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Who We Work WithAre Some of These Situations True for You?
Your organization acts like a well-kept secret and today's customers just won't work as hard to become a member of your association, as did the "the club" of loyal members, all entering retirement now?
You've become the executive director or chief staff person of a national association or certification program within the past year and now that the year of going around to meet and listen to all of the divergent views is over, you still have to come to grips with how you will increase membership and come up with services and products that are not easily found through a Google search or replicated by another non-profit or for-profit business.
Everyone talks a good game when it comes to professional development, national standards of practice, ethics, continuing education credits and keeping certifications current. Still, your numbers are down and your customers are finding other ways to keep their jobs or create the winning bid for contracts, through other avenues.
You've sent your people to marketing seminars and sunk money into technology solutions and upgrades, but they still lack the business experience and strategic mind to make a difference with your current members and customers.
You've seen your ideas and strategies work before, but your team and the organization struggles with turning your wishes into intensely practical actions, according to your plan. They have energetic meetings and exchange email but can't seem to put the implementation steps in the right order.
Your industry, your credential or your professional service business is considered "emerging" and fast growing, such as coaching or microelectronics. That means you have a lot of great conversations among colleagues but few will ever be your customers and many will become your competitors. Marketing and customer connections are something you have to have in aces, to succeed. It's not your passion or talent and you've invested too much in your craft to fail because you cut corners on marketing.
You know the web site is the most critical business tool in the world. You know that is how people are looking for what you represent or provide. The web builders you've found are nice, young-looking people who are into "cool" tools but really don't get it when it comes to the complexities and nuances of your professional association, trade association, certification program or professional service business. Nobody has ever explained what a web site can do to make each one in your organization "an army of 10."
Which Clients Are Most Likely to Succeed Using Our Approach to Communications and Marketing?
Our clients share many of the following characteristics. If these fit you as well, you are likely to benefit immediately and throughout the engagement.
Visionary and intensely practical
You see the big picture and implementation options at the same time. You know there needs to be a system or a way to "pull it all together" so it fits your mission and customers you can accept.
Integrity and credibility
This drives your business and differentiates you. For the most part, you are in the information business. Knowledge, privileged information and networks generate revenue. You manufacture nothing. You are not a sales channel for products produced by others.
Lifelong learner
As a leader, you know you don't know everything. You see technology changing the functions and core of your business or organization, quickly and continuously. You engage outside experts for what they will do for you and what you can learn by working closely with them.
Determined to change the world
Believing in the mission or cause of your organization is not enough. You are both an evangelist and leader for your type of certification or your membership categories. You work on creating your own techniques or approaches. You see groups of specialists or entire business sectors who are actively seeking what you are about to release or wish to promote.
Sense of humor
Creativity and innovation throughout your organization results in laughter and the courage to venture outside the box while getting use to thinking new ways about communications, web sites, and customer preferences.
Willing to invest in yourself and your business
You know that our expertise, objectivity and "in the trenches" experience with more than 300 organizations for the past 25 years is the best investment you can make.
Very knowledgeable about your business and specialty
You are an expert yourself and have many national experts within your organization or customer camp. Being the "go to" organization or "voice of the industry" means a lot.
What's Our Next Step?
Now that you have a better idea of the issues, concerns and challenges facing our clients and the types of clients who are successful, click here to find out more about How We Work.


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For weeks we've been waiting on the poor, poor 'Vettes to be rescued from the National Corvette Museum sinkhole. Today the efforts finally began. Two of the eight Corvettes were plucked from the darkness below. The blue 2009 ZR1 was even able to start up and drive 20 feet. Here's video of the recovery:
Next on the list was the 1993 Ruby. In rough shape, she didn't emerge as beautiful as the Blue Devil. Good thing restorations will begin in August, after the cars have been displayed at the museum to show off the sinkhole's damage.
Tomorrow the crew will go after the black 1962 Corvette. The recovery will be tricky because a five-ton slab of concrete is sitting on the hood. We're glad to have heroes like these:
RELATED: 25 Things You Didn't Know About the Chevrolet Corvette
RELATED: 25 Corvette Lines in Rap Music
[via National Corvette Museum]


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KES 2005 Special Invited Sessions on MultiAgent System: control and dynamic knowledge managment.
Venue: Hilton on the Park
|Event Date/Time: Sep 14, 2005
|End Date/Time: Sep 16, 2005
|Registration Date: Jun 01, 2005
|Early Registration Date: Jun 01, 2005
|Paper Submission Date: Apr 15, 2005
control and dynamic knowledge managment.
Session Chair: Pr. Alain Cardon
Organization: Mickael Camus
The Domain
The field of the complex systems in computer science is nowadays of
great interest and the most exciting discoveries are yet to be
made. The complexity is a main character in all the living phenomena,
where the behavior is difficult to predict, leading to unpredictable
In applied mathematics, complexity is well studied from chaos and
dynamic systems. But computer science also focus researches about
complexity. We are interesting on the behavior of ecosystems,
economical and social systems, turbulence and meteorology, evolving of
large towns, consciousness, multi-criteria decision systems... They
are new representations of the real world.
Computer science interests to the simulation of complex systems, and
must interest also to the in-line control of the complex systems. And
for these two case, on have to uses sophisticated techniques, as
massive multiagents systems or the new neural networks. Then, the
complexity of the modeled real systems is transposed in the computer
systems ones, where one have to manage the problems of architecture,
control, re-organization, adaptativity, evolution… We are on the way
of the artificial life.
The session must study the complex system as simulation tools of the
real ones about the best conformity, and must also studied the
complexity in software architectures themselves, in the control of
parallel process flow, the control of evolving organization of
software components, the control of the adaptivity to the context.
Fundamental topics of the session
General topics
Complex systems : specific computational characters
Adaptive systems : from reaction to self-adaptativity
hinking systems : artificial consciousness
Characters of the complexity
self organization : organization managed by its own characters
emergence : property of selection of the best characters at the good time
computational complexity : cost of the computation and reduction
massive multiagent systems : platforms, agentification methods, control.
Application domains of the session
Biological ecosystems with representation and prediction.
Artificial life using robots.
Decision system for the economics or the military operations.
Adaptive software.
Each paper submitted will be reviewed by at least two referees in the
relevant areas. Accepted papers, after revision according to the
referee comments, will be included in the conference proceedings,
which will be published by Springer-Verlag in Lecture Notes in AI as
part of the LNCS/LNAI series. At least one author of accepted papers
must register and present the paper at the conference.
Please note that papers should be no longer than seven pages in LNCS
format. Papers longer than this will be subject to an additional page
charge. All oral and poster papers must be presented by one of the
authors who must register and pay fees.
Extended versions of selected papers will be considered for
publication in the KES Journal (International Journal of
Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Engineering Systems) published by IOS
Instruction for Authors
Only electronic copies of the papers in Microsoft Word, or PDF format
are acceptable for review purposes and must be sent to the session
chair, Mickael Camus (via email).
Please refer to the Springer-Verlag web site for directions on the
Final Paper Format which must be strictly followed for all papers that
are to appear in the proceedings.
Deadlines & Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 15 April 2005
Notification of acceptance: 25 April 2005
Registration deadline: 1 June 2005
Session Chair
Pr. Alain Cardon
Mickael Camus
Invitation Only


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Classical Guitar
What's the difference?
At RGS, we teach authentic classical guitar lessons in the traditions of Manuel Barrueco and Andres Segovia. You get the benefit of learning the true classical guitar from trained professionals in that style. The classical guitar is a much different animal technique-wise than the acoustic or electric guitar, and very different in mindset, theory, approach, and interpretation. You need a true classical guitarist to help you journey into the rich traditions of classical music – and that is exactly who we have on our staff here at Richards Guitar Studio.
Learn to sight read music notation on the guitar. Play music from 600 years of the greatest composers who ever lived, from countries all over the world. It is a musical journey you can't imagine until you see it for yourself!


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One of the best tips for lowering moving costs is to pack and organize. It sounds simple, but you would be surprised how fast moving day sneaks up on you. By packing all of your small or loose items into sealed boxes you are cutting down clutter. Smaller items actually slow down your moving team.
One way to help reduce clutter is to donate or sell any items you haven't used in a while or don't really need. Use local charitable organizations, garage sales and online classifieds to pare down as much as possible before your move.
Tustin, CA, CAL. P.U.C. - T123720; Hayward, CA, CAL. P.U.C. - T123720; Poway, CA, CAL. P.U.C. T123720; Portland, OR, O-DOT 030242;Dallas, TX, TX DOT 005466449C or Atlas Van lines, Inc. Texas Agent under TX DOT 005017368C; Eagan, MN, MN DOT 375523; Nashville, TN, TN DOR 62160302701; Baltimore, MD, MD 033015819; State of Washington, WUTC HG-26188.


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Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)
Senior Employment Program
SCSEP provides assistance to people age 55 and older who need a job. We provide participants for area nonprofit organizations that agree to provide on-the-job trianing and supervision. The ultimate goal is finding the participants unsubsidized jobs. In addition to Woodbury County this program also serves Buena Vista, Cherokee, Ida, Lyon, Plymouth, Sioux and Woodbury.


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I loved this Verve sentiment and flower from "Kindness Matters." .They were perfect for my Mojo Monday card for this week. Here's Julie's lovely sketch:
I used CTMH Sugar Rush paper and a Hello Lovely PML card that both resembled confetti.
Thank you for visiting! I challenge you to scatter kindness everywhere and watch your world follow your example!
Mojo Monday #493 - Sketch
Sisterhood of Crafters - Stamped image, not digi
Try It On Tuesday - Add a Quote
Word Art Wednesday #278-279 - anything goes/family friendly


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Does my favorite birdcage liner dislike classical music? Judge for yourself.
On March 22, the paper ran a story about an upcoming violinist, Augustin Hadelich, written by Colin Eatock in TORONTO. Yes, in the Canadian town about a Houston Symphony concert
I don't think that blurb was free since writing stuff like this is Mr. Eatock business. Who paid for the article?
But wait, wait there's more. On the same weekend, HSO .performed Verdi's Requiem, one of the really big highlights of the 2014-2015 season. How well did Mr. Orozco-Estrada do with a large scale orchestra, the full chorus and vocal soloists? This is the stuff that tells how good the music director of a symphony really is. Where was the review?
The review was was AWOL, GWTW, MIA. I guess that someone forgot to give Houston's "newspaper" the news. It sure as hell ain't providing classical music news in Houston.


