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Going with <I>Flow: </I>Howard's ticket to stardom
Are the people who say Hustle & Flow will make Terrence Howard a star the same ones who "discovered" Halle Berry in Monster's Ball, Charlize Theron in Monster, and Jamie Foxx in Ray?
Howard had already made over 20 films, some in lead roles, when I worked with him in Boycott five years ago. True, he and Jeffrey Wright sat with us extras at lunch instead of acting like divas, but he was a star to me.
He's finally done something the rest of the world can't ignore, especially when it's sandwiched between his roles in Crash and Four Brothers. In Hustle & Flow, Howard plays DJay, who represents anyone with artistic ambitions stuck in a job that keeps them from realizing their dream.
DJay works not in a cubicle but a Chevy, hustling weed and women in Memphis. He's strictly a small-time pimp"20 in the front, 40 in the back"– and lives with three of his women, one of whom is usually pregnant. Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) has had a son, who lives with them. Shug (Taraji P. Henson, who also deserves stardom from this movie) is close to delivering. Nola (Taryn Manning) is the new kid on the block.
Having reached the age at which his father's heart gives out sends DJay into midlife crisis mode. He's got poetry in his soul and wants to be a rapper, and things suddenly start coming together to make it a possibility. First a junkie trades him a keyboard for drugs. Then he runs into an old classmate, Key (Anthony Anderson), who's now a recording engineer. To complete the serendipity, homeboy Skinny Black (Ludacris), a platinum-selling rapper DJay knew when they went to different high schools, is coming back to Memphis for a Fourth of July party at Arnel's (Isaac Hayes) club.
DJay just has to make a demo and put it in Skinny's hands, and his future will be assured– or so he thinks. He starts working with Key, whose "nice" but bourgeois wife Yevette (Elise Neal) isn't thrilled with the association. Key brings in another musician, Shelby (D.J. Qualls), and DJay drafts Shug to sing backup.
Along the way, DJay cuts ties with one of his women and inadvertently makes another feel really good and the third feel really bad. He also makes Key realize how dissatisfied he is with his own life. The big day arrives and so does Skinny. Script contrivances make their meeting too much of an emotional roller-coaster for DJay, and it wouldn't be the Fourth of July without fireworks.
Hustle & Flow could be caught on the cusp between commercial and art films, being too cheap and gritty for lovers of the former while indie aficionados find the ending too "feel-good" or clichéd, being taken from frequent headlines (most recently involving Gucci Mane). With luck, both sides will embrace it because it's a good story, well told, that almost everyone can enjoy unless they have a serious aversion to rap music.
Virginia-born, Memphis-based writer-director Craig Brewer puts himself on the filmmaking map with this Sundance Audience Award winner; and if you don't know who Terrence Howard is, it's time you found out.


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This was published 7 years ago
Homeless find a place to call home, on Twitter
IT'S the home that Twitter built. Joe Brown, 29, and his partner Ben Stevens, 23, were homeless when they came to Melbourne in January from Castlemaine.
But after one month tweeting from the Homeless In Melbourne Twitter account the men, with their two cats in tow, had navigated crisis centres, raised the bond money for a two-bedroom unit in Reservoir, and furnished it with contributions from strangers.
The account, @HomelessInMelb, was created on Boxing Day by 21-year-old university student Jamie Young.
His inspiration was @WeMelbourne where guests tweet about life in the city. ''My intention was to let people who are homeless and on the street have a voice and let the world know their story so people in similar situations can learn from them,'' Mr Young said.
At first he tweeted from the account himself, but was soon followed by Mr Brown whose contract with Parks Victoria had not been renewed after he was injured in an accident. When work dried up over Christmas at the meatworks where Mr Stevens worked, the two were left stranded.
Some followers wondered how many homeless people use Twitter, but Mr Brown, who tweets from his smartphone, said unexpectedly falling on hard times did not preclude access to the internet.
''I wanted to challenge the stereotype that everyone who is homeless is dirty and sitting in a corner somewhere,'' he said.
After speaking for a week to learn more about Mr Brown's background, Mr Young handed over control of the account on January 14. Mr Brown then updated the account's 135 followers on their predicament.
''While I'm tweeting this we are heading to Melbourne, unsure of where we're sleeping for another night,'' Mr Brown wrote. At first the pair slept in their car while moving between motels and crisis accommodation centres.
As luminaries like Corinne Grant and Father Bob tweeted support, their following grew. One woman let them stay in her city flat while she was away. Another follower started co-ordinating donations.
After finding a rental property online, Mr Brown tweeted a link to the fund-raising website, FundRazr, to help pay $2394 for the bond and first month's rent.
''We didn't force people,'' Mr Brown said, ''a lot of people had already asked how they could contribute.''
There was a trickle of modest contributions around $20 or $50, and some larger donors who requested anonymity.
''One guy went into the bank and put $350 straight in,'' Mr Brown said.
Mr Young is happy with the outcome for Mr Brown and Mr Stevens, but slightly daunted as the account passes 800 followers.
He is now working with a social media expert from homeless support agency HomeGround Services, on how to find future guests.

subset: commoncrawl


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Every season the San Antonio Symphony offers our annual Russell Hill Rogers String Residency Master Class. It is given by one of the Symphony's top string guest artists and is free and open to the public. This year violinist Cho-Liang Lin will be the teacher. The class takes place in the Majestic Theatre on March 23.
Lin is a soloist of great renown, as well as a professor of violin at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He plays the 1715 "Titian" Stradivarius. He will play Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with the orchestra and also conducts the program on March 22 & 23, 2013.
While only a limited number of violinist will be chosen to perform in the class, students of all ages are invited to attend and observe the class. The appearance of Vadim Gluzman is made possible by a generous grant from the Russell Hill Rogers String Residency Endowment of the San Antonio Area Foundation.
The master class was invented by Franz Liszt. Instead of giving lessons in private, the student performs for a master teacher in public. Usually the student brings a piece to the class that is a well known concerto and the student has prepared it to a very high level. The teacher can then offer suggestions that not only help the performer, but are relevant to the students in the audience. Two years ago, my daughter played violin in the annual class for violin soloist Robert McDuffie. It was a fabulous experience for her.
If you are interested in performing in this year's master class, contact Jeremy Brimhall, Director of Education at (210) 554-1006 or via email at email@example.com.
Jack Fishman
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
For more blogs by Jack Fishman visit: www.sasymphony.org/blog


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A federal judge upheld a 21-year-old law prohibiting sports betting in all but four states, dealing a setback to New Jersey's attempts to revive its struggling casino industry by grabbing a piece of what has become a multibillion-dollar industry, both legal and illegal.
