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Friday, October 20, 2006
Preschool Curriculum For Gifted Children Question Answered
I will quickly answer that if a preschool aged child is gifted, what that usually means is that they are precocious, meaning they seem to be learning things earlier than some experts say they are, you don't need a special curriculum with a label for gifted children nor does your child need something with a label of 'preschool' on it.
It is pretty simple, what you do is teach them at their level. If they want to learn to read you use the same materials that you would use to teach a regular child to read at age 5 or 6. If they are unable to learn to read, they are not ready.
I am not aware of any one program that is labeled as a product to teach gifted preschool aged children. I will give you lots of information and resources for you to custom design your own curriculum that you can match to your child's interests and abilities which gives your child a custom developed homeschooling curriculum. I ask, what could be better than a custom designed curriculum? My answer is 'nothing'.
Below is my long response about ideas on what and how you can homeschool your gifted preschool aged child.
Teaching Reading
I am starting with this topic as this is usually one of the first things parents want to know about and it actually is a good segue to a more broad introduction.
There are a lot of sources of information about the ways to tell if a child has 'reading readiness'. This information is in books, on websites, and sometimes is in the reading curriculum materials that you purchase. I advise you to read these 'reading readiness' factors and to be aware of them. Note some lists are very short, look for the longer lists.
Please, please, please do not force your child to read at a younger than typical age if the child is unable to learn the concepts of reading as that means they are not ready (even if many or all of the 'reading readiness' signs are present).
Teaching Academic Material to Preschool Aged Children
Also in general I would like to plead that you not force early academics on a young child out of wanting your child to be gifted or YOU wanting them to be ahead of their peers. That is dangerous and is not good for the child. If you would like to read more information, read the mainstream secular book "Miseducation Preschoolers At Risk" by David Elkind.
Letting Children Be Children Is Important
If you need more information about letting children be children and protecting their innocence, read "Saving Childhood: Protecting Our Children from the National Assault on Innocence" by Michael Medved and Diane Medved PhD.
Grade Labels on Curriculum
If you are homeschooling your child and are teaching them math, use a math curriculum for Kindergarten aged children, and once that is finished, move up to the next level or grade.
Labeling The Child
Oh and please, I am begging you, do not tell your child they are advanced or gifted or precocious or superior to other children their age. Every child is unique and no child is what 'the experts' say is an 'average child'. Every child may be more advanced in one area and behind in another or right in the middle on yet another thing. Please do not give your child a superiority complex and a horrible arrogant ego. I saw a Dr. Phil show on this topic once and it was brilliant. There was footage of a boy who was seven, I believe going around stating his superiority to his peers. He was a social misfit who had no friends as he had bragged to everyone at school about how much smarter he was than them. The parents were going through a terrible time with him and if you ask me he was socially developmentally arrested. To boot the parents were not happy with the school as they thought he was not getting a rigorous enough education there. The hilarious thing was that multiple tests administered by experts showed the boy was not gifted at all, he was just average. But the parents had it in their head that he was some kind of genius.
Back to Academics…
Reading Aloud To Your Children, Fiction, Science, History and the Unit Study Approach
There are many wonderful regular books for children which can and should be read aloud to children, both fiction and non-fiction.
By reading picture books on topics such as nature, science, world history, US History, and other topics, they will learn and absorb that information. These readings can be done in a very relaxed manner, literally just reading the books to your child. Do not make every reading into a 'school lesson' and do not grill them about the content. With a child of preschool age the best thing is to ask their interests and then read those topics. The other thing that works well is FIRST visiting a museum or a special place then following up with a little reading about that topic.
If your child really has an interest in that material you can take off and do an in-depth or longer time study of that topic. (My children went through a full six-month phase of reading, watching, and listening to "The Phantom of the Opera", including analysis of the differences between different movie versions and what they heard on the full length audio recording of the Broadway show and memorizing numerous songs and dialogues from the play.)
The other approach is for you to choose to study a topic then you can study that topic (parent driven topics). I find often that if I use great books to introduce a topic my children take off with interest to learn about that topic and it turns more into a learner-driven process.
Literature Based Unit Studies
I can't recommend the "Before Five in a Row" and "Five in a Row" (FIAR) literature based unit studies highly enough. For detailed information about these, see the FIAR website, which also has free message boards for parents have discussions on.
These are manuals which take a fictional picture book and use it as a jumping off point for small unit studies. The author, Jane Lambert has broken out topics that apply to that book/story and the parent chooses which topics to discuss or do with their children. For example a book may discuss that place (Italy), a moral issue, a moment in history, the artwork used in the book, the words uses, and many more topics. Some of them also have arts, crafts and recipes to do that go along with the story. You choose which books to read to your child and you choose which things to do, it is very much up to you. Once you are familiar with this way of using a children's picture book to do a small unit study you will feel at ease using other books that you own or find in a library to do the same thing (but you make up everything to go along with it). (There is one Before Five in a Row manual for children aged 2-4 which is very simple, and there are three volumes of "Five in a Row" for children aged 4-8, which are more in-depth. There is also a "Beyond Five in a Row" manual for children aged 8-11.)
Teaching Science
If you would like a similar unit study approach using children's picture books as the jumping off point I would recommend "Science Through Children's Literature" and the sequel to that book, "More Science Through Children's Literature" by Carol Butzow.
Teaching History (Not "Social Studies")
If you want to teach world history I can't recommend Susan Wise Bauer's four year world history program "Story of the World", starting with volume one, highly enough. This is a narrative (story format) telling of world history. The first volume was written with the intention of being read aloud to a first grader. The second volume is for second grade, and so on.
The story book, volume one:
Be sure to buy the "activity book" companion to go along with it and to use and do the activities and supplemental readings from that inexpensive resource. I know families who began using this with their four year old children. This is your choice, it is an option for you.
The activity book, volume one:
Read Aloud's: Fiction
I would add in fun read aloud's of fiction and literature, chapter books and classics which are age-appropriate. My favorite book list book for preschool aged children is "Honey For A Child's Heart" by Gladys Hunt.
You can read aloud poetry to your child. There are many volumes of poetry written just for children. I advise to use library books or to buy one large volume of children's poetry and work your way through it. One complaint I have is when poetry is dumbed down or speaks only to supposed child-like topics. Perhaps you can read some regular poetry to your child which is appropriate for young children but is generally considered to be written for all ages or even for adults.
Making Art
Lastly be sure to keep doing lots of "it's the process not the product" type of arts and crafts projects. A great resource for theory as well as activity ideas and even lesson plans is "Young At Art" by Susan Striker.
Exploring The Real World
I would also beg you to do lots of fun things such as visit museums, play at children's museums and to visit historical places. One of my complaints about five day per week preschool programs is that it binds stay at home mothers to a tight schedule which can prevent weekday visits to museums and other great places. I feel that visiting state parks, doing nature hikes, observing nature, going to museums et cetera is much more educational and enriching than a few hours of a preschool class. If your child is in a preschool program I plead with you to take some days off to go do those other fun things. Yes, those things are also open on weekends but they tend to be much busier and sometimes too jammed for young children to enjoy the displays or the experience. It is no fun for a child to visit an aquarium if they cannot get close enough to the tank to look at it, or if some other child is pushing them out of the way, or if you have to rush your child on to the next display so that some other child can have their turn. Visit those places on weekdays when they are much more deserted and take your time!
Have Fun With Your Child
The absolute most important thing is that you and your child have fun together. The preschool years are not a time for high pressure academics. Enjoy the unique phases of a preschooler's life and make sure you are spending a lot of 'quality time' together.
Some Great Foundation Material About Teaching
I recommend to all parents and also all homeschoolers to read the little series of three booklets written by Ruth Beechick. The three pack bundle is titled "The Three R's" and costs less than $10 on Amazon. Each booklet is 28 pages and is a quick, easy read. One booklet is on teaching reading, one on teaching language arts, and the other is about math. These books contain tons of information in a boiled-down format that explain how a child's brain works, what type of teaching is best for children from birth through the end of third grade, what is common for their ages and stages of the learning processes. The booklets also tell how you can use the information to make up your own homemade curriculum for pennies but even if you end up choosing some other program (i.e. Math-U-See or Alpha Phonics, or Spelling Power, as I did) there is still a lot of background information that I have been unable to find in any other publication. Please read those booklets as it will be better for you and your child if you know this information.
Some Other Materials I Used Instead of Making Homemade Materials
Math U See(sold through distributors only, via Internet or at homeschooling conferences see website), start at the beginning and move forward, if you are 'ahead' it does not matter!
Alpha Phonics, easily adapted to the child's level, not a graded program
Spelling Power, they learn words they don't know, grade level/label is irrelevant
Information About Gifted Children In General
Unfortunately most books about gifted children which are on the market deal with schools and the issue of the child not fitting in at school (having social issues due to being different than the other children), or the school not providing enough of an intellectual challenge for the child and is written for the parent to act as an advocate to get the child certain programs at school. Other books are written to help parents deal with emotional scars that the child developed from negative interactions at school.
As you can see most of that stuff does not apply to homeschooled children. There are two main issues with homeschooling a gifted child, in my opinion. One is finding their strengths and weaknesses academically and teaching them at the right level and the right content regardless of their age, and ignoring the stated grade level and the label on the materials. The second issue is the issue of the emotional life of a gifted child, dealing with their sensitivities, their perfectionism and their competitiveness and things like that. I have found the regular parenting books on parenting children in general sometimes are not as helpful because gifted children can sometimes exhibit extreme emotions or they can be affected more deeply by some things than the 'experts' who write parent books seems to acknowledge or to address. So, one last resource is a book about homeschooling gifted children which I found helpful, "Creative Homeschooling" by Lisa Rivero.
Talking About Giftedness With Others
One last plea, please be careful about discussing the fact that you think your child is gifted. Please don't brag to your relatives or friends. Also if you have other children don't talk about this in front of any of the children.
You can harm family relations by bragging and boasting. You can put down other relatives by just bragging about your child's giftedness. You can drive away your friends as well. You may turn off fellow homeschoolers with boasting. You can harm your gifted child by giving them a superiority complex or wind up teaching them to be arrogant. Lastly if you have other children you can set up a situation where your other children feel inadequate or they may feel that you are favoring the gifted child.
So please keep your mouth as closed as possible. Seek support and information as necessary but tread lightly, whether you are discussing these things with local homeschool support groups or even with Internet discussion groups. Discuss these gifted issues privately with your spouse.
Teach your child well but don't label them. You may be surprised to learn that if a child feels they are different than other children (even in what an adult thinks is a good way) it can harm them emotionally and can give them negative self-esteem. Love your whole child not just their intellectual capacity and if you have more than one child, love all of your children unconditionally.
Custom Designed vs. Boxed Programs
I really feel that a high quality program can be planned and used with the resources that I have provided to you. I feel that taking each component and using what that expert has recommended is best. I do not know of one packaged preschool curriculum program which can meet or exceed what doing all of these things can accomplish. As I said before there is no such thing as a program on the market for 'gifted preschoolers' and I hope there never is, because what is important is teaching a child on their unique ability, and that will mean they may be ahead of the learning curve in one subject, behind in another, and just average on yet another topic.
In Conclusion…
I hope this has answered some of your questions.
By the way, if you did everything that I have mentioned, it would provide years and years of learning, teaching, and education, so if you think what I have proposed for a plan is light, you are mistaken!
Is A Classical Education What You Seek?
Lastly if you have concerns about the way that public schools teach and you are interested in a more vigorous or more heavy academic content then a great book for you to read would be "The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education At Home" by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer.
There are many websites and free online articles about homeschooling with the classical method if you are interested.
Technorati Tags: homeschooling, homeschooling preschool, preschool, gifted children, gifted preschool, unit studies, picture books, elementary school education, teaching, home education.
5 comments:
- Margaret said...
I am so glad that you added the paragraph about not boasting about a gifted child. I have been so frustrated with fellow homeschoolers, both irl and on message boards, etc., who continually talk about their gifted children. I'm sorry to say this has driven me away from many a classical education forum because it seems to be very prevalent among that group (generalizing, of course, and just relating my own experience).
- Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 12:03:00 AM CDT
- Nina said...
Christine-thanks for writing this post. I searched google blog for preschool and homeschooling. I was delighted to see your entry. I bookmarked several of the books you suggested. I am not sure if my child is gifted but she is certainly precocious. She wouldn't learn anything new in a formal preschool setting. I am following her lead and not pushing. I often feel a bit uncertain about what to teach her. Just this week we read a Rookie Reader called Addition Annie. She can count with one to one correspondence so I introduced the concept of addition. She seemed to understand it.
I never boost about my daughter in public. It is so uncomfortable to have someone feel like their child is not smart. Besides, my child is usually having a meltdown. She doesn't do well in large group settings.
Well my little one is begging for me to read to her. Thanks again.
- Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 7:24:00 AM CST
- Nina said...
Christine-thanks for writing this post. I searched google blog for preschool and homeschooling. I was delighted to see your entry. I bookmarked several of the books you suggested. I am not sure if my child is gifted but she is certainly precocious. She wouldn't learn anything new in a formal preschool setting. I am following her lead and not pushing. I often feel a bit uncertain about what to teach her. Just this week we read a Rookie Reader called Addition Annie. She can count with one to one correspondence so I introduced the concept of addition. She seemed to understand it.
I never boost about my daughter in public. It is so uncomfortable to have someone feel like their child is not smart. Besides, my child is usually having a meltdown. She doesn't do well in large group settings.
Well my little one is begging for me to read to her. Thanks again.
- Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 7:24:00 AM CST
- Good for the Kids said...
Thanks for the information you have compiled here. I have a very strong feeling that my 3yo daughter is gifted because of her tendencies and behavior. I'll be looking into all of the resources you have here.
- Friday, September 7, 2007 at 10:41:00 PM CDT
- SEA Mama said...
Wow, what a great post! Your knowledge on child education is so incredibly apparent in these posts. I will be bookmarking this so I can assess whether Little A needs it here in a couple years. Thanks!
- Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 10:23:00 AM CDT