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Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian would have left little more than lipstick stains in their passing had it not been for the sex videos that lofted them into reality-TV notoriety. Once notoriety has warmed into familiarity, celebrity itself becomes one big 'Brady Bunch' reunion, or a therapy session with Dr. Drew.
I was so inspired by Dr. King that in 1956, with some of my brothers and sisters and first cousins - I was only 16 years old - we went down to the public library trying to check out some books, and we were told by the librarian that the library was for whites only and not for colors. It was a public library.
God bless America - what other civilization would give Patrick Dempsey another shot to rule as a sex symbol, twenty years after 'Meatballs III: Summer Job?' His reign as Dr. McDreamy on 'Grey's Anatomy' is proof that there's nothing we love more than giving Eighties celebs a heartwarming second stab at life.


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Thursday, April 18, 2013
The five most popular posts
This week is the blog's fifth anniversary (founded April 20, 2008). I thought I would show you the five all-time most-visited posts. Yes, that's an obvious thing to do on an anniversary – however, because this is an educational blog, I pay close attention to which topics are attracting readers the most.
Here are the five posts:
"Having said that." Most writers who use this fad expression confuse and irritate their readers. (October 1, 2008)
The danger of euphemism. How a nurse used a politically correct euphemism in order to increase the self-esteem of an incarcerated serial rapist; the euphemism allowed the rapist to escape. (November 21, 2008)
Empathetic and persuasive writing. Dale Carnegie analyzes a sales letter by telling us – line by line – how he reacts as a reader of the letter. Do this kind of analysis yourself and make your letters (emails, ads, web site) more empathetic and persuasive. (August 30, 2010)
A common fallacy. We writers should diligently strive to avoid using fallacies. One of the more common fallacies is "cherry picking." (February 7, 2011)
Mixed metaphors. Thomas L. Friedman is a heavy user of mixed metaphors. He appears to be genuinely unaware of how clownish his writing sounds. But with three Pulitzers on his resume, Mr. Friedman can get away with such carelessness. Unfortunately, you and I cannot. (February 25, 2013)
The Takeaway: Thank you for your attention – today and over the years. I welcome your suggestions on topics to cover; please email me at joeroy(at)joeroy(dot)com. Best to you.
See disclaimer.
Posted by Joe Roy at 9:30 AM
Labels: affectations, empathy, euphemism, evasion, fallacies, honesty, logic, mixed metaphors, persuasion, political correctness
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Iran: We'll move enrichment plants if necessary
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran may move its uranium enrichment facilities to safer locations if this becomes necessary, a senior military commander said Wednesday, reflecting Iran's worries about a possible military strike against the sites at the center of Tehran's standoff with the West.
Both the U.S. and Israel have not ruled out a military option against Iran's controversial nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making atomic weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying the program is geared toward generating electricity and producing medical radioisotopes needed to treat cancer patients.
Gholam Reza Jalali, who commands an anti-sabotage unit in the powerful Revolutionary Guard, said the vulnerability of Iran's nuclear facilities from a possible strike is "already minimal" but that the move still may go through for their better protection.
"If conditions require, we will move (our) uranium enrichment facilities to safer locations," Jalali was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying.
Iran ignores request to return drone
Cheney: Obama has not acted to stop Iran nukes
U.S. drones have spied on Iran for years
Iran's main uranium enrichment site in Natanz in central Iran is built partly underground while the long-secret Fordo facility was built deep inside a mountain as a precaution from aerial attacks. Jalili said the existing infrastructure has already been "a kind of deterrent" against attacks.
"Our vulnerability in the nuclear field is minimal," Jalali claimed. "If Americans and Israelis were able to attack and harm our nuclear facilities, they would have definitely done so by now."
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, who has covered Iran for years, says the suggestion that relocating facilities as vast and complex as Natanz might help shield them from attack is somewhat dubious, as any such operation would take a very long time to organize and carryout, and would certainly be closely watched by U.S. spy satellites.
Jalali's unit was set up on an order from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and is tasked with reducing the possibility and minimizing damage from potential military action against Iran.
Natanz is of key concern since it is the country's main enrichment site and the location of the bulk of its centrifuges machines that are used for enriching uranium in a technology that can produce either fuel for power plants or fissile material for a nuclear warhead.
Natanz computers have been the target of a cyber attack in 2009 and experts there have had to battle a powerful computer worm known as Stuxnet, which has the ability to send centrifuges spinning out of control.
Iran acknowledged Stuxnet affected a limited number of centrifuges at Natanz but said its scientists discovered and neutralized the malware before it could cause serious damage.
Jalali did not elaborate on possible sites for the relocation of nuclear facilities but such an effort would be hugely complicated and would require places able to store the technology safely.
In August, Iran announced it was moving some of its centrifuges to Fordo, just north of the holy city of Qom, because that site offered better protection from possible air strikes but did not later elaborate on the move or say whether the centrifuges came from Natanz.


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Hispanics and individuals in low income brackets are the least likely to have paid sick time, according to a study from the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR). What's more, the researchers found that while the overall number of sick days in the United States has increased since 2009, but more than 40 million workers still lack access to paid sick days.
According to researchers, lack of sick days is most common for workers in fields that deal closely with the public–jobs that often put individuals at the most risk for germ contraction and spread. Approximately 24 percent of employees in Food Preparation and Serving Related occupations, 31 percent of workers in Personal Care and Service occupations have access to sick days with pay.
"Workers who have close contact with the public, such as home care aides and restaurant workers, rarely have access to paid sick days," Barbara Gault, Vice President and Executive Director of IWPR, said in a press release. "Expanding access to this important benefit is in everyone's interest."
According to the researchers, Hispanic individuals are the least likely to have paid sick days compared to all other racial and ethnic groups; 47 percent of Hispanic workers in the United States have access to paid sick days, compared with 64 percent of white workers, 62 percent of black workers, and 66 percent of Asian workers.
The importance of sick days
A lack of paid sick days may not seem like a big deal, but according to the Public Welfare Foundation, how workers are compensated for the time they are ill can make a big difference in how diseases spread through the population. Individuals who are low-income and who often live paycheck to paycheck rarely take time off when they are sick since there is no method of compensation. This means these workers–often those who are preparing food or otherwise in close contact with the public–go to work even when they are ill with a sickness that could easily be spread to others.
What's more, offering paid sick days can decrease the amount of mental stress on a worker, improving their job performance overall. The concern, of course, comes in with employees abusing such privileges–a complication that makes small business employers not want to offer paid time off. For Hispanics, who traditionally come from large families, paid sick days are also seen as an important asset for caring for family members, even if the employee themselves isn't ill.
"When you're hiring part-time retail individuals, it's hard to cultivate a culture where they're really loyal," Karen Davis-Farage, president of a go-kart racing business in Jersey City, New Jersey, told the Wall Street Journal. "If someone says they're sick, are they really sick? Hopefully you get the right behavior."
Some evidence suggests having workers come in when they are sick actually costs a company more than it does if they had taken the day off. Not only are sick workers not as productive when they come to work, they run the risk of infecting those around them, causing more people to need time off all at once.
Originally published on VOXXI as Paid sick days? Not if you're Hispanic, says study


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Membership benefits
Membership in the Alliance brings many benefits.
All members receive these benefits :
> Member Company information on the Secure Identity Alliance Website and use of the logo on Members Website.
> Members benefit from the Secure Identity Alliance brand exposure and reach (thanks to its liaisons with other industry associations and partnerships with industry events and publications) thus increasing traffic to individual Member websites.
> Members benefit not only from discounts on selected industry events (Secure Identity Alliance Members special negotiated rates) but also opportunities to speak at conferences on behalf of the Secure Identity Alliance.
> Members participate in workgroups/ network with peers/ meet with professionals driving the evolution of the market and push joint initiatives for the industry.
> Members attend plenary meetings of Secure Identity Alliance.
> Members gain an in-depth understanding of how eDocuments and eServices work and their many applications and use cases.
> Members influence how the market will go and gain an advance look at how the technology will evolve.
> Members meet other organizations that are involved in eDocuments and eServices production and delivery and jointly find new uses for the technology, which will create new business opportunities for all.
> Members highlight their company as "tech savvy" and "citizen friendly".


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Ken Silvestri represents an experienced choice for commercial broker real estate needs in Lexington, KY. He has been excelling as a commercial broker since 1999, and his real estate experience dates back to 1990. With more than twenty-five years of professional involvement, it's no surprise that Silvestri is a top performing commercial real estate broker in Lexington, KY.
With unparalleled local knowledge and a solid feel for market changes, Silvestri gets dependable results time and time again. Being a commercial broker in Lexington, KY is no easy task, but the fast pace and dynamic landscape provide a rewarding daily challenge. Whether the commercial broker activity involves commercial listings, leases, rentals, lots, or land, Silvestri Commercial Real Estate is one of the most trusted names in Lexington.


