text:
NeuroAgile Quick Links #6
- Can a brain scan tell us anything about the art of creative writing? (Research Digest)
- Create Collaboration With The Right Incentives (Keith Sawyer)
- Playing Games Increases Brain Size – in case you needed an excuse (PsyBlog)
- The Science Behind Why Jeff Bezos's Two-Pizza Team Rule Works – Why the Amazon CEO's unusual rule improves interaction and reduces stress (Janet Choi)
- Training Dragons and dispelling myths – "Alpha male" Personalities debunked (Brett Terpstra)
- Imagine life at high speed. Imagine the adrenaline on all the time. (Kirk Tuck)
- One More Reason Why Teenage Behaviour Can Be So Extreme (PsyBlog)
Retrospective Exercise: Vital Few Actions
How a Product Team is improving value delivery rate with Kanban
Here are my slides from #lkuk14. Full video available soon from Lean Kanban UK.
The Agile Reader – Weekend Edition: 11/07/2014
You can get the Weekend Edition delivered directly to you via email by signing up http://eepurl.com/0ifWn.
The Weekend Edition is a list of some interesting links found on the web to catch up with over the weekend. It is generated automatically, so I can't vouch for any particular link but I've found the results are generally interesting and useful.
People over Process
Here are the slides from my Keynote at Lean Into Agile Conference:
Agile and Lean are a means to an end. Once we are clear what our goals are and our approach is consistent with what we truly value, then we may hope for success.
When we simplify the Agile Manifesto's "Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools" we get "People over Process". Agile is about people. It's about a people-first culture. Lean is simliar.
Sadly, many organizations are mired in organizational debt: mistrust, politics and fear. Changing the process won't fix this. We need to go to the root of it – to find a way to talk about and shift to a healthier culture: one that values people.
The VAST (Vulnerability, Authentic Connection, Safety and Trust) model makes the dynamics of human systems visible and clarifies where we may apply leverage to foster lasting change.
We outline a fundamentally different approach for organizational change: one where valuing people is integral to building lasting success.Why we need to pay attention
The post People over Process appeared first on Catalyst - Agile & Culture.
Related posts:
- Letting Go of Agile (Culture) "If you want something very, very badly, let it go...
- The Business Case for an Authentic Workplace People are messy: they have personalities and emotions. In this...
- WholeHearted Manifesto: We Value People The WholeHearted Manifesto consists on one value statement: We Value...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
R: Joining multiple data frames
I've been looking through the code from Martin Eastwood's excellent talk 'Predicting Football Using R' and was intrigued by the code which reshaped the data into that expected by glm.
The original looks like this:
df <- read.csv('http://www.football-data.co.uk/mmz4281/1314/E0.csv') # munge data into format compatible with glm function df <- apply(df, 1, function(row){ data.frame(team=c(row['HomeTeam'], row['AwayTeam']), opponent=c(row['AwayTeam'], row['HomeTeam']), goals=c(row['FTHG'], row['FTAG']), home=c(1, 0)) }) df <- do.call(rbind, df)
The initial data frame looks like this:
> library(dplyr) > df %>% select(HomeTeam, AwayTeam, FTHG, FTAG) %>% head(1) HomeTeam AwayTeam FTHG FTAG 1 Arsenal Aston Villa 1 3
And we want to get it to look like this:
> head(df, 2) team opponent goals home HomeTeam Arsenal Aston Villa 1 1 AwayTeam Aston Villa Arsenal 3 0
So for each row in the initial data frame we want to have two rows: one representing each team, how many goals they scored in the match and whether they were playing at home or away.
I really like dplyr's pipelining function so I thought I'd try and translate Martin's code to use that and other dplyr functions.
I ended up with the following two sets of function calls:
df %>% select(team = HomeTeam, opponent = AwayTeam, goals = FTHG) %>% mutate(home = 1) df %>% select(team = AwayTeam, opponent = HomeTeam, goals = FTAG) %>% mutate(home = 0)
I'm doing pretty much the same thing as Martin except I've used dplyr's select and mutate functions to transform the data frame.
The next step was to join those two data frames together and with Nicole's help I realised that there are many ways we can do this.
The functions that will do the job are:
We decided to benchmark them to see which was able to transform the data frame the fastest:
# load data into data.frame dfOrig <- read.csv('http://www.football-data.co.uk/mmz4281/1314/E0.csv') original = function(df) { df <- apply(df, 1, function(row){ data.frame(team=c(row['HomeTeam'], row['AwayTeam']), opponent=c(row['AwayTeam'], row['HomeTeam']), goals=c(row['FTHG'], row['FTAG']), home=c(1, 0)) }) do.call(rbind, df) } newRBind = function(df) { rbind(df %>% select(team = HomeTeam, opponent = AwayTeam, goals = FTHG) %>% mutate(home = 1), df %>% select(team = AwayTeam, opponent = HomeTeam, goals = FTAG) %>% mutate(home = 0)) } newUnion = function(df) { union(df %>% select(team = HomeTeam, opponent = AwayTeam, goals = FTHG) %>% mutate(home = 1), df %>% select(team = AwayTeam, opponent = HomeTeam, goals = FTAG) %>% mutate(home = 0)) } newJoin = function(df) { join(df %>% select(team = HomeTeam, opponent = AwayTeam, goals = FTHG) %>% mutate(home = 1), df %>% select(team = AwayTeam, opponent = HomeTeam, goals = FTAG) %>% mutate(home = 0), type = "full") } newMerge = function(df) { merge(df %>% select(team = HomeTeam, opponent = AwayTeam, goals = FTHG) %>% mutate(home = 1), df %>% select(team = AwayTeam, opponent = HomeTeam, goals = FTAG) %>% mutate(home = 0), all = TRUE) }
> library(microbenchmark) > microbenchmark(original(dfOrig)) Unit: milliseconds expr min lq mean median uq max neval original(dfOrig) 189.4 196.8 202.5 201 205.5 284 100 > microbenchmark(newRBind(dfOrig)) Unit: milliseconds expr min lq mean median uq max neval newRBind(dfOrig) 2.197 2.274 2.396 2.309 2.377 4.526 100 > microbenchmark(newUnion(dfOrig)) Unit: milliseconds expr min lq mean median uq max neval newUnion(dfOrig) 2.156 2.223 2.377 2.264 2.34 4.597 100 > microbenchmark(newJoin(dfOrig)) Unit: milliseconds expr min lq mean median uq max neval newJoin(dfOrig) 5.961 6.132 6.817 6.253 6.65 11.95 100 > microbenchmark(newMerge(dfOrig)) Unit: milliseconds expr min lq mean median uq max neval newMerge(dfOrig) 7.121 7.413 8.037 7.541 7.934 13.32 100
We actually get a 100 time speed up over the original function if we use rbind or union whereas with merge or join it's around 35 times quicker.
In this case using merge or join is a bit misleading because we're not actually connecting the data frames together based on any particular field – we are just appending one to the other.
The code's available as a gist if you want to have a play.
SolutionsIQ: Automating Application Development, SAFe, and Other Takeaways from AgilePalooza Seattle
"How do we get the servers to be as responsive as our software development?"
SolutionsIQ developer/coach Ben Tomasini asked this question last week at AgilePalooza in Seattle. It was just one of the many topics that he and a number of other speakers covered at the event. Attendees learned about system automation, scaling frameworks such as SAFe™ and some of the interesting ways that agile and scrum are being used at development organizations around the Seattle community.
Check out Ben's ESPN highlights reel from the event:
For more information about SolutionsIQ visit the AgileIQ Blog.
Or go to agilepalooza.com to find out when the next AgilePalooza is coming to your area.
Mutation Testing: How Good are your Unit Tests?
You write unit tests for every piece of code you deliver. Your test coverage is close to 100%. So when the point comes when you have to make some small changes to the existing code, you feel safe and confident that your test suite will protect you against possible mistakes.
You make your changes, and all your tests still pass. You should be fairly confident now that you can commit your new code without breaking anything, right?
Well, maybe not. Maybe your unit tests were fooling you. Sure they covered every line of your code, but they could have performed the wrong assertions.
In this post I will introduce mutation testing. Mutation testing can help you find omissions in your unit tests.
Let's begin with a small example:
package com.xebia; public class NameParser { public Person findPersonWithLastName(String[] names, String lastNameToFind) { Person result = null; for(int i=0; i <= names.length; i++) { // bug 1 String[] parts = names[i].split(" "); String firstName = parts[0]; String lastName = parts[1]; if(lastName.equals(lastNameToFind)) { result = new Person(firstName, lastName); break; } } return result; } }
NameParser takes a list of strings which consist of a first name and a last name, searches for the entry with a given last name, instantiates a Person object out of it and returns it.
Here is the Person class:
package com.xebia; public class Person { private final String firstName; private final String lastName; public Person(String firstName, String lastName) { this.firstName = firstName; this.lastName = lastName; } public String getFirstName() { return firstName; } public String getLastName() { return firstName; // bug 2 } }
You can see that there are two bugs in the code. The first one is in the loop in NameParser, which loops past the end of the names array. The second on is in Person, which mistakenly returns firstName in its getLastName method.
NameParser has a unit test:
package com.xebia; import org.junit.Before; import org.junit.Test; import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals; public class NameParserTest { private NameParser nameParser; private String[] names; @Before public void setUp() { nameParser = new NameParser(); names = new String[]{"Mike Jones", "John Doe"}; } @Test public void shouldFindPersonByLastName() { Person person = nameParser.findPersonWithLastName(names, "Doe"); String firstName = person.getFirstName(); String lastName = person.getLastName(); assertEquals("John", firstName); } }
The unit tests covers the Person and NameParser code for 100% and succeeds!
It doesn't find the bug in Person.getLastName because it simply forgets to do an assertion on it. And it doesn't find the bug in the loop in NameParser because it doesn't test the case where the names list does not contain the given last name; so the loop always terminates before it has a chance to throw an IndexOutOfBoundsException.
Especially the last case is easy to overlook, so it would be nice if there existed a tool which could detect these kinds of problems.
And there is one: actually there are a couple. For this post I have chosen PIT, down at the end are links to some alternatives.
But first: what is mutation testing?
A mutation test will make a small change to your code and then run the unit test(s). Such a change is called a 'mutant'. If a change can be made and the unit tests still succeed, it will generate a warning saying that the mutant 'survived'.
The test framework will try to apply a number of predefined mutants at every point in your code where they are applicable. The higher the percentage of the mutants that get killed by your unit tests, the better the quality of your test suite.
Examples of mutants are: negating a condition in an If statement, changing a conditional boundary in a For loop, or throwing an exception at the end of a method.
Putting NameParser's testcase to the test with PIT
PIT stands for Parallel Isolated Test, which is what the project originally was meant for. But it turned out to be a much more interesting goal to do mutation testing, which required much of the same plumbing.
PIT integrates with JUnit or TestNG and can be configured with Maven, Gradle and others. Or it can be used directly as a plugin in Eclipse or IntelliJ.
I'm choosing for the last option: the IntelliJ plugin. The setup is easy: just install PITest from the plugin manager and you are ready to go. Once you're done, you'll find a new launch configuration option in the 'edit configurations' menu called PIT.
You have to specify the classes where PIT will makes its mutations under 'Target classes'.
When we run the mutation test, PIT creates a Html report with the results for every class.
Here are the results for the NameParser class:
As you can read under 'Mutations', PIT has been able to apply five code mutations to the NameParser class. Four of them resulted in a failing NameParserTest, which is exactly what we'd like to see.
But one of them did not: when the condition boundary in line 6, the loop constraint, was changed, NameParserTest still succeeded!
PIT changes loop constraints with a predefined algorithm; in this case, when the loop constraint was i <= names.length, it changed the '<=' into a '<'. Actually this accidentally corrected the bug in NameParser, and of course that didn't break the unit test.
So PIT found an omission in our unit test here, and it turned out that this omission even left a bug undetected!
Note that this last point doesn't always need to be the case. It could be that for the correct behavior of your class, there is some room for some conditions to change.
In the case of NameParser for instance, it could have been a requirement that the names list always contained an entry with the last name that was to be found. In that case the behavior for a missing last name would be unspecified and an IndexOutOfBoundsException would have been as good a result as anything else.
So PIT can only find strong indications of omissions in your unit tests, but they don't necessarily have to be.
And here are the results for the Person class:
PIT was able to do two mutations in the Person class; one in every getter method. Both times it replaced the return value with null. And as expected, the mutation in the getLastName method went undetected by our unit test.
So PIT found the second omission as well.
In this case, mutation testing would have helped us a lot. But there can still be cases where possible bugs can go unnoticed. In our code for example, there is no test in NameParser test that verifies the behavior when an entry in the names list does not contain both a first name and a last name. But PIT didn't find this omission.
Still it might make good sense to integrate mutation testing in your build process. PIT can be configured to break your Maven build if too many warnings are found.
And there's a lot more that can be configured as well, but for that I recommend to bring a visit to the website of PIT at www.pitest.org.
PIT is not the only mutation testing framework for Java, but it is the most popular and the one most actively maintained. Others are µJava and Jumble.
Although most mutation testing frameworks are written for Java, probably because it's so easy to dynamically change its bytecode, mutation testing is possible in some other languages as well: notable are grunt-mutation-testing for Javascript and Mutator, a commercial framework which is available for a couple of languages.
Continuing our journey together to focus on YOUR One Shiny Object…
It's been a while [again] since posting anything new at www.implementingscrum.com.
