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Multilevel measurement/structural inv...
Mplus Discussion
Multilevel Data/Complex Sample
Michael J. Zyphur
posted on Saturday, August 13, 2005 - 12:04 pm
Hello everyone,
I recently saw a presentation on what was, essentially, multilevel measurement invariance. The authors suggested that strict equality constraines could not be imposed across levels, as in regular invariance tests. Instead, the authors suggested a type of proportional invariance, where item 1's loading could be any given proportion of item 2's loading, but this proportion should hold across levels. OR, they suggested one could propose that the between-groups loading for item 1 be an observed proportion of the within-groups loading of item 1, but that this proportion hold for all items.
Clearly, this is a more complex way to set equality constraints than are usually allowed in Mplus. However, would constraints such as these be possible? Could one, for example, state that a factor loading or a structural relationship be proportionally equivalent across levels? If so, I think this could be a new way to get the word out about Mplus: It allows tests of multilevel measurement and structural invariance!
posted on Saturday, August 13, 2005 - 2:47 pm
I haven't seen this kind of argument, but maybe it arises when letting all loadings be free and held equal across levels - setting the metric of the factor by having the factor variance fixed at one. Because the within and between variances are different this would call for proportionality constraints rather than equality constraints. I would instead set the metric by a factor loading fixed at one and then holding the remaining loadings equal across levels, letting the within and between factor variances be free. But perhaps I am overlooking something.
To answer your question about proportionality constraints, I think this can be done in Mplus using Model Constraint. For example, in abbreviated form,
fw by y2 (p2w)
y3 (p3w);
fb by y2 (p2b)
y3 (p3b);
Model constraint:
p2b = c*p2w;
p3b = c*p3w;
Here, c is a dummy parameter which is the proportion. c can be estimated by giving it a label connected with a dummy parameter. Such dummy parameter handling can be done in the current version, but will be easier in Version 4. I can tell you more about it if my response is on the right track.
Michael J. Zyphur
posted on Sunday, August 14, 2005 - 12:39 am
Hi Bengt,
This is exactly the kind of modeling constraint I am imagining. Please do tell me more about how to estimate c by giving it a label connected with a dummy parameter.
Also, regarding your initial sentence and example constraints, do you think this kind of model would only work when allowing loadings to be free but set to proportional invariance across levels? Could it not also be used by allowing the items to interrelate in a given way at one level and having the same interrelation at another level?
For example:
fw by y2 (p2w)
y3 (p3w);
fb by y2 (p2b)
y3 (p3b);
Model constraint:
p2w = c*p3w;
p2b = c*p3b;
Here, c would specify a proportion but do so with a different meaning than in your example. Do you see any problems with doing one vs. the other? They seem to address different questions.
Mplus is great, I can't wait for version 4!
posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 9:35 am
Proportionality for any kind of parameters would be possible in this approach.
The dummy parameter specification in the current Mplus is done by labeling a parameter that would not in itself be identified, for example,
fdum by y2 (c);
; [
such that this loading has no impact on the model or its likelihood. Note that fdum should also have zero correlation with other factors. Then, "c" in the Model Constraint paragraph has a place in the parameter array - and is identified since the Model Constraint statements place constraints on the parameters that c has to try to match.
Michael J. Zyphur
posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 6:01 pm
Any thoughts on this?
In line with your recomendations, I entered the following model and it says, "*** ERROR
Unknown parameter label in MODEL CONSTRAINT: C"
Multilevel Structural Invariance
FILE IS Data.dat;
DUMMY by CS (C);
; [
Michael J. Zyphur
posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 6:06 pm
Nevermind, sorry, all that was required (of course) was to free the parameter by saying:
DUMMY by CS* (C);
Michael J. Zyphur
posted on Saturday, August 20, 2005 - 6:38 pm
Again, sorry to bother, but one real question is:
If a parameter "c" is freely estimated, do you think that the reduction in the degrees of freedom for the model (-1) because of estimating the parameter is justified?
In other words, because the parameter doesn't influence the model, for difference testing could df be upwardly adjusted by +1 to pretend that no parameter was estimated?
posted on Sunday, August 21, 2005 - 9:15 am
The model with C appearing in Model Constraint expresses the 2 B1, B2 slopes in terms of just 1 parameter, C (and other already existing parameters). Therefore this model has 1 fewer (unrestricted) parameters and should have 1 more degree of freedom. Difference testing of this C constraint should have 1 df.
posted on Tuesday, January 03, 2006 - 7:48 am
Hello Dr. Muth�n,
regarding the test of measurement invariance across levels as you described above (setting the metric by fixing the loading of item 1 to 1.0 and constraining the others to be equal across levels): Is this kind of test still appropriate, if (a) it�s necessary to fix some non-significant between-residuals to zero and/or (b) allowing correlated residuals on the within- but not on the between-level?
In this case, the models wouldn�t be exactly the same on both levels. I would appreciate a comment on this, thanks!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, January 03, 2006 - 10:05 am
It is usually the case that a different number of factors are found at the within and between levels of a multilevel model. And even when there are, the factors most likely have a different meaning for the two levels. The suggestion that I see from the previous postings is that holding the factor loadings equal across levels is most likely not appropriate.
posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 2:19 am
Many thanks for the answer, but I'am unsure whether my question was not clear enough. It`s not that I want to impose an equality constraint for the factor loadings across levels a priori. As a result of a MFA, I found that a model with the same factor structure between and within fits the data very well (however, I had to allow some correlated residuals within and fix some non-significant residuals between to zero). Additionally, judging by the MLR-chi�-difference test as described on the homepage, there is no significant worsening in the model fit, when I impose the equality constraint on the factor loadings across levels. As far as I understand, this is mentioned in the Metha & Neale - article (2005). So, does your previous answer fits to this situation?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 9:00 am
I think correlated residuals on within probably represent a hidden factor. I suspect that you have not actually done an EFA on the pooled-within and Sigma between matrices as a first step to see how many factors there are on each level. If you have not, I would start there. I think it would be hard to support that the factors are the same when you have to add residual covariances on the within level.
posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 12:15 pm
Actually I did initial EFA and the accordingly specified CFA/MFA fits well in terms of CFI, RMSEA, etc., but there are some high MI. I will see whether the residuals are really necessary, thanks a lot for your time!
Jan Hochweber
posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 3:48 am
I�d like to investigate measurement invariance in a multilevel context using multiple group models. I have factors on the within and between level; some of them have continuous and some have categorical factor indicators.
For continuous indicators, I adopted a suggestion by Thompson and Green (2006) to test for both invariance of factor loadings and intercepts. Invariance of factor loadings is tested first by analyzing the covariance structure only, not the mean structure. Having explored invariance of loadings, invariance of intercepts is tested next.
For step 1 (covariance structure only) I decided to extract the estimated sigma within and sigma between matrices for the groups to be compared and to analyze within and between separately.
1a) Is it correct that intercepts of the outcomes are only of interest on the between level and analyzing a mean structure to test invariance of intercepts on the within level does not make sense?
1b) If yes, is it sufficient to check for invariance of the loadings on the within level?
2) Since means of factor indicators are given on the between level, would it be correct to first analyze the between covariance matrix only (using the estimated sigma between), then "add" the means (given in the output for a type=twolevel analysis) to the covariance matrix used as input and then test for intercept invariance?
Jan Hochweber
posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 3:55 am
Invariance for categorical outcomes causes even more trouble to me. As far as I know, threshold invariance has to be analyzed along with invariance of loadings.
Within level:
3) Is it possible to use an extracted correlation matrix to check for measurement invariance - maybe in the same way this is done for continuous outcomes?
Between level:
As far as I know, a between matrix cannot be extracted for categorical outcomes. So I thought about using type=twolevel.
4a) Is this starting setup correct:
- defining the factor on the between level while having no variables on the within level if the factor indicators are measured on the between level
- defining the factor on the between level while allowing just for indicator correlations on the within level if the indicators are measured on the within level
Next step would be to do a comparison of models a) with thresholds and loadings fixed between groups and factor means freely estimated with the exception of the mean in one group fixed to zero and b) with thresholds and loadings freely estimated and the means in all groups fixed to zero.
4b) Is this specification correct?
4c) If yes, how would I compare these models? I'm not sure if they are nested. Besides a direct comparison: What differences in values for thresholds and (standardized) loadings would be troubling?
Thank you very much for your advice!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 10:17 am
The answer to all of your questions is yes with the following additional information. For categorical outcomes, within and between matrices are not available at this time. You can create a data set where each observation is a cluster and analyze that. The models you mention are nested.
Jan Hochweber
posted on Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 4:54 am
1) If each observation is a cluster, this is (in case of a binary outcome) a multilevel logistic regression where probability of endorsement is a function of loading and threshold on lvl1 and of factor score on lvl2?
2a) If yes, invariance for within structure could be tested by a cross-lvl interaction of group membership (dummy vars on lvl2) on the lvl1 regression coefficients with lvl 2 being persons?
2b) For invariance of between structure, it would be analogous with the units of between structure (in my case school classes) on lvl2?
Thank you.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 8:51 am
I think Linda's answer referred to your 4a) statement: - defining the factor on the between level while having no variables on the within level if the factor indicators are measured on the between level.
That is, you will then have a single-level factor model for your between variables, where the clusters is your sample.
Nikolai Eton
posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 - 5:35 am
I am relatively new to multilevel modeling and would appreciate it a lot if you can give me a reference on testing measuring and factor invariance across levels. Furthmore, how can this be applied in Mplus? By using the "model constraints" command?
