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A. There are distinct differences in business etiquette and social etiquette. And many of those differences in etiquette involve women.
Over the past 50 years etiquette has changed, especially in the business world. Most of those changes involve women because of the increased number of women in the work force. That increase has caused the workplace and the etiquette involved to become gender-neutral compared with the social world, where etiquette is gender-based.
In business, a woman would not expect a man to pull out her chair at a business luncheon, for instance. If a man would pull out the chair, a woman should say thank you, but she would not expect it. However, socially it is still polite for a man to hold the door, pull out the chair or offer the other courtesies that have been a standard of gentlemanly behavior for years.
When it comes to standing at meetings or at a business meal, both men and women should stand for introductions and to meet and greet one another. If a women remains seated, she relinquishes some of her personal authority to the men in that situation — something she wouldn't want to do in business.
Here are some of the other "new" rules for men and women:
•Men, women and young people should stand for all introductions. It is a sign of respect to all involved regardless of whether it is a social or business situation.
•At a business meal, a man is not expected to pull out chairs or stand when a woman excuses herself from the table temporarily. The same is true during meetings.
•In business, whoever gets to the door first holds it for those following.
•At a business meal, the person who does the inviting is responsible for the bill.
•Today, women are expected to shake hands as frequently and as comfortably as men.
•"Ms." is the contemporary abbreviation used in front of an adult woman's name, regardless of her marital status. It is used the same way Mr. is used for a man. If a woman is married and prefers to be addressed as "Mrs.," that is also correct. Referring to an adult unmarried woman as "Miss" today would be very outdated.
Staying up to date with contemporary business etiquette is important and can impact how one is perceived as a professional. Our rules change with the times, but the reason for the rules remains the same — respect for all.
Karen Hickman is a certified etiquette/protocol consultant and owner of Professional Courtesy LLC. Do you have a question for her? Email firstname.lastname@example.com, and we'll forward it to her.


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By Varietal
A recent trip to Spain inspired me to create this burger.
This burger is a collection of three of my favorite ingredients- sweet potatoes, chiles, and jicama.
In Central Pennsylvania, tailgating at a Penn State game starts long before the game kicks off in the afternoon.
This burger is a perfect melding of Cuban flavors with an all-American classic, a burger. It represents who I am…a Cuban-American female who has lived in Miami all her life.
In this recipe, pork, apples, and sweet potatoes complement each other perfectly plus they all are raised or grown in abundance in Oklahoma. These burgers are as delicious as they are unusual.
This burger utilizes the fruit of the Texas State Tree; the Pecan Tree. This burger is unique in its combination of savory and sweet but will soon be a family favorite.
A favorite sandwich sold at a local food store
Spam has always been a fun meat (?) in my life. I wanted to do something different and out of the box.
The spam really shines as a "breading".
Pork, spam, anise and apple = Amazing.
One of my favorite dishes at upscale Italian restaurants is sweet potato or pumpkin gnocchi with sage and brown butter that is sprinkled with crushed amaretti cookies.
Since my husband and I both love black beans, I decided to combine them with pork to create these wonderful burgers.
A traditional meal turned into a burger.
I am from a cuban family. So this burger is a take on the famous cuban sandwich. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I have.

subset: commoncrawl


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We answer questions about the impacts of environmental stress and change on the function ecosystems and health of coastal resources and people. Major research programs include:
Our 2012-2013 Annual Research Report highlights CCEHBR's research emphases and selected accomplishments for 2012-2013.
We use advanced technology to study complex problems, developing novel approaches to reduce impacts of harmful algal blooms (HABs) on marine animal health, human health, and quality of the coastal environment. Through our research, technology transfer and delivery of information, we respond to an array of issues caused by harmful algae and marine biotoxins.
Development activities alter land use and landscape ecology, often increasing delivery of chemical and microbial pollutants into coastal waters and affecting the environment and people. Pollution events (e.g oil spills) can also produce short and long-term environmental impacts. We use combined measures of contaminant concentrations, their toxicity to organisms, and conditions of living resources to develop statistical and spatial models for resource managers. Our science and tools allow managers to predict impacts from coastal development and pollution events and test strategies that can mitigate impacts on coastal ecosystem health and quality of life.
Key actions and accomplishments:
We survey benthic communities and habitat characteristics to determine how environmental
conditions change with time, and assess the social, economic and biological effects
of human activities on coastal ecosystems. These local to large regional scale
integrated assessments are vital to coastal management decisions and we usually
partner with Federal, state, and local managers and researchers.
We are charged with defining the cause and effect relationships between ecosystem stressors and the health of coastal resources, and with creating products, models, and advice that will inform public policies and coastal management decisions at local, state, and national levels.
Learn more about the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory.
From campuses in both Charleston, SC, and Oxford, Maryland, our 100 staff engage across NCCOS, NOAA and with federal and state agencies and other research institutes regionally, nationally and internationally to address the variety of coastal environmental issues.
The CCEHBR Charleston Laboratory is 45,000 sq.ft. that includes chemistry, toxicology, molecular, microbiology, and ecology laboratories. We have separate facilities for culture of coral species as well as challenge laboratories to simulate and assess impacts climate and stress changes. There is a similar building for the challenge of fish and invertebrates to chemical contaminants and a greenhouse-enclosed, salt marsh mesocosm with tidal influence to assess the effects of contaminants under conditions simulating a southeastern US estuarine habitat.
The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory (in Oxford, MD) addresses
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NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, and the US Coast Guard. From our 13,000 sq.ft. laboratory with newly constructed labs for fish and shellfish pathogen exposure, modeling and assessment, and molecular and microbiology and via intensive partnerships in the region, we plan and conduct research and predictive modeling for coastal management applications, with particular emphasis in the Chesapeake Bay.


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Crowdfunding to restore bits of Pennsylvania history
Thaddeus Stevens entered the strata of popular culture when he appeared as a character in the Steven Spielberg film, "Lincoln," played by Tommy Lee Jones.
The abrasive congressman from Pennsylvania during the Civil War displayed considerable talent for insult, particularly when directed at pro-slavery colleagues in Washington.
He also had terrible taste in hairpieces.
"Everybody lamented that the ["Lincoln"] producers chose such an awful wig for the character," said Barry Rauhauser, curator of LancasterHistory.org. "In truth, that was one of the things Thaddeus Stevens was known for in his lifetime, was wearing a bad wig."
Rauhauser has one of Stevens' wigs, which — while never all that attractive to begin with — is slowly deteriorating. LancasterHistory.org owns several personal items that had belonged to Stevens, and submitted the wig as one of Pennsylvania's 10 most endangered historical artifacts.
"It's been losing its hair for 50 or 60 years. Soon it will make Thaddeus Stevens go bald, twice," said Rauhauser. "It's a very popular item for us to loan out . Other institutions do exhibitions related to Thaddeus Stevens. We have one of his boots, and a cane, and every time this wig travels a few loose strands of hair trickle out."
The wig is competing against nine other objects from around the state. The Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, with support from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, has created a website — www.patop10artifacts.org — wherein visitors can rank their favorite objects and donate money toward their conservation.
They include a bust of Abraham Lincoln carved out of anthracite coal, by African-American sculptor C. Edgar Patience; gigantic paper-mache sculptures of the founding fathers created by pop artist Red Grooms, one of which is on view in the lobby of the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts; film footage of African-American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, circa 1940; and a prison scrapbook filled with 500 signatures of visiting abolitionists, circa 1855.
The scrapbook was owned by Passmore Williamson, an abolitionist who served 100 days in the Moyamensing Prison (where what is now an Acme supermarket in South Philadelphia) on charges of abducting a slave, Jane Johnson, away from her master, Colonel John H. Wheeler, on the Philadelphia wharf.
The charges were trumped up. Pennsylvania state law at the time stipulated that any African-American entering the state was, technically, free.
"The judge was really biased. He wanted to treat abolitionists a lesson," said Pam Powell, a photo archivist at the Chester County Historical Society, which possesses the scrapbook. "Williamson was upholding state law — as soon as a slave entered Pennsylvania soil, they were free. He had done nothing more than inform Jane Johnson that she was free and could leave her master."
He may, in fact, have done more than merely inform. Williamson was part of the radical Anti-Slavery Society, which had planned to help Johnson escape as she landed on the Philadelphia wharf. There was a physical confrontation on the dock. (Johnson's life was fictionalized in Lorene Cary's first novel, "The Price of a Child.")
While serving 100 days in jail, Williamson was visited by 500 people, including Frederick Douglass, Harriett Tubman, Robert Purvis, and other prominent abolitionists of the day. That summer, Philadelphia was the site of the Colored National Convention, and Williamson's case became a flashpoint for anti-slavery efforts.
"We would like to know more about the names. We don't know who all these people are," said Robert Lukens, president of the Historical Society. "There is constant research going on across the country, especially in the abolitionist movement. I'm sure there are a lot of people working on different projects related to these people."
The scrapbook, which is one of the most popular on the top 10 endangered artifacts list, was cheaply made to begin with; 158 years later it is badly deteriorated. Lukens says the $25,000 cost of conserving the book includes digitizing all of its pages, to make them available online to researchers and get a better sense of the scope of the abolitionist movement at that time.
"All the names in this book, it captures the essence of a struggle that was going across this whole country for decades, in one item," said Lukens.
Support provided by


