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DCG necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 89 diseños de 32 diseñadores freelance.
This can be a challenging design job. There are hundreds and hundreds of energy drink brands out there. So I need this one to really stand out from the crowd and make the consumer grab the can and take a look at it. It must draw itself to those who want to get energy or quench the thirst of someone who did something very physical and want to regain that energy back again.
AQUAPOWER is the real energy drink for real athletes, sports enthusiasts, active people, or for those who need a boost of energy, increase stamina, improve alertness. When extreme performance is needed, AQUAPOWER will give you the edge in physical and mental performance. FEEL the real power with AQUAPOWER.
I want a logo design and put it in front of an aluminum can. So submission must be the front of a can of energy drink.
ForAQUAPOWER, I need a can design/logo that can easily give the client anidea that this energy drink can revitalize you and give you moreenergy, power, strength, and stamina after drinking it. It must lookcool, unique, and striking. As you know if you go to a conveniencestore, there are so many brands of energy drink on the shelf. So thecan design is important to attract a consumer to take a look at it andgrab it as compared to the rest of the energy drinks on the shelf.
It must be powerful, sporty, strong, aggressive, thirst quenching,bold, explosive, eye candy, confident. You want to grab it! Youalready feel the energy just by holding it even.
Some suggestion. But it is up to you to create your concept.
1.) A burst of energy design
2.) Water exploding design
3.) A nucleus with an energy field surrounding it. I don't like it to look like an ATOMIC particle.
4.) A nuclear explosion but instead of RED maybe made out of water or blue
5.) Shape of man's body (drawing not photo) being energized
6.) Laser ion exploding
7.) Electrifying energy
Please go to http://www.dextergo.com and download the 2008 Beverage guide for some design ideas.
I think the most eye catching is MONSTER energy drinks.
- Item 1...
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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NEW YORK (AP) Doug Marrone completed his fourth season at Syracuse with another successful homecoming, and hoped it wouldn't be the last time he brings his team to the Bronx.
``You're right, I should play more games in the Borough of the Bronx,'' the Orange coach said after Syracuse beat West Virginia 38-14 in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. ``It's very special for me.
``But for me to talk about what's special for me today really does not put into perspective how I feel,'' he added. ``We have a lot of players from this area, a lot of players whose families can't make that trip up to Syracuse for games, but they were able to come.''
Marrone, a former Syracuse player and NFL assistant, took over a program that had crumbled into one of the worst in the BCS-automatic qualifying conferences in four terrible seasons under Greg Robinson.
In Marrone's first three seasons, he managed one winning record in 2010 and Syracuse followed up that hopeful season by losing its last five games in 2011 to finish 5-7.
When the Orange started this season 2-4 there was speculation about Marrone's job security, though athletic director Daryl Gross never wavered from his support of the 46-year-old coach.
Gross' confidence was rewarded. The Orange finished the season with six wins in their final seven games, a share of the Big East title in their last season in the conference, and their second bowl victory at Yankee Stadium in the past three years.
Marrone had a hard time pinpointing what made this team finish so strong after last year's stumbled down the stretch. He talked about the leadership his players showed and the closeness of his team.
He was clear about his affection for playing in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Coaches tend not to enjoy bowl trips the way players do, but earlier this week Marrone acknowledged taking a moment to appreciate how far he has come while speaking to some school-aged kids from the Bronx during a short football clinic with his players at Yankee Stadium.
``Here you are, you look to the left and you see young kids form the Bronx there,'' he said. ``When I look at them I see part of my life going by. I was once just like these kids.
``And I look to my right and there's the Syracuse football team and I say to myself that was a point in my life when I was fortunate enough to play for Coach (Dick) MacPherson.
``Out of all the things that I have pretty much done in my life, I would say from the standpoint of sports, people will laugh, it's probably the greatest moment personally, because it's life come full circle.''
The next step for Syracuse and Marrone is the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange will join their new conference with a team in transition in a few key areas.
An offense that was among the most potent in the country will have to replace quarterback Ryan Nassib, both starting receivers, and very possibly star tackle Justin Pugh, who has another year left of eligibility but could enter the NFL draft.
Five defensive starters are seniors, including All-Big East safety Shamarko Thomas.
Among the key players expected back are running backs Jerome Smith and Prince-Tyson Gulley, who helped the Orange run for more than 300 yards against West Virginia. Gulley's 208 yards rushing were the second-most for a Syracuse player in a bowl game, eight yards shy of Floyd Little's school record set in 1966 Gator Bowl against Tennessee.
On the defensive side, Syracuse should be loaded at linebacker next season with Marquis Spruill, Cameron Lynch and Dyshawn Davis all coming back.
The speculation about Marrone has now turned from whether he will keep his job to whether an NFL team tries to lure him away.
The coach didn't want to address any of that Saturday night, instead basking in another Bronx bowl victory.
``You know, I think it's special,'' he said. ``It's become - winning the one, it's become a special place for all of us and it's always been a special place.''

subset: commoncrawl


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Collection Items
Film, VideoNew York City "ghetto" fish market "A fine panoramic view of this busy market on a Friday morning. Immense throngs of people are seen passing along the stands and making their selections of fish. A great character study. 165 feet"--Edison films catalog.
- Contributor: Thomas A. Edison, Inc - Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress) - Smith, James Blair
- Date: 1903


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#ICYMI Video via @mediabistro: Christiane Amanpour's First Big Break
She is one of the most recognizable foreign correspondents on network television today. But did you know Christiane Amanpour's journey to the front lines of reporting included a stint as a graphics coordinator at a local NBC station?
In this episode of My First Big Break, Christiane Amanpour talks about how first big break, escaping the Iranian revolution with her family, started a journey that took her from WJAR in Providence, RI, all the way to the front lines of the first Gulf War as a reporter for CNN.


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I Am Everyday Pimple
No matter how clear your skin, no matter how old you get, no matter how often and zealously you attend your religious institution of choice, you will still, occasionally, wake up with a pimple the size of South Dakota.
You may think you're immune to the red social death. But that's just kidding yourself. You may not get one for five years. But it will come. Oh, it will come. Some of you may even have one now.
More often than not, your pimple will come on a day where thousands of people are closely examining your skin. No one gets a pimple when they're planning on being home by themselves for a weekend. Though many people plan on being home by themselves for a weekend when they got a pimple.
I'm writing this column because this morning, I fell victim to that same fate. (Having a pimple, not staying in for the weekend). I have a standup gig tonight, so people will not only see my pimple, they will see it with the aid of a giant spotlight. As far as the crowd is concerned, I will become one giant pimple, which may impress them since few people have ever seen a pimple do standup comedy. The sheer novelty of it may be enough to win them over.
Growing up, I never really had a problem with acne, aside from spending a year confusing it for the company that makes all those anti-Road Runner gadgets. I never had more than one pimple at a time, and I went through entire months in high school with none at all. But in high school, acne would have been okay since everyone had some. You can't really laugh at someone for getting a pimple when you can't see past your own facial mountain range. Well, you can, but it'd be asking for trouble. As well as the pot calling the kettle, well, a smaller pot.
Now that I've past that awkward stage where everyone is just as awkward as each other, pimples are no longer welcome. Though we will all still get it occasionally, acne is much rarer - I don't think I've had any in years. So while I've been eligible to mock the pimpled people for quite some time, I can now be mocked by all the people who are on their non-pimple cycle. This is why you need to treat others with respect. To paraphrase a famous, um, phrase - people who live in glass houses should not clean the windows with Stridex pads.
I'm an adult now, or at least at the age where I can be tried as one after assaulting the convenience store guy for selling me skin care products that don't work. Now that I'm 23, there's nothing quite like cosmetically rocketing back to 14.
The reason that teenagers make such a big deal about their pimples is because often, it is their greatest problem. When you're in high school, your pimples affect your social standing, which is a high school student's biggest concern. When you've already graduated college, your pimple(s) do not affect your ability to get a decent job or find an apartment or find a night job to pay for that apartment since you blew your paycheck at happy hour. Those are an adult's biggest concerns, while a pimple is merely an inconvenience that might make you postpone a date. Or a comedy show.
I'm glad I have to do a set tonight, because it will allow me to use the pimple to my advantage. Instead of pretending there is no Vesuvius-like blemish on my forehead, I can come up with clever, self-deprecating jokes about how much it sucks to have a pimple.
Question: What's the difference between a pimple and the plague?
My plan is to get them rolling in the aisles. That way, they can stop staring at my forehead, and instead concentrate on how dirty their clothing got from rolling in the aisles. Aside from making people laugh at my expense, the only other positive effect of a zit is 12 points in Scrabble. I can't imagine using a pimple to your advantage in any other profession.
"Your honor, my client is an honorable man.â€
"But we have a videotape of him stealing candy from babies while pushing an old lady into oncoming traffic.â€
"Perhaps you didn't notice that I have a pimple on my forehead.â€
"By golly, you're right! Case dismissed!â€
Luckily, I'm in that unique position where having a pimple isn't all that bad; this is a time where being a comedian will certainly help me. I plan on using my pimple to make people laugh and affect positive change in their lives (as well as in my career). Frankly, I'm going to embrace my pimple.
But not too tightly because that could get messy.


