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1.3 Conditionals and Loops
We use the term flow of control to refer to the sequence of statements that are executed in a program. All of the programs that we have examined to this point have a simple flow of control: the statements are executed one after the other in the order given. Most programs have a more complicated structure where statements may or may not be executed depending on certain conditions (conditionals), or where groups of statements are executed multiple times (loops).
If statements.Most computations require different actions for different inputs. Program Flip.java uses an if-else statement to print out the results of a coin flip. The table below summarizes some typical situations where you might need to use an if or if-else statement.
While loops.Many computations are inherently repetitive. The while loop enables us to perform a group of statements many times. This enables us to express lengthy computations without writing lots of code.
- TenHellos.java prints out "Hello World" 10 times.
- PowersOfTwo.java takes a command-line argument N and prints out all of the powers of 2 less than or equal to N.
For loops.Many loops follow the same basic scheme: initialize an index variable to some value and then use a while loop to test an exit condition involving the index variable, using the last statement in the while loop to modify the index variable. Java's for loop is a direct way to express such loops. For example, the following two lines of code are equivalent to the corresponding lines of code in TenHellos.
for (int i = 4; i <= 10; i = i + 1) System.out.println(i + "th Hello");
- Idioms for single-operand operations. The idiom i++ is a shorthand notation for i = i + 1.
- Scope. The scope of a variable is the part of the program where it is defined. Generally the scope of a variable is the statements following the declaration in the same block as the declaration. For this purpose, the code in the for loop header is considered to be in the same block as the for loop body.
Loop examples.Give table containing loop examples. [Loops.java]
Applications.The ability to program with loops and conditionals immediately opens up the world of computation to us.
- Ruler subdivisions. RulerN.java reads in a command line parameter N and prints out the string of ruler subdivision lengths. This program illustrates one of the essential characteristics of loops - the program could hardly be simpler, but it can produce a huge amount of output.
- Finite sums.
The computational paradigm used in
PowersOfTwo.java is one that you
will use frequently. It uses two variables - one as an index that controls
a loop, and the other to accumulate a computational result.
Program Harmonic.java uses the same
paradigm to evaluate the sum
These numbers, which are known as the Harmonic numbers, arise frequently in the analysis of algorithms. They are the discrete analog of the logarithm: they approximate the area under the curve y = 1/x from x = 1 to x = N. This approximation is a special example of quadrature or numerical integration.
- Newton's method. How are functions in Java's Math library such as Math.sqrt() implemented? Sqrt.java uses a classic iterative technique that dates back to Heron of Alexandria in the first century. It is a special case of the more general Newton-Raphson method. To compute the square root of a positive number x: Start with an estimate t. If t is equal to x/t (up to machine precision), then t is equal to a square root of x, so the computation is complete. If not, refine the estimate by replacing t with the average of t and x/t. Each time we perform this update, we get closer to the desired answer.
- Number conversion. Binary.java prints the binary (base 2) representation of the decimal number typed as the command line argument. It is based on decomposing the number into a sum of powers of two. For example, the binary representation of 106 is 1101010, which is the same as saying that 106 = 64 + 32 + 8 + 2, or in binary, 1101010 = 1000000 + 100000 + 1000 + 10. To compute the binary representation of N, we consider the powers of 2 less than or equal to N in decreasing order to determine which belong in the binary decomposition (and therefore correspond to a 1 bit in the binary representation).
- Gambler's ruin. Our next example is representative of a widely used class of programs, where we use computers to simulate what might happen in the real world, so that we can make informed decisions in all kinds of complicated situations. Suppose a gambler makes a series of fair $1 bets, starting with $50, and continue to play until she either goes broke or has $250. What are the chances that she will go home with $250, and how many bets might she expect to make before winning or losing? Program Gambler.java is a simulation that can help answer these questions. It reads in three command-line arguments, the initial stake ($50), the goal amount ($250), and the number of times we want to simulate the game. See the textbook for details. Factors.java takes a command-line argument N and prints its prime factorization. In contrast to many of the other programs that we have seen (which we could do in a few minutes with a calculator or pencil and paper), this computation would not be feasible without a computer. See the textbook for details.
Other conditional and loop constructs.To be complete, we consider four more Java constructs related to conditionals and loops. They are used much less frequently than the if, while, and for statements that we've been working with, but it is worthwhile to be aware of them.
- Do-while statements.
A do-while loop is almost the same as a while
loop except that the loop continuation condition is omitted the
first time through the loop. If the conditional initially holds,
there is no difference. For example,
the following code sets x and y such that (x, y) is randomly
distributed inside the circle centered at (0, 0) with radius 1.
double x, y, r; do { x = 2.0 * Math.random() - 1.0; y = 2.0 * Math.random() - 1.0; r = x*x + y*y; } while (r > 1);
With Math.random() we get points that are randomly distributed in the 2-by-2 square center at (0, 0). We just generate points in this region until we find one that lies inside the unit disk. We always want to generate at least one point so a do-while loop is most appropriate. Note that we declare x and y outside the loop since we will want to access their values after the loop terminates.
- Break statements. In some situations we want to immediate exit a loop, without letting it run to completion. Java provides the break statement for this purpose. Program Prime.java takes a command-line argument N and prints out true if N is prime, and false otherwise. It illustrates that we can break out of a loop using the "break" statement (as soon as we find an some integer that divides i, we know that i is not prime and can stop looking). Determining whether a number is prime is easy to do if the number is small, but is a challenge if the number is huge. We will look at some better methods later on. Huge prime numbers have important applications in cryptography, so researchers still seek better methods for testing primality.
- Continue statement. Java also provides a way to skip to the next iteration of a loop: the continue statement. When a continue is executed within a loop body, the flow of control immediately transfers to the next iteration of the loop. Usually, it is easy to achieve the same effect with an if statement inside the loop.
- Conditional operator.
The conditional operator ?: is a ternary operator (three operands)
that enables you to embed a conditional within an expression.
The three operands are separated by the ? and :
symbols. If the first operand (a boolean expression) is true,
the result has the value of the second expression; otherwise it
has the value of the third expression.
int min = (x < y) ? x : y;
- Labeled break and continue statements. The break and continue statements apply to the innermost for or while loop. Sometimes we want to jump out of several levels of nested loops. Java provides the labeled break and labeled continue statements to accomplish this. Here is an example.
Q. My program is stuck in an infinite loop. How do I stop it?
A. For DrJava, click the menu option Tools -> Reset Interactions. For OS X Terminal and Linux shell, type <ctrl-c>. That is, hold down the key labeled ctrl or control and press the c key. For Windows Command Prompt type <ctrl-z>.
Q. How can I check whether two strings are equal? Using == doesn't work.
A. This is one of the difference between primitive types (int, double, boolean) and reference types (String). We'll learn about testing strings for equality in Section 3.1.
Q. Why doesn't the statement if (a <= b <= c) work?
A. The <= operator cannot be chained. Instead, use if (a <= b && b <= c).
Q. Is there an example where you cannot remove the curly braces from a one-statement block?
A. The first code fragment is legal (but pointless), while the second is a compile-time error. Technically, the second line in the second fragment is a declaration and not a statement.
// legal for (int i = 0; i <= N; i++) { int x = 5; } // illegal for (int i = 0; i <= N; i++) int x = 5;
Q. Is there an example for when the following for and while loops are not equivalent?
for (<init stmnt> <boolean expr>; <incr stmnt>) { <body statements> } <init stmnt>; while (<boolean expr>) { <body statements> <incr stmnt> }
A. Yes. Use a continue statement.
- Write a program that takes three integer command-line arguments and prints equal if all three are equal, and not equal otherwise.
- Write a more general and robust version of Quadratic.java that prints the roots of the polynomial ax2 + bx + c, prints an appropriate error message if the discriminant is negative, and behaves appropriately (avoiding division by zero) if a is zero.
What (if anything) is wrong with each of the following statements?
- if (a > b) then c = 0;
- if a > b { c = 0; }
- if (a > b) c = 0;
- if (a > b) c = 0 else b = 0;
- Write a code fragment that prints true if the double variables x and y are both strictly between 0 and 1 and false otherwise.
- Improve your solution to Exercise 1.2.25 by adding code to check that the values of the command-line arguments fall within the ranges of validity of the formula, and also adding code to print out an error message if that is not the case.
Suppose that i and j are both of type int. What is
the value of j after each of the following statements is executed?
- for (i = 0, j = 0; i < 10; i++) j += i;
- for (i = 0, j = 1; i < 10; i++) j += j;
- for (j = 0; j < 10; j++) j += j;
- for (i = 0, j = 0; i < 10; i++) j += j++;
- Rewrite TenHellos.java to make a program Hellos.java that takes the number of lines to print as a command-line argument. You may assume that the argument is less than 1000. Hint: consider using i % 10 and i % 100 to determine whether to use "st", "nd", "rd", or "th" for printing the ith Hello.
- Write a program FivePerLine.java that, using one for loop and one if statement, prints the integers from 1000 to 2000 with five integers per line. Hint: use the % operator.
- Write a program that takes an integer N as a command-line argument and uses Math.random() to print N uniform random variables between 0 and 1, and then prints their average value. (see Exercise 1.2.30).
- Describe what happens when you invoke RulerN.java with an argument that is too large, such as java RulerN 100.
- Write a program FunctionGrowth.java that prints a table of the values of log N, N, N log N, N2, N3, and 2N for N = 16, 32, 64, ..., 2048. Use tabs ('\t' characters) to line up columns.
What is the value of m and n after executing
the following code?
int n = 123456789; int m = 0; while (n != 0) { m = (10 * m) + (n % 10); n = n / 10; }
What does the following code print
int f = 0, g = 1; for (int i = 0; i <= 15; i++) { System.out.println(f); f = f + g; g = f - g; }
- Expand your solution to CarLoan.java from Exercise 1.2.24 to print a table giving the total amount paid and the remaining principal after each monthly payment.
Unlike the harmonic numbers, the
sum 1/1 + 1/4 + 1/9 + 1/16 + ... + 1/N2
does converge to a constant as N grows to
infinity. (Indeed, the constant is π2 / 6, so
this formula can be used to estimate the value of π.)
Which of the following
for loops computes
this sum?
Assume that N is an int initialized to 1000000
and sum is a double initialized to 0.
(a) for (int i = 1; i <= N; i++) sum = sum + 1 / (i * i); (b) for (int i = 1; i <= N; i++) sum = sum + 1.0 / i * i; (c) for (int i = 1; i <= N; i++) sum = sum + 1.0 / (i * i); (d) for (int i = 1; i <= N; i++) sum = sum + 1 / (1.0 * i * i);
- Using the fact that the slope of the tangent to a (differentiable) function f(x) at x = t is f'(t), find the equation of the tangent line and use that equation to find the point where the tangent line intersects the x axis to show that you can use Newton's method to find a root of any function f(x) as follows: at each iteration, replace the estimate t by t - f(t) / f'(t). Then use the fact that f'(t) = 2t for f(x) = x2 - c to show that Sqrt.java implements Newton's method for finding the square root of c.
- Use the general formula for Newton's method in the previous exercise to develop a program Root.java that takes two command line arguments c and k, and prints the kth root of c. Assume k is a positive integer. You may use Math.pow(), but only with an exponent that is a nonnegative integer.
- Suppose that x and t are variables of type double and N is a variable of type int. Write a code fragment to set t to xN / N!.
- Modify Binary.java to get a program Modify Kary.java that takes a second command line argument K and converts the first argument to base K. Assume the base is between 2 and 16. For bases greater than 10, use the letters A through F to represent the 11th through 16th digits, respectively.
- Write a program code fragment that puts the binary representation of an int N into a String s.
- Write a version of Gambler.java that uses a for loop instead of a while loop.
- Write a program GamblerPlot.java that traces a gambler's ruin simulation by printing a line after each bet that has one asterisk corresponding to each dollar held by the gambler.
- Modify Gambler.java to take an extra command line parameter that specifies the (fixed) probability that the gambler wins each bet. Use your program to try to learn how this probability affects the chance of winning and the expected number of bets.
- Modify Gambler.java to take an extra command line parameter that specifies the number of bets the gambler is willing to make, so that there are three possible ways for the game to end: the gambler wins, loses, or runs out of time. Add to the output to give the expected amount of money the gambler will have when the game ends.
- Modify Factors.java to print just one copy of each of the prime divisors.
- Run quick experiments to determine the impact of using the loop continuation condition (i <= N/i) instead of (i*i <= N) in Factors.java. For each loop continuation condition, find the largest integer M such that when you type in an M digit number, the program is sure to finish within 10 seconds.
Write a program Checkerboard.java that
takes one command-line argument N and prints out a two dimensional
N-by-N checkerboard pattern with
alternating spaces and asterisks, like the following 4-by-4 pattern.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
- Write a program GCD.java that find the greatest common divisor (gcd) of two integers x and y using Euclid's algorithm, which is an iterative computation based on the following observation: If x > y, then if y divides x, the gcd of x and y is y; otherwise the gcd of x and y is the same as the gcd of x % y and y.
- Write a program RelativelyPrime that takes one command-line argument N and prints out an N-by-N table such that there is an * in row i and column j if the gcd of i and j is 1 (i and j are relatively prime) and a space in that position otherwise.
- Write a program PowersOfK that takes an integer k as command-line argument and prints all the positive powers of k in the Java long data type. Note: The constant Long.MAX_VALUE is the value of the largest integer in long.
- Generate a random point (x, y, z) on the surface of a sphere using Marsaglia's method: Pick a random point (a, b) in the unit disk using the method described at the end of this section.Then, set x = 2 a sqrt(1 - a^2 - b^2) and y = 2 b sqrt(1 - a^2 - b^2) and z = 1 - 2 (a^2 + b^2).
Creative Exercises
Ramanujan's taxi.
S. Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician who became famous for his
intuition for numbers. When the English mathematician G. H. Hardy came to
visit him in the hospital one day, Hardy remarked that the number of his
taxi was 1729, a rather dull number. To which Ramanujan
replied, "No, Hardy! No, Hardy! It is a very interesting number.
It is the smallest number
expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."
Verify this claim by writing a program
Ramanujan.java that takes a
command line argument N and prints out all integers less than
or equal to N that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in
two different ways - find distinct positive integers a,
b, c, and d
such that a3 + b3 = c3 + d3.
Use four nested for loops.
Now, the license plate 87539319 seems like a rather dull number. Determine why it's not.
- Checksums. The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 10 digit code that uniquely specifies a book. The rightmost digit is a checksum digit which can be uniquely determined from the other 9 digits from the condition that d1 + 2d2 + 3d3 + ... + 10d10 must be a multiple of 11 (here di denotes the ith digit from the right). The checksum digit d1 can be any value from 0 to 10: the ISBN convention is to use the value X to denote 10. Example: the checksum digit corresponding to 020131452 is 5 since is the only value of d1 between 0 and and 10 for which d1 + 2*2 + 3*5 + 4*4 + 5*1 + 6*3 + 7*1 + 8*0 + 9*2 + 10*0 is a multiple of 11. Write a program ISBN.java that takes a 9-digit integer as a command line argument, computes the checksum, and prints out the 10-digit ISBN number. It's ok if you don't print out any leading 0's.
Write a program Calendar that takes two command
line arguments m and y and prints out the monthly
calendar for the mth month of year y. For example,
your output for Calendar 2 2009 should be
February 2009 S M Tu W Th F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Hint: see programs LeapYear.java and DayOfWeek.java.
- Counting primes. Write a program PrimeCounter.java that takes one command-line argument N and prints out the number of primes less than N. Use it to print out the number of primes less than 10 million. Note: if you are not careful to make your program efficient, it may not finish in a reasonable amount of time. Later in Section 1.5, we will learn about a more efficient way to perform this computation called the Sieve of Eratosthenes.
- Dragon curves. Write a program Dragon.java that takes a command-line argument N and prints out the instructions for drawing a dragon curve of order N. See exercise 1.2.18.
- What happens when you try to compile the following code fragment?
double x; if (a >= 0) x = 3.14; if (a < 0) x = 2.71; System.out.println(x);
Answer: it complains that the variable x might not have been initialized (even though we can clearly see that x will be initialized by one of the two if statements). You can avoid this problem here by using if-else.
Exponential function.
Assume that x and sum are variables of type double.
Write a code fragment to use the Taylor series expansion to set the value of
sum to
ex = 1 + x + x2/2! + x3/3! + x4/4! + . . .
Trigonometric functions.
Write two programs
Sin.java and
Cos.java that compute sin x and cos x
using the Taylor series expansions
sin x = x - x3/3! + x5/5! - x7/7! + . . .
cos x = 1 - x2/2! + x4/4! - x6/6! + . . .
- Experimental analysis. Run experiments to determine the relative costs of Math.exp() and the following three methods from Exercise 2.3.36 for the problem of computing ex: the direct method with nested for loops, the improved method with a single for loop, and the latter with the termination condition (term > 0). For each method, use trial-and-error with a command line argument to determine how many times your computer can perform the computation in 10 seconds.
- 2D random walk. A two dimensional random walk simulates the behavior of a particle moving in a grid of points. At each step, the random walker moves north, south, east, or west with probability 1/4, independently of previous moves. Determine how far away (on average) the random walker is from the starting point after N steps. (Theoretical answer: on the order of sqrt(N).)
- Game simulation. In the 1970s game show called "Let's Make a Deal", a contestant is presented with three doors. Behind one door is a valuable prize, behind the other two are gag gifts. After the contestant chooses a door, the host opens up one of the other two doors (never revealing the prize, of course). The contestant is then given the opportunity to switch to the other unopened door. Should the contestant do so? Intuitively, it might seem that the contestant's initial choice door and the other unopened door are equally likely to contain the prize, so there would be no incentive to switch. Write a program MonteHall.java to test this intuition by simulation. Your program should take a command line parameter N, play the game N times using each of the two strategies (switch or don't switch) and print the chance of success for each strategy. Or you can play the game here.
- Chaos. Write a program to study the following simple model for population growth, which might be applied to study fish in a pond, bacteria in a test tube, or any of a host of similar situations. We suppose that the population ranges from 0 (extinct) to 1 (maximum population that can be sustained). If the population at time t is x, then we suppose the population at time t+1 to be rx(1-x), where the argument r, sometimes known as the fecundity parameter, controls the rate of growth. Start with a small population—say x = 0.01—and study the result of iterating the model, for various values of r. For which values of r does the population stabilize at x = 1 - 1/r? Can you say anything about the population when r is 3.5? 3.8? 5?
- Euler's sum-of-powers conjecture. In 1769 Leonhard Euler formulated a generalized version of Fermat's Last Theorem, conjecturing that at least n nth powers are needed to obtain a sum that is itself an nth power, for n > 2. Write a program to disprove Euler's conjecture (which stood until 1967), using a quintuply nested loop to find four positive integers whose 5th power sums to the 5th power of another positive integer. That is, find a, b, c, d, and e such that a^5 + b^5 + c^5 + d^5 = e^5. Use the long data type.
Web Exercises
- Write a program RollDie.java that generates the result of rolling a fair six-sided die (an integer between 1 and 6).
- Write a program RollLoadedDie.java that generates the result of rolling a loaded six-sided die (an integer between 1 and 5 with probability 1/8 and the integer 6 with probability 3/8).
- Write a program that takes three integer command-line arguments a, b, and c and print out the number of distinct values (1, 2, or 3) among a, b, and c.
- RGB to HSB converter. Write a program RGBtoHSV.javathat takes an RGB color (three integers between 0 and 255) and transforms it to an HSB color (three different integers between 0 and 255). Write a program HSVtoRGB.java that applies the inverse transformation.
- Write a program that takes five integer command-line arguments and prints out the median (the third largest one).
- (hard) Now, try to compute the median of 5 elements such that when executed, it never makes more than 6 total comparisons.
How can I create in an infinite loop with a for loop?
Answer: for(;;) is the same as while(true).
What's wrong with the following loop?
boolean done = false; while (done = false) { ... }
boolean done = false; while (!done) { ... }
What's wrong with the following loop that is intended to
compute the sum of the integers 1 through 100?
for (int i = 1; i <= N; i++) { int sum = 0; sum = sum + i; } System.out.println(sum);
Write a program Hurricane.java that
that takes the wind speed (in miles per hour) as an integer command-line argument
and prints out whether it qualifies as a hurricane, and if so, whether
it is a Category 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 hurricane. Below is a table of the
wind speeds according to the
Saffir-Simpson scale.
Category Wind Speed (mph) 1 74 - 95 2 96 - 110 3 111 - 130 4 131 - 155 5 155 and above
What is wrong with the following code fragment?
double x = -32.2; boolean isPositive = (x > 0); if (isPositive = true) System.out.println(x + " is positive"); else System.out.println(x + " is not positive");
Answer: It uses the assignment operator = instead of the equality operator ==. A better solution is to write if (isPositive).
Change/add one character so that the following program prints out
20 x's. There are two different solutions.
int i = 0, n = 20; for (i = 0; i < n; i--) System.out.print("x");
What does the following code fragment do?
if (x > 0); System.out.println("positive");
Answer: always prints positive regardless of the value of x because of the extra semicolon after the if statement.
- Boys and girls. A couple beginning a family decides to keep having children until they have at least one of either sex. Estimate the average number of children they will have via simulation. Also estimate the most common outcome (record the frequency counts for 2, 3, and 4 children, and also for 5 and above). Assume that the probability p of having a boy or girl is 1/2.
What does the following program do?
public static void main(String[] args) { int N = Integer.parseInt(args[0]); int x = 1; while (N >= 1) { System.out.println(x); x = 2 * x; N = N / 2; } }
- Boys and girls.
Repeat the previous question, but assume the couple keeps having children
until they have another child which is of the same sex as the first child.
How does your answer change if p is different from 1/2?
Surprisingly, the average number of children is 2 if p = 0 or 1, and 3 for all other values of p. But the most likely value is 2 for all values of p.
Given two positive integers a and b, what result does the
following code fragment leave in c
c = 0; while (b > 0) { if (b % 2 == 1) c = c + a; b = b / 2; a = a + a; }
Answer a * b.
Write a program using a loop and four conditionals to print
12 midnight 1am 2am ... 12 noon 1pm ... 11pm
What does the following program print out?
public class Test { public static void main(String[] args) { if (10 > 5); else; { System.out.println("Here"); }; } }
- Alice tosses a fair coin until she sees two consecutive heads. Bob tosses another fair coin until he sees a head followed by a tail. Write a program to estimate the probability that Alice will make fewer tosses than Bob? Answer: 39/121.
- Rewrite DayOfWeek.java from Exercise 1.2.29 so that it prints out the day of the week as Sunday, Monday, and so forth instead of an integer between 0 and 6. Use a switch statement.
- Number-to-English. Write a program to read in a command line integer between -999,999,999 and 999,999,999 and print out the English equivalent. Here is an exhaustive list of words that your program should use: negative, zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, hundred, thousand, million . Don't use hundred, when you can use thousand, e.g., use one thousand five hundred instead of fifteen hundred. Reference.
- Gymnastics judging. A gymnast's score is determined by a panel of 6 judges who each decide a score between 0.0 and 10.0. The final score is determined by discarding the high and low scores, and averaging the remaining 4. Write a program GymnasticsScorer.java that takes 6 real command line inputs representing the 6 scores and prints out their average, after throwing out the high and low scores.
- Quarterback rating.
To compare NFL quarterbacks, the NFL devised a
the quarterback rating
formula based on the quarterbacks number of completed passes (A),
pass attempts (B),
passing yards (C), touchdown passes (D), and interception (E) as follows:
- Completion ratio: W = 250/3 * ((A / B) - 0.3).
- Yards per pass: X = 25/6 * ((C / B) - 3).
- Touchdown ratio: Y = 1000/3 * (D / B)
- Interception ratio: Z = 1250/3 * (0.095 - (E / B))
- Decimal expansion of rational numbers. Given two integers p and q, the decimal expansion of p/q has an infinitely repeating cycle. For example, 1/33 = 0.03030303.... We use the notation 0.(03) to denote that 03 repeats indefinitely. As another example, 8639/70000 = 0.1234(142857). Write a program DecimalExpansion.java that reads in two command line integers p and q and prints out the decimal expansion of p/q using the above notation. Hint: use Floyd's rule.
- Friday the 13th.
What is the maximum number of consecutive days in which no Friday
the 13th occurs?
Hint: The Gregorian calendar repeats itself
every 400 years (146097 days) so you only need to worry about
a 400 year interval.
Answer: 426 (e.g., from 8/13/1999 to 10/13/2000).
- January 1.
Is January 1 more likely to fall on a Saturday or Sunday?
Write a program to determine the number of times each occurs
in a 400 year interval.
Answer: Sunday (58 times) is more likely than Saturday (56 times).
What do the following two code fragments do?
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) for (int j = 0; j < N; j++) if (i != j) System.out.println(i + ", " + j); for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) for (int j = 0; (i != j) && (j < N); j++) System.out.println(i + ", " + j);
Determine what value gets printed out without using a computer.
Choose the correct answer from 0, 100, 101, 517, or 1000.
int cnt = 0; for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) for (int k = 0; k < 10; k++) if (2*i + j >= 3*k) cnt++; System.out.println(cnt);
- Rewrite CarLoan.java from Creative Exercise XYZ so that it properly handles an interest rate of 0% and avoids dividing by 0.
Write the shortest Java program you can that reads
in an integer N from the command line and
print true if (1 + 2 + ... + N) 2 is equal
to (13 + 23 + ... + N3).
Answer: always print true.
- Modify Sqrt.java so that it reports an error if the user enters a negative number and works properly if the user enters zero.
- What happens if we initialize t to -x instead of x in program Sqrt.java?
- Sample standard deviation of uniform distribution. Modify Exercise 8 so that it prints out the sample standard deviation in addition to the average.
- Sample standard deviation of normal distribution. that takes an integer N as a command line argument and uses Web Exercise 1 from Section 1.2 to print N standard normal random variables, and their average value, and sample standard deviation.
- Loaded dice. [Stephen Rudich] Suppose you have three, three sided dice. A: {2, 6, 7}, B: { 1, 5, 9}, and C: {3, 4, 8}. Two players roll a die and the one with the highest value wins. Which die would you choose? Answer: A beats B with probability 5/9, B beats C with probability 5/9 and C beats A with probability 5/9. Be sure to choose second!
- Thue-Morse sequence. Write a program ThueMorse.java that reads in a command line integer N and prints the Thue-Morse sequence of order N. The first few strings are 0, 01, 0110, 01101001. Each successive string is obtained by flipping all of the bits of the previous string and concatenating the result to the end of the previous string. The sequence has many amazing properties. For example, it is a binary sequence that is cube-free: it does not contain 000, 111, 010101, or sss where s is any string. It is self-similar: if you delete every other bit, you get another Thue-Morse sequence. It arises in diverse areas of mathematics as well as chess, graphic design, weaving patterns, and music composition.
- Program Binary.java prints the binary representation of a decimal number N by casting out powers of 2. Write an alternate version Program Binary2.java that is based on the following method: Write 1 if N is odd, 0 if N is even. Divide N by 2, throwing away the remainder. Repeat until N = 0 and read the answer backwards. Use % to determine whether or not N is even, and use string concatenation to form the answer in reverse order.
What does the following code fragment do?
int digits = 0; do { digits++; n = n / 10; } while (n > 0);
Answer the number of bits in the binary representation of a natural number n. We use a do-while loop so that code output 1 if n = 0.
- Write a program NPerLine.java that takes a command-line argument N and prints the integers from 10 to 99 with N integers per line.
- Modify NPerLine.java so that it prints out the integers from 1 to 1000 with N integers per line. Make the integers line up by printing the right number of spaces before an integer (e.g., three for 1-9, two for 10-99, and one for 100-999).
- Suppose a, b, and c are random number uniformly distributed between 0 and 1. What is the probability that a, b, and c form the side length of some triangle? Hint: they will form a triangle if and only if the sum of every two values is larger than the third.
- Repeat the previous question, but calculate the probability that the resulting triangle is obtuse, given that the three numbers for a triangle. Hint: the three lengths will form an obtuse triangle if and only if (i) the sum of every two values is larger than the third and (ii) the sum of the squares of every two side lengths is greater than or equal to the square of the third.
What is the value of s after executing
the following code?
int M = 987654321; String s = ""; while (M != 0) { int digit = M % 10; s = s + digit; M = M / 10; }
What is the value of i after the following
confusing code is executed?
int i = 10; i = i++; i = ++i; i = i++ + ++i;
Moral: don't write code like this.
- Formatted ISBN number. Write a program ISBN2.java that reads in a 9 digit integer from a command-line argument, computes the check digit, and prints out the fully formatted ISBN number, e.g, 0-201-31452-5.
- UPC codes.
The Universal Product Code
is a 12 digit code that uniquely specifies a product.
The least significant digit d1(rightmost one)
is a check digit which is the uniquely determined by making
the following expression a multiple of 10:
(d1 + d3 + d5 + d7 + d9 + d11) + 3 (d2 + d4 + d6 + d8 + d10 + d12)
As an example, the check digit corresponding to 0-48500-00102 (Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice) is 8 since
(8 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 5 + 4) + 3 (2 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 0) = 50
and 50 is a multiple of 10. Write a program that reads in a 11 digit integer from a command line parameter, computes the check digit, and prints out the the full UPC. Hint: use a variable of type long to store the 11 digit number.
- Write a program that reads in the wind speed (in knots) as a command line argument and prints out its force according to the Beaufort scale. Use a switch statement.
- Making change.
Write a program that reads in a command line integer N (number of pennies)
and prints out the best way (fewest number of coins)
to make change using US coins (quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies only).
For example, if N = 73 then print out
2 quarters 2 dimes 3 pennies
Hint: use the greedy algorithm. That is, dispense as many quarters as possible, then dimes, then nickels, and finally pennies.
Write a program Triangle.java that takes a
command-line argument N and prints an N-by-N triangular pattern like the one below.
* * * * * * . * * * * * . . * * * * . . . * * * . . . . * * . . . . . *
Write a program Ex.java that takes a command-line
argument N and prints a (2N + 1)-by-(2N + 1) ex like the one below.
Use two for loops and one if-else statement.
* . . . . . * . * . . . * . . . * . * . . . . . * . . . . . * . * . . . * . . . * . * . . . . . *
Write a program BowTie.java that takes a command-line
argument N and prints a (2N + 1)-by-(2N + 1) bowtie like the one below.
Use two for loops and one if-else statement.
* . . . . . * * * . . . * * * * * . * * * * * * * * * * * * * . * * * * * . . . * * * . . . . . *
Write a program Diamond.java that takes a command-line
argument N and prints a (2N + 1)-by-(2N + 1) diamond like the one below.
% java Diamond 4 . . . . * . . . . . . . * * * . . . . . * * * * * . . . * * * * * * * . * * * * * * * * * . * * * * * * * . . . * * * * * . . . . . * * * . . . . . . . * . . . .
- Write a program Heart.java that takes a command-line argument N and prints a heart.
What does the program Circle.java print
out when N = 5?
for (int i = -N; i <= N; i++) { for (int j = -N; j <= N; j++) { if (i*i + j*j <= N*N) System.out.print("* "); else System.out.print(". "); } System.out.println(); }
- Seasons.
Write a program Season.java that takes two command
line integers M and D and prints the season corresponding
to month M (1 = January, 12 = December) and day D in the
northern hemisphere. Use the following table
SEASON FROM TO Spring March 21 June 20 Summer June 21 September 22 Fall September 23 December 21 Winter December 21 March 20
- Zodiac signs.
Write a program Zodiac.java that takes two command
line integers M and D and prints the Zodiac sign corresponding
to month M (1 = January, 12 = December) and day D. Use the
following table
SIGN FROM TO Capricorn December 22 January 19 Aquarius January 20 February 17 Pisces February 18 March 19 Aries March 20 April 19 Taurus April 20 May 20 Gemini May 21 June 20 Cancer June 21 July 22 Leo July 23 August 22 Virgo August 23 September 22 Libra September 23 October 22 Scorpio October 23 November 21 Sagittarius November 22 December 21
- Muay Thai kickboxing.
Write a program that reads in the weight of a
Muay Thai kickboxer (in pounds) as a command line argument
and prints out their weight class.
Use a switch statement.
CLASS FROM TO Flyweight 0 112 Super flyweight 112 115 Bantamweight 115 118 Super bantamweight 118 122 Featherweight 122 126 Super featherweight 126 130 Lightweight 130 135 Super lightweight 135 140 Welterweight 140 147 Super welterweight 147 154 Middleweight 154 160 Super middleweight 160 167 Light heavyweight 167 175 Super light heavyweight 175 183 Cruiserweight 183 190 Heavyweight 190 220 Super heavyweight 220 -
- Euler's sum of powers conjecture. In 1769 Euler generalized Fermat's Last Theorem and conjectured that it is impossible to find three 4th powers whose sum is a 4th power, or four 5th powers whose sum is a 5th power, etc. The conjecture was disproved in 1966 by exhaustive computer search. Disprove the conjecture by finding positive integers a, b, c, d, and e such that a5 + b5 + c5 + d5= e5. Write a program Euler.java that reads in a command line parameter N and exhaustively searches for all such solutions with a, b, c, d, and e less than or equal to N. No counterexamples are known for powers greater than 5, but you can join EulerNet, a distributed computing effort to find a counterexample for sixth powers.
- Blackjack. Write a program Blackjack.java that takes three command line integers x, y, and z representing your two blackjack cards x and y, and the dealers face-up card z, and prints out the "standard strategy" for a 6 card deck in Atlantic city. Assume that x, y, and z are integers between 1 and 10, representing an ace through a face card. Report whether the player should hit, stand, or split according to these strategy tables. (When you learn about arrays, you will encounter an alternate strategy that does not involve as many if-else statements).
- Blackjack with doubling. Modify the previous exercise to allow doubling.
- Projectile motion. The following equation gives the trajectory of a ballistic missile as a function of the initial angle theta and windspeed: xxxx. Write a java program to print the (x, y) position of the missile at each time step t. Use trial and error to determine at what angle you should aim the missile if you hope to incinerate a target located 100 miles due east of your current location and at the same elevation. Assume the windspeed is 20 mph due east.
- World series. The baseball world series is a best of 7 competition, where the first team to win four games wins the World Series. Suppose the stronger team has probability p > 1/2 of winning each game. Write a program to estimate the chance that the weaker teams wins the World Series and to estimate how many games on average it will take.
- Consider the equation (9/4)^x = x^(9/4). One solution is 9/4. Can you find another one using Newton's method?
Sorting networks.
Write a program Sort3.java
with three if statements (and no loops)
that reads in three integers a, b, and c
from the command line and prints them out in ascending order.
if (a > b) swap a and b if (a > c) swap a and c if (b > c) swap b and c
Oblivious sorting network.
Convince yourself that the following code fragment rearranges the
integers stored in the variables A, B, C, and D so that
if (A > B) { t = A; A = B; B = t; } if (B > C) { t = B; B = C; C = t; } if (A > B) { t = A; A = B; B = t; } if (C > D) { t = C; C = D; D = t; } if (B > C) { t = B; B = C; C = t; } if (A > B) { t = A; A = B; B = t; } if (D > E) { t = D; D = E; E = t; } if (C > D) { t = C; C = D; D = t; } if (B > C) { t = B; B = C; C = t; } if (A > B) { t = A; A = B; B = t; }
Optimal oblivious sorting networks.
Create a program that sorts four integers using only
5 if statements, and one that sorts five integers
using only 9 if statements of the type above?
Oblivious sorting networks are useful for implementing sorting algorithms
in hardware.
How can you check that your program works for all inputs?
Answer: Sort4.java sorts 4 elements using 5 compare-exchanges. Sort5.java sorts 5 elements using 9 compare-exchanges.
The 0-1 principle asserts that you can verify the correctness of a (deterministic) sorting algorithm by checking whether it correctly sorts an input that is a sequence of 0s and 1s. Thus, to check that Sort5.java works, you only need to test it on the 2^5 = 32 possible inputs of 0s and 1s.
Optimal oblivious sorting (challenging).
Find an optimal sorting network for 6, 7, and 8 inputs, using
12, 16, and 19 if statements of the form in the previous problem,
Answer: Sort6.java is the solution for sorting 6 elements.
- Optimal non-oblivious sorting. Write a program that sorts 5 inputs using only 7 comparisons. Hint: First compare the first two numbers, the second two numbers, and the larger of the two groups, and label them so that a < b < d and c < d. Second, insert the remaining element e into its proper place in the chain a < b < d by first comparing against b, then either a or d depending on the outcome. Third, insert c into the proper place in the chain involving a, b, d, and e in the same manner that you inserted e (with the knowledge that c < d). This uses 3 (first step) + 2 (second step) + 2 (third step) = 7 comparisons. This method was first discovered by H. B. Demuth in 1956.
- Weather balloon. (Etter and Ingber, p. 123) Suppose that h(t) = 0.12t4 + 12t3 - 380t2 + 4100t + 220 represents the height of a weather balloon at time t (measured in hours) for the first 48 hours after its launch. Create a table of the height at time t for t = 0 to 48. What is its maximum height? Answer: t= 5.
Will the following code fragment compile? If so, what will it do?
int a = 10, b = 18; if (a = b) System.out.println("equal"); else System.out.println("not equal");
Answer: It uses the assignment operator = instead of the equality operator == in the conditional. In Java, the result of this statement is an integer, but the compiler expects a boolean. As a result, the program will not compile. In some languages (notably C and C++), this code fragment will set the variable a to 18 and print equal without an error.
- Gotcha 1.
What does the following code fragment do?
boolean a = false; if (a = true) System.out.println("yes"); else System.out.println("no");
- Gotcha 2.
What does the following code fragment do?
int a = 17, x = 5, y = 12; if (x > y); { a = 13; x = 23; } System.out.println(a);
What does the following code fragment do?
int income = Integer.parseInt(args[0]); if (income >= 311950) rate = .35; if (income >= 174700) rate = .33; if (income >= 114650) rate = .28; if (income >= 47450) rate = .25; if (income >= 0) rate = .22; System.out.println(rate);
- Application of Newton's method. Write a program BohrRadius.java that finds the radii where the probability of finding the electron in the 4s excited state of hydrogen is zero. The probability is given by: (1 - 3r/4 + r2/8 - r3/192)2 e-r/2, where r is the radius in units of the Bohr radius (0.529173E-8 cm). Use Newton's method. By starting Newton's method at different values of r, you can discover all three roots. Hint: use initial values of r= 0, 5, and 13. Challenge: explain what happens if you use an initial value of r = 4 or 12.
- Pepys problem. In 1693, Samuel Pepys asked Isaac Newton which was more likely: getting at least one 1 when rolling a fair die 6 times or getting at least two 1's when rolling a fair die 12 times. Write a program Pepys.java that uses simulation to determine the correct answer.
What is the value of the variable s after
running the following loop when N = 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
String s = ""; for (int i = 1; i <= N; i++) { if (i % 2 == 0) s = s + i + s; else s = i + s + i; }
Solution: Pal.java.
- Body mass index.
The body mass index (BMI)
is the ratio of the weight of a person (in kilograms) to the square of the height (in meters).
Write a program BMI.java that takes two command-line arguments, weight
and height, computes the BMI, and prints out the corresponding BMI category:
- Starvation: less than 15
- Anorexic: less than 17.5
- Underweight: less than 18.5
- Ideal: greater than or equal to 18.5 but less than 25
- Overweight: greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30
- Obese: greater than or equal to 30 but less than 40
- Morbidly Obese: greater than or equal to 40
- Reynolds number. The Reynolds number is the ratio if inertial forces to viscous forces and is an important quantity in fluid dynamics. Write a program that takes in 4 command-line arguments, the diameter d, the velocity v, the density rho, and the viscosity mu, and prints out the Reynold's number d * v * rho / mu (assuming all arguments are in SI units). If the Reynold's number is less than 2000, print laminar flow, if it's between 2000 and 4000, print transient flow, and if it's more than 4000, print turbulent flow.
- Wind chill revisited. The wind chill formula from Exercise 1.2.14 is only valid if the wind speed is above 3MPH and below 110MPH and the temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and above -50 degrees. Modify your solution to print out an error message if the user types in a value outside the allowable range.
- Point on a sphere. Write a program to print the (x, y, z) coordinates of a random point on the surface of a sphere. Use Marsaglia' method: pick a random point (a, b) in the unit circle as in the do-while example. Then, set x = 2a sqrt(1 - a^2 - b^2), y = 2b sqrt(1 - a^2 - b^2), z = 1 - 2(a^2 + b^2).
- Powers of k. Write a program PowersOfK.java that takes an integer K as command line argument and prints all the positive powers of K in the Java long data type. Note: the constant Long.MAX_VALUE is the value of the largest integer in long.
- Square root, revisited.
Why not use the loop-continuation condition (Math.abs(t*t - c) > EPSILON)
in Sqrt.java instead of
Math.abs(t - c/t) > t*EPSILON)?
Answer: surprisingly, it can lead to inaccurate results or worse. For example, if you supply SqrtBug.java with the command-line argument 1e-50, you get 1e-50 as the answer (instead of 1e-25); if you supply 16664444, you get an infinite loop!


