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On Thursday afternoon, I picked up my mom from the airport in Cancun. She was coming to Mexico for a quick holiday and even though her JetBlue flight had arrived 3 hours late, she was in quite a happy mood upon arrival. Actually, I would have understood had she been in a worse mood, considering what she went through to get here.
A few minutes after her flight from Fort Lauderdale had taken off, the air-conditioning system on board the airplane malfunctioned and the Captain flew the plane in circles for a while as they attempted to fix the issue. Unfortunately, they couldn't fix the problem and after 30 minutes, with the air on board the aircraft barely breathable, the Captain decided to return to Fort Lauderdale.
Once back on the ground, the passengers waited 30 minutes on board the airplane before being told that they would have to disembark and wait for a new plane to arrive. The problem simply couldn't be fixed quickly.
After sitting around for another hour and a half, the passengers all boarded a new aircraft that had been flown in and off they finally went to Cancun.
Three hours later than scheduled, the flight arrived.
I'm a huge fan of JetBlue Airlines. If they are flying a route that I need to take, I'll choose them over any other airline without hesitation. The reason is simple. When I fly with them, I feel as if they care about my business.
Here's a perfect example: While waiting for a new plane to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, all of the passengers on my mom's flight were informed that they would be receiving a $50 flight voucher for the inconvenience. Then, upon arrival in Cancun, every single passenger was handed a letter by a friendly JetBlue representative as soon as they stepped off the airplane. The letter consisted of an apology for the day's events and written documentation that a $50 travel voucher would be received.
Later that night, my mom received an email from JetBlue confirming that the $50 travel voucher had been added to her JetBlue Frequent Flyer account.
That's customer service.
After my mom received the email from JetBlue, I commented that, "I wish Continental Airlines was the same. I've been waiting 3 months for a hotel room reimbursement that they owe me."
I'm not very fussy about customer service. As long as I'm treated adequately, I'm happy. However, what does bother me is consistently bad customer service, the kind that leaves me feeling as if a particular company couldn't care less about having my business.
And that's exactly how I feel about Continental Airlines.
Back in March, when I had to suddenly change my plans and return to North America from Singapore, I went ahead and booked a flight with Continental Airlines. Then, due to the earthquake and tsunami that took place in Japan, my flight had to be re-routed at the last minute. In the end, I was given a route that required me to spend a night in San Francisco before continuing on to Mexico the following day.
The agent who changed my flight told me not to worry and that all I needed to do was book a hotel room myself and then submit the receipt for reimbursement once I reached my destination. She then strongly recommended that I use Hotels.com to book my hotel, telling me that they are a partner of Continental Airlines, and that booking with them would make the reimbursement procedure much easier.
It sounded good to me.
Three flights and an overnight stay at the Best Western Plus in San Francisco later, I was where I needed to be.
It's been 3 months since that journey and I've still yet to receive my reimbursement.
Continental Airlines keeps asking me to provide the original receipt from the Best Western Plus. And I keep explaining to them that this is impossible.
When using Hotels.com (again, the hotel booking website that Continental told me to use), you end up paying Hotels.com directly and they then go ahead and pay the hotel. As a result, the hotel that you stay at will either provide you with a receipt that has a $0 balance or simply not provide you with a receipt at all (as was my case).
So, despite explaining this upon submitting my hotel reimbursement request, as instructed, using the online form on Continental Airlines' website, I kept receiving emails telling me that:
"An original check-out receipt from the hotel is required for reimbursement purposes."
And I kept replying with emails such as this one:
"I just want to clarify. The Continental Airlines customer service rep that I spoke with recommended that I use Hotels.com to book my hotel and then submit it for reimbursement. And by using Hotels.com, customers pay the website directly and therefore do not receive a receipt from the hotel. However, you require a receipt from the hotel, which the hotel cannot provide? Clearly there is something wrong with this."
Eventually, back in April, I was instructed to send all of my documentation (the same documentation I had already emailed) by regular mail to the Customer Care Center's office.
And that's exactly what I did, along with another letter explaining the situation.
After 2 months passed without any response, I decided to call the Customer Care Center a few days ago and find out what's going on.
Of course, it took two days to actually reach a Customer Care representative because every phone number I dialed led me to the reservations line. I would then wait on hold for 30 minutes only to be transferred by a reservations agent to the Custom Care department, leaving me to wait on hold for another painfully long period of time.
And when I finally did speak with someone, this is what happened:
- I asked for the direct Customer Care telephone number, and was told that Continental Airlines no longer has a direct number to the Customer Care Center. Everybody is now required to wait on hold to speak with a reservations agent before waiting on hold again in order to speak with a Customer Care representative. Not a good start to the conversation.
- After looking up my case ID number, the representative gave me a long run around that included such statements as: 'your case is pending', 'the manager in charge of your case is off duty today', 'only two executive managers in the company have the power to approve hotel reimbursements' (really?), 'these two executive managers are very busy and the claims process is complicated and takes time', 'the assistant manager working on your case does not have the ability to approve reimbursements' and finally, 'there is a chance that the executive managers will deny your claim'.
- I then informed the representative that denying my claim was not an option I would accept and she simply replied that nothing else could be done at that moment to help me.
All of this nonsense for a $113 hotel reimbursement.
Continental Airlines has so far required me to wait 3 months, write 9 emails, make 5 phone calls and wait on hold for a total of 2 hours while an assistant manager and two executive managers go through what should not be a 'complicated process' in order for me to receive my legitimate claim.
JetBlue, on the other hand, had a letter and a $50 flight voucher waiting for passengers upon arrival in Cancun because of a simple 3-hour delay. JetBlue not only showed that they care about their customers, but they also avoided receiving 150 angry phone calls from those passengers.
Continental could learn a few lessons here. I've been growing increasingly frustrated with each phone call and email I've had to make as I repeatedly discover that Continental really doesn't care a walrus's eyelash about having me as a customer.
Not only that but I just can't understand how such a large company won't provide the public with a dedicated Customer Care telephone number. I don't think that Continental Airlines could say "We don't care about customer service" any more clearly than that.
And if that's the case, I'll make sure that the 20+ flights I take each year are all with other airlines.
End of rant. Although I'd be happy to take bets on whether or not you think I'll ever receive my reimbursement!
Anyone else have a Continental experience to share?
Photo Credit: Continental Airlines / JetBlue photo


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- Departments
- County Clerk
- Genealogy
The Berrien County Clerk's Office maintains birth records for all births which have occurred in the county since 1867, death records from 1867 and marriage records from 1831.
Vital Records
Death and marriage records are open to the public and these records are in libers and/or on microfilm.
Birth records are closed according to Michigan state law; however, records over 100 years old may be viewed by the public.
All of the above records may be viewed at:
County Records Department
2100 East Empire
Benton Township
Viewing Hours
- Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Fridays from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Fees for certified copies of these records are $13 for the first copy and $4 for each additional copy of the same record. If the requested record is not found, the fee is retained for the search. There is a $2 per year fee for additional searches for the same record. Photo identification is required to purchase any birth records.
Divorce & Family Division
Divorce and annulment inquiries or records need to be directed to the Family Division File Clerks on the fourth floor of the Courthouse. Some of these records are not on-site and if you call first, the records will be ready for you when you arrive. Inquiries should be directed to the Family Division File Clerks:
Berrien County Courthouse
Fourth Floor
811 Port Street
St. Joseph, MI 49085
The phone number is 269-983-7111, Ext. 8410.
Non-certified copies are not issued for any records in the Clerk's Office.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Words by Kathy Michaels Photographs by Phil McLachlan
"My life has been simple — run fast, turn left," Dr. Andrew Dargie said over coffee one day in late fall, offering up one last thought on his work in the Okanagan and the path he took to get here.
It was an endearing understatement from someone who is clearly more comfortable with taking on big tasks than boasting about how he completed them. As a former All-American sprinter who earned a full-ride scholarship at Stanford University, speed is certainly one of the defining points of Andrew's life. He competed for Team Canada numerous times, turning left over and over again as he rounded a track with some of the fastest people on the planet.
"Simple," however, is where the sports metaphor falls apart.
For all his athletic abilities, academics were a priority for Andrew, who, after Stanford, obtained his medical doctor designation from the University of Calgary. In a newspaper article about him from that time in his life, a third dimension of his personality became clear. He is a compassionate individual. During medical school he found time to take on a meaningful volunteer commitment with the school's aboriginal health program. For this work he was awarded the Canadian Student Athlete Community Service Award.
His next step was entering vascular surgery residency in Manitoba.
Ultimately, he said, "I realized that I loved acute care medicine, but I didn't love the operating room. So I transferred residency programs and obtained my CCFP designation and moved to the Okanagan."
Since arriving, he's worked as an emergency room physician at Penticton Regional Hospital as well as South Okanagan General Hospital. At the latter location, he is the department head of Emergency Medicine.
While in the Okanagan, Andrew took on another passion and is bringing to it the same focus and dedication he has for everything else. This passion is medical aesthetics. In addition to his ER work, he now practises advanced medical aesthetics in both Kelowna and Vernon.
"I decided I love performing procedures and found something to help balance working in emergency," he said. "It's personally satisfying. I'm able to offer procedures that are a blend of art and science and people are appreciative and happy."
It's an interesting time in a rapidly expanding industry. Not so long ago, cosmetic surgery was the clear-cut facial rejuvenation strategy.
This can be a definitive solution to reduce the signs of aging, albeit an invasive, sometimes painful experience typically reserved for the socially elite and requiring significant down time for recovery.
Now, more people are seeking anti-aging services that are less invasive, have less down time and are more affordable. Just a few facial rejuvenation techniques that Andrew offers are botox, dysport, fillers and platelet-rich plasma injections. The clinics he works at offer lasers, CoolSculpting, microdermabrasions and chemical peels, amongst numerous other procedures and skin-care treatments.
While minimally invasive rejuvenation procedures are in high demand, the relative newness of the industry has created some issues and it is not as closely regulated as it perhaps should be. This was made plain in recent months as a non-medical civilian in the Vancouver area passed herself off as a doctor and injected dermal fillers into countless unwitting clients at a spa. She used an altered photocopy of a College Certificate of Licensure to convince medical suppliers that she had a medical licence and was certified to practise in British Columbia. In any other field of medicine it would sound ludicrous, but that it happened at all lays bare the fact that checks and balances are lacking.
That's something Andrew worries about. And this is why he founded Aesthetics Training Canada, which offers "the botox course" and "the filler course."
"Ensuring medical professionals are properly trained is of the utmost importance. There are people injecting without any formal training in facial anatomy or rejuvenation. I said, how can I change this and provide a safe and standardized way for medical professionals to expand their scope of practice to include medical aesthetics?" That was the impetus for offering these new comprehensive courses.
There are also clear gaps in proper medical care.
"We have patients come in who have been getting procedures elsewhere for years, and when I go to take them through the consent process, they say, 'Wait, there are risks with these procedures? I was told there were zero risks,'" Andrew said. "This shocks me. That's not proper medicine and it really bothers me. Some people think about patients in terms of syringes or units. Or some prioritize how fast they can get a patient in and out of the door. This type of practice doesn't warn patients that there are, in fact, risks to consider."
To start creating the change he wants to see in the industry, each of Andrew's treatment rooms has anatomy cards so he can take patients through what he's doing, what the risks are and how they can be mitigated.
"There are all sorts of things we can do to optimize patient care," he said. "If I'm in emergency, whether it's something as simple as cutting out a mole, or something more complicated like a cardioversion, we always take people through the risks and benefits, and it should be no different in medical aesthetics. Patients must consent and they must be educated that these are not completely harmless procedures and should be performed by experienced medical professionals only."
Adverse events can occur and these can be devastating, Andrew said. The results of shoddy, haphazardly conducted work can be disfiguring or worse — even blinding — and he wants to prevent this.
He also wants to bring back a more natural look.
"People that come to see me get full transparency, and a natural look," he said.
The day before the interview, Andrew said he had turned away four patients who had come in seeking lip filler treatment.
He'd told them, "I think your lips are already full enough and we want you to look natural."
"They may go down the street and get that duck lip. But our patients aren't getting that. They're going to get an honest and fair assessment and can expect a refreshed, natural look."
Interestingly, the four who were turned away were receptive to feedback and appreciated hearing his honest and clear communication.
Andrew has accomplished a lot in his life and is bound to take on more. What makes him different than others, however, is that he makes things look easy. He has a light and pleasant demeanour that puts people speaking to him at ease. If you didn't know better, it would be possible to believe that he did have a simple life, remarkable only by his ability to go fast and turn left.
More info at www.drdargie.com
Story courtesy of Boulevard Magazine, a Black Press Media publication
Like Boulevard Magazine on Facebook and follow them on Instagram