The ruling published late Thursday night marked the second defeat for New Jersey in a lawsuit filed last year by the four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA. In a December ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp denied the state's claim that the leagues and the NCAA didn't have standing to bring the suit because they couldn't demonstrate tangible harm to their products if New Jersey were to allow sports betting.
"We believe firmly in the principles of our position on sports betting and that the federal ban is inequitable, violates New Jersey's rights as a state and is unconstitutional," Gov. Chris Christie said in a statement Friday. "Even the trial judge has noted that he was not likely the final arbiter in the matter. We are confident that the federal court of appeals will conclude that New Jersey should be treated equally with other states."
State Sen. Ray Lesniak, the prime sponsor of the sports betting bill, said New Jersey would appeal Shipp's "patent misinterpretation of the Constitution."
"This is a huge disappointment for all of us who continue to believe that New Jersey should have the right to allow sports betting," Lesniak said in a statement. "Along with online gaming, sports betting would allow New Jersey to be in the forefront of the modern gaming industry, creating jobs and providing both immediate and long-term economic benefits."
This week, Christie signed a bill making the state the third in the nation to allow gambling over the Internet. New Jersey's casino industry has seen revenues decline steadily over the last several years in the face of competition from neighboring states. Atlantic City's newest casino, Revel, announced last week that it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next month, about a year after it opened.
New Jersey voters passed a sports betting referendum in 2011, and last year the Legislature enacted a sports betting law that limited bets to the Atlantic City casinos and the state's horse racing tracks. Bets wouldn't be taken on games involving New Jersey colleges or college games played in the state. Christie said at the time that he hoped to grant sports betting licenses by early this year, but those plans have been put on hold. Christie's spokesman didn't immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment on the decision.
The NFL, NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NCAA sued the state last year, and the NCAA has moved several of its championship events out of New Jersey because of the sports betting law.
New Jersey, represented by former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, among others, had attacked the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA, on several constitutional levels. In filings, the state argued the law unfairly "grandfathered" Nevada, Oregon, Montana and Delaware, which already have some form of sports gambling. New Jersey said the law violated state sovereignty and equal protection provisions and trampled the authority of state legislatures under the 10th Amendment.
On Thursday, Shipp said that although some of the questions raised in the case were novel, "judicial intervention is generally unwarranted no matter how unwise a court considers a policy decision of the legislative branch. As such, to the extent the people of New Jersey disagree with PASPA, their remedy is not through passage of a state law or through the judiciary, but through the repeal or amendment of PASPA in Congress."
In arguments earlier this month, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, representing the Justice Department, said the Constitution empowers Congress to regulate an interstate industry such as sports gambling and to treat states differently.
Attorneys for the leagues have said that PASPA doesn't supersede the authority of state legislatures because it doesn't require any affirmative actions such as enacting new laws.
New Jersey was given a special dispensation by Congress to approve sports gambling at its casinos within a year in the early `90s, but it didn't do so.
Billions of dollars are bet legally each year on sports in Nevada, and experts estimate tens or even hundreds of billions are wagered illegally through bookmakers. In oral arguments before Shipp earlier this month, Olson decried the loss of sports gambling revenue to Nevada's "permanent monopoly."


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U.S. homebuilders began work at a slower pace in January, though the level was still the third-highest since 2008. The pace of building was viewed as a sign of further strengthening in residential real estate.
The Commerce Department says builders started construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 890,000 last month, down 8.5 percent from December, when activity had hit an annual rate of 973,000. The December performance was the best since June 2008.
Applications for building permits rose to an annual rate of 925,000 in January, 1.8 percent higher than December, which had been the high-point since mid-2008.
The pace of construction of single-family homes rose 0.8 percent in January but apartment construction, which is more volatile, dropped 24.1 percent.


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KDE's November Updates Improve Nepomuk Stability
Today KDE released updates for its Workspaces, Applications, and Development Platform.
The October updates contain many performance improvements and bugfixes for applications using the Nepomuk semantic framework.
To download source code or packages to install go to the 4.7.3 Info Page. The changelog and Bugzilla list more, but not all improvements since 4.7.2.
Browsing bugzilla I also see lots of kdepim fixes, and a couple of 8 years old bugs :) Thanks KDE :)
By Anonymous at Wed, 2011/11/02 - 6:25pm
Nepomuk Stability
I hope it gets really better in terms of stability cause Nepomuk was the only to crash(1-10 times a day) on my Kubuntu 11.10...
By Anonymous at Wed, 2011/11/02 - 6:59pm
Better said by trueg himself...
By Anonymous at Wed, 2011/11/02 - 9:58pm
Nepomuk - KDE treasure
Sebastian Trüg promised Nepomuk performance improvements and bugfixes...and he's delivering. Check out the Dot story about Nepomuk.
Nepomuk and the rest of the semantic desktop structure contribute to KDE being a leader. Yes, there are obstacles...if Nepomuk were easy, everyone would be doing it.
By Carl Symons at Wed, 2011/11/02 - 10:35pm
Windows Future Storage... revisited.
What Nepomuk is trying to do is something that was explored by Microsoft in their Windows Future Storage project. If we remember, that was going to become the backbone behind Windows Longhorn, the Windows that was scrapped, redone as a "lite" version (without WinFS) and shipped as Windows Vista.
WinFS was trying to do ontologies at the filesystem level, while Nepomuk does it at the user level, but things are amazingly similar, and Sebastian, like I said in another blog post, is succeeding where Microsoft failed, and failed spectacularly.
So, if we want to have a chance about competing with Windows on the desktop, we need a vision of the future, and features of the future that Microsoft will never be able to replicate, like Nepomuk. That's why Sebastian must be supported.
By Ernesto Manríquez at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 12:03am
While Nepomuk tries it at the
While Nepomuk tries it at the user level, it would help immensely if there was some support from the kernel. Currently, Nepomuk's main performance issues are because of lacking support for proper file monitoring in the kernel.
By christoph at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 8:18am
What else than
What else than inotify/dnotify is needed? And there are also fam and gamin on userspace for monitoring filesystems for changes.
By Anonymous at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 9:20am
Hello, do you have a
Hello, this is not a site for advertising links.
By spain at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 10:11am
File moves
I seem to recall Vishesh mentioning at the Desktop Summit that there was no ability to easily detect file moves at the kernel level.
By Paul Eggleton at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 11:54am
mtime propagation
At startup this would be useful:
By renox at Fri, 2011/11/04 - 4:26pm
useless comment
On Kubuntu 11.10 Nepomuk crashes up to 10 times a day? Have you reported bugs for this? Posted to any forums?
If this is the only issue with stability, perhaps you should turn Nepomuk off...personal settings or system settings > Desktop Search > uncheck "Enable Nepomuk Semantic Desktop".
Please explain how your comment serves to improve KDE or Nepomuk.
