text:
Earlier this year, Dr. J. Nadine Gracia seemed to be everywhere. She's the first woman in 17 years to lead the Office of Minority Health, and she was on the media circuit promoting Minority Health Month in April and the OMH's recent partnership with the American Diabetes Association. The calm and collected face of the OMH, Gracia articulates its goals and represents the OMH well. But beneath that stoic government exterior, Gracia and her agency are preparing for battle, and have been for some time, as plans set in motion are finally starting to coalesce. They are ready to end for good the health disparities that have plagued the nation.
Gracia, M.D., M.S.C.E., is the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and the Acting Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She draws on numerous skillsets and professional backgrounds: pediatrician, clinical instructor, and government officer. From 2008– 2009, she worked at the HHS as a White House Fellow, including a two-month period advising First Lady Michelle Obama in her childhood obesity initiative. Gracia then served as the Chief Medical Officer for the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health from 2009–2011. The undercurrent in all these positions? A commitment to eradicating health disparities and improving child health, particularly among the impoverished.
Other initiatives include the "Million Hearts Campaign," an HHS-wide priority led by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), aimed at preventing a million heart attacks and strokes in the next five years; supporting the adoption of electronic health records projects amongst health practitioners in minority neighborhoods funding community-based organizations to do outreach and education (led by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology); and the HIRE program, a resource for HIV-positive exoffenders looking to return to the working world.
Then there are the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity. With these initiatives, it seems as though the U.S. government, and the Department of Health and Human Services in particular, are redoubling their efforts concerning eliminating health disparities—pinpointing causative factors and implementing research-based solutions. In addition to quelling rampant health disparities, the initiatives hope to deliver more culturally competent care while recruiting and retaining a more diverse workforce.
But where do the boundaries of health care lie? For Gracia, it's certainly not the perimeter of a hospital. Health care disparities have their roots in socioeconomic and environmental factors much more pervasive than that. The disparities aren't going to go away through systemic health care improvements alone. As the work coming out the Office of Minority Health demonstrates, it's clear that nationwide, bigpicture interventions are needed to change health outcomes in the United States. "Many of the underlying risk factors that contribute to health disparities are the result where we live, learn, work, and play," says the OMH's website. These social determinants of health extend far beyond the realm of health care as practitioners know it. "Eliminating health disparities will necessitate behavioral, environmental, and social-level approaches to address issues such as insufficient education, inadequate housing, exposure to violence, and limited opportunities to earn a livable wage."
A first-generation Haitian American born and raised in the United States, Gracia says her cultural heritage strongly influenced her life and work.
The youngest of four, Gracia says she learned about service and helping the less fortunate from her parents. Even with her family coming from one of the world's most impoverished nations, she says she saw the same disparities in the United States as in Haiti. In med school, in the greater urban population, in all of public health: the inequalities she saw led Gracia to her current work. In fact, she says the reason and mission of the Office of Minority Health inspired her to go into medicine initially. Gracia always had a passion for advocating for vulnerable populations, she says. The Student National Medical Association, where she served as president, opened her eyes to helping underserved populations at the government level, further motivating her toward entering the field of public health.
And now she's at the pinnacle, helming the organization overseeing sweeping public health care overhaul. But as government offices hoping to implement widespread changes typically do, the OMH faces certain challenges, including minorities' access to health insurance, higher insurance rates than the general population, and barriers to visiting providers. And when minorities do go to the doctor, they receive a lower quality of care and are less likely to receive preventive care, Gracia says.
Yet, it's still an exciting time to work in public health, with the Affordable Care Act steeped with resources and tools to overcome overarching health disparities, helping to define priorities in the health care system. Health care law is just that—law—Gracia says, and upholding the law is a duty and responsibility not to be shirked.
Already Gracia has seen great strides in health care, she says. Political turmoil aside, the task now is implementing the law and making sure communities really understand all its provisions and how to benefit from them.
The OMH is able to address one of the key barriers to eliminating disparities: providing increasingly better access to care, Gracia says. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is investing in community health centers, expanding services at existing centers, and creating safety nets in the neediest communities.
Gracia says her office and organizations like the National Health Care Services Corps also understand the import role nurses play in implementing and developing these initiatives in community clinics, hospitals, and beyond. "It's really a remarkable time for the nursing profession," she says. "The work that they're doing is so vital." Nurses are "on the ground," as they say, and can often provide essential culturally competent care, act as patient liaisons, and offer valuable feedback to administrators.
Gracia further emphasized the importance of nursing, as the country is enveloped in a dialogue (albeit contentious) concerning health care. It's an opportunity to finally and comprehensively combat the disparities that have affected the nation for far too long, she says. Health equity means everyone has the opportunity to lead a healthy life, Gracia says. Improving the health of minority populations helps improve the health for anyone, and she encourages minority nurses and nursing students to continue their work toward achieving that end.
Gracia and the OMH/HHS initiatives under her leadership are developing or implementing strategies communities can employ, such as nursing students/organizations taking the pledge to address local needs. She emphasizes the role nurses play during this important moment in history, saying she would reinforce the nursing profession as the OMH makes prevention its focus. Nurses can lead their departments in educating and fighting disparities, and they can coordinate local and national partnerships. "We have support of our national leaders who see this as a priority," she says, because when it comes to eliminating disparities and promoting health equity, now is the time.
Together, the Affordable Care Act, the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities, and the National Stakeholders Strategies leave Gracia especially hopeful. "These three initiatives are really giving us the foundation we need to reduce these disparities," she says. "We have a national partnership for action." They've outlined actions committees can take in increasing awareness, improving cultural competency, and improving data, as a better understanding of disparities is necessary to eliminating them. They now have a way when there had always been a will.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been a part of the health care (and political) landscape for over two years now. Though many provisions are yet to be rolled out, it has already led to a boost in funding that Gracia hopes will herald the beginning of the end of health care disparities.
Limited access to preventive care and lack of insurance coverage: these are some of the main issues contributing to disease disparities amongst minorities. But the Affordable Care Act has thus far provided 86 million people with free preventive services, like diabetes screenings (one of the chief health care concerns among racial and ethnic minorities). Increased funding to community health centers in underserved communities should also improve access and quality of care. Regarding health insurance, industry overhauls have led to more and better-insured individuals, particularly amongst children, young adults, and the elderly. For example, by allowing children to remain on their parents' insurance plans until the age of 26, the Act extended care to 2.5 million people, half of which are minorities.
Preventive care is recognized as one of the most effective ways of reducing health disparities, particularly regarding pediatric care. It's a bit of a chicken-and-the-egg scenario when it comes to child health, as poor maternal health impacts the child's. And it's a fiscal issue as well, as healthy lifestyles (and lifetimes) reduce the pressure of treating costly illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease later in life. "Health status should be of concern to policymakers in all sectors, not just health-related sectors—to develop policies and programs that tackle the fundamental causes of health inequity," says the OMH.
The National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA) is reaching out to "frontline" stakeholders—like nurses—by name. It's a "bottom up" approach, charging practitioners with the responsibility of helping devise responsive solutions after they identify health disparities when and where they appear.
The NPA works in tandem with the other initiatives, helping them move closer to health equality in a sustainable, comprehensive way.
They want the practitioners to identify what needs to be done to close the health disparity gaps, and who works more closely with affected patients than nurses?
The watchdog-esque NPA is also responsible for the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, the goals of which are, chiefly, to improve the quality of life and health for the underserved, such as racial and ethnic minorities; to increase awareness of the disparities plaguing the health care system; to strengthen the leadership of organizations fighting disparities; to impart cultural competency; and to improve research and data collection.
Four goals define the National Stakeholder Strategy:
"A roadmap for eliminating health disparities through cooperative and strategic actions," the National Stakeholder Strategy is the product of careful deliberation and community discussion, including "Community Voices" and "Regional Conversations" meetings, where the HHS gleaned insights from business, academic, and community leaders in 10 HHS health regions. These conversations helped the agency "define, refine, and collaborate," and a Federal Interagency Health Equity Team led the effort.
Solutions devised by the NPA will be implemented in two ways: according to National Stakeholder Strategy's Regional Blueprints for Action (a resource that will help at the local, state, and regional levels) and through targeted initiatives coordinated with public and private sector partners.
The NPA and its dialogues also spurred the development of the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, released in conjunction with the National Stakeholder Strategy, the third facet of Gracia's and the OMH plan for diminishing health disparities.
Along with the National Stakeholder Strategy came the Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, which builds upon the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The main provisions of the Act—to foster wellness initiatives and bolster preventive care, to make health care costs more manageable, and to build infrastructure—make the Action Plan possible. The Action Plan, in turn, outlines the HHS's next steps.
Minorities still experience the socioeconomic disadvantages that lead to poorer health outcomes. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, "They are less likely to get the preventive care they need to stay healthy, more likely to suffer from serious illnesses, such as diabetes or heart disease, and when they do get sick, are less likely to have access to quality health care."
Common issues highlighting disparities include heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and respiratory diseases. Minorities are also more likely to experience disproportionate levels of violence, infant mortality, and poor oral health.
Eliminating these disparities is the dream; reducing them is the current goal. The Action Plan outlines five steps to do so.
The tools, the commitment, the support of the federal government, the will of an eager health care workforce, and a leader with a clear vision and desire for change: it's the perfect storm of a solution to health disparities. As time passes, the nation will watch—and nurses will see from the inside—how these three initiatives and Gracia work together to make it happen.
Соруright 2014
Minority Nurse is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Springer Publishing Company, LLC


