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US 6104286 A Abstract Typical apparatus according to the present invention for detecting a predetermined type of condition (such as the presence of smoke) at a given location and providing an indication (typically audible and/or visible) of the presence of such condition, comprises an electrical detector responsive to the type of condition, for providing a potential difference of at least a predetermined amount between two predetermined points; first circuitry for connecting at least a substantial fraction of the potential difference to an electrical relay or relay analogue in the apparatus so as to provide a predetermined first indication; and second circuitry responsive to a condition in the detector or in the first circuitry that is outside of a predetermined range, and thus of possible detriment to the optimum performance of the apparatus, to provide a predetermined indication. Typically the first circuitry provides one indication concerning the presence or absence of smoke and the second circuitry provides a different indication concerning the presence or absence of possible trouble in the apparatus.
Claims(5) 1. An apparatus for monitoring at least one electrical detector of the type that: 1) is AC powered; 2) has battery backup; 3) has interconnect capabilities; and 4) provides a potential difference of at least a predetermined amount on interconnect lines, so as to be responsive to a predetermined ambient condition at a given location, said apparatus comprising:
first circuitry for connecting at least a substantial fraction of the potential difference to a first relay included in said first circuitry of the apparatus so as to provide a predetermined first indication; and second circuitry responsive to a potentially detrimental electrical condition in the apparatus that is outside a predetermined range, said electrical condition thus representing a potential detriment to the optimum performance of the apparatus, so as to cause said second circuitry to thereby provide a predetermined indication of the detrimental electrical condition; wherein a smoke detector loop from a central alarm system panel is monitored by the panel to distinguish an alarm state from a trouble state, said alarm state being present when said electrical detector senses said electrical condition, and said trouble state being present when it is detected that the loop is open or has a high impedance; wherein the smoke detector loop includes a current source generated by and monitored by the panel such that current on the loop is limited by the panel and by an end of the line resistor external to the panel, the resistor limiting the current by closing the end of the smoke detector loop; and wherein the central alarm system panel responds by: a) in a no alarm state and a no trouble, measuring a defined current range that circulates through the loop; and b) in the alarm state, measuring a marked increase in current flow through the loop, and thereby turning on an audible or visual indicator to alert the alarm user; and c) in the trouble state, measuring no current circulating in the loop because the loop has been affected so as to produce a high impedance, thereby turning on an audible or visual indicator that is different from the indicator used in the alarm state. 2. An apparatus as in claim 1, wherein end of line resistors 16), and circuitry(1') including first relay(17), diode(18), and resistor(21), are included in the apparatus such that the smoke detector loop requires the end of line resistor(16) for monitoring, and wherein in the no alarm and no trouble states, current circulates through an interconnect loop(3,'4',5'), through a light emitting diode(11A') of a second relay(11'), and back to the cathode(9') of the external power(2D'), this current being sufficient to energize the second relay(11') and maintain a closed smoke alarm loop with the fixed amount of loop resistance while at the same time current from the voltage divider(13A',13B') circulates through a light emitting diode(17A) of said first relay(17), this current being insufficient to energize the first relay(17) thereby avoiding an effective short of the smoke detector loop(7',8') which occurs when the first relay(17) is sufficiently powered.
3. An apparatus as in claim 2, such that a break in the alarm or interconnect loops or loss of power to circuitry(1') results in insufficient power to the second relay(11'), and the alarm loop is opened, such that the central alarm panel(2') recognizes and indicates said trouble state.
4. An apparatus as in claim 3, such that in the alarm state, the electrical detector applies a potential difference to the interconnect loop such that a switching diode(12') is reverse biased, and if the first relay(17) were not functional in said alarm state, said trouble state would ensue from the opening of the alarm loop by the second relay(11'), and if the first relay(17) is functional, in said alarm state, the light emitting diode(17A') will receive sufficient power from the electrical detector, via the interconnect(3') and neutral(4') lines, to lower the resistance on the alarm loop to a point that the alarm state would be perceived by the central alarm panel(2'); wherein the resistor(21) serves to limit the current to the first relay(17) so that the first relay(17) will not receive a sufficient amount of current to indicate an alarm state when an alarm state does not exist.
5. An apparatus for monitoring at least one electrical detector of the type that: 1) is AC powered; 2) has battery backup; 3) has interconnect capabilities; and 4) provides a potential difference of at least a predetermined amount on interconnect lines, so as to be responsive to a predetermined ambient condition at a given location, said apparatus comprising:
first circuitry for connecting at least a substantial fraction of the potential difference of a first relay included in said first circuitry of the apparatus, so as to provide a predetermined first indication; second circuitry responsive to a potentially detrimental electrical condition in the apparatus that is outside a predetermined range, said electrical condition thus representing a potential detriment to the optimum performance of the apparatus, so as to cause said second circuitry to thereby provide a predetermined indication of the detrimental electrical condition; wherein said circuitry allows the monitoring of AC powered electrical detectors and the integrity of the detector interconnect line such that the integrity of the interconnect line is assessed by circulating current through a loop created by the interconnect line, a neutral line, and an end of line resistor that joins them; wherein the voltage applied to the loop is insufficient to trigger the detector but provides power sufficient to energize a second relay included in the second circuitry of the apparatus, that maintains a closed loop at a central alarm system panel; wherein loss of power to or discontinuity of the loop results in opening of the second relay and thus creates a trouble state as recognized by the panel; wherein in an alarm state, the detector applies power to the loop and reverse biases a switching diode effectively cutting power to said second relay; and wherein simultaneously said first relay is powered and nearly shorts the loop creating an alarm state as recognized by the panel. Description This is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/677,830, filed Jul. 10, 1996, now abandoned 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to alarm systems and detectors or peripheral devices such as those that connect smoke alarms to central alarm panels. It has to do typically with fail safe sensitive monitors and signalers for interconnect lines of AC-powered smoke alarms with battery backup. 2. Description of the Prior Art Alarm systems often contain multiple sensors including smoke detectors, heat detectors, motion detectors, and switches that determine the open or closed state of a door or window. In some systems the individual sensors or a plurality of sensors are monitored by the system using one or more electronic loops, and the system sounds an alarm when one of the sensors is triggered. Such systems and loops are discussed in the prior art (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,141,007; 4,144,528; 4,162,489; 4,176,346; 4,517,555; 4,191,946; 4,586,028; 4,745,398). In other types of alarm systems, the sensors themselves may contain alarm horns. Such devices may be standalone devices or be interconnected such that if one is triggered, the others also become triggered by an interconnect line. Such circuits are described in the prior art (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,194,192; 4,207,558; 4,972,181; 4,138,670). This interconnect mode of operation is available in AC powered smoke detectors with battery back up. One such detector is the model 86RAC manufactured by BRK Electronics of Aurora, Ill. The backup is a 9-volt battery, and when the alarm is activated, something less than 9 volts DC is available on the interconnect line at a maximum current of approximately 6 milliamps. Total available power available may be considerably less if a poorly charged battery is required to power the interconnect line. This smoke detector is sold as a stand alone smoke alarm system with no UL approved means offered by the manufacturer to connect it to a central alarm system panel which could then call an alarm company. Thus, if someone with AC smoke detectors with battery backup and interconnect capabilities (AC-DC-interconnect detectors) wanted to have smoke detectors connected to a central alarm panel, they would have to buy a different type of smoke detector manufactured for that purpose. These additional detectors are DC powered smoke detectors. There are fundamental differences in the operation of these smoke detectors that are important to appreciate in order to understand the operation of the present invention. Typically, the DC detectors have no horn. When they sense smoke, they communicate this condition to the central alarm panel by producing a short or near short across a loop from the central alarm panel. The loop is created by two leads from the panel, which are joined at their free ends by a so-called "end of line resistor." The central alarm panel circulates current through the loop. The panel expects a predetermined amount of current to be in the loop, based on the loop resistance generated by the end of the line resistor. If a break or high impedance state occurs in the loop, the panel recognizes the decrease or loss of current and reports this "trouble state" to the alarm user as a unique signal that differs from the signal that would be used if the detector sensed smoke. The signal may be audible or visual or both. If the central alarm system panel is so equipped, it will also call an alarm company and report the condition. Leads from the DC smoke detector(s) make contact with the loop such that the detector is wired in parallel with the end of line resistor. Thus, when smoke is detected and the detector shorts the loop, the central alarm panel notes the change in the loop current from the predetermined value to a much higher current which is limited by resistance in the circuitry supplying current to the loop. The central alarm panel then activates a unique audible and/or visual signal for the alarm user and, if equipped, calls an alarm company. Thus, when connecting DC smoke detectors to a central alarm panel, one uses a loop from the panel, and the loop is of special type that can appreciate three different states. In the "no alarm, no trouble state" a predetermined current is noted circulating through the loop. In a "trouble state," low current is noted in the loop. In the "alarm state" high current is noted in the loop. This type of loop will be referred to in the specification as a "smoke detector loop." This designation will distinguish it from the other type of loop typically offered by central alarm panels--the "normally closed loop." This latter type of loop is supplied with a predetermined current from the central alarm panel that senses the presence or absence of the current. Such loops are typically wired with a switch in series. An example is a magnetic switch on a window that maintains a closed loop when the window is closed and an open switch when the window is open. Such loops cannot distinguish a "trouble state" from an "alarm state" as both conditions produce the same result, namely, opening the loop. The AC-DC-interconnect detectors are inexpensive and sometimes required by building codes in new constructions. The DC smoke detectors are considerably more expensive and if added to the system will add substantial cost. It would thus be advantageous to have a circuit available that would allow one to interface the AC alarms to a central alarm system panel. This might be accomplished by a relay that would open a normally-closed loop from a central alarm system panel when the interconnect line goes hot. There are, however, two problems with that approach. 