Many thanks in advance.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 - 10:00 am
This can be done using equality constraints. These are demonstrated for a multilevel multiple indicator growth model in Example 9.15. The principles are the same for a factor analysis model.
Lisa M. Yarnell
posted on Friday, August 19, 2011 - 4:27 pm
Drs. Muthen,
I believe I am getting the same error message as user Michael J. Zyphur above. I used proportionality constraints (p2d, p3d, and p4d; and p2d, p3d, and p4d) which load onto two different latent slopes.
I employed the "Model constraint" section of code to define the proportionality constraints.
But I receive the error message: *** ERROR in MODEL command
Unknown variable(s) in a BY statement: (P2D)
Do I need to define the constraint variables in the USEVARIABLES statement Portions of my code are below.
Thank you,
!level and slope for depression
d0 by
d1 by ddep2 (p2d) ddep3 (p3d) ddep (p4d); !<---- proportionality constraints
d0; d1;
[d0 d1];
d0 with d1*.25;
!level and slope for bmi
b0 by
b1 by dbmi2 (p2b) dbmi3 (p3b) dbmi4 (p4b);! <---- proportionality constraints
b0; b1;
[b0 b1];
b0 with b1*.25;
Model constraint:
p3d = 2p2d;
p4d = 4p2d;
p3b = 2p2b;
p4b = 4p2b;
OUTPUT: SAMP STAND RES MODINDICES(0) tech1;
*** ERROR in MODEL command
Unknown variable(s) in a BY statement: (P2D)
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, August 19, 2011 - 6:09 pm
Please send the full output and your license number to
posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 6:00 am
I am trying to understand if it is possible/acceptable to test measurement equivalence across two time points in a multilevel CFA model. I have come across some responses regarding measurement equivalence across groups in a multilevel model, but I am not clear how this applies to equivalence across time.
If it is possible to do, do you go through the same steps as in single level measurement invariance testing (allowing all to vary but fixing the factor variances to one and means to zero respectively, constraining factor loadings, constraining loadings and intercepts across time)but do this within each level?
Thank you.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 6:34 am
See the Topic 4 course handout on the website under multiple indicator growth. Testing for measurement invariance across time is shown here. This can be done only if the data are in wide multivariate format.
posted on Friday, March 30, 2012 - 3:55 am
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
So, I follow the steps outlined in the handout, testing for invariance in the within part and the between part of the model simultaneously? Or do you have to do this for the within part and the between part separately so that you are testing for invariance at one level at a time?
Thank you.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, March 30, 2012 - 9:33 am
I would test the within and between parts separately.
Mario Paredes
posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - 3:41 pm
Dear Dr. Muthen,
To confirm a hypothesis in multiple group analysis I have to free each structural path and then compare them with the unconstrained model.
In Mplus I constrained it using the following syntaxis:
f3 on f2 (1);
f3 on f5 (2);
f3 on f7 (3);
Then I compare it with: f3 on f2 f5 f7; !(unconstrained)
I would like to ask you:
1) Do you if I can constrain all the paths togheter and compare it with the unconstrained model?
2) Is it correct my syntax to make it?
Thank you very much,
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, September 13, 2012 - 10:46 am
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
Mario Paredes
posted on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 4:15 pm
Thank you,
I just have one more question. When I tried it togheter (like I described before) the Xi2 difference is significative, supporting the hypothesis. However, when I tried each path independently the differences are not significative.
Can I constrian all the paths togheter and compare it with the unconstrained model to support the hypothesis?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - 11:46 am
The overall test likely has more power than the individual tests. The way you approach this should take into account your hypotheses. If you have specific hypotheses, you should test those. Otherwise, you can use an overall test.
Matthew Courtney
posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2013 - 6:35 pm
Dear Drs Muthen,
I have created a structural model using the wlsmv estimator. It is a MIMIC model and includes 7 latent factors and 8 cause indicators:
f1 on f2;
f2 on f3;
f3 on f4;
f1 on f5;
f5 on f6 f7;
f2 on v1;
f7 on v2 v3 v4 v5 v6 v7;
All factor indicator variables are ordered categoric with the exception of one continuous indicator variable.
I would now like to test for measurement invariance across six groups and also test for latent means differences.
1. Can I perform these procedures from within the above SEM framework, or is this form of testing only feasible from within a CFA framework?
2. If only feasible from within the CFA framework, should I remove the 8 cause indicators and carry out the invariance tests on my seven-factor measurement model?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, February 07, 2013 - 9:51 am
Some people advocate 1 and others 2. It is your choice.
Matthew Courtney
posted on Thursday, February 07, 2013 - 1:01 pm
Thanks. So,
1. If I choose to do the tests from within SEM, do I remove the cause indicators from the model?
2. If I choose to do the tests from within CFA, do I remove those same sets of observed variables from the model?
Matthew Courtney
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 11:48 am
Also, kindly, another question concerning code. In terms of identifying item thresholds , I have seen two different expressions of code:
a. [v1$1]
b. [v1$1*]
(p. 119)
3. So, my third question is, how does freeing the parameter of the threshold change anything in the context of testing measurement invariance?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 11:48 am
1. You don't need to.
2. You should remove them.
Matthew Courtney
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 1:03 pm
4. Another question, please. When carrying out config, metric, scalar, and structural invariance tests, in each case, I constrain the factor means to equal "0" under the MODEL command. Lastly, I use the savedata command to save the output of the structural test (DIFFTEST=structural.dat). Next, to test for the equivalence of latent factor means, as I understand it, I am supposed to constrain the latent means of one group to zero. To do this, do I now omit the "[
]" command from under the MODEL command and place this restriction under the MODEL GROUP2 command?
Thanks so much for your time.
Matthew Courtney
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 1:19 pm
Thanks so much for your answers to questions 1 and 2. Looks like you just missed my posting of question 3. I kindly ask you to consider questions 3 and 4 above.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 2:41 pm
Please see the Topic 2 course handout on the website under multiple group analysis where the inputs for testing measurement invariance for binary items are shown.
Matthew Courtney
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 6:21 pm
Thanks for your reply. It seems to answer question 3 that I posted. However, as for question 4, the chapter you suggested in the handout,
(I'm assuming slides 167-171),
doesn't seem to provide anything about assessing means and covariance structures (i.e., equivalence of latent factor means) with categorical variables.
I kindly ask you for a little more direction with regards to my question 4, above.
Matthew Courtney
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 7:11 pm
Basically, I get an interpretable output, but I'm wondering if the following code is correct:
type = general;
estimator = wlsmv;
parameterization = theta;
DIFFTEST = structural.dat;
f1 by v1* (A1);
f1 by v2-v3* (A2-A3);
[v1$1] (B1);
[v1$2] (B2);
[v2$1] (B3);
[v2$2] (B4);
[v3$1] (B5);
[v3$2] (B6);
f2 by v4* (C1);
f2 by v5-v6* (C2-C3);
[v4$1] (D1);
[v4$2] (D2);
[v5$1] (D3);
[v5$2] (D4);
[v6$1] (D5);
[v6$2] (D6);
f1 with f2 (D7);
Model group2:
f1 by v1-v3* (A1-A3);
[v1$1] (B1);
[v1$2] (B2);
[v2$1] (B3);
[v2$2] (B4);
[v3$1] (B5);
[v3$2] (B6);
f2 by v4-v6* (C1-C3);
[v4$1] (D1);
[v4$2] (D2);
[v5$1] (D3);
[v5$2] (D4);
[v6$1] (D5);
[v6$2] (D6);
f1 with f2 (D7);
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, February 08, 2013 - 7:41 pm
Posts on Mplus Discussion should be limited to one window.
See the Topic 1 course handout under multiple group regression where comparing the means, variances, and covariances of factors is shown.
Praveetha Patalay
posted on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - 9:20 am
Dear Drs Muthen,
We are trying to run a multi-level (2 levels, pupils within schools)model with a pupil variable measured at 2 time points using the same measure with 10 categorical (0,1,2) items.
To achieve measurement invariance over time we have constrained factor loadings and thresholds to be equal over time as illustrated below
!time 1
!time 2
!threshold constraining
Excluding the multi-level component the model runs. When we include the multi-level bit the following error message appears.
*** ERROR in MODEL command
The thresholds of variables on the between and within levels exist only on
the between level.
We are not sure how to proceed. The multi-level model runs if the threshold constraint is removed, so can we run it without constraining thresholds over time?
I should also note here that we do not have any level-2 predictors and are using a multi-level approach to account for school-level variation.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - 3:34 pm
Move your threshold statements to the Between level.
Praveetha Patalay
posted on Monday, June 17, 2013 - 5:04 am
Thank you! The model runs when I follow your suggestion and move just the thresholds to the between level.
Just for my own understanding can you please explain to me why the threshold constraints are between and the rest of the measurement model within? (or direct me to somewhere that does).
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, June 17, 2013 - 1:00 pm
The means are overall means. By convention is multilevel modeling, the means are reported at the highest level.
posted on Sunday, January 05, 2014 - 8:34 am
Dear Drs. Muthen,
I will be fitting a multilevel SEM to examine the influence of how a change in school-level variables from elementary school to middle school affects children's academic and behavioral outcomes in middle school. But first I'd like to just examine the measurement models for the school-level variables (one for elementary schools and one for middle schools). Unfortunately, there are only about 20 elementary schools and 90 middle schools, which makes things tough in terms of having large enough Ns in the measurement models, particularly for elementary schools. However, since the school-level variables will eventually have children "below" them in the SEM, can I artificially increase my Ns when I test the school-level measurement models by duplicating the set of school-level variables as many times as there are children for that school and then fitting a CFA model to those augmented data sets? So instead of having one set of observations for each school on the school-level variables, I have N_j, where N_j is the number of children that were in school j when those school-level variables were collected? If not, is there a better way to handle this small-N measurement-model problem? Thanks very much!
