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Scott McCracken has observed that
To study popular fiction [...] is to study only a small part of popular culture. Nonetheless, written popular narratives can tell us much about who we are and about the society in which we live. [...] Popular fiction is both created by and a participant in social conflict. (1-2)Support for his view can be found in a variety of reports from the 2015 Romance Writers of America conference. Suleikha Snyder, for instance, found the conference a source of enjoyment and comradeship but also felt there was what could almost be considered a parallel RWA conference,
Here are a few of Rebekah Weatherspoon's comments in a similar vein:The one where publishers still don't quite know what to do with multicultural and queer romance. [...]The one where you feel as though your presence is just barely being tolerated, and these other women are indulging you as long as you stay quiet and don't draw too much attention.This other conference was a convergence of microaggressions. From being side-eyed in elevators to having us confused for each other — Falguni Kothari and Alisha Rai are not the same person, FYI — to being told that diverse books were not a priority for Pocket/Gallery...there was a thread of something that was almost like resentment. "Why do we have to talk about diversity?" "Why are there so many of you here?" "My God, can't you all be quiet and go away, so we can go back to the way it was before?"
A collection of tweets from the RWA panel on "Diversity in Romance: Why it Matters", at which Weatherspoon was one of the panellists, has been compiled by Alisha Rai and the handout from Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart, K. M. Jackson and Falguni Kothari's workshop on "Multicultural Romance: When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong - and How to Make it Right" is now online too.
From an academic point of view, all of this reinforced for me a number of points most/all romance scholars are aware of:
* Romance, like all popular culture, reflects (and sometimes explicitly reflects on) the social/cultural/economic context from which it emerges and that context is not solely the context of white, middle-aged, cis-sexual, heterosexual women of the kind studied by Janice Radway. It never was, of course, and it certainly isn't now.
* This means that while it may be tempting to claim romance as a bastion of one particular point of view and/or make generalisations about romance (e.g. "romance is feminist!", "romance authors are supportive of one another!") such claims need to be qualified.
* If our collective body of work (both written and pedagogical) is not to present a misleading and/or incomplete picture of popular romance fiction we must make romance fiction's diversity apparent to our readers/students.
Any other conclusions romance scholars could benefit from bearing in mind?
[Edited to add: Jessica Miller's reflections on the conference focus on
socioeconomic class issues. Here are a few random examples:It barely needs saying given the number of romance protagonists who are billionaires/tycoons/rich aristocrats, but issues of socioeconomic class are also present in romance fiction itself.]
1. Meetings at the Broadway Lounge in the conference hotel. So many meetings happened there, both scheduled and informal. A drink at the lounge will set you back $10-15 plus tip.
2. Dressing for the conference and the RITAs. There's a lot we can say about the gendered nature of the term "business casual", (does it ever apply to men?), the beauty norms, etc. But I'm thinking about the cost of showing up for the meetings, the cocktail parties, and the RITAs. And the issue isn't even just having to dress up. I think a middle class woman can show up in casual clothes and not feel bad about it. Someone in a different situation might find it important to dress to hide her economic status ("Dress for success!" "Dress for the position you want, not the one you have!" etc.).
McCracken, Scott. Pulp: Reading Popular Fiction. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1998.


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Lil Wayne will release the first single from his forthcoming I Am Not A Human Being II album tomorrow (June 1st), which is called "My Homies Still" and features Big Sean. The crazy thing about this collaboration, especially the song title, is that Weezy and Sean's G.O.O.D Music label-mate Pusha T currently have beef. Anyways, you can check out the single cover above and don't forget to visit LilWayneHQ.com tomorrow to listen to the record!
After the jump, you can watch some more behind the scenes footage from French Montana's "Pop That" video shoot featuring Tunechi, Drake and Rick Ross.
Shouts to RU


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A Guide to Head Hopping: Person and Point of View
The person that you write your story in will have a big effect on your Point of View. Person is whether you tell the story as if it were happening to you – I pulled up my gun and yelled "This is a stick up!" The advantage of first person is the immediacy. The reader is right there with the character and knows everything the character knows though sometimes the narrator is untrustworthy and withholds information. The challenge with first person is that the character can't read minds or know what is going on in the next county so you have to use a lot of dialogue and other tricks to show the story in its fullest to the reader. While there are a few first person novels that switch POV to another first person narrator, they are few and far between. The ones that do it well are even fewer. If you are going to change into a different first person POV, you not only have to change the POV, but you need to change the voice of the narrator so it doesn't read like one character with two different names. It is possible to mix first person and third person, but again, voice is essential as is making clear whose head the reader is inhabiting.
