text:
Extreme Programming For Platform Software
I'm unconvinced of
's utility when it comes to the design and construction of platforms for other software (e.g. programming languages, frameworks, message protocols, library APIs, operating systems, security models, concurrency models, etc.) - too often, the need to maintain backwards compatibility, especially to support the 'quirks' and 'bugs' of previous modes, quickly becomes an enormous burden against any attempt to
. However, I think it works fine for situations where the programmers DO possess full authority to muck around with all code and repair any dependencies broken as a consequence of refactoring.
- I believe that each have their place in design and construction of software.
What if you codify those backwards compatibility 'quirks' and 'bugs' as automated acceptance tests? Then, the programmers will automatically continue to support the quirky interface. When the programmers want to change the interface, they submit a new story. The customer either schedules it for implementation or not, depending on his needs.
Ah, so your answer is: "That's not a bug! That's a feature!"
Actually, you said that you need to maintain backward compatibility with bugs and quirks. I (pretending to be a programmer following XP practices) simply suggested automating a test for a requirement that you implicitly expressed.
And I, pretending to be a user, looked at your unit-tests and found proof that you're guaranteeing your bug has a cozy little nest. ^_^
are the one who specified that that "bug" had to be there in the first place. An XPer will happily code in "bugs" as long as that is what you, as a customer, want. By definition, if you, the customer, want it,
it is not a bug
, at least to the programmer. So, what is it, do you, or don't you, want this point of compatibility in the future releases product?
, as the customer, makes that decision. --SamuelFalvo
Uh, no, the bug didn't have to be there in the
place. It
have been there in the first place. But, since your product is a platform for
code, and it has been deployed with a bug, I had to write my code to counterbalance the bug. I, as the customer, want: (a) a good platform with an intuitive interface that simplifies my own projects, and (b) for you to
break MY code, even as you continue to add features. If you're going to accomplish (b) you'll need to either maintain the bug (or poorly factored interface, etc.)
not deploy that bug/interface in the first place. Either mechanism is valid. I stated skepticism for XP's value in platform projects because it encourages a rapid-deployment cycle with simplistic initial structure to-be-fixed-later with merciless refactoring,
of which have consequences contrary to the customer goals.
True, the bug didn't have to be there in the first place. But it was,
. People are fallible, and you're just gonna hafta get used to it. However, odds are quite likely, you and two bazillion other people had to counter-code around the bug, which means if I fix that bug, I can introduce an incompatibility that will break a bazillion installations. The requirements analyst/project manager is responsible for interacting with the public such that, if fixing that bug were truly a priority, so high that breaking backward compatibility were permissible, then fine, we XPers will be more than happy to oblige. In fact,
we WANT
to oblige, because it means less work for us, our testers, and our technical writers. But if the payoff for fixing said bug involves more pain than benefit, then we just have to grin and bear it. That's life. --SamuelFalvo
Your argument still doesn't do anything to counter my cause for skepticism. It's as though your arguing: "We know accidents will happen. That's life.
. In fact, since we
know accidents will happen, and can't be avoided, let's choose a methodology that will do its very best to guarantee as many accidents as possible!" Err... you XPers sure are excited, but no thanks? I won't argue that BDUF can cure all ills, but BDUF can easily take care of the readily predicted cases - i.e. those known from historical projects with similar properties that you'll almost assuredly encounter again with the myopic and forgetful XP (those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it). BDUF can also start with the
that the interface is poorly factored and the implementation is buggy, which will lead towards up front design of an upgrade-path that handles many classes of anticipated changes (potentially including anticipated changes to the upgrade path, for full symmetry). Indeed, the same problem can be attacked from both sides to get a solution that is both closer to correct to start with and less likely to suffer when upgrading. And if BDUF can help here, where XP promises a great many generations of poorly factored legacy code with a stoic 'that's life' grin, why shouldn't I be skeptical of XP for platform projects?
Please do be skeptical. I'm interested to know whether XP techniques would work for platform projects as well (we do a number of such platforms internal to our company). Mainly, I'm just suggesting XP-ish solutions to your objections until we either find something that can't (or probably won't) work, or you run out of objections.
XP does not say that your first iterations of the interface have to be distributed to a bazillion customers. You can alpha test a few iterations yourself, and then have 3 or 4 beta testers who are willing to put up with a changing interface. After that, it should be much more stable.
Yes, going through several development iterations with a closed group of people willing to break and repair their code would help on stability, especially if the products they wish to build on your platform are representative of those produced by the bazillion-customers. I'd recommend this even with BDUF (
is an idea that applies more broadly than any single methodology), but the requirement will be even greater for XP due to needing more generations or refactoring to get it right (as
forbid use of experience and foresight in making decisions).
and DTSTTCPW do not forbid use of experience and foresight.
simply forbids speculative development of things you don't need yet (i.e. creating interfaces and capabilities that the customer didn't ask for). This would seem to actually be helpful in keeping speculative stuff out of the interface, thus reducing the amount of backward compatibility required. DTSTTCPW also does not force you to do stupid things that won't work. If your experience and/or foresight says something can't work, then do something else.
use of foresight is speculative and about things that you don't immediately require. DTSTTCPW does allow you to avoid things you know won't work, but also forbids you from doing something 'slightly more complex' that you forsee yourself needing in the future.
You're free to be skeptical, but you're not free to make false associations and pass them off as facts. Please demonstrate how XP advocates these so-called accidents. XPers accept reality. Yes, accidents
happen. But we
them, not encourage them. --SamuelFalvo
Platform interface stability is a goal for platform users. The '
' greedy-heuristic approach along with the myopic '
' will create simplistic platform interfaces that solve the jobs immediately at hand but that are very likely to be changed in the future - especially in those cases where history or a little foresight would prove that
This is where the customer applies his foresight, and says he needs it. If the customer says he needs the interface to be X, then it is by definition needed.
Ah, so customers are to be the experts in software design and to synthesize all
s (including platform-upgrade stories) into a near-correct interface on their own steam. Sweet. That really takes the onus off you XP programmers. Maybe I should ask my customers how to do my job, too. ;)
, here we come!
Can we use our heads here? Please? Just once? If a customer says, "I want version 3.0 to be compatible with version 2.0," then clearly, patently, obviously that is a customer requirement. We already know what "to be compatible with version 2.0" means. We either already have the 2.0 requirements encoded in unit/acceptance tests, or it's easy enough to make them. Where, in that requirement, does that make the customer experts in software design? That is
job. The customer, however, is a domain-expert in
what he wants.
How would you feel you called me up, and said, "Sam, I need a program that is compatible with Apache's CGI interface, so I can use it on my website," and I turned around and said, "You're full of brown it. I'm building this thing to MY specifications, because CGI is bum-effing stupid." You'd probably take your money elsewhere. And, as a customer, you probably should. So, stop jumping to
conclusions, and I mean
-- they're SO outlandish, SO ...
that they defy explanation! Else, I will delete everything you write on the grounds of it being pure hyperbole. Either think things through, give
credible evidence
and not total heresay to support your claims, or just don't say anything at all. Really. --SamuelFalvo
I am using my head, but I feel you are looking at only half the picture - you've latched too heavily onto the compatibility issue. Customers want backwards compatibility regardless of whether the original interface is good or bad, but they also want a good, well-factored interface - the sort of thing you'd get if the system was designed by experts with a lot of experience and foresight, without all the confusing cruft or legacy quirks. While I have acknowledged that XP allows for keeping a stable interface, you have failed to acknowledge or even offer consideration to the
of that interface - i.e. you've been completely ignoring the heart of my skepticism. XP's use of
and DTSTTCPW is really good at creating simplistic and (in the long run) poorly-factored interfaces and getting them into production really fast. XP's use of unit tests is really good at keeping a poorly-factored interface very stable. XP's use of
to factor your poorly-factored interfaces into good interfaces is essentially
, hitting a rather massive wall in the form of backwards-compatibility requirements. And thus my skepticism: XP will produce a great deal more
that you need to carry from one version to another when given the same customer requirements than would more traditional methodologies - or at least this is what my reasoning, intuition, and bits of experience in the platform software field tell me. If you're not convinced by my reasoning, that's fine, but I'd appreciate you holding off on calling 'stupid' my reasoning before you've identified for me my fallacy or invalid assumptions.
Thank you for the clarification. However, we must agree to disagree completely. I can see how XP might lead to this, but, I wager that this would happen with
group of neophyte developers, regardless of design methodology. In fact, your above-mentioned concerns proved to be the driving factor behind the codification of extreme programming, as folks who use Waterfall model tended to produce such crufty software as you describe. How do you feel about ScrumMethod
and/or SpiralMethod
? --SamuelFalvo
I submit that the nature of XP suggests the issues I name are
of whether the people writing the code are neophytes or experts... because XP's tenets (
, DTSTTCPW) prevent application of this expertise. If you use foresight or experience beyond figuring out what
possibly work, you aren't adhering to XP - not as the methodology is proudly described on
. As far as "agreeing to disagree completely" - you're free to disagree, and I'm free to remain skeptical, but since you've never offered reasons for your strong objections I'm left feeling like I've stepped on some 'holy ground to never be questioned' by SamuelFalvo
and his church-of-XP. And I do not know ScrumMethod
or SpiralMethod
well enough to offer an opinion, and only recollect a vague distaste for Waterfall model (it's been too many years since I learned about it). By 'traditional' methodologies, I mean
: think-then-do, taking advantage of experience and foresight and a thorough education of failures seen in similar previous projects, seems to be better than XP for purposes of getting high quality platforms. It seems to me that ALL 'great' software platforms were created this way, be they programming languages (e.g. lisp), data models (e.g. relational model), concurrency models (e.g. actor model), programmable editors (e.g. emacs), shells (e.g. bash), etc.
I submit that XP delivers on its promises. I have first-hand experience working with XP. I also have first-hand experiences working with Scrum (in my current job, in fact, we use Scrum). Both deliver on their promises. No, they're not silver bullets, they do not replace the necessity for experience, but they
In fact,
replaces the need for experience. Nothing in XP says you don't ever think. Nothing. Quite the opposite -- when implementing a user-story, you basically go through a microscopic waterfall process -- break the story into engineering tasks, analyze the tasks for testability (output: unit tests), implement the core logic to make said unit tests pass, and finally perform integration testing via continous build/testing. The phases are all there. The
of the phases, however, are much smaller. Instead of thinking up
requirements for an
project, then analyzing the
body of requirements, then coding everything in one fell swoop,
testing it all, we do things piece by piece. You openly admit to having little experience with XP, Scrum, et. al. -- you're perfectly within your right to be skeptical of their claims. But, I have first-hand experience. I know what it can do. I don't need a church of XP. There is no blind faith here. --SamuelFalvo
"Nothing in XP says you don't ever think. Nothing." - DTSTTCPW says "don't think about more complex alternatives".
No it doesn't. It says you need to apply
towards achieving a goal.
Sure, but not towards achieving your
- plural. I.e. "don't think about solutions that will solve more than just the one problem you're myopically targeting at this very moment"
Dealing with
user-story at a time says "don't look at the big picture".
No it doesn't. It says you only
on one aspect of the project at a time. Remember you likely will have other codevelopers who are working on other user stories at the same time! Also, the XP system metaphor helps put things into context at a larger, more human, scale.
A bunch of individual codevelopers working on different user stories just means a bunch of myopic people not designing for the big picture.
Everyone has the big picture, courtesy of regular stand-up meetings (often daily, particularly in the Scrum process).
XP says "don't think in certain ways" which is, indeed, a way of saying "don't think".
Hmmm, not sure where this came from. I've never seen this in any XP manifesto, book, video, or conference. I think you're jumping to conclusions.
I think I'm jumping to the obvious and correct conclusions.
Where is your
hard evidence
to support your claims? Without that, the entire logical framework leading up to your "obvious" conclusions are wholesale without merit and legitimacy.
Don't be a hypocrite - I don't require "hard evidence" to support my skepticism, and
you OBVIOUSLY don't need it to support your beliefs
. There haven't been any rigorous tests to provide "hard evidence" for
of the software programming methodologies, including the ones you favor. Reasoning and experience have been and will need to remain sufficient for both of us. And I've provided my reasoning based on the underlying principles of XP. Where's yours? Am I arguing with someone who takes XP manifestos as gospel truth and only demands hard evidence when faced with a skeptic?
methodology says: "think this way", it's equivalent to saying, "and don't think in this contradictory way".
methodology says, "Think this way!" Let me repeat this, because it bears repeating:
methodology says, "Think this way!"
Otherwise, it wouldn't be a methodology!
XP just happens to prefer a certain sort of myopic, think about the now, never
What do you think we do during our stand-up and scrum meetings then? Play NintendoWii
while mocking our customers? As far as I am concerned, this conversation is utterly finished. You have yet to provide
one shred
of credible evidence to support your claims. You make wild and patently false generalizations about a process you
to knowing nothing about. If you wish to continue this discussion in any meaningful manner, get a job in an XP shop, gain a year or two experience, and
we can talk. I'm not trying to be rude here, just honest. Trust me, the more you continue on this tyrade against XP without hard evidence to back your claims, the more of an ignoramus you make yourself out to be. --SamuelFalvo
I've offered reasons for my opinion, and the most you've done to argue against it is rant and rave with
letters. I must say I'd respect reasoning quite a bit more.
The small granularity requires the later big refactorings - depends on it to clean up the design flaws that working on such a myopic scale produces.
alleviates this to a significant effect. Major refactorings are infrequent enough to justify their expense. It's the age-old application of the
. Contrast this with the BDUF approach you advocate, where you need
total rewrites
almost as often as you get paid, as that's about how often the customer's requirements change. I've had first-hand experience with this too. A dental application I was working on as one of my first programming assignments many moons ago -- the team I was part of had to rewrite the thing three times before a final delivery to the customer was made. Very frustrating.
I agree.
. It does exactly what it is advertised to do. But it also has certain requirements before you can do it - if it is blocked due to requirements to maintain backwards compatibility, you're pretty much hosed. The cause of my skepticism is that
blocked very commonly in the development of platform software - in particular at the interface layer. And I'd never recommend BDUF where
is cheaply available. Where it is impractical, OTOH, due to constraints on how you can change the project's interface or code-freezes or issues of code ownership, etc. - refactoring can be
more expensive than scrapping the project and starting again from scratch.
Maybe XP does "deliver on its promises" - but if that is the case, then I expect it must
be promising much about the final quality of platform software under constraints of backwards compatibility across iterations. I don't doubt your experience with XP, but I am feeling some doubt regarding your experience with XP as specifically applied towards the domain described by this page's topic -
, or even software platforms in general.
You mean, like the project I'm working on
? OK, we're not using XP as such, but we are using Scrum with a
-- the only thing needed to make this work fully XP would be the adoption of pair programming. --SamuelFalvo
As far as customer expertise: the customer can offer and prioritize
s, and come up with new stories and cases as you get things implemented, but rarely can specify an interface - that is (in my experience) most often part of
job, along with documenting the changes and teaching them how to 'do X' with the new interface - i.e. "user needs to do X; how do I modify the interface so the user can do X?". If they did do their own BDUF or grab a third-party standard and give you an exact interface, then that particular interface would be a requirement. But that situation is
general or even particularly common - not until multiple businesses start sitting down in committees to do some big design up front. And sure, if a customer wished to replace the Apache
platform, the need to obtain compatibility with Apache's CGI and related (e.g. '.httpd') support would constitute critical
s. However, if you're talking about writing up a CGI program
the Apache
, that wouldn't, in the general case, even qualify as a software platform product (since external customers aren't running code on top of most CGIs).
XP, as a methodology, counterbalances the deficiencies of
and DTSTTCPW by use of another of its tenets:
change, fix the interface when the need is apparent. Fundamentally, this has two assumptions: (a) the 'need' to fix things
become apparent to someone with the immediate power to make changes, and (b) you have the power to repair code that breaks after you start refactoring. Fundamentally, both of these assumptions are
