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Evan Prodromouhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Evan Prodromou's personal web site14 Messidor CCXVIIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/14_Messidor_CCXVII2009-07-02T08:48:58Zidenticalaconicaidentica1
It's been one year since the public launch of identi.ca on July 2, 2008.

At the time, I'd been working on the software for a few months, and after some friendly beta testing by Montreal tech folks and autonomo.us members, I felt that it was time to Release Early, Release Often. So on vacation in Lake Tahoe with my pregnant wife and in-laws, and jetlagged and unable to sleep, I sent out an announcement email to beta users at 5:30AM PDT. You can see my status update on the subject, which in turn links to our press release and my personal blog post of Journal/14 Messidor CCXVI. We had 10K users within 30 hours; I switched hosting providers and did a new release of the software within 72. It was a busy time.

I had no idea that identi.ca and Laconica would become such an important part of my life and of the Internet landscape. In the intervening year, we've received seed funding from Montreal Start Up, done 4 major point releases of the software (from last year's 0.4.x to this week's 0.8.x), and become the indisputably most important Open Source microblogging platform on the planet.

I'd like to take moment to give my personal thanks to folks who've helped make this project such a success:

My wife @majnoona and children @amitajune and @stavro who've been so patient with my work and travel schedule over the last 12 months.

My innumerable friends and colleagues who've set up accounts on identi.ca and used them. You learn who your friends are when you start a new project like this.

The thousands and thousands of people who've become new friends through the site. I've been awed by how many folks have caught onto the dream of Open Source, distributed microblogging and made it their own.

The dozens of developers who've written code for Laconica, or plugins, or API clients that use the software.

The team of developers and admins at Control Yourself: @zach, @csarven, @millette, @nate, @foucault and @cvollick. They've put in long hours and done some really impressive technical feats to keep us going in the face of growth and technology changes.

I'm looking forward to another big year.

tags: identica laconica identica1
4 Germinal CCXVIIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/4_Germinal_CCXVII2009-03-24T16:37:15Zidenti.camarchmayhemvoteforuswomentechnologyadalovelaceadalovelacedayAdaLovelaceDay09
Identi.ca is one of the contestants in the Internet March Mayhem e-Tournament. We're up against LinkedIn in the first round. Help us out by clicking the "Identi.ca" link in the lower left-hand part of the tree.

tags identi.ca marchmayhem voteforus

Ada Lovelace Day FAIL

Updated. I signed up for the Ada Lovelace Day pledge a few months ago, so I wrote a churlish, short, and ill-tempered blog post on the subject. (Since redacted.)

Among other things, I said, "I dislike the canonization of Ada Lovelace as a patron saint of women in computing. [...] Hundreds of thousands if not millions of women have written more code that mattered more for people's real lives than anything Ada Lovelace did. [...] Maybe instead of honoring Ada Lovelace, we need to honor these other women instead."

But on re-reading the pledge, I realized that I totally missed the point of Ada Lovelace Day, and that this is exactly what people are supposed to do.

Oops.

See #ald09 for some nice posts about women in computing.

Oh, and to pick a woman in technology I admire: Eve Maler, one of the co-creators of XML. I met her when she was chairing the SAML committee, and she led that group of competitive egos through some very difficult security and protocol design issues with great intelligence and diplomacy.

tags: women technology adalovelace adalovelaceday AdaLovelaceDay09
24 Pluviôse CCXVIIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/24_Pluvi%c3%b4se_CCXVII2009-02-12T04:47:34Zdemocracytaxesbudgetidea
I was listening to Tech Nation today on the treadmill -- the episode from Jan 13 2009 with Darrell Rhea of Cheskin Added Value. He made a great point: that when people give money to charity, they feel good about themselves. But when they pay their taxes, they feel really bad -- even though their taxes go for schools, hospitals, fire departments, and other important societal services. And that made me think about a few things.

One reason for this discrepancy is probably a feeling of control. When I make a charitable donation, I choose the charity. With taxes, I don't have much of a choice where the money goes. Well, I kind of do, but it's a really circuitous level of control: I vote for representatives who express certain values (pro-education, anti-waste) during the election cycle and hopefully defend those values when the time comes to make a budget. That's a pretty loose connection.

So I had an idea: what if, when you're paying your taxes, you got to specify a suggested earmarks for using your dollars? You could pick from a list of (say) 20-30 high-level programs (like "Education", "Health care", "Foreign aid") and make some allocations. "20% education, 10% education, 10% defense, 2% foreign aid, the rest for whatever." Entirely voluntary, no obligation on the part of taxpayers. Obviously these would be different for different levels of government -- cities might have "Police", "Parks", "Roads" as their programs.

The tax agencies could publish the numbers on these mini-budgets, and citizens could compare what they collectively set up as priorities versus what their representatives actually allocate money for.

Sure, there'll be some natural discrepancies -- no one is going to like allocations for boring stuff like servicing debt or administrative costs. And there are some costs involved, although I think they'd be pretty low if you're already collecting tax return forms and generating statistics. And there'd be lots of people who'd write-in their pet projects ("100% UFO research") which would skew things significantly.

But I think the general idea would be really helpful. People would see tax time as a time to use their voice, and politicians would have a clear idea what people want their money spent on, and in what amount. Most of all, it's closing the loop on paying taxes and making budgets, and I think that's a good thing for democracy.

tags: democracy taxes budget idea
26 Nivôse CCXVIIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/26_Niv%c3%b4se_CCXVII2009-01-15T06:58:15Zbunnymemebunnymemesplitbrainidenticacontrolyourselfinvestmentmontrealstartupopenmicrobloggingjaikuopensourceopenstandardgoogle
I got tagged in the bunnymeme. I even got nagged about it. I have to admit, drawing a bunny is kind of a relief from a busy week.

Here are the rules:

Draw a Bunny (or more)

Post it to your blog with the rules

Name three other bloggers that should draw a bunny

Here is my bunny:

And here are the three blogger friends I can think of who aren't too uptight and full of themselves to post a picture of a hand-drawn bunny:

Hugh McGuire

Michele Ann Jenkins

Nicolas Ritoux

Update: there's a nice graph tracking the meme's progress.

tags: bunnymeme bunny meme splitbrain

Montreal Startup invests in Control Yourself, Inc.

On a more serious note, I'm glad that GigaOM has published a story about venture investment in my company, Control Yourself, Inc. ("Identi.ca Gets Funding to Make Open-source Twitter Variant").

I'm psyched to be working with Montreal Start Up to build CYI into a viable Open Source business. They've been really supportive of the Open Everything strategy, including building the OpenMicroBlogging standard.

Thanks to everyone who's sent private and public congratulations. The fun part starts now!

tags: identica controlyourself investment montrealstartup openmicroblogging

Open Source Jaiku

The news came out on the same day that Google announced they're going to release the Jaiku code as Open Source software.

I think this is great news. Hopefully, we can work together to build a federated network of microblogging sites running Open Source software connected with open standards. It's so important to have multiple implementations of any open standard, and I think Identica and Jaiku can be a good team for the microblogging world.

tags: jaiku opensource openstandard google
15 Nivôse CCXVIIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/15_Niv%c3%b4se_CCXVII2009-01-04T08:30:58Zthisamericanlifewbezpublicradiopodcastccbittorrent
I really like the This American Life podcast. It's probably one of my favorite pieces of public radio, and having a full high-quality public feed is fantastic. However, I've been a little grumpy about the long forewords that have been put into the show lately, asking for donations from podcast listeners.

