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| This is a record of a successful nomination to become Staff.
Please do not edit the nomination, questions or comments sections of this page. Discuss on the talk page if neccessary.
I nominate User:Spaceeinstein to become a Moderator. Although he hasn't been here a massive amount of time, his/her high number of good quality edits, and thorough understanding of how the wiki works (from a user perspective), make them an ideal candidate for the moderator's job of patrolling the wiki and helping other users out. Gboyers talk 14:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- Spaceeinstein, please reply with whether you accept or decline this nomination, and why. If you do, also answer the questions below.
I accept this nomination. I want to make this wiki as best as I can possibly can.--spaceeinstein 22:54, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- Any user may ask a question here for the candidate to answer. Feel free to add extra questions based on their replies.
What do you think is the hardest thing for new editors to get the hang of (whether a technical skill, a policy or just the way we do things here); how would you spot they were having difficulty; and how would you help them? Maybe explain what was the hardest thing you've had to learn whilst being here? Gboyers talk 14:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- The hardest thing for new editors to get the hang of is writing about factual, relevant, and comprehensible information. People usually type in a casual way on the Internet, like not using correct spelling and grammar or going off topic. I would spot them having difficulty if they consistently type irrelevant information, worded information incorrectly, or having major grammatical errors. Usually I would edit the page to fix the errors but if they ask why I edit the way I edit I would reply what were their problems. The hardest thing I learned is to get used to the wiki notations instead of using HTML.--spaceeinstein 22:54, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
Becoming staff isn't a reward for good edits, it's a job and a respoinsibility. How do you feel you could help us, and why should we promote you to become a Moderator? Gboyers talk 14:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- I would like to improve the wiki in more ways that I couldn't do as a regular user. I will always try my best to make pages I create and edit be as informative and accurate as possible.--spaceeinstein 22:54, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
Are there any little tasks, jobs or vendettas you perform around the wiki that you are particularly proud of? Gboyers talk 14:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- I like to fix broken links if there is a link for it. If there isn't one but it's useful, I would create a page for one.--spaceeinstein 22:54, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
Could you give one example of what you think is one of the best pages on this wiki, and a brief explanation of why you chose that. It should probably be an informational article, but you could use a list or category or similar if you explain why. Gboyers talk 14:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- There are so many pages, the recent one that I like is Clothing in GTA Vice City. It is nicely detailed and is very clean.--spaceeinstein 22:54, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
Do you have any questions about the wiki, its staff or the role of a Moderator, or any final comments before we make our decision? Gboyers talk 14:55, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- Thank you for this nomination. This is such an honor for me.--spaceeinstein 22:54, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- Any user may leave a comment here, which will be considered before the decision is made.
- I made a vote before I made this comment but my view remains the same. I have seen the edits of Spaceeinstein and they are of a very high standard. I believe he would make a very successful member of staff --Aussiebushmatt 20:10, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
- I have read the nominations page and I am convinced spaceeinstain should be promoted
- Though I have never talked to User:Spaceeinstein I have seen his edit and they seem very informative for GTW.-User:BloodyGTA
- I daily watch this user make a large amount of good quality edits. This user is also a fast learner, as is reflected by the way he/she makes such quality edits after being here for a short amount of time. An example is that this user once manually moved a page (Cut & Paste), however, since I informed the user of the correct way to do this (contact a staff member), he/she has been responsible for many page moves (through talk pages and me actually making the moves), and the wiki could definitely benefit from this user having the "move" button, as well as the patrolling system/rollback. Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 07:55, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
- This user always shows good knowledge when he edits an article, and I'm all for having him as a member of the staff. --GTA 4 PC 16:19, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
- Spaceeinstein shows a thorough knowledge of GTA games, and appears to be editing in good faith. Also, another set of eyes helping out could never hurt ;) --GuildKnightTalk2me 04:44, 12 March 2009 (UTC)
- This section is for any user to formally list whether they are in favour of this promotion or not. Simply sign your name on a bullet point, add any comments into the comments section.
The decision is NOT a result of this vote, but the results will be taken into consideration by the Managers.
Users in support of this promotion:
- --Aussiebushmatt 15:17, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
- --Brettdude13 23:05, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
- --Owen1983 00:54 10 March 2009 GMT
- --User:BloodyGTA Marcel Lopes 00:12, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
- --Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 07:55, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
- --GTA 4 PC 16:19, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
- --GuildKnightTalk2me 04:44, 12 March 2009 (UTC)
Users not in support of this promotion:


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As an employer in North Dakota or one who has employees working in North Dakota, you are required to have coverage through North Dakota's Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI). If an employee becomes injured or was previously injured while on the job, the Employer section is the official source of information to help you understand your responsibilities as an employer, how to file a claim for workers' compensation, and to return your employees to work as quickly and safely as possible after the injury occurs. Please review the information under the Policyholders, Safety, Claims, Return-to-Work, and Resources sections to fully acquaint yourself with the options available through WSI.
If an employee has sustained a work-related injury, the Claims section will provide information on how to file a claim, the claim process, and the types of benefits available. In addition, this section will provide access to services to assist you if questions or concerns arise throughout the claim process.
WSI is the sole provider and administrator of the workers' compensation system in North Dakota. It is an exclusive, employer-financed, no-fault insurance state fund covering workplace injuries, illnesses, and death. As an employer or prospective employer, you must provide workers' compensation insurance coverage for employees working in North Dakota. Coverage is mandatory. The Policyholder section will provide you with information on WSI programs, coverage requirements, and financial information.
The goal of Return-to-Work Services is to return injured workers to employment with minimum retraining, as soon as possible after the injury occurs. WSI works to place injured workers back with employers at either pre-injury capacity, or by using transitional or modified work. The Return-to-Work section will provide information on Return-to-Work Services, transitional work, the importance of teamwork, and the Preferred Worker Program.
Safety is a critical component for both you and your employees while on the job to prevent work-related injuries. WSI promotes workplace safety by assisting employers in providing safe work environments for their workers. The Safety section will provide the basic information regarding workplace safety including WSI safety services, safety grants, and safety training and education.
WSI works to provide you with all the materials you will need if and when a workplace injury occurs. The Resources section supplements the other sections of the website to ensure you have all the necessary forms, documents, access to services, and more.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Profile image now plays an important role within the online classrooms. If a user has uploaded an image in their Profile, it will now display beside their name in the Classlist. The image will also display beside all Discussion posts. These features were added to help foster communication and community-building online. If no image has been uploaded, the default user icon is displayed.
Users' profile images in Classlist:
Author's profile picture in a discussion post:
Not all users will want to have their own picture displayed. Perhaps using an image of a pet, or something representative of a hobby would be more appropriate for these persons. The idea is to at least share something that others can relate to for each individual. For example, I have a miniature horse, so I use her picture as my Profile image (see above). Someone else may want to use the logo from their favorite sports team.


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Faster shopping
Know what you need? Our streamlined shopping experience offers:
- A faster lane to find everything on your list
- Improved custom product ordering
- Shopping by product category or application
- All of your ordering tools in one place
- The latest promotions
Enhanced support
Keep your research moving. Connect more quickly to the support tools you need, including:
- Searchable product FAQs
- Training courses for applications and instruments
- Technical references all in one place
- Webinars on a range of subjects
Easy-to-find content
Quickly find the information you need. Reorganized products and services content includes:
- More intuitive navigation
- Cleaner web layouts
- Expanded sections in clinical, sequencing, and human identification
- Quick access to selection guides and configurable tools
Elevated markets
See products and information specific to the work you do. Find innovative platforms and total workflow solutions on dedicated home pages for:


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Founded in 1983, the Gentest brand initially focused on the use of cultured human cells in GLP genotoxicity assays. In 1985, the company expanded research activities into the area of xenobiotic metabolism by developing cytochrome P450 cDNA-expression approaches. This led to the first commercial offering of cDNA-expressed human cytochrome P450 enzymes in 1990. Since that time, the range of Gentest offerings has increased dramatically, from recombinant systems to in vivo-like systems like primary hepatocytes. Now, as part of Corning Life Sciences, the Gentest offerings continue to grow, helping you stay on the leading edge of drug discovery and development.
Our scientists are internationally recognized as leaders and innovators in cytochrome P450 cDNA-expression, in vitro xenobiotic metabolism, and drug transporter techniques. Our demonstrated commitment to research has been rewarded by the receipt of several competitive NIH grants. The results and applications of our research are reported in peer reviewed journals and at international symposia by our scientists, colleagues, and customers interested in xenobiotic metabolism.