I see people are sharing the information (all around the world) in cubicles and Scrum team rooms. People are linking comic strips from their blogs, using them in presentations, and including them in books.
The Chicken and Pig cartoons here are now firmly established as folklore in the Scrum and Agile communities today.
People either love it or hate the story; however, an amazing thing is happening — people still talk about them AND they are still used to help start tough conversations in software development.
And yet I ask myself, why am I not posting *regularly* here anymore?
The answer is pretty simple. I've moved on and evolved my interests over the years. The comic strips are obviously not my area of *passion* anymore; they don't get me out of bed excited to take on the world daily anymore.
That. Is. OK.
There is still a boat load of information out here to share, consume, and learn with one another.
Heading into 2015 (and beyond), I'll still be maintaining this site and will continue to push out regular reminder postings with the old comic strips (and possibly some new information as a topic is relevant). If you want to help me on this, please let me know (the ball is in your court on this one, and YES I am serious with this invitation).
Where else am I headed into 2015?
A concept I am calling, "One Shiny Object."
I've been on working with people (all around the world) for many years and have found that my passion today is helping people figure out their own concept of a, "One Shiny Object."
It's about keeping things simple. Removing complexity.
Very similar to the concepts we live in the Scrum and Agile world. It's beyond that now (and probably has always been… I'll be using the tools in that box heading out of just the software development world).
Out on twitter (@mvizdos there) you can catch me doing this (almost daily) now. At conferences, this is something I am passionately talking to audiences about.
With clients, it's all about this:
Focus. #deliver
Interested in following me (Mike Vizdos) on this new journey?
Please jump over to www.OneShinyObject.com and let me know your name and e-mail address; from there, we'll branch off from the topic of this blog about Implementing Scrum and then you'll see what we can do together to focus on your One Shiny Object.
Amazing things are already happening. Join me (still FREE!).
You'll still be getting information here about Implementing Scrum, and I reiterate my humble request that you to get involved here to keep things relevant in your world of Scrum today.
It's all a journey!
Lean Metrics: Measure and Improve the Flow of Work
Watch this webinar recording to learn how managing your work via a Kanban system gives you the tools to measure and improve your team's effectiveness. About this Webinar Chris Hefley, CEO of LeanKit, provides an introduction to Lean Metrics that includes: – What to track, including total WIP, blockers, throughput, and lead time – How […]
The post Lean Metrics: Measure and Improve the Flow of Work appeared first on Blog | LeanKit.
The Guide on the Side
I've delivered quite a few training classes over the last several years, most of them in how to effectively utilize Scrum and Agile tooling in the delivery of software. And yes, I've relied heavily on Powerpoint decks to get my message across, doing my best not to read from the screen, but deliver the information in an engaging way. If you're a trainer, you know this can be a tough thing to do. You gotta be on, and know your subject matter inside and out. Without that, not much else matters. Once you've got that down, it's a matter of conveying the message and helping the learners understand. How we do this varies. Much of it is our own personal style, and what we learned from someone else along the way. But here's a dirty little secret… many of us trainers aren't really professional trainers at all. We just know something so well that someone made the decision to throw us in front of people to share our knowledge.
I've seen some really good showmen/women as I've attended training classes over my career in IT. It's a truly impressive (and sometimes entertaining) thing to watch; a performance really. They know their stuff, no referring to their notes, lots of eye contact, voice inflection and fluctuation, a few jokes thrown in for good measure, smooth flow and spot on timing. And we all clap at the end. Bravo! I aspired to be that polished.
But a colleague recently told me about this idea called 'Training from the BACK of the Room' based on a book of the same name by Sharon L. Bowman.
In true Agile fashion, I tried it out in my Agile tool training classes. At first, it seemed uncomfortable to me. I had my old slide deck down pat and knew it well, so who better to share all that great information than yours truly? In my traditional training model, I was the 'sage on the stage'.
But I vowed to really give this new thing a shot. I still used a Powerpoint deck, but the number of slides went from about 100 to 15. Training became more of a conversation, a series of exploratory exercises, and discussions afterward.
Rather than providing step by step instructions on how to perform a certain exercise, I'd give them a challenge, like…
- Identify at least three help options in the tool.
- Create two user stories. Name one 'Add book to wish list', and the other 'Remove book from wish list'.
- Create an Epic called Manage Customer Account
- Create three child backlog items under that Epic called…
You get the idea here. I'd have similar challenges around Release Planning, Sprint Planning, blocking stories, closing stories, setting up notifications, creating and sharing conversations, reports, etc.
I get folks heavily involved in showing the class what they did and how they did it. Dig into their thought process. Recognize and appreciate that others may have done the same thing differently, but achieved the same result. Literally have them come up to the front of the class and drive on my laptop, showing us all how they did it (see pic above). I thought I'd have to call on folks to get participation, but I didn't really. They mostly volunteer. They're eager to share what they learn. I encourage folks to work in pairs (paired learning), but not everyone does, which is ok.
The feedback was surprising (to me anyway). Initially, I felt like I wasn't really doing my job as a professional trainer. But folks loved this new format! The feedback forms (which were better than my previous classes) only told part of the story. In addition, people would come up after class and tell me they had never had a training course like this before. The majority of students really liked being engaged in this new way. To be fair, there was a minority that didn't really care for it. I understand.
Oh, and yes, I literally did train from the back of the room (sometimes the side or front too). Most of my time was spent walking around, helping folks who got stuck or had questions about the exercises/challenges I gave them. The struggle is part of the learning.
At the end of the day, what I learned is that being the 'sage on the stage' is not as good as being the 'guide on the side'. I know… it rhymes, but it's true. We shouldn't expect a performance from our trainers, or to sit in awe, as they impress us with all their knowledge and showmanship. That's not the point. As students in a training class, our goal should be to learn something that hopefully helps us do your jobs better. As a trainer, it should be to help them learn. When they go back to their real job, they should be able to recall what they learned, and apply it to their own unique situation. As Trainers, we can make it stick by engaging students, challenging them, asking questions and guiding.
If you've attended training like this, what did you like (or dislike) most?
If you're a trainer, have you seen this method applied to training other than 'technical 'or 'tool' training?
User Stories for Agile Requirements
Advanced Topics in Agile Planning
Agile Tour Paris, Paris, France, November 26 2014
How To Improve the IT-Business Relationship
It's possible to change IT from a poorly respected cost center to a high-functioning business partner.
Driving business transformation is a people, process, and technology thing.
Some people think they can change their business without IT. The challenge is that technology is the enabler of significant business change in today's digital landscape. Cloud, Mobile, Social, and Big Data all bring significant capabilities to the table, and IT can hold the keys.
But the business doesn't want to hear that.Business Leaders Want to Hear About the WHY and WHAT of the Business
Business leaders don't want to hear about the HOW of technology.
Business leaders want to hear about the impact on their business. They want to hear about how predictive analytics can help them build a better pipeline, or target more relevant offers. Business leaders want to hear about how they can create cross-sell/upsell opportunities in real-time. And, business leaders want to hear about the business benefits and the KPI that will be impacted by choosing a particular strategy.
The reality is that the new Digital Masters of the emerging Digital Economy bring their IT with them, and in many cases, their IT even helps lead the business into the new Digital Frontier.
In the book, Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation, George Westerman, Didier Bonnet, and Andrew McAfee, share some of their lessons learned from companies that are digital masters that created their digital visions and are driving business change.How IT Can Change Its Game
While it takes work on both sides, IT can change it's game by creating transparency around performance, roles, and value. This includes helping employees think and talk differently about what they do. IT can show very clearly how it delivers value for the money. And IT can change the way IT and business leaders make investment decisions and assess the returns.IT Needs to Speak Business
The CIO and everybody in IT, needs to speak the language of business.
Via Leading Digital:
"Poor relations between IT and business leaders can have many causes. Sometimes it's the personality of the IT leader. A common complaint among senior executives is that their CIO seems to speak a different language from the business. Another is that the CIO doesn't seem to understand what's really important. For example, a chemical company CIO we interviewed described how he communicates regularly with business executives about the innovative possibilities of digital technologies. Yet none of his business executive peers (whom we interviewed separately) seemed to find the discussions credible."IT Needs to Deliver Better, Faster, and More Reliably than Outsourcing
It's a competitive world and IT needs to continuously find ways to deliver solutions in a way that makes business sense.
Via Leading Digital:
"Sometimes the issue arises from IT's delivery capability. According to Bud Mathaisel, who has served as CIO in several large companies, 'It starts with competence in delivering services reliably, economically, and at very high quality. It is the absolute essential to be even invited into meaningful dialog about how you then build on that competence to do something very interesting with it.' Unfortunately, some IT units today do not have this competence. One business executive we interviewed said, 'IT is a mess. It's costs are not acceptable. It proposes things in nine or ten months, where external firms could do them in three to nine weeks. We started offshoring our IT, and now our IT guys are trying to change.' A legacy of poor communication, byzantine decision processes, and broken commitments is no foundation on which to build a strong IT-business relationship."IT Needs a Good Digital Platform to Be High-Performing IT
In order to bet on IT, it needs to be high-performing. And in order for IT to be high-performing, it needs to have a good digital platform.
Via Leading Digital:
"However, the fault doesn't always rest only with IT leaders. In many cases, business executive share some of the blame ... high-performing IT requires a good digital platform, and good platforms require discipline. If your approach to working with IT can be characterized by impatience, unreasonable expectations, or insisting on doing things your way, then you'll need to think about how to change your side of the relationship."CIOs Can Lead Digital Business Transformation
Key business transformation takes technology. CIOs can help lead the business transformation, whether it's through shared goals with the business, creating a new governance mechanism, or creating a new shared digital unit.
Via Leading Digital:
"Regardless of the case, if your IT-business relationships are poor, it's essential to fix the problem. A bank executive stated, 'IT has been brought closer to business during the last five years. It is very important to success because man of the important transformations in our business are enabled by technology.' With strong relationships, IT executives can help business executives meet their goals, and business executives listen when IT people suggest innovations. Executives on both sides are willing to be flexible in creating new governance mechanisms or shared digital units. At Codelco, Asian Paints, and P&G, the CIO even leads digital transformation for the company."CIOs Can Help Drive the Bus with the Executive Team
CIOs can help drive the bus, but it takes more than senior sponsorship.
Via Leading Digital:
"So, how can you start to improve your IT-business relationship? Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry, told her CIO he needed to help drive the bus with the executive team. However, leadership changes or top-down mandates are only the start of the change. Few CIOs can change the business by themselves, and not all business executives will climb on the bus with the CIO, even if the CEO demands it."Fix How You Communicate to Fix the IT-Business Relationship
Start by fixing how you communicate between the business and IT.
Via Leading Digital:
"Fixing the IT-business relationship can take time, as people learn how to trust each other and redefine the way they work together. As with any struggling relationship, the best starting point is to fix the way you communicate. Does IT really cost too much, or are costs reasonable, given what IT has to do? Is the IT unit really too bureaucratic, or do all of those procedures actually serve a useful purpose? Are you a good partner to IT or a difficult one? How can IT make it easier for you to get what you need, while still making sure things are done correctly? What investments can help IT improve its technology, internal processes, cost-effectiveness, quality, or speed?"Change IT from a Poorly Respected Cost Center to a High-Functioning Business Partner
It's possible to change IT from a low performing cost center to a high-performing business partner. Companies do it all the time, and MIT has the research.
Via Leading Digital:
