text:
Comments Posted On Angie's List:
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Category: Basement Waterproofing
Work Completed Date: September 22, 2014
Hire Again: Yes
Member Comments:
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Category: Basement Waterproofing
Hire Again: Yes
Description of Work: replaced foundation wall in our basement
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Category: Basement Waterproofing
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Work Completed: May 1, 2013
Category: Basement Waterproofing, Egress Windows
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Work Completed: November 1, 2009
Categories: Basement Waterproofing
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Work Completed: April 10, 2012 Category: Basement Waterproofing Hire Again: Yes Customer Comments: "Great. I loved their work. They did it quickly and well. They were also significantly cheaper than competitors."
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Work Completed: May 4, 2012
Category: Basement Waterproofing
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Work Completed: June 19, 2012
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Hire Again: Yes
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Comments from our Customers:
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SURVIVING FLOOD CONDITIONS, via email:
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With close to 8 inches of rain total in two days on saturated ground we stayed dry.
I know from past experience we would have had 2 to 3 inches of water in our finished basement.
Anyone who has had water in the basement knows the pain.
Thanks to your dedicated crew,
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Huxley, IA
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What was your impression of our Expert?
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What was your impression of the installation crew?
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What was your impression of the installation crew!
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When asked his impression of the installation Crew Chuck replied: "Industrious, courteous, punctual, knowledgeable."
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Overall, what was the main reason you chose Better Basement Technologies
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Overall, what was the main reason you chose Better Basements:
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Patricia L. Des Moines, IA
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"Better grade of materials."
Additional Comments: "Better Price"
- Heidi in Runnells, Iowa
"Best products for our basement."
- Lynn in Des Moines, IA
"Your company has great customer service & marketing tools. Very organized."


text:
What's Einhorn Thinking? Finance Professor Explains
David Einhorn's fight with Apple has reignited the age-old question: What should Apple do with its boatloads of cash.
Einhorn touted the benefits for Apple issuing preferred shares to create more shareholder value.
"We think for every $50 billion of preferred that they issue it will unlock about $32 a share in Apple," Einhorn said on CNBC. "If Apple used about half of their earnings towards this program, we think they would be able to issue approximately $500 billion which would unlock about $320 a share."
More In Apple
- Apple and Yahoo May Take 'Coopetition' to a New Level
- Goldman Drops Apple From 'Conviction Buy' List, Keeps Buy Rating
- S&P 500's Record, With or Without Apple
- Podcast: Europe's Back, Volatility's Back, Is BlackBerry?
- BlackBerry Launch a Dud; Shares Keep Falling
- Apple's Big Technical Breakthrough Could Bode Well
Preferred shares are often viewed as high-yielding hybrids that are less volatile than common shares and typically pay generous income stream akin to high-yield bonds.
With some $137 billion in cash on Apple's balance sheet — bigger than the market caps of all but 17 companies in the S&P 500 — many investors and analysts have been calling for Apple find more ways to deploy addititional cash to shareholders. The company started paying a regular dividend last year and announced a stock buyback.
MarketBeat chatted with James Angel, associate professor at Georgetown University, who offered his take on Einhorn's latest move and the best ways for Apple to use its cash.
MarketBeat: What's Einhorn's motive?
Angel: "He wants Apple to leverage up by using preferred stock. What it effectively does is it leverages up Apple's capital structure. Normally when a company does that, they do it with debt, but Apple has been pathologically averse to adding debt. Since Einhorn feels the stock is undervalued, by adding leverage, it should provide a kick to the stock price."
MarketBeat: Why preferred shares as opposed to boosting the dividend or stock buyback?
Angel: "One problem with a big buyback or dividend is that so much of their cash is sequestered as "overseas" for tax purposes. They would take a big tax hit if they repatriated the cash right away to do a dividend or buyback…
"Clearly, cash is negative debt. If Einhorn wants to leverage up the company quickly, he can have them buyback shares or pay bigger dividends. But the nice thing is if they just spinoff these shares, which effectively are going to become like a bond, the tax treatment on this would be longterm capital gains. The tax treatment if he sold shares back in a buyback would also be a longterm capital gain, but he may be planning for tax purposes to hold on to this for a bit longer. If he receives a big dividend, yes it's at the preferential tax rates for dividends, but if he engineers a longer-term boost in the price of Apple, what that would do is allow him to defer the payment of the capital gains tax until he finally sells it down the road, or spins it off to his investors who can do whatever they want. It may be a sophisticated tax angle that's calling the push for preferred shares as opposed to a cash dividend or buyback…
"I think that Mr. Einhorn should have also asked for a 10:1 stock split for Apple, which would increase its liquidity a tiny bit and probably boost its price a smidge."
MarketBeat: Why would Apple want to eliminate the ability to issue preferred stock?
Angel: "Apple wanting to give up its flexibility is curious. I suspect they want the activist investor to go away. Since Einhorn, the activist, is saying he wants to get shareholders on board to vote on it, maybe Apple is hoping he'll go away and bother some other company. But let's say Apple is successful and the preferred option is taken away. In that scenario the risk is Mr. Einhorn and his peers have big chunks of stock. They could come up with other ideas. I don't think Einhorn has the desire to take over Apple, but he may very well do something else if he loses this proxy vote."
MarketBeat: What if Einhorn's not successful?
Angel: "He may want to wage a direct proxy fight and say hey, I've been a shareholder for several years. Now I'd like to be on the board. I'm not sure why Apple would want to take away their flexibility to do this. Even if Apple wins, the activists may come back with something which would be more sour to the Apple core. "
MarketBeat: Why would Calpers side with Apple?
Angel: "That's a good question, especially since Calpers has historically been a fairly active investor. Apple is a California-based company so I wonder if there are any political considerations going on there. One of the dangers with big pension funds is there may be political considerations of what they do. My guess is that Calpers is either 1) so happy with eliminating the staggered board that they don't care about the preferred stock, or 2) they want to show publicly that they are not in cahoots with Mr. Einhorn."
UPDATE: In response to Mr. Angel's comments, Calpers said its decision didn't have anything to do with geographic location or politics.
"Calpers fully supports Apple's proposal to implement majority voting for the election of directors and to require shareholder approval for the issuance of blank check preferred stock," Anne Simpson, Calpers senior portfolio manager and director of corporate governance, said in a statement. "Majority voting increases accountability, while shareholder approval for blank check stock is simply good governance."
For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Princeton, NJ, March 12, 2013–Princeton Theological will hold an
Easter Octave Choral Service on Sunday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. in Miller Chapel.
service of worship will explore Easter through psalms, the Song of Solomon, the
epistles, and the gospels with readings, anthems, and congregational singing
led by the Princeton Seminary Choirs and a brass quartet. It will also feature
an original composition by choral assistant Michael Gittens.
Octave of Easter signifies the eighth day of Easter, the culmination of the
High Holy Days. This is an opportunity for the public to join the Seminary
community in celebrating the Festival of Easter.
public can attend the service free of charge. For more information, call
Princeton Theological Seminary was
founded in 1812, the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian Seminary in the country,
with more than 500 students in six graduate degree programs.
© Princeton Theological Seminary P.O. Box 821, 64 Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ 08542-0803, 609.921.8300 An Institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA)PTS Calendars | A to Z Index | Information Technology | Trustees Website
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text:
NEW: For a prettier blog interface, see the Wordpress version!TeachingPhilosophy TeachingEvaluations
|Write reflections on first sem (2004.01.19)
21. Teaching assistantship (2005.09.14:1 teaching#1 TeachingReflections:21)
The teaching assistant for the next class promised to pass by at 1:00 to pick up the projector, but he didn't show up until 2:00. I couldn't leave the projector alone and the office was closed, so I ended up waiting in the lab for an hour. I used the time to read through lecture notes. Interesting handouts! I particularly liked the articles from business magazines on decision support systems and change management.
I also reviewed Excel features in preparation for my labs. It's such a pity that the book I was reading was published in 1994. Yes, it's _that_ old. Egads. I really need to find a newer book on Microsoft Excel. Yes, guys, my job as a teaching assistant involves preaching the goodness of Excel. It's not a bad tool, really. I like Solver and I think PivotTables are really powerful in the right hands. Microsoft Excel is abused far less often than Microsoft Word. (Hear that, all you people sending DOCs when web pages or text files would do?) It's also less insidious than Microsoft Powerpoint, which stunts most people's presentation skills. Microsoft Excel is not a bad thing.