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Most Accurate MLB Experts Past 4 Years
Moderator: Baseball Moderators
SaintsOfTheDiamond wrote:Mookie4ever wrote:Hey, congrats Pogo! What is JTWood doing with a pic of your kid?
That's what I was wanting to know too.
Congrats Pogo. All I've got to say say is you better raise her right.
congratulations manRed Stripe wrote:Major Props
Tavish wrote:Awesome, always great to see another future Royals fan come into the world.
Pogotheostrich wrote:Thanks everybody.
How long can you go without sleep? j/k She's been a great sleeper. *knocks on wood*
JT/Sluggers pretty much summed up why he had the link.Tavish wrote:Awesome, always great to see another future Royals fan come into the world.
Tavish you can choose your response.
1. That's child abuse.
2. Kansas City still has a team?
3. That's almost as bad as being a Cubs fan. Almost.
Pogotheostrich wrote:1. That's child abuse.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests


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Employees of Flexcel Customized Manufacturing Solutions in Post Falls know how important it is to make a first impression. An on-site service for customers is a hallmark of the firm that manufactures metal office furniture, panel systems and file storage products.
They extend that corporate ideal to the environment and want to ensure that first impressions of motorists entering Idaho are positive and lasting. That's why they have been cleaning Idaho's first mile of Interstate 90 at the Washington border the past decade.
That commitment to environmental stewardship earned Flexcel employees District 1 Adopt-A-Highway Group of the Year honors from the Idaho Transportation Department last week.
In a Thursday presentation at the district office in Coeur d'Alene, representatives accepted a plaque and a clock fashioned from a sample Idaho license plate from Transportation Board member John McHugh.
The company's core values could serve as a standard for groups participating in the state's Adopt-A-Highway program, according to Shirley Walson, of ITD's traffic section, who coordinates cleanup activities in the Panhandle.
"Flexcel Customized Manufacturing Solutions, a unit of Kimball International, operates under a set of guiding principles. One of the guiding principles focuses on the company's self-appointed responsibility that states:
How seriously do employees take their responsibility? One highway cleanup volunteer found dried bones of a coyote along the interstate and took them home to study. Another found an emblem from a private vehicle that was used to replace one missing from the volunteer's own Ford.
Kimball International produces furniture, related components and electronic assemblies for customers throughout the world. The Flexcel office in Post Falls is one of nine operating under Kimball. Others are located in Indiana, Kentucky, Mexico and China.
ITD's statewide Adopt-A-Highway program organizes the cleaning of Idaho roadsides by volunteer groups. Those groups "adopt" a specific stretch of highway – usually two miles long – and take responsibility for keeping it clean through regular litter patrols.
More than 1,100 groups spent approximately 30,000-person hours statewide removing litter in 2005. About 50 percent of state highways have been adopted, leaving ample opportunities for other groups and individuals to become involved.
The volume of material collected from the shoulders of Idaho makes a tremendous difference in the appearance of Idaho's highways, said statewide AAH coordinator, Sherie Sweaney.
Volunteers collected more than 2.3 million pounds of litter, resulting in a savings to the state of nearly a quarter-million dollars that can be applied to other projects that improve safety and driving conditions.
For more information about adopting a stretch of highway, contact Sweaney at (800) 443-2878.
Published 7-28-06


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We all have fears. Fear of heights. Fear of death. Fear of public speaking. Fear of spiders. Fear of small, enclosed spaces. The list goes on.
As a mother, I have my own set of "mommy fears." They almost all involve harm to my children in some form or another. Some of my fears involve harm to me or my husband which would then result in emotional harm to my children. Some of my fears are worse than others. Some are terrible, unspeakable tragedies that befall thousands of families every year. Some are nonsense, but fears nonetheless.
This week one of my greatest, nonsensical fears came to pass.
This week my family got…LICE.
I am tempted to stop my blog right here because there are just no words for this. No. Words. But I'll do my best because it's important that I continue my quest at keeping it real.
This was no ordinary weekend. This was the weekend after the 4th of July. This was a weekend in which we had company…dear friends of ours who come every year for the 4th of July. The same dear friends who were here in February when my oldest daughter got the flu…the only time in the existence of our family that we have dealt with the flu. These wonderful friends came back…again…even though the most ridiculous things happen when they come. Somehow they still love us enough to enter crazy.
We had had a great weekend. A longer than usual visit with them as the 4th fell on a Thursday and they took Friday off of work. We got 4 whole days with them! Such fun! We don't see each other for months at a time, so 4 days with them was something I had eagerly anticipated! We had a picnic in the park. We watched fireworks. We swam. The kids slept all over the floor in sleeping bags. We grilled. We watched movies. We talked and chatted and laughed until Saturday night.
Saturday night. When I got a tiny glimpse of Hell. Saturday night. When my nonsensical fear was no longer a fear, but a reality. Saturday night. When the "itching" of the last two days suddenly made perfect sense. Saturday night. Loathe.
My friend, Terri, and I were marching the littles off to bed that night discussing the movie we were going to watch and plans for the next day after church. As I was brushing the last head of kid hair after bath time, I started noticing some strange bite marks on the back of Daughter #1's neck. "Do those itch?" I asked. "Yes. And so does my head," she said. My mind quickly jogged back in time to my own shower earlier in the day when I scrubbed my hair, not once, but twice, because my scalp seemed so…itchy. My neck had been itchy as well. I attributed all of this to lots of ponytails, time in the sun, sweat, water. Whatever. Because I was NOT going to let my mind go there…to a nonsensical fear. No way. But here I was standing in the bathroom with #1 at 10:30 on Saturday night, holding my breath as I parted the top of her hair. And there they were. Those demon bugs. The ones that have met me only in my nightmares. #1 had lice. Horror.
I rushed to get Terri to confirm this tragedy. She did. I then burst into the bedroom where Daughter #2, Daughter #3 and their friend (we'll call her F1 for simplicity's sake) were tucked away in sleeping bags. "WHOSE HEAD ITCHES?!?!" One hand after another lifted high in the air while other hands scratched away making me wonder if there would be any flesh left on any of their scalps come morning. "Everyone to the bathroom NOW!" If I thought #1 having lice was horror, I'm not sure what word I can use to describe my feelings when I found Satan's little helpers crawling around on #2 and F1. Panic? Terror? Disgust? Dread? Fear? I can't really conjure up a word at this point. Let's just say I was FREAKING OUT!
Out the door I went, thankful that we have a 24 hour pharmacy within a mile of our house. For all I knew these bugs could have been living with us for a week, but now that I knew they were here they had to be decimated. Immediately. After spending a small fortune at Walgreens (keep in mind we had 10 heads to treat. Ten Heads! Tragic.) I came home to begin a very long night of hair combing and scalp examination. In my absence, the very helpful children had gathered every pillow, blanket, sleeping bag, comforter, sheet, hat, scarf, outfit, towel, etc. they could find. If hair had touched it, if hair was capable of touching it, I demanded it be added to the pile.
We will now take a moment to discuss Lice Laundry as it deserves it's own segment. It's own paragraph. It's own zip code! Lice Laundry will be in Hell. There will be a special room in Hell where people will be required, by Satan himself, to do Lice Laundry. I can't begin to get you to wrap your brain around the sheer AMOUNT of laundry I am talking about. We had 10 people who had been living in this house for 3 days. We had used EVERY towel we own for bathing. We had used EVERY beach towel we own for swimming. We had used EVERY bed for sleeping. EVERY pillow for lounging. Extra linens from the closet for picnicking, throw blankets for snuggling, you name it, our heads had been on it. We own 9 comforters (don't even ask me why…this is a problem in excess that I will now be looking further into) and 4 sleeping bags. We had used them. ALL.
And then there are the unlaunderable (just go with it), inanimate objects that overflow from every nook and cranny of this not-so-little house. These would be the stuffed animals. I don't know if my children have an strange, over-abundance of affection to offer, but apparently we own EVERY stuffed animal EVER created for them to love on and fawn over. They were coming down the stairs in the hundreds, possibly thousands. I am sure of it. Black trash bags filled with potential lice-carrying hellions everywhere.
And the lice treating began. One little head at a time. We started with Daughter #4 who is only 1 year old. Bless her, she didn't have a clue what was going on. It was 11 PM. She was still out of bed. There was a pile of clothes (ideal for jumping in!) spread out over the entire downstairs. And mommy was yelling. A lot. #4 was being dowsed in some kind of stink that she wasn't allowed to eat or touch. Confusion ensued.
Daughter #3 next. Then #2. F1. Each sent to bed as we were now well into tomorrow. As we sat #1 down to begin the combing process, it became apparent that this is where the havoc began. Surely. As I was wiping out each combful of these demon thieves who were stealing my sleep, my joy, my daughter's blood, I was freaking out. Silently. Behind her where she couldn't see my silent screaming. And where my friend was trying to silent reason with me, reminding me that my freaking out was not helpful for an 8 year old at 2 am. Noted.
We went to bed at 4 am. After 10 heads had been treated. After I had put a tiny, minuscule dent in the Lice Laundry (Yes, it will continue to be capitalized out of sheer respect for it's magnitude…think national monument, mountain, small country…you get the idea.) We curled up on beds of nothing. No sheets, no blankets, no pillows. Go ahead, shed a tear for us. It was a sad, sad 3.5 seconds of sleep after which we woke to do the very tasks that would consume my next 5 days: head checking and Lice Laundry.
I will spare you the details of the next 5 days, the monotonous torture that was my life. I started to slip into the depths of lice-covered despair with every head check, every nit pulled out and flushed down the toilet. 5 days of what felt like prison, trapped in my own house with nowhere to go, not wanting to chance sending Satan's little minions to the heads of other unsuspecting hosts. 5 days of misery with tiny glimpses of light and love. My glimpses of light and love came in the form of people.
This brings us to the more uplifting portion of our segment. This is where we will give thanks to the brave men and women who sacrificed time and chanced personal head-hygiene to help this desperate mother of 4 in her hour of need. This goes out to my heroes.
Terri: Had I been you, visiting friends when lice chaos ensued with a myriad of daughters and more hair than humanly imaginable, I would have packed up our belongings in black trash bags, given you an air hug from the door and bid you adieu. But you stayed. You survived on lack of sleep and very little nourishment (did we even eat?) to help me comb and comb and comb. You solidified your position (as if it needed any more solidity) as one of the dearest friends a girl could ask for as you even combed through my hair at 3 am. You have endured more text messages this week than AT&T should allow and listened to my endless hours of whining. You are an amazing friend.
George (Terri's husband): Thank you for vacuuming carpet, spraying cars and furniture with lice spray, dashing to Walgreens at a moment's notice for more spray and bobby pins and milk and baby butt cream (Note: Baby butt cream was completely unrelated to lice…so was milk.) Thank you for being at my beck and call even though I'm not your wife. Thank you for enduring my freaking out and the craziness that comes with a house full of lice-covered females.
Suzanne (my neighbor / 24 hour on-call school nurse who was on a trip with family this week): Thank you for letting me use your washing machine/dryer to wash pillows and comforters while you were away. Thank you for responding to the 2,417 phone calls and text messages, the endless lice questions, and being yet another source reminding me that it'll be ok and that we aren't the dirtiest people on the face of the earth for having lice. Thank you for all of your reassuring words and your endless knowledge of all things medical. I wish I had a 1/16 of your brain…it's so smart.
Patricia (our women's leader at church): Thank you for coming to my rescue after my 18th freakout on Monday night. Thank you for going to the store for Cetaphil and chocolate (the Twix bars you brought served as two of my meals this week. No judging.) Thank you for helping me treat heads even though the method was…weird…and rock a baby and entertain my children as I…wait for it…combed through hair and did Lice Laundry.
Donna (a sweet woman from church): Thank you for taking our friendship to a new level as you sat in my kitchen at midnight and went through my hair since I can't see the top of my own head. There are few "church people" that have been on this level of real with me. Congratulations. I will now call you every time disaster strikes.
Lisa D. (another sweet woman from church): Thank you for moving the Tuesday night gathering at my house to your house on very short notice. Exposing a houseful of women to lice was not my intention when these meetings began. It's interesting that our study is on the book "Unglued." Coincidence? I think not.
Lisa F. (we have a lot of sweet women at church): You know why I love you. That's all I'm gonna say.
Thank you to a kind friend who reminded me that lice don't care about our SocioEconomic Status. This helped keep my vanity in check.
The Hubs: Thank you for staying in Estrogenville + Lice this week. Thank you for continuing to hug me and for not shaving the childrens' heads. Thank you for helping with late night vacuuming and stripping/remaking beds. Thank you for coming home early to help with dishes and cleaning and letting me take a shower in peace and quiet. Thank you for helping with bedtime while I…combed through hair. Thank you for living in crazy awesome with me. You're my favorite.
Well there you have it folks. This was my week. I learned how much laundry can actually be done in 5 days if you skip meals, sleep and interaction with the other human beings in your house. I learned how many hairs are on each of my childrens' heads. I learned that I can conquer my nonsensical fears. Here's to hoping that I am not forced to overcome anymore anytime soon (i.e. driving across bridges over large bodies of water, finding/drinking a fly in my coffee, shopping without coupons.)
Oh and if you think lice are no longer on my Nonsensical Fears list, you are right. They have moved up a notch and now hold a position on my Actual Fears list as they are truly a tiny glimpse into Hell…where there will be lice. Just one more reason not to go there.


