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幸福の小道 Godzilla
I truly do not know if the ever expanding legend surrounding this player has kept him on this Tampa Bay Rays roster. Some have been more than adamant that he is a shell of his former self, possibly dialing in his last breathes in Major League Baseball. I seriously do not see the reasoning or the dramatic prose of keeping Hidecki Matsui on this Rays roster.
Even last night as Rays Manager Joe Maddon closed his office door post-game in a personal discussion with his staff and front office personnel, I thought surely the fairy tale of this version of "Godzilla" might finally play out to a release or possible waiver. Not sure if the creature known as "Godzilla" has any feline traits, but definitely Matsui has evoked and used up more than 9 Rays lives in his short tenure.
I wanted Matsui to be a firm Rays building block, the keystone to a offensive revival of the Rays arsenal, but except for a few blasts more from the past than the present, Matsui has produced more blanks than lethal shots. It has now been over 3 weeks or 21 days since the "of Japan" demigod had a pair of singles going 2-for-3 against the Detroit Tigers on July 1st. Sure most will point towards Matsui only striding to the plate 15 times since that day, but with strikeouts to end two of the last 3 Rays last ditch efforts at victories, something has to give soon.
I truly want to look into Matsui's Rays locker and find that lucky charm, that atonement symbol that has blessed him with chances after chances to provide defining moments, but has left us all wanting. In 20 plate appearances this month to today's contest, Matsui is 2-for-15 with 7 strikeouts and has stranded 23 of 24 men who stood on base during his at bats. That statistic by itself lends the point of view that Matsui has performed beyond abysmal. I know Maddon has a huge amount of respect and admiration for Matsui, but I'm beginning to question the sanity of seeing # 56 in a Rays uniform at all.
For the Seattle series, Matsui is 0-6 and is scheduled to be again the Rays DH for today's contest. When do we stop the madness and cut our losses, possibly calling up someone like Stephen Vogt again who definitely can hit better than Matsui's current 1.49 batting average. Considering Matsui was brought onto this club to help with getting runners in scoring position across the plate. A .148 average in that category mixed with a lone Home Run doesn't boast any additional confidence for me for the daily use of Matsui.
How can a opposing pitching staff be afraid of a guy who boasts a average that even Mendoza would shake his head at profusely. It seems right now that Godzilla's fiery breathe has not only gone moot, but his been extinguished, possibly for good. Matsui started off his Rays venture impressively hitting 2 long bombs in his first few games, setting the table for good thing to come, but after that first volley of goodness, no Home Runs and only 3 RBI over his 30 games. Pressing further into the abyss we see Matsui has produced his worst year ever so far as a professional, and it only gets worse.
is not even an adequate field player or late inning replacement any longer and has proven more than a few times to seem lost and flustered out in leftfield. Matsui have only had a total of 14 chances in the outfield endeavors, but his lack of total confidence in the field has flashed upon his face as he moves toward balls in play. His last start against Boston on July 2nd, Matsui suffered a hamstring injury . Truly I think we have seen his last days as a Rays outfield accessory.
I know this is not the fairy tale ending any of us wanted for Matsui, but it might be time for the Rays to sever the cord. Matsui is not even a remote threat in the Rays offense that is currently ranked 28th in the MLB. He was brought into this Rays fold to be a defining offensive weapon, but has produced mostly blanks. Matsui was suppose to protect the bulk of the Rays line-ups, but they have done more to protect him than you can imagine. Maybe it is time to face the reality this venture turned into a horrific mis-step instead of a solid foot forward for the Rays.
After Sunday's contest, the Rays get a day off on Monday before embarking on a 10 game road trip that will not see them back at the Trop until after the Trade Deadline, maybe cutting their losses and freeing Godzilla is in the best interest of the Rays chance at the post-season. I mean if Matsui was any other player in the Rays organization, he would have been gone long before now. Sorry Godzilla, it's not personal, it the business of winning that drives baseball.
幸福の小道 (Happy Trails) Godzilla
1 Comment
Sorta makes you wish for Damon….


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In a recent letter to the editor, Charles Campbell rehashes tired talking points and cherry picks data to attack proven renewable energy sources like wind and solar power ("Nuclear is greenest," May 28).
The old-school reliability concerns Mr. Campbell raises are most often voiced by fossil fuel companies — not the grid operators responsible for keeping the lights on. The "comprehensive study of U.S. wind power" that Mr. Campbell references is, in reality, based on data from four days in Colorado that was commissioned by the Independent Petroleum Association of the Mountain States.
In fact, wind farms and solar arrays are highly efficient at delivering power to the grid with gradual variation according to day-ahead forecasting. The "percent of design capacity" numbers Mr. Campbell cites don't keep grid operators up at night. But the threat of a single massive source of power — like a nuclear reactor — going offline due to an accident certainly does.
Emergency shutdowns at reactors happen with alarming frequency, including as recently as May 3rd at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland.
In the long-run, fuel-free energy sources can always out-compete fossil fuel and nuclear plants that require lengthy fuel extraction and supply chains. Renewable resources face only construction and routine maintenance costs — costs that have decreased precipitously in recent years.
In most parts of the country, wind energy is already far cheaper than nuclear reactors and other traditional sources. That's why wind power was the most installed energy source in 2012. Solar power installations accounted for all of the new energy capacity added to our nation's electric grid in March.
When it comes to clean, reliable and cost-effective power, renewable energy has consistently out-paced nuclear energy as the superior option.
James McGarry
The writer is chief policy analyst of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hi, I hit pretty frequently and I like to play hard. Let me know if you are up for a challenge? Please text me if interested.
[edit: please share private info via PM or Friend Request]
Views: 145
Replies to This Discussion
Do you mean you want to get coached?
still looking for a partner? i'm visiting from LA for a week, looking to hit, rally or play, for a good workout. evenings work best. let me know. i'm coming from Moraga. thanks
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Muslims & Surveillance in NYC: The Next Steps
Internet Freedom Festival
Monday, June 16, 2014 from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM (EDT)
In partnership with the Muslim Consultative Network, this special Techno-Activism 3rd Monday will showcase how the Muslim community in NYC has been subjected to extreme and unnecessary levels of surveillance in New York City, and the current steps being taken to combat this disturbing trend.
Also, this event will provide the NYC Muslim community with an opportunity to meet and talk with individuals that build Open Source anti-surveillance and anti-censorship tools which are used throughout the world. Find out how how you can protect your online privacy, and how you can help improve these essential tools.
Arun Kundani, author of The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror, will talk about:
Seeta Peña Gangadharan, civil rights advocate and Senior Researcher Fellow at Open Technology Institute, will talk about:
Debbie Almontaser, President of Board of Directors for the Mulism Collective Network will talk about:
The Muslim Consultative Network is a nonprofit organization that works to build the capacity of Muslim-New Yorkers and their allies, to fully participate in the economic, social and political life of New York City. MCN prides itself in creating strong relationships with other faith-based communities; articulating and advancing an understanding of the need for citizen engagement; developing the skills and ability of our community to affect change, and building the next generation's identity and capacity as leaders. MCN's program areas include: Youth Development, Civic Action and Community Education.
Join millions of people on Eventbrite.
In order to purchase these tickets in installments, you'll need an Eventbrite account. Log in or sign up for a free account to continue.