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Sunday, January 05, 2014 - 9:38 am
I'm afraid that wouldn't be correct if the school-level variables are truly measurements of schools, not students. With only 20 observations you can't investigate a measurement instrument, so you have to rely on past research to form a scale.
posted on Sunday, January 05, 2014 - 10:02 am
That's what I was afraid of... Well, thanks for setting me straight on that!
Hayden Woodley
posted on Friday, April 17, 2015 - 2:38 pm
I have a sample of individuals nested in teams across three conditions. I ran a multi-group MCFA to test for measurement/structural invariance across the conditions. When I change the referent group/condition in the models, I get almost identical results (fit indices, etc.) across both the configural model and the metric model. However, I get very different fit indices and parameter estimates across referent groups in the scalar model. Any idea why this might be happening?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, April 17, 2015 - 2:52 pm
I would need to see the outputs and your license number at
to be able to comment on this.
Tor Neilands
posted on Monday, October 26, 2015 - 8:58 pm
As part of a scale validation project, I recently performed CFA and IRT analyses of a multilevel data set of 63 3-category ordinal survey items originating from 1181 participants from 22 villages. For the CFAs I used TYPE=COMPLEX due to the modest number of villages and found good support for a 7-dimension correlated factors CFA. However, a reviewer of our manuscript feels we haven't done enough to validate the construct at the village level. ICCs for the subscales were modest, ranging from .02 to .15.
The reviewer believes the low ICCs in conjunction with the analysis approach taken indicate insufficient validation of the scale at the group level. Given the moderate number of villages, my co-authors and I are curious if there are additional validation techniques available in Mplus that we could consider or whether we're stuck concluding that while there is solid support for the 7-dimension construct at the person level, support at the community level is limited? For instance, could the newer alignment methods be tried to help address these issues? Any suggestions appreciated.
Tor Neilands
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - 9:47 am
Alignment is available with maximum likelihood estimation for ordinal outcomes so that could be a possibility.
Alaine Garmendia
posted on Monday, May 28, 2018 - 5:59 am
Dear Dr.Muthens,
I have two waves of data of individual respondents which are nested in companies. I do not have individual follow up but only company follow up. Would it make sense to do a multilevel (individuals in companies) and longitudinal (two waves) CFA? My doubt is because I do not have the info whether respondents are the same in the two waves.
Besides, conducting measurement invariance tests with second order latent variables, how could I set the scale? I constrain the mean of one of the first order latent variables to 0 to set the scale for the second order latent variable, but then I also need to calculate the mean of that first order latent variable, so I am confused.
Thank you very much for your help.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Monday, May 28, 2018 - 5:39 pm
I would stick to just doing the multilevel CFA at the first time point.
Alaine Garmendia
posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - 11:00 pm
Thank you very much for your help,Dr. Muthen.
And what about the measurement invariance tests?
1.Would you make the tests at the shop level?
2.How could I set the scale for a second order latent variable? I need to estimate the means.
Thank you again.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 - 2:43 pm
1. The test on that level is the most important but if no rejection I would test it also on the Within level.
2. Fix the intercepts of the first-order factors (the indicators of the second-order factor) at zero.
Alaine Garmendia
posted on Friday, June 01, 2018 - 9:33 am
Thank you for your responses Dr Muthen. I will follow your suggestions.
In fact, I fixed the intercept of the first-order factor at 0 but at the same time I fixed the first item (indicators of the first order factor) also at 0 in order to estimate the mean of the first order indicator. Would this be correct?
Thank you again
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Friday, June 01, 2018 - 5:38 pm
That's ok too.
Alaine Garmendia
posted on Saturday, June 02, 2018 - 11:48 am
Thank you for responding again and so quick!
Snigdha Dutta
posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - 3:26 am
How are equality constraints placed on thresholds when testing for scalar invariance over two time-points?
Item1Threshold1Time1 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time1 (2)
Item1Threshold3Time1 (3)
Item2Threshold1Time1 (1)
Item2Threshold2Time1 (2)
Item2Threshold3Time2 (3)
Item1Threshold1Time2 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time2 (2)
Item1Threshold3Time2 (3)
Item2Threshold1Time2 (1)
Item2Threshold2Time2 (2)
Item2Threshold3Time2 (3)
Item1Threshold1Time1 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time1 (1)
Item1Threshold3Time1 (1)
Item2Threshold1Time1 (2)
Item2Threshold2Time1 (2)
Item2Threshold3Time1 (2)
Item1Threshold1Time2 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time2 (1)
Item1Threshold3Time2 (1)
Item2Threshold1Time2 (2)
Item2Threshold2Time2 (2)
Item2Threshold3Time2 (2)
And if a scale has sub-scales, are the equality constraints held equal depending on which factor it loads to?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - 2:16 pm
Neither approach. The first one holds thresholds equal across items within time points which is not what you want. The second holds threshold values equal for an item's different thresholds - that doesn't make sense. From these comments you can arrive at the correct approach.
Snigdha Dutta
posted on Thursday, February 21, 2019 - 1:32 am
Thank you for your quick response!
Is it then:
Item1Threshold1Time1 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time1 (2)
Item1Threshold3Time1 (3)
Item2Threshold1Time1 (4)
Item2Threshold2Time1 (5)
Item2Threshold3Time2 (6)
Item1Threshold1Time2 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time2 (2)
Item1Threshold3Time2 (3)
Item2Threshold1Time2 (4)
Item2Threshold2Time2 (5)
Item2Threshold3Time2 (6)
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Thursday, February 21, 2019 - 6:59 am
You get an A on that.
Snigdha Dutta
posted on Thursday, February 21, 2019 - 7:15 am
Okay, great. Thanks.
One last question about equality constraints.
For metric invariance, User Guide says first threshold of each item is constrained to be equal across groups/time-points. Second threshold of the item that is used to set the metric of the factor is held equal across groups/time-points.
Am I interpreting this correctly?
Item1Threshold1Time1 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time1 (2)
Item2Threshold1Time1 (1)
Item1Threshold1Time2 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time2 (2)
Item2Threshold1Time2 (1)
Or is the first threshold of the different items (Item1/Item2..) have different labels over time?
Item1Threshold1Time1 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time1 (2)
Item2Threshold1Time1 (3)
Item1Threshold1Time2 (1)
Item1Threshold2Time2 (2)
Item2Threshold1Time2 (3)
I apologise if these have been very basic questions!
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Friday, February 22, 2019 - 12:07 pm
If your first item is setting the metric, then the second version is the correct one. As we discussed previously, you don't want to hold equalities across different items like you do in your first version.
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By Kasey Jachim
I have been active in our local Republican and Tea Party groups since 2008. I currently volunteer at the local Romney Victory Office and have had an opportunity to meet some wonderful Patriots. One thing I have noticed in the past few weeks is the fact that the Obama campaign is not getting the message!
Recently a young voter, who just turned 18, came in for signs and stickers. He is so excited and enthusiastic about his 'first time' and is proud to be voting for Mitt Romney. He is spreading the word around his community college and hopes to encourage other young conservatives to vote.
Another young voter, who is a recent college graduate looking for full-time employment, recently expressed her concern about the economy and lack of jobs for those entering the workforce. She said she could afford her own birth-control if she had a decent full-time job, she didn't need the government in her business.
A woman recently came in asking for a voter registration form. She is 51 years old and will be voting for the 'first time' in her life. She said this election is the most important in our lifetime and she is afraid for herself, her family and our country.
A lovely lady about 80 years young came in for some yard signs and expressed her concern over the administration's ignorance regarding seniors. She wondered 'just how stupid Obama thinks seniors are.' She said she was deeply concerned about the economy and the debt we are leaving our grandchildren much more than she was concerned about Medicare and Social Security. I know that is why I am volunteering and writing this blog – not for me but for my innocent grandchildren who have no voice.
A gentleman came in to pick up Absentee Ballots for his grandparents who were too ill to go to the polls. He said "Granny was upset that she might not be able to vote" so he was making sure she could and that her voice would be heard.
Several of us discussed how often people have mentioned prayer and how important and powerful it can be. One of the volunteers said God gave us Obama to wake us up and may now be ready to help us. I know I pray daily!
Finally, I met a gentleman who was visibly shaking and was so distraught over the thoughts of another four years of Obama he had tears in his eyes. Several of us began reminiscing about our younger years of Memorial Day Parades, prayer in school, pride in America and all things made in America. We then compared them to the current day destruction of America and all things made in America. The gentleman then looked at all of us and said, "I am afraid if Obama wins, this could very well be our last free election."
After the chills subsided, I began another silent prayer.
Please reach out to those who may need assistance getting to the polls and encourage everyone you know to pray and to vote as if their life depended on it – because it just might.
Also, please read The Grey-Haired Brigade when you get the chance…..
Related articles:
- "Voices Without A Vote" – Powerful Video By a Group of Young Americans Who Have No Vote (lettingfreedomring.com)
- The 10 Terrible Provisions of Obamacare You May Not Have Heard Of (lettingfreedomring.com)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Contact Us
Here are some titles we thought you might like. Please contact your librarian if you'd like to recommend a purchase or ask about getting a title on interlibrary loan.
Picture Books
October 2017
"I'm no monster! Just because I have horns. And wild eyes. And fangs. And a huge, toothy smile that glows in the dark..."
