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As already mentioned in this publication a couple of months ago, the greatest theatrical event of 2007—if not the new... More >>
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Guilt and Revelations in Santa Ana More >>
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On the eve of Doubt, Linda Gehringer riffs on her SCR acting resume More >>
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Plenty of cheers but little suspense in Maverick's cult classic homage More >>
Shipwrecked! discovers truth the old-fashioned way: it makes it up More >>
Agnes of God loses its faith More >>
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David Greig's script is all over the place, which makes the potential for this Rude Guerrilla production so exciting More >>
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Rude Guerrilla gets its gay on with two plays by the iconic Charles Busch More >>
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Ibsen, via Bergman, gets a treatment thats too lively More >>


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Chi Running instructor Jeff Carnivale uses Asheville Citizen Times' Carol Motsinger to give a demonstration before training. / Erin firstname.lastname@example.com
What: Chi Running Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon and 5K Training.
When: 6 p.m. Wednesdays and 7:30 a.m. Saturdays. Group runs will continue through Sept. 12.
Where: Meet at UNC Asheville outdoor track on Wednesdays; Weaver Park on Saturdays.
Learn more: www.chirunning.com.
The Half Marathon and 5K are Sept. 15 starting at the Citizen-Times building, 14 O. Henry Ave.
To sign up for the training program or the race, visit
Keep up with Carol Motsingers training online at CITIZEN-TIMES.com/carol. Connect with Carol on Facebook or on Twitter @ctcarol.
Ive never called myself a runner. I have run, yes. And not just away from things: For a time in college, I actually clocked many a mile on Maryland trails and University of Maryland treadmills.
However, Ive felt I havent been good enough, consistent enough or fast enough to add runner to my biography.
Runner was an exclusive label gallivanting behind a velvet rope. Or sitting smugly at the cafeteria lunch table with all the prettier-than-me girls. But with the guidance from some professionals, Im now sprinting through those mental barriers; the velvet ropes and the cool-kid tables that stalled my athletic ambitions.
I am training for the Asheville Citizen-Times Half-Marathon in September, and with the help of twice-weekly training from Asheville-based Chi Running, Ive taken my first steps toward proclaiming my runner-hood.
During these free group runs Wednesdays and Saturdays, Im learning exercises and drills to practice this energy efficient and injury-free running form.
Chi Running is all about transforming running from a punishment into a life practice. You can still join me at the training (registration is open).
And follow my progress (and sometimes, lack there of), on my new blog, citizen-times.com/ carol.
Developed by ultrarunner Danny Dreyer, who lives in Asheville, the technique uses the principles of tai chi to focus on alignment, relaxation and proper form when running and walking.
Starting to improve
In just a couple of weeks, the sore neck and shoulders that have long defined my running experience are beginning to disappear.
But more importantly, Im starting to leave my fears in the dust especially after Chi Running instructor Jeff Carnivale chatted about the road that led him to his runner classification.
I grew up playing team sports, and I always thought running was more of a punishment, said Carnivale, who has worked with Chi Running for more than three years and has crossed the Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon finish line. I knew it was necessarily to get to where I was to the ball, but thats it.
But after his wife started to train for a marathon, Carnivale, a longtime cyclist, decided to train with her.
I remember the elation of running 10 miles and not feeling horrible, he said.
But endorphins couldnt do anything to counter the time commitment required to be an endurance runner.
And not just the hours spent running.
It was such a time commitment. ... The day before, I had to focus on hydration and eating right ... and then the day after was spent laying around and recovering. The long run day turned into a three-day process, he said. I walked backward down the stairs for days afterward. I felt like I was hit by a car.
Ouch. I promise the encouraging part of Carnivales story is just around the corner.
So, once again, Carnivale followed his wifes lead.
After she struggled to recover from an injury, she ordered the Chi Running program book and DVD.
And after a few weeks, her strength returned, and Carnivale gave Chi a try.
All of a sudden, I was running, and I was feeling more relaxed, he said, adding with a laugh that now, I dont have any excuse to lay around after a long run.
What Carnivale has taught me is that its not just about pounding the pavement.
Running is not violence. Running is about working with your body not against it to ensure long distance running is efficient and, dare I say it, fun (I wont say easy, yet).
Train your brain
Although technique and body control matter, the brain is the first muscle that has to be trained. One of Carnivales favorite Danny Dreyer sayings is that every run is a learning process; there are no bad runs any more.
That attitude resonates with me and can be applied to so many life lessons.
And Im sure I will turn to it for comfort again and again in the next few months.
I have to keep the every step matters perspective in focus. Just like every steps gets me that much closer to finishing the half-marathon, every person who does the same is helping move our community closer to health.
This project is designed to help inspire others to not let silly self-consciousness get in the way of an active lifestyle, as well as help me stay self-aware and accountable.
Carnivales participation in the training is also motivated by others.
At the heart of it, I want everybody to enjoy it and be healthy, he said. Every individual that (gets healthier) helps create a more healthy community.
This is the opinion of Carol Motsinger. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com, www.facebook.com/ct.carolmotsinger or on Twitter @ctcarol. Find more at www.citizen-times.com/carol.

subset: commoncrawl


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Soon to be a Major Motion Picture!
This new edition of Ted Chiang's masterful first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, includes his first eight published stories plus the author's story notes and a cover that the author commissioned himself. Combining the precision and scientific curiosity of Kim Stanley Robinson with Lorrie Moore's cool, clear love of language and narrative intricacy, this award-winning collection offers readers the dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar.
Stories of Your Life and Others presents characters who must confront sudden change—the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens—while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy. In the amazing and much-lauded title story, a grieving mother copes with divorce and the death of her daughter by drawing on her knowledge of alien languages and non-linear memory recollection. A clever pastiche of news reports and interviews chronicles a college's initiative to "turn off" the human ability to recognize beauty in "Liking What You See: A Documentary." With sharp intelligence and humor, Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty and constant change, and also by beauty and wonder.
Praise for Stories of Your Life and Others:
"Shining, haunting, mind-blowing tales . . . this collection is a pure marvel. Chiang is so exhilarating so original so stylish he just leaves you speechless. I always suggest a person read at least 52 books a year for proper mental functioning but if you only have time for one, be at peace: you found it."
—Junot Díaz (author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao)
"Meticulously pieced together, utterly thought through, Chiang's stories emerge slowly . . . but with the perfection of slow-growing crystal."
—Lev Grossman, Best of the Decade: Science Fiction and Fantasy, Techland.com
"In Chiang's hands, SF really is the 'literature of ideas' it is often held to be, and the genre's traditional "sense of wonder" is paramount. But though one reads Stories of Your Life with a kind of thematic nostalgia for classic philosophical SF such as that of Asimov and Theodore Sturgeon, the collection never feels dated. Partly this is because the "wonder" of these stories is a modern, melancholy transcendence, not the naive '50s dreams of the genre's golden age. More important, the collection is united by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang's calm passion."
—China Mieville, The Guardian
"Ted is a national treasure . . . each of those stories is a goddamned jewel."
—Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing
"Chiang's work confirms that blending science and fine art at this length can produce touching works, tales as intimate as our own blood cells, with the structural strength of just-discovered industrial alloys."
—The Seattle Times
"Summarizing these stories does not do justice to Chiang's talent. Seemingly ordinary ideas are pursued ruthlessly, their tendons flayed, their bones exposed. Chiang derides lazy thinking, weasels it out of its hiding place, and leaves it cowering."
—The Washington Post
"Essential. You won't know SF if you don't read Ted Chiang."
—Greg Bear
"Chiang writes seldom, but his almost unfathomably wonderful stories tick away with the precision of a Swiss watch—and explode in your awareness with shocking, devastating force."
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
"The first must-read SF book of the year."
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"He puts the science back in science fiction—brilliantly."
—Booklist (Starred Review)
These stories were originally published as follows:
"Tower of Babylon," Omni, 1990
"Understand," Asimov's, 1991
"Division by Zero," Full Spectrum 3, 19912
"Story of Your Life," Starlight 2, 1998
"Seventy-Two Letters," Vanishing Acts, 2000
"The Evolution of Human Science," Nature, 2000
"Hell is the Absence of God," Starlight 3, 2001
"Liking What You See: A Documentary," Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002
Cover art © Shelley Eshkar.
Ted Chiang was born in Port Jefferson, New York and holds a degree in computer science from Brown University. In 1989 he attended the Clarion Writers Workshop. His fiction has won three Hugos, four Nebulas, three Locus awards, and a Sturgeon award. He lives near Seattle, Washington.


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- Filed Under
Town police have charged three people with receiving stolen property after separately finding them in possession of two vehicles that were reported stolen, including one that was taken in 2010 in Delaware.
On Saturday at 2:35 p.m., Officer Oxmani Corona charged Benjamin Valle, 40, of Dover, with receiving stolen property during an investigation into the theft of a 2005 Jeep Wrangler in Wilmington, Del. in 2010, according to a release from town Detective Sgt. Richard Gonzalez.
Corona spotted the Wrangler parked at a home on Orchard Street and stopped it when the driver pulled away. Valle ...


