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Points Tally
Women's T20 World Cup
PCB issues show cause notice to Razzaq for remark
The Pakistan Cricket Board has apparently issued a show cause notice to allrounder Abdul Razzaq for making contentious remarks after returning from Sri Lanka with the national team.
Shahid Afridi: Boomed Out!
This is a classic story of how one can be excessively talented, and just be clueless as to how to utilize it.
ICC World T20: Did the Indians win or lose?
Proteas played the royal party poopers, and India were out of the tournament even after registering a win.
ICC T20 World Cup: Can AB de Villiers change the fortunes against India?
"Show Them Who You Are" and "Maak Jou Drome Waar" are songs only a music fanatic must have come across once or make that twice in his lifetime; our surprising protagonist is the one who strummed the guitar in these songs.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: 'Virat Shining'
`We breathe while he bats`, a cricket enthusiast wrote on twitter.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: The 'Turbanator' returns
It is said, 'Form is temporary, class is permanent'. Very true in the case of the protagonist, Harbhajan Singh, fondly known as `Bhajji`. The 'Turbanator' bagged a four-for against the World T20 defending champions England and won the game for India.
Jos Buttler: The new English toast
Joseph Charles Buttler made his debut against India at Manchester. He came across as a young lad who had a lot of belief in his abilities.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile-Afghanistan
When big seasoned teams like Australia, South Africa, India and a few other Test playing nations are competing at the big stage, one would hardly take notice of Afghanistan let alone giving them a chance. But somehow they have made their presence felt, after qualifying for the 2012 T20 World Cup.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile-Ireland
Surely, Ireland is no more looked at as a team, which doesn`t possess the capability of upsetting a few Test playing nations.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile- New Zealand
They have been perennial suitors without carrying the tag of being favourites in any major tournament. Over the years, the team has punched beyond its weight humbling the powerhouses of the game on numerous occasions.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile- South Africa
South Africa are the top-ranked T20 side in the world. They are one team that has performed consistently well in all the three format of the game all year round. Their form led them to become the first ever side to have topped the ranking charts in all the formats recently.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile- Pakistan
If there is one team in the cricketing world whose on-field brilliance is matched by its off-field histrionics, it is Pakistan. A team capable of producing world class fast bowlers has a knack of finding itself in the middle of a major controversy every now and then. This affects its performance and also overshadows its achievements.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile- Bangladesh
Despite playing international cricket for more than a decade, Bangladesh, as a cricketing nation is yet to mature.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile- Australia
Australia, despite their success in every format in cricket are yet to win a Twenty20 World Cup.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Team Profile- Zimbabwe
This would be Zimbabwe's third T20 World Cup appearance. Both in 2007 and 2010 they were knocked out in Round 1.
ICC T20 World Cup 2012: West Indies are the hot favourites
West Indian players are probably the real superstars of the Twenty20 world.
More Match..»
Pic Gallery
ICC T20 World Cup 2012
West Indies' cricketer Marlon Samuels poses with his Man of the Match award after his team's win over Sri Lanka in the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World C..»
points tally
Women's T20 World Cup
Australian eves beat England to win Women`s World T20 c`ship
ICC Women's T20 WC: Bisht shines with hat-trick in India`s play-off win
World Twenty20: Women cricketers not at par with male counterparts
Virat Kohli's pyar ke side effect on team India
BCCI sidelines coach Duncan Fletcher
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Toss the coins now and get profound insight for September with a FREE I Ching reading.
Hexagram of the Day
59: Dispersing
Nothing survives forever, not even rocks, not even the most rigid of structures. The erosion of that which has been solid is not necessarily bad: it can mean that something new is being created. The image is of ice floes, hardened in winter, dispersing in the warmth of spring; when the ice melts, a mighty river emerges.
Rigidity in the hearts of men and women tends to breed a separateness that can only be thawed by a greater force: typically, some strong spiritual stirring. The thawing of cold hearts always improves conditions.
The first thing to dissolve is any internal rigidity that separates you from others. Try to work more closely with your mates, concentrating on common activities which evidence your integrity and native goodwill. Sudden, strong action in support of a greater good can lift the spirit, and lead toward new possibilities in many areas. Spiritual impulses — including a strong sense of justice — should be honored, and acted upon. They can provide the initial impulse to important and constructive change.
And if you should have any lingering business or partnerships which are inactive or not working, you might consider dissolving these as well.
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The search for good public speaking or presentation skills is on the rise. People want to know how to improve or hone their abilities to address an audience. One thing that is often overlooked, however, is training for the speaking voice. When you hear yourself on an answering machine, voicemail or some other form of recording, do you like what you hear? Indeed, if you are like most people, your answer is probably No.
While you may feel that your voice is more of a liability than an asset, you have a better voice inside of you which I refer to as your 'real' voice. The only way you can find it, however, is by changing how you produce it. Most people rely on 4 of their 5 resonators to for voiced sound. Those 4 resonators consist of your vocal folds, throat, mouth and nose. The one that is not being used is your chest.
All great speaking voices have one characteristic in common: warmth, like a blanket around your shoulders. They are not loud, shrill, or harsh. This rich, warm, quality is a result of the tremendous vibration that occurs in the huge cavity of your chest when you place your voice properly. (Incidentally, this applies to the singing voice as well.)
In order to achieve this sound, however, you will have to learn how to breathe with the support of your diaphragm. When you breathe in this manner, you will discover not only the best means of eliminating much of the stress in your life, but also the best means of controlling your nervousness in any form of public speaking. And that is where your presentation skills will improve.
By harnessing your nervousness, you will be able to concentrate on your delivery and not on your nerves. Your voice will no longer quiver, your pitch will not rise unless you want it to, and you will no longer spit out your words at 100 mph! When you are in control of that nervous energy, you will then be able to focus on delivering your material to your audience and not at them, speaking with color, with life, with emotion.
While I am a huge advocate of practicing your material out loud over and over and over again, all that practice will do nothing to improve the sound of your speaking voice. Discover your 'real' voice, however, and watch what happens to your presentation skills!
The Voice Lady, Nancy Daniels, offers private, corporate and group workshops in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It! the only video training on voice improvement. If you would like to see some a dramatic 'before' & 'after' video clips, start with Craig by visiting Nancy's Voice Training Website in the center of the page. Then check out other Before & After video clips in the menu bar.
***Which Terms Best Describe Your Speaking Voice?
How To Speak Confidently, Credibly And Influentially
***What Is Your Reaction When You Hear Yourself on a Recording?
Releasing Mental & Emotional Blocks To Effective Public Speaking
Public Speaking With Confidence & Resilience
***What Does Your Voice Say About You?
***Public Speaking: Should You Thank Your Audience Or Not?
Delete Subconscious Emotional Landmines And End Your Fears Of Public Speaking Today
***Does Your Voice Complete Your Profressional Image or Detract from It?
Speaking With Power, Passion & Influence>> See All Articles On Public Speaking


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The City of Chowchilla, a City of approximately 20,000 people is offering a great management opportunity for an experienced professional. The City Engineer/Public Works Director is responsible for the operation, supervision, and financial management of a full service department consisting of streets, water, sewer and project management of capital projects. The position is also responsible for the statutory duties of the City Engineer. This position is an important member of the City's management team.
This position requires a B.S. in Civil Engineering and registration as a professional Engineer in the State of California. The position also requires five years of progressive supervisorial and management expertise in public works management combined with municipal civil engineering.