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Police ignored drug problems, feds say
Jonathan Osborne, American-Statesman Staff
(AUSTIN, Texas) -- A mid-1990s federal investigation of an Austin-based drug network turned up reports that 10 Austin police officers may have been working with the smugglers or using cocaine on duty, court records show.
The investigation crumbled in 1997, however, when police administrators transferred Austin officers from the federal task force, depriving it of personnel needed to pursue the leads, according to an Internal Revenue Service agent and an assistant U.S. attorney who ran the investigation, code named Mala Sangre -- Spanish for Bad Blood.
Police supervisors appeared uninterested in investigating their own officers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Marshall testified in a sworn deposition.
"It appeared to me that a lot of people just wanted to avoid that embarrassment," said Marshall, Mala Sangre's administrative supervisor. "There were a number of things we could have done if we would have had the manpower."
Austin Police Chief Stan Knee disagreed, saying the U.S. attorney's office was asked whether transferring the officers would cause a hardship.
"Every time the department made an inquiry into whether these people were necessary to the investigation, the information that was returned to us from the U.S. attorney's office was, no, they weren't," said Knee, who discussed the investigation with police supervisors after taking over the department in 1997, after Mala Sangre had wound down.
According to court documents that surfaced after two lawsuits against the City of Austin were recently settled, Mala Sangre began in 1995 and quickly turned up leads about wrongdoing by police officers.
The key document is a "summary of allegations." Drafted by Mala Sangre's lead investigators in 1999 to update their supervisors, the summary details information provided by 15 confidential informants, including at least three police officers.
Knee said the department did all it could to investigate wrongdoing turned up by Mala Sangre. But internal affairs investigators were hampered, Knee said, because the federal task force refused to identify the confidential informants, leaving police with allegations based on innuendo and unsubstantiated evidence.
"It's just hard to fight ghosts," Knee said.
Marshall, the assistant U.S. attorney, blamed the Austin Police Department for a lack of support.
The Police Department began pulling officers from the investigation about the time some officers were implicated in wrongdoing, Marshall said in a February 2000 deposition.
Marshall testified that a turning point came in the summer of 1996, after officer David Mattox was reported to be selling cocaine out of his patrol car and a civilian police photographer compromised a Mala Sangre investigation into a drug dealer.
"I sort of pin the lack of personnel and the lack of support to about the time that Mattox and those guys were having their difficulties," Marshall said in his deposition. "I couldn't get officers to come in and review (surveillance) tapes. . . . Granted, it's boring as hell, and I wouldn't want to do it either, but my God, we do it. And it wasn't happening."
Marshall declined to comment for this article, citing Department of Justice restrictions.
Mala Sangre claimed 20 arrests across the United States, including retired Austin narcotics officer Bob Black, sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for buying cocaine on Feb. 21, 1996. Robert Sanger, police chief in Premont, a town of 3,000 about 20 miles southwest of Kingsville, also was convicted for possession of almost a ton of marijuana.
No Austin police officers were charged with a crime as a result of Mala Sangre, although Mattox was fired from the department when he tested positive for cocaine use. Any drug-dealing charges would have had to come from the U.S. attorney's office, Assistant Police Chief Rick Coy said. No local charges were filed because Mattox was not found in possession of any narcotics, Coy said.
Of the 10 officers named in the summary as taking drugs, working with drug networks or tipping off drug dealers, eight remain on the force.
Behind two storefronts
The Mala Sangre task force of federal and local agencies began in October 1995 with surveillance on two businesses in the same East Austin shopping center: Angela's Furniture Store, owned by Roger Lopez, and Mike's Formal Wear, owned by Michael Borrero, who is serving time in federal prison.
Almost immediately, confidential informants began reporting that Austin police officers were using cocaine and protecting Lopez's narcotics network and other drug dealers, according to the summary of allegations and an accompanying chronology.
That summary was written in April 1999 by the lead Mala Sangre investigators -- now-retired IRS agent Wayne Young and Austin police officer Stan Farris -- to be given to the Austin Police Department and the FBI.
Testifying in a February 2000 deposition, Young said the report was his supervisor's idea. However, he said, it was not distributed because his supervisor retired.
Young, who lives in Austin, retired from the IRS in 1999. He did not return telephone calls Thursday and Friday.
The summary next surfaced in police Capt. Cecil Huff's whistle-blower lawsuit against the City of Austin. Huff supervised police officers working on Mala Sangre before his transfer in 1996. His lawsuit alleged that he was transferred after running afoul of a senior group of officers Huff claimed received preferential treatment and interfered with disciplinary and criminal investigations into its members.
Huff settled his lawsuit in early January for $6,000, just enough to cover his legal fees.
In the summary, an informant listed nine officers known to frequent Angela's Furniture Store and Cocktails Nightclub, an eastside bar where Lopez was a regular. Another informant named six officers seen buying cocaine from Borrero.
Drug task forces often rely on confidential informants to determine how to focus investigations. Because many are involved in the illegal activity, investigators typically need to corroborate their statements.
Other information in the summary includes:
* Two officers carried cocaine from South Texas to Austin for Lopez. They also supplied pagers, cell phones and information on investigations to Lopez's network, according to confidential informants identified only as CI-9 and CI-13.
* Seven confidential informants said on-duty and off-duty police officers regularly attended after-hours sex and drug parties at the former Cocktails Nightclub, 2003 E. Riverside Drive. Several officers also worked security at Cocktails -- off-duty jobs approved by the department -- and one informant was told not to worry about the security detail "because those officers knew what was going on."
* Three officers, named only as confidential informants, said a police lieutenant made frequent disparaging remarks about Young, one of the lead Mala Sangre investigators. The frequency and repetition of the remarks caused them to believe the lieutenant carried a "hidden and suspicious agenda," and two officers said they feared cooperating with Mala Sangre investigators could bring retaliation and threaten their careers.
* Two Austin police officers accompanied Lopez on all-expenses-paid trips to the 1994 Super Bowl. The officers took separate trips to the 1995 Super Bowl and a prize fight in Oklahoma -- also paid for by Lopez, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 1998 and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Assistant Police Chief Coy said there is no department policy prohibiting officers from associating with felons, including friends or family.
* After Lopez was arrested in August 1996, telephone records showed he was using a cell phone leased by an Austin police officer. Knee said the officer was investigated, but the allegations could not be proved.
Knee dismissed the summary, saying it contained little more than rumors, was written in an unprofessional way and relied on investigative notes that should never have been made public.
"Most of the allegations I found to be old," said Knee, who received a copy of the summary about one year ago. "Many of them I had been briefed on. I also, in reviewing that document, determined that it was not really a case summary of the investigation, but more investigators' investigative notes."
Shrinking presence
Mala Sangre was run by federal agents, but its muscle came from local law enforcement agencies such as the Austin Police Department.
Because there aren't enough federal agents to do an investigation's grunt work, the U.S. government pays for overtime, travel costs and other expenses incurred by local law enforcement. The relationship is formalized as an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.
The Mala Sangre task force was led by the IRS and included the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. attorney's office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The Austin Police Department joined the investigation in 1995 by contributing eight to 10 officers. By March 1997, only lead investigator Farris remained, and he was transferred away four months later.
Farris and two other officers -- Dennis Clark and David Gann -- filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the City of Austin in October 1997, claiming they were transferred from Mala Sangre to shut down the investigation of fellow officers.
The department, then and now, maintains that the officers were transferred because of a five-year rotation that was required of all patrol officers. But in their settlement of the lawsuit, the city conceded that the five-year rule was selectively enforced. Clark, for example, had spent about eight years in special investigations before his transfer; Farris had been in narcotics for 5 1/2 years.
Clark, a 23-year veteran, said in a February 2000 deposition that the investigation needed just a little more time.
"We could have gotten to the end result very easily," Clark testified.
Clark and Farris, a 23-year officer, declined to be interviewed. Gann, an officer since 1986, was on vacation last week and could not be reached.
Coy said officers were assigned to other duties because the department believed the task force had closed its Austin case to concentrate on South Texas. The department was waiting for the task force to finish its investigation and present its allegations to Austin's internal affairs unit, he said.
No conclusions were turned over to the department, Coy said.
Young, in his deposition, said police supervisors were kept abreast of all developments during weekly task force meetings.
"If I have got a captain and lieutenant and sergeant sitting there, and they hear information, I shouldn't have to go over and berate them to do something," Young testified.
Reporting misconduct
Farris, Clark and Gann settled their lawsuit in December for $80,000 -- $12,500 apiece and $42,000 to their lawyer, Derek Howard.
"Policy was not equally implemented," Knee said. "The settlement was appropriate."
Howard said the settlement amount did not reflect the strength of the officers' complaint. None wasere fired, he said. In fact, since filing the suit, Gann and Clark have been promoted to detective.
"There hasn't been any demonstration of loss of income," Howard said. "In cases where whistle-blowers are fired, you have much higher damage awards."
As a result of the lawsuit, the department has changed policy to require officers to report criminal misconduct by other officers. Knee said those who fear retaliation can bypass the chain of command and report misconduct directly to him or to internal affairs.
Knee couldn't say whether any officers named by Mala Sangre informants would be investigated further. New information could surface at any time, he said.
"We do in fact follow up on . . . every allegation of criminal misconduct," Knee said.
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The Arid Plant HouseThis glasshouse is for plants inhabiting regions of low, irregular rainfall and for plants of dry locations such as cliffs or tree branches.
Bromeliad Greenhouse
In the small lean-to greenhouse are bromeliads, which are attractive and unusual plants. The family Bromeliaceae contains almost 56 genera and about 2,700 described species. There are a few orchids and a couple of the most spectacular staghorn ferns with leaves that resemble antlers.
Herb GardenThe gardens cover 0.75 acres, and feature large island beds enclosed by the Pygmy caragana that serves as a wind break to protect more delicate herbs. It also repels inquisitive hands. New herbs are added each year to the garden.
Kurimoto Japanese Garden The Kurimoto Japanese Garden, occupying five acres, is one of only a few Japanese gardens established in northern latitudes. This open stroll-style garden is designed to harmonize with the natural landforms and vegetation. Each element - grassy hills, streams, ponds, and small waterfall - has been carefully arranged to create an area of peace and quiet for meditation.
Native People's Garden This garden covers an area of about 2.0 acres, almost completely surrounded by water. Opened on July 9,1982 by the Honourable Ralph Steinhauer , it now comprises an area of quiet beauty and a retreat,where trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants used by the first people of Alberta are displayed.
Ozawa Pavilion Designed by Mr. Junichi Hashamoto, an architect based in Edmonton, is built primarily of yellow cedar imported from British Columbia. A combination of traditional Japanese features combined with modern innovation resulted in a multi-purpose building best described as a guesthouse with a tearoom.
Patrick Seymour Garden Alpine ecosystems are varied, provide a vast array of ecological niches to which plants have become adapted and thrive in. The Patrick Seymour Alpine Garden allows us to demonstrate not only what will grow here, but also the niches in which species grow.
Peony Collection The word Paeonia (Peony or Paeony) stems from the Greek 'paion', which in turn is possibly derived from Paion, the physician of the gods, who used the plant medically. The genus Paeonia comprises about 33 species of perennial herbs and shrubs (Tree Paeonies) native to Europe, temperate Asia, Northwest America and China.
Plants of Alberta Indigenous plants from the Province of Alberta are grouped in this Garden,demonstrating their use to gardeners and conservationists. It includes a rare plant conservatory.
Primula Dell Development of the Primula Dell began in 1963. Spring flooding occurred due to poor drainage, which killed many plants. Therefore, the area has been landscaped which included raising some of the lowermost regions. The original design of the Primula Dell, followed traditional English-style, informal, herbaceous perennial beds and borders.
Tropical and Sub Tropical Plant and Butterfly Greenhouse This greenhouse is an excellent location for plants from humid tropical environments such as rainforests, including trees, climbers, epiphytes and ground flora. Maintaining temperatures between 20 and 30oC can be maintained almost year round, to which the plants respond magnificently, providing a lush tangle of vegetation characteristic of equatorial regions.
Warm Temperate Greenhouse In this greenhouse are more plants that have played, and still do play, important roles in human life. The greenhouse contains Lavender, Lemongrass, Aloe Vera, Saffron and many many more.