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Biological Sciences
Research Highlights
April 2012
Same Samples, Different Analytical Strategies, Complementary Inferences
Two approaches to further understanding of subsurface microbial communities published together
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists (from left) David Kennedy, Tom Resch, Xueju Lin, and Allan Konopka performing multi-level groundwater sampling at the Integrated Field Research Challenge Site, Hanford Site 300 Area. Enlarge Image
Results: The results of two separate but complementary analyses on 400 samples of Hanford Site groundwater appeared together in the journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology. The studies take different approaches, each providing unique insights that, when combined, result in a better understanding of what environmental forces affect the composition of microbial communities, and in turn, how those communities may influence the biogeochemistry of subsurface sediments.
In both studies, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory analyzed about 200,000 gene sequences from the groundwater's Bacteria and Archaea. Samples were taken from nine separate wells over a 10-month period. The first study analyzed the rate at which community composition changed over time and space. The results demonstrated that the intrusion of river water more than 200 meters (656 feet) inshore from the Columbia River impacted the composition of microbial assemblages. Consistent with the hydrodynamics of the aquifer, the effects were greatest near the top of the water table during the seasonal rise in the Columbia River.
In the second study, scientists combined tools typically used in plant ecology with a randomization approach, called a null model, to predict what happens to a microbial community under stochastic conditions. Stochastic conditions arise when all organisms are ecologically similar, which results in the random assembly of ecological communities. Approaching the data with a different set of statistical tools paid off. The team discovered that river intrusion can indeed impact microbial communities, but only when river intrusion is combined with specific geologic features. When those conditions are not met, microbial community composition changed stochastically through time.
Why It Matters: Microbial processes provide a wide variety of ecosystem services, including detoxification of contaminants, climate regulation, and bioprocessing to produce valuable products. Microorganisms in natural or engineered ecosystems rarely live alone, but instead function as integrated units—or communities—that process energy and materials and thereby affect their environment.
Despite their importance, scientists know little about microbial community function and behavior. By studying these communities, scientists can gain knowledge that will enable them to predict changes in microbial community dynamics during either natural cycles of change or environmental perturbations—such as climate change or pollution.
Methods: The samples used in both studies come from nine wells drilled into the unconfined subsurface aquifer at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in south-central Washington state. The wells are located 250 meters from the Columbia River on the Hanford Site, WA. The wells were screened at depths ranging from 10 to 17 meters that differed in hydraulic conductivities.
Dr. James Stegen, a PNNL Linus Pauling Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow who led the companion study, believes in starting at the top—the top of the microbial community system, that is. "I'm here to bring in a different perspective on microbial communities. A lot of work takes a bottom-up or reductionist approach where the system is taken apart and then put back together. I'm at the other end," said Stegen.
He added, "I strive to provide a complementary approach by starting at the top, so we can understand the big picture and see broad patterns. By working towards each other, bottom-up and top-down approaches can together provide systems-level understanding that transcends spatial and temporal scales."
Stegen applied tools from phylogenetic, or evolutionary, community ecology combined with null modeling to mimic stochastic behavior. "In short, the model takes the names at the tips of the phylogenetic tree and shuffles them to different locations," he said. "We then recalculate the community-level metrics. This gives us an expectation of what each community should look like when the assembly is stochastic. This is useful, because when you see a big difference between what's observed and what's expected from the null model, you know there's something deterministic in the system. In our particular study, it showed that river intrusion deterministically caused a shift in community composition."
The goal is to link Stegen's top-down approach with bottom-up approaches to better understand subsurface systems. To that end, both studies took place in the context of two DOE subsurface programs at the Hanford Site: the Integrated Field Research Challenge, and the Subsurface Scientific Focus Area.
Temporal variations in (a) water table elevation, estimated from river gauge data, (b) uranium, or (c) nitrate concentrations in groundwater at 10, 13, or 17 m. Sampling time points were grouped into five time clusters: T1-5. T3 and T4 represent samples taken before and after the Columbia River water intrusion, respectively. Stars on each x-axis indicate date of detectable river water intrusion (June 15) and peak of river water intrusion (June 26). Enlarge Image
The other study, led by former PNNL postdoctoral researcher Dr. Xueju Lin, involved sequencing and analyzing genes in the samples' Bacteria and Archaea to document factors controlling microbial spatial and temporal dynamics. The approach was to measure changes in groundwater microbial abundances and community composition over time and in distinct subsurface strata.
The spatial and temporal patterns for several genes associated with particular functions, such as methane oxidizers and metal reducers, suggest dynamic changes in fluxes of electron donors and acceptors over an annual cycle. In addition, temporal dynamics in the abundance of eukaryotic microbes suggest that bacterial community dynamics could be affected not only by the physical and chemical environment, but also by top-down biological control.
What's Next: Ecologists have recognized that the influx of groundwater into flowing surface waters, called the hyporheic zone, affects the ecology of streams. The results of these two studies are one of the first demonstrations that large river systems like the Columbia River may impact the biogeochemistry and microbial ecology of subsurface sediments. PNNL scientists will pursue a "whole systems" analysis of the hydrodynamics, geochemistry, and microbial functionality in the Columbia River's hyporheic zone to determine how these dynamics affect not just the composition of the microbial community but also its activity.
Acknowledgments: This research was supported by DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research, as part of the Subsurface Biogeochemistry Research Program's Scientific Focus Area and Integrated Field-Scale Research Challenge at PNNL. Stegen receives funding from the Linus Pauling Postdoctoral Fellowship program.
The research teams for both studies include Xueju Lin, Georgia Institute of Technology; James Stegen, James McKinley, Charles Resch, Rachael Kaluzny, James Fredrickson, and Allan Konopka, all PNNL; and Christian L Lauber and Rob Knight, University of Colorado.
Linn X, JP McKinley, CT Resch, RM Kaluzny, C Lauber, JK Fredrickson, RC Knight, and A Konopka. 2012. "Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of the Microbial Community in the Hanford Unconfined Aquifer." The ISME Journal 6(9):1665-1676. DOI:10.1038/ismej.2012.26.
Stegen JC, X Lin, A Konopka, and JK Fredrickson. 2012. "Stochastic and Deterministic Assembly Processes in Subsurface Microbial Communities." The ISME Journal 6(9):1653-1664. DOI:10.1038/ismej.2012.22.


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(FILES) Deon Grant (R) of the New York Giants tries unsuccessfully to stop the touchdown run by Aaron Hernandez (C) of the New England Patriots early in the second half of Super Bowl XLVI in this February 5, 2012 file photo at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hernandez is under police investigation in connection with the death of a man whom police are calling an "associate." Hernandez was initially uncooperative with police after the body of a 27-year-old man was found in an industrial park not far from the Patriots player's home, two law enforcement sources said. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY / FILESTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images ORG XMIT: NFL playe
TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/Getty Images
Copyright © 2019, Daily Press


