirls has outraged the international community.
"The first thing I did was to forgive them," Nzeribe said. "Had they known better, they couldn't do that."
But Nzeribe isn't naïve: He is warning the world about how Boko Haram and its leader, Abubakar Shekau, commit atrocities with impunity.
"Everything he says he will do, he does them," Nzeribe said. "It gives them a sense of fulfillment and makes them want to do more.
"Just like al Qaeda, they are very, very destructive," he added.
He now prays for the kidnapped 276 girls, still missing in Nigeria.
Nigerian girl escapes Boko Haram


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Meaning of air conditioning unit
Air Conditioning Unit
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Physics and thermodynamics
Glossary of physics and thermodynamics terms
Meaning and definition of air conditioning unit :
Air conditioning unit: A piece of equipment designed as a specific air treating combination, consisting of means for ventilation, air circulation, air cleaning and heat transfer with control means for maintaining temperature and humidity within prescribed limits.
The meaning and definition indicated above are indicative not be used for medical and legal purposes
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First Sanford, next Weiner?
Mark Sanford's post-election morning began like this: Any lessons for Anthony Weiner in your victory?
"I wouldn't presume to give any other politician advice," Sanford told CNN.
Story Continued Below
The social media and pundit consensus after Sanford won his old South Carolina congressional district over Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch was that there was no politician who could be more grateful for the outcome than Weiner, the former congressman who resigned amid scandal and who's eying a comeback of his own.
On television Wednesday morning, Daily Beast publisher Tina Brown declared Weiner was probably high-fiving himself in the mirror. That sentiment prevailed on Twitter as well — the view that redemption in South Carolina's first district would have a carry-over effect to New York City's five boroughs.
( PHOTOS: Scandal pols: Where are they now?)
For weeks, liberals such as HBO's Bill Maher have suggested that if South Carolina voters exonerated Sanford, New Yorkers might well be willing to do the same for Weiner.
Weiner has yet to make clear whether in the coming weeks he will do what almost everyone close to him expects: enter the moribund race to replace outgoing Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Polls show the former congressman would register in the mid-teens should he jump into the already-crowded Democratic mayoral primary.
But for the past few months, Weiner's own problems — a scandal involving an accidental tweet of his underwear-clad crotch to a stranger two years ago — has been paired in the press with those of Sanford, who was caught lying about hiking the Appalachian Trail as he pursued an affair with an Argentinian woman.
( QUIZ: Do you know Mark Sanford?)
Surely, the thinking goes, the voters of the liberal Upper West Side will be as forgiving as those in South Carolina's heavily Republican 1st Congressional District.
What's more, Sanford was viewed publicly as the underdog — one who national Republicans walked away from after his ex-wife accused him of trespassing in violation of a court order. Yet Sanford continued to campaign hard, engaging with every voter he could. That could provide comfort to Weiner, whose retail campaign skills exceed any of the Democrats running.
Weiner, who closely follows not just media trends but all things political, isn't immune to such discussion, even if he isn't engaging in it himself.
But all manner of sin is not the same. And such discussion doesn't mean Weiner will delude himself into thinking these are similar races, even if the post-scandal playbook has been very similar.


text:
Ryan, our fellow blogger, inspired me twice in the creation of this blog. First, I wanted to show how easy it is to write a blog. Second, he posted in the forums about something that made me want to respond. I could have responded in the thread, but since Julius gave me this soapbox (and pays me 3 times as much as Ryan ), I figured I'd post it here.
Ryan was engaging in two of our favorite past times here at AFi. Talking about how he hopes Mattel will make some of his favorite characters AND reviving long dead threads. While I'll leave the sleeping threads to others, discussing the merits of one character over another is not something I can pass up. In this case, a DCUC version of the classic Silver Age version of Adam Strange. My take is not that creating this is good or bad, but why not use something else until Mattel gets around to it.
The other current competing line of DC 6 inch figures is DC Direct. To be fair, DC Direct is actually a bunch of lines, where they are often artist specific versions. This might bother some collectors, but the various groups give us characters which we can use to fill in our Mattel collection until Mattel makes them. Above we have Ryan Choi Atom, Elongated Man, Mera, silver age Adam Strange, Geo Force and Metron.
DC Direct fans can also take advantage of this idea in reverse. Using Mattel to fill in their DC Direct collection. If you group the Mattel characters together, you could pretend they are just another artist version. Above we have Toyman, El Dorado, J'emm Son of Saturn and Samauri. With the current focus on the modern DCU, I do not expect to see the Super Friends as figures from DC Direct any time soon.
Taking this one step farther, Hasbro had a short lived line of 6 inch DC heroes. I am rather fond of the Shazam above because the styling is a bit more cartoony than Mattel or DC Direct's versions and to me, that fits the character.
I like getting to choose which version is my favorite. I like the Ronnie Firestorm from Mattel and I am using the Brightest Day Firestorm to represent Jason in my collection.
What gives me the greatest satisfaction is mixing them together. My current line up of the classic JLA consists of figures from Mattel and several of DC Direct's lines. Ed Benes Batman, Superman and Aquaman. Dodson Wonder Woman. Mattel Flash and Martain Manhunter. Green Lantern is from Green Lantern Series 1.
The odd thing I've found is that some people sell off their DC Direct when Mattel produces the same character. So, Mattel, hurry up and make that Huntress so I can get the one from Hush for a reasonable price! (I need it for my Morrison era JLA.)
And since Ryan started it, here is a bonus.
6 Comments »
could not agree more about mixing dcdirect and Mattel figures since that way most fans are almost close to having their own dcu in plastic or just use the dcdirect as place holder till mattel makes said character. and love the video
I actually mix DCD and DCUC because it helps me build the DC Universe faster than waiting for Mattel to release their versions. And yes, I was one of the recipients of the DCD collectors selling their DCD's in exchange for the DCUCs. Try checking how the DC Universe looks if you mix both DCD and DCUCs here in my collection http://www.flickr.com/photos/totsandnotions/sets/72157625162630649/
Nice blog and great examples to illustrate all your points.
I do need to point out that you are using and highlighting Batman, Superman, and Aquaman by Ed MCGUINNESS, not Ed Benes.
Otherwise, keep it coming
Ugh. Sorry, but the MCGunness figures look terrible next to the DCUC's. I do have Mera in there, though, even though she's a bit taller than Arthur.
That's awesome. By the way, you guys should check out this awesome site
on mind control. Check out all the fun games and facts! http://controlofthemind.com/
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text:
Like/Dislike Stamp Set
Thumbs up!
- Like and dislike things - just stamp away.
- Self-inking, so you don't have to.
- Thumbs up and thumbs down included at no extra charge.
History Time: The thumbs up/thumbs down gesture for approval/distaste (and which gesture means which) comes from Ancient Roman times - specifically, instructions to the gladiator on whether or not to spare his opponent. But here's the thing: the Latin term for this is Pollice verso, which translates to "turned thumb." If you consult the writings of old dead Roman people, you'll find even they contradict each other on which one is really approval and which is distaste. But, who cares: we of the present have decreed thumbs up to be good and thumbs down to be bad. And that's the model that the Like/Dislike Stamp Set perpetuates.
Each Like/Dislike Stamp Set comes with two, self-inking stamps (that's why we call it a set). Use the Like stamp for things you like and the Dislike stamps for things you don't like. For instance: we like origami - so though we will probably crush the little paper swan, we're gonna stamp it with the Like stamp. We don't like TPS reports, so we'll save the Dislike stamp for that. And why did we provide these further instructions and examples for such a straight forward product? Simple: to fill up space. YAY. Get your Like/Dislike Stamp Set today, and ink up your future with your opinion tomorrow.
Like/Dislike Stamp Set
- Set of two stamps - for every occasion.
- Self-inking, for your convenience.
- Set includes one of each stamp.
- Dimensions: 3" x 1.25" x 2.5"


