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Jun 25 2013
Charlie Goes to School
Charlie has a brand new book out today, and as you can see, he's really excited about it.
(Okay, fine. I'm excited enough for the both of us!)
The illustrations are by the wonderful and brilliant Diane de Groat, with whom I've collaborated on the other two Charlie books. She brings my Charlie stories to life in such a wonderful way.
The book covers a regular ol' school day on the ranch…
(And no, my bottom is not that small in real life.)
(But that's another story for another time.)
And explaining why he loves school so much.
Yep. School is right up Charlie's alley.
Things get really interesting when Charlie gets an idea in his head…
And attempts, one by one, to educate Suzie, Kitty Kitty, the ranch horses, and the incorrigible Walter.
It doesn't take long before Charlie discovers just how difficult it can be to be a teacher!
"Did someone say Kitty Kitty?"
Aw, Kitty—yes! You're in the new book!
"Did someone say Kitten Kitten?"
Aw, Kitten Kitten—you'll be in the next book!
Charlie Goes to School is a cute, fun glimpse at learning—whether at home, at school, or any setting with kiddos. The book is technically for ages 4-8, but older sibs and parents will enjoy ol' Charlie's crazy, lazy voice. (And the book is dedicated to all teachers of children…so it would make a fun back-to-school gift for teachers this fall.)
Here's where you can find the new Charlie book.
Barnes and Noble
Hope you love it, friends! This is my favorite book in the Charlie series thus far. Diane's illustrations are just darling, and it's a nice glimpse at life around the homestead.
I'm also excited to let you know that today, Charlie's first I Can Read book comes out.
If you've had young kids in the house, you've likely come across the I Can Read series of books, which were created in 1957 after a librarian called Ursula Nordstrom, an editor at Harper & Row, and told her how many children she heard say "I can read! Where are the books for me?" on a daily basis. The first I Can Read book was Little Bear by none other than Else Minarik and Maurice (Where the Wild Things Are) Sendak. Since then lots of different children's book characters have been the subject of I Can Reads: Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedelia, Danny and the Dinosaur, Biscuit, Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, Splat the Cat…
I Can Read books are told in a distinctive style that makes it easier for young readers to become immersed in the story and follow along. This one tells the story of Rowdy (based on an old beloved dog my brother-in-law Tim had, which we used to babysit), who visits the ranch and becomes the bane of Charlie's existence in many ways.
But the story takes a sweet turn…
When Charlie taps into his compassionate side and gives peace—and Rowdy—a chance.
Here's where you can find the new Charlie – I Can Read book! (Note that the one I have is hardcover, but a paperback version is also available—and a very nice price. I'm linking to the paperback versions below, but hardcovers are also on the store listings.)
Charlie the Ranch Dog: Where's the Bacon? (I Can Read, Book 1)
Barnes and Noble
Here's a fun page devoted to Charlie's I Can Read books—and at the bottom, you can download free printable activities for your little kiddos.
I Can Read! Charlie the Ranch Dog
Thanks for letting me tell you about the new Charlie books!
He's been working hard on them. (Wink.)
P-Dub and Charles
165 Comments and 8 Replies
AsYouWish On Tuesday, June 25 at 11:51 pm
The UPS man delivered these today! I preordered these (and your others) and was so excited to have these two arrive today. My 5yo son will be excited when I show them to him, too! He loves your other Charlie books and really enjoys your show. He loved meeting you on your book tour to Indianapolis last year, too! He was such a good sport waiting in line so long to be able to tell you that his daddy grew up in Bartlesville and his mommy shares your birthday. He still talks about meeting you and loves to see your autograph in his book and the picture of you with the two of us.
Joann On Friday, July 19 at 10:31 am
Michelle Carlton On Wednesday, June 26 at 5:28 am
Yaya! Happy news for the day!
Kristie M On Wednesday, June 26 at 6:01 am
All I can say is AWESOME!!!!! Thanks for sharing all of these really cool books! My kids and I love them! Thanks Ree!
Christina Harlan On Wednesday, June 26 at 6:16 am
I got so excited about the Charlie books I just one clicked them over at Amazon before I finished reading your post!!!
My granddaughter, Sadie will be Thrilled!!
Thank you, Ree!!
Bonnie M On Wednesday, June 26 at 7:05 am
In the first frame of your post, Charlie wears the same expression I would wear when I knew an Algebra Test was scheduled for the day!
This book looks adorable Ree! Charlie is a very sweet dog and I love the way he does subtraction! I would like to purchase a signed copy if at all possible.
My youngest grandchildren will love to hear the story of Charlie and his escapades.
Their Nonna will enjoy reading it to them too!
Take Care, God Bless.
Jennifer On Wednesday, June 26 at 7:17 am
This is such a precious book! I so wish my son (age 14) was still young enough to enjoy this book! I have admired these books and will always remember them for a special gift for a little one!
Andrea On Wednesday, June 26 at 7:33 am
I can't tell you how excited I am to hear about the Charlie Goes to School book! My 5 year old daughter LOVES all the Charlie books and since she'll be starting (home) school this fall, it is absolutely perfect timing. It looks beyond adorable. Thank you!
Angela G On Wednesday, June 26 at 8:16 am
How did I miss this post when it was originally put up?! I love Charlie and his stories. I can't wait to get these. I have early readers at home too, so I am very excited about the I Can Read book! Thanks Ree!!!
Amy Jackson On Wednesday, June 26 at 8:27 am
Both of these books look marvelous and I love the glimpses into the writing through your photographs and post! Congratulations on another wonderful endeavor!!!
PS: as a past home-schooled kid, I adore the school house image portraying non-traditional learning. Thank you!
cjnel On Wednesday, June 26 at 8:58 am
Can't wait to get this. My 5 year old granddaughter and I love your Charlie books. Love the stories! Love the illustrations that bring each story to life. And this book is a wonderful way to promote home-schooling too! Keep them coming. Thanks!
Katie O On Wednesday, June 26 at 9:15 am
I absolutely love your books! Thank you for taking the time to write another book, even though you are already swamped!
debbie s On Wednesday, June 26 at 9:22 am
Congratulations on Charlies new book! Will Walter have a book of his own soon?
Lori H On Wednesday, June 26 at 9:23 am
How in the heck do you do all that you do?!
Sue B On Wednesday, June 26 at 9:26 am
I can't wait to get this book! I have the other 2 and my kids as well as the kids at school love them!
JulSum On Wednesday, June 26 at 9:37 am
Can't wait to get the "I Can Read" book for my granddaughter. She is going in to 1st grade and is learning to read, she will love it. We will also get the new book too, so her big sister can read it with her.They both love Charlie and love it when he is on the show. We all love to watch and cook together. Take care and keep up the great work.
Kathy On Wednesday, June 26 at 9:53 am
So glad to see the new books, I am ordering all. My grandkids love the Charlie books and recently watched the old Disney Fox and Hound, calling the hound a baby Charlie! Thanks, Ree! My 6 yr old will love the I can Read series especially. Looking forward to more.
Kim H in GA On Wednesday, June 26 at 9:59 am
We LOVE the Charlie books!
Brandi On Wednesday, June 26 at 10:21 am
This looks so good…I love Charlie! My best friend has a Basset, Madam Star, and she is so funny! They are just wonderful dogs.
KarenAnn I On Wednesday, June 26 at 10:50 am
I borrowed Charlie the Ranch Dog from the library. I don't have kids, but these two books look amazing. I may have to get them for myself and for friends that have kids. They are fun and beautiful.
Lynn M On Wednesday, June 26 at 12:10 pm
I was so tickled to find Charlie the Ranch Dog at Sam's a few days ago! I picked up a copy for my two-year-old great-niece, who I know will love a good doggie book! Can't wait to add the others to her collection
Mary Beth On Wednesday, June 26 at 12:33 pm
I can't wait for school to start and to get the new books. You know how much we love you and the books at Linwood elementary in Wichita.
Indiana Mel B On Wednesday, June 26 at 12:48 pm
We have had these pre-ordered for a while now and they shipped yesterday! My daughter is excited because she loves these books. They remind her beagle Charlie. I'm going to introduce my 2 yr old son to them also. Awesome books!
Rebecca On Wednesday, June 26 at 1:03 pm
I'm SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU! My girls have been DYING to follow Charlie's latest adventures! They watch me read your blog, and LOVE when you have Charlie posts!
We're heading through Pawhuska on July 4th; any chance you'll be around to autograph a copy?
Nancy Beckham On Wednesday, June 26 at 1:13 pm
Love the new Charlie books! Diane did and wonderful job with illustrations of your family; I knew at once who was whom. The inclusion of home schooling was brilliant and I hope many more people learn that homeshcooling is a good choice while they enjoy your prose and Diane's illustrations.
Randi On Wednesday, June 26 at 1:41 pm
I ordered them a few months ago on Amazon…they are shipping this week! I can't wait. My boys just love Charlie.
Kelly H. On Wednesday, June 26 at 1:48 pm
Will it be available for reading on the Nook? I love the Nook version of the first Charlie book. It has so many extra cute little features. : )
jodi On Wednesday, June 26 at 2:01 pm
Charlie and his books are a favorite with my granddaughters, who request a reading (or two or three..) whenever they visit. So excited to add another "chapter" to his on-going antics, especially the "I Can Read". That will be the perfect gift for Christmas!
Amie On Wednesday, June 26 at 4:12 pm
Yay! I'm an elementary school librarian and I will definitely be adding these to our collection this year. What a great story to show similarities and differences!
Tina MacRae On Wednesday, June 26 at 6:06 pm
Does Charlie have a board book out for the younger generation? I'd love to introduce him to my 0-3 Early Head Start Class!!!!!!
Christy On Wednesday, June 26 at 7:06 pm
Ree, My kids love the Charlie series bought three copies yesterday and they are sooo tickled to find out what Charlie's gotten himself into…Thanks for this line of books…you don't know how much they mean to little ones!
Bec On Wednesday, June 26 at 10:58 pm
My little Lucy is SOOOOOO excited for another Charlie book! And being a kindergarten teacher, I'M SOOOOOO excited for the I Can Read! book … my students will love it!
Dale On Thursday, June 27 at 9:40 am
Will Charlie go on a book signing tour? When will he come to Colorado? Does he have an entourage that goes with him? I have info on security and limo services. In the mean time, make sure he gets plenty of rest and fresh air. Regards Dale.
Maureen On Thursday, June 27 at 2:04 pm
This is absolutely adorable!!
Sherri On Thursday, June 27 at 9:14 pm
Absolutely love Charlie's stories and the illustrations. I ordered the new book today in hopes it will be here before my granddaughter goes back to Minnesota. She is 2 years old and is a little book worm, I cannot wait to share it with her!!!
I put your second cookbook on my birthday wish list
marty On Friday, June 28 at 8:50 am
Love these books. My first graders love them too. Can't wait to get the new beginning readers books in their hands this coming year!
Gr Ruth On Friday, June 28 at 9:41 am
Dear Ree, i was evidently of my game on Tue. because I missed this. Anxious to get these books for my Great Grandson. Also on that place where you were talking, you said you recorded black heels for audio books, I looked on Barnenoble and couldn't find it listed in audio. I would love it in audio, so how do I find it? HELP !!!Love you.
Marie Adney-Wood On Friday, June 28 at 7:11 pm
Ree, I just got the book in the mail today from Barnes and Noble. I love it, and I can't wait to read it to my grandson! : )
Susan On Tuesday, July 2 at 7:12 am
My first graders love Charlie the Ranch dog stories! I can hardly wait to add to my collection. The children also like to see the "real" Charlie, ranch, and your family on your blog.
Katie On Thursday, July 4 at 9:23 am
My children love the Charlie books! I love that you've included your homeschool. There are a lot of books about going to school at school, but not many about going to school at home. My son exclaimed, "that's just like me!"
Robyn | Add a Pinch On Sunday, July 7 at 11:45 am
REE!!!! I'm so excited for more Charlie books! I can't wait to buy them for my nieces and nephews. They will love them!
patti On Friday, July 12 at 9:59 am
we just got your Charlie the Ranch Dog I can read book and love it. My grandson is 4 and loves dogs, horses and all things ranch. He lives in his cowboy hat and has his own cowboy dog. I cannot wait to get him your other books
Kimberly Allen On Saturday, July 13 at 9:41 am
So happy to find a women who is so inspiring and is able to do the homeschooling thing and still have herself!!! Our family really wants to home school and I just wanted to thank you for giving me another reason to go for it! Have a wonderful day! Kimberly
JOANN On Friday, July 19 at 10:29 am
do you have help with all these activities?
Home school wasn't known in my elementary years(40's).
I'd buy them if I had grandchildren.
Aidan Collack On Friday, July 19 at 6:43 pm
I have a fat beagle named Charlie. He looks exactly like the one in the books. We have both of the books and mine is just as lazy. I am 13 and love to cook and when I do he sleeps in the kitchen and gets in my wAy.
Jodie On Sunday, July 28 at 3:55 pm
We LOVE the new book…my daughter Charlee was so excited to see "her" name on a book.
mary On Sunday, July 28 at 11:08 pm
Love charlie and your show. I make one or more of your dishes every week.
Joann Drye On Thursday, August 1 at 12:57 pm
I couldn't find the comment section for the give away of Charlies books but will just tell you hear that I love them…. I don't home school my kids… so I don't need to win them..but they are great books,,, keep up the good work.
jo in Sapulpa
Pam Cloud On Thursday, August 1 at 4:26 pm
Congrats Ree! Our daughter is a first grade teacher and would love these to read to her kiddos! Charlie you are such a great friend!
Christina Blume On Thursday, August 1 at 8:05 pm
I would love to have this at my house for my Grand baby girl!
Erika On Sunday, August 4 at 2:00 pm
I love this book! It's the first picture book I've found that mentions homeschooling. I wish I could now find chapter books about homeschool kids for my older ones. Any ideas?
Debbie Plemons On Friday, August 16 at 10:23 am
I just went out and bought "Charlie Goes to School" can't wait to be able to read it to my grandchildren. Thanks Ree
Jupiter Jim On Saturday, August 17 at 4:42 pm
I LOVE Basset Hounds! My twin sister had a Basset hound named Petie and he was the most adorable little dog in the whole world. I miss Petie! Congratulations on your great book! I think Every Single book should include a Bassett hound in it!!!
Great Blog, too!
Thanks for sharing!
~ Jupiter Jim
Linda Lan On Saturday, August 17 at 5:18 pm
Love! We used to have a dear Basset hound…looks just like him…they have the best personalities – always love and miss our "Petie" :o)
Lynette Filiano On Monday, August 19 at 12:49 pm
Hello Ree,
Charlie is a cool dog he reminds me of my own hound Amber – She is a Bassett Hound/Golden Retriever mix of 13 years old. Although she is not very energetic these days – she still moves around checking out what everyone else is doing. She is my children's pet when they were growing up. My daughter is now expecting her first baby and I thought this would be a great collection to give her.
Catherine Ray On Tuesday, August 20 at 7:32 am
I was at Sam's this weekend and saw Charlie Goes to School. Of course I bought it for my little guy. He loves Charlie!
Janet On Wednesday, August 21 at 10:25 am
We have had 10 bassets in our home. Half were from High Country Basset Rescue, Colorado. Our latest is Joey. We love your books about Charlie. Your words and the pictures are so true about these character dogs. Thank you.
Robert Scott On Saturday, August 31 at 9:00 am
Totally impressed with all your talents. Love your show and plan on getting the books for my grands. Keep up the good work
Brittany On Monday, September 2 at 10:29 pm
Adorable books!
Alicia On Wednesday, September 4 at 9:53 am
Oh, love this. Pack my babies lunch everyday. With multiple allergies, this book would rock!!!!
Pamela V. On Thursday, September 12 at 1:57 pm
Any chance Abigail will get to make an appearance or even have her own book?
Nancy c On Tuesday, September 17 at 6:20 pm
I teach preschool and would love to have these books for my class.
Moragn On Friday, October 11 at 10:36 am
You recently visited my little five year old's school. Now she's a huge fan, and the only thing she is putting on her Christmas list is a basset hound just like Charlie. Sigh! Thanks for taking the time to visit her school though.
Nancy M On Wednesday, October 16 at 8:46 am
Love these…it's my daughter's first year of teaching (kindergarten) and I'm collecting all of your books so that she has them in her classroom library!
Nicole On Thursday, October 17 at 11:46 am
Amy On Friday, October 18 at 10:01 pm
My 5-year-old twins and I love to watch your cooking show after school. We were recently at their school book fair and my son saw your "Charlie I Can Read Book". They were SO excited we had to buy it. They LOVE the book and fall asleep looking at it.