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Donna Weaver
Class of 2011
Major/Minor: Biology
Donna Weaver '11 worked with the Center for Environment & Society as a Recycling Assistant. She helped promote campus sustainability by collecting and sorting the paper, cardboard, glass, cans, and plastic bottles with her fellow Recycling Assistants. She also has taken on the maintenance of the compost pile, which consists of unused food from Catering and the Dining Hall. She worked as well on biological and chemical testing of the compost with the purpose of generating optimal quality compost to be used in campus landscaping and possibly a campus vegetable garden in the future. Donna was a Biology major and enjoys reading, photography, yoga, jogging, and cycling with her dad and brother.
Campus Involvement
- Major: Biology
- Center for the Environment & Society Recycling Assistant
- Intramural Soccer
Hometown and high school? Brookhaven, Pennsylvania; Cardinal O'hara High School
Favorite class? Beginning Drawing- having an art class in the afternoons with a fifteen-minute latte break in the middle was a real stress reliever.
Recommended professor? Dr. Gerrity- She is very open-minded and I've never had a more respectful teacher.
Most memorable experience as a first-year student? Pre-orientation at Echo Hill- I got to know some great people and I had a few awesome adventures before the other freshmen even moved in.
If you could be a condiment, which one would you be and why? Hummus- It's all natural and really good for you!
If you had a superpower, what would it be and why? Time travel- I've always wanted to know what it was like living in different time periods. I'd also like to be able to witness natural history before the time of modern humans.


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The American women gymnasts dominated, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky won gold, the diving pool became a diving pond and a Brazilian rugby player got a surprise proposal. In case you missed any of the Olympic glory and the heartbreak from Day 4 at Rio 2016, here are the highlights.
The Final Five Takes Gold
The U. S. Women's Gymnastics Team — dominated by the phenomenal Simone Biles — won a second consecutive Olympics gold on Tuesday, and in recognition of the smaller team size that takes effect in Tokyo in 2020 immediately branded themselves as the "Final Five."
"They might be the last team of 5, but we'll be talking about the Final Five for years to come," USA Gymnastics tweeted after the win."
Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian were expected to outshine the competition and they did. The team beat their nearest rivals, the second place Russians, by a record 8.209 points. China came in third.
Raisman, the team captain, and Douglas became the only two U.S. women to take three Olympic gold medals. The women won on every apparatus — the vault, the uneven bars, the balance beam — and in the floor exercise. They ended with the floor exercise, during which Biles performed the move that has come to be known as the "Biles" — a double layout with a half twist.
Phelps Wins 21st Gold, Ledecky wins 2nd
U.S. swimmers won dramatically Tuesday as Michael Phelps took his 20th and 21st Olympic gold medals Tuesday, in the 200-meter butterfly and the 4 by 200-meter freestyle relay and Katie Ledecky got her second gold medal, in the 200-meter freestyle.
Phelps tied the overal medal count of the country of Ethiopia after the U.S. swimmers won the relay race. Earlier, in the butterfly he went up against his longtime rival Chad le Clos of South Africa, to whom he lost in London in 2012 by five hundredths of a second. Tuesday night, silver medalist Masato Sakai was only four hundredths of a second off Phelps' 1 minute, 53.36 seconds. Tamas Kenderesi of Hungary won bronze.
Le Clos fell to fourth and failed to win a medal.
U.S. & World
On the women's side, Ledecky said she sensed Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, winner of the 100-meter butterfly in Rio, close behind her and had to "dig deep." She beat Sjostrom by about four-tenths of a second.
"That's the closest I've gotten to having to throw up in the middle of a race," Ledecky said afterward.
Ledecky won her other Rio medals in the 400-meter freestyle, where she got a gold and set a world record, and with teammates Dana Vollmer, Simone Manuel and Abbey Weitzeil in the 4 by 100-meter freestyle relay, where the team took a silver.
Ledecky is the favorite for the 800-meter freestyle in which she is the defending Olympic champion.
Gold, silver, bronze and...green?
A mysterious color change took place overnight at the outdoor diving pool at the Rio Olympics, leaving even the athletes at a loss. What had been a clear light blue became a murky green.
David Boudia, a silver-medal winner from the United States, wondered on Twitter about the diving "pond." Was St. Patrick's Day being celebrated out of season?
Olympic organizers said in a statement that tests had determined that the water posed no risk to athletes but could not explain the color change, saying only that it was being investigated.
"If it were green and yellow, we would know it was a patriotic thing," a spokesman for the organizing committee, Mario Andrada joked to The Associated Press, referring to Brazil's national colors. "We did test the water using the same parameters we do every day, and the results were exactly the same as we got when the pool was blue."
The Canadian team leader, Mitch Geller, said he suspected algae.
Whatever the cause, Tuesday's competition went on and a pair of Chinese divers, Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia, won the women's synchronized 10-meter platform event. Chen told The AP that it did not affect them.
Diving events are being held outdoors for the first time since the Athens Games in 2004.
Tennis Upset, Again
Serena Williams is out. The tennis superstar lost in round three of the singles competition against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina on Tuesday.
Williams and her sister Venus had already been defeated in doubles on Sunday.
Williams took a lead in the first set, but she made a number of unforced errors and moved sluggishly.
Until Tuesday, Williams had won all four matches she had played against Svitolina, dating back to 2012.
Williams won the Wimbledon Championships last month.
But Who's Counting?
U.S. Equestrian Phillip Dutton won a bronze medal in individual eventing on Tuesday in advance of his birthday next month. Which birthday? His 53rd.
The oldest American competitor, Dutton is a six-time Olympian who twice won gold for his native Australia before becoming an American citizen. This was his first individual medal.
Dutton, who rode Mighty Nice, is not the oldest competitor in Rio. That was Sir Mark Todd of New Zealand, another equestrian whose disastrous showing on Tuesday cost his team an eventing medal. New Zealand came in fourth.
Hanging Up His Shoes
In one of the most emotional moments of the Rio Games so far, Colombian weightlifter Óscar Figueroa won his country's first gold medal of the games Monday night, ending his Olympic career on a high note.
After securing the gold but failing to break his Olympic record on his final lift, Figueroa fell to his knees with tears of joy, raising his hands to the cheering crowd. He then took off his shoes and left them on the mat, honoring a weightlifting tradition to signal his retirement from the sport.
The 33-year-old won the gold medal in the men's 62 kg (136.6 lbs) weight class, lifting a total of 318 kg (701.1 lbs). Figueroa took home the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics with a total lift of 317 kg.
Figueroa's touching move continued to gain attention on social media on Tuesday.
Rugby Returns to the Olympics
Men's rugby returned to the Olympic Games Tuesday for the first time since 1924, when Team USA took home the gold.
The U.S. men's team is defending its Olympic champion title, a gold won nearly a century ago. The rugby sevens team lost its first game against Argentina 17-14, but it ended the day with a 26-0 blowout of the Brazil team.
The team includes Carlin Isles, a former track sprinter and known as the "fastest man in rugby," and Nate Ebner, an NFL safety for the New England Patriots.
[NATL]Proposal on the Pitch! Olympic Rugby Player Gets Engaged
On the women's side, Brazilian rugby player Isadora Cerullo did not get a medal after Monday night's first women's ruby sevens final, but she did get something special: a marriage proposal.
After the medal ceremony ended, Marjorie Enya, Cerullo's girlfriend and a manager at Rio's Deodoro Stadium, where the competition was held, grabbed the microphone.
Television cameras and photographers captured the happy moment, which is making the rounds on social media.