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up in the middle of life: Swinton in I Am Love.
Shawn Stone
Am Love
by Luca Guadagnino
makes em like this anymore.
The upper-class Italian drama I Am Love has a luscious
visual scheme and ambitious epic themes: family loyalty, wealth
and power, economic globalization, sexual and emotional liberation.
At times, moviegoers may feel like theyre watching a revival
instead of a brand-new film. While director Luca Guadagnino
may not quite pull off the political points hes trying to
make, the emotional arc of a family coming apart rings true.
In the end, though, the films essential asset is its lead,
Tilda Swinton.
Set in contemporary Milan, I Am Love begins with a
spectacular dinner/birthday party for the patriarch (Gabriele
Ferzetti) of the Recchi clan. The house of his son, Tancredi
(Pippo Delbono), may be in the modernist style, but it exudes
the hushed grandeur of a 19th-century mansion. The impeccably
dressed servants rush about, all under the assured direction
of Tancredis wife, Russian-born Emma (Swinton). Family members
mill about, including the patriarchs wife (Marisa Berenson,
totally, amusingly authoritative with the bearing and watchful
eye of a queen), and Tancredi and Emmas children, Edoardo
(Flavio Parenti) and Elisabetta (Alba Rohrwacher).
The Recchis are an unflappable, traditional bunch. The party
is perfect. The talk of business is cool, optimistic, assured.
The slightest variation from the normas when a granddaughter
gives an unexpected giftcauses dismay. Because these are
the members of the ruling class, and extremely tasteful people,
dismay is registered quietlybut unmistakably.
Of course, nothing like this can last. And it doesnt, because
Emma Recchi wakes up from her emotional slumber, and starts
to venture forth from this cocoon of wealth and polite emotions.
She falls in love with a chef, her sons friend, vividly,
without holding back. His exquisite dishes seduce her, long
before theyre ever alone, let alone touch each other.
Swinton is perfect. The transformation from socially correct
eminence to human being is both passionate and precise. While
the director may indulge himself with overripe imagery in
the love scenesone romp in the fields has enough close-ups
of birds and bees to make D.H. Lawrence swoonSwinton never
goes over the top.
Meanwhile, the family business is being sold, factories turned
into finance. Its astute, but thinly developed. The most
trenchant political point is made by an Asian Pacific-American
businessman, who keeps intoning, hilariously, that capital
is democracy.
The film ends as it began, with an elaborate dinner party.
At the beginning, the servants wore red; at the end, theyre
dressed in blackas if for a funeral. And so there is a death,
but not, really, a tragedy. The members of the Recchi family
who want to live life to the fullest survive, which makes
I Am Love genuinely, surprisingly, hopeful.
Funny Lady
Rivers: A Piece of Work
by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg
Referencing Charles Bukowski when talking about Joan Rivers
seems a bit crazy. But the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece
of Work, which follows the comedienne around during the
year of her 75th birthday, brought to mind one of his poems.
Pardon the violence to formatting, but the text is, Take
a writer away from his typewriter and all you have left is
the sickness which started him writing in the beginning.
Much as Bukowski became famous for his lifestyle as much as
for his work, Joan Rivers has become iconic for reasons not
really central to hers. Wemost of us, anywayknow her as
a comedienne by professional classification more than by example,
these days. Shes the much-operated-upon, red-carpet commentator/celebrity
pitchwoman/reality-show participant. Shes more Gosselin than
Groucho, more Kardashian than Carlin.
One of the fascinating aspects of this documentary is how
well aware of this fact Rivers is: She is, she points out,
as much a mini-industry as she is an artist. Shes got bills
to pay; and shes above nothing (Ill wear a diaper. Ill
do anything.) to make a buck and to maintain a lavish standard
of living.
But itd be tough to call her a sellout. Riverss sickness,
to get back to Bukowski, makes the idea almost irrelevant.
As the footage of Rivers stand-up makes clear, she does not
aspire to universal appeal. Which is not to say that shes
undisciplined: Rivers has boundaries, but theyre the boundaries
of craft. On the one hand, we see her discard a joke about
Michelle Obamas glamour (We had Jackie O., now we have Blackie
O.); but we also see her take down a heckler who objects
to a bit about deaf children, which he finds insensitive.
Rivers defends her bit in language you wouldnt expect from
a shill (or a grandma). And it kills. She keeps her audience
in mind, but shes going for funnyall the time, seemingly
Though Rivers claims to think of herself as an actress, and
that she got into comedy as a quicker route to a paycheck,
the film suggests otherwise. Even when offstage, Rivers is
an engine turning vulnerability, anger, regret and insecurity
into jokes. Away from her typewriter, so to speak, on the
carpet or QVC, Rivers falls somewhere along a spectrum of
uninteresting to grating; but at her real job, Rivers is a
pro, in the fullest sense of the term, and its compelling
and, even a little inspiring, to watch her work.
dead, the other isnt: Pattinson and Stewart in The
Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
Side of the Mooning
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
by David Slade
the third installment of the Twilight Saga, is even
more of a drag than the second, New Moon, in which
Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) went comatose over the departure
of her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).
Bella still seems comatose, even though Eclipse opens
with the two high-school sweethearts nuzzling and reading
poetry in a field of flowers, a Hallmark moment that causes
Edwards complexion to sparkle like diamond dust in the sunshine
(likely due to a better makeup artist, about the only improvement
this adaptation has to offer). Yet Bella is stricken with
indecision even before her werewolf friend Jacob Black (Taylor
Lautner) declares his lustful love for her, and thats because
this is part three, and Bella must finally admit to feeling
physical yearnings for her undead boyfriend. And because Myers
books are pro-abstinence, Edward proposes, and insists on
marriage first, ravishment later. It isnt until halfway in
that a conversation between them gets to the heartlessness
of the matter: That physical intimacy will result in Bella
losing her life and her immortal soul. Which is apparently
fine with Bella, who wants to be turned (translation: murdered
and reanimated) before she becomes any older than her teenage
Add vanity to apathy.
At the same time, a young man is attacked by an unseen predator,
holding promise that new director David Slade (30 Days
of Night) might inject some frights or suspense into the
background. But no, the new guy is just a pawn of the vengeful
Victoria (now played by Bryce Dallas Howard) who uses him
to build a vampire army that resembles a team of high-speed
zombies rather than sinister bloodsuckers. Despite the Cullens
intra-monster strategy of enlisting Jacobs werewolf clan
to help save Bella, the pacing is narcoleptic; the film is
filled with lingering close-ups of the three stars, and the
driveling conflicts between their characters puff up the running
time. The battle of the newborn vamp army and the werewolves
(CGI wolves the size of ponies that look about as realistic
and dangerous as FAO Schwartz stuffed animals) is the silliest
smackdown this side of a Saturday morning cartoon, as the
mere impact of colliding bodies can shatter the vamps like
ceramic figurines.
This is the least sensual of the three sagas, especially since
Bellas lassitude can no longer be attributed to anguish.
The plot is merely an excuse for audience-pleasing sequences
(its noticeable that Slade started in music videos) rather
than narrative: At one point, atop a freezing mountain campsite
that was written in just to showcase Jacobs high body temperature
(even a snowstorm cant get him to put on a shirt!) one cant
help wondering why Edward doesnt just bite Jacob so all three
of them can squabble and flirt and make inane declarations
of passion into eternity. Better yet, the franchise could
replace screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg with someone who can
write a script instead of marketing gimmick.
Arms and the Old Man
by Daniel Barber
The setting of the revenge drama Harry Brown is a British
housing project. Grim in that special way only 1970s brutalist
architecture can be, this estate is a gray hive filled with
the poor and the old, and those who prey on them. Elderly
gent Harry Brown (Michael Caine) goes through his daily routinetoast
and tea, taking pills, visiting a dying spouse, playing chess
in the local pubwith the sick sounds of this unhappy habitat
as omnipresent soundtrack.
Caine is all tired reserve as Harry, an ex-military man turned
sweet as gentle Jesus who has lost, and will continue to
lose, everything he loves. Its a restrained, assured performance,
strong enough to withstand the films dully clinical eye and
glacial pace.
Soon enough, Harrys elderly chess pal is brutally murdered
by the leaders of a local gang who hang out, day and night,
in a dark, narrow, graffiti-splattered pedestrian passage
under a four-lane highway.
If an underpass suggests hell to you, youre catching on to
the intentions of director Daniel Barber and coproducer Matthew
Vaughn. They give us the usual urban underworld packed with
vile creatures, ineffectual policeas an inspector, Emily
Mortimer wanders from scene to scene looking lostand doomed
The filmmakers take Harry Browns nightmarish tone
to phantasmagorically lurid levels when the hero finally resolves
to buy a gun. (This is a Big Deal in handgun-free England.)
Harry follows a drug dealer back to the office and meets
up with that slimy losers confederate, Stretch (Sean Harris,
so memorable as Ian Curtis in 24 Hour Party People).
A rail-thin, shirtless junky covered in crude prison tats,
Stretch is a human devil presiding over a warehouse-sized
hell of pot plants, drugged-out losers, bags of money, crates
of guns and a flat-screen TV showcasing homemade porn. Harry
tries to be a gentlemanhe wants to just buy a gun and leavebut
is too repulsed by what he sees. The scene ends, utterly without
surprise, in a paroxysm of violence.
Is it effective? Yes. But its emblematic of the entire film:
You dont get the idea that the filmmakers have much on their
minds. For a film that goes out of its way to lampoon the
police for eschewing nuanced thinking, Harry Brown utterly
lacks nuanced thinking. Yes, its careful to show the miserable
social setting, and, yes, the plot is grounded in organized
criminality rather than that old Hollywood bugaboo, ethnic-
or race-based social pathology, but Harry Brown is
still simpleminded.
His military instincts revived, Harry sets about the work
of putting things right. He surveys the neighborhood crew,
observes their various MOs, and sets in motion their undoing.
Theres some cinematic pleasure in watching Harrys revenge
play out, but not much enlightenment.