~ from Jory John's
Quit Calling Me a Monster!
Recent Releases
On a Magical Do-Nothing Day
Beatrice Alemagna
A rainy day is the perfect time to lie on the couch playing video games, right? Nope! Not according to the mom in this picture book, who sends her orange-jacketed kid outside to play in the drippy woods. Lonely and bored, the kid is more inclined to sulk than to explore. Except...are those snails over there? And look at those red mushrooms! There's also mud for digging, branches for swinging, and puddles for jumping. By the time the child returns home for some hot cocoa, readers will be so enchanted by this dramatic, stylized depiction of outdoor play that they'll be looking forward to the next rainy day.
I Love You Like a Pig
Mac Barnett; illustrated by Greg Pizzoli
What does it mean to love someone like a pig? That's up to the readers of this silly salute to similes. Beginning with "I'm happy like a monster" and continuing with further head-scratchers such as "funny like a fossil" and "lucky like a window," this unusual picture book encourages kids to think (and laugh) about figurative speech. Cheery pastel illustrations of kids and animals offer visual suggestions for what each expression might mean, while leaving plenty of gaps for young imaginations to fill. And on the off chance that these purposefully puzzling similes don't inspire any new interpretations, the chorus filled with "oinks" is sure to provoke audience participation.
Why Am I Me?
Paige Britt; illustrated by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls
The boundless curiosity of childhood is embraced in this philosophical picture book, and it all begins with a chance encounter on a train. Spotting each other across the platform, a boy carrying a skateboard and a girl toting a guitar share the same unspoken question: "Why am I me, and not you?" Underscored by colorful layers of mixed-media collage, the childrens' thought-bubble musings continue, covering the breadth of human diversity (represented by the people they see) and expanding outward to a cosmic yet open-ended conclusion. This "mindful, captivating ode to wonder" (
Kirkus Reviews
) will resonate with readers who relish life's big questions.
The Littlest Train
Chris Gall
After a tiny toy train tumbles off of his tabletop home, he travels to a strange new world. There are lots of trains there too, but they're all so BIG! As he tries to find his way home, the little train hops on board a steam locomotive, a freighter, a rotary snowplow, a bullet train, and many others -- each rendered in satisfyingly detailed digital illustrations -- making friends with each as he goes. Fans of Thomas the Tank Engine will flock to these winsome anthropomorphic machines; those looking to learn more about real-life trains may enjoy Elisha Cooper's
The Antlered Ship
Dashka Slater; illustrated by the Fan Brothers
How deep does the sun go when it sinks into the sea? Red fox Marco longs to know the answer to that question and many others. When Sylvia, the deer captain of a majestic antlered ship, arrives in search of a crew, Marco signs right up. Joining the deer and a flock of pigeons (led by peg-legged, bandanna-wearing pigeon Victor), Marco braves storms, pirates, and rocky waters on his quest for answers. Whether they share Marco's thirst for knowledge or they're drawn to the meticulous yet whimsical illustrations, young dreamers won't be able to resist
The Antlered Ship
If You Like: Mo Willems
Picture book superstar Mo Willems has a new book out:
Sam, the Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World
. Library wait lists might be long, so why not check out these Willems readalikes in the meantime?
Tap Tap Boom Boom
Elizabeth Bluemle; illustrated by G. Brian Karas
It's a busy afternoon in the city when the first "tap tap" of raindrops signals a coming downpour. Soon the rain begins to pelt, and the resounding "boom crackle-BOOM" of thunder sends everyone scurrying into the subway for shelter, where soggy strangers become friends, sharing music, pizza, and umbrellas as they wait out the storm. Snappy verse and lively mixed-media illustrations add read-aloud appeal to this upbeat tale of urban community. Kids who appreciate the photographic backgrounds and cartoony characters in Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny books will love the look of this feel-good read.
Quit Calling Me a Monster!
Jory John; illustrated by Bob Shea
The snaggle-toothed, spindly limbed, and purple-furred protagonist of this picture book is fed up with your judgment, okay? Name-calling isn't nice, especially when the name is "monster." So what if he lurks in dark closets and howls at the moon? That doesn't give you the right to call him anything other than his real name (which is Floyd Peterson, thank you very much)! After all, he could just as well call you a "little meat snack," but Floyd has
. Bob Shea's energetic, scribbly artwork will appeal to Willems fans, as will the offbeat tone of this rib-tickling read-aloud about the challenges of politeness.
Can I Tell You a Secret?
Anna Kang; illustrated by Christopher Weyant
"Psssst!" That's Monty the frog trying to get your attention. He's got a secret, and he can only tell it to YOU: he's afraid of water! So far, he's managed to avoid getting wet (even if it did involve using an umbrella), but someday he'll have to swim. It's a tough secret for a little frog. Should he tell his parents? If he does, you'll need to give him LOTS of encouragement. Cartoony and interactive,
Can I Tell You a Secret?
offers "chuckles, charm, and a handy-dandy life lesson" (
). Similar to the eponymous stars of the Elephant and Piggie series, Monty addresses readers directly about his relatable anxiety.
Up! Tall! and High!
Ethan Long
Through "captivating" (
Kirkus Reviews
) illustrations, fold-out panels, and very simple text, the three funny stories in this book demonstrate the concepts of "up," "tall," and "high." Featuring three cartoon birds who outdo and out-boast one another but also help each other out, this is a clever and entertaining book that both toddlers and beginning readers can enjoy (particularly if they like the concept-based humor in Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie Like Reading! series). For further quirky concept books, check out Leslie Patricelli's
Yummy Yucky
Quiet Loud
or Saxton Freymann's
Food for Thought
What This Story Needs is a Hush and a Shush
Emma J. Virján
This little piggy is ready for bedtime! Still wearing her towering red wig, the sleepy pig is all bathed and combed and snuggled in bed when she's interrupted by a cacophony of animal sounds. It's just her friends making their own preparations for sleep, but the onomatopoeic chorus of honks, barks, meows, coos, clucks, and neighs is far from soporific. How's a pig supposed to get any shut-eye? Find out in this 2nd volume from the Pig in a Wig series, which combines the visual simplicity of Mo Willems' easy readers with the irrepressible attitude of the Pigeon to create its own brand of fun.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Clinton Essex Franklin Library System at
518-563-5190, 33 Oak Street, Plattsburgh, New York 12901-2810


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There are some incredible resources available through the online quilting community, and I've done most of my learning through the kindness of generous bloggers. I put together this page of links to be a help to those of you who are either new to sewing or looking for new inspiration. Check back now and then -- I'll be continuously adding to this page!
Beginning Sewing Skills
Basics by Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson!
Hand Quilting by Aneela of comfortstitching
Quilt Making Basics by Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts
Sewing Back-to-School by Sara of Sew Sweetness
Embroidery 101 by Jennie & Clara of Clover & Violet
Color Selection and Fabric
The Art of Choosing by Jeni of In Color Order
Fabric Folding by Angela of Cut to Pieces
Selling Your Work
The Craft Show Series by Rachel of Stitched in Color
Business at Craft Buds
Blogging Tips by Kerry of verykerryberry
Advice for New Bloggers Series by Beth of Plum & June
10 Tips for Better Blog Photos by Holly of Bijou Lovely
Making Bags
Travel Handmade Series at The Sewing Summit
Bag Tutorials by Sara of Sew Sweetness
Favorite Trainers (The Blogs on My List)
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


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May is National Stroke Awareness Month
Lauren C.
Friday, April 11, 2014
By: Lauren Cumberledge
I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school when my Stroke happened. It happened in the middle of the night. I had a horrible migraine all day leading up to this. Horrible to the point were I was shaking and vomiting. I woke up not being able to speak or see correctly. Then I tried to actually get out of bed then realized my body did not want to move. This was such a scary feeling being trapped. My stroke occurred because I was on Birth control and I had a blood clotting disorder that I did not know I had. I had to do extensive amounts of therapy. These tragic experiences made me so thankful and realize how precious life's little moments are. Before I would take little things for granted such as picking up a pen and writing my name. Now I am the total opposite. I like to look at this in a positive aspect then think of it as oh poor me. I am now 21 years old and loving life.
Display of the Faces of Stroke stories does not imply National Stroke Association's endorsement of any product, treatment, service or entity. National Stroke Association strongly recommends that people ask a healthcare professional about diagnosis and treatment questions before using any product, treatment or service. The views expressed through the stories reflect those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of National Stroke Association.
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RTC Conference Primers: #6 – Pac-10Posted by Brian Goodman on November 1st, 2010
Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Pac-10 and Mountain West Conferences and an occasional contributor.
Predicted Order of Finish
- Washington (13-5)
- Arizona (12-6)
- Washington State (10-8)
- Arizona State (10-8)
- Cal (9-9)
- Stanford (6-12)
- Oregon State (6-12)
- Oregon (4-14)
All-Conference Team
- G: Isaiah Thomas. Jr, Washington (16.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.2 APG)
- G: Klay Thompson, Jr, Washington State (19.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG).
- G: Jeremy Green, Jr, Stanford (16.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG)
- F: Derrick Williams, Soph, Arizona (15.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG)
- F: Nikola Vucevic, Jr, USC (10.7 PPG, 9.4 RPG)
6th Man
Ty Abbott, Sr, Arizona State (12.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG)
Impact Newcomer
Josh Smith, Fr, UCLA: Smith is the biggest incoming recruit in the conference, in more ways than one. Ranked the 20th-best recruit in the 2010 class according to ESPNU, Smith also tipped the scales at somewhere over three bills when he stepped onto the UCLA campus this summer. Immediately, head coach Ben Howland put him in a conditioning program and Smith changed his dietary habits as well, putting him on the road towards dropping 40 pounds already. Paired with his soft hands and quick feet, the trimmed-down Smith will play a vital role in the Bruins' attempts to bounce back from last year's brutal campaign.