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How Many People Work for The US Military?
The US Army employs many hundreds of thousands of active duty personnel. This figure does not include Reservists and the National Guard. The Navy also employs a similar amount of active duty personnel.
However there are many more hundreds of thousands of support and logistical staff. On top of this there are the civilians that work for US Military. Put all these figures together and the number of people working for the US Military is in the millions. How do we get one of the Army jobs,Navy Jobs or any other military jobs?
How do get a Civilian Job in the Military?
Well basically the US Military, including the Army, Navy and Air Force are pretty much like any other employer, except on a larger scale. They require that you apply for one of the thousands of jobs being advertised every week. You will need to supply a resume and you will have to have a job interview. However to apply you need to go through the CPOL Employment system, CPOL being Civilian Personnel Online . This system has been puti in place to speed up the whole employment process. As you could imagine when you are advertising thousands of jobs every week, you really do need to streamline the CPOL job application process. This is where the Army Resumix System come into play.
What is the US Army Resumix System ?
The Army's Centralized Resumix System allows potential job applicants to enter their resumes digitally and online. This speeds up the whole job application process. Aresumix resume is quite different to a standard resume and does not follow the traditional resume layout. This is because a resumix resume will be first scanned by a computer and not reviewed by a person. This scanning software will search for certain keywords in the resume and will sort it appropriately. So when making your resume you have to be careful when adding these keywords as your application will not be successful if the resumix system does not pick up the right keywords. These keywords are very important and an industry has grown around supplying people with highly keyword optimized resumes. There is an online resumix resume builder and it is highly recommended that you take advantage of it. In fact I can safely say that if you do not your resume will not see the light of day at the Army, Navy or Air Force. Once created and submitted the resumix system will match your skills against the job list it has in it's database.
Resumix system pitfalls.
One of the biggest pitfalls is that people over optimize there resume's for the resumix system itself. You need to remember once your resume has been selected by the computer as a match for a particular employment position. It then goes to be reviewed by a employment officer. If the resume is unreadable by a human then your application for that military job will end right there. So yes you still have to write the resume for a a human to review. Another pitfall is that people will build the wrong resume for the particular arm of the military they want to work for. An army resumix resume can only be 3 pages long yet a navy resumix resume can be 5 pages long. If you get this wrong once again you will have no chance of being chosen for that job interview.
Final thoughts on CPOL Resumix Resume
If you are finding the whole process daunting or if you have submitted your CPOL resume a number of times, with no success. Then maybe you should consider getting some professional help. As I said earlier there are small companies on the web willing to not only help you build your resumix resume but also walk you through the whole process. This is a great option if you are starting to get a little desperate.
Here is a link to the cpol resume builder web site resumebuilder.cpol.army.mil

