text:
Story highlights
- Jayson Black, 28, ran a total of 681.2 miles to raise money for Three Square Food Bank
- He suffered a shin injury and a stress fracture during the challenge
- His goal is to raise awareness about hunger and motivate people to give back
When people want to give back to their community, they typically pull out their checkbooks.
Jayson Black decided to pull out his running shoes.
The 28-year-old IT consultant pledged to run 26.2 miles a day for 26 days -- a total of 681.2 miles -- to raise money and awareness for the Three Square Food Bank of Southern Nevada.
"My hopes are that people will see and hear about this epic mission and open their eyes a little bit," Black said on day eight of his challenge. "Las Vegas isn't all about the sparkling lights and big hotels and casinos. In the shadows and down the alleys that surround the Strip, people are hungry."
The mission
Black first came to CNN's attention through longtime iReporter Chris Morrow, who was in Las Vegas and read about his campaign.
Black spent Thanksgiving Day on the street.
He woke up, went to church and ran all day. After completing his daily marathon, Black came home for a Thanksgiving meal of salad and protein shakes.
He's not complaining. He says he started this challenge to draw attention to impoverished people who go hungry on a daily basis.
"You drive around any city in the United States, and there's always someone somewhere holding a sign or digging through a garbage can for something to eat," he says. "It's great that everyone donates a turkey at Thanksgiving, but this is something bigger than just Thanksgiving."
An estimated 16.2% of the Southern Nevada population is considered "food insecure," meaning people do not know when or from where their next meal will come.
That's above the national average of 14.5% for 2012, according to Feeding America. Nationally, some 17.6 million households are considered "food insecure."
Matt Muldoon, chief development officer at Three Square Food Bank, says Southern Nevada's continued poverty is due in large part to the "triple whammy" that occurred in 2008: home foreclosures, bankruptcies and high unemployment.
"The economic recovery -- if there's any going on in the country -- has really not entrenched itself here," Muldoon says.
Though Black has never participated in an official race, he often runs marathon distances. The most he has ever run in one day is 52 miles. When Black pitched his idea, Muldoon knew he could trust Black to complete this challenge to raise money and awareness for the food bank.
"The first observation I made about Jay was that he was very calm," Muldoon says. "And with that calmness was a very big aura of confidence that he could physically accomplish this feat."
One step at a time
Each day, Black woke up at 4:15 a.m. He went to the kitchen for an energizing shake, then took a hot shower and got ready to run another 26.2 miles.
But it wasn't always easy.
Because he wasn't racing, it took Black five to six hours to complete the distance each day. He usually ran outside but often had trouble finding an open road to run on. He also suffered from a shin injury and a stress fracture, but it didn't stop him.
"I kind of look at my body as an engine," he says. "Unless doctors say you can't go any further, then we're going to get to the finish line."
When he first told his friends that he would complete 26 marathons in 26 days, they had mixed reactions.
"Some of my friends said, 'You are nuts. How is your body going to handle it?' And then I told them why I was doing it," he says. "They would start off dumbfounded, but they would always walk away inspired."
Even though Black was confident, he sometimes worried he might not be able to cross the finish line. If he got seriously injured, there was no other plan than to quit. But all doubts vanished when Black ran along the Las Vegas Strip.
"We ran into a lot of homeless people downtown, and once you tell them what you're doing, they get a little sparkle in their eye," he says. "And they thank you. That's probably one of the most gratifying parts of this whole thing -- knowing that I have an opportunity to tell these people that we haven't forgotten about them."
The finish line
Black set out with a mission to raise both financial donations and nonperishable food items for the food bank.
Muldoon says he didn't want to peg Black's efforts to a specific dollar amount. In fact, Muldoon hasn't even kept track of the amount of money raised during the challenge.
"If I am focused on just the dollar amount, then I'm missing the purpose of exactly what he's trying to accomplish here," he says.
Black started with a goal of $4,000. He raised a total of $4,024. All of his proceeds will go to the Three Square Food Bank. Because of the food bank's efficiencies, Muldoon says each dollar can be turned into three meals.
To commemorate his achievement, the Clark County Board of Commissioners in Nevada declared December 23, 2013, Jayson Black Day.
"For the first time in my life, I feel truly blessed. It's not really a sense of relief, it's a sense of accomplishment," Black said after finishing. "We don't have any specific plans yet, but we'll wrap up 2013 with a big bow and then we'll get a team together and start thinking about next year."
Though Black's mission came to an end Monday, he wants people to know they can make a positive contribution in their own communities no matter where they are located.
"You don't have to run 26 marathons in 26 days to make someone smile," he says. "You don't have to do crazy epic stuff. Any one of us can make a difference."


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And the price…is very interesting! It's significantly lower than other similar models in the market.

