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In what has become a tradition, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will host her third annual roundtable with 14 leaders of the Pacific Island nations on the margins of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. The United States, also a Pacific nation, values our longstanding and close friendships with the countries and peoples of the Pacific. Our multifaceted engagement with our Pacific partners runs the gamut from sustainable development, economic growth and regional security, to good governance, climate change, and fisheries.
Complex and challenging problems, like slow economic growth, climate change, trafficking in persons, and illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing, threaten the region's prosperity and security. We are committed to being good partners in addressing these problems. The people of the Pacific Islands and the United States share a commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms. This commitment is evident in our voting together on many important issues at the United Nations and in other international forums. We are grateful for the contributions of many Pacific countries to global security whether their citizens serve in the Armed Forces of the United States or on United Nations or Coalition peacekeeping missions.
Climate change is an existential threat and an urgent environmental, economic, development, and security issue in the Pacific. The United States remains committed to helping the Pacific Islands adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. The new U.S. Agency for International Development Pacific Regional Office in Papua New Guinea will be one focal point for our efforts, and we are administering a $21 million program to support climate change adaptation, clean energy, and sustainable land management in the Pacific. Deputy Secretary Nides was pleased to highlight our partnerships with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Pacific Regional Environmental Program at a signing ceremony on the margins of the Pacific Island Forum earlier this month. These partnerships will serve to strengthen food and water security and protect critical eco-systems.
We recognize the importance of fisheries in the Pacific as a matter of environmental preservation and economic development. We have entered into maritime law enforcement agreements with eight Pacific countries to help protect Pacific Fisheries. Over the past 23 years, the South Pacific Tuna Treaty between the United States and the Pacific Island states has been the means for our government and the U.S. fishing industry to contribute to these efforts in tangible and meaningful ways. Successful negotiations to extend the treaty will strengthen this cooperation and enhance our contribution to these efforts.
The Pacific region is undergoing many positive, transformative changes, from economic growth to successful democratic reforms to robust international engagement. The United States seeks opportunities to work with the governments and peoples of the Pacific to foster stable, democratic, and prosperous countries across the region.
Related Content: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region
Palgye in South Korea writes:
I keep to talk about "Carbon Tax", I talked to my belated support for Greece was disappointing, "12 +1 country" theory of what does not work real policy, not regret, do not want to compete with anyone. Because of the many warnings to Greece, because all the boundaries, the old and the low likelihood of such a situation I think.
From now on, we have to develop new export markets, we suffer from economic difficulties, and consumption of the poor, think of exports to overcome the bottleneck. Are you working to promote the European crisis, Double Dip, Double Dip America's economic crisis, I do not think it is causing. However, I think that is Double Deep. Consumption in Europe and the United States economically because of fear the subject to expect explosive consumption is considered a difficult situation. Now, expectations for Asia and the Middle East, do not have to hide?
I want to go to China. If I'm going to live in the area, to live in China.
Zharkov in the U.S.A. writes:
The "Carbon Tax" scam is only a tiny beginning of world slavery. Next you might see a water tax, a calorie tax, or even a birth tax for pregnant mothers.
I would propose a baldness tax for hairless politicians, a wrinkle tax on old Congressmen, and a royals tax for allowing them into a country, but politicians would never vote to impoverish themselves or their benefactors.
You see, there is no end to how the political class can shear the sheeple. We are animals in their eyes, and they harvest our labor as often as they can. Periodically rendering many families homeless from taxation and regulation, their thirst for wealth and power has no limits, not even constitutional ones.
You can see this even today -- the worst depression since the last depression -- new taxes are proposed to destroy what little remains of American jobs and prosperity.
And now they want to take away Pacific Islander's natural right to go fishing and "regulate" it? Pacific Islanders will become the American Indians of the 21st century, living on reservations and begging for licenses to fish or hunt.


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the new RHCP double album is almost upon us!!!
I love the new single, Dani Claifornia, and it's great in the video where the band dress up as Beatles.
Hope the new album has as much Frusciante as possible, i want outrageous guitar work and lush backing vocals.
Am seeing them in July and I can't wait, it's going to be fantastic

subset: commoncrawl


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Meet our community partners
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wishes to share the space program with children and adults everywhere, even in the smallest communities. Therefore, Space Place has formed partnerships in every state in the U.S. with community museums, libraries, planetariums, and even zoos and aquariums.
Each of these places has a special display board or wall, with the beautiful Space Place borders, and a varying collection of NASA posters, stickers, and lithographs, supplemented with local astronomy or space science news, children's art or writing, or space-related models or crafts.
If you are a library, museum, or planetarium director and you'd like to find out more about becoming a Space Place community partner, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Agency: Santo, Argentina
Production Company: Bent Image Lab
Director: Chel White
Exec. Producer/Co-director: Ray Di Carlo
Producer: Gretchen Miller
DP: Mark Eifert
Production Designer: Jim Clark
Stop Motion Animators: Jeff Riley, Jerold Howard
Visual Effects Company: Bent Image Lab
Artists: Randall Wakerlin, Tarn Fox, Orland Nutt, Steve Balzar, Brian Kinkley, Loren Judah, Carlos Stevens, Fred Ruff, Rob Shaw, Jim Clark, Galen Beals, Johnny Hamilton
Post Production/Editorial Company: Bent Image Lab
Editor: Sarah Marcus, Jon Weigand
But the idea behind it is soooo small.
I do like the execution, but where's the pun?
"They all want her in their beds?" In a soap commercial? No wonder Paypal booted you!!! :-)
Yes, god forbid there's any sex at all in the world.


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Modern American English Tudor
Project Categories: Residential, New Construction, Energy Efficient, Ultra Series
Featured Kolbe Products
- Extruded aluminum clad entrance doors
- Crank-out casements
- Push-out casements
- Exterior clad finish: Dark Bronze anodize
- 5/8" wide PDL bars simulate true divided lites
- Retractable screens on push-out casements (not shown)
|Project Information
Old World Style & Modern Performance Wins Awards
The award-winning Belcaro Woods residence combines the architectural elegance of English Tudor manors with the comforts of modern American living. Weston Construction Corporation designed and built the home to last for generations, while incorporating the proportion, scale and detail of generations past. The National Association of Home Builders recognized this accomplishment with a 2009 Silver Medal, and the Denver Home Builders Association named the project its 2008 Custom Home of the Year.
Located on Belcaro Drive in Denver, this three-story, eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom, single-family home spans more than 8,000-square-feet of livable interior, above ground space – plus another 3,000-square-feet below ground. Listed for $5.8 million, it sits on a half-acre of old-growth trees. The home's brick and stone exterior offers a stately welcome with a presence that conveys a sense that the structure has been there, and will be there, for a very long time.
"These homes are designed and built to last. They are large, but warm and friendly," says Weston's Michelle Miller. "They should continue to add to the architectural fabric of their neighborhoods. We want them to be as good or better, 100 years from now."
Miller's partner, Rick Crum, agrees and says, "We're evoking a classic architectural look, while still performing at a modern level." Working together, the husband and wife team draw heavily from centuries' old best practices to create signature, enduring homes. They currently own the Belcaro home, using it as a showplace, offices, and archival library, as well as a personal residence.
Working on only a few homes each year, Weston invests significant time and thought into each project. Influenced by past eras when a property's designer was also the master builder, they approach projects by researching the historic precedents, designing conceptual and detailed construction drawings, specifying the building materials, selecting colors and finishes, and overseeing the construction process.
Suppliers and specialty contractors on Weston's projects are chosen not just for their experience, craftsmanship, and creativity, but also for their knowledge and willingness to find new answers to old questions. Weston relied on Central Trim & Supply's Kevin Sausker as its partner to provide Belcaro's 151 Ultra Series premium windows and doors with aluminum clad exteriors and wood interiors.
"To some, a window's a window. It is, and it isn't. When you take a closer look, you start to see the proportion of the sashes and the grids within the window itself. It's the subtle scaling of these details that help make it beautiful. These are the details to which people unconsciously react," explains Crum.
"Kevin understood how important this was to us. We enjoyed working with him. He helped us determine an acceptable, and an affordable, product and still gave us a lot of flexibility in the design," says Crum. He adds, "We looked at a full range of window options before choosing Kolbe – from Bronze-clad, completely custom windows, to semi-custom, to standard. Kolbe's push-out is a standard window with a good price, which meant we could afford to customize it."
"Kolbe's windows were a quarter of the cost of some we were considering. They're put together well and had the look we wanted," echoes Miller. "Great design is not necessarily the most expensive choice, but the most appropriate choice for the project at the best value. It takes research and a lot of thought."
As they conceived the design for Belcaro Woods, Weston studied small manor houses of southwest England from the 1500s to the 1800s. They visited several of these historic residences, and found their greatest inspiration at Sanford Orcas, built in 1550. They noted the locally quarried stone, the roof's slope, the rooms' dimensions, the stairways' rise, the grand functionality of a walk-through fireplace, the doorways' arched tops, the exact proportion of the windows' divided lites, and the interrelated scale of each architectural element on the whole.
Weston brings together all these elements in Belcaro Woods. The exterior is constructed of local, red, tumbled brick and hand-cut Colorado sandstone, curving over ground-floor entryways. The steep roof pitch is shingled in slate. A massive, wood stair railing and soaring, limestone fireplaces leave a lasting impression. Design motifs of griffins and Tudor roses, and the tactile qualities of wood, metal and stone carry through the interior. The windows also balance between indoor and outdoor, old world and new world. Both Crum and Miller emphasized the importance of Kolbe's narrow sash and thin 5/8-inch PDLs (performance divided lites) to resemble historic, steel casements and the true divided lites. "Kolbe's push-out casements look more traditional and European, especially combined with the Antique Bronze lever hardware selection," says Crum.
"Most of the windows don't have screens like most windows in Europe," says Miller. "Denver has virtually no bugs, except for at night if there's a light." For these few areas, like the bedroom windows, Weston and Central Trim & Supply specified Kolbe's retractable screens. "When you don't need them, they disappear, which is fantastic."
All of the windows' profiles contour to seamlessly match the exterior, sandstone masonry surrounds are finished in a Dark Bronze anodize for low-maintenance durability. Crum reiterates, "Kolbe's windows offered the comfort, performance and durability we wanted."
One of the favorite rooms on the main-floor of Belcaro Woods is a mahogany-paneled library where Crum and Miller keep their antique collection of home plans, historic books, and archived reference materials. To protect this rare repository, one may expect the library to be a windowless interior room. In contrast to this notion, the library is a warm, welcoming space drenched in natural light through Kolbe's windows.
Kolbe's Ultra Series products come standard with energy-efficient LoE²-270 double-pane insulating glass units with argon, achieving maximum visible light, while blocking 86% of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. This protects furniture, fabrics and other valuable interior items from fading.
The LoE²-270 glass enables Kolbe's windows to meet or exceed ENERGY STAR® guidelines in all climate zones. The home's 20-inch-thick walls also play a significant role. According to Miller, "The energy efficiency is astounding." Living and working from the property, she sees $200-250/month energy bills for a house in excess of 12,000-square-feet.
Highlighting the walls' 20-inch depth without interrupting the library's paneled interior, each window unit is trimmed in mahogany. Cherry trim was used for another breathtaking, but smaller room, featured in one of the home's showcase bathrooms. Situated in an alcove, the bath's tub is surrounded by windows. From the perspective of the person in the tub, the walls seem to disappear into blue sky, natural light and foliage.
"It's hard sometimes for people to visualize how a design might look or feel if they're just looking at paper. It's helpful for them to see, touch and experience these different rooms and materials to understand the variety of options available," observes Miller. "Many people tell us it's the most beautiful house they've ever seen."


