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Ofcom Reports - No breakup of BT, but Support for the Altnets
INCA to Join Forces with Broadband World Forum
INCA Wireless SIG
BDUK State Aid
European Investment Bank Wants to Hear from You
CBS-INCA Consortium Matching Service
INCA wholeheartedly agrees with Sharon White's statement today that "People across the UK today need affordable, reliable phone and broadband services." INCA's members provide the the best, most reliable and fastest affordable broadband in the UK. World class digital infrastructure is central to the future of the UK economy, but the current regulatory framework is struggling to deliver it.
INCA, along with many other stakeholders, has argued that Ofcom's once in a decade review offers the chance to take the bold moves required to overhaul a framework that is ripe for revision and already delivering poor competition and quality of service.
Our strong recommendation to Ofcom was that the first step in updating the framework should be a referral to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA). While it is disappointing that this CMA reference has not taken place, we welcome the fact that Ofcom has clearly accepted that significant change is needed, particularly in regard to BT and Openreach, the part of the business responsible for the underlying flxed line telecoms network.
However INCA members will welcome steps to open up the Openreach infrastructure to competitive providers.
CityFibre have announced that Bristol will become the UK's next Gigabit City as the company starts to commercialise the KCOM network it has acquired.
CityFibre continues to expand it's Gigabit city footprint, accelerated by the £90m acquisition of the KCOM national network. In Bristol CityFibre will partner with Triangle Networks to promote new ultrafast services, initially to the business sector - a similar strategy to that pursued in Aberdeen and Peterborough.
CityFibre's network now extends to 36 cities. The formal launch of the Bristol Gigabit City will be in February 2016.
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Rural FTTH provider Gigaclear has announced a €25m loan from the European Investment Bank to help treble the size of it's rural footprint. Gigaclear plans to reach an additional 40,000 premises during 2016 with its pure fibre network.
Matthew Hare, CEO of Gigaclear said: "This level of support is a ringing endorsement of Gigaclear as a business. EIB clearly has faith in our model and vision. It can see our own commitment to invest and how effectively we are already providing next generation infrastructure for the UK's rural economy and communities. We're transforming lives and businesses, giving people access to the fastest internet speeds to be found anywhere in the world and technologically future-proofing these rural communities for years to come."
The EIB funding follows Gigaclear's success in winning several local BDUK contracts. It is the largest amount the EIB has awarded to any UK business under the InnovFin initiative aimed at smaller businesses.
INCA has submitted its response to Ofcom's Digital Communications Review discussion document.
In welcoming the review, INCA makes clear that much has changed in the UK market in the ten years since Ofcom's last major review, and that the rapid rise of the independent sector of service providers provides an opportunity to rethink the regulatory environment in order to create a much more pro-competitive environment.
The full response is available here.
Congratulations to Gigaclear - the rural FTTP provider has now reached 10,000 homes and businesses in 36 villages. Take up is excellent too, reaching 40%.
Chief Executive of Gigaclear, Matthew Hare commented "We have made fantastic progress this year already delivering ultrafast broadband to more than twice the number of properties than we did last year. The additional networks currently in construction and our significant pipeline of new networks clearly demonstrates the huge level of demand in rural areas for the unique service Gigaclear provides. The FTTP technology we deploy is more scalable than any other broadband infrastructure, future proofing these areas of the UK."
Gigaclear provides ultrafast broadband networks in rural communities. The pure fibre network, built in parallel to the existing copper network, delivers speeds up to 40 times faster than the UK average today. As a result, homes in the deepest countryside benefit from broadband that's faster than towns and cities, meaning residents and businesses can thrive whilst enjoying the rural lifestyle, with less commuting and travel but with far better communications capabilities.
INCA has joined with our members Sky, and Vodafone to call for Ofcom to refer the communications market to the Competition and Markets Authority for a full investigation. This letter was published in the Financial Times today.
SIR– Every home and business in Britain deserves fast and reliable broadband access. It is essential if Britain is to fulfill its potential to be the world's leading digital economy. Unfortunately, today's broadband market is letting customers, businesses and Britain down. It is time we considered radical reform.
CP15 is a key event for Business Comms Providers to discuss and reflect on changes in the market place that will have an impact on their business.
Our friends at the FCS are hosting a forthcoming event that allows you to hear a range of experts speaking about:
Congratulations to Barry Forde and Chris Conder of B4RN who have been awarded MBE's in the Queens Birthday Honours list for services to rural broadband.
Barry is the chief executive of B4RN and Chris one of the leading campaigners. Both have been involved in rural broadband issues for many years. B4RN is well known as a rural project that demonstrates what a can-do spirit in the local community can achieve. 1000 homes and businesses are now connected to its pure fibre network accessing world-class gigabit connectivity. They have achieved this with funding raised from the local community and no resort to taxpayer's cash.
Chris commented: "We're really chuffed that B4RN is honoured with the MBEs, it is a great reflection on the project and the tremendous support of the community. I just hope it makes some of the politicians more aware of the superfarce that digital britain has turned into, and that they start supporting the altnets than can deliver in areas where the telcos fear to tread."
It is great to see such endeavour recognised and honoured in this way. INCA members are delighted.
Fibre GarDen in Cumbria is making news with their fibre broadband deployment plans.
Fibre GarDen is a community co-operative planning a 100mbps fibre network in Garsdale and Dentdale, a beautiful and deeply rural part of Cumbria. ITS Technology won the £650,000 project and started laying fibre in mid-April. In total 580 local premises will benefit from the new FTTH service.
INCA's response to the announcement by Ofcom that it will conduct a Strategic Review of Digital Communications.
Ofcom's announcement of a Strategic Review of Digital Communications is a welcome step. All of us are stakeholders in the UK's digital networks and we need to ensure that the industry structure is capable of generating the investment needed to guarantee the UK's future needs.
Virgin Media's announcement of a £3bn investment in extending its network to cover an additional 4m homes is welcome news both for the communities that will benefit and more generally for those advocating investment in competitive digital infrastructure.
Virgin Media's Project Lightning will focus on in-filling areas that are part of its existing network rather than extending out to more rural areas. Tom Mockridge, Virgin's Chief Executive commented on the BBC Today programme "Everything can't happen at once so we are really focusing on the areas where we can bring ultra fast broadband as quickly as possible and as effectively as possible."
In the Autumn Statement the Chancellor George Osborn has announced an extra £40m for the connection voucher scheme encouraging SMEs to take up superfast broadband services. The scheme itself will be extended to 2016 and will include more cities.
Having committed £1.5bn to the Rural Broadband programme, plus the urban connection vouchers scheme, it is perhaps not surprising that further public investment in broadband does not feature significantly in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement. However, extending the connection vouchers scheme both in scope and timescale makes sense, if coupled with efforts to improve fibre connectivity in business parks and enterprise zones.
References to broadband in the Autumn Statement:
BDUK has appointed Oxera to conduct an independent evaluation of the State aid aspects of its National Broadband Scheme (NBS). Details here.
The evaluation will be used to verify whether the NBS has been to date implemented in full compliance with the Decision and the Broadband Guidelines; and to understand whether its National Broadband Scheme has met its primary objectives and assess the impact of the scheme on markets and competition, in line with the State aid Evaluation Methodology.
Rural fibre provider Gigaclear has posted a great series of videos on Youtube from local people explaining how the new fibre networks have transformed their online experience.
One video in particular grabbed our attention. It is by Paul Wightman who runs a video production company, Indigo Dingo from his home in Farmoor near Oxford.
CityFibre has announced that Aberdeen will become Scotland's first Gigabit City with a pure fibre infrastructure offering the world class connectivity the city deserves. Aberdeen joins a rapidly growing portfolio of cities scheduled to receive CityFibre investment in FTTP. CityFibre has signed a deal with Scotland-based ICT service provider Internet For Business, to deploy a gigabit-capable dark fibre network throughout Aberdeen, as the first step in the company's plan.
On 25th and 26th September Aberdeen will host Transform Digital: Aberdeen a major conference organised by industry association INCA and Accelerate Aberdeen, supported by CityFibre. Delegates will have an opportunity to find out what the Gigabit City opportunity means for local businesses and the wider economy.
The conference has a decidedly business focus, with further important announcements anticipated. These will demonstrate Aberdeen's status as a world class city, developing world class digital infrastructure and services. We will also explore how rural areas are being included in the next phase of the digital revolution and how small businesses can benefit from new services and funding to help get connected.
Gigaclear launched its latest network in Northmoor, West Oxfordshire yesterday with a little help from the PM. David Cameron and Gigaclear's Matthew Hare held a skype video conference call with INCA's Malcolm Corbett and Hyperoptic's Dana Tobak to declare the nework open.
The Northmoor project is one of the few genuine community-led RCBF projects that finally got the go ahead. Gigaclear already has networks live in nearby villages making the project cost-effective with a 43% subsidy.
David Cameron, the local MP, switched on a network that will see broadband speeds jump from around 1mbps to 1000 mbps as the FTTH network is built out. Finally the local community will get genuinely future-proofed, value for money digital infrastructure. In the Skype call the PM asked about other local initiatives and Malcolm Corbett explained that there are many independent fibre and wireless providers around the country that are delivering fantastic services in both urban and rural areas, often with little or no public subsidy.
Mr Cameron seemed impressed.
Several INCA members are amongst the winners of BDUK's Innovation Fund programme seeking superfast broadband solutions for the hardest to reach areas.
Details of the winning bids can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Wireless and satellite projects feature heavily along with a bid to create a model using funding from local communities and another project that aims to develop an ISP aggregator for wireless ISPs.