What You Need to Know
- Pac-10 Blues: Last year, the Pac-10 was saved from the indignity of receiving only one NCAA Tournament berth when Washington won nine of their last 11 games of the regular season, then proceeded to win the Pac-10 Tournament to clinch the automatic berth. Together with regular season champion California, the Huskies represented the Pac-10 well, advancing to the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual Final Four team West Virginia, while the Golden Bears fell in the second round to eventual champion Duke. However, the Pac-10's limited success in the tournament did little to hide the fact that last season was a down year across the conference, and with 11 of last year's top 20 scorers, and nine of the top 20 rebounders gone, it doesn't seem that the talent level across the conference is ready to skyrocket.
- Stability and Youth: But, while there aren't loads of household names up and down the rosters in the conference, there is some stability, as only Oregon welcomes a new head coach (Dana Altman, formerly of Creighton) and teams across the conference average a total of 3.2 returning starters. And there is plenty of youth, with just 17 seniors on rosters across the conference. Schools will need to see their youngsters step up quickly for the Pac-10 to improve upon last year's showing. There is a bright side here, though. Even with five members of last year's all-tournament team (all except the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Isaiah Thomas) and six of the ten All-Pac-10 first team members having graduated, most teams around the conference, with the significant exception of Cal, return the majority of their production – eight of the ten conference schools return more than 50% of their scoring production, and nine of the ten return more than 50% of their rebounding production. If the kids around the conference can put some of that experience they earned last season to use, this could be a much-improved conference, as the veteran coaches around this conference have proven their ability to coach up their players. There are five coaches in the Pac-10 with more than 300 career wins, and that doesn't even include some of the most respected young coaches in the land like Sean Miller and Lorenzo Romar. While the talent level seems to be down across the conference, expect this lineup of stellar coaches to get the most out of what they do have.
- Last Roundup: This season marks the end of the Pac-10 conference. Next year the conference will welcome Colorado and Utah, officially becoming the Pac-12. In the process, plenty of tradition will be discarded: no more home-and-home round robin and the resultant crowning of a true regular season champion, the biggest change. There will be years where UCLA doesn't visit McKale and Oregon won't visit Hec Ed, for instance. But in the long run, the conference will add a Utah program that has had some significant success over the years (including a run to the national championship game in 1998) and a Colorado program that, well…hey, they made a Final Four in 1955, I'm told. In any event, come 2011-12, basketball season around the conference will have a different feel.
Predicted Champion
Washington (NCAA Seed: #5): The Huskies are pretty much the de facto favorite, given that last year's regular season champion Cal lost about 85% of its scoring, but Lorenzo Romar's team, despite having plenty of talent, still has some question marks. Not in question is the team leader, 5'8 junior point guard Isaiah Thomas, a dynamo who is the team's leading returning scorer and an interesting personality. Paired in the backcourt with 6'0 senior Venoy Overton (8.5 PPG, 3.1 APG. 2.9 RPG), the duo are undersized but form an intimidating pair for opposing ballhandlers, with the quickness and aggressiveness to get up into their opponents, keeping the opposition from getting comfortable in the half-court set and forcing turnovers which the Huskies can use to jump-start their transition game. They can be overpowered by bigger guards in the half-court game, but use their quickness to good advantage defensively. On the offensive end, Thomas plays with a style that belies his stature, getting into the lane and drawing fouls or finishing in often spectacular ways. The Huskies also return sophomore guard Abdul Gaddy (3.9 PPG, 2.3 APG), the second-ranked point guard in the 2009 recruiting class, who struggled finding his rhythm in his rookie campaign. Should he get his swagger back and become a consistent offensive force for Washington, they could have one of the stronger backcourts in the nation, with junior Scott Suggs (4.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG) providing depth and a good long-range threat. However, up front the team still has something to prove, given the graduation of last year's leading scorer Quincy Pondexter and the retirement from basketball over the summer of forward Tyrese Breshers due to medical issues. Matthew Bryan-Amaning (8.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG) and Justin Holiday (5.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG) figure to start at the forward spots, giving the Huskies an undersized but athletic starting five. Bryan-Amaning will need to prove himself capable of taking over Pondexter's role, but all signs show that he is ready for that challenge, as he finished his junior season strong and was one of the big reasons for Washington's improvement down the stretch. Depth up front will come from 6'8 junior scrapper Darnell Gant (2.5 PPG, 2.4 RPG), 7'0 transfer Aziz N'Diaye and 6'6 wing Terrence Ross, one of the conference's most heralded newcomers, and a guy who could be an offensive weapon immediately for Romar, provided he can earn the minutes. In a conference where the talent level is presently in question, there is little doubt that the Huskies have plenty of talent. But they'd like to come out of the gates more quickly than they did last season and prove that they are ready to win on the road on a consistent basis, something they struggled with in 2009-10, when they lost their first seven games away from the Hec Ed. Odds are, they'll be improved in that area due to an extra year of experience for their hyper-talented backcourt, but they'll have a good early season test of that theory when they travel to the Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving week.


text:
As during the prevous years, we have a full house of Pentaho enthusiasts ...
9h45 Doug Moran
As usual, Doug kicked-off, with a short introduction of the event. No pictures of that as I was still complaining to the hotel staff about the failing wireless at that time.
10h Matt Casters
Matt gives an update of some of the new kettle stuff:
- DataCleaner profiling integration
- kettle JDBC driver ported over to Kettle trunk, in use in the DataCleaner integration
- KFF into PDI 4.3: first overview of the plans to move technical parts of KFF into Kettle trunk
- An overview of what happened with dynamic ETL Metadata injection
He does remind the audience and speakers that there is an unwritten PCG rule, that all presentations should be done without the use of Powerpoint, something that last year wasn't really respected. However, this will not stop me from putting up any Power Points people should have made!
10h 15 Pedro Alves
Pedro gives a live demo of how CDF dashboard parts can easily be added on a Pentaho report. This is done through custom plugins for PRD/BI server that allow directly accessing CDA and CDF components.
10h40 Alain Debecker
Alain explains how he joined linalis (Geneva) to come back to Pentaho and why he is talking about security. He started the development of a UI to manage Mondrian role grants of a complex customer. He also explained how Kettle can be used to load a set of users from an employee database. Finally, he promises a white paper soon to be published on this subject.
11h00 Coffee break
First presentations are over and the crowd (mostly with serious hangovers from the day before) are craving for coffee. And while the Italian organization hasn't proved the best a setting up the wireless, the coffee table looks quite good.
11h15 Roland Bouman (presentation)
Roland walks us through the concepts of XMLA4JS his the wrapper around XMLA which allows accessing XMLA through Javascript. Since PCG11 he's been working with people from Palo to extend this. He's has also collaborated with Andy Grohe from Pentaho to put an object model on top of XMLA4JS that would make usage of XMLA4JS easier.
Roland explains the progress that has been made on kettle Cookbook since last PCG (and demo's it):
- Nicer diagrams (thanks to Slawo),
- syntax highlighting,
- Incremental generation,
- Saxon configurable,
- xaction documentation and M
- Mondrian schema documentation.
Ongoing work on Cookbook:
- kettle repository support
- KREX (Kettle repository export)
Ideas for the future:
- Using the kettle auto documentation step?
- Data lineage?
- xaction flowcharts
- prpt report documentation
- diagrams for SQL queries
Pendular is Roland's latest hobby project. The idea behind Pendular is to provide a Pentaho interfaces that is better suited for mobile devices. Also here, we get a short demo. For those who are curious, here's a link to a YouTube video Matt made of Pendular when Roland release it.
And to end, Roland announces the crowd that he'll be joining the dark side soon. Another Pentaho rock-star joining Pentaho. But don't worry, not every one in the community will join Pentaho :-)
11h30 Gretchen Moran (presentation)
And while Roland is joining Pentaho, Gretchen announces PCG that she' is leaving Pentaho. She'll be working with OpenMRS in the future and she'll
OpenMRS was created as a response to HIV. There was limited infrastructure and what was in place was totally overloaded. While HIV can be treated, tracking treatments for millions of patient requires however a serious information management system. That's what OpenMRS (Open Medical Record System) was created for.
There's no "commercial side" to OpenMRS. OpenMRS have a great and large community. Gretchen has dived into that community in order to help them set up Pentaho BI with OpenMRS since they currently have no or very limited insight in their data. She has done a quick proof of concept for OpenMRS management who were extremely enthusiast.
So this presentation really is a call to the community to help set up a 100% open source BI implementation for OpenMRS, using Saiku, C*tools, and all other funky community resources.
11h45 Jos van Dongen & Aly Hollander (presentation)
And to continue in the medical field Jos and Aly present the Pentaho BI implementation at St. Antonius hospitals. St. Antonius have their home built system for the administration of the hospital. About 2 years back St. Antonius started deploying Pentaho BI on top of that system. Aly gives an overview of how their systems were developed and how the Pentaho BI project was run. Next Jos shows a great set of C*tools dashboards from the St Antonius implementation.
12h15 Luc and Julian (presentation)
Julian quickly explains how roles for Mondrian development are divided between himself and Luc. After that Luc gives an overview of all the Mondrian 3.3 features. All the new features are well documented in the presentation, so no need to fully replicate that here.