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Lunenburg, founded in 1753, is a charming small town with a remarkable history of sailing ships and iron men. Bluenose and Bluenose II were both built in Lunenburg. The solid boatbuilding background expresses itself in the distinctive architecture - residences, churches and a National Heritage Site, the Lunenburg Academy.
Greybeard's B&B is within walking distance of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lunenburg's "Old Town."
Today, Lunenburg is home to a wonderful collection of festivals, activities, sightseeing opportunities, many fine restaurants and art galleries - visit our See & Do page!
Greybeard's hosts Bob and Rosanna Higgins are living a decades-old dream. They welcome guests with fine Maritime hospitality - offering them a relaxing pause in their journey, a good night's sleep, and a memorable breakfast.
"Our house was built in 1887 for Captain William Howard Hebb (1863-1947) of Lunenburg," says Bob. See photo and partial newspaper clipping to the right.
"For 25 years Captain Hebb commanded Brigs and three-masted schooners to many ports of the world, having the reputation of being one of the leading deep sea captains of his day."


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Four Pillars drug strategy
Vancouver's Four Pillars Drug Strategy is a coordinated, comprehensive approach that balances public order and public health in order to create a safer, healthier community.
About the four pillars approach
The four pillars approach to drug addiction was first implemented in Europe in the 1990s, and is based on four principals:
- Harm reduction
- Prevention
- Treatment
- Enforcement
Successfully used in such cities as Geneva, Zurich, Frankfurt, and Sydney, this four pillars approach has resulted in a:
- Dramatic reduction in the number of drug users consuming drugs on the street
- Significant drop in overdose deaths
- Reduction in the infection rates for HIV and hepatitis.
Learn more about the four principles


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Share |
2014 (Sophomore): Second Team All-Atlantic Sun ... Went 13-8 in singles play, seeing time at positions No. 2, 3 and 4 ... Won seven straight matches, six of which were against A-Sun teams from Mar. 25 - Apr. 17 ... Went 1-1 in A-Sun Championship ... Was 4-9 in doubles play, splitting time between the No. 1, 2 and 3 positions with a number of different partners.
2013 (Freshman): Named to the All-Atlantic Sun Conference Second Team, and the A-Sun All-Freshman Team following his first year as a Hatter. Went 15-4 overall in singles play, competing at the number two, three, and four positions. Finished 6-2 in A-Sun action. Also recorded a 7-7 overall mark in doubles play. Earned A-Sun Academic honors.
High School: Attended Ozel Bayrakli High School ... Highest ATP ranking was 1329, highest ITF ranking was 180, and highest National ranking was #1 ... His best singles wins were against Herkko Pollanen (ITF #14), Richard Gabb (ATP #761), and Laslo Djerc (ATP #900) ... Was the National Champion for Under 16 and Under 18.
Personal: Was born August 10, 1993 in Izmir Turkey ... Parents are Yusuf and Aysun ... Has one sister, Feride (30) ... Chose Stetson because of the Stetson program and academics ... Favorite part about Stetson is the campus and his teammates ... Majoring in economics.


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Topic: Different view result according to filter and text box
Hi folks,
Googled a lot about this one. Maybe i'm missing something here...
The scenario:
I have an index page with:
date filter | department filter | text_box(user) | text_box(phone_number)
The filters and text_box are going to filter a Model X.
Depending on the user input I have 3 possible views:
Default: no input -> I show view 1
Data filtered by date -> result 1 with (date filtered)
department filter -> view 2
department filter + user -> view 3
if the user filters by department the text_box(user) changes to a filter(listing the users from this department)
What i'm doing.
Checking params and showing the view according to result but with this i end up with a lot of ifs...
so i have the impression that i'm doing it the wrong way...
thanks in advance!


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John Carl Dickenson (1945-2013)
Sadly, John Dickenson passed away suddenly on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at the age of 68.
John was a lifelong resident of Dunkirk and Fredonia. He was affectionately known around town for his love of music, drumming over 1000 'gigs' with various bands throughout the last 50 years. He was also an avid collector of all things frogs.
He served our country in the USAF during the Vietnam era, and received an honorable discharge. He has been employed as a Landman for the past 35 years, with various oil and gas exploration companies.
John was predeceased by both parents, George Dickenson and Marie Rusbuldt; his Sister Suzanne and brother Gerald. He is survived by his daughter Jayde, brothers Michael, George and Chris.
Friends are welcomed at Fantauzzi Funeral Home, on Friday April 20, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m., with a service scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to a cancer related charity in John's name. Arrangements by Fantauzzi Funeral Home, 82 E. Main St., Fredonia.
RIP Frogman.


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Recipes using shredded Cheddar cheese
Breakfast Casserole
Breakfast There's nothing quite like waking up to the fragrant aroma of bacon frying and coffee brewing, unless it's also the sweet smell of cinnamon wafting through the air! These amazing scents may make you think of lazy Saturday mornings, but breakfast isn't just for breakfast anymore. You can enjoy stacks of hot pancakes dripping […]
Potato Chowder with Green Chiles
Thomson Sesquicentennial Cookbook Who: Thomson Sesquicentennial Committee Cost: $20 includes shipping Details: Soft-backed, spiral bound Pages of recipes: 220 Send checks to: Thomson Chamber of Commerce, Attn: Luanne Bruckner, 1110 Locust St., Thomson, IL 61285 or call 815-259-3168.
Pheasant Under Cheddar
Road Kill Feasts For 16 years, avid hunter, cook, and Egyptan Electric Cooperative member Virgil Hannig, hosted Road Kill Feasts each February in Carbondale. Hannig, and his "Road Kill Chefs", served 85-90 men fare such as Amos' Famous Barbequed Coon, Venison Stroganoff, Sharptail Grouse and Pheasant Pot Pie, and Turtle Mulligan. With the fall hunting […]
Taco Meatball Ring
LaMoine Christian Camp Cookbook Who: LaMoine Christian Camp Cost: $15 for 1, $25 for 2, includes shipping Details: Soft-backed, spiral bound Pages of recipes: 171 Send checks to: LaMoine Christian Service Camp & Retreat Center, Attn: Doug Hamer, 2760 E. County Rd. 1600, Tennessee, IL 62374 or call 217-654-2238.
Macaroni and Cheese
Cooking with the Scotties Who: Waverly Elementary School Cost: $15 includes shipping Details: Soft-backed, spiral bound Pages of recipes: 167 Send checks to: Waverly Elementary School, Attn: Karen Bennett, 499 W. Elm, Waverly, IL 62692 or call 217-435-2331.
Artichoke Chicken
Farm Fresh Recipes Who: New Berlin FFA Alumni Cost: $13 includes shipping Details: soft-backed, spiral bound Pages of recipes: 95 Send checks to: Lisa Nagel, 4691 Jimtown Rd., New Berlin, IL 62670 or call 217-899-5545
California Club Pizza
Factory Favorites Who: White House Manufacturing Social CommitteeCost: $22 includes shippingDetails: hard-backed, ring boundPages of recipes: 125Send checks to: White House Manufacturing, Attn: Stephanie, Route 67 North, Whitehall, IL 62092 or call 217-374-2141.
Quesadilla Burger
200 Years of Home Cooking Who: West Eden United Methodist ChurchCost: $15 includes shippingDetails: soft-back, comb boundPages of Recipes: 199Send checks to: West Eden UMC, c/o James Anderson, 2740 West Eden Rd., Cypress, IL 62923 or call 618-634-9508
Asparagus Potato Soup
Cook. Eat. Live! Who: Busey Bank for United WayCost: $12.50 including shippingDetails: soft-backed, spiral-boundPages of recipes: 220Send checks to: Brenda Jeakins,2101 N. Veterans Parkway, Bloomington, IL 61704 or call 309-834-1020.
Ham Delight
Recipes from the Heart Who: The Lighthouse Shelter For The Homeless, Marion, ILCost: $13 including shippingDetails: soft-backed, comb-boundPages of recipes: 239Send checks to: The Lighthouse Shelter, 1101 N. Madison, Marion, IL 62959or call 618-964-1663.