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Detroit Lions right guard Stephen Peterman, who started every game for the past three seasons, was released on Tuesday.
While he was still strong in run blocking, he allowed more combined sacks, hits and hurries (45) than any NFL guard last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Peterman was due to make $2.65 million this year with year along with a $500,000 roster bonus and $100,000 reporting bonus. The move will save the Lions about $3.2 million in cap space.
The Lions' offensive line had played together for three seasons, but obviously that will change now.
Left tackle Jeff Backus and center Dominic Raiola each have a year left on their contracts. Backus is set to make $2.25 million plus $500,000 roster bonus. Raiola's 2013 contract is for $4.05 million plus a $250,000 roster bonus.
Right tackle Gosder Cherilus, who had a good season, is an unrestricted free agent, while left guard Rob Sims is signed through 2014.
The Lions have Riley Reiff, the first-round pick in 2012, ready to go. He can play guard or tackle, but Martin Mayhew sees him more at tackle.
Other offensive linemen on the roster include:
-- Guard Bill Nagy, who is signed through 2014, was claimed off waivers in August 2012. He was sidelined for the season after ankle surgery, but kept on injured reserve. A seventh-round pick out of Wisconsin in 2011, he can play guard or center.
-- Tackle Jason Fox, a fourth-round pick in 2010, finally had an injury-free season in 2012 but played in just one game. He played in four during his rookie season. He's a restricted free agent.
-- Center Dylan Gandy, an unrestricted free agent, has been with the Lions since 2009.
-- Corey Hilliard, an unrestricted free agent, has been with the Lions for four seasons but didn't play in a game in 2012.
-- Guard Rodney Austin, who was signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2012 draft and placed on the practice squad to start the season.
Peterman was signed to the Lions practice squad in 2006 after his release by the Dallas Cowboys who drafted him in the third round in 2004. He suffered injuries while with the Cowboys including a torn ACL and MCL in the final preseason game of his rookie season. He was a member of the 2003 national champion LSU team.
The offensive line will have a new coach after George Yarno was let go. He's been replaced by Jeremiah Washburn who was the offensive line assistant for four seasons.
On Monday the Lions released wide receiver Titus Young. Later Tuesday defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch was released.
With the three gone off the roster, the Lions have cleared about $8 million in salary cap space.


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The temperature-humidity index (THI) is a frequently used measure of heat stress in dairy cattle. It is calculated using the ambient temperature and relative humidity. Heat stress in dairy cattle starts at a THI of 72, which corresponds to 72°F at 100% humidity, 77°F at 50% humidity, or 82°F at 20% humidity, explains Albert De Vries with the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida.
"Lately, even lower thresholds for THI have been identified in high-producing dairy cows, such as 68°F," De Vries says in a recently updated eXtension article. "Heat stress reduces milk production, feed intake and reproduction and increases the risks of lameness and culling."
In the article, De Vries reviews some estimates of the economic losses from heat stress on dairy cattle production and discusses some implications of heat stress on reproductive management.
Source: "Economics of Heat Stress: Implications for Management" at eXtension.org


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This is a bit more generic than inquiring about the practicalities of ordination, but I thought it might fit best in this forum anyway.
At the moment I am very interested in learning more about the demographics of western renunciants.
I am presuming white middle class makes up the overwhelming majority of western renunciants. But in addition to this, I am curious as to:
What age range is most typical?
What is the spread in education? Typically academic, or no real general trends to identify here?
What about where they ordain. It is quite possible to ordain in the west these days but how many choose to still go to Thailand, Sri Lanka or Burma to train in a more native Buddhist setting?
What's the broad drop-out rate after five years? How about ten?
Is it common or rare for people to go tradition-hopping? Ordain in one tradition then change to another, etc.
If anyone know of any studies about this I'd be very grateful. But I equally welcome broad impressions from anyone who have been around the block to gain an impression about these things or heard about it through the Dhamma grapevine.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Mouth Diseases
Mouth Fungus
I completed my 7 month TB treatment 5 days ago, and I`m going back to Saudi Arabi. But from last 7 months during my treatment period, I feel oral fungus in my middle lips. My question is, is this serious issue or something else?
I would presume that your treatment regime included a poly pharmacy cocktail of at least Isoniazid and Rifampin (and other anti-microbial agents).
I could not find any current resources that describe concomitant candida infections associated with this therapy, but it may be possible. There are a few reports that discuss TB and fungal complications (Cryptococcus sp.) in immune-compromised individuals (HIV/AIDS).
I still am at a quandary of your ability to "feel the fungus on your middle lips". If you are concerned about a fungal infection secondary to antimicrobial usage I would strongly suggest that you have the site evaluated and fungal carriage cultures and a KOH float performed to evaluate the possibility of a fungal infection.
Richard J Jurevic, DDS, PhD
Formerly, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
School of Dental Medicine
Case Western Reserve University


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Another day, another non-decision from USC coach Lane Kiffin regarding the quarterback decision.
Kiffin declined to name a starter Thursday as the Trojans enter preparations for next week's game at Hawaii.
"I don't (know who it is)," Kiffin said. "At times I think I do. I don't know."
If Kiffin wants one quarterback to get the majority of snaps for the Hawaii game practices, he would need to make a decision today.
"Our answer is still the same," Kiffin said during his coaches' show Thursday night. "We like both our guys. The question is who is going to be right for this football team right now."
Kiffin said protecting the football would be a key for whoever plays quarterback. That might signal an advantage for sophomore Cody Kessler, who threw fewer interceptions in training camp. But not by much.
Kessler ended training camp with 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while Wittek finished with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
"I feel like I've put my resume on video," Wittek said.
Kessler said he's fine with whatever decision Kiffin makes.
"I'll support the team either way," Kessler said. "If I'm not the starter, I'll be fine."
Norm who?
Kiffin's faced Hawaii coach Norm Chow every year since he became a head coach in 2009. Tennessee played UCLA in Kiffin's lone season there and USC faced Chow at UCLA, Utah and Hawaii the past three seasons.
But Kiffin said there was nothing special about facing his former colleague when the pair were both USC assistants under Pete Carroll.
"It doesn't matter," Kiffin said. "You don't even realize who is on the other side (during the game). That's really irrelevant."
Mr. Versatile
Perhaps the busiest player for USC during training camp was walk-on Chris Willson, who transferred from Wake Forest.
Willson's played quarterback and tight end on alternating days, but focused on tight end this week when the Trojans' top three tight ends (Xavier Grimble, Randall Telfer, Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick) were hurt.
Willson played quarterback and threw two passes during the first scrimmage and then played tight end with the first unit during Wednesday's scrimmage.
"I'm willing to play any position, wherever they need me," Willson said
Injury update
Tailback Silas Redd, who is still recovering from last spring's torn meniscus, said he is not yet 100 percent but hopes to play against Hawaii.
"Seven days from now I might be all right," Redd said.
Linebacker Dion Bailey (hip) is not expected to be 100 percent by the Hawaii game, but said he hopes to be able to play.


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Brief but funny interview with Hibbert regarding the upcoming season and more importantly CoD
apologies if this is posted elsewhere.
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Brief but funny interview with Hibbert regarding the upcoming season and more importantly CoD
apologies if this is posted elsewhere.
The Big Guy has NEVER been good enough to back up that kind of prediction... If you are gonna be bold enough to shoulder that take, you better darn well see to it that you can back that ish up... I love Roy. He is poised to have a HUGE season, or a completely disappointing one. But he better carry the load this year with predictions like that.
Really? What do you expect the guy to say?
I liked what Roy said. He's starting to believe, the team is starting to believe, and belief is a powerful thing.
PG24: "Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon!"
RT @Hoya2aPacer "When I play this game I love. I play to make my teammates better. But I'm a mouther****er on defense."
I expect that if he is gonna start yappin off predictions in black and white that he is totally prepared to back them up. He did not make enough of an impact in last seasons playoffs (offensively in particular) to merit his proclaiming us to be the champs this season. When he made that statement, he effectively slapped the Heat, Lakers and OKC right in the face. No different than what Lance did to LeBron...
I appreciate his honesty and I am a HUGE Roy fan. But, why give these teams more reason to motivate them against us. Why give them bulletin board material? I don't mind it so much if you KNOW you CAN and WILL back it up. But Roy's got to step up this season. Like I said, his words have set the table for the finger to be pointed right back at him, if his MAX contract hadn't accomplished that already.
Frank Vogel personally guaranteed me we were winning it all last season, but he wasn't stupid enough to say it to a member of the media. I loved that self-confidence and belief in his team. The place for THOSE comments aren't in interviews. "We are gonna win it all", yes... "We are gonna go through the Heat, and OKC cuz the Lakers aren't ready"... no...
That's all Im saying... I hope he's right!
Um, yeah, sure, if Hibbert had just kept his mouth shut none of the top teams would have any reason to play well against us...
Lighten up, it was a flippant interviewer and you can tell that he's being very tongue-in-cheek about the whole thing. I mean, you really expect a guy to make his serious projections in an interview that focused on him playing Call of Duty?
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...
I'll leave the last part of that in the quote for good measure, but I completely disagree. He was the biggest reason we even had a chance. As soon as he went to the bench players drove straight to the basket and killed us. Could have he done more offensively? Sure if our guards would get him the ball. But he was the anchor on defense, and that can't be understated. If there was one guy on our team that I could live with making these statements, it would be Hibbert (and probably West). Anyone else and I might agree with you. But don't downplay his impact. I think Hibbert had a HUGE impact for us in the playoffs.
How does playing Call of Duty improve his ball handling? Slacker.
"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus
"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire
"Everyone's values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others." - William Greider
We had the 5th best record in the NBA and took the champs to 6 games, teams are already going to be playing hard against us, a comment like this has no effect whatsoever. The whole bulletin board material is extremely overrated, come playoff time guys are going to play to get it done regardless, and our record already ensures teams take us seriously during the regular season.
Motivation for other teams? Belief in his own team? How is anyone walking away from this cute little humor piece with emotions about Roy's confidence?
Good lord do we need games ASAP.
But I will totally do the midnight trip for the CoD so he doesn't have to, I'll probably already be over there getting my copy. Happy to help, he can buy me an app at Mo's or something.
You should Tweet him...like seriously.