By Anonymous at Wed, 2011/11/02 - 10:06pm
Actually, I think that Nepomuk should be turned off by default. Users of my systems aren't able and willing to report bugs, I don't have enough time to do so. And turning off Nepomuk is one of the first things I have to do after installing Plasma Workspace. It crashes really often.
Please, don't get me wrong, semantic desktop might be a great thing once it's stable. I'm not sure, if I'm dealing with distributor's or KDE's QA's fail.
By Anonymous at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 8:22pm
agree, turn it off!
I agree with you, I don't like things that do a lot of work in the background trashing my system because, maybe, one day, I could use it to search something.
By Anonymous at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 9:03pm
not gonna happen
You don't like things that do a lot of work in the background? Maybe look into an abacus. There are all kinds of functions doing things in the background on a computer; Nepomuk isn't close to being the most complicated or error prone. How do you think multitasking works, aside from doing things in the background?
KDE Developers have been explicit and open about what is sacrificed when functions are turned off. With 11.10, Kubuntu is offering kubuntu-low-fat-settings.
Superpower PC...how about my 4 year old laptop? Runs Nepomuk with _zero_ problems. I also turn off the desktop effects for better performance and to reduce eyecandy that is a distraction (for me). It would be kinda selfish for me to insist that those effects be turned off for everyone because I don't want them.
It seems to me that KDE is offering a User Interface that meets most users' needs. A User Interface with obvious settings and adjustments so that individual users can modify as they wish.
Windows trashware clone? That's good. I mean that's funny. Was that meant to be a joke?
By Carl Symons at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 9:35pm
cite correctly
I said "I don't like things that do a lot of work in the background *trashing my system*". Did you missed this fundamental part?
By Anonymous at Sat, 2011/11/05 - 6:16pm
I don't agree...
Nepomuk and the related systems should be on by default.
Turning Nepomuk off is simple. It's one checkbox in system or personal settings. You refer to "users of my systems"...presumably you could send them a message advising the procedure to turn it off. When they complain to you, couldn't you advise them to turn off this function?
Having to turn everything on to accommodate your situation is much more difficult, and doesn't make sense. The system using Nepomuk includes many pieces that need to work together. Nepomuk has _never_ crashed my computer. And no, it's not some hot hardware, but rather an economical laptop that's now several years old.
Perhaps you could post with your real name in forum.kde.org and get some assistance. I know several people who would be willing to help. Coming to a news channel with vague problem reports does nothing to help solve your issues.
By Carl Symons at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 9:14pm
+1: Agree, turn Nepomuk off by default!!
+1: Agree, turn Nepomuk off by default!!
By Anonymous at Fri, 2011/11/11 - 11:15am
Kmail comments...
[edited to retain content, eliding gratuitous insults and unnecessary abusive language]
Kmail2 is broken [and it makes me angry].
Kmail from 4.7.1 was a dream...As soon as I tried to upgrade....it went kaput.
Email filters didn't work, spam filters didn't work, my accounts didn't transfer, email was collected from accounts even when set to "Offline", error messages EVERYWHERE, Nepomuk and akonadi dying...
I have been a user of Kmail from the first betas...I have email from 1994 in my archives. I have coded import filters for Kmail. To say I am INTO Kmail is an understatement.
And right now, I am desperately planning to leave Kmail.
By Anonymous at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 10:08pm
On the whole I do not have a
On the whole I do not have a problem with kmail depending on or making use of Nepomuk; I can see its usefulness.
Having said that there are a couple of fiddly bits I have with kmail2 that range from annoying to "oh come on".
The first; importing mail. With kmail-1 (?) it was simple and straight forward. Click File>Import>Choose kmail dirs/folders>select the folder and press on. It would automagically create an import folder within kmail. Now I have to do an extra step and actually create the import folder. It was confusing at first what I needed to do because it differed from how it *used* to be done. I see no real sense in making the user take the extra step. That would be the "oh come on" part.
The second; I do not know if it is a kwallet issue, kmail or nepomuk but here is what I have seen if I do not want to use kwallet. When setting up the accounts, manually or with the script; I cannot input the password; it won't let me no matter how many times I click on the empty input box. As a result anytime kmail checks for mail it constantly asks me for a password.
Now if I use kwallet, most times it will not ask for a password once it is provided but on occasion it will. The upside; if kwallet is set up before creating the kmail accounts it will let me enter the password when the accounts are created. So I have gone through all the settings in kwallet to never close, continue running and all those but still kmail asks for the pop/smtp account passwords. That is the annoying one.
By stumbles at Fri, 2011/11/04 - 12:36pm
No idea...
I helped code parts of kmail, and I STILL don't know how to avoid Nepomuk disasters and kwallet goofiness.
Can't we just have options to have a crypter pw in the config file like we used to? And maybe NOT have Nepomuk in kmail? I don't need it.
By Anonymous at Fri, 2011/11/04 - 1:50pm
That's doesn't sound very
That's doesn't sound very encouraging.
The following paragraph might put a jinx on me but I may have found the problem with kmail and its repeated asking of passwords. When I setup kmail I used the wizard. It appears this wizard guesses wrongly about the pop and smtp when clicking the auto detect feature. After correcting those settings it seems to have worked; at least for now. Erp, it was a jinx.
At this point I am not the least bit sure if it is nepomuk causing this password issue I seem to be having or if its kwallet. However I don't think it is kwallet because the same thing happens if I say no to kwallet integration and in my mind that points back to kmail and whatever it does with passwords/account settings.
There is a thrid annoyance I have with kmail. It used to be with kmail1 I would do something simple; like copy .kde/share/app/kmail elsewhere and ta da, I had a backup. Now it looks like I need to gather up a half dozen or more hidden directories just to make sure I got everything mail related. That's simply an explosion of complication.
I know Sebastian has been doing an outstanding job of hammering out nepomuk issues and someone really really should hire him.
By stumbles at Sat, 2011/11/05 - 1:24pm
I do not think that is totally fair
I can very much understand the rationale behind new technologies like Akonadi and Nepomuk and I like the general idea. I agree that Kmail2 is not actually ready for production use (I would not say it is broken), although it is improving quickly.
What I do not like is that Kmail2 was delivered in Kubuntu Oneric without appropriate warnings and the alternative to use Oneric with Kmail1. That reminds me a little bit how distros to quickly adapted to KDE4. Kubuntu devs said they had now alternative, that could not deliver a fresh KDE with old Kmail, because that was not supported by KDEPIM developers. If that is true that was not such good decision. People who did not test and follow blogs before would just stumble upon all the problems after upgrading. I assume you are one of them may be with another distro. Me was lucky, I tested before, so I did not upgrade and now I am following bug-count. And it is getting better. I am hopping for 4.7.4 or one release later for a stable and working Kmail2. So stay tight and do not give up on it.