Third person is when we sit back a bit further and use 'he' or 'she' instead of 'I' – Jim Bob ran into the bank waving his gun and yelled. "This is a stick up!" You have to work a little harder with third person to achieve immediacy because the reader is at that much greater distance from the character. The advantage is that you have a wider field of view. You can have the bank guard pull his gun to shoot Jim Bob in the back, and Jim Bob doesn't know it. You can't do that in first person.
There are a range of options in third person stories. You can stay pretty close to ol' Jim Bob and just describe the action in the bank. Or you can pull back and watch the bank robbery in progress, but also comment on the action further away. The danger is that you lose even more connection with your character. There is also a style that is even further back called the omniscient narrator. In that case the narrator knows everything including what is going on in other people's heads. This is rarely used these days.
So now we've defined the different persons a story can be written in, and some of the varieties of POV. Let's look at that bank robbery and see what head hopping does.
Jim Bob ran into the bank, his heart pounding. He was finally going to do it. He was making the big time. "Hands in the air!" he yelled, "this is a stick up!" People looked at him with looks ranging from fearful to puzzled. Oh yeah, Jim Bob thought, the gun. He pulled his gun and shot a hole in the ceiling. Now he had their attention.
Frank was cleaning his nails when the idiot ran into the bank yelling about a stick up. Somebody high on something. He didn't even have a gun. Then the idot pulled his gun and blew a hole in the ceiling. Plaster dust wafted down on the screaming customers. Frank pulled his gun and took careful aim at the bank robber's back before pulling the trigger.
Marion was counting hundred dollar bills for Mr. Smythe when she heard a shot, but she felt a sharp pain in her chest before she could push the alarm. Her legs gave way and she fell to the floor.
Mr. Smythe didn't know what to do. Was the money on the counter still the banks, and thus insured, or was it his and not covered? He felt the hot steel of a gun barrel poke the back of his neck and decided that perhaps it didn't matter after all.
Jim Bob grabbed the rich dude and spun him around to be a shield between him and the bank guard. He fired two shots at the guard.
Mr. Smythe's ears rang. He might be permanently deaf from the noise.
Frank forced his shaking hand to be still and fired back.
Dang it, Mr. Smythe thought, that's going to ruin my suit. Then he fell dead to the floor.
Jim Bob put both hands on his gun and emptied it at the blasted guard.
Frank knelt on the floor and steadied his hands before emptying his gun at the robber.
"Freeze," shouted Sheriff Jones as he ran into the bank followed by his deputies. The bank robber and some old geezer in a guard uniform were pointing guns at each other and pulling the trigger though only the clicks of a dry fired gun sounded.
It was Deputy Bill's first day on the job and he was pumped that they were responding to a bank robbery. That is until he saw the bloody corpses of employees and customers sprawled on the floor. He staggered outside to lose his donuts in the bushes.
I got confused about what was happening and I was writing the scene. That's an extreme example, but even if you had several paragraphs for each POV it would be hard to follow. The problem is that we aren't inside someone's head long enough to empathize with them. If you re-wrote the scene all from one character's POV you could create some emotional connection. The way I have it, it is more like telling than showing, even without the usual markers for telling. You can get much more out of the story that way. I'll show you what I mean.
Jim Bob ran into the bank, his heart pounding. He was finally going to do it. He was making the big time. "Hands in the air!" he yelled, "this is a stick up!" People looked at him with looks ranging from fearful to puzzled. Oh yeah, Jim Bob thought, the gun. He pulled his gun and shot a hole in the ceiling. Now he had their attention. The customers were screaming and running around in a panic. He was THE MAN. There was a teller counting out bills for a guy in a suit. They looked like hundreds. He wanted some of them.
Jim Bob pushed his way to the counter. He heard a shot from behind him and the teller made this funny gasp as red blood stained her blouse. As she slipped from sight, Jim Bob grabbed hold of the guy in the suit who looked like he was dithering over the money. The guy would be a good hostage. Jim Bob poked him with the barrel of his gun, then spun around.
There! An old geezer in a uniform was pointing a gun at them. Jim Bob fired a couple of rounds at the old guy. This gun thing was harder than it looked. He missed the old guy completely though a customer that was hiding behind the guard swore softly and fell to the floor. The old guy fired back and the suit grunted and fell to the floor. Jim Bob had nowhere to hide. He had to take this guy out. He put both hands on his gun like they did on the shows and pulled the trigger.
The sound of his shots and the old guy's were deafening. But he couldn't stop. It was kill or be killed. He was still pulling the trigger when the Sherriff barrelled in through the door and shouted.
Jim Bob stopped pulling the trigger. He didn't know how long his gun had been just clicking instead of banging. The bank looked like a battle zone. There were dead and injured people lying on the floor and he could smell the blood, and other things. One deputy went white and ran out the door faster than he came in.