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In Australia, employers are required to provide a safe workplace for their employees, and the specific requirements that employers must meet are outlined under the OHS Law. This law, which may also be termed the Work and Health Safety Act, should be known by both employers and employees. By understanding it more fully, workers can take action if violations are present, and employers can take steps to ensure that they are providing a safe workplace for employees that meets legal standards established under the OSH law
The Intent of the Law
First, employers and employees should understand what the specific intent of the law is. One important intent of the law is to define what common risks to employees' safety are and to decrease these risks through precautionary measures. Furthermore, it provides a uniform minimum requirement that all employers must meet to ensure the safety of their workers while on the job. The law features specific, itemized rules to accomplish these goals.
Determining Risk for Specified Job Duties
The OHS law goes into detail regarding how to determine what the specific risks for each job function are. Many jobs require workers to perform more than one task over the course of the day, and all of the duties that the employee is responsible for during the course of a workday should be analysed to determine the risk. These risks may vary from job to job and from employer to employer, and the OHS law has established a regulator to visit each office or workplace to ensure that the employer and employee performing each job duty are aware of the risks and that proper measures have been taken to reduce the risks associated with these job duties. There are specific rules that regulators must follow when entering a workplace, and employers should understand what these rules are and what actions the regulator may legally take. Furthermore, the employers should also understand how they may be penalised if they are not in compliance with the law.
Understanding and Minimising the Risk
Employers are required by law to determine what the risks of each job function are and to minimise those risks as much as possible. For example, with some specific job functions, employers may be required by law to invest in safety equipment that can keep employees safe. Some positions are risker to perform than others, and workers who are involved with more dangerous work functions should be made aware of the dangers and risks of their position. Education about how they can remain safe while performing their job functions may also be required under the law.
The OHS law in Australia is very detailed, and it can be complicated to understand. However, because it is designed to protect valued employees from risk while also minimising the risk of liability in the workplace related to employees' injuries, it is a highly beneficial law for all parties. Employers and employees alike should take time to learn more about the law and to ensure compliance in the workplace. A HBA diploma ohs, qualifies you or your employee to assess your business and make sure that it is compliant with OHS law.


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This easy to make Mushroom Pâté is a tasty vegetarian rendition of the French classic. Better still, the pâté can be frozen and used as a flavourful addition to soups and stews. Slow cooked (or confit) duck leg meat can be substituted for mushrooms if you're not a fan of mushies. PLUS share your favourite mushroom recipe
to WIN a copy of my Mushroom Sauce mini eBook! Congrats to Jayne!
Mushrooms are one ingredient that you either love or hate. Personally, I am a mushroom lover. I have been known to put sliced mushies on grilled cheese sandwiches – something I inherited from my years growing up in Poland where the only "junk food" available back then were grilled Mushroom and Cheese Baguettes sold on most street corners.
Creamy Mushroom Sauce is my favourite topping for steak. I've even created this mini Mushroom Sauce eBook with 5 nifty uses for the sauce and 10 flavouring ideas.
Mushroom Sauce eBook Giveaway (Closed): Simply leave a comment telling me your favourite mushroom recipe – the tastiest sounding recipe will win so get creative. I'll pick announce the winner on Monday 1st July. And the winner is…Jayne! Congrats and thanks to everyone for sharing their yummy mushroom creations.
PS For the next couple of posts, I am going to go a little butter heavy. Why? Because, unless you are vegan or lactose intolerant, pure butter makes for a much healthier choice than any other (especially "vegetable" oil!) spread. It tastes better, and if you are after a more natural spread butter is it. More about the ins and outs of the Butter vs Margarine Debate on Friday.
|Prep Time
|2 -4
|10 minutes
|Cook Time
|10 minutes
The mushroom Pâté can be served alongside your favourite crackers or toasted bread, but is also great for freezing as a paste and adding to soups, stews and sauces. You can use slow cooked or confit duck leg meat in the recipe - just add 1/2 cup of white wine at the start.
- 500 g button mudshrooms
- 2 tbsp butter or ghee
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2-3 tsp sea salt plus extra to taste
- 1/2 orange, zest and juice
- 1/4 cup port
- 20 g butter or ghee
- Brush off any dirt from mushrooms and slice them finely.
- Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add mushrooms, thyme, pepper and salt. Cook stirring until the mushroom have browned and wilted.
- Add orange juice, zest and port and cook for a further minute or so, stirring, for the liquids to cook down. Add extra salt if desired. Remove from heat.
- Using a stick blender, blend mushrooms until smooth (or leave it lightly coarse if you prefer). Divide pâté between 2 ramekins - or spread one serve into an ice cube tray if using for sauces, and allow to cool.
- Melt butter or ghee and pour over the top of the pâté. Allow to set before serving.


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Welcome to the 11th annual Turkey Trot
hosted by the Green Bank Observatory in beautiful Green Bank, WV!
November 24, 2018
Burn off that Thanksgiving Feast by racing our traditional 5K or our 10K trail run!
NEW THIS YEAR: 1K Gobble Wobble for kids 8 and under and their parents!!!
All proceeds of the Turkey Trot will support the Pocahontas County High School track team and the William Dilley Scholarship.
Both RUN races begin and end at the Green Bank Science Center on the GBO campus. (The walk, which will begin immediately after the 5K race starts, is non-competitive.)
The 10K trail run is a fun mix of flats and hills with fields and wooded single track, offering behind-the-scenes views of new and historic telescopes and nature areas.
The 5K course follows paved site roads for the most part. Short sections are on well groomed trails. While you race, you will have a great view of our telescopes including the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the world's largest fully steerable dish!
- Races begin at 1:00 (10 K), and 1:10 pm (5 K Run/Walk).
- Age divisions for the RUN are 13 and under; 14-19; 20-29; 30-39; 40-49; 50-59; 60 and over.
- Prizes will be awarded to each divisional winner.
- An awards ceremony and post-race pizza and fellowship will finish out your afternoon.
Registration available at RunReg.com
5 K and 10K Fees:
- $20.00 by Nov. 15, 2017 (guaranteed a t-shirt)
- $25.00 after November 15th (Deadline for online registration is November 21, 2018- may not get a shirt)
- $25.00 on race day (may not get a shirt)
- Race day registration starts at 11:30 am


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A history of more than 80 years.
Our story begins with Cyrus L. Baxter, who in 1937 transformed an association with Cincinnati Milacron into his own architect business. In his first few years, close to 90 percent of Cy's work was for Milacron. Over the next seven years, Cy demonstrated an uncanny ability in assessing talent when he hired Jack Hodell, Jim Donnelly and Jim Preston. Each had graduated with distinction and went on to show an artful affinity for the business and for Cy. In 1960, they combined their names to make Baxter, Hodell, Donnelly, and Preston, Inc. – now known as BHDP.
The partners expanded the firm's areas of expertise from primarily manufacturing and workplace to higher education and retail with projects for clients such as the University of Cincinnati and Tri-County Mall. The year 1970 saw an extremely influential partnership when BHDP completed the first of many projects for Procter & Gamble. Working elbow to elbow with one of the world's most forward-thinking companies taught us to flex our imaginations, to challenge the obvious and to see human needs as the foundation to build upon.
By the time BHDP moved to our present location in downtown Cincinnati in 2002, the firm boasted a portfolio of award-winning projects and a roster of more than 100 of the most talented architectural thinkers, designers and relationship builders anywhere.
Today we have expanded our presence and our reach. In addition to our main location in Cincinnati, we have an office in Columbus, Ohio and Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as projects all over the world.