by bazillion-user platform software: (a) is violated because you aren't the guy writing most of the code running atop your platform (and thus you can't readily see which patterns need to be refactored into the interface), and (b) is violated because you aren't a guy with write-access (or even read-access) to most of the code running on your platform. So you can't
AND (simultaneously) maintain platform stability, and you often can't even know
you should
. Though, as mentioned above, sufficiently representative use of
and using closeted beta-tests can help a lot.
It seems like we have a basic misunderstanding here. For a platform project, the definition of the interface is a requirement. It is therefore not a candidate for the development team to change or refactor any more than any other project's requirements. The customer specifies the interface, and the development team uses XP to implement the requirements.
It would seem to follow that the interface is designed up front and has a high cost of change. This might apply when implementing a third-party standard, but for other cases it doesn't seem very XP.
Interface design and high cost of change are a domain issue for platform software in much the same way that vacation policies are a domain issue in a payroll system. You wouldn't expect the XP developers to "refactor" vacation policies, and neither should you expect them to "refactor" your domain issues. The person in the role of the customer has to make decisions regarding domain issues and therefore has to be knowledgeable about the domain. In the case of platform software, this would mean deciding such issues as consistent interface design and interface evolution strategies. Regardless of methodology, unless the person in control of the requirements is a domain expert, you are doomed to create a crappy product.
I.e. BDUF is needed, and XP demands the customer do it, and further XP can't take much advantage of its 'agile' continuous feature improvements, putting
on cards, and receiving and rapid releases - if the collective customers change direction or repeatedly add extensions but demand backwards compatibility, they are doomed to a crappy product that forever reflects all these changes without possessing the refactoring to make it elegant and simple(at least not at the interface) - XP's
usually can eliminate the 'history' of a software product, but software platforms have the privilege of carrying it like baggage, forever. ExtremeProgrammingNotForSoftwarePlatforms
- at least not in the same way it is for GUI projects. But, if all the requirements really are known up front, by someone who knows when
, who can provide a complete vision or
, then there is no reason to expect XP to fail - but it still doesn't seem very XP.
I see XP only
(albeit not 'advocating') an already difficult problem in this case. Two of its core concepts (
, DTSTTCPW) just make things worse, and its critical balancing tenet -
- hits two brick walls in the domain of software platforms. All it really offers are those
s: the ones that help you guarantee your poorly factored interface remains just as poorly factored and quirky tomorrow as it is today. This is demonstrated logically, and I can assure you that it is entirely true in my own experience. How does SamuelFalvo
come to the belief that XP is 'mitigating' things here?
And it isn't just 'quirky interface', it's 'buggy consequences' for a 'correct' interface. E.g. consider a major vendor's web browser handling pixel placements - if stuff was off by, say, 7 pixels, then people start adding 7 pixels to reach their intended offset. And now you need to maintain this bug. You even put it into your acceptance tests. This is especially evil if the interface is specified by a standard somewhere. OTOH, if your goal is vendor lockin, you're well on your way to accomplishing that.
For XP, all of the preceding is up to the customer to decide what he wants to do, after the programming team provides estimates for the various stories. XP admits that the programmers don't know how to decide what the product should do, and leaves it to the customer to decide in any manner he sees fit. XP can still be used to implement whatever the customer decides should be implemented.
Do all XPers pretend there is always exactly one customer - 'the' customer? Should a new section be created that questions the value of XP for mass-market products?
The "one customer" for mass-marketed software is known either as the
or RequirementsAnalyst
, depending on how your organization is structured. --SamuelFalvo
Combine this with a simple deprecation strategy -- automatically warn developers (both yours and your customer's) when they use a deprecated interface -- and the project would likely evolve into a "clean core", a "clean interface", and a "quirky deprecated interface". At some point, it may become apparent that it's time to document the "clean interface", drop some or all of the "quirky deprecated interface", and announce version 2.0.
Deprecation often sounds neat in theory but (given any sufficiently large user-base) it rarely works in practice, mostly because blaming the users for not forcing you to fix your bugs doesn't often work in practice. About the only thing you can do is upgrade versions entirely and either (a) hope you won't need to change again for a long time, or (b) provide an explicit mechanism to extend your own interface and maintain versioning compatibility directly into the project/language/framework/etc.. The latter option is not the most simplistic thing possible, and certainly requires a little BDUF, but can be quite simple and very elegant - I've seen it in some C and C++ libraries/frameworks (
- e.g. asking for function-pointers by version-number and name), and I've seen it for various syntax systems (<?xml version="1.0"?>, syn, etc.), but even here the older interfaces remain 'baggage' that you can't eliminate and for which you probably ought maintain tests.
Of course. That's what I suggest in the first place.
There is also option (c) leave the deprecated interface items in place and tested for one major version cycle (in parallel to your new improved interface), and drop it after that (barring sufficient user requests to un-deprecate it). Ideally, you could warn / nag them about the use of deprecated interfaces on each compile / run. This seems to work fine for emacs.
That might work well enough if your platform is a compiler or a system that is already designed to emit 'warnings' to someplace useful, otherwise you've just moved your BDUF someplace else: to the error and warnings logging system.
Don't most, if not all, platforms already have some sort of error/warning system already in place? Because of the nature of platform software, it seems that some sort of error/warning system would be beneficial to the users in almost every case anyway. It sure seems like it would help the end user solve problems using the platform.
No, most platforms do not have error/warning systems in place. Compilers generally do, and sometimes operating systems do, and a few languages have dedicated error output streams. But 'platform' also covers such things as message protocol designs, arbitrary languages and file formats, library APIs, object interfaces, frameworks, etc. - generically, interfaces exposed to users-who-are-also-programmers for further integration. Sometimes libraries or frameworks can take advantage of a compiler, so long as they are built in the same language as the code using them, but you can't count on it. Data languages and network message protocols are mostly a bust. Plenty of programming languages are also a bust - many just do something undefined then, often, crash hard. One thing I've learned after building many platforms is that
error handling is a very difficult problem
in the generic case, especially if you wish to be discerning about
(developer of platform, developer on platform, user of stuff developed on platform) sees how much, and doubly so if you wish to continue operations elegantly after error. (For most classes of error I'd advocate the sort of continuation-based exception handling described in
, which happens to be the most powerful and generic approach to error handling that I've read about. But such things are
BDUF, even if all refactorings lead ultimately in that direction to the degree they are able.) A framework or language might build in the necessary features just to handle the special case of interface deprecation errors and warnings, but even then it needs a place to send these already built into the system.
You can document this stuff in API (or, if warrented, even in user) documentation too.
documentation, for years, gave warnings in their ROM Kernel reference manuals, to the effect of, "Use of undocumented features or things clearly marked as private are prone to changes in future releases of the OS, which can break your software. Resist the temptation to use them. But more importantly, do not blame us for incompatibilities with future OS releases if you do." Well, take a guess what happened when CommodoreAmiga
released AmigaOS 2.0? Some 80% or more of the software for the platform crashed hard, because nobody took Commodore seriously. Nobody got bent out of shape over this though -- within months, new, 2.0-specific versions of said software were on the market, and people upgraded in droves. Fortunately, afterwards, most vendors learned their lesson, and subsequent OS updates were substantially more smooth. --SamuelFalvo
Seeking a 'good enough' refactored interface by use of throwing old ones away gets you to a decent position after a few or several versions (depending on the complexity of the product). However, the need to avoid breaking things never quite goes away - it always remains a constraint forcing you to take great care at the edges of your project whenever you feel the urge to
. That makes it rather difficult to be 'merciless'.
Thus, the suggestion to add automated tests --
Such tests will let you know when you break something, but they're actually there to prevent you from refactoring interface - mercilessly or otherwise.
Agreed. From the customer's point of view, they prevent the developers from refactoring the interface. From the developer's point of view, they are there to help ensure meeting your requirement [of not changing the interface].
Claims by someone:
If you broke the code, then you aren't refactoring. You are changing functionality.
Refactoring almost always breaks code. It then fixes that broken code back to the same functionality, but the code is almost invariably broken between the moments of initiating a refactoring and completing the same - even typing a few characters into a code-editor usually breaks that segment of code until you finish typing a complete statement. Refactoring is not an instantaneous process that goes from one working system to another working system with the same functionality. Since code is broken during the duration of refactoring, you cannot use a state of broken code to say that you 'aren't [in the process of] refactoring', or that you therefore must be '[in the process of] changing functionality'.
Note: if you are changing the interface, then you are changing the functionality of the platform, and this is by definition not refactoring
The goal of changing an interface is often to make it easier to use, not to change functionality of the platform. If the set of activities you can effect through use of the interface remains the same, then the functionality has not changed.
It should be known that
is a
for "a bunch of stuff" like.. everything, and everything. The term is so overloaded it doesn't have any meaning any more. This page should rather be called ExtremeProgrammingSucks
or ExtremeProgrammingDiscussion
or ExtremeProgrammingDebate
Ah, it is Mr.
has a specific meaning as I use it here: a software platform product is one intended for other users to interface with via construction of code that interfaces with the platform. The key word there is the 'other' in the 'other people' - as in, the platform itself is what you are selling. And GUIs don't count because, while they are interfaces, they aren't platforms for software. However, language standards and implementations do count - e.g. C language is a software platform; indeed, they might qualify as the 'pure' example since that's the
thing they do: accept code to run. But such things as frameworks (like Java Swing or MFC or readline) are also prototypical. Extensible and plugin systems like Mozilla Firefox and GIMP aren't quite as prototypical because they offer considerable initial user functionality, but they
qualify - at least for the interface they expose for these plugins and extensions.
C language is not a platform - it is a language. An implementation of the C language such as a compiler, interpreter - might vaguely be described as a platform. Hence my argument that anything can be bent into being described as a platform. A girl, and a guy - are platforms to have sexual intercourse with. Sigh.
The basic consequence of software platforms is that their interfaces are basically impossible to refactor while keeping the software-platform customers happy (because a programmer whose code breaks is a very angry customer). You can add to the interfaces monotonically, but you can't perform any reductions or transformations. And adding to an interface is not at all the same as refactoring.
And as far as your page suggestions go: I'd have chosen 'ExtremeProgrammingNotForSoftwarePlatforms
'. I've used XPs tenets in other places, though, and must admit to some satisfaction with them. But, now that I think about it, it seems likely that ExtremeProgrammingNotForSoftwarePlatforms
is just a specific case of XP not really being for negatively stated constraints in general. I.e. "must never take more than N milliseconds to accomplish task X", "must never allocate memory from the free store after loading", "must never give my personal information to an unauthorized person",... "must not violate backwards compatibility" - backwards compatibility is, itself, a
Eclipse IDE is a platform, Mozilla is a platform, this wiki is a platform, Win32 is a platform, Ebay is a buyer/seller platform, C2 is a discussion and article platform, etc.
True. And you can't just muck around with certain parts of Eclipse or Mozilla or Win32 without breaking a lot of other people's code. But this wiki is not a
platform product - all the code (pages) on the wiki are owned by the wiki, and transformations are easily possible.
You can't muck around with C2 software because the C2 platform serves people who will be ticked off if the C2 platform changes. If the syntax changes everyone will be up in a scurry trying to figure out why the C2 platform changed. If the C2 platform no longer produces HTML and only produces YAML or some other format, it will tick off many people and browser software. If the C2 software platform only allows certain people to edit the data then it will tick many people off. If the C2 software platform is updated to be better or worse, it may cause issues for browsers, people, software.
Since this wiki (c2) was written bottom up with extreme programming ideas in mind (bottom up content, do the simplest thing, etc) and since this wiki is a platform for lots of people... and since everything else including Emacs,
, and Internet Explorer are platforms - I call the day. I call
That's an invalid argument - premature generalization and assuming the antecedent. I wonder if there's a penalty for calling bingo without actually having it.
Your claims seem to be Extreme Programming cannot create platforms well... C2 wiki is a platform and it works. So extreme programming can work for creating platforms. Anyway, I'm no huge fan of extreme programming, but since this wiki was written by extreme programmers I have to have some respect.
C2 is not a software platform product. Your argument that "everything" is a platform for software is fallacious.
Your argument that C2 is not a software platform is fallacious. C2 is a platform for tens, hundreds, or thousands of people and software browsers/editors to connect to and utilize.
Which is, of course, entirely irrelevant. People aren't writing software to run on C2, therefore C2 is not a software platform.
is a software platform.
is a software platform. C2 is not. Platform for people != Platform for software.
HTML is not a software platform. HTML is a markup notation.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive. A great deal of software is built atop HTML and depends very heavily on its structure. It's part of the reason that HTML can't change very rapidly to meet user demands.
C2 is a platform for software (browsers, thin clients, editors) to connect to - people happen to use browsers to connect to C2 wiki, but the C2 wiki platform talks with browser software and operating systems. C2 is also a platform for google and robots to connect to.
Netscape plugin systems and Gecko extensibility and its own personal brand of Javascript are what make Mozilla Firefox a software platform - not the GUI. Operating system APIs are a software platform too, though the user-interface is not.
Browser software connects to the C2 platform daily. C2 software is a surface and platform that serves people and other software (robots) text and data daily. C2 wiki is a surface and platform that can support hundreds of users running browser software. C2 platform has common platform rules and tools in the platform (such as syntax for wiki articles, find tools, url API, "diff" toolset, steward tools). A C2 wiki contains a framework, platform, base, in which humans reuse daily. Many web applications are platforms since they have a URL api and a common surface which people and software can connect to. Ebay can be considered a buyer and seller platform for people and software. C2 can be considered an article, discussion, and publishing software platform that runs in a web browser for web users and software. Platform platform platform. Ebay is a software platform that people can connect programs to. Every website could be described as a platform - with some being bigger platforms than others. An operating system could even be described as a people platform more so than a software platform - since mostly an operating system serves people. A CPU could be described as a platform which software runs. A browser could be described as a TCP/IP platform. Platform Platform Platform. Whatever a platform is.
XP can be very confusing when writing platform software if you're not careful. Let's take the specific example of an API. If you're using XP to write an API, then:
Your onsite customer needs to be an experienced developer, the sort of person who can tell a good API from a bad one.
Said customer is
a member of your dev team. They are the customer, after all. Don't let them program the backing code.
On the other hand, the customer in this case will be very valuable because they can speak the dev team's language (perhaps even writing the API as a set of well-commented interfaces). They will also be able to write
as unit testing code. Again, don't confuse the
as the unit tests.
The API that the customer defines
the set of user stories. The dev team is not allowed to change them. If the situation permits, configure your source control so that members of the dev team have no write permissions to the API itself.
The deliverables are APIs that work as the customer defined them.
There are two sorts of "bugs".
One is when calling the API produces a result other than what the customer wrote down. This is the same sort of bug handled by dev teams of every stripe. If one of these gets released, the customer needs to decide to ask the team to fix the bug (possibly breaking clients) or make that a documented and tested "feature" of the API
the other is when the API itself has a problem, is ambiguous, or has problems that make it hard to sell (think of the C
call--it's not broken due to a bad implementation, it's broken by specification). XP doesn't have an answer to this. XP
repeatedly, thematically, and militantly
disclaims responsibility for customer decisions. It gives the customer what they ask for, and hopes to give the customer what they want by making it easy for the customer to change his mind repeatedly. If the onsite customer (read: domain expert) wants something that won't make the company money, that's a business problem rather than a development problem.
It's less confusing when writing something like a financial package or a fluid dynamics simulator, because it's obvious that the CPA or areonautical engineer
the developers. Here, where the customer has similar skills, the temptation is to have the customer
a developer.
View edit of
December 11, 2012
with title or text search