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CAMH Knowledge Exchange
Discovering, sharing and applying new knowledge
From: Exposure to Psychotropic Medications and Other Substances during Pregnancy and Lactation: A Handbook for Health Care Providers
Even without specific training as a counsellor, health care practitioners who provide care to pregnant women with substance use and/or mental health problems can play a key therapeutic role in helping women move toward a better health outcome. Listening to women's concerns and fears, and offering guidance and reassurance, can help providers be effective health care allies. Stigma and marginalization prevent many women with substance use and mental health problems from presenting to health care providers. Even women who do enter prenatal care are likely to feel guarded and ashamed of their substance use and/or mental illness. Understanding stigma's effects and responding non-judgmentally to women who are reluctant to participate in care may help women become more engaged in their own treatment process.
Research confirms that a positive therapeutic relationship between a provider and a client has a helpful impact. Michael Lambert has explored factors that lead to successful change in someone's life (see Figure 3). Lambert1 concluded that:
Therefore, health care providers can have a significant impact by helping a woman find adequate housing and work and develop stable, positive interactions in her life outside of therapy; by focusing on the quality of the therapeutic relationship; by using appropriate therapeutic techniques and skills; and by fostering her sense of hope for change. Encouraging a sense of optimism greatly enhances other factors, such as the therapeutic relationship, and is key to influencing a person's ability to change.
A health care provider's communication style can affect how a woman responds to his or her advice. Even subtle perceived negative attitudes can undermine a woman's trust in her provider. Care in a provider's choice of words, demeanour and attention can make it easier for a woman to listen and communicate, and to act on new knowledge.
Using good communication skills includes:
In addition to general communications skills, it is critical for a provider to be prepared to answer difficult questions, for example: "Will child protection services take my baby away?" "What happens if I test positive after giving birth?" "What happens if my baby goes into withdrawal?" "Do you have to tell my partner about the things we talk about?" "Will you report me if I tell you something in confidence?" It is important to respond directly and immediately to women's questions, to provide specific information and to be clear and upfront. Women who ask tough questions but don't get "straight answers" from their health care providers often become guarded and uncertain about disclosing information.
Health care providers may see a woman several times over the course of her pregnancy, and any contact is also an opportunity to develop a trusting relationship with her. During clinical appointments, providers can explore:
Overall, use of good communication skills can help motivate clients toward positive behavioural change, help them stay actively engaged in their own care and instil hope for the future.
The most common definition of motivational interviewing is a "client-centered, directive method for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence"3 (p. 25). The word "interviewing," rather than "counselling" or "treatment," stresses the egalitarian nature of the encounter between provider and client and the fact that they are "viewing" things together.3
Motivational interviewing has been shown to be particularly helpful in working with people who use substances.4 This method focuses on clients' experiences; draws on their concerns, perspectives and values; and encourages clients to evaluate their own life choices and explore the consequences of their choices in a non-judgmental way.
Four principles guide motivational interviewing:
Motivational interviewing uses an empathic communication style. This is achieved through the therapeutic skill of reflective listening.
When listening reflectively, the counsellor mirrors, in his or her own words, what the client says and checks that he or she correctly understood the client. As the provider asks open-ended questions and reflects back the client's words, feelings, context and experience in a respectful and non-judgmental manner, the client comes to feel understood and accepted. Paradoxically, when people feel accepted as they are, they become freer to change than when they are told they need to change. The counsellor sees ambivalence about changing as a normal part of the process.3 Reflective listening is also key to building the client-counsellor relationship, in that it conveys empathy, understanding and acceptance.
Reflective listening is difficult to master, and providers may unwittingly set up roadblocks that can prevent clients from exploring or elaborating on a problem or issue. Some of these roadblocks may even trigger or intensify resistance to change.
These roadblocks3 (p. 68) include:
There are several levels of reflective listening. The most simplistic is to parrot or echo, virtually word for word, what a client says. More complex reflective listening conveys deeper reflection of the client's meaning, including mirroring the emotional aspect of a client's words and linking those feelings to her expressed thoughts and to life events.
An important way to help a woman resolve ambivalence is to highlight and amplify discrepancies, from her perspective, between the present behaviour and broader goals and values. Change can be triggered by her heightened awareness that a current behaviour is getting in the way of achieving important goals, or that it conflicts with important values. Discrepancies provide reasons to change. Developing discrepancy involves exploring how she would like to see herself, and how the current behaviour conflicts with that vision. By becoming aware of discrepancies, she can find and articulate her own reasons for changing, rather than having the provider give reasons for change.3
In motivational interviewing, the counsellor avoids confrontation and does not directly oppose a client's resistance to change. Arguing for change—or even taking up the side of the client's ambivalence that favours change—usually leads to a counterproductive dynamic in which clients feel they have to defend their position and they become entrenched in resistance. Instead, the counsellor views resistance as a natural part of change and uses it as an opportunity to involve the client in weighing the pros and cons of continuing behaviours and exploring options for and barriers to change. Respecting that a woman is the primary resource for finding answers and solutions, the provider invites—but does not impose—new perspectives. How the provider responds to resistance will influence whether it increases or decreases; resistance is a sign for the provider to shift his or her approach and a cue to examine the woman's underlying assumptions about change.3
Self-efficacy refers to a person's belief that she has the ability to carry out, and succeed at, a specific task. For change to occur, a woman must have a sense that change is possible and that she can make it happen—the sense of expectancy and hope for recovery is noted in Figure 3. To build her self-confidence, the counsellor can explore the woman's past successes, or provide successful role models that she can identify with.3 The provider's belief in the woman's ability to change is key, but the woman, not the provider, is responsible for choosing and carrying out change.
A crucial determinant of maternal and fetal health involves assessing a woman for current violence, safety or trauma issues and providing immediate resources if issues arise. Many women who struggle with substance use and mental health issues have experienced sexual or physical abuse in their past. For example, as much as 38 per cent of the general population in Ontario report childhood physical or sexual abuse.5 And in a U.S. national comorbidity study,6 which surveyed a sample of adults in the general population, the estimated lifetime exposure to severe traumatic events was 61 per cent in men and 51 per cent in women. Women were more likely than men to develop stress symptoms following rape, sexual molestation and physical attack, being threatened with a weapon or childhood physical abuse. While men were more likely than women to be exposed to traumatic conditions, women were twice as likely to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (10 per cent vs. five per cent). This difference may be related to the fact that women are 13 times more likely than men to be raped or sexually molested.6
A 2000 report states that:
Among those seeking help for substance use problems, women report past abuse much more frequently than men. In fact, most women in substance use treatment programs report physical and sexual abuse over their lifetime, and about one-quarter have received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).7 (p. 416)
In addition, research suggests that when women involved in violent or abusive relationships become pregnant, the violence and abuse often continue during the pregnancy, although in some situations abuse may begin when a woman becomes pregnant.8 Up to 40 per cent of first incidents of domestic violence occur while the woman is pregnant.9
Supportive discussions at every visit can help reassure a woman that she has choices and options in terms of dealing with violence and trauma. Connecting her with supports (e.g., agencies, services) can help her cope with these issues as well as the physical and emotional challenges of pregnancy.
Health care providers in Canada have a legal responsibility to report any child who needs or may need child protection services; this obligation only applies to the child once born. Providers should contact their local child protection services for reporting responsibilities and procedures, and should discuss the issue and obtain written consent from the pregnant woman if considering a referral to a child protection service during the prenatal period.
Many women who use substances fear their provider will report them to authorities, which presents a challenge in attending to their health care needs. Helping a woman understand her rights and the provider's responsibilities—before the birth—can help her to make decisions around her substance use while pregnant and to evaluate her behaviour. Women should be encouraged to have open communication with child protection services. Decisions regarding supervision and custody are less likely to be adversarial when women are engaged in services.10 (See "An Example of Key Principles in Action" for an illustration of an outreach program that has successfully worked with child protection services and women who use substances to help women retain custody of their children.)
It may also be helpful for care providers to introduce the woman to the supportive services (e.g., parenting classes) available through child protection services before the child is born. This would provide further opportunities for her to discuss her concerns (e.g., how she would be followed clinically; whether she would be able to take her child home; what the expectations for behaviour change would be in order to regain custody and access, if the child were removed from her care).
If a woman presents to a provider with probable signs of violence, a health care provider will have to decide whether it might be appropriate to contact other agencies or authorities to help protect the woman. It is important to consult with a woman's advocacy service such as a rape crisis centre or a legal clinic to get clarification about what can and cannot be disclosed about potential abuse a woman may face, and about the roles and limits of police and court powers.
Developing trust and rapport with a woman becomes more feasible when a provider shows empathy, communicates well, has a thorough grasp of the realities of the woman's life, draws on effective counselling strategies, uses a non-judgmental approach and understands the legal issues regarding the safety of the woman and her baby. Being able to talk comfortably and sensitively—but also directly—about difficult and "taboo" subjects such as substance use encourages open dialogue and honesty, which can lead the woman to become more fully informed and in a better position to make optimal choices for both her own and her child's well-being.
Exposure to Psychotropic Medications and Other Substances during Pregnancy and Lactation: A Handbook for Health Care Providers
General issues and background
Psychotropic medications and other substances: Properties, effects and recommendations
Index of drugs
DISCLAIMER: Information on this site is not to be used for diagnosis, treatment or referral services and CAMH does not provide diagnostic, treatment or referral services through the Internet. Individuals should contact their personal physician, and/or their local addiction or mental health agency for further information.
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text:
Once upon a time in classic World of Warcraft, there was an organization called the Argent Dawn. This organization made its home in the heart of the Plaguelands ruined by the Scourge during Warcraft 3 and sought to fight back and cure the land of the plague that ailed it. But the Argent Dawn could not do it alone, which is where players both Alliance and Horde came into the picture. In the Plaguelands, both factions worked for the same cause, and the Argent Dawn oversaw it all.
Later, the Argent Dawn evolved into the Argent Crusade, setting its sights on Northrend and the Lich King's throne. Those loyal to the Argent Dawn readily joined the Argent Crusade and traveled to the chilly peaks of Icecrown in the hopes of putting an end to the Lich King. After a long war, the mission was a success, and the Argent Crusade returned home -- but what of those who belong to the Argent Crusade? What does an Argent Crusader have to do these days?
For roleplayers with characters who belong to this organization, there may be a little less to work with than there was in Wrath of the Lich King; the Argent Crusade isn't really a highlight of Cataclysm. But that doesn't mean there aren't points to consider when playing your courageous hero.
This guide is for members or former members of the Argent Dawn and Argent Crusade. While the Blood Knights we covered last week are Blood-Elf exclusive, the Argent Dawn and Crusade are neutral organizations; they will take any race, any class into the fold. The only thing required for membership in the Argent Dawn or Crusade is a fierce devotion to cleansing the land of any Scourge influence -- and a little dedication to the Holy Light won't hurt you, either.
Paladins and priests are the most common members found associated with the Argent Crusade, because of that affinity with the Holy Light. But there are plenty others -- hunters, members of the Kirin Tor, warriors, even rogues and other dark classes associate with the organization. If your character ever spent any amount of time in the Plaguelands, you are doubtless familiar with the Argent Dawn; if you fought in Northrend, then you absolutely know of the Argent Crusade.
The Argent Dawn and the Argent Crusade
The Argent Dawn is actually a splinter branch of the Scarlet Crusade, oddly enough. Back in the days of the Third War, the Scarlet Crusade was formed to rid Lordaeron of the Scourge. However, members of the Scarlet Crusade soon became more and more corrupt as time went on. After the death of Scarlet Highlord Alexandros Mograine, a group of Scarlet Crusade members, suspicious of the Scarlet Crusade's corruption and warned by High Inquisitor Fairbanks, left the organization for good. These were the founding members of the Argent Dawn.
The Argent Dawn sought to do what the Scarlet Crusade was supposedly doing -- rid the world of the Scourge. However, the Argent Dawn took a different approach, opening its doors to non-Humans and even non-Alliance, if there were any of the Horde who wished to join. The Argent Dawn focuses primarily on the Holy Light, making it slightly more appealing to Alliance than Horde, but there are Horde members, and anyone is welcome to join the ranks.
The Argent Dawn spent much of its time trying to work together with the Scarlet Crusade to eliminate the Scourge. However, the Argent Dawn was hardly friendly with the Scarlet Crusade, despite the two organizations' supposedly working toward the same cause -- hardly friendly, that is, until the dread citadel of Naxxramas came to rest above the Plaguelands. The Argent Dawn formed an uneasy alliance with the Scarlet Crusade, hoping that between the two forces, they would have enough people to fight back Kel'Thuzad's army of undead.
It seemed to be working well enough, and Kel'Thuzad was defeated. But it wasn't for long. When heroic adventurers returned to Light's Hope Chapel with the Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad, they returned the item to Father Inigo Montoy. It later turned out that Montoy did not take the Phylactery to the Argent Dawn to be destroyed -- instead, he took the Phylactery and fled to Northrend, where he used the Phylactery to ressurect Kel'Thuzad.
The Argent Dawn had little presence in The Burning Crusade, but that would all change in Wrath. After the Battle for Light's Hope Chapel, played out in the death knight starting experience, there was a shift in the Argent Dawn's purpose. Tirion Fordring decided to reform the Order of the Silver Hand, a sect of paladins established by Uther after the First War. The Order of the Silver Hand merged with the Argent Dawn, and this is when the Argent Crusade was established.
Like the Argent Dawn before it, the Argent Crusade is a neutral organization devoted to the eradication of the Scourge. It was at the forefront of the assault on Icecrown Citadel in Wrath of the Lich King, seeking to strike out at the heart of the Scourge's power rather than try to stem the flow of the tide in the Plaguelands. Now that the Lich King has been defeated, the Argent Crusade has retaken Hearthglen and from there, it seeks to restore the Plaguelands to their former beauty.
What now?
What happened With the Lich King's defeat, it may seem as though the Argent Crusade has little to do. But events in the Plaguelands, both east and particularly the west, are still under way. The last vestiges of the Scourge are still being held at bay in the Plaguelands, as well as a new problem -- the resurgence of the Forsaken that seek to claim Andorhal as their own.
How this affects your character Both Alliance and Horde members of the Argent Crusade have points to ponder here. If Alliance, you're still struggling to take back Andorhal and the rest of the Plaguelands -- the fight is still not over. If Horde, you have the same issue with eradicating the Scourge as the Alliance. But there's also the fact that one race out of the Horde is attempting to claim the lands for its own purposes, and those purposes may not lie in the same direction as the Argent Crusade's.
What to consider For Alliance characters, the reclamation of the Plaguelands has been an effort over many, many years. How does your character feel about the Lich King's demise? Did you assume the plague would simply retreat at the Lich King's death? Are you tired of the constant struggle, ready to give in and simply retire? Or are you determined to complete your task, continuing to pour your efforts into healing the plague-ridden land?
For Horde characters, the story is a little different. Since Sylvanas and the Forsaken are launching an all-out assault to claim Andorhal as their own, there is a potential conflict of interest for Horde members of the Argent Crusade. How does your character feel about the Forsaken and their efforts? Do you turn a blind eye to the actions of Sylvanas, or do you try to find a way to stymie her efforts without incurring her wrath? Are you tired of the fighting, simply wanting it to all be over, or are you curious about the true nature of the Forsaken's intentions, willing to research this for the Argent Crusade at the risk of potentially being a traitor to the Horde?
What happened The Argent Dawn and Argent Crusade are both neutral organizations that believe there are far worse things in the world to worry about than Alliance and Horde conflicts. This means that Alliance and Horde characters often serve side by side with a common goal that unites them both.
How this affects your character In Cataclysm, the conflict between Alliance and Horde rose to a fever pitch and fully ignited. All around the world, attacks and battles are waged daily between Alliance and Horde. But in the ranks of the Argent Crusade, all are equal, regardless of faction, which can create another conflict of interest -- this time, for both factions.
What to consider How does your character feel about the opposing faction? Are you fine with working in unison, or are you suspicious of the other faction's motives? Do you continue to serve the Argent Crusade with as much zest as you did prior to Cataclysm, or did the events following Cataclysm's launch change your mind? Are you content with the neutrality of the organization, or do you wish the Argent Crusade would simply pick a side and be done with it?
What happened The Argent Crusade focuses primarily on the Holy Light. While not a strict religious organization, there are still plenty of religious influences in its behavior and methods. For most priests and paladins, this isn't really an issue, as they've been practicing the ways of the Holy Light for years. For those who don't follow the Holy Light, it's not really an issue as much as an interesting situation to play around with.
How this affects your character If your character is a priest or paladin who follows the tenets of the Holy Light, there isn't much to consider here. But if your character is a class that doesn't work with the Holy Light, it makes for some interesting potential roleplay moments as you try to wrap your head around what the Holy Light is, if it works, and whether or not you really believe in it.
What to consider How does your character feel about the Holy Light? Are you curious about it? Do you want to know more about how it works? Or are you skeptical of the tenets, questioning their validity? How do you handle being in an organization that places so much weight on something you may not necessarily grasp? Is it something you want to try and learn, or is it something you're simply content with leaving to the paladins and priests of the world?
Though the Argent Crusade's main stand against the Lich King was a success, the battle is far from over. Keep in mind, as with the plot points we'll be going over with other organizations, these plot points shouldn't be the primary focus of your character. You'll want to make note of the other things your character should be thinking about from a racial perspective and even a faction perspective. But the struggle of the Argent Crusade definitely has some plot points to keep in mind, and doing so can add a layer or two of extra flavor to the character you play.
All the World's a Stage is your source for roleplaying ideas, innovations and ironies. Let us help you imagine what it's like to sacrifice spells for the story, totally immerse yourself in your roleplaying or even RP on a non-RP realm!