subset: commoncrawl


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Kangaroo Island shows rock-solid promise for lithium
Tuesday - Mining and energy company Lithium Australia has reported it has found anomalous lithium and tantalum samples that suggest mining potential on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
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MediatypingMarch 18, 2008
Just prior to jetting off to Austin last week, I started playing around with a mobile version of this site. While a personal blog is hardly a site that really needs one (unlike, say, an app with a proven mobile user-base like Twitter), I wanted to see what would be involved in re-factoring this design into something more fitting for a mobile environment.
The first step was to create a mobile style sheet. For this I duplicated the CSS file I've already built for large screens, and started stripping out the style that doesn't work so well on a smaller screen. The layout was simplified into a more linear single column, and some elements were re-done to provide a larger target area for a maximum Fitts factor, and background images were dropped wherever possible to cut down on bandwidth demands. I tried building something that would work well on more mobile devices than just the iPhone, but given that it's my testing device, it works best on that platform for now.
And while I was at it, I thought hey, why not do a TV style sheet too? I've got a Wii, it's got a great browser, and a low-res TV screen could benefit from the same kind of special attention given a mobile device. So I built one of those as well, doing things like increasing font size, increasing border widths, and stretching images to double their original size.
But here's the thing about media-specific style sheets: the browser in question has to support them. Mobile Safari grabs all
screen media style sheets, and ignores the
handheld media type entirely. So despite good intentions, my efforts were wasted on it. And that's what led me down the road of user agent sniffing…
Okay, let's get this out of the way up front: user agent sniffing sucks. Devices like the Wii and the iPhone have incredibly capable browsers that can render these sites the same as any desktop browser, so it's reasonable to assume users will want to do so from time to time. (And I suspect that's why Mobile Safari uses
screen in the first place.) Forcing a specific version sucks… if done improperly. But when used well, and not mandatory for the user, I think it's not entirely evil. And it leads to other potential improvements beyond what CSS can provide, like selective content serving.
The way to sensibly handle sniffing seemed to lie in providing an out: the mobile and TV versions of the site both have a special header on every page that provides a "regular site" toggle link. Any time someone wants to switch back to the regular site, the link is right there in front of them. And all versions now have toggle links in the footer to switch between different media types; given that I've seen this on multiple mobile sites, it feels like the site's footer is resolving into a standard place for where these type of switches ultimately belong.
To make all this work, I had to bust out the PHP. I'll preface this by saying I'm hardly a proficient coder, so there are bound to be ways to optimize what I'm showing below. I started with a pair of arrays: a list of mobile browser user agent strings, and a second list of TV browsers. The latter is a bit light at the moment, due to my lack of knowledge of what sort of browsers are available for use on TVs. (And that underscores why having a media toggle is useful: if the browser in question isn't flagged by the sniff, the user can manually invoke the TV version.)
// ==========================
// media check
// array of mobile devices
$userAgentsMobile = array (
"PlayStation Portable",
"Windows CE",
// array of tv devices
$userAgentsTv = array (
"Nintendo Wii",
"Playstation 3",
Arrays in place, the next step was building a few functions to do things like comparing these arrays with the user's actual user agent string, and setting cookies to make these media types persist. More on the latter in a second.
// this function takes two arguments: an array of user
// agents, and a specific user agent.
// it will then try to see if the specific user agent exists
// within the array. If so, it will return true, otherwise
// it returns false.
function checkMediaType($uaList, $uaKnown) {
// check user agent string against array
// return true if found, or false if not found
if(in_array($uaKnown, $uaList)) {
return true;
} else {
return false;
// this function takes one argument: a string value that
// specifies a media profile. It will then set a cookie in
// the user's browser. It returns the media profile value,
// to be used as a variable later in the page
function selectMedia($media) {
setcookie ('media', $media, time()+31536000, '/');
return $media;
With those functions in place, the code below ended up being the core of my script. In the first major
if statement, I'm checking to see whether a cookie is set; the cookie exists to avoid parsing the user agent arrays every single time the site is loaded. I doubt I'm saving that much time if any, given my currently very simple arrays. But I can see them growing over time, so it seems to make sense that this value should persist on the user's end once the user agent has been determined.
But if no cookie is found, then I'm doing the actual sniffing. I check the user agent string against both the mobile and TV arrays, and then act on them if they match one or the other. If neither matches, I default to the screen version of the site.
// show standard screen version by default
$mediaVersion = "screen";
// toggle media version if cookie is set
if (isset($_COOKIE["media"])) {
if ($_COOKIE["media"] == "mobile") {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("mobile");
} elseif ($_COOKIE["media"] == "tv") {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("tv");
} elseif ($_COOKIE["media"] == "screen") {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("screen");
} else {
// if no cookie found, sniff media type then set cookie
$knownUserAgent = false;
// compare the device arrays against the
// client's user agent
$mediaTypeMobile =
checkMediaType($userAgentsMobile, $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']);
$mediaTypeTV =
checkMediaType($userAgentsTv, $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']);
// if media version is found, set a media type cookie
// otherwise flag this browser as screen to save
// time on future loads
if ($mediaTypeMobile) {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("mobile");
} elseif ($mediaTypeTV) {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("tv");
} else {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("screen");
And then the last step is checking to see whether any of the media toggle links have been selected. If a user is viewing the mobile site and wants to switch over to the regular site, I need to re-set the cookie so their new preference persists. This is all done through simple query strings; the HTTP GET variable being checked for (
media) can be invoked simply by adding
?media=mobile to the end of a URL or link.
// override media version and set a new cookie
// if they have selected a "show {media} site" link
if ($_GET["media"]) {
if ($_GET["media"] == "mobile") {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("mobile");
} elseif ($_GET["media"] == "tv") {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("tv");
} elseif ($_GET["media"] == "screen") {
$mediaVersion = selectMedia("screen");
Now that the cookie exists and the $mediaVersion variable has a value, I'm all set. Anywhere in the rest of my site, I can use a simple
if statement to filter out the specific media version I'm targetting, and selectively show or hide content for it. This is how I'm hiding my header photo from the mobile version, for example (simplified for clarity):
// don't serve this up if we're talking mobile
if ($mediaVersion == "screen" || $mediaVersion == "tv") {