text:
|Welcome to the MANGA Forum.
|You will have to register before you can post: log in or sign up at the top of the page to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
anyone else love these two groups??ruki, reita and aoi are freakin awesome><have any shows decided to use one of their songs as an openng??saku-dir en greyfilth in the beauty-the gazetteburial applicant-the gazettethose are some of my favswhat about u?? u have a fave jrock band????
Dir en Grey is my favorite band too!!!!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Liam or Luna as she perfures to be called is at a tough spot. between being true to herself or being what he was born as. Liam is transgender.
this book is amazing and uplifting. i couldn't put it down
About the Library |
Hours & Locations |
Contact Us |
Volunteer |
Employment |
Wireless Printing |
Site Map | Mobile Catalog
Monroe County Public Library | 303 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington, IN 47408 | (812) 349-3050


text:
Category Archives: Halloween
One Punch Reviews #86: Girls of Monster Paradise
Welcome, boys and ghouls, to another frighteningly fun edition of the Deadcomic Overlook … um, Hotel! Ha ha ha ha ha! This is your ever fiendish host, El Satan, bringing you another chilling review of …
Is it November already?
Well, pilgrim, get ready to feast on another review. This time we'll be looking at a little giblet of a comic called Girls of Monster Paradise by Stephanie Gladden. Will this webcomic leave you feeling thankful, or will it be turkey terrible?
Know Thy History: Tales From The Crypt
Greetings, boils and ghouls! Imagine you lived in a day with no iPads, no smartphones, and no internet. Chilling, isn't it? But dig back further. Imagine a day where not everyone had a television… and those who did had only three channels! Positively ghastly! How would a young man or woman like you spend the day? I'd imagine that most days would be … deadly boring.
But for some people, there were comic books. Bright four-color magazines stacked at your local five-and-dime. Surely, this was harmless fun! Perhaps you'd read about a man zooming about the clouds! Or stories of little children getting into troublesome shenanigans! Maybe there was a story about an elderly duck who goes on globe-trotting adventures! There was a lot of fun in comics. Little do you know that your innocence is about to be be murdered.
You find another comic. One whose cover is full of lurid imagery and a bold, drippy title. You open the book. Before you know it, you're introduced to a dark, demented world of wickedness and gore. Yur mind becomes filled with violent and seductive thoughts. Wicked, murderous thoughts flow through your veins. Oh, and what is that ad for in one of those paiges? Is that an air rifle? It would be a bloody shame if you decided to take things too far….
That's the line of thought that pervaded the Seduction of the Innocent, Fredric Wertham's infamous book critiquing the gruesome images in several crime/horror titles, especially those published by EC Comics. Among those titles was one whose reputation would eventually outlast the Comics Code: a titled called Tales From The Crypt.