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Contact: Human Resources, City of Chowchilla
Industry: Government
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Deadline Information: Applications/resumes accepted until August 14, 2014. Resume only will be accepted by the filing date. After filing date and initial screening is performed an application will be requested. Applications are available at City of Chowchilla Civic Center or City's website
Salary Range: $96,213-$114,883 per Year
Benefits: Generous benefit package
Job Duration/Time: Full-time
County: Madera
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Fulbright Application Info for Fall 2014
August 29, 2014 | Leave a Comment
If you're thinking about applying for a Fulbright, here are some important dates/deadlines and information: Fulbright Info Session for Applicants: Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 4:30pm, Hillcrest 103 To apply: Complete the online application through the Fulbright website: http://www.us.fulbrightonline.org/applicants/getting-started . You are responsible for obtaining and uploading all required materials. For your Middlebury transcript, if you […]
Turkey 65th Anniversary Graduate Degree Grants
July 28, 2014 | Leave a Comment
Program Update from Fulbright: The Turkish Fulbright Commission is pleased to announce two awards in honor of the Commission's 65th anniversary. These two Fulbright awards – one at the Master's level, one at the Ph.D. – are open to students who wish to pursue a degree program at a Turkish university. More information on the […]
Nat Geo Fulbright Applicants
July 22, 2014 | Leave a Comment
The first group of grant recipients were recently announced: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/09/first-5-fulbright-national-geographic-digital-storytelling-fellows-named/ . For those of you thinking about the Nat Geo Fulbright, in addition to the very helpful info and instructions on the Fulbright website, make sure you address the following in your project proposal: Feasibility of your project in each country proposed. How will this work […]
Thinking about a French ETA Program?
July 21, 2014 | Leave a Comment
If you're thinking about an ETA in France, you should apply to BOTH the the Fulbright ETA and the French government Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). The Fulbright awards 6 ETAs to France; the general French Government TAPIF offers an additional 1,100 positions. To apply for both, you will need to make two separate […]
Fulbright ETAs to Taiwan added
June 24, 2014 | Leave a Comment
Anyone considering an ETA to Taiwan–good news! The number of ETA grants has been increased. 73 awards will be available for 2015-16. See http://www.us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedcountry/taiwan for more info.
Summer Notes for Fall Fulbright Applicants
June 10, 2014 | Leave a Comment
For those thinking about applying for a Fulbright grant in the fall, here are some notes and suggestions to get you started: If you haven't yet sent me a preliminary application, we should talk! I am around for much of the summer, but will be traveling too—so my ability to respond to you may be […]
UK Fulbright fellowships
July 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Here's a reminder for folks interested in Fulbrights in the UK: The following universities have agreed to waive tuition fees for any incoming Fulbright students. This means that should one of your students be selected for a Fulbright award to attend one of our fee-waiver universities, they will not pay any tuition and will receive […]
Story about Fulbright year in China
June 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment
http://usfulbrightstudent.blogspot.com/2010/04/searching-for-thread-of-sky-by-deanna.html An interesting–and useful!–account of author Deanna Fei's Fulbright year and how it led to the publication of her first novel! Her advice to applicants is highly relevant whether you're in the arts or another field.
Come to the Fulbright Information Session today (Thursday, Earth Day, April 22!)
April 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Time: 4:30 pm Where: Library 201 If you're thinking of applying for the Fulbright in the fall or are a sophomore and plan to be abroad next spring, come learn about the study, research and teaching opportunities as a Fulbright scholar or teaching assistant! One note on eligibility- you must be a US citizen and […]
Application Note for UK Partnership Institution Fulbrights
September 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
UK Fulbright applicants: If applying for a PARTNERSHIP AWARD, make sure you mention that BOTH in the project essay AND list the partnership university in the university preferences section.


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They don't make shoot 'em ups like they used to, and to prove it, R-Type 2 has been released for the iPhone. It's the sequel to R-Type, the incredibly tough and highly influential arcade shooter, which has received two mobile releases. The most recent was a reworked version for iOS 7 and the iPhone 5, produced by French development studio DotEmu. The same team is responsible for this new port of its sequel.
R-Type 2 isn't as well known as its predecessor. However, if you like the original, you'll find plenty to enjoy here too. Little has changed really. It's a side-scrolling game spread over six levels, all of which see you piloting a small spaceship and battling an evil enemy. The plot is a continuation of the first game, and starts off after you've destroyed the Bydo empire's base.
The level design has, amazingly, become even more fiendish, with more enemies to fight and even more bullets to avoid. If you thought the onslaught was relentless in R-Type, you're in for a shock here. Each level still ends with a massive boss battle though, and they are considerably harder to beat than the first. It's good to see some variety in the design, with the water filled second stage a particular standout.
As the enemy has more firepower, so you get some upgrades too. R-Type was never short on big weaponry, and although it's similar here, there are new homing missiles and improved ground assault weapons. Ultimately though, to beat R-Type 2 you'll need your wits about you – everything happens much faster than the first game – and make a real effort to learn the enemy's attack patterns.
Sounds easy, right? It's not. R-Type's legendary difficulty has returned, and you'll do plenty of dying before making it very far. When you do die, you return to a set checkpoint, but without any additional weapons. Enemies come from all directions, so you constantly need to watch your back, which puts even more emphasis on learning when and where the nasties will appear.
Visually, the game is really impressive, with the option to keep the original look or a smoothed over modern style. We played it on the iPhone 5 and the third generation iPad, and it performed perfectly. It's compatible with both, and does play slightly better on the tablet. There's a choice of a virtual joystick or touch controls, the latter being easier and more precise, but your finger will inevitably block your view – hence the bigger screen being the better option.
R-Type 2's more complex levels are made even harder by the touch controls, particularly the maze stage midway through. It's great to see DotEmu has added support for the new range of iOS 7 game controllers, and the analogue joysticks should make R-Type 2 a little easier to play.
There are three different gameplay settings, the standard normal mode, an unlimited life mode, and an insane mode to unlock. Selecting autofire is a sensible move, leaving you to activate the super weapon when you need it.
R-Type 2 isn't for everyone. It's really, really hard for a start, and not really all that different to the original. However, it's very exciting to play, and gets your heart racing even after the first few waves on the first level. Dedication sees you get a tiny bit further each go, and it's addictive enough to keep keen players returning. R-Type 2 is priced at £1.49 and is a universal app. If you're not afraid of a challenge, fondly remember the first game, and have a love of old arcade shooters, you'll want to pick this one up.


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After The Storm
by Charlotte Curtis
Art Print
Collect your choice of gallery quality Giclée, or fine art prints custom trimmed by hand in a variety of sizes with a white border for framing.
Geometric abstract painting inspired by the vibrant chaos of a powerful storm. Upturned trees, unending sheets of rain, the bright spot of hope between dark clouds.
- 2Promote


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Kuresel Kriz, Avrupa Borc Krizi ve Gelismekte Olan Piyasalarda Bulasicilik Etkisi
Abstract[TR] Son donemde yasanan krizlerin etkisiyle finansal bulasicilik ekonomi ve finans yazininda en cok tartisilan konulardan birisi olmustur. Bu calismada, gelismekte olan ulkelere iliskin 2002 : 01-2011 : 10 donemi verileri kullanilarak kriz donemlerinde Turkiye'nin ortak soklara goreli tepkisinin farklilasip farklilasmadigi (degisim bulasiciligi) test edilmistir. Degisim bulasiciligi testlerinin sonuclari, son donemde yasanan krizlerde Turkiye'nin diger gelismekte olan ulkelerden ayrismadigini ve ortak soklardan diger ulkeler ile benzer sekilde etkilendigini ortaya koymaktadir. Bu sonuc tum gelismekte olan ulke gruplari ve calismada incelenen tum piyasalar (doviz kuru, sermaye ve tahvil piyasalari) icin gecerlidir. Ote yandan, finansal piyasalarda beklenen getiriler kriz donemlerinde ve normal donemlerde farklilasmakta ve gelismekte olan ulkelere yonelen sermaye akimlarinin kriz donemlerinde tersine dondugu gorulmektedir. [EN] This study investigates whether the response of Turkey to the common shocks during the recent financial crises has changed or not (i.e. tests for shift-contagion) relative to a wide group of other emerging countries for the period 2002 : 01-2011 : 10. The shift contagion tests indicate that the adverse effects of the crisis episodes on Turkish financial markets have been similar to other emerging markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America. This result is common across all country groups and markets (currency, capital and bond markets) investigated in the study. The analysis also shows that the expected returns display a significant shift between the low- and high- volatility regimes and there is a capital outflow from the emerging markets during times of turmoil.