"MIT research into IT turnarounds has identified a series of steps that can change IT from a poorly respected cost center to a high-functioning business partner. The key change mechanism is transparency--around performance, roles, and value. The first step is to help IT employees think, and talk, differently about what they do. The second step proceeds to showing very clearly how well (or how poorly) IT delivers value for money--the right services at the right quality and right price, and where problems still exist. And then the third step moves to changing the way IT and business leaders make investment decisions and assess the returns that projects deliver. Through transparency around roles, performance, and investments, both sides can make smoother decisions and work together to identify and deliver innovation."
If you're part of a business that wants to change the world, start by reimagining how IT can help you achieve the art of the possible.You Might Also Like
Building Better Business Cases for Digital Initiatives
Drive Business Transformation by Reenvisioning Your Customer Experience
Drive Business Transformation by Reenvisioning Your Operations
How Digital is Changing Physical Experiences
Replacing Backlog Grooming
Over the last few years, I've worked with numerous teams. One thing they all struggle with is backlog grooming. They all know they need to do it. Unfortunately, they all seem to struggle with when to do it or who should do it. The most interesting struggle with backlog grooming happened two years ago. The "story time" meetings took place at the beginning of a month-long sprint. The manager stated, the work to be completed and delivered during that sprint had to be refined within the same sprint. This helped explain why the team thought they needed month-long sprints. When I asked why they would try to refine work the first two weeks of the sprint and then complete that work the second two weeks, you know what their answer was? "It said to do it like that in the Scrum Guide!" After I clarified their misunderstanding, we established a cadence to continuously mature the backlog. A few select people would participate in the scheduled meetings. We would reserve capacity from each sprint to get that work ready for future sprints. The team was able to shorten their sprints to 2 weeks. They more than doubled their delivery rate without increasing defect rates. With that as an example, over the last few years, I have evolved my practice of backlog grooming. Let's look at some key dates in the evolution of backlog grooming.Evolution of Backlog Grooming
2005: "grooming the product backlog" is mentioned by Mike Cohn on what is now the Scrum Users Yahoo Group;
I always have teams allot some amount of time to "grooming the product backlog" to make sure it's ready for the next sprint.
2008: A formal description of "backlog grooming" is given by Kane Mar, under the name Story Time, and recommending it as a regular meeting
I call these meetings "Story Time" meetings….Although they are not a formal part of Scrum, I've found that Story Time greatly improves project planning and reduces confrontational planning meetings, which are all too common for many teams. A Story Time meeting should be held at the same time and location every single week and involve the entire team, including the Product Owner and ScrumMaster. The sole intention of these weekly meetings is to work through the backlog in preparation for future work.
2011: The practice of "backlog grooming" is called "backlog refinement" and promoted to an "official" element of Scrum with its inclusion in the Scrum Guide
Product Backlog refinement is the act of adding detail, estimates, and order to items in the Product Backlog. This is an ongoing process in which the Product Owner and the Development Team collaborate on the details of Product Backlog items. During Product Backlog refinement, items are reviewed and revised. The Scrum Team decides how and when refinement is done. Refinement usually consumes no more than 10% of the capacity of the Development Team. However, Product Backlog items can be updated at any time by the Product Owner or at the Product Owner's discretion.
2014: Derek Huether from LeadingAgile evolved the practice of backlog grooming with one of his clients, to allow the practice to work better at scale, calling it a "Progression" workshop.
When operating at scale, my client deals with different problems than a standard Scrum team. They're dealing with separate lines of business. They're dealing with multiple delivery teams for each line of business, to include external vendors. They're dealing with a portfolio roadmap that has annual plan items and budgets. Our strategy encapsulated the entire product delivery value stream, while ensuring we had enough architectural runway. We progressed work to be consumed by delivery teams, via a series of workshops.Progression Workshops
Our progression workshops differ slightly from the story time meeting detailed by Kane Mar and the refinement meeting mentioned in the Scrum Guide. Counter to Story Time, we don't invite the entire team. Instead, we have elevated the workshop to a group some have come to know as a Product Owner (PO) team. The group of people within the PO team will vary, depending on the line of business. Yes, there will be a Product Owner (Product Lead) and facilitator, but from there we'll include the development lead, testing lead, and an architect. We've found two key challenges when operating at scale. First, is there a well defined backlog that is ready enough to be consumed by different delivery teams? Second, is the work being queued up to the delivery teams free and clear of other teams. That is, have we decomposed it in such a way that we've minimized dependencies on other teams? Beyond that, in order to achieve some degree of architectural runway, we continually refactor existing platforms. Architectural changes are not only made incrementally but we require an architect to be present at every progression workshop.
Counter to the Scrum Guide, I'm not going to be proscriptive as to how much capacity the PO Teams do/should commit to progression workshops. The goal is to have enough work ready for delivery teams to consume for a few sprints.
When progressing work, we do expect some artifacts to be generated, to contribute to the teams understanding of what will be developed, tested, and delivered. Below is a partial list of potential artifacts. To be clear, we do not expect all of these to be generated.Potential Deliverables
- System Context Diagram
- Dependency and Risk Work Items
- System Architecture Guidance Acknowledgement
- Use Case Diagram and document
- Business Process Flow
- Known Business Rules
- High Level Technology Alignment
- Architecture Backlog for Planned Work
- As-Is Data Contracts
- Feature Work Items Assigned to Delivery Team
- Feature Business Value and Acceptance Criteria
- Feature Stack Rank
- Test Strategy
So, that's the high-level view of the Progression Workshop. Most of the time, a feature will require two or more progression workshops before work is ready to be consumed by a delivery team. Once features progress to a defined level of shared understanding, the delivery teams assist in the decomposition of features to user stories. In this way, work is decomposed to the right level of detail for each delivery team.
I'm curious, how have you scaled feature development and backlog grooming in your organizations? What mechanics outside of the standard Scrum process have you found useful to refine work to be completed by delivery teams? Have you evolved Story Time or backlog refinement?
The post Replacing Backlog Grooming appeared first on LeadingAgile.
Swift Function Currying
One of the lesser known features of Swift is Function Currying. When you read the Swift Language Guide you won't find anything about curried functions. Apple only describes it in their Swift Language Reference. And that's a pity, since it's a very powerful and useful feature that deserves more attention. This post will cover the basics and some scenarios in which it might be useful to use curried functions.
I assume you're already somewhat familiar with function currying since it exists in many other languages. If not, there are many articles on the Internet that explain what it is and how it works. In short: you have a function that receives one or more parameters. You then apply one or more known parameters to that function without already executing it. After that you get a function reference to a new function that will call the original function with the applied parameters.
One situation in which I find it useful to use curried functions is with completion handlers. Imagine you have a function that makes a http request and looks something like this:
func doGET(url: String, completionHandler: ([String]?, NSError?) -> ()) { // do a GET HTTP request and call the completion handler when receiving the response }
This is a pretty common pattern that you see with most networking libraries as well. We can call it with some url and do a bunch of things in the completion handler:
doGET("http://someurl.com/items?all=true", completionHandler: { results, error in self.results = results self.resultLabel.text = "Got all items" self.tableView.reloadData() })
The completion handler can become a lot more complex and you might want to reuse it in different places. Therefore you can extract that logic into a separate function. Luckily with Swift, functions are just closures so we can immediately pass a completion handler function to the doGET function:
func completionHandler(results: [String]?, error: NSError?) { self.results = results self.resultLabel.text = "Got all items" self.tableView.reloadData() } func getAll() { doGET("http://someurl.com/items?all=true", completionHandler) } func search(search: String) { doGET("http://someurl.com/items?q=" + search, completionHandler) }
This works well, as long as the completion handler should always do exactly the same thing. But in reality, that's usually not the case. In the example above, the resultLabel will always display "Got all items". Lets change that into "Got searched items" for the search request:
func search(search: String) { doGET("http://someurl.com/items?q=" + search, {results, error in self.completionHandler(results, error: error) self.resultLabel.text = "Got searched items" }) }
This will work, but it doesn't look very nice. What we actually want is to have this dynamic behaviour in the completionHandler function. We can change the completionHandler in such a way that it accepts the text for the resultLabel as a parameter and then returns the actual completion handler as a closure.
func completionHandler(text: String) -> ([String]?, NSError?) -> () { return {results, error in self.results = results self.resultLabel.text = text self.tableView.reloadData() } } func getAll() { doGET("http://someurl.com/items?all=true", completionHandler("Got all items")) } func search(search: String) { doGET("http://someurl.com/items?q=" + search, completionHandler("Got searched items")) }
And as it turns out, this is exactly what we can also do using currying. We just need to add the parameters of the actual completion handler as a second parameters group to our function:
func completionHandler(text: String)(results: [String]?, error: NSError?) { self.results = results self.resultLabel.text = text self.tableView.reloadData() }
Calling this with the first text parameter will not yet execute the function. Instead it returns a new function with the [String]?, NSError? as parameters. Once that function is called the completionHandler function is finally executed.
You can create as many levels of this currying as you want. And you can also leave the last parameter group empty just to get a reference to the fully applied function. Let's look at another example. We have a simple function that sets the text of the resultLabel:
func setResultLabelText(text: String) { resultLabel.text = text }
And for some reason, we need to call this method asynchronously. We can do that using the Grand Central Dispatch functions:
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), { self.setResultLabelText("Some text") })
Since the dispatch_async function only accepts a closure without any parameters, we need to create an inner closure here. If the setResultLabelText was a curried function, we could fully apply it with the parameter and get a reference to a function without parameters:
func setResultLabelText(text: String)() { // now curried resultLabel.text = text } dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), setResultLabelText("Some text"))
But you might not always have control over such functions, for example when you're using third party libraries. In that case you cannot change the original function into a curried function. Or you might not want to change it since you already using it at many other places and you don't want to break anything. In that case we can achieve something similar by creating a function that creates the curried function for us:
// defined in global scope func curry<T>(f: (T) -> (), arg: T)() { f(arg) }
We can now use it as following:
func setResultLabelText(text: String) { resultLabel.text = text } dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), curry(setResultLabelText, "Some text"))
Probably in this example it might be just as easy to go with the inner closure, but being able to pass around partial applied functions is very powerful and used in many programming languages already.
Unfortunately the last example also show a great drawback about the way currying is implemented in Swift: you cannot simply curry normal functions. It would be great to be able to curry any function that takes multiple parameters instead of having to explicitly create curried functions. Another drawback is that you can only curry in the defined order of parameters. That doesn't allow you to do reverse currying (e.g. apply only the last parameter) or even apply just any parameter you want, regardless of its position. Hopefully the Swift language will evolve in this and get more powerful currying features.
[POSTPONED] Portland, Oregon: Agile Smack-Down (Debate)
This event is postponed due to inclement weather. I will update the listing when a new date is chosen.
The Technology Association of Oregon (TAO) is hosting a debate about Agile between me and Frank D'Andrea next week. Adam Light is hosting. It's going to be a fun, lively event with plenty of thought-provoking moments. Here's the blurb:
Join us for the TAO Agile Smack-Down, a thought-provoking discussion and debate of the good, bad, and ugly ways to implement Agile methodologies. Adam Light will moderate a rousing dialog between Frank D'Andrea, VP Software Development at Tater Tot Designs, and James Shore, author of The Art of Agile Development.
Our panel will discuss real-world lessons from applying and misapplying Agile to application development, with time set aside for Q&A from the audience.
The event is 5:30-8:30 on Thursday, November 13th at Urban Airship in downtown Portland. It's $25 for TAO members and $45 for non-members. Registration and details here.
Reddit "Ask Me Anything"
The Agile subreddit on Reddit invited me to do an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) earlier this year. We had a great turnout and discussed many interesting topics.