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Is the Design/Build method of mechanical system installation still preferred among contractors? The answer is Yes, although some have found that they must follow alternative methods, such as Design/Bid or Plan and Spec.
The Design/Build method of mechanical systems design and installation has long been viewed as the method that provides the most value to the customer. With one contractor in command of both design and construction, change orders and other delays are greatly reduced, if not eliminated.
Of the 126 contractors who responded to our email survey, new construction accounts for 31% of HVAC revenue; retrofit/renovation makes up 40% of the business, and 34% engage in mechanical HVAC service. These companies employ an average of 23 people. (Figure 1)
Almost 41% of contractors surveyed use the Design/Build delivery method most often, followed by Plan and Spec (34.5%) and Design/Bid (24.8%).
(Figure 2)
The "preferred" delivery method (Figure 3), by a significant margin, is Design/Build (63.9%) followed by Plan and Spec at 24.4%, and Design/Bid at 11.8%.
Almost 70% of contractors say they have not seen a decline in their Design/Build projects based on customer perception of higher cost, while 30% have seen this happen (Figure 4).
As a testament to their ability to explain the value of Design/Build, 63% of contractors said they are often successful in convincing customers that Design/Build is the better route to project completion (Figure 5). Thirty-seven percent said they're often not successful in turning customer opinions toward Design/Build.
Moving forward and looking to a better economy, 61.3% of respondents said they believe Design/Build will regain its prominence as the overall best value for customers, while 38.7% said they don't believe that will happen (Figure 6).
Comments on why contractors prefer Design/Build, Design/Bid or Plan and Spec
"Design/Build fits the customer needs better and eliminates potential shortfalls. Design/Build makes us the prime contractor." —Jim Steiner, operations manager, CES/Way Ltd., Houston, TX.
"Design/Build gives us our highest closing rate. It puts us in front of the customer, and gives us the opportunity to sell ourselves." — Carl Wolf,
president, Service Unlimited, New Castle, DE.
"Profit margins are higher. You get paid for your expertise in design, not just for putting things together." —Jim Bruno, owner, B&B Mechanical, Philadelphia, PA.
"Less competition, better margins with Design/Build" —Rod Bachman, vice president, Bachman's Inc., Batavia, OH.
"There's less competition in this market with Design/Build, and more interaction with the client." — Joe Needham, CEO, Princeton Air Conditioning, Inc., Princeton, NJ.
"With Design/Build, I have the opportunity to show the client the value of my offering and the benefits, including greater comfort and lower operating costs." —Sid Stockdale, P.E., ABM Building Services, Fort Worth, TX.
Matthew Grimard, sales engineer for American Combustion Industries, Brentwood, MD, said ACI mostly uses the Design/Bid method, though he prefers Design/Build, as it allows the company, as the HVAC contractor, to control the project, with less time lost in waiting for customer responses.
"Most times the customer wants the best work for the lowest price. We often submit a budget price and scope of work, only to find the customer now requires an engineer and three separate bids for a project. Very rarely do we see a customer willing to look at one contractor for everything," Grimard said.
Another Design/Bid fan is Frank Donohue, owner, Complete Mechanical Systems, Inc., Monroe, NC.
"Most customers are existing building owners, and we offer complex solutions to their current needs. Because we can negotiate project cost and work to an agreeable solution that best fits the customers needs and budget concerns, this method has worked very well for our company," Donohue said.
A contractor who was very emphatic in his support for Plan and Spec was Kevin Richison, construction and design manager for Lewis & Lambert, Fort Worth, TX.
"We do both Plan and Spec and Design/Build projects. But it seems that there's still a misconception of or lack of knowledge of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) process in the industry," Richison said. "This is leading many general contractors with young people fresh from college taking the reins as project engineers, unknowingly taking the Design/Build approach even to projects not designed as so.
"With a Plan and Spec project, you know what you're getting into from the start, and can adjust pricing accordingly. On a Design/Build project, undereducated team members are dragging the projects out longer and creating BIM confusion more than they should. There's a lack of real-world, knowledgeable people making decisions on Design/Build projects. Good quality teamwork with all project members is the only way to make a Design/Build project work as it should."


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The Government of Canada is providing funding to support 10 B.C. Indigenous groups in their quest for self-determination.
Receiving $2.6 million through the 2020-21 Nation Rebuilding Program include the Beaver People in northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta, Gitanyow Huwlip Society, Gitxsan Treaty Society, Lake Babine Nation, Secretariat of the Haida Nation, Tiyt Tribe, Southern Dakelh Nation Alliance Society, Stellat'en and Nadleh Whut'en First Nations, Office of the Wet'suwet'en and WSANEC Leadership Council Society.
Prior to making the announcement late Thursday afternoon (Nov. 12), Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett met virtually with the Gitanyow Huwlip Society Hereditary Chiefs to learn more about the work being undertaken in their northwestern B.C. nation.
"I think the work that's happening in British Columbia is totally inspiring," Bennett said.
READ MORE: New award launched to celebrate champions of reconciliation in B.C.
President and chief negotiator for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Office, Glen Williams, said the program has provided critical resources to help Gitanyow strengthen how they share land use planning and forestry information with their neighbours.
"In our current project, we are able to formalize our Indigenous laws through review of our constitution and continue talks between our elected leadership and the Hereditary Chiefs to better formalize roles and responsibilities," he said in a statement.
"Our approach is to develop modern tools to support and strengthen our traditional governance."
The Nation Rebuilding Program was established in 2018 with Canada committing $100 million in funding over five years.
"Because it's a judiciary responsibility of Canada what we need to do is to get people out from under it in the way that 25 self-governing nations now have," Bennett said of the Indian Act.
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Issue 4, Page 23
PSComics on Oct. 19, 2007
man in black at 6:24PM, July 19, 2011
oh i see it's says it id new even though it hasn't updated since 2007
diamond66866 at 12:52PM, Feb. 15, 2011
Awesome comic.....
tookye at 4:24PM, Aug. 22, 2009
Excited and hasty again...10
tookye at 4:24PM, Aug. 22, 2009
Took me 2 hours to scream through your comic. Whew is my mouse smokin. I don't know where to begin. I'll start at the end...forground and backgrounds were excellent and the story arc(s) smooth and well planned. Loved the clever part with the 'dummy' scroll reminded me of "MAD" magazine A-B back covers. Oh, BTW love the comic, Faved and then more.
merej at 9:49PM, Oct. 26, 2008
Awesome artwork.
sperro at 11:17PM, Aug. 11, 2008
I just like the fact that there's an Asian superhero... XD Moar!
Dragonsword at 11:26PM, Aug. 8, 2008
YAY finally we get our sequel confirmed!! thanks!!!!
Platinum Dan at 5:20PM, July 29, 2008
We're working on it as we speak, but Scott Koblish and Fred Van Lente, the artist and writer are busy at work for a some little company called Marvel. As soon as they're free, you'll have your sequel!
Whezzy at 8:32AM, July 8, 2008
... ... ... ...sequel? ... ... ...news?
leleath at 6:44PM, June 25, 2008
Wow, this is really awsome ^_^
Whezzy at 9:06AM, June 19, 2008
Any news on the sequel?
Palomides at 7:32PM, April 19, 2008
lapaix at 7:29AM, April 15, 2008
anonymous at 8:59PM, April 5, 2008
Is there a sequal? or will there be?
Dragen at 12:01PM, March 5, 2008
I would download if I could.. problem is I'm in the uk :\
SoItBegins at 12:48AM, Feb. 29, 2008
ATTENTION: The first ebook of this comic has just gone up on Wowio. (www.wowio.com) You can download the book for free, and Platinum will get 50â for each person who downloads it. That's 50 cents towards a sequel-- I've downloaded it, and I hope everyone else who reads this does as well.
Dragonsword at 10:47PM, Feb. 5, 2008
if you tell us, we will buy
Whezzy at 7:25AM, Jan. 31, 2008
*Buy it.... man i need to proof-read more often.
Whezzy at 7:24AM, Jan. 31, 2008
I can but it at my local comic shop? i will run out to buy it as soon as i know where to get it. i will pay to see a seqeul of this =)
Platinum Dan at 2:18PM, Jan. 10, 2008
Hey, thanks everyone for reading here. I'm not sure if Fred, the writer is reading still, but we here at Platinum still are. We'd love to do a sequel and we'll decide once the trade comes out whether the sales warrant it. Hate that it comes down to money but sometimes it does, unfortunately. Thanks a lot for staying with this, though.
Dragen at 3:11PM, Jan. 9, 2008
nah, he said ages ago: "That's the end, unless Scott and I here clamoring for a sequel..." which is the whole reason everyone is asking for one. He just hasn't replied since to say either way. I would've thought if there's wasn't going to be one he'd at least let us know so we'll stop asking for one!
krrack_knut at 6:02AM, Jan. 7, 2008
Honestly, I Think You're Supposed To BUY The Comic. Like 'FreshMen', It's Probably Only A Preview. But Still... SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL! SE-QUEL!
Dragonsword at 12:53PM, Dec. 31, 2007
yeah dragen, we want a sequel and if your reading these, please at least acnowledge that we support your awesome story
davatar at 10:50PM, Dec. 19, 2007
Dragen at 3:55PM, Dec. 18, 2007
is the guy who did this actually reading the comments here? I mean he's made no comments of his own for ages. I'm hoping it hasn't been forgotten and a sequel may happen...