Julian quickly updates us on the following topics:
- Hyde Son 2.0, some time off for the kids which allows Mondrian coding time
- His new MacBook air and when he'll start wearing designer clothes
- Mondrian Enterprise Cache
- Mondrian 4.0
Until now we've managed almost to stick to the talk schedule. Tom's presentation is the only one that will be shifted to the afternoon.
13h00 Lunch
The general idea behind having the lunch in the hotel of the venue was to save time. Julian finished around 13h30 and we still managed to squeeze in time for starters, primi, desert and coffee in slightly under an hour leaving more time for presentations.
14h30 Tom and Paul (presentation)
Paul shows off the Pentaho hosting environment that Meteorite is setting up. The original idea was to automate the set-up of a new Pentaho environment, but it grew into a full hosting offer. Through a simple web interface you can now generate your own Pentaho environment, choose what database you want underneath it, the hosting provider you want to run it with, etc. The slides tell the story.
14:45 Pedro Pinhero
Pedro demo's CDF for mobile platforms. No need for words, as you can access the demo directly here: http://goo.gl/pcbWv
15h10 Pedro Alves
Pedro gives an overview of the Firefox Telemetry project.
15h30 Matt Casters
Pentaho's Chief Data Integration is back onstage with an explanation on the Single Threader step.
15h40 Cees Vkemenade
Cees has worked with Jos on the St. Antonius Ziekenhuis project(s). When using CDF, they realized they needed a functionality to deploy changes to different environments.
15h50 Thomas Morgner (blog post)
Thomas shows how you can set up a light-weight report viewer (no GWT) as a follow up of a blog post he did a short time back. Given the enthusiast feedback he got on this post, he also goes for some discussion on how these ideas could evolve.
16h20 Bart Maertens
Bart gives us an update of his BIRT plugin for the Pentaho BI server. Even though obviously BIRT is similar to PRD, there are a few functionalities (as cross tab reports) which aren't available in PRD, that might make it interesting to use BIRT for reporting.
- http://b-e-o.blogspot.com/2010/09/running-fully-functional-eclipse-birt.html
- http://b-e-o.blogspot.com/2011/08/running-fully-functional-eclipse-birt.html
16h30 Coffee break and group picture
Only coffee though:
17h00 Jens Bleuel (presentation)This year Jens moved from Pentaho's professional services division to product management. Jens has been working over the last year on connecting PDI to his son's electric train. kettle controls the stops of the trains through a relay.
(also in high quality)
He also shared some ideas he is working on in PDI product management as:
- lifecycle management
- the heat maps
- implement ID's for PDI steps
- best practices, concepts and solutions on Wiki
17h25 Paul (presentation)
Paul is back with an overview of Saiku. Since the PAT presentation of last year the team was extended. Paul and Tom are now assisted by 2 other guys. Paul demo's all the cool features of Saiku and gives an overview of the road map. All very well documented in the slides.
Some really exciting stuff is almost ready to put int Saiku 2.2
- Graphs (through CCC)
- Write-back (with different allocation policies)
No kidding! This one is absolutely mega!!!
... and what else will follow for 2.2 are security (working with roles) and using Saiku on mobile platforms.
Some stuff that's in the backlog:
- C*tools integration
- PRD export
- Drill-down
- Parameters
Marioz is showing a light weight ad-hoc reporting tool which uses the Saiku interface to report on top of a meta-data layer in order to generate and execute queries. He also wants to merge PRPT functionality into this in order to leverage PRD's lay-outing possibilities.
18h00 Ricardo Pires (presentation)
Ricardo gives an overview of the Pentaho Fusion Charts Plugin XpandIT have developed (see also WebEx on this topic earlier this year). There have been a lot of downloads since it was released so it would seem there is a lot of interest for this type of charting in Pentaho.
And there is a small tutorial on YouTube.
Slawo has been working on a Ruby scripting step for PDI that used JRuby. More information and the code are as always well clearly laid out on his blog.
18h40 Roland Bouman (presentation)
And to wrap up, Roland is giving a talk about data vault and anchor modeling.
And #PCM11 / #PCG11 is over
... thanks for joining us!
... thanks for joining us!


text:
Crystal Symphony Taps Celeb Chefs Down Under, 2013by Janice Wald Henderson, Culinary Editor | 08.14.12
The luxury cruise line will take Aussie culinary stars on its Down Under cruises
|Some of the best Aussie Chefs will sail with Crystal in 2013
Experiencing local food and wine when visiting a region via sea, rather than land, can sometimes be challenging. So it's always good news when a cruise line brings hometown experts onboard. Crystal Cruises has got several on tap for two new, 12-day Crystal Symphony itineraries. The sailings are Australia/New Zealand departing January 17, 2013 and Australia/Bali leaving February 11, 2013.
The luxury liner has locked in some regionally notable names for these sailings. Chefs will offer complimentary cooking lessons, including hands-on recipe instruction (something I've wanted ships to embrace for years). They'll also be preparing gastronomic specialties of the region for diners.
The chef list includes headliners such as Damien Pignolet. An Australian of French descent, Pignolet is deemed one of Sydney's finest chefs. He is known for his modern Australian cooking fused with French ingredients and techniques. He's also the author of two comprehensive, well-regarded cookbooks; French and Salades (salads). In the latter, he presents salads in imaginative guises, including a sweet one with strawberries, orange and red wine. Pignolet opened several successful restaurants in Sydney over the years, including Bistro Moncur in Woollahra.
Greg Doyle became an Aussie favorite as owner of Pier, a Sydney seafood institution, where he was named (among many accolades) Restaurateur of the Year. This chef grew up on his family's farm, developing an early appreciation of fresh ingredients. But it was his love of surfing that led to his passion for seafood, and later, the success of Pier. This skilled chef could bring much to the Crystal table.
Bali is renowned for its beaches and kicked-back lifestyle, but it's also recognized (at least, in the foodie world) for its one-man-ambassador of local cooking - Heinz von Holzen. This busy chef is a restaurateur, cookbook author and cooking school owner. (On a personal note, I'm most excited about von Holzen's addition to this Crystal lineup. Balinese cuisine is a stunner.)
Bumbu Bali (the school and eatery share the name) opened in 1997, and was created to present home-style Balinese cuisine to visitors, rather than the dishes more commonly served at hotels and tourist spots. In fact, the restaurant design itself mimics a Balinese home compound.
What sort of food does von Holzen present? Think dishes like slow-roasted duck in banana leaves, braised pork ribs with young jackfruit and seafood sate. Most are made with ingredients sourced that morning for the same day's dinner plate. (If this piques your interest in Balinese cuisine, check out Amazon where several von Holzen cookbooks are for sale.)
Of course, food without wine is much like peanut butter without jelly. So Crystal is putting top sommeliers like Cameron Douglas onboard. Douglas is New Zealand's first � and only � master sommelier. A master sommelier is at the top of the heap of wine experts. It's a difficult stature to achieve; there are only some 180 master sommeliers in the world. It takes four levels of intensive courses and exhaustive exams before the title is earned. Plus exams for the advanced and master levels are only held in the U.S. and U.K.
Douglas wears many hats; he's a senior lecturer in charge of the Wine and Beverage Programme at Auckland University of Technology, and a consultant for private clients and the hospitality industry. When he's not doing all that, he's a wine writer and judge.
Cameron Douglas will be on the February 11, 2013 sail, along with Chefs von Holzen and Doyle. Look for Damien Pignolet with other experts on the January 17, 2013 sail.
By the way, these voyages also offer access to each country's culinary capitals. Opportunities to explore South Australia's wine regions, outback pubs of the Northern Territory and other food-and-wine meccas are cruise highlights. (crystalcruises.com)


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Friday, November 2, 2012
Tag! The Next Best Thing (In the Book World), UPDATED
Weiss -- who wrote the sharp and amusing satirical novel Milkshake, about the lunacy of the political and feminist politics surrounding breastfeeding -- is working on a new book about a culture clash involving an uber-rich Boston family and working/middle class Bostonians. You can see what she wrote about her work-in-progress Beantown book here.
Weiss has tagged yours truly to answer some questions about my work-in-progress novel. Thanks Joanna! Here goes:
What is the working title of your book?
The Mortified: A Novel About Over-Sharing.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
After years of reading personal blogs, I became increasingly surprised and intrigued by how many vivid, personal details bloggers revealed online about not just themselves, but about their friends and family members. The notion of what is or isn't considered "over-sharing" fascinated me.
What genre does you book fall under?
Contemporary fiction.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
The main character, thirtysomething Maggie Kelly, who has an anonymous and profane personal blog, could be played by someone like Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olson on Mad Men), Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time, Big Love) or Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under), all of whom I think could deftly balance Maggie's emotional intensity with her desperate and darkly comedic side.
For Maggie's husband Michael -- a kind, career-focused guy who doesn't understand (and doesn't want to understand) what's causing his wife's lingering melancholy -- I picture anyone from James Marsden (30 Rock, 27 Dresses, The Notebook) and Zack Gilford (Matt Saracen from Friday Night Lights), to Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, (500) Days of Summer) playing that role.