By Anonymous at Sun, 2011/11/06 - 8:30am
Crazy Situation
I really can't believe that after years that this is still going on. Given the number of bugs in Nepomuk, it would be better for the KDE leadership to remove it from the distribution until quality and design are improved. It is my opinion formed from several less than stellar experiences that its inclusion represents a failure in the leadership of kde. Continuing to include it seems to be a cave-in to a small faction of interests with a grand vision. It does not work, ie too many bugs, there are too many other important kde applications that have been designed to depend upon it, and its code is fragile, ie fix one place causes problems elsewhere.
Users are not guinea pigs and developers have a responsibility for quality assurance. That is not happening here. KDE leadership has the horse before the wagon. There should be no need for a so-called fat-free version. This is a sign of just how sick the patient has become. The reality is that Nepomuk is a form of gangrene on my computer. Time to amputate.
If the functionality of Nepomuk is really that important, it may be time to start a parallel effort or a secondary approach. Another group of programers might be more successful in a nepomuk like implementation. If that is not possible or an interim solution is needed, some more basic applications to replace kmail and other applications currently tied to nepomuk could be built.
By Anonymous at Sun, 2011/11/06 - 2:23pm
Re: crazy situation
Did you miss the part where Nepomuk had quite a number of bugs fixed in this new release? Why, after getting it fixed up, would someone start another project to rewrite it?
By Paul Eggleton at Sun, 2011/11/06 - 5:48pm
oversimplification + hyperbole = not useful
Given your wise insights, it would be great for you to jump into the design and architecture discussions that are held _in the open_ in KDE.
You state several things as facts that are not, in fact, true...
Don't look now, but there is no gangrene on your computer. No need to amputate. The system including Nepomuk (and several other large functions) is getting better and better. Here's hoping you are not in a medical field.
Incidentally, the horse is supposed to be before the wagon. This is typical of the muddled thinking and painful analogies that lead to unsupported assertions and simplistic architectural suggestions. To one degree or another, most don't know what they're talking about. And they don't think about the whole system before spouting off on their own small problem.
Actually it's a feature of open source projects that users _are_ guinea pigs...to the extent that they choose. You can have a rock solid, never-have-a-problem installation. They are readily available...most likely not with the latest features though.
Perhaps you could read about kubuntu-low-fat-settings (http://www.kubuntu.org/news/11.10-release). It was not designed as a Nepomuk work around. It was offered as a service for a particular set of users.
It appears that many of the complaints stem from people not reading the release notes, not reading the warnings, not reading that such-and-so feature is experimental. For example, to assert that there should be no need for Kubuntu low-fat-settings demonstrates a lack of awareness.
http://community.kde.org/Getinvolved. All we're trying to do is the best we can.
By Carl Symons at Sun, 2011/11/06 - 7:16pm
"There are hundreds of things
"There are hundreds of things that non-techies can do.". Yes that is very true *except* fix nepomuk/kmail etal bugs; and that is the problem for the "I'm not a coder." types. But it is much easier to poo-poo them.
By stumbles at Sun, 2011/11/06 - 9:23pm
My comments are not intended to poo-poo anyone having issues. I am not making light of their problems nor expressing contempt for them personally. The easier course of action would be to do and say nothing. To the contrary, I think that there are opportunities for people to put their energy into making all manner of KDE things better, rather than making vague, mildly insulting and ultimately useless complaints.
One issue is with people complaining here about such things as not being warned about KMail2 migration. That's just plain hogwash. There were plenty of warnings. There were detailed manuals written about how to migrate and how to recover. I understand that people just dive right in--I do that too. But when things go wacky, it doesn't provide any value to blame KDE leadership (for example).
As I read your comment, this is a slightly more sophisticated version of "I'm not a coder". It goes like this...
Apparently people think that complaining is actually doing something productive. It isn't.
By Carl Symons at Mon, 2011/11/07 - 1:44am
yes, I did.
By Anonymous at Tue, 2011/11/08 - 2:45pm
qa and developers
A lot of the debate here hovers around quality of programs and users acting as programmers. Some comments presumably from developers lament users who do not participate as programmers. Not mentioned in the lament is why? To speed delivery of the program is one that everyone probably agrees on. Improving design, function, and taking on bigger goals the same. However, the tone sometimes seems to be that users don't deserve working software or to comment on quality unless they are also programmers. I would push back that developers have a duty to conduct thorough testing before releasing the product even if it means slower development or less ambitious projects.
By Anonymous at Wed, 2011/11/09 - 1:47am
KMail 2
First I would like to say thanks for the update although I haven't really tried it as yet.
By Bobby at Thu, 2011/11/03 - 8:55pm
Best place to get assistance...
Also visit:
It will help others to add problems, solutions and discoveries to the forums.
By Carl Symons at Fri, 2011/11/04 - 3:24pm
I tried a couple of times to use KMail but without success : too slow or too unstable or both. I use Thunderbird on a daily basis since ten years, having a lot of old mails stored (more than 2Gb) ; TB never, never crashes, does its jobs faithfully and has nice extensions.
By Anonymous at Sat, 2011/11/05 - 7:49pm
I don't have a problem that KMail doesn't work but what push me toward Thunderbird is how is KMail slow with email which don't have pop filters. It take so long time and the bug or whatever is is in the KDE 4.7.3.
I didn't decided yet or switched to KDE 3 or choose something other.
By Anonymous at Tue, 2011/12/27 - 5:31pm


text:
- Home
- Products
- Application
- Service
- Company
The RX140SAT is a satellite crawler with feed unit for a push rod designed for the inspection of pipe branches.
The ROVION pipeline inspection system is equipped with an automatic cable reel, with an extremely robust camera cable of 150 m length and a 30 m anti-kink push rod. In combination with the satellite crawler RX140SAT this cable reel enables the inspection of pipe branches.


text:
Hong Kong in tasty bites
The former British colony is considered a dream destination for foodies, but that doesn't explain the omnipresence of food here. Our reporter feasted his way to an answer
This is not a kitchen, it's a steam bath! Seven shadows flit through the tiny room, juggling baskets and pastry parcels that look like ping-pong balls. The air is filled with the smell of broth, meat and seafood – mingling with the scent of my sweat, growing stronger by the minute. This place is unbearably hot.
I am in Hong Kong, in the district of Kowloon, at the Tim Ho Wan, reputedly the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. The house specialty are dim sum, which translates roughly into "heartwarming tidbits." These Chinese heart warmers usually come as a parcel of thin rice pastry, often filled with prawn, pork and bamboo sprouts. Sounds prosaic? Perhaps. But ask a Western master chef about this traditional dish and you are
likely to garner a respectful sigh.