I need to figure out a good way to do the labs. The room is a classic computer lab with big monitors on rows and rows of desks. At 5'1/4", I can barely be seen from the back row--and that's already with my attention-getting red-and-orange outfit!
Demonstrations would also be hard to follow from the back. There are far too many distractions: the hum of the airconditioner, the clickety-clack of other keyboards, the glow of almost forty other monitors... And it's 12 - 1 PM, too! Heck, _I_ felt kinda sleepy.
On the plus side, one student said she liked me because my voice was loud enough to be heard. Hooray for drama in education, and hooray for Toastmasters!
How can I best help them learn?
What am I there to help them learn?
My job is to help them learn how to apply ideas from their decision support systems lectures by using software such as Microsoft Excel, Jess, and Weka.
I _could_ stand up there and demo everything, but I don't think they'll walk away with important lessons. I want them to try out at least one new feature: to know that it's there, why it's there, and how to learn more about it. I want them to have time to work on their project, too, but that's really something they're going to end up working on outside class. I need to talk to Peter Shepard about how much time they should budget for that project.
Self-paced lab exercises helped my first-year Java students back in Ateneo de Manila University, and something like that just might work here as well. I'll need to prepare interesting, engaging exercises that will expose the students to various features of Excel. I can spend 5 - 7 minutes (hah! A Toastmasters talk!) at the beginning of the class to establish the importance of the topic and perhaps take any questions, let them loose on the topics, and then wrap up at the end. I'll need better feedback than waiting for questions. Maybe comments on a blog or on the (very slow) course website? Little slips of paper? Index cards? I don't know yet. I need to figure that out before next week.
It's fun teaching again...
20. Teaching Carnival (2005.09.02:6)
Check out the Teaching Carnival for excellent blog posts about education. Good stuff!
Picked up the link from Marcia Hansen's blog. Read her wonderful reflections on her first experiences as a teacher. Awwwwwwwwww!
19. On computer science education (2005.04.28:2)
In response to Neil Santos' rant about computer science education:
What a pity it is that you've never had a good teacher. A good teacher can help you grow immensely. I've had great teachers, and they really changed my life. Let me share with you some things I've learned from them and why I'm crazy about computer science.
When you meet a lot of brilliant people, you'll quickly realize that technical skills do not guarantee people skills and vice versa. One of the best ways to meet brilliant people is through open source. Look at Richard Stallman: undoubtedly a genius, but his personality rubs a lot of people the wrong way. (He's really cool, though.) On the other hand, there are people who combine both technical know-how with passion and great communication skills; these are the teachers who can change your life.
I owe so much to the teachers I've learned from inside and outside the classroom. The best teachers I've had taught me that I'm not limited to the classroom. They helped me gain the confidence to try things on my own. They showed me things I didn't know about and might not have discovered on my own. They questioned my assumptions and challenged me to do better. I remember when I was in first year college and I was slacking off in subjects like English; it was my computer science teacher who told me that I should pay attention to details!
My teachers really helped me deal with my insecurities about our curriculum. I always kept my eye on schools abroad, and because I was already working on open source in college, I could see how people my age were doing really fantastic things like maintaining the Linux kernel or writing their own operating systems. My teachers helped me take advanced classes and get into extracurricular projects and competitions. When I started working on things on my own, they gave me encouragement and great recommendations.
I've heard many, many stories about teachers who aren't as good as the ones I had, though. Most teachers don't seem to care about their students or their subjects. I want to help change that.
Computer science changes every day. The accelerating pace may make you think that it's impossible to keep up. The truth is, as things get faster and faster, a strong foundation becomes more and more important.
That's what I'd like to think I teach. I do not teach how to program in Java or C++ or Perl. I teach people how to _think_, how to break a problem down into solvable parts, how to learn more and more and more. My job is not to pour information into passive students, but rather I am here to show them the basics and then challenge them, make them hungry for more, guide them through questions and hints. I don't know everything, but I love sharing whatever I know, and I love learning new things from students and the world.
I messed up a lot as a beginning teacher, too. There were days when the explanations I prepared the night before didn't work and everyone was just confused. There were days when I'd just get so frustrated with my inability to express something or to convince people that copying isn't going to teach them as much as actually sticking it out and solving the problem. But still, there were days when I'd see students get that Aha! moment, and that made things worthwhile.
I enjoy computer science so much that I cannot think of _not_ teaching it. I want to get other people hooked. I want people to fall in love with learning and problem-solving. I want people to discover that they too are capable of mental wizardry; that they too can make the computer dance to their tune. I want to be a fantastic teacher. In order to do that, I'm working on not only getting the theoretical and practical background to share with my students, but also learning how to teach and teach well.
Let me tell you that computer science education doesn't have to be like what you're suffering. I know it can be good, and I want to make it even better.
What does this mean for you, now, while you're taking up your degree at Adamson University?
Well, if you can't do anything about your teachers right now, you have many ways of coping. Open source gives you an opportunity to test your knowledge and make a difference world-wide. Even as a student, you can work on really cool things! Come hang out with us, too. We can challenge you. We can help you stay enthusiastic and passionate about computers. When are you usually free?
17. Teaching reflections (2004.07.19:1)
- CS21A: We gave the CS and MIS students the same quiz, although the CS students might have had less time to work on it. Still, the MIS students did preeeeettty well... <grin> Perhaps there is hope yet.
- CS110: Talked about ranked and positional sequences. Used a spreadsheet in lieu of neat, prepared animations. Oh, well.
- CS139.3: Chosen problems not much of a discriminant, as hex and cube-rolling problems too intimidating for most people. Much to discuss on Wednesday.
16. Class reflections (2004.07.14:2)
- CS21A: Dr. Sarmenta did the worm thingy for control. I need to find a better way to explain that, as it seemed to have gone over most people's heads. My class had fun with the while loop exercises, though.
- CS110: More deque implementation. People are doing surprisingly well, even those who weren't really paying attention in class.
- CS139.3: I think I just got up there and babbled. Must fix.
15. Class notes (2004.07.07:5)
- CS21A: Gave a short quiz. Mixed.
- CS110: Had fun getting the students to lead the discussion. Fruitful.
- CS21A, mine: Mixed. Re-did ifs.
- CS139.3: Meep. Hope they'll get the hang of graph problems.
14. Class reflections (2004.07.05:4)
- CS21A: Walked through the GuessingGame and CrystalBall exercises. It looked like everyone's on track. Mentioned my decision to my MIS class. Okay class session.
- CS110: Told the class what was going to happen. Reviewed chapter
- Reviewed arrays and linked lists. Discussed array and linked-list implementation of stacks by describing the behavior of a stack and asking them to define push and pop. Mixed success, but seemed like a good exercise. Next up: queues, deques, and sequences.
- CS139.3: Told the class what was going to happen. Had a fruitful review session of the past five problems. Made sure everyone knew how to read input. Promised to discuss Arbitrage and Kissing Cousins on Wednesday. Okay class session, although small.
13. Teaching reflections (2004.06.28:2)
Dr. Sarmenta finished the lecture on Java Basics and started on Conditionals. I'm worried that the students might find the discussion on preincrements and postincrements a bit too abstract, as they don't have use for that yet. Dr. Sarmenta thinks it's wiser to get the topics out of the way, and since he's senior for that section, well... Anyway, I'm going to postpone that topic until I get to for loops, where it really makes sense.
I'm also worried about the long discussion on conditionals and grouping statements with braces. He spent a lot of time pointing out possible bugs. I guess this is a good thing because otherwise the students might pick up the bad habit of making small, random changes to their programs in order to get things to work, but again, it felt somewhat disconnected.
I started my MIS class with a quick overview of the exercise. I explained a few of the quirks, then moved on to conditionals in the context of the bank account exercise. I explained it in English and then showed them the Java code to do it, which they dutifully copied down. I also showed them how to use the debugger to investigate the behavior of the if/else structure. I felt good about trying to follow the BlueJ way of making exercises.