text:
St. Lucia is Jean-Philip Grobler. Oh, yeah: It's also a sovereign idyllic-island nation in the Atlantic not far from Barbados and Martinique whose inhabitants are primarily of Afro-Caribbean descent. Grobler's not from St. Lucia, but there are commonalities: a leisurely pace, ethereal lightness, ecstatic relaxation and a hodgepodge of internationalism.
Though Grobler calls Brooklyn home at the moment, he spent years studying music in Liverpool and got his bearings in South Africa, including a long residency with the Drakensberg Boys Choir School. It was his choir days that exposed him to the wide range of influential musical styles, from Bach to bebop, that trickle into his work as an adult. We're still rolling around in the luxurious beauty of When The Night, St. Lucia's proper LP debut, released in October, and it's a record that harkens back to when M83 first used that saxophone on "Midnight City." Strains of Washed Out, Empire of the Sun and Tanlines are here, too.
Grobler's obviously got a voice on him, but the synths and richness of the St. Lucia sound is fleshed out with his friends—Nick Brown, Ross Clark, Nicky Paul and Patricia Beranek—on stage. This super-stellar outfit is just getting over an opening gig for Two Door Cinema Club. Bet they enjoyed a handful of summery walks on the beach, exchanging secrets about euphoric chilltimes. Get yourself an earful of that euphoria at WCL tonight. / BILL CHENEVERT
8:30pm. $15. With Panama Wedding. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. philly.worldcafelive.com
Monday, January 13, 2014
Recurring: ONCE
8:30pm $15
World Cafe Live , 3025 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA
One time only on 01/13/2014. .