Crisp meets soft. Sweet meets spicy. History meets progress
People waiting for a place inside press their noses up against the window, clutching pieces of paper – not reservations, the Tim Ho Wan takes none, but the numbers they pulled before getting into line to wait. And it's a long wait, especially in the morning, as dim sum are a typical Cantonese breakfast.
I sit down with the master chef himself. "Brother Pui," as his staff call him, (real name, Mak Kwai Pui) is hailed as a legend.
He began his career at his uncle's restaurant at age 13. Some 30 years later, he was at the top of his game, a head cook at the Lung King Heen. In 2009, the gourmet temple at Hong Kong's Four Seasons Hotel became the first Chinese restaurant in the world to be awarded three Michelin stars. But that same year, Brother Pui chucked in his wooden spoon. "I was fed up with cooking only for the rich," he says today, "so I opened my own place in the working-class district of Mong Kok." It may only have 20 seats, plastic tables, green tea instead of full-bodied red wine, and a check-box menu, but the dim sum are out of this world. "Oddly enough, the Michelin testers followed me," says Brother Pui. In 2010, his snack bar was awarded its first star. Because guests can eat their fill here for 15 euros, he has been called the "Mr. Cheap of star cuisine" ever since. He opened more outlets and they, too, have won awards. Today, he runs five restaurants in Hong Kong as well as branches in Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Brother Pui's dim sum are a real export hit.
Three little baskets stand before me. Brother Pui lifts the lids, and steam rises like a salute to his forefathers: The very first dim sum are said to have been served in tea houses along the Silk Road 2000 years ago. "These are three of my classics," says Pui, with not a little pride. Shao mai, pork and shrimp wrapped in yellow pastry, ha jiao, prawn with bamboo sprouts in a mantle of rice pastry, and cha siu bao, fluffy bread rolls filled with shoulder of pork in barbecue sauce. This is more than a meal with individual courses – it's a poem in three verses. What's his secret, I ask between greedy mouthfuls. "It's all a question of balance. Crisp meets soft. Sweet meets spicy. And history meets progress."
Soon after, I am standing on Jordan Road in the seething metropolis of seven million; taxis honk their horns and gaudy restaurant neon signs shout for custom. There are said to be 12 000 places to eat in Hong Kong, 61 of which have Michelin stars. The people of Hong Kong have a reputation for eating anything with four legs – except tables. No wonder there's an eatery for every genre of international cuisine here.
I meet Koko, 52, a foodie from Sham Shui Po, one of the most densely populated urban neighborhoods on earth. Koko has a broad smile and a belly that suggests he knows a thing or two about food. "Hong Kong has nearly as many inhabitants as Switzerland, but Switzerland is 40 times bigger," he says. "People have small apartments, so they go to restaurants to eat big!" Koko dives with me into the maze of streets around Temple Street Market, where stalls sell flashing electric junk and shirts with fake polo ponies, soothsayers want to read my palm, and karaoke singers blithely fail to hold a tune.
This area is a paradise for fresh fish and seafood fans. Tanks of sea bass and mullet stand outside street restaurants. Squilla mantis shrimp, oysters and scallops rest on ice; mangrove crabs, their pincers tied up with bamboo string, fix me with their gaze. "I want that one," I tell Koko. These primeval creatures are served fried in a mix of oil, chili, garlic and scallions, and eaten with your fingers – the only tableware provided being a nutcracker to crack the hard outer shell protecting the tender flesh inside.
In Sham Shui Po, the Hong Kong of old cookshops, rolling woks, called "dai pai dongs," is alive and well. The grassroots tradition Brother Pui told me about is here, with classic cookshop fare. Cheung fun, for instance: thick rice noodles served with sesame seeds and peanut sauce; gai daan tsai, the egg-shaped waffles you find on every street corner, and of course, the snake soup that Chau Ka Ling, 50, (nickname: the snake queen) serves in her restaurant Shia Wong Hip. "Only fat vipers from Chinese farms are used, cobras, for example, because they are particularly juicy," she tells me, letting me in on the family recipe.
I say goodbye to Koko and to Kowloon and take the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island to learn more about the culinary future of the metropolis beneath the Peak, the highest point in the Chinese Administrative Region. That future has a very pretty face: Celia Hu, 32, is the It girl of the foodie scene. She is a TV star ("Food Challenge"), publishes Foodie Magazine and writes a blog, Girl Meets Cooking. Sheltering from a thunderous downpour beneath the roof of the concept mall PMQ, she flashes me a friendly smile from beneath her designer hat.
"People here are experts on good food," she tells me, "Hong Kong has always been a major port and trading center. Fresh ingredients from all over the world are always available, and that inspires the cooks' creativity!" Trends are always quick to change, and "in" restaurants that attract lines of hipsters willing to wait for hours today can be deserted just weeks later.
"Young gourmets have only a very short attention span, and Twitter, Instagram and Facebook now speed up the eternal round of in and out." Hu's eyes are also glued to her display while we talk, but that's not discourteous, she's just doing her job. Pop-up restaurants are all the rage in Hong Kong, Hu says. They appear out of nowhere in converted warehouses – in the Aberdeen industrial district, for example. "Word about the exact location is spread via hashtags and geodata. Get there fast and you're cool and
can post images of your visit." Arrive late or take a wrong turning and you end up in an old factory with a rumbling stomach.
"Food hunter" Hu has another tip for me – try a private kitchen. "The phenomenon isn't new to Hong Kong, but it has endured. Top chefs cook exclusively for you." There's no set menu, and the locations are not in tourist areas – it can even be their own apartment. Former advertising hotshot Margaret Xu is an icon of this movement. To get to her Yin Yang Coastal, I ride out to the New Territories, the city's green belt. My destination is the fishing village of Ting Kau, where the South China Sea ripples and the city is far away. Beside the beach stands a raised white house with a candlelit terrace. Xu is busy at her brushed steel stove, her features stern beneath a baseball cap, her eyes fixed on one of my starters: "Sea urchin ice cream with truffles and tofu," she murmurs. I all but sink to my knees. Xu used to be a creative director. She was very successful, but there was something missing. "It was the alienation from the product that got me down. Other people always got to carry my ideas through, so I was often discontented." Now, as a cook, I finally have complete control – from sourcing the produce to the look of the food on the plate. Her private kitchen caused a sensation: It was an oasis of pleasure in noisy Wan Chai, near Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong's cheap and noisy resort. Then seven years later, she moved out of the city to the idyllic seaside, and further radicalized her menu. "Every ingredient I use must be regional, seasonal and organic," she states. While I wolf down roast golden chicken straight from the terracotta oven, Xu talks a lot about identity. "I want to combine old traditions with the freshest ingredients. That's why I call my private kitchen 'yin and yang.'"