It is possible to write a good story with quick multiple POV, but it is a challenge. Check this story for an example The Drive Past Devil's Butte


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AES San Francisco 2010
Tutorial T2
Thursday, November 4, 11:30 am — 1:00 pm (Room 130)
T2 - Equalization—Are You Getting the Most Out of this Humble Effect?
Alex U. Case, University of Massachusetts Lowell - Lowell, MA, USA
Track by track, mix by mix, we reach for equalization constantly. Easy at first, EQ becomes more intuitive when you have a deep understanding of the parameters, types, and technologies used—plus deep knowledge of the spectral content of the most common pop and rock instruments. Alex Case offers a routine for applying EQ and strategies for its use: fixing problems, enhancing features, fitting the spectral pieces together, and more.


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I run an online gradebook. To keep student data private, I transfer all data over https.
Now, I'd like to use localStorage to avoid redundant calculations and server requests. However, according to the HTML5 spec, local storage is unencrypted.
Is there an industry standard for handling user expectations here? I could imagine prompting users with something like "Do you want to use local storage? It will make everything faster, but if your computer is compromised student data could be stolen. If this is a public computer, choose 'No.'"
What trends are there for the UX side of this?


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Senate Bill No. 28
(By Senator Green)
[Originating in the Committee on Health and Human Resources;
reported March 15, 2013.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §16-38-3 and §16-38-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to tattoo studio business; prohibiting minors under the age of sixteen from obtaining a tattoo; requiring that a parent or legal guardian be present at the tattoo studio and provide photo identification and written consent for minors sixteen years of age or older; and providing for criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §16-38-3 and §16-38-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
§16-38-3. Operation standards.
(a) Records. -–
(1) Proper records of tattoos administered shall be maintained for each patron by the holder of the studio registration;
(2) A record shall be prepared for each patron prior to any procedure being performed and shall include the patron's name and signature, address, age, date tattooed, design of the tattoo, location of the tattoo on the patron's body and the name of the tattoo artist who performed the work;
(3) Record entries shall be in ink or indelible pencil and shall be available for examination by the inspecting authorities provided in section six of this article;
(4) Before tattoo administration, the owner or tattoo artist shall discuss with the patron the risks involved in the tattoo requested, including the potential that a tattoo may interfere with the clinical reading of a magnetic resonance imaging study should the patron intending to be tattooed ever encounter a medical need for such a study. The owner shall provide the patron with written information regarding the possible complications that may arise from receiving a tattoo. The written information shall be prepared by the Department of Health and Human Resources. Receipt of the information shall be acknowledged in writing by the patron. The owner or tattoo artist shall also keep and maintain the acknowledgment as part of the patron's record pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (5) of this subsection;
(5) All records required by this section shall be kept on file for five years by the holder of the studio registration for the studio in which the tattoo was performed.
(b) Consent. --
(1) Prior written consent for tattooing of minors shall be obtained from one parent or guardian A person under the age of sixteen may not be tattooed. A minor sixteen years of age or older, may not be tattooed without the written consent of the parent or legal guardian. This consent must be executed in the presence of the tattoo artist or responsible person at the studio by the parent or legal guardian at the time the tattooing is to commence. Photographic identification of the parent or legal guardian is required;
(2) All written consents shall be kept on file for five years by the holder of the studio registration for the tattoo studio in which the tattoo was performed;
(3) The person receiving the tattoo shall attest to the fact that he or she is not intoxicated or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
(c) Tattooing procedures. --
(1) Printed instructions on the care of the skin after tattooing shall be given to each patron as a precaution to prevent infection;
(2) A copy of the printed instructions shall be posted in a conspicuous place, clearly visible to the person being tattooed;
(3) Each tattoo artist shall wear a clean outer garment, i.e., apron, smock, t-shirt, etc.;
(4) Tattoo artists who are experiencing diarrhea, vomiting, fever, rash, productive cough, jaundice, draining or open skin infections such as boils which could be indicative of more serious conditions such as, but not limited to, impetigo, scabies, hepatitis-b, HIV or AIDS shall refrain from tattooing activities until such time as they are no longer experiencing or exhibiting the aforementioned symptoms;
(5) Before working on each patron, the fingernails and hands of the tattoo artist shall be thoroughly washed and scrubbed with hot running water, antibacterial soap and an individual hand brush that is clean and in good repair;
(6) The tattoo artist's hands shall be air blown dried or dried by a single-use towel. In addition, disposable latex examination gloves shall be worn during the tattoo process. The gloves shall be changed each time there is an interruption in the tattoo application, the gloves become torn or punctured or whenever their ability to function as a barrier is compromised;
(7) Only sterilized or single-use, disposable razors shall be used to shave the area to be tattooed;
(8) Immediately prior to beginning the tattoo procedure, the affected skin area shall be treated with an antibacterial solution;
(9) If an acetate stencil is used by a tattoo artist for transferring the design to the skin, the acetate stencil shall be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed in a germicidal solution for at least twenty minutes and then dried with sterile gauze or dried in the air on a sanitized surface after each use;
(10) If a paper stencil is used by a tattoo artist for transferring the design to the skin, the paper stencil shall be single-use and disposable;
(11) If the design is drawn directly onto the skin, the design shall be applied with a single-use article only.