Here's the scoop: apparently WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) is spending US$150K just on the bandwidth to keep the podcast on the air (not counting servers, staff, or whatever). This is not just small potatoes for WBEZ; they just laid off a dozen workers. So, podcast listeners should pay their fair share and help out Chicago Public Radio.

Now, I'm a big fan of public radio, and I think everyone should become a member. However, I find the premise of this solicitation kind of faulty. First, there are a lot of technical ways they could cut down on their bandwidth requirements. Providing an alternative BitTorrent RSS feed, for example, would reduce their bandwidth requirements a lot. They'd need to put a bit of documentation on their site, but is that really harder than getting people to pony up $$? I think not.

Second, they could change the redistribution requirements and let other people or organizations mirror the episodes. A Creative Commons license would let other people distribute the files, saving WBEZ a lot (possibly all) of the distribution costs.

But that second option is probably not that interesting to WBEZ. Why not? Because they make money selling "This American Life" to other public radio stations. If they put it under a free-redistribution license, they wouldn't be able to get that income.

So, in reality, the service announcements at the beginning of the podcasts aren't really asking listeners to keep the podcasts running. There are lots of ways to do that. What the announcements ask is for listeners to support a particular "business" model. There are even ways (like BitTorrent) to have their cake and eat it too. I'm still going to contribute to WBEZ, since I like the show and I'm glad it's produced the way it is. But I regret the disingenuous guilt-tripping that's going on. It's not a fair way to treat listeners and supporters.

tags: thisamericanlife wbez publicradio podcast cc bittorrent
3 Nivôse CCXVIIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/3_Niv%c3%b4se_CCXVII2008-12-23T19:59:05Zoopprogramminganti-pattern
I've been working on some code cleanup with Laconica, and it's making me think of an anti-pattern that really gets under my skin. I call it the ActionDoer anti-pattern, but there's probably a better name for it.

The anti-pattern is where you have a class with just one public method -- or, maybe, one major public method. You typically use the class by setting a bunch of attributes on an instance and then firing the method. Something like this (in PHP, because, hey, why not?):

 $foo = new ActionDoer();

 $foo->x = 10; $foo->y = 'bar'; $foo->z = 'baz';

 $foo->doTheAction();

 $result = $foo->result;

What bugs me about this is that it's just a long and tedious way of doing this:

 $result = equivalent_function(10, 'bar', 'baz');

It's using OOPiness to simulate a basic part of structured programming: the function call. The ActionDoer does let you set defaults or ignore some parameters. But optional parameters, and keyword parameters, can usually do this more effectively.

Probably what bugs me most is that textually it most resembles hand-coded assembly language:

 MOV ax, 10 MOV bx, 'bar' MOV cx, 'baz'

 INT 21H

 MOV result, dx

If we're simulating function calls, are we moving forward or backwards in computer science?

tags: oop programming anti-pattern
3 Vendémiaire CCXVIIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/3_Vend%c3%a9miaire_CCXVII2008-09-24T17:11:45Zbitmaskingprogrammingcheatsheet
I noted today, while writing some bit-masking code for the umpteenth time, that it's not always easy to remember how to do bit-masking. For myself and others, I've written a quick Bit-masking Cheatsheet to remember more easily.

tags: bitmasking programming cheatsheet
26 Messidor CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/26_Messidor_CCXVI2008-07-14T14:03:24Zautonomyfranklinstreetsoftwareasaserviceossdopenknowledge
Since the launch of Identi.ca a few weeks ago, I've had a very busy time. Not much sleep, but lots of fulfilling and exciting work. It's invigorating to work on something that is popular and that you believe in. And I'm glad that the Franklin Street Statement so succinctly encapsulates those beliefs.

As some people may have read in my previous blog post about the motivations behind creating Identi.ca (see Journal/14 Messidor CCXVI), I was part of a group convened at the FSF to discuss the impact of the growth of software as a service on user autonomy. It was a very loose organization of hackers, activists, and scholars who come from different backgrounds but all share an interest in user rights online.

As computing moves into "the cloud" (see cloud computing), what power does the user retain to control their own computing experience? As much of our social lives -- romance, family, work, friends -- becomes Web-enhanced, what can we do to assert our right to manage that data and its use? How can software developers and service providers gauge their own proper ethical behaviour, and how can users of services judge what is and is not acceptable to use?

We didn't come up with any easy answers, but we've summarized our thinking in a new document: the Franklin Street Statement on Freedom and Network Services. In essence, we've tried to point a direction towards what software developers, service providers, and software users should think hard about when thinking about network services.

Our group will continue to explore these issues on our new group blog, http://autonomo.us/ . We're going to concentrate on the effects of software services on user autonomy -- people's ability to make their own informed choices about their data and creative works and the software that processes them. It is a realm that as a society -- a cluster of societies -- we're only beginning to understand, and I think that there is still a lot of exploration to do.

Autonomo.us includes a wiki where we'll be exploring some of these ideas, and the blog will feature guest submissions about the subject. We're a loose and unofficial group with some smiling benevolence but no sanction from the FSF or any related organization, so we're really going to dig into some of the gray areas of this issue without worrying about making official statements for any one organization.

I'm looking forward to the coming months and I hope this issue captures the imagination of the Web's Open Source and Open Content communities. P.S. You can see the FSF press release about the statement and the launch of autonomo.us.

tags: autonomy franklinstreet softwareasaservice

Open Service Definition

On a related note, one of the first organizations to approach the issue of Open Services has been the Open Knowledge Foundation. Today they've launched the 1.0 version of the Open Software Service Definition (OSSD).

I think the OSSD 1.0 is a great step. It's a bar against which we can start measuring Open Software Services. For example, I think that Identi.ca meets the requirements of the OSSD. Other sites, like Wikipedia, are also clearly compliant. Some services that I really like, such as OpenStreetMap and geonames.org, seem to be compliant. But are they? It's good to start this investigation.

I think other kinds of services are on their way there. The announcement by Reddit that their code will now be Open Source is a great step for user autonomy in the social news arena. Now, Reddit needs to consider what an Open Content/Open Data policy would mean for their service... or see others implement it on other sites.

I look forward to a rich ecology of open software services growing, now that we have a name for it and a clear community of people interested in the topic.

tags: autonomy ossd openknowledge
14 Messidor CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/14_Messidor_CCXVI2008-07-02T14:18:53Z
I've been working hard on a new project for the last couple of months, which I'm glad to be able to share with you now. For the impatient: today my company Control Yourself, Inc. is launching Identi.ca, a new microblogging service. (There's a press release on the Control Yourself site). Users can post short messages about themselves to Identi.ca, which are then broadcast to friends in their social network using instant messages (IM), RSS feeds, and the Web.

The difference between Identi.ca and other services like Twitter, Jaiku, or Pownce is that it is Open Source software. I tried to meet the requirements of the Open Service Definition -- Free Software and Free Data. In the same spirit, Identi.ca supports open standards like OpenID and OpenMicroBlogging, to integrate with other Web sites and services.

A little background: in March of this year, I was privileged to take part in a summit at the Free Software Foundation about open network services. The summit brought together a number of people involved in Open Source and Open Content to discuss problems with "software as a service" and how to solve them.

More and more, people are depending on Web sites and other network services "in the cloud" to do much of their computing tasks. Examples: using Yahoo! Maps instead of a desktop mapping application, or using Google Docs instead of Microsoft Word. Software-as-a-service can be extremely convenient -- data on remote servers stays up-to-date, software gets updated regularly, and you can use different computers or mobile devices to get at the same data.