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If you were a young girl during the 80s or 90s, you most likely read The Baby-Sitters Club. (I know I did.) You had a favorite sitter, a favorite client, and you probably even had a favorite Super Special. This book series was a big part of many little girls' literary lives, so let's take a look at some things you may not know about the BSC.
1. The popular series was created to capitalize on the popularity of another book about babysitting. The book was Ginny's Babysitting Job, which was published in the early 80s. An editor at Scholastic saw the success of another novel about the hobby and decided that the publishing company needed their own version.
2. Author Ann M. Martin was originally a freelance author when she was hired to write a book about baby-sitting. Martin was responsible for creating the plot-lines, details, and characters of The Baby-Sitters Club, as well as writing the first books. The series was about a club, rather than a single baby-sitter, to help promote team work and unity among young girls.
3. The series was originally slated for just four novels. However, thanks to the success of those four, Scholastic ordered two more, and after that, another twelve.
4. Author Ann M. Martin only wrote about 60 out of 213 total Baby-Sitters Club books. Most of the novels were ghostwritten by other authors, including 43 by Peter Lerangis, who also wrote for a spin-off of another popular teen series of the 80s, Sweet Valley Twins.
5. During the 14-year run of the series, there were 176 million copies of The Baby-Sitters Club books printed.
6. While there were popular spin-off's of the series (Baby-Sitters Little Sister namely), there were also less popular spin-offs. The California Diaries was a series of books based on Dawn Schafer's return to California in her teenage years. It took a slightly darker tone in its writing and touched on subjects such as anorexia, sexual identity, and racism. However, only 15 novels were published before the series' end.
7. In 2006, a division of Scholastic named Graphix published a graphic novelization of the first Baby-Sitters Club novel. The animated versions were updated adaptations of four of the early BSC books: Kristy's Great Idea, The Truth About Stacey, Mary Anne Saves the Day, and Claudia and Mean Janine.
8. In 2009, the New York Times wrote an article about the upcoming re-release of the first two novels of the series. Scholastic hoped to spark a comeback of the books with the current generation of readers. Also, that same year, Ann M. Martin wrote a prequel to the series called The Summer Before.
9. Throughout the run of the series, there were five types of novels in addition to the core series of novels: Super Specials, which were longer stories and were narrated by a different girl each chapter; Readers Request, books that focused on non-main members of the BSC; Mysteries and Super Mysteries; Portrait collections, novels that were biographies of the girls' pasts; and Baby-Sitters Club: Friends Forever, a 13-book mini-series, which ended with the girl's graduation from middle school.
10. There was an (amazing) 13-episode long TV series named The Baby-Sitters Club, which aired in 1990. The shows were broadcast on The Disney Channel, as well as HBO and Nickelodeon. The other live-action version of the BSC was the feature film, released in 1995. The role of Mary Anne was actress Rachael Leigh Cook's movie debut, and the film also starred Larisa Oleynik (The Secret World of Alex Mack, 10 Things I Hate About You) as Dawn.
Image sources: Kristy's Great Idea, Ann M. Martin, Little Sister #9, Super Special #1, Baby-Sitters Club Movie


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CHARLOTTE � After beating Orlando in their first game after the All-Star break last Tuesday, the Charlotte Bobcats had good reason to look forward to a stretch of three games in four days.
Instead, Detroit, Chicago and Denver made that home stand a winless nightmare for the Bobcats, capped by Denver�s 113-99 win in front of 18,481 at Time Warner Cable Arena.
�We have to take a bit more pride in holding down the home court,� said first-year coach Mike Dunlap, whose 13-43 team is now 7-22 at home and 6-21 on the road this season.
Charlotte now heads out for its second and final West Coast road trip. The Bobcats� four-game, seven-day road trip begins with a game at the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, followed by games at Utah (next Friday), Sacramento (next Sunday) and Portland (March 4) before returning home to play Brooklyn on March 6.
�What disturbs me is there�s a lack of consistency at times at home,� Dunlap said. �We obviously want to win on the road because of what it says about us. But to build the kind of culture we want, we have to win at home.�
To Dunlap�s point, the Bobcats have now drawn 14 crowds of 16,000 or more fans in their 29 home dates at Time Warner Cable Arena this season. Only once in those games has Charlotte gotten a victory � the 90-89 win over Indiana on opening night that snapped the team�s 23-game losing streak.
�The Charlotte fan is a great fan,� Dunlap said. �And I don�t blame them when they don�t like when we don�t play well at home.�
On Saturday, the effort was certainly better than it was in Friday�s 105-75 loss to Chicago.
In fact, the Bobcats even led by five points in the opening quarter.
But Denver�s fast-paced, high-flying offense was simply too much for Charlotte after the Bobcats took their final lead at 46-44 with 5:33 left in the opening half.
University of North Carolina 2009 NCAA championship point guard Ty Lawson led the way with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, but most fans will remember the Nuggets� 14 dunks. Seven-footer JaVale McGee had seven of them on a 17-point night. Kenneth Faried, Andre Iguodala and Wilson Chandler also got in on the dunkfest.
For Charlotte, Kemba Walker had 24 points and five assists, Gerald Henderson had 19 points and rookie Jeffery Taylor had a career-high 18 points.
Notes: Many NBA insiders think George Karl�s glowing recommendation of Dunlap was one of the big reasons Dunlap got the Bobcats� head coaching job last June. And Karl, who had Dunlap on his staff for two years from 2006-08, said he got to spend some time with his former assistant on Saturday. �He�s going through the hell of losing,� Karl said. �But he knew the challenge when he took it.��
Dunlap certainly wasn�t pleased with the Bobcats� effort in Friday�s 30-point home loss to Chicago, which marked Charlotte�s 10th loss by 20 or more points this season. But Dunlap said the team�s 19 losses by 10 points or less bother him more. �I find that the games that are harder to lose are the close ones. Those are the ones that stick in your craw.��
Denver became the eighth team to sweep the Bobcats this season, including the seventh from the Western Conference. Atlanta is the Eastern Conference team as the Southeast Division rival went 4-0 against the Bobcats. The Western Conference teams to sweep Charlotte are Denver, Golden State, Houston, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans, Phoenix and San Antonio.
Richard Walker: 704-869-1841; twitter.com/JRWalk22


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Nothing says American like a great burger and a cold lager, or fried chicken with house-made slaw and cornbread. We promise the right food, a proper drink, and a setting that's polished but never stuffy. This is an experience worth savoring.
Classic. American.
Whether you are looking for something on which to nibble as you enjoy a cold lager, or a more substantial entree to accompany that glass of red wine or straight bourbon, deSha's doesn't disappoint. We promise the right food, a proper drink, and a setting that's polished but never stuffy.
Classic. American.
We could stop at serving brilliant food, but the fact is, you deserve more. That's why we feature happy hour, weekly specials, live music and special beer and wine dinners to give you another great reason to spend an evening at deSha's.
Comings & Goings.
No one is more pleased with the rise of the craft beer phenomenon than we are. Whether you prefer a mouth-curling bitter, a rich, smooth stout, or a traditional lager, we can bring on the beer. Step inside the bar to find out what's on tap.
Draft Beers.
Brunch is not currently available.