text:
Megan Hoffman
2004: Appeared in 74 games and finished with 155 kills...named the Horizon League Player of the Week for the period ending October 24th, after averaging 16.5 kills in two victories over Cleveland State (Oct. 22nd) and Youngstown State (Oct. 23rd)...totaled a career-high 18 kills in a five-game victory against Youngstown State on October 23rd...had a hitting percentage of .455 (5-0-11) against Ole Miss on September 17th...earned a then, season-high 10 kills and six block assists against Jacksonville State on September 18th...picked up eight kills and three block assists in a four-game win over Youngstown State on September 24th...tied a then, season-high with 10 kills and three block assists against Cleveland State on September 25th...totaled eight kills and five block assists against UW-Green Bay on October 2nd...tied a then, career-high with 14 kills against IUPUI on October 5th...finished with a hitting percentage of .375 (6-0-16) against Loyola on October 8th...posted a team-best seven block assists against Bradley on October 11th...contributed a then, career-high 15 kills and four blocks (2 solo) in a five-game victory over Wright State on October 14th...garnered 14 kills against Butler on October 15th...missed five matches with an ankle injury.
2003: Finished season with a career-high 224 kills, which was third on the squad...pounded six kills against UW-Green Bay on August 30th...hit at an amazing percentage of .438 (8 kills, 1 error, 16 attacks) against Mississippi on September 5th...posted 10 kills against Loyola on September 6th...had eight kills and four blocks against Bradley on September 9th...contributed seven kills against DePaul on September 16th...set a then career-high with 11 kills, with no errors, against East Tennessee State on September 20th...tied a then career-high with 11 kills with no errors and 18 attacks for a hitting percentage of .611...recorded a personal-best 12 kills against Wright State on September 26th...tied a career-best with 12 kills against Youngstown State on October 3rd...posted a hitting percentage of .304 (8 kills, 1 error, 23 attacks) against UW-Milwaukee on October 10th...had 10 kills against Butler on October 24th...recorded a career-best 13 kills and finished with a hitting percentage of .571 (13 kills, 1 error, 21 attacks) against Wright State on October 25th...collected a hitting percentage of .444 (9 kills, 1 error, 18 attacks) against Cleveland State on October 31st...set a career-high with 14 kills and had five blocks against IUPUI on November 4th...topped UIC with nine kills against UW-Milwaukee on November 9th.
2002: Appeared in 28 of UIC's 34 matches...was third on the squad with 58 total blocks (12 solo)...turned in an impressive eight kill, six dig, six block, two service ace performance in a five-game victory over Butler on October 4th...recorded a career-best hitting performance of .455 (5 kill, 0 errors, 11 attacks) in a three-game loss at the hands of Cleveland State on October 11th...helped UIC to a five-game come-from-behind victory over UW-Green Bay with a five kill performance on November 16th.
2001: Appeared in 12 games for the Flames...recorded a season-high four kills and two digs against Chicago State on October 1st...finished the season with 10 kills, two digs and two total blocks...ended her rookie campaign with a hitting percentage of .348 (10 kills, 2 errors, 23 attacks).
Prep/Personal: Three-year starter and varsity letterwinner at Batavia High School in Batavia, Ill...two-time team captain...paced the Lady bulldogs in kills and attack percentage in each of her three seasons of varsity play...led her squad in digs as a junior and senior...three-time First-Team All-Area honoree by the Daily Herald, Batavia Republican and Beacon-News newspapers...two-time All-Suburban Prairie Red Conference honoree and was named league MVP as a senior...led Lady Bulldogs to conference championship as a senior with a record of 23-12-1...set Batavia school records for single-season attack percentage (.518), career attack percentage (.476) and career blocks (235)...also posted the single-season (79) and single-game (9) record for blocks...student athletic board president...Editor-In-Chief of the school newspaper...daughter of Thomas and Cecelia Hoffman...born July 24, 1983...majoring in elementary education.
Career Stats
UIC Career-Highs