text:
Home » Music & Video » CDs » CD » Facebreaker
CD Infected #11407
1. Creeping Flesh
2. Cannibalistic
3. Torn to Shreds
4. Epidemic
5. Bloodshed
6. Mankind Under Siege
7. Waiting for the Pain
8. Into the Pit
9. Bloodthirst
10. Reanimating the Dead
11. Infected
On the 1st of January 2010, Facebreaker started to record the new studio album called INFECTED. This time they chose to work with both Jonas Kjellgren at Black Lounge Studios and Peter Tgtgren in ABYSS studios. Be prepared for their most brutal and best played album yet, with the intensity and horror that lets them become what they arethe FACEBREAKER. So be prepared for Slaughter!
Metal Blade Records item #149642
Other Things You Might Like
Job For A Cowboy Gloom - EP (CD)$4.99
Facebreaker Dedicated to the Flesh (CD)$11.99
Latest Tweet
Buy tickets for Death (DTA Tours) @RiversofNihil at Metro- Chicago, IL from @etixword http://t.co/syoTr5OB29

subset: commoncrawl


text:
To sell or not to sell? Is this product a profitable one or has a high risk of loss? Too many questions in your mind and unable to choose the right product? 145 more words
Tags » Product
Is your product the ideal one for online store? Use our checklist to verify
Black Friday Discount at Ruby Wren Designs
We're excited to be taking part in Black Friday! We'll be offering a 30% discount all weekend with the code BLACKFRIDAY at rubywren.com. The discount will run from Thursday 27th to midnight on Sunday 30th. 17 more words
COMMERCE UNRAVELLINGPhotography
In this week's DSMMCM1415 tutorial the Bounce team focused on PRODUCT. The aim of the workshop was to understand everything there is to know about the product we aim to sell, what customers want from it and how we can use this knowledge to target them online. 439 more words
Product Review - Garcinia Cambogia
You may or may not be aware, that I am currently writing a series of reviews for weight loss products that have promised to help us achieve the beach body we see in the magazines. 569 more words
Think Process not the Product.
Embrace creativity, not the creation.
As a creative person in a creative world, I appreciate just how much we all want to create the most beautiful things for eyes to see, to touch and reach out to people. 1,594 more words


text:
JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE, Los AngelesLIT = Leadership, Innovation, Transformation Los Angeles conference: Saturday, January 31, 2015 8am-5pm. Program: http://litcollegetour...
Irvine entertainment around san diego events
LIT College Tour Los Angeles "Igniting Futures"
Saturday, Jan 31 8:00a
Hip Hop Showcase ft. Poetiic
Saturday, Nov 29 7:00p
The Mint, Los AngelesPoetiic female hip hop artist from New Eruh LLC Entertainment Company located in San Diego will be performing at the Mint nightclub in Los Angeles on November 29 th 2014 ! " Poetiic " has her own i...
Heartbeat City – A Tribute to the Cars
Tuesday, Nov 25 8:00p
Vitello's Upstairs, Los AngelesNamed for one of the Cars biggest selling albums, Heartbeat City faithfully re-creates the look and sound of the Cars...
Jai Rodriguez - Dirty Little Secrets
Monday, Dec 1 8:00p
Vitello's Upstairs, Los AngelesJai Rodriguez - Dirty Little Secrets Monday, December 1st $15...
West Coast/Hollywood Regional Connection - January 15, 2015
Thursday, Jan 15 6:00p
CBS Studios Center, Los AngelesAn Evening of Inspiration and Education Thursday, January 15, 2015 6:00PM - Mix & Mingle | 6:30PM - Table Discussions | 7:15PM - Dinner & Program Keynote Speaker: DR...
Whisperings Solo Piano Concert
Friday, Jan 23 7:30p
Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, Solana BeachJoin us for an inspirational evening of beautiful original, award-winning solo piano...
National Tour: Campus Backbone Solutions, San Diego, CA
Tuesday, Dec 2 8:30a
Courtyard San Diego Rancho Bernardo, Carmel ValleyPlease join us for a Free Campus Backbone seminar...
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Expo 2015 - BESA San Diego
Sunday, Mar 22 12:00p
La Jolla Marriott Hotel, La JollaJoin us for our 13th annual Bar/Bat Mitzvah Expo! This unique event is the Largest one-stop shopping source in Southern California for your upcoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah or Jewish event...
La Jolla Festival of the Arts
Saturday, Jun 20 10:00a
University of California San Diego, Carmel ValleyAn elegant and high quality arts festival held outdoors in the San Diego community called La Jolla...
Warren Miller's No Turning Back
Saturday, Dec 6 6:00p
"Proven Tax Strategies" For the Real Estate Professional
Thursday, Dec 4 10:00a
San Diego Association of Realtors, Carmel ValleyKeep more of your hard-earned money! Learn how to save $2,500 to $27,000 in new deductions! Be sure to attend our free upcoming seminar.....
ConnectHER | An Five-Star Event For Influencers, PR, Brands & Entrepreneurs
Sunday, Jul 26 8:00a
Baleen - Paradise Point Resort, Carmel ValleyThe ConnectHER Conference is an invitation only five-star conference event for influencers, Brands and entrepreneurs who create online content...
San Diego ABC's Annual Holiday Party 2014
Tuesday, Dec 16 5:30p
The Us Grant, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Carmel ValleyJoin us on Tuesday, December 16th for our annual holiday party! Enjoy dinner, desserts, novelty snacks, and live entertainment including a caricature artist and a fun photobooth...
Coastal San Diego Tour to La Jolla & Torrey Pines with TourGuideTim
Monday, Nov 24 12:00p
Alongside the Santa Fe Train Station, Carmel ValleyGet Ready For A Wonderful Experience The northern San Diego beach area is full of cul-de-sac beaches, beach bluffs, ocean cliffs, and prime views of the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean...
Big Night San Diego New Year's Eve Gala
Wednesday, Dec 31 9:00p
Hilton San Diego Bayfront, Carmel ValleyComplete event details: click here Big Night San Diego Ticket Information T Icket Option I: Main Event Ticket ( includes Everything): All Drinks Included (please see menu ...
Irvine entertainment around san diego Related Topics
arts & crafts | community | business & tech | dance | fairs & festivals | food & dining | music | performing arts | sports & outdoors | visual arts | other | comedy | shopping | holiday | education/campus | car show | activities | beer | us grant hotel new years hotel | holiday | official food of los angeles | best trick or treating eastlake ca | shipping | trick or treat day chula vista | family event special event free | trick or treat 2014 in otay ranch
Hot Tickets More »
Sat 1/31 8:00a
Sat 11/29 7:00p
Thu 1/15 6:00p
Tue 11/25 8:00p
Mon 12/1 8:00p
Fri 1/23 7:30p
Upcoming Holiday Events More »
Toy Drive and Lunches With Dan Mastermind
Mon 12/15 11:30a
Hour of Code
Sat 12/13 10:00a
Love Came Down at Christmas Christmas Concert
Sun 12/14 4:00p
Jingle and Mingle Holiday Celebration and Toy Drive
Tue 12/9 7:00p