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April 22, 2014
Thanks to all of you, half a billion people around the world are now regular, active WhatsApp users. In the last few months, we've grown fastest in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia, and our users are also sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos every single day. We could go on, but for now, it's more important that we get back to work – because here at WhatsApp, we're just getting started.


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Directions to Brainerd Minnesota
Cragun's Resort and Hotel is located in the heart of the beautiful Brainerd Lakes Area. Centrally located in Brainerd Minnesota, Cragun's is only a 2 1/2 hour drive, or a 30 minute flight, north of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Directions From the North: On Hwy 371, proceed south past Nisswa approximately 10 miles to the second intersection with County Road 77, turn right, continue 6 miles to Cragun's entrance.
Directions From the Northeast: Take Hwy 210 through Brainerd Minnesota to the intersection of Hwy 371 North. Turn right on to Hwy 371 and proceed north 3 miles to County Road 77 (Pine Beach Road), turn left on CR 77 and continue 6 miles to Cragun's entrance.
Directions From the West: On Hwy 210, go 5 1/2 miles east of Pillager, turn left on County Road 18. Go 3 1/2 miles to County Road 77, turn left and go about a mile to Cragun's entrance.
Directions From the Metro Area and points South: Take Hwy 94 west to the Clearwater exit, then turn right (north) at exit and follow to Hwy 10. Take Hwy 10 west to Little Falls, then continue north on Hwy 371 towards Brainerd Minnesota. Then take the new Hwy 371 Brainerd bypass (C. Elmer Anderson Memorial Hwy). At the junction of Hwy 371 & 210 continue north on 371 for 3 miles to County Road 77 (Pine Beach Road). Turn left on CR 77, continue 6 miles to Cragun's entrance.
Fly to Brainerd: Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport (BRD) is served by Delta Airlines with two arrivals each day from Minneapolis-St. Paul International. Click Here for more information.


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Alistair MacLeod
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
- Born:
- July 20, 1936, North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Notable Works:
- "No Great Mischief"
Alistair MacLeod, (born July 20, 1936, North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada—died April 20, 2014, Windsor, Ontario), Canadian author renowned for his mastery of the short-story genre.
MacLeod's parents were natives of Cape Breton Island in northeastern Nova Scotia, and, when MacLeod was 10 years old, he and his family returned there. He worked as a miner and a logger before earning a teaching certificate from Nova Scotia Teachers College. He received a B.A. and a B.Ed. from St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in 1960; a master's degree from the University of New Brunswick at Saint John in 1961; and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in 1968. He taught at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne from 1966 to 1969 and then returned to Canada as a professor of English and creative writing at the University of Windsor, Ontario (emeritus after 2000). For many years MacLeod also taught writing at the Centre for Continuing Education in Banff, Alberta.
MacLeod's writing career began in 1968 with the publication of his short story "The Boat," which was included in the 1969 anthology The Best American Short Stories. He drew critical acclaim after the appearance of his first collection, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood (1976); a second volume of stories, As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories (1986), further solidified his reputation. MacLeod's fiction chiefly examined the lives of the working people of Cape Breton—miners, loggers, fishermen, and farmers—and sensitively explored family relationships as well as the relationship of the islanders to their Celtic past.
MacLeod's literary oeuvre is notable for its smallness. Together, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood and As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories include only 16 stories, and each book took some 10 years to write. His lean output might be explained by his admitted perfectionism. A meticulous stylist, MacLeod revised constantly and read each of his sentences aloud in the belief that "the ear is a good editor."
MacLeod's long-awaited first novel, No Great Mischief, was published in 2000. It was written over the course of 13 years and chronicles the lives of several generations of Scottish immigrants on Cape Breton. MacLeod was the first Canadian writer to receive the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (2001). Until the award was announced, MacLeod had been largely unknown outside Canada. In part to satisfy the growing number of admirers of his work, he followed up No Great Mischief with Island: The Collected Short Stories of Alistair MacLeod (2000), which collected all of his previously published stories and included one new one. In 2004 he published To Everything There Is a Season: A Cape Breton Christmas Story, a novella adapted from a previously published short story and illustrated by Peter Rankin. In 2008 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2009 he shared the PEN/Malamud Award for short fiction with the American author Amy Hempel.