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Traveling while pregnant
Gema Fernandez, MD, is an OB/GYN on staff at Banner Estrella Medical Center.
Question: I am newly pregnant but have plans to travel during the next year. Are there limitations on how much I can travel or where I can go?
Answer: Travel safety is a common concern among moms-to-be. You will want to speak with your doctor first, but it is generally safe to travel while pregnant (provided there are no other medical conditions). In fact, most major transportation carriers allow women to travel up to their eighth month of pregnancy.
Even though it is safe, that doesn't necessarily mean traveling is comfortable. Car rides can mean long stretches between bathrooms, train and bus aisles are a tight squeeze, and flights can lead to swollen ankles—even when you're not pregnant. In the end, your energy level and personal comfort will likely dictate your limits. It is important to listen to your body and recognize your limitations.
If possible, try not to travel more than six hours at a time, especially later in pregnancy. It is a good idea to walk the aisles, perform "point and flex" ankle exercises, and stretch often. When traveling by car, plan for plenty of rest stops. And always wear safety belts low across your pelvis – never across your stomach.
Planning trips during the second trimester is considered the best time. Morning sickness in the first trimester and potential issues of pre-term labor during the third trimester can sometimes make travel less than ideal. Should you travel during the third trimester, try to stay within 300 miles of home in case any complications develop.
Pregnant travelers have a few additional considerations when preparing for trips. Along with comfortable clothing, keep plenty of water and snacks on hand. It is very important to stay hydrated. You should also have copies of your prenatal medical records and health insurance information readily available.
Before traveling internationally, talk with your doctor about the potential need for vaccinations, protection against disease and bacteria, a game plan for emergencies, and food and water considerations.
Whenever you travel, always keep your physician informed of where you are going and how long you will be there. Discuss any risks of your destination, or complications in your pregnancy that would suggest special consideration.