Armed with more examples, I went over methods of justification again. They understood the contrapositive immediately when I used English examples, and they were surprisingly familiar with the various examples for proof by contradiction. Loop invariants are a little bit clearer now, but they still need a lot of practice identify the statement S and proving it holds true before, during, and after the loop.
Mini-contest. Okay results; a number of people solved at least one problem, and Mark got all 3. I should be moving into searching and sorting soon. I guess I'll have to cover normal sorts so that people using the Online Judge know what to do. I should also cover the shortcuts...
10. Class today: Mixed (2004.06.25:1)
CS21A: Both the CS and MIS classes appreciated having unit tests that thoroughly checked their work. Almost everyone quickly got the hang of the exercises, although I still need to make sure that a few people review attributes thoroughly. I was happy to hear students laugh when their code passed all the tests.
CS110: Bleah. Floundered in class. Must definitely make up lots of layman's terms explanations.
CS139.3: Gave them two problems to think about and let them talk about solutions. Lots of fun. Must remember to bring harder problems for the advanced students.
9. Reflections on class (2004.06.23:2)
Today was an excellent class day!
CS21A: Dr. Sarmenta went through half of Java Basics. I did too. Students nodding. Assigned bank account and converter as homework so that they'll have questions on Friday.
CS110: Induction went more smoothly than I expected. Whee! I gave them the sum(2n - 1) = n * n problem. They finished quickly. It was good that I solved both problems in advance.
CS139.3: Fun discussion of the two problems from the minicontest. Neill shared his solution. Learned something new. (He stored everything as strings!) I told them about my hashtable/vector hack, and got appreciative ooohs. Also taught them how to justify text and read lines flexibly.
Good class day.
8. Class today (2004.06.21:3)
- CS21A: (B) Intro to Java lecture. (G) Intro to Java lecture, lab discussion. # I finished all of the feedback today. Yay! What worked: the first lab went very well. What could be improved: Move how-to-zip-files and demonstration to first week of classes.
- CS110: Review of efficiency with a 5-point quiz. Many people need to review. Hmm. What am I doing wrong? Maybe I should use more exercises and fewer lectures. How can I make exercises easy to do in class? Not sure if proceeding to next topic (correctness, ending with induction) was the best thing to do.
- CS139.3: Had fun finding two simple data structures problem. However, Mark was the only one who could solve it within given timeframe. Spent half an hour setting up PC2 and getting the hang of things. Next time, won't have that problem. Should also release notes on how to do input and output. Crash course in Java. Have assigned problems for student discussion. Will probably allow newbies to work in groups first.
11. Prepared for CS21A (2004.06.14:3)
Okay, I should be satisfactorily prepared for CS21A now. For Dr. Sarmenta's class, I can walk through parts of the lab exercise and challenge them with drawn figures on the board. For my class, I plan to go through the post office simulation. If I have time after the debriefing, I'll do an intro to the lab. The interactive part should be doable.
12. Reflections on class today (2004.06.14:1)
- CS21A-B: **OK:** The mail system simulation mostly worked, although it could still be tweaked slightly. His slides were okay, too. **NI:** People need to be assigned reasons to use the mail system simulation.
- CS21A-G: **OK:** My slides. Ended three minutes early, but otherwise pretty okay. Got a few laughs. **NI:** I could use a presentation chockful of filler material.
- CS110-A: **OK:** I prepared slides with the outline. **NI:** I ended much too early. Should always have the next session ready, I suppose. Also, SHOULD NOT WRITE ON BOARD WITH PERMANENT MARKER.
- CS139.3: **OK:** Again, brief overview with class outline and policies. 3n+1 was a surprisingly enlightening problem. **NI:** Brief primer on working with the online judge? Also, scared a number of the students.
7. Reflections from 2nd sem 2003-2004 (2004.04.15:5)
- CS21A: Introduction to Computing I. Experimented with BlueJ and an objects-first approach. Students liked the interactive environment and had fun with the graphical and game-based exercises. Reading exercises helped build confidence and the students inferred the use of control structures from them. The programming exercises also helped them appreciate methods. However, I need to give them more opportunities for practice and I should challenge them more.
- CS21B: Introduction to Computing II. Students continued working on their projects from last semester, with a twist: they did _other_ people's projects. Some groups had a hard time working with old code, but it looked like a pretty good learning experience for everyone. Making reviewers for the final exam was also a fun activity. They also picked up data structures easily, and their advanced studies in threads and files last semester paid off. Downside: Networking still difficult to test.
- CS161: Operating Systems. I was initially worried about teaching a traditionally book-centered course, but managed to survive a semester of Powerpoint slides and departmental tests. Weird analogies helped out. Made the CS finals more computation-based, but students lacked practice. If I ever teach CS161 again, I'd like to emphasize that aspect over the memorization currently required.
Plans for next semester:
- Heterogenity. Students come with different backgrounds and proceed at different paces. I want to take advantage of that by providing many exercises and examples for students to learn from so that they can go at their own pace.
- Progress. I want to be able to monitor student progress in a spreadsheet or a website. I'd like to keep track of their self-evaluation as well as my own evaluation.
- Exercises. Students responded well to the fun and creative exercises I came up with for CS21A and CS21B. I think I've collected enough games and puzzles to demonstrate most of the major points in CS21. Over the summer, I plan to write up these exercises in a lab manual. The exercises will vary in difficulty so that beginners can still find fun and exciting projects to work on.
- Drills. I would like to spend 5-10 minutes on speed drills to accustom students to solving written problems quickly. This will help them prepare for the midterms and the final examinations. Practicing for these drills will also keep them busy just in case they have nothing else scheduled.
6. Functional decomposition and logic (2004.01.28:1)
Students found it much easier to work with methods and parameters when doing programming exercises. Also, ASCII drawing exercises drew their attention. We should emphasize this in CS21A next semester.
Not that I'm too fond of focusing on structured programming, but they're no longer worrying about syntax _and_ they feel challenged and happy, so it can't be entirely a bad thing. They don't seem to mind working on toy problems, either.
5. Tales from under my desk (2004.01.23:3)
I'm hiding under my desk with a large box of assorted candies and a laptop. It had been a particularly tiring CS21A session, with my carefully prepared string exercises mysteriously unreachable - proxy problems? host problems? - and... well... a student with a surprisingly poor grasp of the subject matter, which made me feel bad as a teacher - which is, once again, why I'm hiding under my desk. It feels nice here.
I must remember that the discipline of problem-solving and the structured logic of computer science do not come easily to other people. I hear the frustration and shame in my students' voices as they try to write the programs I ask them to do far more often than I hear their exultation. With a sequence of exercises I strive to lead him to the realization that loops are simply a way to repeat code conveniently, to help them make it a part of they vocabulary. Sometimes I feel like Anne Sullivan to stubborn Helen Kellers, patiently repeating ignored hand-gestures while waiting for that one spark of genius that will help them unlock their world.
I arranged my exercises in terms of difficulty, but I need even simpler exercises to help them build confidence. I want so much to make them see, to make them understand - but I must guide them slowly and with questions so that this logic becomes an inseparable part of them, not just something given to them to study now and forget later. I want them to have a sense of control and accomplishment.
I want to unfold them, find the core of the problems that prevent them from learning, stretch them, challenge them, transform them - but oh, how difficult it is to even find a sequence that will be challenging and yet at the same time encouraging! How much easier it would be to not care, perhaps, or at least not bend to each person's needs - to let people sink or swim according to their own efforts. How easy it would be to just say that oh, perhaps a student is not meant for a certain course. I would perhaps be doing a greater service to that person's potential classmates and coworkers if I failed a student who did not show potential. Yet such reflects on me, too. Perhaps it is a conceit to think that I can reach even those whom most think are unreachable...
I lack so much as a teacher. I love crafting exercises to guide people along a path. I love finding out where a person is and trying to form a personal study plan to help. I tutor, I mentor, I question, I challenge. Do I teach? Rarely. I think of this as trying to help people learn. Perhaps I'm meant to be more of a guide, more of a tutor.