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The big news since the last IBM server snapshot in February, of course, is the combining of the System i and System p, but obviously, that isn't all IBM has done in the past six months.
Hard-Core Hardware: A new mainframe offering, and the consolidation and launch of sever lines are but some of the big changes at Big Blue in the past six months.
Among the highlights are the next-generation System z mainframe, a new line of servers known as System x iDataPlex, and several new blade servers — the HS12 and JS12.
In April, IBM announced the birth of Power Systems. This effectively represented a combination of System i and System p into a single group. As part of the reorg, IBM appeared to be primarily focusing on reducing costs via organizational streamlining, and component sharing. Both System i and p have used the same POWER-family processor for several years now for example, Steve Sibley, manager, Power Systems Offering Management, noted:
Recent Server Snapshots Dell Sun HP Unisys Gateway |
The new Power Systems line offers IBM virtualizationtechnology and energy-saving capabilities to help dramatically reduce bottom-line operating costs, such as those for energy, floor space and systems management, while improving system performance, helping customers transition to a new enterprise data center.
Gordon Haff, an analyst at Illuminata (Nashua, N.H.), put things in historical perspective. "System i and System p sprang from wholly different roots," he said. "System i, long known as the AS/400, was an independent thread of IBM systems development. System p, on the other hand, was long called the RS/6000, then later pSeries."
According to Haff, this also means that there's now one common set of system models that can run AIX, i, or Linux operating systems &3151 or a combination thereof using the integrated server virtualization features that fall under the PowerVM umbrella.
What does this mean in terms of products? Several new low-end Power Systems have been introduced, such as the Power 520 Express, Power 550 Express and the i Edition Express for the BladeCenter S.
"They deliver value and performance in a package suitable for the budget constraints and limited administrative assets of SMBs," said Sibley.
Shortly after announcing these servers, IBM introduced two new high-end Power Systems servers. The Power 595, which Sibley characterizes as a "water-cooled supercomputer," and the Power 575, which he claims is the world's fastest Unix server.
The unification of the IBM i operating system (formerly known as i5/OS) with AIX and Linux on Power systems and POWER processor-based BladesCenter, according to Sibley, is providing users new opportunities to optimize their IT infrastructure.
"Clients taking advantage of the simple-to-use, integrated i operating environment and database can now leverage the systems industry's fastest processor and most popular midrange servers to update their infrastructure and run both their traditional applications as well as AIX and Linux applications," he said.
System z
The major change to System z is the introduction of the z10EC, which IBM markets as its next-generation mainframe. According to Anne Altman, general manager, IBM System z, this new machine enables businesses to better manage and accommodate the complexity of today's data centers as well as eases the transition to managing IT as a service.
"The arrival of the System z10EC mainframe addresses the fact that data center costs and complexity continue to rise and intensify," said Altman. "Built to be shared, the z10 helps business units within a firm to share, track and automate the management of IT resources."
She believes the z10 compares well against virtualized x86 servers — i.e., IBM touts this as a better platform than x86 for virtualization. In addition, the z10 is up to 50 percent faster and offers up to 100 percent performance improvement for CPU-intensive jobs, and up to 70 percent more capacity than the previous z9 line.
System x
The iDataPlex is the new member of the System x family. It was built with Web 2.0 style computing in mind. As such, it is designed to operate massive data centers with tens of thousands of servers.
"iDataPlex is a new line of rack systems featuring design innovations in cooling and efficiency that can help replace the inefficient white-box servers commonly used by Internet companies," said Rajesh Sukhramani, manager System x marketing. "As consumers demand richer content and more immediate access to Web-based applications, iDataPlex can allow online gaming, social network, search and Internet companies to scale rapidly to meet this need."
According to Sukhramani, the iDataPlex uses less space, which enables administrators to double the number of servers they can run in a single rack for better space utilization. He also states that it saves up to 40 percent energy and less air conditioning.
iDataPlex solutions are arranged in rack configurations with IBM Flexible Node Technology to tailor it for each specific business — you can mix and match to achieve the right balance of compute intensity, networking and storage-rich nodes.
"System x servers are an important element in helping clients develop a new enterprise data center, which offers dramatic improvements in IT efficiency and provides for rapid deployment of new IT services to support future business growth," said Sukhramani.
Coming in September, the dx320 will be the next addition to the iDataplex family of servers. It is said to be optimized for significantly lower power and is aimed at extreme scale environments.
The Future
Like most vendors these days, IBM is going all out on the green bandwagon. In fact, its strange predilection to air primetime ads about System z products, has now been augmented by an equally puzzling series of ads with a green flavor. The ads may make sense to techies but not to the millions watching TV who hardly even know what a server is.
Anyway, at least IBM is not just hot air. It is investing heavily to back up its green trumpet blowing.
"Looking to the future, scientists at IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory recently presented a pioneering concept of a zero-emission data center at CeBIT 2008," said Sibley. "A new kind of water-cooling system embedded on a chip is the basis for an innovation that captures the water at its hottest and pipes it off the chip for reuse in heating a building or for hot water."
The research team is currently trying to get the water even closer to the chip, not with a copper plate but actually inside the chip. Sibley states that once the water is captured, it can be routed out of the computer and pumped into the heating system for re-use.
IBM's Software Offerings, at a Glance
Server Line |
(System i and System p) |
System x
System z
Description | Midrange servers/Unix servers | Intel, AMD processor-based servers | Intel, AMD, POWER6 and Cell BE based servers as well as Intel workstation clients | Mainframe-class servers |
Target Deployment | SMBs and large enterprise data centers/ Data centers of all sizes | Scale up and scale out x86 users | SMB, data centers, high-performance computing centers, and telecom and financial services firms | Large and midsize enterprises running mission-critical applications |
Processor Type | POWER5+, POWER6 | Intel Xeon, AMD Opteron | Opteron, Xeon, POWER6 and Cell BE | z9 BC has 8 CPUs on an IBM Multichip Module (MCM)with 16 total chips Chips: 8 PU chips/MCM, 4 System Data (SD) cache chips/MCM, One Storage Control (SC) chip, two Memory Storage Control (MSC) chips and one Clock (CLK) chip – CMOS 8S |
Processor Range | Power Blades: 2- to 4-way Power 520: 1- to 4-way Power 550: 2- to 8-way Power 570: 2- to 16-way Power 595: 8- to 64-way |
Rack-Optimized: 1 to 4-way Tower: 1 to 4-way High-Performance Scalable: 4 to 16-way |
Support for 2-way POWER and up to 4-way x86-based servers | z10 scales from 1-64-way z9BC: 1-7 processors z9EC: 1-54-way |
Operating Systems | i5/OS, AIX, Linux | Windows, Linux, Unix, Solaris | Windows, Linux, IBM i, AIX, Solaris | z/OS, z/OS.e, Linux on IBM System z, z/VM, z/VSE, VSE/ESA, TPF, z/TPF |
Servers | Power2: Power Blade Express Servers Power 520 Express Power 550 Express Power 570 Power 575 supercomputing node Power 595 System i Small to Medium: i515 Express i5 520 i5 520 Express i525 Express Medium to Large: i550 i595 System P Entry-Level: p5 505 Express p5 505Q Express p5 510 Express p5 510Q Express p5 520 Express p5 520Q Express p5 550 Express p5 550Q Express Midrange: p5 560Q Express High End p5 595 High Performance Computing: Commercial Blue Gene3 |
Rack-optimized: x3250 M2 x3350 x3450 x3455 x3550 x3550 Express Model x3650 x3650 T 3650 Express Model 3655 3655 Express Model Tower: x3200 M2 x3400 x3500 Enterprise: x3755 x3850 M2 x3850 Express Model x3950 M2 Internet Scale System x iDataPlex High-Performance Cluster: Cluster 1350 Cluster 1600 |
Intel-based HS12 HS21 HS21 extended memory Opteron-based LS21 LS22 LS41 LS42 Power Based: JS12 Express JS21 Express JS22 Express Cell-Based: QS22 QS21 |
z10 Enterprise Class z9 Business Class (z9BC) z9 Enterprise Class (z9EC)1 |
Price Range2 | Power 520 Express – Starts at $5,576; Power 550 Express – Starts at $25,247; IBM System i models – Contact IBM; p5 505 Express – Starts at $3,717; p5 550 Express – Starts at $13,840; High-End: Contact IBM | Rack Server: Starts at $1045 Tower: Starts at $989 (economy) High-Performance scalable: Contact IBM |
HS21: starts at $1,896 (economy) JS12: Starts at $4,228 JS21: Starts at $2,838 JS22: Starts at $5,779 LS21: Starts at $1,550 (economy) LS22: Starts at $2,109 QS22: Starts at $9,995 |
z9BC: starts at around $100,000 Others: Contact IBM |
1 The System z line also includes the S/390 G5/G6 and S/390 Multiprise, which are no longer sold but are still supported.
2 Based on IBM's posted prices.
3 Commercial Blue Gene3 powered by PowerPC 450. Contact IBM for pricing.


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The History of FUJINON episode7
In 1994, FUJINON completed 10 lenses for CM FUJINON series, which were the last addition for the large format lens lineup.
The FUJINON large format lens finally saw its complete form that was realized through the 40 years of technological advancement since its first release in 1951. It also marked one of the final reaching point for the highest image quality that the professional had always sought for.
As we have mentioned in the past posts, there were the advancement in lens designing, the development of aspherical lens, ED glass lens, and new glass materials, and the breakthrough in the coating technology that shaped the final form.
The final FUJINON large format lens was named "CM". It meant "Commercial," as they were intended for the commercial photo shoot for the professionals to do professional their job.


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Summer Youth Camps
You can help your children appreciate the natural world through one of over 100 summer camps throughout the state. Maine offers more forest than any other state (17 million acres), 3,000 lakes, more than 3,500 miles of rugged coast and beaches, and 32,000 rivers and streams. Third- and fourth-generation directors work with camp professionals to initiate new programs while holding on to the traditions that have made Maine summer camps popular for 100 years.
Maine's summer camps are less than a two-hour flight from such major cities as Baltimore, New York, Newark and Philadelphia. Where to camp in Maine? Your choices include traditional camps, sports camps, trip camps, music and art camps, or religiously affiliated camps. Your children can enjoy hiking, rafting, boating, and listening to stories around a campfire. They can also develop independence, gain skills in a sport or activity, and improve social relationships.
For more information about children's summer camps in Maine, check the Maine Summer Camps and the Maine Camp Experience websites.


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Sometimes, knowing is the whole battle.
This is a guest post from Dances With Engines as part of the month-long blogathon to help support Scarleteen!
I was hoping to make a post for the Scarleteen Blogathon that was pleasant and sweet and that would inspire people to make donations, and to do it without touching on my personal experiences. But there's no way for me to make a post about sex and sex education without digging at old wounds. Isn't that part of the new paradigm, anyway, where personal experience has authority?
Scarleteen is written for young people of all sexes and genders. That they manage to do so with so much consistency and dependability is amazing to me. As I become more conscious of my own binary and oppositional language (men do this, women do that, and only men and women), I get more impressed with Scarleteen.
When I recommend websites to my daughter, or to friends with growing children, I am always questioning—is the language and mission of this site going to be inclusive? Is anyone going to be left feeling like they don't belong or that someone's wrong with them? I felt like that, growing up. There were so many reasons I wasn't human, wasn't visible. Growing up in a conservative environment where I was defined by my sex and my ability to reproduce, having a sexuality that didn't meet the norm left me in limbo.
As I grow as a feminist, I also want more intersectionality, and Scarleteen acknowledges the importance of this as well. I find that reading their blogs and articles—as an adult—helps me file off the old codes imprinted in my psyche and my thought. While Scarleteen is written for young people, it has helped me to complete development of opinions and identity that were broken short by trying to conform to my family and their community of choice.
Reading Scarleteen as a teen would have taught me that certain things that happened weren't only wrong: they were illegal. It never occurred to me as a young woman that someone wasn't allowed to do that to me. More than that, it never occurred to me that it wasn't my fault. It took me into my forties to really grasp that.
I read Scarleteen because it helps me heal, I read it because I want to be a good parent to my teenaged daughter, and I read it because I want to make sure it continues to be a good resource that I can offer to other people. I read it because I'm a writer and I want to be constructive in my work, I want to write outside of the constructs given to me by me history.
I jumped at the chance to blog and to donate to Scarleteen because I wish it had been around when I was a kid. I love the way that it addresses young people as people. I don't believe that children are chattel; I believe that they are capable of making wise choices when given consistent, comprehensible, non-condescending information, and when they can have faith in each other and the adults who are addressing them. One of the greatest disservices that we can do to our children, and ourselves, is to lie—no matter how noble the reasoning may seem.
Scarleteen does all the right things, in my opinion. It doesn't lie. It treats its readers with respect—whether they are conservative or liberal or progressive. As a whole, it wants its readers to be true to themselves, no matter how that manifests.
I was raised in a conservative Christian family, where the entirety of my education on the act of sex was limited to the fact that I was to be married and that I was to lie down for my future husband as necessary, preferably to produce babies. Literally: the woman lies down with her legs apart. Nothing more. Until then, it was my responsibility to prevent men from having sex with me, which they would try to do, because I would do that to men, make them want to have sex with me.
Reading something like Scarleteen wouldn't have made me run out and have sex. Information doesn't do that to people. It would have saved me from being the victim of misinformation, self-hatred, confusion, and repeated sexual assaults. Supporting Scarleteen means—in my experience, and without hyperbole—that other children and young people will be saved from those things as well.
That's worth a donation, or at least taking the time to share a link with someone else. If you do nothing else, share the link.