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Search result for David Butow category / 62 results / Reset Filter
American Photography 30 Winners
November 7th, 2014 at 11:19 am by Nick | Awards, Books, Brian Shumway, David Butow, James Whitlow Delano, Jared Soares, Jimmy Lam, Kate Brooks, Mark Ovaska, Mark Peterson, Matt Nager, Melissa Golden, Miller Mobley, Nish Nalbandian, Robyn Twomey, Stephen Voss, Taylor Glenn, Tony Law
David Butow on the Cover of AP30
September 26th, 2014 at 12:46 pm by Perrie | David Butow
The American Photography 30 book's double-sided jacket will feature photographs by David Butow, taken in the days following the death of Nelson Mandela (above). View additional images from this series here.
David Butow on Tricycle
August 6th, 2014 at 12:42 pm by Nick | Photographer Interviews, David Butow
David Butow's series Seeing Buddha was featured on Tricycle.com. Click here to read the whole article. Click here to see more images from the series Seeing Buddha.
American Photography 30 Winners
November 7th, 2014 at 03:24 pm by Nick | Awards, Books, Brian Shumway, James Whitlow Delano, Kate Brooks, Mark Peterson, Melissa Golden, Miller Mobley, Robyn Twomey, Stephen Voss, Taylor Glenn, Tony Law, Jared Soares, Mark Ovaska, Matt Nager, Jimmy Lam, David Butow, Nish Nalbandian
David Butow Relaunches Website
March 12th, 2014 at 01:26 pm by Caroline Saba | David Butow
Check out David Butow's new website here!
David Butow in Design Arts Daily
December 17th, 2013 at 10:08 am by Perrie | David Butow
David Butow's work "Mourning Nelson Mandela" was featured in Design Arts Daily. Read more here.
David Butow at studio FIVE08
October 10th, 2013 at 11:45 am by Nick | Events, David Butow
David Butow will be exhibiting his series "Seeing Buddha" at studio FIVE08 from October 12 -November 2, 2013. The opening reception is Saturday October 12th from 5-9 and David will host a Preview Art Talks session on Friday October 11th, 2013. For more information click here.
David Butow for People Magazine
May 28th, 2013 at 01:53 pm by Julia Rish | Commissions, David Butow
David Butow photographed Janice and Mark Brim and Francis Nguyen following the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma for the June 3, 2013 issue of People.
David Butow at Open Show Global San Francisco
February 20th, 2013 at 10:27 am by Nick | Events, David Butow
David Butow will be presenting his photo essay Year End Buddhist Festivals in Myanmar at Open Show Global San Francisco February 21, 2013 in partnership with World Affairs Council. Click here for more information on the event.
David Butow featured on Design Arts Daily
February 14th, 2013 at 02:00 pm by Nick | Photographers, David Butow, Stock
David Butow's image of the Himalayas was recently featured on Design Arts Daily. Click here to read the article.
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January 10, 2012 |
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by Kelly Roher and Thomas McMahon
Please fill out the form below to send a link to this story to your colleagues.
New buses at trade showThere was a variety of new products on view during the trade show, including offerings from school bus manufacturers. In addition to the eTrans from Trans Tech Bus, Blue Bird showcased its Next Generation Propane-Powered Vision, which was developed with Ford and ROUSH CleanTech. Officials said that the bus provides customers with increased fuel economy, greater horsepower and torque, and a 67-gallon fuel tank — the largest tank available.
The new version of the bus also offers enhanced serviceability, broader optional equipment choices and a five-year/100,000-mile warranty.
Canadian manufacturer Lion Bus had on display its Type C unit, the Lion Bus 360°. Among the features of the bus is a 102-inch body, which company officials said increases the aisle width inside the bus by 50 percent. The bus is built on a Spartan chassis and is available with a Cummins ISB engine.
Attendees also had an opportunity to board Thomas Built Buses' redesigned Type D bus, the Saf-T-Liner EFX. Officials said the bus' exterior makes it easier and more convenient to access electrical components, while a new engine cover allows belts and fluid levels to be checked easily — without removing the cover and without tools.
Moreover, Thomas Built increased cockpit storage to make the EFX more comfortable and convenient for drivers.
For more trade show products, go here.
The 2012 NAPT Conference and Trade Show is scheduled to be held in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 20-25.
NAPT honors pupil transporters
Pupil transportation professionals were honored during the NAPT annual awards banquet and celebratory breakfast.
During the banquet, Jeff Carpenter of Blue Bird presentedthe Blue Bird Heroism Award to John Fothergill of Southeast Polk Community School District in Pleasant Hill, Iowa, for his actions on Aug. 27, which was the district's first day of school. For details, see the "Heroes in school transportation" profile here.
Peter Lawrence, director of transportation at Fairport (N.Y.) Central School District, received the NAPT's Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the pupil transportation community.
Also during the awards banquet, SBF Publisher Frank Di Giacomo presented the Administrator of the Year award to Mike Connors, director of transportation at Brevard Public Schools in Cocoa, Fla. To read about Connors' career, go here.
Finally, Bill Paul, founder of School Transportation News, was inducted into the NAPT Hall of Fame by outgoing NAPT president Linda Bluth.
During the Leading the Day: Recognition for Exceptional Performers celebratory breakfast, honorees were recognized for excellence in safety, as well as school bus maintenance and inspection.
The transportation staff at Allen (Texas) Independent School District was honored by John Thompson of IC Bus with the Driver Training Team award, which recognizes a school district transportation operation that has gone above and beyond the minimum training requirements.
Finally, Don Carnahan, vice president of business development at Zonar Systems, announced the eight recipients of a $50,000 grant from the company and NAPT that will go toward the purchase of Zonar equipment.
To view the list of recipients, go here.
NAPT names poster contest winners
At the trade show, entries for the association's 2011 National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest were on display.
The theme for the contest was "I See the Driver — The Driver Sees Me!" Samantha Bussell of Lafayette, Tenn., placed first in Division II and was the overall winner of the contest.
Here are the top entrants in each division:
Division IFirst: Odette Padron, High Point, N.C.Second: Josie McCall, Lafayette, Tenn.Third: Jennifer Russell, Port Orange, Fla.
Division IIFirst and Overall Winner: SamanthaBussell, Lafayette, Tenn.Second: Jennifer Sieredzki, Clayton, N.C.Third: Louisa Nikolova, Coon Rapids, Minn.
Division IIIFirst: Kelly Guo, Kapolei, HawaiiSecond: Elina Gouw, Portland, Ore.Third: Victoria Tu, Northbrook, Ill.
Division IVFirst: Patricia Kontomichalos, West Hempstead, N.Y.Second: Ricardo Aguilar, Oakland Park, Fla.Third: James Hundl, Dickinson, Texas
Computer Assisted Drawing DivisionFirst: Marley Robb, Baker City, Ore.Second: Myles Williams, Colorado Springs, Colo.Third: Micah Weis, Mullens, W.Va.
InternationalFirst: Hinane Murata, Japan
Read more about:
Blue Bird Corp., bullying, conferences, driver training, NAPT, Thomas Built Buses, Trans Tech Bus, wheelchairs
This makes so much sense! Buses pick up kids, drop them at school, then go back to base (to charge). Then go back out a few hours later to make another run. Then charge over night. Could there be a better application for this young technology?
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search by writer, book or series:
|Writers: Duke Otterland
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Org's Odyssey: A Tale of Post-Human Earth
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Org's Odyssey: A Tale of Post-Human Earth
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This Book Tells You More About INFJs Than Anything I've Seen
And quite a lot about ENFPs, of course. And more to the point, how they relate (and sometimes fail to relate). How they get along, in love and work. INFJ Boss and ENFP employee; and vice-versa. How things go in the bedroom, on vacation, raising the kids, and lots more.
The book is When ENFP & INFJ Interact- A Practical Guide to Relationships, by William D.G. Murray and Rosalie R. Murray, published by Type & Temperament, Inc/ The Type & Archetype Press. Covers love relationships and work relationships for ENFP-INFJ.
To quote one ENFP-INFJ couple, " This book was better than 6 months' therapy!"
(And they'd already had the therapy.)
We had a longer description to include here, which we will soon have again. But meanwhile,
if that big button doesn't work, to buy the book now, please go to:
(If that Link isn't working yet, please just copy and paste it into your web browser!)
By the way, my apology—we had a small problem: one of our hosting sites suddenly went out of business and we lost about 30 different websites, including this one.
Thank you (!) for bearing with us as we work on reconstructing and revamping our system. (In between getting more books published for you.)
Again, for more information, or to buy the book now, please go to:
(If the Link isn't working yet, please just copy and paste it into your web browser! Thanks! Bill Murray)