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Notes: Martin, Chandler sidelined rest of spring
Injuries have sidelined two USF linemen for the rest of spring drills, as senior Lawrence Martin, who'd been working as a first-team offensive guard, is out with a shoulder injury, and junior Todd Chandler, a top backup at defensive tackle, is out with a fracture in his right foot.
"(Chandler) will be back in the fall, but he won't be back this spring," coach Willie Taggart said. "He'll be back training this summer and head into training camp, ready to roll. ... (Martin) has a shoulder injury. Hopefully it doesn't require surgery, and he can just rehab and get it back together. He won't be back the rest of spring."
Senior Steven Jacques was working with the first-team offensive line on Friday, though sophomore Thor Jozwiak looks to be closer to participating in drills after being held out in the first week of practice. The Bulls have four scholarship linemen slowed by injuries right now -- Martin, Jozwiak, Max Lang and Kam Davis -- so there were three walk-ons working with the second-team line Friday: Mak Djulbegovic at right tackle and Jake Smith and Caleb Tucker at guards.
BIVINS SHOULD PLAY: When cornerback Chris Bivins tore his ACL in November and faced surgery, Skip Holtz and his staff had talked of his taking a redshirt in 2013 to allow for a full recovery, given that he had torn the same ACL in December 2011 as a high school senior. But as Bivins continues to make progress -- he's now going through some non-contact position drills with the other corners -- Taggart said Friday that he expects Bivins to play this fall.
"We're not looking to get a lot from Chris (this spring). Those knee injuries are sensitive," Taggart said. "We just want him to continue to rehab, to be the best rehabber in the country, to get himself healthy and ready for training camp, to come out and compete with the rest of these guys. I think it's reasonable, if he continues to work hard. He's coming along."
FIRST SCRIMMAGE: USF will have its first spring scrimmage Saturday (closed) and Taggart said his focus will be situational work -- third downs, red zone, short yardage. "Really trying to teach our guys how to play the game of football," he said. "It's not just lining up and running plays, it's understanding why you're running those plays, understanding situations."
THIS AND THAT: Senior cornerback Josh Brown got work Friday as part of USF's nickel package ... Senior walk-on receiver Jonny Sitton watched practice from a stationary bike, held out with what looked to be an injury to his right shoulder. ... Taggart said he's pleased with the transition of redshirt freshman Guito Ervilus, who worked at defensive end last fall but is now wearing No. 89 as a tight end. "He's coming along," he said. "Guito's doing some really good things. He's learning the basics from even lining up in stance correctly, but he's doing good things where you see there's some potential there to really have a chance to help us."


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A NEW Deputy Chief Constable has been appointed to West Mercia Police.
Assistant Chief Constable with Avon and Somerset Anthony Bangham has been appointed to the role and is expected to join the force in June.
The 45-year-old grew up in Worcestershire and attended Sacred Heart College in Droitwich before joining West Mercia Police as a Constable in 1991.
Rising through the ranks, he was made an Inspector in August 1998 and was put in charge of the divisional control room in Worcester.
DCC Bangham was made a Chief Inspector in 2000 and was posted to Hereford, where he continues to live today with his wife and two daughters.
He was made second in command in Hereford after only 11 years as a police officer and in 2005 moved to a national position working with an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) working group in the use of firearms.
Spending time in Northern Ireland, the USA and Canada, DCC Bangham advised the Home Office and ACPO on the national rollout of tasers.
In 2007 he was made Chief Superintendant and in 2010 joined Avon and Somerset as Assistant Chief Constable.
DCC Bangham, who enjoys running and spending time with his family, said: "I am delighted to be returning to my home force and really excited about working with the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner in further improving the service to the public of West Mercia."
The force's Chief Constable David Shaw said he was delighted to welcome DCC Bangham back to the region.
"He brings a wealth of experience to the force and we are looking forward to working with him once again," he said.
West Mercia's Police and Crime Commissioner Bill Longmore said: "I am extremely pleased to welcome DCC Bangham to West Mercia Police.
"He was appointed following a rigorous recruitment process from an extremely strong pool of candidates.
"His role will be to provide control and direction to the force and we look forward to benefitting from the professionalism, dedication and commitment to policing he has demonstrated throughout his career to date."
He will replace DCC Simon Chesterman, who left West Mercia Police to join the Civil Nuclear Constabulary as capability director and deputy chief in January.


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Alas...mine was only a lowly SP.
Guess I'll just have to try harder to pull one over on you!
Bill Johnston
On the run home from Death Valley yesterday. Temps were in the 20ÔÇÖs and 30ÔÇÖs much of the way out, even some snow flurries. The ride home was downright balmy in the 50ÔÇÖs.
Taking a break after an extended triple digit run in the Panamint Valley........Gotta love those S's
Apparently I am going to have to add Rad to the list of trouble makers on this forum.
I do like. You were a regular guy years ago. Tell more about the bike...and the picture.
What I liked most about that SP was the half faired body kit from a CR. The result of a bit of negotiating as I was buying the SP with the insurance settlement from my earlier CR (wiped out by a Subaru). It made for a bit of an unusual SP, since SP's were only sold (in the States) with the full wrap fairing....
I miss that bike still.
Bill Johnston
Another back then pic of the RS
My 99' had a taste for its own clutch splines and ate them up every 15,000 miles.
My '04 at MOA national in Wisconsin a few years ago.


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Portraits of Devastation: Japan After the Tsunami
As the football season slowly built towards its furious climax, so did the media's discussion of the long-term mental health of NFL athletes. Spectacular and sometimes devastating injuries are nothing new to the sport, but it's now widely acknowledged that repeated concussions put football players at risk of traumatic brain injury later in life. Even more disturbing, we now know that even high school athletes routinely put themselves at risk.
So what to do about America's most beloved and, arguably, most violent sport? Change the rules of the game? Rely on improved technology to help protect them? As a native of Pittsburgh, I feel genuinely conflicted. The Steelers define the spirit of the city as strongly as the mills they were named after once did. And, yet, when I read news articles on concussions, they're more often than not accompanied by a photo of a hard-hitting (or hard-hit) player in black-and-gold. So with the opportunity to meet players in both Super Bowl teams this week, I asked them one of two questions.
Will technology make the sport safer for players and kids?
"They change the tech every day at this point, trying to make things better for players. It's a shame that regardless of what they change, there are still going to be injuries. This is a violent game. Everyone understands it and chose to be here. That's the way I look at it."
Extreme Machines: Riding a Monster Snow Groomer


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I got a mate who is fairly spiritually aware of stuff. Got a basic understanding of history, religion, occult, metaphysics, ancient history. So he knows karma to some degree. Things have to be resolved. The play will unfold, etc.
Is it true that someone with reasonable insight can be demonic? I dont mean terrible and horrible like the dark occult making wars and lies the norm at the highest level in this tortured world. I mean just kind of given up and leaning on the wrong side of the fence in this life. If it is a demonic association, does it tie into multiple future lives? Perhaps the whole notion is a shadow of something else. Im just trying to learn and explore.
By the way I use the term demonic cos he seemed to have experiences with them for a few years.
Any thoughts welcome


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The Phillies issue the following statement in response to Major League Baseball's suspension of Antonio Bastardo:
"Obviously, the Phillies are very disappointed to learn of Antonio Bastardo's violation of Major League Baseball's Drug Program. We strongly believe in the Program and look forward to a time when performance enhancing drugs are completely out of baseball. Hopefully the sanctions announced today will bring us closer to that day. We respect the fact that Antonio has acknowledged his serious mistake and accepted his 50-game suspension."
David Montgomery
Phillies President


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An Island-Inspired House in Oslo, Norway
The actress is a big fan of Neutrogena's Clear Face Sunscreen ($11). "It's lightweight and oil-free, with a nice matte finish," she says.
Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff's go-to facial cleanser? Clean and Clear. "From ages 21 to 28, my skin broke out all the time," she says. "Somehow the combination of Darphin Hydraskin Rich Moisturizing Cream ($62) and Clean & Clear Deep Action Cream Cleanser ($5) made it stop. Now I stick to it because it works."
Ask a Design Assistant: Tilton Fenwick's Danielle Armstrong


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Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately.
One of the best things about living and eating in South Philly is not only having terrific hoagies and pizza every 2 blocks, but also delicious Mexican food from the new taquerias that seem to open up every 2 weeks. Even more amazing is watching the two meld at combination taqueria-pizzeria-cheesesteak shops cranking out wild things like cheesesteak burritos and this Al Pastor pizza topped with guajillo pepper sauce, ground pork, pineapple, cheese and handfuls of fresh onion and chopped cilantro.
You might remember similar slices from San Lucas from about a year ago, and since then a lot of these "pizza taquerias" have opened up, with mixed results. It's hard to find spots that do both the pizza and the taco ingredients right, but Rosario's is pretty close. The pizza wasn't perfect— a bit of a thick crust, that could have used another minute in the oven to keep the slices from disintegrating, but the toppings were fresh and delicious and the flavors just worked.
Rosario's Pizza
1501 Wharton Street, Philadelphia, PA (map)
215-755-4555 ; rosariospizzeriarestaurant.com/
About the author: Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.