subset: commoncrawl


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Random Disconnected Diatribes of a p&p Documentation Engineer
A colleague pointed me at an interesting discussion the other day about whether geeks are actually "creative". It comes partly from a recent post by Ian Betteridge that rails against the claims that App Inventor, which is designed to encourage development of simple programs for Android, "enables people to be creative and not just passive consumers". However, what he doesn't explore is the real meaning of the word "creative" in today's terminology.
OK, so the dictionary defines "creative" as meaning "producing or using original and unusual ideas", with synonyms such as "original", "imaginative", "innovative", "artistic", and "inspired". These seem fine if you are talking about someone producing a stunning work of art in Corel Painter, or some spectacular new soundtrack using Roland Cakewalk. But nobody knocked up this software using a utility such as App Inventor. Instead it was created by a team of engineers working to fine tolerances and requiring a deep knowledge of the subject and technologies. Dare I say, "geeks"?
Looking at most Web sites, social network pages, online photo albums, TV programs, and magazine adverts, or listening to a large proportion of recently recorded music, it's hard to find much in the way of material you could even charitably describe as "original" or "innovative". Even computer applications seem mostly to be evolution rather than "inspired". How many word processors or virus scanners have you seen that you can actually say are "innovative", and when did you last install a program that was truly "original"? Maybe, as today's focus seems to be all about style (generally over content) you could perhaps ascribe the term "artistic" to many of these things - but even that rather stretches the imagination in the majority of cases.
However, according to my thesaurus, "creative" also spawns synonyms such as "inventive", "resourceful", "ingenious", and even "productive". So your modern word processor, spreadsheet, photo editing tools, and more - with their clever "automatic everything" and powerful Wizards for anything more complicated than typing a sentence - would fit well with this definition of creativity. Though, personally, I feel that equating creativity with productivity rather stretches the point. If I can type fast, I'm more productive. But the result often isn't creative in terms of the content.
I suppose, as a geek, I don't really want to be "artistic", or even "original", anyway. I'd like to be "productive", "inventive", and possibly "ingenious". I want what I build to be architecturally robust using tried and trusted techniques and proven technologies, and I'm happy to leave it to the UI designers to inject the artistic stuff. And, as I've never been on a creative writing course, I assume that what I do most days here at p&p is more about being technically accurate and informative rather than relying on artistic license (unlike my blogs posts).
Ian also suggests that we geeks no longer rule the universe, and that our era is over. Yet, without us, none of this creative stuff would exist - and the world would be very different. I can't see anyone using App Inventor or similar utilities to implement the software that controls a nuclear power station, or powers communications satellites. And I doubt that most corporate and financial data centers rely on programs written by a media analyst or a fashion designer. Was the O/S for the Android (or even App Inventor itself) written by a social communities coordinator or a society wedding planner? I don't think so. Geeks still do, and always will, shape our world. OK, so it doesn't look very pretty when we've finished with it, but we just hire in a creative artist to make the UI look nice afterwards.
But I guess where all this is going is that - today - the word "creative" actually has negative overtones in many scenarios. In a previous life as a salesman, I could almost guarantee that my manager's response to reading my monthly sales report would be to praise my creativity...
Reading a UK computer magazine last week, I came across the delightful phrase "like playing a recording of a swarm of hornets to a group of blindfolded mime artists". It conjures up a vivid mental picture of events such as might occur at a product development meeting where somebody suggests rewriting a whole legacy application in Objective Fortran and linking the components using DCOM. Or allowing the marketing department to choose the name for your wonderful new product.
Generally, I have to avoid such colorful language in the documentation I create. Somehow, flowery terms such as that may be felt to be taking the reader's attention away from the main points of the technical description, or even tending to make the software seem less than seriously "enterprise-capable". Let's face it, when you're trying to explain something like interception for virtual methods, or attribute-based validation at interface level, tempting users' minds to go wandering off and luxuriate in some wildly unrelated (or even humorous) description of the effects is unlikely to comply with the stringent rules of our style guide.
However, at the moment I'm writing guides that are not technically "documentation". They're designed to be entertaining and make it fun to learn about the products. I probably can't get away with a "Mr. Bunny's Guide" equivalent - which, for example, shows a Visual Basic Form in both front view (useful) and top view (just a straight line). Besides which, I'm no good at drawing pictures of farmers and animals. But, maybe I can sneak some vivid descriptions past the editors.
Perhaps I can describe the process of architecting an application as "like doing a crossword puzzle in a foreign language when they forgot to print the black squares and your pen's run out"? Or the complexity of writing a multi-threaded interception authorization behavior as "like explaining AC theory to someone who thinks the electricity leaks out of a light socket if you don't put a bulb in it"? And how about painting a picture of reaching feature complete and code freeze for your product as "like trying to finish a bowl of soup when sitting outside a French café in the pouring rain"?
Unfortunately, one of my U.S. colleagues once described me as having a "British sense of humor" (notice that he missed the "u" out). I guess this is where it will all fall over because it's likely that a large proportion of the readers will have no idea at all what I'm talking about. Especially when it's been translated into a range of other languages. And I suppose it could get quite annoying if you have to re-read the same section a few times just to grasp what's going on. Oh well, it was a thought.
Mind you, talking of animals, several years ago a co-author and I decided to have a competition to see who could get the most lifelike picture of an animal created as one of those "boxes and arrows" schematics into a book. I managed to get an only-marginally-recognizable dog into one of mine, including the Internet "cloud" symbol for the result of processing various inputs - neatly positioned just below the tail. I assumed they'd cut or modify it during edit, but to my amazement it actually survived intact. I never did get round to mentioning it to the publisher. However, my co-author won the competition hands-down by including a very realistic giraffe, and disguising it by drawing it upside down. I complained about this, but he simply reminded me that the rules didn't specify orientation.
And I guess that, if my editors read this, it's a lost cause now anyway. They (and our customers) will be seeing animals in all of my schematics. Maybe I've just invented a new form of the Rorschach Ink Blot test.
Isn't it funny how - after a while - you tend not to notice, or you ignore the annoying habits of your closest colleagues. As I work from home, some 5,000 miles away from my next closest colleagues, the closest colleague I have is Microsoft Vista (yes, I do lead a sad and lonely life doing my remote documentation engineering thing). I mean, I've accepted that sometimes when I open a folder in Windows Explorer it will decide to show me a completely different view of the contents from the usual "Details" view I expect. I suppose it's my own fault because I happen to have a few images in there as well as Word documents, and Vista thinks it's being really helpful by telling me how I rated each one rather than stuff I want to know - like the date it was last modified.
But worse of all is the search feature, or perhaps I should call it an unfeature. In XP, I could select a folder and enter a partial file name then watch as it wandered through the subtree (which, with my terrible memory of where I put stuff was often "C:\"). It told me where it was looking, and I knew it was just looking at filenames. If I only wanted to search the contents of files, I could tell it to do that. In Vista, I type something in the search box and get a warning that the folder isn't indexed, then a slow progress bar. I've no idea where it's looking, or what it's looking for. And neither does it by the look of the results sometimes.
It seems to decide by itself whether to look inside files (so when I search for some part of a filename I get a ton of hits for files that happen to contain that text), yet it seems incapable of finding the matching files by name. I have to either wait till its finished or open the Search Tools dialog before I can get at the advanced options to tell it what kind of search I want and if I want all subfolders to be included. And when I do look for something in the contents of the files, I get either 1,000 hits or none at all. In fact, I've actually resorted to using TextPad to search for strings in text files recently. And after all that, I have to go clicking around the folder tree (while trying to cope with the contents oscillating widly from side to side as I open each one) to get back to where I was because it helpfully moved the folder view to the very end of my long and complicated list of folders.
I can see that the Vista approach may be easier and quicker for simple searches, but I can't help feeling that it often just gets in the way by trying to be too clever and "usable" (something I've grumbled about before - see Easter Bonnets and Adverse Automation). Maybe some of the problem is that I'm continually creating and deleting folders and moving stuff around as I gracefully slither between projects and my other daily tasks. I've tried setting default folder and search options, but I guess Vista can't cope with my indecisiveness. Perhaps I should just keep everything in one folder called "Stuff". But then I'd need a really good search engine...
Probably a lot of this ranting comes about because of the totally wasted day spent trying to get some updated software to run on my machine. The software in question uses a template and some DLLs that get loaded into Word, some other DLLs that do magic conversion things with the documents, and some PowerShell scripts that drive the whole caboodle. So after the installation, PowerShell refused to have anything to do with my scripts, even though I configured the appropriate execution policy setting. Finally I managed to persuade it to load the scrips, but all it would do was echo back the command line. In the end, I copied the scripts from the new folder into the existing one where the previous version was located, and the scripts ran! How do you figure that? Is there some magic setting for folder permissions that I have yet to discover?
And then I had to run installutil to get the script to find some cmdlets in another assembly, and delay sign a couple of other assemblies that barfed with Vista's security model. After about 6 hours work, it looked like it was all sorted - until I went back into Word to discover that the assemblies it requires now produced a load error. In the end, the only working setup I could achieve was by uninstalling and going back to the previous version. And people wonder why I tend to shy away from upgrading stuff...
At least there is some good news - the latest updates to Hyper-V I installed that morning included a new version of the integration components, and (at least at the moment) I've still got a proper mouse pointer in my virtual XP machine (see Cursory Distractions). So I guess the whole day wasn't wasted after all.
Footnote: Actually it was - my mouse pointer has just gone back to a little black dot...
I'm fast coming to the conclusion that you actually need to be quite stupid to use a computer these days. Within a few years those with even a minor modicum of capability, or just a hint of innate common sense, or even mental agility that verges on a level around normal, will find themselves completely excluded from the ever-present, always-connected, online virtualness and technological future of man (and women) kind. We'll be reduced to writing on stuff called "paper" and sending these hand-written messages to others by buying "postage stamps". Or actually talking using ordinary words over a voice connection called a "telephone".