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Adam Sandler's Grown Ups 2 looks set for embarrassment at the Razzies after picking up eight nominations ahead of the annual awards ceremony for the year's worst movies.
Sandler, a perennial Razzie "favourite", saw his film beat rivals such as Will and Jaden Smith sci-fi bomb After Earth, festive celluloid piffle A Madea Christmas and ensemble turkey Movie 43, all of which scored six nominations. The winners will be announced the day before this year's Oscars on 1 March.
Grown Ups 2, which was co-written and produced by Sandler, is nominated for worst movie, worst sequel, worst ensemble, worst screenplay, worst lead actor (Adam Sandler), worst supporting actor (Taylor Lautner) and worst director (Dennis Dugan). If Sandler "triumphs" in the worst lead actor section, it will be his third such victory in a row. However, he will face stiff competition from After Earth's Jaden Smith, The Lone Ranger's Johnny Depp, Jobs' Ashton Kutcher and Bullet to the Head's Sylvester Stallone. If the latter wins it would be a remarkable 31st Razzie for the erstwhile Rocky star.
The nominees for worst actress include Naomi Watts for her turn as Princess Diana in Diana, Lindsay Lohan for The Canyons, Selena Gomez for Getaway, Halle Berry for The Call and a cross-dressing Tyler Perry for A Madea Christmas.
Razzie winners and nominees are decided each year by the 750 members of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, except for the worst screen combo prize, which is chosen by users of the Rotten Tomatoes website. Banking on the fact that high-profile Hollywood figures such as Sandra Bullock and Halle Berry have in the past turned up to pick up their awards in person, organisers hope to broadcast this year's ceremony live, with the help of an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.


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Penner Family
Owned & Operated
Since 1992
Click On A Service To Learn More
"We Love to Create Clean!"
It Was The Dog!
Who Me??
Tired of guessing who to call for your cleaning needs only to find out you picked the wrong company?
The First Time!
AlbertaPro Cleaning proudly serves all of Calgary & surrounding areas. Our company is family owned and operated and we take pride in every residential cleaning job we do.


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Finally some sun shine! Still cold and windy (which makes my hair dance around my face to the most annoying levels..) But we made it work! Today's outfit features a new top by Missguided with a cool vintage feel, and my new favorite item: a waterfall cardigan by Zara.
OOTD // Love On The Brain
A new outfit! Wearing my favorite sneakers and a cool co-ord set by Zara. Sofisticated joggers and a sweater. That's right I said joggers , but these aren't the kind you'd necessarily put on to gear up for a workout. These are great for an every day outfit with a pair of sneakers, or even with heels. Needless to say, they're soooo comfy, so I've been wearing this outfit a lot.
OOTD // Lurex & Leopard
OOTD // Long Bomber
Hi everyone, I've finally managed to find the time to shoot an outfit! I've actually tried to shoot earlier this week, but it was storming so bad, it just didn't work…
I'm pretty much obsessed with my Puma creepers, and have been wearing them non stop. I love combining them with a pair of jeans or even a dress. Today's coat is this long bomber, which I found on sale, and has a great oversized shape. Check out the rest of the outfit!
OOTD // Leopard & Timbs
The first outfit post of 2016! I'm sorry it took so long, but I really felt and looked like shit these past weeks with a swollen jaw. Glad to be back and share my style and outfits. Today I'm wearing a midi dress, an old leopard print coat and my chunky heeled Timberland boots. (Well, they're actually from Nelly, but inspired by Timbs)
The Year In Outfits
I usually recap all the outfits at the end of the month, but this time I decided to do a recap of the whole year! Don't worry though, I won't be taking each outfit and telling you why I was wearing it. I'm not much of a thinker, when I comes to my style, I just wear what ever I feel like wearing! This has been the year of embracing my curves, wearing a lot of midi skirts, sneakers and grey hair.
Take a look at all the recaps of 2015.
Outfit Recap // November
December has started! November was a month I was struggling to find time, decent lighting or weather, which made it difficult to shoot my outfits. So it's not much, but I'm hoping to make it up to you this month. To all other bloggers, how do you get your shots in these stormy and dark months?
OOTD // Red One
I'm baaaaaaack! Since my outfits and state of mind weren't that amazing these last few days, I decided to take a little mini break from blogging. My migraines were acting up and the weather was depressing and stormy like a Ryan Adams song.I spend most of the time in sweats and under a blanket.
Today's outfit is an attempt to cheer myself up! My favorite items combined, a sweater, midi skirt and my new Nike Air Force 1 suede sneakers. I grabbed my pink coat and the super cute milk carton bag I got for my birthday last week. Colorful to say the least. Curious? [Read more…]
OOTD // Sweater Weather
This is an outfit I love to wear: a cozy sweater, a midi skirt and sneakers. Basically my standard outfit this fall. I'm wearing a cute sweater by Anita de Groot and combined it with a white leather A-line skirt by Zara and my Adidas Stan Smith sneakers. The leather skirt is so cool, and perfect for this fall, I love the brightness to change this up a bit from my usual dark shade palette. I think it was only 10 euros on sale, which is such a bargain for a real leather skirt!
OOTD // Don't Go Chasin' Waterfalls
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Isabel six Drawer Chest
This is a lovely chest of drawers with scroll detailing.
The handles compliment the chest beautifully.
This chest has six drawers, serpentine front and splayed out legs and plinth.
Keep your clothes in style.
The Isabel range has a subtle painted finish with flowing serpentine curves and delicate hand carved detail.
Each piece is traditionally handcrafted with dovetailed joints throughout.
Within each piece of furniture lies the solid quality of traditional cabinet making with hand crafted construction.
Dimensions are: Height 120 x Width 90 x Depth 49 cm
This range is made to order – the lead time for the Isabel range is a minimum of 6-8 weeks.
This is a lovely piece of furniture.
Quality is worth waiting for.


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With Valentines Day coming up next weekend, we've been trying to get in to the Valentines Day spirit this week! Layla and I put up a few decorations around the house. I got this sign for above our fireplace from Target.
This weekend, we made some yummy Valentines Day cookies using our organic Honest Company sugar cookie mix. It came with Layla's Christmas diaper bundle, but we had it delivered a little later so we didn't get a chance to use the mix over the holidays and used it now instead. We ended up eating most of the cookies ourselves and sharing a few with our neighbors.
Layla had a play date yesterday, so we made these Valentines Day goodie bags for her to give to her friends. I filled them with a coloring book, crayons, a Hot Wheels car (Layla loves these) and chocolate (which the kids shouldn't be eating, but the box was so mini and cute)…a small Valentine for her to share with her friends.
For her play date, I wanted her to wear something a little Valentiney (not a word I know). I just bought her these overalls from Target and really wanted her to wear them. I have always been obsessed with baby's in overalls and finally got Layla a pair. I paired her overalls with a top she had from Gap thats red with white hearts. I must say she looked darn sweet!
Overalls: Target / Shoes: Converse / Shirt: Gap / Bow: Gap
Lastly, this morning, we practiced our Valentines Day breakfast we want to make on Saturday. I made scrambled eggs, hash-browns and toast, then used my cookie cutters to make everything heart shaped. I think this weekend I will add some heart shaped pancakes too! We are obsessed with breakfast in this house!
What are your Valentines Day plans???


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Cartoon shows land plush deal
EmptyNEW YORK -- Cartoon Network Enterprises, the network's global branding and merchandising arm, announced its first foray into the amusement park distribution channel with a multi-brand deal with KellyToy USA to create plush, sporting goods and novelty items based on Cartoon Network shows including "Ben 10" and "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends."
Available in spring 2008 in the U.S. and Canada, the products will be distributed to amusement park game redemption centers, amusement shops and amusement cranes throughout North America.
"As a leader with expertise in this arena, we are thrilled to be working with KellyToy to create quality products that will extend our distribution and offer kids even more ways to interact with their favorite Cartoon Network characters," said Christina Miller, vp of consumer products.
Other shows included in the deal announced Tuesday at the IAPPA Attractions Expo 2007 in Orlando are "The Grim Adventures of Bill & Mandy"," Camp Lazlo," "My Gym Partner is a Monkey,"" Ed, Edd and Eddy" and "The Powerpuff Girls."


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You are going to give a TED talk? You want to give a TED talk? It is on your bucket list to deliver a TED talk? This video is for you…
The 10 Areas to Prepare a TED Talk
Learn about the 10 areas:
This is a 20 minute video covering 10 areas that you will need to work on in order to Prepare, Deliver and benefit from a TED Talk.