text:
The Odd Life of Timothy Green is not one of the "big" movies of the summer. Over all, it grossed only a little over $46 million in its one month run in theaters. So, when it comes to financial success, this film doesn't have it. I would also say that there needs to be some considerable suspension of disbelief when watching this film. The premise is a little strange (a childless couple puts their dreams for a child into a box and buries it in their garden, only to wake up to a boy with leaves on his legs). There are also a few plot holes (how did they get him into public school with no birth certificates and such?). But if you take a step back and realize that this is a Disney parable, believability isn't quite so necessary. You can read the synopsis at the IMDB link above (or click on the picture for the IMDB link) so I won't go into a full description of the plot. However, expect spoilers as I reflect on this film as you need to know some of what happened to understand the parable.
Reading the Parable
Essentially, throughout the film, we have a number of people who are unique, different, and in some ways flawed. This seems to be the underlying connecting point in all the characters. Everyone has a flaw, everyone has a point of difference that is seen as a problem. The girl Joni has a birthmark on her upper chest. Jim's father has issues with intimacy and grace. The coach at the soccer game is too focused on winning. Jim and Cindy's flaw is simply that they are inexperienced parents. There are numerous such little bits and pieces throughout the film. All these flaws seem to be represented, then, in the leaves on Timothy's legs. This is his one flaw that is the most obvious, but it also seems to play a central role in the rest of the film.
The movie seems to follow Timothy as he interacts with people at their point of flaw. Where their failing is, there is Timothy reaching into their lives and taking that failing and turning it around either into something to be celebrated or something to be redeemed. By the end of the film, everyone Timothy has touched has had their flaw and failing transformed (well, everyone except for the coach who may simply have been the comic relief). It is endearing to see that one life touch so many others and heal so many wounds, even wounds that didn't seem they needed healing (Cindy's sister for example). By the time Timothy left, everyone's life was improved to some point, even Jim and Cindy's where they could recognize that they could be good parents.
There is a primary symbol that is used throughout the film. It's pretty obvious if you think about it. Leaves play a big role. There are leaves in the garden when they plant the box, we enter into fall where leaves are falling, trees and their leaves are all over the place, and most especially, Timothy's leaves are featured prominently. One thing of note is the shape of the leaves. I don't know if this was intentional on the part of the film-makers, but Timothy's leaves are heart-shaped. For me, as I watched the story unfold, this seemed especially significant. However, in general, leaves represent life, they represent growth. You know a tree is healthy if it has plenty of leaves and they are healthy and growing. So, this image of the leaf seems to represent new life. Even the town was saved by leaves in the form of the leaf pencil. New growth and new life came from the leaves. In this, leaves also have to die in order to bring more life. Leaves are a good mulch, a good way of protecting the soil from erosion and weeds. When a tree sheds its leaves, it recycles the nutrients into the soil. It seems that leaves play this dual role in the film and again, Timothy is prominent in that.
At each point where Timothy has managed to bring new life to a person by way of what was their human uniqueness, he lost a leaf. The film explains it in the dialogue as just something that happens, that his leaves were falling off as a signal that his time was approaching an end. But the filmmakers seemed to make a point that, at each turning point, Timothy lost a leaf. When the uncle died laughing, there was a leaf. When Joni found a friend in Timothy, there was a leaf. Each time someone's life was redeemed for the better because of the innocent grace and compassion of Timothy, there was a leaf. They found new life through the death of the leaf. And it seemed rather coincidental that everyone who needed the help had a leaf by the end, as if the number of leaves was predetermined. Timothy may have come primarily for Cindy and Jim (they got their own leaf when they realized that they were good people and good parents even without a biological child), but he also seemed to have a purpose in the rest of the community. New life came to Stanleyville through the "death" of Timothy and his leaves.
The Christian Dialog
Life through death is a very important theme in Christianity. Jesus himself pointed out that his death was crucial to his ministry on earth. In John 12, in predicting his death, he points out this necessity.
Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. John 12:23-26 NIV
Without Jesus death, there would be no resurrection. Without the resurrection, there would be no hope for a new life and death would be something to be feared. The life eternal that the follower of Jesus enjoys begins with the identification with the risen Christ. Before growth can happen, something must die.
To this extent, The Odd Life of Timothy Green expresses this eternal truth that new life comes through death. But even more importantly, through the sacrificial giving of oneself. Timothy didn't just die, he gave himself away. He came for a time for the sole purpose to give himself to a community of people who needed to know there was hope and love and life. If this sounds familiar, you'd be right. I think Timothy is definitely a Christ-figure in this film parable. You have to be careful, though, that you don't get into the cyclical life of some of the Eastern religions, but I don't think this film does that. There is no sense that Timothy is coming back in some other form or some other way. He gave himself, one leaf at a time, to the people of the community.
In the heart-shape of the leaves, it seems the film-makers were also pointing out something else that comes with this giving of oneself. Every gift that Timothy gave was one of love. These gifts weren't just things he did, he was genuine in the way he gave. His quiet, contemplative self seemed to draw people to him where he could just show them the compassion and love that they sorely needed (note the gift of a cup of cold water to the grandfather). Christian service and sacrifice to others is not something done out of duty, obligation, or following a set of rules. It is done out of a genuine, heart-felt love of other human beings.
There may be a subtle turn away from one Christian idea, though. In the film, the changes that happened to people were changes that they learned for themselves and discovered for themselves by interacting with others. For Christians, the change is deeper than that. To some extent, it is through our interactions with people that we learn and grow, but the permanence of those changes comes through the power of the Spirit of God interacting with us and dwelling in us. Spirituality is more than just connecting to other people. It is connecting to people and connecting to God. In this communal way, those little sacrifices of love have an immense impact as they are the "spiritual acts of worship" that Paul writes about in Romans and the "spiritual sacrifices" that Peter mentions in his first letter.
In all, though, I found this film moving. Yes, it may have seemed formulaic and trite, like a story we heard before. But I wonder if this is a story that we need to hear more often? How often do we criticize people for their flaws and failings rather than meet them where they are and love them both in spite of them and because of them? If more people gave of themselves like Timothy (like Christ) to help heal the hurts of the world, I wonder what our world would look like? What made me cry at the end of the film was only in part the loss of Timothy. What moved me more was the obvious transformation that happened with those two parents, Jim and Cindy, so that they could open their home and their lives to a child who had no hope. This is the life that comes through death.