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Irishman claims Guinness consumed in local Wetherspoons 'far superior' to back home in Donegal
Michael O'Patrick, 59, of Bexleyheath in Kent, yesterday told astonished locals in The Moon Under Water pub that he much preferred their popular stout than the one he grew up on, in the green hills of Donegal. 'Its all about the water,' he explained, 'and this simply tastes slightly less like burnt coffee than the stuff we got in Donny. It's OK to be Irish, for sure, but no one does a pint of Guinness like a Wetherspoons in Kent.'
NevvyClick to send this story to a friend
Posted: Apr 17th, 2009 by Guest
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Take steps to keep seniors cool as temperatures climb
July 10, 2010
NEW — 8 a.m. July 10, 2010
Seniors can be especially vulnerable to high temperatures, so public health officials urge King County residents to check up on elderly neighbors and relatives as the mercury climbs.
Older adults, young children and people with mental illness and chronic diseases face the highest risk of heat-related illness. Find tips to beat the heat from Public Health – Seattle & King County here.
Health officials urge residents to keep cool as the mercury rises
July 7, 2010
UPDATED — 3:50 p.m. July 7, 2010
Forecasters predict temperatures in Issaquah to rise past 80 this week, as summer weather makes a belated debut.
The Issaquah Valley Senior Center, 75 N.E. Creek Way, is cooperating with the city of Issaquah and opening its doors to everybody who wants to use the building as a cooling shelter.
People of all ages who want to take shelter from the summer heat are more than welcome to come, Executive Director Courtney Jaren said.
The city opened the senior center and Eastside Fire & Rescue Station 71 as cooling centers during a heat wave last July, city spokeswoman Autumn Monahan said.
"If we start getting calls from concerned citizens, or from firefighters or police, then we start to open cooling centers," she said.
Top 10 news stories of 2009
December 29, 2009
Growth slowed and the economy cooled throughout 2009. The watershed moments in Issaquah hinged on expansion and recession. Leaders broke ground for a major new employer, even while other businesses left town for good.
Issaquah began the first decade of a new century as a fast-growing city, a title the city held for years. As 2009 reached a close, however, officials pared the size of government to face the new economic reality.
From January floods to record July heat and brutal December cold, 2009 was jam-packed, but the year was never dull.
Off The Press
August 25, 2009
Maybe the newspaper in front of you arrived at your doorstep, fashioned from ink and paper and delivered in a plastic bag. Perhaps you steered your browser to the Web counterpart, www.issaquahpress.com. Now, another option exists: The Issaquah Press has joined popular microblogging site Twitter. Follow us @issaquahpress.
Wait. What? Microblogging?
Let me explain how it works: Twitter users — tweeters — post updates, known as tweets, capped at 140 characters, or about the length of a text message. Each tweet is a condensed burst of information — a useful device, especially as news breaks and reporters gather information piece by piece.
Users follow other tweeters to build a network. As a user follows others, their tweets appear in his or her timeline. A conversation begins.
Like other news outlets worldwide, we utilize Twitter to speed information to our readers. Unlike other news providers, we strive to deliver hyperlocal content and news about regional issues that affect Issaquah residents. Since we first tweeted July 27, we've used the medium to chronicle a record heat wave, City Council decisions, ArtWalk and Concerts on the Green, the arrival of new businesses and the departures of others. Read more
Record-breaking heat / July 29-30, 2009
July 31, 2009
Heat can be dangerous, even fatal
July 31, 2009
NEW — 2 p.m. July 31. 2009
Heat contributed to the death of a Seattle man, according to Public Health – Seattle & King County officials. Authorities said the man was in his 60s and had heart disease; they said heat was a contributing factor in his death.
Public health officials used the incident to reiterate the danger of heat for children, senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses.
"We know that heat puts additional stress on people with underlying chronic conditions, just like the flu and other infectious diseases," Dr. David Fleming, director and health officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County, said in a news release. "Tragically, excessive heat exposure can be fatal, and it's possible that we may see additional deaths before the heat wave ends."
Ozone pollution, caused by persistent heat this week, may create health risks
July 29, 2009
NEW — 2:20 p.m. July 28, 2009
Persistent high temperatures are raising ozone pollution in the greater-Seattle area and increasing health risks for sensitive populations, including children, teens, the elderly, people living with COPD, asthma or other lung disease, and people who work outdoors.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency announced today that air quality is expected to reach the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups," or orange category, for some locations in King County. The American Lung Association in Washington is asking residents to take precautions and limit their exposure to unhealthy levels of air pollution.