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KDE 2.2beta1 and KOffice 1.1beta3 now frozen
Due to recent instabilities in the CVS code, Waldo Bastian has announced that KDE 2.2beta1 has been delayed in favour of a message and feature freeze that will last a few days. During that time, developers will be busy finding bugs and bringing KDE CVS up to shape for a beta release. This probably means that KDE 2.2 will be released closer to July 30 than the previously planned July 23. KOffice, on the other hand, is almost right on schedule for the 1.1beta3 release. David Faure announced the beta3 freeze, but encourages users to put the current CVS version of KOffice through its paces -- apparently too few KWord bugs are waiting to be fixed.
Re: KDE 2.2beta1 and KOffice 1.1beta3 now frozen
This is good news as there are some bugs in the cvs that should be fixed before the release.. Even if it's only a beta-release..
Ppl.. look forward to the new sidebarTNG in konq ;)
By Christian A Str... at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
increase the synergy!
Wise decision!
You should plan for a "reduce the code" or "increase synergy" release where no additional functionality is added but the code-base of the whole project is reduced by looking for possible reuse of the already developed components through all the KDE projects.
It would be like going a bit on diet as a preparation for the next match (with KDE 3.0)aginst the other desktops.
Keep up the magnificent work!
By andrea at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
besides the obvious "can't make volunteers do what they don't want to", code reduction and refactoring happen continuously during KDE development. just in the last few weeks several pieces of code that were found to be used often (the rule of thumb is "used in 3 different applications") have been moved to libraries for greater, as you put it, synergy. =)
i've also noticed that in probably the last 2-3 weeks there have been noticeable speed-ups due to various optimizations in the code base across the entire desktop.
By Aaron J. Seigo at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
I hope some of the performance improvements were somewhat drastic, because my laptop with it's poor little 4200RPM drive runs pretty poorly. Konq will take close to twelve seconds to launch, and most other apps are the same. I think this could be improved, even on a device with such a slow drive. Once loaded, apps are fairly responsive (except when they end up getting stuck in the swap space, although that should happen a little less often since I upgraded the RAM from 64MB to 192MB), it's just the initial loading and shared object file loading that takes the time. If KDE 2.2 ends up loading apps faster than 2.1 does on my laptop, I'll be satisfied.
By Chad Kitching at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
I totally agree with you. If this was done for every main feature of KDE, I am sure that thousands of lines of code would disappear. Take tab completion as an example, it should be available across every application just as anti-aliasing is. Having more than one address book is unnecessary, etc.
Take the BeOS for instance, they have the idea of translators. A programmer writes a jpg translator, bmp etc. Therefore, when another programmer writes an image viewer program, he does not need to know how to view jgp's! I saw a complete image viewer in under 60k as it did not need to know how to deal with image file formats.
Now THAT is synergy.
Why is this amazing? You could have ONE algorithm that deals with mpegs, that KDE keeps as a translator (or whatever KDE calls it). If a media player, Konq window, KOffice presentation, whatever, needs to call the translation of the mpeg, it could do so without needing to know how to deal with mpegs.
Why is this even more amazing? You could have one person that writes a better mpeg algorithm, and replaces the current one. In one patch, the entire KDE can view mpegs better.
Duplication of effort is the biggest problem at the moment as you have scores of people working on the same thing, but as part of a different project. A classic example is email programs. I can't even count how many email programs there are available online, all doing the same thing. The small crap email programs are striving to be what other email programs already are.
And that is my 2c worth :)
By KDEJunkie at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
I am eally no coder, but I think this is exactly how it works in KDE. Everything else would be just plain stupid. I think there is this functionality built-in in Qt.
See, Konq for example can only view gifs when you compiled gif-support into qt. I think that's a strong hint that KDE-Applications use the Qt-library for all their images.
It's exactly the same thing with the io-slaves. The ftp-ioslave, for example. Konq surely uses it, and separate ftp-programs can use it, too.
Looks like KDE is already ahead of your wishes ;)
By me at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
hehe.. This is exactly the way KDE works.. Technologies like kpart and similar makes this possible, and writing a simple image-viewer in KDE can be done in about 1k!
For me, (except for everything else) this is what sets KDE apart from all other Desktop Environments out there..
By Christian A Str... at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
Tab completion, you say? Take a look at the KDE library reference page on KCompletion :). In my program it took about 30 lines of code to completely implement tab completion (including storing between sessions and avoiding duplication, and I have a number of different fields which can be completed).
Address book, you say? Well - perhaps this is why there is KAB, the KDE Address Book, which can be used in an application just by including the right libraries.
Image file formats, you say? Take a look at the KImgIO library.
A better MPEG algo, you say? Hmm... take a look at ARTS/MCOP plugins. :)
So basically everything you mentioned has already been implemented in KDE. Perhaps in the future you should do a little research and not just assume that the coders are dumb. ;)
By David G. Watson at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
> In my program it took about 30 lines of code to completely implement tab completion (including storing between sessions and avoiding duplication, and I have a number of different fields which can be completed).
Just one comment: you usually don't need to take care of duplicates in a KCompletion (or derived) object. This is due to the way the strings are stored (as a tree of characters -- there can't be any dupes).
So you can call addItem( "foo" ) as often as you want, it will only be stored once. If you use 'weighted' completion however, then every addItem( "foo" ) call will increase the weight of this item. An item with a greater weight will be preferred over one with less weight, during completion.
By Carsten Pfeiffer at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
Well, I'm not actually storing the strings in the KCompletion object - I'm loading them into the dialog each time I create it. There's probably a better way than the one I'm using, but getting it working was more of a priority than doing it the "correct" way.
By David G. Watson at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
is the new one out yet?
By zelnick at Fri, 2004/12/24 - 6:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
I think her you are assuming that I assume.... ;)
All I wanted was to suggest: intensify your efforts on throwing away things.
I am aware that KDE is the right place for this, since, as many of you said, you are already doing this in a more or less coordinated way.
By andrea at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
"What about (for example) having somebody explicitely responsible for finding possible duplications in the code and formulating better solutions?"
Good idea, but not very realistic. THERE IS NOONE WHO WANTS TO DO THIS. I really do think this would be a great thing, since that one person would probably be quite effective at hunting down redundancies after doing it for a while, but you really have to understand that its not exactly a very satisfying job to do.
As far as I understand, developers want to add features. Fixing bugs is noone's hobby, as you can see from the number of commits after a feature-freeze ;)
By me at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Money solves problems sometimes
Dedicate a person for this and set up a paypal account for him/her, and support this person with money :)
Just a thought
By Loranga at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: increase the synergy!
May be a eveloper would not be the right person for such a job. An 'architect' is more appropiate, one that have enough understanding of software and KDE in order to find the best candidates for 'synergize'.
I, for example would be willing to do this job, if I knew the KDE team would need it.
By andrea at Fri, 2001/06/15 - 5:00am
The Dot functionality
This is for you :)
When we post a message and the confirmation loads that reads: Your reply has been posted, can't we have a link that takes us straight back to the list we were reading with our post included. If you are reading a post with hundreds of entries and you want to post to more than one message, I find that after posting a reply I have to go back to the root of the dot, click on the thread that I was reading and then scroll down to where I was before. If there was a link that could do all those steps in one, it would be great.
Thank you.
By kde-user at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: The Dot functionality
I second that. :)
By KDE Fan at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: The Dot functionality
Let's see if that link really is missing.
By Inorog at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: The Dot functionality
OK. If you click the OK button you get to see what you posted. Which of the "parent" "thread" links and the DOT logo aren't obvious enough?
By Inorog at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: The Dot functionality
By Test at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: The Dot functionality
Yes, and pressing the 'back' button on the browser after posting brings one to the confirm page and ends in a double post.
By rit at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
I assume all can verify that there was a big pain switching from KDE to KDE-2 and Qt-2 in the same time. Porting KDE-2.{3,4} to use Qt is not an option either since it will break BC for existing applications. Therefor I'd suggest that next KDE release after 2.2 is still based on Qt-2. Then a "transit release" where BC will be broken as much as possible is released named KDE 2.99. This would be a KDE-2 port to use Qt-3. After this unstable/stable preview has been made the next thing to do would be aiming for KDE-3 with a lot of changes.
But then, people who don't care about BC issues and still would like a more-stable-than-cvs recent desktop could use it, and people who don't want several BIC releases could wait for KDE-3.
What do you all say ?
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
Actually, if I have understood this correctly, QT3 is quite compatible with QT2 only minor incompatibility. And KDE will continue on the 2.X branch, using QT3.
The QT3 version of KDE should be released sometime this winter. (KDE 2.X will be ported to QT3). While there will be a separate KDE3 scheduled for release sometime in the future.
By Jørgen at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
ehhh... Quite compatible !?!. Qt-3 is not even source compatible!
QMultiLineEdit has been deprecated and some other widgets as well. Use Qt-3 for KDE-2.{3,4} will break a lot of applications out there I believe.
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