text:
UFC President Dana White announced at a press conference on Thursday that the winner of the UFC on Fox 11 main event showdown between Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne will fight heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez in Mexico, barring any unforeseen complications.
Fox Sports' Damon Martin tweeted the news Thursday afternoon during the conference:
Dana confirms if @cainmma is healthy he will defend his title against either Browne or Werdum in Mexico #UFC— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) April 17, 2014
Velasquez was already scheduled to face Werdum in Mexico some time in 2014, but after the champ underwent surgery for a torn labrum on his left shoulder, the UFC halted expansion efforts to Mexico, and the fight was delayed.
After realizing that Velasquez needed a considerable amount of time to recover, the promotion booked Werdum vs. Browne in the meantime at UFC on Fox 11 on April 19. The winner of this fight was expected to receive a title shot at the time of announcement.
At the press conference, we learned that this is indeed the case, and the title fight will take place in Mexico, where Velasquez will undoubtedly enjoy a strong home-field advantage.
While this news is not exactly shocking, it does add some intrigue to the UFC on Fox 11 main event.
Since Werdum and Browne are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the UFC heavyweight division, most fans and critics expected a title shot to follow for the winner.
For his part, Browne pieced together a three-fight winning streak in 2013—all via knockout and all against solid opposition in Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett.
Werdum, meanwhile, has fought just three times since February 2012 with his most recent fight coming against Antonio Rodgrio Nogueira in June 2013.
During that stretch, Werdum posted a 3-0 record with a TKO victory over Mike Russow, a decision victory over Roy Nelson and a submission via armbar victory over Nogueira.
Browne has been the more active of the two recently, and he has also posted the more impressive victories, in my opinion.
I believe Werdum can beat Browne, and not by some fluke. Tempted to pick him. But Browne's size, speed and athleticism will be too much.— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) April 17, 2014
That said, Werdum's muay thai is ever-improving, and his Brazilian jiu-jitsu game is arguably the best in the weight class, making him a considerable threat anywhere the fight goes.
Who do you see taking the fight and meeting Velasquez in Mexico? Will it be Werdum or Browne?