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One of the real benefits of Microsoft Lync Server is the seamless manner in which you can access the updated address book from any device.
The promise of a fully functional unified communications solution is to seamlessly combine all modes of communication and operation. A user has to be able to find, store and use their contact information stored in their address book, regardless of how they have connected. Lync Server 2010 is no exception.
Lync Server 2010 includes several improvements to its address book functionality. Taken together, these improvements provide your users with all the required address book information. When you first install Lync Server 2010, it creates the Address Book Service (ABS), which provides your Lync clients with:
ABS and the Address Book Web Query (ABWQ) service all client types in Lync Server 2010. It's important to note that although ABS and ABWQ perform similar functions, they do so in different ways.
ABS is responsible for contacting ADDS to collect and update information stored in the ABS database. ABS maintains the information collected from ADDS in either a full download of contact information, delta files or compact delta files. ABS maintains the information in three types of extracts. This ensures that a new client receives the full download, and then either delta files or compact delta files based on the client's ongoing needs.
The manner in which contacts are stored in the ABS database files and the ABWQ allows for distribution list expansion. In terms of ABS database files, a contact is associated with groups and members of groups. Group information is made available to clients through updated ABS files. On the other hand, ABWQ directly queries ADDS to expand its distribution lists.
When dealing with telephony, phone number normalization—converting phone numbers into a usable format—is essential. Because ADDS doesn't normalize phone numbers or mandate the format used, Lync Server 2010 has to perform the normalization.
ABS is responsible for normalizing phone numbers. ABS does so when it reads information from ADDS. Then it stores the phone numbers in the address book files in the normalized format.
ABS and ABWQ usage varies based on the client used and availability (see Figure 1).
Office Communicator
Figure 1 Lync Server 2010 includes backward compatibility for Office Communications Server (OCS) clients.
In-band provisioning also determines whether ABS is available. You can define the in-band provisioning setting AbsUsage as one of three values:
For more details on in-band provisioning, please see my May 2011 article, "Microsoft Lync Server 2010: Provisioning Mechanisms."
When you use Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition, ABS runs on a Standard Edition server. When using Lync Enterprise Edition, ABS runs on a front-end server in the Enterprise Edition Pool. Lync manages a failed ABS in an Enterprise Edition Front-End Pool by bringing the service online on an alternate front-end server.
When you first install Lync, it defines default address book configuration settings at the Global level. You can modify these settings, however. You can also define address book configuration at the site level. This will apply to all Lync Servers within the given site. You can use Windows PowerShell cmdlets to work with ABS (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 You can use these Windows PowerShell cmdlets with ABS.
Lync Server 2010 makes certain information is visible in contact cards by default. If the default information is insufficient, you can customize it with the ABS Configuration Tool from the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit Tools. The ABS Configuration Tool also lets you restore the default ABS settings.
To illustrate the use of the ABS Configuration Tool, let's work through the steps to customize ABS such that the Title attribute isn't stored on contact cards (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 A contact card before ABS customization.
Figure 5 The successful change message from the ABS Configuration Tool.
You'll need to wait until the Lync Client refreshes its address book to see the changes take effect (see Figure 6). However, you can also force the address book refresh.
Figure 6 The new contact card after ABS customization.
After the address book has refreshed, you'll notice that the Title is no longer visible for the same contact in the Lync client.
By default, the Lync client checks for changes to the Global Address List (GAL) between one and 60 minutes. If you need to force an address book refresh on the Lync Client, follow this process. You'll have to add a registry on the computer where the Lync Client is installed, and delete local contact files.
The first thing to do is force the Lync Client to immediately download the address book. To do so, you'll need a registry key on the computer upon which you want to force the address book refresh. You can use the following command to create the registry key (you'll have to run this with local Administrator credentials):
Next, you'll need to delete the previously downloaded local contact files. Follow these steps on the computer where you want to force the address book refresh:
Exit the Lync client if it's running. Manually delete the GalContacts.db and GalContacts.db.idx files.
The location of these files is dependent on the client OS. For Windows XP, it will be at %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Communicator\sip_username@domain.
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, the location will be %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Communicator\sip_username@domain. In both cases, you'll need to replace the sip_username@domain with the SIP address of the user in question. For example, to do so for a user that has a SIP address of email@example.com, you would replace the sip_username@domain with email@example.com.
Restart the Lync client. At this point, it will have an up-to-date copy of the address book. It will match whatever ABS has. There's an interval in which the Address Book server receives its information from ADDS. If you've recently changed information in ADDS, and can't wait for the Address Book server to synchronize, you can use the Update-CsAddressBookcmdlet to force the refresh. Then you'll have the latest, most-up-to-date address book possible.
John Policelli (MVP for Directory Services) is a solutions-focused IT consultant with Avanade Canada. He has designed and implemented dozens of complex directory service, collaboration, Web, networking and enterprise security solutions, and has spent years focused on identity and access management. He's also an author, technical reviewer and SME for more than 75 training, certification and technical white paper projects


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I live in central Virginia, not far from Lake Anna, on a wooded lot adjacent to pasture land. It's an older house and not very tight at all.
Over the last few days, I have literally been invaded by female wolf spiders. They're about 1-1/4" leg span, and a very dark brown, almost black.
Taking them back outdoors is getting to be a daily routine, and I cupped 5 yesterday evening in the kitchen. I opened my front door two nights ago, and had 13 between my storm door and my regular wood exterior door. That was interesting....
Last night, I went outside, walked around the house with a flashlight and counted 80 (eighty!) wolf spiders on the brickwork, around the windows and screens and between doors.
Anyone know why they are doing this?
In all this activity, I have only seen one male, and he was nowhere near the females.
It's been raining here for what seems like weeks, are they just headed for higher ground?
Do they hibernate in colonies and could they be just looking for someplace to winter over?
My wife, normally very tolerant, is getting nervous about putting her foot down on one in the dark and threatens to start vacuuming invaders - her standard problem solving method for things that will fit into the tube...
Is there something I can do to help them, set up some kind of shelter or something?
Is there a market for them, LOL?
Sounds like a bad Syfy movie.
It's the time of year more than anything. Once the cold sets in, wolf spider activity will crash for the most part. Best thing to do is block door cracks and whatnot so the spiders don't get in so easily. They are very common spiders. As you found out, flash light @ night reveals many. They may find your foundation enticing for a place to overwinter. They do not hibernate in colonies though.
a picture says a thousand words, except when it comes to identifying bugs
Thank you for your replies!
Frost, the house is about 25 years old and I've been in here since late winter. Didn't notice a mass exodus last spring, but there's a lot I don't notice.
Shrike, LOL, it IS like a bad horror movie. I just came in from shining the light around again tonight. Eyeballs everywhere shining back at me. As I play the fading light down the back of the house, it is easy to see 20 or more sinister black shapes lurking on each of the four sides, probing crevices, moving slightly just as my head turns away, eyes glowing green, creeping around, step by step...
loxoscelesfear, you're probably right. I figured they're looking for a place to winter too. Odd they're swarming the house, though, must be attracted to the interior lights shining out through the windows. I shine the ground & trees for 75 yards around and see nothing, but on the sides of the house and about 10 feet out into the yard and flower beds, you couldn't swing a dead cat without mashing a spider. I'd bet that there are a hundred specimens out there. I've only removed three from indoors tonight, but it's cooler and we have the windows down and the main doors closed.
Husbandry question: What is an average lifespan for one of these spiders? I suspect most of the females are all full grown, though there are a few smaller specimens here and there that may be younger. I wondered if I nabbed a couple now, how would they do indoors over the winter.
Last edited by EShell; 09-30-2011 at 09:35 PM. Reason: just took another one outside...
This happens at my house each spring and each fall. They are looking for mates in the spring I'd imagine but in the fall certainly for a place to over-winter. In the past two weeks I've seen well over 300 on my front porch alone. And it's not really that big. I keep moving them (and sadly killing some) but each night the porch is covered in them. We are somewhat used to it now but when we first moved here it gave me and my wife a bit of a start. Honestly she still isn't cool with it, but hey, they are just here to sleep.
https://www.sites.google.com/site/cockroachcare/ For everything cockroaches!
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Dondria - Artist Profile
Thicker Than a Snicker! Dondria Nicole Shows Off Thim Slick New Look
Thu, Oct 02, 2014 in Gossip
Dondria Nicole is ready for a new era, and we must say, she is super svelte and hot! The R&B songstress took to Instagram today to show off her new figure, and her body is screaming damn!
Dondria Nicole - Coat Tail
Tue, Feb 18, 2014 in Music
Along with her name change and sexy new look, Dondria Nicole launches her brand new single "Coattail."
So So Def's Dondria Changes Name to Dondria Nicole
Fri, Jan 31, 2014 in News
Before the So So Def singer signed a record deal, the internet had known her as Phatfffat then she became Dondria
Dondria's Christmas Single Leads Top 10 Most Popular R&B Singles of the Week
Sat, Dec 14, 2013 in News
In 2013, Dondria flew under the radar by avoiding music leaks and gossip, outside of her performance at So So Def 20th Anniversary concert.
Dondria - Ain't No Way
Mon, Dec 09, 2013 in Music
So So Def singer Dondria takes a break from her hiatus to deliver some Christmas cheer with the new offering, "Ain't No Way."
Jermaine Dupri - Celebration Feat. Jagged Edge, Da Brat, Dondria, Fresco Kane & Bow Wow
Tue, Jan 15, 2013 in Music
To celebrate 20 years of hit making, Jermaine Dupri has gathered current and past acts of So So Def for a well-worth "Celebration."
Jermaine Dupri Recruits So So Def Artists for 20th Anniversary Concert & Compilation Album
Tue, Jan 15, 2013 in News
Jermaine Dupri will celebrate So So Def's twenty year legacy with an all-star anniversary concert on February 23, 2013 at Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA.
Dondria - Going Down Feat. Yo Gotti
Wed, Dec 05, 2012 in Music
Dust off your furs, platforms and afro wigs for this one cause it's "Going Down" in the most playa-listic way.
Dondria - Duets 3 (The 90's Edition)
Sat, Feb 04, 2012 in Mix Room
R&B songstress Dondria issues the third installment of her Duets series. On the set, the "You're The One" singer covers '90s classics like Jon B's "They Don't Know," Donell Jones' "Where I Wanna Be," Tyrese's "Sweet Lady," R. Kelly's "Half on a Baby," and Dru Hill's "We're Not Making Love."
Dondria - Boiling Point
Wed, May 25, 2011 in Music


text: Tip From Imam Foiled Canada Terror Plot 2 men planned to derail passenger train: RCMP By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Apr 23, 2013 6:54 AM CDT STORY COMMENTS (17) (Newser) – Yesterday, Canadian authorities said they foiled an alleged terrorist plot—the "first known al-Qaeda plan of attack that we've experienced," one detective says—and they have a Toronto imam to thank for the bust. More than a year ago, the still-anonymous imam told authorities he was concerned about the behavior of Raed Jaser, 35, one of the two individuals arrested yesterday, the imam's lawyer tells the Globe and Mail. The imam was unnerved by what his lawyer calls Jaser's "attempts to approach young Muslims," and so he "took the initiative to notify the authorities." The single tip from the imam led the RCMP to Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, who are accused of plotting to derail a passenger train on a Toronto-New York route; they face charges including terrorism, terrorist recruitment, and plotting murder and will appear in court today. After the arrest, Canada's top counterterrorism officials gathered about 20 Islamic leaders to thank them. "The first comment they made ... is that, but for the Muslim community's intervention, we may not have had the success we've had," says a lawyer who was present. The skyline of Toronto's downtown is dimmed as many of the lights are turned off for Earth Hour on Saturday, March 28, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese) ADVERTISEMENT(Click Prev or Next to continue viewing images.) « Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow Globe and Mail (Source Grid ») World • Crime & Courts Iran • terrorism • Canada • train • Toronto • suspected terrorists • al-Qaeda • imam CLICK BELOW TO VOTE 3% 4% 1% 90% 2% 1% RETURN TO THE STORY To report an error on this story, notify our editors.