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Thank you (MARIJUANA, 2008)
Can smoking marijuana cause a false positive hiv test??? A friend of mine told me today that he got a HIV test result back positive and asked me if smoking weed could generate a false positive as he has no symptoms and has always been healthy I have not found much on the matter so I thought I would ask here... what I had found so far is that the medicines they use for hiv generates false positives for marijuana use so I was wondering if that works both ways... thanks for any imput...
Nope. Marijuana does not cause false-positive HIV-antibody test results. (See below.) However, there are a number of things that can cause false-positive test results. You can read about these in the archives.
Good luck to you and your buddy.
Dr. Bob
Marijuana smoking and Hiv Testing Sep 26, 2008
Hi Dr Bob,
I have e-mailed you before and I have never gotten a response. I know you get a million questions a day, but could you please help answer mine. I am a regular marijuana smoker who is about to get my 3 month antibody test done in 3 weeks. I was wondering could smoking pot affect my test results? Should a negative test at 3 months be all I need. I have already tested negative at 4wks and 8wks with the antibody test. Please help!
Thank You.
Response from Dr. Frascino
Hey Stoner,
I haven't answered your previous questions, because I've already answered many very similar questions and those responses are readily available in the archives. I'll post a sampling below. So rather than sparking doobie after doobie, have a look at the archives.
Dr. Bob
HIV Test and Marijuana May 11, 2008
Hi Dr --
I have had several HIV tests over the past year but I also smoke Marijuana on a somewhat regular basis -- probably about once a month. I just would like to know if smoking marijuana can affect an HIV test (either orasure or a blood test).
Thanks much!
Response from Dr. Frascino
Once again a QTND (question that never dies) and an ATNC (answer that never changes). Once again I encourage all potheads, I mean gracious readers of this forum, to check the archives! See below!
Dr. Bob
Testing Sep 3, 2005
If i was to smoke marijuana the night befor an HIV test will it affect the result?. It has been about 8 weeks after unpretected sex and my glads are up also i have been getting headaches. should i wait till 3 months to get tested or get one now?
Response from Dr. Frascino
No worries, Stone-head. Even if you bonged all night, there is no way to be one toke over the line (Sweet Jesus) on your HIV test the next day. So, in a word, will Mary Jane screw up an HIV test? Nope.
As for when to test, HIV antibody tests taken prior to the three-month mark are not considered to be conclusive or definitive. So what to do for the next four weeks??? Perhaps eat massive quantities of pizza and ice cream in an impossible quest to quell the munchies.
Good luck and don't Bogart that joint!
Dr. Bob
marijuana (MARIJUANA, 2008) Dec 12, 2008
I no you are sick of this question. But my sister just got DX with Hiv and she is a smoker and has been for 15yrs. She is worried about it worsening her immune system.I no it obviously isn't good but is there been any findings oneway or another to which it can make her sicker? She is also Bi-polar to be honest it has always mellowed her out without making her a zombie like the meds they use to have her on as a child.Just want to know what you thought.Thank you.
Response from Dr. Frascino
My opinion on marijuana hasn't changed. Maui Wowie and related products do not compromise the immune system. The only potential health risk is that inhaling any type of smoke is not good for the respiratory track, from the sinuses all the way to the lungs. Despite many efforts to vilify marijuana, the science doesn't really support the vast majority of concerns once associated with sparking a doobie. See below.
Dr. Bob
Smoking Pot affecting HIV meds Dec 2, 2007
Hi, Dr. Bob
My lover is HIV+ for over 10 years now (I'm negative). He's undetectible and his t cell count is 278. He smokes marajuana several times a day. I would definitely say he's a major stoner. I'm curious to know what kind of effect that can have on the meds that he is taking.
Response from Dr. Frascino
Hi Lorenzo,
Wow, is your lover Willie Nelson? Bill Maher? No matter. There is no significant drug-drug (or drug-"herb") interaction between Mary Jane and HIV meds. That said, extremely heavy use can pose other problems, such as irritation to sinuses and respiratory tract, not to mention insatiable munchies and a strong urge to watch "I Love Lucy" reruns.
Dr. Bob
Atripla & Marijuana Mar 19, 2007
I just started on Atripla about a month ago and about a week after starting I began to smoke pot again, something I had been doing quite a bit of before I got sick. What I am concerned about is the amount of food I consume after smoking (munchies). It's in fact quite a bit. I've even almost gotten sick from how much I've eaten. I know the accompanying leaflet and my doctor and staff advised against taking my meds on a full or somewhat full stomach. The accompanying leaflet even states "empty stomach". I let my doctor know about the pot and he wasn't concerned as long as it was helping me put on weight. But I neglected to tell him that I wasn't taking my meds on an empty or somewhat empty stomach. What I'd like to know is if there has been any indication that Atripla is less effective if taken consistently on a full or somewhat full stomach. Also, is there any correlation between the meds (I'm currently taking Atripla as well as Sulfamethoxazole) and how much food I'm consuming after smoking. I never consumed this much having the munchies before. I guess I could switch to taking the pill during the am, but it in fact makes me tired and that would not be a good thing for my job. I just got on this medication and am currently having no side effects so I really would hate to ruin its effectiveness. Thank you for your time.
Response from Dr. Frascino
Atripla should indeed be taken on an empty stomach. Since this is only one pill once per day, don't you think it's possible to use your bong at times that won't have you breaking into your local Piggly Wiggly with munchies madness at exactly the same time you need to pop your once-a-day pill? I have no qualms about your sparking doobies in moderation, but just time them appropriately, OK? Now stop Bogarting that joint!
Dr. Bob
Smokin Weed part deux May 2, 2007
About your statement that there is no scientific data that smoking marijauna is harmful, ludacris. There may not be any data but I have many friends in their 20's toking away with significant hairloss, I wonder if there is any significant data about that? Also, I just saw on the news smoking tobacco the burning of an "organic substance", is attributed to the many diseases associated with smoking, from the tar which is also found in marijauna smoke. It also stated the risk of TB, which we all have a higher risk of with impaired immune system is higher, along with emphysema and many other lung problems. Now I do realize the appetite aspect of marijauna is invaluable to someone going through that situation, but other than that I don't see how you could just say there is no scientific data against smoking mary j. Marinol comes to mind, rather than saying toke away. There is plenty of data and plain old common sense and observation, whether or not it is acceptable sounds like more the case here. Thanks love your articles, weed capital of NC.
Response from Dr. Frascino
"Ludacris????" Isn't he a rapper? Other than being a stoner, what does he have to do with this topic? Perhaps you meant that my statement that there is no scientific data that smoking marijuana is harmful to HIVers was LUDICROUS!?!? Of course then you immediately go on to state "there may not be any data but . . . ." I could rest my case right there, but what follows is just too precious to pass up. "There may not be any data but I have many friends in their 20s toking way with significant hair loss . . . !!!!" Dude, that you have some Rogaine-Failures as buds who also happen to spark the occasional doobie doesn't constitute scientific data! At best, it a weak observational association, not a cause and effect relationship. Let me give you another observational association. Every fall birds in New England migrate south for the winter. Three weeks after they head south it snows in New England. By your type of "science," you could conclude migrating birds cause snow in New England! You see it happen every year, right? Birds fly south and then BINGO, it snows! Therefore birds cause snow. See what I mean?
Will sucking on a bong make you a cue ball? No, there is no scientific data to support this.
As to your other point about burning organic substances, tobacco leaves and marijuana leaves are two very different plants. Tobacco is the more deleterious due to its addictive potential and its documented relationship to lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. Can inhaling marijuana smoke have some deleterious effects? I would assume inhaling any type of smoke would not be beneficial to the sinuses and lungs; however, the question that was asked was whether lighting up the "occasional joint" would interfere with the efficacy of HIV medication. Once again I stick by my answer: there is no scientific data that I'm aware of indicating there are any HIV drug-marijuana interactions. Perhaps you would be more comfortable with a qualified statement, like there is no scientific data that smoking weed is any more harmful in HIVers than in the general population. (Note the biggest risk for all tokers remains getting caught by the ridiculous and indefensible inclusion of pot in our crazed "war on drugs.)
Yes, Marinol is synthetic THC and available by prescription. However, some folks don't respond as well to Marinol as to the "organic" variety of THC.
Hope that helps clarify things a bit.
Dr. Bob
grass and meds Apr 29, 2007
Hi, Thanks for your continued support and knowledge sharing. I'm currently taking Atripla and all my numbers look good. I don't drink, but would certainly enjoy and occasional joint (maybe both kinds). Does pot interfere with my meds efficacy? How about other types of HIV drugs - PI, etc? Thanks, Riley
Response from Dr. Frascino
Hi Riley,
No, I am not aware of any data that sparking a doobie interferes or interacts with HIV meds. Now stop bogarting that joint!
Dr. Bob
Herbal Healing Apr 9, 2007
Are there studies where marijuana is used to treat HIV?? I have a friend thats positive and since they have been smoking marijuana there viral load has decreased right now the viral load is less then 80 and there not on any meds.
Thanks alot
Response from Dr. Frascino
Hello Stoner,
Mary Jane as an HIV therapy? Gosh, wouldn't that be loverly?!? But alas, I'm afraid it's just a Fig Newton of your stoned-out imagination combined with a healthy dose of wishful thinking. That said, I certainly admit to being a strong proponent of medical marijuana. But we need to clarify exactly what marijuana can and can't do. Sparking a doobie can be helpful for some aspects of HIV/AIDS complications, including stimulating appetite, decreasing nausea and possibly even mitigating discomfort/pain; however, there is no evidence that it decreases HIV's ability to replicate, decreases HIV plasma viral load or increases CD4 counts. To make such claims would be, in my opinion, "one toke over the line, Sweet Jesus."
Now stop Bogarting that joint.
Dr. Bob


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Douglas F. Gansler
Douglas F. Gansler easily won election as attorney general in 2006 ran unopposed four years later, allowing him to amass a formidable campaign war chest. He grew up in Montgomery County and attended Sidwell Friends School in Washington. He graduated from Yale and the University of Virginia School of Law. He worked as a federal prosecutor before being elected Montgomery County state's attorney in 1998. As attorney general, he has focused on the environment and helped secure Maryland's share of a national mortgage fraud settlement. Advantages: With Mr. Franchot's departure, Mr. Gansler has the inside track on the pivotal Montgomery County vote. He has far more money in the bank than his prospective opponents — more than $4 million to Mr. Brown's $800,000, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. His foc
Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun
Copyright © 2019, The Baltimore Sun, a Baltimore Sun Media Group publication | Place an Ad


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To the question, "How much does this cost?" which of the following answers is/are grammatically correct (at least informally)?
- Two pound forty.
- Two pounds forty.
- Two pound forty penny.
- Two pounds forty penny.
- Two pound forty pence.
- Two pounds forty pence.
Is the answer the same if "pound/pounds/penny/pence" is replaced with "dollar/dollars/cent/cents"?