(d) Dyes or pigments. --
(1) Only nontoxic sterile dyes or pigments shall be used and shall be prepared in sterilized or disposable single-use containers for each patron;
(2) After tattooing, the unused dye or pigment in the single-use containers shall be discarded along with the container;
(3) All dyes or pigments used in tattooing shall be from professional suppliers specifically providing dyes or pigments for the tattooing of human skin.
(e) Sterilization of needles. --
(1) A set of individual, sterilized needles shall be used for each patron;
(2) No less than twenty-four sets of sterilized needles and tubes shall be on hand for the entire day or night operation. Unused sterilized instruments shall be resterilized at intervals of no more than six months from the date of the last sterilization;
(3) Used, nondisposable instruments shall be kept in a separate, puncture resistant container until brush scrubbed in hot water and soap and then sterilized by autoclaving;
(4) If used instruments are ultrasonically cleaned prior to being placed in the used instrument container, they shall be ultrasonically cleaned and then rinsed under running hot water prior to being placed in the used instrument container;
(5) The ultrasonic unit shall be sanitized daily with a germicidal solution;
(6) If used instruments are not ultrasonically cleaned prior to being placed in the used instrument container, they shall be kept in a germicidal or soap solution until brush scrubbed in hot water and soap and then sterilized by autoclaving;
(7) All nondisposable instruments, including the needle tubes, shall be sterilized and shall be handled and stored in such a manner as to prevent contamination. Instruments to be sterilized shall be sealed in bags made specifically for the purpose of autoclave sterilization and shall include the date of sterilization. If nontransparent sterilization bags are utilized, the bag shall also list the contents;
(8) Autoclave sterilization bags, with a color code indicator which changes color upon proper steam sterilization, shall be utilized during the autoclave sterilization process;
(9) Instruments shall be placed in the autoclave in such a manner as to allow live steam to circulate around them;
(10) No Rusty, defective or faulty instruments shall may not be kept in the studio.
(f) Aftercare of tattoo. --
The completed tattoo shall be washed with a single-use towel saturated with an antibacterial solution.
§16-38-7. Violations and penalties.
Any owner of a tattoo studio who does not obtain a West Virginia business registration certificate, who does not register with their local or regional board of health, or who fails to request an inspection pursuant to section six of this article, or who administers a tattoo to a minor under sixteen years of age or administers a tattoo to a minor sixteen years of age or older without proper parental consent set forth in this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, for a first offense, may have all of the tattoo equipment and paraphernalia confiscated and shall be fined $100. For a second offense, which is a misdemeanor, the owner may have all of the tattoo equipment and paraphernalia confiscated and shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 or confined in county or regional jail not less than ten days nor more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned confined. For a third offense, which is a misdemeanor, the owner shall have all the tattoo equipment and paraphernalia confiscated, shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000, or confined in county or regional jail not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned confined. For a third or subsequent offense, the local health department may also suspend or revoke the owner's business registration certificate to operate a tattoo studio business.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit minors under the age of sixteen from obtaining a tattoo. The bill requires a parent or legal guardian to be present at the tattoo studio, provide photo identification and written consent for minors sixteen years of age or older obtaining a tattoo. The bill also provides for penalties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.


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Tag Archives: Environment
Supply chain is where 80% or more of any company's costs and risks lie. It also presents a window of opportunity that can produce great results when right sort of interventions are geared towards it. This can help the companies to stay competitive and focused. British supermarket retailer ASDA is one of the examples that revolutionized its supply chain management and saved £11 Million along with reduction of CO2 by 35,000 tons so far. About ASDA ASDA Stores Ltd is a British supermarket retailer with its headquarter located in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The company was found in 1965 and since then have become a subsidiary of the American retail giant Walmart. It was estimated to be the second largest supermarket chain in Britain between 2003 and 2014 by market share and is currently third behind Tesco and Sainsbury's. The vision ASDA was not naive to the fact that as one of the largest retailers in Britain, whatever they do will have an impact on the sector. They take this responsibility very seriously therefore they devised three aspirational goals that guides all their work, To be supplied by 100% renewable energy To create zero waste To sell products that sustain people and the environment. Julian Walker-Palin, head of corporate sustainability at Asda, said: "At Asda, our approach to sustainability is based on the belief that protecting the environment and saving people money go hand in hand. After all, wasting resources means wasting money – and we hate waste of any kind." Challenge: Since 2005, ASDA has worked towards minimizing environmental impact of their operations. This saved them £80m that was invested into delivering lower prices to their customers. They saw great benefits from adopting sustainable measures with cost savings of 101-126Million Euros and a sizable resource efficiency. Being aware of the influence they had across their supply chain and with the knowledge that 90% of their environmental impact lies within their supply base, ASDA thought of devising a mechanism that would help their over 300 suppliers find efficiencies in resource management and build resilience.