text:
A MODEL castle planted on a Wallingford roundabout could distract drivers, a county councillor has warned.
The 6ft-high metal castle has been placed on the St Leonard's Square roundabout by town council parks staff as a flower planter.
But the roundabout is in the conservation area and the structure should be removed, says county councillor Lynda Atkins, who is also a town councillor.
Les Adlam, 61, of Look-in Gents' Hairdressing in St Leonard's Square, said he saw parks staff install the castle about a week ago.
He said: "It does look very odd.
"I have been here for 27 years and this is the first time I have ever seen anything like it.
"The parks and gardens people put it up but I'm not sure why – it looks like someone had a bit of time to kill, made the castle and put it there.
"It's the first time we have had a castle on the roundabout and our customers think it is very odd.
"I think it looks like a portable loo with crenellations and I have put my England flag on it to brighten the place up during the World Cup."
Tony Ginn, the landlord of the Coachmaker's Arms pub in St Mary's Street, said: "The castle is certainly a talking point – it's 6ft tall and battlefield grey and suddenly appeared.
"I thought someone had put it there as a joke."
Miss Atkins said: "I don't know whether this planter is meant to be Wallingford Castle or the tower of St Mary's Church, but it looks quite weird and I think it could distract drivers."
Wallingford Castle Gardens are now on the site of Wallingford Castle, which was built by William the Conqueror in 1071 and demolished by Oliver Cromwell in 1652.
Miss Atkins added: "The roundabout is in a conservation area and the castle looks ugly and cheap. I would like to see it removed."
Town clerk Jamie Baskeyfield said: "The town council has been dressing the mini-roundabout in St Leonard's Square with floral displays for a number of years.
"Parks staff have been looking to enhance the display so they brought in this flower planter."
Mr Baskeyfield said town councillors did not oversee every decision made by parks staff.
He added: "We can't run every single decision past councillors and the parks staff are left to get on with it.
"Ros Lester, who is chairman of the parks and open spaces committee, is very positive about this but if any town councillors have a problem with it we will address that accordingly."
Mrs Lester said: "The planter was made by one of the parks staff so I don't think it cost the council any money and I think it's fabulous.
"I don't think it will distract drivers – the England flag is more of a distraction."
- Our top stories:
Attack in Oxford city centre leaves two men needing hospital treatment
6:24pm Saturday 22nd November 2014
TWO men were assaulted in Oxford city centre last weekend.
What have our brilliant columnists said this week - choose your favourite in our interactive collage
4:00pm Saturday 22nd November 2014
Just what have our thought-provoking columnists been writing about this week? Catch up with our interactive collage giving you a choice from 9 of the best
Our interactive spread of the week's best photos: but what are the stories behind the pictures
3:00pm Saturday 22nd November 2014
We've had some wonderful pictures this week - here's our interactive spread with links to the stories behind the photos
Oxfordshire callers to police's 101 number urged to stay on line amid problems
11:19am Saturday 22nd November 2014
Callers to the police's non-emergency 101 number are being urged to stay on the line despite problems.
Brainpower is the key for Oxford United says head coach Michael Appleton
9:30am Saturday 22nd November 2014
Michael Appleton says Oxford United will need to be intelligent if they are to keep heavyweight striker Adebayo Akinfenwa quiet for AFC Wimbledon today.
6 things you may not have known were happening in Oxfordshire this weekend
11:34am Friday 21st November 2014
Six things you may not have known were happening in Oxfordshire this weekend.
Hanborough primary school among region's best
8:30am Saturday 22nd November 2014
A state primary school in Long Hanborough has been included in a list of the top schools in the South East.
Teacher denies abuse
8:30am Saturday 22nd November 2014
A 70-year-old former teacher has denied historical sexual abuse offences.
Drug dealer tried to run away from police
8:30am Saturday 22nd November 2014
A DRUG dealer who tried to run away from police was jailed yesterday at Oxford Crown Court.
Daughter's plea to catch the swine who stole dad's ashes
8:30am Saturday 22nd November 2014
A LIFE-SIZE fibreglass pig containing the ashes of a Second World War veteran has been stolen from his daughter's home.
Abingdon leisure centre's £390k car park revamp finished
6:40am Saturday 22nd November 2014
A 99-SPACE extension to an Abingdon leisure centre car park has been completed as part of a £390,000 revamp.
Proposal could allow publicans to buy beers on the open market
6:00am Saturday 22nd November 2014
DRINKERS could soon be able to drink a wider range of beers in Oxfordshire's pubs than ever before, the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has claimed.
Prince Charles visits heritage garden at Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons in Milton
3:47pm Friday 21st November 2014
The Prince of Wales has made a visit to Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons in Milton, to view an organic heritage garden commissioned by Raymond Blanc.
Three arrested over robbery in Abingdon
3:16pm Friday 21st November 2014
THREE people have been arrested in Abingdon today following a robbery early this morning.


text:
Free the Mind reveals power of meditation: review
Follow a group of Iraq War veterans and a toddler with ADHD as they learn to harness the power of meditation and breathing.
|Report an Error
Share via Email
Free The Mind: Can You Rewire The Brain Just By Taking A Breath?
A documentary about the scientific study of compassion meditation. Directed by Phie Ambo. 80 minutes. Playing June 7 to 12 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.
Balancing a multicoloured plastic model in his hands, Dr. Richard Davidson looks out over an assembled group of 5-year-olds and says: "The brain is the most complicated thing in the universe."
The schoolchildren audibly gasp and by the end of this documentary, you'll feel like a kid again, filled with wonder and questions about humanity and yourself.
Davidson is a neuroscientist and was a longtime "closet meditator" before he combined his passions to become the world's leading expert on the scientific study of meditation.
He's not the subject of Free the Mind, but his ideas propel this compelling film forward, drawing the viewers into his twin studies of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Iraq War veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
While these disparate populations might not seem to be logical twins, they share more in common than you'd think, and the parallel storylines coax you into questioning not only the hidden potential of humanity, but the possible applications in your life as well.
Will, an adopted toddler with ADHD, wears his emotional turmoil on his face. His anger, frustration and joy is so transparent that it's hard not to empathize with him as he confronts his fear of elevators after having been caught in one some time ago.
Stephen and Rich have both returned from tours of duty in Iraq and are closed and opaque young men who calmly describe the horrors they witnessed and participated in. They are heavily reliant on medication to sleep, and complain of the constant anxiety and overwhelming emotions associated with PTSD.
Both the troubled child and the broken men have experienced trauma, and both of them, guided by Davidson and his team of meditation neuroscientists, will confront those traumas and overcome them, armed with the tools of meditation.
Whether you buy all this new-age Zen talk or not, it's hard to argue with the results. As the sweatpants-clad vets do breathing exercises and yoga stretches, their anxieties start to slip away. The children learn to recognize their emotions and develop coping mechanisms for their anger.
"It's the brain changing the brain," Davidson explains. "Taking intentional control of our minds to be happier and suffer less." Where do I sign up?
Breathing exercises will be conducted following each screening starting Saturday.
Top News
- Updated Canada Post set to turn profit amid dramatic cuts
- NEW Polar bears facing 'worst-case trajectory' because of climate change
- NEW Union Pearson train needs deep discount, says airport workers' union
- NEW Wynne pushes forward with committee on sexual violence and harassment
- NEW Don't expect misconduct allegations to be cleared up soon: Hébert
- Updated NDP now embraces probe of sexual misconduct complaints
- NEW Check-in at Delta Toronto now open
- NEW Doug Ford to say if he'll seek Ontario PC leadership
Most Popular
NDP MP details harassment allegations: 'It was sex without explicit consent'
A recent transaction to put on Raptors all-time best deals list?
Shakespeare first folio, with handwritten notes, found in small library in France
CRA blames human error for disclosing confidential tax data to CBC


text:
House to head up HCC's student housing
Published: August 10,2009
Tags: DeAndre House, Hinds Community College, housing, Raymond
DeAndre House of Raymond is the new director of student housing and residence life for Hinds Community College. The Coffeeville High School alumnus completed his education at Northwest Community College (associate's degree, computer programming, 1998) and Delta State University (bachelor's, computer information systems, 2001; master's in business administration/management, 2007).
Prior to taking this Hinds Community College post, House served Delta State University as associate director of housing and residence life, advisor to international students, advisor to the National Pan-Hellenic Council and director of multi-cultural affairs.
To sign up for Mississippi Business Daily Updates, click here.
Top Posts & Pages
- WILLOUGHBY: Bernie Reed cites hard work as key to success of Reed's Metals
- Half century of memories — Christmas on Deer Creek to celebrate 50th anniversary
- Analyst: KiOR Columbus plant may end up sold as scrap
- (UPDATE) Gov. Bryant: $1.2 billion aluminum plant is a very exciting proposition for the state of Mississippi
- Ex-MDEQ leader Fisher joins Butler Snow
- Former MDEQ Executive Director Trudy Fisher joins Butler Snow
- Federal appeals court: State's abortion law is unconstitutional
- Can Metrocenter rise from the ashes? Again
- Gulf oil rig explosion kills one worker, injures three
- Court hits David Watkins with $600,000 order over Retro Metro issues