text:
For anyone searching out there a cat with the natural instincts of a "real cat", then this cat breed is a perfect solution. Think about any natural trait of a cat, those possessed by the wild ones as well as the domesticated ones; playful and cool, high intelligence levels, curious and also cautious, exceptionally good at raising young ones, family love, name all traits of a cat and still find that this blue cat from Russia has them all. The only difference however for the view russian blue cats for sale is that the cat is more close to its human family and uncomfortable in a crowd of cats and this qualifies it to be even a better pet.
Why do people love this breed of cat?
For pet lovers, there are important considerations made before opting to go with a particular pet breed: intelligence, friendly, adaptability, feeding and grooming habits, health considerations and many others. We all would opt for a pet that will come in and blend easily with the rest of the family, one that will be easy to train and one with little or no complications in matters regarding health, grooming, feeding and other handling subjects. For this reason, this cat easily fits into the picture because of its natural characters that make it a favorite for pet lovers. This cat is predictable, prefers routine procedures rather than new challenges and is not aggressive. It is not however welcoming to strangers, as it dislikes strangers mostly new cats so if it is the russian blue cat in the house; it is it alone with no other pet.
The Unique yet Ordinary Cat
Other breeds are close to this oen such as the Korat and British Shorthair in terms of appearance. However, none of these can completely compare to it. From just an ordinary look, there is nothing so unique about the cat but on a closer look while paying close attention, this breed is unique. The cat's color is blue-gray, although many regard to it as gray, its coat is shiny blue in color and this gives it the blue effect. This coast in previous times was compared to the sealskin and it was being hunted for its northern fur seal, which is rare. This cat comes with expressive eyes, which are yellow for the first 4 months before turning green. It has a long neck that supports its short-wedged head and long skull. The cat, known for its communication to humans mostly through expressions has an upturned mouth makes it look like they are smiling. When it wants to play, the cat will start with gestures that will denote play and humans are supposed to respond by throwing it something that it will go and fetch. When it is bored, or maybe feeling unwell, it will just tuck itself under some sheets and not take its daily procedures. It also poops on the carpet when trying to get the message that its litterbox is dirty for occupation and needs a cleanup. However rude that communication could turn out to be, it always does its best in ensuring that it has gotten its message across.
Read more on other unique features of this cat at: view Russian blue cats for sale:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Charleston Trivia and Convention Update
January 10, 2014
Dr. Alexander Garden, a Charleston physician, first imported "Cape Jasmine" from South Africa in about 1754. The flower was renamed Gardenia after Dr. Garden.
There is only one week before the American Sheep Industry Association's annual meeting begins in Charleston, S.C. As a reminder, all meetings on the convention schedule are open and attendees are encouraged to sit in on any meeting of interest. Meeting agendas are posted at www.sheepusa.org/Meeting_Agendas to assist in choosing which meetings to attend.


text:
by ECWS |
by ECWS |
At Ecigworkshop we strive to build the safest, highest quality personal vaporizers for a superb vaping experience. We provide a lifetime repair guarantee for each personal vaporizer that we build. We hope you will agree that you are not just purchasing an electronic cigarette, you are investing in a piece of nature's art that will enhance your vaping experience for years to come.
Our payment options are: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Dwolla, Popmoney, Western Union or a money order. If you would like to make arrangements to pay another way or if you experience any issues with the checkout, please contact us at email@example.com.
Customer Rebuildable Tank Setup
by emperialAnthems (French)
by Philgood (German)
by telemak51
by atodovapor.tv (Portuguese)


text:
Please login to get more out of this site
You are currently not logged in, do so now to add comments, like articles as well as photos, submit to competitions, translate articles and gain access to unlimited photo upload! If you are not registered yet, go here to find out more about Lomography and join now! If you just want a limited account for now you can use Twitter or Facebook. We would love to have you as a member here!
34 people like this photo
Liking photos helps us to present the best ones to you and others. 34 people like this photo. 34 people like this photo: mireiawonka, andynoise, fusy_z_nosa, freakoftheweek, jdemiquel, sah_, emremancak, elfefee, jodaphoto, matamekanik, davidobryan, eusonfeliz, bomboniera, homer, adzfar, hey_god, frantisek, minililimi, supastah2003, tofutiff, vandal, vima, z790406, adash, eenerneener, photogirl0725, sizer77, shmarmy, leonardoperito, raquellogs, tcamfid, patriciagrau, explorette, and whynotwinnipeg.
No comments yet, be the first
Where is this?
Nearby popular photos – see more
Nearby LomoLocations
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The V&A has become the coolest museum in London, not only does it host the best events, the …
Royal Albert Hall - Kensington, London
The Royal Albert Hall was built to promote the appreciation of Arts and Sciences and was a v…
(Req. LCG HIT) Somewhere You'd Take Your Mum: The Royal Albert Hall
Somewhere to take your mum, well it's got to be The Royal Albert Hall and if you can get it,…
The Natural History Museum - London
The Natural History Museum in London - well worth a visit!


text:
31st May, 1928
My dear P.M.,
I am holding up a letter that I had written you by this mail on the general subject of liaison as I want to try and cover the subject more fully. I tried all the dictionaries and encyclopaedias to see what they had to say on the subject, but they are without reference, except what I thought rather low hints and leers about 'gallant episodes' and 'illicit connections'! In a letter from Edward Harding (a New York lawyer whom you met and who interests himself in Australian matters) he says:-
Australia has again come to New York for money. I suppose that this is with the approval of the 'powers that be' in London. I am wondering whether there is going to be any opportunity for competitive bidding. Mr. Armitage [1] of the Commonwealth Bank, who was here about six months ago, said that the plan was to get Australia's credit established and then to have some competition amongst a number of the leading houses.
Lord Buckland (who was Henry Seymour Berry) [2] was killed rather tragically last week by knocking his head against a post when out riding. I had met him several times and I think mentioned him to you. He was rather a romantic and interesting figure-a man of 50 who had made many millions out of coal to his own unaided hand from a cottage beginning. He had five daughters to his great disappointment and expressed to me-a chance acquaintance-his determination to have an heir. He was of the type of Ford and Morris, but mentally more active and with his eyes less on the ground.
I heard lately what I think must be the last word in Americanisms- and from the mouth of a Belgian who is on leave in London from the Belgian Embassy in Washington. He was describing a certain bit of English countryside in spring which, he said, he found 'lousy with charm'.
The Foreign Policy Association (New York) have just issued a pamphlet (copy enclosed) recording a debate on the subject of 'The Power of International Finance', which contains a few points of interest which I have marked in pencil. It is a contribution to the file on this subject that I started a few months ago. I should not read it all as the bulk of the talk was uninstructive.
I have met Sir Charles Nathan [3] and had a brief talk to him about his various missions. I will do what I can to put him in touch with the people he wants to meet.
The brief references to the European 'goings on' that I give in the confidential letters are not set down because I think you take any particular interest in the individual events themselves, but to try and build up, with as few strokes as possible, a picture in your mind of the state of Europe, so that, as far as possible, you will never be surprised by events.
I am, Yours sincerely, R.G. CASEY


text:
Made possible by Pepsi. Are you #FanEnough?
We thought this was coming. No, we knew this was coming, or we thought we knew it was coming.
But really, as we tried to measure Jamaal Charles' ceiling in a new offense under Andy Reid throughout the offseason, we were lying to ourselves. Not even the foremost seers among us could have predicted the sudden boom we're seeing from Charles.
The assumption that something spectacular could be forthcoming began the minute Reid was hired in Kansas City way back last January. In past Reid offenses in Philadelphia there was always a deep threat (DeSean Jackson, or before him, Terrell Owens), but his west coast system ran through a running back who excelled in space. It was a matter of creating that space, which was often done through the passing game, and finding a mismatch in the open field.
That was LeSean McCoy's gig under Reid (and it still is under Chip Kelly). In Reid's final season as the Eagles head coach last year McCoy missed four games with a concussion, yet he was still targeted 67 times in the passing game, which he turned into 54 catches for 373 yards.
Two years prior to that in 2010 was McCoy's career high in both receptions (78), and receiving yards (592), which was the first time he joined the list of Reid's elite pass-catching RBs. Previously it was Brian Westbrook, who caught 90 passes in 2007 for 771 yards. Between 2004 and 2007 Westbrook averaged 697.3 receiving yards per year, and he also had two +1,200 yard rushing seasons over that time.
The end game with the McCoy or the Westbrook and now the Charles in a Reid offense is to expand on the talent that makes them effective as runners in the open field (mainly speed, and then more speed, and the ability to make tacklers miss instead of going through them), and then add a larger dimension. If they're suited for it, the running back often becomes the anchor for the quick and short high-percentage throws which are at the core of any west coast variation.
During the offseason, the first major hint that Charles would become a chess piece to be used anywhere and everywhere in the passing game — lining up in the slot and even out wide in addition to conventionally out of the backfield — came from Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson, who discussed the running back's usage even at that point during OTAs.
"You've seen him sprint out of the single receiver, and he'll come out of the backfield. He's a guy that needs to move around, and (one) you can put in different positions, motion out the back, shift him from the backfield. He catches the ball so well that you have to take advantage of that offensively."
Basically then we were to expect that he'd be used all around the formation, and be given an abundance of touches. And while we already knew that he's not too shabby when asked to run with a football placed directly into his gut (he had a career high 1,509 rushing yards in 2012 at a pace of 5.3 per carry), adding that extra dimension to his game through Reid's west coast leanings could end in some astronomical numbers.
Well, here's where we're at now, and when looking at the digits below remember that we're still a week away from only reaching the hallway mark of the season.
- With eight touchdowns and 898 total yards (561 on the ground, and 337 through the air), Charles now has at least 100 yards and a touchdown in seven straight games. O.J. Simpson is the only player in league history with a longer streak.
- That pace of 128.3 yards per game has Charles chugging towards 2,052 total yards this season, which would be a new career high. So far, he's accounted for 38 percent of the Chiefs' total offense, and 28 percent of their total points.
- Also easily a career high is Charles' pace of 18 touchdowns, as even now he's already matched his previous high of eight. He's scored nearly half of the Chiefs' total touchdowns (19).
- With 36 receptions through seven weeks (four behind running back reception leader Danny Woodhead), Charles has eclipsed his 2012 total (35), and while averaging 5.1 catches per game he'll surpass his previous single-season high (45) in about two games.
- At that pace he'll finish with 82 receptions. To put that in perspective, perennial running back receiving stud Darren Sproles has topped 80 catches just once. Last year he led all running backs with 75 catches.
- On pace for 770 yards right now, he'll also shatter his previous receiving yards high (468).
- Charles has been targeted 57 times, which again has him set to crush a career high (64). He's been the intended receiver on nearly a quarter (22.8 percent) of Alex Smith's throws, a remarkable number for a running back. Turning to Sproles again for a comparison, he's marginally ahead of Charles while getting 27.3 percent of Drew Brees' targets.
Yep, I'd say the Reid-Charles era is starting off quite well.
Given his current pace, room on the #FanEnough bandwagon for Jamaal Charles is filling up fast. You can show your support by signing up for Pepsi Experience Points to win #FanEnough prizes.