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Cover Image for January 2007 issue of JGE. An anaglyph stereo map of Crater Lake constructed from the USGS East and West Crater Lake DRGs and DEMs. The lake bathymetry produced by James V. Gardner, Larry A. Mayer, and Mark Butenica was merged into the USGS topographic data. Anaglyph maps like this one allow most students to more easily grasp the land surface geometry that topographic maps try to convey. Red/Blue 3D glasses allow viewing of this image in 3 dimensions.
Image 8512 is a 3000 by 3000 pixel JPEG
Mar8 07


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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A federal judge has scheduled a closed-door meeting Thursday to discuss BP's agreement to plead guilty to criminal charges stemming from its deadly 2010 rig explosion and response to the massive Gulf oil spill.
BP PLC is expected plead not guilty on Tuesday during its initial court appearance and then plead guilty at a later date. U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance plans to meet Thursday in her chambers with prosecutors and BP attorneys to discuss scheduling matters.
Earlier this month, BP agreed to pay a record $4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to a raft of charges to resolve the Justice Department's criminal probe of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The deal, which is subject to Vance's approval, calls for BP to plead guilty to charges involving the deaths of 11 rig workers and for lying to Congress about how much oil was spewing from its blown-out well.
Meanwhile, BP rig supervisors Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine and former BP executive David Rainey are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on criminal charges related to the blowout and spill response.
Kaluza and Vidrine are charged with manslaughter in the rig workers' deaths. They are accused of disregarding abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been glaring indications of trouble just before the blowout.
Rainey is charged with concealing information from Congress about the amount of oil that was spewing from BP's Macondo well.


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A couple weeks ago I mentioned on my Twitter page that I was competing with my neighbor in a cocktail pour-off. I couldn't share my recipe then, because spying eyes from across the lawn could not be trusted. Truth be told, I was in over my head on this one and needed any advantage I could get. In the end my neighbor Kathy won with her refreshing and seasonal "Dirty Ramp-tinis." She pickled the ramps, then poured ice cold gin over them and drizzled a bit of the pickling juice into the glass. They were simple perfection. I bowed my head to her after the first sip. My creations were dessert to her cocktail appetizers. I, of course, went for something with a bit of sweetness, but also tart and refreshing. I have been known to enjoy my sparkling beverages in the form of cava, prosecco and champagne; it was bound to be featured it in the glass. I had candied kumquats in my cupboard and lemongrass in my crisper drawer, so a citrus theme was born. I made a Meyer lemon and lemongrass sorbet to float in the champagne. I came in second (it was just the two of us competing), but I think I could have won against anything other than the "Dirty Ramp-tinis." I did get extra points for presentation; I used my grandmother's glasses and the drink really was lovely.
As I was enjoying my "Lemongrass Champagne Fizz Cocktail" I was already planning to make these same ingredients into a simple lemon champagne mint granita. Granita is like the rugged cousin of the sorbet. It has large crystals of flavored ice that require nothing but a basic freezer to make. It is perfect for those without an ice cream maker or those, like me, who just forgot to freeze the one I do own. It also doesn't require a precise recipe to freeze smooth, since part of its charm is the icy texture.


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text:
Twentieth Evening
"I come from Rome," the Moon said. "There on one of the seven hills in the middle of the city are the ruins of the Emperor's palace. The wild fig tree grows in the breaches of the wall, and covers its bareness with broad, gray-green leaves. The donkey treads on the green laurels and enjoys the barren thistle among heaps of rubbish. To this spot, from which the Roman eagles once flew out over the world, and came, saw, and conquered, an entrance now leads through a humble little house, built of clay, and wedged between two broken marble columns. Vine tendrils hang down like a mourning wreath over the crooked window.
"An old woman lives there with her little granddaughter. They are now the rulers of the Emperor's palace, and show the place to tourists. A bare wall is all that remains of the magnificent throne hall, and the long shadow of a dark cypress points to the spot where the throne once stood. There is earth a yard high on the broken floor. The little girl, now the daughter of the Emperor's palace, often sits there on her stool while the evening bells ring. Through the keyhole of a near-by door, which she calls her balcony window, she can overlook half of Rome, as far as the mighty dome of St. Peter's.