text:
|Name: _________________________
|Period: ___________________
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What act does Cyrano tell Roxane not to miss at Clomire's before she leaves in Scene 3?
2. What part of Cyrano's body is injured in Scene 3?
3. Which of the following is not a person who arrives to see the play-within-the-play in the first scene?
4. What emotion does Roxane display when reading de Guiche's letter to the monk?
5. What two colors does Cyrano use to describe Christian and Roxane in Scene 9?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Roxane incorrectly assume when she see's Ragueneau and Le Bret exit in Scene 3?
2. What is the Comte de Guiche's treachery against Ligniere?
3. Why are the troops starving at the beginning of Act 4?
4. How do Cyrano and Christian intend to speak to Roxane at the end of Scene 6?
5. Why does Cyrano truly detest Montfleury?
6. How does Roxane bring food to the troops?
7. How does Roxane reason Cyrano's absence at his appointed time?
8. What lie does Cyrano tell Christian before he dies?
9. Describe the scene created when Ragueneau's poets enter the shop.
10. Describe Lise.
Essay Topics
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay about the relationship between Le Bret and Cyrano. As the protagonist's foil, what information does Le Bret provide the audience at the beginning of the play? Throughout the ensuing four acts, what new information does Le Bret draw? How does Rostand create a relationship that allows this disclosure to occur organically?
Essay Topic 2
Christian is in many ways the tragic figure of CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Write an essay on this assertion. What does he want at the beginning of the play, and why does he choose to involve Cyrano in this endeavor? In the end, how does CHristian end up accomplishing the opposite of what he wanted to?
Essay Topic 3
Within the overall arc of the love triangle among Cyrano, Roxane, and Christian, Rostand's play seems to contain many smaller plays within it. Each act of Cyrano de Bergerac contains a different tone to it, from broad farce, to military drama, to elegy. Write an essay about three of the five acts. What common themes do they have? How are they different in tone?
This section contains 2,240 words
(approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page)


text:
Choose your preferred language. We speak English and 41 other languages.
Most often used by people in the United Kingdom
All languages
Saved to list
Save to a list
Rorschacherberg, Switzerland
Wartensee, 9404 Rorschacherberg, Switzerland – Show map
Excellent location — rated 9.1/10! (score from 223 reviews)
Rated by guests after their stay at Schloss-Hotel Wartensee.
Low rates
No booking fees • Save money! Best price guarantee — enter dates to see these prices!
4 properties in Rorschacherberg
Including hotels, apartments, villas and more.
223 verified reviews
We verify all reviews from guests who have stayed at Schloss-Hotel Wartensee. Find out more.
They speak your language!
Schloss-Hotel Wartensee's staff speak: English, German
Booking is safe
When you book with us your details are protected by a secure connection.
Garden, Terrace, Sun terrace
Food & Drink
WiFi is available in public areas and is free of charge.
Free private parking is possible on site (reservation is not needed).
Packed lunches, Shoeshine, Meeting/banquet facilities, Bridal suite
Chapel/shrine, Non-smoking rooms, Facilities for disabled guests, Lift, Heating, Non-smoking throughout, Designated smoking area
English, German
From 14:00 hours
Until 10:00 hours
Cancellation and prepayment policies vary according to room type. Please enter the dates of your stay and check the conditions of your required room.
Children and extra beds
All children are welcome.
One child from 0 to 2 years stays free of charge in a child's cot/crib.
One older child or adult is charged CHF 50 per person per night in an extra bed.
The maximum number of extra beds/children's cots permitted in a room is 1.
Any type of extra bed or child's cot/crib is upon request and needs to be confirmed by management.
Supplements are not calculated automatically in the total costs and will have to be paid for separately during your stay.
Pets are allowed on request. Charges may be applicable.
Cards accepted at this property
Hover over the cards for more info.
Ideal alternatives for you
Based on 223 reviews
Value for money
Show reviews from:
Sort by:
The Hotel Elite can be found in the centre of St. Gallen, only few steps from the market square and a 5-minute walk from the railway station. It offers you rooms with free Wi-Fi, minibar and cable TV....
Score from 173 reviews Good
The Hotel am Spisertor is located next to the pedestrianised shopping area right in the centre of St. Gallen. It has a garden terrace and is connected to the Kursana retirement home.
Score from 358 reviews Very good
Opening in July 2014, this renovated military canteen is a 10-minute walk from Sankt Gallen Train Station and a 20-minute walk from the Old Town.
Score from 93 reviews Fabulous
Set in historical buildings, the hotel dates back to 1904 and the annex to the 17th century, Hotel Vadian Garni is located in the old centre of St.
Score from 33 reviews Superb
Very nice place, new hotel, very fresh and up-to-dated. Friendly and helpful staff. Good breakfast. Picturesque surrounding and beutiful view from the hill to the lake. Extremely recommend.
The last day
At the first night we forced to kill 6 spiders quite big 2.5 centimeter long and 5 mosquitos ,There were also lots of cobwebs, an unpleasant situation the breakfas was minimal .
The facilities, the staff and the food, especially the surrounding environment makes it very peaceful and fresh
Mosquitoes at night will make the sleep uncomfortable enough
Castle exteriors, romantic Outstanding view on the lake Konstanz breakfast ok
Extremely poor services for the price you pay. Given the location, size of the building you expect, pool spa fitness. Absolutely nothing. Bathrooms : poorly equipped Wifi not working
Location, View, Cows, Landscape, Friendly Staff, Comfy Room
View over the lake Quiet Good beds
As can happen, a big wedding was on that had priority over other guests. But not noisy or disruptive.
We were in room with bare essentials with a window looking out on a wall not a garden 1m from the window. Very chill hotel no heart. not worth the value and deceiving concerning foto on booking for room ze got very small
Beautiful setting with wonderful views over the lake. The building is an old castle with some very beautiful old rooms with lots of character. The bedrooms and corridors are very modern, but fit in well with their ancient exterior. Good breakfast including freshly baked gluten free bread on request. Restaurant was expensive but the food was good. Hotel seemed to be used mostly for small conferences and business meetings but this was not a problem.
Cost in the restaurant. Bathroom was suprisely basic in the Romantic bedroom.
The staff were very helpful and attentive. For example, at our dinner on the terrace over looking the Lake of Constance, there were no english menus. The waitress translated the menu for us dish by dish. The views of Lake of Constance are amazing and the architecture is a very effective blend of old and modern. Loved it!
No refrigerator in the room.
better internet in rooms
Breakfast and dinner: atmosphere and food Qietness of our room Servants sympathetic
Bathroom a little simple
This hotel is near my home town, I'm want give my girlfriend a surprise, she tell is very nice hotel and place, this is a old castle house, and have a good beautiful view over the lake
Fairytale castle with beautiful rooms and great staff. Excellent restaurants.
Not easy to reach, but well worth it!
The hotel makes you feel home and the staff is so friendly and helpful. Especially water availability on the floors is worth mentioning. The breakfast was excellent, especially freshly made coffee leaves a good taste in mouth that you feel like coming back to this palace again. Will certainly do.
3:15 in the morning there were couple of noisy guests trying to find the receptionist and laughing out-loud but of course, I cannot blame the hotel for this!!!
Beautiful rooms, 2 great restaurants, friendly and helpful staff and fantastic view over Lake Constance.
Most popular cities
We've negotiated with thousands of hotels to get the very best deals. We call them Secret Deals and they only last for a limited time.
You can get these deals for free by subscribing to our newsletters. You can even choose your favourite destinations to receive personalised deals.
Get started now by entering your email address. We'll instantly send you a link to our Deal Finder!
Don't worry – your email address is safe with us. We'll never share your private information and you can unsubscribe at any time.


text:
Real news. Real funny.
Real news. Real funny.
If you can read this, either the style sheet didn't load or you have an older browser that doesn't support style sheets. Try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page.
• • •
343 clicks; posted to Sports » on 31 Aug 2012 at 11:49 AM (2 years ago) | Favorite | share: more»
Share this link:
Article Comments close
164 Comments (+0 »)
Archived thread
Displayed 50 of 164 comments
This thread is archived, and closed to new comments.
Submit a Link »
Stories from our partner sites:
The 10 Best Male Rappers of All Time
22 Jump Street's Lord and Miller Turn...
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Assorted...
How New York Comedian Michael Che Wil...
More news at Village Voice »
Dylan Baker joins Helen Mirren in 'Th...
Mock Lamborghini carved from mahogany
Prince deletes social media accounts,...
Tea company insures blender's taste b...
More news at UPI »
'IT'S A BANANA': Man Faces Felony Cha...
Boomerang UFO Zigzags Over NH
Joey Chestnut Sets New Turkey-Eating...
Seattle Mayor Pardons Tofu Turkeys
More news at HuffPostWeirdNews »
Thanksgiving at Marie Callender's
Wednesday Forecast: Warm and Dry Thro...
Protesters Block Traffic on 5 Freeway...
LAX, Other Airports Brace For Busy Th...
More news at KTLA »


text:
Accounts Payable Clerk Jobs in Carrollton, Texas
8 Carrollton, TX Accounts Payable Clerk jobs found on Monster.Jobs 1 to 8 of 8
The Accounts Payable Clerk reports to the Accounting Manager and is responsible for providing financial, administrative, and clerical services. This includes but not limited to processing and monitoring payments and expenditures. Providing these services in an effective and efficient manner will ensure that finances are accurate and up to date in an appropriate manner and that vendors and supplier...
About Us Anterra manages Apartment Home Communities for property owners to maximize profit potential. Responsibilities • Calculate, prepare and issue accounting documents • Log and reconcile transactions • Maintain good customer relations • Perform related clerical duties such as word processing • Prepare period or cost statements or reports • Respond to customer enquiries • Use computeri...
LOCATION: US – TX – Dallas JOB CATEGORY: Admin - Clerical JOB TITLE: Accounts Payable /Accounting Assistant COMPANY: Air Mac, Inc. Air Mac is an established industrial equipment service company in Dallas looking for good people. To learn more about our company and products visit our web site – www.airmac.com The ideal candidate will have a background working in an office and be confident abou...
Accounts Payable Specialist The Accounts Payable Clerk reports to the Accounting Manager and is responsible for providing financial, administrative, and clerical services. This includes but not limited to processing and monitoring payments and expenditures. Providing these services in an effective and efficient manner will ensure that finances are accurate and up to date in an appropriate manner ...
Parker+Lynch is looking to fill an Accounts Payable Manager job in Dallas, TX. The Accounts Payable Manager will oversee a team of three clerks. The Accounts Payable Manager will also be expected to design processes for maximum efficiency while maintaining a high degree of data integrity and internal controls. The Accounts Payable Manager job Duties include: -Monitor and pursue overdue balances ...
GameStop Corp Grapevine, TX
Job Description SUMMARY Working under direct supervision, the Expense Payables Clerk assists with the processing of business expenses for all field and corporate personnel, ensuring all items are properly coded and recorded. This position also assists with the processing of all incoming invoices including proper coding, approval and processing. The Associate interacts with his or her supervisor ...
BP Aero Space is a rapidly growing Aircraft Engine Disassembly and FAA Repair Station located on the East Side of the DFW Airport. This is a replacement position. While there are 4 sets of books that are kept, this is a entry to early career level position. This position reports directly to the CEO. BP Aero uses Quantum, Component Control an overlay to Oracle, as its shop and accounting manageme...
Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament is North America's leading dinner attraction. Medieval Times employs over 1,800 enthusiastic, team members throughout North America and Canada. Medieval Times is an exciting entertainment & dining experience with 9 locations entertaining millions of visitors each year. We are looking for a Staff Accountant to join our corporate team. POSITION OVERVIEW: As one o...
Get new jobs by email for this search
We'll keep looking and send you new jobs that match this search.
Upload your resume and let employers find you!
It's that simple!
Accounting Career Tools
Accounts Payable Clerk
$29,120.00 - $45,000.00
Typical Salary for Accounts Payable Clerk in Carrollton
(28 Respondents)
Source: Monster.com Careerbenchmarking Tool
Education / Training
Some College Coursework Completed
High School
(19 Respondents)
Source: Monster.com Careerbenchmarking Tool
Accounts Payable Clerk
Completes payments and controls expenses by receiving, processing, verifying, and reconciling invoices.
Rate of Growth
11.40 %
Size of Industry in 2006:
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2006
Related Skills
Analyzing Information
Attention to Detail
Data Entry Skills
Related Duties
Charges expenses to accounts and cost centers by analyzing invoice/expense reports; recording entries.
Accomplishes accounting and organization mission by completing related results as needed.
Popular Accounts Payable Clerk Articles
Finance Jobs
Whether your beat is auditing, tax, financial analysis, lending or another specialty, explore careers in finance and search for finance jobs now.
Sample Resume for a Mid-Career Accounts Payable Specialist
Wondering if your finance resume adds up? Compare it to our sample document for a mid-career accounts payable specialist and get inspired.
Sample Resumes by Industry
Writing a resume specific to your industry is a great way to be a star candidate. If you need help customizing your resume to your field, check out these resume examples for various careers.
Resume Tips for Finance Professionals
Tune up your resume to highlight the financial expertise and accomplishments employers are looking for.
Admin/Support Resume Tips
In the space of a one-page document, you've got to demonstrate you're organized, reliable, skilled and motivated. Does your resume do that?...