I love spending time with people and helping them understand something. My CS21B class is incredible to watch - the people who had such a hard time during the first semester seem to have caught up and are doing quite well, and that helps me believe that it's worth it. It must be worth it, must be worth times like this...
4. Second sem thoughts (2004.01.19:5)
- Students gain confidence by going through a number of reading exercises before proceeding to programming exercises.
- A combined group/individual exercise allows all the students to cooperate while still giving them time to practice on their own.
- Candy is a good thing, particularly during examinations.
- All-or-nothing exams are easy to check and are particularly apt for reading exercises. However, students need to be exposed to them early on so that they become familiar with the stringent requirements and so that mistakes can be dealt with early.
- I should have a morning schedule so that I wake up early.
- I greatly prefer having students work together on exercises than I prefer lecturing, although I am getting the hang of lecturing because of my CS161 class.
- Quizzes at the beginning of a class are a bad idea unless they're regular. Students don't get to study enough - context switch.
3. CS21A, reading exercises, and programming (2004.01.19:4)
We started with programming today. I think that the reading exercises helped significantly, as the students quickly remembered which structures to use and how to use them. We should try that in the future.
Bringing candy to the midterms was also a very good idea.
2. The class is practically running itself (2003.12.18:3)
It's amazing. The class is practically running itself. The time I put into making those exercises was definitely worth it. They're off solving them or making up their own exercises. With documentation, time to explore the system, and the freedom to make mistakes and ask questions, the trainees learn almost entirely on their own.
When they do have questions, they tend to ask each other first before asking me. I handle the questions they can't figure out from the text and clarify things that are fuzzy.
It's really amazing. I hope they'll leave the training confident that they can learn whatever else they need to - considering they learned Perl nearly on their own! Because I'm more into getting lots of people do Perl, I'm not worried about long-term profitability. After all, what training center would do well if they kept encouraging students to learn independently?
That said, it was a lot of work preparing the exercises, and I can't count the number of times quick thinking and familiarity with UNIX made things easier. For example,
wget -r -nc --no-parent --proxy-user=secret --proxy-pass=secret http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perl.html
and judicious use of ncftp's mput command (skipping the already-uploaded files) allowed me to easily make Perl's documentation available even though the server didn't have anything but perl(1). Better than manpages, actually, as these were hyperlinked! =)
tar zcvf day2.tar.gz /usr/local/training/home/
will allow me to pack up all their work so that I can use my Emacs keyboard macro to send it to their listed e-mail addresses. (I should get around to making that a defun...)
1. Thoughts on training (2003.12.18:1)
Yesterday was my first day of corporate training. It was surprisingly draining. On my feet almost the entire day, facing the same crowd, waiting for their questions... After the training, I was so zoned out! Fortunately, it was just a short walk to Powerbooks in Greenbelt. To top it all off, I discovered a chocolate bar quite near there!
The trainees are remarkably independent, preferring to work on the exercises on their own or in small, informal groups instead of listening to me explain the solution. My role is more of a facilitator. I point them to the documentation. I also walk back and forth looking for people who are stuck at a problem or are faced with a trivial bug they can't find and fix, and I give them small hints.
For this group, it seems very important to gain mastery of the basics first - so we'll stick with the promised coverage and we'll have plenty of exercises. That works out for them because they'll have time to gain confidence. That works out for the training company as well because they'll have an opportunity to do Advanced Perl Scripting.
It was a very good thing that I'm used to this style of teaching - embedding lessons in exercises that build on each other and involve several concepts. If I expected to lecture, I'd have been dead on the first day! With that in mind, I had a lot of fun preparing more exercises for them. I worked until one in the morning. A phonebook at my side, I came up with all sorts of phone-related exercises. I hope they take it well; they might just be sick and tired of anything that looks like work after all!
I met Dominique yesterday and we swapped notes on training. From what little I know of it, I rather like corporate training. It gives me a chance to spread the good news of UNIX. ;) That said, I like school teaching, too. Maybe I can do part-time teaching and part-time training in the future.
18. Reflections on teaching (2004.12.03:6)
It was a joy to teach brilliant and enthusiastic students who learned by leaps and bounds. I hope I had in some way accelerated their learning, widened their horizons and helped them enjoy computer science even more.
Dearer to me, though, are students whose aha! moments are few and far between despite their efforts. They were the reasons why I taught before, and they are the reasons I want to return.
1st Sem 2003
My TeachingEvaluations might be fun reading.
- The non-textbook, real-life examples were useful.
- The students prepared monthly summaries of what they learned in bullet-point format. I compiled their notes and put them on the website. I learned what they learned, found some misconceptions I needed to correct, and helped them build collective knowledge.
- I explored code analysis. Some of my exercises involved cutting and pasting pseudocode before the corresponding Java code which used unfamiliar statements. This should be followed up with a worksheet that asks students to formalize what they know.
- Many of my students had a hard time with growing arrays. We should introduce an intermediate step - storing a variable number of elements in an array. I think we should move this to later in the course (or even CS110) to give students time to develop familiarity with the language and skill in problem-solving.
- We de-emphasized language features like switch in order to focus more on mastering a subset of the Java language. I think this is better than drilling syntax into them without developing their comprehension.
- The reviewers for different topics were creative. I'll pass them on to the next batch of students.
- Flash animations and self-guided tutorials helped during class and consultation time. I should spend time learning how to use these tools.
- Although I still feel that I lack experience, I found myself occasionally being insightful and informative. Must have picked up _something_ from working on different projects. Still, I don't feel prepared for CS123, and I'm glad Dr. Vergara is teaching it next year.
Summer 2003, CS21A
- Summer is short. I feel that I didn't fully take advantage of the extra hours they have outside class, though. I need to learn how to prepare good homework.
- Students got tripped up by minor programming bugs in the beginning. New topics should probably involve groupwork so that there are more people debugging. The students learn more when they explain to each other, too, and enthusiasm can be infectious.
- I asked the students to introduce themselves to me through e-mail. This allowed them to go into a lot of detail about their background, interests, likes, and expectations. I replied to each of them. I think it's a great idea, and I plan on doing it again in the future.
- Maybe we should work on making a CS21A website that's well laid out, searchable, and downloadable.
- Tutorials on the Net are hard to learn from. The good AWT tutorials seem to have disappeared and the Swing ones can be hard to understand. We probably need to develop or at least compile a set of topic-based lecture notes / slides / exercises / whatever. We already have the Powerpoint slides from the last few sems, but they could be supplemented with lecture notes and additional resources.
- For each topic, we should have an archive of exercises arranged by difficulty. I took some of the exercises from the Graded Problems in Computer Science book in the library and I made up some of my own, but I feel that this is an area that could still use a lot more work.
- It would probably be a good idea to have threaded discussions on each topic, but I don't know of any content management systems that make it easy to keep track of all the discussions going on at a time. I'm tempted to write one.
- Small group instruction seems promising, but I don't know how to keep track of progress well enough. Maybe short online tests and occasional points of synchronization? I can group topics into a unit and give unit tests on scheduled dates, allowing them to take up the unit's topics in any order (but with suggested trails, of course).
- I'm tempted to do pre- and post-tests. Must be my inner grade school teacher.
- Students had a hard time getting Java to run at home. We provided the J2SDK and docs on a CD, but we didn't prepare the CD well enough. Students were confused by the list of files on the CD, and they had a hard time setting up the path. Next time, we should include a README or an autorun.
- Students were confused by JCreator's output directory settings, but they found the compilation error capture handy, as it allowed them to scroll up and see the first error. I suggest the use of Gel - a free, fast IDE that has Intellisense. Actually, I'm tempted to suggest Emacs, but hey... ;)
- An MSDOS primer would be handy - not a lecture, but maybe a handout or webpage. It could explain how to create directories, use DOSKEY, move files, that sort of thing.
- The upgrade to Windows XP was rather strange. We had problems with Java and with connecting to the Internet, so we stayed on Windows 98 instead. That said, it would be nice if they tried out a shell with tab completion.
- I'm more comfortable with having students do exercises on their own or in small groups and then walking around to monitor their progress and help them with difficulties than I am comfortable with lecturing. I suspect that means I need to learn how to prepare better lectures, but I never really liked lectures as a student. =)
- I tried introducing Vectors before arrays, because the project I had in mind didn't use fixed sizes. That made some things easier to explain (addElement, removeElementAt), but my lecture notes for that section really need to be rewritten. The old arrays-first way is probably better.