text:
Plastic Motor Powered Directly By Light, No Solar Middleman Necessary
Professor Tomiki Ikeda, along with his research team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a plastic motor that runs on direct light. Unlike solar power, there is no need for storing energy before conversion. The motor can achieve this feat thanks to a plastic compound containing azobenzene which… »


text:
�I sit on the sidelines,
Watching them laugh and play,
Barely even noticing me.
I blink and look away.
The tears well in my eyes,
As they bounce around,
I cover my ears,
And try to block the sound.
I steal a glance towards them,
The sight makes me feel worse,
They seem so alive and happy,
Without me; the curse.
I stand up and try to run,
But my legs - like jelly,
Disappear from beneath me,
And I land on my belly.
Suddenly there is a crash,
I know I've knocked something down.
I cry even harder,
My face locked in a frown.
My parents come rushing in,
Their feet pounding the floor,
When they see what I've done,
They go silent and head for the door.
I hear it slam behind them,
I know was it going to come,
Then just as I expected,
The screaming has begun.
They yell for what seems like hours,
Then they enter the room once more,
My mother doesn't look at me,
And my father pulls me off the floor.
He looks into my eyes,
He knows it was a mistake,
But he still slaps me -
For my mother's sake.
His hand strikes across my face,
As the tears continue flowing.
I jump out of his grasp,
And scream that I'm going.
I dive through the door,
My feet finding a quick pace,
Then I bolt down the street,
Glad to be rid of that place.
I don't think about my future,
Or how I'm going to exist,
I'm just glad to be away from them,
And my father's fist.
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text: Home Media Center Press Releases Power and Resources Renewable Generation Takes Off in Asia Pacific 16 May 2012 RSS Feed Tweet Send to a colleague Renewable power is set to boom in many Asian countries, according to a new report from energy experts GlobalData. The new report* states that government support for renewable generation in the Asia-Pacific is strong, due to growing energy demand, increasing concerns over global warming, and the need to diversify energy sources. Australia, Japan and New Zealand have all signed the Kyoto Protocol, while, at the Copenhagen summit, India and China pledged to reduce emissions. All countries in the region are expected to continue to invest in the renewable energy sector over the coming decades, and are using Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), Feed-in Tariffs (FITs), soft loans, tax incentives and other measures to promote the renewable energy industry. China has led the region's adoption of renewable energy sources following the launch of the government's 12th five-year plan in 2011, which announced the promotion of new energy development, incorporating specific deployment targets for renewable energy. China has begun to develop wind turbine and solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing industries, and in 2011 became the largest wind power market in the world, with a total installed capacity of 60,307 megawatts (MW), overtaking the US. The anticipated construction of six additional onshore and two coastal/offshore wind projects by 2015 will bring about 120 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower and 70 GW of wind power capacity. China also aims to develop 5 GW of solar energy projects to achieve its aim to generate 15% of its electricity through renewables by 2020. Other Asia-Pacific countries have also taken steps to encourage renewable energy development. Thailand has announced a number of measures to boost its biomass industry, aiming to increase its share of renewables to 90% by 2020 and to develop as a regional biofuel-producing hub. The Korean government is also heavily promoting green power generation through a generous FIT for the solar PV market, which helped to achieve a total installed renewable capacity of 7,866 MW by the end of 2011.The Indian government has also launched the 'Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission', which aims to deploy solar energy technologies to achieve parity with the grid power tariff by 2022, therefore establishing India as a global renewables leader. The mission aims to set framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022, and increase the capacity of grid-connected solar power generation to 1,000 MW by 2013 and 3,000 MW by 2017. In stark contrast, Japan's renewable energy market has remained static due to the insufficient implementation of market policies, including the demand for approval of legislation in 2011 to create a national FIT scheme, which will mandate utility providers to purchase power from renewable energy sources at a rate fixed by the government. -ENDS- NOTES TO EDITORS *Asia Pacific Renewable Energy Policy Handbook 2012 This report presents an in-depth analysis of the renewable energy policies across the major countries in Asia Pacific, namely China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. It details the key policy instruments adopted by some of the major and emerging nations that led to huge development in the renewable industry of the region. The report also provides insights to major policy initiatives taken up by Central Administrations of China, India, Australia, Republic of Korea and others for the market development of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biopower and biofuels. It additionally provides major technology specific policies and incentives provided in each of these countries. This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData's team of industry experts. ABOUT GLOBALDATA GlobalData is the premier source of actionable insight into the energy and healthcare industries. With the combined expertise of more than 1,000 researchers, market analysts and consultants, we provide high-quality, accurate and transparent industry insight that helps our clients to achieve growth and increase business value. For further details, please Contact Us. Subscribe to our RSS Feed: RSS Feed Related ReportsOver 25% of Brazil's Total Power Capacity Will Come from Non-Hydro Renewable Sources by 2025, says GlobalDataReduced Solar Photovoltaic Additions in Germany and Japan Will Not Dampen Global Growth in 2015, says GlobalDataChina's Non-Hydropower Renewable Installed Capacity Will More than Triple to 609 Gigawatts by 2025, says GlobalDataGlobal Gas Generator Installed Capacity Will More Than Double to 18.8 Gigawatts by 2025, says GlobalDataNuclear and Renewables Will Drive India's Cumulative Installed Capacity Beyond 600 GW by 2025, says GlobalData


text:
Then space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale at a Kennedy Space Center news conference in advance of a space shuttle launch.
- Filed Under
Wayne Hale's passion for exploration, his knowledge and his ability to talk straight make him a potent weapon for space advocacy. This week, the former NASA leader went before the U.S. Senate and pointedly summed up the state of America's space program.
After working decades in the government-run space shuttle and space station projects, the now private consultant told senators Thursday that NASA's seeding of commercial programs are the start of a solution to the biggest obstacle to space exploration.
"The most singularly vexing problem with spaceflight is the high cost of getting to low-Earth orbit," Hale told the committe, noting that the problem dogged the industry since its start. "In my home, I have an entire shelf of books populated by volumes of studies and proposals from a multitude of thinkers spread over decades on that subject: how to provide reliable, safe space transportation on the cheap."
Getting over that, Hale said, is done the same way that other major technological problems were solved: public-private partnership.
"So we are in a 'chicken or the egg' paradox," Hale testified. "Space business needs low-cost transportation to become profitable, while potential private transportation services need established business to justify the cost of construction. This is not the first time that America has been in this situation. Both the early railroads and fledgling air transportation industries found themselves becalmed in similar straits. In both these cases, and others, the federal taxpayers stepped in to provide critical resources to help new industries develop. Those investments have been paid back myriad-fold in tax revenues when the new industries caught fire and provided transportation systems that were the envy of the world."
He noted the space shuttle, which he spent most of his career working on, was to lower the cost of that first leg of the trip to deeper space. But, he said, a "risk-adverse government apparatus" resulted in a system only slightly cheaper.
"In the last decade, the United States embarked on a bold new experiment to turn over the creative reins of spacecraft development to entrepreneurial, nimble, flexible, creative private commercial teams. Bolstered with a modicum of taxpayer resources, these businesses have leveraged private investment to create the critical mass to develop new, much cheaper transportation systems."
Proof, he said, is a series of flights to the space station by SpaceX and Orbital Sciences and the ongoing development of private crew ships.
But, Hale warned: "Poised on the cusp of these new systems, we run the risk of being penny-wise and pound-foolish as we make the same mistake that doomed the space shuttle to much higher cost operations: starving a spacecraft development program in the name of saving a few pennies for today's budget bottom line, resulting in the compromised systems that, if they fly at all, will not be cheap enough to enable business in space."
He praised government programs to develop a super rocket and exploration craft, but those must pair with incentives for private companies to cut the cost of getting to low Earth orbit.
"Currently, the commercial space effort stands uncomfortably close to the brink of financial starvation. Deep space transportation development is being stretched out by similar restrictions. Business is looking to see if the government is serious about providing the critical support or whether this effort will be wasted as so many earlier government programs which withered away on the very cusp of success: National Launch System, Orbital Space Plane, and others."
Hale concluded with the senators by nailing the reason why this has to be done right.
"When the historians of the future look back on our era, they will recognize the movement of humanity from planet Earth into the solar system as the pivotal event of our times. There is no project that is so important for the long-term success of humankind. I would hope that those historians record that at this crossroad of history that a creative, enterprising, farsighted nation called America led the way.
"The prizes both economic and historic are too great to bypass. If America does not lead in these enterprises, somebody else will. And the leader will reap the greatest rewards both in the near-term and in the longer term."