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The Value Of An NHL Draft Pick
Jonathan Willis
March 10 2011 06:58PM
Late last month, Jason Gregor looked back at the NHL draft from 1996 to 2005, in an attempt to put a value on NHL draft picks. Gregor's far from the first to do so; after the jump I'll look at his work and that of others to see what we can say about the NHL Draft.
Jason Gregor's Take
Let's start with Jason's article. There are a lot of things to like about it; in particular the fact that the dataset is huge (10 years, ~2700 players) and the criteria is relatively straight-forward. That said, there are two things that I think could be improved: first, there is some subjectivity in the player ratings, and second Gregor breaks things down by round, meaning that we don't know how much difference there is between a top-10 selection and a 10-20 selection. The latter is more of a problem than the former, as we will see later on.
It's still quite a good article, and the key points I took from it were as follows:
- A first round selection is far more valuable than any other selection – a player taken in that range has a slightly better than 60% chance of turning out to be a "decent" or better player; nearly three times the rate of the second round.
- Second and third round picks are a cut above the rest of the draft, although the chances of landing a "decent" or better player are quite low: a little better than 1 in 5 for the second round, and slightly better than 1 in 7 for the third round.
- There's little difference between picks made from the fourth to ninth rounds of the draft; over those rounds players are roughly half as likely to develop into a "decent" or better player as a third round pick.
Scott Cullen's Take
Over at TSN, numbers guy Scott Cullen did something similar to Gregor's article in mid-2009. Like Gregor, he used a 10-year period (1995 to 2004) and subjective rankings. However, Cullen broke the draft numbers down into groups smaller than full rounds – groups of five for the first 60 picks, and then groups of 15 afterwards. A few months later, Cullen clarified things even further for the first round – using 30 drafts and breaking down the top thirty picks by each draft spot.
The key points I took from Cullen's work:
- There's a huge gap between a top-three selection and a four through six selection, which is followed by another gap between the sixth spot and the rest of the draft.
- Again, there's a big drop between the first round and the second/third rounds, and another big drop from about the 100th pick on, at which point things flatten out – there's very little difference between drafting 105th and 195th.
- A player taken after the first round but in the first hundred picks has roughly a one-in-three to one-in-four shot at hitting the 100-game plateau in the NHL.
The Hockey Prospectus Take
Again from the summer of 2009, articles by two different writers at Hockey Prospectus. Richard Pollock considered both first round selections and late round selections, while Tom Awad considered the entire draft. Pollock uses both points and games played, while Awad uses Goals-Vs.-Threshold, a unified statistic that compares the value players of all positions generate above replacement-level players.
All the articles are good, but Awad's method does the best job of comparing players across position objectively, and I like the fact that he weights his findings to reflect the fact that immediate production is better than later production. Plus, his fitted graph does the best job of showing how precipitously draft pick value drops off.
Key points:
- The first few picks in the draft – especially those in the top five – are vastly superior to other picks, including picks later in the first round.
- Once again, picks outside the first round but in the top-100 are roughly equivalent in value – there is some value in having a higher pick, but that value is not especially strong.
- After the first 100 or so picks, there is almost no difference in the value of a draft pick.
Despite the different methods used and the various writers employing them, the findings from one article to another are extremely similar. I would argue the following, based on the data presented:
Get top-five picks. The top picks in the first round are very, very valuable. Teams moving up into this range cheaply are getting real value. Generally it costs an arm and a leg to acquire a marquee pick, but there are exceptions – for instance, Tampa Bay's trade of the fourth overall pick in 2002 to Philadelphia for Ruslan Fedotenko.
After the top-five, move down in the first round. Teams trade up all the time to snag players that they like in the first round, but as a rule it is a very bad idea. Teams trading down don't really lose much value, especially if they aren't trading down very far.
Top-100 picks outside the first round are not especially good, and are virtually interchangeable. These picks are all about quantity over quality; good players are there to be found but the odds are stacked against any individual selection. Trading a mid-second round pick for two third round selections would seem to be a wise move the majority of the time.
Picks outside the top-100 are all but interchangeable. These picks are all about quantity. Every selection is a long-shot, teams play hunches and snag the favourites of regional scouts, and basically there is very little to separate the players involved except the biases of individual teams and who their scouts have seen.
Contending teams can trade mid- to late-round picks with minimal reluctance. Draft picks after the first round, and especially those outside the top-100, can be spent with almost no hesitation on actual players. For a contending team, acquiring depth or quality via draft picks is an extremely sound strategy.
March 10 2011, 07:09PM
Take Adam Larsson FIST and get out of the basement!
March 10 2011, 07:09PM
Zach Parise
March 10 2011, 07:10PM
Gagner out for Season with severed Tendon
I told you all that Jones should have been traded. Now his skate cuts down the Oilers' most productive C. It's Cogliano and Horc the rest of the way as our 1 and 2 Centres.
March 10 2011, 07:11PM
Johnathan trading down isn't allways the best stratedgy as Zach Parise has shown us year after year. Draft stratedgy has more to do with the GMs confidence in his staff than anything. It depends if your scouts target the right players or just through darts at the wall. I trust Stu with LAs pick.
March 10 2011, 07:13PM
Throw.... not through
Good breakdown here. I'm sure some GM's have the same mindset when building their teams and their own little rules like this.
March 10 2011, 07:14PM
Thank god they took Ebs and didn't pull a Pouliot.
March 10 2011, 07:25PM
So, who are the feathers in MacGregors cap besides Jordan Eberle and Jeff Petry, any of MacGregors kids going to help us out next season?
@ James Scott:
I think betting that your scouting staff is way smarter than the average is almost always a bad move. I say that despite Stu MacGregor's excellent record to date; over the long haul I have difficulty believing that the Oilers' scouting organization is either much better or much worse than average.
My suggested conclusions are based on the assumption that any one team can't believe their scouts are brighter than everyone else's.
Jon, I hope the Oilers adopt that philosophy. Rightly or wrongly, I feel that the Oilers management have, for the longest time, taken the attitude that they are smarter than everyone else.
March 10 2011, 08:01PM
@ James Scott:
I think betting that your scouting staff is way smarter than the average is almost always a bad move. I say that despite Stu MacGregor's excellent record to date; over the long haul I have difficulty believing that the Oilers' scouting organization is either much better or much worse than average.
My suggested conclusions are based on the assumption that any one team can't believe their scouts are brighter than everyone else's.
That's a HUGE assumption, akin to saying "I assume all teams are equal in player development.
There are teams that consistently draft better than others, and I expect that you can find widely varying degrees of $ spent on scouting. 12 very good scouts are going to do better than 6 average ones. It's also reasonable to assume that some scouts are better than others, just as some coaches are better than others. If the playing field on scouting was level then sure overtime it would all average out. Frankly I scouting is an areas where a team can gain a competitive advantage, particularly if it is combined with better player development (eg. not rushing prospects, vets to play with in the AHL, etc.).
This is especially true for picks outside the top 10 where a miss vs. a hit at pick #23 can make a big difference.
@Jonathan Willis
I cannot agree strongly enough. I was going out of my mind when they traded up for Riley Nash, and it had nothing to do with Riley Nash in particular. All Lowe did was trade away two birds in the bush for one bird in a different bush.
I once saw a special on Glen Sather talking about what a genius he was, and they asked him what makes a great GM. He said that if you can look at two full team playing hockey and figure out which two or three guys can really play, then you can run a hockey team. What a load of self-serving horse-feathers, this guy drafted Jason Bonsignore. Sather got lucky in the 80s and jinxed since, he didn't know anything more or less than anybody else.
The Parise argument doesn't completely hold because Kesler, Richards, Perry and Eriksson were all still available (so were Bergeron and Weber, but they would've been off the board.) Trading one pick for two is still a sound guideline.
March 10 2011, 08:08PM
Interesting note Willis that the top 3 picks are usually bona fide, picks 4-6 are less bona fide, and so on ... especially considering that there are 4 names often floated around as the top of the 2011 draft class.
So my question to you, fair nation, is which of the 4 top draft prospects do you feel is the WORST selection of the bunch.
I'm not sold on anyone in particular, but I for one am least sold on Sean Couturier.
What do you think?
I agree with Westcoastoil. If you look back at teams success in drafting in the first round, you will notice that some teams perform much better than others (e.g., San Jose, Boston, Philly, St. Louis).
Although it can be a combination of scouting and player development - not just scouting. However, if our measuring stick of success is number of games played it really comes down to the whole package that gets the asset into the NHL as a regular.
All of this aligns well with the natural curve (bell curve) that one would expect hockey expertise (skill, motivation, intelligence, etc.) would be distributed by. So the empirical work lines up well with the theory.
However, the other thing that the theory will tell you is that the quality of the top picks will be more chaotic from year to year than the quality of the later picks (basically small 'sample' size effects). So, it would be unwise to assume 'regular' drop off points at 3 and 6 because there will be significant variability in this from year to year.
If Hedman and Tavares were born a few months later, the 2010 draft would have shifted by a couple of picks to the better and the 2009 would have shifted a couple of picks to the worse. This has a huge impact at the top of the draft, but almost no impact at pick 100.
@John Chambers
I think, I don't know but I think that Landeskog has the lowest ceiling, but is the surest thing. I really couldn't call myself "sold" on anyone else.
March 10 2011, 09:48PM
@ Westcoastoil:
Barry Fraser - savant or moron?