text:
Opposition filmmaker Rasulov also sentenced
TEHRAN, Iran — -Iran has sentenced two prominent opposition filmmakers to six years in jail, each on vague charges of working against the ruling system, their lawyers said Monday.
One of the two, filmmaker and opposition supporter Jafar Panahi, has won awards at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. Several of his films have been banned in Iran.
He has also been banned from shooting films or scriptwriting for 20 years, said his lawyer, Farideh Qeirat, who added that she will appeal the unusually heavy sentence.
"Panahi has been sentenced to six years in jail on charges of conspiring against the (ruling) system and is denied his professional rights including shooting films and scriptwriting," the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Qeirat as saying.
"He has also been barred from leaving the country for 20 years and from doing any interviews with domestic or foreign media during this period," she added.
Berlin Film Festival director Dieter Kosslick had invited Panahi to join the 2011 competition jury in February.
He was among industryites including Robert Redford, Steven Spielberg, Michael Moore and Oliver Stone, who expressed outrage over Panahi's arrest on March 1.
In May the Cannes fest drew further attention to Panahi's plight, who was then on hunger strike in jail, by inviting him to sit on its jury. He was freed on bail later that month.
Mohammad Rasulov, another opposition filmmaker, received a six-year jail term, said his lawyer, Iman Mirzazadeh. Mirzazadeh said he will also appeal the sentence.
Both supported the opposition in Iran's disputed presidential election last June. Reformists say opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was the rightful winner and that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won through vote fraud.
— Staff and wire services


text:
By FuzzyCube Software, LLC
Open iTunes to buy and download apps.
*** iQuarterback is now FREE *** Woohoo!!
Checkout the Facebook page for more details on iQuarterback 2 for iPad.
What kind of Quarterback are you? Choose to compete at the College level, as a Pro, or as an All Star. Control the flight of the football using only one finger. Each target races across the field at a different distance, speed, and angle, providing unlimited gameplay. How many Bullseyes can you hit?
•3 Difficulty levels to challenge you.
•Practice mode to build up your skills before you compete online.
•Easy to use controls.
•Fast-paced action as you race against the clock in 1 minute rounds.
•Play in a football stadium atmosphere.
•Compete with your friends in Career Stats for accuracy, total points and best round score.
•Compete online to become the top Quarterback of all time.
What's New in Version 2.0
- Shoot Out Mode
- Achievements
- OpenFeint 2.2 Integration
iPhone Screenshots
Customer Reviews
Still addicted!
But have to change my rating, this was one of my first apps. Been playing for over a year now but since playing other games, I feel the need to change my rating. Changing this rating because I was just playing the game of my life. Hit 7 straight bullseyes then bang. Take my finger off to throw and what happens?? You know because I'm sure its happened to you. The ball doesn't throw. This happens once every 5 or 7 games I play. That and the jumping around. What's with that?!?! That happens almost every time I play. I assumed it was only me. So I re downloaded it a few times. Everytime. Same glich. This has to be fixed! I know it's not me, I've read some of the same glichs in other reviews. Fix these and with ur already new updates and ull be bak to a 5star rating. Until then, 3 stars. Peace
I had to do a complete restore of my ipod touch after launching this cr-app. The game hung on the Iquarterback splash screen and was completely frozen. I did a hard shutdown of the ipod and it would not restart after holding down the top button. It just stayed on the apple logo screen until i did another restart. This was the only app that crashed my ipod forcing me to completely restore it.
Before the crash, if the game ever was able to start, the framerates skip considerably when starting a new round. After the first skip-filled throw, the skipping stops.
The shootout mode is a nice new feature. More challenging and risks dropping your lifetime completion percentage.
The app was better before the update. It used to play smoother and start up fine every time. Oh well.
FIX THIS!!!! What are you knuckleheads waiting for?????
The game itself is fun... but there are so many glitches it is currently worthless. I don't know if "fuzzy cube software" is out of business or what but this game desperately needs an upgrade. The game rarely opens in one try, and once it does open, the first game is usually okay, any addition plays have dozens of 1/2- 3 second freezes and it's simply not worth your time.
Until you see people's reviews stating the problem is fixed... DO NOT BUY!!!
- Free
- Category: Games
- Updated: Nov 06, 2009
- Version: 2.0
- Size: 14.2 MB
- Language: English
- Seller: FuzzyCube Software, LLC
- © FuzzyCube Software, LLC
Compatibility: Requires iOS 2.2.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.


text:
Reward update
Well our school year is almost over, there are only 10 mores days left! But work on our program is not over! This week the Elementary Lego Robotics team we... Read more
Long Beach Regional wrap up
We survived! It was a long, tiring, fun-filled three days. We won some matches, lost a few, made some new friends, and won an award!
During the seeding matches at... Read more
FIRST Robotics Long Beach Regional Competition Invite
The FIRST Robotics Long Beach Regional Competition is fast approaching.
We hope you will be able to come out, meet us, and watch us in some matches.
The location and... Read more
Showing off!
This last weekend we were guests at South Pasadena Middle School's "Destination ImagiNation event".
Several local home inventors also attended but I think the kids all loved Reptar best, our... Read more
Midnight party!
At 11:58 PM local time on Feb. 21 we packed away the robot! The deadline was met with 2 minutes to spare!
We did get some late night driving practice... Read more
Final Build Day
Well, we are out of time! The robot will be put in its shipping bag tonight and we will not have access to it until we arrive at the Long... Read more
Busy week!
The last five or so days have been very busy. The wiring continued, our frame came back from Pyramid Powder Coating, we hosted our sponsor dinner, our submissions were sent... Read more
Friday night!
Its Friday night, our friends are out having a good time, going to parties, planning outfits for the prom. We are in the engineering lab at school getting work done.... Read more
Week 4
We had another busy week. The chassis got welded, our first parts came back from anodizing, work continued on the final design of the 'Super Structure', we had some very... Read more
Build Season: Week 3 Update
Hey Kick'sters,
It's week three in the engineering lab and we're also at the halfway point of the build season. Things are really coming along so far and the team... Read more
Week 2
We are nearing the end of week 2 already! Only a little more than 4 weeks before we must have the robot completed! Designs are proceeding, prototyping is being done... Read more
End of day 1
We are nearing the end of our first day, but have a rolling prototype chassis already! There are lots of discussions going on still, 6 wheels or 8 wheels? Crab... Read more
Kickoff Day: Rebound Rumble!
Our team woke up bright and early today to catch the official kickoff of the FIRST Robotics Competition. This year, we are competing in a basketball game called Rebound Rumble... Read more
Lab Update!
Mr. Black, our mentor, spent his holiday vacation refurbishing some of the new tools we got donated from another school. The "before and after" pictures of the lathe are amazing.... Read more
Goal reached, but we are not done yet!
Last night we reached our $2500 goal for Kickstarter! This is great news; we will now recieve the funds pledged and our supporters will recieve their rewards. Thanks to all... Read more
Happy Holidays from Team 696!
Team 696 wishes all of our Kickstarter supporters Happy Holidays!
We are halfway through our 30 day Kickstarter fundraiser project and are already at 80% of our goal! Thank you... Read more
Lab Work Saturday Jan. 17, 2011
We took a few pics from our meeting on Saturday, January 17. We are still preparing our new space for the start of the season, and training several new members.... Read more
Thank you!
Hey Kick'sters,
First off, we want to thank you for funding our Kickstarter campaign and we're incredibly grateful for your support! It's Saturday morning and already, the team is here... Read more


text:
JERSEY SHORE - It was cold and rainy outside on March 31, but inside the truck bay at Independent Hose Co. about 180 children and their families were catching rainbow trout during the fire company's annual Indoor Fishing Derby.
The yearly fundraising event has become popular in the borough.
"A lot of people are beginning to look forward to it. It is a nice day with the family," Independent Hose Co. Fire Chief Bob Sheets said. "It gets our name out there and the community gets to see us and we get to see them. It is good public relations."
Every so often, a scream of excitement was heard as a young child hooked one of the rainbows stocked into three makeshift ponds in the bay. Members of the fire company manned fishing nets, scooping up the trout as they jumped and wiggled in the water to try to set themselves free.
Kelsey Hull, 8, of Jersey Shore, was fishing with her dad, Dan Hull. She was decked out in her fashionable fishing attire - camo boots, gray hoodie, a fishing vest over top and a white Bass Pro Shops ball cap on her head and a matching T-shirt under her hoodie.
"Well, Mom doesn't like to come - it's just not her thing - but me and dad have a good time, so we like it," she said. "Every year, I at least catch a fish."
This year, she landed four trout ranging from 11 inches to 14 1/4 inches.
The derby is one of many fundraisers the fire company holds to help with the yearly costs of maintaining an all-volunteer department. Even the derby was staffed by volunteers.
Conner Rhinehart, 7, caught a 15 1/2-inch trout. His mother, MariBeth Rhinehart, of Jersey Shore, said she enjoys the family fun.
"It means a lot because it's not only for the kids to have fun, but it's also helping out our local fire department," Rhinehart said.
Cory Wagner's son, C.J., 3, also of Jersey Shore, caught his first fish at the derby.
"I just come out to have a good time and bring my son out to catch some fish," Cory said.
The fishing ended at 4 p.m. with the overall largest fish award going to 9-year-old Jace Heverly, of Mill Hall. His fish measured 17 7/8 inches.
The other winners were two first-place awards given to Abby Chiglinsky and Mykaleigh Funk; two second-place winners, Cameron Quick and Caleb Haddix; and two third-place winners, Hunter McAlister and Mckayla Tomb.