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Bibliographic InfoPaper provided by Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey in its series CBT Research Notes in Economics with number 1204.
Date of creation: 2012
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:tcb:econot:1204
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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2012-03-28 (All new papers)
- NEP-ARA-2012-03-28 (MENA - Middle East & North Africa)
ReferencesReferences listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Marcello Pericoli & Massimo Sbracia, 2001.
"A Primer on Financial Contagion,"
Temi di discussione (Economic working papers)
407, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
- Marcello Pericoli & Massimo Sbracia, 2003. "A Primer on Financial Contagion," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(4), pages 571-608, 09.
- Moser, Thomas, 2003. "What Is International Financial Contagion?," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 157-78, Summer.
- Dornbusch, Rudiger & Park, Yung Chul & Claessens, Stijn, 2000. "Contagion: Understanding How It Spreads," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 15(2), pages 177-97, August.
- Thomas J. Flavin & Ekaterini Panopoulou & Deren Unalmis, 2008.
"On the stability of domestic financial market linkages in the presence of time-varying volatility,"
Economics, Finance and Accounting Department Working Paper Series
n1981108.pdf, Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
- Flavin, Thomas J. & Panopoulou, Ekaterini & Unalmis, Deren, 2008. "On the stability of domestic financial market linkages in the presence of time-varying volatility," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 280-301, December.
- Thomas J. Flavin & Ekaterini Panopoulou & Deren Unalmis, 2008. "On the Stability of Domestic Financial Market Linkages in the Presence of time-varying Volatility," Working Papers 0810, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
- Kristin J. Forbes & Roberto Rigobon, 2002.
"No Contagion, Only Interdependence: Measuring Stock Market Comovements,"
Journal of Finance,
American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2223-2261, October.
- Kristin Forbes & Roberto Rigobon, 1999. "No Contagion, Only Interdependence: Measuring Stock Market Co-movements," NBER Working Papers 7267, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Toni Gravelle & Maral Kichian & James Morley, 2002.
"Detecting shift-contagion in currency and bond markets,"
Computing in Economics and Finance 2002
58, Society for Computational Economics.
- Gravelle, Toni & Kichian, Maral & Morley, James, 2006. "Detecting shift-contagion in currency and bond markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 409-423, March.
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Recipe by EMERALDCITYJEWEL
"My sister gave me this recipe. It is easy to make; you can make it as bad for you (use white bread and cream!) or good for you (whole grain bread, soy milk, nonfat milk, or nonfat sour cream, and reduce whole eggs to two and use two egg whites, and half the butter)."
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5 slices
day-old bread, crusts discarded and bread cubed
1 (15 ounce) can
cream-style corn
1 cup
1/4 cup
white sugar, or to taste
1/4 cup
butter, melted
I did not care for this recipe.
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* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
White Bread Corn Pudding
Serving Size: 1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 6
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Calories: 281
Calories from Fat: 115
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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Bombers call audible on game-day plan
New strategy includes extra buses and police
More transit buses, more parking attendants, more police and a bigger bicycle lockup are part of the amended plan for getting Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans in and out of the University of Manitoba campus for games at Investors Group Field.
The Winnipeg Football Club has unveiled a new event-day plan intended to improve transportation and parking on Bomber game days around the club's $200-million new stadium, whose June 12 exhibition-game opening was marred by traffic congestion and transit delays.
The new plan calls for double the parking-lot attendants and signage on the U of M campus, more police officers to direct traffic and the creation of dedicated bus lanes to prevent transit from mixing with motor-vehicle traffic.
But the biggest-ticket item is a supersized charter order for Winnipeg Transit buses. After planning to transport only 5,200 fans to and from the June 12 game, the Bombers have ordered 150 buses -- more than a quarter of Winnipeg Transit's fleet -- in the hopes of transporting 10,000 to 12,000 fans to and from football games.
"We learned an awful lot coming off the exhibition game," Winnipeg Football Club chief operations officer Jim Bell told reporters Friday. On June 12, Winnipeg Transit estimated 8,500 people rode buses to Investors Group Field.
Last week, the football club called that figure a surprise. But council-approved transportation studies called for almost double the club's prediction of 5,200 stadium-bound transit passengers.
"Transit must provide service for up to 10,000 patrons," consulting firm Stantec concluded in a traffic-impact analysis prepared for the city in 2011.
The big question on the minds of the football club and Winnipeg Transit is whether fans put off by stadium-bound service on June 12 will give buses another chance.
To that end, the Bombers have asked Transit to ensure more buses serve park-and-ride locations and ensure a second bus is present to begin taking on more passengers once the first is full.
Transit will also add more buses to the University Super Express service, or Route 161, that travels between downtown and the U of M.
Dedicated bus lanes will be cordoned off on University Crescent and Bishop Grandin Boulevard to avoid a repeat of the scene from June 12, when buses were queued up for more than a kilometre, forcing frustrated passengers to disembark and walk the remaining distance to the stadium.
Part of the police's job will be to ensure buses have priority access to the university campus, Bell said.
This amended event-day plan was developed during eight days of meetings involving two dozen officials from the football club, Winnipeg Transit, the Winnipeg Police Service, the U of M, True North Sports & Entertainment and other city officials.
Bell said he has yet to tally up the cost of chartering more transit buses, hiring more police and instituting other aspects of the amended plan. He also declined to state what the football club had budgeted for the earlier version of the event-day plan. "I would feel more comfortable not releasing those numbers right now," he said.
The cost is significant because the new stadium was built to provide the non-profit football club with a stable source of revenue. Any increases to the operating cost will affect the club's business plan.
The event-day plan for football games will be different from concert events, especially when it comes to transit service, said Winnipeg Transit director Dave Wardrop.
A limited version of the park-and-ride plan will be in place for tonight's Taylor Swift concert. Finalized park-and-ride details for the Bombers' June 27 CFL regular-season home opener will be unveiled next week, he said.
The football club is asking fans to arrive at 7:15 p.m. for that game so Investors Group Field is full for a televised opening ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Kickoff Thursday is at 8 p.m.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 22, 2013 A13
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Showing Results: Most Recent
This review is from: Kingston 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model KVR16LS11/8
Pros: installed 16GB this Kingston memory in each of 3 brics and nucs. no issues of any sort. speed is great on this particular batch on this i7-4770R Bric. It in top 1% per local test.( pcpitstop ).
Cons: none
Other Thoughts: the speed scores the other 2 nucs not as good as on this i7-4770R Bric. Might be they i5's and this one top end i7-4770R. all are Kingston. we use a lot of Kingston memory with no issues including some ECC memory. On a few workstations where we have non ECC 32GB mem the speed of Kingston memory is disappointing. All the ECC 32GB and all the 16GB non ECC Kingston sets are fast. And yes a few non ECC 8GB sets are fast too.READ FULL REVIEW
This review is from: Crucial M500 CT240M500SSD3 240GB Mini-SATA (mSATA) MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Pros: good score for non-raid ssd
paired with i7-4770R
no issues of any sort
speed beats other brands in my 3 new nucs & brics.
good price. I bought on price alone for each of my 3 msata purchases for a total of 3 brics and nucs.
Cons: none.
Other Thoughts: the size of the msata is great! I would buy again.
why not the nucs & brics have raid 0 for more speed?
This review is from: GIGABYTE BRIX GB-BXi7-4770R 2 x 204Pin Intel Iris Pro graphics 5200 Mini-PC Barebone
Pros: well packaged , quick assembly and in less than 15 minutes you are up on 8.1 Pro wireless or wired your choice. I7-4770R Brix worked well killing my two i5 NUCs. It gave me similar scores to my mini itx Silverstone I7-4770K without an installed graphics card. If you are going for a NUC or Brix buy this top end model rather than an I5 one. it is definitely worth the extra bucks both Video 5200 and the faster CPU about the same as an i7-4770k..