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Permian extinction, also called Permian-Triassic extinction or end-Permian extinction, a series of extinction pulses that contributed to the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history. Many geologists and paleontologists contend that the Permian extinction occurred over the course of 15 million years during the latter part of the Permian Period (299 million to 252 million years ago). However, others claim that the extinction interval was much more rapid, lasting only about 200,000 years, with the bulk of the species loss occurring over a 20,000-year span near the end of the period. The Permian extinction was characterized by the elimination of over 95 percent of marine and 70 percent of terrestrial species. In addition, over half of all taxonomic families present at the time disappeared. This event ranks first in severity of the five major extinction episodes that span geologic time.
Marine invertebrates
Shallow warm-water marine invertebrates, which included the trilobites, rugose and tabulate corals, and two large groups of echinoderms (blastoids and crinoids), show the most-protracted and greatest losses during the Permian extinction. Using the maximum number of different genera in the middle part of the Guadalupian Epoch (about 272.3 million to 259.8 million years ago) as a benchmark, extinction within marine invertebrate faunas significantly reduced the number of different genera by 12 to 70 percent by the beginning of the Capitanian Age some 266 million years ago. The diversity levels of many of these faunas plummeted to levels lower than at any prior time in the Permian Period. Extinctions at the boundary between the Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs (259.8 million to 252.2 million years ago) were even more severe—bordering on catastrophic—with a reduction of 70 to 80 percent from the Guadalupian generic maxima. A great many invertebrate families, which were highly successful prior to these extinctions, were affected.
By the early part of the Lopingian, specifically the Wuchiapingian Age (some 259.8 million to 254 million years ago), the now substantially reduced invertebrate fauna attempted to diversify again, but with limited success. Many were highly specialized groups, and more than half of these became extinct before the beginning of the Changhsingian Age (some 254 million years ago), the last age of the period. Marine invertebrate faunas during the Lopingian accounted for only about 10 percent or less of the Guadalupian faunal maxima; that is, about 90 percent of the Permian extinctions were accomplished before the start of the Changhsingian Age.
The series of extinction episodes that occurred during both the last stage of the Guadalupian Epoch and throughout the Lopingian Epoch, each apparently more severe than the previous one, extended over about 15 million years. Disruptive ecological changes eventually reduced marine invertebrates to crisis levels (about 5 percent of their Guadalupian maxima)—their lowest diversity since the end of the Ordovician Period. The final extinction episode, sometimes referred to as the terminal Permian crisis, while very real, took 15 million years to materialize and likely eliminated many ecologically struggling faunas that had already been greatly reduced by previous extinction episodes leading up to the terminal Permian crisis.
The Permian extinction was not restricted to marine invertebrates. Several groups of aquatic vertebrates, such as the acanthodians, thought to be the earliest jawed fishes, and the placoderms, a group of jawed fishes with significant armour, were also eliminated. Notable terrestrial groups, such as the pelycosaurs (fin-backed reptiles), Moschops (a massive mammal-like reptile), and numerous families of insects also met their demise. In addition, a number of groups (such as sharks, bony fishes, brachiopods, bryozoans, ammonoids, therapsids, reptiles, and amphibians) experienced significant declines by the end of the Permian Period.
Temperature crises
Although other single-event causes have been suggested, current explanations of Permian extinction events have focused on how biological and physical causes disrupted nutrient cycles. Hypotheses of temperature crises, especially of those occurring in shallow marine (surface) waters, are based in part on studies of oxygen isotopes and the ratios of calcium to magnesium in Permian fossil shell materials. The highest estimated temperatures of ocean surface waters (estimated to be 25–28 °C [about 77–82 °F]) until that time occurred during the end of the Guadalupian Epoch and the beginning of the Lopingian Epoch. Subsequently, by the end of the Lopingian Epoch, calcium-to-magnesium ratios suggest that water temperatures may have dropped to about 22–24 °C (about 72–75 °F), decreasing further during the very beginning of the Triassic Period. One hypothesis proposes that water temperatures greater than 24–28 °C (about 75–82 °F) may have been too warm for many invertebrates; only those specialized for high temperatures, such as those living in shallow lagoons, survived.
Another temperature-related hypothesis posits that photosynthetic symbionts, which may have lived within the tissues of some marine invertebrates, were unable to survive the higher ocean temperatures and abandoned their hosts. Some of the data have been interpreted to show that an increase in seawater temperature of about 6 °C (10.8 °F) occurred—perhaps increasing the overall temperature of seawater to about 30–32 °C (about 86–90 °F)—near the Permian-Triassic boundary.
Alteration of the carbon cycle
The ratio between the stable isotopes of carbon (12C/13C) seems to indicate that significant changes in the carbon cycle took place starting about 500,000 to 1,000,000 years before the end of the Permian Period and crossing the boundary into the Induan Age (the first age of the Triassic Period). These changes appear to coincide closely with two Permian extinction events, suggesting some cause-and-effect relationship with changes in the carbon cycle.
Several studies have suggested that changes in the carbon isotope record may indicate a disrupted biological cycle. Some scientists consider the unusually high amounts of 12C trapped in Permian sediments to be a result of widespread oceanic anoxia (very low levels of dissolved oxygen). They associate this anoxia with the prolonged eruption of the Siberian flood basalts (the so-called Siberian Traps), which probably led to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Clouds of volcanic ash may have worsened the situation by restricting the amount of sunlight available for photosynthesis, thereby inhibiting the process of carbon fixation by plants and lowering the extraction rate of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In addition, high amounts of carbon dioxide may have been injected into the atmosphere by the venting of volcanic gases from the eruption of flood basalts, combined with the ignition of large coal seams, or by the burning of forests by hot lava. Other hypotheses suggest that the warming and drying of the terrestrial environments during the Permian Period reduced the amount of organic matter buried in sediments as coal or petroleum, shifting the amount of organically fixed carbon dioxide that was recycled through the atmosphere.
Population explosion of methane-producing microbes
Research in 2014 raised the possibility that the rapid blooming of archaea called Methanosarcina, which evolved the ability to manufacture methane (CH4) near the end of the Permian Period, may have played a significant role in the dramatic rise in Earth's ocean temperatures and changes to the planet's carbon cycle. A sudden increase in methane in the atmosphere is thought to result in warming temperatures, ocean acidification, and other changes to the carbon cycle. Geologic evidence suggests that the uptake of carbon dioxide in the oceans and the deposition of carbon in ocean sediments near the end of the Permian was far greater than that which could have been caused by eruptions of the Siberian Traps alone. In addition, the discovery of substantial nickel deposits in China that have been dated to that time implicates the role of Methanosarcina in the Permian extinction. Nickel has been shown to be a limiting nutrient for Methanosarcina, and the substantial availability of the element, released during volcanism, near the end of the period is hypothesized to have been responsible for the population explosion of the microbe whose metabolic processes added large amounts of methane to the atmosphere.
Other potential causes
Beyond the various temperature hypotheses and the eruptions of the Siberian flood basalts, other causes of Permian extinction events have been considered. Some authorities suspect that the Permian extinction was caused by the assembly of Pangea, a vast north-south supercontinent. It is thought that several shallow-water marine basins—the primary habitat of most marine invertebrates—were destroyed as the continental plates moved toward one another. In addition, the creation of such an extensive north-south landmass changed the courses of ocean currents and thus altered regional climates. Although these factors certainly played a role in the demise of some species, Pangea was fully assembled by the first half of the Permian, whereas the mass extinctions did not begin until the final 15 million years of the period. Other scientists contend that the Permian extinction was the result of a bolide (meteorite or comet) impact that occurred near the end of the Permian Period; however, that hypothesis is the subject of much debate.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
Triassic Period: Triassic life…the Earth's third and largest mass extinction episode, which occurred immediately prior to the Triassic. As a result, Early Triassic biotas were impoverished, though diversity and abundance progressively increased during Middle and Late Triassic times. The fossils of many Early Triassic life-forms tend to be Paleozoic in aspect, whereas those…
extinction: Mass extinctions…
Permian Period
Permian Period, in geologic time, the last period of the Paleozoic Era. The Permian Period began 298.9 million years ago and ended 252.2 million years ago, extending from the close of the Carboniferous Period to the outset of the Triassic Period.…
Species, in biology, classification comprising related organisms that share common characteristics and are capable of interbreeding. This biological species concept is widely used in biology and related fields of study. There are more than 20 other different species concepts, however. Some examples include the ecological species concept, which describes a…
geologic time
Geologic time, the extensive interval of time occupied by the geologic history of Earth. Formal geologic time begins at the start of the Archean Eon (4.0 billion to 2.5 billion years ago) and continues to the present day. Modern geologic time scales additionally often include the Hadean Eon, which is…
More About Permian extinction2 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- mass extinctions
- Triassic life