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A Lesson in True Style from African Diaspora Awards view
47 Luxe Looks from 'Scent of Africa' Launch view
One Chic Night in Brooklyn view
Love is in the air and our readers are showing off their engagement bling! Take a look at the gorgeous gems these proud wives and wives-to-be are sporting.
@Very_Desirable shows off her engagement ring.
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DUNEDIN, Fla. -- J.P. Arencibia says he is looking forward to catching knuckleballer R.A. Dickey this season.
The Blue Jays also acquired catchers Henry Blanco, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas, who have all handled Dickey in the past.
But, contrary to other assumptions, incumbent Arencibia says he wants to be at the other end of the Dickey floater.
"Our manager and Alex (GM Alex Anthopoulos) have talked to me and told me from the beginning that they want me to catch him," he told reporters Monday.
Arencibia and Dickey both live in Nashville and have been working out together in the off-season.
"At the beginning it was tough, it's not an easy pitch to adjust to," said Arencibia. "But then as of late, over the last week and a half, we've been real comfortable. We've been able to work on different hitters, how he's going to attack guys. We simulated some hitters and I was able to catch him well.
"So I'm comfortable and I'm ready to be able to do it in a game."
Manager John Gibbons was leaving his options open.
"That's his goal. He wants to be that guy. And we'll see how that all plays out," he told reporters when asked about it. "But we brought those other guys in specifically for that purpose.
"But he's going to go with him (Dickey) to the WBC (World Baseball Classic) and we'll see how that all works. The organization is counting on J.P for being the catcher here for a number of years so eventually he's going to have to catch him. We'll see. This game, things always have a way of working out. But I'm glad he's working so hard at it."
As for Dickey, he welcomed Arencibia's enthusiasm to catch him.
"I think that's a window into J.P. as a human. I think he wants to be the best regardless if he's catching a knuckleballer or catching (Ricky) Romero or (Mark) Buehrle or (Josh) Johnson or being a hitter, he works. And he knows that this game does not come easy.
"And if I'm given the privilege of being the opening day starter, I doubt that he wants to be on the bench for opening day. So he's working his tail off to try to figure it out and he's doing a heck of a job so far. And I only anticipate him getting better."
Thole got to know Dickey's knuckleball at the Mets.
"It's a challenge. It's a challenge every day but that's the fun part of catching him," he said,
"You have to see a lot of it and even then you're still not going to be completely comfortable with it," he added.
Dickey's knuckleball is all the more difficult to handle because he throws it harder than most practitioners of the pitch.
Ferraro: Leafs giving Nylander legit shot
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I have a solution that isn't very awesome, but at least you can play the game and it doesn't end up broken.
1. Delete your savegames and start from the beginning. I know! It sucks to lose a lot of gameplay, but it's the only way to fix the quest.
2. Start your new career or character just as you did and continue to use the trainer as you normally would.
3. This is the most important. Instead of levelling up and being all hardcore and badass like you want to hold back and do the main storyline quests first just until you finish Hunters Hunted.
4. Enjoy the game as you normally would doing side quests, faction quests, and main quests however you wish.
5. ??????
6. Profit
Hope this helps. And before you say it's a bad suggestion I've done searching and this seems to be the best option. Trust me I had the problem and tried multiple solutions that didn't end up working. I lost over 20 hours of game play racked up since the game's release, but I'm doing it over now and at least the quest line isn't broken. It seems though that is the only quest that gets broken if you explore too far, level up too high, or something.
Enjoy the game ladies and gentlemen.
nope sorry tried it four times without luck followed u totally
[Edited by Dina, 5/2/2012 5:53:39 PM]
No problem, though the thread has been closed now. There are a couple of others in that section though, and that'll probably be the place to track any posts by the dev (Ngruk).
Ngruk isn't a dev - that's Curt Schilling, the owner of the company. Since it seems like 38 Studios is bankrupt or about to be, I guess we can kiss any chance of a patch goodbye. I also completed all the DLC and most of the other side quests, so I guess I'm done with KoA.
Try doing only the main quest from the get go without using the trainer and see if it works. If it does work finish out that quest and go ahead and use the trainer after you finish that storyline quest.
I noticed that things tend to bug out if you use things to get beyond level 10 at the very first story quests or if you use anything other than health, mana, or fate. I have had zero problems using only the health, mana, fate refill, spell/potion cooldown, inventory space (just once), and repair items.
I went back reloaded a save right before I spoke to him at the inn and used add inventory, super inventory and unlimited items. The quest started as normal.
I reloaded and used add XP and it was bugged out not starting the quest. I used the add xp cheat going from lvl 6-9 then leveled up and spent the points.
There may be multiple causes for this quest bugging out. My experience playing this beginning part at least 16 times testing out today leads me to support that Add XP buggs it out. I am not saying there aren't other things which might play a factor I am missing but testing the Main Quest and trainer options reloading and testing again gave me this conclusion.
Well that is quite unfortunate, Dina.
iv tried without trainer fully, and iv tried start over again, doing only mainquest, iv tried soo much makes me feel game must be faulty, iv even tried reinstall without any change to my problem, iv tried 30 times to start over again, iv tried to search internet for quest editor or something to change save so tht trigger is passed, but its sad, i cant seem to get past it, if anyone makes a save game editor what includes quest editing then i would be deeply thankful
I spent today trying every combo I could think of trying to get a clean quest. I finally got one to pass the begining of The hunters hunted. I did nothing but the main quest. I used the Trainer. I used instant cooldowns, easy kills, add skill points, add ability points, add gold, fill reckoning, super health and mana. I made multiple saves along the way so I might test a few theories once I had a good quest start.
i have tried without trainer and when i level up early fast then it buggs out, actually if i level up just once or so then i doubt its gonna work, atleast for me, the game crashed when i finally tried not level up almost, just running pretty much, this game is soo faulty but i like the game, but im stuck cant do anything more, mainquest is bugged for me, even if i start over again only doing main quest not almost leveling and not even using any form for cheat or trainer
I've played through the main quest just fine on multiple occasions (sometimes using the trainer and sometimes not) and just now I'm getting the same bug.
So, I've got this save with 50 hours play time... aaaaand the main quest bugs out.
It's a great game that requires patching, but we aren't going to get any patches due to 38 Studio's current "situation." I'd contact EA support and ***** them out. Maybe they'll offer a refund or be more helpful. I've never dealt with them before, so I can't say for sure.
Anyway, anyone still hoping for a patch (which included me) should probably give up. 38 Studios/BHG (I forget which, if not both) are officially dead. They're packing up their stuff and moving on out. They still own the rights to all of their stuff for now, but it'll soon default to the Rhode Island government. Unless someone picks it up, Project Copernicus, Amalur 2 (both of which were in early planning/development) and any chance of a patch for Amalur are all dead in the water.
There was a small comment by (I think) Curt on Twitter about some kind of White Knight, but I haven't heard anything more come from that.The really crock of the whole thing is that EA haven't said a word on the subject, despite being the publisher. The whole problem has ended with the fact that 38 weren't paid for Amalur sales by EA or Steam yet. I doubt contacting either for any kind of support will result in anything but a big middle finger.Hopefully someone'll reckognise the awesomeness of the game and buy the rights to it, but for now basically if you've hit a game breaking bug, it's a restart from the beginning or nothing unfortunately.
[Edited by Skyheart, 5/30/2012 1:30:26 AM]


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HP Refreshes Servers for Greater Performance
• Demonstrate leadership. As an IT industry leader, HP is committed to helping its customers use technology innovations to their advantage
• Challenge the ordinary. Transform standard IT tasks, such as server refresh, into value-driving projects
• Performance first. HP servers powered by Intel® Xeon® processor E5 family and Intel® Xeon® processor E7 family deliver strong compute power
• Virtualized efficiency. Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT) more than doubles native virtualization performance and reduces virtualization latency by 40 percent
Business Value
• Hosting consolidation. Gigant Group consolidated the hosted customer environment from 15 to four servers, cutting server operations costs by 67 percent
• Recruitment efficiency. Grafton Recruitment reduced hardware for simpler management while boosting compute power
• Scalable banking. Komercni Banka created a more flexible and scalable server environment supported by technologies from HP and Intel
Read the full HP Refreshes Servers for Greater Performance Solution Brief.