OK, so this partly comes about as a result of my daily battles with software that is either so simplified and "user-friendly" that it's almost impossible to make it do what you want, or which seems intent on trying to hide from you anything that does not involve answering inane questions. Yes, I know I've ranted on about this in probably far too many blog posts in the past. And I appreciate that software should be as intuitive and easy to use as possible to open up our wonderful world of computing technology to the widest possible audience.
But this week I've seen with some horror the effects of our attempts to achieve this in gory close-up detail as I've tried to help some friends get set up with their new computer. And these aren't stupid people trying to do difficult stuff. They have both run retail businesses before they retired from full-time work, and can quite successfully manage things like programming a video recorder, working the latest types of mobile phones, and eating gum whilst walking. And what's worse, they actually had another friend who is technically quite competent help them get their modem and Internet connection set up and working, yet fail to complete the job.
So these people looked on in horror as I tried to get them started with a bit of basics on using a GUI, starting and stopping programs, and gentle Web surfing. Questions I never even anticipated, such as "Why are there so many different ways to do the same thing?" and "What are all these little pictures on the bottom for?" (the notification icon area which contains no less than 11 icons that do nothing when you click on them). And even "How do I turn it off?" They didn't seem to intuitively grasp that you need to click the button that says "Start" if you wave your mouse pointer over it when you wanted to stop.
Then there's the free 60-day trial of Office that continually pops up a dialog asking you to register it, sends you (after several clicks) to a page that gives you a product key and tells you to copy it into the Office "register" dialog, but then sends you an email to tell you to do it all over again. Or the Norton program that nags continually until you click the "Fix" button, then does a few tricks, and then starts to "check your system" - at which point everything stops with no indication of what it's doing or how long it will take. And then it starts to "backup your files" to some online repository (no idea where). It says you can carry on working, but reports that the process failed when you close the nag window.
On my first visit, I set up a Windows Live email account for them so they wouldn't have to keep changing their email address when they change ISPs (I've read enough horror stories about the one they are with, though I suspect that all ISPs have a reasonably equal number of these circulating the 'Net). But the next day they told me that they hadn't managed to get into it again because they couldn't figure out what to do when presented with the initial Home page. "Why do I have to wave my arrow thing all over the page to see which bits do something?" they asked. I'd explained that links were usually blue and underlined, so they were completely fooled by links that are black and only go blue and underlined when you move the mouse pointer over them; and doubly fooled by the main login one that lit up blue. Though no doubt, after a while, they'll get used to the strange and often unintuitive conventions we take for granted (like "I can understand Maximize and Minimize, but what does Restore Down mean?").
Still, all of this is just a familiarization process, and they'll soon become proficient and inclusive members of our high-tech community. Though where the fun really started was trying to get their ISP email working so they could receive messages and online bills. My ISP (British Telecom) allows you to specify any email address to receive the "important information about our services" messages. But their ISP insists that you use their own email system, so we had to persuade Windows Email (a.k.a. Outlook Express) to talk to their mail servers. No, you can't just use the Webmail feature because the email setup process (which you have to do yourself) requires that you verify mail server registration using an "important information about our services" email that they send you before you can log in (?).
You kick off this registration process through their own Web site, after logging into it with your "broadband account details" - which are different from your email account details they send you in the welcome pack with your modem (even though you don't yet have an email account). And here we come to the nub of the issue that drove me (and them) crazy. The ISP provides a password to log onto their site in the "welcome" letter. But after endless attempts we couldn't make it work. So we phoned the automated "password reminder" service. The nice electronic lady read out the user name and password - exactly the same as in the welcome letter.
Now I don't know about you, but faced with a password (and this isn't the real one) such as "H6C2W9A3", and being canny enough to guess that - like most systems - it is case-sensitive, what would you type in? My guess is the same as we did over and over again: "H6C2W9A3". What you actually have to type is "h6c2w9a3". Yes, it's case sensitive, but to save confusion they print it in the welcome pack using "letters that look the same as the ones on the keyboard". And the automated password reminder service read it out as "haych for Henry, number six, see for Charlie, number two, double-you for Whisky, number nine, 'ay for Alpha, number three". Not even a suggestion that there might be some lower-case stuff in there.
Now you see what I mean about stupid people? The only people who will be able to use the Internet in a few years time are those who WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPITAL LETTERS and don't even realize that there are such things as "small letters". And, after all that, when we finally did get to the "My Account" page, we found the following message (and note the interesting use of grammar): "My Account is currently unavailable. We making some improvements to our customer service and online systems over the weekend".
Probably they're making them more compatible with stupid people...
Despite being a writer by profession, and regularly castigating my colleagues for being recalcitrant in reviewing stuff I write, I actually dislike doing reviews myself. When I was an independent author (before I signed my life away to Microsoft), I was often approach by companies offering to pay me to write reviews of their products for their Web sites and literature. Even taking into account the presumed integrity of the author, this type of review seems somehow to be tainted when compared to an independent review by someone who doesn't stand to gain from it.
Yet I depend on reviews and reviewers, of both the technical and editorial kind, not only as part of my daily job creating guidance, but also when buying stuff generally. If I'm looking to buy a new ADSL modem or NAS drive, I'm likely to check out the reviews from real users to see if the one I fancy (the product not the reviewer) is actually any good. A typical example is when recently researching mobile Internet connection dongles and packages (which, from the majority of reviews, all seem to be equally useless). If I'm looking to buy a book, I'll read the independent reviews from readers. Only when I'm buying something as personal as music do I tend to avoid being swayed by the opinions of others. But that's mainly because, underneath this suave and intellectual exterior (?), I'm really still a heavy metal fanatic with a weird taste in classic rock music.
So I always feel that I should do my bit by contributing reviews where I think I can add some useful feedback to the discussion. And there's no point in writing a review unless you tell the truth. OK, so my blog is not generally known for being exceptionally high in factual content, but I do try very hard to be fair and even handed. So, let me start by saying that the latest book I've been reading is not actually bad - in fact, in general, it's well-written, informative, useful, and I didn't find any glaring errors in it.
And as you are obviously now waiting for the "but", here is comes. I bought "Accelerated VB 2008" (APress, ISBN 1590598741) based on reviews and the publisher's blurb in order to provide the equivalent training for VB as I undertook with Jon Skeet's "C# In Depth" book (see Syntactic Strain). According to the aforementioned blurb, it covers precisely what you need to know to use VB 2008 (a.k.a. VB 9.0) and .NET 3.5 effectively. This includes the newer and more advanced features such as generics, operator overloading, anonymous methods, and exception management techniques. And a whole paragraph of the description talks about the coverage of LINQ, extension methods, lambda expressions, and other VB 9.0 features.
Yes, the book covers these. But the really new and exciting stuff only gets a very brief summary in the introduction (5 pages), and just the final chapter of 43 pages. And the new topics I'm interested in get about a page each, yet there are 14 pages on using LINQ with XML. It's not that the VB 9.0 stuff isn't covered at all, but it certainly feels like it was added as an afterthought. OK, so there is a whole chapter earlier in the book devoted to generics, which is really quite good, and there is certainly adequate coverage of other VB 8.0 features. But it feels like the book is actually "Accelerated VB 2005 updated to VB 2008". And having been an independent author in a previous life I know that this is what happens. As soon as a new version of a product is announced, the publisher is hounding you to update your previous book to the new version. In three months. And without them paying you much money.
I guess this is the core difference between the two books I've been using. "C# In Depth" feels like it's telling you a story, and the features of the versions of the languages are partially intertwined throughout so you understand how each addition to the languages serves a specific purpose and simplifies or extends previous features. "Accelerated VB 2008" feels more like a tutorial that aims to cover advanced uses of Visual Basic without really explaining the evolution and purpose of the language. For example, there's a whole 45 page chapter devoted to threading, which seems to me to be a feature of the .NET Framework rather than a feature of Visual Basic.
Perhaps I expected something different because I was looking for a book that covered the new language features in depth, whereas "Accelerated VB 2008" feels more like it is aimed at bringing VB programmers who basically still write like they are using VBScript into the real world. But it surfaces issues that I suppose I always recognized are part of the overarching view of programmers and programming languages (at least in the Microsoft world). It's like VB programmers have to be protected from reality; and must always be reminded how you define a class, use an interface, and handle exceptions - irrespective of the "advancedness" of the book.
Again, I must repeat that this is not a bad book. It is really quite good, and will be a useful addition to the Visual Basic programmer's library - especially if (like me) you are still a bit vague about generics, delegates, lambdas, and similar topics. It also helped me more clearly see how the process of creating and updating documentation is a lot harder than it may at first seem. When I work on updates to the guidance for new versions of our deliverables here at p&p (such as Enterprise Library) I try really hard to interweave the new features with the existing content. In the previous two versions, for example, we've completely reordered the sections and topics, added new overviews and "how to" sections, and modified the structure to give the new features the appropriate precedence alongside the existing ones. And it really can be tough to do when there's already over 1,000 pages of it.
And while Jon's "C# in Depth" book did wind me up with its repeated use of the term "syntactic sugar", "Accelerated VB 2008" also has one overarching feature that I found extremely annoying. Like so many other books, they insist on printing complete listings of the example code, even when it covers two or more pages, with the explanation only at the end of the listing. The result is much page flipping to understand what's going on. But worst of all, when there is a minor change to one line of code to illustrate a feature of the language, they print the entire code again with no highlighted line or indication of where the change is until you read the text after the listing. After a while I started just believing what the text said because it seemed too much effort to go back and try and find the changed line.
So here's a challenge. Is there a book out there that covers the language features of Visual Basic 8.0 and 9.0 without describing how to declare variables, write a class, handle exceptions, and interact with the basic .NET Framework classes? One that explains in detail how features such as extensions, lambdas, LINQ, and generics work, and which makes it easy to understand their purpose and usage? Or am I just expecting publishers to commission books that focus only on stuff that I've been to idle to learn about so far? Maybe a market sector consisting of one person is not a viable business proposition...