1. Conventional relays would not be able to be powered by minimal battery power should the AC power fail. 2. The relay would never be opened if the interconnect line was disrupted between the active alarm and the relay. A desirable circuit would thus be capable of being powered by a weak battery and be activated by discontinuity of the interconnect line. Furthermore, the circuit should be fail-safe, which means that failure of any component in the circuit would result in opening of the alarm loop. This is a quality that would be advantageous if not necessary in obtaining a listing from the Underwriter's Laboratory (UL). Such listing would almost certainly be required in order for contractors to install the device. Line monitors and fail safe circuits are known, but none are designed as stand alone circuits with the inherent simplicity of the present invention or for the same type of purpose--the interfacing of AC smoke detectors having battery backup and interconnect capabilities to a central alarm system panel. That interconnect lines were described for use in self powered smoke alarms (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,194,192; 4,207,558) more than 15 years ago and that to date no UL-APPROVED device to couple those interconnect lines to central alarm panels has been made commercially available speaks for the lack of obviousness of the circuitry of this invention. New residential constructions are often required by code to have smoke detectors installed on each floor of the dwelling, and in some codes, they must also be installed in each bedroom. Additional specifications mandate that the detectors be AC powered, have a battery back up in each detector, and be interconnected (by an interconnect line) such that if one detector goes into alarm, they all go into alarm. This type of detector, described above in the "Background of the Invention," will be referred to as an AC-DC-interconnect detector. The main purpose of the present invention (hereinafter often referred to as SMAS, for "Sensitive Monitor And Signaler") is to connect arrays of such smoke detectors to a central alarm panel such that an alarm or trouble condition can be communicated to a remote monitoring station. The SMAS accomplishes this by monitoring the status of the interconnect line. Two typical embodiments are described. In the first embodiment (FIG. 1) the detectors are connected via the SMAS to a "normally-closed loop" from the central alarm panel. When the status is "no alarm," the loop from the central alarm panel is held closed by the SMAS. When the status is "alarm," the said loop is opened by the SMAS. This embodiment additionally provides fail safe features by signaling an "alarm" condition when any part of the circuit is interrupted, that is, if the SMAS circuit loses power, if the interconnect line is broken, or if the loop to the central alarm panel is broken. Such conditions are typically referred to as a "trouble state". Thus, this embodiment does not allow the central alarm panel to distinguish an "alarm state" from a "trouble state." In the second embodiment (FIG. 2), additional circuitry is added to the first embodiment such that the SMAS can interface with a "smoke detector loop" from the central alarm panel rather than a normally closed loop. In a "smoke detector loop" the central alarm panel recognizes an "alarm state" when the loop is shorted (or the loop resistance is very low). It recognizes a "trouble state" when there is a break in the loop. Consequently, this embodiment of the SMAS allows the alarm panel to distinguish these two states. Another desirable feature of the SMAS is that it is operational even when the AC power to the smoke detectors is absent and the battery back ups are poorly charged. FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram showing a typical simplified embodiment of the Fail Safe Sensitive Monitor And Signaler for Interconnect Lines of AC Powered Smoke Alarms with Battery Back-Up (SMAS) according to the present invention. Circuit 1 is shown connected to a central alarm panel 2 and the smoke alarm system formed by an interconnect loop 3,4,5 and at least one smoke detector 6. Additionally, an alarm state indicator 15 is connected to the central alarm panel 2. FIG. 2 is a diagram similar to FIG. 1 showing a typical embodiment of the invention that includes additional circuitry and functions. The circuit 1' is shown connected to a central alarm panel 2', a smoke alarm loop-end of line resistor 16, an interconnect loop 3',4',5', and a plurality of smoke detectors 6'. Additionally, indicators for a "trouble state" 14' and an "alarm state" 15' are connected to the central alarm panel 2'. Referring now to FIG. 1, the fail safe Sensitive Monitor And Signaler for interconnect lines of AC powered smoke alarms with battery backup (SMAS) circuit 1 interfaces with an external source of power 9,10 and two electronic loops--an alarm loop 7,8 and an interconnect loop 3,4,5. The power and alarm loops come from a central alarm system panel 2. The power is DC and typically is supplied at 2D either from an electronic DC power supply or by a battery. The alarm loop, originating at 7,8 comprises a direct current source 2A, a current limiting series resistor 2B, and a current monitoring device 2C. Current in the loop 7,8,11B thus is limited in the panel 2, which is programmed to expect the loop to be normally closed at 11B. The processing is done using the keys 22A on the key pad 22. When the alarm loop 7,8,11B is open, the alarm system circuitry 2C in the panel 2 recognizes an "alarm state" and signals the user by turning on a horn a other audible or visible signaling device 15 shown here but not limited in location to the key pad 22. Opening of the loop can occur as a physical break in the loop or opening of the relay contacts 11B. Any condition that eliminates power to the relay coil 11A or lowers the power to the coil beyond what is needed to maintain closed relay contacts will result in open contacts at 11B and be perceived by the central alarm panel 2 as an "alarm state." Examples of such conditions include loss of power at 9,10 to the SMAS, a break in any line feeding power to the relay coil 11A, and reverse biasing of the switching diode 12. The interconnect loop 3,4,5 is created by joining one end of an interconnect line 3 with a neutral line 4 via and end of line resistor 5 which also has a current limiting function. The interconnect line is one of three connections that can be made with the smoke detector 6. The other two connections are for supplying 110 volts AC to the detector. One of these connections (a black wire by convention--not shown) is "hot" and the other (white by convention 4) is neutral. In addition to being the 110 volt AC neutral line, the white line 4 is also paired with the interconnect line 3 such that DC voltage can be supplied via those two lines 3,4. Such voltage is supplied by the smoke detector 6 on the interconnect line (anode) 3 and neutral line (cathode) 4 when the detector 6 senses smoke. A plurality of detectors 6 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1) can be interconnected in parallel using the neutral 4 and interconnect 3 lines with the result that when one alarm 6 sounds because smoke has been detected, the DC voltage on the interconnect 3-neutral 4 line results in all interconnected detectors 6 sounding an alarm. The interconnect loop has power applied from the SMAS at 3,4. The power, limited by a voltage divider 13 (comprising a variable potentiometer 13A,13B in FIG. 1), is insufficient to trigger the detectors 6 to sound an alarm. Current from the voltage divider 13 leaves the SMAS 1 at 3 to circulate through the interconnect loop 3,4,5 and then returns to the SMAS 1 at 5. It then circulates through the previously described relay coil 11A, then a switching diode 12, then back to the cathode 9 of the external power. When the smoke detector 6 senses smoke, it applies power to the interconnect line as described above and reverse biases the switching diode 12 resulting in loss of power to the relay 11A and opening of the alarm loop 7,8,11B at 11B. Tolerances on the circuit are very tight. The voltage on the interconnect line in the described embodiment prototyped with the 86RAC smoke detector (manufactured by BRK Electronics of Aurora, Ill.) must be maintained between approximately 1.75 and 1.95 volts DC. The circuit design also allows for a very depleted 9 volt battery to still be effective in triggering an alarm. As little as 1.1 milliwatt at 2 volts (direct current) is capable of reverse biasing the switching diode. Typically mounted on an etched printed circuit board in a plastic enclosure (not shown), the circuit of FIG. 1, independent of said enclosure, connectors for interfacing the two loops and power, and the end of line resistor 5, consists of only three components: the potentiometer 13, the relay 11, and the switching diode 12. A prototype has been constructed and operates as expected. Also described in the original specification of the parent application are optional part substitutions. These part substitutions are shown in FIG. 2. A prototype was constructed using these substitutions with the above described alarm panel and accessories. It also operated as expected. The first substitution of parts provides a more user friendly and better controlled power supply to the interconnect loop. The voltage divider in FIG. 1 is a variable potentiometer 13 that may be adjusted for a given external power supply 9,10. In FIG. 2 the variable potentiometer 13 is replaced by a pair of 1% tolerance fixed value resistors 13A' and 13B' drawing power from a narrow voltage range solid state voltage regulator 