"The evening as always, was still, and down below the little girl was walking in my full clear light. Carrying an antique earthen pitcher of water on her head, she was barefooted, and her short skirt and little sleeves were torn. I kissed the child's finely rounded shoulders, her black eyes, and her dark, shining hair. She mounted the steps up to the house, which were steep and formed of broken bits of masonry and a crumbled column. Spotted lizards ran frightened past her feet, but she was not afraid of them. Her hand was raised to ring the doorbell - a rabbit's foot suspended from a string was now the bell handle at the Emperor's palace - but she paused for a moment. What was she thinking of? Perhaps of the beautiful image of the infant Jesus, clad in silver and gold, in the chapel below, where the silver lamps burned, and where her little friends sang the hymn she knew so well. I do not know. She moved, and stumbled. The earthern pitcher fell from her head and crashed on the marble step! She burst into tears; the beautiful daughter of the Emperor's palace wept over a cheap, broken clay pitcher. She stood there barefooted and wept, and dared not pull the string, the bell rope at the Emperor's palace."


text:
Join Chris Foster, Dr. Gary Puckrein, Rex Repass and Patrick Pho for their workshop, Just Five More Seconds of Mindshare? Use the Best Strategies and Tools to Reach Your Audience!, on Sunday, October 16, 2011 4:45 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the PRSA 2011 International Conference, Oct. 15–18 in Orlando, Fla.!
Picture this: It's another Monday morning. As you step out of bed, you are beginning to mentally prepare for the thirteen meetings that stagger ahead on your manic schedule. While gradually awakening, you emerge to commence your daily routine… pick up the paper, make the coffee, pop the English muffin into the toaster and turn on your computer – ready to respond to a series of instant messages and e-mails aggregated in your inbox from the time you kissed the kids goodnight at 11PM until the time the alarm clock went off at 5:45AM. You want to be in the office by 7, so you quickly rush through your calendar reminders to ensure you are on time and aware of all of your obligations. You enjoy that one last sip of coffee before jumping into your suit and you wave goodbye to you family (who are just now waking up). After shutting the car door, you immediately turn on your Bluetooth (allowing you to multitask even more!) and quickly dial-in for your weekly Monday morning staff call. Turning on your mental auto pilot, you suddenly realize you're 20 minutes into the call and you've been asked to provide your projections for the week. What did you gather from the first half of the call?
We've all been in similar situations before – and it's likely our audiences have been through the same. Overtaxed for time, how do we retain our audiences' undivided attention?
In a world with increasing distractions, it can be difficult to get the concentration of your audience and it is a challenge to understand what resonates with them and why. As professional communicators, we are constantly looking for ways to break through the clutter, capture our audience's full attention and figure out how we can improve audience engagement and response.
In your personal and professional experience, have you ever been overwhelmed with information during a presentation? Have you ever wondered how we can prevent such issues in the future? Maybe measurements and evaluations can help us to cut through all the clutter?
If any of this sounds interesting to you join me, Chris Foster, Principal, Booz Allen Hamilton, along with three distinguished panelist – Dr. Gary Puckrein, President and CEO, National Minority Quality Forum, Rex Repass, President and CEO, R.L. Repass & Partners, and Patrick Pho, Online Analyst, New Media Strategies – for the Just Five More Seconds of Mindshare? workshop on Sunday, October 16, 2011 4:45 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes.
Chris Foster is a principal of strategy and organization at Booz Allen Hamilton. Previously, Chris was as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer at Columbia University, Western Kentucky University and Howard University teaching on topics ranging from strategic communications to health policy. Chris is active in the regional chapter of the American Heart Association and serves on the Board of Directors for the Child Family Network Center.
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text:
The maske of Cupid, and th'enchaunted
Chamber are displayd,
Whence Britomart redeemes faire
Amoret, through charmes decayd.