text:
Indians at Reds: Twitter updates and game preview
cleveland.com By
Follow on Twitter
on June 14, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Follow on Twitter
on June 14, 2012 at 12:00 PM
The Tribe look to avoid a sweep this afternoon in Cincinnati against the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35 p.m. Get game updates on Twitter from Dennis Manoloff @dmansworldpd or click here for a live game box score. You can also download our Cleveland Indians app for Android to get Tribe updates on your mobile device. Read on for a game preview. Note: Hit reload for latest Tweets


text:
Much like their namesake, J.R.R. Tolkien's Tom Bombadil, the members of North Carolina folk band Bombadil continue to bounce back from challenges and embrace new adventures. Bombadil is a group of singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 2 at Bullfrog Brewery, 231 W. Fourth St.
The group is comprised of Stuart Robinson (piano), Daniel Michalak (guitar) and James Phillips (drums), as well as Bryan Rahija (guitar), who records but does not tour with the band.
The band has overcome multiple obstacles - including Michalak's inability to play guitar due to severe tendinitis and a band breakup in 2009 - only to reunite and create 2011's "All That The Rain Promises," the band's first self-recorded album. Now touring to promote their latest album, "The Metrics of Affection," Bombadil's members have become wiser with experience but continue to maintain a positive outlook - an attitude which is reflected in the album's wide range of song topics and moods.
Article Photos
Folk-pop band Bombadil will perform in Williamsport Nov. 2. Pictured from left are Stuart Robinson, Daniel Michalak and James Phillips.
"We've started working on our next record, but we haven't had a lot off time off the road to focus on it," said Phillips, the band's drummer, in a phone interview with the Sun-Gazette. Bombadil has made the most of its fall tour, making sure to check out the best landmarks at every stop.
"[During] this tour we went to the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory," Phillips said. "We were in Wisconsin for four days ... It was the perfect time of year before it got cold. We saw the state capitol and ate cheese curd every day."
Bombadil's members also made a point to visit the 40-foot inflatable duck on display in Pittsburgh.
The band's tour features songs from its latest album, which gave the four musicians a chance to show off their different skills and try some new things. While each member of the band has a main role, all four members consider themselves multi-instrumentalists.
Phillips said of the new album, "It was the first time we used drum machines, it was the first time we used a synethesizer, the first time Daniel rapped on a record." In addition, Rahija recorded a cello part for the first time and Robinson tried his hand at recording pitched wine glasses.
The album also gave Phillips the opportunity to use his mixing skills, which makes home recording a very different experience from studio recording.
"It's very different for me because I do the recording," he said. While before he would record the drums for each song and then "hang around the studio" for the rest of the day," he said, "now I'm pressing buttons and turning knobs the whole time."
The album also makes use of a variety of musical and lyrical styles, ranging from the bouncy "Angeline" and whimsical "When We Are Both Cats" to the musically austere and self-referencing "Boring Country Song," and the sincere, probing piano ballad "What Does It Mean."
With each member of the quartet lending vocals to various songs, the album is able to expertly handle multiple styles - each member of Bombadil seems to work well with a different genre, but the songs still make a cohesive unit when put together.
The continued variety also applies to Bombadil's schedule. The band was able to perform with a number of other groups this fall, including Dr. Dog and David Wax Museum. "We're on tour for most of October and November and will be for a few days in December," Phillips said. "We have a collaborative show that we're working on this winter with ... Torry Bend," an assistant professor at Duke University who works in set design and puppetry and whose work includes stop motion shorts. Phillips said the collaboration, planned for late January, is "a show that will tell a story using our songs."
In addition to his work with Bombadil, Phillips has a solo project under the moniker Sumner James.
"I am planning on doing another solo record. I've started slowly working on that," he said, adding that there are "no other solo plans from Bombadil (members) at the moment."
The Nov. 2 show will be a return to the Bullfrog Brewery for a band that has performed there three times, including February's Mardi Gras celebration this year. The tour will then take the band to New Hope.
While Bombadil's past problems may have fans nervous about the future ("We plan to keep going, keep being here, until we are not," the band website's "About" section states vaguely), the band also welcomes fans and music lovers to join in the fun when the opportunity arises: "We are trying to create memories for ourselves and others," the site says.
For more information or to join the band's mailing list, visit the band's website, bombadil.squarespace.com, or find them on Facebook.


text:
The Silver Glitter Luminescent Moon will add sparkle and shine to your event. The sparkling silver glitter fabric covers the 8 feet high x 7 feet 2 inches wide x 18 inches deep metal framed crescent moon. Easy assembly.
Please allow ample time for delivery. Our ship date for this product is noted in your shopping cart. Many items are shipped separately, so please allow extra time for these items to arrive. Shipping charges are based on the value of the merchandise and not the number of shipments. For additional shipping information, contact our Customer Service Department at (email@example.com or 1-800-227-2789).
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®by PowerReviews
Best Uses
Reviewed by 4 customers
Sort by
Best Uses
Very nice looking.
Best Uses
This was used for homecoming decor and made a big impact in our schools large gymnasium. The size is great and it was fairly easy to put together.
Best Uses
The Crecsent Moon was a decoration for my daughter's 15th birthday. It added alot of dazzle for her Star themed night. Set up time was not that bad.
As with most of these kits, the directions were impossible to understand, BUT it was fairly easy to figure out and put together.
Do you have questions about this product?
Get answers from real customers and in-house experts with AnswerBox.
Q:Can a single person sit on the moon. What is the base made of? Do you have a picture of it without the cover?
1 answer
A:It is not recommended to have anyone sit on the moon. The moon is metal framed, however we cannot guarantee the structural integrity if someone tries to sit on it. We do not have a photo of the moon without the cover since it is only sold with the stretch fabric cover.
Q:Is it possible to cut this moon down at all? We are working with 8 ft. ceilings, and I'm afraid this won't fit. We would put gossamer around the bottom anyway, so it wouldn't be obvious that we cut it.
1 answer
A:No. There is no way to "cut it down" The sparkling silver glitter fabric must fit exactly over the moon and we do not make custom sizes.


text:
It is important to us that you feel that you can be
in control of your gift in so much as you can choose to give
your hard-earned dollars to a specific service line that means something
to you. Whether you have a particular fund in mind, or want
Lankenau to use your gift for its highest priority needs, we are here to
find something that fits you.
Below are a selection of funds which have benefited in the past
from your charitable donations, and an explanation of the suggested
Lankenau funds listed on the 2013 Employee Giving election forms:
Through her personal, direct charitable donations – and, indirectly,
through the process improvement initiatives she has inspired – Lankenau
patients now have more comfortable mattresses for beds and regularly
replaced new pillows. This inspirational donor then continued her
quest to improve the experience – in particular, privacy – for
Lankenau's patients. Another generous contribution enabled the purchase
of designer bathrobes for our inpatients to use during their stay that
provided warmth and privacy previously not afforded by traditional
hospital gowns alone. Most recently, a contribution from this anonymous
benefactor was used to purchase a blanket warmer for our "tuck in at
night" program, and new recliners where they were most needed.
The Patient Experience Fund was established with the gifts from this
anonymous donor. Contributions to the fund help to make Lankenau a more
comfortable place to heal by making small changes which have a huge
the paper form
in payroll deduction online
Contact us
Main Line Health
Copyright 2011 Main Line Health
Printed from:
The information provided in this Web site is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice. All medical information presented should be discussed with your healthcare professional. See additional Terms of Use at www.mainlinehealth.org/terms.
For more information, call 1.866.CALL.MLH.