19 with a rectifier diode 20 protecting its output. The second substitution is replacement of the standard mechanical relay 11 of FIG. 1 with a photovoltaic relay 11'. Thus the coil 11A is replaced by a light-emitting diode 11A', and the relay contacts 11B are replaced by integrated circuitry that couples an array of photo diodes to MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) circuitry as represented at 11B' by a MOSFET like symbol. As the light-emitting diode 11A' in this relay analogue cannot tolerate the reverse biasing voltage used in this circuit, it cannot be used as a switching diode. Thus, the switching diode 12' is added in series. In embodiments of the type shown in FIG. 2, there is an addition of circuitry such that the SMAS 1' can be connected to a "smoke detector loop" (from the central alarm panel) rather than a normally closed loop. A "smoke detector loop" is one that is monitored by the central alarm panel 2' in a way that distinguishes an "alarm state" from a "trouble state." An "alarm state" is present when the smoke detector senses smoke. A "trouble state" is present when the loop is open or has high impedance. As with the "normally closed loop," described above, the "smoke detector loop," originating at 7', 8' is a current source 2A' generated by and monitored by the central alarm system panel 2'. Current in the loop7',16, 11B',8' is limited by the resistor 2B' in the panel 2' and is also limited by an end of line resistor 16 external to the panel 2'. This resistor 16 closes the end of the "smoke detector loop" in a manner similar to the resistor 5' closing the interconnect loop at 3',4'. In a "no alarm, no trouble" state, the central alarm panel 2C' expects a defined current range to be circulating through the loop. In an "alarm state," the panel 2C' expects to see a marked increase in current flow through the loop 7',16,11B',8' because in prior art systems, in an "alarm state," the loop would have been shorted by a DC smoke detector when it sensed smoke. It should be noted that the smoke detectors 6' in FIG. 2 can not short a loop. Instead, their way of indicating an alarm condition is by putting a voltage on an interconnect line. Thus, the SMAS translates that interconnect voltage into a short on the loop 7', 16,11B'8' to mimic the action of a DC smoke detector. In an "alarm state," the panel. 2C' signals the user by turning on a horn or other audible or visible signaling device 15. These devices may stand alone or, as shown in the figures, 14', 15' be incorporated in a remote keypad that is used to program the central alarm system panel 2C'. Typically the keypad will have light emitting diodes with adjacent labels to indicate what state or states are present as well as audible signals specific for a given state. Additionally, liquid crystal displays may be used to provide alphanumeric information on the status of the system. Installation manuals for each system type specify the possible array of signaling devices for a given system. In a "trouble state," the central alarm panel expects to see no current circulating in the loop because the loop has been mechanically opened or otherwise affected in a way that produces high impedance in the loop. In such a state, the panel 2C' signals the user by turning on a horn or other audible or visible signaling device 14, which provides a signal that is easily recognized as different from that emanating from the signaling device 15 which indicates an "alarm state." These devices may stand alone or, as shown in the figures, 14',15', be incorporated in a remote keypad that is used to program the central alarm system panel 2C'. Typically the keypad will have light emitting diodes with adjacent labels to indicate what state or states are present as well as audible signals specific for a given state. Additionally, liquid crystal displays may be used to provide alphanumeric information on the status of the system. Installation manuals for each system type specify the possible array of signaling devices for a given system. In an "alarm state" or in a "trouble state," the circuitry in FIG. 1 produces the equivalent of open relay contacts at 11B' that is recognized by the alarm panel as an "alarm state," the only altered state recognizable by a normally closed loop. Thus additional circuitry is added in FIG. 2 so that a "smoke detector loop" can be used to distinguish "alarm" and "trouble" states. In brief, an "alarm state" in detector(s) 6' will result in at least nearly shorting the "smoke detector loop" 7',16,11B' 8' by a relay analogue 17. In a "trouble state," relay 11' will open the loop. In practice, powering of the relay analogue 17 results in a loop resistance of approximately 20 ohms. Since the central alarm panel used in testing recognizes an "alarm state" when the loop resistance is below 100 ohms, 20 OHMS of loop resistance is sufficient to trigger an "alarm state" in the central alarm panel. The additional circuitry shown in FIG. 2 includes a resistor 16, a relay analogue 17 similar to the relay analogue 11', a diode 18, and a resistor 21. The operation of this additional circuitry is as follows. The loop from the central alarm panel 7', 8' is a "smoke detector loop" that requires an end of line resistor 16 for monitoring purposes as described above. As the value of this resistor 16 depends upon the characteristics of the central alarm panel 2', contacts are provided on the SMAS 1' for installation of this resistor 16 external to the SMAS 1'. As in FIG. 1, in a "no alarm, no trouble state" current from the SMAS 1' circulates through an interconnect loop 3', 4', 5', through a light-emitting diode 11A' of the relay 11', and back to the cathode 9' of the external power 9', 10'. This current is sufficient to power the relay 11' and maintain a closed smoke alarm loop with a fixed amount of loop resistance 16. At the same time, current from the voltage divider 13A', 13B' circulates through a light-emitting diode 17A of the second relay analogue 17. This current is not sufficient to power the second relay analogue 17 that would effectively short the "smokedetector loop" 7',8' if the relay analogue 17 were sufficiently powered. As in FIG. 1, a break in the alarm or interconnect loops or loss of power to the SMAS results in insufficient power to the relay 11', and the "smoke detector loop" is opened. The central alarm panel 2C' recognizes this as a "trouble state" and signals the user via an audible and/or visual indicator 14'. In an "alarm state" the smoke detector(s) 6' apply a potential difference to the interconnect loop such that the switching diode 12' is reverse biased. If the relay 17 were not functional, a "trouble state" would ensue from the opening of the alarm loop by the relay 11'. If the relay 17 is functional, in an "alarm state," its light-emitting diode 17A will receive sufficient power from the smoke detectors 6' via the interconnect 3' and neutral 4' lines to lower the resistance on the alarm loop 7',16,11B',8' to a point that an "alarm state" would be perceived by the central alarm panel 2C', and the user would be signaled via an audible and/or visual indicator 15'. The resistor 21 limits the current to the relay analogue 17 so that in a "no alarm state" it will not receive current sufficient to produce an "alarm state" signal. A prototype of this second embodiment as in FIG. 2 was constructed using a professionally made printed circuit board with components wave soldered. It was subsequently encapsulated in epoxy potting compound and operates as expected. The central alarm system panel used in the prototype is a Model PC1575 manufactured by Digital Security Controls Ltd. (Canada). Programming of this panel was done manually using the keypad Model PC1575RK (sic) supplied with the panel. The panel was powered with a step-down transformer having an external battery backup. While the forms of the invention herein disclosed constitute currently preferred embodiments, many others are possible. It is not intended herein to mention all of the possible equivalent forms or ramifications of the invention. It is to be understood that the terms used herein are merely descriptive rather than limiting, and that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Of course the detectors 6,6' need not be limited to smoke detectors. They may, for example, comprise detectors for indicating the presence of carbon monoxide, radon, or other gaseous, liquid, or solid matter, including human beings or other life. In fact the detectors 6,6' may comprise means for providing an electrical potential difference at 3,4 or 3',4' in the presence of any predetermined detectible condition, and the following claims are to be construed accordingly. Patent Citations
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This lighter version of an old classic is made with lower-calorie baking mix and ground turkey instead of beef. Submitted by TXCYNDI Carbs: 10.7g | Fat: 4.5g | Fiber: 0.3g | Protein: 21.2g | Calories: 166.5
Six ingredients, 5 minutes of hands-on cooking, and dinner is served! Submitted by ORANGECOWCAT Carbs: 24.1g | Fat: 12.5g | Fiber: 0.9g | Protein: 41g | Calories: 385.4
Yummy healthy enchiladas Submitted by JOEMELEAGLES Carbs: 24.4g | Fat: 4.7g | Fiber: 3.4g | Protein: 10.7g | Calories: 179.2
Very Good 4.8/5
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I got some deer from a friend and wanted to cook it so my daughter would eat it. She likes it and couldn't really tell it wasn't beef. Submitted by JAYMZMILLER Carbs: 21.3g | Fat: 2.7g | Fiber: 3.6g | Protein: 34.8g | Calories: 251.1
Submitted by CARIOCGL Carbs: 41g | Fat: 17.6g | Fiber: 1.2g | Protein: 52.7g | Calories: 543.7
These grab-and-go bars could not be simpler to make! At over 15 grams of protein per bar, they would make a great breakfast or post-workout snack. Submitted by CTCLOUGH Carbs: 12.8g | Fat: 11.1g | Fiber: 2g | Protein: 15.5g | Calories: 221
Very Good 4.2/5
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Yummy cooked with just a spritz of cooking spray & served hot with a sprinkle of artificial sweetener or my favorite, sugar reduced fruit spread. I mix up a batch on Sun evening & cook a serving for my breakfast every morning Submitted by CATLADY17 Carbs: 15.6g | Fat: 6.3g | Fiber: 0.4g | Protein: 21.9g | Calories: 212.7
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Submitted by AFRICAPARISH Carbs: 12.4g | Fat: 1.6g | Fiber: 0.5g | Protein: 0.9g | Calories: 63.3
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Tennessee Official: Water Complaints Could be "Act of Terrorism"
Re: Scare tactics (407 comments)
Well, you might notice something similar with pork vs pig, and beef vs cow... (there's also pullet vs chickhen, but not in widespread use)
Announcing: Slashdot Deals - Explore geek apps, games, gadgets and more. (what is this?)
We are sorry to see you leave - Beta is different and we value the time you took to try it out. Before you decide to go, please take a look at some value-adds for Beta and learn more about it. Thank you for reading Slashdot, and for making the site better!
Re: Scare tactics (407 comments)
Well, you might notice something similar with pork vs pig, and beef vs cow... (there's also pullet vs chickhen, but not in widespread use)
Re:I had no idea (473 comments)
Re:This better not be misused... (389 comments)
Competitor: Wow! Call the lawyers! Open the champagne! We're set for life!