T Ho when as chearelesse Night ycouered had
Faire heauen with an vniuersall cloud,
That euery wight dismayd with darknesse sad,
In silence and in sleepe themselues did shroud,
She heard a shrilling Trompet sound aloud,
Signe of nigh battell, or got victory;
Nought therewith daunted was her courage proud,
But rather stird to cruell enmity,
Expecting euer, when some foe she might descry.With that, an hideous storme of winde arose,
With dreadfull thunder and lightning atwixt,
And an earth-quake, as if it streight would lose
The worlds foundations from his centre fixt;
A direfull stench of smoke and sulphure mixt
Ensewd, whose noyance fild the fearefull sted,
From the fourth houre of night vntill the sixt;
Yet the bold Britonesse was nought ydred,
Though much emmou'd, but stedfast still perseuered.All suddenly a stormy whirlwind blew
Throughout the house, that clapped euery dore,
With which that yron wicket open flew,
As it with mightie leuers had bene tore:
And forth issewd, as on the ready flore
Of some Theatre, a graue personage,
That in his hand a branch of laurell bore,
With comely haueour and count'nance sage,
Yclad in costly garments, fit for tragicke Stage.Proceeding to the midst, he still did stand,
As if in mind he somewhat had to say,
And to the vulgar beckning with his hand,
In signe of silence, as to heare a play,
By liuely actions he gan bewray
Some argument of matter passioned;
Which doen, he backe retyred soft away,
And passing by, his name discouered,
Ease, on his robe in golden letters cyphered.The noble Mayd, still standing all this vewd,
And merueild at his strange intendiment;
With that a ioyous fellowship issewd
Of Minstrals, making goodly meriment,
With wanton Bardes, and Rymers impudent,
All which together sung full chearefully
A lay of loues delight, with sweet consent:
After whom marcht a iolly company,
In manner of a maske, enranged orderly.The whiles a most delitious harmony,
In full straunge notes was sweetly heard to sound,
That the rare sweetnesse of the melody
The feeble senses wholly did confound,
And the fraile soule in deepe delight nigh dround:
And when it ceast, shrill trompets loud did bray,
That their report did farre away rebound,
And when they ceast, it gan againe to play,
The whiles the maskers marched forth in trim aray.The first was Fancy, like a louely boy,
Of rare aspect, and beautie without peare;
Matchable either to that ympe of Troy,
Whom Ioue did loue, and chose his cup to beare,
Or that same daintie lad, which was so deare
To great Alcides, that when as he dyde,
He wailed womanlike with many a teare,
And euery wood, and euery valley wyde
He fild with Hylas name; the Nymphes eke Hylas cryde.His garment neither was of silke nor say,
But painted plumes, in goodly order dight,
Like as the sunburnt Indians do aray
Their tawney bodies, in their proudest plight:
As those same plumes, so seemd he vaine and light,
That by his gate might easily appeare;
For still he far'd as dauncing in delight,
And in his hand a windy fan did beare,
That in the idle aire he mou'd still here and there.And him beside marcht amorous Desyre,
Who seemd of riper yeares, then th'other Swaine,
Yet was that other swayne this elders syre,
And gaue him being, commune to them twaine:
His garment was disguised very vaine,
And his embrodered Bonet sat awry;
Twixt both his hands few sparkes he close did straine,
Which still he blew, and kindled busily,
That soone they life conceiu'd, & forth in flames did fly.Next after him went Doubt, who was yclad
In a discolour'd cote, of straunge disguyse,
That at his backe a brode Capuccio had,
And sleeues dependant Albanese-wyse:
He lookt askew with his mistrustfull eyes,
And nicely trode, as thornes lay in his way,
Or that the flore to shrinke he did auyse,
And on a broken reed he still did stay
His feeble steps, which shrunke, when hard theron he lay.With him went Daunger, cloth'd in ragged weed,
Made of Beares skin, that him more dreadfull made,
Yet his owne face was dreadfull, ne did need
Straunge horrour, to deforme his griesly shade;
A net in th'one hand, and a rustie blade
In th'other was, this Mischiefe, that Mishap;
With th'one his foes he threatned to inuade,
With th'other he his friends ment to enwrap:
For whom he could not kill, he practizd to entrap.Next him was Feare, all arm'd from top to toe,
Yet thought himselfe not safe enough thereby,
But feard each shadow mouing to and fro,
And his owne armes when glittering he did spy,
Or clashing heard, he fast away did fly,
As ashes pale of hew, and wingyheeld;
And euermore on daunger fixt his eye,
Gainst whom he alwaies bent a brasen shield,
Which his right hand vnarmed fearefully did wield.With him went Hope in rancke, a handsome Mayd,
Of chearefull looke and louely to behold;
In silken samite she was light arayd,
And her faire lockes were wouen vp in gold;
She alway smyld, and in her hand did hold
An holy water Sprinckle, dipt in deowe,
With which she sprinckled fauours manifold,
On whom she list, and did great liking sheowe,
Great liking vnto many, but true loue to feowe.And after them Dissemblance, and Suspect