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Student art: Notre Dame High School students? artwork was on display for students, parents, faculty and staff to enjoy in the school?s lobby through Dec. 19. Students strengthen their creative skills each quarter, under the guidance of art instructor John Shook. Pictured reviewing their classmates? artwork are, from left: Mia Balajadia, Roselee Aguigui and Cabrini Cruz, sophomores.
- Filed Under
Marriage licenses
The following is a list of people who have picked up their marriage licenses. The names are spelled as they appear on files with the Vital Statistics Section at the Department of Public Health and Social Services in Mangilao.
April 20
Paul Ryan Capati Audije and Jerika Jenna Gaviola Dee, Richard Maanao Cruz Jr. and Crystal Lynn Villanueva Borja, Shaun Ryan Gumataotao and Jenilee Marie Pangelinan Cruz.
April 23
Ying Wah Chan and Pui Ling Chong, But Keung Cheung and Suk Kwan Lo, William Jay Herron and Ashley Jean Palacios, Andryu Nakata Minamoto and Chun Xia Yu, Garrett Dean Owens and Nakita Monique-Javonna Chapel.
April 24
Chun Sinn Chan and Kwan Ha Chan, Wai Hong Chan and Ka Man Or, Peter Isaac Fruean and Klauricca Brianne Carlos, Tat Lai Fung and Nga Man Luk, Sang Bum Lee and Tuangchut Narongintara, Hoi Sang To and Sin Yeung Yip.
April 25
Raymond Batarilan Bagatsing and Jennifer Eileen Cruz, Cristobal Naputi Castro and Hilda Tedtaotao Taimanglo, Wai Ming Chau and Pui Yee Cheng, Jesse Lee Ascura Cruz and Rolani Jo Cruz Rivera, Garold Wayne Hewitt and Weena Christine Rodriguez Cortes, Richard Burke Ongesii and Valerie Nicole Camacho Santos, Ying Wai Yeung and Ka Wai Au.
April 26
Bryon Vincent Cepeda and Laura Beth Cruz Nelson, Emmanuel Olano Endencia and Cheryl Grace Muniz Platon, Romuald Pangan Pineda and Iamika-Jo Garcia Cruz, Ronny Sangalang and Juliana Thiggimed Tamdad, Reynaldo Redona Yepes, Jr. and Villette Rose Samson Doromal.


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Green Tea
Green Tea Bag Cure for a Sty
Home Remedy Ingredients:
- Green Tea Bag
- Cup of Hot Water
Put a green tea bag in a cup of hot water and allow the tea to brew and then cool somewhat, then apply the bag to the affected eye. Re-warm in the water and continue for about 10 minutes. Repeat every few hours until healed, usually in a day or two.


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Masters of Horror - Joe Dantes Homecoming on DVD July 11thMeh
Sometimes Horror Reaches From Beyond The Grave Into The Headlines…"Homecoming" directed by Joe Dante, perhaps the most controversial feature of the critically-acclaimed Masters of Horror anthology series, bows on DVD on Tuesday, July 11th, from Anchor Bay Entertainment, an IDT Entertainment company.
The subject of intense debate since its first airing and featured in The Los Angeles Times and Newsweek magazine, Joe Dante's (The Howling, Gremlins, Looney Tunes Back In Action), "Homecoming" blends zombie horror and contemporary political satire with chilling – and timely -- results. Terror and scandal grip the nation when dead soldiers rise en masse to have their voices heard one more time during the Presidential election. Based on the award-winning short story "Death and Suffrage" by Dale Baily and adapted by Sam Hamm (Batman), "Homecoming" stars Jon Tenney (Looking For Comedy in the Muslim World) and veteran Dante collaborator Robert Picardo (The Howling, Innerspace and TV's "Star Trek Voyager").
JOE DANTE'S HOMECOMING boasts a battalion of DVD extras:
Widescreen Presentation (1.77:1), enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Featurettes: "The Dead Come Marching," "Working With A Master: Joe Dante,"
Behind The Scenes: The Making of Homecoming
On Set: An Interview with Jon Tenney
On Set: An Interview with Robert Picardo
On Set: An Interview with Thea Gill
Audio Commentary with Writer Sam Hamm
Fantasy Film Festival: Mick Garris Interviews Joe Dante
Still Gallery
Joe Dante Bio
Screenplay (DVD-ROM)
Screensaver (DVD-ROM)
Premiering on the Showtime cable network in October 2005 to critical and public acclaim, each one-hour "Masters of Horror" film elevates the genre to a new standard in terror, written and directed by some of the genre's leading practitioners.
Anchor Bay Entertainment is promoting "Masters of Horror" on DVD with a multi-level marketing campaign including interactive on-line promotions, national television, genre/industry print advertising and a partnership with national cable network American Movie Classics. Additionally, the film will be cross-trailered on upcoming Anchor Bay DVD releases.


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Download Options
Colonial Radio Group, Inc., Applications for Minor Modification of Construction Permits;
Application for License to Cover FM Translator Station, W230BO, Olean, New York, FCC No.
When it comes to international diplomacy, matters are often not as simple as they seem. It is
difficult to square today's Commission decision with the text of a bilateral agreement between the United
States and Canada. But "[b]ecause a treaty is 'an agreement among sovereign powers,'" we must also
consider "as 'aids to its interpretation' the . . . 'postratification understanding' of signatory nations.'"1
To review the relevant particulars, the FM Working Arrangement is a bilateral agreement that
applies to the allotment and assignment of FM broadcasting channels within 320 kilometers of the U.S.-
Canada border.2 Section 4.3 of that treaty specifically provides that the 34 dBμ interfering contour of an
LPFM station, including an FM translator, may not exceed 60 kilometers.3
Thus, because there is no question that this dispute involves (1) an FM translator that (2) is
located within 320 kilometers of the U.S.-Canada border and (3) has a 34dBμ interfering contour that
extends more than 60 kilometers, it seems clear that our decision approving the FM translator minor-
modification application at issue here runs afoul of Section 4.3 of the FM Working Arrangement.
However, the Commission relies upon an informal understanding among officials from the FCC
and Industry Canada that section 4.3 of the FM Working Arrangement will apply only where a translator's
34 dBμ contour crosses the border. At my request, the Bureau produced evidence of this understanding
dating back to 1999. The FCC has acted pursuant to this interpretation in the years since without any
objection from our neighbors to the north.
It is therefore my view that both countries have acquiesced to this interpretation of the FM
Working Arrangement, and that it wouldn't make sense for the Commission to reverse course now. As a
result, since the 34 dBμ interfering contour of this FM translator does not cross the border into Canada, I
1 See Medellin v. Texas, 552 U.S. 491, 507 (2008) (quoting Zicherman v. Korean Air Lines Co., 516 U.S. 217, 226
(1996)); see also RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS § 202(4) (1979) ("Where an agreement involves repeated
occasions for performance by either party with knowledge of the nature of the performance and opportunity for
objection to it by the other, any course of performance accepted or acquiesced in without objection is given great
weight in the interpretation of the agreement.").
2 See Working Arrangement for the Allotment and Assignment of FM Broadcasting Channels under the Agreement
between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America Relating to the FM
Broadcasting Service § 1 (executed in 1991, amended in 1997), available at http://go.usa.gov/PZuG.
3 Id. §§ 4.1, 4.3.
Note: We are currently transitioning our documents into web compatible formats for easier reading. We have done our best to supply this content to you in a presentable form, but there may be some formatting issues while we improve the technology. The original version of the document is available as a PDF, , or as plain text.


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File Photo
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Two bodies found today are being linked to the disappearance of missing Iowa girls Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins, authorities said.
The bodies were found at 12:45 p.m. today by hunters. Authorities would not confirm that the bodies were those of the girls, or even of two female children, but mentioned the investigation often and said the bodies led them to believe the search for the girls would not have a positive outcome.
The bodies have been sent to the state examiner's office for positive identification. ...


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Pat Bergmann (left), Nick Vier and their Vermont teammates are seeking to become the first 16th seeded to beat a No. 1 in the NCAA tournament when they take on Syracuse tonight in Buffalo, N.Y. / EMILY McMANAMY, Free Press
NCAA tournament blog
Free Press staff writers John A. Fantino and Alex Abrami are blogging from the NCAA mens basketball tournament in Buffalo, N.Y. Follow the coverage on the Free Press' On Campus blog.
BUFFALO, N.Y. Its called March Madness for a reason. Spectacular upsets happen; thrilling finishes are played out.
More NCAA coverage
• Threat level Orange for UVM men
• Syracuse and Vermont at a glance
• Regular-season road could help
Thursday, the first round of the 2010 NCAA mens basketball tournament produced a few more. There was No. 15 Robert Morris near defeat of second-seeded Villanova. Or Murray State, a No. 13 seed, stunning fourth-seeded Vanderbilt. And 14th-seeded Ohio blowing out No. 3 Georgetown.
Bracket busters like those occur every year, and the University of Vermont, which created its own Cinderella story in the 2005 first-round upset of Syracuse, spent down time before Thursdays news conference and practice watching some of the games unfold.
It was a great game. I feel bad for Robert Morris they played their hearts out, UVM junior Evan Fjeld said. Just to come up so short, nobody will remember it was that close 10, 20 years from now.
Every high seed needs to be on the upset alert, I guess.
Vermonts road-proven team the Cats are second in the nation in wins away from home coupled with self-belief from Thursdays wild start could help the Catamounts weather a Buffalo N.Y., crowd that will bleed Orange. Syracuse is about a two-hour drive from Buffalo.
I think it should give our guys some confidence. Definitely worried about some of the guys being imitated by the atmosphere and everything, but Robert Morris hanging with Villanova ... all the games seem to be close, UVM coach Mike Lonergan said. My hope is, once the ball is tossed, we kind of forget who we are playing, and just play hard.
We want to be excited about the NCAA tournament and being a part of it. I think
the way the scores have been going, its good for our guys to see.
Added Marqus Blakely, Anything can happen on any given night.
Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on twitter @aabrami5 and www.blogs.burlingtonfreepress.com/oncampus.