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Love on Laird Avenue - Not To Be Missed!!!
Post date: Feb 11, 2012 12:12:11 AM
Love can blossom out of the strangest of things, such as home renovation. "Love on Laird Ave" tells of Tatum Stewart, who is making her own way in life in her own new home. But some things aren't going as well, as she calls in a renovation expert. They hit it off all too well, but greed and old owners come around after her and may make her cozy new home a little bit of hell. "Love on Laird Ave" is a fine and much recommended read, not to be missed.
Midwest Book Review
Helen Dumont – Reviewer


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Mindfulness in general, and meditation practice in particular, serves to more firmly ground one in present-moment experience apart from thought-driven notions of how things need to be different than how they are in order to be "happy." It is the very thought that things can be anyRead more →
Meditation for Lawyers
Like most people who find their way to mindfulness practice, I did so many years ago in efforts to find more sustainable solutions to dealing with stress as a driven, young attorney in my late twenties. In what was an early incarnation of what is now calledRead more →
Mindfulness and meditation free us from the narrow judgments and limited thoughts associated with ego, connecting us instead to boundless experience that we call "life." Some people believe that this transcendent experience can arise only in the presence of very specific conditions, or when engaged in particularlyRead more →
Human beings have succeeded in evolving as a species largely as a result of unparalleled intellect and problem-solving faculties. Our abilities to scan our environment for danger, conceive of and implement creative solutions, and learn from our experience have enabled us to thrive on this planet. WeRead more →


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Border Songs by No More Deaths / No Más Muertes
Product Description: Border Songs is a two-CD set of music and spoken word, in both English and Spanish, about the border and immigration. Major artists contributing include Pete Seeger, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Calexico, Amos Lee, Katia Cardenal, Eliza Gilkyson, Tom Russell and many others. Music features a variety of different genres and styles including blues, corrido, cumbia, folk/Americana, hip hop, instrumental guitar, mambo, Nicaraguan new song, reggae, rock, and even an electronic recording of the wall itself. Spoken word artists include Margaret Randall, Charles Bowden, Mario Bencastro and Denise Chávez.
The album also comes with a 20-page booklet with an essay about conditions on the border and a powerful series of photographs.
The Good: ALL proceeds go to No More Deaths / No Más Muertes, a humanitarian organization that places water in the Arizona desert to prevent migrants from dying. No More Deaths staffs a base camp in the desert near the border and also provides food, medical assistance and clothing/blankets to migrants. No More Deaths also helps people who have been deported on the Mexican side of the border.
Each album purchased supplies 29 gallons of clean water, or the equivalent in food, medical supplies or clothing for people in extreme need!
Website: Learn More


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Enrique's Magnificent Views
Like this entry? Favorite it below!
- Name:
- Enrique
- Location:
- Washington, DC
- Square Feet:
- 550
- Division:
- Tiny
- What I Love About My Small Home:
- Without a doubt, the floor-to-ceiling windows that open my studio co-op unit to magnificent views of the Potomac River, the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial are my favorite feature. I also love my terrace, a highly functional outdoor space that allows me to sit down, relax or have a meal and enjoy the views of and the wonderful sunsets.
- Three of My Best Tips and Tricks for Creating a Successful Small Space::
- It is a small space, so for sleeping I decided to build a Murphy bed into the wall. Instead of trying to make it disappear I had it built as to be part of the architecture of the room. I call it the White Monolith. An architect friend of mine commented on the amount of time that one spends in the sleeping area compared to the living area and that conversation helped me decide how I would prioritize the use of the room. When purchasing my dining table it needed to be a work table first and a dining table second - not the other way around, which would be more conventional. A lot of my other pieces also have a double purpose. In a small space everything has to have a home and one thing out of place can make the it all look messy.


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Financial Planning
Click on the links to the left to learn more about our financial planning services.
Please Note: Grimes & Company's offer to provide financial planning consulting services is limited to those issues specifically requested by the client. For more information regarding the limitations of Grimes consulting services, please see Grimes' written disclosure statement on Part 2A of Form ADV.


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My first confrontation with the Federal Government shutdown was the inability to access geologic maps. As I noted I had a work around at least on one project. On another this issue will cause delay of a project. This is more than an internet issue. In the "old days" one would mail in a request for a map with a payment. It took longer than the near instant approach that has become available. But this not a case of internet disruption as mail ordering maps would have to wait for the shutdown to end.
The map thing is nowhere near as problematic as lack of access to a mapping program that I routinely have been using for an ongoing work/research project. The 1,000 point plus data point set I have been working on can not be used as long as the USGS servers are down.
Kim notified me that the USDA soil maps we routinely use are down as well.
Dylan Mathews points out this is not about debt or spending: you-probably-think-the-shutdowns-about-spending-it-isnt. Just because wonky folks know it is not about debt and spending does not mean our U.S. Congress understands the debt in the same way or what various spinners will say about this current government crisis. The very fact that Mathews put the article up indicates that there are a lot of confused people including the House GOP.


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On Bended Knee Featuring 75 Cents Collection by Kaiser Craft
I received such a wonderful kit this month to play with. Kaiser Craft 75 Cents Collection is just so elegant and you can do so much with it. My 21 year old son has been dating his girlfriend for 8 years and this past March after her spring break he sent her around town on a scavenger hunt to all their favorite places. He had two of her best friends meet her at each stop and give her a red rose. He was waiting in the church they will be married in with a white rose, in a new suit ready to propose.
We are so lucky that he values family so much as he let both her family and ours be in the balcony of the church to see him propose. We couldn't hear what he was saying but my heart just about burst when he went down on bended knee. I am so proud of this amazing young man and love his fiance dearly. We are looking forward to an October 2015 wedding after he graduates from college.
This paper line worked so perfectly with the photo from the church and I would hurry on over to The Hens' Den Store to get some before it is gone.
I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut this gorgeous heart lattice as well as the frame and scallop border. I love how much I can do with this wonderful machine.
Kaiser Craft 75 Cents Sticker Sheet
The Twinery Twine
Cardstock Black and Yellow