Based on his early work with the Oilers, you could argue the former; based on his later work, the latter.
There's also little evidence to suggest that NHL teams can solve drafting issues with money. For example, the Buffalo Sabres have gone the video route, largely in an effort to control cost. It doesn't seem to have hurt them.
Leaving that aside, the principal problem of aligning reports from multiple scouts remains. As head scout, your Swedish scout raves about Larsson, your QMJHL scout raves about Couturier, your your OHL scout raves about Landeskog, and your WHL scout raves about Nugent-Hopkins. How do you weigh those opinions? I suspect that particular problem is a big part of the reason tournament play gets such weighting - it's the one time all the scouts see players from outside their regional bases.
Barry Fraser - savant who jacked a bunch out of the park then mailed it in b/c Cabo beats Moose Jaw in January.
Fair enough that $ doesn't solve all your problems, but just because they are doing it via video doesn't mean that are spending less time/energy on it by better qualified people.
If your theory is based on no one team's scouts being brighter than another, then why wouldn't a bunch of teams just share a scouting staff or use Central Scouting and then go down the list. If all the scouts are as smart as the next guy their input doesn't help you align the reports anyway.
If I have a Swedish scout pushing Larsson, a Q scout pushing Couturier, etc. then I can either: a) go by organizational need, b) go by a scout's track record or c) rotate the scouts by flying the Swede over to watch the Q for a stretch and vice versa so their final reports are fully informed (or use video a la Buf.). Maybe moreso, in the case of a top 6 pick where it clearly matters the most to get it right because that's where you find your impact players.
I get what you're saying as to where the true value is. However, i think an assumption that all scouting staffs are more or less equal sets up a flawed argument right off the hop.
March 10 2011, 10:03PM
@ Westcoastoil:
Fair enough; I'll re-phrase:
Mostteams can't be confident that their scouting group is significantly better than the average NHL scouting group. In some special cases, where the track record warrants it, individual teams might have basis to believe they can beat the NHL average.
I'd still argue that betting on an average staff is the smart move for the majority of teams.
I think that drafting (and development) has to be a top priority in an organization and question how successful a team can consistently be without it. I think it's one of the areas where you might have the most opportunity to gain a competitive advantage. Because of the cap, having underpaid impact players is a huge key to success. You can only get that through outstanding drafting or (sadly in Edm's case) years of bottom feeding. Putting an extra 2-3 million into scouting gets you way more bang for your buck than trying to plug a hole with a UFA and ending up with Ryder's $4M for 3 years(or whoever).
Wow great read. Very interesting stuff. I hope the oilers management does this type of research.
Interesting note Willis that the top 3 picks are usually bona fide, picks 4-6 are less bona fide, and so on ... especially considering that there are 4 names often floated around as the top of the 2011 draft class.
So my question to you, fair nation, is which of the 4 top draft prospects do you feel is the WORST selection of the bunch.
I'm not sold on anyone in particular, but I for one am least sold on Sean Couturier.
What do you think?
I agree, Sean C worries me. He didn't look great at the prospects game and didn't make the WJC team. More to it than that for sure but my gut says the Oilers should pick someone else.
Mind you I thought Dustin Buff was going to be the next John Druce. Missed that one by a bit.
I guess if you didn't notice he was there he couldn't have been that great, but Sean C was on the WTC team.
March 11 2011, 12:06AM
@ Jonathan Willis
Trading down is a mistake unless you believe your guy will be available do to some overwhelming misconception about the player you want and you recieve a sure thing nhl player or prospect in return . Certain players are allways around later than they should be baecause of a generally accepted opinion Eberle his was size and skating, Parise size and Paajarvi finish Fowler toughness and shot. Thank goddness they didn't trade down and pass on those guys for a extra 2nd..... Opps, is 2 out of 3 bad. All kidding aside if the oilers had gotten a real player in that deal not a handful of magic beans it wouldn't have hurt so bad. Lowe and Prendergast had a bad 1st rnd record, as did Fraser after the first few years(The top picks are all well known prospects now days 1sts should not be off the board selections). Their 1sts reeked of arrogance like they had the whole world beat and everyone was missing something especialy Fraser(Doan and Miknov for example). The Lower the pick, the less chance of success period if you only look at one scouting staff(judging Team A vs Team B it is impossible to get data that means anything because a good staff will in all probability do better the higher they pick), Edm is going to have a better draft across the board when they finish 30th vs 15th, rnd 1,2,3,4,5 these are breaks that have nothing to do with talent(a title for the player selected). Talent in any year goes from high to low, the variations in success come from scouting bias or quality, post draft development(handling) / injury / luck(everyone can get lucky, on the Oilchange pilot it showed how lucky Fraser was when it showed the oilers 79 draft list), the first two can be controlled the last two can't be foreseen. IMO the best and worst staffs are probaly both getting guys that are way higher on thier list in later rounds. Being able to assess which players can overcome what ever warts in his game has caused their slide, (Hamilton it was injury, pitlick played for a defensive team hurt his offense, Martindale effort/maturity, Davidson late bloomer, Blaine late surge in the season, was it a anomoly) is the differance? I don't know if these guys are available 5,10 or 15 picks later, another team with a talented staff might have grabed them. Trading picks for picks doesn't make sense in most cases, it only works for the best scouting staffs as you have to have a specific target and you can't be wrong or you are most likely going to get burned and the optics are bad. Lastly IMO not taking the BPA is the downfall of most teams.
March 11 2011, 12:12AM
@ Westcoastoil:
I believe in both drafting and development, but I think people forget how important support UFA's are. Detroit is the team I watch closest for management trends, and one of the things they've consistently done is grabbed value UFA's for depth roles - guys like Mikael Samuelsson and Patrick Eaves.
It's one of the reasons they're so consistently good.
I agree Detroit is a good team to watch for mgmt, trends. By consistently drafting their impact players: Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Kronwall, Howard, Ericsson it then gives them increased flexibility when it comes time to plug a UFA in because the depth guys are more interchangeable.
As one of the few teams who've stayed on top without a top 5 pick, I'd argue they've made their hay by having a scouting staff better than most teams.
Good debate JW
March 11 2011, 08:13AM
Great article.
Are there any similar studies out there that broke it down further and looked at the type of players picked in terms of position, league, etc?
Someone at Lowetide posted a list of defenseman drafted in the top 5 over the last few years. The number of busts was astounding. It really makes me question the wisdom of drafting Larsson.
March 11 2011, 08:24AM
I'm glad this is getting more and more play.
I've basically come to the conclusion that I'd likely be trading every pick past 15-20. And for sure every pick past the 2nd round. (assuming the return is decent)
March 11 2011, 09:01AM
Of the four kids, Couturier,Larsson,Landeskog and Hopkins, is it a stretch to say only two of these kids make the jump to the NHL this coming year?
March 11 2011, 09:13AM
Has anyone compared Oiler draft track record to central scouting? I often thought the Oilers would have been better off firing the the scouting staff, using Central Scouting and then focusing on player development.
March 11 2011, 09:21AM
I haven't seen any of them play, but based on what I've RNH makes me a bit nervous - is he another Sam Gagner? Great numbers, but how much is PP and will he have the size/speed to be a first line player. I don't know, but I'd be tempted to chicken out and take the best "sure thing" over most potential.
Based on Tambi's intermission interview a couple games, as tough as it is to swallow i don't think they'd mind one bit if they drafted a player that wasn't ready and rode it out for one more lottery pick.
Interesting note Willis that the top 3 picks are usually bona fide, picks 4-6 are less bona fide, and so on ... especially considering that there are 4 names often floated around as the top of the 2011 draft class.
So my question to you, fair nation, is which of the 4 top draft prospects do you feel is the WORST selection of the bunch.
I'm not sold on anyone in particular, but I for one am least sold on Sean Couturier.
What do you think?
Say it with me,
"Don't Take, R-N-H!!"
March 11 2011, 10:07AM
There must be a certain amount of pressure to step into the lineup right away if he's the first overall pick. Not sure how many kids have been selected first and then went back to junior, if any.
I remember the days when 6 or 8 kids drafted made that step their first year, now we're down to less than half that.
March 11 2011, 10:59AM
@Quicksilver ballet
I hear what you're saying, but which of the 4 ready to make the jump. Just the 2 Swedes? If Couturier wasn't able to stand out in the WJC, how's he going to look lining up against an NHL vet. In Stu we trust:)
March 11 2011, 11:35AM
Say it with me,
"Don't Take, R-N-H!!"
Alright. Thanks for your thoughts. You too, Zissou, and Butters.
Too small a sample size, but I figured the Nation would be torn as to who should be the odd man out ... except for Larsson. I doubt many people have Larsson as their absolute least favorite lottery pick.
Great write-up Jonathan.
For more, there's a great write-up by Marc Foster: http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?type=2&articleid=849
and Iain Fyffe: http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?type=2&articleid=807
Unfortunately you need a subscription to read them. :(
However, I personally guarantee that the data and graphs within are worth the price of admission. They're both very careful and detailed studies of draft choices, similar to Awad's.
Re:Thinking that you (or your scouts) are better than others around you.
Check out this article by David Brooks in the NYT (it relates to biased self assessment)
March 11 2011, 03:50PM
I've heard (don't remember where or from who) that most teams don't do any better, and some do worse, than Central Scouting.
So why pay for your own scouting department when Central Scouting is already doing as good a job for you?
Perhaps you've heard this same rumour. If so, where is it from and does it have any merit?
Don't worry lamers you will taket he best hard working third liner in the draft. NICE move on trevor Kidd too. Who would some guy named Martin Brodeur, when you have your usual West boys.
March 11 2011, 07:28PM
@Jonathan Willis
Willis, I have to say that is one of the most interesting articles I have ever read on ON. I know this must have taken a lot of time and research so thanks a lot. You earned your writing credit on this one.