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Imagine walking up to an ATM â€" you insert your card and begin to check your balance before you put in the amount of cash you want to withdraw from the machine. As you do this, a small crowd of people begins to form around you peering over your shoulder. Some are friends, some family, some are casual acquaintances and some you don't even know. Uncomfortable situation? Absolutely. While ATMs are in public settings, they are meant to be private interactions. If someone â€" even someone you know began to involve themselves with your financial activity you would get annoyed.
While this scenario is extreme, it seems to suggest that maybe not everything is better with friends, despite the fact this seems to be the approach, so far, of social networking services. Over the past few weeks the technology world made big steps forward in making your world even more "social." Google Buzz was introduced and caused a firestorm of mixed reactions as it automatically connected people to their e-mail contacts publicly, without asking permission. Buzz also socializes other services, such as Reader, so others can follow what what you read. In short, it takes your experience with Google products and turns it into another social ecosystem to manage. Shortly after, Microsoft (disclaimer: an Edelman client) introduced Outlook Social Connector which will connect Outlook with existing platforms such as Linked In.
While both efforts are different in their approach (Google Buzz could be viewed as a competitor to Facebook and Twitter while Outlook Social Connector looks to extend Outlook's capabilities), they signify a larger trend that points toward the "socialization" of our activities. And this is an important trend. Some things are indeed made better when social. For example, one of my favorite networks is Slideshare, which "socializes" presentations and documents. I believe that this service and others like it are chipping away at "information hoarding" and breaking down some of the taboos about intellectual property. It's disruption, but disruption that can be beneficial to both businesses and individuals.
But not everything should be social, as some Google users have found out. Liza Sperling who works for Scout Labs, a social media monitoring company recently tweeted: "Help, suddenly tons of strangers following my GReader! I used to love GReader, until Buzz killed it." She's not alone. Scores of people have expressed frustration with finding and disabling some of the social features, which resulted in an apology from Google over privacy issues.
Let's be clear. This isn't a technological issue. It's an anthropological one. Businesses that are looking to benefit from social technologies are going to need better and more intimate understandings of the people and cultures of those they hope will leverage their services.
The good news is that that while a counter-trend may be brewing that points toward "social overload" â€" companies that are agile like Google (and Facebook and others) can help us figure our threshold for how much we want to share and who benefits from it. The current hypothesis that everything is better with "friends" is being tested before our eyes. Each market in different parts of the globe may respond to this hypothesis differently. But the truth that's becoming easier to see is that some things aren't meant to be social (think e-mail and one to one messaging). Understanding this thinking will probably make the social web even better. As social technologies progress, valuable and meaningful engagements will become more important than just connecting with friends.


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- 22 January 1940
- Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK
John Hurt
This transatlantic talent was born John Vincent Hurt on January 22, 1940 in Shirebrook, a coal mining village near the busy market town of Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, England. He is the son of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician. The youngest of three children, he spent much of his childhood in solitude. Demonstrating little initiative, he was guided into art as a possible direction. The family moved to Grimsby when he turned twelve and, despite an active early passion in acting, his parents thought less of it and enrolled him at the Grimsby Art School and St. Martin's School of Art where he showed some flourish. When he couldn't manage to get another scholarship to art school, his focus invariably turned to acting. Accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, John made his stage debut in 1962 and remained there in typically offbeat form such plays as "Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger". An odd, somber, pasty-looking fellow with an aquiline nose (injured while playing sports) and a mass of Irish freckles, he was hardly leading man material. His earlier focus as a painter, however, triggered a keen skill in the art of observation and it certainly advanced his talent for getting into the skin of his characters. His movie debut occurred that same year with a supporting role in the ill-received British "angry young man" drama Young and Willing (1962). Appearing in various mediums, John increased his profile (and respect) appearing in such theatre plays as "Inadmissible Evidence" (1965), "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" (1966), a role he later took to film as Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974), "Macbeth" (as Malcolm) (1967) and "Man and Superman" (1969), while finding prime parts in such films as A Man for All Seasons (1966), a role he was given after director Fred Zinnemann saw his stellar work in "Little Malcolm." He continued on the stage as an unlikely Romeo in 1973, and went on to garner great applause in Pinter's "The Caretaker" and "The Dumb Waiter", as well as "Travesties" (1974). It was TV, however, that displayed the full magnitude and fearless range of his acting instrument. In the mid-70s he gained widespread acclaim for his embodiment of the tormented gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the landmark TV play The Naked Civil Servant (1975), adapted from Crisp's autobiography. Way, way ahead of its time, Hurt's bold and unabashed take on the flamboyant and controversial gent who dared to be different was rewarded with the Emmy and the British TV Awards. Far and away one of the most marvelous creations ever captured on the small screen, he was altogether unsettling, unappetizing and unforgettable. Audiences cringed but were mesmerized at the same time -- like a car wreck. He WAS Quentin Crisp. Doors immediately opened for John. He was handed the best parts film and TV had to offer. Once again he was strikingly disturbing as the cruel and crazed Roman emperor Caligula in the epic TV masterpiece I, Claudius (1976). The chameleon in him then displayed a polar side as the gentle, pathetically disfigured title role in The Elephant Man (1980), and when he morphed into the role of a tortured Turkish prison inmate who befriends Brad Davis in the intense drama Midnight Express (1978), he was barely recognizable. The last two films earned Hurt Oscar nominations. Mainstream box-office films were offered as well as art films. He made the most of his role as a crew member whose body becomes host to an unearthly predator in Alien (1979). Who can forget the film's most notorious scene as the creature explodes from Hurt's stomach and scurries away into the bowels of the spaceship? Along with fame, of course, came a few misguided ventures generally unworthy of his talent. Such brilliant work as his steeple chase jockey in Champions (1984) or kidnapper in The Hit (1984) was occasionally offset by such drivel as the comedy misfire Partners (1982) with 'Ryan O'Neal (I)' in which Hurt looked enervated and embarrassed. But those were very few and far between. As for the past couple of decades, the craggy-faced actor continues to draw extraordinary notices. Tops on the list includes his prurient governmental gadfly who triggers the Christine Keeler political sex scandal in the aptly-titled Scandal (1989); the cultivated gay writer aroused and obsessed with struggling "pretty-boy" actor Jason Priestley in Love and Death on Long Island (1997); and the Catholic priest embroiled in the Rwanda atrocities in Beyond the Gates (2005). His rich tones have also been tapped into frequently with a number of animated features and documentaries, often serving as narrator. Presently married to his fourth wife, genius is often accompanied by a darker, more self-destructive side and Hurt was no exception with alcohol being his choice of poison. He has since recovered. He has two children from his third wife.
Movie Name | Release Date |
Το εξπρές του μεσονυχτίου – Midnight Express (1978) | October 6, 1978 |
Άλιεν, ο Επιβάτης του Διαστήματος – Alien (1979) | June 22, 1979 |
Dogville (2003) | April 23, 2004 |
Ο άνθρωπος ελέφαντας – The Elephant Man (1980) | October 10, 1980 |
Ο νεκρός – Dead Man (1995) | May 10, 1996 |