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Established in 1664 and redesigned in 1880, "the Green" offers a glorious respite in the center of Dublin at the foot of Grafton Street. At only 22 acres it is considerably smaller than its 1,750 acre sister, Phoenix Park, but if you need a break from the noise and bustle of the city center, it is the perfect spot. Here are a few shots to give you a sense of the place; I hope you enjoy them. As usual, click on the photos to view a larger version. Cheers! Jennifer
|Street sign on the north side of the green
|Approaching the west end of the lake
|View from the Summer House
|A park map (in the shade)
|Fountain in the Victorian Floral Gardens
|Victorian Floral Gardens
|The stone bridge
|A view from the stone bridge
|On the north side of the green a spot to water your horse...
|...or yourself
|A horse and carriage, in case you need a lift


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Thomas Brandstetter
Prof. Thomas Brandstetter is a widely-recognized industrial cybersecurity expert, with 20 years of experience.
Thomas started his Infosec career as a security engineer and penetration tester at Siemens, working on everything ranging from single controllers to entire industrial control and energy automation solutions. Consequently, Thomas became the founder of the Siemens Hack-Proof Products program, their earliest secure product development initiative. This job also led to his role as the appointed lead Stuxnet incident handler for Siemens in 2010. After having worked in both offensive and preventive security, he went into response and founded the Siemens Product Cyber Emergency Readiness Team, which is still one of the most effective industrial vulnerability and incident response teams worldwide today.
Since 2013, he is the founder and managing director of Limes Security, a well-established European cyber security company specializing in top-class industrial security consulting and secure software development coaching.
Thomas has a passion for teaching security courses, as he is convinced that demand continues to outstrip available workforce by far. On the professional side, he is sharing his infosec experience as instructor at the prestigious SANS technology institute, where he has been teaching industrial control system security courses throughout Europe and the Middle East since 2015.
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When not in classroom, Thomas still likes to spend as many days as possible in projects, supporting industrial vendors and operators to ramp up their security posture, where he has helped to establish and improve numerous industrial security programs and PSIRTs for multinational corporations.
Thomas presented at top-level security conferences such as Blackhat USA, Blackhat Europe, BSI Conference and SANS ICS summits. Besides speaker engagements, Thomas likes to actively contribute to the security community. He helped to establish the ICS villages at DEFCON and BruCON as well as the hackerspace Segmentation Vault. He is conference chair of the industrial control system cyber security research (ICS-CSR) conference series, program committee member of the ARES as well as SANS ICS conferences and director of the program committee of the annual IT Security Community Exchange (ITSECX) conference series.
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Mark Bristow
Mark Bristow was born to work in information security as he found his first bug in an ICS system at the age of 10. As a teen, he had a passion for technology and spent a lot of time exploring the possibilities of his computer and the nascent internet. Once he realized he could make a career out of this passion, he jumped at the opportunity and earned a Computer Engineering degree from Penn State.�
Mark loves the ever-changing landscape of security and views it as a puzzle that must be solved. He especially loves the challenges in ICS security as defending the systems where cyber meets physical means there is no greater success than a safe and effective process.
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Mark has been on the front lines of headline grabbing incident response efforts such as the attack on the Ukrainian power grid, intrusions into US election infrastructure and Russian attempts to gain access to the U.S. power grid.� Mark is a frequent speaker on industrial control systems security issues worldwide.
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Jason Christopher
Jason D. Christopher is the Chief Technology Officer for Axio. His responsibilities include providing technical leadership on security and resilience issues relevant to Axio, its partners, and clients, and the development of all Axio technology platforms for security metrics and benchmarking.
Prior to Axio, Jason led the research for cybersecurity metrics and information assurance at the Electric Power Research Institute. Previously, he was the technical lead for cybersecurity capability and risk management at the US Department of Energy, where he managed the Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems Operations program, which included the Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model and other collaborative efforts. Jason also served as the program lead for both Critical Infrastructure Protection Standards and Smart Grid Security at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Mr. Christopher has worked on a variety of infrastructure projects, particularly in the field of industrial control systems design and implementation. He has also researched and designed technology systems across multiple industries, including energy, water, transportation, and communications. He has been a representative on the Federal Smart Grid Task Force, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee (CIPC), and other technical committees.
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Outside of the workplace, Jason focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education issues. He has lectured at several universities across the country and developed cross-disciplinary courses focusing on resilience, sustainable energy, and community design.
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Tim Conway
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Before accepting the opportunity to join SANS, Tim enjoyed a 15-year career with NIPSCO where he held management and leadership positions as well as EMS Computer Systems Engineer responsibilities over the control system servers and the supporting network infrastructure. During his career, Tim has served as the Chair of the RFC CIPC, Chair of the NERC CIP Interpretation Drafting Team, Chair of the NERC CIPC GridEx Working Group, and Chair of the NBISE Smart Grid Cyber Security panel.
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Jason Dely is responsible for leading the critical infrastructure and industrial control systems (ICS) security practice for Cylance. Prior to joining Cylance, Jason held many roles at Rockwell Automation where he assisted clients with their research, design, integration, testing and response activities across a variety of application, security and infrastructure initiatives. During this time, Jason gained in-depth ICS product, protocol and operational experiences that are invaluable when it comes to evaluating and building defenses within critical infrastructure organizations. His security passion over the past 18 years of experience with ICS is founded upon balancing business requirements against people, process and technologies unique to each organization to ensure their operations are safe, reliable and secure.
Jason frequently speaks at industry events to share his knowledge of the technical operations and integration challenges one faces when securing ICS systems. Likewise, Jason is knowledgeable in the practical application of security standards, guidelines and publications; for example, ISA99, ISA/IEC 62443, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, NIST SP 800 Series, NERC CIP, CPwE, CIS CSC 20.�
With a comprehensive understanding of the industry's technical and operational security challenges, Jason has effectively spearheaded multiple engagements surrounding security assessment, implementation, research and response activities spanning Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). In addition, Jason has provided turn-key security improvement solutions for many industries which include the assessment, design and integration of an entire SCADA platform and infrastructure (networks, firewalls, VPN, DMZ applications, jump hosts, virtual server environments, virtual desktop environments).
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Paul A. Henry
Paul Henry is a Senior Instructor with the SANS Institute and one of the world's foremost global information security and computer forensic experts with more than 30 years of experience covering all 10 domains of network security. Paul began his career in critical infrastructure / process control supporting power generation and currently manages security initiatives and incident response for Global 2000 enterprises and government organizations worldwide.
Paul is a principal at vNet Security, LLC and is keeping a finger on the pulse of network security as the security and forensic analyst at Lumension Security and as a retained security expert for multiple financial and healthcare firms.
Throughout his career, Paul has played a key strategic role in launching new network security initiatives to meet our ever-changing threat landscape. Paul also advises and consults on some of the world's most challenging and high-risk information security projects, including the National Banking System in Saudi Arabia, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Department of Defense's Satellite Data Project (USA), and both government as well as telecommunications projects throughout Southeast Asia.
Paul is frequently cited by major and trade print publications as an expert in perimeter security, incident response / computer forensics and general security trends and serves as an expert commentator for network broadcast outlets, such as FOX, NBC, CNN, and CNBC. In addition, Paul regularly authors thought leadership articles on technical security issues, and his expertise and insight help shape the editorial direction of key security publications, such as the Information Security Management Handbook, where he is a consistent contributor. Paul serves as a featured and keynote speaker at seminars and conferences worldwide, delivering presentations on diverse topics including anti-forensics, network access control, cyber crime, DDoS attack risk mitigation, perimeter security, and incident response.
Listen to Paul discuss "Incident Response and Forensics in the Cloud" in this SANS webcast that every DFIR professional should listen to.
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Billy Rios
Billy is an accomplished author and speaker. Billy is recognized as one of the world's�most respected experts on emerging threats related to Industrial Control Systems (ICS),�Critical Infrastructure (CI), and medical devices. He discovered thousands of security�vulnerabilities in hardware and software supporting ICS and critical infrastructure. He�has been publically credited by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over 50 times�for his support to the DHS ICS Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT). �
Billy is the Founder of WhiteScope LLC which is known as a leading provider of deep security research, world class advisory services, and innovative security solutions. �Prior to venturing into entrepreneurship, Billy served in a number of roles that demonstrated increasing responsibility and security expertise.�
As the Director of Vulnerability Research and Threat Intelligence with Qualys, Billy led the development of product offerings for vulnerability research, threat intelligence, ICS/SCADA, and embedded security. Before Qualys,�Billy led the Google front-line response for externally reported�security issues and incidents. �Prior to Google, Billy was the Security Program Manager at�Internet Explorer (Microsoft). �During his time at Microsoft, Billy led the company's�response for several high-profile incidents, including the response for Operation Aurora. Before Microsoft, Billy worked as a penetration tester, an intrusion detection analyst,�and served as an active duty Marine Corps Officer.
Billy currently holds an MBA from Texas A&M University-Commerce and a Master of Science in Information Systems from Hawaii Pacific University. �He was a�contributing author for several publications including: Hacking, the Next Generation�(O'Reilly), Inside Cyber Warfare (O'Reilly), and The Virtual Battle Field (IOS Press).
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Before Audi, Kai worked for more than 12 years in the steel industry at the engineering company SMS Group, where he designed and implemented defensible LANs for enterprise and ICS environments in-house as well as for customers'�plants. The steel industry was also where Kai delved into Network Security Monitoring and DFIR, building security monitoring solutions for company and customer sites and performing incident response in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
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These things take time and lots of work so don't expect to see it before the end of this year.
The new Rigol function generator you got is half the price of a comparable Agilent unit. Rigol makes some pretty good stuff.
Great tip on the MOSFETS! Roger is a friend of mine.
Thanks again for sharing such an awesome project!
I wonder if they raised their prices because of the earthquake in Japan?ReplyDelete
The last time I checked, they had between 2500 and 3000 in stock. They were $3.00 when I started this project and shot up in price because of greediness.ReplyDelete
Newark has them for $4.92 each as long as you buy more than ten. They drop to $3.92 in quantities above 100. If several people go in on an order of these MOSFETS, they can take advantage of the quantity discount.ReplyDelete
sorry for poor English, I use Automatic translator for Google.
looked at with interest your progress.
You - well done!
which results in welding of gold?
Did I try?
at work I use PUK, really want to own the same, but expensive.
began to do only the capacitor model, but realized that this is not enough to control the shape and length of pulses