INCA was glad to offer a supporting statement for the announcment. Malcolm Corbett, INCA's CEO said, "This is a very useful initiative and we are keen to help local authorities and INCA members learn from the trials. There is a huge amount of experience, professionalism and entrepreneurial enthusiasm in the independent sector that can play a big role in creating Britain's future digital infrastructure."
INCA will help promote the different schemes so that local authorities can use the learning from this process and from other projects to create a more competitive environment for the £500m of government and local funding to extend superfast services - Phase 2 of the main BDUK programme.
Sky & Vodafone Confirmed as Speakers at Transform Digital Conference
INCA is delighted to announce that Grant Forsyth of BSkyB and Matthew Braovac of Vodafone have confirmed they will speak at the Transform Digital Conference on 8th May. As major organisations in the telecoms/Internet space they play a key role in the debate about a new competitive approach to delivering superfast broadband across the UK.
They will be joined by leaders from the independent networks sector including Dana Tobak of Hyperoptic, Matthew Hare of Gigaclear, David Cullen of ITS Technology Group
Click here for the INCA Superfast Broadband Notspot Registration Scheme
INCA Welcomes Broadband Funding & Launches Superfast Notspot Registration Scheme
The Independent Networks Co-operative Association has launched a registration scheme for people who want to access better broadband but can't get it.
Announced today on the BBC Radio 4 You and Yours programme, the scheme encourages individuals, businesses and communities register their notspot information at www.inca.coop.
The information collected will be made available to alternative providers looking for opportunities to serve areas that are left out of BT's superfast broaband roll out plans.
Earlier this week the government announced good news with the distribution of an additional £250m central funding amongst local authorities. Councils are expected to find matching funds making a pot of £500m to extend superfast broadband coverage. Alternative providers delivering fibre, wireless or satellite broadband are well placed to fill in many of the gaps, often more cost-effectively than BT.
INCA provides a Superfast Broadband Notspot Registration service for end users. Broadband consumers can now register their notspot or slowspot here.
INCA CEO Malcolm Corbett is also scheduled to appear on Radio 4's You and Yours programme on Friday 24th Jan to discuss the current state of broadband in the UK. You can listen to the programme online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qps9
INCA members have welcomed this announcement from Fibre Garden in Cumbria and ITS Technology. It is a great example of collaboration between the local community and a private sector supplier to deliver truly next generation connectivity in a deeply rural area.
Fibre GarDen Community Broadband Initiative announces ITS Technology Group as their Partner Supplier
Following an intensive procurement process Fibre GarDen and ITS Technology Group (ITS) are delighted to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deliver the well-publicised Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) project in one of the most rural parts of the UK. Both parties have formed a strong and exciting partnership which plans to build, deliver and manage this pioneering community Rural Broadband scheme.
Digital Dales (UK) Limited, trading as Fibre GarDen, is a community cooperative which has been working for the past three years towards securing the provision of superfast broadband by delivering FTTP to every property throughout Garsdale and Dentdale in Cumbria.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee has slated the Government's rural broadband programme following the National Audit Office report and evidence session in July.
Committee Chair Margaret Hodge MP said, "The programme to extend superfast broadband to rural areas has been mismanaged by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The sole provider BT has been placed in a quasi-monopolistic position which it is exploiting by restricting access to cost and roll-out information. The consumer is failing to get the benefits of healthy competition and BT will end up owning assets created from £1.2 billion of public money."
INCA supports the efforts of Secretary of State Maria Miller MP to improve the situation, inject more competition, thus ensuring that government and local authorities get real value for money in the programme. The Public Accounts Committee expressed real concern about the lack of competition in the programme, BT's lack of transparency over costs, it's deployment plans, the overall level of state aid, the reduction in BT's financial contribution and delays to the programme.
INCA's members are calling for
News from INCA: Rural Broadband and the Public Accounts Committee; INCA's policy position: Autumn Seminars, and more...
News from INCA Rural Broadband
INCA members welcome the announcement by HM Treasury of an additional £250m of public expenditure in broadband infrastructure, to be matched locally.
On 10th July at the Frontline Club in London INCA will hold its AGM, followed by an afternoon seminar discussing a variety of project developments, and an evening dinner. This promises to be a 'must attend' event for those involved in broadband projects.
Speakers at the INCA Dinner and Seminar include:
Outline of the Day
The AGM is open to INCA members only. The seminar and dinner events are open to all INCA members and supporters with an interest in next generation broadband.
A full agenda will be published shortly on the INCA website.
The theme running through the Seminar will be a demonstration of how independent operators, public sector organisations and local communities can to work together to achieve great results in delivering cost-effective, future-proofed next generation broadband.
The Valuation Office Agency is developing a rating regime for wireless networks which could land broadband networks with an extra bill for thousands of pounds a year. Where wireless networks are operating in marginal areas, these additional costs could seriously damage their viability. The VOA currently consulting on the best way to organise the charges and INCA's Wireless Special Interest Group is co-ordinating a response from members.
INCA is organising a Wireless SIG meeting on 14th June, 10:00 to 16:00 in Lancaster, open to all wireless ISPs who may be affected. The meeting will be chaired by Daniel Heery, director of the Alston Cybermoor project and INCA board member.
The Project Director for the Urban Broadband Fund is confirmed as a keynote speaker at INCA's April 30 Ultra-Connected Smart Cities Seminar.
There are still a few places left for our latest seminar . Read more about the seminar programme and register for this event. INCA Seminbars have earned a reputation for high quality discussion between expert panel and informed audience, and this will be no exception.
DCMS has undertaken a consultation with potential suppliers to Urban Broadband Fund projects. The consultation focused on the principles, models and options being considered within the fund. Download INCA's response here.
The programme started with big ambitions, with expectations that funding would be aimed at kickstarting FTTH and high speed wireless connections in gigabit 'digital districts' and support economic and digital inclusion objectives. INCA members have expressed concern that these big ambitions are being gradually whittled down to a process of FTTC in‐fill, wireless concessions and end user vouchers that at best will help get BT's 'fibre on demand' service off the ground. Whilst good for the incumbents' current businesses, this will not create the sort of ground-breaking projects we are seeing in urban centres in Europe, North America and Asia.
Greetings from the Independent Networks Co-operative Association. In this newsletter we bring you exciting news about
INCA and Manchester Digital are running a joint workshop: Mutual & Co-operative Models in the Digital Economy, 1st November at Manchester Digital Development Agency.
Speakers include Jon Souter, LINX, Kees Rovers founder of the Onsnet FIbre to the Home Co-operative in the Netherlands, Barry Ford from the B4RN FTTH co-op in the UK, Dave Boyle author of the Good News report and Tad Deriso, CEO of the Mid Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation. For more information and to register see http://www.inca.coop/events/mutual-co-operative-models-digital-economy
The INCA State Aid seminar 'Negotiating the Maze' held at the end of July reached more than 32,000 accounts according to a Tweetreach report.
Feedback from those physically present at the Frontline Club in London was very positive. Presentations from event are now available along with the liveblog.
Presentations include those by:
Thanks to all the speakers, to Brian Condon for live-blogging, to Lorne Mitchell for help with organisation and to DLA Piper for providing sponsorship for the event.
INCA members have developed thinking on future policy for digital infrastructure. Lorne Mitchell gave evidence to the House of Lords committee, putting forward a summary of the 'INCA Papers' (details of our full submission).
The House of Lords Committee has now issued its hard hitting report. This is INCA's response.
INCA members have welcomed the House of Lords report 'Broadband for All - An Alternative Vision' as a very useful contribution to the debate about how we get the best next generation broadband infrastructure available to as many of our citizens and communities, as quickly as possible. Two areas highlighted in the Lords Report are particularly significant: open access and community hubs.
The Lords Report proposes that state funding should only go to operators that are prepared to provide open access down to the passive layer - i.e. dark fibre. This is strongly supported by INCA members, many of whom are keen to contribute towards building this new national infrastructure, but only on terms that don't disadvantage them in competition with BT. The European Commission shares this perspective as demonstrated in the new European state aid guidelines published in June 2012 (See INCA's commentary).
A new report from rural development specialists Plunkett Foundation and Carnegie UK Trust warns that more must be done to inspire and empower community-led broadband initiatives.
The issue of high speed broadband for rural communities is about more than just technology; communities themselves will need to play a crucial role in bridging the gap between government and market plans and lack of provision, but the debate so far has failed to empower communities.
This is the message from Plunkett Foundation and the Carnegie UK Trust - who have worked together for over 90 years on a range of rural issues across the UK and Ireland - in a jointly-produced new paper on the issues of rural broadband provision that calls for more support for communities setting up their own broadband services.
Current government plans to address the issue of broadband provision for the UK's population could leave around 10% of rural communities struggling to get access to high speed broadband -rendering many of these communities unable to play a full part in 21st century life. This will force communities to take on the challenge themselves - something they currently feel unable to do.
As the BDUK process moves slowly forward, the non-incumbent operators are coming together to offer their help and support to the process.
INCA asked two of our experts - Louise Lancaster and David Cullen - to consider the new draft 'EU Guidelines for the application of state aid rules in relation to the rapid deployment of broadband networks'.
INCA comment on Cumbria's decision not to award broadband funding.
INCA members are very supportive of the Government's ambitions for next generation broadband but have long been concerned about the process. Cumbria's decision to reject both BT and Fujitsu Telecom's bids is a symptom of serious underlying problems with the government's procurement process. There are currently only two participants remaining; other potential bidders concluded relatively early on that the process is too heavily weighted in favour of the incumbent to make it contestable. What the UK needs is a more competitive process to encourage investment and innovation. Alternatively we need to find a different way of funding next generation infrastructure and that almost certainly leads down the route of full structural separation of BT.