At the same time, at every major lawfirm: Quick, call Competitor and ask them if they would like our services for 5% of the award!
At the same time, at Apple and consumer rights societies: Quick, issue a press release!
Re:Not British (258 comments)
AmigaDOS was the shell / file system component of the whole AmigaOS, not the core of the OS. Not sure what fraction I'd call that (maybe 10%?). And yes, that part was based on TRIPOS. The core was Exec (message passing, threading, scheduling, memory allocation, etc), which is the bit written by Carl Sassenrath.
David Gay, who spent a lot of time programming his Amiga 1000/2500...
Re:Which side of the bread is buttered? (967 comments)
Universities and academics who value their reputation for open, unbiased research do not accept grants that allow the funder to control publication of the results.
Re:heh (206 comments)
Indeed! The result is you won't evolve, as a result of spending the next 30 years in a dark room!
Were nul-terminated strings essential? (594 comments)
The real question nobody has addressed here: if C had gone for length+characters for its string, would it have succeeded?
David Gay, scarred by Pascal "strings"
PS: I've often wondered the same about that other decried C feature, the preprocessor.
Re:Yeah Right.... (252 comments)
Somebody needs to look up the Apple II / Visicalc / MS-DOS timeline before they confuse more young readers...
David Gay
Re:not relevant if reducible to mathmatics. (323 comments)
Fallacy of composition, people. Its like making the argument "This chair is of wood, which came from trees, and you can't patent a tree, therefore you can't patent this chair!". Just because all software is reducible to math doesn't mean you can't patent some of it. This is as likely to open the door to patenting mathematics as making chairs will open the door to patenting trees.
Actually this just shows you don't understand programming. The inherent nature of a chair is not a tree. The inherent nature of a program/programming language IS its semantics, which is defined mathematically if you have any desire to be rigorous (and aren't patents supposed to be precise?). The only rigorous definition of a program is a mathematical equation.
David Gay
PS: Lookup axiomatic, denotational or operational semantics for details.
Re:Have you been to the U.S., at all - ever? (705 comments)
You only see the differences with California or Ohio because you don't have an external reference point to see the similarities (similarly, most English people don't see the similarities with the US as well as, e.g., French people who know both the US and England).
David Gay
Re:The processor that sunk HP's UNIX line (235 comments)
You may have long argued that, but if you actually looked at its history (how the architecture was defined, etc), you would actually understand that Itanium(ic) is a not-very-successful(*) joint HP-Intel project.
David Gay
*: For ambitious definitions of success.
Re:You are aware, aren't you... (580 comments)
[...] so that we can check for proper spelling?
Spoken like somebody who has never paid any attention to the difficulty of transliterating (not translating) Cyrillic.
As an example, from wikipedia (and note that the first letter of Tchaikovsky is the same as the first letter of Chernobyl...):
His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij" and "Chaikovsky" (and other versions; the transliteration varies among languages).
Re:Bullshit. (832 comments)
There are valid reasons not to want to get vaccinated, and people have the right to decide for themselves and their children. Am I saying it's the right decision not to vaccinate yourself or kids? No, not generally - but there are times where it may be, and people need to make that decision for themselves.
I'm sorry, but no. Vaccination is not effective if it's not sufficiently widely used. So arguing for arbitrary opt-out is arguing to be allowed to let other people die. You may think that that makes you a worthy person, but the rest of us will disrespectfully disagree.
David Gay
Re:Only Americans have square feet! (87 comments)
Why didn't SI fix our idiotic time system?
They tried (*). It didn't stick. You're welcome to try again, though (but less blood, please).
David Gay
*: not SI, the people who gave you the meter and the kilogram well before SI came along.
Re:I have a story (65 comments)
Good times. In those days, there was a rule: never meet anyone from the internet IRL. That used to be condsidered a good way to end up in a bodybag.
One of the sillier comments I've seen on slashdot... (weird yes, but bodybags is ridiculous)
David Gay, who did use the internet in 1993, and met people IRL in 1994...
Re:Amiga demos rocked! (239 comments)
Steak Tartare
Time for another overrated comment.
David Gay
Serial replacement for consoles: Serial-over-USB (460 comments)
A lot less annoying than serial, rather strangely.
David Gay
Re:Very easy, and very easy to get caught (684 comments)
through MOSS (the canonical code plagiarism detector, hosted at [and perhaps developed at?] Stanford)
Hint: it's hosted on its author's web page (surprise!), and the next-to-last link should make it clear where it was developed...
David Gay
Re:Politics (874 comments)
I've had professors in school that were effectively forced to buy new computers for their grant work because they were told that the money HAD to be spent.
If you haven't heard similar stories about industry, generally revolving either around the end of a quarter or the end of the year, I can only assume you've never had a job...
David Gay
Re:I'm sure it didn't help. (1040 comments)
No border checks in Switzerland anymore - they just joined Schengen...


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Another piece of interesting evidence of a higher-resolution iPad has been exposed by Ars Technica. Looking at web server logs for February, Ars staffers found that the site had been visited by devices running iOS 6. Additionally, some of the devices had a screen resolution matching the alleged specs of the next iPad -- 2048 x 1536 pixels. The Ars visitors came from Apple; staffers were able to match the device IP address with Apple's corporate IP block.
read more
Are employees at Apple already using the so-called iPad 3—possibly running iOS 6—to surf the Web ahead of its expected announcement on March 7? We're not sure, but the Ars magic 8-ball says "signs point to yes." Read the comments on... Read Post
New server logs have discovered evidence of a device with an iPad Retina Display screen resolution, as well as iPad models running iOS 6, that are being used to browse the Web at Apple's corporate headquarters. Read Post
This is an interesting tidbit about the new iPad. The folks over at Ars Technica have noticed that an 'iPad' device running software identified as 'iOS 6? is showing up... Read Post


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Watch the testimonies below and then read more stories of lives changed at the Weekend to Remember®.
If you're experiencing problems viewing these videos on our site, view this playlist directly on our YouTube channel.
Busy is not an excuse
This was Jeff & Amy's first Weekend to Remember and Amy had to nearly drag Jeff there- there was always some excuse not to come. Jeff said he could have given 10 million reasons why he was too busy, but now that he was there, he could give 10 million reasons why he's glad he was.
Remembering why they fell in love
The Weekend to Remember totally changed Kim & Anthony's marriage. After struggling through a traumatic motorcycle accident, it gave Kim back her faith and was above & beyond Anthony's expectations. It helped them remember why they got married in the first place- why they fell in love.
Finding time to come every year.
Edwin & Gloria came to a Weekend to Remember the first year they got married- 10 years ago- and have made it a point to come ever year since. Every year they get something different out of it- finding a different area or issue to work on b/c every year they're at a new stage in their married life.
Staying open-minded together
John Paul & Rachel have come to a Weekend to Remember the past 7 years of their marriage. While John Paul was reluctant at first, he urges men to "come in with an open mind, because it's not what you think it is". Rachel says it's a fun and realistic way to grow together & dig deeper in your marriage.
A getaway for new parents
This was Dominic & Ashten's first Weekend to Remember and they viewed it as a true getaway from their hectic lives and the stress of a new baby at home. Both couples saw the Weekend as a way to lay a foundation in their marriage that can be built upon for years to come.
The getaway reversed their marriage
This was Jordan & Christina's second Weekend to Remember, since the first one made such a difference in their marriage. They were both so ready to embrace the Weekend and add to their marriage and said it was amazing to see how far they've come.
Need help with your own marriage? FamilyLife's eMentoring® can connect you with a mentor who can walk with you through a life struggle. Learn more.


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If you need a software app that is not included or supported in the standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or CentOS distribution, Red Hat's new Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) repository might be an excellent place to go fishing.
"EPEL is a community of package maintainers working from inside of Fedora," explained Karsten Wade, Fedora Docs Project go-to guy, on the fedora-announce-list last Friday. "Many are the same people who maintain the Fedora version." Wade says the repository contains about 1,000 packages and currently is adding "several dozen packages every week."
Though Red Hat provides the infrastructure, the company does not commercially support the repository. Like Fedora, it is a "volunteer-based community effort," according to the EPEL/FAQ. Red Hat engineers are involved as maintainers and project leaders. The FAQ explains that EPEL differs from other third-party repositories in several significant ways:
Additionally, it is "an explicit goal of the project" to make sure packages in the repository will work not only with RHEL but with other Fedora derivatives such as CentOS and Scientific Linux.
Compatibility with other third-party repositories may be an issue, according to the FAQ.
EPEL is designed as add-on repository for RHEL and compatible derivatives. Avoiding mixing EPEL with other third party repositories with conflicting packages on the same system is the best way to avoid problems. Some people nevertheless do it and the yum priorities plugin can help to avoid the worst problems.
If you encounter a problem where packages from EPEL are incompatible with another repository or lead yum or up2date to bail out during dependency resolving please report a bug to Bugzilla and contact the maintainer of the other repositories as well.
EPEL packages are available via the master mirror and several others; scroll through this listing to find one close to you.
To install software obtained from EPEL, the repository offers RPM Package Managers for RHEL4 and RHEL5.
If you use RHEL or one of its spin-offs, you are welcome to contribute to the repository "if you have the required skills for maintaining packages or are willing to learn," according to the FAQ, which provides detailed information for would-be contributors and/or maintainers. More info for everyone is available at the EPEL wiki.