text:
Quoted from luanaflacco I am pretty sure I am having a reaction from it. I thought I would test it and I am pretty sure now.Victoria, what is the best way to use this supplement?
Quoted from mikeo the main ingredient in it NAC....you would have to take 10x what's recommended on the bottle for it to have toxic effects.NAC is supposed to help you detoxify foreign stuff out of your fat and blood stream so it can be excreted out into your urine...you may need to drink more water during the day when taking this
Quoted Text Dr.DRedoxa is high in sulfur containing amino acids, which is what gives it such a pleasant aroma!


text:
.. and Climbing @ Home
This photo was shot on film. Taken by jennson with a Lomo LC-A+ (available in our Online Shop) loaded with Kodak Ektachrome 64T expired film in Austria. These tags describe this photo: expired, xpro, x-pro, cross, hiking, climbing, outdoor, mountain, colour, and blue. Date: 2011-06-01. Time: Noon. This photo can also be found in the album Hiking / Kodak 64T.Please login to get more out of this site
You are currently not logged in, do so now to add comments, like articles as well as photos, submit to competitions, translate articles and gain access to unlimited photo upload! If you are not registered yet, go here to find out more about Lomography and join now! If you just want a limited account for now you can use Twitter or Facebook. We would love to have you as a member here!
19 people like this photo
Liking photos helps us to present the best ones to you and others. 19 people like this photo. 19 people like this photo: mariskaviska, soleado, adi_totp, b0rn2b1ush, atria007, dakadev_pui, frantisek, escudero, eskimofriend, zeester, mephisto19, mikahsupageek, domemerson, blancarleal, smbilgin, julepule_halligalli, freakoftheweek, ihave2pillows, and savs.
No comments yet, be the first
Where is this?
Nearby popular photos – see more
Nearby LomoLocations
Nature Recharges My Batteries
I live in a valley in western Austria, somewhere in the middle of high mountains, small rive…


text:
Adobe Photoshop 7
The long awaited Photoshop 7 has arrived! The people who have been chomping at the bit for it most are those who find it key to their migration from MacOS 9.x to OSX. The lack of an OSX compatible version of Photoshop is the main excuse I have heard for not upgrading. However, this site is about Web design not OSes and I will look at Photoshop 7 from a Web design perspective.
Version 7 now shares the new 'soft look' interface introduced in Illustrator 10. The toolbox palette sports a series of buttons with very subtle rollover effects which glide from greyscale into color and immediately communicate 'quality' through elegance and restraint.
At first glance, and the casual flicking through menus and palettes that usually satisfies my curiosity and inherent loathing of manuals, there were no major surprises or obvious 'new features' until I hit 'File Browser' in the Window menu.
File Browser is a palette that, with the snap of a finger, displays previews of all the graphics files in any selected folder. There is such a facility in my digital camera software, but it is slow and very specific. Photoshop 7's File Browser not only provides an adjustable sized thumbnail of any file type supported by the program, it also gives a list of the files attributes and lets you add further information such as captions, keywords, categories, credits. etc. It is not a full-featured image database by any means, but having it there at your fingertips when you are working within Photoshop is very convenient.
Having found the File Browser, I have to admit to resorting to the 'What's New' section of the manual to see what else was of interest. Well yes, there are some new painting brushes that provide a wide variety of line qualities. They don't stray into the 'painter's techniques' brushes like the ones in Painter but are a welcome addition nevertheless. Then there is a new 'healing brush' that makes retouching blemishes in photographs even easier than before - but I'm looking for things of more practical use to a Web designer.
Ah! That's more like it. 'Weighted Optimization'. If you have ever been frustrated by the fact that you could only apply one global compression value to a JPEG file or one color reduction value to a GIF, your prayers have now been answered.
We have all used JPEGs for photographic images and GIFs for graphics and text. If you had an image that contained both text and a photo you were stuck because you couldn't get crisp type and high compression at the same time, you had to go for one or the other – or neither.
With 'Weighted Optimization' you can have different compression setting in a single image. The text, or main subject can be high quality and less compressed and the more superfluous areas pushed to the optimal compression. The effect can be gradual, using a continuous tone mask or more tightly controlled using a shape mask.
Similar variable compression can be applied to sections of GIF and PNG-8 images using lower color depths or lossy settings for the less important areas.
Why, oh why, did we have to wait so long for this?
Web Transparency. Quite a few years ago, I discovered that I could simulate partial transparency in a GIF file by using a dithered solid/clear pattern and I have used it many times since when I needed something like a shadow effect. This has now been added to Photoshop 7 as a feature with attitude. 'Dithered Transparency' is now an option in the 'Save For Web' options palette and lets you blend Web graphics into the background effortlessly.
Digging around, I found a few more things of possible interest to Web designers. Support for the black and white, dithered WBMP (Wireless BitMap) format often used in PDAs and cellphones evoked warm, fuzzy memories of MacPaint, circa 1984.
The new 'Pattern Maker' is handy for creating tiled background images from image selections and shows what the effect looks like when applied to a larger area.
'Web Photo Gallery' is a quick and easy way to post a gallery of images on a Web site with optional security features such as copyright information and watermarks, but we have to move over to Photoshop's kid sister, 'ImageReady 7' to find the rest of the stuff.
ImageReady is Adobe's solution for keeping the more specialised functions of Web graphics away from the mainline features used by everybody else. The two main reasons to use ImageReady are animated GIFs and rollovers.
Once you get the hang of the layer-based animated GIF feature, it is difficult to imagine a better way to do it and I have few complaints in that department.
Version 7 adds a new Rollover Palette which they claim allows 'sophisticated interactivity without JavaScripting' which isn't strictly true because it does use JavaScript. What it means is that you don't have to write the JavaScript yourself.
With this palette, you can create, modify and view simple or fairly complex animated rollover buttons. The program then generates all the necessary sliced-up image files and code so that it can be imported into your favorite Web page editor.
Where I have no doubt that it all works 'as advertised' and will be a great boon to people who don't roll their own scripts, the scripts generated are difficult to fathom or debug and are best left alone. If you prefer to write your own JavaScript, you may find this particular feature more of a hindrance than a help.
All told, Photoshop 7 is a fairly worthwhile upgrade for Web designers but especially for Mac users wanting to move up to OSX. For those who are still not convinced about OSX or who use Windows, the File Browser and Weighted Optimization are the main enhancements you are paying for. Whether those warrant the version jump from 6.0 to 7.0 or the $149 upgrade price tag, you will have to decide for yourself.
Adobe Photoshop 7 | |
Features | 95% |
Ease of Use | 80% |
Value for Money | 85% |
'Must Have' Factor | 85% |
Manufacturer | Adobe |
Price | Full product from $609, upgrades $149 - Mac OS 9.1 to 10.1.3, Windows 98 to XP |
Summary | Probably more accurately labelled 6.5 rather than 7.0 |


text:
Exciting Things to Do in Belize on Land and Sea
Though the tropical setting and breathtaking views of Belize seem worlds away, you're just one direct flight from the Caribbean coast, where an English-speaking population and the secluded Las Terrazas Resort offer all the comforts of home in the most exotic of settings. Discover Belize attractions on both land and sea; you can explore ancient Mayan temples, hike through miles of pristine rainforest and swim along the northern hemisphere's longest barrier reef. With so many things to do in Belize, you'll be planning your next visit before you even leave. Your next island adventure is just a click away:


text:
Account Manager - PR!
SAVVY Media Ltd £28-33K£28-33K
Account Manager £28-33K
Based in the heart of Surrey, a specialist technology PR agency have a great opportunity for an Account Manager to join their Account Team.
This PR Agency plan and implement effective business to business PR campaigns for technology and telecoms businesses across the globe. Their PR services are specifically tailored to the technology industry to provide a truly beneficial service to all their clients.
You should already have 3-5 years experience under your belt already, and should come from a technology background.
Responsibilities will include:
Media Sales:
Utilise all relevant tools in the agency to create media lists, feature track, write and distribute press material and follow up distribution with journalists.
Manage and implement agreed media campaigns with minimal supervision, this will include all aspects of media contact, interviews and writing materials.
You should be seen as an expert in the media field relevant to his/her clients markets.
Have a clear network of media contacts and evidence of proactive contact from journalists
Capable of defining creative media campaigns to meet the strategic client needs.
Capable of defining communications strategy to meet the marketing objectives of the client.
Client skills:
Able to deal with client contact in an effective and efficient manner.
Be courteous and responsive to clients requests.
You will be the regular day to day contact for clients dealing with issues and opportunities to strengthen the clients relationships.
Give clear feedback from clients on strong and positive input to the campaign and knowledge of their industry.
Responsible for reporting.
Capable of managing and driving client relationships, organising meetings, planning sessions.
Deliver strong PR campaigns and develop and strengthen client relationships to establish the agency.
Prioritise individual tasks to ensure all agreed activity is delivered
Prioritise all resources involved in a campaign to ensure campaign activity is delivered in a timely and effective manor
Supervise and coach staff to both deliver on client relationships and help staff to develop new skills
Lead and motivate an account team to achieve successful campaign delivery
Identify new business opportunities and successfully propose PR campaigns that deliver profitable business to the agency
Create campaign proposals to increase current client satisfaction and fee revenue
Deliver agreed plan on time and control the budget of time and money.
Keep all admin up to date
- Posted
- 09 October 2013
- Closes
- 09 November 2013
- Sector
- Advertising, Advertising Agency, Ambient, Business Magazines, Cinema, Conferences, Consumer Magazines, Creative Agency, Customer Publishing, Digital / Online, Direct Mail, Directories, Events, Exhibitions, National Press, Outdoor, Radio, Recruitment Consultancy, Regional Press, TV
- Function
- Account Management, Agency Sales, Business Development, Consultant
- Discipline
- Agency
- Hours
- Full Time
- Contract Type
- Permanent
About SAVVY Media Ltd
Savvy Media Ltd is a London based media & Digital recruitment company passionate about placing quality candidates that reach the high standards and work practice similar to its own.
More jobs like this
- Full Time Agency Consultant Business Magazines jobs in West Sussex
- Full Time Agency Consultant Consumer Magazines jobs in West Sussex
- Full Time Agency Consultant National Press jobs in West Sussex
- Full Time Agency Consultant Regional Press jobs in West Sussex
- Full Time Agency Consultant TV jobs in West Sussex


text:
SkinCancerNet Article Laws Protect Minors from Tanning Beds As scientific evidence about the dangers of indoor tanning grows, medical experts in the United States and Europe are calling for stricter regulations on tanning beds. Their voices are being heard. On June 22, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill into law that will prohibit anyone younger than 16.5 years of age from using indoor tanning devices. This bill also requires salons to obtain in-person parental consent for those between 16.5 and 18 years of age. More than 30 states have passed laws that place restrictions on minors' access to tanning beds. A few days earlier, on June 19, the German parliament passed a law that bans anyone under the age of 18 from going to a tanning salon due to the risk of developing skin cancer. According to Agence France-Presse, German dermatologist and skin cancer researcher, Dr. Eckhard Breitbart, said, "If people under 35 regularly use solariums [tanning beds], the risk of getting malignant melanoma, the third deadliest cancer that there is, rises by 75%." Both the BBC and the Daily Mail, a British newspaper, reported in mid-June that medical experts are urging the British government to ban anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed and to prohibit unstaffed tanning salons. According to the Daily Mail, these requests came after scientists on the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (Comare) disclosed in a report that "at least 100 Britons die each year from using tanning beds and hundreds more suffer malignant cancer or disfiguring injuries." To learn more about the bill passed in Texas, read American Academy of Dermatology Association Commends Texas for Enacting the Most Restrictive Indoor Tanning Law in the Country.
All content solely developed by the American Academy of Dermatology
Page last updated 7/8/09
Disclaimer Copyright Information


text:
*TOP REVIEWER* GrRoxxy on 7/25/2013 11:39:00 AM more reviews by GrRoxxy
Age: 18 & Under Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium Eyes: Grey
This polish is a breeze to use. The brush is perfect, consistency is perfect and pigmentation is great! Its really good looking even in one coat although I always put two.
The colour itself is warm orange, very summery. Not my favourite colour ever for manicure but on toes it looks superb.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
*TOP REVIEWER* Ethabella on 10/22/2010 3:52:00 AM more reviews by Ethabella
Age: 25-29 Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Cool Hair: Black, Wavy, Medium Eyes: Brown
Every essie polish that I've used seems to have these characteristics in mind: easy application, doesn't dry too fast while you're applying and great brush size.
This colour is a very bring orange, perfect for summer. It's sunny all year long where I live so it's a good colour to wear all the time.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
graceg94 on 3/14/2010 10:56:00 PM more reviews by graceg94
Age: 18 & Under Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
The thing about Essie is that some colors are really smooth and high quality while others aren't so great. Capri is one of the good ones because it goes on super smoothly and doesn't need many coats to get it even. The color is really pretty: In most lightings it's more red than it is orange, but in some lightings (like my school's gym) it look really, really orange. Either way it's super cute!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Happyy on 5/4/2009 6:56:00 PM more reviews by Happyy
Age: 36-43 Skin: Combination Hair: Brunette Eyes: Brown
Love Love Love this color! It's a bright orange-coral color perfect for summer. I live in Miami so this is a color I would wear all year round. Looks really pretty on the hands but really stands out with a pedicure and cute sandals. If you want a tropical color this one is it. The polish goes on smoothly and doesn't bubble up. Highly recommend.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
mmilikethat on 4/13/2009 11:26:00 PM more reviews by mmilikethat
Age: 18 & Under Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
Some Essies are a little gooey and they streak a little, but Capri is soooo smooth. Just one coat literally looks like you went to get your nails done. The color is super cute it's like a bright red in some lightings and in natural daylight it's like a bright poppy orangey red. Looove it!!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
*TOP REVIEWER* JuliaLee67 on 5/16/2008 7:28:00 PM more reviews by JuliaLee67
Age: 36-43 Skin: Combination, Medium, Cool Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium Eyes: Green
This is a gorgeous bright orange-red polish, an excellent summer color for toes or fingertips, that looks more orange in the bottle than it does on. On my medium cool-toned skin, it picks up a sort of pinky-red tone and is exactly the same color as the geraniums that grow in my front yard! I love orange polishes but a lot of them have yellow or gold tones that don't look so great against my skin, but this one seems to have a little blue-toned pink in it, and works wonderfully well for me. I would recommend it highly for any cool-toned gal who wants a cheerful orange shade for summer. Goes on streak-free and wears well too. Love!
Top Rated Polishes
- 32 reviews
OPI Koala Bear-y
73 reviewsDior Dior Nail Glow
28 reviewsChina Glaze Ruby Pumps
384 reviews


text:
CIA drone secrecy ruling rejected by federal appeals court
From: Fox News | March 16, 2013
A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling which allowed the CIA to refuse to confirm whether it had information on the use of unmanned drones to kill suspected terrorists.
Filed Under The Wire
Content posted by users from other sites is posted for commentary and news purposes under fair use and each author is responsible for their own postings and a particular posting should not be construed as being endorsed by this site or its owner.
Please Note: The comments section is for both the registered users of this web site as well as non-registered users. All wishing to post comments must comply with our Commenting Rules or risk having their comments stricken. Comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the ownership of this site and should not be taken as such just because they are visible and posted here.
Leave a Reply


text:
Mon, Dec 29, 08 at 20:08
Thanks to the lure of the Sears dump table, I picked up a cheapo router a few years back and tossed it in a router table so I wouldn't have to keep swapping routers out. Finally enough debris had gotten down in the mechanism to where it flat out won't turn so I can make a depth adjustment. Trouble is, I can't figure how to get the mechanism off the motor housing. Can anyone give me guidance here? Model 315.175100 Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
Thanks Canguy, but I don't still have a clue. What do you see when you look at the diagram? I'm guessing that if I can determine a way to disassemble the ring, or maybe a twist with the strap wrench set to kill may help. I went as far as pulling the end cap out w/ the brushes and armature. In the words of Sargent Schultz- I see nothing- nothing! |
This diagram shows what look like threads on the motor housing. Maybe it screws off once the motor wires are disconnected. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Craftsman router
Thought that I would post an update thinking at some point there would be a person seeking to know the same thing. Tried everything I could think of. I won't even bother to list. In the end, I destroyed it piece by piece to find the solution. The collar distorted enough to where it would never come off the motor housing. Didn't even seem to have been run too hot. Correct fix for this problem: Toss it. Better solution: Don't buy krap. But on the bright side I now have a motor w/ a 1/4 collect on the end... |
There is a lot of this type of merchandise out there. They are built for easy, economic assembly with no regard for later repairs. Don't feel bad, even if you got it apart, the repair parts are probably not available. But I'm like you, as I will destroy something if it isn't made to take apart, just to see what the problem was. The last thing I did along this line was cut open a sealed refrigerator compressor to see why the motor inside had quit, (yes, the refrigerant was evacuated per EPA guidelines ;~) |
So the next odd question: What do I do with it now? I re-assembled the motor, hooked up the switch and light and it sings once again @ 25,000rpms. I have a die grinder. Make a little fixed grinder for something? |
Just tuck in up in the rafters. You'll eventually find a use for it. But, utilize the 'Five Year Rule', which means that if you don't use it in 5 years then toss it. But also remember, the day after you toss it, you will need it. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Tool Shed Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here