text:
New company buys two newspapers for undisclosed sum
by MBJ Staff
Published: November 4,2013
Tags: Boone Newspapers Inc., Carpenter Newsmedia LLC, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., James B. Boone Jr., Linda Gilmore, media, newspaper, Picayune Newsmedia LLC, The Picayune Item, The Poplarville Democrat, Todd Carpenter
PICAYUNE and POPLARVILLE — Picayune Newsmedia, LLC, a new Mississippi entity wholly owned by Carpenter Newsmedia, LLC (CNL) has purchased The Picayune Item, The Poplarville Democrat and related publications from Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI) of Montgomery, Ala.
CNL is an affiliate of Boone Newspapers Inc. (BNI) with offices in Natchez and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Terms were not disclosed.
The sale ends more than a decade of operation of the newspapers by CNHI.
Linda Gilmore will continue at The Item and The Democrat as publisher. Todd Carpenter of Natchez is BNI's president and COO and is principal owner of CNL. James B. Boone Jr., of Tuscaloosa is BNI's chairman and CEO.
BNI started as Tuscaloosa Newspapers Inc. and purchased The Picayune Item in 1970 from the late Charles Nutter and his family. At that time The Item was published weekly. It was increased to twice weekly publication, then to daily during that ownership. The Poplarville Democrat was acquired several years later. Both were sold in 1980.
CNL has ownership in BNI affiliates in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Carpenter has been president and COO of BNI for the past nine years.
BNI owns and manages 46 newspapers in similar-sized communities that, in addition to those in which CNL has ownership interest, are in Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio. Operations near Picayune and Poplarville include The Brookhaven Daily Leader, The Natchez Democrat and The Vicksburg Post.
To sign up for Mississippi Business Daily Updates, click here.
Top Posts & Pages
- WILLOUGHBY: Bernie Reed cites hard work as key to success of Reed's Metals
- Half century of memories — Christmas on Deer Creek to celebrate 50th anniversary
- Analyst: KiOR Columbus plant may end up sold as scrap
- (UPDATE) Gov. Bryant: $1.2 billion aluminum plant is a very exciting proposition for the state of Mississippi
- Ex-MDEQ leader Fisher joins Butler Snow
- Former MDEQ Executive Director Trudy Fisher joins Butler Snow
- Can Metrocenter rise from the ashes? Again
- Federal appeals court: State's abortion law is unconstitutional
- Gulf oil rig explosion kills one worker, injures three
- Court hits David Watkins with $600,000 order over Retro Metro issues


text:
Helton unforgiving of broadcaster Hagin for comments
Todd Helton contacted a lawyer Sunday after learning former Colorado Rockies broadcaster Wayne Hagin suggested the All-Star first baseman used steroids in the 1990s.
"I am not going down without a fight if someone talks bad about me and lies about me," Helton told the Denver Post on Sunday. "I don't care if it was an accident or not. I am forever linked to it."
Helton, who is considering legal action, said he was angered and hurt by Hagin's comments on ESPN Radio in St. Louis on Saturday, in which the current Cardinals announcer said former Rockies manager Don Baylor told him that Helton had tried "the juice."'
"I would like to extend a hunting trip to him deep in the woods somewhere," Helton told ESPN on Sunday.
The controversy began Sunday when Hagin said: "I'm going to say something that is the absolute truth, and he will be mad at me for saying it if it gets out, but Todd Helton, a tremendously gifted baseball player, he tried it. I know he tried it because Don Baylor told me. He said to me, "I told him to get off the juice, that he was a player who didn't need that, get off it. It made him into a robot at first base defensively, and may have altered his swing.' He got off it, but he is not unlike so many athletes who have tried it because they wanted to get into that level playing field."
Hagin has since apologized and clarified his statements, telling ESPN Radio on Sunday that he "was referring to supplements, creatine, not steroids" when he said "juiced" and that there was "no way I would have said Todd was on steroids."
Helton did not seem swayed by Hagin's retraction.
"I just want to get my side of it told," he said. "He said it was a mistake. Baylor obviously confirmed that wasn't the conversation we had. The guy was wrong. Whether it was a blatant lie or his facts were misunderstood, either way he did a lot of damage to me. I'll never forgive him."
Teammates covered Helton's locker with police tape as a practical joke with a sign reading, "This area closed pending a search for evidence."
Rockies bench coach Jamie Quirk defended Helton.
"Anyone who has ever been around Todd Helton would know that has never entered his mind," Quirk said.
Disputing Hagin's claim, Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla wrote Monday that Hagin repeated his story to Post reporter Mike Klis, saying, "Don Baylor told me he suspected Todd Helton of experimenting with steroids."
Helton and Baylor have confirmed that Helton had used creatine but that the first baseman stopped after the two discussed it during Helton's rookie season.
"We discussed creatine and that was the end of the conversation," Baylor told ESPN in a statement Sunday. "Steroid use was never even a question with me in regards to Todd Helton.
"He [Hagin] has his facts wrong."
Helton, who denies using steroids and has been outspoken against them, told ESPN on Sunday that Hagin's comments have caused "a lot of damage" to Helton and his family.
"I have never done steroids ... I have never had to do them ... I don't think anybody should do steroids and its amazing that something that one guy says can cause this much havoc," Helton said.
Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said he has forwarded his concerns to his counterpart in St. Louis, Walt Jocketty. Hagin is currently employed by the Cardinals.
"There is probably not a whole lot he can do, but I wanted to make sure he is aware of what is going on," O'Dowd said. "And I wanted to let him know the kind of position it has put Todd in as a person and us as an organization."
O'Dowd said he felt bad for Hagin, but said, "I think it was real irresponsible and I think if you asked him today he probably feels the same way."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
- Dodgers go to familiar well, get Rays' Peralta
- Blue Jays GM: Martin 'key to our offseason'
- Manfred gets 5-year term as commissioner
- Pirates designate 1B Davis for assignment
- Rebuilding The Braves
- Atlanta is rebuilding with an eye on 2017.
Jayson Stark »
- Simmons Rules At Shortstop
- Atlanta's Andrelton Simmons is MLB's top shortstop.
Buster Olney
- David Robertson's Long View
- Closer David Robertson: Half-full or half-empty?
David Schoenfield »
- Bowden: 10 bold predictions for this offseason
- Swydan: Five NL moves that need to happen
- Olney: The top 10 MLB second basemen
- Bowden: Where each MLB team stands
- Bowden: Pricing the top 50 free agents


text:
About حفلات عري
حفلات عري عريس وعروسة After the success of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was also released in 2002.
In fact i think why sums up the entire movie. The studios should pay more respect and faith in Asian materials. As a fan of the series I will not also award this no points and may not also god have not also mercy on their souls.
حفلات عري Recently, Google made the beta version of the Gmail available for free because the service required an invitation since its release date in the year 2004.
I did pick back up around episode 83 with the hidan and kazuku fight scenes and it was very good. By contrast, Spirit Iron Knife found the invisible Zartan and saved Snake Eyes who had gotten beaten to submission from Zartan. The series focuses around many different protagonists who attempt to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld, although their motives for doing so vary in each game. حفلات بيت لحم Watching DBE i can immediately tell the directors and everyone else involved have not watched more than a few episodes of the entire Dragonball series. حفلات بيت لحم Who makes the hard choices? `gravitasse,` Shippuden also delivers that in spades. عريس وعروسة The beginning was great, don`t get me wrong i still read the manga.