By the way, if you are one of those folks who uses enterprise Linux on your home computer, you might be interested to learn that the repository also includes games and "other non-enterprise oriented software."
Note: Comments are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for their content.


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Wycliffe (WYC) | New International Version (NIV) |
1 Woe to you, that think unprofitable thing, and work evil in your beds; in the morrowtide light they do it, for the hand of them is against God. (Woe to you, who think up unprofitable things, and work out evil plots in your beds; then in the morning light they do it, for they have the power in their hands.) | 1 Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. |
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only. (Wycliffe Bible) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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What is a Revenue Model and
Why Your Business Will Fail Without One
- Comments: 5
- Written on: August 28th, 2009
Most computer repair companies are started by technicians or IT professionals. They are usually confident in their technology skills, have experience serving customers for others, and believe they can earn a significant income if they were only working for themselves instead.
When an IT professional takes the entrepreneurial leap, the immediate focus usually lands on how to acquire clients, customers, or jobs.
As the newly-born entrepreneur sets out to build a business, he or she finds that for some reason they are having a tough time making ends meet even though they are working twice as hard as they did in their previous job.
That single misstep is why many IT professionals will fail to find success within the first year of their entrepreneurial venture and will be pressured back into servitude as an independent contractor or employee.
What good does it do to ferociously hunt new clients and customers if you are not able to have profitable interactions with them when you do find them?
Before you leave your job, before you invest the first dollar in your future, and before you even attempt to get your first client, you need a revenue model.
What is a Revenue Model?
Simply put, a revenue model is how you plan on making money by satisfying your clients' needs.
Take a moment to think about the businesses you have interacted with today. Why did you buy what you bought?
Gas stations will offer inexpensive fountain drinks, hoping you will grab a bag of chips or a candy bar to go with it. McDonald's asks you to try their latest sandwich for free with the purchase of fries and a drink in the hope your come back for more. Even my plumber was using a revenue model when he tried sold me a "hydro-scrub" of my sewer line for $50.
The point of a revenue model is to have a basket of products and services available that your customers might need, and then moving them through those products and services in a way that maximizes the profitability of each interaction with those customers.
Components of a Sales Model
Revenue models have 9 basic components. No matter what mix of products and services you keep in your basket, you need to know exactly what they are and how they interact with each other in your revenue model.
Your revenue model needs to:
- Have a client (A Customer Who Presents A Problem)
- Have a solution that resolves your client's problem
- Bridge that Solution to Another Item in Your Basket of Products and Services
- Provide an Opportunity to Investigate for Further Up-Sell Opportunities
- Close the Sale With the Customer in a Compelling Way
- Back-sell With Customer to Reaffirm Their Decision
- Deliver the Products and Services that Were Promised
- Back-sell Again in Person to Prevent any Buyer's Remorse Feelings
- Stand Behind Your Warranty With a SMILE if it is Called in
How to Build Your Revenue Model
Building a revenue model is not a daunting task. In recent years there has even been a counter-push against revenue models in light of hyper-successful companies like Google that did not have a revenue model when they started.
The truth is that for every Google there are hundreds of thousands of business failures that a good revenue model might have prevented.
It is easiest to think about your revenue model as the thread that links your products and services together. Just because you offer a Maintenance Checkup, or Anti-Virus software, or memory upgrades doesn't mean that people will come to you looking for them.
You need to have a planned way to let your clients know what you have that they can use and give them compelling reasons why they should let you solve their problems.
Steps to creating your revenue model:
- List all of the products and services you offer. It might be easier to list each one on a note card so you can literally line them up in the order they might happen.
- Determine which of your products or services will satisfy the largest number of clients. I creat5ed the Maintenance Checkup because it has a little of everything. Every computer problem touches the Maintenance Checkup in some way. It was a great way for me to get my leads into my revenue model. This is called your gateway offering.
- Starting from your gateway offering, develop lines of reason – based on specific problems – that would lead you to recommend each of your other products or services under certain circumstances. For example, if you offer data recovery services, a customer complaining of a blue screen of death may be suffering from a failing hard drive. When this happens what options will your customer have?
- Take the model one step further into your product and service basket. Continuing from the example above, does that data recovery customer need a new hard drive? Did the hard drive die because it was being over-used for virtual memory because the computer does not have enough physical memory? Find one more thing that the customer needs (assuming they truly need anything additional) and figure out how you would offer it.
- Rehearse your pitch. Nothing sounds worse than a person who sounds like they don't believe what they are saying or know what they are talking about. Find someone who won't think you are crazy and role play. Ask your partner to challenge you. This is best done with a non-technician because that is who your customer will be.
- Make real-life adjustments. When you are implementing your revenue model there will be times when you have to make adjustments based on input from your client. Remember that people don't buy what they can't afford.
Up-Selling is Not Evil Unless You are Evil
Some technicians find the revenue model – or selling in general – to be distasteful. I even consulted with one business owner whose entire reason for going into business was because other repair shops i town were "always trying to sell something."
A good revenue model does more than generate profits for the company that employs it. Businesses that are successful in the long-term rely on repeat customers and word of mouth.
A good revenue model is designed to extract as much profit from a customer interaction as possible while at the same time providing superior services that are deserving of a premium price.
Life Without a Sales Model
Consider for a moment how awful your experience as a consumer would be if the companies you visited today did not employ a good sales model.
If the gas station didn't have the inexpensive fountain drinks, you may have never found what has become your favorite snack. If McDonald's didn't get you to try that new sandwich you might have eaten the same old thing every day. If my plumber didn't sell me that hydro-scrub, the scent of old poop might be wafting up my drains right now.
Superior revenue models deliver good products and services at a price the customer is willing – and in most cases eager – to pay.
Failing to recognize the need for a systematized sales model is the single greatest factor in the failure of small businesses in general. Having a good revenue model will put you 10 steps ahead of most of the IT shops and consultants in your market. Ignore the need for a revenue model at your own peril.
Deposoitions Start in Schrock Innovations Case Today
- Comments: 2
- Written on: August 27th, 2009
My morning (and possibly most of my afternoon) today has been tied up in depositions in a case brought against Schrock Innovations by one of our local Lincoln competitors.
One of our local competitors is claiming that I have said things on this blog that have damaged their business. They are demanding $7,500 in unspecified damages.
We have offered a settlement, which was quickly declined. We have tried to move this case to trial, but have been thwarted by procedural tactics for almost 4 years by the plaintiff.
On one hand I am annoyed that I have to spend a half day on this, but on the other hand I am happy to finally start moving this thing to a conclusion.
Despite everything that has happened over the past four years between Schrock and this competitor, I hope that one day we can all sit down together peaceably and laugh about all of this.
Brad Donner Gunning For Top Omaha Photographer Award
- Comments: 1
- Written on: August 26th, 2009
Brad Donner has been an entry level web design employee at Schrock Innovations for a few months now, but many of our customers don't know that he is an amateur photographer as well.
Last year Brad asked all of his friends and family to vote for his company, Donner Digital Photography, in the KETV viewer survey. And he won!
I work every day with Brad and I know he works hard every day to improve his photography skills.
Take a moment to look at Brad's best picture and vote for him in this year's KETV survey.
I happen to have some inside information about KFOR's Best of Lincoln survey (due out in October) and its only fair that I do my best to help an employee win a consumer award when my employees give their all so Schrock can win one as well.
US Census Warning From Better Business Bureau
- Comments: 3
- Written on: August 20th, 2009
One of my readers forwarded me a report from the Better Business Bureau. The US Census is taking place this year, and the government is hiring thousands of temporary workers to help get the job done.
Unfortunately, the Census also provides a ripe opportunity for identity thieves to knock on your door, ask you personal questions, and use the U.S. Government's name to compel you to answer. Here is the waring from the BBB:
BBB Alerts Consumers about U.S. Census Workers:
Be Cooperative, But Cautious!For years, Better Business Bureau has educated consumers about not giving out personal information over the telephone or to anyone who shows up at their front door. With the U.S. Census process beginning, BBB advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft.
The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually,more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count every person in the United States and will gather information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race and other relevant data.
"Most people are rightfully cautious and won't give out personal information to unsolicited phone callers or visitors, however the Census is an exception to the rule," said Steve Cox, BBB spokesperson.
"Unfortunately, scammers know that the public is more willing to share personal data when taking part in the Census and they have an opportunity to ply their trade by posing as a government employee and soliciting sensitive financial information."
The Census data will be used to allocate more than $300 billion in federal funds every year, as well as determine a State's number of Congressional representatives. Households are required by law to respond to the Census Bureau's request for information.
During the U.S. Census, households will be contacted by mail, telephone or visited by a U.S. Census worker who will inquire about the number of people living in the house. Unfortunately, people may also be contacted by scammers who are impersonating Census workers in order to gain access to sensitive financial information such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers.
Law enforcement in several states have issued warnings that scammers are already posing as Census Bureau employees and knocking on doors asking for donations and Social Security numbers.
Question is – how do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist? BBB offers the following advice:If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag and a confidentiality notice.
Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don't know into your home.
Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information. Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census.
While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, it will not ask for Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers nor will employees solicit donations.
Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail or in person at home.