Qt1 to Qt2 was a major change. Qt3 isn't so drastic, and consists mainly just new feature additions. Most of the other things they got right the second time :) The application I'm currently working on didn't even require any changes to compile under Qt3. That may be different for KDE, but I'm sure the changes will be minor.
KDE2 took so long to come out that at the time, distributions would include both Qt1 (for KDE1) and Qt2 (for everything else, like Licq). This wasn't a very desirable setup. I think in this case, the changes are minor enough that it would be worth the effort.
And I'm looking forward to being able to use the new Qt3 clipboard in all of KDE. :)
By Justin at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
>The QT3 version of KDE should be released sometime this winter. (KDE 2.X will be ported to QT3). While there will be a separate KDE3 scheduled for release sometime in the future.
I don't think that's correct. When KDE libraries break binary compatibility, major version number gets bumped up (just like with Qt). So KDE 2.x based on Qt3 would be KDE 3.0 and the separate revamped version would be KDE 4.0.
By nap at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
Thats why a "2 to 3 transit" 2.99 release would be good where the intention of breaking as much binary compatibility as possible could happen. Just as I proposed.
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
This is sort of right, but not quite. There will be a 2.90 release which will be the latest Qt 2.x based version of KDE ported to Qt 3.0. This release won't include new features etc., it'll just be a way of releasing Qt 3 ported KDE quickly.
Once this has been done we can get on with the task of changing things we don't like, extending our APIs for the next generation etc., making use of the new Qt features... When this code is ready we will release KDE 3.0.
By Richard Moore at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
Ok, didn't know about the naming strategy. Anyway, 3rd party KDE app-developers (especially closed source ones) are probably going to see nightmares, as the life-expectancy of a KDE-BC platform halves each time :)
By nap at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
The reasoning in this case is that the new version of gcc will break binary compatability anyway, so we might as well make use of it by breaking everything at once. From what I've read it should be easier to maintain compatability with the new vtable layout etc. so we can avoid breaking compatability for a long time after this.
People distributing binaries don't really have too much to worry about in any case, because they can still link the KDE 2.x libraries. Those releasing source have even less cause for concern as the required code changes are likely to be minimal.
By Richard Moore at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
But I guess that they do have to worry about interface differences of other processes in the system changing between releases ( e.g. if the DCOP interface changed ) ?
By CPH at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
Not really, as long as we don't remove any thing the DCOP interfaces will remain compatible. It's not affected by binary compatability.
By Richard Moore at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
Hi Rich,
Great! This was exactly what I was thinking about. Release a somewhat stable KDE 2.99 version that is mostly a port to Qt3. This release is not an official stable relase but merely a stable binary incompatible preview.
Then from there on start hacking what will become KDE-3
Yes, From gcc 3 (due in 3 days now !?!) there will be a stable c++ vtable among other things. I have also seen on the ml that pre-compiled header support will probably go in 3.1 and saw there were a 20 factor speed-up compiling kde! (Just search gcc list for PCH)
By Sam at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: Suggestion on how to switch to Qt 3
Yeah, I read about this speed-up - as a developer I'm certainly looking forward to it!
By Richard Moore at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: KDE 2.2beta1 and KOffice 1.1beta3 now frozen
Hi All,
I just cvsup'ed yesterday morning and spent the rest of the day compiling. I must say that I'm impressed. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that they give so much more visual feedback or that it really is faster, but to me it _feels_ at least a little bit faster.
I haven't tested it extensively or for a long period of time so my comments on stability aren't exactly scientific, but I've yet to experience a crash during operation. Noatun crashes during startup, but hey, it's cvs: no garrantuees that everything works all the time.
I like the fact that kde2 offers so much customizabilty, but in the end I still find myself using most of the default settings for colors and window decorations. I do turn off all the fancy effects though such as fading, window minimization, etc.
I continue to be amazed at the pace of development. Sometimes when reading KDE KC I get the idea that when an experienced kde developer gets an idea, s/he can get a basic proof-of-concept implementation up within a few hours. If someone suggest the need for a certain kcontrol module then half an hour sometimes even seems to suffice. At least that's the impression I get.
The only problem I've had so far is with kdm, so I'm using the kde 2.1 version for the time being.
btw; for all the Debian/KDE fanatics out there, have a look at http://kde.debian.net/ (NB. it's .net not .org!)
By Matthijs Sypken... at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Some compilation probs with KDE 2.2 alpha2 on sun
Here are the following changes I needed to make to make KDE 2.2 alpha2 compile for me using
change the use of mmap ( it's not using void*, but char* ) in kdelibs/kdecore/kconfigbackend.cpp
added "#include " in a new #else statement for # ifndef HAVE_STRUCT_ADDRINFO in kdecore/netsupp.h
#undef AF_INET6 before relevant code in inet_ntop in file kdecore/netsupp.cpp
the Makefile for kio/kpac seemed to be missing a LIBS = $(LIBSOCKET)
kdebase and kdeartwork :
Note that due to work commitments I have not had a chance to verify that this compiled code actually runs, but at least it compiles.
By CPH at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Forum for non-Linux users and KDE
Interesting. There are actually someone more than me who run KDE, but not on Linux! I run KDE on Solaris 7, not without problems, but OK anyway.
Since almost everyone on the KDE core team develops KDE on Linux/i386, I was thinking about setting up a mailing list for non-linux-i386 questions and discussions about KDE.
Anyone interested about having a such list? Maybe it's possible to have this list among the other official KDE mailing lists at lists.kde.org?
By Loranga at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Forum for non-Linux users and KDE
Yes, that would be very interresting. I can't even get QT 2.3.0 to compile under NetBSD/Sparc 1.5. He can't found c++rt0.o while linking.
By Nicolas DUPEUX at Wed, 2001/06/13 - 5:00am
Re: Forum for non-Linux users and KDE
I'm using KDE 2.1.1 under IBM AIX 4.3.3.
By Stephan Böni at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: Forum for non-Linux users and KDE
By Waldo Bastian at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: Forum for non-Linux users and KDE
It's long, but not too long, I think. It's a good name anyway, I think you understand what the list is about.
By Loranga at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
KDE behaves like MSDOS
I Love KDE but, I feel that KDE lacks future planning or technically "Backward Compatibility"; it is a pain to see that KDE 2.0 apps doesn't work in KDE 2.1.1 (same with Qt 2.0 and above).
By default KDE simply ignored the User Aspect of their applications. I just can't use good old kdebase KDE 1.x apps in KDE 2.1; this just reminds me of "Incorrect DOS Version" error used to happen with MS-DOS.
Also the Fastest Developing apps like Konqueror, Kmail, etc., should be independently distributed for upgrades, like Windows IE upgrades; We the users have to wait for Damned Six Months for RH / Mandrake to include these upgrades. And binary RPM packages just crawl and Sources just won't help (compiling needs ages)...
Can't we have a more modular distribution along with the present packaging system? Who cares! :(
By Asif Ali Rizwaan at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: KDE behaves like MSDOS
you have it somewhat backwards: 2.x apps will work in 2.y where y > x (e.g. a 2.0 app will work fine in 2.1) but there are no guarentees where x < y (e.g. a 2.1 app in 2.0). this is called forward compatibility and makes a lot of sense since you get the benefits of keeping compatible with older binaries without giving up license to extend the current system.
as for kde1 apps in kde2, these are two exteremely different systems. it wasn't simply an upgrade, but a complete overhaul and reengineering. kde1 was ok, but exremely limited (i used blackbox w/kmail and konsole back in them days). kde2 is a different beast and so compatibility is expected to be broken. of course, you can always attempt to port a kde1 application to kde2. i did this on IRC one evening for a fellow. the application in question was decently written and had only a few thousand lines of code; it took under half an hour to port it to kde2 (a poorly written app will not be as portable and may warrant a complete rewrite; YMMV).
as for modular binary shipping, the KDE developers are responsible for providing the compilable source code. if your distribution is too slow, either complain to them, switch to a better distribution or get involved yourself. binary distribution is not part of the KDE team's duties.
By Aaron J. Seigo at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: KDE behaves like MSDOS
The problem with over backward capatiblizing (is that a word?) things can be demonstrated by just looking at Windows 9x. Beyond the fact that it makes Windows slow and bloated, you still can't get a Windows 2000 app to run happily even on Windows 95. It's just difficult to have good backward compatiblity when you improve functionality.
By Timothy R. Butler at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: KDE behaves like MSDOS
Sure you can, by statically compiling all dependant libs into the executable ;)
By Sam at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: KDE behaves like MSDOS
Can't you see it - a calculator that is 100 megs in size because they statically compiled in X includes, QT includes, KDE includes, Mozilla (to look up info on sines), fonts, and a sound server to play error messages. :-)
By Timothy R. Butler at Thu, 2001/06/14 - 5:00am
Re: KDE behaves like MSDOS
lol... I'm suddenly reminded that Word XP will be 180MB and Outlook XP 150MB!
KMail is almost functionally the same as outlook, bar some really bad PIM stuff, and KMail also has PGP integration :) But KMail is a minute fraction of that size... KWord is the same.
This is partially why my 90GB of c:\ on Windows is already half filled! :(
::cuddles the KDE:: At least when KOffice 1.1 is released finally, we get pretty much full compatibility, then I can almost kiss Windows goodbye and my boss can't complain :)
By Dawnrider at Tue, 2001/06/19 - 5:00am
Re: KDE 2.2beta1 and KOffice 1.1beta3 now frozen
My somebody direct me to any site of howto on making themes for KDE.
I'm planning to make a theme that just look like XP or win2k. My mom will surely find at home when using it. I look to make it really or truly look like win2k.. and somebody cannot guess except by looking at icon on taskbar name terminal :)
By dman at Sun, 2001/06/17 - 5:00am
Re: KDE 2.2beta1 and KOffice 1.1beta3 now frozen
:))) With Dosemu 1.0.2 with freedos :)
By Edward Tie at Sun, 2001/06/17 - 5:00am
KDE 2.x themes
By x3c0 at Sun, 2001/06/17 - 5:00am