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AUBURN — The Union Titans won enough games when it mattered that losing their last two does not matter a whole bunch.
The Titans will go to the Class 4A girls basketball regionals on a losing streak, but at least they still have a shot to get to the Tacoma Dome for the state tournament and the elite eight.
Anushka Maldonado scored 13 of her 28 points in the fourth quarter, leading Yelm to a 52-51 comeback victory over Union on Monday at Auburn High School, claiming the No. 3 seed from the bi-district tournament. Union had to settle for the No. 4 seed.
Jessica Chatman scored 19 points and Tuileisu Anderson had 16 to lead the Titans, who lost a seven-point lead in the final four minutes of the game.
"We had control, we made some mistakes, and we lost it in the end," Union coach Roger Shepard said. "It doesn't take away from the growth this team has had."
Union finished second in the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League, then won the district tournament.
"There are four leagues here and the four league (or district) champions made it to the final four. We lost to two league champions," Shepard said. "We need games like that. We need a challenge in order to grow."
Just by making the final four in the championship bracket of the bi-district, Union secured a spot among the final 16 in the state.
The Titans will face Gonzaga Prep of Spokane at 6 p.m. Friday at Rogers High School in Puyallup. The winner will advance to the Tacoma Dome.
In theory, a win Monday would have given Union a better draw to state. But it's a winner-take-all game Friday regardless.
Maldonado connected on three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including two from beyond 25 feet, to help the Tornados rally.
Union led 46-39 midway through the fourth quarter on Katie Burbank's 3-pointer.
Yelm, though, would score the next 10 points.
Union's Tessa Vanderpool tied the game at 49 with 48 seconds to play, but Maldonado buried a long 3-pointer with 33 seconds to play for the three-point lead.
Emily Rowe's offensive rebound and putback made it 52-51 but a missed free throw with 9 seconds remaining and kept the score there.
Union did not get a shot off for a win after a missed free throw by Yelm.
YELM — Tessa Matthews 12, Dalia Bader 2, Karli Shaw 3, Anushka Maldonado 28, McKenzie DeVore 3, McKaela Tyler 4, Kelsey Alwine 0. Totals 18 (8) 8-13 52.
UNION — Tessa Vanderpool 2, Tuileisu Anderson 16, Kendra Preuninger 5, Katie Burbank 3, Hannah O'Donnell 0, Katherine Williams 0, Jessica Chatman 19, Emily Rowe 6. Totals 21 (5) 4-9 51.
Yelm 10 13 11 18–52
Union 10 11 14 16–51