text:
Does anyone know anything about the quality of PB home office furniture. Particularly interested in the Whitney or Bedford line including file cabinets. Just wondering if anyone might have these and if they are happy with them.
Thanks for any help. |
Follow-Up Postings:
In case you don't know, the PB web site does have "customer comments" (reviews) for each item. You have to search to find the link. I have the Printers Keyhole Desk.... not the line you want, but still PB. I like it and would order again. I think it's a decent value. The drawers/hardware all glide nicely. The wood is pretty. The only negative (which I expected from reading the reviews) is that the top gets scratched from every day use. Since mine is a rustic looking desk, it's easy to fill in the scratches with a stain stick. |
- Posted by jerseygirl_1 (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 18:38
I have had the corner bedford desk for about 7 years. I think is just ok quality. The edges wear and I do have some chips on the edges of the drawers. It's only me who uses it and I am not hard on furniture. If you do decide the get the Bedford set, make sure you get the glass tops. Mine is the brown-black. |
- Posted by declansmom (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 22:51
We have the Bedford file cabinets. We have had them for about 3 years now. They survived a long distance move and they are still in great shape. I happened to have a large piece of granite from a previous home so that is what we topped our 3 cabinets with. I love them. |
I have a PB desk, chair and printer hutch in white. Can't remember the style. I have a lot of chips on all 3 pieces. For the price I am disappointed, It gets frequent use and is about 4 years old. In the future I will get wood vs painted and get a glass top about a 4th inch larger to protect the top edges. |
Hello. Late response to this so you may have already made a decision. I have the Bedford in white in our home office. We have an older Greek revival home with detached garage and apartment above (now the home office). Decor is beach cottage style as we wanted something happy while we were working. So the Bedford was the style we wanted. We did our own tops. The cabinets themselves look great. Quality is so-so. We have an actual "working" office we run all of our businesses out of. No employees at this location but all the business office items we handle. So they get daily, hard use. Plus store alot of files. We have several sizes of the filing cabinets. All drawers feel "wobbly" when extended, especially the big laterals. Also, none of the drawers are full extension (an annoyance with the children's furniture I have from them as well). So, its very difficult to get to files at the back. FInally, the way they configured the hanging file metal "supports" inside causes you to lose additional space in the front and the back. They are about a centimeter from the front/back exterior "walls" and files will get wedged in that area and they are very diffucult to get out without hurting your fingers. Add to that the lack of full extension and you never see your files in the back. Overall, they look fantastic and we have not had a problem with nicks, etc. as we made our own tops and the faces of the cabinets do not get banged up; however.....practical use annoys me daily. I would have gone with another manuafacturer had I been able to find a similar style. If you just want a place for bills, home reference files, etc...its probably fine but for a working office I would go with someone else. We had Bisley in our old home office which had a more modern feel and they were beyond great. Hope that helps. |
Ive come across some of this stuff before and it seemed pretty good, the finish and build were good quality considering the cost of some other types of office furniture. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Executive Office Desks
Hi earlykitchen, we are filing cabinets Melbourne retailer and have a great range of filing cabinets in stock |
Here is a link that might be useful: Filing cabinets Melbourne
- Posted by marvelousmarvin (My Page) on Fri, Feb 7, 14 at 0:33
Smart Money Magazine had an article that really ripped into the perceived quality of Pottery Barn furniture, which argued that people were paying way too much for what they really got. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Home Decorating Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here


text:
Swan View Accommodation |
Searching for Hotels Near Swan View (Western Australia) or Swan View accommodation? Swan View is located in Western Australia, near areas such as Stratton, Greenmount, Koongamia, Midvale and Jane Brook. Other nearby locations include Bellevue, Helena Valley, Boya, Midland and Middle Swan. There are plenty of hotel accommodation options near Swan View, including the 3 star rated Chapel Farm Perth (Swan Valley MIDDLE SWAN WA 6056) approx 10 mins from Swan View, the Rose And Crown Swan Valley Perth, the Thie My Chree Retreat Perth or the Susannah Brook Cottages Perth, 24 mins by car. Browse these and other accommodation options below. * Rates are a guide only - please check booking engine for further details and availability. |
About Page: Swan View Motels, Family Packages, Holiday Stays, Caravan Parks, Apartments, Hostels, Last Minute Swan View accommodation, 5 star Luxury to 2 star Budget hotels and resort deals. Compare Swan View hotel reservations, bookings and cheap rates. |
Top Chains Accor Best Western Breakfree Choice Hotels Crowne Plaza Four Seasons Hilton Holiday Inn Formula 1 Ibis Hyatt Attractions More Hotels Browse Cheap Accommodation by region : Europe Asia USA | Australia - Queensland New South Wales Western Australia South Australia Victoria Tasmania © 2010 - 2013 HotelsAccommodation.com.au | About Us | Affiliates | Sydney City Guide | Terms & Privacy | Add Your Property |