The eight-course menu is a firework display of flavors and textures, colors and shapes. Then all that remains is a sense of stillness inside. I gaze across the bay to the skyline. For a fleeting moment, I can read Hong Kong like a book. Basically, it's all a question of balance, like any good recipe.
Malte Jäger
Malte Jäger is a Berlin, Germany based professional photographer. In his work, he is mainly searching for human nature. What drives people to live their life the way they do? That's what he tries to find out, understand and share with others. He started taking photos neither for technical reasons, nor because photography was his hobby ever since: He's been using the medium photography to get the chance to look behind curtains which wouldn't be opened for him if he wasn't using his camera. And of course, he loves to meet and learn to know people. Since human behavior is what he is interested in, you will certainly find faces in almost all of his images.


text: RentedSailing in the Sky AvailableSunflowers – The Lions RentedOh Fruit SoldGrey Landscape AvailableAbove the Horizon AvailableAfter Noon AvailableSunflowers RentedMaple Bay Arbutus RentedAmbleside Pines RentedWind Fall RentedWild in Red AvailableWhyte Lake ← 1 2 3 → Footer Become a Member enjoy the benefits of membership North Vancouver Community Arts Council Located at CityScape Community Art Space 335 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, BC V7M 2G3 With gratitude as guests, we acknowledge that NVCAC activities take place on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations, Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Join Our Volunteers have fun & enrich our community Office & Gallery Hours North Van Arts Office and Gallery are closed to the public until further notice due to COVID-19. Staff present to answer phone: 9am-11am, Mon-Fri 604-988-6844 info[at]northvanarts.ca consulted Mon-Fri Donate Today Support arts & culture in north van E-Bulletin Subscribe to our e-bulletin to stay current. Don't miss out! Email * Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from North Vancouver Community Arts Council. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use.By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: North Van Arts, 335 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, BC, V7M 2G3, https://northvanarts.ca/. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact FacebookInstagramLinkedInTwitterYouTube


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Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said the country's largest lenders are violating parts of a $25 billion national mortgage settlement meant to help stem foreclosures by offering financial assistance and improved loan servicing for homeowners here and elsewhere.
Among other issues, Coakley alleges US lenders are failing to offer help in a timely fashion, are sending borrowers inaccurate and confusing information, and have been denying them relief without specifying why. She detailed her complains in a recent letter to Joseph A. Smith Jr., who is in charge of overseeing the national mortgage accord reached last year between 49 attorneys general and five lending companies — Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Citibank, and Ally Financial Inc.
"Our office has worked aggressively to ensure Massachusetts homeowners receive the full benefit of the national mortgage settlement," Coakley said in a statement. "We have identified violations of the agreement that we believe should be enforced by the national monitor.''
Coakley's complaints were made public Monday, the day Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York said he is considering suing Bank of America and Wells Fargo for failing to meet time limits set to process loan modification applications, as required by last year's deal.
"The five mortgage servicers that signed the National Mortgage Settlement are legally required to take specific, rigorous, and enforceable steps to protect homeowners," Schneiderman said. "Wells Fargo and Bank of America have flagrantly violated those obligations, putting hundreds of homeowners across New York at greater risk of foreclosure."
Smith said Monday that he welcomes input from the top state regulators and that he believes lenders can do better.
"I appreciate Attorney General Coakley's efforts to keep me informed about the issues her office is seeing," he said. "I intend to use the enforcement powers set forth in the agreement to hold the banks accountable and look forward to further discussion of this issue after I file my compliance report in June."
Wells Fargo spokeswoman Vickee J. Adams said the company is "committed" to complying with the settlement and has helped more than 70,000 homeowners. Adams said she was not aware of Coakley's letter, but was disappointed with Schneiderman's public comments.
"It is unfortunate that the New York attorney general has chosen this route rather than engage in a constructive dialogue through the established dispute resolution process,'' Adams said in a statement.
Bank of America said it is "working closely" with the attorney general's office to address complaints. Officials said the lender has helped more than 5,000 Bay State homeowners — providing more than $400 million in help — through the settlement program.
The other three lenders involved in the settlement could not be reached or declined to comment.
Coakley said that while Bank of America is making an effort to improve service, the company is the largest source of complaints received by her office. In her letter to Smith, she reported the state tracked 470 violations committed by Bank of America; 170 by Wells Fargo; 41 by Chase; 17 by Citi; and 9 by Ally.
"Bank of America's review process has been riddled with inefficiencies and systemic problems and typically results in the longest delays experienced by borrowers working with this office,'' she said.
Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @jbmckim.


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Recalled By Life: A New Year's Resolution
[On 2010]
"I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road And I asked him, tell me, where are you going and this he told me…
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion-year-old carbon. And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."-- Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock"
Like a billion other New Year's Eve partygoers, I exhibited an irrational exuberance when the ball dropped at the stroke of midnight,
as if I'd just lost my cotton-pickin' mind.
But that tsunami of euphoria soon subsided, and I found myself feeling a little empty and searching for a deeper, more spiritual significance of the annual ritual.
I wondered whether the turning of the proverbial page from 2009 to 2010 alone was really worthy of such elation in and of itself.
After all, what is a year, anyway, beyond a handy way of keeping track of footprints in the sand of time? Some of my fellow revelers seized on the occasion to recite their resolutions, generally a mundane list reflecting some rather shallow, selfish and materialistic goals.
Sadly, the dreamweavers of Madison Avenue seem to have manipulated most of humanity away from that which actually satiates the soul's thirst and replaced it with a never-ending discontent reflected in an unsettled sense that the key to happiness and fulfillment rests in being able to afford the trendiest designer clothes, that state-of-the-art gadget, this luxury automobile or that garish McMansion.
I am fortunate to no longer be susceptible to such Machiavellian marketing influences, having successfully excised that acquisitive instinct subtly whetted in me during childhood by a media-saturated milieu marked by the ubiquity of commercial advertisements aimed at making one feel inadequate and incomplete. Consequently, I am hopelessly behind the times in terms of fashion and space age accoutrements, as I still don't own a cell phone or an iPod, and have no idea what might be the latest styles.
I also didn't buy anyone any Christmas gifts this year, because my definition of the Christmas spirit emanates from a different understanding of Jesus' teachings. I now firmly believe that when you find yourself obsessing about owning any possession, or with keeping up with the Joneses in any way, most likely the true desire is for more of God.
I'm not suggesting that people necessarily need more formalized religion. For more often than not, that merely leads to more of the same, especially if approached with an uncorrected consumer mentality, as implied by the skeptics' refrain, "The closer to Church, the further from God."
Since the passing of both of my parents in recent years, I spend a great deal of time in solitude, especially walking in the woods. I guess nature serves for me as that place where I am best able to recalibrate my spirit and tune in to the essence of what really matters most. Only away from the over-stimulation of the incessant, 21st Century electronic assault do I find myself recalled by life.