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Archive for April, 2006
Thursday already?
I can't believe how fast this week is flying by. I've got my Aunt's quilt on the longarm and plan to finish it up today and then have a small lap quilt I agreed to quilt for the guild to get loaded.
The plan was to have both tops quilted before Friday so I could get back to my blue string quilts when we get home from the mountains on Sunday – not sure if I'll make that deadline. However, Keith is out of town tonight so I might just get finished if I get back to work. I decided I'm going to make a smaller quilt with the hourglass string blocks so I have enough of them – it will make a cute baby quilt – but I still have to piece more of the string blocks for the 2nd quilt.
I'm spending quilting time hiking both to boost my weight loss and to train for the Breast Cancer 3 Day walk. Yesterday I did a 10.3 mile hike which took 3 hrs and 15 minutes to hike and by the time I added travel time it was about 4 hours. Today I only did 6 miles but that was another 3 hours by the time I stopped by the post office to mail the taxes off.
I'm off to shower and then quilt the rest of the evening (and into the night if needed!).
Autumn Quilts
I'm looking at patterns for this year's quilt but haven't yet picked one. I have the fabrics – fat quarters brought over a year ago that are just waiting for inspiration.
I thought I'd share 3 of my previous quilts.
Autumn Cabin was last year's finish although the top had been made the year (2004) before that.
Autumn Leaves was designed in EQ5.
Autumn Geese was inspired by a picture in the first Nickel Quilts book. I don't own the book but had seen the combination of flying geese and four patch blocks and thought it would suit my fabrics. This quilt was given to my sister in one of our family quilt exchanges.
I'm getting a little tired of blue!
With all the leftover strips from the blue braid quilts I decided I needed to work on a string quilt. Pulled a bunch of blue strings out and tossed them with the strips and started making these string blocks.
I went looking for some ideas on layout and saw a pattern in the book Liberated Strings for the hourglass blocks and just had to try that with a few of my string blocks. So now I really like how the hourglass blocks look but I also like the string blocks I started with.
I decided that I'll make both quilts. I have plenty of strips and strings for two and so I've been working on both sets of blocks for the last couple days. The pictures were taken at different times so the colors look off but they ARE the same set of blocks.
I'm about halfway done with both sets but am off to Virginia for a few days for a visit with my Mom so they'll be waiting for me when I get back.
I won't have computer access while I'm gone because my Mom's computer got fried when she had a power surge last week but will check in on Sunday night when I get home. Hope you all get lots of quilting done this weekend.
Request for donations
I hope no one is offended by this post but I'd blogged recently about registering for the Beast Cancer 3 day to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.
In that post I did not say why this was an important event for me. I lost my Aunt last spring to breast cancer and 2 of my sisters have struggled with this disease. I'm ready to help fund research to eliminate breast cancer before any more of my family is affected.
I'll be walking in memory of my Aunt Lillian and would appreciate the support of anyone who has had to face this struggle in their own family.
Since training for the 3 day – 60 mile walk is going to be such a big part of my life over the next few months I will be blogging about my progress and posting the link for donations. This link is also posted in my sidebar.
To make a contribution please follow this link:
Atlanta 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk – Mary Johnson
For questions or comments feel free to email me directly.
I'm well ahead of the suggested training schedule for the 3 day event so I'm feeling good about my miles logged.
Miles walked last week = 33
Miles walked this week = 34


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The sun is setting earlier and every moment of warmth is being savored. Summer is waning. I love fall. It is my favorite season. My personal "new year." A time of fresh beginnings. I've already painted two doors, am planning a new fence for our backyard and working on moving a home renovation project […]
inspiring art, encouraging women


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Feb. 5, 2011
PULLMAN - The Washington State University swimming team took down the Idaho Vandals, 157-48, Saturday at Gibb Pool. The competition marked the final home meet of the season for the Cougars, and the final home meet in the careers of seniors Jennifer Dean, Rugile Mileisyte and Talor Whitaker, who were honored prior to the first event.
"They are an amazing senior class," said head coach Erica Quam. "They really are three amazing people both in the pool and out. They have been great leaders all year long; they really became our captains and handled that role really well. I owe a lot of the great environment that the team has right now to their great leaderships and attitudes."
The senior trio had made their impressions on the WSU swimming program throughout their four years in Pullman, and made their final impressions on the Gibb Pool record book during the meet. The seniors paired with sophomore Evelina Bieleckaite to break the Gibb Pool record in the 200 freestyle relay. The team finished in 1:34.21, beating the previous mark by over a second.
"When we heard the lineups today, we all started cheering," Whitaker said. "We were just happy that Erica gave us the opportunity to swim together for the last time and do something as great as finally break that pool record."
In addition to the relay victory, Whitaker finished with wins in both of her individual events. The Chesterton, Ind., native led all competitors with 18 individual points after winning the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
Mileisyte finished first in her only individual event of the day, the 100 freestyle. She finished with a winning time of 51.65 seconds, just ahead of Dean, who picked up two second-place finishes for the day.
Though the seniors highlighted the meet, Mileisyte and Whitaker were just two of seven different WSU swimmers who earned individual victories during the competition. Freshman Lora Lougee led a Cougar sweep of the 1000 freestyle and helped push WSU out to a 31-5 lead after only two events.
Fellow freshman Emily Fenster took first in the other distance event, the 500 freestyle, touching the wall more than six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
Bieleckaite, Emma Neely and Marina Ruiz Jimenez picked up individual victories in the 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, respectively.
"I just wanted them to get up, race and work on some of the little details and I think most people did a really good job with that," said Quam. "I think it's a good note to end on going into Pac-10's."
The Cougars will next swim at the Pac-10 Championships, Feb. 23-26, in Federal Way, Wash.