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The Heart of Campus Life
Climb the 36-foot rock wall. Play racquetball on one of our three courts. Workout on weight machines in the modern, well-equipped training and fitness center. Swim laps in our 25 yard, 8 lane pool. Relax in our whirlpool and sauna. Or simply grab a sandwich at the Marlin Grille.
Set at the center of campus, the Jane P. Batten Student Center is devoted to promoting health, leadership and a love for athletics. It is the site of myriad extracurricular and recreational activities and the host location of indoor varsity sports and tournaments. When you're a student at Virginia Wesleyan, you'll find yourself gravitating to its expansive facilities for recreation, to meet with friends and watch athletic events. All athletic offices, the chaplain's office, community service office, bookstore, student counseling center and other vital services are housed within the Batten Student Center.
The Batten Student Center, as its name implies, was built for the use and enjoyment of Virginia Wesleyan students. However, under certain circumstances, the modern facilities are available for the use of guests and others.


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Topic: CSS - Has Me Dizzy!
From my web page URL below, take a look at the orange box with blue text. I set the padding to 5px all four sides. There is more open space on the bottom below the blue text. Using Windows IE, and Mac Safari you see less but still noticeable. It shows more open space on Windows and Mac using FF.
Any suggestions on how to make the text, or an image vertically align just right using CSS?
Thank you.


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It's that time of year again where we are booking up and filling in all of the weekends on that 2013 calendar with beautiful weddings! With that being said we are going to be super busy and are planning on growing our team again and need to find that fabulous new lady! We are on the lookout for a floral designer with some experience. Experience can be at an intermediate level and we are very willing to train and teach our technique, but you must have at least one foot solidly placed in the floral world already. Here are the criteria that we are looking for:
{1} Must be familiar with basic flower care, flower names, and general florist knowledge and design.
{2} Looking for someone who has a creative edge on their own and willing to bring their flare to the team.
{3} MUST be reliable, punctual, polite and positive, we like to be surrounded by Happy people over here and we like people to feel our positive energy when working with other professionals.
{4} Must be physically fit and ready to work hard! Florist work ain't the easiest thing in the world.
Position will be part-time, Will be able to provide the wedding schedule that we have booked well in advance. Designing days for Weddings are typically Thursday and Friday, delivery and set-up on Saturdays.
Does this sound like it could be you?? I am hoping so!! Please e-mail any and all helpful information as well as your up to date resume to {firstname.lastname@example.com}


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In 1993, Strong Hold Products set out to design the ultimate industrial storage product. Our vision was to manufacture a product capable of withstanding the treatment common to an industrial environment. Included in this vision was the need to securely store heavy tools and valuables. Strong Hold Products is the realization of this vision. Our storage cabinets, lockers, shop desks, and related products are the strongest, most secure in the marketplace.
Our products can be found in manufacturing, warehousing, pharmaceutical, financial, and educational facilities throughout the United States. Our determination doesn't stop here. We continue to meet the ever changing needs of the most important people we know, our customers!
Strong Hold Products is committed to achieving total customer satisfaction. Implementing and maintaining an efficient, effective quality management system can aide us in achieving this goal. This can be accomplished through the continuous improvement of our manufacturing process, ongoing training of our employees and dedication to understanding our customers' needs.
Durable - Strong Hold Products' production team is dedicated to providing the most durable cabinet available today. Twelve-gauge steel is sheared, formed, welded, steam-cleaned then painted to produce a solid, strong and dependable cabinet. Our product is designed to withstand years of industrial abuse and tough treatment.
Fast - Our products are shipped completely assembled and ready to use. There is no lost time for shelf installation or setup.
Economical - Our production methods allow us to pass savings on to you. Strong Hold Products' cabinets are comparably priced to competing light gauge steel cabinets, yet provide a far superior, lasting product. There are no minimum order quantities at Strong Hold Products.
Secure - Our three point locking system is designed for a heavy padlock. This feature, along with our cast iron handle, padlock tang, 3/8" angle receiver, and 8-gauge hinge, compliments the 12-gauge welded body design.


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It's an opportunity hidden in plain sight. In 10Minutes on transforming the tax function, we discuss how the tax function is often overlooked as an area for improvement, unlike more obvious choices such as supply chain or business services. However, shining a light on the tax group can reveal untapped opportunities where changes in technology, process, people, and data can lead to benefits for the broader business.
With an increasingly complex regulatory environment putting more pressure on the tax function, the temptation is great to focus solely on compliance and data manipulation.
In 10 Minutes on transforming the tax function, we discuss how companies can add strategy and maximize their tax investment to reap business-wide benefits, including better analytics, increased efficiency, improved performance, and reduced risk.
We highlight how leading companies have built a strategic tax function by making targeted changes over time in the areas of technology, process, people, and data.
Related thought leadership


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Location: 3rd Floor - Library
Course ID: L04231401
Number of Sessions: 2,5
Credits: 2.52.5 MCLE Credits: 2.5 Skills; Transitional (ALSO NJ)
Course Description: The judiciary-developed Electronic Case
Filing System (ECFS) enables attorneys and litigants to submit pleadings
and corresponding docket entries to the court via the Internet, thereby
eliminating paper handling and processing time. It also permits any
interested party instantaneous access to the entire official case docket
and documents on select civil and bankruptcy cases within certain
jurisdictions. This newly updated training class is designed to enable
attorneys to use ECFS effectively. The course includes instruction in
all of the system's online, document-scanning and other software
requirements. Additions to this course include new procedures for
motions and online payments
Faculty: U. S. Bankruptcy Court staff