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Has Dancing with the Stars Jumped the Shark?
After almost every elimination, I get someone sending a message on the Pure DWTS contact form about how they're never going to watch DWTS again. Many think that we're the producers of DWTS, which I can assure you were are not! Most of these messages are easily ignored since it's natural that fans of certain stars and pros are angry that they've been sent home. In most cases, those people end up coming back and watching DWTS again.
This season those messages have come at a much bigger rate than ever before. Most of the messages have revolved around Bristol Palin on the show (and sticking around) and the departure of Sabrina (which many thought was too early). The sheer volume has me wondering about the impact these events have had on DWTS. However, more disturbing has been the content of the messages. Usually you can just see the underlying anger about a specific incident. The messages this season have focused more on the show in general.
Certainly the ratings are down this season, but that could be caused by a ton of different X factors and Voices. However, I'll be interested to see if this is a trend that continues in future seasons (yes, the ratings are still far from the show being cancelled).
With all of this in mind, I ask the question, has Dancing with the Stars "Jumped the Shark"? You can vote in the widget below (Click on Yes or No to vote):
For those not familiar with the term Jump the Shark, here's the wikipedia description:
Jumping the shark is an idiom created by Jon Hein that is used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery. The phrase is also used to refer to a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of "gimmick" in a desperate attempt to keep viewers' interest.
In its initial usage, it referred to the point in a television program's history when the program had outlived its freshness and viewers had begun to feel that the show's writers were out of new ideas, often after great effort was made to revive interest in the show by the writers, producers, or network.
I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the poll and your thoughts in the comments.


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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the role of OGP in setting and managing transportation policy?
OGP Transportation Policy seeks to improve agency freight and cargo management and enhance sustainable, efficient and effective transportation operations. Transportation Policy focuses on freight and cargo over 350 pounds, purchased and shipped into or out of federal agencies. OGP is responsible for the Federal Management Regulations (FMR) 41 CFR 102-117 Transportation Management and 41 CFR 102-118 Transportation Payment and Audit. An introduction to OGP is available here [PDF - 284 KB].
2. What are the Federal Transportation Regulations (FMR) 102-117 and 102-118?
FMR 102-117 prescribes the policy and requirements for managing transportation in Federal agencies and FMR 102-118 prescribes policy and requirements for transportation payments and audits.
3. How much does the Government spend annually on transportation?
The Federal budget reports that Federal agencies spent $34.7 billion in FY2011 on the transportation of goods or materials distributed from a government location.
4. How is transportation defined?
Transportation is the physical movement of commodities, household goods (HHG) and other freight from one location to another by a transportation service provider (TSP).
5. What authority does GSA Office of Government-wide Policy have over transportation?
40 U.S.C. 121-Public Buildings, Property, and Works provides the general authority for GSA to issue regulations and guidance for Federal transportation. 31 U.S.C. 3726 authorizes GSA to regulate transportation payment and audit by all Federal agencies.
6. What are agencies responsibilities regarding prepayment audit?
102-118 Subpart D - Prepayment Audit identifies agencies responsibilities regarding prepayment audits. Upon approval of your agency's prepayment audit program by the Chief Financial Officer, agencies are to submit their approved prepayment audit program for review to GSA Transportation Audits Division.
7. What are agencies postpayment audit requirements?
Agencies must submit their bills for a post payment audit to the GSA Audit Division in the Federal Acquisition Service. The GSA Audit Division has a Congressionally mandated responsibility under 31 U.S.C. 3726 to perform oversight on transportation bill payments. Details are available in the FMR 102-118 Subpart E- Postpayment Transportation Audits or at www.gsa.gov/transaudits .
8. What are agency transportation manager responsibilities?
Agency transportation manager responsibilities are defined in . (I need help in finding where this is referenced. I was trying to follow the mail FAQ's but couldn't find a reference in the FMR.)
9. What federal council does the OGP Office of Transportation Policy host?
OGP has re-established the Government-wide Transportation Policy Council (GTPC), consisting of transportation experts from about 15 agencies, to help agencies establish, improve, and maintain effective transportation management policies, practices and procedures.
10. Who are the members of the GTPC ?
The members of the GTPC are the transportation leaders in their respective agencies who develop agency transportation policy and oversee transportation management.


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I have been Telecom broadband since arriving from Australia in early 2008. The service and speed has been great up till 8 weeks ago when I switched to the 500Gig plan. ( I have 3 kids. 2 are teenagers who are constantly on the net) Since the change my connection speed has dropped from 2.1Meg to 1.4 Meg, even though there have been no changes to the line attenuation and SNR.
I logged this as a fault with Xtra, who have had a tech out to check for any issues from the property to the exchange, via the cabinet that I am connected to. According to them, no fault has been found.
I have had the master splitter/filter changed as well as the wiring (CAT6) at my expense all to no avail.
We have tried 3 different modems (Vigor and Netgear) with no change and all 3 show exactly the same line attenuation of 15dB and 8dB. Interleave is off.
Basically everything has been covered, checked and rechecked with no success.
My concern is that been on a 500Gig plan, I am now in a high usage pool like the good old Big Time plan, or somehow my speed is being artificially throttled.
I have been on ADSL since late 1999 and having been through all the initial teething issues of early broadband, I am confident in my knowledge of ADSL problem solving skills.
Any suggestions or feedback will be appreciated.
PS I did reboot the modem!


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Visual Development * Illustration * Craic
Specializing in turning that frown upside down.
Scribbler-a little drawing program.
A little project I did for college-go on, play around with it. You'll notice that the 'ink' button doesn't upload- that's because it's an image that didn't upload to the server. It should work fine though…
Feel free to comment/send me pictures that you've done with it! Have fun. 🙂
The Wedding Morning- John Bacon.
'The Wedding Morning' by John Bacon.
Wedding Inspiration.
I've not been updating much lately, but I have an excuse-I'm newly engaged! Planning a wedding isn't so very different to planning a design project- you have to do your visual research and work to a budget and timeline. Stand by for a load of inspiration and you can see my design work come together for my wedding invitations etc. In case you can't tell, I'm still trying to plan the theme…my fiancé and I both like Celtic and Art Nouveau art. More to come!
Layout thumbnails
Before going on to the final page, I like to play around with a few thumbnails. Here you can see I've used the colours I picked before and some textures that I felt were relevant, giving a rather nice vibe of the '40s folk scene. Each thumbnail engenders an idea or two that I liked, but overall my favourite is the bottom right one, where the text forms the strings of a guitar. I'm a little worried that it might be too generic, but I can take a couple of these ideas and render them into 'finished' products, then choose between them. Keep an eye on this space!
Teaser Photo: Mary's Octopus.
Inspiration: Sylvain Marc
Please just take a moment and look at the above pictures. Allow yourself to wallow in it. Really soak up those colours. The pure autumnness of it!
This mastery is by a London-based French artist, Sylvain Marc. Here's his website: http://www.sylvain-marc.blogspot.com It says 'under construction' but you can scroll down a bit and see many gems anyway. I love his free and exuberant style, his impeccable colour sense and his sense of humour (very important in design!) Want a bit more Sylvain? Yeah, OK, I thought so too. Here you go!
Go now, go to his website, go quickly. Godspeed.
Here it is again in case you feel you may have to scroll back up and that would be just TOO MUCH HASSLE (although I can't imagine that could ever be the case):
Inspiration: Robert Kondo
 Robert Kondo is an art director at Pixar and he well deserves that role; just look at his beautiful work! His lighting is beautiful and hits the spot where we can 'feel' ourselves inserted into that place, like it's somewhere real, but with odd things happening.  Gotta love that lighting and the combination of desaturated colours with saturation, as in the apples in the painting above. Look at how he uses shape and colour to such great effect- the shapes are very simple, with a bit of texture to suggest colour. Not too busy, everything in the right place. We can all learn a lot from that.  If you want to see more (and sure why wouldn't you?) just head over to the US Department of Public Works, click on Kondo's name on the left-hand side and flip through the glory. http://www.dopw.us/blog/gallery/ <<----HERE!!