I can't honestly say that I've ever been much of a patron of the dark arts. Mind you, a few years ago I was fascinated to see a chapter for a book on ADO.NET that I'd written come back from review with fifteen paragraphs about devil worship in the middle of it. I was about half way through editing this when I suddenly realized it sounded unfamiliar, and seemed to have little to do with asynchronous data access and stored procedures. I assume that the reviewer had got their Ctrl-somethings mixed up, and I still can't help wondering if there is a Web site out there somewhere that has a detailed description of the behavior of a DataReader in the middle of an article about witchcraft and sorcery.
Anyway, it seems that I have a friend and colleague who actually is a "dark arts" expert. At least he is when the dark art in question is Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). OK, so I long ago accepted that we needed a way of separating style from content in Web pages, and I don't know of any other technology that accomplishes this as well as CSS does. I mean, you can even do dynamic styling in response to UI events and all kinds of clever stuff with it. I'm still amazed at sites like Zen Garden where changing the style sheet actually makes you believe you navigated to a different page.
Yet all my attempts to use CSS to achieve a design that doesn't look like a 1985 Web site (with everything centered and in Times Roman font) seem to result in a page that only works on a 42" screen, or requires you to scroll a mile and a half downwards then read it with your head on one side and one eye closed. It's like they designed the language to be impenetrable to mere humans. I mean, I can fix DNS servers, edit the Active Directory, administer Group Policy, understand design patterns, and I even know a fair bit about enterprise application design and development. But I can't even get margins or padding to work most times in CSS (probably 'cos I don't know which I should be using), and end up with nbsp's and transparent GIFs all over the place. Or (horror), tables for layout...
So when I discovered that a site I manage for the local village residents group was broken in IE8 (and, obviously, had always been broken in Firefox), I put off trying to fix it for as long as possible. The site is based on the Microsoft ASP.NET Club Starter site, and a glance at the stylesheet with its myriad of clear thises and float thats meant I'd probably need to stock up with a month's worth of coffee and cold pizza. After a couple of hours randomly changing stuff (the usual geek's approach to fixing things you don't understand) I'd reached the point where the entire site was totally incomprehensible.
So I emailed my pal Dave Sussman, who has spent the last several years of his life doing clever Web stuff with CSS and other complicated technologies. I know he's good at this kind of thing because he hasn't phoned me for ages to complain about rounded corners and designers generally. And, you know what? Within ten minutes I got the answer. Just take out a clear something or other, or change a margin this to a float that, at it would "just work". And he was, of course, absolutely correct.
Mind you, he admitted he'd resorted to using one of his dark art tools - a wicked device called "Firebug", which does sound like something used by wizards or witches. I'm not sure if he dances around the fire naked at the same time, but I'm too polite to ask...
You have to wonder whether the increasing use of tablet computers and touchscreens means we'll soon be back to the equivalent of a world that depends on stone axes and making fire by rubbing two sticks together. At the moment I'm doing my utmost to hang on to some semblance of advanced device interaction technique but there's a good chance that, in time, I'll also succumb.
This musing began when I noticed the gradual change in proddy-finger technique used by my wife with her new Nexus tablet. Previously, her frantic interactive facebooking and emailing sessions were rudely interrupted every few hours by the fact that the text on the screen became unreadable through a layer of greasy finger marks.
However, the fancy cover she bought to protect the device came with a neat pen-shaped, rubber-tipped stylus, and within days she'd become completely dependent on this. Now the screen is pristine after even the heaviest sessions of online social interaction. She tells me it's not only easier than using your finger, but more accurate and faster as well. And I have to admit that, after trying it out on my Surface RT, I can only agree.
But here's the thing. While I'm not the fastest or most accurate typist, I do manage to employ several fingers most of the time, and even a thumb or two for spaces now and then. And I can do it quite easily with the onscreen touch keyboard (in fact I'm doing it right now). However, watching my stylus-converted wife I realized that she was back in the world of one-fingered pecking using the equivalent of a pointed stick, rather than actually typing.
I suppose you could use a combination of fingers and stylus in the appropriate places, but that doesn't solve the greasy finger problem. Maybe the answer is gloves that have rubber tips of the correct flesh-matched consistency on all the fingers. Or just keep some wet wipes handy. Perhaps somebody already makes a cover for popular models of tablet computer that has a special holder for a packet of wet wipes.
Of course you could apply the "horses for courses" argument and say that some tasks should be carried out on a tablet, and others only on a real computer. During a recent discussion about applying Microsoft's Accessibility Standard (for example, you can't say "right-click" because there might not be a mouse) to a Hands-on Lab document we are creating, a colleague suggested that "nobody in their right mind would use a touch-screen device to run Visual Studio." OK, so basically I have to agree that writing programs in VS on a 7" tablet wouldn't be my idea of fun.
But many new laptops and convertible devices have a proper keyboard, a mouse track pad, and a touch screen. So I could just as easily be tempted into some proddy-finger action after typing a Lamba expression, rather than reaching for the mouse. Comments I'm already hearing from converted users of convertible devices is that it's a real shock going back to a computer where finger-on-screen action results only in greasy fingerprints. Jabbing at onscreen buttons with an index finger is much quicker than grabbing a plastic desk-bound rodent, or scratching around on a track pad to find where you left the mouse-pointer last time - and then manoeuvring it around the screen.
And maybe this transition to touch-screen interaction is becoming more obvious through its impact on the industry as a whole. I recently read that Logitech, best known for its keyboards and mice, went from a profit of $37m a year ago to a loss of $24m last year. That's a lot of unsold mice. Though it's likely that the difference was also caused by a reduction in sales of other traditional accessories that we no longer seem to need.
For example, instead of a monitor riser stand we now crouch uncomfortably over the tiny screen of a desk-located or knee-bound laptop or tablet. We don't need an ergonomically designed keyboard with soft-touch keys any more, we just get finger-impact injuries and stiff shoulder muscles. No requirement for a carefully designed mouse means additional wear on elbow joints as we scroll and point all around the screen. And the lack of a cushioned wrist rest is certain to speed the development of RSI.
Of course, evolution will soon resolve these problems for us. In only a few thousand years the successful members of the human race will have developed a long cranked neck, thin pointy grease-free fingers, and even a much larger nose to support our Internet-enabled glasses.
Those of us with small noses and fat fingers who fail to evolve will, of course, be easy to identify. We'll be the ones searching Amazon for sharp stones and abrasive sticks...
Sometimes I think I'm the only person who takes Wi-Fi security seriously. Unlike all of my neighbors, I run my Wi-Fi access point with a hidden SSID so that nobody casually browsing the available networks will be tempted to try and connect to it. I also run it on half power, which is plenty sufficient to reach all round the house and garden without exposing it all along the street.
Of course, I also have it set to use WPA2-PSK, and it has a long and complex non-dictionary password. On top of that I enabled MAC authentication so that only known devices can connect. Yes, I know that most of these features can be cracked by determined attackers but all the good books say that defence in depth is the best approach, and the more layers of protection I have enabled the less the risk.
Should I actually worry about anybody connecting to my internal network through Wi-Fi? There's several other computers and devices on the internal network, although they are all secured with user names and passwords different from the wireless router credentials, and all sensitive folders and shares are locked down to the network admin account. But I really don't fancy having somebody I don't know wandering around my network.
Plus, anyone who did connect could get out onto the Internet through my proxy server, absorbing my bandwidth and exposing me to the risk of action if they do anything illegal over my connection. And I have to pay for my bandwidth, so why should I let other people soak it up browsing Facebook, playing games, and viewing doubtful content.
So it seems like my security approach is sensible. Unfortunately, Google doesn't agree. I recently bought my wife a Google Nexus 7 tablet so that she can soak up my expensive bandwidth browsing Facebook, playing games, and viewing pictures of cats. All the reviews I read said it's really easy to set up - you just choose your locale and your network connection, enter your Google account details, and (as we say over here, though I don't know why) "Bob's your uncle."
Yeah, you reckon? At step two you have to choose an existing wireless network and connect to it, or select "Add a network" if you use a hidden SSID. That's fine, but if I don't enter the MAC code of the device into the wireless router's configuration I can't connect. At this point the screen just says "Not in range" and you can't do anything about it.
Usually, when setting up any other computer, I skip the network setup and then go into the device information page to find the MAC address (that's what I had to do with our HTC Android phones). But Android on a tablet is obviously paranoid about not being able to talk to its Do No Evil home because there's no option to set up a network later. I guess they think that nobody would ever dream of using a tablet (where you can read books, watch videos, and listen to music) if there's no Internet connection.
And just to make matters worse, when you set up a new connection and don't get it exactly correct (such as the wrong letter case in the SSID, or an incorrect password) you can't edit it. The only options are "Connect" and "Forget It" - you have to remove the connection and then start all over again. And the dialog quite happily closes without saving the settings or warning you they'll be lost if your finger wavers a little on the onscreen keyboard.
So the only remedy to finish the setup seemed to be to go into the router's configuration and turn off MAC authentication while the tablet connected. Then, after setup is complete, find the MAC address in the tablet's system information pages, add it to the list in the router, and then turn MAC authentication back on. Assuming, of course, that turning off MAC authentication didn't lose the list of existing permitted addresses (I suggest you take a screenshot or copy them into Notepad first).
However thankfully, after three attempts when I finally got everything right in the tablet's connection dialog, my wireless router configuration page (after I turned MAC authentication off) detected that some unknown device was trying to connect and displayed the MAC address for me to add to the permitted clients list. After that I could turn MAC authentication back on and it worked. So completing the tablet's three page setup wizard only took the best part of an hour. Including swearing time.
It was only then that I discovered why I had so much trouble with the connection settings dialog - the tablet was suffering from the "phanton keystrokes" issue several other people have encountered (search the web for "nexus 7 phantom typing" for more details). So the next day it was back to the store to swap it for another one. From a different batch. And go through all the MAC authentication thing again because the MAC address is different.
And now I just need to figure out how to get it to talk to my wife's Exchange Server email account - which is exposed as a service over HTTP by our remote email hosting provider. And convert all the music she indoors wants putting onto it from WMV to MP3 format. Perhaps I'll need to take a holiday and stock up on new swear words before then...