<img src="/i/photos/<?php
echo $currentPhoto["largephoto"]?>"
width="505" height="243"
alt="<?php echo $currentPhoto["description"]?>" />
I put together the entire set of functions and a couple of small demonstrations of selective content into a file you can grab. (live demo)
And to finish, a couple of highlights from the alternate media versions of this site. The mobile version goes small by stripping out images where appropriate to save on download times; the header photo is gone, avatars on comment pages are gone, and most of the decorative PNGs have been removed or converted to CSS border properties. While the TV version goes big by doubling font size, increasing border widths, stretching the header image to fill the entire horizontal screen width, doubles avatar sizes, and using a higher-resolution version of the site's logo.
Quick caveat: I've only had the opportunity to test the alternate media styles on a limited range of devices, and likely won't any time soon. Device testing is too hard if you don't already have access to a wide range of devices. I tried stripping out some of the more complex CSS tricks like overflow clearing and absolute positioning, so even my Treo doesn't make a horrible mess out of the site, but no guarantees.
And the bonus question: why am I serving up the media versions with media profiles set to
all? Simple reason: clicking through and viewing the TV-only version on a computer was seriously ugly, because it ignored the style sheet. As it should. But people will click through anyway, so that was problematic. Simple fix:
to include iPod Touch.
PHP for minor optimizations in response to comments.
I've been writing iPhone specific styles in most of my work over recent months, mainly to control text resizing, and to avoid needing any server-side malarkey, I've been using:
<link media="only screen and (max-device-width: 480px)" href="iphone.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" />
Maybe this will help some?
It does, some. It gets around that ignoring handheld media problem that mobile Safari has.
But if you want to selectively serve/hide content (ie. completely avoid downloading a large image that's display:none hidden from the document) then content re-factoring's your best bet.
(That said, I can't say with certainty that mobile Safari doesn't in fact download display:none image. That also said, mobile Safari is far from the only mobile browser out there.)
Oof, very nice indeed, thanks for this :) Finally makes design for small screen devices practicable.
Thanks! Very informative.
However, when I pulled it up on the iPhone, I still had to zoom in to the content area, I think it's due to the larger image in the content area of this post - wonder if there's a way to easily scale that down too. I actually preferred the regular site to the mobile version anyway. But that would likely change if I were browsing on Edge =D
A tiny optimization, but you mentioned you wanted to be a bit forward-looking:
In your function checkMediaType(), you iterate thru the entire array even after you found a match. Unless you want to match against multiple values (and I don't think that's the case; the userAgent you're testing should only match zero or 1 entries in the array, yes?) you should escape the loop as soon as you have a match:
function checkMediaType($uaList, $uaKnown) {
foreach ( $uaList as $userAgents ) {
if( strstr($uaKnown, $userAgents) ) {
return true;
return false;
or, avoid the loop altogether:
if ( in_array($uaKnown, $userAgents) ) {
return true
return false;
Unless I seriously misunderstand, in which case, never mind :-)
Dave it looks great! The only change I would make is to get rid of the fixed with and just set everything to 100% since it's difficult to tell how wide a mobile device is. I like your idea of showing the accessibility links at the top too.
@David Joyce - "However, when I pulled it up on the iPhone, I still had to zoom in to the content area"
Yeah, ironically due to using content types I haven't been doing much with lately, the initial draft of this post did odd things to the alternate layouts. A bit of CSS work later, and try refreshing. Should be all better!
@Val - yeah, in_array would suit my purpose better. Thanks, good idea!
Nice work, Dave! One thing that's kind of ironic is that the real meat of your first mobile-enabled post is code that can't be read on the mobile version of the site (due to what looks like overflow:hidden). Of course, there's not much anyone could do with all that code while they're on the go, but I thought it was funny nonetheless.
@Rob - If only mobile Safari did something useful with overflow: auto, I could have my cake and eat it too. That's the unfortunate result of fixing the prior-mentioned initial layout problem with the code.
Yay, compromise.
I follow the same path as Andy C., especially as the latest/future versions of Opera Mini & Mobile are following the same path as Safari in using screen as a default, not handheld.
I've found that mobile versions of desktop browsers tend to behave far more like desktop browsers, and thus ignore the handheld stylesheets.
On the flipside, browsers which are clearly not really up to par with their desktop bretheren seem more suited with handheld or mobile media types.
Personally, I'd tend to make a "handheld" or "mobile" stylesheet much lighter on fluff than a "fully-fledged style, but tweaked for a smaller screen size"; people browsing with iPod touches (which your UA sniff will fail to get, incidentally) and iPhones aren't geared to expect a "light" version, but possibly will benefit from a "doesn't need zooming" version (whether the two are the same thing is a design decision, of course).
I would include "Aspen Simulator" under mobile as well to pick up the iPhone simulator that's included in the iPhone SDK.
It looks pretty nice using the Treo's Blazer browser in optimized mode. The header-content section needs some work. Recent Entries is a very light gray and everything else is right justified. I get a horizontal scroll bar for every image and every pre section. However I don't have to use the horizontal scroll bar to view the images or pre sections.
While some of this is beyond me, it's interesting to see how you worked it out and blazed forward.
PHP is like an invisible golden egg to me. I reach for it but never get it. I've had a little fun with it, but can't seem to wrap my head around arrays and functions enough to conjure one up.
These types of posts interest me! Thank you!
Adobe's device central is a very helpful tool in testing for various devices.
Nice article, by the way.
@Rob "One thing that's kind of ironic is that the real meat of your first mobile-enabled post is code that can't be read on the mobile version of the site"
You can pan the code on an iPhone by using 2 fingers - just like scrolling textareas :)
Why reinvent the whell ? :)
You can use WURFL, it's a database of devices with their capabilities… No need for your own code when there is a much more advanced one that already does it all in a tested way :)
URL of WURFL : http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/ (there is a php api for it)
I whipped up a quick function to tell if an element is overflowed. Currently it just appends a class to the element, but it wouldn't be too hard to work this into a function that added scrolling buttons below and/or beside an element that needs scrolling on the iPhone to make it more obvious that the element can, in fact, be scrolled.
function checkOverflow(elems) {
for(var i = 0; i < elems.length; i++) {
var elem = elems[i]
if(elem.clientWidth < elem.scrollWidth) {
elem.className = elem.className + ' horizontal-scroll'
if(elem.clientHeight < elem.scrollHeight) {
elem.className = elem.className + ' vertical-scroll'
I think I might work this into a plugin for jQuery so you could call $('pre:overflowed') to get a collection to work on.
@Tanny: showing the scrollbars is Blazer's default behaviour for overflow: auto. The CSS spec allows browser developers to decide how to handle the auto rule, several of them (mostly older codebases) treat it by always showing the scrollbars.
After all that, I forgot why I originally planned to leave a comment: print style sheets. I'm a front-end engineer by trade and try to make a print style sheet for each site I do. Typically I'll cut out menus and such, add a print-quality logo, and convert font sizes and border widths to points as these tend to print much cleaner. On most of the sites I work on, these steps cut the number of pages needed to print any given page on the site by 1/3 to 1/2.
Only two things regarding the PHP code (besides what Val said above):
"alt="<?php echo $currentPhoto["description"]?>" />" could be shortened to just "alt="<?=$currentPhoto["description"]?>" />"
and I belive that using $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS has been deprecated (use $_COOKIE instead).
Other than that, great work as always!
Great timing on the post. I've been playing with these too for a site I am working on, and I'm pretty disappointed that we have to resort to browser sniffing.
And, the more I thought about it, the dumber the decision to make a "screen" and "handheld" and "tv" media types became. Do handhelds not have screens? Are TVs anything but a screen?
As I started looking into media queries, I was excited – a perfect way to specify a layout and design based on device capability instead of an ambiguous term. Two minutes of testing – a Win CE device, FireFox, Safari and Safari Touch – and it was clear support for media queries was going to add yet another wrinkle to the world of CSS incompatibilities.
So, browser sniffing it is. For that, this is a great jumping point!
@Erlingur Yeah he could do that but only if short_open_tag is enabled.
I know short tags can conflict with XML (<? vs. <?php), but does the jsp-style echo shorthand have the same problem? I'd assume the "=" makes all the difference with XML collisions, but I have never heard definitively.
@Justin All the php tags are parsed on the server before being sent to the client. So the browser should never see any of the <? style symbols to confuse them with XML. It might still cause problems in web page editors I suppose.
You should be able to scroll elements on the iPhone with overflow:auto using two fingers, so no need to but overflow:hidden.
In fact, I just tested your iPhone version and I can scroll your code blocks using two fingers already.
It's nice to see some sort of consensus emerging about where these links should sit. A few months ago I couldn't find enough mobile sites that had them to be able to spot any kind of similarities. :)
I wrote a plugin for people who use the symfony framework to do this sort of browser sniffing and platform detection for mobiles, which some might find useful. Obviously the downside is that it does rather assume you're using symfony! http://inanimatt.com/symfony/
@Beau Great tip on the two-finger scroll! I had no idea.
@Dave S. VERY informative and well done. This post came a the perfect moment for me. Thanks!
@Mark Fischer – Yes, but most people (even php.net) discourage against using short tags mainly because of portability issues (not all servers allow use of short tags) and because it can trip up the parser if there's embedded xml in the php file.
I know I've moved code between servers that didn't allow short tags and had to refactor a lot of <?=s just because of that. We're kind of splitting hairs at this point though.
Very nice post Dave–really great ideas that I'll likely put to good use soon.
@Val - thanks again for the suggested loop optimization, I've updated the code in the post/demo accordingly.
@Erlingur - thanks for pointing out $_COOKIE, I've updated the code in response.
@Justin - thanks for explaining the short tag thing better than I would have.
A mobile stylesheet with display:none on stripped elements isn't enough. You should also present alternative mobile source code. Why? because nobody wants to download 150k data that isn't displayed anyway.
Mobile connections are often much slower than regular broadband (T1, Cable etc). A mobile stylesheet is great, but your site will be very slow unless you also present a stripped HTML source for mobile browsers.
Very interesting article. I poked around converting pages with small modifications to my existing page for a while.
There is one useful addition to your , so Google knows about the mobile part of your site (if it has a separate URL):
<link rel="alternate" media="handheld" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://mobile.yoursite.com/" />
If someone uses the Google mobile search, he will be automatically redirected to this URL.
BTW: Your function checkMediaType could be written even shorter. :)
function checkMediaType($uaList, $uaKnown) {
// check user agent string against array
// return true if found, or false if not found
return(in_array($uaKnown, $uaList));
Moving the conversation up a level from the PHP code-fixes… what about what we've learned about the inadequacies of media types in CSS? Screen? Mobile? TV? Those aren't useful distinctions. It's another classic example of spec failure due to inadequate prognostication abilities. Someday we'll have the ability to see the future and this will all be easy.
What actually distinguishes these different media? Screen resolution? To some degree, the utility of form elements. (Different devices make them more or less practical.) Ability to display or not display non-textual items. Scripting support. It seems like profiles of capabilities could be captured, in the spirit of progressive enhancement, and described as media for this purpose. Maybe even mapped to the existing media types, but more appropriately used to define new media types. And then a user agent creator wouldn't have to say "well, I gotta use screen – I want all the features!" Instead, they could design to a use case.
Am I being a pollyanna?
@Anil - it's really too bad we were speaking at the same time at WDN, this is pretty much exactly the territory that John Allsopp and I covered:
We dug into the design patterns and UI elements that break down when you take away basics like a functional keyboard, and covered situational context and screen size alike.
More questions than answers, I'll admit, as we're all just starting to turn our sights on these issues. This whole post is just a drop in a very large bucket; we're still on the left side of the curve right now.
Very cool idea. I think a purely client-side analogue of this might be something like Switchy McLayout: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/switchymclayout/
I like how you add the link to switch versions. Far too many mobile optimised sites don't give this option, and the optimised site is often not what the user wants.
For TV you could deliver a tv media type. The Wii supports this and any TV based browser from Opera in the future will also likely support it. Using the media type would future proof the site as you don't have to follow what new browsers come out. As the Wii is popular and quite a few sites optimise for the TV experience (sometimes lower res, but mostly longer viewing distance) on Wii, and so it would make sense for other TV browser manufacturers to support TV.
For mobile on the other hand, we've removed support for handheld media type, except when in single column mode (mobile view). I think this is unfortunate, but there were sites that were abusing handheld stylesheets, without testing them properly, which would break our mobile browsers on those sites. As iPhone didn't support handheld, it made Opera worse on those sites, and thus we switched behavior.
Media Queries would be ideal, however due to bugs in certain browsers (such as IE and pre Safari 3) you can't really use media queries to deliver separate stylesheets. If you do that, those browsers will show no styles at all. Instead you have to override the original stylesheet i the mobile stylesheet, so that it loads both stylesheets on smaller screens. This isn't exactly ideal. I'd also advise against using media queries to deliver iPhone optimised stylesheets, as more browsers support media queries, and they don't all have the same screen size, standards support or bugs as the iPhone. Designing for iPhone is scarily similar to the old days of just designing for IE (except worse as it is just one device, not just one browser).
@Dave: Cool article. And indeed challenging to create design that will be appealing for eyes with different capabilities and forms factors.
@Anil: Devices Capabilities profiles have been discussed for a long time. Quite challenging to live in a world where there is a lot of diversity. Ubiquitous computing is faced to these issues not only for rendering but also for network and protocols capabilities, printers avaibilities, etc.
On the CSS side, Media queries is a W3C specification which has evolved and tries to specify requirements for screen sizes for example. That will not answer everything, and more challenges will rise.
Media Queries: http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-mediaqueries/
CC/PP 1.0 was created for expressing devices capabilities, but it has not been used and deployed on browsers. There is also a work going on by Ubiquitous Web Applications Working Groups about Delivery Context and new versions of CCPP. The main issue as always is that it will not be necessary taken into account by one part of the market. The main participants are device makers.
UWA WG: http://www.w3.org/2007/uwa/
CC/PP 2.0: http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-CCPP-struct-vocab2-20070430/
Article explaining CC/PP: http://www.webstandards.org/learn/articles/askw3c/feb2004/
Embracing diversity and specifying precisely things at the same time is quite a challenge. And the designers at the end of the (business) food chain pay often the price. Unfortunately.
I've been working on something very similar to this except I use my own get_browser (http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.get-browser.php) static class that uses SQLite to store the information because Gary Keith (the guy maintaining the browser lists) is sick of the function's bugs to actively maintain the PHP specific version. After a friend and I programmed it it turns out using the database is about twice as fast as the original. I use it to determine what browser the person is using and feed the stylesheet accordingly. I was just going to feed them that, but your idea with displaying a menu giving people a choice is quite nice.
I'm unsure if this is intended or not, but to view what you created for myself I had to go to the footer of the document to click on a link to view the mobile version. I tested it both on the iPhone and using Opera's demo of Opera Mini (http://www.operamini.com/demo/).
Just tested your site with the Nokia N95. First thing to mention is it doesn't detect it, but the code above with the in_array() can't work anyway, due you want to find array-elements inside one string (actually, with the code above you should get an error because in_array doesn't even accept a string as second parameter).
You'll need a loop here, this will work and is resource-friendly:
for ($i=0, $pos=false; ($pos === false) && isset($uaList[$i]); $pos = stripos($uaKnown, $uaList[$i++]));
return ( $pos !== false );
Talking the look the mobile version is pretty good, just the image in the post exceeds the screenwidth on the N95. I'd suggest 3 solutions:
a CSS-based max-width:100% (which doesn't work that great, some browsers will constrain proportions, others won't)
automatic conversion of all images to smaller versions (utilizing PHP)
stripping the images (if they're not relevant)
Hi Dave still loving your site, just a thought but have you tried wrapping all these php scripts up into a object, it would be alot more portable and usable and would also allow you to build a profile of the users viewing platform/browser and send the relevant styles back from the server, just a thought….
Great article, perfect timing. I'm building some blogs for people and want to offer mobile versions.
My current thinking is that I'll let them switch, or hit a different URL for a mobile version. I'm going to serve up simplified templates (PHP/expression engine) and CSS that makes links easy to hit. It'll be iPhone-centric at first, because that's what we use for ourselves. I want to make sure it's full-featured enough, though, and that's going to be the challenge.
Every time I've read an article about mobile web browsers it's a flashback to the bad old days of the browser wars.
Instead of coming up with these kind of workarounds, clever though they may be, wouldn't it be better for everyone if we pushed browser makers to implement support for appropriate web standards?
Like your experience with Mobile Safari ignoring the HANDHELD media type. That's a foolish decision by Apple. What else is it but a handheld browser? By all means include the CSS switcher you mention, but don't just ignore the media type by default.
I made a small change to check for OperaMini, it seems to shift the UA to a separate thing:
$mediaTypeMobile = checkMediaType($userAgentsMobile, $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']);
if(!$mediaTypeMobile && (isset($_SERVER['X-OperaMini-Features']) || isset($_SERVER['X-OperaMini-Phone-UA']))) $mediaTypeMobile = true;
you can also use one of the web services out there such as handsetdetection.com which streamlines the process for us.