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R-Studio 8.0 Build 164761 Network Edition Multilingual + Portable | 42.1 MB /79 MB
R-Studio is a family of powerful and cost-effective undelete and data recovery software. Empowered by the new unique data recovery technologies, it is the most comprehensive data recovery solution for recovery files from FAT12/16/32, NTFS, NTFS5, HFS/HFS+ (Macintosh), Little and Big Endian variants of UFS1/UFS2 (FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/Solaris) and Ext2FS/Ext3FS (Linux) partitions. It functions on local and network disks, even if such partitions are formatted, damaged or deleted. Flexible parameter settings give you absolute control over data recovery.
The R-Studio data recovery software was originally developed for use by data recovery experts, system administrators, IT professionals, and advanced and experienced computer users. Some of R-Studios features were even designed exclusively for computer forensic experts, and most R-Studio users do not need every single feature of the software.
Because of the many features presented in R-Studio, there may be inexperienced users who find its interface and abundant functionality a bit confusing. We've actually tried to simplify the software interface as much as possible and have included a detailed Help Manual with the product. However, we recommend to those who still feel uncomfortable with the software after reading the Manual that they start their data recovery experience with the R-Undelete file recovery tool. Its three-step wizard-oriented user interface provides an easier way to perform ordinary data recovery tasks without any compromise to their efficiency. Its the best choice for basic and some advanced data recovery needs. Below you may compare the main features of R-Studio and R-Undelete.
R-Studio utilities recover files:
Deleted without Recycle Bin, or when Recycle Bin has been emptied;
Removed by virus attack or power failure;
After the partition with the files was reformatted, even for different file system;
When the partition structure on a hard disk was changed or damaged. In this case, R-Studio utilities can scan the hard disk trying to find previously existed partitions and recover files from found partitions.
From hard disk with bad sectors. R-Studio Data Recovery Software can first copy the entire disk or its part into an image file and then process such image file. This is especially useful when new bad sectors are constantly appearing on the hard disk, and remaining information must be immediately saved.
R-Studio Data Recovery Features :
Standard Windows Explorer – style interface.
Host OS: Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista.
Data recovery over the Network. Files can be recovered on network computers running Win95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista, Macintosh, Linux and UNIX.
Supported file systems: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32,NTFS, NTFS5 (created or updated by Win2000/XP/2003/Vista), HFS/HFS+ (Macintosh), Little and Big Endian variants of UFS1/UFS2 (FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD/Solaris) and Ext2FS/Ext3FS (Linux).
Recognition and parsing Dynamic (Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista), Basic(MBR) and BSD (UNIX) partitions layout schema and Apple partition map. Dynamic partitions over GPT are supported as well as dynamic partitions over MBR.
Damaged RAID recovery. If OS cannot recognize your RAID, you can create a virtual RAID from its components. Such virtual RAID can be processed like a real one.
Creates IMAGE FILES for an entire Hard Disk, Partition or its part. Such image files can be compressed and split into several files to put it on CD/DVD/Flash or FAT16/FAT32. Then the image files can be processed like regular disks.
Data recovery on damaged or deleted partitions, encrypted files (NTFS 5), alternative data streams (NTFS, NTFS 5).
Recovering data if:
* FDISK or other disk utilities have been run;
* VIRUS has invaded; FAT is damaged; MBR is destroyed. Recognizes localized names.
Recovered files can be saved on any (including network) disks accessible by the host operating system.
File or disk content can be viewed and edited with the advanced hexadecimal editor. The editor supports NTFS file attribute editing.
New R-Studio features in version 7.x:
Accelerated disk scan for fast-read devices.
More reliable and significantly faster recognition of NTFS and FAT partitions.
Search for deleted file versions. R-Studio can search for deleted file versions using their sizes, names and extensions, and recognized file types as the search parameters.
Improved data selection in the Hexadecimal editor. Now the beginning and end of the area to be selected can be set by the Select from and Select to commands in the shortcut menu.
Appending data to an existing file in the Hexadecimal editor. A file fragment selected in the editor can be appended to an existing file.
An external file can be loaded to a selected position in the file opened in the Hexadecimal editor.
Automatic support for Windows Storage Spaces (Windows 8/8.1 and 10) even with small database damage. They can be manually assembled if their databases are totally corrupted on some parents.
Automatic support for software Mac RAIDs. Members with severe corrupted RAID parameter records can be added manually.
Automatic support for Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM/LVM2) even with slightly damaged RAID parameter records. Components with severe corrupted RAID parameter records can be added manually.
Support for DiskSpar Disk Imager images and disk maps. R-Studio can read and process images and disk maps created by the DiskSpar Disk Imager without R-Studio.
Automatic RAID parameter recognition.R-Studio can recognize all RAID parameters for RAID 5 and 6. This feature helps the user to solve one of the most difficult problems in RAID recovery.
S.M.A.R.T. attribute monitoring. R-Studio can display S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) attributes for hard drives to show their hardware health and predict their possible failures. Any unnecessary work with such hard drives should be avoided if S.M.A.R.T. warnings appear.
New GUI languages: Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Portuguese.
Support for parity delays in all applicable RAID layouts.
Enhanced parity delay controls.
Download Via RapidGator
Download Via Keep2share