In this INCA Newsletter:
On 16th May Manchester Town Hall hosted the launch of INCA's 'Ultra-Connected Smart Cities' special interest group. More than seventy representatives from cities, the private sector and community projects participated in a high-powered event designed to push forward the agenda for urban ultra-fast projects.
Transformational Digital Infrastructure
INCA launches Special Interest Group for 'Ultra-Connected Smart Cities'.
The second round for Expressions of Interest under the Rural Community Broadband Fund has opened today - 10 May.
New applications are invited together with any reworked applications which were deferred from the first round where fundamental issues need to be addressed.
The £20m Fund is jointly funded by Defra and BDUK, and complements BDUK's mainstream broadband rollout programme. The Fund enables the funding of superfast broadband projects in the most hard to reach areas in England, bringing superfast broadband to a greater number of communities than would otherwise be reached. This will ensure that a greater proportion of businesses and consumers in those communities can take advantage of the benefits of superfast broadband. More information about the fund and details about how to apply can be found on Defra's Rural Development Programme for England Network webpage
INCA has made a submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications looking into broadband policy.
INCA's response consisted of three elements:
Information on the select committee call for evidence.
Catch up with the latest news and information from INCA about membership, the INCA Marketplace and Quality Marque projects, and our new Smart Cities interest group.
Download the Spring 2012 edition of our newsletter (PDF).
In this newsletter we cover the 2nd edition of the Beyond Broadband guide, the new INCA Marketplace for suppliers and consultants the Quality Marque project for local schemes, Events including INCA's Industry Day in February, a 'Dutch Light' study tour in March and the Next Gen Roadshows. We also discuss national broadband plans and local schemes including B4RN, Cybermoor and Goudhurst.
RCBF launches with £20 million designed to enable more rural communities to access faster broadband services.
Defra has today launched the Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF), with confirmed funding of £20m. The RCBF is jointly funded by Defra and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), and complements BDUK's mainstream broadband rollout programme.
The Fund enables the funding of superfast broadband projects in the most hard to reach areas in England, bringing superfast broadband to a greater number of communities than would otherwise be reached. This will ensure that a greater proportion of businesses and consumers in those communities can take advantage of the benefits of superfast broadband.
The Fund is being delivered as part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). More information about the fund and details on how to apply can be found on Defra's RDPE Network webpage http://rdpenetwork.defra.gov.uk/funding-sources/rural-community-broadban...
(Photo © Copyright Ron Hann and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)
Whilst not unexpected Geo UK Ltd's announcement on 16 November that it is withdrawing from the BDUK Framework and future NGA procurements marks a sad day.
Is BDUK on the Right Track?
INCA Statement on Geo's withdrawal from the BDUK Process
Whilst not unexpected Geo UK Ltd's announcement on 16 November that it is withdrawing from the BDUK Framework and future NGA procurements marks a sad day. Even more so since Cable & Wireless Worldwide has apparently pulled out of the Cumbria procurement and there are rumours that BDUK's shortlist may be getting shorter by the day.
Geo is a well-organised and effectively-led company that is actually delivering fibre networks in both urban and rural settings. In fact they are just the sort of company that government should be encouraging in the context of next generation networks. However Geo can't make its model work under BDUK's current approach.
Whilst the government agency BDUK is in the process of deploying £530m to support broadband services in the 'final third' another part of government, the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC), is planning to spend around £11.3bn on a smart metering system for all homes and businesses, of which £1.5bn will be spent on the communications element.
At the Parliament and the Internet conference on 13th October the Information Society Alliance (EURIM) ran a workshop to discuss joining up the broadband and smart metering/smart grid energy agendas. It was a timely and useful debate. Whilst the government agency BDUK is in the process of deploying £530m to support broadband services in the 'final third' another part of government, the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC), is planning to spend around £11.3bn on a smart metering system for all homes and businesses, of which £1.5bn will be spent on the communications element. So far it seems that government has been unable to join up these two agendas.Even at the level of sharing existing infrastructure (ducts, masts and poles) linking the broadband and energy agendas seems to be difficult in this country. Efforts by civil servants to bring the utility companies into this debate appear to have borne little fruit so far.
On 15th October the BBC reported the European Commission's plan to invest over €9bn in broadband infrastructure roll out. These plans were first mooted to INCA members at a seminar in July by representatives of the Commission. More details emerged at the European 'Open Days' event in Brussels on 12th October.
The heart of the proposal is €9.2bn of funding for broadband from a proposed 'Connecting Europe' facility of around €40bn covering transport, energy and digital networks for the period 2014-2020. The directorate in the Commission responsible for the digital agenda, DG Infosoc, will formally put forward its proposals on 19th October. They then go into the EU's decision-making process involving the Commission, Council of Ministers and European Parliament, before any funding becomes available.Ken Ducatel of DG Infosoc explained at the 12th October meeting in Brussels that the plan envisages committing €7bn for infrastructure investment and €2bn for support services platforms. The aim is to help member states reach the EU 2020 targets of 30mbps for 100% of the EU population and 100mbps for 50%. Informed commentators expect the UK's allocation to be around €1bn.The proposals envisage some grant funding for projects, but channeling the bulk of the funding into financial instruments designed to lever in substantially more private sector investment. DG Infosoc estimates size of the funding gap in Europe to be €270bn, so €9.2bn needs to do a lot of levering.
INCA today announce a quality cloud system at the Technology Strategy Board's Collaboration Nation event, designed to offer a checklist and scoring system for independent networks. Part-funded by the TSB, the Quality Marque provides a common set of standards to improve the quality of services offered and allows networks to attract more ISPs and potentially more customers.
Government and industry estimate that commercial roll-out of next generation access (NGA) will cover about two thirds of the population (Digital Britain Report, Britain's Superfast Broadband Future).
Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) has been set up to help local authorities fund the capital costs of schemes to cover the remaining third with an expectation that a variety of non-incumbent projects will cover between 10% and a third of the population, mainly in rural areas. BDUK will invest £530 Million.
Physically putting fibre in the ground is only one aspect, few communities will have the capacity to develop their own network management, provisioning and billing systems. The cost of providing dedicated local support person for each of these networks would be prohibitive.
At the moment, independent networks are springing up and developing their own solutions, however, given the complexity and scale of these networks, it would make it easier if they could work in partnerships. So, how can we manage to get the patchwork quilt of independent networks working more closely together and aggregate demand for services?
The Communications Management Association (CMA), part of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) are today warning the Government that business innovation in the UK is being seriously hampered by the lack of superfast broadband (SFB).
The warning follows the publication of results from the CMA's Internet Opportunity Survey 2011, supported by FSB and Point Topic Ltd, and sponsored by DCMS and Openreach, which shows that nearly 30% of respondents report that they cannot get current generation broadband – internet speeds up to 24Mbps - where they want it. Although this is an improving picture over the last 4 years, it shows that enterprises still do not have universal access – 10% of businesses have no access across any of their sites. Only 14% of businesses report having SFB – speeds above 24Mbps - available at all sites.
AFL has positioned itself as the leading supplier for rural FTTH projects by installing its latest rural project currently in the village of Hambleton in Rutland, UK for Gigaclear, a privately owned company dedicated to building and operating ultrafast broadband networks with fibre technology.
AFL is fast establishing a leading expertise in rural community FTTH projects, installing its latest rural project currently in the village of Hambleton in Rutland, UK for Gigaclear, a privately owned company dedicated to building and operating ultrafast broadband networks with fibre technology.AFL designed and planned the optical fibre infrastructure network and is also providing fibre connectivity services from recently-acquired TCC Group to connect the infrastructure from the properties to a cabinet in the village. The network is an underground point-to-point solution using blown fibre technology and is designed to reach properties located in the village and outlying areas using the most cost-effective route.Over 60% of the Rutland village is subscribed to Gigaclears 1Gbps capable network, which is scalable for all future subscriber numbers throughout the community.
On September 12th Gigaclear started the ground-works in Hambleton village in Rutland. A fast-paced construction schedule is in place, with the first customers connecting in early October and the entire project complete by mid October.
Hambleton is the first community Gigaclear is working with as part of their targeted to build an extensive FTTH network across the country that clearly benefits residents and businesses.The Gigaclear network is financed from a group of private investors from Hambleton Village. The model sees a long-term loan secured against the network so that the investors reap a triple benefit: a financial return, a stronger sense of community, and an Ultrafast Internet experience.Every customer will see latest technology installed with fully-supported router capable of 1000 Mbps. Each router comprises:
- Gigabit fibre network interface
- 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports connecting home network devicesf
- Wireless BGN at up to 300 Mbps
- IPv4 and IPv6 Firewall
In the absence of a national roll out plan, BDUK's latest announcement is good news. But it's framework could be a straitjacket stifling innovation.
Government funding to help meet the challenges of broadband deployment is welcome. However on it's own the funding available can't solve the broadband notspots and deliver universal next generation broadband. BDUK has indicated that its funding amounts to £60-£70 per premise in those 'final third' areas beyond the reach of commercial deployment. So Cumbria gets £17m to cover 240,000 premises. This compares to an average cost nationally of about £1000 per premise for a fully future-proofed job - i.e. fibre to the premise.
Broadband Delivery UK has announced their pre-qualification questionnaire for the new broadband delivery framework that local authorities will be expected to use when procuring local broadband services. INCA is concerned that the framework will exclude smaller, innovative suppliers and doesn't match our members' ambitions for delivering a truly next generation broadband UK.
The BDUK Framework PQQ for next generation broadband is an odd document. On the one hand it says BDUK wants to encourage small and medium sized enterprises to join in, on the other financial and other criteria clearly exclude all but a handful of large players. There are provisions for smaller companies to join consortia, but only if a consortium can be set up and ready to go in a month - and that month is July.