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LINGUIST List 23.3420
Tue Aug 14 2012
Calls: Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics/India
Editor for this issue: Alison Zaharee <alison
Dr. Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi <sonalkulk
Language Contact in India: Historical, Typological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives
E-mail this message to a friend
Full Title: Language Contact in India: Historical, Typological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives
Short Title: LCI-2013
Date: 06-Feb-2013 - 08-Feb-2013
Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India
Contact Person: Dr. Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi
Meeting Email:
< click here to access email >
Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics; Sociolinguistics
Call Deadline: 01-Oct-2012
Meeting Description:
A Conference on Language Contact in India is being organised by the Department of Linguistics (UGC-SAP-DRS-1), Deccan College, Pune (India) in collaboration with the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore. The conference will be held at the Deccan College (Deemed University), Pune on 6-8 February 2013. We especially welcome scholars to contribute papers focusing on language contact across language families in India. We also welcome scholars who would like to benefit from multiple perspectives - historical, typological and sociolinguistic (empirical as well as theoretical) on language contact to participate in the conference.
Keynote Speaker:
Prof. Hans H. Hock (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, USA)
Invited Speakers:
Prof. K.V. Subbarao (formerly Delhi University, New Delhi, India)
Prof. Anvita Abbi (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India)
Prof. S.N. Sridhar (State University of New York, Stony Brook, USA)
Prof. Probal Dasgupta (Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkotta, India)
Travel and Accommodation:
The Conference will offer limited travel funds to outstation paper presenters for train travel by AC III tier from the place of journey to Pune and back by the shortest route. Participants are requested to make their own travel arrangements and arrange for funding from their respective organizations.
Accommodation and local hospitality will be provided by the Dept. of Linguistics, Deccan College.
Delegates who wish to have hotel accommodation at their own expense may contact the organisers well in advance. A list of local hotels and a tentative pricelist will soon be posted on the Deccan College website at
Registration Fees:
[1] Local delegates and students not receiving fellowship: Rs. 500/- (documentary proof of student status from student's department is necessary)
[2] All other delegates: Rs. 1000/-
The registration fee may be paid in the form of a demand draft drawn in favour of the Registrar (LCI-2013), Deccan College, Pune payable at the Central Bank of India, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Please note:
[1] It is important that all paper presenters and participants send the filled Conference Registration Form along with the fee payment in advance, latest by 15 January 2013.
[2]Persons accompanying conference participants will also register.
1. Dr. Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi
Email: sonalkulk
Tel: +91-9890444606
2. Dr. Shailendra Mohan
Email: smohan72
Tel: + 91-9850342451
Address for all postal correspondence:
Organising Committee (LCI-2013)
Department of Linguistics
Deccan College (Deemed University)
Yerawada, Pune 411006
Call for Papers:
The Conference invites paper submissions on the historical, typological and sociolinguistic perspectives on language contact in India. Presentations may focus on linguistic data as well as on theoretical issues. Abstracts may be submitted on topics including but not limited to:
1. A typology of language contact situations in India
2. Case studies of contact situations across language families in India
3. Language contact involving language isolates
4. Contact resulting from migration vis-à-vis contact in contiguous border areas
5. Typological and social constraints on outcomes of language contact
6. Variationist perspectives on language contact
7. Borrowability of linguistic features in contact areas
8. Contact-induced grammaticalisation
9. Adstratum/substratum relationships and convergence
10. Explaining language change and variation: interaction between contact-induced and language-internal developments
Abstract Submission Guidelines:
Abstracts written in English should be submitted by email to 2013lci
gmail.com in both PDF and DOC/DOCX formats latest by 1 October 2012.
The abstract should include the following information:
1. Subject: Abstract submission for LCI-2013
2. Body:
Author name(s)
Title of the presentation
3 to 5 keywords
Email for correspondence
Abstract should clearly describe:
- The problem(s) being addressed
- The central claim(s) being made
- Data source(s) and analytical approach(es)
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Reebok Youth Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews #19 Replica Home Jersey
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Product Information:
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Corrado, Anthony J.,, Jr. (Tony)
Professor of Government
Box 5302
Phone: 207-859-5302
Fax: 207-859-5229
E-mail: email@example.com
Mailing Address:
5302 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, Maine 04901-8853
5302 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, Maine 04901-8853
Areas of Expertise
- American politics
- Campaign finance, at the national and state levels
- Presidential elections
- Election law
Courses Currently Teaching
|Course Title
|Introduction to Political Theory
|American Political Thought
|The 2016 Presidential Election
|General Election Politics: 2016
|Seminar: Prospects for Political Reform
Professional Information
Anthony Corrado is Professor of Government at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where he teaches courses on American politics and political theory. Widely regarded as one of the nation's leading experts on political finance, Dr. Corrado is a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution and serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Campaign Finance Institute. He has also served as a special advisor to the American Bar Association Committee on Election Law and as a member of the American Bar Association Advisory Commission on Election Law. He has also been appointed to a number of advisory boards. Dr. Corrado is the author or coauthor of a number of books on campaign finance and elections, including Financing the 2008 Election, Financing the 2004 Election, Paying for Presidents, The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook, and Campaign Finance Reform: Beyond the Basics. He has published dozens of book chapters and articles on the financing of national elections, political party behavior, and campaign and election law. His previous professional activities include serving as project director of the Committee for Economic Development's Money in Politics and Improving Judicial Selection programs; principal investigator for the Coalition to Promote Civic Dialogue on Campaign Finance Reform, a nonpartisan civic education project sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts; and executive director of the Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on Presidential Debates. He also served on the national staff or as a consultant in four presidential campaigns.
The directory information is for individual use only, it may not be retransmitted or published for any reason. It is not to be used for mass solicitations by e-mail, mail, phone or other means. Sale or other distribution of this document is prohibited by College policy.


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Here's how RW members rated this race in the past (59 votes).
In short: Nice, small friendly raceIn full: As a regular at Cannon Hill park I signed up for this as it was nice and local and thought it would be good fun instead of a training run. I thought it was really well organised, with free cloakroom, refreshments and well signed and marshalled for a small race. An event website would be helpful. I'll definitely return next year.Date of review: November 4, 2012
In short: One of running's best-kept secrets!In full: Well organised, great atmosphere. You will lose a few seconds on the occasional hairpin but make no mistake, it's a fast course. Hope they can pull in even more runners next year as it raises money for a great cause.Date of review: November 6, 2011
In short: Uniquely wonderful low key eventIn full: Superbly organised and extraordinarily well catered for given event size. Friendly and helpful marshalls . Winding course on park paths with opportunity for some duck hurdling or dog vaulting for the budding steeplechasers. And for charity. A couple of sharp turns may make a pb difficult, but on the other hand, it`s pretty flat. Overall, it doesn`t get much better for an event like this ! Date of review: November 6, 2011
In short: Good fun 10k, nice flat course (mostly!)In full: Great organisation and a better goody bag than the Birmingham Great Run! Can't be bad. A fixture for next year - i'd say soDate of review: November 6, 2011
In short: Great low key raceIn full: Lovely park, great marshalls, wonderful atmos - was my 2nd year of running and this will def become a regular fixture in my calenderDate of review: November 6, 2011
In short: Excellent event In full: This is a well organised, marshalled and friendly event. Date of review: November 6, 2011
In short: Yet another fantastic race from the Conductive Education team!In full: Brilliant low key and friendly race. Loved it! Have done it a number of times now and it is a real gem.Date of review: November 6, 2011
In short: Great 10K in Cannon Hill ParkIn full: This is the second year I've run the Conductive Education 10K, and I think it's a great race. It's well organised, it's a nice flat course - mostly around the park, so it's a pleasant run too, and there's cake at the end for those who like cake. I'd highly recommend this race to anyone in Birmingham - looked like a real range of finishing times this morning. I managed a PB, so am chuffed, and will be looking forward to running it again next year.Date of review: November 6, 2011
In short: Deserves to be more popularDate of review: November 1, 2010
In short: cosy race with friendly faces all aroundDate of review: November 1, 2010
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Doug DeMuro
is a Denver native who now resides in Atlanta. He was featured in Automobile Magazine for his "car spotting" hobby hunting and photographing exotic cars in the wild. DeMuro is an Emory University alumni with wide-ranging industry experience including Porsche Cars North America, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and a Ferrari dealership.