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The Year(s) of Replication #las17ed L@S 2017Posted: April 22, 2017 Filed under: Education, Opinion | Tags: community, education, l@s, las17ed, learning, learning@scale, mit, replication, science, teaching, testing 6 Comments
I was at Koli Calling in 2016 and a paper was presented ("Replication in Computing Education Research: Researcher Attitudes and Experiences") regarding the issue of replicating previous studies. Why replicate previous work? Because we have a larger number of known issues that have emerged in psychology and the medical sciences, where important work has not been able to be replicated. Perhaps the initial analysis was underpowered, perhaps the researchers had terrible bad luck in their sample, and perhaps there were… other things going on. Whatever the reason, we depend upon replication as a validation tool and being unable to replicate work puts up a red flag.
After the paper, I had follow-up discussions with Andrew Petersen, from U Toronto, and we talked about the many problems. If we do choose to replicate studies, which ones do we choose? How do we get the replication result disseminated, given that it's fundamentally not novel work? When do we stop replicating? What the heck do we do if we invalidate an entire area of knowledge? Andrew suggested a "year of replication" as a starting point but it's a really big job: how do we start a year of replication studies or commit to doing this as a community?
This issue was raised again at Learning@Scale 2017 by Justin Reich, from MIT, among others. One of the ideas that we discussed as part of that session was that we could start allocating space at the key conferences in the field for replication studies. The final talk as part of L@S was "Learning about Learning at Scale: Methodological Challenges and Recommendations", which discussed general problems that span many studies and then made recommendations as to how we could make our studies better and reduce the risk of failing future replication. Justin followed up with comments (which he described as a rant but he's being harsh) about leaving room to make it easier to replicate and being open to this kind of examination of our work: we're now thinking about making our current studies easier to replicate and better from the outset, but how can we go back and verify all of the older work effectively?
I love the idea of setting aside a few slots in every conference for replication studies. The next challenge is picking the studies but, given each conference has an organising committee, a central theme, and reviewers, perhaps each conference could suggest a set and then the community identify which ones they're going to have a look at. We want to minimise unnecessary duplication, after all, so some tracking is probably a good idea.
There are several problems to deal with: some political, some scheduling, some scientific, some are just related to how hard it is to read old data formats. None of them are necessarily insurmountable but we have to be professional, transparent and fair in how we manage them. If we're doing replication studies to improve confidence in the underlying knowledge of the field, we don't want to damage the community in doing it.
Let me put out a gentle call to action, perhaps for next year, perhaps for the year after. If you're involved with a conference, why not consider allocating a few slots to replication studies for the key studies in your area, if they haven't already been replicated? Even the opportunity to have a community discussion about which studies have been effectively replicated will help identify what we can accept as well as showing us what we could fix.
Does your conference have room for a single track, keynote-level session, to devote some time to replication? I'll propose a Twitter hashtag of #replicationtrack to discuss this and, hey, if we get a single session in one conference out of this, it's more than we had.
Our duty to the future, a letter from the 18th Century.Posted: February 25, 2016 Filed under: Education | Tags: advocacy, education, ethics, higher education, learning, teaching, thinking 1 Comment
Extract of a letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, posted 12 May 1780, from Paris.
I could fill Volumes with Descriptions of Temples and Palaces, Paintings, Sculptures, Tapestry, Porcelaine, &c. &c. &c. — if I could have time. But I could not do this without neglecting my duty. The Science of Government it is my Duty to study, more than all other Sciences: the Art of Legislation and Administration and Negotiation, ought to take Place, indeed to exclude in a manner all other Arts. I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.
Reflection: Why I'm stopping daily updatesPosted: February 15, 2016 Filed under: Education | Tags: aesthetics, authenticity, beauty, blogging, design, education, ethics, higher education, learning, reflection, teaching, thinking 4 Comments
I've written a lot in the past month and a half. Now, because I'm committed to evaluation, I have to look back at all of it and think about some difficult matters:
- Is anyone reading this?
- Are the people reading this the ones who can make change?
- Is the best way to do this?
- Should I be doing something else?
There are roughly 1,000 people who see my posts, between direct subscribers who read in e-mail, Facebook and the elusive following community on Twitter.
Twitter shouldn't count, as I know from direct experience that the click-through rate from Twitter is tiny. (My posts have been shared by people with 5-10,000 followers and it has turned into maybe 10-20 more people reading.) Now I'm down to maybe 4-500 readers.
Facebook shares a longer fragment of my ideas but the click through is still small. Perhaps this brings me down to the roughly 200 followers I have, who have (over time) contributed about 1,000 'Likes'. However, almost all of these positive reinforcements stem from a different phase of the blog, a time when I was blogging conferences and being useful, rather than pontificating on the nature of beauty. My readership used to be 100 people a day, or more. I can't crack 80 today and the way that I'm blogging is unlikely to reach that larger audience, yet it's what I want to do.
The answer to 1 is that a few other people a day are reading what I write. I'd put it as high as twenty on a good day but most days it's under ten.
2's a tricky question. We can all make change; that's one of my firmest beliefs. However, there is making change and then there are change makers. I know several people in this area quite well and they read me occasionally but it's not something that they dedicate time to do. I have people that I always read but I can't make the changes they need. It's frustrating. No doubt, my ideas appeal to some people but change takes will and capacity to change, not just a sympathetic ear. I don't want people to read this and feel trapped because they can't make change. The answer to 2 is, probably, 'no'.
3 follows from 1 and 2. If my readership is small and my ideas have little influence then this is not the best way to do things. We face enormous challenges. We need effective mechanisms for sharing information. If I am to make change, I have to invest my time wisely. I am not a large-scale player or a change maker. I need help to do it and if that help isn't coming from this avenue, I have to choose another.
4 is easier. I can focus on my scholarship, practice, and research, rededicating the time I've been spending on this blog. People read papers where they don't read blogs. Papers drive recognition. Recognition gets you the places to speak where your voice can be heard. There is no point having written all those words in a blog if it's rarely read. This has been a highly rewarding experience in many ways but you have to wonder why you're doing it if very few people read it or remember what you've written.
I wanted people to think and to talk about the ideas shared here. For those of you who have let me know that this worked, my thanks!
I'm tempted to keep going with the daily blog but the aesthetic argument traps me here. Spending time on something that isn't working and insisting that it's valuable is self-deception. Investing energy into an avenue that isn't achieving your goals isn't good. I cannot deprive my students of the hour or so a day that I've been spending doing this unless I achieve more for them than I would by doing some other aspect of my job.
Students and teachers: the true focus of any aesthetic discussion of education; the most important aspects of any discussion of what we should be doing because they are people and not just machine parts. As for us, so for them.
There are more discussions to be had but they'll show up in more formal places, most likely. I'm always happy to talk to people about ideas at conferences. I've already started a face-to-face discussion about taking some of these ideas further in a more traditional research sense and I'm very excited about that.
But perhaps it's time to let this blog go, listen to the numbers, reflect on the dissemination of knowledge, and accept that I would not be following my own advice if I were to continue. I love the beauty argument. I think it's great. I stand by everything I've written this year. I just don't think that this is the way to move people towards that agenda.
Thus, the daily updates stop with this post. I'll still post things that interest me but there'll be fewer of them.
I'll leave you with the message I wanted to get across this year:
- Educational philosophy is full of the aesthetics of education. Dewey and Bloom just scratch the surface of this. The late 19th and early 20th century were an incredible time of upheaval and we still haven't addressed many of the questions raised then. To the libraries!
- Fair, equitable, well-designed and evidence-based education is at the core of any beautiful system.
- Every day, we should ask ourselves if what we are doing is beautiful, good or true, taking into account all of the difficult questions of how we balance necessities against desirabilities, being honest about which is which. If we aren't managing this, we need to either seek to change or accept that what we are doing isn't right.
- We should leave enough time for ourselves in all of this, as there should be no sacrificial element to beautiful education.
- Change is coming. Change is here. Pretending that it won't happen isn't beautiful.
I hope that you all have a fantastic learning and teaching year, with many amazing and beautiful moments and outcomes!
This year, I hope to be at several conferences and I look forward to talking to anyone about the ideas in this phase (or any other phase) of the blog.
Have a great year!
Beautiful decompositionPosted: February 14, 2016 Filed under: Education | Tags: advocacy, aesthetics, authenticity, beauty, blogging, community, competency-based assessment, education, educational problem, educational research, ethics, higher education, in the student's head, learning, small group learning, student perspective, teaching, teaching approaches, Workgroups Leave a comment
Now there's a title that I didn't expect to write. In this case, I'm referring to how we break group tasks down into individual elements. I've already noted that groups like team members who are hard-working, able to contribute and dependable, but we also have the (conflicting) elements from the ideal group where the common goal is more important than individual requirements and this may require people to perform tasks that they are either not comfortable with or ideally suited for.
How do we assess this fairly? We can look at what a group produces and we can look at what a group does but, to see the individual contribution, there has to be some allocation of sub-tasks to individuals. There are several (let's call them interesting) ways that people divide up up tasks that we set. Here are three.
- Decomposition into dependent sub-tasks.
- Decomposition into isolated sub-tasks (if possible).
- Decomposition into different roles that spread across different tasks.
Part of working with a group is knowing whether tasks can be broken down, how that can be done successfully, being able to identify dependencies and then putting the whole thing back together to produce a recognisable task at the end.
What we often do with assignment work is to give students identical assignments and they all solemnly go off and solve the same problem (and we punish them if they don't do enough of this work by themselves). Obviously, then, a group assignment that can be decomposed to isolated sub tasks that have no dependencies and have no assembly requirement is functionally equivalent to an independent assessment, except with some semantic burden of illusory group work.
If we set assignments that have dependent sub-tasks, we aren't distributing work pressure fairly as students early on in the process have more time to achieve their goals but potentially at the expense of later students. But if the tasks aren't dependent then we have the problem that the group doesn't have to perform as a group, they're a set of people who happen to have a common deadline. Someone (or some people) may have an assembly role at the end but, for the most part, students could work separately.
The ideal way to keep the group talking and working together is to drive such behaviour through necessity, which would require role separation and involvement in a number of tasks across the lifespan of the activity. Nothing radical about that. It also happens to be the hardest form to assess as we don't have clear task boundaries to work with. However, we also have provided many opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability and to work together, whether as mentor or mentee, to learn from each other in the process.
For me, the most beautiful construction of a group assessment task is found where groups must work together to solve the problem. Beautiful decomposition is, effectively, not a decomposition process but an identification strategy that can pinpoint key tasks while recognising that they cannot be totally decoupled without subverting the group work approach.
But this introduces grading problems. A fluid approach to task allocation can quickly blur neat allocation lines, especially if someone occupies a role that has less visible outputs than another. Does someone get equal recognition for driving ideas, facilitating, the (often dull) admin work or do you have to be on the production side to be seen as valuable?
I know some of you have just come down heavily on one side or the other reading that last line. That's why we need to choose assessment carefully here.
If you want effective group work, you need an effective group. They have to trust each other, they have to work to individual strengths, and they must be working towards a common goal which is the goal of the task, not a grading goal.
I'm in deep opinion now but I've always wondered how many student groups fall apart because we jam together people who just want a pass with people who would kill a baby deer for a high distinction. How do these people have common ground, common values, or the ability to build a mutual trust relationship?
Why do people who just want to go out and practice have to raise themselves to the standards of a group of students who want to get academic honours? Why should academic honours students have to drop their standards to those of people who are happy to scrape by?
We can evaluate group work but we don't have to get caught up on grading it. The ability to work in a group is a really useful skill. It's heavily used in my industry and I support it being used as part of teaching but we are working against most of the things we know about the construction of useful groups by assigning grades for knowledge and skill elements that are strongly linked into the group work competency.
Look at how teams work. Encourage them to work together. Provide escape valves, real tasks, things so complex that it's a rare person who could do it by themselves. Evaluate people, provide feedback, build those teams.
I keep coming back to the same point. So many students dislike group work, we must be doing something wrong because, later in life, many of them start to enjoy it. Random groups? They're still there. Tight deadlines? Complex tasks? Insufficient instructions? They're all still there. What matters to people is being treated fairly, being recognised and respected, and having the freedom to act in a way to make a contribution. Administrative oversight, hierarchical relationships and arbitrary assessment sap the will, undermine morale and impair creativity.