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This story was originally published by Arabic Literature in English.
The camera follows two Palestinians with Israeli citizenship from the counter at Israel's National Library to a table. They carry a small stack books from a collection labeled "AP" for "Absentee Property." They sit awestruck in front of the books. They touch covers showing respect for the books, their rightful owners, and the Nakba that caused Palestinians to lose their country and heritage.
One of the Palestinians opens a book and finds "Khalil Sakakini" written by hand in the inside cover. He gasps. The audience watching the film, crammed into the basement floor of Educational Bookshop on Salah Al-Din Street in Jerusalem, is captivated. I crane my neck to see past the tall woman in front of me. The importance of this book, a one-time possession of one of the Arab world's most important educators and nationalists, jumps off the screen. I feel an unspoken sadness in the room as we grasp the reality: This priceless piece of Palestinian heritage, and so many others, is held by Israel's National Library.
This scene is one of many gripping scenes in the film, "The Great Book Robbery" shown for the first time in Palestine on January 12, 2013 to an audience of almost 150 people. The documentary by Israeli-Dutch director Benny Brunner unfolds the story of at least 70,000 books looted from Palestinian homes and institutions in 1948. Benny Brunner, a longtime maker of films says of himself: "His work is subversive in nature and has proven to be a thorn in the collective Israeli establishment's backside."
It is widely known that when approximately 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from Palestine before and after the establishment of Israel, most Palestinian land and belongings were lost. This film, however, highlights the plight of books. It's a story that isn't well-known, and to lovers of books, it is particularly tragic.
According to the film, Gish Amit, a PhD student at the time (2005-9), stumbled by accident upon Israeli documents attesting to the "collection" of Palestinian books in 1948 as he was writing his dissertation about archives. Among papers preserved at the National Library, he found detailed documentation about approximately 30,000 Palestinian books that were taken from private homes and institutions in Jerusalem, by staff of the National Library in coordination with the army. In an article originally published in Haaretz, Amit commented on the fact that documentation of the theft was found in the Library itself. He said, ""It is the paradoxical structure of any archive: the place that preserves the power and organizes it is also the place that exposes the violence and wrongdoing. In this respect, the archive is a place that undermines itself."
Only about 6,000 books are still labeled "Absentee Property"—and these, we were told, can be seen by logging into the National Library of Israel and searching by call numbers starting with AP. Brunner speculates that the other 24,000 books that are listed in the documentation are either mixed in with the general collection or have been lost or destroyed. Another 50,000-60,000 books are known to have been looted from other parts of Palestine, mostly textbooks, which Brunner speculated were mostly destroyed or sold. During the discussion that followed the filom, he also made the point that rare manuscripts (estimated by a knowledgeable member of the audience as numbering around 50,000 originating from 56 libraries in and around Jerusalem) are not included in the estimates and are totally unaccounted for. There are rare Palestinian manuscripts in the collection at the National Library, but they are not accessible by the general public. There are also rare Palestinian manuscripts at Hebrew University. "We should remember," Brunner added, "the film only addresses books that were stolen in 1948. We don't know the details of what happened in 1967, though we do know there is a pattern of Israeli looting of Palestinian books, photographs and archives, including the PLO archives in Lebanon."
To prove this point, a member of the audience later told me that a rare copy of Palestine in Pictures from the early 1920s was confiscated by the Israelis when her father crossed Allenby Bridge from Jordan in 1987 after he waited five hours to get it back. He finally asked for and was given a receipt for his book, but as history proves, documentation does not necessarily lead to restitution. The only other copy the owner knows of is in Bodlian Library at Oxford University
The Great Book Robbery, which took five years to make, was broadcast by Aljazeera English and seen in fifty countries, and has also been screened in the three major cinemas in Israel. The director has so far been unable to arrange a showing on Israeli television. Apparently, there is some controversy over whether the original intention was to protect the books or to steal them, but regardless of the original intent, the Israel National Library, in cooperation with the Israeli Custodian of Abandoned Property has kept Palestinian private property for over 64 years and made no effort to return it to its rightful owners. In fact, according to Benny Brunner, until the 1950, each card in the catalogue listed the book with a code that linked it to the place where it came from, thus identifying the original owner. However, those codes were erased in the late 1950s.
Those who watched The Great Book Robbery that night were visibly moved. The film showed the vibrancy of Palestinian literary and cultural life before 1948, how it was stolen (with poignant quotes by a Palestinian prisoner of war who was forced to take part in looting his own village), and the impact on Palestinian identity and well-being today. Many seemed inspired by the movie's concluding slide which noted that: 1) no effort has been made by Israel to return the stolen books; 2) nor has there been any organized effort by Palestinians to claim them.


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Why Men Need to Court Women Again
- Understanding Men, What Men Think
I've been a dating coach since 2003.
I've been a dating coach for smart, strong, successful women since 2010.
The only reason I focused on that very specific demographic is because they comprised 80% of my audience. I didn't seek them. They found me, and I catered my offerings to empower them to understand men and make healthier relationship choices.
I get a lot of pushback from women who bristle at what I do. Their main complaint: MEN ARE THE PROBLEM. STOP TELLING ME WHAT I SHOULD DO DIFFERENTLY.
My reply is always the same: you'll have a much greater success by changing your own beliefs, actions and reactions than by trying to change the male gender.
I mean that – but that doesn't mean that men are off the hook, by any stretch of the imagination. A huge part of my business is simply telling women to avoid men who don't treat them with proper respect and invest time only in relationship-oriented guys.
You'll have a much greater success by changing your own beliefs, actions and reactions than by trying to change the male gender.
Does that leave a lot fewer men in the dating pool? Sure does. But there's no point in trying to convince a man who doesn't want to get married that he should or trying to convince a guy who thinks you should sleep with him on the first date that he should court you properly. Just throw those fish back in the sea.
Which is why I was heartened to read this blog post from Matt Walsh. In it, he implores men to "man up" and court women properly, with intention.
"If you're hanging out with a woman and you feel like you might be into her, tell her. Call her on the phone. Take her out on a date. Say the words: "I'd like to take you out." No ambiguity. Plan the date yourself. Women want you to be decisive. Lose the whole "so waddaya wanna do tonight?" schtick. Take charge. Pick her up at 7. Pay for the meal. Have a conversation with her. Go mini golfing or something. Go somewhere. Open the door for her. Put your phone away. Open up to her. Share your ideas, your dreams, your fears. Get to know her. Pursue her. Pursue her. Invest yourself in the process, as scary and unsure as it may seem. Take a risk, gentlemen. Go out on a limb for once. Be purposeful. Be desirable. Be a man."
No argument here. If my business was to give advice to men, that's what I'd be telling them. There is so little competition from men out there that it's easy to stand out just by being a good guy who takes control, follows through, and does what he says.
Now the reason I don't post things like this more is because there's nothing for women to learn from "Yes! Men need to change!" You know what I mean? It may be true, it may be validating, but it's not useful or transformational.
Your big takeaway from this is simply that you should hold out for a man who does (most of) the right things. If he doesn't do the right things, he's not your man.


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Performance)Remain stain on the clothe _ Top Loader
Washing / Remain stain on the clothe.
How to fix
Q. What kind of clothes do you wash? Did you wash the heavy soil clothes?
A. If you washed heavy soil the clothes, it can be possible happen. you need to preprocess stain.
Here's some tip for better performance :
1. Soak option : Soak is very helpful for remove dirty item.
2. Bright White cycle or Sanitary cycle (For WT10**/11**/12** does not have Sanitary cycle)
3. Soil level change to the heavy and select water temperature Hot or Extra hot depending on your model.


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Some of Princeton University's most distinctive characteristics are the close-knit residential community and the variety of dormitory options in the six residential colleges. Each architecturally diverse college is made up of dormitory halls and a range of facilities, including a main dining hall, libraries, common rooms, and arts and entertainment resources. Student living areas range from single rooms to suites, and each college has something that makes it unique.
In this video, sophomore Linnea Paseiro gives a tour of her room and halls in Forbes College, which used to serve as a hotel, and Rohan Bhargava shows off Rockefeller College, which was built in the Collegiate Gothic style. Freshmen Jesse Young and Daniela Bartalini give a tour of the state-of-the-art rooms and facilities in Butler College.
Often, colleges will have a resource or space that can be shared among colleges. For example, Whitman College has a 65-seat theater space, while Butler College has a late-night self-service café called Studio 34. Through these spaces, the colleges provide students with an array of social experiences, from study breaks and performances to open mic nights and faculty dinner discussions.