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Maybe they'll come to terms on a new deal by next year our even before the Royal Rumble. I wouldn't mind seeing a Chris Jericho surprise return next year.
super saturday mornings man wake watch
wrestling which is infinitely entertaining even
though there aren't any head hits but better
than the shitty shows on otherwise called
cartoons crap it is but believe wrestling wins
real ratings because brother everyone everywhere
loves loving
Secret Weapon
Originally Posted by JBLOriginally Posted by JBLOriginally Posted by JBL
The Edge Head is here.
*pipe bomb*


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This site was created around course materials for a senior seminar on the Viet Nam War. As the course has ended, we have removed the pages of the site and archived the material.
You can visit the Internet Archive Way Back Machine at archive.org to view pages as they were originally presented.


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* The Library's subscription to Job & Career Accelerator ended October 2015
If you're in the job market, consider starting your job search with help from the Springfield-Greene County Libraries.
We just added a new online job search tool called "Job & Career Accelerator." Just go directly to
http://0-jca.learnatest.com.www.coolcat.org/lel*. Or, go to the Find a Job research page through thelibrary.org/jobs. Both Job & Career Accelerator and LearningExpress Library are listed on that page.
Anyone can access this resource within the library and remotely with a valid library card.
The first time you use it, you will be required to set up a username and password so information you save and create will stay in your profile. Be sure to save them so you can return to the site.
Look at all you can do:
The database interfaces with Google calendar, making it easy to track multiple job searches and get reminders when to follow up on a job application or interview, said Renee Brumett, the library's electronic resources librarian.
"Staff have commented that they like the step-by-step basics of using this resource and that it's very user-friendly," Brumett said.
Job & Career Accelerator also has a career guidance section. So if you don't know where to start looking for a job, it prompts you with questions. Then it gives you options of career fields in your interest area and details the job skills you need for those fields or specific jobs.
Better still, you can build your job and computer skills with e-courses, e-books and standardized job tests through an easy link to the Learning Express Library. Learning Express is the company that provides Job & Career Accelerator.
We hope the library website is your first or next stop in winning the job you want.
Find this article at


text: Pam Farris: Giving leaders an opportunity to shine By Jen Wood Cunningham July 23, 2013 Story Share Chip Ellis A graduate of Leadership West Virginia, Pam Farris now leads the organization. CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Over the years, there have been many women who have broken through glass ceilings to higher positions of power and into industries where women are uncommon.Pam Farris is a woman who has broken through both and is helping men and women broaden their skills, knowledge and career possibilities. Farris spends her time cultivating rising leaders as the executive director of Leadership West Virginia, a statewide program to develop, strengthen and connect emerging leaders in the state. Farris studied business at West Virginia University and spent 22 years of her career at Employers Service, a family-owned business. There, she said, owner and her mentor, Herk Sims, gave her "the opportunity to shine," something she now does for others.Farris remembers many times when Sims gave her opportunities, but one sticks out in her memory. Sims asked her to present the annual report for a client, a large coal company. "He came to me and said, 'You've been handling this account and you are the eyes and the ears of this client, and I want you to be a part of the presentation.'"As she stepped into the boardroom, she realized that she was the only female in the room. She wasn't surprised, but was excited. "I had made it. It was finally my chance to sit in a room with the men," she said. "I knew that everything he had shown and taught me, I was going to be able to do."Sims' philosophy, according to Farris, was, "You can do the very best job for your client, but if you don't tell your client what you're doing for them and how good it is, in the right way, then they may never know. They need to understand and have that relationship with you, that you are doing what you need to do for them in a very positive way."Farris was working at Employer Service in 1998 when she participated in Leadership West Virginia. "Mr. Sims and the management team really felt that it was a great opportunity for their employees. I got to experience what I am doing [now] from the other side," she said.Her earlier participation in the program helped when she applied for the position of executive director seven years later. There were more than 60 applicants for the position, she said."I really thought I would stay [at Employer Service] for the remainder of my career. I loved the people and the work, but to take that chance to see what else may be out there... It has opened up a door for me and for Leadership West Virginia." Leadership West Virginia is an eight-month program for about 50 leaders from a variety of industries and communities who are selected through a competitive application process. Participants travel across the state each month for a two-day session to learn about the challenges and successes within the state.For example, in May, Logan community members and businesses provided opportunities for participants to ride on the Hatfield-McCoy Trail, tour a mining training facility and a reclaimed mining site, experience a mining blast, see the aerial view of mining sites and to hear from mining professionals about the industry. More than 1,000 people have graduated from the program, which is financially supported by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, corporations, local chamber organizations, businesses where the sessions are held, alumni and program tuition. Farris grew up in rural western Pennsylvania with five siblings and two very hard-working and dedicated parents. She and her siblings are first-generation college graduates.She became interested in business through her oldest sister who, according to Farris, is the most independent member of her family and was a buyer for a manufacturing company. That her sister had found her talents helped Farris find her own."I think I found my gift and honed in on it and keep moving in that direction. I love to be around people and to make a difference, and have others make a difference in my life. Marketing, client relations, and now what I'm doing just seem to all fit into what I like to do."Sixty years ago, her mother worked in the office of a manufacturing plant before she got married. "You couldn't be a married woman and work in that company," Farris said.Her mother and father were married when her mother worked at the plant. "Her boss dearly loved her and her work and kept it quiet for a while, but others found out and she eventually left the job." Farris' father worked in a manufacturing plant as a foreman and superintendent. "He was very dedicated to what he did. He was very proud to take the family to the [annual company gathering]." Farris smiled. "Our personalities are very similar. We both like to be around people and take charge."She said, "Right before he passed away, he planned an event for the community and was one of the oldest members of the planning committee...He had a great work ethic. He taught us to give it our all."In 1983, Farris married her husband, Joe, and came to Charleston. They have two sons who both attend West Virginia State University. "We try to instill in our kids how important respect is. Respect of time, people, yourself, property...Respect is a big piece of what I try to live by, too."Another lesson Farris has learned and lives by is, "Don't make up your mind until you've experienced it."She continued, "We've got a beautiful state and very good and caring people in our state. There's so much to see and to know before you make a decision. You can't talk about something unless you know it."Farris believes that the important role that Leadership West Virginia plays is to give leaders in the state the opportunity to expand their knowledge and experiences so that they can be better equipped to make decisions in business, in their communities, in their careers, and in their personal lives.Jen Wood Cunningham may be contacted at email@example.com. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Deer in 8 WV counties found dead from EHD 2 Plans for all-ages venue rise in old bakery building 3 Judge gives water crisis settlement preliminary approval 4 Body found in Kanawha River, near South Charleston 5 City of Milton tries to revive Morris Memorial property Hinton nursery tends to native Appalachian plants Previous Story Bear's bowls Next Story


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Vallejo police are looking for a Vallejo man who allegedly pulled a gun on his Vallejo girlfriend before fleeing on foot early Monday, a spokesman said.
"At about 7:15 Monday morning in the 400 block of Carter Street, we responded to reports of a fight with weapons," Lt. Kenny Park said. "Officers contacted the 20-year-old woman who said she and her boyfriend, a 46-year-old black male adult, had argued and that he'd gone out to a vehicle in front of the house and brought back a gun."
The man allegedly threatened the woman with the firearm before fleeing.
"Officers found a loaded firearm inside the van still parked in front of the house," Park said. "The boyfriend, Claude Green of Vallejo, is a parolee. He was last seen wearing a large, black hooded sweatshirt and black pants."
The woman was not injured, but police aren't sure if the gun found in the vehicle is the same one the suspect allegedly threatened her with or a different one, Park said. "She described the weapon as resembling a sawed-off shotgun and the gun we found in the van was a handgun."