text:
Star Tracks: Monday, May 16, 2016 42 years, 2,191 covers and 55,436 stories from PEOPLE magazine's history for you to enjoy
Latest News!
- WATCH: Ryan Lochte Says It 'Brings Tears to My Eyes' Knowing His 'Adorable' Grandmother Is Watching Dancing with the Stars
- Read the Cover Story: Brad & Angelina Split After 12 Years: It's Over
- Courteney Cox Defends Jennifer Aniston Amid Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Divorce: 'It's Not About Her'
- Men Charged in 'Grisly' Triple Homicide Knew Victims' Daughter as 'Furries,' Friends Say
- Drew Barrymore Joins Ex Father-In-Law Arie Kopelman at Event, Calls Him the 'Ultimate Grandparent'
People Top 5
LAST UPDATE: Tuesday February 10, 2015 01:10PM EST
PEOPLE Top 5 are the most-viewed stories on the site over the past three days, updated every 60 minutes
- March 12, 2007
- Vol. 67
- No. 10
Would-be dads Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead may unite to raise Anna Nicole Smith's baby
Could Dannielynn end up with two daddies? Although Howard K. Stern continues to publicly insist he is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's 6-month-old daughter, he may be considering a compromise with photographer Larry Birkhead, who also claims paternity. "They really, truly want what's best for Dannielynn Hope, and what's best is that she's with her biological father," says Stern pal and TrimSpa CEO Alex Goen. The twist they've discussed? "That she have a nonbiological father figure in her life who would also have the opportunity to love her." But a court would have to approve their arrangement. Additionally, a full-scale cease-fire between the two seems unlikely, as Birkhead continues to press his case in court. So does, for that matter, Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, who filed her own petition in the Bahamas for custody of Dannielynn. (A judge there let Stern keep the child but set March 16 to hear Arthur's argument.) She has also challenged last week's Florida ruling which cleared the way for Smith, who died on Feb. 8, to finally be laid to rest in the Bahamas; that hearing, in which Arthur seeks the right to bury her daughter in Texas, is scheduled for Feb. 28.
The only true moment of peace last week? On Feb. 21 Smith's body—in a silver sequined dress—was placed in an open casket at the Broward County, Fla., medical examiner's office. One by one, Stern, Birkhead and Arthur said their goodbyes. Said medical examiner Joshua Perper, who helped arrange the viewing: "It made this difficult experience a little easier."
Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson's courtship is amping up Down Under, where sweet PDAs are slowly lifting the veil on the once camera-shy couple. "They're in a relationship," says a friend of both. "They're in a happy place." That much seemed certain on Feb. 21, when Hudson, 27—who split from husband of nearly six years Chris Robinson last August—gave Wilson, 38, a playful pat on the backside as they strolled to Santos Health Foods in Byron Bay. ("They're both really healthy people," says the friend. "They eat well and love being outside.") Love was also in the air on the set of Hudson's Fool's Gold Feb. 22, when they shared jokes and kisses poolside between takes. "They're having fun," says the pal. "And they really care for each other."
While the Hollywood community partied on Oscar night, Angelina Jolie was noticeably absent. Was she cuddling with Brad Pitt at home in New Orleans, bowl of popcorn at the ready? Nope: On Feb. 25 the actress, 31, landed in the African nation of Chad, where she's visiting refugee camps near the Sudanese border. (Jolie was not allowed into Sudan's war-torn Darfur region because of the violence.) "The goal of Angelina's visit is to urge governments to more forcefully intervene," says Trevor Neilson, her political adviser. "The situation is much worse than the last time she was there." Meanwhile, Jolie's profile in the world of international diplomacy continues to rise. Members of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations recently approved Jolie's nomination to join the think tank that includes Condoleezza Rice and Henry Kissinger. Says Neilson: "Few people are more committed to these issues than she is."
Desperate? Not quite. But for Marcia Cross, who gave birth to twins Feb. 20 after more than a month of doctor-ordered bed rest, the newcomers arrived just in time. Says a friend: "By the end, she was definitely tired of being in bed!" And eager to welcome daughters Savannah and Eden, the first children for the Desperate Housewives star, 44, and her stockbroker husband of eight months, Tom Mahoney, 49. "The family is home, and it's all mellow and happy there," says the pal. Cross—who filmed scenes from her bedroom while pregnant—plans to return to her dysfunctional family on Wisteria Lane for the show's finale. For now she's content to revel in maternal bliss. And, fortunately, she's not using Bree, her überuptight character, as a role model. "She'll be an easygoing mom," Housewives costar Brenda Strong tells Scoop. "I don't see her stressing at all."
Is Usher off the market?
The answer, it seems, is a resounding "Yeah." At the Feb. 19 NAACP Theatre Awards in Beverly Hills, the R&B superstar, 28, picked up the spirit award—then, in his acceptance speech, referred to stylist girlfriend Tameka Foster as his fiancée (she was also sporting a sizable diamond at the event). Usher's rep had no comment, but a close source confirms the betrothal.
Another celeb run-in with the law? Not this time. At the Amsterdam premiere of Hugh Grant's romantic comedy Music and Lyrics on Feb. 23, prankster Cielke Sijben coaxed Grant over for a photo op, then handcuffed herself to the star as part of a stunt for a Dutch Web site. Cops severed the chain after 10 minutes, but Sijben could still face criminal charges. Grant, for his part, stayed calm and continued signing autographs, though he did tell the woman, "I am trying to be with my fans, and you are pissing me off." Still, Sijben considers herself lucky. "He's a charming guy," she tells Scoop. "What woman doesn't want to be handcuffed to Hugh Grant?"
Unlike his fellow Dancing with the Stars contestants, speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno put paso doble practice on hold last weekend. With good reason: The five-time Olympic medalist captured his eighth short track championship in Cleveland on Feb. 25. "I won every single race I competed in," the 24-year-old told Scoop after the event. "I feel great." But dance practice—with his pro partner 18-year-old Julianne Hough—will have to take a back seat until after the world championships wrap up in Milan March 11. "Julianne will go to Italy with me," he says. "We'll fit it in. We have to." Just don't expect him to look rusty when the March 19 premiere rolls around. "I'm a competitor," he says. "I'm a different person when I step on the ice ... or onto the dance floor." Besides, he has a secret weapon: "The soul patch is good luck!"
Remember Sara Evans's messy divorce from last season's Dancing It's still messy. In court papers filed Feb. 23, the country star alleges that estranged husband Craig Schelske refuses to set a mediation date unless she fires her lawyer, agrees to joint custody of their three kids and issues a public apology. (In her October divorce filing, she accused him of having an affair with the nanny.) Schelske fired back in his own filing, denying making any "demands or threats."
The Idol contestant who made the most headlines last week not for his or her singing? That would be Antonella Barba, 20, who stars in a dozen or so racy (and racier) images now circulating on the Web. The tamer shots show her posing provocatively in a wet shirt and not much else. Some of the photos, however, show a young woman identified as Barba performing a sex act. But Barba's best friend Amanda Coluccio says those photos "are not Antonella. It's not the same nose. And there are tips on that girl's nails. Antonella's never gotten tips." The other pix? "Those were meant for her boyfriend ... as a gift. She thinks someone went in her computer at Catholic University and took them." A FOX rep says they do not comment on contestants.
Man stealer? Pot dealer? Mary-Louise Parker makes naughty look oh so nice
As a back-stabbing best friend in Oxygen's The Robber Bride (premiering March 3), Mary-Louise Parker oozes ruthless deception. Off-camera, the Weeds star is anything but sinister, doting on son William, 3, and cozying up with Grey's Anatomy's Jeffrey Dean Morgan She talked to Scoop:
In The Robber Bride, you steal one friend's man and another's money. What's up with covetous women?
I've never understood that, but it's something I can spot immediately. There's that slow up and down [look] when they meet you. Sometimes those women are very successful—certainly in my business!
Ever been betrayed by a friend
One recently lost my son's teddy bear. At this point in my life that's probably the most evil thing you could do to me. He's had it since birth! We found it though, shoved in with some sheets and sent to the cleaners.
You resume shooting your drug dealer role on Showtime's Weeds in April—is it hard being a working single mom
No, because I spend a lot of time not working. I take William to French class and ...
Attendez! He takes French
He speaks a little. He can count to seven and say, "May I please have two cookies?"
Next up is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Must be fun, playing Brad Pitt's wife
He was quite nice—really smart and funny. [His kids] are adorable and [Angelina] is beautiful. I have a lot of admiration for her.
Still dating Jeffrey Dean Morgan
I am. It's going great! The New York Post said we were fighting at Nobu on [Valentine's Day], but I'm certainly not dumb enough to fight at a [high profile] restaurant like Nobu. We had a nice dinner, and William made cards for everyone.
- Contributors:
- SCOOP CONTRIBUTORS Rennie Dyball,
- Molly Lopez,
- Ryan Pienciak,
- Kate Stroup,
- Jeff Truesdell,
- Ashley Williams,
- Jennifer Wren,
- Olivia Bishop,
- Paul Chi,
- Alexis Chiu,
- Annette Dasey,
- Michelle Diament,
- Jessica Disch,
- Eileen Finan,
- Jen Garcia,
- Alison Singh Gee,
- Ma.
More in the Archive
Today's Photos
Treat Yourself! 4 Preview Issues
The most buzzed about stars this minute!


text:
Alabama Cosmetology & Barbering Technical Schools:
With plenty of technical schools in the top 100, Alabama is the perfect choice for advanced education. Alabama technical school graduates are in high demand, thanks to the growing automotive industry in the state. These students have plenty of opportunities to jump right into the workforce because of this new growth.
Help shape your career with Technical Schools Guide Cosmetology and Barbering training section! We can help you find cosmetology schools and barber schools in your area. Take your first steps toward finalizing your dreams of entering beauty school and barber school with us!
Additional Alabama Technical Schools and Colleges
Technical Schools Guide makes finding the right Alabama Cosmetology & Barbering Technical Schools simple. We list both large and small Technical Colleges throughout the United States. Whether you are planning on attending a 2-year college, 4-year college, vocational college, purely technical college, or just single college courses, the listings above should contain each type of trade school, college, or university. Financial aid is available for many of these colleges but visitors will need to contact each school directly to get assistance. Technical Schools Guide does not maintain specific course, tuition, application, accredation or records of information on specific schools. All inquiries should be made directly with such schools. All information contained above is believed to be accurate and reputable. If a discrepancy is found, please contact the Technical Schools Guide staff by clicking on the "contact us" link below. We are also able to update college information and locations through this contact address. Featured listings on Technical Schools Guide are generally for-profit school listings. These listings help pay for bandwidth and maintenance of the Technical Schools Guide site. Thanks for visiting Technical Schools Guide and good luck in your Alabama Cosmetology & Barbering Technical school experience!
-The Technical Schools Guide staff. To contact us, click here.
Call a Career Advisor now:
Available M-Th 10am-10pm and
Fri 10am-8pm CST
Call 1.877.637.2927