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Ain't nobody got time for URLs like this:
You gotta keep it tight:
Ah, now that's better.
By the way, do you like knowing how many people click on your links? And where those visitors live, as well as where those clicks came from?
Because the short URL can give you all of that information and more.
Bottom line: Short URLs are better.
You can use them to improve your marketing efforts and provide a better experience for your customers and social media followers.
In this article, you'll learn all about URL shorteners, including which ones are most suitable for your specific needs.
Don't wait for someone else to do it. Hire yourself and start calling the shots.
What Exactly is a "URL"?
"URL" stands for "Uniform Resource Locator," and they're a way of identifying the location of a file on the internet.
Is a URL the same as a domain name?
Well, no – although, the terms are often confused and used interchangeably. A domain name is just one part of a URL. The image below shows the difference:
What is a URL Shortener?
A URL shortener is a digital tool which enables you to take a long link and create a new, shorter one that takes people to the same location.
These days, most link shorteners allow you to track your link metrics.
However, if you just need a shorter link, using a URL shortener couldn't be easier.
How to Shorten a Link
Let's take a quick look at how to shorten a URL using Bit.ly.
1. Copy your long link to your clipboard.
2. Go to Bit.ly.
3. Paste or write your link into the box provided.
4. Click "Shorten.
5. Copy your new short link to your clipboard to paste elsewhere.
To make shortening links possible, many URL shorteners have short domain names themselves, such as Bit.ly and Clk.im.
Many also allow you to create short links with your own customized URL. We'll cover these in more detail below.
Why Should You Use a URL Shortener?
Let's dig into some reasons why you should be using a URL shortener.
First, URL shorteners make it easier to share and manage long URLs. This is especially true when sharing URLs on micro-blogging platforms, or in mobile messaging applications.
Next, URL shorteners can help you avoid excessively long and confusing URLs or any which contain jumbles of letters and numbers.
What's more, some link shorteners allow you to create custom branded URLs.
These are much easier to read, memorize, and type. This makes them particularly useful when sharing URLs in any form of print advertising, such as posters, flyers, magazines, or business cards.
Plus, according to Rebrandly, branded short links receive up to 39% more clicks when compared to generic short URLs.
These branded short links also have another key benefit.
Unfortunately, URL shorteners are often used by spammers to hide the URL destination. That way, unsuspecting people are more likely to click on them.
However, by branding your short URLs, you can avoid being perceived as a spammer.
For example, Condé Nast Traveler use Rebrandly to create their own custom short links with the domain "cntrvler.co" as seen in the image below.
The lesson?
As long as your custom short URL domain relates to your brand and is used regularly, people will trust your links.
Lastly, despite being called URL "Shorteners," one of the key benefits of shortening links is actually the ability to track how your audience engages with your links.
Modern URL shorteners provide access to a host of metrics and insights that marketers can use to review and improve their campaigns.
For instance, Bitly's Enterprise dashboard provides numerous metrics, including:
- Total Clicks
- Bitlinks Created
- Total Unique Clicks
- Clicks Per Unique
- Bitly Network Clicks
- Bitly Network Links
- Top Bitlinks
- Bitly Network Top Content
- Top Referrers
- Top Locations
10 Awesome URL Shorteners
There are tons of great URL shorteners out there, each with a wide range of features. Here's a quick overview of ten popular link shorteners.
Dedicated URL Shorteners
1. Bitly
Best for: Enterprise level businesses.
Bitly is one of the most popular URL shorteners available.
As shown above, anyone can use the link shortener anonymously to create as many short links as they like.
The free account allows you to create and track up to 500 branded URLs and 10,000 non-branded links. This includes the ability to monitor how many clicks your shortened URLs receive, the location of the click, and your top referrers.
Premium and enterprise accounts are available and start from around $500 per month. These allow you to create as many short links as you like and access more detailed analytical reports.
Bitly also integrates with many other services, such as Zapier and TweetDeck.
2. Rebrandly
Best for: Small businesses focused on branding.
Rebrandly is a URL shortener which focuses on customizing and branding short URLs.
They help you to set up a new domain to use for short URLs in minutes. Alternatively, they can help you to set up your current website domain name to use with your short URLs.
Their free plan allows you to create and track up to 1,000 branded links, using up to five custom domains. To add team members and other extras, premium accounts start from $29 per month.
Rebrandly also integrates with many other services, such as Buffer, Zapier, and Tweetbot.
3. ClickMeter
Best for: Large businesses.
ClickMeter is Rebrandly's sister company and is aimed at enterprise level companies that are looking for more technical features than Rebrandly provides.
One of Clickmeter's key selling points is that they offer conversion tracking – a feature that not many URL shorteners offer.
Clickmeter plans start at $29 per month.
4. Clkim
Best for: Affiliate marketers, bloggers, and influencers.
Clkim is similar to Rebrandly and offers many of the same features.
The main difference is Clkim's focus on monetization and interstitial ads. These are full-screen ads which cover the web page or app interface.
For this reason, Clkim is a fantastic choice for affiliate marketers and bloggers looking for another source of revenue. And of course, you can still use Clkim to track and brand your short URLs.
Clkim provides a free 14-day trial, with plans starting at $10 per month.
5. Tiny URL
Best for: Casual users in need of a quick and easy-to-use URL shortener.
TinyURL used to be one of the top link shorteners available – back when Facebook and smartphones weren't around yet.
As you can see from the image above, TinyURL is pretty outdated and lacks many features that are commonplace among other link shorteners.
That said, TinyURL does have its benefits.
First, it's extremely simple to use. You don't have to create an account and there's no tracking or dashboard.
What's more, unlike many quick and simple URL shorteners, TinyURL allows you to customize the latter part of your URL.
For example, I took this link:
And used TinyURL to create this one:
Plus, this link shortener is completely free!
6. Polr
Best for: Creating and hosting your own URL shortener.
Polr is an open-source project which allows anyone with the technical know-how to create and host their own link shortener.
You can use Polr as it is, or customize it to your individual needs – it's written in PHP and Lumen, using MySQL. (If that sentence looks like Greek to you, then maybe pass on Polr.)
If you just want to test out the basic interface, Polr offers a demo page.
Best for: Another one for casual users in need of a quick and easy-to-use URL shortener.
IS.GD is another URL shortener that's handy when you're looking for a quick tool to help you shorten your link. This is definitely one of the fastest URL shorteners out there. All you have to do is enter the URL in the given space and click the "shorten" button, and you're done.
You can also check your link's statistics by previewing your page with the preview feature. The links are permanent once they've been created, so you don't have to worry about them disappearing. Another plus is that you can customize the links at the end to make them unique to represent your brand or identity.
As well as helping you shorten your links, this tool has the ability to create a QR code. As many smartphones have the ability to read QR codes, this can be added to your business cards or advertisements, so that those interested can get to your links that way as well.
Oh, and this link shortener is completely free!
URL Shorteners Within Other Services
8. Hootsuite's Ow.ly
Best for: Hootsuite users, and businesses looking for a feature-packed social media management tool.
Ow.ly is a popular URL shortener that works as part of Hootsuite's social media management application.
Owly lets you track URL metrics, such as referral sources, number of clicks, and location.
You can use Hootsuite and Owly's free plan to manage your social media and create short links using the Ow.ly domain.
However, to add a custom branded URL, you'll need to upgrade to their team plan for $99 per month.
9. Buffer's Buff.ly
Best for: Buffer users and anyone looking for a simple and effective social media scheduling tool.
Buff.ly is URL shortener that works within the social media scheduling tool Buffer.
Whenever you paste a link into Buffer while scheduling a social media post, it will automatically be shortened using the Buff.ly domain.
To track link metrics and use a custom branded domain name, you'll need to upgrade to the Pro Plan for $15 per month and integrate your account with Bitly.
URL Shortener for Shopify Stores
10. URL Short Link Generator
Best for: Shopify users.
If you run an ecommerce store on Shopify, it can be a pain to manage all of your links in a third-party application.
Instead, check out URL Short Link Generator by Identix Web. This app helps you to create and track short URLs from within your Shopify dashboard.
What Happened to Google's URL Shortener Goo.gl?
You might be wondering why I haven't included Goo.gl in this list. Well, as of the 13th of April, 2018, Google's link shortener is only available to active users.
And since March 2019, Google has completely disabled the URL shortener and all user link data will be lost. All existing links will continue to redirect to their intended destination, but for many, this is a frustrating development.
Why has Google shut down Goo.gl?
Google wants to redirect (get it?) its efforts to Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL).
Firebase Dynamic Links have been created to replace deep links.
What are deep links?
A deep link is a smart URL that is supposed to send users to any location within an iOS, Android, or web application.
Unfortunately, most deep links have problems.
For example, the same link might not work across iOS and Android devices. Or the link might not survive the app installation process.
Google's new Firebase Dynamic Links solve these problems. Watch the video below to learn more:
Simply put, Firebase Dynamic Links are the future of linking.
So, should you use Firebase Dynamic Links?
Well, if you just need a simple URL shortener to use online, and you don't need links to work in mobile and web apps, then save yourself the hassle and leave FDLs for the time being.
However, if you want your links to survive in the complex world of mobile and web apps, definitely take a look at Firebase Dynamic Links!
How to Create Customized Branded Short Links
Now you have all the basics covered, let's take a closer look at how to set up and create custom branded short links using Rebrandly.
Step 1: Setup a Custom Domain Name
To start, head to their website and click "Sign Up Now."
Then select the free plan and create an account. You'll need to confirm your email address before you can access the dashboard.
Next, click "Add a branded domain."
If you don't already have a website with your own URL, Rebrandly will help you to set one up.
Just type in desired domain names to see if they're available. When you find one you like, just follow Rebrandly's instructions.
Many domain registrars take a few days to register a new domain, but Rebrandly is fast. They allow you to purchase a new domain name, connect it, and within just 15 minutes share links using the URL.
If you already have a website and a domain name that you want to use, there are a few extra steps you need to take.
First, click "Setup DNS."
Then, type in your website domain name.
Next, Rebrandly will ask you if your domain name is "spare " – this means it's not being used for your blog or website.
If your domain name is spare, simply follow these instructions.
If you're using your domain name already, you'll need to create a new subdomain name by adding a prefix, such as "go."
Once you've done this, you'll need to log in to your domain registrar dashboard – this will be whoever you bought your domain from (i.e. Godaddy, Hostgator, Register, Bluehost, etc).
Then, you'll need to configure your DNS records, to add your new subdomain, and connect it with Rebrandly.
Unfortunately, registering an existing domain can take up to 24 hours. Rebrandly will email you when it's done so that you can add your domain to your Rebrandly workspaces.
If you need any help along the way, simply follow these instructions.
Step 2: Create a Custom Branded URL
Once you've set up your domain name, it's easy to create a new short link. Just click "New Link" and paste in the link you want to shorten.
On the left, you can use the "Branded domain" drop-down menu to select your custom domain, or just use the rebrand.ly domain for now.
You can also customize the URL slash-tag to avoid a jumble of random letters and numbers.
Then, click "Create link."
What Are the Benefits of Using a URL Shortener?
To summarize, here are some of the main benefits of using a URL or link shortener.
- Looks better: To start with the obvious, a URL shortener or link shortener can help your link to look more visually appealing. A shorter link looks cleaner and more trustworthy than a longer one. Especially when the links are customized.
- Helps you track performance: URL shorteners provide the additional benefit of helping you track your performance. Most link shorteners give you analytical data that will help you understand the success of your links. By knowing this, you can understand better what your audience is engaging with, and adjust your marketing strategies accordingly.
- Uses fewer characters: In a place where there are a limited number of characters to use, a link shortener can help you squeeze in the URL you want to share, without burdening yourself with those extra characters. For instance, on Twitter, where you have 280 characters to share your tweet, the last thing you want is to be using up those characters with a long link.
- Higher click through rate: On social media platforms people are more familiar with shortened links. They trust shorter links more, and as a consequence are more likely to click on a shorter link in comparison to a longer one. Simply by changing your long links to shorter ones, you could be improving the effectiveness of your social media strategy.
- Easier to share: Shorter links are easier to share. Whether you are adding them to an email or a personal message, it's so much easier to share a short link than a long one.
There's more to URL shorteners than meets the eye.
Sure, shorter links are more user-friendly than their longer counterparts, but more than that, the ability to track link metrics is an opportunity no savvy marketer can afford to pass up.
Remember, ideally, you'll want to use custom branded URLs.
Branded URLs generate more trust and receive high click-through rates. Plus, they prevent users from thinking your links may be spam.
When choosing a URL shortener, there are a lot of options out there. Here's a quick summary of our link shortener recommendations for different purposes:
- Bit.ly: Best for enterprise-level businesses.
- Rebrandly: Best for small businesses focused on branding.
- ClickMeter: Best for large businesses.
- Clk.im: Best for affiliate marketers, bloggers, and influencers.
- Tiny.URL: Best for casual users in need of a quick and easy-to-use URL shortener.
- Polr: Best for creating and hosting your own link shortener.
- IS.GD: Best for casual users in need of a quick and easy-to-use URL shortener.
- Buff.ly: Best for Hootsuite users, and businesses looking for a feature-packed social media management tool.
- Ow.ly: Best for Buffer users and anyone looking for a simple and effective social media scheduling tool.
- URL Short Link Generator: Best for Ecommerce businesses and Shopify users.
Did we miss any great URL shorteners on our list? Which link shortener do you use and why? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!