The document also appears to redefine 'superfast' broadband as anything from 15Mbps to 50mbps+. The European targets for 2020 are for 50% of the population to enjoy 100Mbps and 50% to have 30mbps or over. So we could find up to £830m of public funding spent on networks that deliver half the minimum speeds of our European competitors. Previously government officials have said that superfast means anything over 24Mbps – meaning there must be at least some fibre, or high speed wireless, in the access network. BDUK seems to be stepping back from that ambition.
Fujitsu today announced plans to work in collaboration with Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Cisco to deliver next generation internet services to 5 million homes in rural Britain.
The collaboration and subsequent Fujitsu build of a new superfast, fibre optic broadband network is a ground breaking and innovative alternative to BT Openreach and provides an opportunity for any community or local authority looking to access a proportion of the £530 million earmarked by the UK Government to drive investment in superfast broadband in rural communities.
The Fujitsu open access wholesale network will be underpinned by Cisco's world leading technology. Virgin Media and TalkTalk intend to access wholesale products via this network in order to retail next generation services to customers in remote parts of the UK. The network will also be open to other service providers on wholesale terms.
Fujitsu's vision builds on the company's extensive experience in both managing telecommunications networks and in building next generation "Fibre to the Home" (FTTH) networks.
It is clear that we need a sustained, inclusive effort on the part of industry, national and local government, and communities to move the UK to a next generation broadband future as rapidly as possible. Industry players, working with local communities, are developinng innovative approaches capable of delivering services more rapidly in both urban and rural areas. Reducing the costs of deployment is one of the keys to making the investment case work better. Where there is existing infrastructure it can help reduce costs, but inevitably, much of this infrastructure is in the hands of BT.
Serious concerns have been expressed by industry players, including INCA members, about the costs of accessing BT's infrastructure. We need to get this right in order to help create a genuinely competitive market and ensure we maximise the impact of public investment in next generation services. INCA supports the statements made in letters to Ed Vaizey and Ian Livingston and we are committed to working with our members and BT to find a workable solution as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Independent broadband networks are delighted that the Government has announced its plans for the next round of next generation broadband funding, but keen to see progress on pressing issues affecting smaller players. Following on from Jeremy Hunt's funding announcement of £50m for the next round of projects, broadband Minister Ed Vaizey has announced the timetable for the next round of bids, anticipating requests for proposals during April and the announcement of the winners in May.
Malcolm Corbett, CEO of the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) commented, "This is great news for rural areas that often suffer from poor broadband services today and are at the back of the queue for superfast 'next generation' broadband tomorrow. INCA is working with a number of local authorities to help them develop viable projects, build stakeholder engagement and bid into this new round of funding. However there are some outstanding issues that we are keen to work with central government and OFCOM to resolve and make it easier for smaller non-incumbent providers to get involved." Knotty problems that industry and government are working on include access to existing infrastructure - ducts and poles - that can reduce deployment costs, affordable 'backhaul' connections linking local communities to the Internet, and a business rates regime that currently acts as a barrier to rural broadband investment.
INCA has welcomed the Government's commitment to creating the 'Best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015'. It is a tall order, but an ambition that we can all get behind. The big players like BT and Virgin Media, plus the host of smaller innovative companies, public sector bodies and communities are all working hard to make it a reality. The Government's new strategy 'Britain's Superfast Broadband Future' and the Secretary of State's speech bring together many of the strands that we need to level the playing field and get competition going in the provision of next generation infrastructure. It is great that the Government has taken up the 'digital village pump' idea that has been put forward by a number of broadband champions and is a central feature of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's 'Digital Scotland' report published in October. This could go a long way to tackling one of the big problems with all rural broadband services - the costs of backhaul - the connection from the community to the Internet.
On Tuesday 8th June, Secretary of State at DCMS, Jeremy Hunt MP made a very positive speech outlining his policies in media and technology (details and full text here).
Dave Carter acting Chair of the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) and Malcolm Corbett INCA's acting CEO today welcomed the appointments of Jeremy Hunt and Ed Vaizey, who will both be responsible for Britain's key technology issues.
Malcolm commented: "Jeremy and Ed have both been closely engaged and have a good understanding of the issues. We were delighted to welcome Ed to the NextGen conference in Leeds last year and look forward to continuing a positive dialogue over the coming months."
The new INCA website goes live today at www.inca.coop. It contains information about INCA, its aspirations, who can join and how, planned activities and events.
The website is very much a work in progress and will be updated with news, case studies, a map of local projects, information about technical standards and policy documents. If you have comments or questions please contact Malcolm Corbett.
The Independent Networks Co-operative Association welcomes the government's commitment in the budget to support the roll out of next generation 'superfast' broadband in areas that are likely to be left behind by the market. Alongside major players like BT, independent projects all over the country are working to bring next generation broadband to their local citizens and businesses.
INCA will be running the NextGen events programme for 2010 kicking off with a series of four Roadshows from May until September, with an INCA membership event in June. These lead up to the annual national NextGen 10 Conference, set for November in Birmingham. The Roadshows will launch in April when registrations open. This year we'll be visiting new locations and are working on an exciting programme with new partners. Click here to take you to the Events page.
One of the key tasks for INCA is to work with those developing regional and local projects on the common technical and business process standards that help open networks attract service providers.
This work is being led by Adrian Wooster (read Adrian's blog) and Alexandra Jennings. The high level issues are being debated through the BSG COTS process (Commercial, Operational & Technical Standards) as well as more technically focussed groups like the NICC.
INCA is powered by our members. If your organisation shares our vision of working together to create cohesive interconnected next generation digital infrastructure networks for the UK why not join us.
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INCA CEO Malcolm Corbett writes an occasional column on NGA policy issues for ZDNet.
Stay informed about our work.Subscribe to our mailing list.
Independent Networks Cooperative Association Limited is an Industrial and Provident Society registered in England & Wales, Reg. No. 30852R.Registered Office: c/o McKellens, 11 Riverview, The Embankment Business Park, Vale Road, Heaton Mersey, Stockport SK4 3GN, UK. Tel: 0845 456 2433


text:
If you want to develop applications with GTK+, a graphical toolkit used by the GNOME desktop environment, it is essential that you are comfortable with the C programming language. This article is meant to give you a short refresher on the basics of C that you will need to know when developing GTK+ applications.
Basic C program structure
Every C program is composed of one or more functions in the following format. The function receives a number of variable parameters, runs the commands in the function, and then returns a variable of the given type. Note that you can omit the return value by using
void as your function type.
type function (parameters) { local variables commands }
Here is a practical example (don't worry if you don't understand it yet):
int my_function(int a) { char b; b='r'; printf("%d %c",a,c); }
Another example function is shown below. The
main() function is the only one that is required by every C program. It receives two parameters (
argc and
argv), which contain the command line parameters entered when the program begins and the number of parameters. The function should return an integer to exit. The following code will print out "
x = 0 and y = 1". (The
printf() function will be covered later in this section!)
#include <stdio.h> int main (int argc, char *argv[]) { int x, y; x = 0; printf ("x = %d ", x); y = 1; printf ("and y = %d", y); return 0; }
Compiling your programs
If you are reading this article, you will probably need to compile your programs. Assuming that you call your file
result.c, you can compile your programs by typing:
gcc -o result result.c
You will now be able to run the program by typing
./result in the directory where the program was compiled. It's handy to have a console open with the program, and a second console with the command line above, ready to compile the code.
Variable types
C provides a number of variable types. You may notice that these are very basic types, all holding numbers, but they can be used to represent any piece of data. The following table gives an overview of the types that are available to you.
|Data Type
|Lower Bound
|Upper Bound
|unsigned char
|short (int)
|unsigned short (int)
|2^31 - 1
|unsigned int
|2^32 - 1
|long (int)
|2^31 - 1
|unsigned long (int)
|2^32 - 1
It's important to think about where you place the declaration when creating variables. The scope of a variable refers to which parts of the application can access the variable. In general, variables use the following scope rules in C:
- You can only access a variable that has been declared before referencing it. In other words, the declaration of a variable must appear above its use.
- A variable cannot be accessed outside the set of brackets where it was declared. For example, if a variable was declared inside of a
forloop, it cannot be accessed outside of that loop.
You can declare variables outside any function, such as above the
main() function. This is called a global variable. Also, a variable declared within a function is local to that function.
The variable types previously mentioned are useful, but what if you want a thousand integers? It would take quite some time to create a variable for each of these integers. To solve this problem, you could create an array of integers. The following program creates an array, and then fills it up with the numbers 1 to 1000. Notice that arrays are indexed beginning from zero.
int arrayOfInt[1000], i; for (i = 0; i < 1000; i++) arrayOfInt[i] = i + 1;
It is also possible to create arrays with multiple dimensions. The following applications creates an array that has 1000 columns and 1000 rows, and fills it up with the sum of the indexes.
int multiArray[1000][1000], i, j; for (i = 0; i < 1000; i++) for (j = 0; j < 1000; j++) arrayOfInt[i][j] = i + j;
The maximum number of dimensions is defined by the compiler, but most applications do not use more than three at the most. If you reach the maximum (GCC's maximum is 29), you should consider rethinking your approach to the problem at hand!
Outputting (printing) data
Although GTK+ is a graphical toolkit, it is still useful to be able to output debugging information to the terminal. To do this in C, you would use
printf(), which you already saw in a previous example. You can use additional parameters in this function to embed numbers and strings into the output text. In order for this function to work, you must include the header file
The following example would print out "
x = 5 and y = 10.7". The
%d is replaced by the first variable, which is an integer. Then,
%4.1f is replaced by the second floating point variable with a maximum length of 4 characters and one character following the decimal point.
int x = 5; double y = 10.74; printf ("x = %d and y = %4.1f", x, y);
There are a large number of options available of
printf(). It would be pointless to enumerate them here since the reference is available on thousands of sites around the Internet. To read more on this function, take a look at this page.