Cons: probably my fault but there was a hum in the sound although the sound worked fine. But when no sound on the video I was watching I could not tolerate the hum. I substituted a usb sound device to plug into. this worked perfectly. I need to check this out in more detail. my one NUC that has a sound receptacle has no hum. if Gigabyte's fault which I doubt this is not a deal breaker.
Other Thoughts: I have a business use. My personal business computer an FX-8350 gets a passmark score of 3800 mildly OCed. This one no vid card , no OC gets 3500 but a fraction of the size. If size matters buy it. My Silverstone mini-itx i7-4770K not as small as this one by a long shot gets 3300. The I7-4770R appears to be about the same as an i7-4770K.READ FULL REVIEW


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Enjoy my randomness and love for vinyl, pop culture, and beauty.
Love this! There's Olivia and Peter looking badass and then there's Walter in the background drinking a slushy 😂
I always loved this show.. Someday I'll buy the boxed set of the series and watch it all over again. :)


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UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora talks to Bruin fans about keeping their cool and letting the rivalry play itself out on the field.
Passions fueling the well-known rivalry between the Bruins and the Trojans are burning brighter and hotter this week as anticipation builds in the final days leading up to the most important football game of the year.
With the Bruins coming into this Saturday's game at the Rose Bowl with an 8-2 record (5-2 in the Pac-12 Conference) and a No. 17 national ranking, UCLA fans are harboring genuine hope that the Victory Bell — the 295-pound bell that goes to the winner of this annual crosstown clash — will finally come back to Westwood after being at USC for the last five years. The Trojans hold a 7-3 overall record (5-3 in the conference) and a No. 18 national ranking.
Adding to the pressure for a win, the upcoming game will determine the champion of the Pac-12 South Division and the team that will take on the winner of the North Division for the conference championship.
Boosting fans' optimism, the Bruins who run into the Rose Bowl this Saturday are a different team from the one that was so resoundingly defeated by the Trojans last year at the Coliseum. This Bruin team has already won four straight games this season for the first time since 2005, and triumphed in four road games for the first
time since 2002.
Protecting UCLA's beloved assets: the new John Wooden statue and the Bruin.
The Bruins' eight wins put Head Football Coach Jim Mora — in his first season with the Bruins — just one game behind the nine-game record set by former Head Coach Terry Donahue in his first season in 1976.
The crosstown rivalry, which actually predates the 1929 game when UCLA and USC first clashed on the football field, has seen pranks and acts of vandalism play out on both campuses through the years. This year has proved no different. Sometime Monday, vandals defaced a campus entrance sign on Sunset Boulevard near the UCLA Anderson School of Management with red and yellow paint.
To guard against further attacks, both the mighty Bruin in Bruin Plaza and the new John Wooden statue that stands near the entrance to Pauley Pavilion were protectively boxed up in thick plywood. And members of the students' Rally Committee have been standing guard at both locations at night.
"There are students here every night this week from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.," said Jayna Patel, the Rally Committee leader in charge of providing security. "We'll also do rounds around the school to check the fountains and fields throughout the night. We are definitely being extra cautious this year because we are doing much better in football. We do feel the rivalry has been more intense because of this, and want to do everything possible to ensure our campus stays safe from the Trojans."
More than 1,000 fans of both campuses turned out for a friendly competition and raised over $53,000 for Special Olympics athletes.
To encourage students to display the very best school spirit, UCLA Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Janina Montero and USC Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Jackson sent a joint letter to both campuses calling for mutual respect and sportsmanship.
"Respecting those around you demonstrates respect for yourself and for your university," Montero and Jackson wrote. "People all across Los Angeles and the nation will be watching the big game. We trust all of you to demonstrate the best of what it means to be a Bruin or a Trojan."
Similarly, both UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero and USC Athletic Director Pat Haden issued their own press statements calling on the teams' respective fans to exercise discretion and sportsmanship while attending the game.
"While the game will no doubt be played with great enthusiasm on both sides, it is important to remember that UCLA and USC are part of the same Los Angeles community, and this rivalry should be celebrated with graciousness and class," said Guerrero in a statement.
To prove that good things can come from the rivalry, more than 1,100 runners and supporters of both the Bruins and the Trojans came out Sunday for the inaugural "We Run the City 5K" and raised more than $53,000 to help provide free year-round training for nearly 12,000 Special Olympics athletes in Southern California. The annual rivalry race, to be hosted alternately at UCLA and USC, will lead up to the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, which will be held in Los Angeles. Both UCLA and USC will host more than 7,000 Special Olympics athletes from 170 countries.
The inaugural rivalry race brought out the cheer squads from both 'SC and UCLA.
"UCLA won the inaugural event by having the most participants, raising the most funds and being the first to have 100 runners cross the finish line," said Michael Deluca, executive director of recreation and campus life and a host at the event. "Overall, UCLA Recreation was pleased and honored to act as our campus representative for planning and coordination, and in hosting the first event at UCLA."
On Thursday, a rally and bonfire on campus will draw the biggest crowds of fans to cheer the Bruins on. Events kick off at noon with a Beat 'SC car smash in Bruin Plaza. More details about the events are available here.
To find out more about this historic rivalry, read this.


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I looked to see if this was a repost, the closet thing i could find was Doc's spydie and ammo thread. Anyways you read the title, so post them up. Now that the city of Chiraq is obeying the 2A we can now buy guns without registering them with the city:D.
S&W Shield 40cal with a CF Millie S90V user.


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MadLab Gallery's Annual TOO MUCH PHOTOGRAPHY Exhibition Begins 11/30
MadLab Theatre and Gallery has announced the return of their most popular annual visual arts exhibition: Too Much Photography.
Too Much Photography is an annual all-photography show where beautiful photos cram the gallery walls from floor to ceiling. MadLab believes there can never be "Too Much" original artwork from local photographers, but we're going to give it a try!
Featured artists include: Christy Bros Photography, Heather "Squish" Cornelius, Kevin Willis, W.E. Arnold, Scott Solomon, Rod McIntyre, Rebecca Cummings, P.E. Pelfreyman, Meghan Gehrlich, Mark E. Fohl, Linda O'Donnell, Laura Dark, Kristen Dyer, Joel Weston, Jennifer Youngblood, DeDe Parker, CoCo Loupe, Carrie "Butterfly" Turner, Brandon Presz, Andy Maniskas, Peter Graybeal, Andrew Fields, Mandi Chisholm, Genie Hargrove, Scott Steelman, and Jim Parker.
There will be an opening reception on Saturday, December 1st, from 4pm-7pm. Food, drinks, and culture will be provided.
Too Much Photography will remain up through December 22, with sales available for pick up before the holidays to use as gifts! The Gallery is open for the artists reception on December 1st from 4-7pm, and 1 hour before the current MadLab Theater show (Age of Bees by Tira Palmquist: Fridays and Saturdays from November 30-December 22 and opening night Thursday, November 29th at 8pm). Too Much Photography is also available to be seen by appointment through firstname.lastname@example.com.
About Author
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House Bill 2232 would create a check-off box on next year's tax form to allow Oklahomans to share tax return funds with the Attorney General's office. That money would be used to defend state laws against the federal government.
Democrat Joe Dorman authored the bill and told Channel 8 he did not expect it to get the support it has. It passed the State House 80 to 15. He said it is meant to allow people who feel passionately about constitutional challenges, like those to federal healthcare, to give tax return money to the Attorney General's office's lawsuits, which he said can cost tens of millions of dollars. He said that would ease the tax burden on others. He estimated check-off boxes usually earn several thousand dollars.
"No, they took all my money," said taxpayer Douglas Pabberg. He said he finished his 2013 taxes and does not want to give any part of his return back to the government. Others said they respect that the check-off box would provide citizens with a choice whether or not to donate. Oklahoma already has some check-off boxes on tax forms.
Dorman said the bill has two weeks to pass in the Senate.
Channel 8 reached out to Attorney General Scott Pruitt's office. A representative said the attorney general did not ask for the bill.