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Wednesday, February 20, 2013; 7:30 p.m.
Silver Spring Civic Building, One Veterans Place, (at the corner of Ellsworth Dr. and Fenton St. in downtown Silver Spring)
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett will deliver his "State of the County" speech to residents. The County Executive's address will be broadcast live on County Cable Montgomery (Channel 6 for Comcast and RCN customers and Channel 30 for Verizon customers) and will also be videostreamed on www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ccm.
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The Video Guy
Started more than nine years ago at The Olympian, The Video Guy column is a weekly look at films from a "regular guy's" perspective. I have no formal training as a critic, other than I've seen a lot of movies and have a lot of opinions, but I'll do my best to give you an idea of what's out there and whether it's worth your time.
Monthly Archive for February, 2011
A bloody mess of horror flicks
I'm not exactly sure why February has been such a huge month for horror movies, but as a fan of the genre, I'm certainly not complaining. There's a little something for everyone here, from straight-up slashers to understated chillers, so The Video Guy will try to do his best to steer you down the right […] [Read More]
Due Date: Planes, trains and Galifianakis
Traveling down the well-worn highway of the road trip comedy, Todd Phillips' DUE DATE (R, 2 1/2 stars) takes a detour by steeping its comedy in a dark, misanthropic brew, creating more squirm-inducing chuckles than pure peals of laughter. And there's not anything wrong with that – just don't come in expecting the lighthearted flick posited by […] [Read More]
Unstoppable: 1,2,3 Go!
UNSTOPPABLE (PG-13, 3 stars) might be the most simplistic action movie ever made. The plot goes like this: there's a runaway train and it must be stopped. That's it. Oh yeah, there's some half-hearted attempts at character development, but those are quickly scuttled in favor of the out-of-control locomotive. Even director Tony Scott, a man […] [Read More]
Quick take: Life As We Know It
Katherine Heigl has had a rough year. She's been vilified in the press for her perceived diva behavior and crucified by critics for starring in romantic comedy drivel. [Read More]
Old people are cool again!
After years of neglect, the Hollywood studios are finally realizing that the older audience still enjoys seeing movies and seeing themselves reflected on the screen. [Read More]