The sacrifice, however, is user autonomy. If you decide that Google Docs doesn't work the way you want, you can't tinker with the software and fix it. If you want to share a map on your Web site, you need Yahoo!'s permission. If you want to use a new social networking site, you have to re-enter all your personal data and re-invite all your friends. The data and code belong to someone else, and they're hidden behind servers that you, the user, aren't allowed to touch.

There aren't a lot of clear answers to this. But our loosely-organized summit group is moving forward to promote and support Free/Open Network Services. These are Web sites (or other services) that use Free/Open Source software (with the source available) and provide Open Content data (except for data that users mark as private). There are a lot of them popping up -- like OpenStreetMap and Wikipedia. Others are close on the software side, although the data side is a little less clear -- like Wordpress.com, Reddit, or LiveJournal.

After the summit, I wanted to try to see what I could do personally to further this mission. I think several of the sites I work on now -- like Vinismo and Keiki -- would qualify. But I also wanted to break some new ground and challenge people's assumptions about software services. And the services I was using, and getting invited to, the most were microblogging sites. Clearly that was the area to dig into further.

To do it, I started Laconica, the software underlying Identi.ca. It's AGPL'd PHP using MySQL as a backend -- probably the most accessible platform on the planet right now. I used lots of existing libraries to make development easier, and I hired a great designer (Montreal's Marie-Claude Doyon) to give the site a professional look.

Almost as important as the Open Source and Open Content is the distributed nature of Identi.ca. I designed an open protocol called OpenMicroBlogging, based on OAuth, to make it easy for users on one Laconica server to subscribe to notices by users on another server. I hope this will make the service more robust, develop a rich and diverse social network, and stimulate innovation.

Because in the end, that's the Internet that we all want to be part of. As a society we rejected "walled gardens" like AOL, Compuserve, and MSN in the early 90s in favor of the distributed, open nature of the World Wide Web. And I think that the new walled gardens like Facebook and Google, need to be replaced with open protocols and standards. Will Open Network Services be the basis of "Web 3.0", the next stage of Web culture? I truly think so, but that's still an open question.

People have been using Identi.ca for a few weeks now, although I've asked that folks wait until the software was more mature before posting public links. Today I'm lifting that embargo and asking friends and colleagues to join and participate in the conversation.

I hope that people who are sympathetic with the ideals of Identi.ca will take the time to blog about it, invite their friends, and start using the site regularly. And of course I'd love to get feedback on bugs, requested features, and ideas for the future. Please also subscribe to me on the site -- see http://identi.ca/evan -- so I can see who's out there.

There are still so many standard services on the Web that I'd like to see open sourced, open content, and distributed -- advertising, storage, image and file sharing, comments, portal pages, social news, social bookmarks, search engines. There's a real business potential for taking the lead in these areas, and I hope more people jump in.
24 Prairial CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/24_Prairial_CCXVI2008-06-12T02:16:35Zdmcacanadafreedomfaircopyright
Quick shout to announce an event here in Montreal. In response to the announced introduction of legislation to change Canadian copyright, commonly called the "Canadian DMCA" since the drafts presented so far have closely resembled that American law, the Montreal Chapter of Fair Copyright for Canada is holding an emergency organizational meeting Thursday, June 12th from 6-8PM. The event will be at Station C, 5369 Saint-Laurent #430, in the Mile End neighborhood of Montreal. It's open to anyone interested in learning more about this bill and helping to oppose it.

tags: dmca canada freedom faircopyright
5 Floréal CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/5_Flor%c3%a9al_CCXVI2008-04-24T10:56:18Zmepressinterviewworkhourwiki
There's a interview with me in the local weekly Hour. It got right most of what I do for a living. So often with interviews I talk and talk and talk and the reporter ends up extracting the least pertinent statements. I'm glad that didn't happen this time. I even like the photo.

I was supposed to send some source code to the photographer to put over my face, but I never got around to it. I can't see what they put over my face; can anyone make it out?

tags: me press interview work hour wiki
3 Floréal CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/3_Flor%c3%a9al_CCXVI2008-04-22T20:12:45Zwikitravelwikitravelpressparisguidebookopencontentopenstreetmappodcastlinuxopensourcevinismosteveymarieclaudedoyoncardsfirefoxfirefox3utf8urlplanetplanetdebianrsscategories
I'm happy to point to the announcement that Wikitravel Press now has a guide to Paris. Paris has long been a targeted city for Wikitravel Press, and I'm really happy we were able to get this book out. Bonus: the Wikitravel Guide to Paris includes maps from OpenStreetMap, the Open Content geo database and mapping system. We've got some new software to overlay Wikitravel listings onto the maps, and it's working really well. Thanks to OSM, editor Mark Jaroski, and managing editor Jani Patokallio for getting this great book out... just in time for Paris spring!

tags: wikitravel wikitravelpress paris guidebook opencontent openstreetmap

Podcasts

I asked a couple of days ago (Journal/30 Germinal CCXVI) about podcasts on the subject of Open Source and Open Content. I wanted to summarize a few that came in through comments on my blog:

The iCommons Podcast, which (like many podcasts) seems to be running a little slow -- no updates in about a year. Still, an interesting project to be watching. (thanks Brianna)

Wikipedia Weekly, the really great show by Andrew Lih and Liam Wyatt. I should have thought of WW before -- I was interviewed for the show last year! (thanks Padraic)

Also worth noting is Not the Wikipedia Weekly, which is, uh, not the Wikipedia Weekly. I got this one from an episode of WW!

LUG Radio, which I found from another podcast, LQ Radio.

This has turned into a pretty decent list, but I'd love to see some more diverse discussion of Open Content and Open Source in general. Please, feel free to send more tips.

tags: podcast linux opensource opencontent

Vinismo

For some reason Vinismo went over some tipping point with StumbleUpon this weekend, and we had a real flood of users from that bookmarking site. I can't say why that happens; I find SU to be a totally opaque Web site and service.

In other news, Stevey likes our business cards. Me too! I think they look great. M-C Doyon, the Montreal graphic designer who laid out our Web site, also did our paper branding, and I think she did a great job.

tags: vinismo stevey marieclaudedoyon cards

Yay Firefox 3.0

I don't know when it happened, but Firefox 3.0 beta does non-ASCII characters in the address bar correctly. So, if you're reading this entry on my site with FF3, you'll see the é in "Floréal" rather than the URL-encoded "Flor%c3%a9al". I also like seeing Japanese Wikipedia pages in the address bar showing up correctly. Nice job, FF3 team.

tags: firefox firefox3 utf8 url

Planet software should preserve categories

So, apparently there's once again rising problems with content drift on Planet Debian. Personally, I think this is a problem with a technical solution.

All three main flavours of RSS support post categorization. Many, many kinds of feed software provide categories (see, for example, this feed). If the Planet software would preserve these categories and pass them through to the output RSS feeds, then people who really only want to read about Debian could filter the output feeds for category "debian". People who wanted to know about other parts of their fellow Debianistas' lives would just leave the feeds unfiltered.

I'm not sure if the Planet software doesn't support categories in output at all, or if it's just an option that's turned off on Planet Debian. If nobody else wants to take a look, I can look into making this work. It seems like a pretty simple fix.

tags: planet planetdebian rss categories
30 Germinal CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/30_Germinal_CCXVI2008-04-19T12:16:21Zlazywebpodcastflossflossweeklylinuxcastlqradio
So, I'm really getting into the podcasts lately. I got myself a personal music player (one of these) in winter, and I've been using it to listen to podcasts while I run.