- I found it pretty easy to learn student names thanks to the seat plan, and I made it a point to use the students' names whenever possible. Then again, I was handling only one class. I wonder how I'll do with the normal load.
- I need to learn how to organize my lessons more.
- Haven't gotten around to thinking about Linuxifying the labs. Oops.
- Have we already formally stated what a student should be able to do after CS21A? I found it hard to prioritize. Rubrics would be nice, too.
- I have much to learn about teaching, and I'm looking forward to the next sem! =)
I'd love to hear about any questions, comments, suggestions or links that you might have. Your comments will not be posted on this website immediately, but will be e-mailed to me first. You can use this form to get in touch with me, or e-mail me at [email protected] .


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Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters that Mohammed Afzal Guru was executed early Saturday morning in New Delhi's Tihar prison.
"It was the law taking its course," Singh said.
Afzal Guru has been on death row since first being convicted in 2002. Subsequent appeals in higher courts were also rejected and India's Supreme Court set an execution date for October 2006. However, his execution was delayed after his wife filed a mercy petition with India's president. That petition, the last step in the judicial process, was turned down earlier this week.
Several rights groups including political groups in Indian Kashmir have said that Guru did not get a fair trial.
Guru confessed in TV interviews that he helped plot the attack that killed 14, including all five attackers. He later denied any involvement and said he was tortured into confessing.
Government prosecutors have said that Guru was a member of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, a charge Guru denied.
On Saturday, thousands of police and paramilitary troops fanned out across Indian Kashmir preparing for any protests and violence that might break out following the announcement of the execution. A curfew was also imposed in the Himalayan state.
When Guru's death sentence was handed down by India's Supreme Court it sparked protests in Kashmir and the state government has warned that his execution could destabilize the volatile Himalayan region.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is divided between Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-majority Pakistan but is claimed by both nations.
Since 1989, an armed uprising in Indian-controlled Kashmir and an ensuing crackdown have killed an estimated 68,000 people, mostly civilians.
Guru's execution was carried out in secrecy similar to the execution in November of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Associated Press reporter Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar contributed to this report.


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BOULDER - When it looks like a football score, that's usually a good thing for Vail Christian girls basketball.
Thus, we give you the Saints beating Shining Mountain, 26-19, Wednesday night down in Boulder, and, no, head coach Doug Bruce did not kick the extra points.
If you've been anywhere near Vail Christian's gym in Edwards when the ladies play, you know that Bruce emphasizes defense, defense and little more defense on top of that. So the coach was pleased with the ladies allowing just 19 points, not to mention the fact that the Saints were coming off Christmas break.
"That was one of my biggest concerns," Bruce said. "This was Shining Mountain's third game after Christmas and our first. We were a little rough offensively, but we had really good defense again."
In five games, the Saints have allowed an average of 25. 8 points per game and that equals a 4-1 record.
Maria Gonzalez had her "best game of the year," according to Bruce, with four rebounds and eight points. More contributions came from Jessie Hartley (eight rebounds), Paris Baker (four rebounds and eight points) and Kristen Currey (six rebounds and four points).
And no one can accuse the Saints of playing a cupcake nonconference schedule. The Saints host Gilpin County (7-0 and No. 8 in Class 1A in The Denver Post Poll) Friday night at 6. That's also a rematch of last year's regional playoff game, won by the Eagles. Saturday, Vail Christian is at Jim Elliot Christian, which is also 7-0.
Lions surge past Saints
BOULDER - Two ranked teams played Wednesday night and Vail Christian boys basketball was one of them.
For the first time in school history, the Saints are in The Denver Post Poll at No. 8 and they lost a tough one, 57-45, to No. 1 Shining Mountain Wednesday. Vail Christian led, 21-16, at the half, and, 38-30, after three before the Lions went off for 27 points in the final stanza.
"They caught fire," Saints coach Sheldon Kuhns said. "That wasn't bad defense. That's the No. 1 team in the state. One can't complain. That's very encouraging."
It wasn't a bad way for the Saints (4-2) to come out of the gate in 2013. Vail Christian was also playing with a shortened bench with a nagging injury to Gunnar Wilson, while Nigel Johnsen was down and out with the flu.
Robby Bowles and Zach Linder each had 13 points, while the latter also had 11 boards. Kevin Boselli was just short of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Saints host Gilpin County at 7:30 p.m.
Devils smash Summit
FARMER'S KORNER - The boys tend to get the headlines down in Gypsum, but Eagle Valley appears to have two pretty good basketball teams.
The Devils girls basketball team is 7-3 overall and 4-1 in the 4A Western Slope after dusting Summit County, 57-30, Tuesday night in Farmer's Korner.
"It took us a while to shake the rust off," Eagle Valley coach Sam Bartlett said. "Our first quarter was not really what we were looking for. In the second and third quarters, we really put pressure on the ball and got in their passing lanes."
Said defense turned into points as the Devils had three scorers in double-digits - Lauren Thorpe (17), Taylor Martin (12) and Mariel Gutierrez (10).
Like the gents, the ladies are off until Jan. 18 when they head to Steamboat Springs. The games will come at seemingly warp speed after that.
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or email@example.com.


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Europe's leading clubs is going to bequerying in the UEFA Champions League one more time this season, in a strugglewhich will conclude to be one of the greatest exciting from the time when itwas modified to its modern format in 1992.
Many have been questioning above the recentstrong point of English clubs, afterwards a thoroughly fought Premier Leagueaward anticipated that all teams bar Manchester United lost at minimum eightleague cups.
The comparative easiness at which ChampionsLeague victors Barcelona cleared away the Red Devils at Wembley recentlyappeared to propose there was an enormous bayou amid the Catalans and theirEnglish complements. Nevertheless, as soon as the smashing phases are inadvancement, nearly whatsoever can transpire.
Real Madrid are eager to heighten up theirtop score of nine Champions League cups this time round, having remained justlyineffective in the competition over the last five season. Underneath thestewardship of José Mourinhoand with the all-star team he has bring together over the preceding fifteenmonths, Los Blancos have as upright a possibility aseveryone in recent years.
On the other hand Manchester City makestheir introduction in the competition, the moment they qualified for the veryfirst time in their history. The cityhave definitely made some improvements over the last two seasons and will beindisputably stimulating for the Premier League crown. Though, you can't helpbut giving a thought that their expecting too greatly of Roberto Mancini's teamto conquer Europe without questions.
Champions League regulars Liverpool willhave to be gratified by means of the Europa League for another season afterdwindling a little in their inland campaign last period. They may be England'smost successful club in Europe but their omission perhaps highlights thecontinual change which takes place in football and that no huge titles are eversafe.
Chelsea have appreciated several epic gamesin contradiction of the Reds in the later phases of the competition, but theyhave up till now pull together the trophy Roman Abramovich so dearly yearns.The West Londoners were a drawback kick away from being titled Champions ofEurope in 2008, only for John Terry to excellently blunder and twist his shot.At all times the Blues will be a main danger to other teams and surelycontenders would wish to evade.
In spite of a profusion of trustworthy clubsand players whom partake within this globally-watched event, there arecontinuously instances of smaller teams shocking the probabilities and thehierarchy, and succeeding at a domestic titles' expense.
At the latter phases, no conclusion isimpossible – as Shalke substantiated only last year – and this seasons'Champions League give the impression on paper at least, to expect theunexpected.
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It used to work perfect and i could stream everything. But lately i cant even start the program.
Ive installed the latest version and still nothing. It has something to do with Java but i have no idea what im doing when it comes to that.
Anyone that can help me?
This is the error i get:


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NEW ORLEANS -- As expected, Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis was asked Tuesday about an incident 13 years ago in which two men got stabbed to death in Atlanta and Lewis initially was charged with murder.
Ultimately, Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and received probation, as well as a $250,000 fine from the league for violating its conduct policy.
On Tuesday, Lewis said any question about the case isn't appropriate during the week in which his Ravens are preparing to play the 49ers.