text:
Criminal defense lawyer, internet enthusiast, infrequent blogger, culture critic, and semi-professional nerd.
My interests are wide and varied, but my passion is criminal defense law. I am proud to be a public defender, and I have represented indigent Ohioans in appeals and postconviction proceedings at many different levels, from county common pleas court all the way to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
Throughout my career, I've written and researched on a variety of topics, including internet policy, copyright law, science, media, science fiction, journalism, and social media. The internet is my second home. I am always looking for opportunities to pursue my varied interests and satisfy my curiosity about big issues and ideas, all while continuing to make a real difference in people's lives through my work at the Office of the Ohio Public Defender.
Specialties: Knowledge of and experience with criminal law, copyrights, cyberlaw, new media, blogging, and legal writing and research. Extensive experience in legal writing, research, and appellate procedure and litigation. Additional experience with Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel, Access, and Office; Adobe Audition and PhotoShop; HTML; and various blogging platforms. Some experience with CSS and XML. Working knowledge of Spanish and LaTeX. Always willing to learn.
* Representing clients in appellate and postconviction proceedings throughout Ohio's courts, in both State and Federal proceedings.
* Extensive legal research and legal writing.
* Argued in the Ohio Supreme Court and the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
* Filed amicus briefs in Ohio Supreme Court cases.
* Assisted in developing the agency social media presence.
* Gathered data and organized files related to a recent United States Supreme Court ruling regarding sentencing.
* Managed incoming files related to upcoming State Supreme Court appeals.
* In-depth research on legal issues, including criminal trial practice, sentencing, and data-sharing policy.
* Drafted research memos, letters, and filings for litigation support.
* Used client management software, Microsoft Access, and document management software.
* Helped clients understand the complexities of intellectual property law.
* Devised strategy for intellectual property protection for businesses.
* Researched intellectual property policy structures on social networks.
* Research and writing intern at a science fiction blog.
* Later hired as a contributing writer.
* Researched and wrote about recent scientific advances.
* Contributed features about science fiction and culture.
* Developed familiarity with the everyday experience of blogging and online media.
* Wrote letters and advertising materials.
* Researched Illinois civil procedure and motion practice law.
* Researched and developed strategy for a right to publicity case.
* Gained experience navigating the USPTO's website.
* In charge of all programming for high school age youth at the synagogue.
* Developed and spearheaded this new program in its first year.
* Organized events and interacted with youth through social and educational programs.
* Public interest group.
* Verified current law relating to autistic individuals in various states. * Developed presentations, memos, and practitioners' guides.
* Researched and presented international autism legislation and regulation.
* Wrote music reviews for this online magazine.
* Learned some important lessons about how hard it is to create innovative new tools for online distribution of content.
* Observed various phases of legal practice.
* Attended hearings and appeals conferences.
* Drafted billing and dissolution documents.
* Helped special needs students integrate into the classroom by providing tutoring and alternative instruction.
* Worked directly with two autistic students.
* Wrote lesson plans and customized existing lesson plans to include special needs individuals in the mainstream classroom.
* Wrote music reviews and took concert pictures for our blog.
* Co-hosted a radio show, produced podcasts, and edited on-air promotional spots.
* Generally reported on the indie music scene in Ohio and beyond.
"[John Vanderslice] said, 'If you think the Internet is making us lonelier, then you were never lonely before 1995.'"
Here's the idea. As ad revenue works now on the internet, when someone reads a thing, the writer (or content management company) gets money…
A new viral video about the ills of social media actually demonstrates the ills of itself.
Let's talk about the dangerous assumptions upon which Upworthy is built.
Here's what we know going into this debate: Ken Ham is superbly wrong about science, and Bill Nye is an expert in science.
And it betrays the fundamental problem with marketing "content aggregation" as creation.
And also a snippet about Steven Moffat and problematic artists.
NOTE: This post first appeared at my Medium page. Go here to read the original version, and go here to see all of my posts on Medium.
Eli Pariser first came across my feeds when he delivered a TED talk decrying technologies that tailor our online world to what we want to see instead of the one we maybe should see. For example, Pariser noted that two different people searching Google for the term "Egypt" see two different results, depending on their location, search history, and more: one sees sunny tourism photos, and the other sees the roiling social and political conflict in the country.
Pariser's conclusion is that these kind of "filter bubbles" obscure the real world from us and let us live complacent lives. The subtext is that we should be afraid that the machines are controlling what we see, that Big Brother is a robot, and we don't even know we're not seeing everything. Wake up, sheeple, etc.
These are potent concerns, and I'm generally inclined to agree with Pariser that we should all be able to make our own decisions about what kind of content we see. But by clicking on tourism photos of Egypt instead of news articles about the political upheaval there, we actually have made a choice. We've made thousands of little choices, in fact, that demonstrate what we actually want. It turns out we maybe don't want to see as many updates on political turmoil in foreign countries as we do pretty photos of tourist attractions. Our filter bubbles accurately reflect our desires.
If that's the case, if an algorithm has correctly teased out our natural preference, what's Pariser's objection? It seems the simplest explanation for Pariser's concern is that we should all have better preferences, that we prefer the wrong things.
As an aside, there's another explanation for why people are quick to demand more politically active search results even though they don't actually click on them. People like to look politically interested even if they are not actually politically interested, and decrying politically blind filter bubbles is an easy way to express this desire. In essence, objecting to the filter bubble is our penance for getting the benefit of the filter bubble. (Žižek would recognize this: he describes buying fair trade coffee from Starbucks as, via the consumerist act itself, buying your redemption from being a consumerist. It's an idea so beautifully formed that I can't look directly at it for fear of blinding myself.)
Anyway, the big problem is that there's an underlying assumption to Pariser's logic that goes unchallenged, probably because most people share it. Anger at Google for presenting a sunnier, more fun vision of Egypt only makes sense if you think it is capital-I "Important" to see stories about Egypt's political situation.
If I wanted to see the protests in Egypt, I wouldn't search for "Egypt." I'd search for "Egypt protests." And I would get exactly what I wanted. Pariser assumes that I am less, that I am not being engaged with the world enough, if, when I search for Egypt, I'd prefer to see pyramids and ancient paintings.
Don't I get to choose what I find Important? Don't I get to decide which political causes I pay the most attention to? Don't I have the right to merely skim the news, get informed, and then go about my day looking at pictures of the Sphinx? Who is Eli Pariser to tell me my sense of what is Important is wrong?
Pariser's world-view is that what is Important is Obvious and possibly even Objective. I do not share that world-view.
Now how do you think Eli Pariser would respond to a company that makes all of its ad revenue and spends all of its time presenting feel-good stories that make the world look like a better place than it might actually be? Presumably, this is just another "filter bubble," a curator with a sense of what is Important. But it ignores strife, poverty, and all sorts of ugly stuff all over the world, in favor of presenting a reality that looks a lot nicer. Such a company would be obscuring what Eli Pariser might think is Important.
That company is called Upworthy. And Eli Pariser co-founded it.
In a sense, Pariser doesn't really care what you want to see. He mostly wants you to see the things he wants you to see.
People that take Pariser's anti-filter-bubble position present themselves as advocates for openness and democracy and making our own decisions. Obviously I'm all for those positions. But if Upworthy is meant to be a solution to the filter bubble problem, its solution is "you should all care more about the things I think are Important." That's a position I can't get behind.
There are larger questions hiding in this discussion. For instance, is it morally objectionable to be entirely uninformed about global politics? Is it possible to be politically aware without being entirely informed? Is it morally sound for "True Detective" to be the thing you care most about, even though there's major turmoil in Ukraine? These are, I think, interesting questions, but they all relate to the fundamental issue: is there such thing as Objective Importance, things that are Important no matter where you are, what kind of life you live? These are questions that actually do threaten the structural integrity of our filter bubbles. These quetions might actually make our filter bubbles work for us.
I'm really interested in all of these ideas. And I don't think Upworthy is.
NOTE: This post first appeared at my Medium page. Go here to read the original version, and go here to see all of my posts on Medium.
I think it's time we stopped pretending Facebook is a place to interact with other people; it's really only a way to unload data to marketers. And if we actually look at what a Facebook profile contains, this becomes cripplingly obvious.
Here's an example. Earlier today, I wanted to see what quotes I had listed in my "Favorite Quotations" section on Facebook. But, after a few minutes of looking, I couldn't find it. This box had disappeared from my profile. I eventually did find the quotes section; it was tucked away at the bottom of my "About" page and hidden under a "See All" fold.
Here's my guess why Facebook would hide this from me: this is a free-form box, where I can add whatever text I want. It doesn't have to link to a page, and it can't even be shared or commented on by my friends. And something like that is a hard thing for Facebook to scrape useful data from.
The most obviously useful set of data Facebook has cataloged is the relationships between people in its network. For instance, it knows who my friends are, and it can guess which of those people are the closest to me and to each other based on how many common friends we all have. I've also voluntarily told Facebook who I've dated and who I'm related to.
Facebook can't do that kind of network-analysis on free-form text. If I write, for instance, I really like "Breaking Bad," and a friend says he really likes "BB (❤ Jessi Pinkmen!!)," Facebook can't tie these things together and create a concrete data-map identifying us both as fans of the same show. Free-form text, and by extension personality, is not very useful to Facebook.
It's not just your favorite television show. It's a declaration of brand loyalty.In fact, if you look at Facebook now, the only way to say you "like" a television show is to find it through a drop-down search box, one that allows you to "like" the show's official page. In essence, Facebook has morphed the action of listing a favorite television show into something closer to "friending" that show, making your brand loyalties and consumption habits just as trackable and mapable as actual "friend" relationships.
But it doesn't end there. The default view when you navigate to the television section of your profile is a list of shows you've "watched," not shows you like. It's a subtle distinction, but it's important. When you share the things you like, you're curating a favorites list. Your Facebook profile, as a result, describes you. But in this new version of Facebook, you instead showcase everything you watch, and your Facebook profile becomes a catalog of the things you've consumed.
A curated list of the things you want to consume, neatly organized to be sold to those that can sell it to you.Facebook's also got a watch later feature on the television section. So you can also use Facebook like you'd use Flixster or Goodreads, listing the things you want to consume later. Of course, you can comment on these things, too, and "like" any of these items a friend has added to their list as well, providing more and more social web information rooted in specific products, specificthings you can buy.
Facebook is so giant, and it has so many places to just while away hours adding more and more information. You can add all of the restaurants you've been to. You can create a list of bath products you really like, organized by company. You can tell Facebook what TV shows you've watched, which ones you liked, and which ones you plan on watching in the future. You can do the same for books, games, and music.
Facebook doesn't let you do this just because they like learning everything about you. They actually encourage you to do this because every bit of properly formatted data you supply makes it easier to sell things to you (and to basically sell you to advertisers).