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KC Unbound
One by one on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, some 60 people of varying size, shape, and age will step atop a scale at the Kansas City Public Library's L.H. Bluford Branch to measure the returns from 12 weeks of sweat and self-discipline.
To the top three finishers in the branch's annual weight-loss challenge will go prizes ranging from a $100 Visa gift card to a Library gift pack. But the rewards go far beyond that.
With healthier diets and participation in Bluford's weekly fitness classes, "I've literally watched people shrink. It really has impacted their lives," branch Manager April Roy says. "They're so grateful. They're, like, 'We love being able to come here. It's free. It's safe.'"
It's just one facet of a far-reaching health and wellness initiative sponsored by the Library branch at 3050 Prospect.
- The first in a series of six-week, chronic disease self-management workshops, co-sponsored by Truman Medical Centers, wrapped up at Bluford earlier this month. They're being held in various neighborhood locations through early 2015, moving to the Library's North-East Branch, in August and September 2014 and returning to Bluford next January and February.
- The Mobile Market, a traveling produce market making fresh vegetables and fruits available to low-income neighborhoods that otherwise have limited access to supermarkets or other sources of fresh food, stops at Bluford each Tuesday from 10:30-11:30 a.m. It will continue at least through the summer.
- A vision fair, featuring free screening by the Lions Club, will be held at Bluford on Monday, April 28, 2014, and already has reached its ceiling of 50 signups — with a waiting list. Vouchers for eyeglasses, redeemable at local retail outlets, will be available for individuals needing them.
- Bluford is one of four Library branches hosting a series of health fairs in the coming year, offering general health checks by Cleveland Chiropractic College and blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar screenings by Truman Medical Centers. The first of three at Bluford is May 10. Other participating branches are Southeast, I.H. Ruiz, and North-East.
Roy, who arrived at Bluford in 2012, is making the wellness initiative a branch signature, complementing the permanent Health and Wellness Center it houses in partnership with Truman Medical Centers.
The soon-to-be-completed weight-loss challenge saw 61 entrants shed almost a collective 200 pounds in the first eight weeks. Last year's winner lost 32 pounds over the full 12 weeks.
The challenge is held in conjunction with Tuesday evening cardio-kickboxing classes at Bluford. The branch also offers strength and endurance training on Thursdays.
The chronic disease self-management sessions follow a Stanford University program designed to help sufferers feel less overwhelmed by their conditions. The first round at Bluford, which concluded April 10, had 18 participants.
"The other day, in the chronic disease self-management class, we were going around the room and all of these people who are suffering – I mean really suffering – from all of these chronic conditions were talking about things in their life that they were grateful for," Roy says. "I was literally weeping.
"These people are suffering. They have chronic pain. One lady's on oxygen. All these things, they could be totally down in the dumps about. And here they are, talking about what they're grateful for.
"It's so fulfilling for me to see. And to know that my community is responding."
Stream the music you want. When you want it. No ads. No charge.
Who wouldn't like the concept?
It didn't take patrons of the Kansas City Public Library long to discover — and take advantage of — the upgraded offerings of Freegal Music. Its catalog of some 7 million songs was made available via online streaming in February 2014. By the end of that month, nearly 13,000 tracks had been accessed by Library card-holders.
The streaming is unlimited, available 24-7, and more flexible than other services that allow users to specify genres of music but not particular songs. With Freegal, patrons can create personal playlists. Or they can listen to an entire album of their choosing.
"To use an appropriate term, it's a hit," says Joel Jones, the Library's deputy director of branch and library services. "Freegal's downloads have always been popular – they're yours to keep – but there are limits.
"There's no ceiling on streaming. You can listen to as much as you want for as long as you want. I use it on my (smart) phone at the YMCA. Before I climb on the treadmill, I just go to the '80s classic rock selections or whatever else I'm in the mood for and pick a playlist. It's so easy."
The Library has offered Freegal's downloaded music since late 2012, recently raising its limit on downloads from three to five songs a week.
Freegal's streaming service was added just as KCPL began featuring another service, Hoopla, that makes music, television shows, movies, and audiobooks available via online streaming. Between them, they give Library card-holders a wide-ranging menu of no-cost digital entertainment.
Hoopla's ever-expanding digital collection counts some 100,000 music CDs; 10,000 audiobooks; 3,000 movies; and 500 TV series. Because the Library is charged each time an item is checked out on one of its cards, it limits users to 15 items per card per month (with each TV episode counting as an item).
Via Hoopla, Kansas City Public Library patrons downloaded more than 900 music albums, videos, and audiobooks in February.
The Jackson County Spelling Bee continues Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 9 a.m. at our Central Library, and is open to the public. RSVP here.
Saturday may not be quite what Bernie Norcott-Mahany imagined when he said yes three years ago to serving as the pronouncer for the Jackson County Spelling Bee.
A nice, typically modest and quiet event has blown up into something far bigger. Good Morning America, the Today show, Inside Edition, CNN, and other national media outlets are flying in. Local affiliates are plotting their own coverage. At the center of all the fuss: two unflappable young spellers who've stayed standing through 66 rounds and forced an extraordinary overtime.
Not far from the spotlight — and the attendant scrutiny — is Norcott-Mahany, a 15-year fixture at the Library's L.H. Bluford Branch.
If there's little to no margin for error for the spellers, the same goes for him. Norcott-Mahany delivers their words. Anschluss. Balalaika. Schadenfreude. Zeitgeber. He's expected to get the pronunciations right.
"I don't dread it," he says. "I've done storytelling. I've done some acting. And I've taught for 30-odd years, either full time or part time. I'm used to being in front of a group so I'm not particularly worried about it.
"There's part of me that would be somewhat saddened, I guess, if I weren't here to see the end of the journey."
Make no mistake. He'll be prepared.
By Saturday, when fifth-grader Sophia Hoffman and seventh-grader Kush Sharma resume their duel at 9 a.m. in the Library's downtown Central Library, Norcott-Mahany will have reviewed the entire list of 200 new words provided by officials with the Scripps National Spelling Bee and 60 or so backup words pulled by local officials from Webster's Third New International Dictionary. He sounds each of them out. If not entirely sure about a pronunciation, he goes to Merriam Webster's online audio tool. If he's still uncertain, the word is crossed from his list.
Note, for the record, that Hoffman, Sharma and 23 other spellers went the first 66 rounds two weeks ago without a pronunciation challenge.
If one comes Saturday … well, it's part of the game. "We've got a procedure," Norcott-Mahany says. "I don't take it personally."
He's a man of letters, holding master's degrees in Ancient Greek from Loyola University in Chicago and in English from Syracuse. A part of the Bluford staff since 1998, Norcott-Mahany also teaches Greek mythology at Johnson County Community College and is involved in Kansas City's nonprofit Gorilla Theater – best known for its annual summer solstice productions of classic Greek plays. He writes program notes for each show, draws up pronunciation guides, and occasionally takes the stage as an actor.
It was Mary Olive Thompson, the Jackson County Spelling Bee's co-coordinator, who pulled him in as the bee's pronouncer. Now the Kansas City Public Library's outreach manager, she was working with Norcott-Mahany at the time at the Bluford Branch.
"He's been excellent," she says. "He's patient. He takes time to prepare. He's really concerned that the spellers understand him. And every year, he says 'yes.'"
This, as it turns out, is a year like no other. Saturday is expected to draw scores of family, friends, reporters, and other spectators to the Central Library. Only the contestants' family members, other invited guests, and media representatives will be allowed in Helzberg Auditorium, where Hoffman and Sharma will compete for a spot in the Scripps national bee in Washington, D.C., in May. The proceedings will be live-streamed to a projection screen amid a watch party of sorts in the Library's main-floor Kirk Hall.
"I haven't felt particular pressure since I don't know what to expect," Norcott-Mahany says.
"We'll see Saturday what it's like."
Free subscriptions to your favorite magazines? It sounds too good to be true, but patrons of the Library now have full access to the "online newsstand" Zinio.
"Zinio provides free magazines in digital format to our patrons, either in the library on our PCs, or on their personal computers at home, or on their mobile devices," explains Joel Jones, the Library's director of branches and outreach services.
"This isn't a text-only thing," Jones says. "It's the actual magazine as you buy it on the newsstand. You get the layouts, the photos … it's as if you had a physical copy of the magazine in your hand."
Among the 110 magazines currently available through Zinio is a broad selection of mainstream and special-interest publications like Forbes, Utne Reader, Rolling Stone, Seventeen, Us Weekly, Smithsonian, Newsweek, The Economist, Car and Driver, Billboard, Field & Stream, Mother Jones, and The Nation. Magazines in Spanish are offered as well, such as the Spanish-language versions of Seventeen and Cosmopolitan.
Magazines downloaded to an individual's devices remain there until deleted.
"Almost anything you'll find on a normal newsstand you'll find on Zinio," Jones says. "And we're taking suggestions for additional publications to add to the service."
To subscribe library patrons need only go to kclbrary.org/zinio and follow the instructions.
According to Jones: "This requires creating two accounts, one with the library and one with Zinio. If you're doing this from outside the library you will need your library card number and PIN."
Patrons who encounter a learning curve in subscribing to Zinio are encouraged to seek assistance at the service desk at their local branch library.
About the Author
Robert W. Butler is a lifelong Kansas City area resident, a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School and the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. For several decades he was the movie editor of the Kansas City Star; he now writes a movie-themed blog at butlerscinemascene.com. He joined the Library's Public Affairs team in 2012.
Relatively few Kansans have gone on to be immortalized in the movies.
Salina's Dwight David Eisenhower has popped up as a character in nearly 40 films, the first time in the 1962 D-Day epic The Longest Day, which was released four years before the former President's death.
On the other hand, hatchet-wielding prohibitionist Carrie Nation has never been portrayed on the silver screen, at least not according to the Internet Movie Database.
A couple of transplants to Kansas have enjoyed a long cinematic history. Wyatt Earp, an Illinois native who first gained fame as a lawman taming Kansas' wide-open cattle towns, has been depicted in 55 films.
Gen. George Armstrong Custer, who lived in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, during the Indian wars, has made at least 50 movies and TV appearances.
And William Clarke Quantrill, the Confederate guerrilla leader infamous for the August, 1863, sack of Lawrence, Kansas, has been depicted on screen numerous times.