Evangelist Franklin Graham prayed on a sidewalk outside the Pentagon Thursday after his invitation to a prayer service inside was withdrawn because of comments that insulted people of other religions. More>>
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Pretty Little Liars Star Ashley Benson's Makeup Is Flawless — And Here's Why
Looking to create Hanna's signature makeup look on Pretty Little Liars? Well, you're in luck. PLL Head Makeup Artist Cindy Miguens is pairing with Disney Style to bring "behind the makeup" tutorials on all of the Liars' looks. First up, is girly-girl Hanna. Check out the video of Cindy describing what products she uses on Ashley Benson to create Hanna's smoky eyes and soft cheekbones.
"Basically, with Hanna, I am doing a soft, smoky eye," Cindy shares her secrets. "I love using the NARS' black cream on her lid. It's a really beautiful cream to use to make a smoky. It's probably one of my favorites."
Cindy says she uses creams rather than powders so the black eye shadow doesn't drop onto the cheek. As for liner, Cindy uses kohl black liner from Benefit, which she describes as "a perfect smoky eye pencil." After the black, she applies blue liner on Hanna to "accent her gorgeous blue eyes." Cindy finishes off the eyes with her go-to palette, a "beautiful, neutral matte" that she uses on all of the Liars.
Applying makeup on set can be fast-paced, so Cindy says she loves uses sticks to touch-up lips in-between takes. Another go-to product is concealer from AmazingCosmetics. Cindy uses it on Ash underneath her eyes and on any last-minute breakouts that may pop up.
If you admired Hanna's cheek line in the Season 4 premiere, you can thank Cargo's shimmer blush (and genetics). Cindy used a soft pink on Ash's cheeks, and says to "let me know if you like this on her because I'll use it more often." Will do, Cindy!
Do you like Hanna's smoky eyes and shimmering cheekbones? Have you tried any of this makeup tips yourself? Let us know in the comments below!
Catch the next episode of Pretty Little Liars on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family.


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French Blogspot Bandmachine Feature Mnemotechnic
Mnemotechnic "A band that breaks wood", as would be said in this very earthy part of France that is the very tip of Brittany.
Epileptic in a classy way, rough as it should be, dry like champagne, these Mnemotechnicians are having a field day. And on stage, it's even more obvious, as recently proven by their damn efficient gig at the mythical French Rock club le gibus in Paris.
Should some "influences" be mentioned, let's say in a jumble Fugazi, Black Flag or At The Drive-In, as well as vampire week end on a drip. That's how some delicate pop moments also come up among this very rough musical sound.
Their first LP, 'Awards', deserves a much broader distribution, so don't think twice and or hesitate get it on their socal networks or have a look here.
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FBL Jobs
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Custodial / Janitorial
FBLHospitality & Travel
Manhattan, KS
Perform routine night maintenance and general cleaning in and around our building and grounds. Hours are 10:45 p.m. - 7:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. This is a full-time regular position with compe
from fblfinancial.com4 days ago
Actuarial Assistant
West Des Moines, IA
Learn and perform advanced actuarial functions and insurance concepts and assist in rate and reserve recommendations and their implementation to assure Farm Bureau is competitive and profitable. Ass
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Actuarial Intern - Summer
West Des Moines, IA
The life actuarial intern will be providing support to actuarial staff and assisting in basic actuarial functions and insurance concepts. The intern will begin to develop a working knowledge of the di
from fblfinancial.com7 days ago
Assistant Agency Manager
FBLHealthcare Management & Finance
Twin Valley, MN
Assist the Agency Manager in recruiting new agents, training, and supervision of an assigned group of existing agents within the agency as may be assigned. 1. Respond to and resolve customer service
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Assistant Agency Manager
FBLHealthcare Management & Finance
Des Moines, IA
Assist the Agency Manager to provide sourcing, recruiting, installation and development of agents in the Cedar Rapids Metro area including the counties of Polk, Dallas, Marshall, Boone, Greene, Story
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Sr. Systems Analyst, Integration Specialist
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Provide technical systems expertise and programming, specializing in BizTalk for major applications in support of the organization's technical architecture. We deliver on our promise every day to pr
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Actuarial Intern
West Des Moines, IA
The life actuarial intern will be providing support to actuarial staff and assisting in basic actuarial functions and insurance concepts. The intern will begin to develop a working knowledge of the di
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Field Claim Representative
Yuma, AZ
Farm Bureau is seeking a multi-line field adjustor to investigate, evaluate, and estimate various losses with our client members who suffer a loss from farm, home and commercial claims. The territory
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Administrative Assistant II
FBLAdministrative Assistant
West Des Moines, IA
Perform administrative duties for Life Operations staff including ordering supplies, coordinating meetings, correspondence, mailings, budget/expense accounts, proofing, handling telephone calls, and t
from fblfinancial.com30+ days ago
Accounting Clerk III
FBLAdmin & Clerical
West Des Moines, IA
Assist with the coding, scanning and data entry of daily accounts payable invoices. Reconcile general ledger accounts, and research vendor and department payment inquiries. Also assist with general le
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The Lesser-known Features in Rails 4.2
The first beta of Rails 4.2 was announced last week, and it already looks amazing. I'm really excited to use ActiveJob, Web Console, Adequate Record, and Foreign Key support in my own apps.
But the beauty of Rails is in the details. And if you do a little digging, you'll find some less advertised features that will totally improve your daily work with Rails.
Easily load config files
OK, I might be biased. But having a built-in way to load config files is going to be awesome.
config_for, new in Rails 4.2, works exactly like you'd expect:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2
That is, if you call
config_for(:redis), it'll look for
config/redis.yml in your Rails app, parse it, and returns the right configuration for your
It even lets you put ERB in your yaml:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4
If you configure lots of services in your app, this'll make your initializers much easier to read.
Bootstrapping your apps
Most Rails apps need you to run some commands before you can try them out. Even mostly-empty Rails apps still need the database to be set up before they'll boot.
So, Rails, once again going with convention over configuration, created a place specifically for your setup code:
The default is good. But
bin/setup is also the place to put any other code you need to get your app started up.
So now that this is the convention, if you've already written a bootstrap script for your app, rename it to
bin/setup, so people using your apps can get started easily.
bin/setup gives you one less decision to make when you generate new Rails apps. And once you get in the habit of running
bin/setup after you
git pull, you'll never have to remember to run
rake db:setup when you generate a new app again.
Transform your hash values
This is another thing I need often enough that I wish it was built-in to Ruby. When you call
transform_values on a hash, it acts like calling
map on the hash values, and returns a new hash with the original keys associated with the replaced values:
1 2 3
Simple enough. But you'd be surprised how often it comes in handy.
Bonus: More configuration!
Rails 4.2 offers a simple way to set your own global configuration:
1 2 3 4
This works especially well when you combine it with
1 2
And there's more!
It looks like Rails 4.2 is set up to be an amazing release. But it's the little refinements that make it so great to work in Rails every day. So, if you haven't yet, take a quick look through the 4.2 Release Notes and see which other helpful improvements you can find.
(And if you do find some cool stuff, don't keep it to yourself. Share it here, so we can all learn something new!)
Rails I18n: 3 Quick Tips and 1 Crazy Abuse
Rails' i18n library is more powerful than it looks. You don't need to only use it for translation. The i18n library is useful anywhere you want to decouple the text you display from the place you display it.
While I've been at Avvo, we've used i18n to do some really cool stuff. I'm going to share a few of the things that we learned that have come in handy, along with a crazy abuse of the library that ended up working out incredibly well for us.
Automatic HTML escaping
Do you have lines that look like:
in your views? You don't need that
raw, because if your translation key ends with
_html, you get escaping for free:
Simple, and more consistent with your other
t() calls.