Conditionals and loops
C provides a number of methods for controlling the flow of your program. In order to understand these, you need to understand a few logical operators that are available. They are introduced in the following table.
|Comparison operator that returns true if the value on the left is equal to the value on the right.
|Comparison operator that returns true if the value on the left is not equal to the value on the right.
|< (>)
|Comparison operator that return true if the value on the left is less than (greater than) the value on the right.
|<= (>=)
|Comparison operator that return true if the value on the left is less than (greater than) or equal to the value on the right.
|Used to concatenate multiple comparisons that will only return true if both evaluate to true. For example, ((2 > 1) && (0 > 1)) would return false.
|| | Used to concatenate multiple comparisons that will return true if at least one evaluates to true. For example, ((2 > 1) || (0 > 1)) would return true.
|Returns the opposite value of the following expression. For example, !(1 > 0) would return false.
If/else comparisons
if statement is a comparison command that can be used to run code only if a condition is met. In addition, you can include optional
else if statements, that will only be evaluated if the previous statements were found to be false. Lastly, an
else statement can be used at the end to catch all other cases.
The following example shows you how to use an
if. Note, the curly brackets can be omitted if only one command is run after a conditional statement.
int x; if (x > 0) { printf ("x is positive"); } else if (x == 0) { printf ("x is equal to zero"); } else { printf ("x is negative"); }
In this example, what would be printed if x was equal to -5, 0, or 5? The application would print "
x is negative", "
x is equal to zero", and "
x is positive" respectively.
The switch statement
switch can be used as a cleaner style in place of some
if statements. It compares the variable or expression in the
switch to each
case value. If the correct value is found, all of the commands will be run until a
break or the end of the statement is reached.
In the following example,
white space will be printed if
ch is a space, tab, or new line character. If the letter is an uppercase vowel,
vowel will be printed. Otherwise, the output will show
other character.
char ch; switch (ch) { case ' ': case '\t': case '\n': printf ("white space"); break; case 'A': case 'E': case 'I': case 'O': case 'U': printf ("vowel"); break; default: printf ("other character"); }
default case is not required, but it can be used to catch all other cases not previously specified. Note that each case value must be constant, meaning that they cannot be variables.
While loops
while loop will continue to run its contained commands over and over until its condition is evaluated as false.
while (condition) { commands }
In the following example, the
while will continue running until
x is greater than or equal to ten. The
break statement can be used to exit the loop before it is completed. What will this code print out?
int x = 0; while (x < 10) { printf ("%d ", x); x += 2; if ((x % 3) == 0) break; }
The code above will print
0 2 4. The
x variable is incremented by 2 every time, but when it reaches 6, the
if statement evaluates to true and exits the loop. Note: The percent sign (%) represents the modulus operator, which returns the remainder of the division.
For loops
for loop allows you to perform initialization, comparison, and incrementing all at once. You can omit one or all of these steps by leaving it blank, although leaving out the comparison will make an infinite loop. In this case, you could use the
break command to exit the loop when necessary.
for (initialize; comparison; increment) { commands }
In the following example, the integer
i is initialized to zero at the beginning of the loop. It will continue running until
i is greater than or equal to ten, incrementing by one every time the loop is run. What will this code output?
int i; for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) { if ((x % 3) == 0) continue; printf ("%d ", i); }
The above code will output
1 2 4 5 7 8. If
x is divisible by three,
continue will skip the rest of the loop's iteration, so the values 0, 3, 6, and 9 will not be printed. You can also use the
break command with
for loops.
One of the most important parts the C programming language is the pointer. A pointer is basically a variable that store the memory address of a variable, array, function, etc. There are two operators that are used with pointers:
- The ampersand (&) symbol is called the monadic or unary operator. It returns the address where the variable is located.
- The asterisk (*) symbol is used for dereferencing, and returns the object that is at the location stored by a pointer.
To help you understand this concept, look at the following example. The second line creates a pointer that stores the memory location of
x. The next line dereferences
ptr, printing out the integer at that memory location (
1). Then, the memory location
ptr is set to the value 7. Since
ptr points to
x, the last statement prints out "
If you find this confusing, slowly re-read the sentence above (yes, it does make sense!) and experiment with the code.
int x = 1; int *ptr = &x; printf ("%d", *ptr); *ptr = 7; printf ("%d", x);
Pointers are very powerful, because they can be used with arrays. The following example creates an array of one hundred characters, and then uses a pointer to traverse the array, setting each to the value of its index.
char chArray[100]; char *ptr; int i; for (i = 0, ptr = &chArray[0]; i < 100; i++, ++ptr) *ptr = i;
This example shows a few important concepts. First, you should notice that you can provide multiple commands in the first and third parts of the
for statement by separating them will commas. This allows you to initialize multiple variables, or provide more than one increment.
In terms of pointers, you can increment or decrement a pointer by using standard integer operations. It is legal to move a pointer with any of the following:
ptr += 10,
ptr -= intVariable, etc.
Strings are very important to any programming language, because human interaction would be very difficult otherwise. A string is defined in C as an array of char variables. Each string in C must end with the null character ('\0' or 0) so that the end can be found. This is because most strings are stored as pointers.
The following example shows one way to create a string. A pointer called
text is created that points to nothing at first. It is then initialized to "Hello world!" and printed to the screen.
char *text; text = "Hello world!"; printf (text);
This string was initialized by setting the text directly, but this is generally not a good idea. Instead, you should use a function defined in
string.h called
strdup() to dynamically allocate a copy of the string like the following example. Once the application is done with the string,
free() should be called so that the memory taken up by that string can be used by other parts of the program.
char *text; text = strdup ("Hello world!"); printf (text); free (text);
There are a number of other functions available in
string.h for manipulating strings. The following application shows a few of them, but you should reference the header file for a full list of functions.
#include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdlib.h> int main () { char *text1, *text2; text1 = strdup ("+"); text2 = (char*) malloc (10 * sizeof (char)); strcpy (text2, text1); while (strlen (text2) < 10) { if (strcmp (text2, "+++++") == 0) printf ("Pluses: "); strcat (text2, text1); } printf (text2); free (text1); free (text2); return 0; }
The example above is a bit frivolous, but it shows some of the most common functions used for string manipulation. First, the
malloc() function was used to allocate a piece of memory with a size of 10 bytes. This function requires you to include
stdlib.h and will be covered in more detail in the next section.
Then, the contents of
text1 are copied into
text2 with
strcpy(). The loop continues until the length of
text2 is nine characters. During each iteration of the loop, a single plus is concatenated to the variable with
The conditional statement uses
strcmp() to compare two strings. It will return a negative number if the first string should be sorted before the second, zero if the two strings are equal, or a positive number otherwise. You should note that you cannot use
!=, or any other operator to compare strings, since using those operators would just comparing the pointer location!
Dynamic memory allocation
One of the main reasons for pointers is to enable dynamic memory allocation, or the ability to allocate memory while the application is running. Memory is allocated in C with
malloc(), which uses the following syntax. It accepts the number of bytes to allocate, returning a pointer to the newly allocated memory location. When you are done with the memory, you must call
free(), or that space will be leaked by your application!
int *data; data = (int*) malloc (100 * sizeof (int));
In addition to this function, you can use
calloc(), which allocates an array of data with the given size. In the following example, an array of 100 elements with a size of 4 bytes is allocated. This code does the same essentially the same thing as the previous example.
int *data; data = (int*) calloc (100, sizeof (int));
As with
malloc(), everything allocated with
calloc() should be freed when you are done using it. Also, one of the most common problems encountered with pointers is not allocating memory before using it, so make sure to avoid using uninitialized pointers! Basically, if you get a Segmentation Fault, you are misusing pointers.
struct type allows you to create your own data types in C. For example, let us assume you want to store information about an animal. You could use the following structure to do this:
typedef struct { char *name; char *sound; int legs; } animal;
The structure definition above creates a new data type called
animal. This data type holds two strings and one integer. This is useful because you can create as many instances of
animal as you want. The following code shows two ways you can use the new structure, one without and one with pointers.
animal cow; animal *chicken; cow.name = strdup ("Cow"); cow.sound = strdup ("Moo"); cow.legs = 4; chicken = (animal*) malloc (sizeof (animal)); chicken->name = strdup ("Chicken"); chicken->sound = strdup ("Cluck"); chicken->legs = 2; free (chicken);
In this example, and instance of
animal is created called
cow. Since this is not a pointer, you can use the period character to reference the members of the structure. In the second part of this code, the memory is allocated for another
animal instance. Notice that, with a pointer, you must use
-> to access the members of the structure!
It may not be immediately apparent from this example why you would want to use a pointer. However, if you wanted to pass the structure to a function, it would be much more convenient. Passing
chicken would just create a copy of the pointer. This is why pointers are preferred in C.
By now, you should be familiar with the basics of the C programming language. While there are other aspects of the language that you may need to learn when programming with GTK+, these basics will allow you to use all but the most advanced portions of the libraries.
If you are interested in learning GTK+, I would encourage you to check out my book on the subject: Foundations of GTK+ Development. This book covers everything from the basics of the libraries to creating your own widgets, and much more in between.
Yuk, you don't get C by reading an article.
And you don't need to, either.
Be sensible and use a scripting language.
I'm a bit disappointed to
I'm a bit disappointed to see that all you have done is given a crash-course in C.
I was expecting some more info regarding GTK+ and how to get started.