Earideas has been a huge help in finding new podcasts to listen to. I've kind of graduated from the best of earideas feed, which covers a wide variety of podcasts, and I'm trying to dig into things that really matter to me.

Three things in particular, of course: wine, parenting, and Open Source/Open Content. I've found a good number of podcasts on the first two subjects, but only a few on the last. Right now I listen to:

the infrequent and misnomered FLOSS weekly, which isn't the same without Chris DiBona.

LinuxCast, featuring the mellifluous tones of Don Marti

LQ Radio, from Linux Questions.

So, what else is out there for Free, Libre, Open kinda people? Any podcast suggestions?

tags: lazyweb podcast floss flossweekly linuxcast lqradio
25 Germinal CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/25_Germinal_CCXVI2008-04-14T13:52:36Zfonwifiwirelessnetwork
I got my FON router delivered to my house about 2-3 months ago, but I didn't realize what it was until I was cleaning up my office to leave for Buenos Aires. Glad to have a project, I set it up on my home network while I was waiting for the taxi to the airport. I've only really started playing with it since we got back.

FON is an international effort, originally based in Spain, to share extra network capacity with roaming wireless users. You set up a router in your home (or wherever), and any other FON user can connect to the Internet through your network. Conversely, you can connect on any other FON network. There is a lot of grass-rootsiness to FON, but it's a commercial project, which turns some people off.

I originally heard of FON at Wikimania 2007, where FON provided wireless routers for each attendee's room. It was a nice service, although the doubled-up ESSIDs were kind of confusing at the time. They make a lot more sense for home use.

I was impressed by how many FON spots there are on the Montreal/Plateau (see http://maps.fon.com/ for details); about one ever 2-6 blocks in any direction. I think there's an opportunity here to see a higher concentration, though. I'd love to see coöperation between FON and, say, Île Sans Fil, possibly involving the Ville de Montréal. Apparently there are already FON cities in different parts of Europe, so it's not impossible.

I think FON is an interested development for WiFi -- a hybrid between community-based initiatives and a commercial venture. I'm not sure if it will be successful, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

tags: fon wifi wireless network
24 Germinal CCXVIhttp://evan.prodromou.name/Journal/24_Germinal_CCXVI2008-04-13T02:14:37Zgeotagicongeomicroformatslonelyplanettravelguidebookplagiarism
I'm pretty impressed with the new Geotag Icon Project. The well-known feed icon has become ubiquitous, and it makes sense to have a free-to-use icon for geographically-tagged information. I can see it being very useful for hcard and geo microformats, for example.

tags: geotagicon geo microformats

Relayed for your review without comment

For all those who think Open Content guidebooks like Wikitravel are by definition less reliable than proprietary ones: "Travel writer tells newspaper he plagiarized, dealt drugs". "A Lonely Planet author says he plagiarized or made up portions of the popular travel guidebooks and dealt drugs to supplement poor pay. [...] He didn't travel to Colombia to write the guidebook on the country because 'they didn't pay me enough. I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating.'"

Cough, cough.