But wherever you are, it is possible to shed the shell of conspicuous consumption and the shell of accumulation by carving out quiet time for moments of prayer and introspection. And in meditation you will find all that you crave simply by getting in touch with your higher self, your God-self that's higher, and more satisfying than anything man-made.
So, if I'm making any New Year's resolution for 2010, it's that my calling won't involve a Blackberry or any status symbols I supposedly can't live without.
Black Star columnist Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic, and a member of the NJ, NY, CT, PA, MA & US Supreme Court bars.
To hear Woodstock as performed by James Taylor, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2hL6iCSFxk
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Club owners never want to hear their club's name and "illegal" in the same sentence on the local TV news, let alone be the subject of an investigative segment looking into child care practices at their facility.
But that's what happened to Prairie Life Fitness, Omaha, NE, and Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, MN, last fall when a Kansas City, MO, TV station ran a four-minute piece about how both fitness chains were running illegal child care services in their locations in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS.
The news report cited an incident at Life Time Fitness where a 4-year-old walked out of the club's child care area and was inappropriately talked to by an older child in the restroom, causing an investigation by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). However, KDHE says the real reason for the investigation was that club employees were using each club's child care service for their own children, which in Kansas means the facility must have a day care license. That's something neither club had, says Rachel Berroth, regional administrator for the Kansas City metro area of KDHE.
KDHE has worked with both facilities to resolve the situation. As of July 1, Prairie Life's group exercise instructors and other employees not working in the child care area can no longer use the babysitting service while they work, and Life Time Fitness recently resubmitted its program to KDHE and was found to not need a license, Berroth says.
Negative publicity regarding child care isn't unusual, says Casey Conrad, owner of Communications Consultants and president of Healthy Inspirations, a women-only club franchise headquartered in Wakefield, RI.
"This is a great example of how clubs can be at the mercy of the press, and what happened is not uncommon — i.e. they cover the news story from one angle and then when other truths are discovered, it no longer has the same sexiness or news appeal, and it never gets re-covered," she says.
Running a child care facility within a fitness facility isn't always easy. No group keeps data on how many accidents occur specifically in fitness facilities' babysitting areas or how often clubs are investigated by a state's child care licensing agency. However, when it happens, clubs can face harsh criticism from parents and the media.
Keeping a child care area staffed can be difficult because staff turnover is high. State child care regulations also can change frequently, making it difficult to keep up with new guidelines.
It's no wonder fewer fitness facilities are offering babysitting. In 2001, 70 percent of the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) member clubs offered babysitting services. In 2003, that number dropped to 67 percent. Last year, 60 percent of IHRSA clubs offered the service.
Ken Reinig, president of Association Insurance Group, has noticed the trend and isn't surprised. Child care can be a negative profit center, he says.
"Square footage is getting more and more expensive," he says. "Child-sitting areas take up valuable space, and unless the club is charging additional fees for this service, they are losing money on child care, period."
At the Lawrence Family JCC Jacobs Family Campus in La Jolla, CA, babysitting is a money-loser and a constant battle, says Dan Wagner, assistant director of sports and fitness at the JCC. The babysitting area is busy some days but not busy on other days. The JCC fitness staff has considered converting the babysitting room into a personal training studio, but so far, they are keeping the room open as a form of community service.
"We have very specific hours and really toyed around with getting it set to break even," Wagner says. "Every time we talk about changing or shortening the hours, then we have three or four families who consistently cause a big stink about it, and the staff backs down and keeps it the way it is."
State Regulations
Each state's child care licensing department dictates how and if a fitness facility's babysitting room and program needs to be licensed or regulated. Most states exempt drop-in or short-term care, as long as parents are on the premises and care is limited to two hours or less. Other states classify health clubs' child-watch areas as babysitting and, therefore, do not require a license.
However, state regulations can vary widely from state to state, and many states look at facilities on a case-by-case basis, says Tracy Myers, information specialist for the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center.
"The licensing agencies in the states are the best sources of information about requirements the programs must meet," Myers says. "There may be other ways they are exempt — number of hours of care, number of children, etc. Only the licensing agency can make those judgments."
This is especially important because a club and the state licensing department can sometimes interpret regulations differently, says Jennifer Mahlendorf, director of marketing and sales at Prairie Life, which has locations in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Tennessee. For example, when Prairie Life management read in the KDHE's policy that a child had to be "within reach" of their parent who is an employee, they thought group ex instructors and club managers would be included. However, after working with KDHE, management learned that only its child care staff members can have their children in the babysitting program because group ex instructors and club managers would be harder to reach if their child had an accident, Mahlendorf says.
"It isn't so much that we run into problems with the regulations themselves. It's the interpretation of them," says Mahlendorf, noting that Prairie Life staff has interrupted a group ex class so that the instructor could tend to her child. "When an incident occurs, that raises questions. It's all in how the state enforces them."
Hockessin Athletic Club in Hockessin, DE, offers both a licensed child care program and non-licensed babysitting services for members. Like many states, Delaware requires facilities that provide child care to be licensed only if parents leave the site while their children are in child care. Members are allowed up to two hours a day of babysitting for children ages 6 weeks to 13 years. The babysitting area is divided into three areas: infant, preschool and school age. The babysitting area is open 72 hours a week and averages 900 check-ins each week, says Marie Cantrell, youth programs director at Hockessin Athletic Club.
"If there are times when staff can't console a child, usually emotionally, we'll page [the member]," she says. "It's usually just about familiarity with a child — have they been here, have they seen our faces before? If it's a newborn, we'll page them right away."
Hockessin Athletic Club follows many of the state's licensing regulations in the babysitting area, and many of the licensed child care staff members work in the babysitting room as well, Cantrell says.
"We have a child to staff ratio of 4:1 with infants, 7:1 in toddlers to preschool and 10:1 in school age children," she says. "Those numbers are mandated by the state for licensed child care, but we have the same expectations in babysitting. There's a reason why they make that requirement."
Staffing Woes
Child care areas can be one of the most difficult areas to staff, operators say. Not only is turnover high in this area because pay is generally at or slightly above minimum wage, but there's also extra sensitivity because staff are working with children.
Reinig recommends his insured facilities do criminal background checks on all child facilitators. Most local sheriff departments will perform background checks for free, he says.
Some states require employers to do a background check on staff, even at non-licensed child care facilities. 24 Hour Fitness runs all attendants in its Kids Club through a background check, says Alexei Rudolf, spokesperson for 24 Hour.
Hockessin Athletic Club also runs background checks for all of its licensed child care employees, many of whom also work in the club's babysitting room. Although pay for the babysitting room is minimum wage, attendants receive free membership to the facility, which is worth close to $100 a month, Cantrell says.