text:
Push Bike Rides
Ride the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on your push bike
You won't break any lap times but you will enjoy the safest and most picturesque location to ride your push bike on Phillip Island. Perfect for either the serious rider or for a safe family pedal around.
Sessions are scheduled seasonally and on specific days and times.
Your own bike and helmets are required with no need to prior book. To gain access you must purchase a ticket from the Circuit's Visitor Centre 30 minutes prior to starting time.
Admission Prices:
|Child: (5 -15 years)
|Family: (2A + 3C)
Tickets available at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Visitor Centre on the day of activity.
Available Dates & Times:
|Dates TBC
*Dates are subject to change


text:
When microscopic marine organisms known as phytoplankton multiply into a dense population at the ocean's surface, massive blooms can spread so far that they can only be seen from space. These algal blooms create beautiful patterns that can stretch for hundreds of miles and trace the ocean's swirling currents.
Phytoplankton are the foundation of the ocean food web and are critical to the health of nearly everything that lives there. They contain chlorophyll to perform photosynthesis and turn sunlight into energy which feeds their predators, and their predators' predators, all the way up through the food chain to large fish, mammals and birds such as sharks, sea lions and penguins.
Recent research suggests the fear that warming oceans could hamper phytoplankton growth may be real. The organisms depend on mixing of ocean water to bring nutrients such as phosphates and nitrates to the surface. As the ocean warms, it becomes more stratified, with the warmer water remaining at the top where the organisms need to be in order to do photosynthesis.
A big reduction in phytoplankton could threaten marine animals and the fisheries humans depend on. And it could create a climate feedback loop that would increase temperatures further. These organisms absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and take it to the bottom of the ocean when they die, where it stays for thousands of years. So as their numbers decline, they will do less to keep global temperatures down.
In addition to capturing amazing images of the phytoplankton blooms, satellite data is one of the only ways to study them. Different species of phytoplankton change the way the ocean reflects light in different ways. The chlorophyll in the tiny organisms causes the ocean's surface to reflect green. Other pigments can make the water look red or brown. Some phytoplankton called coccolithophores are coated with white calcite that makes the water look bright turquoise when billions of them get together.
More on phytoplankton from NASA's Earth Observatory.
Click on any image in this gallery for a high-res version.
The large, beautiful bloom pictured above off the coast of Ireland on May 22, 2010 was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. The phytoplankton may have benefited from iron and nutrients in the ash dumped onto the ocean surface for weeks by Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull Volcano.
Previously, scientists found that the 2008 eruption of the Kasotochi Volcano in the Aleutian Islands fertilized the ocean and caused a huge phytoplankton bloom in the northern Pacific Ocean.
Below, the Terra satellite imaged another brilliant bloom in the area on June 4, 2007. The bloom emanates from the mouth of the River Shannon and tapers off to the north.
Images: 1) Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team/NASA. 2) MODIS Rapid Response Team/NASA.
Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
This beautiful lake took a toxic turn in November 2009 when a major bloom of cyanobacteria spread across the surface. The alga may have been fed by sewage and agricultural runoff that is rich in phosphorous and nitrogen. Cyanobacteria can cause humans and other animals to become sick, and dense blooms can gobble up all of the oxygen in the water leaving dead zones where almost nothing can thrive.
As the bloom grows, only the top layer of organisms receive enough sunlight to perform photosynthesis and survive. The rest die off, releasing toxins and a terrible smell that repels the tourists the surrounding towns have come to rely on. TIME magazine reported that a government plan to cut down on the phosphorous entering the lake would cost $350 million.
The natural-color image above was captured on Nov. 22, 2009 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra sattelite. The photo-like image below was taken by NASA's EO-1 satellite on Nov. 27, 2009.
Images: Jesse Allen, NASA.
Barents Sea
This impressive phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea north of Norway was imaged by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite on Aug. 1, 2004. The bright blue color suggests the bloom may have been made up of white coccolithophores.
Image: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team /NASA/GSFC.
New Zealand
Images: 1) Jeff Schmaltz, NASA/MODIS Rapid Response. 2) Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Team.
Baltic Sea
The blue-green algae blooms shown here are covering most of the 145,000 square miles of the Baltic Sea. Lots of sun, little wind and nutrients from spring run-off of melting ice and snow over the preceding weeks fed this bloom.
Visible in the image (clockwise from bottom left) are parts of Germany, Sweden, Estonia (top right), Latvia, Lithuania, the Russian territory of Kalingrad and Poland. Also visible are the Swedish islands of Gotland and Öland (middle) and the Danish island of Bornholm (lower left).
This image was taken on July 11, 2010 by the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite.
Image: ESA
Vancouver Island, Canada
A combination of wind and ocean currents feeds the biological productivity of the Pacific Ocean off of Vancouver Island and Washington State. As wind blows west off the coast, it pushes the surface water away, and cold water from deep rises up to take its place bringing phosphorous and nitrogen to the surface where phytoplankton can perform photosynthesis in the sun. The blooms support the bountiful fish populations of the area.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this photo-like image on June 25, 2006.
Image: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team /NASA.
Patagonia, Argentina
The image above shows only part of this typically massive South Atlantic phytoplankton bloom on Jan. 9, 2010. Blooms in this area can be more than 600 miles long. The microorganisms thrive in this area due to a combination of factors. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current brings cold water full of nutrients north along the continent. As the surface waters move, deep, iron-rich water rises. And the Rio de la Plata to the north dumps water laden with nitrogen and iron into the ocean. Add long, sunny spring and summer days, and it's a haven for algal blooms.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this photo-like image.
Image: Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Group/NASA.
South Georgia Island
At the bottom of the image above, the snow-covered South Georgia Island is accompanied by large icebergs that drifted north from Antarctica, which is about 1,000 miles to the south. The swirling blue and green phytoplankton bloom to the north was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite on Jan. 16, 2004.
Image: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team /NASA.
Gulf of California
The green phytoplankton bloom filling the Gulf of California above traces the turbulence that is typical of the water there. Blooms are also lining the west coast of Baja California. This image was acquired on March 22, 2001 by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) aboard the SeaStar spacecraft, managed by GeoEye .
Image: SeaWiFS Project, NASA, GeoEye.
North Atlantic Ocean
The bloom pictured above west of Iceland is part of an annual North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom that peaks in the late spring. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on June 24, 2010.
Traditionally, scientists thought blooms would arise in the spring because of the increase in temperature and sunlight. But recent research suggests that blooms start in the winter when winter storms cause mixing of surface water and deeper water, bringing nutrients up from the deep and distributing the phytoplankton throughout the water column. The idea is that this spreads them out, making them harder for predators to find and eat them which gives them time to increase in numbers. When the weather calms down in the spring, the mixing stops and the zooplankton feast on the blooms, stopping their growth.
Below, the Aqua satellite took a photo-like image of another bloom in the area on June 23, 2007. Plumes of dust can be seen blowing off of Iceland in right side of the image, probably adding nutrients to the water and feeding the bloom.
Images: 1) Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team/NASA. 2) Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Group/NASA.
See Also:
- Out of the Blue: Islands Seen From Space
- Stunning Views of Glaciers Seen From Space
- Cryosphere: Earth's Icy Extremes Seen From Space
- Erupting Volcanoes on Earth as Seen From Space
- Channeling Earth: Rivers Seen From Space
- Asteroid Impact Craters on Earth as Seen From Space
- Huge Holes in the Earth: Open-Pit Mines Seen From Space
- Sublime Sand: Desert Dunes Seen From Space
- Olympic Venues Past, Present and Future as Seen From Space
- Tracked From Space: Gulf Oil Slick Approaches Land
- Satellite Photos of Haiti Before and After the Earthquake