Accessing locales more conveniently
When you build your locale files, you'll probably have some of your keys grouped under the same parent:
1 2 3 4 5 6
To reference a bunch of these all together, you could reference them by their full key:
That's pretty annoying and repetitive. But
t() helpfully takes a scope, so you can reference keys more conveniently:
1 2
If you name your partials well, you don't even need to specify the scope:
That is,
.edit_label references
bugs.index.edit_label, because you're in
ActiveRecord backends
Sometimes, static translations in a yaml file just won't work for your project. If you use the ActiveRecord i18n backend instead:
1 2
you can look up translations in a
translations table in your database. This way, you don't have to define all your translations up-front. Instead, you can add new translations on the fly.
Setting up the
translations table requires a specific migration. The README on the i18n-active_record repo has all the information you need to get it working.
Sharing partials between object types
At Avvo, we have a lawyer directory, attorney reviews, and legal advice. But a few years ago, we didn't just have lawyers on our site. We had doctors and dentists, too!
A lot of our UI was the same between these professions. But enough was different (for example, what lawyers call "practice areas", doctors call "specialties"), that it would be hard to share the same views or partials without some pretty ugly code.
Eventually, we thought about trying to lean on the i18n system for this. After all, English lawyerese is kind of a dialect of English, and doctorese is the same way. We didn't want to block ourselves from eventually using other languages, so we decided to create two new locales:
en_jd and
This turned out to be easy to set up as a custom i18n backend:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
And defining translations was just as easy:
1 2 3 4 5
It worked great for translating entire partials, too (note the filename):
And it even fell back to the
en locale, for shared translations:
1 2 3
When you were in the "Doctors" section of the site, we changed the default locale to
:en_md, and vice versa:
And everything just worked!
I'm not sure I'd recommend this. It's a little nuts, thinking of different professions having different languages. But it worked amazingly well while we did it. And it reveals just how much power simple tools like i18n can have.
Where do you pick up this stuff?
Last week, I talked about taking deep dives into specific technologies as a way to move from a beginner to an expert. This is another example of that: most of what we learned about i18n we learned from reading the Rails guides and API docs.
So, take that extra step. Learn the tools you rely on well. You'll find that you'll run into conveniences and tricks that will not only make you more productive, but might unlock brand new categories of solutions you'd never even have thought of otherwise.
I Was on the Ruby on Rails Podcast!
I was invited to be on the Ruby on Rails podcast last week, where I talked a little bit about the articles I write here and on my list, writing a book, forming habits, where people get stuck, and all kinds of other things.
Take a listen if you haven't already!
Where Are All the Intermediate Rails Resources?
So, you've finished a few Rails tutorials. You might have taken a class or two or watched some screencasts. You've followed along and built a copy of some tutorial apps. It's pretty clear that it's time to move to the next level in your Rails development.
Somehow, though, you're stuck. There are tons of books, classes, and videos for people just starting out. But where are all the tutorials for intermediate Rails devs?
It's not like it was before
Once you pass the beginner, "building baseline knowledge" stage of being a Rails developer, the resources dry up. Why is that?
Becoming an intermediate Rails developer is nothing like being a beginner. It might seem like it's just a little different, with some more complicated stuff to learn. But passing through the intermediate stage of learning is a totally separate process.
Don't think of it as, "A beginner knows this stuff. An intermediate developer knows all that stuff a little better, plus some extra things off to the sides." For an intermediate developer, learning is more focused. Instead of knowing a little about a lot, you'll learn a lot about a little.
Find a few areas to focus on. Learn more details about testing and TDD. Learn a few of the design patterns that Rails encourages, in depth. Learn about how you should design a great data model. But don't learn it all at once. Learn one thing at a time, and learn it really well.
Once you understand the Rails basics, you'll know enough to read API documentation, even if you don't understand all of it yet. You could read the best books on TDD, even if they're not written specifically for Rails. After you've seen enough examples of Ruby code, you can go source-diving and understand parts of Rails at a level that few others do.
When you concentrate on learning one thing well, there are many more resources to learn from. And each thing you learn will make every other thing easier to learn.
(If it seems easy for people to pick up their third or fourth language, this is one reason for it. A lot of the core concepts stay the same, which means there's a lot less you have to learn to travel through the intermediate stage in a new language).
How do you choose what to play with next?
If you're going to learn one thing at a time, you have to choose what to focus on first. But how do you pick, when there's so much to learn?
Doesn't it always seem easier to learn something when you're interested in it? It definitely does for me. So, what's the best way to force yourself to be interested in learning something new?
Write your own apps! Lots and lots of apps. Write apps, modify apps, add features to existing apps.
When you write an app, you will get stuck. You'll get stuck a lot. But that's a great thing! You should learn to love the stuckness, because it means you're about to learn something new. Being stuck is awesome, and the more you can enjoy it, and even seek it out, the faster you'll become an expert.
Once you research, learn, and write a solution, try to do it again in another app. Try to write it without looking at the documentation. Really learn it. Then, continue building your app, and watch for the next place you get stuck.
I love learning this way, because you get to focus on the stuff you're going to run into most often. You'll learn faster, because you're not just studying to study. You're trying to figure out how to solve a problem. And isn't that why you fell in love with software development to begin with?
But you can't get them all this way
After you understand the basics of Rails, you can learn serendipitously. If you understand what intermediate and expert Rails devs are talking about, you can accidentally run into conversations that will take your studying down really interesting paths.
So, when I get past the beginning, tutorial stage of learning something new, I subscribe to a bunch of blogs. I follow some of the leaders of the community on twitter. I subscribe to the WhateverWeekly newsletter for the language (RubyWeekly, iOS Dev Weekly, JavascriptWeekly, etc.).
You don't have to read it all. You shouldn't read it all. But let good stuff hit your radar, and try to read and follow the things that seem interesting. I've learned some really great tips this way, and they've led me into some useful topics I might not have encountered until much later.
So, what are you going to learn next?
If you're feeling stuck because you can't find great intermediate resources, take control of your learning. Start building an app, and pay attention to how you build it. Try something you're only halfway sure will actually work, and seek out places you can get stuck. Use that stuckness, and find API docs, guides, or tutorials on just that small part. Go source-diving if you need to. (It might feel weird at first, but the more you look at Rails code, the more comfortable you'll feel with it).
Really understand a small part, become an expert in it. And then, move on to the next thing.
Shaking Off Your TDD Fatigue With a Few Quick Tips
You want to test-drive some code, but you're stuck. Maybe you're not totally sure what your object's interface should look like. Maybe you're distracted by another sunny summer day. You might not be sure you can test what you're thinking of building. Or you could be procrastinating, because you just don't feel like writing tests right now. How do you get the benefits of TDD when you don't feel like TDDing?
Prototyping, or building one to throw away
"Where a new system concept or new technology is used, one has to build a system to throw away, for even the best planning is not so omniscient as to get it right the first time. Hence plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow." — Fred Brooks
Sometimes, when I start a new feature, I'll feel paralyzed when I think about writing my first tests. There are so many decisions to make about how the API should look, which patterns and practices will be most appropriate, and how it should all fit together.
I have a few ways I get started when I'm stuck like that. Building a prototype is another.
When you write a prototype, you should think of it like a sketch. Brainstorm and try things out. Don't bother with tests or TDD yet. Instead, explore the decisions you're having a hard time making, with code. Try out a few patterns, and see which of them fit the feature you're trying to design. Figure out where the shaky parts of your app are, what needs more thought, and what you were worrying about for no real reason.
Then, throw it away and rebuild it. This time, using TDD and your newfound knowledge about how you can best build the feature.
You know when you accidentally run
git checkout -f after you wrote something, and you get that feeling like you just got kicked in the stomach? But then you figure, this has to be built, so I guess I'll do it again, and it turns out much better than it did the first time? This is also true with rebuilding prototypes. Now that you have some solid ideas of how the feature could look, TDDing that feature will go a lot more easily.
Reverse TDD
Have you ever run into a situation where you know how to build something, but you don't know how to write the tests for it first? Or maybe it's a one-line change to a method, but it might need some tweaking, so you don't want to lock it down with a test before you know what the change will actually look like?
There's a simple process that helps a lot with these situations:
- Write the code, without tests.
- Write a test for the code. Make sure it passes.