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For Epitaph, British photographer Rankin teams up with Beaty Editor Andrew Gallimore to create spellbinding death masks inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead and Roman Catholic All Souls Day. Like the sugar skulls, or calavera, used to celebrate the holiday, these elegant masks put a vital and lively spin on death. Decked out in intricate beading and filigree, their models look luxurious and festive.
Calavera, normally colored in vibrant greens, reds, yellows, and blues are often eaten after the holiday; adorned in glittering stars and blooming daisies, these living skulls look like sweet confections. The female faces, painted in black, become a youthful template for imaginative explorations of an afterlife that awaits us after old age. As if from another world, their gray-green eyes stand starkly against coal-toned flesh. Rankin and Gallimore infuse the editorial with a hefty dose of high-fashion edge, introducing elements like metal spikes and and chains. These harder elements blend seamlessly with the iconography of the Day of the Dead; in one mask, a red clown nose made of punk-rock studs puts a contemporary spin on the timeless tradition.
Rankin is not new to the theme of death. In the wake of his parents' deaths, he was compelled to break cultural taboo surrounding the dead, to face head-on his fears of dying. For last year's photo series ALIVE: In the Face of Death, published by Hunger Magazine, he photographed those effected most by death, giving voice to grieving family members and to resilient individuals living with terminal diseases. Here, his enthusiastic lens provides solace from the fear of the unknown, inviting us to celebrate those we've lost as we mourn them. (via Trend Land)
Spellbinding Death Masks And Sugar Skulls appeared first on Beautiful/Decay Artist & Design.


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Hour-long Wednesday-night editions begin on July 10 as new judges Mel B and Heidi Klum join returning judges Howard Stern and Howie Mandel
NBC's "America's Got Talent" - America's top-rated summer series - will return for its eighth season when it premieres on Tuesday, June 4 (9 p.m.). It will begin its regular hour-long Wednesday edition on July 10 (8 p.m.). This season will feature new judges Mel B and Heidi Klum who will join returning judges Howard Stern and Howie Mandel - marking the first time that the series has showcased four judges on the panel. Actor, producer and comedian Nick Cannon returns as host.
Live episodes will begin on Tuesday, July 23 (9 p.m.), and Wednesday, July 24 (8 p.m.).
The 2012 edition of "America's Got Talent" ranked as the No. 1 summer series on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in adults 18-49 and total viewers, marking the seventh-straight year the show finished as the No. 1 summer series in total viewers. "Talent" ranked No. 1 among non-sports primetime telecasts on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in total viewers for 12 of its last 14 weeks on the air last summer. The Monday edition of "Talent" averaged a 3.4 rating, 10 share in adults 18-49 and 11.1 million viewers overall, the Tuesday telecast earned a 3.4/10 in 18-49 and 11.7 million viewers and the Wednesday edition delivered a 2.9/8 in 18-49 and 10.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The live shows again will originate from the New York tri-state area. With the talent search open to acts of all ages, "America's Got Talent" has brought the variety format back to the forefront of American culture by showcasing performers from across the country. A colorful array of hopeful stars, including singers, dancers, comedians, contortionists, impressionists, jugglers, magicians and ventriloquists, all vie for their chance to strut and perform on stage hoping to win America's hearts - and the $1 million prize.
Find the show online at http://www.nbc.com/americasgottalent/. Fans can "like" "AGT" on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/nbcagt and follow it on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbcagt.


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Welcome to techmeology.co.uk! Here you'll find a collection of stuff I've done that I think is cool (or at least useful to someone) enough be on the Internet. If you like what you find here, please share it with people!
I have an RSS feed of this blog.
This centrifuge is 3D printed by hand using a 3D pen.
It achieves an acceleration of about 400 × g using a 18.5 V laptop
This project is a metal detector using a frequency counting approach.
It can generate an audio output, or connect to a computer
using a 5 V TTL serial connection.
I wanted to be able to add stuff to my site in a more ad-hoc manner
than the current organisation permitted.
So I have added a blog.
I intend to continue adding projects to the index on the left, but I
will now be able to make blog posts too!
I hope this proves successful.
It's an experiment, at least:p
P.S: Some posts, such as this one, are short enough not to have their own pages.
P.S: Some posts, such as this one, are short enough not to have their own pages.
Chain Reversi is similar to Reversi, except the "sandwich" rule is
applied until no more sandwiches that convert cells to the player's
colour exist.
Additionally, the end game rule is changed: the player that is first
to make their opponent unable to move wins.
The circuit for this project is quite simple.
Its purpose is to adapt the GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi to the
voltages expected by the PIC.
It also provides LEDs for diagnostic purposes.
So, science is cool - we all know that.
It lets us explain why the universe has the properties it does.
Everything from why the sky is blue to how to use semiconductors to
build the computer on which you're reading this.
It also provides us with some fun excuses to supply to our parents:p
gr-scan is intended to scan a range of frequencies and print a list of
discovered signals.
It should work with any device that works with that block, including
Realtek RTL2832U devices.
This project is designed to discover anomalous behaviour
of a computer network. In many cases, this anomalous behaviour
may be malicious, but this may not always be the
case. This project is
at its most general an attempt to discover information about a computer network
from the incomplete information available to an end machine. It is this
attempt to discover information from an unprivileged position on the network
(but with administrative access to the local machine) in an unobtrusive
way that makes this project interesting.


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UH Hilo's College of Pharmacy extends reach to American Samoa
July 9, 2009
There's only one place in the small, far-flung U.S. territory of American Samoa for its 60,000-plus residents to fill their prescription needs.
Dr. Evelyn Ahhing-Faaiuaso oversees it all as the chief of pharmacy for the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center. She's one of only two pharmacists on this group of islands 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaiʻi and is the only one licensed in the U.S. That distinction presents tremendous challenges for her.
"There's such a great need for pharmacists in our setting," said Ahhing-Faaiuaso, who is a native of American Samoa. "There are not enough to serve our population."
That's where the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo hopes to step in. Three College of Pharmacy faculty members and two third-year pharmacy students recently spent a week in American Samoa to assess the hospital's pharmacy needs, educate medical staff and encourage island students to pursue a pharmacy career. The delegation returned on July 3.
"My hope is to promote pharmacy to students here so they take up the profession," Ahhing-Faaiuaso said, "and to return back home and serve our community."
Dr. Carolyn Ma, associate professor and chair for pharmacy practice and director of experiential education, first visited the hospital in March to determine how UH Hilo's burgeoning pharmacy program could help the territory now and in the long term, in line with its mission to improve the quality of health care in Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific. The College has begun a pre-pharmacy initiative at American Samoa Community College through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Ma said she was impressed by the hospital's successes despite its limited resources.
"The health care providers at the hospital do an incredible job with what they have, and I really admire and respect them for their dedication," Ma said.
Ma also is a member of an interdisciplinary health-care team from the June Jones Foundation, whose summer mission overlapped the College of Pharmacy's work in American Samoa. Jones, the head football coach at Southern Methodist University, worked with athletes at a football camp while his nonprofit medical mission donated $400,000 worth of supplies to the hospital. Members of the pharmacy delegation helped deliver those supplies.
Ma and Drs. Anita Ciarleglio and Scott Holuby, assistant professors in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, also offered continuing education classes for pharmacy staff, physicians and nurses. Topics included diabetes, hypertension and asthma, which are all prevalent in American Samoa, as well as the prevention of medication errors. The faculty attended rounds to offer assistance to providers, patients and families regarding their medications and to learn more about hospital functions.
"There's such a huge potential for pharmacy services, but they truly need more pharmacists who are familiar with the culture and sensitive to the needs of the Samoan people," Holuby said.
"We want to promote pharmacy as the beautiful profession that it is," Ciarleglio said. "It's a fine way to give back to one's community and serve others."
Ma's other purpose on this mission was to evaluate a potential partnership between the College and the hospital to place students in fourth-year, advanced pharmacy practice experiential rotations while encouraging island residents to consider a pharmacy career.
"It became apparent from this visit that certainly the LBJ medical center would welcome and benefit from fourth-year students to help build their inpatient pharmacy services, and also that our students could help promote the pharmacy profession at the intermediate, high school and community college levels," Ma said.
College of Pharmacy students Robert Esteban and Daniel Navas were selected for the medical mission and also will receive elective credits for their efforts. Both are third-year students on track to graduate with the College's inaugural class in 2011.
Esteban and Navas shared their educational journeys with a crowded classroom of community college students and encouraged them to follow a similar path.
"I hope I gave students the impression that they are able to make a difference in their communities, as well as their own lives, through education," said Esteban, a 32-year-old student from Honolulu.
Navas, 36, of Honolulu hopes he has piqued the interest of Samoan students so that one day they will help their islands.
"Understanding the culture is essential in communication and effective patient care," Navas said. "The situations I encountered here are real and complicated, and need real solutions despite limited resources."
The need for pharmacists here is great, Ahhing-Faaiuaso said, especially native-born people who understand the Samoan language and the islands' traditions. She received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy in 1987 and a doctorate in pharmacy in 2003. She took over the pharmacy in 2007 after gaining experience in retail pharmacy and at Tripler Army Medical Center on Oʻahu.
Ahhing-Faaiuaso is excited about the potential benefits for her hospital and the College of Pharmacy as the partnership evolves.
"An affiliation with UH Hilo would bring the current standards of pharmacy practice into our setting," Ahhing-Faaiuaso said, "and with the limited resources we have, we can meet them halfway with ongoing teaching for the students who will be spending time here."
The College of Pharmacy was awarded candidate accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education in July 2008. The College will be eligible for full accreditation when its first class of students graduates from the four-year program in 2011. It will welcome its third class of 90 students in August.
For more information about the College of Pharmacy, call (808) 933-2909 or email firstname.lastname@example.com.
See more news from 2009.