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Howto: Deus Ex: Human Revolution in Ubuntu/Linux
January 07, 2012
I just bought Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and if you did too, or are contemplating it, don't let the bad rating on WineHQ scare you off - it runs near perfectly.
Now, the in-game tutorials are a bit wonky, but if you can live without those (I know I didn't have much of a problem without them), here's how you can install and run DE:HR in Ubuntu/Linux.
You are going to need Vineyard, so install that first if you haven't already, also we are going to use the terminal a bit, but don't worry, it's not scary, just quicker.
First off, let's install the game.
Do whatever you would normally do; run the installer from the DVD or download it from Steam - just make sure you do it in a new prefix in Vineyard.
Secondly, install a custom version of Wine (with rawinput2 patch).
We're going to use one provided by PlayOnLinux, so if you have PlayOnLinux installed, just install Wine 1.3.34 rawinput2 from there, otherwise, either go to http://www.playonlinux.com/wine/binaries/linux-x86/, download the one called PlayOnLinux-wine-1.3.34-rawinput2-linux-x86.pol, rename it to have a .tar.bz2 ending and then extract from it the folder called "wineversion/1.3.34-rawinput2" to $HOME/.local/share/wineversions/1.3.34-rawinput2 - or run the following command:
mkdir $HOME/.local/share/wineversions && wget -q -O - 'http://www.playonlinux.com/wine/binaries/linux-x86/PlayOnLinux-wine-1.3.34-rawinput2-linux-x86.pol' | tar --wildcards --transform 's/wineversion\///' --bzip2 -xvf - -C $HOME/.local/share/wineversions/ 'wineversion/*'
Setup Vineyard to use it
Now we need to edit the prefix configuration so Vineyard knows to run this version of Wine, so if you know where that directory is, just go and open the file wrapper.cfg, otherwise open Vineyard Preferences, select the prefix and under "Tools", click "Open Main Drive" and then navigate one directory up, there's your wrapper.cfg.
Add the following lines to this file:
ww_wine="$HOME/.local/share/wineversions/1.3.34-rawinput2/bin/wine" ww_wineloader="$HOME/.local/share/wineversions/1.3.34-rawinput2/bin/wine" ww_wineserver="$HOME/.local/share/wineversions/1.3.34-rawinput2/bin/wineserver" ww_winedllpath="$HOME/.local/share/wineversions/1.3.34-rawinput2/lib/wine"
Or, if you installed the Wine version through PlayOnLinux:
ww_wine="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86/1.3.34-rawinput2/bin/wine" ww_wineloader="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86/1.3.34-rawinput2/bin/wine" ww_wineserver="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86/1.3.34-rawinput2/bin/wineserver" ww_winedllpath="$HOME/.PlayOnLinux/wine/linux-x86/1.3.34-rawinput2/lib/wine"
Done! (or do you have sound?)
Now you actually might be able to run Deus Ex: Human Revolution just fine! For me though, I needed to go to Vineyard Preferences again and make sure the Deus Ex: Human Revolution launcher had "Disable PulseAudio whilst running" checked on, and then it was smooth sailing.
Hope this little guide was helpful, comments are very welcome.
GStreamer, MIDI (and Ubuntu)
April 26, 2011
So, you have all your old MIDI files lying around and you decide to play them through Totem or another GStreamer based player. What happens? They sound... flat.
Ah, no problem you think, I'll just set up Timidity to use the neat soundfont I have lying around that sounds like my old SoundBlaster card and everything will be peachy, but no, GStreamer doesn't support soundfonts cause it doesn't use timidity but wildmidi - what to do?
Or: How to convert soundfonts to GUS patches for use in wildmidi/gstreamer.
There's a neat little tool called Unsf included in Greg Lee's gt - a stripped down version of Timidity - that can convert a soundfont to a GUS patch usable by wildmidi and therefore GStreamer, so let's get started with the conversion!
First, go to where you want the GUS patch (and its files) - this path shouldn't contain spaces - then download the latest version of gt (I hear there's a version 1.0, but 0.4 is the latest I can find):
cd /where/you/want/the/GUS/files wget ftp://ling.lll.hawaii.edu/pub/greg/gt-0.4.tar.gz
Now, let's extract it somewhere and build it:
tar -xzf gt-0.4.tar.gz cd gt-0.4 ./configure cd utils make
Now, let's convert the soundfont to a GUS patch (remember to replace /path/to/your/soundfont.sf2 with the actual path to your soundfont):
cd ../../GUS ../utils/unsf -F /path/to/your/soundfont.sf2
Now we need to fix the config file that unsf wrote to include the path to where your GUS patch is:
echo -e "dir $PWD\n" > wildmidi; cat *.cfg >> wildmidi
Now let's "install" that config file:
sudo cp wildmidi /etc/wildmidi.cfg
There! You're done!
For a nice athentic old school midi sound, I recommend the following soundfont (you need to register to download though): http://www.sf2midi.com/soundfonts/file-detail/roland-sc-55-sf2-3033.html
Find the 32bit deb package from your 64bit system
January 13, 2011
I'm sure I'm not the only one that has had to install a 32bit version of some package to get a game or other program not designed for 64bit to work in 64bit Linux/Ubuntu/Debian and I'm sure others will nod in agreement at how difficult it can be to find the 32bit version, especially if you need a bunch and don't really have the time to wade through packages.ubuntu.com (or packages.debian.org for that matter), so I've cooked up a little Python script to find the URL for the 32bit version of a package for you.
It's here.
You just run it with the name of the package you want to find as the first argument, like so:
$ ./apt-get-i386-package.py libpulse0 http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-audio-dev/ppa/ubuntu/pool/main/p/pulseaudio/libpulse0_0.9.22-0ubuntu1_i386.deb
See? Easy.
Also note that it found it in a PPA - it uses your package database, so everything you can theoretically install can be found in a 32bit version.
Switch to bottom pane plugin for GEdit
December 09, 2010
So, I've been reconsidering GEdit as a quick development environment, but I was really missing a way to switch to the bottom pane and back (for using the embedded terminal).
I couldn't find an existing plugin to do this, so I took a look at Elia Sarti's TabSwitch plugin - that uses Ctrl+Tab to switch tabs - and edited it to switch back and forth between the bottom pane and the editor view and I must say that GEdit has a rather comfortable work flow now :)
How to get sound in Shadowgrounds in Ubuntu Maverick x64
October 01, 2010
Yeah, so here we go, my third issue with the Linux port of Shadowgrounds... anyway, it turned out to not be that difficult to fix.
Shadowgrounds only really plays well with OSS, so you should run it through aoss, but that won't work in 64 bit. So here's the solution:
First, install alsa-oss (sudo apt-get install alsa-oss), then download this archive, extract it your game directory and run shadowgrounds-x64 from now on - easy as that. Download me
If you prefer to do this by hand, first download the alsa-oss package for i386 (from here), extract it (dpkg --extract alsa-oss_1.0.17-4_i386.deb alsa-oss) and copy the files in usr/lib/ to /usr/lib32/ (sudo cp alsa-oss/usr/lib/* /usr/lib32/). Now when you want to run the game, you should run it as: LD_PRELOAD="/usr/lib32/libaoss.so" aoss ./shadowgrounds-bin


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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
© Copyright 2015 Clayton News Daily
By Joel Hall
Some citizens are expressing concern about the Clayton County Board of Commissioners' recent vote to hand over full control of the maintenance and operation of the county's police department to Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell.
Some citizens and law enforcement representatives said they believe the board's vote last week shows a lack of confidence in the police department, and is a back-door attempt to replace Police Chief Jeff Turner.
Kliff Grimes, national representative for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, questioned the board's motives during Tuesday night's county commission meeting. He said he believes the board's move undermines Turner's authority, and asked that it be rescinded.
"This resolution basically made the officers wonder why their department has to be micro-managed, why their department has to be singled out," Grimes said. "If this was done to help Police Chief Turner, then why wasn't the chairman asked to be an advisor instead of over the department. Basically, this makes the officer think we have a chief over the chief."
On Dec. 8, the Board of Commissioners voted 3-2, Bell and Commissioner Michael Edmondson opposed, to pass a resolution giving the chairman "the full power and authority of the Board of Commissioners to make all decisions concerning the Clayton County Police Department." The resolution gives Bell the ability to make all decisions concerning operation and management of the police department, as well as the unilateral ability to hire and fire the police chief, according to the resolution adopted by the board.
Rosa Barbee, a community activist and president of the Brookwood Village Homeowner's Association, questioned the board's decision, based on Turner's performance.
"Homicide has dropped in the county 60 percent this year ... our chief has established 241 neighborhood watch programs," Barbee said. "He is in our schools, he is teaching and educating our children to stay away from gangs and drugs. He is doing his job, so what is the problem?"
Following the meeting, Turner said he has not yet had the opportunity to meet with Bell and get a "full understanding" of how the resolution would impact his authority as police chief. However, he said that in order to "be an effective leader ... it is important that people see me as the person in charge of the police department.
"The part about reporting to Bell doesn't bother me as much as giving him full discretion over the maintenance and operation of the police department," Turner said. "If they [police officers] feel like my power is being usurped ... that is making my job as the police chief minuscule and useless. It's obvious that they are singling out the police department. If they are going to do that, they should have everybody report to Chairman Bell or everybody report to the chief of staff.
"I take my job seriously and I want to be able to do what I was hired to do, and that is run the police department with the full authority I had when I was appointed," he added.
While Bell voted against the last week's resolution, Grimes said he believes Bell has given tacit approval.
"It's kind of one of those, 'I don't want this,' but the hand is out the entire time," Grimes said.
Bell left Tuesday's meeting before questions could be raised concerning the resolution. Later attempts to reach Bell were unsuccessful on Tuesday.
Clayton County Commissioner Wole Ralph, who put forth the resolution, maintained Tuesday that the resolution "in no way takes away power from the police chief" and was a way to "leverage his [Bell's] experience" to the benefit of the police department. Ralph said he was "surprised" Bell voted against the resolution, citing a lawsuit earlier this year in which Bell sued the commission over the powers the board gave to the chief of staff to oversee department heads.
"The chairman engaged in a lawsuit that would have the board do exactly what this resolution does," Ralph said. "To that reason, I am surprised that he voted against it. If Bell put forth a resolution that he didn't want this, then I would second it."
In other matters Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners passed a resolution that could lead to an extension of the end-of-service date for the C-TRAN bus service from March 31, 2010 to June 30, 2010 or longer, if the board is able to convince the Atlanta Regional Commission to let the county give $2.7 million of stimulus funding to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and, in turn, have MARTA use $2.7 million of its capital investment funds to operate C-TRAN.
According to Clayton County Staff Attorney Michael Smith, the ARC would have to approve the idea and present it to the Federal Transit Administration before the end of the year.
More like this story
- Bell rebuffs new oversight of police department ( December 17, 2009 )
- Bell rebuffs new oversight of police department ( December 18, 2009 )
- Opposition grows over Bell's control of police ( December 15, 2009 )
- BOC gives Bell oversight of county police ( December 8, 2009 )
- Former police chief to fight for job ( December 30, 2009 )