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Nuggets sign big man Hickson
DENVER — The Denver Nuggets bolstered their frontcourt Thursday by signing free agent forward J.J. Hickson to a three-year deal.
The 24-year-old bruiser is coming off his best season last year in Portland when he averaged 12.7 points and a career-high 10.4 rebounds. He joined Dwight Howard as the only players to average 12 points, 10 boards and shoot at least 55 percent from the field.
General manager Tim Connelly called Hickson "one of the most improved players in the league last year," and said he gives Denver a low-post option in the halfcourt "and he's a relentless rebounder who will help us get out and run."
Hickson has averaged 9.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in five NBA seasons with stops in Cleveland, Sacramento and Portland.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.


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NEWPORT BEACH, CA (WSFA) - The city of Newport Beach, CA feels like home with Auburn and Florida State banners and welcome signs all around town in the week leading up to the BCS National Championship.
Even though the big game will be played about an hour away in Pasadena, Newport Beach is considered the BCS hub. Both teams, media and many fans stay in the Newport Beach area, which is on the coast south of Los Angeles.
The game is said to have a $10 million economic impact on the city whose top industry is tourism.
Businesses, shopping centers and restaurants have rolled out the welcome mats for Auburn and Florida State fans.
Coming up on WSFA 12 News at 4, 5, and 6 reporter Melissa Johnson will have more details on the economic impact of the game and how the city has prepared to welcome fans.
Copyright 2013 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.