In your "practical example"
In your "practical example" above I believe you made an error.
int my_function(int a)
char b;
printf("%d %c",a,c);
You will return an error because the variable 'c' has been neither declared or set.
It should read:
int my_function(int a)
char b;
printf("%d %c",a,b);
Above I just changed the 'printf' statement to use 'b' instead of 'c'
A more noteworthy example might be:
int my_function(int a)
char b;
printf("Your argument as a decimal %d and as a character %c",a,a);
printf("Your function variable b as a decimal %d and as a character %c",b,b);
That way new users can see how easy it is to display variables as different types and their associated values.
@skypher - I took a couple
@skypher - I took a couple of computer science classes in college (C, C++, and visual *barf* basic), but was too interested in partying to absorb and retain what I learned. Then several years later I found I have a knack for programming, and I made a career of it, learning 99% of what I know through various articles, mailing lists, API documentation, and digesting the source code of other projects. Most of my knowledge is in VHL or scripting languages (PHP, Python, Ruby, VB, C#, ColdFusion, Java), but as I've hit some limitations (specifically with Python) with what I can do, I have a renewed interest (as in the last week) in C as it can do anything, just with a lot more coding.
Where would your scripting languages come from without C anyhow? I don't think your favorite scripting language would be nearly as encompassing and could do 1/10th of what it does if it was written in assembly. Though it probably would be damn fast.
@raseel - Try programming with Python and GTK+ first as you will get a grasp on how to create, modify, and access GTK objects without needing to worry about a strongly typed language and lower level problems (like pointers, memory allocation, etc.) that you do when learning with C. I suggest looking over the Exaile source code as it is my favorite audio player for GTK, and it is written in pure, well coded python. The PyGTK API mirrors, almost verbatim, the GTK C API, so things make a lot more sense when you start coding GTK with C after learning the API in Python. That is if you already know Python. If not, I suggest you learn.
@Andrew Krause - Thanks for the article! I've been trying to get caught up on C as I haven't done much with it in almost 10 years, and last night I (re)learned pointers and pointer math, and tonight, your article answered a question I had been trying to figure out for the last couple of hours - what "->" is in C - I know in OO PHP, it is how to reference an object's property or method, and I figured it had something to do with struct's in C, but you were the only page out of about 40 or 50 I looked at that gave me an answer (google doesn't include special characters in searches, but I have seen that operator in a lot of GTK+ code - this article was on the 4th page of results when searching for "gtk c operators"). Thank you, and your article is a perfect crash course for someone who hasn't done C in 9 years.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Men's Nike Los Angeles Dodgers MLB Tri-Blend Logo Baseball T-Shirt
Buy Online & Pick Up In-Store
The perfect companion to a day at the stadium, the Nike Tri-Blend Logo (MLB Dodgers) Men's Baseball T-Shirt is a bold display of hometown love. A trio of fabrics feels great against the skin, while the colorful screen print at the front shows everyone where your loyalties lie. This classic tee has a standard fit and a sturdy, ribbed crew neck that any true fan will love.


text:
William Howard "Bill" Waggoner, 86
Published: Monday, January 14, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 5:59 p.m.
TUXEDO/HENDERSONVILLE — William Howard "Bill" Waggoner, 86, of Tuxedo and Hendersonville, died on Sunday, January 13, 2013 at Four Seasons Elizabeth House after a period of declining health. Thos. Shepherd & Son Funeral Directors and Cremation Memorial Center will announce arrangements.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text:
The following article was published in our 2012 Annual Report.
Gifford is fortunate to have many long-serving health care providers, but the medical center would not be successful without the providers who have joined Gifford in more recent years.
Lured in part by the stability and quality provided by the very individuals highlighted in this year's report, Gifford has welcomed new providers in almost every area of medicine.
For example, joining long-time pediatricians Dr. Lou DiNicola and Dr. Elizabeth Jewett, who have both been at Gifford for 36 years, are Dr. Joe Pelletier, now with Gifford for 10 years, and Dr. Pam Udomprasert, who joined more recently in 2011.
"Joe is now the cornerstone of pediatrics here," says Dr. DiNicola.
At the Chelsea Health Center, long-time U.S. Navy family physician Dr. Brian Sargent joined physician assistant Starr Strong in practice in 2008. "I am especially appreciative of Brian," Starr states, "and his commitment to the folks of this valley and the joy he takes in developing relationships in this unique place."
In Bethel, family nurse practitioner and former emergency department nurse Emily LeVan joined long-time family physicians Dr. Mark Seymour and Dr. Terry Cantlin just this year. "Emily brings her wealth of emergency room experience and a firm commitment to primary care. She also has a strong tie to the area, working with her husband and family running a local farm," Medicine Division Medical Director Dr. Josh Plavin says.
In the Emergency Department, Drs. Steven Fisher, Josh White, and Saul Nurok have filled the shoes of long-term physicians like Dr. Lucy Wollaeger, who retired from full-time work in 2012 after 21 years at Gifford.
"Often people's first opinion of the hospital is through the emergency room, and Steve, Saul, and Josh are amazing," Dr. Ken Borie, a family physician at Gifford for 32 years, says.
Anesthesiologist Dr. Dennis Henzig, a 20-year veteran of Gifford, has been joined by Drs. Jon-Richard Knoff in 2007 and Nazek Shabayek in 2012. Both of Gifford's orthopedists, Dr. Stephanie Landvater and Dr. Bess Brackett, have come to Gifford within the last decade as Dr. Bill Minsinger prepared to retire.
Hospitalist medicine is a newer specialty. Consequently, it melds newer doctors and mid-level providers with experienced ones who have transitioned from another area of medicine, such as family care. Gifford's certified nurse-midwifery team additionally melds newer and more experienced members. Ob/gyn physicians Dr. Anne Galante and Dr. Dina Levin have both joined Dr. Brent Burgee, a 27-year veteran of Gifford, and experienced gynecologist Dr. Ellamarie Russo-DeMara.
The most recent addition in the Randolph primary care office is family physician Dr. Barbara Lazar. "Barb brings a wealth of experience, particularly in geriatrics, and is an extremely competent and kind provider. She is an excellent long-term fit for our community-focused practice," adds Dr. Plavin, who is also among those providers who have committed themselves to the community.
Most of Gifford's newer providers – of which there are many more – are from the immediate area or have made it their home, raising children here and engrossing themselves in the community in a variety of ways.
Together – even as health care changes and recruitment, particularly of primary care physicians, becomes more and more challenging – they are carrying on the tradition of neighbors helping neighbors and of high-quality, accessible care in our communities.


text:
Sarasota's Payne Park reopens
Published: Monday, October 7, 2013 at 11:37 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 7, 2013 at 11:37 p.m.
SARASOTA - Payne Park opened again Monday after being closed for two weeks while city workers performed an annual safety inspection and replaced equipment at the children's playground.
The safety inspection did not reveal any problems after workers checked each piece of equipment, said Neil Gaines, project manager for the city. A children's bridge, crawling tunnel and two swings were replaced.
The worn-out equipment was still under warranty, Gaines said. The park opened in June 2012 and was due for inspection.
Workers also added drains for rainwater, a curb at the perimeter of the play area, a large canopy over the toddler play area and mulched around the trees.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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Matt Dillahunty
- Located in Austin, TX
- President, Atheist Community of Austin
- Host of The Atheist Experience Live!
- Co-Host of The Non-Prophets
- Twitter: @Matt_Dillahunty
A Southern Baptist for more than 20 years, he began a broad, prolonged investigation into all things religious in an attempt to bolster his faith and pursue a career in the ministry. This investigation continues, though he abandoned faith and religion in favor of skepticism, reason, logic and scientific evidence. His interest in apologetics led to the creation of IronChariots.org, though the site's current incarnation is the result of the combined efforts of many dedicated individuals.
Matt served as President of The Atheist Community of Austin(2005-2013), co-hosted the groups atheist-oriented podcast, The Non-Prophets, and hosts the group's public access television program, The Atheist Experience. The program is a live, weekly program that takes live calls from listeners in Austin and around the world, prompting many debates and discussions on a variety of religious, philosophical and skeptical topics. He's been hosting for the program since 2004 and, thanks to fans posting clips on YouTube, the show has broken out of the Austin public access arena and is available to the world as a live stream and podcast.
Matt is available to speak to your group on the following topics:
- The Superiority of Secular Morality
- Skepticism and Atheism
- Debating religious claims
- Belief, Knowledge and Reality
- General Q&A / Atheism / Debates / Panel discussions
- Magic and skepticism
Matt asks for a $250 honorarium for normal presentations and a $500 honorarium for debate appearances. He is very negotiable and willing to work with a group, even if you may not be able to afford the honorariums.
If you're interested in having this speaker come to your school and give a presentation, click here to fill out our online Speaker Request form.


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Did 7.75 treadmiles today. Decided to run comfortably for 1 hour and see where it got me.
Melody.... I'll give you the points because your 7.5 miles was outdoors in snow compared to my 7.75 indoors.
Also, I posted in the RA site. Not so sure about the persoanl logging of info, but I put some workouts and PRs in there. I'll check both sites for a while to see how everyone feels.
DebM..... Disable the snooze button.
NHLA..... In yoiur blackjack 5ks, what total do you need to qualify for or win prizes? Do you know ahead of time? Hope your weather dries up.
Posted at RA, also. You'll never guess my screen name.
I'm still resting. The nurses at the health fair pointed out some symptoms of overtraining, so I'm really enjoying being lazy. I'll hit an easy 5 miler Sunday morning, but nothing till then.