text:
Growing with you
Every organization is at a different place in its global evolution.
Some are just planning to enter one or two new markets. Others have built a vast multi-national organization with ongoing global requirements.
No matter where your organization falls on the global growth spectrum, SDL can help you identify the best strategy for long-term success.


text:
A Cape Coral couple's Valentine's Day hat trick surely topped any exchange of candy, flowers or jewelry Tuesday.
The couple, Carmela and Bryce Valentine, welcomed their first child at Cape Coral Hospital.
Little Amelia Ryan Valentine made her arrival at 2:12 p.m., all pink-cheeked and weighing in at 6 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces.
Article Photos
Photo provided
Amelia, Bryce and Carmela and Valentine at Cape Coral Hospital.
Amelia's expected birthday was to be Feb. 21, when her mom was scheduled for a C-section.
"At first I thought it was pretty corny but then, when she went into real labor and her water broke, I thought, I guess she wants to be born on Valentine's Day," Bryce said of his daughter.
Amelia's chosen birthday, though, has more than the significance of a shared name with the holiday - Carmela and Bryce had their first date on a Valentine's Day past.
Dad was asked what he thought of this year's celebration.
He laughed.
"I think it's the best one I've had so far, second to my wife and I dating for the first time on Valentine's Day five years ago," Bryce said.
The couple met at Cape Coral Hospital when the two were student nurses and working there as CNAs. They still are employed by Lee Health.
"We came back to Cape Coral Hospital to have our baby there," Bryce said.
Also present for the birth were paternal grandparents, Brett and Holly Valentine, paternal great-grandmother Sharon Pollard, and maternal grandmother Esther Adajar. Amelia is the Valentines' first grandchild and Adajar's fifth.


text:
|Posted: April 10, 2009
Cloud computing makes proteomics research more accessible to scientists
|(Nanowerk News) Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center in Milwaukee have just made the very expensive and promising area of protein research more accessible to scientists worldwide.
|They have developed a set of free tools called ViPDAC (virtual proteomics data analysis cluster), to be used in combination with Amazon's inexpensive "cloud computing" service, which provides the option to rent processing time on its powerful servers; and free open-source software from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Manitoba.
|Their research appears online in Journal of Proteomic Research and is funded by the NIH Heart Lung and Blood Institute's Proteomics Innovation Center at the Medical College. Proteomics is a biomedical research term used to describe the large-scale study of all the proteins expressed by an organism. It usually involves the identification of proteins and determination of their modifications in both normal and disease states.
|One of the major challenges for many laboratories setting up proteomics programs has been obtaining and maintaining the very costly computational infrastructure required for analysis of the vast flow of proteomics data generated by mass spectrometry instruments used to determine the elemental composition as well as chemical structure of a molecule, according to senior investigator, Simon Twigger, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology.
|"We're applying this technology in our Proteomics Center to study cardiovascular disease, the effects of radiation damage, and in our collaboration with the University of Wisconsin- Madison stem cell research group," he says.
|With cloud computing making the analysis less expensive and more accessible, many more users can set up and customize their own systems. Investigators can analyze their data in greater depth than previously possible, making it possible for them to learn more about the systems they are studying.
|"The tools we have produced allow anyone with a credit card, anywhere in the world, to analyze proteomics data in the cloud and reap the benefits of having significant computing resources to speed up their data analysis," says lead author Brian Halligan, Ph.D., research scientist in the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center.
|"For researchers currently without access to large computer resources, this greatly increases the options to analyze their data. They can now undertake more complex analyses or try different approaches that were simply not feasible for them before."
|Until recently, the standard software programs used for proteomics data analysis were almost exclusively commercial, proprietary and expensive. Fees for commercial applications typically rivaled or exceeded the cost of the hardware to run them.
|In 2004, a group from the NIH developed and distributed an open-source alternative to commercial proteomics search programs, entitled Open Mass Spectrometry Algorithm (OMSSA). A second open-source proteomics database search is also now available; the X!Tandem, developed and released by the Bevis Laboratory at the University of Manitoba.
|A link on the College's Proteomics Center website http://proteomics.mcw.edu/vipdac provides detailed step-by-step instructions on how to implement the virtual proteomics analysis clusters, as well as a list of current available preconfigured Amazon machine images containing the OMSSA and X!Tandem search algorithms and sequence databases.
|"We describe a system that combines distributed-on-demand cloud computing and open source software to allow laboratories to set up scalable virtual proteomics analysis clusters without a huge investment in computational hardware or software licensing fees," says Dr. Halligan.
|"The pricing structure of distributed computing providers such as Amazon Web Services allows laboratories, or even individuals, to have large-scale computational resources at their disposal at very low cost per run."
|Source: Medical College of Wisconsin
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Yet again I've seen an audit request where the auditor wants the DBA to show what SQL Server's settings are for this set of information:
- Account Lockout settings
- Password Expiration settings
- Password Complexity settings
If you're dealing with an auditor who is asking for this on your SQL Server, please refer them to:
Books Online: Password Policy (this link goes to the SQL Server 2005 BOL, when such support was introduced)
Then show them this quote (emphasis mine):
When it is running on Windows Server 2003 or later versions, SQL Server 2005 can use Windows password policy mechanisms.
SQL Server 2005 can apply the same complexity and expiration policies used in Windows Server 2003 to passwords used inside SQL Server. This functionality depends on the NetValidatePasswordPolicy API, which is only available in Windows Server 2003 and later versions.
If they aren't familiar with that function, point them here:
In other words, SQL Server is passing off the password check to the OS. Therefore, the settings are at the OS. This is true of every version since SQL Server 2005. Hit the same topic, regardless of version, and you'll see something similar with regards to the text. The bottom line is that there are no separate settings in SQL Server. Furthermore,if your Windows computer is in an Active Directory domain, then most likely your OS is getting them from the Default Domain Policy, which is stored in Active Directory. In short, the auditors need to look there, not in SQL Server.
If they're interested in seeing what SQL-based logins which are enforcing password policy/expiration, that's a different story. Query sys.sql_logins and you'll get that information. But as far as the settings are concerned, they aren't "settable" within SQL Server. They come from the OS. If they still insist on seeing the settings, point them to this article and send them off to your friendly (well, until the auditor shows up at his or her desk) Windows administrator:
How to configure password enforcement options for standard SQL Server logins