The third main character is Michael's mother Dorothy, who I describe as a militant Emily Post in sensible shoes. I could envision actresses such as Kelly Bishop (Gilmore Girls, Bunheads) or Mary Kay Place (Big Love) stepping into Dorothy's petite Easy Spirit loafers.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
The Mortified asks readers this question: What would you do if your spouse blogged about how you are a self-centered, unsupportive jerk, who happens to be lousy in bed, and then, after the blog went viral, your mother and your colleagues read the punishingly graphic commentary?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I'm currently in talks with an indie publisher. (*fingers crossed*)
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
A year-and-a-half.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I'd liken The Mortified to something I might read from Jennifer Weiner who, like me, is a former newspaper reporter. Weiner's novel Then Came You, for example, explores the many complex and emotional sides of surrogacy, similar to the way I think The Mortified delves into the consequences of over-sharing online. Fellow New England resident Tom Perrotta's Little Children -- which addresses the loneliness of at-home parenthood coupled with suburban hysteria -- and The Abstinence Teacher -- that tackles the clash of sex education and religious values -- used similarly no-nonsense approaches to analyzing current social issues.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
My mother made this off-handed comment about my writing one day, saying, "You used to be funnier." And she was right, at least when it came to my personal blog. Once my children got wise to this thing called the Internet and the handy little tool called Google, I started cordoning off vast quantities of would-be amusing anecdotes behind bright orange traffic cones in an "off-limits" zone. The result of choosing family privacy over material that would've made for good blog posts? Some of the best, funniest tales were banned from the blog, per my children's request.
But what was happening inside the homes of people who didn't seem to do much holding back on their blogs? Were their husbands or wives unhappy with having their sex lives dissected online? Did their children feel over-exposed? Did their families even know that they were being discussed on a blog? Hence . . . The Mortified, a book about a suburban woman who, to cope with her feelings of being oppressed by matrimony and maternity, started what she thought was an anonymous, brutally honest blog where she would vent her unpleasant feelings about her life's disappointments.
What else about your book might pique the readers' interest?
People who publish very personal information about their loved ones online -- whether on blogs or on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter -- might have a strong reaction to the question of what constitutes "over-sharing." While The Mortified chronicles incidents in various characters' pasts where they were embarrassed by something someone had said about them, the difference is that in the modern era, embarrassing accusations and remarks can now be detailed in blogs and social media. And they can go viral. Mortification via Google.
*Be sure to check out the author who I have tagged as she's working on her very own "Next Big Thing:" Suzanne Strempek Shea, the author of eight books, including five novels, such as Selling the Lite of Heaven, Hoopi Shoopi Donna and Becoming Finola. Suzanne and I both worked for the same newspaper in western Massachusetts back in the day. I can't wait to read her answers.*
UPDATE: Suzanne fielded the same questions where she filled us in on her new project, This is Paradise, a work of non-fiction that sounds positively gripping.
She also tagged writer Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Club and The Red Thread, as the next writer.
Image credits: Amazon.com, Jack Rowand/ABC.
1 comment:
thanks for share.
- January 11, 2013 at 4:59 AM
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Frances and I were asked if we would set up a living fossils table for the HMNS's annual Dino Days celebration that took place here last week. Not having had any history or paleontology classes I was a little clueless as to which of our living animals would fit into the category of living fossils, other than our alligator.
We did some research and what we read lead us in several directions for what it means to be a living fossil. Some animals, like the echidna and platypus, are nicknamed living fossils because they exhibit "primitive" characteristics – like oviparity, or egg-laying, in mammals. The overall consensus is that a living fossil is an organism that originally lived during the time of the dinosaurs (or even predates them), has remained unchanged morphologically and appears the same as a species otherwise only known from the fossil record, has no close living relatives and has survived major extinction events.
There are several examples that fit this description: the crocodilians, horseshoe crabs, turtles, opossums, salamanders, roaches, millipedes, dragonflies, and the nautilus. These are some of the critters we have in our collection and you can also add ferns, ginkgos, gar fish and the coelacanth to the list. There remains a healthy debate over which plants or animals can and should be included. I have included some pictures of our fossils, both living and non-living at the end of this entry.
All in all, we had a great time in sharing our casts, skins, skulls and live animals with everyone who came up to the table during Dino Days. Hope to see you there next November!


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Melville High School
Modern society is based on image. Image reflects ideas, values, personalities… so in this complex, technical age people rely on stereotypes to make quick judgements. My film puts a spin on the negative connotations of street culture, and looks at the visual relationship between human form and urban environment.


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Find Records
A variety of databases, indexes, and guides are available to to assist with locating and using records in the Vermont State Archives:
Online Databases
- Archival Records Database: the primary catalog of records in the Vermont State Archives.
- VT Re·tain: searchable repository for all State of Vermont digital archival public records.
- Nye Index to the Manuscript Vermont State Papers: a name and subject index to some of the earliest records of Vermont State government, 1777–1861.
- Surveyor Maps and Lotting Plans: a searchable online collection of early town maps and lotting plans.
- Photographs: information about photographs in the State Archives, some of which can be researched online.
- Governors' Inaugural and Farewell Addresses: a searchable collection of the inaugural and farewell speeches of Vermont's chief executives.
Published Guides and Indexes
- A Guide to the Henry Stevens, Sr. Collection: a published guide to Henry Stevens, Sr.'s collection of early Vermont records, 1753–1862.
- Index to the Papers of the Surveyor General: a published index to the early records of Vermont's Surveyors General which include charters, maps, plans, and survey notes.
- Vermont Municipalities: An Index to their Charters and Special Acts: a published index to the charters and special acts for each municipality.
- Vermont Legislative Reports: An Index to Reports found in the Journals of the Vermont House and Senate: a published index to reports found in legislative journals, 1800–1950.
- Vermont Corporations: An Index to Private Corporations Formed by the Legislature: a published index to corporations created by legislative act, 1777–1913.
- A Guide to the Papers of Vermont's Governors: a published guide to Vermont's gubernatorial records held across many repositories, 1778–1985.
Historical Research with Vermont Court Records: a published guide to Vermont's court records, 1794-1945.


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|Institution Type:
|Campus Setting:
|Southwest Town, distant from an urban area
|Highest Degree Offered:
|Doctor's degree - research/scholarship and professional practice
|Level of Institution:
|Four or more years
Oklahoma State University is an amazing place to live. The second I stepped on campus the current students and the staff made me feel like I was at home. The…
oklahoma state provides a great, affordable education. campus is under constant construction right now, which can be frustrating, but it's nice that they are continually working to improve things. the…
Oklahoma State University is the best college campus in Oklahoma. The Faculty and upperclassmen are welcoming and there are a range of diverse organizations to join. If there is a…
osu is an amazing school with great resources to help you further your education. there are numerous tutoring services on campus and the professors are accommodating for office hours…
The football games are incredible. In high school I could care less about sports, NFL, school, and definitely not college. At the campus tour, I told my dad I would never want to go to the games. hether winning or losing, the school has cheers that rock the stadium. Everyone decks out in orange and on game days the bell tower plays the alma mater every hour. When it gets close to Christmas, the bell tower plays Christmas music, and the cultural day, where all of the international students cook the foods from their countries, is phenomenal. The greek life has fun activites to go to weekly, whether free dinners at the houses, dance offs, homecoming pomping, fashion shows, movie nights, or philanthropic events.Read More
I am now entering my major courses and I feel so very excited. All of my professors are excited and willing to help you in any way that they can. They would go above and beyond for you if you are willing to try hard at the course you are in.Read More
The community here is amazing, I wouldn't trade it for anything.Read More
Stillwater is a relatively small city. I had assumed that it was a lot bigger before I had moved on campus, but I hadn't known how much smaller it was until the week before school. I would recommend visiting the campus before you decide where you want to go. There are several events that happen occasionally in town or on campus during the school year, but once breaks come around the city is literally dead. Many students either goes back home or are on vacation, but if you find something to enjoy on your own you'll feel occupied.Read More
I LOVE it here. The people are friendly, the staff is friendly, and there's just a great environment.Read More


text: In these troubled times that we live in, people need to focus on the little things that help get them through their day. The laughter of a child, the good health of loved ones, and the delicious schadenfreude of watching greedy corporate bastards lose a billion dollars or so right after stealing your town's basketball team. One of the men behind the "transfer of wealth" that turned the Seattle Supersonics into the Oklahoma City Thunder was Aubrey McClendon, a big time Oklahoma oil man. Drunk on the potential power of NBA franchise ownership and $100-a-barrel crude, McClendon took out massive loans and used them to buy up huge chunks of the company he runs, Chesapeake Oil, which reached all-time high stock price of $69.40 on July 2—the exact day that the Sonics were officially ripped from the City of Seattle like a still beating heart. Today, that stock is worth slightly less ... about 75% less. Oil prices dropped, the loans came due, and McClendon lost about $1.8 billion. Oops. Sadly, his stock portfolio is now a paltry $400 million, so maybe you can help a guy out and and buy a Thunder t-shirt or something. • Karma Train Reaches OKC; Thunder Owner Wiped Out [Seattlest]


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Gadgets Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Imagine a world in which your friends, your family, your neighbors, and whoever else you care to mention has access to any program in the world with nearly limitless computing power. This is the idea behind cloud computing, an emerging technological innovation that could be the next evolution of the computing world.
At first glance, cloud computing sounds a lot like the internet – giving people access to information and computational power anywhere in the world. This definition is actually much less than what cloud computing could offer. Like the internet, the resources for a cloud computing grid are accessible from anywhere, but it's more than just information to be shared and absorbed. Cloud computing offers access to actual computing power, meaning you could use the programs and resources currently available from your hard drive from literally anywhere, and from almost any device. Imagine running Photoshop on your cell phone, playing World of Warcraft on your car's GPS system, or rendering video on your TV. Every application and computer resource you might typically need to house in a liquid cooled, power-gobbling computer case can be accessed from a simple client machine, as small or as large as you like.