tags: lonelyplanet travel guidebook plagiarism


text:
Jeff Ruby has written an autobiography, taking him from the Jersey Shore, where he didn't know who his father was and where he left home at 15 to make his own living in neighborhood cafes and bars, to Cincinnati, where he is the successful owner of a line-up of swanky steak houses. Ruby wrote the […]
Jeff Ruby signs his autobiography on Saturday
12/19/13 at 5:30pm by Polly Campbell | Comments
A new look for Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse
12/18/13 at 10:46am by Polly Campbell | Comments
You wouldn't think that Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, Downtown, would need a new look. The place opened with a full-on Art Deco-inspired decor. A large mural, bubinga wood everywhere, Art Deco statuettes, vintage posters, red neon lights, burgundy awnings with the Jeff Ruby logo. . . But if you know anything about Jeff Ruby, you know […]
Waterfront to re-open
04/18/13 at 2:26pm by Polly Campbell | Comments
Here's another piece of news from colleague Amanda Van Benschoten: the deal is done to re-open the Waterfront, this time at the Covington Landing. The riverboat restaurant, one of Jeff Ruby's, has been out of commission since it broke free from its dock a half a mile downstream more than two years ago. There will […]
Chef Wanted and Found at Precinct
03/29/13 at 7:20am by Polly Campbell | Comments
Reality and Reality TV have turned out to be two different things for The Precinct. Last night, on the Food Network's show "Chef Wanted," four chefs battled for the job of executive chef at the well-known Cincinnati steak house, overseen by personality Anne Burrell. At the end of the hour, owner Jeff Ruby and his […]
Ruby angry; buys ad space
08/10/12 at 11:39am by Polly Campbell | Comments
When Jeff Ruby feels strongly about something in the news, he doesn't just rant to people he knows, tweet about it or post on Facebook. He takes out an ad. He found the interview given by Drew Peterson's defense team disgusting, and he took an ad in the Herald-News of Joliet IL. to say so. […]
The Precinct to close temporarily
01/09/12 at 10:50am by Polly Campbell | Comments
Now that the new bar is open at the Precinct, Jeff Ruby is turning his attention to refurbishing the rest of the 30-year-old restaurant. He is re-doing the dining room, the lobby, and the kitchen. It will mean shutting down the restaurant until the project is done. The Precinct is taking limited reservations this week, […]
'Zombies' to protest at Jeff Ruby's
10/25/11 at 10:49am by Polly Campbell | Comments
PETA, the animal-rights group, plans a protest today at Jeff Ruby Steakhouse, downtown, at noon. According to PETA's web site, zombies will descend on the steakhouse: Wearing full zombie regalia, drenched in "blood," and holding signs that read, "Flesh Is for Zombies" and "Meat Is Murder," "undead" PETA supporters will converge outside Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse […]
Terrific flavors, a feel of yesterday at Carlo and Johnny
12/10/10 at 1:30pm by Polly Campbell | Comments
DINING REVIEW By Polly Campbell • firstname.lastname@example.com The porte cochere in front of Carlo and Johnny, Jeff Ruby's restaurant in Montgomery, might as well be the entrance to a time machine. Hand your car keys to the valet, enter, and step back in time. I'm not thinking of back to when the building was the […]
Last Bootsy call
09/14/10 at 6:50pm by Polly Campbell | Comments
Tonight's the last night at Bootsy's, the downtown restaurant run by restaurateur Jeff Ruby and named for funkster Bootsy Collins. But the restaurant on Walnut Street across from the Aronoff Center will re-open in a few months as The Grill. Ruby hopes to be open again by late November. Ruby said that he's pleased that […]
01/14/10 at 10:43am by Polly Campbell | Comments
In my effort to keep my prose deathless, I'm going to be more consistent about posting reviews here on my blog, where they last longer than they do out on the main Cincinnati.com Web site. I'm also going to revive some older reviews here, since they've already disappeared. Of course, restaurant reviews are actually rather evanescent–they describe a moment […]
About MePolly Campbell is paid to obsess about food, but she would anyway. She has been The Enquirer's restaurant critic since 1996, and the food writer since 2004. She ate her first five-way in 1983 at the Ludlow Ave. Skyline.
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- Blogged the other day about not really liking all the competitive cooking shows. Now I see there's a new one called Knife Fight.
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Home | Suites & Rates | About the Inn | Intimate Weddings | Packages/Discounts | Gifts | (509) 548-7171
Even if you don't have a Facebook Account, you can view our Facebook Page and see pictures and decorations and wildlife -- fun happenings here at the Inn!
Nestled in the heart of the Cascade Mountains, just one half mile upstream from the charming Bavarian town of Leavenworth, WA, Run of the River Inn & Refuge has been known as the place for romance, charm and friendly, caring service since 1986. The inn has been the recipient of some of the industry's highest accolades and is the ideal location for unsurpassed comfort and relaxation.
Inspired by nature, blending rustic charm with modern luxury, the inn offers an intimate, tranquil and romantic atmosphere. The secluded lodging is surrounded on two sides by a wildlife refuge that is home to fish, deer, coyote, otters, and the occasional bear and bobcat. The refuge is a year-round birder's paradise, where guests regularly spy great blue heron, eagles, osprey, owls, kingfishers, geese, ducks and a plethora of migrating and backyard feeder birds.
Built with the comfort and enjoyment of our guests in mind, the well appointed Adventure Suites and Ravenwood Lodge feature cozy fireplaces and large spa tubs. All suites enjoy panoramic views and are complimented by private entrances and covered decks with plenty of space for relaxing outdoors. The original art, handcrafted furnishings and special luxurious touches have been selected to create a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. To see a complete list of in-room amenities, click here.
Guests can relax in the fresh, clean air of the Icicle Valley or take advantage of the many exciting outdoor adventures that are available. A paradise for outdoor enthusiasts, our staff is always ready to offer tips and share information about the best spots for hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, skiing, snowshoeing and much, much more. Complimentary mountain bikes, snowshoes, backpacks, walking sticks and picnic baskets are available for all of our guests – and we are happy to help with additional trip planning and Itineraries within Washington State.
Run of the River Inn and Refuge is favorite spot for honeymoon, anniversary and birthday celebrations and offers plenty of space for small retreats, family gatherings, intimate weddings, elopements and vow renewals.
The inn and grounds are smoke-free and for adult guests (18 years and older) only. We love pets and understand that they are very much a part of the family however; we are unable to offer over night accommodations for these family members. We do offer off property shelter and premium care, at Haus Denali Kennels for an additional fee. www.hausdenalikennels.com
What's Happening
Fall Decor Change at the Inn
We just completed the decorations for Fall here at the Inn. Stop by and take a look, or watch Facebook for pictures that will be posted soon!
Fall Foliage Touring
The Tumwater Canyon is world renowned for its glorious color in the fall, and the hills around the Icicle Valley are beautiful this time of year.
Plan your getaway now, we have some great Lodging Packages so you can save while you participate in your favorite activities! Click Here to see our packages
The 19th Annual Bavarian-style Christmas Market will be held in Front Street Park and also in the Leavenworth Festhalle. On Thanksgiving weekend 2014: November 28th,29th, and 30th.
Learn more here
Consider this "Added Touch" when you make your reservation:
Aspen Gold Fruit and Cheese Platter
Pineapple, Melon, Grapes, Stilton Blue Cheese wedge, Brie wedge, Herbed Goat Cheese and Crackers - $74
See all our Added Touches - click here
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Counterparties: Your massive guide to JPMorgan's failed hedge
Welcome to the Counterparties email. The sign-up page is here, it's just a matter of checking a box if you're already registered on the Reuters website. Send suggestions, story tips and complaints to firstname.lastname@example.com
It turns out we probably should fear Voldemort. Yesterday Jamie Dimon hastily scheduled a 5 p.m. conference call in which he was forced to explain a sudden $2 billion loss in his Chief Investment Office, a division that was supposed to safely hedge the bank's risk.
JPMorgan's stock fell more than 9% on the news. Dimon, who last month called the issue a "tempest in a teapot", said the hedges implemented by the "London Whale" (aka Bruno Iksil) were a "bad strategy, executed poorly"; he also conceded "many errors", "sloppiness" and "bad judgement".
The responsibility for mistakes ultimately rests on Dimon's shoulders. Jonathan Weil noted that yesterday's disclosures meant that "either Dimon misled the public about the gravity of the festering trades during his company's first-quarter earnings call last month. Or he didn't know what was happening inside the bowels of his own company." Barney Frank didn't let this opportunity pass him by, either, saying that "JPMorgan Chase, entirely without any help from the government, has lost, in this one set of transactions, five times the amount they claim financial regulation is costing them."
Adding to Dimon's chagrin was his acknowledgement in yesterday's conference call that he gave proponents of increased financial regulation, including Barney Frank, yet another proof point. As Felix notes, the strong likelihood that the trades were Volcker-compliant "only goes to show how weak the Volcker Rule" is and affirms the need for "dumb rules" that traders can't easily game.
So just what specifically went wrong? For a deep and wonky explanation, Lisa Pollack details what might have been going on and concludes that both regulators and Dimon should have seen the buildup of risk, if not the losses, long before yesterday. Heidi Moore also has a handy guide that spells out exactly what happened in non-financial English. Zero Hedge outlines how analysts need to change how they examine the profitability of big banks, and their hedging business model.
There's still some dispute over whether Iksil's positions were actually a hedge or just a disguised bet. Matt Levine has an extended take on this, and before the latest revelations the Epicurean Dealmaker pointed out that the difference between a hedge and speculation is subtle because "the same trade or financial instrument can be used in either way at different times and under different circumstances."
Chief among Iksil's errors, it seems, was a model that didn't accurately capture the risk of the strategy. The CDS index Iksil was selling protection on has moved away from him recently, but why JPMorgan's losses were so large relative to the index's more modest change remains unclear. Derivatives are a zero-sum game, of course, and at least two hedge funds run by mostly ex-JPMers have made some $30 million each.
For his part, Dimon is far from finished explaining what went wrong, and we won't have to wait long for his next attempt. On Wednesday, he taped an interview with NBC's David Gregory to air on Sunday's Meet the Press. After yesterday's announcement, Dimon has decided to retape the appearance. – Ben Walsh
Before we move on to today's links, we're announcing the second Counterparties book giveaway. Exhausted by cetacean puns, we believe Jamie, Bruno et al. at JPMorgan deserve their own lolcats. Here's an image to get you started. Send us your best work, and you could win a copy of Tadas Viskanta's book Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere. We have two to give away!
What it's like to have your boss ask you to execute a $1 billion hedge – Kid Dynamite
Simon Johnson: It's "stunning" that JPMorgan lost so much at a mild time in the credit cycle – Huffington Post
Levin: "The latest evidence that what banks call 'hedges' are often risky bets … banks have no business making." – Senate.gov
The controversial measure of JPMorgan's risk that tripled over the last year – BI
In their own words: JPMorgan's risk management standards – JPMorgan
The 10-Q in which JPMorgan discloses CIO's losses – SEC
Fitch downgrades JPMorgan – Bloomberg
New Normal
A map of economic mobility in America – South Carolina, Oklahoma and Louisiana rank worst – Pew
Jobless claims fall again – AP
More than 230,000 unemployed Americans are going to lose their unemployment benefits this weekend – WashPo
Be Afraid
What short-sellers mean when they say Chinese banks are "built on sand" – Bloomberg
Pork Products
Basically every important manufacturer in America gets some sort of government subsidy – NYT
Obama's stupid idea for a manufacturing subsidy – Yglesias
Occupational licensure as rent-seeking – Conversable Economist
The case for global accounting – Floyd Norris
The troubling financialization of the Washington Post – CJR
Domestic oil production is irrelevant to oil prices – Yglesias
NYC is now the fastest-growing tech hub in America – Mashable
Bond titan Jeff Gundlach was once in an extremely hilarious-looking '80s rock band – Businessweek
Co-founder Eduardo Saverin gives up his U.S. citizenship ahead of IPO, presumably to save on taxes – Bloomberg
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Just as a matter of curiosity, if London Whale's bet are in the money, then the counter parties which are the hedge Funds are out of the money, right? Hedge Funds do not punt with 100% of own money, they have lines from the banks, right? Now, if they are on the wrong side of the bet, the aggregate impact would mirror London Whale's position – i.e the banks that lend them money will also be in trouble more or less, right? Then we are all in trouble too? Some smart people out there, do we need these hedging tools?
MrRFox, you would be interested in this one:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/11/technolo gy/eduardo-saverin-facebook-citizenship/ index.htm
One fewer plutocrat paying US taxes…
I had my say on it here –
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technolog y/2012/05/eduardo-saverin-says-hello-sin gapore-goodbye-facebook-taxes/52230/#com ment-527234923
@MrRFox, that is a far more generous take on it than mine.
@TFF – Thanks, I guess. It does highlight your concern about run-away rich and the estate tax. I think enforcement is a problem that has a solution, if that's one's only objection to confiscatory estate taxes – but that's not something we'll ever actually know without trying it.
At this point IMO the discussion ought be about the merits of the tax, not enforcement.
OBTW: About Saverin – he's demonstrated both confidence in the stock and disdain of a sort for life in the US. Being an ex-pat myself, can't really object to that last part, can I?
Heidi Moore: "The corporate bonds were probably already owned by JP Morgan as part of its trade with corporate clients. JP Morgan also owns a lot of "high-yield," or junk bonds. Those are low-rated bonds from companies that are close to default. If JP Morgan owns a lot of high-yield bonds, the best way to balance that risk is to bet on investment-grade corporate bonds."
Uh, no. I don't know what the opposite of junk bonds is, but everyone ought to know by now it's NOT AAA corporate bonds.