If your group task can be decomposed badly, it most likely will be. If it's a small enough task that one keen person could do it, one keen person probably will because the others won't have enough of a task to do and, unless they're all highly motivated, it won't be done. If a group of people who don't know each other also don't have a reason to talk to each other? They won't. They might show up in the same place if you can trigger a bribe reaction with marks but they won't actually work together that well.
The will to work together has to be fostered. It has to be genuine. That's how good things get done by teams.
Valuable tasks make up for poor motivation. Working with a group helps to practise and develop your time management. Combine this with a feeling of achievement and there's some powerful intrinsic motivation there.
And that's the fuel that gets complex tasks done.
Aesthetics of group workPosted: February 13, 2016 Filed under: Education | Tags: aesthetics, authenticity, beauty, community, competency-based assessment, design, education, educational problem, ethics, higher education, in the student's head, learning, small group learning, teaching, teaching approaches, Workgroups Leave a comment
What are the characteristics of group work and how can we define these in terms that allow us to form a model of beauty about them? We know what most people want from their group members. They want them to be:
- Honest. They do what they say and they only claim what they do. They're fair in their dealings with others.
- Dependable. They actually do all of what they say they're going to do.
- Hard-working. They take a 'reasonable' time to get things done.
- Able to contribute a useful skill
- A communicator. They let the group know what's going on.
- Positive, possibly even optimistic.
A number of these are already included in the Socratic principles of goodness and truth. Truth, in the sense of being honest and transparent, covers 1, 2 and possibly even 5. Goodness, that what we set out to do is what we do and this leads to beauty, covers 3 and 4, and I think we can stretch it to 6.
But what about the aesthetics of the group itself? What does a beautiful group look like? Let's ignore the tasks we often use in group environments and talk about a generic group. A group should have at least some of these (from) :
- Common goals.
- Participation from every member.
- A focus on what people do rather than who they are.
- A focus on what happened rather than how people intended.
- The ability to discuss and handle difference.
- A respectful environment with some boundaries.
- The capability to work beyond authoritarianism.
- An accomodation of difference while understanding that this may be temporary.
- The awareness that what group members want is not always what they get.
- The realisation that hidden conflict can poison a group.
Note how many of these are actually related to the task itself. In fact, of all of the things I've listed, none of the group competencies have anything at all to do with a task and we can measure and assess these directly by observation and by peer report.
How many of these are refined by looking at some arbitrary discipline artefact? If anything, by forcing students to work together on a task 'for their own good', are we in direct violation of this new number 7, allowing a group to work beyond strict hierarchies?
I've worked in hierarchical groups in the Army. The Army's structure exists for a very specific reason: soldiers die in war. Roles and relationships are strictly codified to drive skill and knowledge training and to ensure smooth interoperation with a minimum of acclimatisation time. I think we can be bold and state that such an approach is not required for third- or fourth-year computer programming, even at the better colleges.
I am not saying that we cannot evaluate group work, nor am I saying that I don't believe such training to be valuable for students entering the workforce. I just don't happen to accept that mediating the value of a student's skills and knowledge through their ability to carry out group competencies is either fair or honest. Item 9, where group members may have to adopt a role that they have identified is not optimal, is grossly unfair when final marks depend upon how the group work channel mediates the perception of your contribution.
There is a vast amount of excellent group work analysis and support being carried out right now, in many places. The problem occurs when we try to turn this into a mark that is re-contextualised into the knowledge frame. Your ability to work in groups is a competency and should be clearly identified as such. It may even be a competency that you need to display in order to receive industry-recognised accreditation. No problems with that.
The hallmarks of traditional student group work are resentment at having to do it, fear that either their own contributions won't be recognised or someone else's will dominate, and a deep-seated desire to get the process over with.
Some tasks are better suited to group solution. Why don't we change our evaluation mechanisms to give students the freedom to explore the advantages of the group without the repercussions that we currently have in place? I can provide detailed evaluation to a student on their group role and tell a lot about the team. A student's inability to work with a randomly selected team on a fake project with artificial timelines doesn't say anything that I would be happy to allocate a failing grade to. It is, however, an excellent opportunity for discussion and learning, assuming I can get beyond the tyranny of the grade to say it.
Challenge accepted: beautiful groupworkPosted: February 12, 2016 Filed under: Education | Tags: advocacy, aesthetics, authenticity, beauty, community, competency-based assessment, design, education, educational problem, educational research, ethics, group work, higher education, in the student's head, learning, resources, small group learning, student perspective, teaching, teaching approaches, thinking Leave a comment
You knew it was coming. The biggest challenge of any assessment model: how do we handle group-based assessment?
There's a joke that says a lot about how students feel when they're asked to do group work:
When I die I want my group project members to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one more time.
Everyone has horror stories about group work and they tend to fall into these patterns:
- Group members X and Y didn't do enough of the work.
- I did all of the work.
- We all got the same mark but we didn't do the same work.
- Person X got more than I did and I did more.
- Person X never even showed up and they still passed!
- We got it all together but Person X handed it in late.
- Person W said that he/she would do task T but never did and I ended up having to do it.
Let's consolidate these. People are concerned about a fair division of work and fair recognition of effort, especially where this falls into an allocation of grades. (Point 6 only matters if there are late penalties or opportunities lost by not submitting in time.)
This is totally reasonable! If someone is getting recognition for doing a task then let's make sure it's the right person and that everyone who contributed gets a guernsey. (Australian football reference to being a recognised team member.)
How do we make group work beautiful? First, we have to define the aesthetics of group work: which characteristics define the activity? Then we maximise those as we have done before to find beauty. But in order for the activity to be both good and true, it has to achieve the goals that define and we have to be open about what we are doing. Let's start, even before the aesthetics, and ask about group work itself.
What is the point of group work? This varies by discipline but, usually, we take a task that is too large or complex for one person to achieve in the time allowed and that mimics (or is) a task you'd expect graduates to perform. This task is then attacked through some sort of decomposition into smaller pieces, many of which are dependant in a strict order, and these are assigned to group members. By doing this, we usually claim to be providing an authentic workplace or task-focused assignment.
The problem that arises, for me, is when we try and work out how we measure the success of such a group activity. Being able to function in a group has a lot of related theory (psychological, behavioural, and sociological, at least) but we often don't teach that. We take a discipline task that we believe can be decomposed effectively and we then expect students to carve it up. Now the actual group dynamics will feature in the assessment but we often measure the outputs associate with the task to determine how effective group formation and management was. However, the discipline task has a skill and knowledge dimension, while the group activity elements have a competency focus. What's more problematic is that unsuccessful group work can overshadow task achievement and lead to a discounting of skill and knowledge success, through mechanisms that are associated but not necessarily correlated.
Going back to competency-based assessment, we assess competency by carrying out direct observation, indirect measures and through professional reports and references. Our group members' reports on us (and our reports on them) function in the latter area and are useful sources of feedback, identifying group and individual perceptions as well as work progress. But are these inherently markable? We spend a lot of time trying to balance peer feedback, minimise bullying, minimise over-claiming, and get a realistic view of the group through such mechanisms but adding marks to a task does not make it more cognitively beneficial. We know that.
For me, the problem with most group work assessment is that we are looking at the output of the task and competency based artefacts associated with the group and jamming them together as if they mean something.
Much as I argue against late penalties changing the grade you received, which formed a temporal market for knowledge, I'm going to argue against trying to assess group work through marking a final product and then dividing those grades based on reported contributions.
We are measuring different things. You cannot just add red to melon and divide it by four to get a number and, yet, we are combining different areas, with different intentions, and dragging it into one grade that is more likely to foster resentment and negative association with the task. I know that people are making this work, at least to an extent, and that a lot of great work is being done to address this but I wonder if we can channel all of the energy spent in making it work into getting more amazing things done?
Just about every student I've spoken to hates group work. Let's talk about how we can fix that.
Grades are the fossils of evaluationPosted: February 6, 2016 Filed under: Education | Tags: advocacy, aesthetics, assessment, authenticity, competency-based assessment, design, education, educational problem, educational research, fossil, higher education, in the student's head, learning, ranking, reflection, resources, student perspective, teaching, teaching approaches, thinking, truth, Wolff 1 Comment
Assessments support evaluation, criticism and ranking (Wolff). That's what it does and, in many cases, that also constitutes a lot of why we do it. But who are we doing it for?
I've reflected on the dual nature of evaluation, showing a student her or his level of progress and mastery while also telling us how well the learning environment is working. In my argument to reduce numerical grades to something meaningful, I've asked what the actual requirement is for our students, how we measure mastery and how we can build systems to provide this.
But who are the student's grades actually for?
In terms of ranking, grades allow people who are not the student to place the students in some order. By doing this, we can award awards to students who are in the awarding an award band (repeated word use deliberate). We can restrict our job interviews to students who are summa cum laude or valedictorian or Dean's Merit Award Winner. Certain groups of students, not all, like to define their progress through comparison so there is a degree of self-ranking but, for the most part, ranking is something that happens to students.
Criticism, in terms of providing constructive, timely feedback to assist the student, is weakly linked to any grading system. Giving someone a Fail grade isn't a critique as it contains no clear identification of the problems. The clear identification of problems may not constitute a fail. Often these correlate but it's weak. A student's grades are not going to provide useful critique to the student by themselves. These grades are to allow us to work out if the student has met our assessment mechanisms to a point where they can count this course as a pre-requisite or can be awarded a degree. (Award!)
Evaluation is, as noted, useful to us and the student but a grade by itself does not contain enough record of process to be useful in evaluating how mastery goals were met and how the learning environment succeeded or failed. Competency, when applied systematically, does have a well-defined meaning. A passing grade does not although there is an implied competency and there is a loose correlation with achievement.
Grades allow us to look at all of a student's work as if this one impression is a reflection of the student's involvement, engagement, study, mistakes, triumphs, hopes and dreams. They are additions to a record from which we attempt to reconstruct a living, whole being.
Grades are the fossils of evaluation.
Grades provide a mechanism for us, in a proxy role as academic archaeologist, to classify students into different groups, in an attempt to project colour into grey stone, to try and understand the ecosystem that such a creature would live in, and to identify how successful this species was.
As someone who has been a student several times in my life, I'm aware that I have a fossil record that is not traditional for an academic. I was lucky to be able to place a new imprint in the record, to obscure my history as a much less successful species, and could then build upon it until I became an ACADEMIC TYRANNOSAURUS.
But I'm lucky. I'm privileged. I had a level of schooling and parental influence that provided me with an excellent vocabulary and high social mobility. I live in a safe city. I have a supportive partner. And, more importantly, at a crucial moment in my life, someone who knew me told me about an opportunity that I was able to pursue despite the grades that I had set in stone. A chance came my way that I never would have thought of because I had internalised my grades as my worth.
Let's look at the fossil record of Nick.
My original GPA fossil, encompassing everything that went wrong and right in my first degree, was 2.9. On a scale of 7, which is how we measure it, that's well below a pass average. I'm sharing that because I want you to put that fact together with what happened next. Four years later, I started a Masters program that I finished with a GPA of 6.4. A few years after the masters, I decided to go and study wine making. That degree was 6.43. Then I received a PhD, with commendation, that is equivalent to GPA 7. (We don't actually use GPA in research degrees. Hmmm.) If my grade record alone lobbed onto your desk you would see the desiccated and dead snapshot of how I (failed to) engage with the University system. A lot of that is on me but, amazingly, it appears that much better things were possible. That original grade record stopped me from getting interviews. Stopped me from getting jobs. When I was finally able to demonstrate the skills that I had, which weren't bad, I was able to get work. Then I had the opportunity to rewrite my historical record.
Yes, this is personal for me. But it's not about me because I wasn't trapped by this. I was lucky as well as privileged. I can't emphasise that enough. The fact that you are reading this is due to luck. That's not a good enough mechanism.
Too many students don't have this opportunity. That impression in the wet mud of their school life will harden into a stone straitjacket from which they may never escape. The way we measure and record grades has far too much potential to work against students and the correlation with actual ability is there but it's not strong and it's not always reliable.
The student you are about to send out with a GPA of 2.9 may be competent and they are, most definitely, more than that number.
The recording of grades is a high-loss storage record of the student's learning and pathway to mastery. It allows us to conceal achievement and failure alike in the accumulation of mathematical aggregates that proxy for competence but correlate weakly.
We need assessment systems that work for the student first and everyone else second.