text: John, Please let me know if you can share the lisp files for Maxima compatibility with Mathematica. If anyone wants to try out Mockmma please free to check out the sourceforge project and share your experience. Soon I will be posting a few tweaks to wxMaxima that will let you see the Mathematica-style command line. Would "Maximatica" be a better name than "Mockmma"? Hunter -----Original Message----- From: John Lapeyre [mailto:pdl at johnlapeyre.com] Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 3:02 PM To: Hunter Monroe; maxima at math.utexas.edu Subject: Re: Mockmma > Would you have any objection to me including your Mathematica > compatibility tools for maxima in a sourceforge project? This project > would develop a capability to translate Mathematica files into .mac > files and provide a Mathematica-style command line. This could also > build on Mockmma and work by Andrei Siver which has been discussed on > the maxima mailing list. A modest first objective might be to handle > the Combinatorica package created by Pemmaraju and Skiena (who hold copyright). Yes, you are certainly welcome to use it. I suddenly got an opportunity for a new, more demanding, job and have not touched the project for some time. I think I only posted the perl version. In the meantime I put a lot of work into modifiying Richards' parser (mostly because I was learning lisp) to replace this perl, because it was so slow. I also began to recode many compatibility functions in lisp, because I had a difficult time getting the maxima language to behave like I wanted it to. My proof of concept goal was to take a real-world collection of routines and get the translator and compatibility functions to such a state that they could translate this particular collection. I actually made a good bit of progress to that end. However, as Richard pointed out, some of the most interesting and powerful features of Mma are very difficult or impossible to duplicate, so such a project has this large inherent limitation. But, I imagine there is a good bit of application code, like the example that I was working on, that does not used these interesting features. I can send some of these other things, if you are interested. thanks, John


text:
Matt Lydecker
Revolving Door (0)
Sightings (2)
Walton Isaacson Debuts First Ever TV Spot for Knob Creek - Posted April 21, 2014
Chicago-based marketing and advertising agency Walton Isaacson have debuted the first ever television campaign for premium (and, we think, rather tasty) bourbon whiskey brand Knob Creek. Walter Isaacson worked with bi-coastal digital production and creative design studio Brand New School on the campaign, entitled "Bookerisms" for the sayings of Knob Creek... [GalleyCat]
Pizza Chain's Stoned-Looking Mascot Will Stalk its Twitter Followers - Posted October 24, 2012
We were a bit stacked on the campaign front yesterday, but we couldn't overlook this amusing, somewhat creepy but ultimately harmless effort from the folks at Atlanta's Fitzgerald+CO for pizza chain, Mellow Mushroom. We've been told that the chain, which was founded nearly 30 years ago near Georgia Tech University, embraces... [GalleyCat]


text:
Michael Frazier II scored 17 points, Scottie Wilbekin added 13 and No. 6 Florida handled Tennessee 67-41 on Saturday for its 11th consecutive win.
The Gators snapped a three-game losing streak in the series and extended their school record for consecutive home wins to 26.
The latest one was a defensive gem.
Florida held the Volunteers to a season-low in points and shooting percentage (27). The Volunteers' backcourt really struggled, with leading scorer Jordan McRae, Antonio Barton and Josh Richardson combining to make 2 of 29 shots.
Casey Prather chipped in 12 points for Florida, and Patric Young added 10.
Gators crush Vols for 26th straight home win
Tennessee had won their last 3 meetings with the Gators until Saturday's 67-41 loss.
Michael Frazier II scored 17 points, Scottie Wilbekin added 13 and No. 6 Florida handled Tennessee 67-41 on Saturday for its 11th consecutive win.
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text:
I might be the only one with this but... when i start the game with the trainer regardless of what i activate the multi jump option kicks in. And it screws up wallrunning and when you swing from poles. An easy solution that i know off is to not have the trainer on but then i cant have unlimeted chi and the occasional red crystals. I didnt have this bug when i used the trainer without the unlimted jump option. So does anyone know how to fix this?
[Edited by moderator PWizard, 11/28/2009 7:16:39 AM]
[Edited by Evilsanta, 11/28/2009 1:29:59 PM]
So Can we have a correction for this problem please
[Edited by TheGreyKnight, 12/12/2009 11:35:01 AM]
Please fix the trainer
thank you


text:
Set off on 'Gill'-iver's Travels to experience salmon migration
October 3, 2010
By Staff
NEW — 6 a.m. Oct. 3, 2010
In addition to the Roving Fish Fan hunt at the Salmon Days Festival, the downtown Issaquah Salmon Hatchery features "Gill"-iver's Travels — a chance for children and adults to assume the role of a migrating salmon.
(Trust us, nobody dies at the end of the journey.)
The experience starts at the entrance of the hatchery, 125 W. Sunset Way. Then, participants head to booths to answer questions about salmon, the environment and water quality. Show the passport to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife at the end of the journey to receive a fishy treat.
The program comes together through the efforts of the state fish and wildlife agency, the state Department of Natural Resources, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and King County.
The hatchery area also includes information from environmental nonprofits and service organizations, including the city Resource Conservation Office, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks' Noxious Weed Program, Trout Unlimited and the Issaquah Alps Trails Club.
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text:
I placed two orders Saturday night, one to fabric.com and the other to fabricmartfabrics.com
Fabric.com says it ships within 48 hours...not including the weekend, that time was up yesterday. My fabricmart order is arriving here today but the fabric.com order has not even shipped yet!
I sent them an email and got a canned response: we will try to get back to you in 24 hours.
Is this typical for them or did I just hit them at a bad spot?
------My machines (down to 2 now, from 5):
Sewing Machine - Quantum 9960
Serger - Baby Lock Ovation
I've never had a problem with really slow shipping with either of them.
However, I do think that shipping 'within 48 hours' means they will get it out their door in that period of time. It doesn't mean it will arrive on your doorstep in 48 hours.
Normally, I'd expect to see my fabric about a week after ordering it.
I placed an order thurs. before labor day weekend to Fabric.com and they just shipped it our yesterday. Of course all I ordered was no longer in stock so it was short 6 yards.
No, I did not expect it to arrive in 48 hours, I expected it to ship within 48 hours. Its coming up on 72 hours now (not including the weekend).
ally, thanks for that info, it does help somewhat. But that is my biggest fear is that I am going to hear that they don't have all the fabrics I ordered. But for now, I'd just like to hear anything from them.
Have you tried phoning them? Here's their phone info:
Hours of operation for customer service assistance: M-F 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM EST
Toll free number: 1-888-455-2940 - Local: 770-792-8590
Yes, I have their phone number, but thank you.
Too late to call them tonight now, I really hate using the phone anyway. I suppose if I don't get an answer to my email by tomorrow morning, I will have to do that.
I have ordered from them in the past and gotten my fabrics fairly quickly. I know that they moved recently and had sent out communications that their shipping would be a bit delayed. But I thought I saw that they were back to their normal shipping schedule.
I just adore fabricmartfabrics.... my order came, its my second order with them, both of them arrived within a few days of placing the order.
I got a free mystery fabric bundle this time.... wouldn't you know that 3 yards of it was of a fabric that I ordered from them just a few weeks ago! Wonderful fabric but I really didn't need more of it, LOL.
I do love everything that I ordered from them though. I am always surprised just how nice the fabrics are for the price I pay. But all I have around here is a Joann to compare it to and there is just no comparing. I am so glad that I am learning to buy fabrics online.I really didn't think it was possible to order without feeling them first. -- Edited on 9/12/12 7:45 PM --
I'm having the same issue with fabric.com, going on 10 days unshipped. I promised to make a few things for my kid's preschool classroom, and the extreme lateness is embarrassing...
Fabric.com is a crapshoot in terms of quality and service these days. What they are great for is designer fabrics that no one else discounts, liberty of London and the like.
Ten days!?!?! That's horrible!! But I know what you mean...the only reason I ordered from them is because they had some organic cotton that I could not find anywhere for even close to their price. Sure hope I am not disappointed in the quality.
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Jamie P. Merisotis
- Filed Under
As in most states across America, Florida's economy is fragile. So, leaders from around the state are busy devising strategies designed to grow jobs, create opportunity and build for a better tomorrow. That's good, but a significant challenge threatens to block their efforts if it's not addressed soon.
Education attainment, or lack thereof, is the issue, and it's poised to decide Florida's economic future and whether Floridians will enjoy greater prosperity and a better quality of life. Here's why and some thoughts on what needs to be done.
When it comes to education beyond high school, ...