However, they will not contact you by e-mail, so be on the look out for e-mail scams impersonating the Census.
Never click on a link or open any attachments in an e-mail that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Simple Solutions for Printer Problems
- Comments: 3
- Written on: August 19th, 2009
Today, computers are incomplete without their peripherals. These peripheral devices have greatly enhanced the ability of computers and have helped us achieve a lot more. Several new devices have been created that are not only improving the quality of computing, but are also allowing us to phone friends, play games, watch movies, click photographs and much more.
One device that stands out among all these devices and continues to be used most extensively is a computer printer. A lot of businesses and their processes are completely dependent upon printing devices for providing service to their clients. Another big user of printing devices apart from various businesses is the student community.
This important peripheral device can also be a cause of lot of frustration when it gets stuck or generates errors at a crucial time. While most of the large businesses can afford to immediately summon printer experts to resolve the problem, the smaller businesses and common users have to attempt to troubleshoot the printer problems themselves.
DLL errors are also one of the causes of a few PC printer problems. These printer DLL errors are usually a result of obsolete printer drivers. In other cases a newly installed application may also cause interference in the working of DLL files related to printers and prevent the printer from functioning properly. This is evident in case of the hpslpsvc32.dll file which exhibits very high CPU usage if there is problem in driver related to Hewlett Packard All-In-One Series printer.
Other similar errors are hpzimc09.dll error related to the DeskJet printers of Hewlett Packard and zsr.dll which is associated with the 1020 series of LaserJet printers from Hewlett Packard.
Fixing Printer DLL Errors:
You need to perform the following steps in order to fix hpslpsvc32.dll and svchost.exe and other printer DLL errors.
- Start with getting rid of existing printer drivers. You may need to uninstall them either by using Add/Remove program utility present in the Control Panel or by using the Device Manager tool.
- Delete all files from the directory named Spool Driver. The path of this directory is C:\Windows\system32\spool\drivers.
- Next, delete all files with the extension .spl and .shd from the Printers directory. The path of this directory is C:\Windows\system32\spool\printers.
- Delete all files from the Windows Temp folder.
- Open the built-in Registry Editor (RegEdit) which is provided by your operating system and go to HKLM\SYSTEM\Current Control Set\Control\Print\Printers. However, you must be very careful during this process and take a complete backup of your registry before you begin editing it. You need to remove all entries associated with your printer. If you are unsure, then it is recommended that you use a good third party automatic registry cleaner to scan the errors related to your printer and repair them.
- Next step is to rule out any malware infection by performing a thorough scan with a reliable anti-virus and anti-spyware.
- Find all the icons related to your printer and its configurations, and remove them from your PC.
- Reboot your computer.
- Now you can install the new printer drivers. The new drivers must be of latest version and should be downloaded from the official website of the printer's manufacturer. If you find it cumbersome you can take assistance of a reliable driver scanner tool which will automatically do this job for you.
Malware Makers Begin Attacking "Under Served" Mac Users
- Comments: 7
- Written on: August 12th, 2009
For the past few years Apple has had a heyday with ads proclaiming that Macs are inherently free of viruses and spyware because of the superior software they employ.
And for the past three years on my radio show I have said that the reason Mac users don't get many viruses is because not many people were using Mac.
After Vista's shortcomings gave Apple an opening to sell a LOT of Macs and their marketshare broke 10% of users in the US.
With more and more people using Macs, attackers are now realizing that Mac users are a very undeserved population. Many don't run any security software at all because they believe they are impervious to attack.
Do Mac Users Need Security Software?
In short, if you plan on doing anything important with your Mac, you need security software. If you are using a Mac to play games for your 4 year old, then you can probably go without.
Before you pack your student up for college and send that Mac off to class, here is a list of security software providers who have products you can use to protect yourself and your identity.
How Not to Respod to a Marketing Campaign
Courtesy of Apple's Stupid Lawyers
- Comments: 1
- Written on: August 1st, 2009
There are a lot of ways to measure the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. You can look at market share gained, revenue generated, or response rates. But sometimes the true measure of an ad's effectiveness is not in these numbers.
A truly brilliant marketing campaign makes your competitors whine. It makes then call their lawyers. It makes them grasp at any straw to make the bleeding stop.
There is truth to the saying "thou dost protest too much." If you get your competitor to respond in a direct way to an indirect advertisement you know you are doing something right.
If Your Competitors Squawk, Keep Doing It
If something in your advertising – a word, phrase or concept – draws the ire of a competitor there is usually something about what you are doing that they are afraid of.
Take this recent example:
Microsoft recently launched a series of TV ads called Laptop Hunters.
These ads illustrate how much less expensive it is to buy a PC than it is to buy a Mac. This was Microsoft's counter to Apple's highly effective "I'm a Mac" TV advertisements.
It seems that the ads were effective. Last quarter Apple lost market share to Microsoft and also dropped the prices of its low-end MacBook.
It also seems that Apple's lawyers called Microsoft and tried to put an end to their ads sighting that they were invalid because you could now buy a MacBook for less than $1,000.
Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Turner said:
"They took like $100 off or something," he said. "It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business."
"Microsoft is "just going to keep running them and running them and running them."
Once you know you are under your competitor's skin, you know you are doing something effectively and you should continue to do it.
If Their Ads are Working, Shut Up
The same thing goes in the opposite direction. If your competitor is doing something to you that is highly effective, don't whine about it. Focus your efforts and energy on coming up with a response in the marketplace.
Answering your competitor's challenge is not enough. Find the weakness in their strength and counter-punch. Put them on the defensive.
Using the above example, Microsoft never whined to Apple's attorneys that Macs can (and do) get viruses and malware infections. They found a weakness (Apple's price point) in their strength (controlled distribution channel) and exploited it.
Check Your Emotions at the Door
In small business things can get personal very easily. It is not uncommon for small business owners to make stupid business decisions because they are emotionally compromised in a situation.
Don't fall into that trap.
When you feel yourself getting angry, sad, scared, or personally intimidated, take a step back and remember that you are not your business. Your business is a whole separate person.
It's ok to defend your business in the same way a parent would defend their child against another youth bully. Its not ok to be the dad that jumps out of the car and smacks another kid for calling your kid fat.
Measure and Revise
The last thing to remind yourself is that you need to constantly measure the effectiveness of your ads. Remember the Bill Gates & Sinfeld ad flop?
Even Microsoft will quit a multi-million dollar campaign if it isn't doing anythig positive.
York Computer Repair – A Success in the Making
- Comments: 5
- Written on: July 27th, 2009
From time to time I do some consulting for computer repair companies outside Schrock's local trade areas.
Typically these take the form of phone calls about trends or marketing ideas, but York Computer Repair is a whole different story.
Yesterday I received an unexpected thank you letter (yes the postal mail kind) from York Computer Repair's Owner, Walter Oakhem. Here is what he wrote:
Thank you for all of the help you have given me with starting York Computer Repair.
I especially appreciate the information and advice you have provided, and the contacts you have shared with me. Your assistance has been invaluable to me during this process. I just wanted to say an extra thank you for your mentoring and kindness.
Again, thank you so much. I greatly appreciate your generosity.
What Did I Do to Deserve Such Kind Words?
I have never really talked about Walt, his company, or what I have done to help him get things rolling in York, PA. Even my employees don't know the details of what we discussed. In one of our calls Walt suggested I document our conversations because he felt other computer repair company owners might benefit from them.
I am going to preface this by stating that no consultant, no home study course, and no business model can bring you success unless you are willing to implement it.
From day one, Walt has had a flame of passion that I have seen in few others over the past few years. While this post will name off some of the suggestions I gave to Walt, by no means am I trying to take any portion of the credit for his work. Anyone can talk, but only an entrepreneur can transform talk into results like Walt has in Pennsylvania.
The Meat & Potatoes of Three Phone Calls
Over the course of our three phone calls we covered topics raging from starting up to scaling to a retail location and everything in between. Walt and I discussed:
- The absolute NEED for a sales model (and how easy it is to make one)
- How to target a small niche in your marketplace and expand outward from there
- Yellow Pages advertising techniques that are proven to bring in hundreds of new customers each month
- How to build an inventory of repair components for next to nothing
- How to hire employees as inexpensively as possible in the first few months
- How to value your time and get your customers to pay a reasonable price for it
- Every reason you should NEVER try to be a low-cost leader
- The need for a work flow management system and where you can get one specifically designed for computer repair shops
- How you can create brands for your physical products and service products and why it is a VITAL step than is often skipped causing others to fail
- Who the key low-cost hardware providers are and how to do business with them (if you think NewEgg is your best value, think again)
- The need to continually remind your customers how wise they are to choose to do business with you
Walt paid me my normal $200 an hour rate over the course of three calls. With the information he had, he was able to accelerate the growth of his new operation, and had the best month of his company's history in June.
How Can Just Talking Help a PC Repair Business?
Walt first heard about me and Schrock Innovations from a podcast I did with PodNutz about starting a computer repair shop. In that podcast I stressed that most PC repair technicians try to penetrate a market as a low cost leader. That approach dooms them to failure. I spoke about the need to charge a fair price for your service, not just the hardware you are selling.
Walt heard that podcast and called me for followup. Because of our three phone conversations his PC repair shop is rapidly growing. His Q4 marketing plan looks like a home run, and even if it under performs his larger population base in PA will make it a bigger success than the 162 new customers Schrock gets every month by following that same model.