"Nobody here is really qualified to ask those questions," Lewis said. "I just truly feel that this is God's time, and whatever his time is, let it be his will. Don't try to please everybody with your words, try to make everybody's story sound right.
"At this time, I would rather direct my questions in other places. Because I live with that every day. (Others) maybe can take a break from it. I don't. I live with it every day of my life and I would rather not talk about it today."
Kaepernick stormed into the nation's consciousness on the strength of 181 yards rushing against the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 12. Eight days later, Kaepernick called his number once in the 49ers victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game.
Therefore, the Ravens approach the Super Bowl on Sunday unsure what to expect, cornerback Corey Graham said.
"Their coaches game plan well," Graham said Tuesday. "You got to prepare for both things because you never know what you're going to get.
"But it doesn't really change much for our defense. We know that they're going to do either a traditional offense or a read-option defense. We got to prepare for both of them."
Taken a step further, will Kaepernick keep the ball more times than not whenever the 49ers function out of the read-option?
Kaepernick ran the ball 13 times out of the read-option against the Packers. Against the Falcons, he relied almost exclusively on running backs Frank Gore and LaMichael James, who combined for 124 yards (4.8-yard average) and three touchdowns.
Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said it's incumbent upon the Ravens to keep close tabs on Kaepernick at all times.
"We've definitely got to do a good job of trying to contain him," Ngata said. "We need to get pressure on him. It's going to be a great task for our defense but we're definitely up for it.
"He can hurt you in so many ways passing and running the ball. When we rush him on passing downs, we can't just rush up the field because then he can find a lane and run. With him, you've just got to be careful with a lot of the things that you do."
The Ravens faced the read-option once this season, in a Week 14 game against the Washington Redskins.
The Redskins averaged 6.2 yards on their 15 runs out of the read-option, with quarterback Robert Griffin III netting 34 of the 93 yards on seven carries.
"We know some of the things that they'll try to do against us to counteract what we're doing," Graham said. "We went against RGIII, who arguably is very similar to (Kaepernick).
"It helps a whole lot. We watched that film, we see what they try to do against us and we're trying to determine what San Francisco will try to do against us. It definitely helps us a whole lot.
The Ravens also enlisted the help of practice-squad quarterback Dennis Dixon as the stand-in for Kaepernick during practice.
"He basically ran this offense in Oregon," Graham said. "Before he got hurt, he was a Heisman candidate. He does a great job with it. ... He has done an amazing job for us all week, he'll continue to do that, and we're blessed to have him."
On Dec. 5, 2011, Johnson's sister Jennifer was shot and killed, allegedly by her boyfriend, Eugene Esters, who also shot Johnson's mother, Della.
Johnson took in his 14-year-old niece, while his nephew is living with his mother, now fully recovered physically.
The nightmare will be revisited later this month when Esters goes on trial in Texas.
"It's going to bring all the emotions right back up," Johnson said. "We'll try to deal with that after the Super Bowl. Hopefully on Sunday, we'll be able to hold up that trophy."
Johnson questioned general manager Reggie McKenzie's decision to fire coach Hue Jackson soon after McKenzie was hired in 2012.
"Hue was the best coach I had when I was out there," Johnson said. "We went 8-8, we were a good, solid team. You could see the identity of the team. I didn't see an identity this year on offense or defense. Hue has the best interests for the team, and there were some guys in that locker room, key guys, that weren't leaders.
"On this team, Ray (Lewis) controls that locker room."
He worked on the same staff at the University of Cincinnati with John Harbaugh in 1996, and in 1999, with John's recommendation, worked under Jack Harbaugh at Western Kentucky.
At one point during Martindale's tenure with the Raiders from 2004-2008, then-Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh interviewed Martindale and offered him the job of defensive coordinator, but Martindale remained in Oakland at the behest of owner Al Davis, who offered him a hefty raise.
Martindale also is tight with the Ryan family, having worked with Rex at Cincinnati (on the same staff as John Harbaugh) and with Rob on the defensive staff in Oakland.
"All the Harbaughs are competitors, and that includes Mrs. Harbaugh (Joani) and (daughter) Jackie," Martindale said. "It's just a good, All-American family. Same with the Ryans."
As it turns out, both Tucker and 49ers kicker David Akers could have used a podium, but for very different reasons.
While Akers faced an onslaught of questions about his shaky season, Tucker was repeatedly asked for the secret to his successful rookie season.
The 23-year-old was 30 for 33 on field goal attempts during the regular season and kicked a game-winning 47-yard field goal against the Denver Broncos in the an AFC Divisional Playoff.
"I don't really think about pressure or consequences," Tucker said. "I think about the action of kicking. I think about just kicking it straight. You let it rip and see what happens."
Tucker's successful debut season gives the Ravens a decided advantage over the 49ers, who stuck Akers despite 13 regular-season misses and a failed attempt from 38 yards in the NFC Championship Game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Akers has far more big-game experience, but Tucker said he isn't worried about nerves. His Texas high school played in a stadium with a Jumbotron scoreboard, and Tucker's mental edge was further honed by four years at the University of Texas.
"This is something you dream about, hitting the walk-off homer in the World Series of the game-winning kick in the Super Bowl," Tucker said. "I get chills just thinking about it."
Staff writers Jerry McDonald and Alex Pavlovic contributed to this notebook.


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The Bayada Home Health Care office in Frisco looks like a typical office - there are desks, computers, printers, copy machines. One room, however, is a little different. Instead of a workstation, it holds a bed, complete with pillows, comforter and a stuffed animal. There's a nightstand with a lamp, a box of tissues and glasses, and a closet in the far corner.
This isn't a room for employees looking for a nap after lunch, it's a training center. Bayada, a national organization, is bringing home health care services to Summit and Eagle counties. Its Frisco office, opened in January, plans to offer nursing care and assisted care services to people within the mountain community.
"We want to try to help everybody in our little mountain area here," said Diane Ream, Bayada office director.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Bayada originated in 1976 and has since grown to include more than 250 offices in 25 states.
Bayada provides nurses (both RNs and LPNs) and nurse's aids to visit a client's home to offer care to adults.
"Maybe they have mobility issues, or they have memory care issues, or they're very elderly and just need a little bit of help, we do all that," Ream said.
Much of the care given by the nurse's aids is for "activities of daily living," such as bathing, dressing and meal preparation. They can also assist in transportation, bringing clients to and from appointments, both medical or errand-related, such as to a hairdresser.
Skilled level of care is available from the nurses, who might be called to sit up overnight with an elderly relative, perform procedures such as an IV infusion or simply provide end-of-life care.
"All of our services happen in the client's home, wherever their home might be," Ream said. "Even if they're here vacationing and are in a condo, or in a hotel, and they need us, we can go there."
While the focus of Bayada's Frisco office is primarily Summit and Eagle county residents, people on vacation can also benefit from home service care, Ream said. It could be anything from lending transportation for a wheelchair-bound relative to assisting with care of broken bones or illness in general.
Bayada did its research before coming to the mountains, performing a gap analysis to determine an ideal location as well as studying year-round population demographics to determine need. The need was found, Ream said.
"There is no other private-duty home care up here and there are no nursing homes or assisted living facilities," she explained. "So what do you do when you've moved up here to the beautiful mountains and you find yourself convalescing, or getting a little up there in years, and maybe you or a loved one needs some help? What do you do? We didn't want anybody to have to move all the way back to Denver. ... We wanted it to be something that people could have up here and since there was none, that's what we're here for, to provide that need."
While the Frisco office is meant to serve both Summit and Eagle counties, other clients within the mountains may also be able to receive service. It all depends on the location of Bayada's nurses, which may range from Breckenridge all the way to Steamboat. Already, Ream said, two clients have called from Kremmling and have been able to be served by a nearby Bayada nurse.
"If we have staff that can get there, we'll go there," she said.
More nurses mean reaching more clients, so the office is always looking for more. Ream hopes to gather up to at least 30 nurses and around 100 nurse aids to affiliate with the Frisco office. Many nurses who work in home health care also hold down jobs at hospitals and clinics, Ream explained, and split their time between the two.
"One good thing about home care, and this is what attracts a lot of providers to it, is rather than have a whole unit full of people that you have to care for, you get to care for only one patient," Ream said.