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BlackBerry Q10 Review
The BlackBerry Q10 might not have been the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone to reach the market, but with its classic QWERTY keyboard it's arguably the first proper new BlackBerry. Blending the new OS with both a touchscreen and the sort of physical text-entry functionality that BlackBerry addicts have been swearing by for years, the Q10 promises to bridge the gap between the Brave New World of touch and those for whom stabbing out an email reply wouldn't be complete without the crackle of tiny keys. Does that make it the missing link in smartphones, or just a bygone of an era that ought to be forgotten? Read on for our full review.


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Results 21 to 21 of 21
Valiant Monk of Booze & War
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- Baltimore, MD
- Posts
- 18,449
Posted On:
5/01/2006 2:35pm
Style: BJJ/C-JKD/KAAALIII!!!!!!!--Originally Posted by Scrapper
The fact that Kim Unyong bought his way into office on the IOC.
The fact that his son was taking payola for his Olympic involvement.
The fact that Koo Chunsoo, former KTA president (and someone who was to be one of my mentors...) was arrested for employing the Gundal (Korean organized crime family, ie. Mafia, Triads, Yakuza, etc) to solidify its position.


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water on floor
Discussion in 'Boiler Forum' started by Barry J, Jul 30, 2009.
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It's here… the official video for Katy Perry's new song, "Birthday".
Katy Perry's "Birthday", (Official) Video
More Scott!
Friday, June 19, 201506/19/2015
Drunk As A…
The saying usually goes, "Drunk as a skunk"… but this raccoon broke into a beer distributor and decided to partake…
Wednesday, June 10, 201506/10/2015
Justin Forrest on Q108
Check out this video from Justin Forrest… by the way, he will be stopping by the Q108 studios and be…
Monday, May 18, 201505/18/2015
Taylor Swift – Bad Blood
If you missed the debut on the Billboard Music Awards… here is Taylor Swift's new video, "Bad Blood".
Thursday, April 30, 201504/30/2015
Kristen Wiig's New Movie
Kristen plays a woman who wins the lottery, goes off her psychiatric meds and buys her own talk show. It…
Monday, April 27, 201504/27/2015
Pig Calling… or Scaring
Not sure if the woman in this video is calling or scaring pigs… I know it's from 2010, but this…


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Collection Title: Woodbridge Valley Improvement & Civic Association, Inc. (WVI)
Inclusive Dates: 1970-2000
Size: 6.0 linear feet
Scope and Contents:
Minutes, contracts and agreements, newsletters, directories, photographs, case files, correspondence, reports, by-laws, and rosters
Historical Note:
The Woodbridge Valley Improvement & Civic Association area consists of homes built in the 1970s as a part of the Woodbridge Valley - Woodbridge Valley North development, as well as homes on streets adjacent to the development. Woodbridge Valley is a located off Route 70, in the Catonsville area of Baltimore County.
Custodial History:
The collection was donated to the University of Baltimore by Tina Brown, WVICA President, on January 14, 1998.


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Poems of Spiritual Love and Universal Possibilities
In the first poem of the series; Soul Mate, Gregory paints a vivid picture of two Beings who suddenly realize the significance of their chance, and unexpected encounter. The poem allows us to experience the possibility that each of us has a Soul Mate; who has been sent to love, guide, and assist us on this earthly journey.
In the second poem of the series; The Beginning, we feel the serenity of sitting by the ocean during a sunrise meditation. The words allow us to experience the wonders of becoming "one with nature" while exploring the possibilities of human self and new beginnings.
In the third poem of the series; Angel, we are gently reminded to allow our joyful spirit to emerge as it once did in our youth. Through reflection, we are cautioned not to become attached to the human experience or its earthly outcome.
The forth poem of the series; Barefoot at a Crossroad, speaks to life's choices. At some point in everyone's life a Crossroad appears; and as Robert Frost so profoundly wrote, "and I--I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference".
The fifth poem of the series; The Dream, delivers the universal message of peace, love, and hope. With the protection and healing energy of a Shamans spirit, this message of generations is passed on through the dreamer until the dream becomes reality.
The sixth poem of the series; When Ones Align, describes the astrological movements of the night sky on November 11, 2011. (11-11-11) It speaks to the suggestion that on this date an energetic shift occurred in preparation for mankind's entry in the Mayan year of 2012.
"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin


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With approximately 12,000 feet of vertical gain over 25 miles, including summiting the Aspen Highlands Bowl, this race is the perfect opportunity to experience all four Aspen Snowmass ski areas like never before. Grab a teammate and get ready to ski, hike and skin Snowmass, Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands and Aspen Mountain all in one race.
Not quite ready to tackle all four mountains? The Recreational Division course covers only the latter two mountains of the Sport Division course: Aspen Highlands and Aspen Mountain. This course boasts approximately 8,000 feet of vertical gain over 15 miles and also includes summiting the famed Aspen Highlands Bowl.
Start Info: 6am at Snowmass Base Village (Sport Division); 8am at Aspen Highlands Base Village (Rec. Division)
Registration: Registration will open in December for the 2015 race. Visit Aspen Snowmass for more information.
Date: February 28th, 2015
Time: All Day
Location: Base Village
Base Village
Snowmass Village, CO 81615


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- Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building - http://inhabitat.com -
Tiny Fern Forest Treehouse Provides a Cozy Vacation Hideaway in the Woods of Vermont
Posted By Tafline Laylin On April 9, 2013 @ 5:25 pm In Architecture,carousel showcase,Gallery,Tiny Homes,Treehouses | 1 Comment
Albeit tucked away in the woods and lit up like a Christmas tree at night, the Tiny Fern Forest Treehouse [6] comes with all of the amenities of the modern world including electricity, heat and even a small refrigerator. Which means it's possible for guests to completely hideaway adjacent to the Green Mountain National Forest for several days without ever having to leave the comfort and tranquility of treetop living [7].
Just 95 square foot, the tiny space is completely outfitted with linens and it's even possible to use a new hot tub at the main house. And whilst we know our readers won't take this option, a more conventional bed is available there too. Also, did we mention that this place is dog friendly? Judging by the pictures and effusive comments from guests who have stayed here, this place is a tiny heaven on a crowded earth [8].
+ AirBnB [6]
Via Tiny House Swoon [9]
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/tiny-fern-forest-treehouse-sparkles-like-a-christmas-tree-in-the-woods-of-vermont/
URLs in this post:
[1] tree houses: http://inhabitat.com/treehouses/
[2] actually enjoy ourselves: http://inhabitat.com/stilts-inhabitat-monkeys-around-in-sustainable-kenyan-treehouses/
[3] AirBnB destination in Lincoln, Vermont: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5633?af=1255102&c=direct_link
[4] : http://inhabitat.com/tiny-fern-forest-treehouse-sparkles-like-a-christmas-tree-in-the-woods-of-vermont/tiny-fem-forest-treehouse-lead-sebastien-barre/?extend=1
[5] Image: http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/04/Tiny-Fem-Forest-treehouse-lead-Sebastien-Barre.jpg
[6] Tiny Fern Forest Treehouse: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5633?af=1255102&c=direct_link
[7] treetop living: http://inhabitat.com/animal-farms-cozy-human-nests-hang-from-the-treetops/
[8] a crowded earth: http://inhabitat.com/vertigo-inducing-photos-of-hong-kong-housing-show-just-how-dense-it-is/
[9] Tiny House Swoon: http://tinyhouseswoon.com/fern-forest-treehouse/
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2011 Inhabitat Local - New York. All rights reserved.


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At 34 years old, BJ Penn may still have some good fighting years left despite retiring after his recent fight. Penn hasn't made a confirm committment either way, and spoke to Fuel TV about a potential return:
"I'm still just hanging out, honestly. At this moment, my guess is probably a little better than yours, but I don't know. I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I am training. I'm starting to train a bit more, for my health a lot. I'm a fighter, I'm a fighter deep inside. If I felt it, if it ever comes back -- not saying that it's gone -- I don't know.
You know how being a fighter is, your mind changes from time-to-time. Of course I'm looking, Anderson (Silva) he's 39 and he's in there fighting, I'm like 'I'm 34, why can't I fight again?' It's gotta be right. There's no sense in me going back into the Octagon and getting beat up in front of everybody, that just doesn't make any sense."


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5 (1) 4 (0) 3 (0) 2 (0) 1 (0)
5 stars 5/5 Stars Average score of 1 user reviews spread across 0 releases and 0 DLC
no pain, no gain. 0
when I grabbed Dark Souls for the first time, I was quite unconvinced of what I would find in this game. The reviews were great so I gave it a shot but form the previews, nothing seemed really appealing to me.But a few minutes down the track, I understood that DaS was a UFO of a game and here is why: 1) the physics, the weight and the poise...it took me quite some time to realize the importance of this game mechanics names poise that no other game that I am aware of ever had implemented: THE POI...1 out of 1 found this review helpful.