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Start Date: Jul 01, 2011
End Date: Feb 28, 2013
A diverse group of fungicides will be evaluated for Sclerotinia head rot control on a commercial oilseed hybrid at five locations in four states (Sabin, MN; Carrington and Langdon, ND; Brookings, SD; and Scottsbluff, NE). Disease will be facilitated by artificial inoculation with ascospores and mist irrigation. A core set of 12 treatments (including a non-treated control and a non-inoculated treated-control) will be evaluated at all locations. The core set of treatments will primarily include chemicals labeled on other crops for white mold control but will also include experimental compounds. A non-inoculated fungicide treated check should provide an estimate of yield potential and facilitate development of yield loss assessment based on disease incidence and/or severity. Fungicides will be applied at the recommended highest rate, as determined by alternate crop labels and/or company/cooperator recommendations. Each location is likely to evaluate additional compounds beyond the core set, depending on space, external funding, and cooperator interest. Disease evaluations will be done at growth stages R-7 and R-8. Plots will be harvested for yield, and quality factors such as oil content and test weight will be measured.


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Yelawolf – Radioactive (REVIEW)
November 25, 2011 7 comments
Throw on your HazMat suits and pick up Radioactive on iTunes
Alabama rapper Yelawolf has, arguably, one of the most distinctive sounds in hip-hop. Last year's Trunk Muzik still stands as the proper testament to that. "Pop the Trunk", "Box Chevy (Part 3)", "Good to Go", "I Wish"; all showcases of a hungry, snarling, filthy-south MC matching his flow against the likes of Chip tha Ripper, Bun B, and Raekwon respectively. Radioactive comes by way of a major deal with Shady Records, behind the endorsement of Eminem himself. A series of events that display the organic rise of a truly original voice getting recognized purely on the merits of his skill.
Of course, we've seen this story before. Underground prodigy rises to gain the attention of the big label, only to be coaxed into conforming to the stencil mold of mainstream hip-hop. So, naturally, my inherent cynicism led me to the believe that Yela would succumb to a similar fate. Surprisingly, it took less than one major label debut to polish off the indie dirt and straighten the unique path that Yelawolf had been following to this point.
On "Throw it Up", my bid for the best track on here, we get the last vestige of Trunk Muzik Yelawolf, in terms of flow and subject matter. But, about 15 seconds into the short skit that follows the track, Yelawolf has a dialogue with Eminem about the direction the album should head in. The conversation goes something like:
{Eminem}: Um yo, you know what I was thinkin' man?
I think the one thing that uh.. that the album don't have
That might be missing
Is like uh.. a song for like, for girls
{Yelawolf}: Uh, what do you mean? For like bitches?
{Eminem}: Nah, girls. Like a love song
Whether this was done in gist, or meant to serve as a qualifier for the change of direction on the album, Radioactive simply never recovers from switching focus to that "love song". Or, any of the multiple love songs that bog down the second half of this record.
As far as the first half goes, though, it's a deceptively fun bunch. Not only is the "Radioactive Introduction" a spare, haunting cut featuring some of Yela's more effective and introspective wordplay, but its followup, "Get Away", opens the blinds on Mystikal's career after, essentially, 10 years of silence (Yup, this album). And, while I can't personally see myself listening to the Kid Rock assisted "Let's Roll" (do you even have to have heard the song to know the hook?), I can certainly see University of Alabama fans getting their "Roll Tide" on to this in Tuscaloosa.
"Growing Up in the Gutter" is anchored by a beat that resembles something like an alarm that's sounded when Guantanamo Bay is breached, but Yela's storytelling — which has been his ace in the hole when he's needed it — carries this track above average. And, the aforementioned "Throw it Up", accompanied by an Eminem in full on "rap-game attack mode", and Gangsta Boo, who essentially performs a vocal career resurrection for the time being, finds Yelawolf tearing through the lightly ominous WillPower beat with the confidence of a rookie with nothing to lose.
So, for everything to go downhill immediately afterward simply because Lord Marshall "speaketh it to be", is a little upsetting, considering the solid momentum built prior. "Good Girl" is the "love song" segue in question and, honestly, it's not terrible. The Audibles deliver their best replica Dre circa-2001 beat, and Poo Bear is admirable on the hook. It actually would've been the perfect "song for bitches" if it only occurred in that one instance. Instead, the album halts to accommodate it's new M.O.
"Made in the U.S.A." is especially offensive. Not because of the subject matter — Yela actually handles the topic of working-man blues coupled with first world guilt fairly well — but that hook… That hook is just deplorable. I'm sure she's probably a nice girl, but based on this song alone, I'd have no problem with Priscilla Renea mysteriously vanishing from existence (you know, quicker than the natural decline her career will determine). She can take Skylar Grey with her too.
Elsewhere, we get Fefe Dobson on the dubstep-lite "Animal", which I assume needs no further elaboration. "The Hardest Love Song in the World" tries, and fails, to live up to its advertising (sorry, this still exists), but isn't a complete clunker. Its follow-up, though, "Write Your Name", is just a head-scratcher. First off, this is Mona Moua (mysery solved). Mona is a fan who was so distraught after missing Yela live, that she made a tribute video, and was given an opportunity to be featured on his debut. Yeah, touching I guess. All irony aside, she's not that bad here. But, she's also pretty unremarkable. As is the song, with its J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League beat ("Aston martin Music pt. 2"?) and generic delivery. It's almost like they didn't want to give her anything too challenging, so they stuck with something so basic that it ended up hindering the track itself.
There's an eerie similarity in that story that takes a metaphoric role in why Radioactive is such a disappointment. Though the album does come back to form later on tracks "Slumerican Shitizen" (Killer Mike is clutch) and "The Last Song", which gets a tad bit sappy. But, not before the damage is done. What got Yelawolf here is clearly not the major concern of his handlers, and that's what's so concerning. I don't hear Yelawolf all the time on Radioactive. The emphasis on production, and features, and themes, and structure have, without a doubt, stifled Yelawolf's most important instrument: his personality.
There are millions of people who know who Yelawolf is and are aware of his potential. Sadly, I don't think the majority of the people behind the release of this particular album can be included in that group.


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- Filed Under
Nov. 26
White Plains: Saving Sandy's Survivors talent showcase benefit. Charles Enterprises and Nicole Watson will
present this benefit to help Sandy survivors put their lives back together. 9 p.m.
Admission is nonperishable foods, clothes, essentials or children's toys. Please visit http://shanequacharles.com/blog.html for information. Talent is needed for show. Berkeley College, 99 Church St. 347-865-4100.
Nov. 28
New Rochelle: Rotary Club of New Rochelle Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Fund. The club will hold a cocktail fundraiser in lieu of a regular meeting. Featuring cash bar and limited hors d'oeuvres. Proceeds will benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy in the community. 6-7:30 p.m. $30. The Davenport Club, 400 Davenport Ave. To make a contribution make checks payable to New Rochelle Rotary Foundation. Rotary Club of New Rochelle, P.O. Box 785, New Rochelle, NY 10801. For more information, contact Kathleen V. Fanese at 914-672-9823, firstname.lastname@example.com.
Dec. 1
Cold Spring: Murder Cafe will be performing a unique dinner show at various locations in the Hudson Valley to benefit those affected by Supersrorm Sandy. Actors and carolers bring scenes from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" to Hudson House River Inn on Dec. 1 and Dec. 15. Tickets prices include a complete dinner and the professional and critically-acclaimed show. $40-$65 per person, with $2 from each ticket to be donated to the American Red Cross Mid-Hudson Valley Chapter with funds going directly to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Other venues in the Hudson Valley and more information
can be found at www.murdercafe.net, on facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Murder-Cafe/114841888590843 or by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com.
Dec. 3
Ossining: Ossining Rotary hosts "The Rock 'n' Roll for Relief Concert," 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Ossining High School. Five bands, all including Ossining graduates, will perform: Road to Ruin, Undercover, Sundad, K.J. Denhert and Dead Weight Burden. $10 to get in, but bring extra to add to the "Pirate Treasure Chest" on the stage. Winter jackets and blankets are also being collected at the concert. All proceeds aid communities struck by Superstorm Sandy. 29 South Highland Ave.
Feb. 13
Elmsford: Girls' Night Out Valentine Bachelor Auction to benefit the victims of Superstorm Sandy. Warmhearted men will brave the auction block to light up your Valentine's Day with date packages. There will also be a silent auction of items and experiences, from spa escapes to private dance lessons. Music provided by DJ Rich. Tickets are $30; admission includes one hour of appetizers and two hours of soda, wine and a special love potion. 6:30-8:30 p.m. To suggest a bachelor or donate items for the silent auction and more information, please email: email@example.com. Tickets go on sale Dec. 1. To purchase tickets, call 914-592-2222.1 Broadway Plaza.