And if you add to the mix all the films referencing the Border War between Kansas and Missouri, not to mention innumerable Westerns in which the characters were former bushwhackers (anything with Jesse James, True Grit's Rooster Cogburn, a former guerrilla played by Dean Martin in Bandolero!, and Clint Eastwood's turn as The Outlaw Josey Wales), you've got well over 100 titles springing at least in part from our local history.
KU's John Tibbetts looks at this cinematic heritage in Quantrill in the Movies on Sunday, August 18, 2013, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library. Through film clips, analysis, and anecdotes, Tibbetts examines Quantrill through films as varied as Dark Command (1940), Quantrill's Raiders (1958), and Ang Lee's locally-filmed Ride With the Devil (1999).
A broadcaster, journalist, artist, and scholar, Tibbetts has written and illustrated nine books, among them The Cinema of Tony Richardson, The American Theatrical Film, Dvorak in America, and His Majesty the American: The Films of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
His presentation is part of the Missouri Valley Sundays series, a program of the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Central Library. The series is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
As with all our events, admission is free, and Free parking is available at the Library District Parking Garage at 10th & Baltimore.
On a related note, several of the films featured in Tibbett's talk are being screened on Mondays this month in the Film Vault of the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St. The shows begin at 6:30 p.m.
The schedule:
- August 5 Kansas Raiders (1950) Not rated
- August 12 Quantrill's Raiders (1958) Not rated
- August 19 Ride With the Devil (1999) Rated: R
- August 26 The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Rated: PG-13
These events are all part of our A Quantum of Quantrill series, marking the 150th anniversary of the sack of Lawrence, Kansas by Quantrill and his band of "bushwhackers."
About the Author
Robert W. Butler is a lifelong Kansas City area resident, a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School and the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. For several decades he was the movie editor of the Kansas City Star; he now writes a movie-themed blog at butlerscinemascene.com. He joined the Library's Public Affairs team in 2012.
After two years of study and implementation, the Kansas City Public Library's new on-line catalog – known as Enterprise – hits the Internet this month.
Digital Branch manager David LaCrone, the man in charge of implementing the new system, says that while patrons will notice some new bells and whistles, most of the changes aren't obvious – except that they make searches of the catalog more accessible and easier.
Q. Lots of us users feel that the current online catalog works fine. Why change it?
LaCrone: "From a purely technical standpoint, our current catalog has been so heavily customized over the years that we just could no longer update it effectively.
"It also bears noting that our current software isn't compatible with newer Internet Explorer browsers. If you are using Windows 7 or 8, major portions of our catalog are 'broken.' You can't use them properly. That certainly doesn't make us look very good. We needed to go to a next-generation platform that would serve the future, not just the present."
Q. What about new bells and whistles?
LaCrone: "One of the things the current catalog doesn't offer – something that people have been asking for – is the ability to create wish lists. Now you'll be able to keep track of titles that interest you, even if you're not ready to put a hold on them right now.
"This is a really practical feature. I've worked at a library desk and you are always getting people coming in who say they want to find a book they saw reviewed, but cannot remember the title or the author. Now as soon as you read about a book or CD or movie you think you'll like, you can add it to your wish list. It will be there when you're ready to order it."
Q. Will the new catalog look or behave differently from the one we're accustomed to?
LaCrone: "Visually, it will be less crowded. We're getting rid of the word cloud feature that ate up a big part of the screen. It's a much cleaner look.
"And we think the new search function is a piece of cake. There are dropdown functions that allow you to search in a particular branch, by subject, author, title…that allow you to limit the search to books, movies, music., e-books, young readers…
"Really, if you can use our current catalog, this shouldn't pose many problems. There will be a bit of a learning curve, but people will find that navigating their accounts is now much more intuitive."
Q. When can we take the new catalog out for a test drive?
LaCrone: "Very shortly we'll have it up on the site, alongside the current web catalog. For a while you'll be able to use both the old and new catalogs. There will be a link to a survey where patrons can provide feedback. We're happy to do some tinkering to make it even better."
June 21, 2013 – Editor's Note: Our new catalog is available to try out and provide feedback. Let us know what you think!
About the Author
Robert W. Butler is a lifelong Kansas City area resident, a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School and the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. For several decades he was the movie editor of the Kansas City Star; he now writes a movie-themed blog at butlerscinemascene.com. He joined the Library's Public Affairs team in 2012.
Bob Walkenhorst's regular Wednesday night gig at the Record Bar in Westport is usually standing room only.
And in Norway he's revered as a rock god who plays before crowds of avid fans.
But you don't have to stand in line, pay a cover charge, or fly to Scandinavia to get an earful of fresh Walkenhorst.
All you have to do is show up on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.
Walkenhorst, born in Norborne, Missouri, and famed as the singer/songwriter of the legendary rock band The Rainmakers, will be the guest artist at the next installment of America's Music, the six-part film-and-discussion series that's been unfolding on Tuesday nights this month at the Library.
Created by the Tribeca Film Institute, the American Library Association, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, America's Music offers an hour of documentaries about pop music idioms followed by live performances and talks.
So far Library patrons have heard Lawrence bluesman Patrick Nichols hold forth on the National steel guitar, UMKC's Chuck Haddix explain Kansas City's place in jazz history, looked into the roots of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley, and tapped their toes to the KC's own Bluegrass Brigade.
Tuesday night's program opens with a screening of Plugging In, an episode of the TV documentary The History of Rock 'n' Roll that looks at the mid-1960s, when singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan transformed rock from moon-June-spoon songs about teenage romance to a mirror reflecting the upheavals of American society.
Walkenhorst is just the man to illustrate the idea of the singer/songwriter. His songs – Government Cheese, Let My People Go-Go, Big Fat Blonde – combine the wit of Mark Twain with the rockin' intensity of Chuck Berry.
He'll play his tunes, talk about his music with our project scholar - UMKC's Andrew Granade – and, heck, he may even take your requests.
Arrive early for the reception that begins at 6 p.m.
And remember…it's at the Library. Which means it's absolutely free.
About the Author
Robert W. Butler is a lifelong Kansas City area resident, a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School and the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. For several decades he was the movie editor of the Kansas City Star; he now writes a movie-themed blog at butlerscinemascene.com. He joined the Library's Public Affairs team in 2012.
The joys of reading ebooks are not restricted to those who own Kindles, Nooks, or other ereaders. If you have a smartphone or tablet, you too can enjoy ebooks checked out from the Library or downloaded from a retailer like Amazon or a free-ebook site like Project Gutenberg.
The list below outlines some of the more popular ereading apps, including ones you'll need if you do plan to check out ebooks from the Kansas City Public Library.
So read on, and be sure to post a comment if you use an app that's not on the list.
I. Apps that work with the Kansas City Public Library's ebooks collection.
Want to check out one of our e-books for your mobile device? You'll need these apps.
Overdrive Media Console
For reading: All ebooks from the Library's OverDrive collection
Works on: iOS, Android, and other supported devices (list)
OverDrive Media Console (OMC) is the default reader for our ebooks collection and works will all ebooks contained therein. Once you have it installed on your device, launch it and tap "Get Books." Then find the Kansas City (MO) Public Library. Log in with your Library card and PIN, and download ebooks (and audiobooks) straight to your device. The ebooks will be automatically returned when due. (Watch a video tutorial.)
Kindle App
For reading: Kindle ebooks from the Library's OverDrive collection
Works on: iOS, Android, Kindle Cloud Reader
Last year, Amazon began allowing Library patrons to download Kindle versions of most of our ebooks. In addition to reading them on your Kindle proper, you can read some – but not all – via the Kindle app on your iPad, Droid tablet, or other device. You must first check them out via our website before you can open them on your app. While browsing, if you find an item in our OverDrive library marked "Kindle devices via USB only," then that means you can only read that one on your physical Kindle. Confusing? Blame publishers. Still, the Kindle app is a fine reading vehicle, plus the ebook can be accessed via your Kindle Cloud Reader on your computer.
Bonus Tip: Download the KC Library's App to renew your books, place holds, check out ebooks, and more!
II. Free apps for use with your own ebooks
These apps are free to download, but to use them, you may need to purchase ebooks from an affiliated store. A few of these apps will work with free ebooks acquired from sites like Project Gutenberg, ManyBooks, and other sources (see our article "How to Find Free Ebooks for Your Ereader").
For reading: ebooks from the Blio store
Works on: iOS, Android, Windows (PC)
One of the main complaints about epublishing is its text-oriented, color-unfriendly nature. Blio aims to change that with a Technicolor app maximized for illustrated, interactive ereading. From cookbooks to crafts, Blio's store features ebooks you wouldn't even be able to read on your pixel-poor first-generation Kindle. There is also a non-mobile version for PCs (Windows only).
Bluefire Reader
For reading: ebooks (EPUB, PDF) from anywhere
Works on: iOS, Android
If you download ebooks from multiple sources and need an app in which to read them, Bluefire offers a clean, elegant interface and easy uploading. You can also use the "Get Books" feature to access more than a million free and commercial ebooks from a variety of online bookstores and free sites.
Google Play Books
For reading: ebooks from the Google Play Store
Works on: iOS, Android, PC, Mac, ereaders & many supported devices
An all-in-one media playground for anyone with a free Google account (and preferably an Android device), Google Play lets you access music, magazines, movies and of course, ebooks, from the cloud on multiple devices. The only catch is, unless you're willing to settle for the modest collection of free books available in the store, you're going to have to pay.
For reading: ebooks from the iBookstore; DRM-free ebooks and PDFs
Works on: iOS
For Apple loyalists only, iBooks is the digital-faux-woodgrain-enhanced gateway to the iTunes bookstore, which admittedly has some nice offerings, from $3.99 ebooks to expansive "multi-touch textbooks." Savvy users will enjoy being able to upload DRM-free ebooks and PDF files gotten elsewhere (i.e., free).
For reading: Audiobooks from the Audible store
Works on: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry
Amazon's popular online audiobook retailer has an app that lets shop for 75,000 titles or transfer previously purchased books to your phone via wi-fi. Special features include the ability to win badges, track your listening habits, be alerted to author events, and connect to Facebook and Twitter.