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The OneCard is one of the most important pieces of identification you will have while at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Residence students who have a mandatory Dining Plan will use their OneCard as their meal card. Dining Plans allow students to purchase food from on campus locations including: The Fresh Food Company (Dining Hall), Harvey's, Pizza Pizza, Williams, Mr. Sub, Union Market, Bento Sushi, Spring Rolls, Tim Horton's, Starbucks, Pita Shack, Subway, Second Cup and Wilf's.
Students can also add money to the Convenience Account (there are no tax savings in this account). This account can be used at any of the designated food locations mentioned above in addition to the off-campus vendors. Some of these vendors include Pizza Pizza, Montana's (The Boardwalk), Boston Pizza (Erb St.), Swiss Chalet, Noodle Hut, WingsUp!, East Side Mario's University Avenue West and Williams Coffee Pub
Students living off campus have the option to purchase a Value Meal Plan from the OneCard Office. Dormitory style meal plans and value plans will automatically receive tax savings of 13 percent (HST exempt) on all purchases made at on campus food outlets. Tax exemptions apply from September 1 to April 30.
Value Meal Plans can be purchased and additional money can be added throughout the year at the OneCard Office as well as online. When purchasing food, the amount is deducted from the balance and the new account balance is available upon request. Any balance remaining on a Value Meal Plan at the end of the selected plan will automatically be transferred to your Convenience Account. From May 15 - September 15, you may request a full refund by emailing the OneCard office (email@example.com). Please contact the Business office at Service Laurier to find more information on refunds.
No one other than you may use your OneCard. Cards are non-transferable. If someone is found to be using your card, it will be confiscated and sent to the OneCard Office.
If a OneCard is lost or stolen, it is protected once it has been reported in person at the OneCard Office or online at Online Banking. OneCards that have been lost or stolen outside of office hours can be deactivated at any food service location On Campus, or the above website, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Replacement cards are $20 +HST.


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When my mouth shall be filled with dust, and the worm shall feed, and feed sweetly upon me, when the ambitious man shall have no satisfaction if the poorest alive tread upon him, nor the poorest receive any contentment in being made equal to princes, for they shall be equal but in dust. *Called by His Majesty's household the Doctors Own Funeral Sermon
John Donne (1572 - 1631)
Source: XXVI Sermons, 1661, Death's Duel, last sermon, February 15, 1631*
Contributed by: Zaady
Important rules to watch in living. Keep life simple. Avoid watching for a knock in your motor. Learn to like work. Have a good hobby. Learn to be satisfied. Like people, say cheerful pleasant things. Turn the defeat of adversity into victory. Meet your problems with decision. Make the present moment a success. Always be planning something. Say "nuts" to irritations.
John A. Schindler
How to Live a Hundred Years Happily 1. Do not be on the lookout for ill health. 2. Keep usefully at work. 3. Have a hobby. 4. Learn to be satisfied. 5. Keep on liking people. 6. Meet adversity valiantly. 7. Meet the little problems in life with decision. 8. Above all, maintain a good sense of humor, best done by saying something pleasant every time you get a chance. 9. Live and make the present hour pleasant and cheerful. Keep your mind out of the past, and keep it out of the future.
One is never satisfied with a portrait of a person that one knows.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Source: Elective Affinities
Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness - great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.
Jim Rohn
Source: tape of meeting in Sacramento, CA, with Rich DeVos, Jay Van Andel & many others, c. 1979-1980. Tape was recorded privately and is in the public domain.
Because a garden mean constantly making choices, it offers almost limitless possibilities for surprise and satisfaction.
Jane Garmey
Source: The Writer in the Garden
I got the Weary Blues And I can't be satisfied.
James Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)
Source: The Weary Blues, 1926
A people, secure in their jobs, taking pride in their work, and sure of just recognition, will help our society grow to new heights. If all industry should adopt an incentive system, the standard of living of all peoples would be quadrupled; friction between labor and management would disappear, and the satisfaction of all workers would be greatly enhanced.
James F. Lincoln
There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.
James Cabell (1879 - 1958)
Learn to be satisfied. It is just as easy as being dissatisfied-and much more pleasant.
Jacob de Jager (1923 -)
Source: Friend December, 1993, "They Spoke to Us" © by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.Used by permission.
Copyright © 2016 Gaiam, Inc.


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Coat, Service, Summer, Officer, Royal Australian Air Force
This is a standard issue Royal Australian Air Force summer or tropical service coat issued during the 1970s. The Embassy of Australia donated the uniform to the National Air Space Museum in a gesture of good will and international cooperation. There is no known information at this time about the individual who wore the uniform or their service record.
Donated by the Embassy of Australia
Physical Description:
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) khaki drill tropical service coat ; single breasted with open collar; four brass buttons down front with embossed eagle surmounted by a Queen's Crown; two upper button flap pockets; two lower flap but no pockets; RAAF Navigator's badge (white embroidered half-wing on black felt; light blue wreath surrounds "RAAF" in center of badge; St. Edward's (Queen's) crown surmounts wreath and "RAAF") over left breast pocket, one medal ribbon (General Service Medal 1918-1964); Squadron Leader Rank insignia on epaulets; olive green nylon lining.
- Country of Origin
- Australia
- Manufacturer
- Type
- PERSONAL EQUIPMENT-Uniforms: Military
- Materials
- Overall: Cotton Twill, metal, synthetic fabric
- Dimensions
- Clothing: 78.7 x 64.8 x 8.3cm (31 x 25 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.)


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(0) items
Edition: 4th
Author(s): Vincent, William J.
ISBN: 9781450402545 / Hardcover / 4/1/2012
Marketplace Disclaimer:
Edition, Cover Design, etc may vary from the eCampus.com description. Please refer to the seller's comments before ordering. Marketplace sellers are required to ship by the end of the 5th business day. Items are not returnable to eCampus.com. Orders cannot be cancelled by eCampus.com.


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Serena Williams progresses in Australian Open despite ankle injury
Serena Williams has recovered from a nasty fall and painful ankle injury to blast her way into the second round of the Australian Open.
She secured a 6-0 6-0 victory over Romania's Edina Gallovits-Hall on Tuesday.
The world No. 3, leading 4-0 in the first set, slipped on the Hisense Arena surface then turned her right ankle and lay motionless on the bright blue court before sitting up when medical attention arrived.
The reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion received treatment courtside, which included having her ankle restrapped, and returned eight minutes later.
The 31-year-old appeared to be favouring her ankle and grimaced from time to time, but had obviously decided to limit her movement and blasted winners seemingly at will in order to get off court as quickly as possible. – Reuters


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Royal Canadian Mint "Batman v Superman" Coin Collection
Own your one-of-a-kind Batman v Superman Movie Coins Memorabilia from Mint.ca! Limited mintage. Shop now!
Royal Canadian Mint "Batman v Superman" Coin Collection
Own your one-of-a-kind Batman v Superman Movie Coins Memorabilia from Mint.ca! Limited mintage. Shop now!
The Big Blue Report is the Superman Homepage Newsletter sent out twice a month. It contains exclusive content not seen on the website. Subscribe now!
Cover date: July 2012
"Secrets & Lies"
Writer: Keith Giffen & Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens & Jesus Merino
Inker: Rob Lean & Iban Coello
Cover: Ivan Reis, Eber Ferreira & HiFi
Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel
Meanwhile over at the PGN headquarters, Lois is listening to a story pitch from gossip blogger, Victor Barnes. His theory is that Superman disguises himself as a mere mortal, hiding amongst us. Lois brushes off the story and annoyed Victor vows to offer irrefutable proof of his theory. A goofy Jimmy, dismisses the theory when Lois elaborates on Barnes' abrupt exit.
The sub, now surfaced, is safe and secure but Superman is perturbed that the crewmen tell him to go on his way. Superman scans the ship and discovers several added lead chambers, before he can question the crew, military helicopters arrive. Suspicious, Superman honors their request and leaves.
In Metropolis National Bank, a leather clad woman named Anguish smashes her way into the safety deposit boxes. Specifically looking for a pendant, Anguish swears it was her own property and all she was after as she races out of the bank. The police try to stop her but find her untouchable, by hand or bullet!
An angry Victor is tracking the man he believes is Superman in disguise and is shocked to see the report of Superman saving the sub, LIVE. Shrugging off the impossibility as super speed Victor plans out his next move, selling his story to someone above Lois.
Clark arrives at PGN and swiftly empties the message cache of Lois and Jimmy whining on his smartphone. Hoping to sneak in he walks directly into what he was hoping to avoid, a whining session from Lois. Clark insists he never knew he was meant to meet up with Lucy and is taken aback when Lois insists he pay for dinner with the Lane sisters tonight at Carlini's to make up for his mistake.
Jimmy receives a text about Anguish and her robbery which Clark uses as his cue to head to the rescue. At the same time, Victor negotiates with Morgan Edge over the secret identity story, the businessman agrees to overrule Lois' decision.
Now in his costume, Superman arrives and tries to stop Anguish in her tracks, only to discover her intangibility at being touched and her rock solid punches when she want to inflict pain. Heat vision has no effect either and the fight that Superman is losing is interrupted by a report on Superman by Victor Barnes.
At the same time Victor identifies software developer, Spence Becker as the hero masquerading as a man. Spence and his coworkers are taken aback by the expose, but nobody can deny that Spence and Superman share an uncanny resemblance.
The media exposes more details, including the fact Spence is a father, ergo Superman too.
This catches the attention of Anguish as she holds Superman's weakened body.
To Be Continued...
Story - 4: A MUCH better storyline this issue, I'll overlook the "Jumbotron" because it flowed really well and didn't divert too much from the past issues so far. Surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did considering the past two issues. Jimmy is the loss of a point, he actually felt quite modern and less 'comedy moron' previously but suddenly has devolved. Consistency please.
Art - 3: The art is strange. One minute it is what I'd deem classic, the next, particularly when it comes to facial expressions, is not sitting right. Obviously it is down to two artists mixing their styles but sometimes the art looks like it is struggling to jump between them both.
Cover Art - 4: A brilliant cover spoiled by the cheesy text. If it wasn't for that text it would have been a solid winner.
January 2012
Check out the Comic Index Lists for the complete list of Superman-related comics published in 2012.