text:
Old dogs listen up! New tricks can be learned! It takes an extra bit of effort, but it's worth it. I think that beauty is mysterious but fair mistress, and the more you do to keep her, the longer she will stay. There's a myth that beauty is pain, a harsh dominatrix who desires nothing but your suffering to sate her perverted desires. She wants your blood, your hunger, your money and she gives you back the empty pleasure of your vanity – but I realize that this is not a true being. There is no evil queen, no sleep inducing poison apple, no one is the fairest of all and that's not the way beauty is. Beauty is more like a friend who has some conditions on the friendship, so not a true real deep friend, more of a shallow one. Like "you give me a ride to the airport, I will pick you up at the airport" kind of buddy. You wash your face at night, I won't make your face erupt in adult acne in the morning. You use toner on your t-zone, I won't aggravate your combination skin. You find the right color of lipstick, I will make valet parking attendants bring your car up around first and give it to you for free (of course I insisted on paying – but such is the strength of knowing your own colors).
My mother first informed me of the idea that beauty was pain, as she plucked her own thickly natural eyebrows into the hard, 70s spare lines of the era. "Beauty is pain" she said blankly, as her black eyebrow hairs seemed to turn brown because of the redness of her angry skin underneath her ineffectual Maybelline tweezers. This was a time before Tweezerman and Shu Uemera before we could really pluck those tiny hairs in microscopic earnest. I believed her and ruthlessly tried to avoid beauty for much of my young and then adult life. I am not a masochist. I don't want pain. And therefore, beauty and I are incompatible. I no longer believe this to be true. To be beautiful is actually to be aware of yourself as art, and to frame your art in a way that is unique to yourself and easy to yourself and fun to yourself. We are just masterpieces waiting to be framed and mounted and lighted then worshipped. We are worth this, as we are more priceless than anything.
In the last few months I have been practicing this "myself as art" theory, and I have seen a marked improvement in areas that needed a boost, and it hasn't cost me any more money really. It's an investment in time, but not a lot, and it's helped me feel good about myself, which is all we really need on earth, to feel good. To not have dread when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror – which I would do – I would actually feel horror at my own reflection, wishing myself a vampire, wishing myself undead so I would have to endure the image of my ugliness. I don't feel ugly anymore, and no one has called me that in a very long time (believe me I used to hear it often, maybe more than once a day – seriously!). I am editing my closet and makeup drawers. I am wearing what is attractive on me on my face and body and really only that. Everything I have – its sole purpose is to flatter me, and if it doesn't, it's gone. Into a pile that might hopefully flatter someone else, out of my life to welcome another jacket/boot/shirt/scarf/lipstick/eyelash that will realize my beauty further. Make everything work in concert to bring out the beauty in you. Old dogs are the best at learning new tricks because we have been through it all, we know who we are, we know all about it.
Some youtube videos are excellent tutors and teachers. My favorite – Catalina is a genius. She's Korean and probably could be my daughter. She's lovely and so smart and also has great tips for skincare. We have similar skin. I have learned a lot from her especially regarding sensitive skin and how to do my eye makeup.
I love these girls – Korean too! park and cube – gorgeous style, photographs – and also Shini is very funny. She's amazing. She looks like she could be in my family also – there's a striking familial familiarity. I love her posts.
This blog – Luxirare – is also exceptional – in so many ways. I am obsessed with Ji Kim's design and her cooking and I want everything she posts – either to eat or to wear. I am constantly floored by the creativity of people, and the art which they choose to make from their lives. This blog is really a lesson in how we can live, how we should live – what is possible. We should live every moment like this. I plan to.