Imagine a music promoter representing a new jazz and electro fusion band in Des Moines, Iowa. That promoter could pay Facebook money to show ads for that band only to people that "like" Dizzie Gillespie and Grandmaster Melle Mel in Des Moines. Facebook's made it really easy for that promoter to buy a list of names of people in its narrowly-tailored target audience. (This could be seen as either a captiatlist Big Brother or a consumer's paradise… there's a fine line, as they say.)
In the end, Facebook has always been very good at mapping your social circle. But now it's also very good at mapping your consumption circle, and that's a lot more valuable. We've packed up our consumption habits into neat little boxes. All Facebook has to do is open the doors and let advertisers peruse the shelves to pick the boxes they want. And we don't even get paid for making it so easy.
I recently stumbled across an article on Wikipedia about a little bit of Usenet slang from the 90s that has more relevance now than it did maybe even then: the "eternal September."
The story goes that, every September at universities around America, a bunch of new students would arrive on campus with really no idea what they were doing. Those students would bring their general cluelessness with them when they signed on to Usenet, one of the earliest internet social networks.
As a result of this influx of new people on Usenet's multiple groups, whatever social norms that had become entrenched there over the course of the prior year seemed to disappear around September of every year. Around that time, new users became the loudest voice, and the whole thing looked less like an organized social network and more like anarchy. Individual Usenet groups became a mess of people who had very little idea how those services worked and how to politely join the conversation. In short, around September of every year, Usenet looked more like a YouTube comment thread than an organized social network. (video possibly NSFW: language)
But around 1993, according to that Wikipedia article, the internet morphed into a thing that new people started using every day. That meant that the anarchic disregard of internet social norms was happening constantly. New people were continually joining these services, and there was always a rabble that just didn't know how to behave in those groups. (Ignoring, for a moment, those that purposely disregard these rules for the lulz.)
That's what led a guy named Dave Fischer to write that September 1993 had never ended, that Usenet would forever feel like it was another anarchic September. The rabble of new users had overtaken Usenet's ability to instill social norms, and internet etiquette was a thing of the past.
This is so fascinating to me. The most obvious plain meaning of the phrase is that internet etiquette is basically no longer a thing. The ever-broadening scope of the internet means that only very small subgroups, i.e. individual subreddits, forums, etc., have any ability to actually instill etiquette in their participants, and even these small subgroups face a constant September of clueless and etiquette-less new users. And the eternal September effect means that something like YouTube, with such a giant user base, can't ever really develop specific sets of norms or etiquette because the September turnover is constant. There's no persistent user base that can enact the social norms with any efficacy. The September has gotten so long that new users are the norm, not mannered pre-September users. Hence, YouTube comment threads.
But beyond that, this "eternal September" effect could also be understood as the philosophy that creates a certain kind of elitism-based humor on the internet. For instance, there's at least one blog dedicated to showcasing individuals that think articles from The Onion are real news stories. That blog essentially highlights the fact that there are constantly new people finding The Onion that have never seen it before. It's all about The Onion's "eternal September."
That's true of Twitter (see, e.g., the old man who thinks Twitter is a search engine), Facebook (see, e.g., this woman who mistook Facebook's status update box for a search box (possibly NSFW: very embarrassing search)), and even iPhone's autocorrect feature (see generally people that are too new to autocorrect to know that they have to check their work). Presumably, the people who are doing these things would stop doing them after acclimating to Twitter, Facebook, and the iPhone. But this "eternal September" means that content will never run out for these types of blogs, because new people are constantly just starting to use these social tools and, therefore, just starting to use them wrong.
And the "eternal September" shows no sign of going away. If anything, it's eternal-ness is only now becoming apparent. Because the "eternal September" applies not only to new users of established technologies, but also to new technologies. Or maybe more accurately, the increasingly frequent arrivals of new technologies (and updates to old technologies) mean that there are limitless opportunities for new September users. You can see these Septembers happen every time Facebook changes its layout or a new social networking platform arises.
"Eternal September" is a description of the lag between the first adoption of a technology and its widespread use, a description that applies to pretty much every technological development (no matter how small) and pretty much every person at some point. The phrase is coded with scorn for those that are slightly behind, the same scorn accompanying the term "n00b". And it's a particularly cruel scorn, because it isn't early adopters making fun of late adopters, it's early adopters confronting slightly-less-early adopters. This kind of early adopter can be notoriously elitist, and this is a tool for the barely-earlier adopters to hold their perceived superiority over an ever-larger group of people.
And that's why September of '93 is longer than even those original elitist Usenet denizens could have guessed: it's a tool for enacting that ever-present elitism. At its core, the "eternal September" is a mechanism for those from last September to make fun of those from THIS September, all the while blissfully ignoring the fact that, maybe days ago, maybe hours ago, they were also just arriving.
(Photo by Bertrand Petitjean, used under a CC license)
And the solution isn't angry prosecution or sting operations. The solution is trying to understand these interactions better. Technology isn't likely to entirely outmode the social contract any time soon. We still have to make our society work. And only more education and more understanding will make that happen.
I know this isn't usually the place for news. So, I've decided to start a blog that IS a good place for news. Surprise! It's the Stars Blink Out Tumblr. Check it out! And if you tumbl, maybe reblog some stuff!
Osama Bin Laden was killed last week.
Yeah, I know, not exactly breaking news. But I know you don't really come to this blog for "news." Instead, as you might expect, I have something to say related to how people responded to this news, specifically on the Internet and on online social networks (surprise!).
Slate's "Culture Gabfest" provided a pretty interesting discussion about how online social networking has effected the reactions to Osama bin Laden's death. I'd like to expand on it slightly.
The always-enlightening Gabfest crowd discussed generally our new-found societal inclination to publicly declare our personally felt sentiments. The argument is that we now live in a society so fixated on authenticity that everyone now feels compelled to share their feelings on this momentous event publicly and immediately, no filtering.
The Gabfest's major misstep is evident in the final moments of the segment: they essentially finish the story with each of them saying that they didn't do this themselves, but everyone else did, so it's a reflection of a cultural force. If it IS a cultural force, why are they immune to it?
I think understanding our obsession with authenticity as some sort of uncontrollable urge to share our feelings is to misstate what social networking actually does accomplish here.
It's certainly true that online social networks make it easier to reflect authentically our own feelings to our friends. But the online social network can do only that: facilitate the offline social network. In other words, the only people who take to Facebook or Twitter to publicly share their emotional reactions to bin Laden's death are the same people that were disseminating these sentiments through their own offline social networks before these websites even existed.
The result is that, while it might look like people are having an unprecedented emotional response to some global piece of news (be it joy at the death of an enemy or shame at the public celebration of a person's death), that emotional response is essentially the same as it has always been, just more visible.
The real novelty in this situation is not that more people are sharing their opinions; it's that more people are seeing each other's opinions. Back on September 11th, 2001, for instance, I could only get the reactions of those people that I saw around me on a daily basis. And believe me, they were vitriolic and extreme and numerous. But they were limited in number by the amount of people in my social network that I saw on any given day.
All online social networks have done is expanded the functional, accessible size of this social network, making these opinions LOOK more common, even though they are as common as they always have been.
But online social networks have also, to a certain extent, democratized the response to situations like this. Offline, the people with whom I correspond most regularly and sunstainedly are those that tend to agree with me. That is the nature of friendship. But online social networks make friendship something a little more broad. A more diverse group of people now have access to my attention, people that I do care about but I wouldn't have heard from in a previous era of information sharing. Essentially, instead of getting the somewhat limited viewpoints of those friends that I already most closely agree with, I get the diverse perspectives of the broadest circle of my friends.
Authenticity is at war with artifice every day. We want to authentically represent ourselves, but we also wear slimming clothes and make-up and only say the things we think won't disrupt or offend those around us. Maybe some of us maintain less distance between impulse and action, but in the end, we shape our actions to what we want those actions to be, not some deep sense of who we are. (Sure, what we want our actions to be is influenced by that deep "who we are," but even if the animus is deep, the agency is at a higher level.)
That war between impulse and control, between authenticity and self-definition still exists online. Online social networks have not achieved some unprecedented level of authenticity in social interaction; they've achieved an unprecedented AMOUNT of social interaction. The nature of that interaction is essentially unchanged, still as authentic or inauthentic as it always has been.
In my opinion, that's probably more useful. How much do we desire a society where people say whatever is on their mind all of the time? How much to we desire pure, unadulterated authenticity? I'd argue that the authenticity that we now have access to is the more useful variety: people can easily, quickly and accurately represent how they see themselves, not necessarily what they objectively are. That, to me, is the bedrock upon which social interaction is built. I'm glad it's the kind of authenticity brought out by such an ambivalence-breeding event like this one.
(Image from this informative post on BlazoMania)
I love a story that combines really fundamental issues about how people apprehend meaning with the complexities of anticipating how our own technology will impact our cultural future. And no story combines these elements so elegantly and so surprisingly interestingly as the story of the Department of Energy's 1991 waste isolation report, as reported by Slate.
First, a brief summary of the problem the plan anticipates, as reported by the article: our nuclear waste and nuclear materials are going to last longer than us. That's just a fact of the chemistry of these materials. These hazardous materials will remain hazardous long after the possible collapse of all of society, or even the death of all man-kind.
So, in an effort to protect future human societies (and possible non-human ones) from the waste, we'd have to find a way of labeling this material as hazardous for a people whose language might look nothing at all like ours and whose society is entirely unpredictably organized.
The solution hatched by Sandia Labs, in a report commissioned by the Department of Energy, is a surprising but sensible one: hire a bunch of people that are experts at conveying information symbolically to come up with some immediately-recognizable sign or some information transfer mechanism to alert future societies of the hidden dangers we have created.
For those unfamiliar with it, semiotics is a branch of philosophy that deals with symbols. It's a study that seeks to explain how symbols indicate other things, how that indication is created, how the brain dives through layers of symbols almost automatically, and all of the different ways these symbols are manifested.
So expert semioticians are essentially people who are experts at how things MEAN other things. It makes sense, then, that these are the people hired to devise something lasting and language-independent that indicates danger to any observer.
The solutions they propose are just mind-bendingly clever. One proposal: build a lattice of sharp, dangerous looking rocks on top of the waste, discouraging exploration of the area. Another plan calls for building giant stone structures with pathways through them that are too narrow for people to set up camps and live there, thus discouraging settling in the polluted area.