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SHEPHERDSVILLE - Members of Bardstown Junction Baptist Church packed the Bullitt Fiscal Courtroom well before the scheduled 9:30 a.m. meeting on Tuesday.
They came to hear the fate of a rezoning request which could allow light industrial development surrounding their place of worship.
However, due to on-going negotiations between the parties, the fate of the rezoning request will not be known until Sept. 6.
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A lovely, French-influenced boutique hotel in Santiago's pretty, leafy Providencia district. This hotel is high on charm, with a friendly staff that is knowlegeable about the area. The facade is clean and bright, with a mansard roof, and the lobby is den-like, with oriental rugs and straightbacked, upholstered chairs with a view into an interior garden. It's in a renovated mansion, and has comfortable spaces for reading and relaxation.
Rooms vary in size, with the kings being the largest, and singles being quite small. Rooms in the back are quieter than those on the street, though if you're used to living in a city, neither is particularly loud. Reservations are advisable at peak times, and wifi is free in the rooms.


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WHEN Danny Ings took to the stage at The Brewery, London, there couldn't of been a more deserving winner of the Sky Bet Championship player of the year award.
Yes, Danny Drinkwater might be a key man for long-time league leaders Leicester City. Yes, Ross McCormack has more goals than Burnley's leading marksman – more goals than anyone in the entire division in fact.
But Ings' all-round effort this season sets him apart from this pack.
The striker does not just score goals, he sets them up. He isn't a goal hanger; a fox in the box, he runs the channels, he makes things happen.
Ings can play as a partnership, off the front, or – if the occasion demands it – out wide (although those particular depths of versatility have not been required this season).
Ings can take on defenders; he can pick a pass; he can drop his shoulder to devastating affect. His repertoire of goals is growing, as is his reputation.
He is relatively new to the England Under 21 set-up yet there is already talk of international progress.
When you consider all this has come off the back of two injury-ravaged seasons it makes his achievements so far this season all the more remarkable, without him growing any less humble.
Which is why he would be the first to acknowledge that, despite all of the above, he is in no way guaranteed to scoop a similar player of the year accolade at club level.
In Sunday's acceptance speech he was quick to talk of a team effort in making him the player he has become this season, with particular reference to strike partner Sam Vokes.
There is no doubt the two bring out the best in each other, hence their prolific partnership accounting for the vast majority of the Clarets' goals this season.
Vokes could be the biggest rival for the crown at the end of season ceremony.
But there are other leading candidates throughout the side.
Tom Heaton, although very rarely stretched in any game this season, must go down as one of the Championship signings of the summer for the consistently high levels of assurance he has shown the back four.
Kieran Trippier, at right back, has been the source of most goals and now leads the way in the assists table, but he has also played his part in the division's meanest defence.
Captain Jason Shackell, who like Trippier has played every minute of every game, has been imperious at centre half – and chipped in with important goals too, while Michael Duff is having a fine season alongside him.
Ben Mee has shown his bravery numerous times this term, and although not as frequently as his fellow full back still makes key contributions going forward, most recently laying on the cross for Scott Arfield to clinch the win over Leeds last weekend.
Arfield is another who has excelled after being brought in on a free transfer in the summer, like Heaton.
Surplus to requirements at Huddersfield, inexplicably on this consistent form, Burnley boss Sean Dyche has maintained that hunger in him to be successful, and he has energy to burn.
David Jones found himself in similar circumstances, following his release from Wigan Athletic and after an expected move to Blackburn Rovers, where he had ended last season on loan, failed to materialise.
He is thankful of that now.
Working alongside Dean Marney in the midfield engine room they have each found their perfect foil; both are unsung heroes this season.
Burnley's strength has been in their team. And while Ings, for me, was the obvious candidate for star man of the Championship, when it comes to picking Burnley's, it isn't so straight forward.


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Q: "It has been an awfully cold winter. Do I still have to be concerned with heating later this year or did the extreme cold eliminate this issue?"
A. Though it has certainly been unusually cold this year, that doesn't mean that the spoilage microbes that cause heating are gone or dead. Yeasts and other spoilage microbes can lie dormant even in very cold weather; so there is still the potential for them to "come alive" as ambient temperatures start to rise.
Heating and spoilage due to the growth of spoilage microbes when the silage is exposed to air can occur any time, but is especially an issue in warmer weather as the rising temperatures drive more rapid microbial growth.
To prevent this, there are two important factors to consider:
- Using an inoculant proven to inhibit spoilage at harvest
- Proper management both at harvest and year-round
Some inoculants contain specifically selected bacteria proven to combat the spoilage and heating that can occur after opening up the fermented silage, particularly during feed-out. High dose rate Lactobacillus buchneri 40788 is the only active inoculant ingredient reviewed by FDA and allowed to claim "improved aerobic stability in silages and high moisture corn".
Proper management is important to avoid aerobic spoilage. Some best management practices to consider include:
- Harvest at optimum maturity to minimize spoilage yeast levels
- Ensure the silage is well packed
- Cover and seal the harvested forage quickly and ensure proper coverage
- Only uncover as much silage as is going to be fed daily
- Remove at least 6" of silage, or more in warmer weather, from the face daily
- Do not let silage sit around in loose piles
The Silage Dr.


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GLOUCESTER director of rugby Nigel Davies admitted the Cherry & Whites behaving themselves was the key factor behind their defeat of Northampton as they returned to Aviva Premiership action, writes Ryan Walters.
Tries in each half from Jonny May set Gloucester on their way to a 27-11 win at Franklin's Gardens, their first on the road in the Premiership since September, while Rob Cook contributed 17 points.
The long-awaited away win moved Gloucester to fifth, two points off Wasps in fourth and Davies admitted getting a grip on their ill discipline proved to be the turning point against Saints.
"Discipline was always going to be huge for us," said Davies. "In the past three games we had given away 18 penalties, which is not good enough.
"And if you come to Northampton and do that you're not going to get anything out of the game. Defensively we were excellent and we gave Saints a real go in the end.
"We were very disciplined and very accurate in the contact areas as well, which maintains your discipline and allows you to be effective in that area.
"It was a tighter selection than we had in the previous four matches and the boys have done exactly what we asked them to do."
After Myler's fifth-minute penalty for Saints, Gloucester full back Cook kicked four before the break, with May scoring the first of his two tries.
It took winger May two minutes of the second half to grab his second, this time converted by Cook, who slotted a fifth penalty of the game five minutes from time.
May's two-try performance wasn't lost on Davies.
"Having Jonny back makes the difference," he said. "He's the type of player who, in a tight arm wrestle of a game, can change how it looks and that's what he did.
"I'm very pleased with the overall performance. We've had a big week and on the back of the Amlin Challenge Cup games and the LV= Cup, we've been refocusing."
Aviva are proud to be title sponsor of Aviva Premiership Rugby – one of the world's leading rugby union competitions. Each season will feature 135 games, which will be watched by 1.7 million people live at the grounds and many more through our broadcast partners Sky, ITV and ESPN. Visit www.premiershiprugby.com.


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Award-winning pop star Olly Murs has picked up yet another accolade, but not for his singing ability.
The Witham-born X Factor star was voted the 2014 male Rear of the Year winner in a public poll, seeing off competition from Andy Murray, Idris Elba and Daniel Radcliffe.
He took to Twitter after hearing the news and said: "Thanks to everyone that voted for my a**e. We are both very proud of this award."
Organisers said over ten thousand votes were cast in total, with ex-Countdown star Carol Vorderman winning the female Rear of the Year title for a second year.