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Forget about the Constellation missions to Mars, because the first Earthlings set to arrive to the Red Planet may be monkeys: macaques from the Sochi Institute of Medical Primatology, who may get back as fully grown primate overlords, or just prove that humans would be able to resist the 17-month trip in weightlessness and isolation, suffering a pureed food diet, like in 2001 in a spaceship not much bigger than Hasbro's 2.5-foot Millennium Falcon.
These monkeys gone to heaven, who are bred at the Sochi Institute only for this purpose, have been used in previous space experiments. Unlike Laika, who died because of the stress of the launch, these monkeys resist the trips and get back in one piece. Like 16-year-old space veteran Krosh, who flew to space in 1992 and—according to the BBC—"is still in rude health." Which we guess means he keeps healthily pooping out and throwing his crap to everyone around.
The macaques will have to be able to sustain a 520-day trip and they are crucial for the survival of the future cosmonauts, as their tolerance to radiation levels is very similar to those in humans. [BBC]


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There is nothing crisper or sharper than a fresh snowfall that's fallen on trees and sparkles in the morning sunlight.
Bring the snowy winter wonderland indoors and turn your room into your own holiday wonderland.
Create a cool arctic themed room filled with polar bears, penguins, snowflakes and crisp white furnishings and frosty blue decorations.
Madison Park Delancey 4 Piece Duvet Cover Set
also visit:
Winter Themed bedroom decorating ideas and winter themed decor
Brrrrrr, I'm cold already!
Create a winter wonderland themed bedroom and enjoy the snowflake and icicle beauty indoors all year round
Accent the winter themed rooms with novelty polar bear decorations
Animal enthusiasts of all ages will fall in love with Sophia the Life-Size Polar Bear and her cute cub. Created by artists in a socially-responsible environment, each realistic animal is given a unique personality. Soulful eyes and expressive faces are lovingly detailed for a life-like look.
Winter Themed bedroom decorating ideas and winter themed decorative accents click here
3D Roaring Bear Wall Sticker
3D Polar Bear Design Wall Sticker wall stickers at bedding inn
winter wall murals at murals your way snowflake bedding
White Snow and Shining Sun Print 4-Piece Duvet Cover Sets at bedding inn
Antarctic Ice Penguin Animal Mural search at aliexpress
Shimmering snowflake themed bedrooms in a wintery wonderland style, decorated with arctic animals in white and blues and splashes of silvery ice.
Bring the arctic snow indoors and create a cool igloo style bedroom - perfect for those who have always dreamed of going to Antarctica, Alaska or the North or South Pole!
penguin bedding variety of styles
Whale decor here
Get in touch with your playful side with this adorable, penguin shaped laundry hamper. Let his cute-as-a-button face entice a giggle as you pass, or as you lift his lid and toss in your laundry-ready garments. Detachable, machine washable, cream lining prevents clothing from snagging on the woven hyacinth. Place penguin in the laundry room or as an eclectic sculpture in the bathroom, since no one will know he hides your unmentionables!
Winter Penguin Wall Decal Kit will add a touch of style and and Holiday charm to your home, office, or dorm. The kit contains 6 Penguins with striped bellies, and 15 grey and white snowflakes. This Kit contains 21 pieces: Penguins are 12 in. tall, Snowflakes range from 2 in x 2 in to 3 in to 3 in
Baby Penguin bedding - search at bedding inn
Arctic Playground Theme Kit - visit shindigz
Arctic Playground Theme Kit will have everyone wishing they were frolicking and playing the Eskimo way. The Arctic Playground Decoration Kit includes:
Antarctic Ice Penguin Animal Mural search at aliexpress
The amazing blend of blues, whites and greens swirled together in a winter setting creates a beautiful background for designing a winter-themed room. Winter wallpaper designs as a full wall mural, setting the theme with a large image stretching from wall to wall. This allows anyone in the room to fully imagine themselves in the setting, where they can hear the crunch of the snow under their boots and feel the fresh crispness of the air on their cheeks.
variety of winter themed wall murals at murals your way
penguin bedding - variety of styles - search for penguin bedding at aliexpress
ice age bedrooms
North Pole winter wonderland bedroom ideas
Antarctic Snow Scene
Ice age theme bedroom
Ice age bedroom ideas
Fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey-teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven-to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. Elsa and Anna are princesses with a special sisterly connection. Elsa is a magical princess with special powers that will help her to be a great ruler in her kingdom. Anna is a free spirited person who brings out the best in people around her.
Frozen theme Elsa bedroom Decorating ideas and decor blog
Frozen themed - Olaf themed party ideas blog
Frozen themed - Olaf themed party ideas blog
3-Dimensional Snowflake Mobile measures 22 Inch and comes fully assembled. Sparkling silver prismatic foil covers a larger multi-sided snowflake with additional smaller snowflakes attached by white cord at different lengths. Make your holiday season a winter wonderland with this 3-Dimensional Snowflake Mobile.
variety of decorative snowflakes at shindigz party store
this teepee is great for indoors or out. The gorgeous cotton cover pictures a snowy forest scene and animal friends that bring the magic of a snow covered forest playtime. The battery-powered LED 4-Pole Teepee Lights provide the beauty of starlight day or night. Hang them in the Winter Woodland 4-Pole Teepee to create a fantastic atmosphere in which the imagination can roam free.
White Feather Owls at shindigz party store
larger view here
Create a regal snow ice princess style bedroom with a mix off white, cream and silver. Mirrored furnishings add a brilliant touch.
Decorating with white fluffy furnishings gives rooms a heavenly, angelic feel.
Snow princess themed winter themed bedrooms
Visit Castle theme beds for more Ice Princess decorating ideas
Celebrate winter indoors with these sparkly, glitter-covered snowflake wall decals. Decorating is easy: just peel and stick! Apply to any flat surface, and just peel away when you want to move it somewhere else. Fully reusable and repositionable! Pair these decorative snowflakes with any of our other holiday designs, or just sprinkle them throughout your home to celebrate the season everywhere.
Snow queen bedroom
white bedroom decorating snow queen style
winter themed living - decorating winter wonderland style
A white and gray living room shines with different shapes and textures.
When working in a limited color scheme, use different textures and shapes to keep things interesting.
This white and gray living room uses silver accents, fun ram head wall hangings and furry accent pillows to keep the eye engaged and always interested.
Argento Antiqued Glass 10 1/2" Wide Corbett - Pendant Light - polished nickel pendant light fixture features aluminum construction and a single light that shines under antique silver bell glass. An assortment of downrod lengths allows you to adjust the height.
Ceramic 47" High Faux Antelope Head
- modern and cruelty-free wall sculpture features a glossy white antelope head with bright silver horns. Constructed from ceramic.-
Ceramic 17" High Faux Ram Head
The winter season could be a bit dreary and depressing if you don't make the effort to warm up your home with comfortable winter decorations. Make winter more cheery inside with smiling snowmen, glowing candles, figurines of skaters waltzing around a frozen pond or even colorful snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.
One way to really incorporate a warm winter scene into your home's décor is with a wallpaper mural.
No two snowflakes are alike.
Create a winter wonderland suited for Jack Frost himself.
Winter party decorations transform your home or hall into a veritable winter wonderland.
Winter Party Decorations available at shindigz party store
Snowman Face Assortment
Brighten up your winter decorations with our Snowman Face Assortment.
The Snowman Face Assortment features
a set of smiling faces with fun red hats
with greenery accents.
Each set of Snowman Face Assortment
includes three faces that are made of foam
and plastic.
Winter Tree Standees
Ice Castle Kit
Ice Castle - Set the scene for a magical evening with this Ice castle kit!
The carboard castle is rich with winter hues of blue and purple, and is sprinkled with iridescent snow. Personalize the castle sign with your own special message! 10' 8" h x 7' 8" w. Assembly required.
Ice Castle Gate - This Ice Castle Gate will create the perfect entrance to your winter event.
The cardboard castle is accented with iridescent snow for a delightful winter look; 7' 1" h x 7' 6" w.
Easy Assembly. Set.
Winter Tree Standees - Picturesque cardboard standees are accented with iridescent snow.
Kit includes two 5' h trees and one 7' 4" h tree. Easy assembly. Set of 3.
Let It Snow Kit lets you bring the winter inside without giving off a chill. Transform your event into a beautiful lighted display of beauty!
Our Tunnel Arch is made of white fabric that stretches between two metal arches.
Angled 8 feet high x 10 feet wide x 8 feet deep. Assembly required.
LED Curtain Lights
Bright white LED lights are woven into sheer gauze to create a breathtaking display.
Each curtain measures 6 feet 6 inches high x 6 feet 3 inches wide.
Holographic Sequin Column
A metal column standing 8 feet high x 2 feet in diameter is covered in a beautiful stretch fabric loaded with holographic sequins.
Ice Crystal Centerpiece with Glass Globe
The centerpiece has the look of winter branches capped with glistening pieces of ice. This centerpiece measures 18 inches across and includes an 8 inch tall glass globe in the middle. Bring the outdoors in with our Ice Crystal Centerpiece.
7 Ft. Lighted Tree
This metal and plastic tree comes with over 280 clear bulbs that will illuminate any space with a soft glow. Easy assembly.
White Fur Tree
add a touch of magic to any winter wonderland scene.
Each cardboard White Fur Tree prop has reflective iridescent shine (iridescent sparkle powder applied to tree as part of the assembly gives it this look) and measures 5 1/2 feet high x 44 inches wide.
Drape a gorgeous silver gossamer fabric over ceiling and walls as a foundation for a winter event theme.
Radiant LED Balloon Lights
Place radiant LED balloon lights into icy blue glitter snowflake balloons for a hint of aurora borealis in your winter wonderland. Cut pieces of a snow blanket for use under centerpieces or as place mats on a winter event theme place setting. Add a touch of sparkle powder for more glitz.
Winter Party Decorations available at shindigz party store
Mighty Mountain Stage Kit - Climb to the top of the Mighty Mountain party props!
Enjoy the view from atop snow-covered mountains with our Mighty Mountain Stage Kit. This kit includes personalized dome tent props along with other decorations to turn your event into an icy expedition. The Mighty Mountain Stage Kit includes:
- 2 - Mighty Mountain Standees
- 1 - Mighty Mountain Glacier Standee Set
- 2 - Mighty Mountain Dome Tents
- 1 - Mighty Mountain Gear Standee Set
- 1 - Fire Pit
- Light Blue Seamless Paper
- Light Blue Foil Curtains
- Premium Polyester Fiberfill
- White Round Paper Lanterns
Mighty Mountain Gear Shop Kit will bring the mountains to your celebration.
The Mighty Mountain Gear Shop party decorating Kit
features the look of a snowy gear store complete with tress and signs. The Mighty Mountain Gear Shop Kit includes:
- 1 - Mighty Mountain Gear Shop Arch
- 1 - Mighty Mountain Directional Sign
- 1 - Mighty Mountain Gear Standee
- 4 - Arctic Playground Tree Standee
Winter on sunny days after a fresh snowfall creates brilliant scenery with glittering sparkles everywhere. Consider hanging a wallpaper mural in your family area depicting snow-laden trees surrounding a frozen pond. Or go for a white, snow-covered path winding its way through the forest with the trees etched in white frost, sparkling in the sun.
for more decorating ideas and decor also visit: ....Fun Christmas theme decorating ideas
Christmas decorating blog
Skiing Christmas ornaments - ski decorations
Winter Themed bedroom decorating ideas
Whale Theme Bedroom pictures Blog
Whale Theme Bedroom decorating ideas and Whale Theme Decor
Frozen themed - Olaf themed party ideas blog
Ice skating wall decals
Mirrored Furnishings
Plush fuzzy furry faux fur decorations blog
Cloud theme decorating ideas blog
Winter Wonderland theme bedrooms - arctic animals decorating ideas - Penguins - Polar Bears - Arctic snow Christmas themed bedrooms - Winter - wild Arctic snow bedroom - frozen - seasonal bedroom decor winter sports - Ice age - winter wall murals - penguin bedrooms
is copyrighted work by Maries Manor Kids Theme Bedrooms