- Comment out the code you wrote, or revert the file you made the code change in.
- Run the test again. Make sure it fails.
- Write the code again. Run your tests. Make sure they pass.
- Refactor the code, taking advantage of your new tests.
I think of this as Reverse TDD or Green-Red-Green-Refactor. You won't get the "test-driven design" part of TDD, but you'll still get to see your tests fail when your code is broken. That's important, because you can't trust tests that don't fail at least once.
Reverse TDD usually works best with tiny changes that don't need much design. Think bugfixes, or changes that are localized to a single line, method, or class. But I use this technique a lot, especially for small changes that I'm still playing with.
The Pairing Game
The Pairing Game is a great way to break out of your Red-Green-Refactor routine when you have another developer around. It works like this:
- Find a partner.
- You write a test that will break.
- Your partner tries to fix that test with the simplest code possible.
- You write another test that will fail on that code.
- Your partner writes code that will pass that test.
- Repeat…
- At some point when the tests are green, you can choose to refactor some code instead of writing a test.
- After refactoring, swap tester and coder positions.
I'll let you in on a secret: playing the Pairing Game on a bowling score calculator is how I originally learned TDD. It'll help you practice writing simple code based on failing tests, and writing those tests to begin with. Both developers will learn a lot about each other's coding style and favorite techniques. And you'll hit flow almost immediately, which means you'll feel great when you finish.
You might not produce code as quickly, but it's a lot of fun, and a great learning experience.
Stay playful and experiment
TDD shouldn't be dogma. There are ways you can play with the core TDD concepts that can lead you to some really interesting places. And you might end up with even better code.
So experiment. Try new approaches to writing code and TDD. See how they make you feel, and what kind of code you end up with. And keep rediscovering the fun and the flow in the work you do each day.
4 Simple Memoization Patterns in Ruby (and One Gem)
Memoization is a technique you can use to speed up your accessor methods. It caches the results of methods that do time-consuming work, work that only needs to be done once. In Rails, you see memoization used so often that it even included a module that would memoize methods for you.
Later, this was controversially removed in favor of just using the really common memoization pattern I'll talk about first. But as you'll see, there are some places where this basic pattern just doesn't work right. So we'll also look at more advanced memoization patterns, and learn some neat things about Ruby in the process!
Super basic memoization
You'll see this memoization pattern all the time in Ruby:
1 2 3 4 5 6
||= more or less translates to
@twitter_followers = @twitter_followers || twitter_user.followers. That means that you'll only make the network call the first time you call
twitter_followers, and future calls will just return the value of the instance variable
Multi-line memoization
Sometimes, slow code won't fit on one line without doing terrible things to it. There are a few ways to extend the basic pattern to work with multiple lines of code, but this is my favorite:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
begin...end creates a block of code in Ruby that can be treated as a single thing, kind of like
{...} in C-style languages. That's why
||= works just as well here as it did before.
What about nil?
But these memoization patterns have a nasty, hidden problem. In the first example, what if the user didn't have a twitter account, and the twitter followers API returned
nil? In the second, what if the user didn't have any addresses, and the block returned
Every single time we'd call the method, the instance variable would be
nil, and we'd perform the expensive fetches again.
||= is probably not the right way to go. Instead, we have to differentiate between
nil and
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Unfortunately, this is a little uglier, but it works with
false, and everything else. (To handle the
nil case, you could also use Null Objects and empty arrays to avoid this problem. One more reason to avoid
And what about parameters?
We have some memoization patterns that work well for simple accessors. But what if you want to memoize a method that takes parameters, like this one?
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It turns out that Ruby's
Hash has an initalizer that works perfectly for this situation. You can call
Hash.new with a block:
Then, every time you try to access a key in the hash that hasn't been set, it'll execute the block. And it'll pass the hash itself along with with the key you tried to access into the block.
So, if you wanted to memoize this method, you could do something like:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
And no matter what you pass into
order_by, the correct result will get memoized. Since the block is only called when the key doesn't exist, you don't have to worry about the result of the block being nil or false.
Hash works just fine with keys that are actually arrays:
1 2 3
So you can use this pattern in methods with any number of parameters!
Why go through all this trouble?
Of course, if you start adding these memoization patterns to a lot of methods, your code will get pretty unreadable pretty quickly. Your methods will be all ceremony and no substance.
So if you're working on an app that needs a lot of memoization, you might want to use a gem that handles memoization for you with a nice, friendly API. Memoist seems to be a good one, and pretty similar to what Rails used to have. (Or, with your newfound memoization knowledge, you could even try building one yourself).
But it's always interesting to investigate patterns like this, see how they're put together, where they work, and where the sharp edges are. And you can learn some neat things about some lesser-known Ruby features while you explore.
A Guide to Learning From Outdated Resources
(I sent this post to my list a while back. If you enjoy it, and want to read more like it, you should sign up!)
The Rails ecosystem moves fast, way too fast for print. If you're like me, you want to learn the most recent version of your frameworks and gems. But the best resources are often a few versions behind.
These resources are still useful, though. There's nothing like a well-edited book, screencast, or tutorial to learn a library's API, philosophy, and structure.
For example, if the best Rails books only describe Rails 4.0, you should still start from there. When you're learning a new gem or framework, it's important to learn why it's designed a certain way and how all the pieces fit together. That's hard to get from reference documentation and blog posts, but easy to get from books.
But once you build experience with an older version of a gem, how do you get caught up?
Catching up with changes
Most popular gems have CHANGELOG files in their git repository, like bundler: https://github.com/bundler/bundler/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md. These are a great way to catch up on the big changes from version-to-version. Usually, they're just a short summary of each major change. But they give you a starting point, so you can do more research on interesting changes.
Many changelogs reference bug numbers on GitHub. If you see an entry in a changelog that has a bug number attached, you can find the bug in the project's Issues to understand what changed, how it changed, and why it changed.
So, how do you find changelogs? Usually, I just search google for
bundler github (if I'm looking for the bundler changelog), and they're usually on the first GitHub page you see.
If there isn't a changelog, you can also look at the project's README or the project's wiki on GitHub. But since those aren't designed to help you catch up from version-to-version, they usually take longer to go through.
Using up-to-date reference documentation
When you're working with gems, you'll also need to keep up-to-date reference documentation around. That way, you can look up API usage and see examples while you're writing your own apps.
You can find API documentation for any version of any gem at rdoc.info. But for even faster doc lookup, you should check out Dash or Zeal.
I use Dash, so when I need to look up API docs, I hit option-Space, start typing, and all my gem documentation shows up instantly. It's a change in my workflow that's paid for itself many times over.
A few tips on Rails, specifically
Rails is a large project, and the Rails contributors do a great job of maintaining changelogs and documentation.
The Rails guides are good, and they're also built from the same git repository as Rails, so they're always up to date.
If you're trying to catch up to the newest version of Rails, the release notes are the best place to start. For example, here are the release notes for Rails 4.1: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/4_1_release_notes.html
The process I usually take
Putting it all together, this is what I do when I want to get completely up to date on a new library:
- Read a book, tutorial, or documentation about the gem. I usually try to find the newest resource I can. While I'm reading, I build an app, practice, etc. on whichever version I'm learning.
- Find the project on GitHub.
- Read the project's changelog, readme, or wiki to take me from the version I know to the most recent version.
- If I'm interested in a specific change, google around for it or go through the project's issues to learn more.
- Upgrade to the newest version of the gem.
- Install the new gem's documentation in Dash.
- Write code with it!
I don't do all those steps all the time. But that's generally the order I go in, and this kind of process is helpful to keep around in case I get stuck on a step or don't know where to go next.
What if you can't find a changelog or can't make sense of the docs?
Sometimes you just won't be able to get the information you need out of the gem's GitHub repo or API documentation. When that happens, you'll have to dive into the code and start reading it.
Surprisingly, reading code is not like reading a book. Instead of reading files from beginning to end, you have to explore the code. This is more of an art than a science, but it's an important skill to learn. So, I'll probably have more to say about it later!