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You are here: Kidspot Activity Corner Games Piggy in the middle
Piggy in the middle
This is a great game for the kids to play outside and burn off some extra energy. You can play it with as many people as you like, as long as they can catch the ball and keep it off "piggy in the middle"!
Number of players:
What you need:
- a ball
- open space
Place two of the children about 10 metres apart and the third child in the middle - they are the "piggy in the middle".
The two players on the outside throw the ball to each other while the one in the middle tries to catch it.
If the ball is dropped, any of the three players can recover it.
If the person in the middle catches or recovers the ball, the person who was the last to throw is now the "piggy in the middle".
Find more ideas for toddlers
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Sometimes I get lucky... recently Susan Visser connected me with Sam Lightstone, author of Making it Big in Software, and luckily, he agreed to an interview. Sam has a unique perspective to share on developing your career in software, so I hope you enjoy it! (And if anyone else has suggestions for people to interview on my blog in the future, pass them along!)
Learn more about Sam Lightstone:
His profile on My developerWorks - add him to your network
See book reviews from: Dr. Dobb's, JavaRanch, i-Programmer
Join the Facebook Fan Club
Join the LinkedIn Group
Follow the blog
Book overview and reader reviews on Amazon.com
Tell me about yourself and what you're currently working on...
I'm a Senior Technical Staff Member in the DB2 development team. Over the past decade I've been fortunate to have some pretty varied positions, including senior management roles, code design and development and some research collaboration. I've enjoyed them all. I'm currently working on several of projects to increase DB2's processing efficiency, working with the DB2 team, but also with folks in our research and storage divisions.
What first sparked your interest in technology?
It was all around me growing up. During the Great Depression my father dropped out of high school to get a job and help support his family. When WWII started he enlisted in the Canadian army and used his time there to develop skills in electronics and photography. After the war he started a television repair business. He couldn't afford to buy the equipment he needed, so he bought a few "build it yourself" kits and constructed his own vacuum tube tester, frequency generator, multimeter and oscilloscope. The television repair business didn't last long, and my father pursued his passion in photography (more specifically 'lithography'). So we had all this electronics and photographic equipment in the house, and my dad wanted us to understand it. Every know and then, at breakfast or supper, he would pull a pen out of his pocket and start drawing a schematic on the back of a napkin to explain a concept. These were simple ideas about electronics and circuits, or how a camera works, but as a child I felt these were the most interesting things in life. My father started a "family tradition" that every child would get a science kit for their 10th birthday. Being the youngest of 6 kids not only did I grow up playing with my father's gadgets, but all the science kits my older siblings had received were still lying around! Electronics kits, chemistry sets, microscopes - you name it. I was soldering circuits and developing my own film by the time I was 10 or 11. When I was about 13 I started programming BASIC on my brother-in-law's hand made computer that used a cassette tape storage device and a teletype for input and output. Personal computers were very new then. By 1982 I was 14 and studying programming at school on a Commodore Pet. I still remember how happy I was to use a floppy disk instead of a cassette tape!
How did the idea for your new book, Making it Big in Software, originate?
It was really about giving something back to the community. When I was in 4th year Electrical Engineering in 1991, the department held professional seminars on Friday afternoons. These were usually on technical topics like VLSI design. One day a speaker came from Newbridge Systems in Ottawa and gave us a talk about professional life after graduation. It really made a huge impression on me, and I decided that if I ever could I would return the professional courtesy and volunteer to speak to students about professional life after school. The problem is that school teaches us technical skills, but there's really no place that people are taught how to thrive professionally so they can maximize their impact, and optimize their careers. Once you know how to do it, a small deliberate effort over time can propel you to significantly higher positions of influence, higher salary and most importantly a more satisfying career. That's what Making it Big in Software is all about. In the late 1990's and early 2000's I began a series of talks at universities. The material I compiled for those talks became the basis for the book.
You have a list of 17 big names that you interviewed for your book. I'm sure that was fascinating. Was there anything they shared that really took you by surprise?
There were lots of surprises both in the personal histories and in the career strategies that these people use, and of course some great personal stories. I'll share four things that made an impression on me. First, it's true that most of the people I interviewed rose to fame and fortune. However, the person who may have made the biggest impact was Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email. Ray invented in email in 1971, but her wasn't credited with it until a journalist tracked the invention back to him in 1994. For over 20 years he got no recognition, and his massive contribution really didn't impact his career in a positive way. Even so, Ray is one of the happiest and most content people I spoke with. He's still working at BBN and programming. I found that very inspirational. Secondly, I think a lot of people have a feeling that the great days of computer science are behind us. The big killer apps have been coded, the great technologies are now commodities. But several of the people I interviewed expressed the contrary feeling that we're actually on the cusp of a profound transition in software, driven by mobile computing, cloud computing, social networking and increasing computing power and bandwidth. That means that software as a profession is going to keep accelerating. Third, I have come to believe that effective time management is a cornerstone to effective careers. So it was pretty amazing to me to see how messed up some of these very successful people are in managing their time! What they've lacked in time management they've compensated for by surrounding themselves with good people and being goal oriented. Finally, fourth, I was pretty floored when Steve Wozniak told me he programmed the BASIC interpreter for the Apple computer in binary! He had no money, no tools, not even a compiler. He couldn't even afford an Intel processor. With just 1's and 0's he changed the world.
What are some of the unique challenges of working in the software industry? What are a few significant changes happening?
You've asked two questions but in fact there is one answer to both. What makes software careers so unique is change! Change is our challenge. We work in an industry that redefines itself every few years. There's no other profession like that - even in the engineering disciplines. Think about other professions, like accounting, law, nursing, medicine, dentistry, education. Their skills and tools evolve over time, but fundamentally what they do at the end of their career will look pretty similar to what they did at the beginning. Not so with software! New languages, new platforms, new paradigms emerge all the time. A few years ago nobody was talking about social networking, cloud computing or multi core programming for dozens or hundreds of CPU threads. These are today's sea changes. That constant change will continue, and it's what makes software so dynamic. But it means all of us in the profession need to ride those waves and stay current.
I'll add another point to my answer which I think is really important for software programmers and engineers to internalize for career advancement. A unique quality in the software business is that a lot of the great innovative ideas come from the engineering teams rather than the business and marketing executives. That's what has, to a large degree, elevated programmers from their early status in the 1960's and 1970's as skilled technologists to our modern conception of software programmers as rock stars. Driving software innovation elevates your rock star status and can be a major impetus in fueling your career.
Have you had any memorable situations where you learned from failure?
I've had many. Bill Gates once said "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." On the software side, my early attempts to estimate how long work would take were pretty disastrous! It caused me a lot of late nights at the keyboard during my early years as I tried to make up for overly aggressive estimates. After that I spent a fair bit of time studying the best practices and software engineering literature on project scheduling and management. I dedicated an entire chapter of Making it Big in Software to avoiding software overruns. There are few things that can mess up your career worse than being consistently late. Conversely, teams that consistently on time and on quality, are golden. On the management side, my early attempts at recruiting were painful. I hired people based on their academic results in combination with feedback from past managers. It turns out that academic results are too loose an indicator and previous managers may not be that reliable either! I had to fire someone I recruited, and it was really upsetting for me. After that I became maniacal in recruiting only the best people I could find, and I grill candidates pretty thoroughly to get a sense of what they know, how they think and whether they will jive professionally with the rest of the team. My goal now is to always be the stupidest person in my group! I'm immodest enough to think I'm a reasonably sharp software engineer, and if everyone I recruit is smarter than me then I know I have a really strong team.
What role do you think social networking can play in developing a software career?
I don't think we've seen the full force of what social networking can achieve. Facebook for example, only started in 2005, and although it has grown to 400 million members, it's still evolving rapidly. These are early days. I see three main ways social networking is directly impacting software careers today. First and foremost these technologies allow people to maintain relationships in a more profound way than they could previously with email and telephone. Successful software careers are heavily biased by maintaining relationships. Who you know not what you know is a big part of that. Second, but equally profound, what you know is driven by who you know! In an industry where knowledge is king, it's critical to have efficient ways to get and filter information. One of the best filter factors on finding the most important pieces of knowledge is through your social network. During my interviews with successful personalities in Making it Big in Software, many of the interviewees, like James Gosling (Java), John Schwarz (CEO Business Objects), Grady Booch (IBM Fellow), Bjarne Stroustrup (C++), David Vaskevitch (then Microsoft CTO), Robert Kahn (Coinventor of the Internet), Mark Russinovich (Microsoft Fellow and Windows architect) and others, told me they depend heavily (but not exclusively) on their social network to figure out and filter what tech trends are the important ones. Third, I think that social networking is blurring with social marketing, and we are already well down the path of using this kind of infrastructure to market and float new ideas. The people who leverage that dynamic successfully will be able to advance their careers and their companies the most successfully.
How do you use social networking?
I use it for all three of the ideas I mentioned above. I use Facebook and LinkedIn pretty heavily, as well as my own blog on software careers, and there are a few bloggers I follow on both technology and technology marketing.
What are some of your favorite websites/feeds/twitter accounts to follow?
I've configured a Google search feed to feed me an anthology of relevant articles every few days. I subscribe the eWeek's email news, and I follow activity in the database community by subscribing to DBWORLD. I enjoy Seth Godin's blog, and was a fan of Joel on Software, though he recently stopped blogging.
Are you a gadget junkie? Any new gadgets you'd love to get your hands on?
I'm a gadget junkie wannabee! I love gadgets but I just can't find time to learn them. My kids make fun of me because I can barely figure out how to use my cell phone. I'm still amazed by my GPS watch that tells me how far I've jogged or cycled and draws a map of the route I've covered. I'm also pretty fond of my 1TB wireless backup disk that backs up the data for every computer in my house over our wireless network. I bought it for less than the cost of dinner for two. Some cliches are a little too accurate - boys love toys!
- Thanks Sam!