if I can design an analog PUK?
can show the picture?
using argon?
Yours sincerely,
Michael,I have not tested it on gold yet. I don't know if you mean "I" or "you" but if you designed one you can send it to my email firstname.lastname@example.com. If you have information about the pulses they use, I will appreciate some information.ReplyDelete
sorry, no information about the characteristics of the pulse.
PUK new, under warranty, sealed.
opening is not possible.
We use argon. with welding result is better.
less gas in the weld
to design your solenoid thought that argon can be used?
How about using IRFP3077PBF as a substitute or even IRFP4368PBF. The former looks a close substitute. The latter, per IR, is an upgrade with a higher current rating and lower Rds (1.85mOhms vs 4.5 mOhoms). Would it be practical to use 10 in parallel and reduce the cost some? The overall resistance would be comparable and current handling slightly reduces (3500A vs 3800A by my quick calcs)
And it looks like these parts are more readily available.
The IRFP4368PBF will definitely work. Its a little more expensive and will cost about the same for 10. Installing 10 will make life a little easier. I'm not so sure about the IRFP3077PBF though. It will not work in the charging circuit for this welder.ReplyDelete
What would be a problem with using a "hybrid" capacitor. I tried a Legacy 3.0 Farad and an Absolute 3.5 Farad but both measured below 0.65 Farad. A Boss 3.5 Farad measured less than 0.1 Farad and was 4" in diameter. Hybrid capacitors are smaller and my welder has a 3" thickness or diameter limit. If a hybrid cap managed to measure 5, 6 or 8 Farad, what would be the adverse impact on the welder. Blown mosfets maybe? Last resort is a complete remounting of the internal components to accomodate a larger physical diameter cap, assuming I can find a true 3 Farad the welder was designed for.
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Best Cruise Shipsby Paul Motter | 07.03.12
The best ships for solo cruising, romance, travel, relaxation, entertainment, food, pampering, bargains and families.
There is a perfect cruise ship for everyone, no matter what their personality, budget, relationship status or demographics -- whether they are solo cruisers, a young couple, empty nesters, or senior citizens planning a family vacation for the entire brood.
As a cruise industry expert and columnist, I have selected a few ships below that I consider to be best for different kinds of people - based on the onboard ambience, cuisine, entertainment, and of course, price.
In making these "best ship" selections, I evaluate the ships' attributes and average prices to come up with a combined "cruise value" equation. However, sometimes the most expensive cruise lines are simply the best in a given category - so I will tell you when that is the case and try to suggest a more affordable option.
Solo Cruisers
Despite the implications of shows like "The Love Boat," single people are simply not a target market for most cruise lines. They only sell cruises on a "per person, double occupancy" basis, meaning two people sharing a stateroom and each paying the full cruise fare. Normally, a solo cruiser has to pay a "singles supplement" equal to the cost of the empty bed in the room. The singles supplement is usually set as "200% the regular cruise fare," which is a little confusing, but just understand that represents your total fare, not a supplement to your regular fare.
One ship, Norwegian Epic (Norwegian Cruise Line/NCL), has a large number (128) of studio staterooms designed for solo cruisers. They are not as cheap as one of the beds in a room for two, but they cost less than the typical singles supplement. They all share a public "living room," giving solo cruisers a way to meet aboard the ship for meals, shows, etc.
One of the bigger cruise ships at sea, Norwegian Epic has great entertainment like comedy and live music clubs, dance parties, and top shows like Blue Man Group.
Norwegian is currently building two new ships; the first, to come in April 2013, will be called Norwegian Breakaway, based in New York City. These new ships will also have singles' studio staterooms - and great entertainment.
For ships with no single staterooms, you can look for a roommates to share a cabin. One option is to use the "seeking cruise companion" forum at CruiseMates. Another is to join a singles group cruise offered by companies that specialize in these. Just Google "singles cruises."
Does this article seem helpful to you? Tell us in our forums.
Romantic Cruises
The most romantic cruises are low-key and private, with a lot of free time for relaxing together with quiet dinners, spa treatments, hot tubs, and staterooms with nice TVs for watching romantic movies.
I recommend the "premium" cruise ships like those in Celebrity's newer Solstice class. These ships are beautifully decorated; they have several restaurants for romantic dining, and staterooms have big beds with big screen TVs for romantic movies.
The spas services are top-notch. One pleasant and affordable option is the thermal suite -- a cozy place with steam baths, heated chairs, hot tubs and saunas where you pay one price as a couple for the entire cruise and you can stop in whenever you want.
Other romantic cruise lines include Windstar, Azamara and Oceania Cruises - all with comfortable staterooms, great food and beautiful surroundings, but these lines also feature plenty of ports for more adventurous travelers.
People who want to see the world often unthinkingly rule out cruise ships for their trips. But there are many amazing places best reached by ship; the Caribbean, Galapagos and Greek Isles come to mind. You can eat and sleep comfortably each night and wake up refreshed for a different destination every day.
The best cruises for travelers visit a different port of call daily -- except when a port demands more than one day (like Venice, Italy, or St. Petersburg, Russia). Oceania Cruises is my top pick, especially its new ships, Marina and Riviera. Azamara Cruises also features port-a-day itineraries, generally in Europe in the summer and the Caribbean or South America in the winter.
River cruises on the Nile (Egypt), the Danube or Rhine (Europe) or the Seine (France) are also wonderful ways to see charming and historic places. One big benefit of river cruises is that most shore excursions are included in the cruise price.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises is a top luxury cruise line - but pricey. Still, it is excellent for travelers because it also includes most tours in the cruise fare, as well as pre-cruise hotels, gratuities, and all beverages like wine with dinner. This line's ships go to very exotic destinations, and with shore excursions included, you are likely to see more than you planned.
For people who love nature, an expedition cruise in Alaska on Innersea Discoveries Cruises offers encounters with magnificent glaciers and beautiful and exotic sea creatures.
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For pure relaxation, nothing beats a plush cruise ship with posh staterooms, quiet and languid surroundings, and few activities. For the more budget-minded, I recommend the older ships of premium cruise lines like Princess and Holland America. These ships, built in the 1990s, are relatively small and uncrowded, and feature simple diversions like movies in a theater with free popcorn, libraries with DVD rentals, and comfortable but utile staterooms.
For a more upscale and relaxing experience, try a longer cruise with many days at sea on a luxury line like Seabourn. The days at sea beyond the horizon are like escaping to another planet. Time passes slowly when the highlights include reading a good book, eating meals and taking naps.
For the most authentic sea escape, try the sailing ships of Royal Clipper cruises. These wind-powered clipper ships (yes, they also have engines) are so quiet that all you hear is the creak of the timbers punctuated by an occasional snap of the sails when the wind changes direction. The gentle rocking of the boat is the world's best natural soporific, and you will be napping daily before you know it.
Best Cruise Entertainment
The best cruise ship entertainment is on the newest and biggest ships. You cannot go by cruise line only -- you have to select specific ships, as below.
NCL's Norwegian Epic has shows like Blue Man Group, Second City Comedy, Howl at the Moon dueling pianos, a blues bar, and a "cirque dinner show with tightrope walking and juggling." I highly recommend it for couples in their 30s through 50s and families with younger kids.
Disney Dream or Disney Fantasy. The newer Disney ships offer amazing stage shows, first run Disney movies in state-of-the-art 3-D, special activities for kids and adults of all ages, plenty of fun games, and even mealtime diversions like "Animator's Palate," where you become an animator with a working cartoon character over the course of your meal. Highly recommended for families.
Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas. These two -- the biggest ships in the world -- are recommended for extended families including seniors and kids of all ages. The entertainment starts with real Broadway book versions of Hairspray (Oasis) or Chicago, the Musical (Allure). There are also "Ice Capades"-style shows with world-class skating acrobats, and an outdoor "AquaTheater" with water shows created by the people who worked with Cirque Du Soleil and other award winning aqua-productions. These ships also have an affiliation with DreamWorks Animation to show first-run 3-D films like Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, etc.
For adult "enrichment" programs -- including lectures; classes in music, language and computers; vast libraries; movie theaters and more, the two best lines are Crystal and Cunard Line, especially the transatlantic voyage on the latter's Queen Mary 2.
Any questions or comments on this article? Tell us in our forums.
Best Cruise Food
The best cruise cuisine I have tried is on the brand new ships of Oceania Cruises, Marina and Riviera. Technically, these ships are not considered to be in the luxury category, simply because they do not include alcohol or gratuities in the cruise fare. But the cuisine, under the guidance of iconic chef Jacques Pepin, is perfection. There are six restaurants to choose from, and none carry a cover charge. You can also take cooking classes sponsored by Bon App�tit Magazine and have your own kitchen workstation.
In the luxury category, my vote for best food goes to Crystal. This line serves traditional menu items with top-quality ingredients -- filet mignon, lobster, veal, sea bass, etc. Do not miss the specialty restaurant Nobu, named for chef Nobu Matsuhisa, who gained fame by melding traditional sushi with the raw seafood dishes of South America like ceviche.
Best Cruise Pampering
The best cruise pampering, where you want for nothing, comes on Crystal Cruises. On Crystal ships, if you even appear bored your butler will offer to bring you a caviar snack (with full accoutrement) or possibly draw you a bath in your stateroom's Jacuzzi-style tub. Silversea is also in this category as the only cruise line that supplies a butler with every cruise. Both are all-inclusive -- and top-dollar -- luxury cruise lines.
The best spa services are on Celebrity Cruises, where you can book an Aqua Spa suite for your entire cruise with access to the thermal suite, fresh flowers and fruit around the clock, spa services like couples' massages and mud baths, and your own spa-inspired restaurant for a week of healthy eating. They even offer acupuncture.
Best Cruise Bargains
The best bargains are relative, depending on your budget. If you want a top-notch luxury cruise experience at a cheaper price, book a "repositioning" cruise on Regent, Seabourn or Crystal. The lines use these cruises to relocate their ships from South America to Europe, for example, so they often have long itineraries with plenty of restful days at sea.
"Bang for your buck" cruises are on Holland America. This classy cruise line with smaller ships often has cabins on sale at prices competitive with mass-market lines like Carnival. But these are very comfortable and elegant ships with high quality service, short lines, and plenty of room by the pool.
The least expensive cruises of all will be found on the older ships of Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and Carnival - but these are not the same fun ships with top quality entertainment we described above. They are smaller ships with decent food and good entertainment, but nothing that will blow your socks off. Still, when you can get a seven-day balcony cruise for less than $80 per person, per day, then who is complaining?
Any questions or comments on this article? Tell us in our forums.
Best Family Cruises
The best family cruises are on Disney, if the idea is to keep the kids so busy and happy they won't bother you for anything the entire cruise. There are so many kids' supervised activities on Disney ships that your offspring might forget you are on board.
A close second would be the mega-ships of Royal Caribbean -- Oasis and Allure of the Seas. We described the entertainment above, but they also have sports activities for teens like Flo-rider surfing, miniature golf, zip-lining, rock climbing, water slides, and pools. There are lots of kids' activities with DreamWorks characters, a huge casino for mom and dad, nightclubs with live dance music, about 20 different restaurants with a variety of culinary styles, "parades" in the main indoor atrium, special event parties, and lots more.
Best for Young Adults
If you are in your 20s or 30s, married or single, and you just want a fun getaway with great food, good fun, beer and music, we recommend the newer ships of Carnival. They are almost always a great value, and the food is far better than you might expect. The entertainment may not include "name" shows, but it is top quality, fast-paced and lively. There is a reason why Carnival's fleet is known as the "Fun Ships" -- there is always something surprising happening, and the crew gets involved with the fun. These are not ships where the help steps back to let you make a fool out of yourself; these crew members will be right there making fools of themselves with you.
That's it - the best cruise recommendations we have for all cruisers. I hope you found something in here that appeals to you.
Any questions or comments on this article? Tell us in our forums.