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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has acquired a rare Frank Lloyd Wright house, known as the Bachman Wilson House. Originally built in 1954 along the Millstone River in New Jersey, the house was purchased by architect/designer team Lawrence and Sharon Tarantino in 1988 and meticulously restored. Over the decades, however, the river encroached upon the property, causing flooding which threatened the preservation of the historic structure.
The Tarantinos determined that selling the house to an institution willing to relocate it was the best option for its preservation. After a multi-year search for a purchaser, Crystal Bridges acquired the home in 2013, complete with all its interior fixtures and furnishings. The building is being disassembled and moved to Bentonville, where it will be reassembled at a site on Crystal Bridges' 120-acre grounds, overlooking Crystal Spring.
The Bachman Wilson House is a work of art in simplicity and form, representing Wright's organic design philosophy. The architecture reflects Wright's "Usonian" period: during which the architect strove to design a distinctly American style of housing that was accessible and affordable to all, while still reflecting Wright's principles regarding integration with nature, quality of materials, and openness of design.
At Crystal Bridges, the house will be available for study as well as for limited programming and tours, beginning in the spring of 2015.
UPDATE: Reconstruction of the Bachman Wilson House
Here on our website, we are tracking the progress of the Bachman Wilson House's reconstruction at Crystal Bridges with regular photo and video updates. Check back regularly to stay abreast of this exciting historic project! You can learn more about the acquisition of the Bachman Wilson House here.
Fay Jones School of Architecture
Crystal Bridges and the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas are collaborating on a special project relating to the relocation of Frank Lloyd Wright's Bachman Wilson House to the Museum grounds. Students of the school are working collectively to design and construct a guest pavilion near the future site of the house. The pavilion will serve as an observation point during construction, and later as a center for information regarding this and other architecture projects at Crystal Bridges.
Photography: TarantinoSTUDIO © 2014


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The city will create a portal to house raw government data, including maps, charts and graphs, the mayor's office said Thursday.
All departments will publish information. Beginning "in the next several months," the city will release information on its budget, grand list, taxes, finances and assessments. Data from health and human services also will be posted. No firm date has been set yet for its release.
From the city:
Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra announced today that he has signed an executive order mandating all city departments to publish raw government data on the city's website. The executive order authorizes collection of the data by the Chief Information Officer who will manage and update the information regularly. To kick off the effort, twenty data sets will be released in the next several months including financial, budget, assessors, tax, grand list, and health and human services information.
"This is about far more than transparency," said Mayor Segarra. "Opening the door to public information makes our services easier to access, our City departments more efficient, and our collaborations with strategic partners more effective. Sharing data allows residents to understand how government works and gives them a chance to play a more active role in it. It will also allow us to come up with data-driven solutions for many of our most persistent problems."
Mayor Segarra's Executive Order No. 2014-1 establishes an Open Data Management Team made up of the Chief Information Officer and appointed representatives from each city department.
To implement the online portal the City of Hartford has signed a contract with Socrata, Inc. The open data will include maps, charts, graphs and it will integrate with the City's enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS). The data will not include any personal or private records or any other personally identifiable information.
The Open Data Management Team will present its first report to the Mayor within 6 months and then yearly progress reports thereafter. Aligning with the State of Connecticut, Hartford is the first municipality to establish an Open Data Portal.


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It seems as if there are new reports surfacing everyday concerning the Mets' off-season plans, and today is no different. New York GM Sandy Alderson talked to reporters in Miami and touched upon various objectives he plans to pursue this winter to improve the team for the 2013 campaign. His priority first and foremost is to retain both David Wright and R.A. Dickey.
The franchise third baseman told Adam Rubin earlier this week that he's optimistic about agreeing to a long-term deal with the Mets, although he hasn't had any formal talks with them about it yet. If Wright does ink an extension with the Amazins, it's his hope that it takes him to his retirement, making him a lifelong Met. Rumors are starting to circle that the organization is hopeful Wright will stay, eventually becoming their new unofficial spokesman, like Tom Seaver is now. As for Dickey, there were some comments swirling that the front office was wary to commit to the knuckleballer for multiple years, but that's not what Sandy said today.
Alderson will be making both Wright and Dickey November priorities, as he said that trying to retain their own players is one of their foundational principles. He's also confident that the two sides will be able to agree to terms quickly, and is prepared to talk about the direction of the team as moving forward, despite this year's second half slump. What has been consistent is the front office's desire to be more active in the trade market than with free agents, and even though Jason Bay and Johan Santana are owed a total of $50 million next year, there is enough flexibility now to offer multi-year extensions. However, unlike what we heard yesterday, the organization is not interested in back-loading contracts, a la the Miami Marlins.
While it was said he's not ready to blow up the team and start over again, there looks to be some major changes on the way to the roster, as Alderson has had several discussions with manager Terry Collins about what needs to be done for 2013, with the focus remaining on building up the farm system and promoting worthy players from within.
It sounds crazy, but I trust Alderson through this process. He's been patient for the last two seasons to get rid of some dead weight on the payroll (Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez), while waiting for the Bernie Madoff case to be put to rest, and now he feels he knows the organization well enough to make legitimate moves to help the MLB roster for next season. It remains to be seen what he will and will not do, because if this past July's trade deadline was any indication, he has no problem talking out of both sides of his mouth. The approach he's taking makes a lot of sense; the front office feels there is talent in the outfield that will be developed while on the MLB roster (Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda), as well as some minor league talent that could be on the way (Matt Den Dekker and potentially Brandon Nimmo). Spending a lot of money on a free agent outfielder like Josh Hamilton would be nice, but it would block their development down the road.
From the way Alderson has been talking about the trade market, he sounds confident he will find a solution for the outfield through trades. It's rumored that Justin Upton could be on the market, so we'll see if there is any truth to that once the World Series trophy is hoisted. It's still early, yes, but from what I've heard thus far, the plan sounds like a solid one. Now, it's all about the execution and results.
Tags: David Wright MLB Off-season New York Mets R.A. Dickey Sandy Alderson