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Simon's Cat Vs. The World
Description: With over 360 million hits on YouTube, Simon's Cat is a genuine word-of-mouth phenomenon. Fans from all over the world have fallen for this adorable but anarchic feline who will do just about anything to be fed. Simon Tofield's beautiful drawings and warm humor come alive on the page in this irresistibly charming book—an outgrowth of the enormously popular short films featured on YouTube. Simon's Cat proved his authority in the house. He returned victorious from his adventures beyond the garden fence. He prevailed after the chaotic arrival of a new kitten in Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos. Now he takes on the world! Illustrated in glorious full color, this volume explodes from the page with mesmerizing levels of detail. Includes a full-color sticker sheet as well as a bonus how-to-draw guide.
Price: $15.95


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- 4 Beds
- 4 Full, 1 Half
Property TypeResidential – Single Family
SubdivisionCordillera F16 - Kensington Green
Listing Date09/28/18
Year Built1999
AreaCordillera - The Divide
Lot Size0.25 Acres (10,890 SqFt)
Parking2 Car Garage
Property Description
Located at the end of a cul-de-sac and backing to Cordillera's Par 3 course, this 4 bed, 2780 sf residence sits on one of the best lots in Kensington Green. The thoughtful floor plan encompasses a main floor master, liv rm w/ vaulted ceilings, 2 guest rooms on the upper level, and suite above the 2-car garage. Enjoy unobstructed mountain views from your liv rm, kitchen, deck and patio. http://mls.kensingtonatcordillera.com/
Presented By
- Golf Course
- Golf Course
- Mountains
- Clubhouse
- Cross Country Trails
- Equestrian Center
- Fitness Center
- Golf Membership Option
- Hiking/Pedestrian Trail
- Pool
- Tennis Courts
- Fireplace - Gas
- Jetted Bathtub
- Multi-Level
- Patio
- Satellite Dish
- Vaulted Ceilings
- Clubhouse
- Club Membership Avai
- Fitness Center
- Pool
- Tennis
- Cable TV
- District Sewer
- District Water
- Electricity Avail.
- Natural Gas Avail.
- Phone Available
- Satellite
- Snow Removal
- Trash Pickup
- Baseboard
- Natural Gas
- Ceiling Fan
- Dryer
- Washer
Financial Information
4 Beds 4.5 Baths
6 Beds 7.5 Baths
3 Beds 3.5 Baths
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Listing courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty - Bridge Street


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Google Chrome released an improved spell check option today. This is how the feature is described:
Chrome as auto-updated with bettar spell chek. Try the "Ask Google for Suggestions" feature in the right click menu of any text area.
As you see, bettar and chek are deliberately misspelled just to make the point. Is there a single word or phrase to describe this?
(I couldn't think of a better title. Feel free to edit)


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100 Years Ago
Escapees return
From the Woodbine social column:
"Miss Mary Roth returned to the neighborhood after spending the summer with relatives in Wilmington, Delaware.
Mrs. John M. DeLashautt and daughter, Miss Mildred DeLashmutt, have returned from their apartments in Baltimore after spending the summer near hear."
Today, it's usually "snowbirds" who avoid the harsh winter weather of the north by flocking to Florida for a few months. But in non-airconditioned 1911 those who could, would escape the heat of the city to spend summers in the cooler countryside.
75 Years Ago
Starlet makes demands
In the Hollywood news section of the Times was this brief:
"Those in the 'know' say that if Bette Davis will get over her mad with the studio, she can have a starring vehicle in 'Danton, Terror of France.' ... Bette has been on the suspension list since she made an exit from Warner Brothers' studio when they failed to meet her salary demands and her request to be permitted to work elsewhere once a year. It is said that Charles Laughton is wanted for the role as Danton."
Bette Davis was one of the actors bucking the studio system in the 1930s trying to get better roles for herself. The studios had major control over most aspects of the movie industry from the 1920s into the 1960s, including the actors.
That year, in 1936, she won a Best Actress Oscar for "Dangerous." She'd also win a second Oscar for "Jezebel," in 1938.
But a few years later, in addition to movie work, she received a different type of award. For her bond drive work during World War II, and for her war time work at the Hollywood Canteen, she received the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the U.S. government.
This Hollywood legend also has her picture on a U.S. commemorative postage stamp. It's a nice picture from the movie "All About Eve," but I think the famous shot from Now Voyager, of her looking up from the shadow of her wide-brimmed hat, was better. Davis said that actor Claude Rains was her favorite to work with, and he played the physciatrist in Now Voyager.
In 1942 she received a Best Actress Oscar nomination as Charlotte Vale in "Now Voyager," but she lost that year to Greer Garson who played Mrs. Miniver, an English war-time mom. My heart's with "Now Voyager" and of course it's No. 1 in the cigarette lighting category, but Mrs. Miniver was good war time public relations.
Davis had quite an interesting cache of sayings including:
"If you want a thing well done, get a couple of old broads to do it."
"If you've never been hated by your child, you've never been a parent."
50 Years Ago
Kaisers, generals and Ellicotts
From the Scaggsville-Fulton social column:
"Recent overnight guests of LuAnn and Joe Archer were Johnny Clark of Glenelg and Miss Marilyn Steward of Scaggsville.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Kaiser and son, Brent, of High Ridge and Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Gaither of Clarksville were the Friday evening dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Preston Musgrove. On Sunday evening the Musgrove family were dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. William Trumball of Arlington, Va."
In the United States, Arlington County, Virginia is the smallest self-governing county. Actress Sandra Bullock was born in Arlington. A couple hundred years before that, some of George Washington's family members, the Custises, owned the land that would become Arlington National Cemetery. This included Mary Custis Lee, who was the wife of CSA General Robert E. Lee.
In 1791, Andrew Ellicott, one of the Ellicotts, founders of Ellicott Mills, surveyed the boundaries for Washington, which included the Arlington area. Ellicott hired Benjamin Banneker, a free black scientist, also of Ellicott Mills, to help with the surveying.