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Taylor Wimpey site manager wins national award.
Posted: February 27, 2014|
A SITE manager who began work as a 16-year old apprentice carpenter is celebrating after being picked as one of the five top winners of a prestigious national house-building award.
Daren Clark, aged 44, the site manager at Taylor Wimpey's Bluebell Croft development at Kidsgrove, beat competition from more than 13,000 industry colleagues when he was named as one of the UK's five Supreme Winners during the NHBC (National House-Building Council) Pride in the Job Awards gala final, and taking overall victory in the Large Builder Category.
Although this is his first Supreme title, Daren has now notched up an amazing 18 Pride in the Job Awards from the NHBC at all levels during his career.
He said: "This award is testament to the hard work of the whole team at Bluebell Croft, who all take great pride in ensuring that the homes we build are completed to the highest possible standards.
"I was thrilled to be named as a Pride in the Job award winner earlier last year, and then progressed to win a Seal of Excellence award, followed by the Regional title but to be named as a Supreme Winner really is something else. It is fantastic to be recognised by the industry in this way."
Pride in the Job Quality Awards are presented following a stringent judging process by NHBC inspectors who perform spot checks and continuous assessment of developments throughout the year. The Quality Awards also provide home buyers with the assurance that the development provides top-quality homes and excellent customer service.
Daniel McGowan, managing director of Taylor Wimpey North Midlands, added: "We are delighted that Daren's dedication at Bluebell Croft has been rewarded with this richly deserved award, which recognises the fantastic work he has been doing as a site manager for many years.
"At Taylor Wimpey we are committed to delivering the highest levels of quality and customer service, and Daren exemplifies the exceptional standards which we strive to maintain at all of our developments across the region."
Pride in the Job is the only UK-wide awards scheme that recognises the significant contribution of site managers who achieve the highest standards in new home construction. The scheme has been instrumental in raising the build quality of new homes in the UK for over three decades.
Taylor Wimpey has a selection of high-quality homes available for sale at Bluebell Croft, including three-bedroom houses from £162,500 and four-bedroom detached properties from £199,995.
The Bluebell Croft sales centre is off West Avenue/Old Butt Lane, Kidsgrove, and open Thursday to Monday between 11am and 5pm, or call for details on 01782 940251.


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- Baking Obsession - http://www.bakingobsession.com -
Molded Soft Gingerbread
Posted By Vera On January 24, 2009 @ 8:53 pm In Cookies,Desserts | 45 Comments
I've had this mold for years and haven't molded a single springerle yet (I don't really know why, I do love springerle cookies). As soon as I spotted the recipe in the "Tartine" [1]I knew what my cookie mold would be used for its very first time. Maybe, it's a bit late for the gingerbread with Christmas all gone, but taking into considerations the shape of my mold, I decided to post anyway; it could be suitable for Valentine's Day which is still ahead. Honestly, I wouldn't have patience to hold it till next Christmas; this is the best gingerbread I've ever tried, period.
Makes 10 to 20 cookies, depending on the size of the mold/cutters
For the gingerbread:
For the glaze:
Make the gingerbread:
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, salt, and baking soda.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and mix on medium speed until the mixture is completely smooth and soft. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg and mix well. Add the molasses and corn syrup and beat until incorporated. Stop the mixer again and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until a dough forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl and all the ingredients are well incorporated. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide in half. Flatten each half on a large piece of plastic into a disc about 1 inch thick, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate overnight.
Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Let the dough soften slightly by leaving it on the counter for about 15 minutes. Unwrap the dough (one disc at a time) and place on a floured work surface. Roll out the dough 1/3 inch thick, lightly dust the top with flour, press your cookie mold over the dough , and then cut out the shapes with a small knife and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
Bake the cookies until lightly golden along the sides but still soft to the touch in the centers, 7 to 15 minutes (depends on the size of the cookies).
When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and let cool on the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, make the glaze.
Prepare the glaze, finish the gingerbread:
In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and water until smooth.
While the cookies are still warm, using even strokes, brush a light coat of glaze on the top of each cookie, evenly covering it. Let the cookies cool completely. When the glaze dries, it should leave a shiny, opaque finish.
The cookies will keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature for abour 2 weeks.
Article printed from Baking Obsession: http://www.bakingobsession.com
URL to article: http://www.bakingobsession.com/2009/01/24/molded-soft-gingerbread/
URLs in this post:
[1] "Tartine": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811851508?ie=UTF8&tag=bakingbook-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0811851508
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2012 Baking Obsession. All rights reserved.


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Thing is, talent isn't the only requirement for GP racing these days, you need a vast wallet. That's not to say that there aren't talented racers in there, just that many who have the speed to be there aren't because they haven't the cash. MX1 is 450 for four strokes, 250 for two strokes.


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USA TODAY: UFC 161's Roy Nelson says 'the Roy Nelson business doing very well' | News
Roy Nelson has a theory as to why UFC President Dana White doesn't like him.
It's unclear if Nelson, 36, a heavyweight who goes by the nickname "Big Country" and who proudly sports both a beer belly and a bedraggled beard, meant that remark literally or if he even meant it at all."I think he's star-struck," Nelson (19-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who has been criticized by White for everything from his ragged, everyman appearance to his negotiating tactics, told USA TODAY Sports and MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps).
"Some people get flustered when a bigger star is in the room."
Judging by his reluctance to give straight answers to direct questions, that seems to be the way Nelson likes it.
But as Nelson heads into a bout with fellow heavyweight Stipe Miocic (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at UFC 161 in Winnipeg on Saturday (pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET), his relationship with White and the UFC appears to be as big a threat to his career as any opponent.
According to White and Nelson's manager, Mike Kogan, the fight against Miocic is the last on Nelson's contract.
Although Nelson says he doesn't know whether that is the case "I have people for that," he says he doesn't deny White's assertion that he has declined the UFC's offer of an extension.
A lot might hinge on Nelson's performance against Miocic. Although he is on a three-fight win streak that has moved him up to No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA heavyweight rankings, a loss in this fight could seriously weaken Nelson's negotiating position for a new UFC deal."Everybody wants to extend Roy Nelson's contract," Nelson says. "It all depends on if it's a good contract. I know (UFC co-owner and CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) personally said he wants to pay me as much money as he can.
"I'm all for that."
A win, however, might put him in the driver's seat and bring him closer to his goal of fighting for the UFC heavyweight title.
White has made no secret of the fact he doesn't enjoy dealing with headstrong Nelson.
After he sarcastically dubbed Nelson the "smartest guy on Earth," Nelson began selling T-shirts with that slogan printed across the front.
They're selling "like hotcakes," according to Nelson, which he interprets as one more sign he's a more valuable commodity than White cares to admit.
Well enough that the UFC might put concerns about his stubbornness and marketability aside and move him closer to a heavyweight title shot after UFC 161?"Lorenzo and Dana White are in the UFC business," Nelson says. "Roy Nelson is in the Roy Nelson business.
"You would have to talk to them about UFC stuff, but I can tell you the Roy Nelson business is doing very well."
Nelson hopes so.
A year from now, he said, "I see myself as champion. Hopefully it's in the UFC, but you'd have to talk to Lorenzo and Dana about that."


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Cokayne Avenue children's centre among those involved in Derbyshire County Council review
Posted: May 14, 2014|
FAMILIES who make use of the town's children's centre in Cokayne Avenue are being asked how they think services should be delivered.
Derbyshire County Council is trying to reduce spending on services for children and families by £1.1 million to meet targets.
In a report proposing a review, which begins today, five possible options are outlined.
These are: charging parents for using children's centres; charging organisations for using the buildings; reducing staffing levels; closing some centres; and only offering services which are not already available elsewhere through the voluntary, community and independent sector.
Related content
The review will run for five weeks.
Derbyshire's first children's centre opened 14 years ago. There are now 54 centres across the county, with one in Ashbourne, and they cost £8 million a year in total to run.
Feedback from the review will be used for a follow-up cabinet report in the autumn.
If any centres are earmarked for possible closure, a further three-month consultation would take place before a recommendation was made to cabinet.
Councillor Kevin Gillott said: "We want to hear from Derbyshire residents, so we can take their views into account.
"We don't want to make cuts to our services but the reality is that the reduction in our budget means there will be a significant impact on local people.
"As I've said before, we're very sad to be in this situation and will carefully consider all our options."
To find out more or take part in the review visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk/ccreview.


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Gatling Named a WBCA All-American Regional Finalist
March 25, 2014
ATLANTA - Following one of the great seasons in the 40-year history of the NC State women's basketball team, senior center Markeisha Gatling has been named among the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) All-Region nominees for the 2014 Division I Coaches' All-America Team.
Gatling is one of 52 student athletes from across the country receiving regional consideration. The selection committee will then choose the 10-member WBCA Division I Coaches' All-America Team from these candidates. The final team will be announced at 2:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 5, during the NCAA Women's Final Four Saturday festivities in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
The 6-foot-5 center from Raleigh is one of just seven athletes selected from Region Two. She is joined in the region by Tricia Liston (Duke), Natasha Howard (Florida State), Alyssa Thomas (Maryland), Kayla McBride and Jewell Loyd (Notre Dame), and Dearica Hamby (Wake Forest).
Markeisha Gatling | Senior Center | NC State | Raleigh, N.C.