text: I just signed up for my monthly subscription plan and I am so super excited to start downloading full bundles all at the same time now, instead of kit by kit or item by item. I am not even quite sure where to start! What about you guys? What was the first thing YOU couldn't wait to download?!


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Thursday June 20, 2019; 10:06 am EDT
Technology brings us closer to nature
We live in an app world. If I want a song, I Shazam it; If I want a paint color from a photo I just took, bam, I ColorSnap it. I search for apartments and add mustaches and cats to any picture I please, all in the iPhone that fits in the palm of my hand.
Now the National Park Service is using an app to get us closer to nature.
The free Chesapeake Explorer app offers information on state and national parks, trails and outdoors activities, all on one map. The user-friendly app makes it easy for us to get lost in nature — and find our way back home.
Find lighthouses, museums, trails and state parks. Feel like kayaking? The app uses your location to show you where you can go. Have the day to kill? The app has tours for bikers, walkers and drivers. Take pictures along the way to remember your adventures — and find new colors to paint your walls.
Search Chesapeake Explorer in your iPhone app store to download it. Sorry Droids, the app hasn't been made for the Android world yet.
I grew up wanting to be an explorer, and now I am.


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Find out how the erroneous and anti-Scriptural ideas of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, John Dewey, Soren Kierkegaard, Julius Wellhausen and John Maynard Keynes are still influencing
Using tried and tested points of commonality, this book was written specifically as a witness tool to Muslims.
Updated from the 17th century original Latin manuscript, this remarkable work of history is now available in English.
When bad things happen to believers in a good God, are there answers, or do we have to write it all off as some cosmic mystery?
Defines the basic anatomy and physiology in each of 11 body systems from a creational viewpoint.
Find out what evolutionists don't tell you about human fossils.
Former evolutionary biologist Gary Parker offers a biblically grounded, evolution-free look at early man.
Evidence for nature's Intelligent Designer—the God of the Bible
This is the third in an excellent series by John Cross demonstrating the Bible's big picture starting in Genesis.


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The developer of BBC News Mobile for Windows Phone, Lawrence Gripper has announced on his personal blog that development has been put on hold for reasons that cannot be published (the BBC does indeed have snipers stationed throughout the UK - so hush up). What does all this mean for the app that many use and love?
Currently all development has been halted, but the BBC News Mobile app is still readily available on the Windows Phone Store. There's not much else to report on apart from for consumers to remain tuned for more details that will come to light as the situation progresses. This isn't the first BBC app to face issues with the corporation. The developer behind Podcast Lounge and Radio Lounge has also experienced trouble on the road.
We'll be sure to keep our eyes open for any further news from the developer and his apps.


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Alex Banks may have been named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshmen Team this year in basketball, but in high school Banks was a multi-sport star athlete. Her versatility was honored on Thursday night as she was named the High School Female Athlete of the Year by the Nashville Sports Council.
Honoring Middle Tennessee athletics, Banks was nominated as the top female athlete for her record setting year as a pitcher at Beech High School in Hendersonville.
The freshman set a single-season state record for wins with a 47-4 record, including a perfect game, two no-hitters and 25 shutouts. With a 1.36 ERA and 166 strikeouts, she earned Second Team All-American from Maxpreps.
Playing basketball at Beech, Banks averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game while reaching 1,000 career points.
The 15th Annual Pepsi Celebration of Champions presented by Kroger recognizes the most accomplished amateur and professional athletes at a banquet held at the Grand Ole Opry House.
Assistant women's basketball coach John Wild also received a team honor as his former team, Riverdale High School, earned the High School Female Team Athletics Award. Wild helped lead Riverdale to a 34-3 record and a No. 5 ESPN Hoopgurlz national ranking enroute to the D1 Class AAA state championship.


text:
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The boutique hotel Monaco Washington D.C. was redesigned by a California-based team and offers 183 luxury rooms. Our Hotel offers magnificent high level service in every possible aspect. The staff at Hotel Monaco Washington can take care of your dog, goldfish or any pet you want to take with you as it is a pet friendly environment.
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Monaco Washington D.C. is located in the heart of Penn Quarter. It is situated only minutes away from the Spy Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Verizon Center. Monaco Washington is only a short walk from shops, restaurants and bars as well as public transportation system.
Address: - Hotel Monaco Washington DC Washington Map