Because Bayada is "private duty" and often privately paid-for, clients are able to express their needs in very specific terms. This not only includes which duties are performed on which exact schedules, but can translate to preferences such as gender requests, a liking for certain types of pets and willingness to chat with a lonely client.
"We match our client level with our skill level and for personality too," Ream said.
Ream also mentioned that, when working out of Bayada's Greenwood Village office in Denver, she often receives calls from clients complimenting the nurses they spend so much time with. The individual attention is a "luxury" that home service nurses can afford, she said.
In addition to the personal connection, Ream said that simply the fact of being in their home, rather than a hospital or strange facility, puts clients at ease. It means they are often with family, away from other sick patients and able to sleep in if they feel like it, or choose a wider range of food for meals. Mark Baiada, the company's founder, often pushes the proponents of home care for better healing and lower levels of stress among patients.
"At home, you get what you want, appropriate to your health care needs," she said.
While the Bayada Frisco office does not accept Medicare or Medicaid, it does accept private-pay, long-term care insurance and most private insurances. Ream said that Bayada aims at reasonable prices that aren't overly expensive.
"We just want to provide home care at a reasonable cost," she said. "We don't want to make it too expensive."
For those who may not be sure what type of help they need, the office will send out a clinical manager, who is also a registered nurse, to assess the situation and determine exactly what type of service will best fulfill the client's needs. The office welcomes phone calls at (970) 668-6200 and walk-ins looking for more information. The Frisco office is located at 965 N. Ten Mile Dr., Unit A-7. Information can also be found on the organization's website at www.bayada.com.


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ram 1
1An uncastrated male sheep.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- Mr Watkinson, from Constable Burton, near Leyburn, won best male with his aged ram.
- So a bellwether is the head ram with a bell hung around its neck.
- Young rams fertilize ewes using coursing tactics, whose success is independent of their dominance rank.
1.1 (the Ram) The zodiacal sign or constellation Aries.
2A battering ram.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- Also, castle guards often poured hot oil or other things onto the ram and its engineers.
- Süleyman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century extended his reach from the Sudan and the northern shore of Africa to Baghdad and far into Europe, where - twice - Turkish rams would batter at the gates of Vienna.
- Tense minutes passed as the sound of rams battering against the main gate began to ring throughout the valley.
2.1 historical A beak or other projecting part of the bow of a warship, for piercing the sides of other ships.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- Its bronze ram could smash enemy ships and armed soldiers could leap aboard a foe's vessel in hand-to-hand combat with spears and swords.
- The galley's major weapon was originally a ram on the water-line, used to hole enemy ships or to smash their oars.
- The Virginia carried ten major guns (four in each broadside, one bow and one stern gun) and an iron ram.
3The falling weight of a piledriving machine.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- He says one man with a hoe ram on a Bobcat can break the same amount of concrete that two or three men could do with a jackhammer.
- The high-speed tine rams push into the turf and then pull out quickly, leaving little or no scuffing at the top of the hole.
4A hydraulic water-raising or lifting machine.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- Burnside Autocyl Ltd, Tullow is a European leader in the manufacture of hydraulic cylinders and rams.
4.1The piston of a hydrostatic press.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- Grasp the press body with your left hand, then lower the ram by pulling the lever with your right.
- The press consists of the die, a pressure cylinder, the ram, and a container which receives the preheated ingot, or billet, to be extruded.
- This idea was developed in 1820 by Thomas Burr, who produced a hydraulic press with a mandrel attached to the ram.
verbo (rams, ramming, rammed)[with object and adverbial of direction]
1Roughly force (something) into place: he rammed his stick into the ground
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- The raven shot down through the dark and rammed his beak into the sergeant's hat.
- She pulled her sword close, and rammed the blade's tip into the ground with great force.
- Swerving around, he then rammed them into the wall with all the force he could bear.
1.1 [with object] (Of a vehicle or vessel) be driven violently into (another vehicle or vessel) in an attempt to stop or damage it: their boat was rammed by a Japanese warship
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- In the course of the dispute, police harassment of the strikers resulted in a police car ramming a worker's vehicle at a Noumea intersection.
- The man stole two cars, smashed into two vehicles, attempted to ram Garda patrol cars, reversed back into a Garda motorcyclist and attempted to hijack another car before being captured.
- The van then rammed the car off the road and sped off.
1.2 [no object, with adverbial] Crash violently against something: the stolen car rammed into the front of the house
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- Taylor drove off and rammed head-on into a car driven by a pensioner before he managed to get away.
- Never stop to argue a fine point with another driver who has just rammed into your stationary car at a red light.
- In a matter of seconds my father had rammed into the car in front of us.
hit, strike, crash into, collide with, be in collision with, meet head-on, run into, slam (into), smash into, dash against, crack into/against, bump (into), bang (into), knock into, butt;
North American impact
1.3 [with object] (often as adjective rammed) Beat (earth) with a heavy implement to make it hard and firm: the walls are made of rammed earth
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- Avram lives in the next valley over from me in a rammed earth house on a hill above the Kenwood winery.
- The front is clad with split cedar wood shingles, and the rear is a long curving terracotta wall of rammed earth.
- The new structures consist of a steel frame and either compressed earth blocks or rammed earth and a tiled roof.
- Oraciones de ejemplo
- So the Sound Room did what other stores in this situation do - they installed some big concrete blocks to discourage would-be rammers.
- That would mean that instead of instantly exploding like a bomb, liquid fire would spew out of the fuel tank of the rammer.
Palabras que riman con ramam, Amsterdam, Assam, Bram, cam, cham, cheongsam, clam, cram, dam, damn, drachm, dram, exam, femme, flam, gam, glam, gram, ham, jam, jamb, lam, lamb, mam, mesdames, Omar Khayyám, Pam, pram, pro-am, Sam, scam, scram, sham, Siam, slam, Spam, swam, tam, tram, Vietnam, wham, yam
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Definición de ram en:
For editors and proofreaders
Saltos de línea: RAM
Definición de ram en:
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I recently got a chance to view some pretty cool records. Claire Prechtel-Kluskens gave a lecture on Agriculture Extension Service Reports last year at the NARA Fair. I had never heard of these records before, but after her lecture, I knew I needed to look at them.
Starting around the turn of the century, the Dept. of Agriculture decided to provide a service to "extend" the latest agricultural techniques and processes to farmers. Each state had a state agent and every county (over time) had their own Extension Service Agent. For women of the county, they provided Home Demonstration Agents. They worked with women on everything from canning to interior design. Negro agents were appointed for some counties to do "Negro Work"; they provided the same services to black farmers, just (of course) with less money and fewer resources.
I have always been fascinated with land ownership and farming for our ancestors. Many of our ancestors lived in rural places, which can cause a dearth in information vs. those living in large cities. When combined with information from the agricultural census and local land records, the extension service records can offer us a closer peek into those rural lives.
The Extension Service Agents helped farmers set up cooperatives and demonstration farms to show the effects of certain fertilizers and farming practices. They distributed information on various crops and seeds, and practices to promote healthy farm animals. The records are grouped into "Annual Reports" and are organized with the Annual Report for the State first, followed by the counties in alphabetical order. What is available for each state varies, but the years covered for each can be found here. NGS Magazine published an article on these records by Mrs. Prechtel-Kluskens and in 1996, Prologue Magazine published another article about these records for Arkansas. Both are excellent.
In addition to providing very detailed records of farming practices, many of the agents sent in pictures from county fairs, pictures of farms and crops and animals and living rooms, and every now and then, an individual picture with a name attached. They started Corn Clubs and Canning Clubs. Some sent in what looked like scrapbooks they were keeping of their activities as well as newspaper clippings. There are numerous references by the agents to individuals in the county. Here are some examples of interesting items I found:
From the 1911 TN State Report
" The cotton boll weevil has not made its appearance in Tennessee. The army worm and boll worm did damage. Army worms appeared in late August and stopped whole fields of cotton…we fought to get [farmers to] properly space the cotton and corn. We have induced several farms to do special seed selection."