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Atom Atom Mapping, BioCyc, Bond Changes, BRENDA, chemaxon, ChEMBL, EBI, EC->PDB, EC-BLAST, EMBL, Enzyme Classification, Fingerprints, FunTree, health, Janet Thornton, KEGG, MACiE, medicine, Pathways, Reaction, Reaction Mechanism, Reaction Similarity, Rhea, science, Swissprot, technology, Toxicity, Uniprot
Enzymes have been part of our evolutionary machinery and it's importance is ever increasing in our life. An enzymatic hierarchal functional classification has been developed to cluster similar enzymes based on its chemistry (kindly refer to my previous blog on enzymes). A parallel system envolves sequence and protein structural based classification systems. One of the most challenging issues in todays bio/chemo informatics science is to automatically link the sequence knowledge with the enzymatic chemistry. There exists many methods in the literature addressing this issue but its hard to find a direct link which can hold true for all the cases. Although, very recently in the Prof. Janet Thornton's group we have come up with a web tool – "FunTree" for linking enzyme super families based on the knowledge of the evolution, derived from sequences and structures (proteins and small molecules). It's very enigmatic to find a one to one mapping between genes->protein->enzymes and its equally mind boggling to navigate in this space. This is one of the reasons why we have many orphan enzymes or enzyme which do not have a sequence assigned to it yet. On one hand we have ever increasing sequence database and sophisticated tools like BLAST and FASTA to compare them. Unfortunately, the bio-chemical side of the story is slow as we have limited number of publicly available chemical databases and tools in chemistry. Although in the recent years there has been databases like BRENDA, KEGG, BioCyc, UniProt, EC->PDB and SwissProt etc. to bring forth and link sequence to chemistry. There are efforts to link up various resources of enzyme chemistry under an umbrella and one such web portal is "Enzyme Portal". Likewise there exists, few curated databases linking enzyme function and reaction mechanism like MACiE , Rhea and SFLD etc.
The challenge for a biologist/chemist is find a tool which can function like BLAST (as a magic black box) in finding similar enzymes in a reaction database (needle in a haystack). The good new is that we have made some progress in this interesting area of research by coming up with a novel tool – "EC-BLAST". The core idea behind this tool is to find similar enzymes ranked by similarity of the bond changes, reaction center or chemical structural similarity of the participating reactions. One could start a search with a molecule/reaction name or its structure. The Atom-Atom Mapping (AAM) is algorithmically generated on the fly for a balanced input reaction and the bond changes are automatically deduced and marked before performing any search.
The cognisance of search results would channelise us to gain better insight into the catalytic promiscuity of the enzymes and complement the sequence based results obtained from tools like BLAST, FASTA etc (where the chemistry in not necessarily retained in the results). This will help us to link up the evolutionary and mechanistic aspects of the enzymes, in the biological findings with chemical knowledge.
Note: If you are interested in testing this service or sending us your comments or feedbacks, please do let me know!
Publication: Rahman, S.A., Martinez Cuesta, S., Furnham, N., Holliday, G.L. and Thornton, J.M. (2014) EC-BLAST: A Tool to Automatically Search and Compare Enzyme Reactions. Nat Methods, DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2803


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Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos is surprised that Manchester City face near-certain elimination from the Champions League ahead of Wednesday's meeting between the two sides.
The Premier League champions will have their fate confirmed if they fail to beat their La Liga counterparts on Wednesday after collecting just two points from their opening four group games.
And Ramos, who reached the semi-finals of the tournament last season with the Spanish giants, revealed that he and his team-mates expected to be battling it out with Roberto Mancini's side for the top spot in Group D.
"For me, it's a surprise they are nearly out of the Champions League," Ramos told reporters. "We really thought City would be our main rivals to top the group.
"City are a big group of players, not just individuals. But that does not guarantee success in the Champions League."
The defender was, however, quick to emphasise that Wednesday's fixture has not lost any of its significance in light of City's European struggles, and declared that Jose Mourinho's side would be arriving at Etihad Stadium looking to take all three points.
He added: "This is the hardest group in the first round, and this match is very important for both clubs. We both need to win for different reasons.
"We want to top the group. Real Madrid never play defensively. That is not in our nature. We are going to Manchester to win.
"City have improved in the Premier League. But we do not fear them. Real Madrid can win in any stadium in the world."


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Who wears short shorts? Well, Carrie Underwood's certainly been having a good run with them lately! The leggy "American Idol" sported a sexy mint-green pair at the CMT Awards last week, and followed that up with an even more daring pair of patriotic cutoffs Sunday at Nashville's Country Music Association Fest.
Photo: Rick Diamond
Underwood topped off her stars and stripes with a variety of rockin' accessories, including studded boots and a leather headband, for a look that added up to classic American biker babe.
Photo: Jason Davis
The blond superstar ditched her sweet country style for a similar rocker-girl vibe late last month, when she was a special guest at the Rolling Stones' show in Toronto. There, Underwood showed off a little patriotism as well, in the form of her star-spangled Stones-logo t-shirt.
The Rolling Stones/Facebook
Of course, Underwood always knows how to class it up when the occasion arises. Her newest video, "See You Again," pays tribute to recent American tragedies including May's devastating tornado damage in her home state of Oklahoma. In it, the singer reserves all stars and stripes for the actual American flag, donning an angelic and demure white gown instead.
Carrie loves her short shorts lol
Shes gettin' lots of great buzz lately. There is also a link in the story to her video.
Hopefully this will get radio programmers to up the carrie game!!


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|I want a microdwelling! Great, hope you like your pizza oven steam shovel.
There were a bunch of bicycles there, which I unaccountably neglected to photograph. They were lined up along the fence, and locked up where they could be. Not only was the weather perfect for an art ride to the Shemer, but also there were many more cars there then I expected, parked in the street out front, and filling the auxiliary lot out back. The Shemer is in a neighborhood of macrodwellings of grand proportion, which I suppose provide interesting contrast to these tiny structures.
The people here this afternoon seemed incredibly convivial / friendly. The hydrogen shack guy seemed willing to try to answer just about any question I threw at him about the solar-powered hydrogen generating shed: How many therms does it make in a day? How does the fuel cell work? Did you build that Stirling engine yourself? How many neutrons does a hydrogen atom have, anyway?
Many photos follow. I enjoyed perusing the tiny buildings immensely. As I finished though, and just as I was thinking I might want one, I realized that the lifestyle changes entailed in a switch to microdwelling, include some major divesting of stuff and cruft, while laudable in general, would mean reducing or eliminating most of the bicycle fleet. Unless alternative arrangements could be devised, which seems at least possible, since these structures seemed all about innovation and imagination.
|The Beadle Box!
|Shipping container, coated in reflective ceramic intended to reflect solar heat
|Much glass
|Nice space
|Repurposed cotton wagon
|Within the cotton wagon: the bedroom
|Stryo-futuristic pod action
|Really micro
|Steam shovel pizza plans
|Igby brat close-up, non-micro


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Openings and closings extraordinary times and pricesRead more
It is the first and only museum in the world entirely dedicated to the harp, its history and its sound universe.Read more
A Glimpse at the CollectionRead more
Concerts, meetings and newsRead more
"The origins of the harp can be traced back to distant times (…). We do not know anything about the harp that David played, as we do not know who invented ours. The names of those who invented useful or pleasant things are usually buried in the darkness of the ages. This is not so much because the writings of those who wanted to preserve these names for posterity were lost, but because most of our inventions are not the work of a single man, but of the human race."
D. Diderot, Encyclopedie
Full price: € 7,00
Reduced price: € 4,00 (6 to 12 years of age and over 65)
Free admission: up to 5 years of age, harpists and harp class students
Groups: special rates, contact the Museum
Free admission upon presentation of the card
Reduced price
October - May
From Sunday to Friday
10am - 1pm 2pm-5pm
Last admission: 4.30 pm
Saturday: closed (only open on bookings of groups and schools).
June – September
from Monday to Friday
10am - 1pm 2pm - 5pm
Last admission: 4.30 pm
Sunday only the 1st and the 3rd of the month
2.30pm – 6.30 pm
Last admission: 6 pm
Saturday: closed (only open on bookings of groups and schools)
Close: November 1,2 and 3 2019
from December 22nd to January 12th included April 12th and 13th 2020
1, 2, 3 May 2020
30, 31 May and 1 June 2020
From 1st to 23rd August 2020 included
The tour is also available for partially sighted and blind people.
Disabled parking available inside upon request.