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Friday, July 16, 2010
It's all about the kids - Fragment style
Don't forget to check out my gal pal's place, add some comment love...
I had a wonderful post to recap my 8 hours of unadulterated bliss that was my date night last Friday ... but alas, it remains in my head. I've got to get it just right to capture the moments properly.
So in its stead today, I bring you fragments brought to you by, who else... my kids.
At the grocery store produce section:
"Mommy, Daddy leaves his apples courts all over the house. It's not very healthy and dirty. I don't think he should do that, do you? He needs to set an example for me and L-boy, after all, he's not a BABY, is he?"
Totally unsolicited, I swear.
Poor Dad, he's not only got to deal with a superior wife, he's now got a superior daughter in the house too.
In the minivan when reminiscing about past summers.
"Mommy, why do some people have babies before they go to university, and THEN they get married?"
Uh, is she trying to tell me something? Perhaps not as she's only five years old. Let's probe a bit.
"Well, some people do that, but that's not the easier way to do things."
"But that's what you did, Mommy!"
The Boy piped in: "What do you mean, G? Mom went to university way over 20 years ago (I must interject, not WAY over, maybe a couple of years beyond...but I digress) and I'm only TEN!!!
The Girl (obviously upset, you know how 5 year olds get because after all, they know everything now...): "But don't you remember, when Mommy and Daddy went away to UNIVERSITY, and Yee Yee and Uncle Fibb-itt and baby J took us to the island and we buried you in the sand? That was last summer!"
Now I got it.
"Oh sweetie, Mommy and Daddy were away celebrating our ANNIVERSARY and we went away and left you with your uncle and aunt."
And I thought 'Whew'.
Remember my suspicions about a conspiracy theory? Well I was RIGHT!!!! I dropped the boys off, and looked around for other kids... and other than the birthday girl, there was one other girl invited. That was IT. It was a freakin' double date!!! Birthday party = Two 10 year old boys plus two 10 year old girls (+ a Dad, at least) = Double date in my mind.
The Boy thought it was funny though. And he suggested that we check out the ice cream and crepes at Cafe Demetrie, and that Despicable Me was a wicked good movie.
Nonchalantly. Perfect.
And he was right - about Despicable Me. It was wicked good.
Have a great weekend, guys.
PS. One other milestone that I forgot. Remember my MAD PASSION for all things BODYJAM? Well, geez, wouldn't you know it ... my instructor asked if I would join her on stage for the new release next week as they're going to be featuring BodyJam superstars! Whoot! Now I just have to dig something up from the disco era ...and yeah, I'm that old that I might actually have some remmants available. Sigh.
20 comments:
- Life As I Know It said...
haha double date birthday party. Glad your son thought it was funny, at least.
- 8:47 am
- brainella said...
Conversations with children about abstract concepts are fun; how do you explain D-Day without trivializing it? :)
Glad to know Descpicable Me is good. I so want to see it!
Have a great weekend.
- 9:46 am
Kids are great - I love the apple courts thing - I need her to come to may place and have a talk to hubby!! LOL
- 11:48 am
- Betty said...
Thanks for the thoughtful comment on my blog today. I love to meet new bloggers and your writing is so funny! I love that you write what your kids said. That will be such a ball to read once they are older. I have not done it and I have forgotten too many precious moments.
- 5:57 pm
- Dina @ 4 Lettre Words said...
Date nights are soooo necessary! We have one coming up on the 24th.
The minivan convo is too awesome. Kids rock!
- 6:20 pm
- Kami's Khlopchyk said...
I love your posts! I laugh so hard. With you. WITH YOU!
Go Karen and be sure to get some disco footage!
- 12:27 am
- Mrs4444 said...
How cool is that? You're going to be a star! I am way too lazy for that stuff.
Naughty daddy!
- 12:38 am
- Mrs4444 said...
How cool is that? You're going to be a star! I am way too lazy for that stuff.
Naughty daddy!
- 12:38 am
- Su-sieee! Mac said...
Hi, came by via Follow Friday 40+. You've reeled me in with this post. Just gotta read more. :-)
Su-sieee! Mac
This and That. Here and There. Now, Sometimes Then.
- 1:19 am
- Knatolee said...
Kids say the darndest things! :))
- 8:34 am
- Java said...
Thanks for stopping by the Over 40 Bloggers I added your blog to the list!!
Thanks for joining the party!
Hope you get lots of followers from it! Including me!! Please follow me back if you haven't done so already!!
Be sure to come by on Sunday for the Meet Me On Monday Blog Hop!
Have a great day!!
- 10:46 am
- Melanie said...
LOL your kids sound so cute! :D
aka Smellyann
- 10:20 pm
- Tara R. said...
A double date at 10? You are in so much trouble.
- 10:03 am
- Jen said...
your kids are a riot! lol
despicable me was HYSTERICAL!
- 12:45 pm
- Tooje said...
I can only hope that my daughter gets after her father for being gross and dirty when she can talk. Send some of that my way, please!
- 11:36 pm
- Adrienne said...
Nice to meet you as well dropping in from FF and following along now...
- 9:43 pm
- Unknown Mami said...
Your daughter is HILARIOUS!
- 11:20 pm
- Doreen McGettigan said...
OMG kids are so funny! I am just dropping by to say hello from Over 40 and FF!
Have a positive week!
- 1:05 am
- Jadekitty said...
Your daughter sounds like an adorable character :) Thanks for stopping by my FF :)
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Amazing Race's Rob and Kelley: We Would've Given the Money Back
Nov 5, 2012 7:04 PM EST
Rob and Kelley got the boot on Sunday's Amazing Race, but the post-show hubbub isn't about their exit, but rather Natalie and Nadiya keeping James and Abba's money after finding it in a travel agency. "We couldn't believe that. We were shocked watchi… Read more