I have made a lot of mistakes, learned form them, and modified my techniques to gain the best return on my efforts. It is entirely true that another person can learn the same lessons I did the same way I learned them.
However, it is also true that if a person like me existed 10 years ago when I started Schrock Innovations we would have cut 5 years off our growth curve, had an easier time doing it, and would have earned tens of thousands of dollars more.
Does Your PC Repair Shop Need Some Fresh Insights?
In the coming weeks I will be blogging about the bullet points I covered with Walt. Subscribe to my RSS feed to make sure you don't miss any of the topics. If you need more immediate or involved assistance give me a call at 402-212-5393 and let me know what challenge you are facing. I might be able to give you the piece of advice you have been missing!
The ACLU is Against Obama Health Care
- Comments: 7
- Written on: July 21st, 2009
I never imagined that I would be writing this, but I actually agree with the ACLU on something.
I am used to the ACLU defending the indefensible and taking ridiculous positions on issues that inflame public opinion.
But this video is as scary as it gets. If Obama digitizes health care records as part of his overall socialization of the US health care system, this could be a reality more quickly than you might think. Way to go ACLU for getting one right this time.
Local Insight Yellow Pages Forces Advertising Contract Extensions
- Comments: 2
- Written on: July 20th, 2009
Local Insight Yellow Pages is informing its advertisers that their contracts are being forcibly extended – at their existing monthly rates – for three additional months. 140 of the company's 900 directories are being delayed.
While the company says the move is to allow time to install new printing equipment, it is also obvious that the delay will prevent advertisers who wished to cut back their ads from doing so. In Lincoln, the billing of yellow page directory advertising is linked to your telephone service. If you refuse to pay the bill, Windstream will cut off your phones.
In effect, the delay will allow Local Insight to delay what would most certainly be cuts in small businesses yellow pages advertising budgets.
A few weeks ago I received a letter form Local Insight Yellow Pages informing me that they were delaying the release of their 2010 book by three months. Instead of its normal release in November 2009, the 2010 book was being pushed back to February of 2010.
Printing Equipment Delay Does Not Make Sense
The delay of the 2010 book and the subsequent contract extensions from the 2009 book is explained by Local Insight as the need to install modernized printing equipment to print the directories.
However, a January 2008 press release from Quebecor, the company that prints over half of Local Insight's phone books, indicates that they just upped their printing volume in January of 2008. Since the Lincoln, Nebraska directory is printed in October, that means that no Lincoln directory has been printed under the new agreement with Quebecor to date. Why replace equipment you have never used to print a book?
A more likely explanation is that they needed stable revenue and earnings to complete the merger of their Local Insight directory and regatta online directory into their other division, the Berry Company. Without adverting contracts, a yellow pages company is worthless.
Yellow Page Advertising is Dying – Faster Now than Ever
Yellow page advertising has been losing ground rapidly to the host of online alternatives that are available to potential customers, the need for businesses to advertise online, and their failure to assemble any meaningful online presence themselves.
Local Insight specializes in phone book sin smaller markets like Lincoln, NE. These smaller markets have been impacted by the recession to a lesser degree, which has helped Local Insight avoid some of the revenue losses that other, larger phone books are encountering.
However, as the recession deepens and extends into those smaller markets, Local Insight stands to lose massive revenue if small businesses cut back their ads or remove them all together to opt for less-expensive online options.
A 90-day delay allows Local Insight to gain an additional fiscal quarter of revenues that business owners based on pre-recession information. Lets put it this way… If Local Insight expected businesses to spend more money on the next book, would they delay its publication by 3 months?
What You Can Do To Protest
As I mentioned before, if you are still in business, you have little choice but to pay the bill. In Lincoln, NE is you fail to pay your yellow pages advertising bill, Windstream will simply disconnect your phones.
In an interview on bizjournals.com, Cincinnati business owner Vicki Bezak said:
"I think they're really in trouble. The phone book is a dinosaur, and nobody's using it any more," said Vicky Bezak, exclusive marketing agent for Satisfaction Yacht Charters Inc. Bezak estimated the directory delay would cost her company $300 a month – if she pays it.
"I'm going to call Cincinnati Bell and tell them that my contract with (Local Insight) terminates on June 1, and I'm not paying the ad costs listed on my current bill because I didn't renew it," she said.
Ms. Bezak's approach might be hit or miss depending on how the telephone company handles the complaint. Local Insight also has a toll-free number that they invite any customer who fells "they are not receiving value" from their yellow pages advertisement to call. It is not clear what the company plans to do for those customers.
If you want to give it a whirl anyway, you can call Local Insight's toll-free number at 888-237-8570.


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When Ben Affleck announced that "Gravity" and "12 Years a Slave" had tied for Best Picture at the Producers Guild Awards Sunday, he sent a shock wave through Hollywood.
We Oscarologists count on these kudos to give us clarity as to what film will win the top prize at the Academy Awards. After all, the PGA uses the same system of voting -- the preferential ballot -- as the motion picture academy and has predicted all five winners of the Best Picture Oscar since that field expanded to more than five in 2009.
Since then, the members of the PGA and motion picture academy -- each of whom number about 6,000 -- have ranked their respective Best Picture nominees. If one nominee garners more than 50% of the first-place votes, it will be named Best Picture. If, as is more likely, no nominee reaches this threshold, the film with the fewest first place votes is eliminated, with its ballots being reapportioned to the second place choice.
Should no film cross the required 50% + one ballot threshold at this point, the film with the fewest first place votes is again eliminated, with its ballots being apportioned to the next choice still in play (i.e., if the second place choice on a ballot is no longer in the running, then the ballot would be reapportioned to the third place choice and so on.)
This process of elimination and reapportion continues until one film reaches at least 50% + one ballots. This year, two films -- "Gravity" and "12 Years a Slave" -- had the exact same number of ballots which ranked each higher than the other. These were a combination of original number one votes and subsequent reallocations from films that were dropped.
While this may seem mathematically improbable, you can be sure that the accountants repeated the counting process several times when they determined that two pictures were tied for the top award.
Could we have a tie at the Oscars too?
Absolutely. While it has happened with other categories -- which are decided by a popular vote that awards the Oscar to the nominee who tops the most ballots -- there is no reason it couldn't occur in the Best Picture race as well. [Below, relive that moment from 1968 when Ingrid Bergman was left momentarily speechless when she opened the Best Actress envelope and saw two names -- Katharine Hepburn ("The Lion in Winter") and Barbra Streisand ("Funny Girl").]
What will win Best Picture at this year's Oscars?
Vote below using our easy drag-and-drop menu. Come back and change your predictions as often as you like until Oscar night, March 2.
Film: Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby) only one to go 5/5
TV: Joyce Eng (TV Guide), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby) tops
Film: See how you scored
Oscars Predictions by Top Experts
See the latest Oscar predictions of our famous pundits — Click Here. See the category rankings when their predictions are combined - Click Here. Sample below. Make your early picks now -- click here -- and change them later as the derby heats up.


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Okay, I have a question for everyone. Do you find all Hoyas beautiful, or do you find some of them too awkward-looking to make the cut? (Feel free to post pictures of your ugliest Hoyas if it makes you laugh.) |
Follow-Up Postings:
Cummingiana was one I grew for several years and I never particularly liked its wild, lanky growth. But I kept it because the photos of flowers I'd seen were beautiful. I never got flowers and eventually gave it away. I have no regrets... But for the most part, call it a Hoya, and I LOVE it! What's new and interesting in the GG collection? I have some I got from you last year that are growing SO nicely... I think of you and think "TY, GG!!" each time I water them! Denise in Omaha |
I can't really think of an ugly hoya...other succulents maybe. Generally the uglier the more I want it...hehe! |
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Not a drop of rain should fall on MontanaFair Monday but fair goers should keep an eye on conditions Tuesday, a thunderstorm could make an appearance.
The National Weather Service expects highs near 90 and clear skies all day Monday.
Lows will fall to 62 Monday night and skies will remain mostly clear. A slight breeze will blow out of the west.
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms is expected Tuesday afternoon. Highs should reach to 93, and a south wind will keep things moving at about 10 mph.
The chance for a shower or thunderstorm will increase to 30 percent Tuesday night. Skies will be partly cloudy, lows will drop to 63 and winds will hold steady at 10 mph.


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product search
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Welcome to SkinZen by Kim! Here you can find and purchase delicately handcrafted artisan soaps and body butters from a small local Tallahassee business. Combining high quality, beautiful scent, entrancing colors and unique designs, these products are sure to beguile, but their effect on your skin is what will keep you coming back! Once having experienced the benefits and pleasures of bathing with a natural handmade soap and moisturizing with a natural handmade body butter, I am confident that you will never go back to using commercial bath and body products again!
SkinZen by Kim was born out of the need for a creative outlet by its founder. The process of learning and then perfecting the craft of soapmaking provided me with a sense of joy and peace that I could only describe as quite simply 'Zen-like', hence the name SkinZen. Soaping brings me not only balance, but immense pleasure too, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share it with others.
SkinZen is therefore dedicated to making a skin enhancing product that provides both function and pleasure to its customers, offering the perfect blend of science and art ~ practical, useful and beautiful.