The JCC Rockland in West Nyack, NY, looks for child care givers who have experience with children, are patient and have solid references, says Wayne Brown, marketing and membership director at the JCC. Attendants under the age of 18 are paid $8 an hour, and adults make $9 an hour. Members are charged $5 per hour per child, or they can purchase a discounted 10-hour card for $30, he says.
In December, JCC Rockland management installed a surveillance system in its babysitting room. By turning to channel 18 on a cardio machine's personal entertainment system, parents can watch their children in the babysitting room in real time. More than 50 pieces of equipment have access to the babysitting channel, Brown says.
"The cameras have been installed in babysitting since the inception of the facility so that members have peace of mind and a measure of trust in making sure their child is being taken care of properly," Brown says.
Reinig says more facilities are investing in this type of technology or a surveillance system of some sort so that someone outside of child care can monitor the room.
In the Public Eye
Despite the need for increased surveillance and staff background checks, accidents and issues in the babysitting room at fitness facilities are fairly uncommon. Although owners, the public and the media may perceive child care as a liability, Reinig says that from an underwriter's point of view, babysitting in fitness facilities is relatively safe. Of the 3,800 health clubs that Reinig's company insures, 25 percent offer some form of child care. During the last 12 years, he has had 151 documented claims with an average of $5,845 paid out per claim. Compare that to 248 claims during the same period for incidents involving a treadmill. The average treadmill claim pays out $8,491, he says.
Drop-in child care or babysitting services add about $350 a year onto most facility's premiums. Insurance for full-time, licensed child care starts at about $1,500 per year for smaller clubs, Reinig says.
"Kids are kids and will hurt themselves and each other, whether or not there's someone watching them 24/7," Reinig says. "Accidents happen. Our industry recognizes that and charges a low premium because we recognize it's relatively safe."
One issue at a 24 Hour Fitness in Manteca, CA, caused a bit of a media stir when a local TV station reported in early February that a 3-year-old girl suffered repeated bite wounds from another child while she was inside a Kids Club at a 24 Hour Fitness. 24 Hour investigated the incident and found that it was an isolated event, Rudolf says.
"The club took steps to make sure the child who bit the other is no longer allowed in Kids Club, and team members received additional training on managing the areas," he says.
Worth the Risk
Despite the possible costs, offering short-term child care is a must for attracting families, some nonprofit and for-profit operators say.
The La Crosse Area Family YMCA offers drop-in child care free to its family members at its two La Crosse, WI, locations. The Y's other programs subsidize the babysitting program's costs, says Jennie Melde, child care operations director at the Y. Ten years ago, management considered charging for the service but decided against it, she says.
"It's a member benefit, and we're a family-serving organization," Melde says. "It's a quality service, and it hugely impacts why they join."
Fitness Formula locations in Chicago charge members $19.95 monthly for the unlimited use of child care services, says Lauren Eller, human resources director for the company, which has seven full-service clubs and two corporate fitness centers.
"Our clubs located in a predominantly family market realize the great benefit to providing child care at the health club of their choice," Eller says. "If we make it fun for the children, the parents will come to the club."
Although operational costs for Kids Clubs vary at 24 Hour Fitness locations, most clubs offer the service for free or up to $3 per use. 24 Hour continues to offer short-term babysitting because some members say that the service is critical to them working out, Rudolf says.
At most of Prairie Life's locations, child care is typically $19.95 with a family membership, which provides free access to additional children's programming, including swimming lessons, Mahlendorf says.
Prairie Life received little negative feedback from its members regarding the KDHE investigation and TV story, Mahlendorf says. After the TV segment aired, the facility immediately hung signs on its child care room doors explaining the situation.
Prairie Life has also added background checks to its hiring process and plans to implement them soon, Mahlendorf says.
"We've never considered eliminating child care because one of our mottos is fitness for the entire family," Mahlendorf says. "It's hard to stand by that motto if you don't offer it."
Tips for Managing Risks In Babysitting Areas
- Space design
Hire an architect to help design your babysitting area. Be sure that the children's area is located near the front entrance and completely away from the workout floor. Children should never be allowed in the workout area, even if accompanied by the parent. Tables, cabinets and chairs should have smooth and rounded edges. Electrical outlets should be placed out of reach of all toddlers and have safety plates installed. All areas should be visible from any point within the room.
- Staffing
Conduct a background check on all employees who will have contact with children. When interviewing for this position, ask yourself, "Would I let this person babysit my own child?"
- Digital surveillance cameras
Camera systems are highly recommended. Whenever a child is injured, there is typically no possible defense. However, if there is tape of the accident taking place, it removes all doubt and clearly shows responsibility. Even if it is a club's fault, an insurance company can quickly determine the potential negligence and settle cases much more efficiently.
- Waivers
Although there is usually no defense when a child is injured, a well-written waiver and parent/guardian release form act as an effective deterrent.
- Policies and age limitations
As with your regular club policies and guidelines, you should have specific policies designated for the operation of your babysitting business. Your policies and guidelines should outline the age limitations, illness disclosure and specify that you will not change diapers or allow snacks due to food allergies. Also note that you have the right to refuse service to any unruly or high-maintenance child. Put these procedures in writing, and post them next to your child-sitting sign-in sheet. If you are going to allow infants, you should have at least two employees during all hours that infant care is offered — one designated for the babies and the other(s) for the rest of the children.
- Toys
If a toy or a piece of toy can fit through the inside of a toilet paper roll, then remove it from the babysitting area. If it can fit inside the roll, it will fit inside a child's throat. Also, don't have climbing toys such as slides in your babysitting room because children can easily fall and injure themselves or another child.
Source: Association Insurance Group
|Maximum Child: Staff Ratio
|Maximum Group Size
|Birth - 12 months
|13 - 30 months
|31 - 35 months
|6- to 8-year-olds
|9- to 12-year-olds
|Source: Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards, Second Edition
How to Handle Negative Media
Every club should have a media emergency plan in place for issues involving child care, says Casey Conrad, owner of Communications Consultants and president of Healthy Inspirations. Here are her tips on handling accidents and emergencies in the child care room:
Designate one person and only one person as spokesperson for the facility.
Train all of your staff members to direct and defer any comments or media requests to the club's spokesperson.
Keep your databases current, and be prepared to immediately communicate with members in writing about the situation.
Have a pre-arranged relationship with a professional who specializes in media. Immediately hire that person after an incident to do some damage control and work with the media to show your side of the story and how you're resolving the issue.
For more information on whether or not your state requires a license for babysitting or drop-in child care services, go to http://www.fitnessbusinesspro.com/images/stateregulations.pdf.


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Speed your way through city areas while weaving between buildings, or face multiple foes in the skies to experience unique battle sequences not found on the ground.


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