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Here are the Editor's Picks articles for the American Regional Cuisine Site! These are the top ten articles that your American Regional Cuisine Editor feels are most important for you to read. Enjoy!
1. Beer Battered Fried Fish Recipe
Are you a seafood lover like me? You will go crazy for my Beer Battered Fried Fish Recipe! There is a variety of white, flaky fish you can use along with my crunchy, seasoned beer batter. As a sandwich with crunchy slaw and tartar sauce or crispy fries (or chips!) and vinegar - it's to die for!
2. Alaskan King Crab Leg Gravy Recipe
Alaskan King Crab legs give this red gravy the most delicious flavor. You may substitute any variety of crab legs that are available in your area. This gravy freezes extremely well, making it a quick fix for dinner on busy days. Enjoy this with your favorite pasta or rice. It's so yummy!
3. Southern Greens with Leeks Recipe
Do you have a hard time getting people in your house to eat their greens? I thought my children would never eat something that was actually called "greens", but I was wrong. This Southern greens with leeks recipe is smoky, slightly spicy, packed with flavor and highly addicting! Give it a try!
4. Savory Onion and Herb Quiche Recipe
Do you love onions as much as I do? Well, it is time to celebrate one of the best ingredients to come out of the Pacific Northwest - the Walla Walla onion of Washington state. This quiche recipe is highlighted with aromatic, fresh herbs and is the perfect partner at a brunch or picnic.
5. Italian Sausage & Peppers Salad Recipe
To celebrate the 87th Annual Feast of Gennaro in Little Italy, New York I bring you a simple twist on the traditional old Italian sausage and peppers. This Italian Sausage & Peppers Salad Recipe is quick and easy to make and is packed with flavors that are simply Italian. Enjoy!
6. Southern Spicy Black Eyed Peas Recipe
If you want real comfort in a side dish, you have to try this Spicy Black Eyed Pea recipe. It's very inexpensive to make, feeds a crowd and freezes well if there are leftovers. It's a great addition to any cookout with steaks, burgers and hot dogs on any weekend.
7. Cornish Meat and Potato Pasty with Herbs Recipe
The Cornish Pasty is truly renowned as an old-fashioned, favorite comfort food! Not only in Britain, but in the mid-western state of Michigan where May 24th is Michigan Pasty Day. Enjoy this easy-to-make, hand-held Cornish Meat and Potato Pasty with Herbs recipe...for lunch, dinner or on the go!
8. Southwestern Shrimp with Pasta or Rice Recipe
Do you love chili peppers? Why not try this Southwestern Shrimp Scampi wit h either pasta or my cilantro rice recipe! I have suggestions for you to tame down the heat if you wish. A quick and easy recipe, with minimal ingredients that pack a punch with flavor.
9. Carnitas Taco Night Recipe
Are you ready for a Taco Night Feast? This Carnitas Taco Night recipe is essentially twice cooked shredded pork shoulder and is simple to prepare and delicious to eat! A basic staple from the Southwest.
10. Citrus Cheesecake with Ginger Honey Crumb Recipe
Are you looking for a light, refreshing, flavorful summertime desert? Try this Citrus Cheesecake with a Ginger Honey Crumb Crust. It's packed with lemons, limes and oranges that just make your taste buds tingle!
Be sure to visit the American Regional Cuisine Archives for all the articles!
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Category Archives: Nursing schools
RWJF Scholars in the News: Unemployment and suicide, prescription painkiller abuse, veterans' care, and more
Around the country, print, broadcast, and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows, alumni, and grantees. Some recent examples:
More generous unemployment benefits can lead to lower suicide rates, according to a study co-authored by RWJF Health & Society Scholars program alumna Maria Glymour, MS, ScD. The Huffington Post covers the study, describing it as the first of its kind to reach that conclusion. Glymour and colleagues speculate that higher benefits help mediate some of the stressors that contribute to suicide.
A survey of licensed nurses in Wyoming examines factors involved in their decisions about whether to continue their education. In a Wyoming Business Report story, Mary Burman, PhD, RN, an alumna of the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program, notes that the Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report recommends that 80 percent of nurses have baccalaureate degrees or higher by 2020. She says findings from the new survey point to strategies that might help achieve that goal, noting "the positive role that employers can play by encouraging and supporting nurses to return to school for their baccalaureate degree." Burman is dean of the University of Wyoming's Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, which collaborated on the survey.
Nicholas King, PhD, MA, an RWJF Health & Society Scholars program alumnus, investigates the sharp increase in deaths from prescription painkillers in the United States and Canada over the past 20 years, reports Medical Xpress. King and colleagues analyzed research about the "epidemic," concluding that Internet sales and errors by doctors and patients have not played a significant role in the increase. Rather, they "found evidence for at least 17 different determinants of increasing opioid-related mortality, mainly, dramatically increased prescription and sales of opioids; increased use of strong, long-acting opioids like OxyContin and methadone; combined use of opioids and other (licit and illicit) drugs and alcohol; and social and demographic factors." Outlets covering King's work include the Toronto Sun, Fast Company, and the National Pain Report.
The DEU as a Response to the Nurse Faculty Shortage
Janet M. Banks, MSN, RNC, is an instructor and clinical faculty at the University of Portland, a recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education grant. She is working on her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at Case Western Reserve University, with a focus on nursing clinical education.
It's no secret that there's a serious shortage of nursing faculty in the United States. This problem will result in schools of nursing educating too few nurses to meet the growing demand for these health care professionals. One solution to this vexing problem is to increase the number of Dedicated Education Units, or DEUs, to increase faculty capacity.
Chances are good that if you are reading this blog, you know what a DEU is. But, for the sake of being on the same page, it is a collaboration between a nursing unit and an academic institution such as a school of nursing. Often referred to as an academic-service partnership, the school of nursing provides students as well as faculty who are experts in teaching. The nursing unit provides a culture that supports learning, as well as expert nurses to act as teachers.
The students, nurses, and faculty usually work in a ratio of two students to each nurse, with the faculty supporting the nurse as teacher and supporting the student's professional development.
Building a National Resource Center for HIV Prevention from the Ground Up
Ann H. Cary, PhD, MPH, RN, is dean and professor at the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellow from 2008 to 2011.
Human Capital Blog: Congratulations on the grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support the creation of a national resource center for HIV prevention at the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City! What will your role be at the center?
Ann H. Cary: My role is to ensure that the new center has the institutional resources it needs to succeed. This translates into procuring space reallocation and furnishings; supporting personnel hires; consulting with the CDC grant leadership team to remove organizational barriers; assisting in solving any challenges to the center's rollout; and telling the story about this project through institutional messaging to our community, the discipline of nursing, and to other stakeholders and partners.
HCB: What is your vision for the center?
Cary: That the National HIV Prevention Coordinating Resource Center grant results in a center that leads and coordinates products for providers and the communities they serve to ultimately improve the prevention and treatment of people living with, or at risk of, acquiring HIV.
HCB: The center will be housed at a school of nursing and health studies. Why is that important?
Quotable Quotes About Nursing, April 2014
This is part of the April 2014 issue of Sharing Nursing's Knowledge.
"It is a truism that healthy children are in a better position to learn in the classroom.
Unfortunately, it's also a sad fact of life that the role of a school nurse—who is on campus to help insure students' well-being—often goes overlooked or underestimated."
--Editorial, Board Should Work to Remedy Nursing Shortage, Burbank Leader, April 11, 2014
"Our goal is not just to be at the table [of policy-making discussions]. We need practiced, experienced nurses to vote at that table, and when our voices are heard, the patient's voices are heard, and this means we must invest more time, attention, and resources to develop nurse leaders."