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Find a place to visit
Enter a postcode, place name or location
Select a place type
⭐ Pick of the pack
Dramatic mountains, rare beauty and haunting history in the heart of the Highlands
Balmacara Estate
With Skye on the horizon, explore the rich natural and cultural heritage of Highland crofting amid memorable landscapes and stunning wildlife.
Ben Lawers
Scenic mountains and ridges, and the best collection of rare mountain plants in Britain
Ben Lomond
Scotland's most southerly Munro offers spectacular views of Loch Lomond.
Brodie Castle
Magnificent turreted castle with a playful garden and over 400 varieties of daffodil
Golden eagles, red deer and otters inhabit this spectacular peninsula on the Isle of Mull.
Thousands of years of human history share a Hebridean island with 20,000 breeding seabirds
Corrieshalloch Gorge
Walk across the suspension bridge as the River Droma rushes through a mile-long box canyon below.
Panoramic views stretch out in all directions from the pine-clad summit of this Perthshire hill
Dollar Glen
Deep gorges, cascading waterfalls, Castle Campbell and woodland walks in the Ochil Hills
Picturesque town, full of restored houses, on the banks of the River Tay
Fair Isle
The most remote inhabited island in the UK, famed for its seabirds and fabulous knitwear
Falls of Glomach
A breathtaking Highland waterfall cuts through Scotland's wildest countryside
Fyvie Castle
An imposing 800-year-old fortress, with Raeburn portraits on the walls and wildfowl in the loch
Dramatic mountains, rare beauty and haunting history in the heart of the Highlands
Glenfinnan Monument
Moving tribute to those who died fighting the Jacobite cause, framed by dramatic Highland scenery
Admire stunning views and rugged mountain landscapes from the Isle of Arran's highest point
Grey Mare's Tail
One of Scotland's favourite waterfalls takes a spectacular 60m plunge into the valley below
Haddo House
An elegant and luxurious stately home designed by William Adam
House of the Binns
Family portraits and furnishings from the heart of Scottish history grace the home of the Dalyells
Rare species thrive in this heritage garden as the effects of the Gulf Stream meet the Highlands.
Cradle of Scottish Christianity, surrounded by white sandy beaches and turquoise seas
Magnificent wooded river gorge where one of the goriest battles in Jacobite history took place
Exceptional and remote mountain scenery with lochs, glens and the magnificent ridge of the Five Sisters
Linn of Tummel
Charming riverside walk in the heart of Big Tree Country


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The Next Generation of Awesome.
The Breeder's Standard® 2020 is here. A revamped look and feel. The best looking pedigrees ever produced by any program. PedFast Technologies™ has refined our flagship program to even greater dominance.
New Look and Feel.
A new cleaner look. Speedier. Easier to use. The best program just got better.
The. Best. Pedigrees. Ever.
Welcome to MegaPed™ 2020! The next generation of superb pedigrees.
Meet SuperFields™
We proudly introduce SuperFields™.
SuperFields use HTML technology to deliver extreme power to render a superb easy-to-read pedigree. Your pedigrees will never look so good!
SuperFields let you control individual fields, do reverses, and give you all of the control that HTML allows web pages.
Powerful Pedigree Layouts.
Create numerous pedigree layouts. Make every pedigree your own! See examples below (some use optional power packs):
Make TBS 2020 Your Own.
Choose the fields you need to add or change. Choose the fields on your lists and the order in which they appear.
The Program Walks you Through It.
With our exclusive Puggsley™ feature, you have built in help on every page, updated to the latest in features.
More features, more power.
The Breeder's Standard® 2020 includes more Powerful features than any other breeding kennel Program. Now with support for prescription medications and all major forms of competition.
Available Now!
— — —Read about it Now.
You can read all about TBS 2020. Click Here.
— — —Download Today.
You can download TBS 2020 and see for yourself. Download the Next Level of Awesome Today. Click Here.
— — —Order Today!
The Breeder's Standard® 2020 is available immediately. First time purchases are $119.99. Upgrades from older versions of PedFast Technologies™ Programs are only $65.99.
You can purchase the program from our secure online website at https://commerce.pedfast.com, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
Frequently-asked Questions
— — —I just bought the 2018 program!
No worries! We've got you covered. If you bought the 2018 program on or after January 1 2019, you will receive a free upgrade to TBS 2020. It will be automatically delivered by February 9, 2019, and any CD or USB media not already delivered will be the new one with the 2020 program on it.
— — —How hard is it to upgrade from 2012 or 2018?
Super easy. Just install TBS 2020 and open the .PTPED database file. You will also retain backward compatibility with the latest patches of TBS 2012 and 2018 for at least 90 days from February 6, 2019.
— — —When will this be out for the Mac?
We continue to work with vendors to get our development tools fully compatible with the Mac.
We need to get this right instead of trying to get it fast.
The Breeder's Standard® — Others promise what we've already delivered.


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Welcome to the 2010 Pillar Awards.
Few things are more meaningful and important than investing time and resources in supporting our community, and in this issue, we honor companies and their employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
All too often, these companies and their workers are our region's unsung heroes. Several years ago, we decided to do something about that.
In 1998, Medical Mutual of Ohio and Smart Business Network created The Pillar Awards to recognize companies, business leaders and nonprofit executives for their commitment to strengthening the bond between the for-profit and nonprofit worlds.
While support and direction come from management, companies are only as great as their employees.
In 2002, the Pillar SHARE Award was founded to recognize companies whose employees best exemplify the ideals of Medical Mutual's own employee S.H.A.R.E. committee.
S.H.A.R.E. stands for Serve, Help, Aid, Reach and Educate and is the heart and soul of Medical Mutual's charitable giving effort. Each year, this committee, made up of Medical Mutual employee volunteers, helps coordinate more than two-dozen community events involving nearly half of the company's 2,600 employees.
On behalf of Medical Mutual and our Pillar Award co-founding partner, SBN, we are proud to present these annual awards for community service for the 13th consecutive year.
Rick Chiricosta is the president and CEO of Medical Mutual of Ohio.


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For this week's broadcast against the RPI Engineers from Troy, NY; please go through the RPI athletics website and click on "details" on the game schedule:
With that being said, the Mariner Gridiron Network's 8th season of Kings Point football coverage has come to a close. As always, thank you for tuning in to our broadcasts. We'll see you in 2012!
Seth Cantor, Ray Martel and Jaden Daly - Your Broadcasters
Our e-mail: email@example.com
Our e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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ALLENTOWN, Pa. � Lane Adams just wanted a taste of the Class AAA level this year to help validate his progress in the Kansas City Royals organization.
He probably never realized it would be so sweet.
�Just having fun and celebrating every other day, that�s what it seems like,� Adams said after helping the Omaha Storm Chasers win Tuesday night�s Triple-A National Championship game against the Durham Bulls. �You never know if it�s going to happen again, so you might as well enjoy it.�
Adams, an outfielder, was assigned to Kansas City�s top farm club at the beginning of the postseason when the parent team called up some Omaha players.
There was a Pacific Coast League semifinal series sweep of Oklahoma City, a finals series victory against Salt Lake and then the toppling of the Durham Bulls for the overall crown at Coca-Cola Park.
So even though the Storm Chasers had a losing record in the regular season, their 7-1 mark in the postseason � or since the 23-year-old Adams joined them � brought about bottle-popping revelry almost every time they returned to the clubhouse.
Two years ago, Adams was playing for the Burlington Royals. Two months earlier, he was with the Wilmington (Del.) BlueRocks of the Class A Carolina League.
His stock might keep rising after he posted five hits across the final two games combined.
�It�s definitely a great opportunity every time you get a chance to jump up, especially in the playoffs where the Royals actually think you can help the team at a higher level win,� Adams said.
Adams said he benefited from being around older players when he landed on the Omaha roster.
He moved to the Class AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League on July 17. When that team�s season closed earlier this month, he was set for a break before heading to the Arizona Fall League.
�I had everything packed up ready to go home and they call us in the office after our last game and said we were going to join the Omaha team in Oklahoma City to start the playoffs,� he said of himself and a couple of teammates. �That�s how I found out. It was pretty exciting. I started off the playoffs in Oklahoma City, so that was kind of cool. It has been a lot of fun. I�ve enjoyed it.�
The next day, he drove to Oklahoma City � for an appearance in his home state. Then it became a whirlwind as the Storm Chasers kept advancing and Adams did his part.
�I�ve seen a guy that can run. He�s just a threat because you get him on base, he can take the extra base,� Omaha manager Mike Jirschele said. �He can steal bases and in the outfield he runs it down.�
Adams doubled and scored the first run in the Triple-A National Championship game, which ended 2-1 in Omaha�s favor.
�Aside from winning, you just get a taste of what Triple-A is like,� he said. �The adjustments (you have to make). How it differs from Double-A to Triple-A and how they go about business up here and see how they do things up here.
�There is a difference. Pitchers really don�t really give in as much. It�s more of a mental game. Instead of playing checkers, you�re playing chess up here. It�s definitely more of a mental game and more just bearing down and being mentally locked in and just competing every pitch.�
All the circumstances lined up just right for Adams, who batted .276 for Wilmington and .244 for Northwest Arkansas.
You lose guys (to the big leagues), it�s also getting guys experience,� Scott Sharp, director of player development for Kansas City, said of Adams� promotion.
Next, Adams goes to Kansas City for Friday night�s honoring of the organization�s Player of the Year at each affiliate. He won the distinction for Wilmington.
That seemed like a long time ago after Adams� sudden postseason success at two levels higher.
�It�s just crazy how things work. Anything can happen,� he said. �There�s no telling how things will shake out or what will happen after spring training. Just kind of proving I can handle Triple-A and I just wasn�t overmatched. For a few days I was, I had to make adjustments and slow stuff down and that�s just what learning and developing in baseball is all about.
�I really wanted to experience Triple-A this year and see what it�s all about so I think that�s big for me going down the road.