The Home Demonstration Agent for Anderson Cty, TN , felt compelled to send a 10-page handwritten letter by Ruth Foster, the state's outstanding Canning Club member for that year. I'm going to try my best to find any of her descendants:
In 1915, Hardin County, TN, the agent made the following comments about crops during his report:
"Tobacco is not grown in this county. ..The decline in crimson clover acreage was due to high priced seed, and the tangling of crops by wind storm, which prevented seeding…Soybeans are an entirely new crop to this county… Potatoes are only grown for home consumption. Due to blight, orchard trees did practically no good during the past year… There is no dairy interest or farmers in this county. ..The county was practically free from ticks when demonstration work began…."
Regarding hogs:
"Personally, I have vaccinated no hogs for cholera, but influenced farmers to take up the practice and to consult their local veterinarian…One instance I especially recall was…from Dr. O. Whitlow, of Savannah. He is a cooperator, and he reported that he had 40 or 50 hogs and that he had lost two from cholera. I insisted that he wire at once for serum, which he did, [he] administered the treatment, and only lost 5 hogs."
Images Submitted:
It goes without saying that this is good information to include when writing up your family history. It also occurred to me it could explain the timing of why some of our ancestors migrated North when they did.


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SANTA CLARA -- Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Munchak knows a top-notch offensive line when he sees one. Come Sunday in Nashville, Munchak's Tennessee Titans will encounter the 49ers' resurgent unit.
"Anyone that's played the position, especially myself as an offensive lineman, loves to watch that type of football," said Munchak, the Titans' third-year coach who played guard for 12 years with the Houston Oilers.
The 49ers offensive line played hurt last Sunday but finished strong -- and together -- in a third straight win.
Never was their unity on more display than during an 18-play touchdown drive that sealed the 32-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Left guard Mike Iupati left during the drive because of a nerve issue in his right arm but returned in time to help block on Kendall Hunter's 6-yard touchdown run. Why was Iupati compelled to get back to the action? "You always want to go there with your guys," Iupati said. "You always want to help out."
A bigger factor in opening up Hunter's path to the goal line was right tackle Anthony Davis, who might have played his best game ever, at least in the eyes of offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
"We take pride in breaking wills, and you can feel it in (opponents') grips. They get a little less tight," Davis said.
After some suspect blocking in the 49ers' 1-2 start to the season, the offensive line is showing the reliable cohesion that existed last season, when the same five linemen started every game.
Making Sunday's effort more impressive was that each lineman played hurt.
Iupati had his stinger and a lingering shoulder issue. Davis and right guard Alex Boone coped with shoulder injuries. Center Jonathan Goodwin had battled a stomach virus since Thursday. Left tackle Joe Staley might have been the healthiest, and he's the one who nearly broke an ankle two games earlier at St. Louis.
"The guys had nicks and bruises and whatnot and ultimately took over the game, and that's a real credit to them against a fine defensive front," Roman said.
Boone missed his first practice of the season Wednesday because of his shoulder ailment. If Boone can't play Sunday, Adam Snyder will be summoned off the sideline, as was the case last game during Iupati's brief exit.
"You're always battling through something midseason. We went at it together," Davis said of Sunday's win.
Quality blocking has lifted the 49ers offense out of a rut while helping it rediscover its power-running roots.
"They're doing it at a good level," Munchak said. "The first couple games they were throwing it more. The last three they've won, they got back to what they're good at."
The 49ers rushed for 219, 177 and 149 yards in their three wins over the St. Louis Rams (35-11), Houston Texans (34-3) and Cardinals. Frank Gore averaged 111.7 rushing yards in those wins after totaling just 142 rushing yards in the first three games combined.
The line's preference is run blocking and imposing its will, as Davis said. Such productivity has taken some pressure off quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who believes the line's improved play is a byproduct of its members' collective work ethic.
"My appreciation for them isn't just what they do on game day," Kaepernick said. "They work their butt off."
Added Roman: "Across the board, those guys took it to a new level, and everyone was just feeding off it. It led to a win, and that was the most important thing."
For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman's Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers.
49ers (4-2) at Tennessee (3-3), 1:05 p.m. FOX
D-line battling injuries. PAGE 4


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OAKLAND -- An Ethiopian-born, Italian-educated East Bay restaurant owner told the graduating class of Holy Names University that the U.S. remains a magnet for those who thirst for opportunity.
"In America, with your education and hard work, it doesn't matter who you are or where you came from," said Menbere Aklilu, owner of Salute e Vita Ristorante in Richmond. "It only matters where you're going."
Aklilu, the keynote speaker at the college's 87th commencement, told her story of poverty, tragedy, immigration and irrepressible hope to about 1,000 people Saturday. Born in Ethiopia, Aklilu witnessed the murder of her mother before she was a teenager. She said the memory of that event lingers, but stronger is the memory of her mother.
"She's always with me," Aklilu said.
Aklilu said she later emigrated to Italy and gave birth to a son in a women's shelter in Rome because she had to escape an abusive relationship with the child's father.
Aklilu came to the United States and got a job as a hostess at Salute e Vita in 1995, climbing the ranks and ultimately buying the Marina Bay restaurant in 2002.
"Some people said no, don't go to America, don't take the risks," Aklilu said. "I said I must go. I must take the risk."
Aklilu told the grads: "Life is now, life is this moment."
"You have to say, thank you for the past, tell the past, I got the lesson, thank you," Aklilu said. "And then tell the future, I am ready."
Aklilu's speech touched on perseverance, positive thoughts, the value of education and the importance of moral righteousness. She told the graduates she has adhered to three basic principles in life: to strive to do right by others, to give back and to never settle for less or compromise goals.
"There is a huge door, and you have to push that door to achieve," she said. "And what you get, you get from the world, so you have to give back to the world as well."
Each Thanksgiving, Aklilu's restaurant serves elegant meals to hundreds of homeless families. Speaking almost no English, she began working at the restaurant as a hostess for $7 an hour. She said she scrubbed floors and did other jobs at the restaurant because she felt embarrassed to be making so much money for just greeting guests.
"When you do a good job, when you do excellence, there is always someone who remembers it," she said. Aklilu said members of her family, including her son, Christian, have thrived in the U.S. through education and hard work.
Aklilu was among the winners of the 2009 Contra Costa Woman-Owned Business of the Year Award.
"Menbere's personal story is one of successive conquering of tragedy, deprivation and loss -- by faith, industry and courage," Holy Names President William J. Hynes said in a prepared statement. "Her story is quite amazing."
The university also granted Aklilu an honorary degree -- doctor of humane letters -- presented by state Supreme Court Justice Carol Corrigan.
Aklilu gave all the graduates a gift certificate for dinner at her restaurant. She told them she would be waiting for their call for a reservation.
"I will open the door for you," she said. "You will have the best seat in my house."
Holy Names was established in 1868 on the banks of Lake Merritt, near downtown Oakland. The university moved to its present campus in the Oakland hills in 1957 and offers 20 bachelor's degrees, five degree-completion programs for adults, seven master's degrees and various certificates and credentials.
Contact Robert Rogers at 510-262-2726 and follow him at Twitter.com/roberthrogers.


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The strategic management of spend requires a considered assessment of the vendors, categories and procurement initiatives that will deliver the highest business value. But to make the right business decisions you need the right business intelligence.
Manage Spend Strategically >>
Better leverage of spend you have in common with others in a buying group or consortium is a potentially significant source of savings. But without a consistent, reliable and standardized view of spend by category across the group it's challenging to accomplish.
Procure Cooperatively >>
Transformation of the way an organization procures goods and services can only be accomplished with the engagement of budget holders and buyers across the organization. The right intelligence, appropriately presented can help.
Change Buying Behavior >>
Delivering procurement savings requires a systematic, proactive and ongoing program of savings opportunity identification that is firmly rooted in fact. But delivery is only part of the story. Evidencing your success in terms the business folk understand is important too.


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Connecticut insurers to rebate $5.6 million to customers under Obamacare rule
More than 47,000 Connecticut residents will get rebates from their health insurance companies this summer because the federal health reform law deems the premiums they paid too high.
The rebates will average $168 per family and will go to people who get their insurance through the state's individual and small-group markets. Overall, Connecticut insurers will pay $5.6 million in rebates.
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