Tell us:
What apps do you use to read on the go?
It's Sunday night and your research paper on Hadrian's Villa ain't gonna write itself. You need fast, easy-to-digest, and reliable reference information, but the library is closed and you've already mined Wikipedia and Google for all they're worth.
What if you could use your computer to search inside every book inside your local library? Then, once you'd found the information you wanted, download the article for your ereader, listen to it as an MP3, or email it to a friend, all without leaving home?
That's exactly what you can do with the nonfiction reference ebooks available in the Kansas City Public Library's newest database.
The Gale Virtual Reference Library consists of more than 200 nonfiction ebooks in the humanities. Search them instantly for handy articles that you can save, print, and download to an ereader such as a Nook or a Kindle or an MP3 player such as an iPod.
It's 100 percent free, and you can access it from home with your Kansas City Public Library Card and PIN.
Let's take that Roman history example.
A basic search for "Hadrian's Wall" in GVRL yields 20 results from reference books including as Architecture of Italy (Reference Guides to National Architecture), World History Encyclopedia, New Catholic Encyclopedia, Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes through World History, Art and Architecture of the World's Religions, and more.
With each of these articles, you can do things like:
- Easily find every mention of the search term within each work.
- Read the entire text of every article.
- Bookmark specific pages from each book, save them forever, and send links to your friends (great for those group research assignments!).
- Email articles.
- Listen to an audio version of any article – you can even download it as an MP3!
- Download PDF versions of articles to use on your ereader. (Hint, if you have a Kindle, e-mail the articles to your "@kindle.com" or "@free.kindle.com" address.)
- Get fast MLA or APA citations for every article for your bibliography.
Watch this video tutorial for a more in-depth tour.
The Library's collection of ebooks in the Gale Virtual Reference Library was purchased with funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
About the Author
Jason Harper is the web content developer and social media manager at the Kansas City Public Library.
In honor of Bloomsday on June 16, the day Irish lit fans celebrate the novel Ulysses, our classics expert Bernie revisits James Joyce's novel to determine what makes it so worthy of celebration.
When James Joyce published his novel Ulysses in 1922 (it had appeared in serialized form in the years 1918-1920), he sparked a great controversy.
The work was initially banned in England and in the United States for "obscenity," though that designation was struck down in the courts of the United States (United States v. One Book Called Ulysses, decided for the defendant in 1933, and affirmed on appeal in 1934) and the work was allowed to be published and distributed.
In the time since its general release, the work has quickly risen in the estimation of scholars and adventurous general readers to its status as one of the greatest (some would say the greatest) novels of the 20th c.
The work, as its title indicates, is inspired by Homer's Odyssey (Ulysses is the Latin name for the protagonist Odysseus). Joyce's hero is not Homer's intrepid explorer, however, but Leopold Bloom, a Jewish Dubliner, who makes his living by getting ad space in the various Dublin newspapers for his clients ("What's a home without Plumtree's Potted Meat? Incomplete.")
Instead of traveling all over the Mediterranean and beyond, as Homer's hero does over the course of 10 years in his attempt to get home, Bloom travels through the city of Dublin over the course of a single day: June 16, 1904.
Where Odysseus' wife, Penelope, remained faithful to her husband for 20 years, Bloom's wife, Molly, a soprano performing popular songs and operatic arias in music halls around Ireland, is having an ongoing affair with her manager, Blazes Boylan, including a rendez-vous that afternoon.
And where Odysseus has a son who joined him in a heroic battle to regain his kingdom, Bloom's only son, Rudy, died soon after childbirth, a matter of great sorrow for him and something that has put a strain on his marriage.
Serving as a surrogate son is Stephen Daedalus, a young man trained by the Jesuits and a teacher of Classics in Dublin. Daedalus was the hero of Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In Ulysses, Stephen's dissatisfaction with his situation and with Ireland's parochial outlook leads him to decide to leave, just as Joyce himself did in 1904.
Speaking of travel, the book is a very detailed travelogue of Dublin in 1904, and if you go to Dublin you can take a tour, visiting the various sites mentioned. If you visit Dublin on, or around Bloomsday – which Joyceans around the world celebrate every 16th of June – you won't be able to escape from such tours amidst all the festivities.
But the book does provide all sorts of travel – Bloom, Molly and Stephen spend a lot of the book thinking about the past, about loved ones, about language and literature, and these reflections are presented in stream-of-consciousness, a jumble of associations, much as thoughts often are.
When Molly encounters the word "metempsychosis" in a graphic romantic novel, she asks Bloom what the word means ("transmigration of the soul" or "reincarnation"). Throughout the book, the word recurs and when Bloom thinks of it, his thoughts bounce from thoughts about his dead son, about Molly's salacious taste in literature, about his own epistolary romance, even about advertising jingles. So where the external travel of the book is minimal (Molly never leaves their flat at 7 Eccles St.), the internal travel in the mind of characters encompasses life, death, philosophy and graphic romance novels.
So what makes this such a classic and such a fascinating work? Well, when I reviewied Homer's Odyssey, I maintained that Homer, more than simply telling Odysseus' story, was demonstrating the power of story itself, and the power of the spoken word. In the case of Ulysses, Joyce is doing more than telling the story of one day in the life of an ordinary (and somewhat underachieving) man. He is presenting us with all sorts of ways of thinking (in an episode called "Proteus," we see Stephen thinking of all sorts of things – his life, his academic work, the world beyond Dublin, and even on death and beyond); ways of categorizing information and analyzing the world around us (in an episode called "Ithaca," the discussion of Bloom and Stephen at Bloom's home is recast as a "catechism" or FAQ, and deals with high philosophy but also with the urinating force and trajectory of the two men as they pee in the garden); and with the whole majesty of language and literary style (in an episode called "Oxen of the Sun" the account of Bloom, Stephen and Buck Mulligan having a royal drunk is told in a variety of English styles, from an Anglo-Saxon directness, to the flights of fancy of Medieval English to the measured and reasonable prose of 18th and 19th c. essayists to a crazy and invented slang).
So in this one day, in this one place, we have a prism through which we get a glimpse of much of human knowledge (at least as viewed in the West) and of much of the nature of language (what it can and cannot express), and, in the final section, an extended internal monolog by Molly Bloom, a glimpse into the nature of the human heart, with all its foibles and mysteries.
So, this Bloomsday, do yourself a favor. Find yourself a quiet spot, have yourself a pint (of Guinness, ideally; or some soft drink, if you are not yet 21), and read a section from this work. Or find a group of people and take turns reading the work aloud. In fact, the Irish Center of Kansas City at Union Station is doing this very thing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow, along with other festivities.
Or listen to a recording of the work – Joyce is so much better aloud than silent! The one done by Donal Donnelly and Miriam Healy-Louie is excellent. Don't worry about taking on the whole work – just a section – and one day, you'll know that you're ready, and in you'll plunge. Happy Bloomsday, all!
About the Author
Bernard Norcott-Mahany, a library technical assistant at the Lucile H. Bluford Branch, is our resident connoisseur of classic literature. He is also the leader of the Black Classics and In the Heat of the Night book groups.
If you're an online news junkie, chances are the Gray Lady's paywall is your bête noire. For the past year, The New York Times has been allowing readers limited access. But now, the Library is providing digitized microfilm of the Times and the Wall Street Journal for free, and from home, too.
In March 2011, the New York Times announced it would be imposing a paywall between its readers and all that wonderful content they'd previously been enjoying for free. With the new paywall, readers could view only 20 nytimes.com articles per month without a digital subscription.
Then, a year later in March 2012 the paper declared success on the paywall model and got even stricter, shrinking the number of free articles to 10. Subscriptions now range from $15 to $35 a month, which is kind of pricey when you're used to getting all the news that's fit to print for free.
At the Kansas City Public Library, we're certainly not going to fault newspapers for taking steps to survive in a changing digital economy. That's why we're happy to provide the Proquest digital microfilm collection, which lets you read, download, and print back issues of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal – without paying a cent, and from any computer with an Internet connection. All it takes is a Kansas City Public Library card.
With your card number and PIN in hand, head to kclibrary.org and navigate to Databases section under the Research Resources menu on the homepage. Under the Newspapers & magazines category, you'll find links to the New York Times' and Wall Street Journal's digital microfilm portals, along with the other free news resources we have already been offering (such as the Kansas City Star's post-1991 archive and the ProQuest periodicals search).
Just as with traditional microfilm, you'll need to know what issue you're looking for. There is, unfortunately, no search box. Also, we only have access going back six years, to 2008, and it takes ProQuest a month or so to digitize new issues.
But that's still a lot of content, and it's the type of stuff you're likely to encounter while browsing sites like Google – and then be unable to read because of the paywall.
Fortunately, Google will show you the date a story was published, so you can use that to your advantage.
For example, if you wanted to find the first reports from Capt. C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger's heroic crash-landing in the Hudson River a few years ago, just add "site:nytimes.com" to your Google search query to get the results and note the issue date in the URL (sometimes articles are posted online the day before they appear in print).
Then simply pull up the Jan. 16, 2009, edition from the digital microfilm collection.
Or, if you wanted to see the front page of Election Day 2008, all you have to do is plug in the coordinates for November 5, 2008, and there's page one in all its grainy glory.
Remember, ProQuest allows you to print, e-mail, and save PDFs of any page from any issue.
That'll certainly come in handy for you crossword buffs.
And if you need help with the answer to 57 down, you can always ask a librarian.
About the Author
Jason Harper is the web content developer and social media manager at the Kansas City Public Library.
Area high school students and their families receive an eyeful and an earful about design careers at the 2012 Design Futures/High School Program on Saturday, March 3, 2012 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.
This combined panel discussion/college fair is aimed at young people considering a future in the field. Design professionals talk about their specialties and representatives of colleges, universities, art schools, and design organizations hand out literature and answer questions.
The event is part of KC Design Week running Feb. 29 to March 7.