--Karen Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN, president, American Nursing Association, Nursing Leaders Essential in Providing Quality Health Care, Houston Chronicle, April 4, 2014
"I have watched the industry grow over the years as nurses become more involved than just taking vital signs, giving medications and bathing patients. There is a more team-oriented approach, which has developed in hospitals, and this naturally makes it a more rewarding career option. As a result, more and more nursing programs are in demand."
--Brenda McAllister, MSN, EdD, director of nursing, EDMC-Brown Mackie College, Health Care Industry Experiencing New Demands for Nurses, (Milwaukee) Journal Sentinel, April 3, 2014
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez Champions Nursing
Nurses are "the backbone of efforts" to expand New Mexico's primary care workforce, according to Gov. Susana Martinez, and they help ensure that people living in the state's rural and underserved communities can get the high quality care they need and deserve. A video from the governor helped open the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Academic Progression in Nursing meeting in Washington, D.C., this week, which brought together nurse leaders from around the country. In her remarks, Governor Martinez explains why New Mexico has implemented a common statewide nursing curriculum, made it easier for nurses in the state to further their education, and placed "a strong emphasis on nurses."
Recent Research About Nursing, March 2014
This is part of the March 2014 issue of Sharing Nursing's Knowledge.
Comparing Nurse and Physician Performance on Colonoscopies
A new study finds that colonoscopies performed by nurse and physician endoscopy trainees are comparable in terms of quality and safety.
Researchers in The Netherlands studied 15 endoscopy trainees—seven nurses and eight physicians—at two medical centers over the course of three-and-a-half years. At the beginning of the study, none had experience in endoscopy. All were trained according to the applicable regulations of the Dutch Society of Gastroenterology, performing a minimum of 100 colonoscopies. After completing their training, each performed 135 consecutive colonoscopies under the supervision of a gastroenterologist, with their work evaluated for safety and quality.
The nurse group and the physician group had comparable results on both measures, with the nurse group producing marginally better scores in some areas. Each group detected the same percentage of adenomas (benign polyps), and had the same low rate of complications. The nurses had slightly higher rates of cecal intubation (successfully passing the colonoscope to a key part of the colon), and slightly higher rates of completing the procedure without assistance.
Growth in Enrollment Slowing at Nursing Schools
Enrollment in registered nurse (RN) programs has increased for the 13th consecutive year, according to preliminary data from the fall 2013 nursing school enrollment survey conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). But with a 2.6 percent enrollment increase from 2012 to 2013, entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs saw their lowest growth rate in five years.
Though interest in nursing careers remains strong, AACN said in a news release, many qualified individuals seeking to enter the profession can't be accommodated in nursing programs. The preliminary data show that 53,667 qualified applications were turned away from 610 entry-level baccalaureate programs in 2013, and AACN expects that number to increase when final data are released in March.
The primary barriers to accepting all qualified nursing school applicants continue to be a shortage of faculty, clinical placement sites, and funding, AACN reports.
The 2013 survey shows stronger growth rates for RN-to-BSN programs, at 12.4 percent, as well as master's programs (4.4 percent) and doctor of nursing practice programs (21.6 percent).
See more survey findings and analysis from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Interprofessional Education: Not Just for the Fun of It
Brenda Zierler, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor of behavioral nursing and health systems at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she focuses on interprofessional education in the health professions. She is an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows program (2008-2011). This post is part of the "Health Care in 2014" series, in which health leaders, as well as Robert Wood Johnson Foundation scholars, grantees, and alumni, share their New Year's resolutions for our health care system and their priorities for action this year.
Over the last several years, health professional students at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle have had numerous opportunities to participate in interprofessional education (IPE) events using a variety of pedagogical approaches, experiences, and technologies such as unfolding web-based cases, team-building exercises, simulated scenarios, mock codes, joint quality improvement placements, shadowing health professionals, and service learning in the community.
These activities are highly rated, and students typically provide positive testimonials about the importance of working together early in their training. Although the feedback provided by the students is overwhelmingly positive, I was concerned that the students were not fully understanding the rationale for these numerous IPE activities, which are logistically challenging to develop, implement, and evaluate.
I was recently invited to give a lecture to describe local and national IPE initiatives to pre-licensure students in a UW leadership class. These students had participated in two IPE events during one academic quarter. While standing outside of the classroom waiting for the first guest speaker to finish his PowerPoint lecture, I decided to abandon the lecture and instead to facilitate a discussion on the rationale for the IPE events.
A Bright Job Outlook for BSN Nursing Grads
Graduates of entry-level baccalaureate and master's nursing programs are much more likely to have job offers by graduation or soon after, compared with graduates from other fields, according to new data from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). A national survey of deans and directors from U.S. nursing schools found that 59 percent of new bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) graduates had job offers at the time of graduation.
That's substantially higher than the national average across all professions (29.3 percent). At four to six months after graduation, the survey found that 89 percent of new BSN graduates had secured employment in the field.
"Despite concerns about new college graduates finding employment in today's tight job market, graduates of baccalaureate nursing programs are finding positions at a significantly higher rate than the national average," said AACN President Jane Kirschling. "As more practice settings move to require higher levels of education for their registered nurses, we expect the demand for BSN-prepared nurses to remain strong as nurse employers seek to raise quality standards and meet consumer expectations for safe patient care."
California State University Feels the Pain of Nurse Faculty Shortage
Mirroring national trends, the California State University (CSU) system is turning away qualified nursing school applicants due to faculty shortages, reports the Los Angeles Daily News, and CSU officials fear that the situation will worsen the nurse shortage in a state that already has one of the country's lowest numbers of nurses per capita.
This fall, CSU Long Beach had a nursing program acceptance rate of 18 percent, having received 450 applications for 82 slots. CSU Northridge had a "very highly qualified" pool of 300 applicants but could only accept 60. CSU Chico had to turn down 86 percent of its fully qualified applicants, while CSU San Marcos turned away nearly 89 percent.
"Let me put it this way, we have over 1,200 pre-nursing students," Dwight Sweeney, interim chairman of nursing at CSU San Bernardino, told the Daily News. "I can only take about 108 a year. In the fall, we had over 600 applicants for 44 positions. Realistically, we are turning away people with 3.6 and 3.7 GPAs. And I think that story is playing out on CSU campuses everywhere."


text: On Aug 3, 2006, at 12:09 PM, Kathleen A Roberts wrote: > On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 11:58:31 -0400 > "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" > <adamantius.magister at verizon.net> wrote: >> >> But in general, the word "hostage" has its roots in the >> word "host", >> and it didn't have quite the same high-stress and >> terrifyingly brutal >> connotation that it has had more recently. > > thanks for the great explanation. i think fostering is > more what folks today might compare it to? the idea of > switching offspring to keep everyone on good terms. > > given the fact that the dictionary i checked did not get > into the 'gentler' definition, i guess that premise has > gone out of style. I believe that the automatic association our culture seems to make between "hostages" and "terrorism" is generally a pretty recent concept. As in, to the virtual exclusion of other definitions, maybe 40 years old or less. Adamantius


text:
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