Forget duplicate hard drives and fire-proof safes for your family's digital pictures and the blackmail emails from college buddies. Cloud computing even includes off-site storage for literally as much data as you can possibly dig up. The days of the ultimate gaming rig or video editing machine could soon give way to subscription to the cloud from the client machine of your choosing.
Obviously the cloud has its limitations. Who gets to play Zeus, for instance? And what happens when illegal or self-incriminating information is stored in the cloud. Who can have access? As invasive as the internet may seem at times, cloud computing could take private information anywhere in the world for safe-keeping. Is that a price you'll pay for all the computer power in the world? We think it's worth thinking about, don't you?
For More Info…
…check out these sites. Cloud computing is the bleeding-edge of supercomputer technology, so these are the mumblings and musings of the tech world's vision of the cloud, not the state of things. Even as a concept, though, cloud computing offers plenty of food for thought and reason for speculation.
Cloud Computing on Wikipedia
The Wikipedia Article on Cloud Computing is well-written, albeit a bit confusing at times. Of course, what could you expect from a theoretical computing system? The page has a diagram that should give any tech savvy reader a very basic understanding of the cloud computing model. What more could you ask?
Cloud Computing at Direct2Dell
Dell recently launched this blog that deals with cloud computing from a developer's standpoint. This site is definitely not for the faint of the heart, or the technologically challenged. Dell's gone all out, posting videos, pictures, and diagrams on a fairly regular basis for such an emerging technology. Obviously, this is a site worth watching.
Cloud Computing Blog
Follow the recent developments.
Computer in the Cloud: from Technology Review
Technology Review, a magazine published by MIT, is a great place to catch buzz on the latest tech. Their article, Computer in the Cloud, showcases current efforts toward cloud computing. While most experts would say we aren't there just yet, services like DesktopTwo and Amazon's S3 offering sure look like a solid start.
Computing Heads for the Clouds
This article from Business Week explains this recent trend and how some big tech companies are pushing the envelope.
Google and IBM join in "Cloud Computing" research
Both companies are contributing computing power to help with university research.
Profile of Box.com CEO
Box.com is one of the leaders in the cloud computing movement helping small and medium sized companies move to the cloud..
Google Apps
Today, most people are running their word processors, spread sheets and other personal and business programs on their computer. Google and others are offering ways to do this stuff in the cloud. They're already made big strides with Gmail. Let's see if their other apps have as much success.
Box lets you store all of your content online, so you can access, manage and share it from anywhere. Integrate Box with Google Apps and Salesforce and access Box on mobile devices.
This company is one of the innovators in this area, with on-demand customer resource management software. Learn more here.
You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.


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Currently we have no Tetreault Bibles. If you would be interested in sharing your Tetreault Bible with us, Please email Tonya at firstname.lastname@example.com
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Helping those week day afternoons fly by, with your music requests. It's Your Choice On Voice.
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text: Description Something Bleu's spotted heels are handmade in Italy, with a structure that's as impressive as their style. 3" satin-wrapped heel. Buckle closure. Canvas upper; leather sole. Made exclusively for BHLDN This item is no longer available, but take a look through all wedding shoes for something similar! Style #24806929


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The Red Sox' turnaround, position-by-position
From the start of the 2011 season through the end of that August, the Red Sox' .612, winning percentage was the best in the American League and second only to the Phillies in all of baseball.
Then the bottom fell out, as the team went 76-113 (.402) during the period we'll dub "fried chicken and Valentine,'' winning at a better clip than than only the Cubs, Rockies, Twins and Astros. Starting with this season, the team shot back up to the top of the standings, winning 60.6 percent of its games while taking the AL East title for the first time since 2007.
Here's a rundown of the position-by-position output the Red Sox received and a look at some of the individuals who have been part of Boston's not-so-long-yet-very-strange trip.
2011-12: In 2011 Red Sox catchers (mainly Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek) were responsible for 154 runs (Runs + RBI – HR). This season through 162 games that number stood at 157, not an appreciable difference. However in 2012 with Kelly Shoppach sharing the duties with Salty and Ryan Lavarnway, that number dipped to just 118, a 30.5 percent drop from the previous year.
2013: Home runs from Red Sox catchers fell precipitously from 29 in 2011 and 28 in 2012 to just 19 this season, but better plate coverage and a shorter stroke meant much more productivity from Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who raised his batting average 50 points from .222 last season to .272 in 2013 and his BABIP over 100 points from .265 to .370.
First base
2011-12: In the DH era, only Mo Vaughn and Kevin Youkilis had a higher single-season OPS than Adrian Gonzalez's (.960) in 2011. When he was traded to the Dodgers last season, that left James Loney, who put up just a .574 OPS in 106 plate appearances for Boston.
2013: Only the Orioles (92, mostly from MVP candidate Chris Davis) have more extra base hits than the 76 contributed by Mike Napoli, Mike Carp and Daniel Nava while manning first base.
Second base
2011-13: While his power numbers have dipped from the down years, Dustin Pedroia is picking it up in other ways. Although he's one of seven men to play second base for the Sox this season, Pedroia drove in all 83 runs from the spot, placing him fifth among all teams' second sackers and behind only Robinson Cano and Jason Kipnis in the AL. Meanwhile only the Tigers and Giants struck out less from Pedroia's defensive position.
2011-13: Stephen Drew is the latest starter in what has been a revolving door in Boston since Nomar Garciaparra roamed Fenway's infield. Home runs are on par with last season, but the big improvement came in getting on base: Red Sox shortstops (including Jose Iglesias and Xander Bogaerts) have walked nearly as many times in 2013 (65, tops in the majors) as all Red Sox SS in 2011 and 2012 combined (75).
Third base
2011-13: With Will Middlebrooks finding himself on the hot seat at the hot corner, John Farrell had to patch together the position all season long and the results were impressive. Not only did the light-hitting likes of Brandon Snyder, Brock Holt, and Jose Iglesias hold their own with the past couple of seasons' production, Middlebrooks' bounce-back finish after a prolonged slump and subsequent demotion enabled this group to match last season in slugging, .401 to .400.
Left field
2011-12: The Sox' braintrust reportedly paid Carl Crawford upward of $30 million during his stay in Boston, and to put it simply, it was a disaster for the organization. In nearly two seasons, he played 157 games in left field with 14 home runs, 75 RBIs and a .295 on-base percentage.
2013: With Carl Crawford and his contract gone, the Sox brought in bargains Jonny Gomes, Daniel Nava, and Mike Carp, who may not scare too many opponents, but collectively they've accounted for 98 RBIs with 17 home runs and a .272/.352/.426 slash line at about 20 percent of what Crawford would've cost this season.
Center field
2011-13: We all realize now that Jacoby Ellsbury's 34 home runs in 2011 were an anomaly, and his 12 the past two seasons combined are more the norm. However, the catalyst of the Red Sox lineup also was off and running again in 2013, leading the AL in steals with 52 while going over the 90 run mark, something he's done every season in which he's played in at least 100 games.
Right field
2011-12: Another spot where there's been constant change. Numbers put up mainly by the J.D. Drew, Josh Reddick, Darnell McDonald, and Mike Cameron were easily surpassed in 2012 by Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney (meanwhile Reddick, traded for Andrew Bailey, became a star in Oakland).
2013: Enter Shane Victorino, who bounced back after a rough 2012 personally to provide stability both at the plate and in the outfield, successfully replacing Ross, one of the few bright spots on the '12 squad. Victorino, 33, set career bests in batting average (.297), at-bats per RBI (7.74) and average on balls in play (.325).
Designated hitter
2012: How much did the Red Sox miss Big Papi in 2012 when he was sidelined for half the season? In his place the likes of Ryan Lavarnway, Pedro Ciriaco, and Mauro Gomez, et al, combined to hit just three home runs and drive in 15 runs.
2013: Not only did David Ortiz bounce back after missing 81 games last season and some of the start of 2013 with an Achilles' tendon injury, he won the team Triple Crown with his fourth .300-30-100 season, twice as many as any DH in history. As a team, the Red Sox' slugging percentage from designated hitters places 15th all-time, not bad considering a vast majority of the other teams played during baseball's "juiced'' era.
Starting pitchers
2011-12: The source of turmoil during the September 2011 collapse nose-dived in 2012, saddling themselves with a combined record of 48-73, a major-league high 535 earned runs allowed, plus the worst starters ERA (5.19) and most home runs allowed per game (1.31) for a Red Sox staff in the live-ball era. In 267 innings over 50 starts, the trio of Josh Beckett, Aaron Cook and Daisuke Matsuzaka were 10-29 with a 5.90 ERA.
2013: John Farrell and Juan Nieves pulled off a complete turnaround with the rotation, getting the team starters' ERA down 1.35 runs per game while getting the wins-loss record to 25 games above .500. Jon Lester reprised his role as staff anchor (15-8, 3.67 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) and when healthy, Clay Buchhoz (12-1, 1.74 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) was one of the most effective starters in all of baseball.
When looked at in its entirety, the 2013 Sox bullpen doesn't fare well against its 2011 or 2012 counterpart. But when you zero in on closer Koji Uehara, there's no comparison. Uehara, arguably the team's MVP, was 21 of 24 in save opportunities once he supplanted the trio of Joel Hanrahan, Andrew Bailey and (briefly) Junichi Tazawa doing ninth inning duty.
Uehara became the first Red Sox reliever to fan 100 batters since Greg Harris in 1993 and had one of the longest stretches of perfection in big league history, retiring 37 consecutive batters from August 21 to Sept. 17.


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