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Program Highlights
Updated April 24, 2017
All event locations are held on the Wright State University campus unless otherwise stated.
Most functions on campus are held in the Student Union building.
International Breakfast
Monday 0830-1000 Holiday Inn Hotel
All are welcome to join us for breakfast any time between 0830 and 1000 to get acquainted or to catch up before the meeting. Those who stay at the Holidays Inn, please use the breakfast coupon included in your room. International attendees who are not staying at the Holidays Inn, please give your check to the ISAP organizers at breakfast.
Monday 1000-1500
All workshop attendees may go directly to the specific workshop location or go to the Registration Table at the Skylight Lobby in the Student Union at least 15 minutes ahead of time and will be guided to the specific workshop location.
Aircrew Fatigue: A Review of the Causes, Consequences, and Countermeasures
Lynn Caldwell
Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton
Room Atlantis, Student Union
In modern aviation operations, aircrew fatigue has become a serious but often unrecognized problem. The unpredictable work hours, long duty periods, circadian disruptions, and disturbed or restricted sleep that are commonly experienced by aviation personnel strain the body's adaptive capabilities. As a result, crewmembers often report for duty in a fatigued state, resulting in mistakes, slow responses, cognitive difficulties, and mood disturbances which in turn can lead to performance problems and compromised safety. Aircrew fatigue can be effectively mitigated, but only if scientifically validated strategies are systematically applied. These include 1) the implementation of crew scheduling procedures that are based on up-to-date scientific information about the underpinnings of fatigue; 2) the implementation of scientifically-based in-flight counter-fatigue practices; 3) education of crew and crew schedulers on the importance of sleep and circadian rhythms in effective fatigue management; and 4) the utilization of effective strategies for optimizing off-duty sleep periods. Once comprehensive, scientifically-validated fatigue-risk mitigation processes are fully integrated into the aviation safety system, fatigue can be effectively managed, and safety and performance can be optimized.
The fatigue workshop will outline the importance of addressing fatigue as a danger in aviation, the basic physiological mechanisms underlying fatigue, and the most common causes of fatigue in air transport and other settings. In addition, the workshop will present ways to recognize fatigue in operational environments, and it will provide information about the relative efficacy of various fatigue countermeasures.
Applied Cognitive Systems Engineering in Aviation
M.M. (René) van Paassen, Clark Borst, Joost Ellerbroek, Annemarie Landman
Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
Room 005 Library
Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) and its main application, Ecological Interface Design (EID), are approximately 30 years old now. Starting with an example application in process control, and a seminal publication in 1992, EID found its way into process control first. This sparked interest in other safety-critical application domains, most notably, vehicle control in the aviation domain.
A distinctive trait of the approach has been the recognition that in all human endeavors we are bound by the constraints posed upon us by our surroundings. Our design choices, economics, goals and needs and the physics of the world constrain the possible courses of action. The starting point in CSE is to determine what these constraints are. In contrast to "Cognitive Psychology" approaches, CSE starts not by looking what is inside the head (of the operator or user), but at what the head is inside of. EID continues by finding a visualization for the constraints thus discovered.
In this workshop a test case of designing a visualization for an Airborne Separation Assurance System (ASAS) will be central. First, a theoretical background will be provided dealing with the utilization of a constraint-based design method in the aviation vehicle control domain. Second, an participants are invited to work on a work domain analysis, and reflect on how results of this analysis may influence display design. Answering these proposal, the workshop organizers will explain several approaches and EID designs in aircraft energy management, conflict resolution and Air Traffic Control applications. Finally, the workshop applicants can participate in a multi-actor airborne separation assurance experiment. As such, this workshop completes a full design cycle comprising theory, modeling, and evaluation.
Introduction to R
Joe Houpt
Wright State University
Room 366 Fawcett Building
This workshop will give a basic introduction to R. I will cover the basics of the environment, including data types, simple operations, control flow and basic plotting. I will then cover reading data into R and saving output. Finally, I will cover a few statistical tests, including t-tests, linear regression and ANOVA. Time permitting I will introduce some packages that are likely to be highly useful to attendees. This workshop is meant to be hands on and interactive. Computers will be provided for this workshop. If you bring your own laptop, please have R and RStudio installed. If you have difficult installing either, feel free to contact email@example.com.
Stanley Roscoe Best Student Paper Competition Finalists' Presentation
Monday 1600-1800 Room Atlantis, Student Union
The student finalists will be selected by a panel of judges based on paper submissions. The finalists are requested to present their work to the panel of judges on Monday, May 8 and the winner will be recognized during the Wednesday Banquet. All are welcome to attend the finalists' presentations and have a first look at the students that will create the future of Aviation Psychology!
Opening Reception
Monday 1900-2100, Pathfinder Lounge, Student Union
Celebrate the Opening of the Symposium! Come catch up with your old friends and meet new ones. Chat about your latest conquests and greatest strides or follies made in aviation psychology in the midst of great food, music, and a cash bar.
Induction of ISAP Honorary Fellows
This year we honor Dr. Philip J. Smith for his enduring and extraordinary contributions to the field of aviation psychology.
Dr. Philip J. Smith is Professor and Chair of the Department of Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University. He is recognized as a leader in air traffic flow management, air traffic control, airline operations control, flight deck design, human automation interaction, collaborative decision making (CDM) and the design of distributed work systems in the National Airspace System, as well as in the design of systems for the integrated management of airport surface and airspace constraints. He is also conducting research on the human factors issues associated with the integration of unmanned aerial systems into the airspace system. His expertise encompasses cognitive systems engineering, human factors engineering, artificial intelligence, human-automation interaction and the design of problem-based learning environments.
Dr. Smith is a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and has received numerous awards, including the Air Traffic Control Association David J. Hurley Memorial Award for Research in Collaborative Decision Making, 2009; Best Paper Award for the 2008 Air Traffic Control Association Conference; the National Aviation Safety Award, Airline Dispatchers Federation, 2001; and the Human Factors Best Article Award (Best Paper in Human Factors), 1999. He is also on the editorial boards of the AIAA Journal of Air Transportation and the HFES Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making and a member of the FAA REDAC Human Factors Subgroup. In addition, he has served on two National Academy Study Panels to evaluate the state of the art in air traffic controller staffing models.
Keynote Address
Tuesday 0830-955, Room Apollo, Student Union
On Computational Wings
Dr. Kenneth Ford
Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition
After decades of pundits and philosophers arguing that AI is impossible, suddenly that argument has been replaced with the assertion that not only is it possible, but that it is inevitable, perhaps imminent, and apocalyptically dangerous. In only about a decade, the conversation has shifted from you can't do it … to we shouldn't do it ! My purpose in this talk will not be to go into these arguments, but rather to draw your attention to an interesting historical parallel between AI and another, older, technology which was also controversial, thought to be impossible, and then deemed to be a great danger to the human race: artificial flight. From the very beginning, and until modern times, attempts at flight sought to imitate the behavior and specific implementation details of birds. But the Wright brothers were not trying to mimic bird flight, or build an ornithopter. They asked quite different questions, not about flapping or feathers, but about lift, stability and the dynamics of turning in air. The "imitation game" of the Turing Test has misdirected the ambitions of AI, just as a concern with feathers and flapping misdirected early efforts at flight. Now that we understand them, it is clear that the laws of aerodynamics apply to any wing, natural or artificial; and in the same way the laws of thought apply to reasoning done by any cognitive agent, humans, machine or — we think most interesting of all — a combination of both, working together. Boole believed, as did Leibniz and Lull before him, that human thought is mastered by laws, which could account for how people think. Perhaps computation itself is the air that provides lift for the wings of thought. At the end of this talk I will review some research underway at IHMC with a particular emphasis on the results and "lessons learned" arising from the DARPA Robotics Challenge.
Invited Address
Wednesday 1300-1350, Room Apollo, Student Union
On Stories of Technology Change Describe the Congestion, Cascades & Conflicts that Arise When Apparent Benefits Get Hijacked
Dr. David Woods
Ohio State University
Today's common beliefs about increasingly autonomous capabilities replay what has been observed in previous cycles of technology change. New capabilities trigger a much wider and more complex set of reverberations, including new forms of complexity and new risks. Risks associated with these complexities are ignored and downplayed, setting the stage for future automation surprises when advocates are surprised by negative unintended consequences that offset apparent benefits. Claims about the future effects that will follow from deployment of more autonomous capabilities are precarious and subject to well documented biases. This cycle of change is different in one major way: increasingly autonomous capabilities are needed to manage the scale of operations people seek to meet stakeholder pressures.
First, there are new risks that emerge as people in different roles search for advantage by deploying increasingly autonomous technologies at scale. These risks are measurable but require modifications to common practices for risk analysis and reliability engineering. Second, one can design for the new challenges and new complexities that are certain to arise during this period of technology change. There are new opportunities for innovations to tame and manage the growth in complexity that accompanies deploying autonomous technologies into today's interconnected world.
The risks of autonomy and design solutions will be covered including Doyle's Catch, the reification fallacy, creeping complexity, hijacking of apparent benefits, life cycle extensibility, the cascade race, the fundamental miscalibration limit, overcoming the brittleness of machines, and the low performance ceiling of today's autonomy architecture. Managing the reverberations from deploying increasingly autonomous capabilities at scale requires development and application of techniques in Resilience Engineering.
Invited Address
Thursday 1300-1350, Room Apollo, Student Union
Spatial Disorientation in Flight: A Multi-Dimensional Problem Needing Multi-Faceted Solutions
Dr. Bob Cheung
Defence Research and Development Canada – Toronto Research Center
Today's common beliefs about increasingly autonomous capabilities replay what has been observed in previous cycles of technology change. New capabilities trigger a much wider and more complex set of reverberations, including new forms of complexity and new risks. Risks associated with these complexities are ignored and downplayed, setting the stage for future automation surprises when advocates are surprised by negative unintended consequences that offset apparent benefits. Claims about the future effects that will follow from deployment of more autonomous capabilities are precarious and subject to well documented biases. This cycle of change is different in one major way: increasingly autonomous capabilities are needed to manage the scale of operations people seek to meet stakeholder pressures.
During peace time, the most life threatening aeromedical problems that the air force might encounter are spatial disorientation (SD), G induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) and to a lesser extent, hypoxia. SD is defined as the failure to perceive, or to perceive incorrectly the position, motion and attitude of the aircraft or oneself within the veridical vertical and the earth horizontal reference. The mechanism of spatial orientation is based on the neural integration of concordant and redundant visual, vestibular and somatosensory inputs and critical interpretation with our internal model established from past experience and training. Unlike G-induced loss of consciousness or hypoxia, SD occurs in less well-defined environments and it is influenced by physiological and perceptual limitations. Assessment of the role played by SD in any mishap may have to rely on circumstantial evidence and is always open to investigator bias. Mishap analysis often reveals multiple causal factors leading to the final event. New flight display technologies might also contribute to SD susceptibility. The complexity of SD in the flight environment demands a "wide-angle" holistic approach. Examples will be provided in this presentation to demonstrate the necessity of a coordinated effort from operators, scientists, engineers and research sponsors to lessen the impact of SD on flight safety.
Plenary Practitioner and Researcher Panels
Wednesday and Thursday 0830-0955 Room Apollo, Student Union
The overarching goal of the Practitioners and Researchers panels is to foster dialogues between operational personnel and researchers towards a safer and serviceable sky.
Plenary Practitioner Panel: Operational Issues in Aviation Psychology
Practitioner Panelists:
Kathy Fox
Transportation Safety Board of Canada
Michael Hagler
Station Manager for Line Maintenance
Delta Airlines.
Richard J Ranaudo
Aerospace Consultant
Former NASA Research Pilot
Helena Reidemar
Captain of Boeing 717, Delta Air Lines
Director of Human Factors in the ALPA Air Safety Organization
Human Factors & Training Group
Stephen Casner
Research Psychologist
NASA Ames Research Center
Plenary Researcher Panel: Bridging the Gulf: Putting Science to Work
The researchers on this panel were asked to share their experiences (successes and failures) in interacting with domain practitioners (e.g., domain experts, operators, users, designers, program offices). They were asked to reflect on the skills that lead to satisfying collaborations; and on the potential benefits with respect to enhancing the quality of basic understanding of human performance and with respect to discovering innovative solutions to important practical problems in the aviation domain.
In the book Pasteur's Quadrant (1997), Donald Stokes challenges the dichotomy between basic and applied research that was established and eventually institutionalized in academic, research, and funding institutions as a result of Vannevar Bush's influential report written following World War II [Science, the Endless Frontier, 1945]. Stokes argued convincingly that the desire for basic understanding and considerations for practical applications are not in opposition. In other words, science is not a zero-sum game. Satisfaction of either the basic or applied motivation does not necessarily come at the expense of the other. Further, he suggested that when the basic and applied motivations are jointly attended (as in Pasteur's Quadrant) the quality of science is generally heightened. The field of Aviation Psychology is a prime example of a research domain where the desires for deeper understanding and for solutions to important practical problems are intimately intertwined.
While the motivations of basic and applied science are not necessarily in conflict, there are unique challenges associated with working in Pasteur's Quadrant. One of these challenges is the need to work closely with domain practitioners to ensure that:
- the appropriate research questions are framed [i.e., questions have external validity relative to practical aviation problems];
- the research questions are framed in a way that is representative of the situated demands of the aviation domain [i.e., representative design of experiments and representative sampling of participants]; and
- the results are articulated in a way that makes the practical implications evident [i.e., the results can be generalized].
While the importance of working closely with domain practitioners will be evident to most of the people in the field of Aviation Psychology, it is a sad fact that most of us have had very little formal training to help us do this well. Most of us must discover how to do this on the job. Which means, we have had to learn through trial and error. A primary motivation for this panel is to tap into the experiences of the panelists, so that we can learn from their errors and successes. The members of this panel were asked to reflect on their experiences in engaging with practitioner communities (e.g., domain experts, operators, users, designers, program offices), in terms of both:
- shaping research questions and theory, and
- translating discoveries into practical solutions.
The following questions were suggested to help seed the discussion. However, the panelists were encouraged not be over-constrained by the questions; and to let their own experiences be the guide for their comments. They were encouraged to share specific stories that were significant in shaping their skills in working with domain practitioners.
- What are the potential values of such engagements for
- the quality of basic research?
- the quality of practice?
- What are the challenges to achieving effective collaborations?
- with respect to the goals of basic research?
- with respect to translating discoveries into practice?
- Are there strategies for meeting and overcoming the challenges?
- selecting the "right" practitioners?
- overcoming cultural differences?
- structuring the engagement?
Researcher Panelists:
Frédéric Dehais
Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE)
Kevin Gluck
Principal Cognitive Scientist
Air Force Research Laboratory
Alex Kirlik
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Wesley Olsen
Assistant Group Leader
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
John Flach
Wright State University
Poster Sessions
Tuesday 1615-1740 and Wednesday 1540-1705, Room Apollo, Student Union
Circulate and discuss the latest findings with the presenters while enjoying hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. The collegial atmosphere will be a great way to conclude the day's technical activities and transition into the evening's activities.
Night Out at the Greene
Tuesday Evening, The Greene
Following the Tuesday Poster Session, visit The Greene in Beavercreek for some shopping and dining. The Greene is a 72-acre new town center featuring pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, open-air gathering spaces, and many places to eat. Transportation to and from the Greene will be available. If you have not already, round-trip bus fare can be purchased at the Registration Table. See http://www.thegreene.com/
The ISAP Banquet at the Dayton Art Institute
Wednesday 1800-2200, 456 Belmonte Park North, Dayton, Ohio 45405
The official ISAP Banquet will be held at the Dayton Art Institute. The museum is one of the region's premier fine arts museum with a collection that spans 5,000 years of art history. The museum sits atop a hill on the edge of the Great Miami River overlooking downtown Dayton. The museum's founding patrons included prominent community leaders such as Orville Wright and the Pattersons of NCR. The Dicke Wing of American Art and the Berry Wing of European Art will be open until the start of dinner. There will be a cash bar at the Gothic Cloister where dinner is held and will start at 1930 See more at http://www.daytonartinstitute.org/about-dai
Invited Banquet Speaker
Great Moments in ISAP History
Dr. Richard S. Jensen
Founder of the International Symposium on Aviation Psychology
Induction of ISAP Honorary Fellows
This year we honor Dr. John M. Flach for his enduring and extraordinary contributions to the field of aviation psychology.
Dr. John M. Flach received his Ph.D. (Human Experimental Psychology) from The Ohio State University in 1984. John was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois from 1984 to 1990 where he held joint appointments in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, the Psychology Department, and the Institute of Aviation. In 1990 he joined the Psychology Department at Wright State University. He served as department chair from 2004 – 2013. He currently holds the rank of Professor. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the areas of applied cognitive psychology and human factors. John is interested in general issues of coordination and control in sociotechnical systems. Specific research topics have included visual control of locomotion, interface design, decision-making, and sociotechnical systems. John is particularly interested in applications of this research in the domains of aviation, medicine, highway safety, and assistive technologies. In addition to more than 175 scientific publications, John is a co-author of three books: Control Theory for Humans (with Rich Jagacinski); Display and Interface Design (with Kevin Bennett); and What Matters? (with Fred Vorhoorst). John has also recently begun a blog, titled Perspicacity http://blogs.wright.edu/learn/johnflach/ .
Stanley N. Roscoe Best Student Paper Award
Winner of the Best Student Paper Competition will be recognized at the banquet. Student Review Panel Chair: Dr. Brian D. Simpson (Air Force Research Laboratory)
Wright Brass
Musical entertainment will be provided by the innovative and versatile United States Air Force Band of Flight's Wright Brass ensemble.
Thursday Picnic
1800-2000 Rinzler and Mulholland Field
Relax and recharge at a picnic with fun, games, food, and drinks on the final evening of the symposium! Shuttle to and from the picnic and soccer field will be available.
Aviation Soccer Cup
Come dressed to compete! Soccer players, please contact John Flach, firstname.lastname@example.com.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Tour
Friday 0830-1200 Student Union Entrance
Air Force Research Laboratory
Battlefield Acoustics Branch
A visit to the Battlespace Acoustics Branch will include a tour of their world-class facilities, where scientists conduct research on communication, spatial hearing, hearing protection, and the acoustics of operational environments, as well as develop new auditory/multimodal displays and interfaces. Tour stops will include a visit to the Auditory Localization Facility, a large anechoic chamber within which exists a 14-ft-diameter sphere with 277 loudspeakers mounted on its surface. Studies on sound localization, speech perception, and multisensory interactions take place in this facility, as well as measurements for the development of 3D auditory displays. Another stop on the tour will be the Hearing Protection Evaluation Facility, which includes two reverberant chambers, one high-noise system, and an audiometric assessment room. A third stop will be the Voice Communication Research Facility, a one-of-a-kind facility designed for studying real communication systems in operationally-relevant high-noise environments. Finally, the tour will visit the Battlefield Airman Laboratory, where multiple technologies that are being developed and fielded for Battlefield Airmen will be demonstrated and discussed.
Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton (NAMRU-D)
NAMDU-D performs research addressing operational and applied gaps in the areas of aerospace medicine and human factors, and environmental health effects. The tour will include visits to the following NAMRU-D laboratories: Disorientation Research Device (DRD, aka the Kraken), a 6-axis-of-motion platform for conducting research on human motion and acceleration effects; Pilot Spatial Orientation Lab; Hypoxia and Altitude Effects laboratories; Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory; and the Vision Sciences laboratory.
Air Force Rresearch Laboratoy
Warfighter Readiness Division
The tour will showcase agent development work creating software representations of human behavior for use in a variety of contexts. The tour will also showcase research in shared computing for rapid model development and validation using mindmodeling.org. Additionally, the Division is doing extensive work in game based approaches to modeling and simulation and to science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM). We will present current work developing high fidelity models and simulations for a variety of military (and civilian) applications. Development of several game based synthetic task environments that is under way with university partners (Texas A&M University and the University of South Florida) will be discussed. The goal of this development work is to create common environments can be shared across University and Government research communities of interest to support individual, team and team of teams research in decision making, team training, trust and automation, and resource sharing at allocation in distributed teaming environments. Finally, and time permitting work in a deployable live, virtual and constructive field environment we have created for training and rehearsal for emergency response, humanitarian operations personnel rescue will be presented.
Dayton History Tour
Friday 0900-1400 Student Union Entrance
The tour will visit several museums that showcase key aspects of the history of Dayton, the Wrights, and Aviation. First stop on the tour will be The Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center. This small museum overlooks the Huffman Prairie where the Wright Brothers did the dangerous work of developing their experimental craft into a practical aircraft. Next stop will be Carillon Historical Park. Here there is a replica of the Wright's bicycle shop, a display that the Wright Brothers designed to showcase the first practical aircraft, and a number of other exhibits that cover key events in the history of Dayton (e.g., the development of National Cash Register (NCR), Dayton Engineering Laboratory Co. (DELCO), and the 1913 Flood). Finally, the last stop will be the National Museum of the Air Force, where exhibits cover the full history of flight, from the Wrights to modern space exploration.
Tentative Schedule:
0900 Leave from Student Union to Huffman Prairie Center.
1000 Arrive Carillon Historical Park
1300 Arrive Air Force Museum
1400 Return to Student Union
Lunches and snacks can be purchased at either Carillon Park or the Air Force Museum.
Note that you may leave the tour any time or stay at a particular stop for longer. It will be possible to arrange transportation (e.g., taxi or Uber) from any of the sites to return directly to your hotel or to go to the airport.
For additional information about the sites:
The Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center (Free)
Carillon Historical Park. ($8.00 Adults, $7.00 Seniors)