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Welcome to CCPTP
Since 1975, the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (CCPTP) has had two important functions. One has been to represent the interests of counseling psychology in virtually any forum that might affect training. The second has been to support its members by disseminating training-relevant information and by providing a vehicle to communicate with one another.
Qualified counseling psychology programs have institutional membership in CCPTP and are represented by Training Directors, who hold voting privileges. But individual faculty members also may join CCPTP as nonvoting members. In so doing, they have access to CCPTP services and activities. Membership information can be found in the Manual of Policies and Procedures.
The purpose of this web page is to provide access to important CCPTP documents as well as to other information relevant to counseling psychology training.


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Yearly Archives: 2008
Birthday Wishes!
We just received a great birthday party idea that I wanted to share with you. One of our fans, Katie, recently turned 7 and wanted a "Hopkins Party". Here's what Mom, Starr, wrote to us: I'll just admit it… I'm
Don't Miss Out on Our Holiday Specials
Don't know about our Super Holiday Specials yet?? If you missed out on receiving the latest promotional email, we have some pretty nifty promotions going on beginning Friday, November 28th. Here's a list of what we have going on: Friday,
Signing Time Songs available on iTunes
Just wanted to let you all know that all the Signing Time Songs are available for download on iTunes, Amazon Mp3, Rhapsody and Napster. Remember that in order for you to download the songs from iTunes, you will need to
Sign language articles
Just in case you missed it, there are several articles on the web talking about the benefits of using sign language with your babies. We have also put together additional research about the benefits of using sign language with babies.
Sign Cheese
We received this cute email the other day and wanted to share it with you all. Dear Signing Time, We had some pictures taken of my 17- month old Emily last week, and when the photographer asked her to say


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Storage for VMs and Containers
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Blog Post : Top 7 persistent storage capabilities for running Docker containers
Docker Containers and DevOps make apps portable but also strain infrastructure in new ways. Are you ready for these new IT challenges? Learn the top 7 persistent storage capabilities needed to containerise enterprise apps.
Webinar : Current state of storage in the container world
The first wave of adoption of container technology was focused on micro services and ephemeral workloads. The next wave of adoption won't be possible without persistent, shared storage. This webcast will provide an overview of Docker containers and the inherent challenge of persistence when containerising traditional enterprise applications. We will then examine the different storage solutions available for solving these challenges and provide the pros and cons of each.
Podcast : Live at HPE Discover – HPE experts discuss container solutions and use cases
Live at HPE Discover – HPE experts discuss container solutions and use cases
Analyst Report : 415 Research: Enterprise DevOps and Application Containers
For effective IT modernisation, enterprises must embrace new approaches to DevOps and application containers. Read more about the risk of excluding data and storage.
Solution Brief : HPE Nimble Storage Solution for VMware vSphere
HPE Nimble Storage Solution for VMware vSphere
Solution Brief : HPE Nimble Storage Desktop Virtualisation with Citrix
HPE Nimble Storage Desktop Virtualisation with Citrix
Solution Brief : HPE Nimble Storage Desktop Virtualisation with VMware
HPE Nimble Storage Desktop Virtualisation with VMware