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I remember playing back in the day, the wonderful game of Dungeons and Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun on the Sega Genesis. As the traditional story goes, you begin as a warrior beneath a crimson sky. Your obvious mission is to begin to make allies and friends so that you can defeat the great evils of the land.
The great thing about this game is that this was the first one that I ever played that incorporated a party system. Not to mention that you could pick different races for your characters.


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Princess Labrador | May 2012
Most people join a fitness club because they want to lose weight, get in shape and improve their health—they have a specific desired outcome they'd like to see from their exercise program. They also understand the benefits of having professional instruction, structure and accountability in their fitness program. And although one-on-one and partner training programs are very effective and can also produce a good return on investment, unfortunately the cost factor can be limiting for many individuals.
One of the hottest trends in the fitness industry right now is small-group personal training, which offers a unique opportunity to explore a new dimension of fitness by merging group fitness with personal training. It also offers classes that focus on a specialized format, individual progression and skill development.
Whether you're trying to lose weight, get in shape or achieve some other goal, one of the keys to any exercise plan is consistency. However, the challenges of exercising can be daunting for many people—and it's common for some to give up after only a short period of time. Fortunately, a small group under the supervision of a personal trainer can help you to track your progress, maintain your motivation and have a lot more fun as you train than you would if you exercised by yourself. Your group could be made up of friends, colleagues or even just people with similar training goals or interests.
Keep motivated
Most people find that it's much easier to stay motivated if you do it with other people—not just by yourself. If you're interested in getting in better shape, find a group of three to five other friends who are interested in achieving similar goals; all you need to do is to establish a set of group policies that can help you to stay on track.
Peer support
When you've entered a difficult stage of your fitness program, having people alongside you to encourage you can often be the difference between a successful exercise plan and one that fizzles out over time—share your challenges and successes with your fellow group members and be supportive of their efforts as well.
Fun times
Everyone agrees that exercising alone can become boring—and when your routine becomes tedious, you're that much more likely to give up. To keep yourself going, make use of your fellow group members. Research shows that people involved in group programs are more likely to stick with them—and when you stick with a well-constructed program, you will get results. Small-group personal training may be the missing link to helping you reach your fitness goals—why not give it a try?


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When I saw the movie The Bucket List (starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) I cried. Other cancer survivors know how I feel. But along with the awareness and feelings of finitude there is a God-given desire to see and appreciate as much of this life and this world as we possibly can. For some of us God has granted wonderful experiences and long life. For others, life experience and/or length of days is unnaturally limited. But the desire is still there.
One of my good friends from high school days in Ohio exemplifies this desire. After her husband passed away, she made a bucket list. Last year she went on a cruise to Alaska, she joined a tour group to the Holy Land, and she decorated floats for the New Year's Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. This was not possible when her husband was still alive. But the desire to experience life in its fullness and see the world was resurrected and she put feet to her dreams and initiated the grand pursuit of her bucket list. I'm proud of her.
Unlike the characters played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, most of us are financially limited in the pursuit of a bucket list. I have been to Alaska but never in the winter time. I would love to go to northern Alaska in the winter to see first-hand the northern lights. But who goes to Alaska for fun in the winter time? (Okay, my friends Dave and Lois Williams did this, but seriously how many would do something like this?) I would do it but who would go with me? Who would spend that much money to freeze in northern Alaska?
I have had the privilege as a missionary of traveling widely around the world but never for checking things off a bucket list. I loved going to Nigeria and seeing an African mother dressed in white dance down the aisle of the church carrying her infant child, also in white, to be Christened at the altar. I loved breaking away from the conference meetings in Brazil, walking a couple of miles to a small village where I found a small makeshift gym and wowed the children by how much I could bench press. I loved playing golf in New Zealand where boiling potholes of mud could spring up at any time. I loved praying for Chinese Christians who suffered during the Cultural Revolution. They soaked my shirt with their tears as I hugged them and prayed for them.
These things were not on my bucket list. But I would do them over again, with a lot of other things I experienced. There is one thing I truly will get to do that I so long for. But it requires leaving this world. No travel plans, no money, no great preparations (other than faith) are required. To journey into that other realm where Jesus is seated on the heavenly throne is on my bucket list. How I will handle that only God knows. But as wonderful and exciting as this life and this world can possibly be, they will all pale in comparison to that Holy Presence. If you haven't already, you may want to put this on your bucket list too.


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Comfort Suites Charlotte North is conveniently located off I-77 and only minutes from I-85, Wachovia, Bank of America, UNC Charlotte, Davidson College, UNCC Research Park, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Northlake Mall, Metrolina Expo, Latta Plantation, beautiful Lake Norman and an abundance of area golf courses. Free deluxe continental breakfast, 24-hour business center with Internet access, exercise room, same day valet laundry service, free access to nearby local gym and a 100-percent satisfaction guarantee. Free wireless high-speed Internet access in every room. Free Manager's Reception Monday through Wednesday. All Comfort Suites are smoke-free. When booking a package: Credit card will be charged 48 hours prior to check-in if there was no cancellation applied 48 hours in advance.
Amenities· AM/FM radio
· Alarm clock
· Brailed elevators
· Bus parking
· Business center
· Cable television
· Coffee/Tea maker
· Complimentary full american breakfast
· Desk
· Elevators
· Exercise gym
· Hairdryer
· Hairdryer
· Ice machine
· Iron
· Meeting rooms
· Microwave
· Non-smoking
· Outdoor parking
· Outdoor pool
· Parking
· Refrigerator
· Truck parking
· Wireless internet connection
Room InformationHandicap room
Miscellaneous Information
· American Dollars is the native currency.
· Check in time is 3:00 PM
· Check out time is 11:00 AM
· 104 rooms.
· 0 suites.
· 5 floors.
Guarantee Policy
Cancellation Policy
Reservations not cancelled by deadline will be charged 1 night's stay, or full amount of stay for reservations requiring prepayment.
Restaurant InformationBob Evans Bravo Cucina Italiana Chili's Firebird Northlake On the Border Hickory Tavern Mickey and Mooch Midtown Sundries The Grape
Meeting FacilityHarris Room Boardroom
Recreation Information
Outdoor pool
Area Attractions- Charlotte Douglas Int'l Arpt
- Concord Airport
- Birkdale Village
- Bobcats Arena
- Concord Mills Mall
- Bank of America Stadium
- Hang Loose Extreme Sports
- Highland Creek Golf Course
- Huntersville Family Fitness
- Lake Norman
- Latta Plantation
- Charlotte Motor Speedway
- Metrolina Exposition
- Northlake Mall
- Tradition Golf Course
- Verizon Wireless Amphitheate


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About Us
ShopKnuckleheads.com is home to the official Three Stooges store (formerly Soitenly Stooges) where you will find the complete Three Stooges product line.
If you have shopped with us before at SoitenlyStooges.com, we are delighted to have you back; or if you are new to ShopKnuckleheads.com, you will love our great selection of cool stuff at great prices, our commitment to Dynamite Customer Service and our promise to continue to provide you with a safe and secure online shopping environment.
About ShopKnuckleheads
The ShopKnucklheads Web Store is operated by eShopCreations. We are a company dedicated to finding and offering the best and most extensive assortment of merchandise, collectibles and products related to classic and iconic American characters such as The Three Stooges.
ShopKnuckleheads, is home to the Official Three Stooges® store (formerly the Soitenly Stooges store) with all the great Three Stooges items – Tee-shirts, posters, DVDs, collectible gift items and more.
We find the best merchandise for our customers working with only quality manufacturers in order to provide superior products at great prices.
About eShopCreations
eShopCreations owns and operates webstores dedicated to licensed character merchandise. Our order fulfillment center and customer service staff is located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, where we are always happy to assist you in answering questions, placing an order or to help you locate a product for yourself or as the perfect gift for the Three Stooge fan in your life. For information about our other stores, please visit us at www.eShopCreations.com


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10 Of Michelle Obama's Most Glamorous Looks [PHOTOS]
First Lady Michelle Obama attended her husband's second swearing-in ceremony today (January 20th), and we may love her Thom Brown and J. Crew gloves look this time around more than the first inauguration, which took place four years ago.
Since becoming First Lady, Obama has worn everything from prints to solids to bright colors, and everywhere in between. She's not afraid to wear a statement necklace, nor is does she shy away from being an outfit repeater.
Take a spin through our gallery to check out Obama's chicest and greatest looks.


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Artist Details
Zara McFarlane
Zara McFarlane is the London based singer, who, in 2011 released Until Tomorrow, a debut album that had many critics in a spin. Sure, praise came thick and fast. They spoke of a caressing voice of sparkling clarity, a voice that was warm and powerful, and of a singer who sang with childlike innocence and womanly assertiveness in equal measure. But perhaps what critics missed amongst the hail of praise, is something altogether different - the arrival of an original songwriter and performer of true stature. For McFarlane, it's about her point of difference. What sets her apart isn't her voice, distinctive as it is, but what she has to say as, and how she says it.
McFarlane inhabits a less trodden musical landscape. Her performance brings to mind a vocal world more akin to early Nina Simone and Roberta Flack's "First Take," than to Ella and the great American songbook. Many of her tunes possess power and an underlying spirituality reminiscent of the 'spiritual jazz' movement of 70's black America. Indeed, the fact that McFarlane was selected to perform alongside jazz star Gregory Porter at last years breathtaking Nina Simone tribute concerts (in the Netherlands) makes total sense. Like Porter, Zara is a thoughtful, uniquely engaging artist who combines the intricacies of jazz with a deep soulfulness that seamlessly blends multiple black influences.
Her unique crystalline voice and finesse of her delivery stems from both a natural gift and years of formal study at a very high standard. She studied Popular Music & Performance at Thames Valley University and holds a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies attained at the Guildhall School of Music. Prior to the release of her debut, she made a string of impressive appearances with musicians such as Soweto Kinch, Denys Baptiste, Orphy Robinson, and the Jazz Jamaica All Stars. In 2012 and 2013 Zara toured her album in the UK and Europe, with memorable performances including support slots for the likes of the godfather of South African jazz and funk, Hugh Masekela, and voice of the moment Gregory Porter. She was also nominated for a MOBO in the Best Jazz Act category 2012