text:
Okay, hi: WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH JOEQUINN PHOENIX.
Seriously. First there was the whole "I'm quitting acting" thing, which is just stupid and narcissistic because:
A—It attempts to make a statement about how NOT narcissistic he is—"Look at me, I'm so beyond Hollywood, it's so empty, you know? And I'm so much more than that," which is, well, narcissistic. And stupid.
B—It assumes we care (which we do, but that's beside the point), which is very narcissistic and also just stupid.
So we're already starting off kind of, you know…ugh. But then on top of it, there's his "rap" career, as evidenced here, which is a giant tub of "yikes" and makes you do that sort of wince thing that you do when someone is making a GIANT fool of his/herself, such as the other day when some dumbshit NYU tart crossed the street in front of me wearing SHINY LEGGINGS. No, I'm not kidding. SHINY LEGGINGS. With STIRRUPS. Or, you know, like the latest pictorial of Madonna Ciccone-Penn-Ritchie and a radiant WWF in W magamazine. Or like Jennifer Aniston saying—PUBLICLY—that she has old tapes of Brad Pitt's answering machine messages that she listens to now and again for nostalgia's sake.
You know the sort of reaction I mean. It's that wince and sharp inhale through your teeth that says, "Oh HONEY. Honey NO." You know that wince?
Right, well that's what Joequinn's rapping inspires. S'not good. It's a MOUNTAIN of s'not good. And as I'm sure you know, every mountain has its peak, its pinnacle, its apex. And this one is no exception.


text:
–Sherry H. (The Hague, Holland)
–Lee P. (Los Angeles)
–Rick M. (Seattle)
–Nico S. (Bonn, Germany)
–Stefan H. (Seattle)
–Michelle B. (San Diego)
–Chris R. (Dublin, Ireland)
–Linda D. (Seattle)
–Lori M. (New York)
Daily J. (San Diego)
Phillip S. (Amsterdam)
If you would like a Let's Meditate event to come to your city please let us know!


text:
The winners of the Prostate Cancer DREAM Challenge were announced today! This Challenge was the the first research challenge in prostate cancer to marry crowdsourcing with data sharing, paving a new way to tackle key research questions about metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), an advanced form of the disease with poor outcomes. Read the full article.
Winners Announced for Crowdsourcing and Data Sharing Competition to Drive Innovation in Prostate Cancer Research
August 27, 2015