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Story highlights
- Author Evgeny Morozov questions technological "solutionism"
- Morozov: Internet tools are valuable, but we shouldn't see a digital fix to every problem
- There are lots of "political and moral implications" to quantifying data, he points out
- Morozov's book is "To Save Everything, Click Here"
It's not the Internet to Evgeny Morozov. It's "the Internet" -- with quotation marks.
Morozov is trying to make a point. Thanks to the Web's rapid spread and overwhelming influence on 21st-century society, we've come to think of cyberlife as something distinct from our everyday interactions. To proponents, it has brought a cornucopia of information that will allow society to fix its most intractable problems.
But in his new book, "To Save Everything, Click Here," Morozov pushes back against that belief. He is skeptical of such "solutionism," pointing out that just because smart technology has its benefits doesn't mean it's going to lead to utopia. (After all, one man's utopia is another's "Brave New World.")
It's not like Morozov is a Luddite. He has a website and maintains an active Twitter feed with more than 40,000 followers, and he digs deep into information sites and services. It's just that he wants the public to stop and think about the consequences of our headlong rush in embracing the latest digital tools.
CNN spoke via e-mail with the noted tech thinker about why he wrote the book, the flaws in being overawed by the latest gadgetry and the costs of data accumulation. The following is an edited version of our interview.
CNN: Why write the book? Do you feel like you're swimming upstream against popular opinion, and do you care?
Evgeny Morozov: While writing my first book, "The Net Delusion," I became fascinated by two questions. First, why do we find our current technological situation -- of which the Internet is certainly the most attractive and popular example -- unique, and what role this uniqueness plays in policy. Second, now that technology companies play such an important role in public life -- mostly because they run the digital infrastructure through which much of this life happens -- what are the costs and benefits of enlisting them in important social and political projects?
In the new book, I continue with the same two questions but shift my attention from authoritarian states and foreign policy to more mundane, domestic issues. What makes us think that problems like obesity or climate change might be technologically solvable? And what makes us think that technology companies, with their penchant for apps, would make good allies in this fight?
As for the "swimming upstream" part, it doesn't bother me at all.
CNN: You talk a lot about "the Internet," putting the term in quotes so it's not considered its own marvelous entity. But isn't "the Internet," even if it's not all its promoters say it is or want it to be, a huge leap forward in communications?
Morozov: This might be trivially true, but the problem with terms like "the Internet" is that they blind us both to perverse effects of connectivity -- connectivity does not equal democratization, just like social capital does not equal a robust civil society -- and the fact that digital technologies have very different effects in different contexts.
So while I have no problem acknowledging some changes in scale, what I oppose is the idea that, somehow, the effects of the "Internet" unfold to some trajectory that is visible to digital gurus in Silicon Valley. The reason for putting "the Internet" in quotes is simply to indicate that we have accumulated too many myths to continue without harming our own ability to arrive at wise policy.
CNN: I'm struck by how easily modern technology can be circumvented -- not even by cutting wires or jamming transmissions but by sidestepping it entirely. (I recall some post-9/11 war games in which a U.S. officer had success by avoiding electronics in favor of messengers, handwritten letters and the like.) Why are these lessons so hard for solutionists to learn?
Morozov: Let me guess: Because solutionists spend far too much time with venture capitalists and far too little with people who actually use the technologies they build?
The British historian David Edgerton has a wonderful book called "The Shock of the Old," where he shows that our accounts of technology suffer from the innovator's bias: We do not spend nearly enough time looking at how technologies are actually used or maintained. If we did, we would discover that the pace of technological change is much slower and that many "analog" technologies have a much longer shelf life than the actual supermarket shelves would suggest.
CNN: Do we confuse convenience with solutions?
Morozov: For much of its existence, design was all about convenience. We wanted to hide technology so that users are not distracted into thinking about the tools they use. To some extent, the current privacy debacle can be explained this way as well: We have built this thing called "the digital economy," which runs very fast and is very efficient.
But its efficiency is enabled by the fact that our personal data leaves our browsers and travels to some server -- Google's or NSA's -- in the least obtrusive manner possible. Is it good? Well, if all you care about is uninterrupted browsing experience, it is. But shouldn't there be other considerations?
CNN: Many sites and apps make use of crowdsourcing and aggregation to rate products and services, boiling detailed critiques down to raw numbers. Your thoughts?
Morozov: We need to understand what exactly is being reduced as we transition from individual criticism to crowd criticism to -- soon, I'm sure -- algorithmic criticism. It's not a straight line toward progress and objectivity that digital gurus claim it is. It should be our task (or at least my task as an intellectual) to show that we are being sold damaged goods, that the mere fact that some things are being "disintermediated" doesn't meant that we are transitioning to a superior cultural environment with better, more reflective criticism.
CNN: In the book, you express concern about the Quantified Self movement, those "datasexuals" who monitor every aspect of their lives. But is there anything wrong with the practice? History is full of hard-core diarists and quantifiers.
Morozov: The scale today is clearly different. Our smartphones are -- by default -- capable of the kind of monitoring that was previously unavailable to most. There's also an interesting -- some would say disturbing -- economic layer here, as much of the data that we collect about ourselves can also be sold.
My fear is that many institutions will eventually alter how they treat people who refuse to self-track. There are all sorts of political and moral implications here, and I'm not sure that we have grappled with any of them.
CNN: What are your thoughts on the NSA scandal?
Morozov: I've been warning about the utility of social media -- and digital infrastructure more generally -- for surveillance purposes for a very long time. So I can't fake surprise or outrage at the recent revelations.
CNN: Along those lines, you mention the many ways corporations provide incentives for us to offer our information (or disincentives for opting out). How do we say "no" when the economic benefits (coupons, targeted sales) are so attractive?
Morozov: The problem is that we don't say "no." This marketizaton of personal information is a big mistake. We need to start seeing privacy as a commons -- as some kind of a public good that can get depleted as too many people treat it carelessly or abandon it too eagerly. What is privacy for? This question needs an urgent answer.
If my decision to earn a buck off my personal information will greatly constrain the lives of people in the next generation, should I sell my data? I'm not saying that it will necessarily result in more people choosing to share less. But the politicization of information sharing -- the act of turning it from a purely economic matter into an ethical one -- is a necessary start.
CNN: How do you use the Internet? What digital tools do you find useful?
Morozov: (A prelude: I do hope that this question will soon make as little sense as "how do you use electricity.")
Well, I use both to get things done! "The Internet" is not some separate realm -- it's not a parallel universe that we enter under an identity that is different from our usual self; it's just a collection of services.
Does the data network through which Kindle delivers my daily newspapers count as "the Internet"? If it does, I use it quite a lot, as I get seven daily newspapers -- anything from The Wall Street Journal to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung -- that way and perhaps a dozen magazines. But some of those I also read over my iPad. I used to be a heavy user of apps like Flipboard, but to quote the famous computer scientist Don Knuth, I find myself more and more inclined to get to the bottom of things, and spend more time with books (I probably spend an hour a day on Amazon.com buying new books, many of them online) and more long-form writing.
I have less and less use for the cloud -- not so much because of privacy concerns but because I just find the overall "always-on" proposition a hindrance to getting all the reading done. So I try to have days where, save for my Kindle, there's little contact with the "Internet." My fairly intuitive rule is simple: whatever allows me to get more reading done must be a rule/tool worth embracing.


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The Skeeter DX, introduced in August 2006, is an excellent all-around mid-range golf disc, with a neutral flight path. We liken this small-diameter disc to a panther (or a Goblin with more glide), although slightly more "domey". When thrown with a mid-tempo, the Skeeter is a straight flyer with a slight, predictable fade. Thrown harder (or more importantly, with more spin), this disc will turn gradually. This disc has great glide and is an excellent choice for new players who are looking for a disc that can do it all. Suck the blood out of your competition with The Skeeter! Available in weights from 150 to 175 grams.