SkinZen frequents many Florida panhandle area festivals and craft shows!
Intricate molds, colors, and designs are the perfect compliment to the decadent scents of our beautiful soaps.
Cute labels and packaging beautifully accent the rest of our great aesthetic.
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New Century Version (NCV) | New International Version (NIV) |
31 Listen! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. | 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. |
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (New Century Version Online Bible) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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Can I hide or deny access to certain shared folders?
My problem is that although I want the children to be networked, I do not want them to have access to the shared folders on the server. Is there a way to prevent a user from seeing the folders on the server? Most of the folders they cannot get into, but some are shared for everyone. If they were to be able to get in there, I can see the potential for mischief. Any assistance would be appreciated.
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Makes 8 servings
active time
20 min
total time
1 1/4 hr
- 2 pounds medium carrots (about 12), peeled
- 1 cup unfiltered apple cider
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, or to taste
Cut out a round of wax paper to fit just inside a 12-inch heavy skillet, then butter 1 side of round.
Cut a 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slice from a carrot, then roll carrot away from you 90 degrees and cut another 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slice (shape will resemble a trapezoidal log). Continue rolling and cutting carrot, then cut remaining carrots in same manner.
Add carrots to skillet with cider, water, butter bits, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then cover with wax-paper round (buttered side down) and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid has evaporated and carrots are tender and glazed, about 50 minutes.
Cooks' notes: · Carrots can be cut 1 day ahead of cooking and chilled in a sealed bag. · Carrots can be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered. Reheat, covered, in a heavy saucepan over low heat or in a baking dish, covered, in a 300°F oven or in a microwave oven, stirring halfway through heating.
my notes
- Calories86
- Carbohydrates14 g (5%)
- Fat3 g (5%)
- Protein1 g (2%)
- Saturated Fat2 g (9%)
- Sodium81 mg (3%)
- Polyunsaturated Fat0 g
- Fiber3 g (13%)
- Monounsaturated Fat1 g
- Cholesterol8 mg (3%)
recipe featured in
recipe at a glance
type: Vegetable
main ingredients: Carrot, Apple, Fruit Juice
cuisine: American
dietary considerations: Vegetarian
holiday/celebration: Thanksgiving, Fall, Winter


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The Bauxite Lady Miners made it to the finals of the Harmony Grove annual Bill Gibbs Memorial tournament on Saturday after beating Poyen 62-27 and Perryville 51-30. The Miners had a tough test in front of them on Saturday in the Mt. Vernon Lady Warhawks.
The Lady Miners used good execution and a bit of good luck to down the Lady Warhawks to take the tournament championship in a thriller 52-48. Senior Alaina Crouse led the Lady Miners with 19 points. Junior Mary Crow was in foul trouble early and sat for more than half of the game.
For the full story on the Lady Miners win, check out Monday,s Saline Courier.
[1] http://www.bentoncourier.com/sites/default/files/1204 GBB Bauxite - Morgan Case.jpg
[2] mailto:email@example.com
[3] http://www.bentoncourier.com/category/sports/local-sports


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Reviewed Simple Vanilla Cupcakes
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2011 on Food.com
"Great recipe! Turned out really well! tasted terrific!" "


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Engraved House
November 11, 2009
As artist Christopher Griffin and aesthetician Oresta Korbutiak prepared to renovate their live-work space in Ottawa, the couple sought an architect who would respect the bones of the building, the land and the neighborhood, and do it sustainably. They found a sympathetic collaborator in Andrew Reeves, who helped them retain the footprint, modernize the place and create private outdoor space for the highly exposed corner building. The mixed-use structure was originally a confectionery built in 1901, and over the years had served as a general store, a post office and a rooming house.
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Though its name exudes confidence, Great Location Bar & Grill opened in a spot shrouded in doubt. This popular Wentzville hangout has relied on a very precise formula to build a rock-solid fan base: delicious food, cold drinks, and plenty of entertainment. Here, guests feast on St. Louis?style pizzas, stuffed burgers, deep-fired grilled cheese sandwiches and the Porknado: a dish so massive it doesn't fit on the restaurant's twisted bread or in its racecar bed. Between rounds of toasted ravioli, viper bites, chicken wings, friends pass the time while playing darts, shooting pool, watching big games on a dozen high-def TVs, and listening to the live bands that frequently grace the restaurant's stage.
Ten flat-screen televisions play sports, sports, and more sports inside Texas Smokehouse and Saloon, and on select nights, the bar treats patrons to live musical acts and haiku readings. Drinks pair with chicken and beef sandwiches and soft pretzels brushed with a Budweiser and garlic-herb seasoning.
At DeCarlo's Bar and Grill, chefs take an innovative approach to burger making. Rather than piling toppings on the outside of the burger, they stuff flavorful ingredients—such as pepper jack cheese, bacon, or jalapenos—directly between two quarter-pound patties. These signature burgers ooze juicy fillings and gossip with every bite, and they star on a menu of pub fare also populated by hearty sandwiches, fried appetizers, customized pizzas, and a variety of draft beers and cocktails.
Metromix called Brewskeez "a happening place." It's not hard to see why. The O'Fallon pub broadcasts sports games from nine televisions and two large projectors while bartenders pour drinks. In the kitchen, cooks grill brioche rolls to cradle burgers and load thin-crust pizzas with savory toppings. Patrons can send glossy balls careening across pool tables, listen to live music, and aim darts or sharpened silverware at bull's-eyes. Though Brewskeez's interior is smoke-free, its outdoor patio accommodates smokers.
To accompany a menu that sates appetites with hearty pub eats, including their popular $0.99 burgers, The Babylon houses more than 20 whistle-wetting draft beers. Patrons may also reserve a party room for free and come in on Saturdays for live musical performances.
Every Thursday through Saturday night, two pro piano players sit down at Jive and Wail's two baby grand pianos and proceed to bang out Top 40 hits from a plethora of eras, including time that has not yet come to pass, though these future-songs cannot be heard by present-day ears. Audience participation is not only encouraged but demanded by the dueling pianists—who are not above threatening their audience with atonal jazz if no song requests are forthcoming. Once you've made your request, the bar's high-tech sound system makes sure you won't miss it while refreshing your tipple at the full-service bar.


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By Amie Keeley
Thursday, January 24, 2013
That was the claim made by Tendring District Council's (TDC) housing chief last night, as senior councillors at the local authority examined plans to spend a £1.3million grant from the Homes and Communities Agency.
Paul Honeywood said the money would be used to improve existing empty homes and for those wishing to build their own home on plots of land in the area.
He said he hoped the money would help first time home owners get on the property ladder.
A report into the scheme was put before the cabinet last October but Mr Honeywood said he deliberately delayed any decisions on how the money should be spent to ensure it was used to maximum effect.
The new report stated the central drivers behind the scheme are to restore confidence in the area and to "start a revival" in the housing market.
However, Mr Honeywood conceded the cash would be "nowhere near enough" to regenerate the area.
"Money has been spent in the past but it's not made a difference, that's why I wanted to wait and asked officers to come up innovative ideas," Mr Honeywood said.
"What we don't want is a sticking plaster on properties in Jaywick."
The report states the average cost of bringing poor quality empty property back into use is in the region of £25,000.
Financial assistance will be match funded by the owner with a ceiling of £15,000 available for individual grants.
Paul Honeywood said: "This money is nowhere near enough to regenerate Jaywick but it's a start, a first step.
"TDC can't do that on its own but what we can do is help local people help themselves.
"If we can light the fire hopefully it will keep going."
He said he hoped the scheme would be ready to launch by the summer.
1 comment
Well here we go again, more pie in the sky. The old saying that seeing is believing is a very apt one for Jaywick. Over the years TDC and Essex County Council have claimed to have spent millions in Jaywick. Well sorry chaps, but someone is pulling a fast one, because we have yet to see any 'REAL' improvement and Paul Honeywood's comment about sticking plasters is all too true this latest rouse is yet another pitiful attempt by TDC to look like they actually care.
Monday, January 28, 2013


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Multicultural Teaching in the University
Author:David Schoem, Linda Frankel, Ximena Zuniga, Edith A. Lewis
Pub Date: 1995
Publisher: Praeger
Summary: This important book for college teachers, administrators, trainers, workshop leaders, and prospective secondary school teachers challenges of teaching in institutions and classrooms that are increasingly diverse. The volume's introductory chapter, which discusses the meaning of multicultural teaching, is followed by more than twenty essays by faculty from different disciplines, each articulating the multiple dimensio...ns and components of multicultural teaching. They discuss their own teaching and classes in terms of course content, process and discourse, and diversity among faculty and students in the classroom. The book concludes with a roundtable discussion by the authors about the meaning of multicultural teaching, a section on responses to questions about conflict in the classroom, and a list of exercises for classroom and workshop use. Rather than representing a homogeneous view of multicultural teaching, this volume reflects the debate and dialogue that surround the issue. While colleges and their faculty are searching to adapt their teaching to the rapidly changing demographics on campus, there are very few models for teachers. Multicultural Teaching in the University integrates new scholarship that reflects a more expansive notion of knowledge, and suggests new ways to communicate with diverse populations of students. [read more]
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Pub Date: 1995
Publisher: Praeger
Pub Date: 1995
Publisher: Praeger
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