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Outdoor and landscape lighting solutions have evolved over the past decade, becoming more complex as they gain greater efficiency features to satisfy the latest codes and mandates. New light sources, more reliable and efficient ballasts that offer multi-voltage features, flexible light distribution systems, versatile control capabilities, and "networked" street lighting are just some of the latest advancements worth noting.
While the selection of outdoor area lighting equipment encompasses a broad range of applications and demands, the light source should be the first consideration. Common lamp types typically considered include: metal-halide (MH), high-pressure sodium (HPS), light emitting diode (LED), induction fluorescent, and light-emitting plasma (LEP). Along with energy efficiency and color performance of the light source, the light-generating technology is also a major factor when choosing a luminaire.
Mature Light Sources
The high-intensity discharge (HID) sources — MH and HPS lamps — are the most mature technologies. As such, they are the least expensive in this highly competitive market segment. Although HPS offers a long operating life and remains a viable choice, it has a restricted color rendering capability. Therefore, most of the interest focuses on the MH source.
With the development of even smaller arc tubes using ceramic material, MH lamps offer higher efficiency, smaller size, and improved color, as well as other performance features. Considered a cross between MH and HPS, ceramic metal-halide (CMH) lamps provide an energy-efficient, high lumen, point source with a high R9 factor, meaning they have the ability to render saturated red colors.
A CMH source served by an electronic ballast is an excellent choice for a variety of exterior applications. Some electronic ballasts for CMH lamps are also dimmable. In fact, some can quickly dim to 50% and back up to full light output, making them suitable for use with high/low occupancy sensors. Another breakthrough in high-wattage electronic HID ballasts is the adoption of a low-frequency square wave shape already popular in low-wattage CMH systems. The low-frequency square wave reduces lamp wear while boosting performance.
One advancement recently introduced into the market increases the operating hours between lamp replacements to 60,000 hr. The exterior luminaire contains two CMH lamps served by a single one-lamp ballast, which operates one lamp at a time. When the first lamp fails, the second one is energized, thus extending the maintenance interval.
Two recently developed systems using very compact MH lamps offer good optical control in new and retrofit luminaires. The first system is available in 45W, 60W, 90W, and 140W sizes. Mean lumen maintenance is approximately 85%, and end-of-life maintenance is also impressive. The second system is available in 210W and 315W ratings, and is designed to be a one-for-one replacement for existing 250W to 400W HPS and standard MH lamps. Lumen maintenance is 80% at 20,000 hr, and the color temperature options include 3,000K and 4,200K with a CRI greater than 90.
The entire family of HID lamps is increasingly becoming controllable — offering dimming capability using either step or continuous dimming systems. Magnetic ballasts can be step-dimmed, reducing the lumen output from "full" down to certain percentage of rated lamp power, usually 50%. For applications requiring more flexibility, continuous dimming can be performed using panel-level line voltage dimming units or dimmable electronic ballasts.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recommends that HID lamps not be dimmed below the recommended minimum stated in manufacturer's literature, because lamp life can be reduced — potentially voiding lamp warranties — while adversely affecting efficacy, color, and lumen maintenance.
New Light Sources
Recent advances in materials, packaging, and optical design for the LED light source make them prime choices in the street/parking lighting market. Although currently much more expensive than HID lamps, the LED source offers greater versatility with higher lumens per watt efficacy, longer life, and minimum maintenance costs. With attention to visual acuity becoming increasingly important, the LED source is now offered in a number of color temperatures, ranging from 2,700K to 6,000K.
Additionally, the LED source allows greater controls integration — everything from motion sensors and photocells to luminaires that self-diagnose and report energy savings to electric utility companies for rebates. Because LED roadway luminaires can be continuously dimmed while retaining their efficacy, the footcandle levels on the road surface can be infinitely adjusted to suit weather/atmospheric conditions; for example, lowering the light level on a rain slick highway or during a fog condition to give drivers improved visibility.
According to the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report, "Energy Saving Estimates of Light Emitting Diodes in Niche Lighting Applications," more than 53 million roadway lighting units (street and highway) across the United States could benefit from an upgrade. In addition, the DOE is actively promoting LED lighting by posting drafts of street lighting specification documents for street lighting buyers who are focused on solid-state lighting (SSL) projects.
Several other recently developed light sources are also noteworthy. The long life of the induction fluorescent lamp, which ranges from 65,000 hr to 100,000 hr, favors this source when optical control is not critical. Offering performance of 60 lm/W to 70 lm/W, induction lamps are available in a variety of wattages to replace HID sources.
Still another technology, LEP is a potential source for high-illuminance applications — specifically as a replacement for 400W and higher-wattage MH and HPS systems. This technology offers the same lumens while using about 40% less electric power. Furthermore, the LEP source has a projected 50,000-hr life at 70% lumen maintenance, and the lamps are available with a continuous color spectrum and a CRI of 75, 80, or 95.
An LEP system consists of a power supply, a driver (which is essentially a solid-state RF amplifier), and an emitter (a small glass tube containing gases and halides that is embedded in a ceramic puck). Of possible importance in outdoor locations, LEP offers excellent mesotopic and scotopic lumens, in which nighttime visibility is critical. Applications include high mast systems (where compactness of the fixture reduces wind load) and where optical control is necessary.
Energy Codes and Visual Needs
Commercial building energy codes continue to impose restrictions on outdoor lighting. The State of California's Title 24 energy code and the ASHRAE/IES 90.1 2010 energy standard go even further by requiring outdoor and parking garage lighting to be capable of bi-level switching. In addition, California Title 20 product regulations require 150W to 500W MH luminaires to achieve a certain level of ballast (or fixture efficiency) or employ automatic energy-saving lighting control.
Title 24 introduced the idea of lighting zones and energy use (power densities of the exterior lighting) in each of four zones. Zone 1 covers areas such as parks and wildlife preserves. Zone 2 covers rural areas, while urban areas fall into Zone 3. Zone 4 refers to special use facilities, such as a sports complex, which is determined by the local AHJ. The ideal is to state how much energy each zone should use.
Outdoor light pollution is addressed by The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) in a standard municipal ordinance regulating outdoor lighting. The standard was finalized in June 2011. Called the Model Lighting Ordinance (MLO), this document expands the lighting zone concept of Title 24, separating nonresidential and residential lighting and offering two compliance paths: prescriptive or performance. It also includes lighting controls.
Specifically, the MLO is concerned with wasteful upward light from outdoor sources that is scattered in the atmosphere and reflected back to Earth as glow (light going skyward that can obscure the nighttime view of stars), light trespass (light shining onto neighboring property), and source glare (excessive brightness that impairs or disables vision). The MLO document creates five different zones, from LS0 (zero lighting) to LS4 (high ambient lighting), and uses a simple prescriptive method.
To assist in categorizing luminaires, the MLO created a "BUG" rating system. This term refers to the Luminaire Classification System referenced in the IESNA TM-15-11 standard for describing a luminaire based on three prescriptive metrics: backlight (B), uplight (U) and glare (G). In each zone, based on degrees of light emitted and in what quantity, the luminaire receives a rating, with the lowest/worst rating being 5 and the highest/best being 0. Intended to replace the older cutoff classification, this rating system should prove more useful, and many of today's manufacturers publish the BUG ratings of their exterior area roadway and parking lot luminaires.
Electrical contractors should become familiar with the MLO as well as other local laws and ordinances, and should also understand why these laws and ordinances are being enforced. Only then will they be able to help design and install more effective and sustainable outdoor lighting systems.
Sidebar 1: Network-Based Control
Several lighting equipment manufacturers offer a network-based automated asset management system for roadway and street lighting that is accessed by a 2-way communications system. The receptacle/photo detector device on the top side of the luminaire, which automatically turns on the lights at dusk and off at dawn, is replaced with a device that monitors and controls the luminaire's performance — and is also a network node in a wireless network. Information from the device is sent via a wireless RF system to a local access point (AP). The AP aggregates information from hundreds of nodes and then communicates the data by means of either a wireless or wired network, back to a secure server at a network operations center (NOC).
Sidebar 2: Tips for Outdoor Lighting Design and Specification
- Obtain photometric information of the intended luminaire.
- If possible, obtain an actual luminaire and then make a bench-top examination of the optical components, the housing, the finish, and the maintainability of the components.
- If LED is the intended light source, find out the temperature range of the source; is an IES LM-80 test report available; what is the expected lifetime of the specific luminaire and how is it calculated? Is an IES LM-79 test report available from an independent third-party laboratory?
- What are the delivered lumens and lumen per watt of the luminaire?
What is the power factor of the luminaire, and what is the power consumption in
the "off" state?


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MSPP #127: The Troop Committeestevejb68 on February 25, 2013 in committee, Leadership, Nostalgia
The last two posts to the Melrose Scout Productions Podcast contained the first and second parts of an eleven year old Boy Scout Leader Fast Start Orientation vhs tape I have in my Scouting collection. This post features part three, the last part of that training tape which covers the Troop Committee. Who makes up the committee? What does the committee do? What are they responsible for? Are they really necessary? It is an excellent video that is still relevant to today's Scouting program.
I think it is fun to watch these old videos to see how, or if, Scouting has changed through the decades. What do you think about it? Have you seen this before? This is a great video to watch if you are new to the Boy Scout program.
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