Some rely on more complex systems not directly linked to the symbols themselves, but to how symbols gain meaning. One such proposal is the setting-up of a priestly class of sorts that would know of the dangers of the nuclear sites and would transmit this information in a form more akin to religious dogma than to scientific learning.
The whole discussion smacks of junk futurism and conspiracy theories, like Project Bluebook or a set of secret orders for the president on how to deal with an alien invasion. The difference is that the problem anticipated here is essentially a certainty, something guaranteed by the physical laws of the universe.
This is a forward-thinking approach to something that is essentially a predictable result of our current actions. We've created dangerous waste that, as long as it is on this earth, is dangerous to humanity for generations upon generations to come. The waste already exists. It is something that we KNOW will exist for a predictable time into the future. We're just attempting to mitigate against its ill effects.
I don't know how well the idea of an atomic priesthood is going to work. But I really do love the idea of landscapes constructed to be difficult to live in just to warn people off from nuclear waste sites. What if the darkest, most uninhabitable depths of the ocean are actually created by a long-dead advanced civilization to hide the technologies that became their very undoing?
I know it sounds like an INSANE stretch, but this plan seems to suggest that this scenario might be the reality of distant-future generations.
(Image from the original report, depicting a "menacing earthworks" approach to deterring people from disturbing a nuclear waste site.)
Those of you that know me (and those that don't but have been reading my posts for a while here) certainly have seen that I'm not a fan of modern copyright law. I think it's too complex to work, too restrictive on first amendment rights, and generally gets used in a way that is anti-art, not pro-art. But that's only the first version of myself. You probably also know that I'm not a copyright abolitionist or copyright-basher. Version two of myself thinks that copyright is necessary, and it can be used reasonably and in a huge variety of ways to actually make the world of culture a lot better.
Now if I were solely that first version of myself, I'd look at a story of an artist doing something weird with copyright law and I'd say "AHA! Copyright is broken! This is endemic of the deeply flawed system!" But for this critique of a recent story involving Lady Gaga, I'm going to be entirely that second version of myself. The tech and law blog Techdirt recently posted a story that's all about how Lady Gaga's recent actions betray just how horribly flawed copyright law is, which is a story that the first version of myself would praise the hell out of, but the second version of myself is just too riled up by the whole thing to let that happen.
The article suggests that, if we look at how Lady Gaga uses copyright law, we can see just how broken copyright law is. The article asserts that Lady Gaga uses copyright in a way that does not at all match with the actual reason for copyright law's existence. Copyright law is meant to incentivize creation of new art, and the article says that Lady Gaga's attempts to use these laws for herself show just how far from this original goal the actual uses of copyright law have strayed.
Specifically, the article cites two major examples: Gaga's recent suit against "Baby Gaga" for the use of her image and her brand, and her treatment of photographers at her concerts, specifically that she requires them to sign agreements that give her copyright in their images. Let's take these one at a time, then talk about why the whole endeavor of criticizing Gaga's use of copyright law is actually really deeply flawed, even more flawed than the actual modern copyright system.
So the article only mentions in passing that the Baby Gaga thing is probably not copyright. But that's really important, so let's not conflate. Gaga sued on the use of her name and on the use of her personality rights, things like her sensibilities and her style. I don't think anyone's arguing that Lady Gaga doesn't have the right to control her image and her brand, which are the EXACT TYPES of things that trademark and personality rights are meant to protect. In other words, the Baby Gaga suit is not an example of Lady Gaga's twisted understanding of copyright law, it's a sign of her ACCURATE understanding of trademark and personality rights law, two fields of law that are actually surprisingly sensible compared to copyright law.
The slightly more sticky example is the photographer contracts. I don't like what Gaga is doing with these, but she's certainly within her rights to do it. Those contracts include terms about how they can use the photos, something that's pretty NORMAL for photographer agreements. These photographers sign agreements when they go to her concerts, so it's not like she's affecting their first amendment rights or something: they are essentially her employees when they contract with her.
The bottom line is that if she wants to put limits on the scope of these photographers' agreements with her, they still have to AGREE to those limits if they want the access she's agreeing to give them. They give something of value up and receive something of value in exchange. If they want to retain copyright of their images, they should photograph a different event, let someone who doesn't care about who owns their art become Lady Gaga's shill for that gig. This is a contracts and competition issue, not a copyright one.
The point of the Techdirt article is essentially that copyright has morphed into something terrible because people like Lady Gaga use it in unanticipated ways. But most of the unanticipated ways they list here aren't even copyright related: they're contracts and trademark related.
But let's not forget the real reason that copyright law is structured as it is, with lots of very small things declared the rights of the artist. It's designed to control the use of an artist's work, no matter what that art is and no matter what the use is. It's supposed to be flexible in the direction of rights-holders, ideally artists. And this flexibility is in place to allow for emerging markets.
Here's what I'm saying: if the purpose of copyright law is to incentivize art by creating ways in which artists can control the use of that art and therefore profit from it, then isn't allowing an artist who's show is a spectacle worth seeing the ability to contract with photographers carefully just another way of incentivizing creating these kinds of shows? Isn't Lady Gaga just taking advantage of one of those incentives with this kind of deal, not going against the incentive-based intentions of copyright law?
That's not to say that she's making a GOOD move or that she's doing something that is good for the legal landscape of art (she probably isn't). But she IS doing exactly what copyright law would have her do: she's monetizing her art using controls on distribution. It's what the founders would have wanted.
(Image: Lady Gaga Screen Print Painting, a CC-licensed photograph of a copyrightable screen print painting, probably a non-licensed derivative work of a surely-copyrighted, duly licensed image of Lady Gaga. IT'S COMPLICATED.)
It's that time of year again. That time when we remember romantic love, and how glorious it can be. Where we send cards to our loved ones explaining how unqualifiedly wonderful they are. There are no "If you would stop snoring you'd be perfect" cards or "I wish you were more self-confident" cards, only "I Love You" and "Be Mine."
Yes, it's Valentines Day, the heart-shaped box of treacle that so oversimplifies the complexity of relationships. And that can be kind of nice, enjoying the simple things, remembering the good, and celebrating people we care about. But when we start to unpack that heart-shaped box, we start to see the cracks in the veneer on this love-fest and the complicated troubles of this yearly remembrance.
The trouble starts when you consider the origins of this holiday. Because "holiday" is a laden word, and it's not clear if it applies to Valentine's Day.
The event first started as a classic Catholic saint's day, a day reserved for remembrances of the holiest Christians and how they (usually) gruesomely gave their lives in martyrdom to the cause. In St. Valentine's case, no one really knows what happened to him, but it's pretty clear it probably had nothing to do with love (interestingly, because of the uncertainty around the story of St. Valentine, his official Catholic saint's day was removed from the calendar in the 60s).
Somehow, this religious observance morphed into a celebration of romantic love. It started as far back as the 1700s, and British hand-made valentines were popular throughout the 1800s, but the whole practice turned a corner into mass-production and commercialization at some point.
The blame is usually cast on the greeting card companies. The term "hallmark holiday" was invented for Valentine's Day. These companies had finally created a wholly novel celebration of romantic love, which led to years and years of cards, commercials, movies, and television, filled with plastic portrayals of what is ostensible a very dynamic and heated emotion.
The whole Valentine thing smacks of historical disconnect, exaggerated sentiment, and irrelevance. But when we look at the cultural reaction to that disconnect, instead of seeing a wall of uniform disdain, we see something pretty varied and complex.
On the one hand, a lot of people still really like this holiday. Aside from couples that always make a big deal out of the holiday, there's still that universal grade school experience of making valentines for your classmates (in my school, we had to make one for each student in the class, but anecdotes from others would have me believe that some schools allowed a little bit of selection, and therefore pre-teen heartbreak). Maybe that experience catches some of us and carries over to adulthood, because there's still a pretty solid market for Valentine's Day candy and cards.
There's also the yearly Valentine's episode, a staple of most television shows. By no means are these specials all good, but they are ubiquitous, expected by audiences, and even looked forward to by some critics. For better or for worse, our culture is one in which the mainstream has embraced February 14th as a day to celebrate candy, hearts, pink and red, paper cards with superheroes or puns on them, and, not least, love.
But let's not forget that there's a tremendous amount of backlash against this holiday. Of all of the holidays on the calendar, it's the one people most love to hate. Mother's Day, an equally invented holiday, is pretty universally seen as a good opportunity to thank our mothers, not as the crass commercialization of a complex relationship (even though it basically is just that, to the same extent as Valentine's Day).
Maybe that's the cultural power of this holiday. Valentine's Day is, if nothing else, a versatile holiday. Getting together with your single friends to get drunk doesn't sound like a romantic evening, but it IS a celebration of the holiday. People celebrate by burning their ex's stuff, or by drinking wine with friends, or by watching action movies to rebel against the whole thing. Even those that love to hate Valentine's Day still are getting some serious utility out of its existence.
But the list of hypothetical V-Day activities does seem to focus a lot on the ample dark side of the holiday. I think NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour said it best when they said that Valentine's Day tends to have at least some negative emotional and social effects, no matter what your situation is. The unhappily single person is reminded of their single-ness, the new couple is reminded of the complexity and pressure associated with serious relationships, and even stable, long-term couples still sometimes run into mismatched expectations over the holiday.
On St. Patrick's Day, everyone is Irish. Valentine's Day offers no such out: single people remain single, unhappily married couples continue to be unhappily married, and gay couples remain marginalized and unable to marry.
Romantic relationships are complex, but Valentine's Day is, at its heart, a holiday celebrating simplicity. To that end, those that revel in the simplicity of the whole thing (television shows, the rare adoring couple that gets SUPER into it, greeting card writers, jaded V-Day rebels, etc.) can revel in this holiday. But any reminders of the underlying intricacy and incomprehensibility of romance make this holiday empty and galling.
So from all of us at Stars Blink Out, where we are dedicated to highlighting the complexity in even the most simple situations, have a strange, confusing, complicated, crass, and maybe a little sweet, Valentines Day.
(image adapted from Pink Love Heart Box)


text:
It upsets me when people say 'you're fat'. I'm a size 6... everyone looks bigger on the telly
- Says Dani Harmer
DANI HARMER is kicking out at cruel Twitter taunts about her weight – and reckons it's Strictly down to jealousy.
The Tracy Beaker star admits being targeted by trolls is the downside of competing in the BBC dance show but is determined to deal with it and keep dancing.


text:
We invite you to join us for the 49th Annual Global Ministry Conference! We are privileged to host around 30 of our missionary families and hear from keynote speaker, Dr. Richard Pratt.
Sunday, March 2
(Nursery open 8:00–12:15, 6:00–7:30; reservation required)*
8:00 a.m. Worship – Harry Reeder preaching —Faith Promise Commitment
9:25 a.m. Sunday School
10:55 a.m. Worship—Harry Reeder preaching—Faith Promise Commitment
6:00 p.m. International Worship Service – Al LaCour Preaching – Faith Promise Announcement