Hi team! This will be my last posting here on Active.com. The site is all wonky for me logging in, gets flagged by my virus protection and is a royal pain in the patutie. So, I've started a GROUP on runningahead.com Here is the link http://runningahead.com/groups/MLRW If I dont see you there, I'll miss you and thanks for all your AWESOME support!! ((Hugs))
Age: 53
1980 Humboldt Redwoods Marathon
Best 5K time: 31 minutes
Best 10K time: 1:12
First 1/2 Marathon: 2:43
Raised $4491 for animal charity through running
For 2013:
Memorial Day 5/26 10K- I hope to raise $3000 for animal charity in my "Run For The Critters"
Maine Marathon 9/29- I hope to finish 2:30
Just checking to see if anyone was still in the room. See you at RA.com
JEFF CT I just use MapMyRun to chart my routes & log workouts. I just registered at runningahead.com. Now waiting for the confirmation email.
10K race in Chicago's Perfect 10 back in November '11 1:03:26
Soldier Field 10 5/26/2012 1:46:25
Chicago Half Marathon 9/9/2012 2:17:53
10 mile race in Chicago's Perfect 10 on 11/10/2012: 1:37:21
One more thing: it was 45 degrees in Chicago on January 19,2013, and PEOPLE WERE PLAYING GOLF!!!
Not that I'm a golfer, but I have relatives in Texas,and I like to brag when we have warm weather like this.
Tomorrow, back to the 20s.
10K race in Chicago's Perfect 10 back in November '11 1:03:26
Soldier Field 10 5/26/2012 1:46:25
Chicago Half Marathon 9/9/2012 2:17:53
10 mile race in Chicago's Perfect 10 on 11/10/2012: 1:37:21
Hi ALL - Yes, Im over at RA with most of you. This thread seems threadbare.
But I ran 9.1m on Friday. Didnt get a chance to log in until now. 1am on Sunday morning. I'll put in another run because in 2012, I did 61.5 miles total from Jan 1 to May 31. 1.2miles more than what I have already done in January 2013! So, even if its only 2 miles, Im running today. I still like my TM. Not really losing any weight yet. Up and Down. But sleep has been irregular. Hoping to stay in this 8-12 mile range for the next few weeks. I want to get my body used to it, and then as it warms up, getting some 14+ runs in should be possible.
I have never run a marathon, but it seems possible. If Im doing 12 miles in Feb. 14 miles in March. 17 miles in April and 20 miles in May, then I can do a 26 mile run end of May.
My body doesnt seem all that "athletic" but my head keeps looking less fat. Ive started to notice this in other people as well. I can tell that someone is / was an athelete by looking at their head. Weird? -
One last thing, Melody, I was unable to get your group/MLRW to come up. Not sure. Tried a couple times.
2012 Aug 19, 2012 - Canton PTO LobsterLoop 5K 35:09 Oct 13, 2012 - ING Hartford 5K 31:34
January 1, 2013 - 10K PR 59:08
Sun Jan 27th 10am Penguin Plunge.
Sun April 28, - Simsbury River Run (unable to register yet)
Sun May 26, 2013 - Memorial Day Marathon (26.2 REGISTERED)
Sun June 2 Amica Iron Horse 1/2 Marathon - (unable to register yet)
Sun Aug 18? 2013 - Canton PTO Lobster Loop 5K (VOLUNTEER)
Sat Sept 28 2013 - 5K Rugged Maniac (REGISTERED)
Sat Oct 12, 2013 - 26.2 (plan is to beat May Time)
Ran my first 5K on Saturday and finished in 26:42. I took 2nd place in my age group (40-44). My GPS told me I ran 5K in 26:20 and total start-finish distance of 5.1km. I'm pretty happy and definitely hooked! My wife did great in the 10K race (her first) and finished in 54:22, taking the award for 2nd overall female.
Hey guys! I just got back from Bermuda and am happy to report that I successfully completed the Bermuda Triangle Challenge! This was not only my first international race(s), but also my first int'l trip. So I finally have a stamp in my only few-months-old passport. Bermuda is absolutely beautiful. The Challenge starts on Fri evening with the KPMG invitational mile, includes a hilly 10k on Sat and concludes with either the half or full marathon on Sunday. The invitational Mile is like a big party with lots of locals out to cheer folks on. The race starts at about 7PM Fri evening. It was pretty warm and humid, but lots of fun. I didn't push too hard on the mile, wanting to save some for the next 2 days. Got the mile done in 8:41. The 10k on Sat was honestly the toughest 10k of my life. Those Bermuda hills are no joke and the 10k was full of them, with miles 2 and 5 being the toughest. I made a point to run the 10k with ease, since I had been warned about the hills and I knew I had the half marathon the next morning. The course was soooo beautiful, with the whole 2nd half of the race on an elevated road that overlooks the ocean. OMG, I so wish I had run with my camera. The water is so blue/green, that it looks fake. I really slowed my pace on that part of the race because I couldn't get enough of that view. I got the 10k done in 57:56. Then finally was the half marathon/marathon on Sunday morning. We got rain, which started off with a welcome light mist. I say welcome because the temps were warm and it was pretty humid. The rain never turned into a torrential downpour, but did get slightly heavier. I don't mind running in the rain, actually love it, but running that distance on a hilly course in soggy clothes got a little uncomfortable. I was so happy to see the finish line. Bart Yasso was standing there giving everyone high-fives. I missed him as I ran up to the start because I was focused on the clock, trying to speed it up to come in under 2 hours. I managed it, coming in at 1:58:51. After finishing I made my way back to Bart and told him I'd missed my high-five because I was focused on the clock. He said "As you should have been." and gave me my high-five. Bart was so cool. He was actually hanging all weekend. He stayed in the same hotel as my crew--the Fairmont Hamilton Princess--and you could easily just walk up and have a convo with him or take pics. I have some group pics with him and had a nice convo with him at the bar on Sunday evening. The locals were also so hospitable, many even standing out in the rain to cheer us on Sunday. It was such an awesome experience and I highly recommend it. You don't have to do the challenge, you can just register for one event. But if you do all 3--1 mile, 10k and half or full marathon--you get 4 medals. I could hardly wait to get home and add my new bling to my medal rack. I plan to head back and do this again. Not sure if I'll do it next year, as my crew is talking about doing the Bahamas or Rio in 2014, but I do plan to take the challenge again.
Check out my new bling and tech tees. Also included a couple of shots of the sunrise I managed to capture yesterday morning. Isn't God amazing? I think He was showing off for me. After all, I am one of his favs.
Happy running my friends.
2015 Highlights:
Hi Lucie,
I'm a newbie. Just started running this year. Opening race was Jan. 5th, 2013 - Los Angeles New Year's Race, participated and finished the half-marathon (21K) in 3:38. I did not run at all, I just walked all the way. Planning to participate in all half mary's this year as much as I can within the Los Angeles area. My next would be in Santa Monica this coming Feb. 9th.
For the Jan. 5th race I trained for practically two days. Walked a 13.1 mile course with elevation gain of 1,600 feet on Dec. 26, 2012 and then had a very short 3.1 mile stretching walk on Jan 2nd 2013. That's it and I finished the half mary. Had I trained properly I would have ran all the way. No time for training, but I'll keep up the work.
Hey Julius -
Congrats on the first race! You've done a bigger race than I have yet. I did my biggest race this Jan as well as a 10K. My time was pretty good for me at 59:08. Im running about 25 miles per week (mpw) right now. This thread is great for encouragement, but several members have gone over to www.runningahead.com there is a forum http://www.runningahead.com/groups/MLRW/forum/3c08908f67e340d9b671046e0f915b50/resume#focus .
The main reason was site instability on www.Active.com - How many miles/minutes are you jogging at this point?
2012 Aug 19, 2012 - Canton PTO LobsterLoop 5K 35:09 Oct 13, 2012 - ING Hartford 5K 31:34
January 1, 2013 - 10K PR 59:08
Sun Jan 27th 10am Penguin Plunge.
Sun April 28, - Simsbury River Run (unable to register yet)
Sun May 26, 2013 - Memorial Day Marathon (26.2 REGISTERED)
Sun June 2 Amica Iron Horse 1/2 Marathon - (unable to register yet)
Sun Aug 18? 2013 - Canton PTO Lobster Loop 5K (VOLUNTEER)
Sat Sept 28 2013 - 5K Rugged Maniac (REGISTERED)
Sat Oct 12, 2013 - 26.2 (plan is to beat May Time)
I'll try the RA site - anyone know how to actually import data into the site?
races in 2013 - Always trying to keep moving
31 Dec 2012: Fairfax 4 miler: 49:34
10 Feb 2013 Run your heart 2013 35:30
Please check out this site: http://www.exceptionalcomfort.blogspot.com/
last night I did incline training on the treadmill.
I gradually worked it up to an incline of 9 and then closed out with a mile run alternating between a grade of 3 and 4.
I have signed up for the Southern Indiana Classic Marathon in April and it is a hilly course.
Getting Fit at Fifty
Ran 5.4 Km today in the 60 degree weather. Managed the 5Km part under 35 min today. Second sub 35 min 5Km run in row. My target is to get sub 34 for 5K by this spring...
hope every one has had good month!
races in 2013 - Always trying to keep moving
31 Dec 2012: Fairfax 4 miler: 49:34
10 Feb 2013 Run your heart 2013 35:30
Please check out this site: http://www.exceptionalcomfort.blogspot.com/
I'm back from a little dry spell and I see everyone has been busy and moving over to RA, which I may have to do myself!
Some quick shouts:
??DJS - Great job! The Disney Marathon weekend is such an awesome event! I ran the half in 2012 and hopefully will be doing the 5K and half again in 2014! Great job on your PR and the medal is very nice! Maybe we'll both do the Goofy the same year!
NRDgirl - Awesome job! I love the medals! And thanks to you I now have another item on my running bucket list I need to do!