text:
Mark Sanford Is a New Face of PETA
"Your dog doesn't have to go to South America to get laid."By Katie Goldsmith
"Your dog doesn't have to go to South America to get laid."By Katie Goldsmith
As the primary season approaches its climax, each voter is faced with a choice: Is it better to back a candidate based upon the opportunistic ramblings of cable-news talking heads or the endorsement of the voter's favorite actor? Folks who filter their beliefs through those of a television or movie personality risk surrendering their stake in actual issues. Then again, they're secure in the knowledge that they're for the same guy as the Fresh Prince. Who are these actors, and how might they help — or potentially destroy — the campaigns that are so carefully conducted by their buddies? Glad you asked! —Dan Amira


text:
Web posted Monday, November 23, 1998 6:37 a.m. CT
Zoo keeper still critical after unusual attack
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma City Zoo keeper mauled by a 600-pound exotic animal remained in critical condition Sunday, two days after the attack.
University Hospital spokesman Allen Poston said Lisa Morehead was still under observation in the Intensive Care Unit.
Morehead, 34, was attacked by a Malayan tapir Friday morning as she fed the female and her calf. Her left arm was bitten off and she suffered several serious cuts and a punctured lung.
She was in surgery for more than eight hours Friday. Surgeons were unable to save her arm.
Zoo officials believe the female, named Melody, attacked because she thought her calf was in danger from Morehead and reacted on instinct.
Melody and her calf remain on display.
Tapirs are a relative of the horse and the rhinoceros, but look like large pigs with long, flexible snouts. Adults are about the size of a donkey, growing to be more than six feet long and weighing up to 600 pounds. They are herbivores, foraging green shoots of low bushes and trees in the wild.
The animals are not normally aggressive.
_uacct = "UA-2472207-1";
© 2016. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


text:
Best Supply, MROCHEM, MROCHEM.com
MROCHEM.COM is dedicated to providing the finest chemical products for the MRO (maintenance, repair & operations), Agricultural & Institutional markets, as well as to individual consumers.
From cleaners/degreasers, to herbicides and Ice Melters, multi-functional coatings & concrete patch products, to our new Power Blanket & Avenger Organics Line and our unique Towel and Wipes products, MROCHEM.COM has everything you need to keep your facility running efficiently, safely and hazardfree. We welcome your input and suggestions to help our site become a more enjoyable & efficient experience for you, our valued customer.


text:
New subscription
Renew my subscription
Give a gift
Pay my bill
Change my address
Active within 2581 Days
Hi! My name is Sonny
I am Domestic Shorthair from Lake Grove, NY
Nicknames: Sonny Boy
Age: 10 years old
Gender: M
Coat: short haired
Education: Comes when you call his name
My favorite tricks and treats are:
Where I hang out:
My favorite grubs: I eat anything ... I love food
My pet peeves: I'm so mellow ...nothing bothers me except maybe too many kittens wanting to play all the time
What I love about my owners:
My cat hobbies: I love to be outdoors ..
Pet motto:
See all awards »
Originally adopted by my son when he was in the army stationed in NC He was sent to Afghanistan so we took Sonny in... he was still a kitten
I've had 811 friends visit me.
I'm the 24,894th member on CatChannel.com.
76 friends have voted for me since I joined Club Cat!
Come visit me, Winstin, peanut & Jack-o (RIP 7/29/06).
Tell a Friend |
Report inappropriate content on this page.
Hi, my name is
K Sparky 08/11 ♥ Misty RIP MY BFF Rhuby.
Visit the photo gallery to cast your vote »
Get quick tips for happy cats, food recall info, news alerts and best behavior advice.
Sign up to get updates delivered straight to your inbox.
CatChannel takes your privacy seriously. To learn more, please read our privacy policy.


text:
- Table View
- List View
Tocquevilleby Arthur Goldhammer Lucien Jaume
Many American readers like to regard Alexis de Tocqueville as an honorary American and democrat--as the young French aristocrat who came to early America and, enthralled by what he saw, proceeded to write an American book explaining democratic America to itself. Yet, as Lucien Jaume argues in this acclaimed intellectual biography, Democracy in America is best understood as a French book, written primarily for the French, and overwhelmingly concerned with France. "America," Jaume says, "was merely a pretext for studying modern society and the woes of France." For Tocqueville, in short, America was a mirror for France, a way for Tocqueville to write indirectly about his own society, to engage French thinkers and debates, and to come to terms with France's aristocratic legacy. By taking seriously the idea that Tocqueville's French context is essential for understanding Democracy in America, Jaume provides a powerful and surprising new interpretation of Tocqueville's book as well as a fresh intellectual and psychological portrait of the author. Situating Tocqueville in the context of the crisis of authority in postrevolutionary France, Jaume shows that Tocqueville was an ambivalent promoter of democracy, a man who tried to reconcile himself to the coming wave, but who was also nostalgic for the aristocratic world in which he was rooted--and who believed that it would be necessary to preserve aristocratic values in order to protect liberty under democracy. Indeed, Jaume argues that one of Tocqueville's most important and original ideas was to recognize that democracy posed the threat of a new and hidden form of despotism.
Select your format based upon: 1) how you want to read your book, and 2) compatibility with your reading tool. To learn more about using Bookshare with your device, visit the Help Center.
Here is an overview of the specialized formats that Bookshare offers its members with links that go to the Help Center for more information.
- Bookshare Web Reader - a customized reading tool for Bookshare members offering all the features of DAISY with a single click of the "Read Now" link.
- DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) - a digital book file format. DAISY books from Bookshare are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of access technology that reads text. Books that contain images will have the download option of 'DAISY Text with Images'.
- BRF (Braille Refreshable Format) - digital Braille for use with refreshable Braille devices and Braille embossers.
- MP3 (Mpeg audio layer 3) - Provides audio only with no text. These books are created with a text-to-speech engine and spoken by Kendra, a high quality synthetic voice from Ivona. Any device that supports MP3 playback is compatible.
- DAISY Audio - Similar to the Daisy 3.0 option above; however, this option uses MP3 files created with our text-to-speech engine that utilizes Ivonas Kendra voice. This format will work with Daisy Audio compatible players such as Victor Reader Stream and Read2Go.


text:
The Upcoming Buyosphere And Its Future
Most of us don't have big wads of cash and time to burn, so we have one shot and have to figure out how to pay rent and feed ourselves.
By Tara Hunt (Co-Founder & CEO, Buyosphere)
Since I put up my post about getting a J.O.B., I've been answering a long series of questions about Buyosphere and what we're doing with it. First off, the plan is to soldier on. Of course, there are complications to this. All three of the founders are now engaged in full-time jobs and projects that support us financially – and none of us


text:
A maze game where you enter portals to different worlds. Most worlds have different physics.
A platformer where you find giant Gashapon machines that"ll spit out a capsule containing your weapon.
Contains multiple games where you can play them endlessly until you lose. However, you can only lose once in a minigame. So, if you"re about to lose, you can flex time to get a different minigame. Sadly, there are only two minigames! heh
There are two particles: good and bad. You control the good particles by programming them with commands to defeat the bad ones.
-- Click here to try the game out --


text:
by Jim Davis
Here is an inspired biography of America's most popular cat. Actually it's nine biographies, each written, drawn, inked and lettered differently so that the book is a survey of modern cartooning styles. Garfield's first life, as Cave Cat, for instance, begins with the furball primeval crawling out of the ooze along with the first chicken, the first real-estate salesman and George Burns. The drawing style is reminiscent of the Johnny Hart comic strip B.C. Life No. 3, "Babes & Bullets," is a quickie detective novel about feline Sam Spayed, whose clients, beautiful tabbies, naturally wonder whether he's neuter. The funniest life is No. 8, with Davis doing the just-plain-Garfield-the-wiseacre bit. (Ballantine Books, $8.95)
The leaves are raked, baseball is over and the NFL is really starting to get serious. Time to get down to the literary Xs and Os and review some football books, which Mark Giles and Ralph Novak do herewith
Picks and Pans Review: Garfield, His 9 Lives
updated 11/26/1984 AT 01:00 AM EST
•originally published 11/26/1984 AT 01:00 AM EST


text:
DWS to Host Pink Game
DWS Game Notes
Gibbons, Raben Provide Midseason Update
Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
Dorsey Earns TopDrawerSoccer Accolades
Racioppi talks about her U-20 Decision
Dorsey's Two Goals Propel No. 7 Duke
Duke and Louisville Play to Draw
McCoy Tabbed RMHC Athlete of the Week
DWS Game Notes
Co-Offensive Player of the Week
Women's Soccer Winter ID Clinic Set for Dec. 17


text:
A 1.0 kg book is connected by string to a 500 g coffee cup. The book is given a push up a 20 degree slope and is released with a speed of 3.0 m/s. The coeffiecents of friction for the book are μs=.50 and μk=.20 . How far does the book travel? (The coffee cup is hanging off in a vertical position)
I think Im calculating tension wrong or forgetting a force on the book
ΣF(cup)y=T - mg=may
ΣF(book)x=-Fk - T - mgsin20=max
so -(.2mgcos20) - T - mgsin20=max
-g(.2cos20 + sin20) - T=a
-(9.8)(.53)- 4.9=a
-10.09 m/s2
Im going to stop there because i know the a that i need is ≈-6.5. please help me