"We've got 13 events over eight jam-packed days," says organizer Kathy Kelley of Kelley Design. "Last year the college fair drew nearly 200 students and we're hoping to top that number this time."
The 10 a.m. panel discussion features Peter Sloan of 360 Architecture, Jonathon Kemnitzer of KEM STUDIO, Terry Berkbuegler of Confluence and Lori Schiefen of NSPJ Architects.
Among the participating schools are the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, the Kansas City Art Institute, Truman State University, the University of Missouri-Kansas City/Planning, the University of Missouri-Kansas City/Art and Design, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Avila University/Art + Design.
Representatives of the American Institute of Architects, AIGA (the professional association for design), and the Industrial Designers Society of America will be on hand to talk to students and their parents.
"I don't think people realize the diversity of design," Kelley says. "Our hope is to provide one-stop shopping so that high school students can learn about all these design fields in one place."
The main idea behind KC Design Week (now in its third year) and the panel discussion/college fair (in its second year) is to stress the importance of design to our culture, Kelley says.
"As a designer you're contributing in a very positive way to the world. You're solving problems, communicating, making people comfortable, adding beauty and fun to our lives.
"Our hope is that by getting this information out there, high school students can discover design earlier so that when they get into college they can hit the ground running, getting into the curriculum right away."
For a complete list of KC Design Week events, visit www.kcdesignweek.org.
Admission to the 2012 Design Futures/High School Program is free. Advanced registration is requested. RSVP at kcdesignweek.org or at kclibrary.org or call 816.701.3407.
About the Author
Robert W. Butler is a lifelong Kansas City area resident, a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School and the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. For several decades he was the movie editor of the Kansas City Star; he now writes the Library's From the Film Vault blog. He joined the Library's Public Affairs team in 2012.
We've got a strict policy at the Kansas City Public Library: No matter how old you look, we'll card you. But we don't want to see your driver's license or ID. If you haven't seen your card since the Clinton era, now is the perfect time to get a brand-new, shiny, redesigned Library card.
Through the end of February 2012, come into any branch and get a new Library card free of charge. (After February 29, a $1 replacement fee will apply.) The new cards come in two designs: blue for adults and orange for children and teens.
Why bother getting a new card? Here are three good reasons.
1. Security
If you come into the Library to use a public computer but don't have your card handy (or your number memorized), our circulation staff will be happy to write your account number and PIN on a piece of paper for you.
Then, when you accidentally leave that scrap of paper lying around, a miscreant or ne'er-do-well (likely from out of the district), will be happy to check out books to your account. And never return them.
2. Speed
Skipping the lines at the circ desk is easy with a Library card. Simply scan the card's barcode into one of our self-checkout machines and follow the directions to check out your materials.
Get out the door and get reading in the time it would take us to look up your account if you didn't have your card in hand.
3. Savvy
Forget the Benjamins and Players Club cards. When picking up the tab on some pho or hot wings, nothing looks more sophisticated than opening your purse or wallet to reveal your Library card tucked inside. It tells onlookers, "I read and therefore am a citizen of the world. Emulate me." And don't forget – we have keychain versions too!
So, don't wait 'til spring comes to get a bright, clean new card. Head to your nearest branch or apply for a new card online before February 29 to avoid the charge. Then be sure to remember to bring your card into the Library. What's the point of getting a new card if you leave it at home?
About the Author
Jason Harper is the web content developer and social media manager at the Kansas City Public Library.
In Chinese zodiac lore, the dragon is stately, proud, fiery, and passionate. And if you're turning 12, 24, 36, 48 (or another multiple of 12) this year, congratulations, noble dragon, 2012 is all you! Here are some ideas for how you can celebrate the Chinese New Year on January 23 in Kansas City.
1. Join Winter Reading
Our annual Adult Winter Reading program began on January 9, and if you haven't signed up yet, this is the perfect way to get started on your New Year's resolution to read more great literature – and celebrate the Chinese New Year in one swoop. The theme this year is Destination: Anywhere!, and the reading list will take you to far-flung places, including, of course, China. Start off with Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of pre-revolutionary China, The Good Earth, or delve into Jung Chang's multigenerational family history, Wild Swans. Get more suggested readings and sign up for Winter Reading here.
2. Attend the Greater Kansas City Chinese New Year Celebration
A day of free family activities will be held on Sunday, January 22, at the Carlsen Center of Johnson County Community College (12345 College Boulevard). Beginning at 9 a.m. with a Chinese speech contest, the Greater Kansas City Chinese New Year Celebration also includes a dance competition, children's activities, and performances by students from Beijing China. Last year, 3,000 people attended this all-day event, which ends with a ticketed New Year Gala at 7 p.m. It's sponsored by our friends at the Kansas City Chinese American Association, the Edgar Snow Memorial Fund, and the Confucius Institute of KU.
3. Watch a Hong Kong Action Flick
With leading men such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Chow Yun Fat, Hong Kong cinema has for years churned out a brilliant miasma of flying fists and ricocheting bullets. Head down to the Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault at Central – or the A/V collection at any branch – and load up on cheap (and in most cases, free) DVDs to ring in the New Year with cinematic film-fu.
4. Make a Paper Craft
If you're looking for the right way to make a paper lantern or firecracker for Chinese New Year, skip the Google how-to crapshoot and check out a book. Karen Bledsoe's Chinese New Year Crafts, for one, contains 32 pages of craft-project goodness. You'll find it right next to Making Chinese Papercuts, Traditional Crafts from China and more user-friendly guides to Chinese-themed crafting for kids.
5. Check out a Chinese Children's Book
Speaking of kids, don't be caught without a seasonally appropriate story to tell this Sunday to the little ones. Over on the Library's "Keyword: Kids" blog, Westport librarian Sukalaya Kenworthy has assembled a list of Chinese New Year-themed reads for kids, alongside some memories of celebrating the holiday in her native Thailand.
6. Find a Dragon at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Chinese art collection at the Nelson-Atkins Museum is among the finest in the nation. Read up on the dragons in the gallery, and check out the museum's own Chinese New Year celebration. On Friday, January 27, from 5 to 9 p.m., the museum offers an evening of events, including a performance by the Shaolin Lohan Pai Lion Dance Troupe, traditional music, Chinese yo-yos, and more. It's free, but tickets are required.
7. Read Red Star Over China and Plan to Attend Meet the Past: Edgar Snow
On March 1, 2012, see local history come to life on the set of the the Lyric Opera's production of Nixon in China at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, where actor Robert Gibby Brand will portray famed journalist Edgar Snow for a new edition of Meet the Past with Crosby Kemper III. A native of Kansas City, Snow authored Red Star Over China, the 1937 book that introduced Mao Tse-Tung and his Red Army to westerners. (This performance will offer a new version of the Meet the Past: Edgar Snow production that took place last fall.)
About the Author
Jason Harper is the web content developer and social media manager at the Kansas City Public Library.
Since launching the Kansas City Public Library mobile app a couple of months ago, we've been hearing stories of how people are using the app in interesting ways. This doesn't surprise us. Library patrons, after all, are the smartest people on the planet.
Now, if you don't yet have the app, it's available as a fast, free download for just about every smart phone and tablet PC. Search your device's app store for kc library, or go to the device's browser and type in kcpl.boopsie.com to download the app directly to your device.
Here are five ways our customers are using the app to enhance their Library experience.
Test-Driving Books
Our friend John finds himself pulling out the app whenever he visits the bookstore. As a self-described "test driver" who uses the Library to try books before he buys 'em, John searches the Library catalog through the app and places a hold on the book to check it out later. Don't worry, bookstore owners of Kansas City: if he ends up liking the book enough to buy it, he'll be back. (Tip: You can also do this with DVDs you're thinking about buying, such as highly coveted TV-on-DVD collections, which we check out for free.)
Fine Prevention
Whenever the highly proactive Jordan is checking her email on her phone and sees the message notifying her that her books are due, she clicks through to the app and hits "renew" on the items that are due, extending their checkout period so she doesn't get fined. Clever, Jordan!
No Library Card? No Problem.
Mandy, like many book-obsessed people, can be a bit absent-minded – even when it comes to something as important as her Library card. She loves the app because having signed in once, she doesn't have to look for her card number to sign in again. She says this makes her more likely to renew books, thus preventing dreaded fines – and increasing her reading. (Of course, she'll have to get her account info eventually, but she can always call Customer Service at 816.701.3422.)
Steve hasn't read a book in six months – a physical book, that is. "Since we started reading on our phones, my wife and I probably read five times as much as we used to," he says, between glances to the book on his phone. Naturally, he uses the app for accessing the Library's e-books collection. E-books (and digital audiobooks) can be checked out, downloaded instantly, and read in the Overdrive Media Console app. The e-books return automatically, too.
Remembering Recs
Lastly, whenever I would get a book or author recommendation, I used to fire up my notes app on my iPhone and punch it in. (And then likely forget to look at it ever again.) Now that we've got app, I can search the catalog and place a hold on the book – or a book by the author – on the spot. A few days later, I'll get an email that the book's waiting for me at Central.
Now it's your turn: How are you using the KC Library app? Figured out a trick? Share it in the comments!
About the Author
Jason Harper is the web content developer and social media manager at the Kansas City Public Library. He has been tweeting, Facebooking, blogging, and YouTubing for the Library since 2010.


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Topic: nginx 0.5.35 with 2/4/8 mongrels - slow slow slow
Our sysadmin has been benchmarking this new Rails application, we've tried different setups, from 2 to 8 mongrels behind nginx, the mongrels don't seem to spread the load very well.
Regardless of how many mongrels we set up, a single one seems to be hit with 90M of memory usage and taking the CPU all the way to 80%-90%. All other mongrels, be it 1 or 7 are idling with 0 CPU usage and 20-21M of memory. Huh?
Pasties from the application and nginx conf: http://pastie.org/176632 .


text:
Most people can tell a $6 bottle from a $12 bottle but fewer can tell $12 bottle from a $24 bottle or a $48 bottle.
Almost no one can tell a $48 bottle from a $96 bottle.
Beyond $96 it's just about history label and status. That's the conventional "wisdom" in wine.
Is it similar with pu-erh?
My favorite tea is $50 for 40grams. I'd really like to find something that makes me just as happy at $10-$20 a gram. am I being unreasonable?