Finally got a 3.25 in 30:33 today after what seemed like forever without running (a week +). Annoyed me it was 55 yesterday morning and this morning we're back at 20!
Finished Races
2010 Tanger Outlet 5K
2011 Tanger Outlet 5K
2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon
2012 Stonyfield Earth Day 5K
2012 Make-A-Wish Big Lake Half Marathon
2012 WOW' fest Trail 10K
2012 Tanger Outlet Fit For a Cure 5K
2012 I Survived The End of the Wolrd 4-Miler
2012 I Survived The End of the Wolrd 4-Miler
Upcoming Races
ACTIVE is the leader in online event registrations from 5k running races and marathons to softball leagues and local events. ACTIVE also makes it easy to learn and prepare for all the things you love to do with expert resources, training plans and fitness calculators.


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News 12 First at Five / Thursday, April 4, 2013
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW) -- Our Time To Care winner for April is a Richmond County firefighter, but he's not getting the honor for any heroism on the job, although there's been plenty of that over the years. He's getting it because of his big heart when it comes to doing for others.
Most days, you'll find Randy Reese working at Engine Company 14 in Blythe. Reese and two other firefighters man the station, keeping the trucks ready and themselves ready in case duty calls. After 23 years, fighting fires has become a way of life, but it doesn't rank first in his life.
"Let me see, it comes -- God, my family, fishing and firefighting," he said with a laugh.
And during all those years on the force, his fellow firefighters have become like brothers.
"It's just a friendship," Reese said. "It's camaraderie. It's my family. I come here and spend 24 hours a day with them. If something happens to them, it happens to you."
That's why when Reese heard about a firefighter whose son was diagnosed with cancer, he decided to help raise money for the family by raffling a bass boat he'd been restoring.
"So I called my wife and said, 'Honey, I'm giving away my boat.' She says, 'OK, if that's what you wanna do.'"
When the boat went for $4,000, the money went to help with the family's medical expenses.
"It's just, we all can do one little thing," Reese said. "That's all we have to do. It's not me, I don't like getting credit for it. It's just the people, if they see something, help out."
We would never have known about Reese if his mom hadn't told us by nominating her son for the Time To Care Award.
Reading the words she wrote about him nearly brought the big man to tears.
"Well, I love her. I'm gonna cry now. I appreciate her kind words. She's a good mom," he said.
So what's next for this firefighting fisherman and man of faith? He wants to start a group called KARE, Kid Anglers Reaching Excellence.
"Like the First Tee is for kids, I want fishing to be for kids. But I want to teach them the fundamentals of what God has in store for them. The principles, morals and all that," he explained.
And that's where you come in. If you're a fisherman who'd like to volunteer for that program, Reese would love to hear from you. You can reach him by email at email@example.com.
Special thanks to our Time To Care partners for making the award possible: Academy Sports and Outdoors, Ashley Furniture Home Store and Subway.
It's easy to nominate someone for our Time To Care Award. We have a special section right here on our website.


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Canvas Pinboard & Chalkboard
- No Longer Available -
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- Can you handle the mask?
- Currently Unavailable
There's no masking your love for El Tri.
Why you need this?
1. It's an excuse to go all WWF in the living room. (Moms - we take no blame in broken lamps, abused pillows or damaged coffee tables - it's the power of the mask.)
2. Halloween? Boom, you have a costume.
3. Bad hair day? Giant zit? No better way to go incognito.
Um, do you really need more excuses to order one of these awesome masks? Didn't think so.
Classic Mexican wrestling mask that laces in the back. Made in Mexico.
Apoya a la Selección Mexicana con esta máscara de luchador con cordones en la parte trasera. Hecha en México.


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Tip leads to suspect in Wal-Mart thefts
Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 7:55 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 9:21 a.m.
An anonymous tip lead to the arrest of a Houma man for a series of shoplifting thefts at the Galliano Wal-Mart, authorities said.
Detectives said they arrested Webb Verdin, 34, 229 Evelyn Ave., after a tipster saw him on a surveillance photo.
On July 22, deputies responded to shoplifting complaints at the Wal-Mart, 16759 La. 3235, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office said. They learned that on July 19, a man stole six computer tablets after prying open a locked case in the electronics section. The same man reportedly returned to the store July 22 and stole six laptop computers after severing a locking mechanism.
On Friday, an anonymous tip was submitted through Bayou Region Crime Stoppers. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart employees reported the same man had stolen two more computers and tried to steal a television Thursday night and fled, leaving behind the TV.
Verdin is charged with three counts of felony theft, two counts of simple criminal damage to property and attempted felony theft. He is being held in the Lafourche jail on a $90,000 bond.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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Candase, Ashley, and Tina are all single mothers. They are all college graduates who learned that just because they are a single parent doesn't mean they can't can't reach their goals and keep pushing to have a better quality of life for themselves and their families.
"I think the stereotype of the single mom is that you're angry, you're a gold digger and that you're trying to live off of the father of your child," says Candase Chambers. Candase is 25 and she recently earned a Master's in Communications from the Academy of Art, and prior to that, a BA from UC-Berkeley.
Candase and I sit down to talk as she's making sure she has everything ready for her move to LA. She's recently accepted a job offer to work for E! News. Her adorable 1 year-old son Kyle is playing with his toys in the corner.
Candase says she feels like she has to work hard to dispel the myth that single mothers are angry women that are trying to live off their babies' fathers.
"Growing up, there was just a negative connotation with being a single mom, and now that I am one, I'm not that stereotype.
Candase states that being a single mother isn't something she planned on. But when it happened, she said she just have to keep moving.
Even though Candase and Kyle are eager to start their new lives in LA - and Candase couldn't be more excited about her new dream job - she also knows the change will come with some hardships. "If I was married, it would be like 'Oh can you pick him up from school?,' or 'Can you give him a bath while I go do this?' Everything is me. But at the same time, that just comes with it, so I don't want to complain about it. When you're a parent you just have to do stuff like that."
Candase isn't the only woman in her family to have a child at a young age. In fact, Candase's older sister Ashley had her daughter Genesis at the age of 14. "I think the stereotype is, especially if you have a baby at a young age like I did, that you either won't graduate, you'll just get your GED, or you'll have more babies which will be more of a hardship for you."
Ashley says that having her daughter at such a young age actually had the opposite effect. She was motivated to show society she wasn't just another statistic. "I think society has done a good job at perpetuating the whole stereotype that single moms are just going to become dependent on society and government aid."
Ashley says that being a pastor's daughter already placed upon her an expectation to achieve. Although she admits that becoming pregnant at such an early age did show some naivety, she says it motivated her to show society that she was smarter than many people may have assumed.
"I knew people were going to judge me," Ashley explains, "and it kind of helped me hold my head up when I achieved greater things for myself and my daughters. So I can show her that despite whatever hardships you go through, you can still achieve a lot of great things."
Even though she was a single parent at a young age, she was still able to graduate college and provide for her daughter. She says this was one of the great things she has accomplished as a single mother.
Tina Howerton is a single mother who volunteers as a peer advocate for Lifetime, an organization that specializes in helping low income single parents founded by single mothers. She says that there are many type of single mothers. "Now you're finding single moms that have a degree, that maybe were in for-profit jobs for years, and maybe had a divorce (and) lost their job to the economy. There's (also) young girls with babies."
Tina hopes that the stereotypes of single moms are fading. "You've heard the stigma, 'Oh, they're having more babies to get more money.' I don't think that's true at all and I would hope that that's changing as time goes on."
Lifetime wants the public to know that single moms are working, or trying hard - like many Americans - to find good jobs. Tina says the women she assists "are working, going to school. And the good thing about the group of single mothers today is that we are really focusing on our education. That gets instilled in our children and hopefully for the generation after our kids."
Single mothers often have to work extra hard to accomplish their goals. Balancing life between raising children, holding down a job, and making good grades in school is not easy. But Tina says one of the many benefits of a single mother's tenacity and drive is that she sets great examples for her children. "They're growing up seeing all of us going to school and working and really struggling to make it better for our family."
With the force of strong single mothers behind them, those children, Tina hopes, will have everything they need to succeed.
About Katrina Davis: Katrina Davis is a photographer who also enjoys reading various gossip blogs and hanging out with good friends. "I'm also a comic genius."


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Matt Lauer may have found himself a new job, if reports are true that he's on his way out at the "Today" show.
The New York Post reported that Lauer is at the top of the list to replace Alex Trebek as host of "Jeopardy!" when Alex Trebek steps down in 2016.
Lauer is reportedly being at least partially blamed for "Today" falling to No. 2 in the ratings during its time slot, after 16 years on top.
The Post reported this week that Lauer is not expected to re-sign with "Today" when his $25-million-a-year deal expires in 2015.
Wow -- some of us turned down the wrong hallway at journalism school.
Trebek, 72, who suffered his second heart attack last summer., said in he was thinking about retiring this season. But Sony convinced him to sign one final, three-year contract -- taking him to age 76 -- to give producers enough time to find a next-generation successor.
I guess Will Ferrell was busy.
The Post said Sony is also strongly considering Anderson Cooper -- whose contract with CNN reportedly ends next year -- for Trebek's job.
Until recently, Sony reportedly was ready to try convincing Lauer to do double duty on the game show and the morning show. But that might not be such an issue anymore.
One source told the Post that Cooper -- who hosted a competitive reality show on ABC called "The Mole" before his CNN days -- likes the idea of hosting "Jeopardy."
Of course, final decisions on all these moves are at least a year-and-a-half away, and a lot can happen before then.
In other words, Will Ferrell still has a shot.
Contact Tony Hicks on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks, or on Twitter at twitter.com/insertfoot.


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