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Strengthening Health Care Facilities
Health & Family Welfare Department has created wide network of health and medical care facilities in the state to provide primary, secondary and tertiary health care at the door step of every citizen of Gujarat with prime focus on BPL families and weaker
sections in rural/urban slum areas. Department also takes appropriate actions to create adequate educational facilities for medical and paramedical manpower in the state of Gujarat...
List of Empanelled Hospitals under Employee State Insurance Scheme(ESIS). Find out details on specialities for which tie-up made.
The beneficiaries under the scheme are the pregnant women from BPL families. Cashless scheme for baby delivery. Launched in all of the districts from 8th September 2006.
Here you will get list of recent tenders issued by Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Gujarat.
July 06, 2017
Here you will find current job openings published by Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Gujarat.
Improving the maternal and child health and their survival are central to the achievement of national health goals under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)..
Hon'ble Chief Minister,
Government of Gujarat
Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister,
Government of Gujarat
Hon'ble State Minister,
Health and Family Welfare Dept,
Government of Gujarat
Principal Secretary,
Health and Family Welfare Dept.,
Government of Gujarat
Commissioner of Health
and Family Welfare Dept.,
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"We'll be stage diving and shit, so hopefully I won't break my knee or neck, I don't want to die. Ok, If I could choose to die I'd rather die on stage then somewhere else…" Rapper Arif told 2famous.TV, as we discussed being a local superstar, what festivals like HOVE mean to Norwegian artists and what we should expect from his show tonight.
Yesterday, Dagbladet reported that 'aspiring Norwegian artists were playing several songs with almost no audience in front of the stage before some of the passersby was lured by the sound.'
Arif will be playing on the Kasino stage tonight at 22:15. Be there to to catch the show…and the rapper. He's too young and talented to die.
Check out our playlist from Hove here:
Looks like Fatstone.TV, Norway's first Extreme Sports TV Channel, was in need of hilarious ways to work out so they featured our very own Matias and Jorgen and their Beirut Rooftop Workout Workshop videos on their website!
Fatstone.TV [more]
– Full-length interview with the producer of this summer's biggest hits.
– BONUS VIDEO! Crowd Cam from Example's performance at Hove!!!
Today marks the UK release of Live Life Living, the fifth album of Brit musician Example. Sure we had never heard of him before despite his whopping 2 million followers on Twitter and 25 million listens on Spotify, but Example already knows that.
"In Norway people know my songs more than my name, when I tell them I'm Example they're like '... [more]
– The kids went mental!
Some of the artists at the Hove festival OWNED the audience, and Bastille was definitely one of the highlights. With complete crowd control they moved thousands of Norwegian teenagers to synchronized madness. It was one of those experiences that will live for ever on hundreds of Instagram accounts. (Most of the kids here says that they don't remember the festival from day to day). [more]
HOVE goes hardcore when L.A. rapper hits the stage
Earl Sweatshirt, who hails from my hometown adjacent city of Los Angeles (well, as you'll see in the video, even if L.A. is the easiest point of reference on the international scene, if you grew up in the 'burbs, never tell people who are actually from L.A. that you're from there, because they will call your Orange County ass out so fast), shook the AMFI stage with some hard-... [more]
As the 2famous crew sat on the beach, contemplating life and looking out onto the horizon, distant tribal beats were calling our names. We had to get to where ever that music was coming from. The 20-minute journey from the beach to the stage was playing was dramatic…we were walking fast in fear that The Busy Twist... [more]
We've made it our mission to see what party people around the world are up to at music festivals — from Lebanon to Nepal, but it has taken 2famous.TV until now to see how Norwegian youth party their summers away.
On days 1 and 2 of the 5-day fest we've run into extremely horny boys, pretty awkward dancers, and fans feverishly awaiting big headliners like MIA! Check ou... [more]


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The Kibbutz Bakers Legacy
The inscription on the tombstone marking the graves of Yankele Tofor and his wife is hardly what one expects to find on a Jewish monument in Israel. The recording of the dates of birth and death only according to the civil calendar is not too surprising since this couple lived and died in the secular Kibbutz Naan. What is surprising is the "legacy" of this kibbutz baker which his survivors decided to transmit to future generations.
What did they consider the most fitting legacy of a man who had achieved culinary fame for his pastry?
The recipe for "Yankeles Yeast Cake"!
There it is, with the ingredients and measurements for doing it yourself. Tofor family members say they have received a number of calls from people who said they visited the grave and copied the recipe.
But why, they were asked, were there no instructions as to how to use the recipe? Their answer was that anyone who knows anything about baking needs no instructions.
Perhaps they should be told that anyone who erects such a monument for his father does need instructions as to what sort of legacy he expects to be written on his own tombstone.


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More than two years after 25 forestry workers were found living in squalid conditions at a camp near Golden, they have not received Employment Insurance and their former company has yet to pay them the wages they are owed.
B.C.'s Employment Standards Branch has determined that the company, Khaira Enterprises, owes almost $280,000 in unpaid wages and interest to 58 former employees, but directors Khalid Bajwa and Hardilpreet Sidhu have not paid a penny of it, said Eugene Kung of the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre, which represents most of the 25 workers from the camp near Golden.
The B.C. government has given the workers about half of what they are owed out of bid deposits paid to the Ministry of Forests by Khaira in 2010, when it was awarded the contract, but former employee Pasteur Nsekerabanyanka is losing hope that he will ever see the roughly $7,000 he is still owed because the company no longer exists.
Meanwhile, he and his fellow workers still struggle to service the debt they accumulated working months at a time in excruciating conditions without pay, he said.
The Employment Standards Branch decisions have all gone in the workers' favour, but "for us poor people, it's like we didn't win" because they haven't seen the money, he said.
Nsekerabanyanka came to B.C. from Quebec in March 2010 to work for Khaira and was assured he would be paid every two weeks, but it was June of that year before he saw a paycheque and that was only for $3,000, he said. Another paycheque he received the following month bounced, he said.
Nsekerabanyanka moved with the company to several forestry camps in different parts of the province, but conditions in the camp near Golden were by far the worst, he said.
Workers were regularly given spoiled food, including chicken, to eat. They had to bathe in and drink from the same glacial river, and were told to relieve themselves in the woods, Nsekerabanyanka said.
They slept in storage containers that held eight to 10 people each. Conditions inside were so stifling that some chose to sleep outdoors despite the cold and the wild animals in the area, he said.
Nsekerabanyanka returned to Quebec City on his own dime after the Ministry of Forests shut the camp down in July 2010. He tried to apply for Employment Insurance at the time, but the Khaira directors misrepresented the number of hours he worked to make it appear that he didn't qualify, he said, despite the fact that he'd been working 10-hour days for a period of four months doing heavy manual labour.
The B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre took up the case and applied for Employment Insurance on behalf of the workers in late 2011. A Human Resources and Skills Development Canada spokesman would only say that the department continues to investigate the matter and cannot provide any further comment.
Back in Quebec City, Nsekerabanyanka had not been able to pay rent for two months and had to move in with friends. He also had trouble finding work because of a shoulder injury sustained on the job, but was able to use money from a successful WorkSafeBC claim to help tide him over, he said. He returned to B.C. in 2011 to plant trees near Quesnel and now lives in Surrey.
Khaira and its directors were never charged in connection with the conditions in the camp, but the company was banned from bidding on government contracts for a year.
The B.C. government also intervened with a lawsuit when Sidhu transferred his house to his wife's name shortly after being informed by the province he could be personally liable for some of the wages owed to Khaira workers, but the case was discontinued.
Bajwa faces fraud and forgery charges, which allege that he twice knowingly used forged documents confirming completion of a fire suppression and safety course in June and July of 2010. The other two charges allege Bajwa defrauded two companies, B.C. Timber Sales and Louisiana Pacific Canada Ltd., of more than $5,000 each. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Despite several scheduled court appearances in Revelstoke and Salmon Arm on these charges since late 2011, the case has not gone to trial. Bajwa's next court appearance is scheduled for June 20 in Surrey provincial court.
Meanwhile, the experience has left Nsekerabanyanka, who came to Canada from a Kenyan refugee camp in 2006 and is now a proud Canadian citizen, disappointed in his new country, where he expected the rule of law to be followed.
"We were treated like slaves," he said. "The impacts are still there on me ... (but we've been dealt with) like nothing happened."


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