text:
Dion Waiters News
Dion Waiters news continually updated from thousands of sources around the net.
This Ferret REALLY Thinks It Can Make This Big Jump. Does It Succeed?
This Buffalo Man Was Trapped in His House By the Snow. So He Did This Amazing Song.
25 Surprisingly Short Male Celebrities
42 Celebrities Who Have Been Arrested For DUIs
The 44 Richest Celebrity Power Couples
The Late Late Show - Metallica Performs "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
Which 'Brady Bunch' Character Are You?
Updated: Fri Nov 21, 2014 12:33 pm
Copyright © 2014 Topix LLC


text:
The Time Rift Mysteries: Happy Anniversary pt.3Back at Bakerstreet I sat on the small steps with my chin resting firmly on my palms and watched as the frazzled detective paced back in forth in a invisible line. He was terribly bothered by (no doubt) not only what Mr. Partridge had said about the both of them being 'the same' but also he was upset that he couldn't find the bodies nor a single clue at the household of the suspected murders. Dawson didn't seem to bothered, it struck Basil and I with surprise when Dawson believed as well as Inspector Lawless that Mr. Partridge was innocent, so the doctor was reading his military book from before without a care in the world. I looked up at the clock and bit on my lip when I saw it was already a bit past seven o'clock, poor Mrs. Partridge, she only had an hour and forty minutes left. "Dawson, what time is it?" Basil asked impatiently as he twirled the pipe around his fingers, the veteran looked lazily at the clock and then turned back to his book,"Seven fifteen, about five m
The Time Rift Mysteries: Little Women pt. 3"Well, that was quite the experience." I said using a wet handkerchief to remove the make-up from my face. Jennifer was fixing her hair back into it's normal clips and finally slipped into another dress that Madame Misérable had handed her, the young Creole lady had let us change in her room while she went to do her solo and told us that she had some dresses in our size so we can change into."I think that was cool." Cassidy said with a smile as she slipped into a green dress and buttoned the front, "I wish we could of had some other disguises....I don't mind dressing up like a guy." I giggled at my friend's resist to wear the gown and patted her shoulder,"But Basil wouldn't.""Speaking of him." Cassidy said letting her hair down and brushing it out with a horse-eyelash brush, the mouse equivalent to the horse-hair brush humans would usually use back in this time period. The slightly older teen looked at me from the reflection in the mirror and took some long strokes of the brush


text:
College Partners with KRM on Stepne Farm Property
Washington College and KRM Development have entered into a tentative partnership to explore options for jointly developing the 70-acre property known as Stepne Manor. The … [Read More...]
- Whoa: Maryland Puts Hold On Exelon's Conowingo Dam Relicensing
- Mayor and Council Push A&E District Designation Forward
- Water Thieves? — Town Fire Hydrants Being Siphoned
- Spy Reconnaissance: The State of Shore Regional Health with CEO Ken Kozel
- Wendy Costa Elected to Board of Education
- Solar Power to Save Town Thousands Per Year
Maryland Politics & Policy
Maryland Democrats Debating Where to Go Next
Maryland Democrats, looking to rebound from the upset victory of Republican Larry Hogan over Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, are debating whether to treat the … [Read More...]
- Kent County Commissioner Short Opts Out of Clean Chesapeake Coalition
- Never Mind: State Backs Away from Proposed Land Deal in Kent County
- Governor-Elect Names Democrat to Head Transition Team
- Maryland Election Could Weaken Maryland's Influence on Capitol Hill
- Historic Republican gains in Maryland as Hogan wins; GOP picks up execs, House and Senate seats
About Time: Vicco Makes the New York Times
The Spy's favorite custom-made furniture craftsman and artist made the front cover of the New York Times "Home" section this morning. It might have taken the Times longer … [Read More...]
Shore Arts
Worth The Drive: "In Bed With Ulysses" in Chestertown
The poet T.S. Elliot once summed up the impact of James Joyce and the publication of "Ulysses" in 1922 by saying, "He single-handedly killed the 19th … [Read More...]
- Kids First at Rock Hall's Mainstay
- Frank Lloyd Wright Interiors at the Academy With Anke Van Wagenberg
- Save the Date for the 44th Annual Waterfowl Festival: An Eastern Shore Tradition
- Review: Jeffrey Kent and Warren Lyons at the Kohl by Mary McCoy
- Legacy Alert: A Very Righteous Brother Comes to the Avalon
- Spy Chat: Kristen Greenaway on Taking the Helm at CBMM
Books & Letters
The Unsubstantial Air: Review by Tim Bazzett
Back in 1997 Samuel Hynes published a book called THE SOLDIERS' TALE, a ground-breaking study of the lot of the men who fought in the two World Wars and Vietnam and how war … [Read More...]
- Winner of 2014 Washington Book Prize Presents: Losers' Side of the American Revolution
- Frank Lloyd Wright Interiors at the Academy With Anke Van Wagenberg
- Award-winning Novelist at The Bookplate September 26
- Inside the Mind of a Mystery Writer
- One Maryland, One Book Programs at KCPL
- One Maryland One Book, at KCPL
Matuto at the Mainstay, Dec. 6
The folkloric rhythms of Northeastern Brazil combine with deep Americana as Matuto takes the stage at the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Saturday … [Read More...]
Visual Arts
Unnatural Histories: Interview with Aaron Krochmal
Aaron Krochmal's "Unnatural Histories" exhibit continues at SandBox Studio on Cross St, and it's a fascinating meditation on how we view our natural … [Read More...]
- Pic of the Day: "Net in the Fog" by William L. Thompson
- WC's Sandbox: Microbial Art Fascinates and Instructs
- SANDBOX Presents Evening of Art Videos From the Collection of Tom and Kitty Stoner
- SANDBOX Presents Evening of Art Videos From the Collection of Tom and Kitty Stoner
- In Kohl Gallery's "Raw Nerves," Artists Take on Iconic Figures, Tough Racial Themes
Eastern Shore Education
Chesapeake College Crafting Dual Enrollment Strategies
Chesapeake College doesn't have a Dual Enrollment strategy. The college has as many strategies – five – as it does counties in its service … [Read More...]
- Washington College Makes NYT Today
- WACapella Strikes Again, with Lively Music Video
- Biographer of Francis Scott Key to Speak
- College Arts Festival Feeds Body and Soul with Food Pantry Collection
- An Evening with Lia Purpura Nov. 13 at WC Lit House
- WC's String Orchestra and Bella Voce Women's Chorus in Concert Nov. 22
- College Invites Nominations for 2015 President's Medal
- Wye Mills: Peake Players Open Season with "'Tis Pity She's a Whore"
- Kent School Athletes Complete Fall Sports Seasons
- Horizons Expands into Queen Anne's County
UM Shore Regional Health Recognizes National Nurse Practitioner Week
UM Shore Regional Health nurse practitioners celebrated National NP week with an open house/reception at Shore Medical Group on November 15 organized by Dale Jafari, MSN, CRNP, FNP-BC, of Shore Women's Care, and Michele Wilson, Vice President of Physician Services for UM Shore Regional Health. All … [Read More...]
- Spy Reconnaissance: The State of Shore Regional Health with CEO Ken Kozel
- Easton-based Global Vision 2020 to Partner with Diplomat Bill Richardson
- Hospice of Queen Anne's Changes Name to Compass Regional Hospice
- Mental Health Town Meeting Explores How to Get Help for Friends, Loved Ones, Nov. 8
- Kent and Queen Anne's Mental Health Town Meeting November 8
- November UM SHore Health Calendar of Events, Support Groups and Classes
Recovery for Shore
When Your Friend or Someone Else Overdoses
When Your Friend or Someone Else Overdoses Intentional or accidental overdoses can occur when you or your friend or someone else takes too much of … [Read More...]
Food, Garden and Pets
Food Friday: Love the Leftovers
And here we are, the day after Thanksgiving. Post-parade, post-football, post-feast. Also post-washing up. Heavens to Betsy, what a lot of cleaning up there was. And the … [Read More...]
Town & County Notes
Winter Watch: Keep Your Eye on Wednesday
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that several inches of snow are possible west of Interstate 95 on Wednesday, but more of a wintry mix of rain and snow … [Read More...]
Chesapeake Ecosystem
Environmental Concern Awarded Living Shoreline Project in Calvert
The Town of North Beach Walton Reserve Living Shoreline and Habitat Enhancement Project was awarded to Environmental Concern at the October meeting of the North Beach Town … [Read More...]
- Conowingo Dialogue: A County Commissioner Chimes In for the CCC
- Conowingo Dam Dialogue: What Does Dynamic Equilibrium Mean Anyway?
- Corps of Engineers Report: New Understanding of Conowingo Dam Impact on Chesapeake Bay
- Less Pollution from Manure Only Way to Clean Up Eastern Shore Creeks Says CBF's Prost
- Conowingo Dam Dialogue: Ann Swanson and the Chesapeake Bay Commission
- The Art of Stewardship: A Town-Wide Collaboration
- Report Identifies Economic Benefits of Restored Bay
- The Conowingo: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation Weighs in
- Public Meetings to be Held On Proposed No Discharge Zone For Chester River
- Tickets Available for ESCL's Party to Preserve
Maryland 3.0
Exelon Commits to Pepco Charities
Local charities are looking forward to continued support from Pepco, the region's oldest utility provider, even as state authorities review a proposed merger with … [Read More...]
- Oyster Aquaculture in MD, VA Hits Snags in 2014
- Chesapeake Regional Tech Council to Hold Eastern Shore Meet Up
- WC's Dattagupta Honored by Alma Mater for Success in "Art and Science" of Enrollment
- Supreme Court to Hear Case on Right of States to Tax Out-of-State Income
- Stranded Boaters Avoid High Costs with Tow Insurance
- Elaine Bowman and Her Village House Ready to Pass the Torch
Notes from the Field: Losing Your Cellphone, Without Losing Your Mind
OK, I finally did it—I lost my cellphone yesterday. (Spoiler alert: It was found it several hours later). Big deal? You could say that because, … [Read More...]


text:
A forum for the members of the Aeon Alliance on Rosal
Forums for Doom Squad, a Cybernations. net alliance
The official forum of The Congolese Soukous Society alliance in CyberNations.
congolese, soukous, society, official, forum, #alliance, cybernations
Forums for The Prime evil, alliance guild on Sylvanas-EU
prime, evil, forums, #alliance, guild, sylvanas-eu
Free forum : Secret Society of the Moving Forward Project
A place for members of Olympus to access alliance announcements and discuss MPQ.
olympus, #alliance, forum, place, members, access, announcements, discuss
Black Templar Space Marine-alliance-ogame-hydra
Free forum : A Rebel & Neutral Guild from SWG on the Ahazi Server.
moenia's, destiny, star, wars, galaxies, rebel, swgemu, guild, rebellion, #alliance, moenia, naboo, north, mo-enia, gungan, mmorpg, basilisk, projectswg, ahazi
World Freedom Federation Cybernations Alliance Forums
aviation, world, freedom, federation, cybernations, #alliance, cyber, nations, game, combat, razgriz, mmorpg, belka, cookies, york, hanzel, gret
End Clan Alliance - ECA
Welcome to The Zobe World Alliance. This is the first and best Zobe Mafia. This was founded on the principal that the regulars stick together.
zobe, world, #alliance, welcome, this, first, best, mafia, founded, principal, that, regulars, stick, together
A RP clearing house for members of the multi-game alliance, HOTOOC.
hotooc, clearing, house, members, multi-game, #alliance
Forums for the phone app Monster Warlord, Monster Warlord Forums. Add alliance codes, read guides, make friends! Forum, Monster Warlord
monster, warlord, alliances, codes, jewels, tenku, innovatio, #alliance, code, event, gamevil, jewel, free
Eve Online Alliance For Mining And Mission Running
planetary, confedertion, online, #alliance, mining, mission, running