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The former truck stop at Boomtown as shown in a 2005 photo.
- Filed Under
Back in 2007, the longtime truck stop next to Boomtown Casino and Hotel was demolished to make way for Cabela's.
There were plans to rebuild the truck stop west of the 125,000-square-foot outdoor outfitter, but after a couple of legal disputes and the recession, the truck stop development off Interstate 80 never materialized.
That could be changing sooner than later. ...


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- Filed Under
Attorney Barbara Finkelstein has fought for years to help struggling homeowners facing foreclosure, but her agency has been hamstrung by a lack of money and volunteers.
She now has a champion in the state's top judge, who has chosen her White Plains-based nonprofit legal services organization to launch a pilot program guaranteeing that homeowners are represented by a lawyer during foreclosure proceedings.
In the next few weeks, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley and the Legal Aid Society in New York City will assign lawyers to foreclosure cases in Orange County and in Queens, ...


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Wednesday July 18, 2012UF Baseball's Preston Tucker Signs With Houston Astros
Gainesville, Fla.
Gainesville, Fla.
Gator outfielder Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) recently signed with the Houston Astros after being taken in the seventh round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft with 219th overall pick. All nine players taken from head coach Kevin OSullivans club in Junes Draft signed professional contracts.
Tucker achieved All-America status from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) for the second-consecutive season after hitting .321 with 57 runs, 50 RBI, 35 walks, 17 doubles and 16 round-trippers in his final collegiate campaign. He departs Gainesville as the schools all-time leader in games played (265), games started (259), total bases (596), at bats (1,035), hits (341), RBI (258) and doubles (70).
Tucker was a first-team All-SEC selection in 2012 after being a first-team choice during his junior season and a second-team pick in 2010. He powered UFs offense with a .393 (11-for-28) performance in NCAA play and became the first Gator to achieve Regional All-Tournament status all four years of his career. He is the lone UF player to earn Most Outstanding Player recognition twice (2009 & 2011). In 30 career NCAA Tourney games, Tucker batted .368 (46-for-125) and holds school records in career at bats (125), hits (46), RBI (31), runs (29), homers (11) and doubles (10).
Tucker was one of 10 NCAA baseball student-athletes named as a finalist for the 2012 Lowes Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete had to be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowes Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Tucker was selected in the 16th round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies with the 498th overall pick but decided to return to Florida for his senior season and earned his bachelors degree in anthropology. This quotation from Tucker summed up his decision: A lot of guys dont have the opportunity to say that they got a college degree and I always want to have that to my credit. The bottom line is that I can go off and play pro ball next year and this is an opportunity that I really didn't want to pass up. It's playing baseball, it's the game I've always loved to play so in the end I'll still be doing what I love.
In 2011, Tucker earned second-team All-America and first-team All-South Region from the ABCA as the Gators finished as the national-runner up with a program-best 53-19 record. Florida shared the SEC regular-season championship with South Carolina and Vanderbilt and captured its first SEC Tourney title since 1991 before winning the Gainesville Regional and Super Regional rounds on the way to Omaha. A first-team All-SEC choice and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2011 NCAA Gainesville Regional, Tucker batted .308 with a team-best 74 RBI, 55 runs, 28 walks and matched the school's single-season record with 23 doubles. He established UF's single-season marks for games played (tied with Mike Zunino) and started by being in the lineup all 72 games, with 63 starts in right field and nine at first base.
During the Gators' 11 NCAA Tournament outings in 11, Tucker totaled 20 RBI and had 11 extra-base hits (six doubles and five homers) on his way to a .304 (14-for-46) clip. He was a second-team All-SEC recipient and a member of the league's All-Defensive Team as a sophomore in 2010 as the Gators reached the College World Series for the first time since 2005.
In 2009, Tucker became the first player in school history to earn the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman Hitter of the Year Award and he shared the SEC Freshman of the Year honor with LSU pitcher Matty Ott. He was the Most Outstanding Player of the Gainesville Regional, was a unanimous selection to the leagues All-Freshman Team and was chosen as a Freshman All-American by Baseball America, Louisville Slugger, Rivals.com and the NCBWA.
Over his illustrious Gator career, Tucker finished with a .329 average, 1,035 at bats (1st in school history), 341 hits (1st in school history), 258 RBI (1st in school history), 210 runs (6th in school history), 127 walks (8th in school history), 70 doubles (1st in school history), 57 homers (2nd in school history), 24 stolen bases in 32 attempts and seven triples. His fielding percentage of .989 is tied for 10th at UF with Matt LaPorta (2004-07) and his total of 1,197 putouts in second behind LaPorta (1,659) and Zunino (1,340).
© 1998 - 2015 University Athletic Assoc., Inc., FOX Sports Sun & IMG College. All Rights Reserved.


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Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO - Almost 10% of U.S. workers do their jobs from home at least one day a week, so news that ailing tech giant Yahoo will end the practice in June surprised many.
"It's the only thing that has made our lives remotely possible and affordable and sort of possible to raise kids," says Lopa Pao, 36. She is the donor relations officer of the Green Belt Alliance, a conservation group in the San Francisco Bay Area. When her second child was born, she wanted more flexibility and discussed it with her executive director.
"Literally his words were, 'I don't care if you do your work from a beach in Tahiti, just get it done and raise three-quarters of a million dollars a year,'" she says.
She switched to working from home two days a week and over the past four years has kept on target with fundraising while being able to schedule time with her children, 4 and 8, and her husband, a chef. That flexibility has kept her in her current job for eight years, even though she figures she could probably make more money and move up if she went elsewhere. It's made her an "extremely loyal employee," she says.
Yahoo's decision is meant to foster collaboration, according to a company memo sent to employees Friday.
Yahoo's head of human resources, Jackie Reses, wrote that communication and collaboration will be important as the company works to be "more productive, efficient and fun." To make that happen, she said, "it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people and impromptu team meetings."
The number of people who work at home has been increasing steadily, according to the U.S. Census:
• In 2010, 9.5% of the U.S. workforce worked from home at least one day a week.
• About 25% of those workers were in management, business or finance.
• People who work at home usually work the same hours as those in an office.
• Boulder, Colo., has the highest percentage of people working from home most of the week: 10.9%.
More companies are encouraging telecommuting, and the U.S. government is promoting it, to cut down on commute times, decrease traffic congestion, require less space at offices and let employees work flexible hours.
Silicon Valley companies such as Yahoo have been well-known for relaxed, employee-friendly policies on scheduling and other perks.
According to a survey by WorldatWork, a non-profit human resources association, seven to eight of every 10 people surveyed said the flexibility to work at home was "a positive or extremely positive effect" on their job engagement, motivation and satisfaction.
Yahoo's decision makes sense for Yahoo but not for many other companies, says Vivke Wadhwa, a researcher at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., who studies workplace innovation.
"Yahoo is one messed-up company right now. The culture is in awful shape -- values, loyalty, you name it. Marissa (Mayer, new CEO) inherited a complete mess," Wadhwa says. By bringing everyone in-house, she'll be able to reprogram the company's work culture while also easily jettisoning a lot of deadwood employees who aren't doing much now. You can't do that weed-and-feed with people at home."
Working at home is very popular in Silicon Valley, he says, but it works best when the work being done has well-defined outcomes such as reports completed, computer code written or sales made. It doesn't work for innovative jobs where it's all about brainstorming. "If they're writing computer code, they have clearly defined deliverables," he says.
USA Today


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After School Programs
- Atoms for Kids - Through demonstrations and hands-on activities, students will explore the microscopic world as they learn about atoms. Students will use microscopes to observe and study very small things and will grow their own crystals in order to observe how materials are arranged in nature. Students will witness the effects of intense heat and extreme cold on the structure of different objects and discover what it would be like to live in a world with very few atoms.
- The Science of Bubbles - This enrichment program sponsored by LEPP is modeled after the GEMS program Bubbleology. Each day of the course is devoted to a different concept relating to the topic of bubbles, including surface tension, evaporation, volume and surface area. Students will use the scientific method to help design an investigation enabling them to determine the best bubble blowing solution.
- Light and Optics - During this program, students will learn why light is necessary in order to perceive color. Students will use tools such as colored filters and diffraction gratings to observe how light can be separated. Students will build spectrometers to see the component colors of various light sources. After learning about how lenses alter the path of light, students will assemble their own hand-held telescope.
- Electrifying Experiments - Through a series of hands-on activities and investigations, students will learn how electricity flows through objects, how static electricity is generated and what occurs when like charges repel and opposite charges attract. Students will discover how electricity and magnetism are related to one another by building their own electromagnets and electric motors.