What tricks have you learned for getting caught up on gem changes? How do you stay up to date?
When Using an API Goes Terribly Wrong
API docs will tell you how to use an API. But when things go wrong, you can be left on your own. Error messages are often incomplete, misleading, or unhelpful. And what are you supposed to do with
NoMethodError: undefined method '[]' for nil:NilClass, anyway?
When you learn an API, framework, or library, you can't just learn how to use it when things go well. You also need to figure out what to do when it hands an error back.
How do you break code?
There's an easy way to learn what to do when an API you're using breaks. Break it yourself!
For example, I'll:
Pass data of the wrong type. You could pass a symbol instead of a String, a String instead of an Array, a Hash instead of an Array, things like that.
Pass incomplete data. You can pass
nil, hashes without some fields filled out, and objects that have just been initialized.
If the API requires network access, disconnect from WiFi or pull the network cable. Does it just time out, or does it tell you which service it couldn't reach?
If the API allows you to pass in a block, throw exceptions inside the block, or return data of the wrong type.
A great API will tell you what you did wrong. An excellent API will tell you how to fix it. But most often, you'll run into a Ruby
NoMethodError, unexpected
nils, or, worse, getting totally bizarre return values back.
Why break code?
This isn't all bad. If you're playing with an open-source gem, you can take time to understand where that unexpected behavior came from and why it happened. You can debug and read a little bit of code to learn a lot about how the library or API works.
Once you discover where the
NoMethodError is coming from, you can go a step further. You can fix the error message for the next person to run into this problem for real! Little error message fixes make great open-source contributions and easy pull requests. And they make the entire Ruby ecosystem a little better for everyone else.
Even if it's a closed-source REST API, you can still get something out of this exercise. After you see the different errors you'll get from the API, you'll have an easier time fixing the problem when you run into an error for real.
Once you become more comfortable seeing and fixing errors in the code around you, you'll see broken code as a puzzle to be solved. You won't automatically recoil when you see an exception and backtrace dumped to the screen. Instead, you'll see them as an opportunity to learn more about the system you're working with.
Finally, you'll know that when code breaks, you'll be able to put it back together again. You'll improve your confidence in trying new libraries and APIs. And that boldness will increase your rate of learning new things.
Tips for Finding Rails Blogs at Your Level
There's a lot of good, free Rails information around. But as you improve your development skills, it can be hard to find knowledge that's useful to you.
If it's too basic, you'll just read about things you already know. Too advanced, and your eyes glaze over and your brain shuts off. Three paragraphs in, and you don't even remember what your name is anymore!
You can't just type "intermediate-level Rails blogs" into Google and hope some good sites pop out. To get the information you're looking for, you're going to have to do some digging.
Finding & filtering
First, look wide and shallow. When you use social sites like reddit, twitter, and Stack Overflow, click on every link that looks interesting to you. Skim an article or two on each site, and if the site seems interesting, keep it around.
Next, you can filter and curate. You should build a place where posts find you. If you use an RSS reader (I use Feedbin), subscribe to the site. If you prefer email, sign up to receive email updates. You just want to be sure you see new articles as they come in.
If you skip more than a few articles from a site, unsubscribe. Eventually, you'll find a small group of people that you enjoy hearing from, who post things you're interested in, and that you can learn something from.
They'll grow along with you, and the articles will get more advanced at a rate you can handle. Plus, they'll often link to the people who they find insightful, which is a much faster way of finding people to learn from.
It'll take a while to build this group. But you'll get a little bit more of a benefit from every site you find.
Learn serendipitously
This doesn't completely solve the "at your level" problem. But I have a little secret: Finding people at just the right level for you isn't actually all that important. Many of my favorite writers write things that are way more basic or way more advanced than my current skill level.
How does this work?
When something is too basic, you can think of it as a way to review your fundamentals. The first time you learned something, you might have formed bad habits or internalized some ideas incorrectly. When you review basic information you get a second chance to think about and improve those things.
I had this happen when I read Eloquent Ruby as part of the RubyRogues' book club.
The first few chapters were really basic—I almost stopped reading it, because I didn't think I'd learn anything interesting. But I went through it, I focused on it as if I was learning Ruby for the first time. And I came out of it with some Ruby tricks and conventions that I had totally forgotten about.
What about articles that are too advanced? You can get a lot out of those, too:
You get introduced to more jargon and patterns. Even if you can't understand what the terms mean, you can search for the ones that sound interesting. You might find some better descriptions, or other good sites to subscribe to!
The more often you see an advanced idea, the less you'll be intimidated by it when you have to learn it for real. It'll also be easier to learn, because you will have already learned a little about it from seeing it in context.
Just for fun, I subscribe to some CS and math blogs that assume my math skills are way beyond where they actually are. Sometimes I only get a paragraph or two into the article before I give up. But the paragraphs I do read are some of the most interesting and insightful things that come through my feed reader.
You do have to come into advanced blogs and resources with the right mindset. You can't let them intimidate or overwhelm you. You have to remember that it's not a reflection on you if you don't get it. And getting anything out of an article that's beyond your skill level is a big accomplishment.
So, find some interesting articles. Follow some blogs. If they stay interesting, keep them around. Even if they're not quite at your current skill level.
Why Does Refactoring Make Code Simpler?
Last week, I wrote about methods with consistent return values, and how they'll make your code simpler. But how does that happen? How can the right refactoring make your code easier to work with? What makes good abstraction good, and bad abstraction bad? I mean, you can't just blindly rearrange your code and end up with quality software.
If you can learn why these techniques work, you'll be better able to understand where your code needs help. And you'll be able to use the right tools where they matter most.
What's the hardest problem in software development?
"There are only two hard problems in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things."
— Phil Karlton
Sure, that quote is everywhere. But there's actually a harder problem in real-world software development: managing complexity. Complexity in software development has a few different definitions. At its core, though, the complexity of a program is the amount of stuff you have to keep in the front of your mind while you're working on it.
As you write more software, you'll be able to keep more stuff in your head at once. But even the best devs have limits. If your project is too complex, you'll overload what your mind can handle, and you'll start forgetting about different areas of your program. And the worst bugs show up when you make a change in one part of your project without realizing how the change will affect a totally different part of the same project.
Simplifying through assumptions
If you had photographic memory, and could remember how all the different parts of your program fit together, you'd have a lot fewer bugs, right? Memory can be hard to build. But you can get a lot of the same benefits from being able to focus on one thing at a time.
Many best practices in software development are about reducing the number of things you have to keep in your mind at once. A few examples:
Consistency in your return values means you only have to think about how to deal with one kind of data, instead of different kinds of data in different situations.
Abstraction is a way to hide code behind a simpler interface. With good abstractions, you can just think about how the abstraction should act, and you don't have to worry about how it works on the inside.
Testing can keep you from accidentally breaking code in one area while you're working in another. You can assume that anything you accidentally break will be caught. This means you can focus just on the code you're working on, and fix anything you break later.
Test-Driven Development will help you write code that will work the way you expected it to work. You can concentrate on writing the simplest possible implementation of your method that passes the tests. If it's too simple and doesn't actually work as you'd expect, your tests will catch it.
When you use these techniques in the right way, you can make some good assumptions. With these assumptions, you don't have to keep anywhere near as much in the front of your mind. You can write better, more reliable code, because you don't have to worry about the nearly infinite consequences your code could have on the system.
On the other hand, using these techniques in the wrong place will hide code that you actually need to see. By hiding the code, the assumptions you make will sometimes be wrong. This makes it even more likely that you'll end up breaking it!
That's why bad abstractions are worse than no abstraction at all, and why you can't just throw "extract method" at code until it magically becomes good.
Right refactoring, right place
Clear code is code that's up-front about what it's doing. Showing what you'll need to know is as important as hiding what you don't need to know. When you perform a refactoring, or use a software best practice, you should think about the code you end up with, and how well it's helped you reduce complexity. Are you helping the rest of the code make good, simplifying assumptions? Or are you burying essential knowledge behind a too-simple interface?