Marcht in one rancke, yet an vnequall paire:
For she was gentle, and of milde aspect,
Courteous to all, and seeming debonaire,
Goodly adorned, and exceeding faire:
Yet was that all but painted, and purloynd,
And her bright browes were deckt with borrowed haire:
Her deedes were forged, and her words false coynd,
And alwaies in her hand two clewes of silke she twynd.But he was foule, ill fauoured, and grim,
Vnder his eyebrowes looking still askaunce;
And euer as Dissemblance laught on him,
He lowrd on her with daungerous eyeglaunce;
Shewing his nature in his countenance;
His rolling eyes did neuer rest in place,
But walkt each where, for feare of hid mischaunce,
Holding a lattice still before his face,
Through which he still did peepe, as forward he did pace.Next him went Griefe, and Fury matcht yfere;
Griefe all in sable sorrowfully clad,
Downe hanging his dull head, with heauy chere,
Yet inly being more, then seeming sad:
A paire of Pincers in his hand he had,
With which he pinched people to the hart,
That from thenceforth a wretched life they lad,
In wilfull languor and consuming smart,
Dying each day with inward wounds of dolours dart.But Fury was full ill appareiled
In rags, that naked nigh she did appeare,
With ghastly lookes and dreadfull drerihed;
For from her backe her garments she did teare,
And from her head oft rent her snarled heare:
In her right hand a firebrand she did tosse
About her head, still roming here and there;
As a dismayed Deare in chace embost,
Forgetfull of his safety, hath his right way lost.After them went Displeasure and Pleasance,
He looking lompish and full sullein sad,
And hanging downe his heauy countenance;
She chearefull fresh and full of ioyance glad,
As if no sorrow she ne felt ne drad;
That euill matched paire they seemd to bee:
An angry Waspe th'one in a viall had
Th'other in hers an hony-lady Bee;
Thus marched these sixe couples forth in faire degree.After all these there marcht a most faire Dame,
Led of two grysie villeins, th'one Despight,
The other cleped Cruelty by name:
She dolefull Lady, like a dreary Spright,
Cald by strong charmes out of eternall night,
Had deathes owne image figurd in her face,
Full of sad signes, fearefull to liuing sight;
Yet in that horror shewd a seemely grace,
And with her feeble feet did moue a comely pace.Her brest all naked, as net iuory,
Without adorne of gold or siluer bright,
Wherewith the Craftesman wonts it beautify,
Of her dew honour was despoyled quight,
And a wide wound therein (O ruefull sight)
Entrenched deepe with knife accursed keene,
Yet freshly bleeding forth her fainting spright,
(The worke of cruell hand) was to be seene,
That dyde in sanguine red her skin all snowy cleene.At that wide orifice her trembling hart
Was drawne forth, and in siluer basin layd,
Quite through transfixed with a deadly dart,
And in her bloud yet steeming fresh embayd:
And those two villeins, which her steps vpstayd,
When her weake feete could scarcely her sustaine,
And fading vitall powers gan to fade,
Her forward still with torture did constraine,
And euermore encreased her consuming paine.Next after her the winged God himselfe
Came riding on a Lion rauenous,
Taught to obay the menage of that Elfe,
That man and beast with powre imperious
Subdeweth to his kingdome tyrannous:
His blindfold eyes he bad a while vnbind,
That his proud spoyle of that same dolorous
Faire Dame he might behold in perfect kind;
Which seene, he much reioyced in his cruell mind.Of which full proud, himselfe vp rearing hye,
He looked round about with sterne disdaine;
And did suruay his goodly company:
And marshalling the euill ordered traine,
With that the darts which his right hand did straine,
Full dreadfully he shooke that all did quake,
And clapt on hie his coulourd winges twaine,
That all his many it affraide did make:
Tho blinding him againe, his way he forth did take.Behinde him was Reproch, Repentance, Shame;
Reproch the first, Shame next, Repent behind:
Repentance feeble, sorrowfull, and lame:
Reproch despightfull, carelesse, and vnkind;
Shame most ill fauourd, bestiall, and blind:
Shame lowrd, Repentance sigh'd, Reproch did scould;
Reproch sharpe stings, Repentance whips entwind,
Shame burning brond-yrons in her hand did hold:
All three to each vnlike, yet all made in one mould.And after them a rude confused rout
Of persons flockt, whose names is hard to read:
Emongst them was sterne Strife, and Anger stout,
Vnquiet Care, and fond Vnthriftihead,
Lewd Losse of Time, and Sorrow seeming dead,
Inconstant Chaunge, and false Disloyaltie,
Consuming Riotise, and guilty Dread
Of heauenly vengeance, faint Infirmitie,
Vile Pouertie, and lastly Death with infamie.There were full many moe like maladies,
Whose names and natures I note readen well;
So many moe, as there be phantasies
In wauering wemens wit, that none can tell,
Or paines in loue, or punishments in hell;
All which disguized marcht in masking wise,
About the chamber with that Damozell,
And then returned, hauing marched thrise,
Into the inner roome, from whence they first did rise.So soone as they were in, the dore streight way
Fast locked, driuen with that stormy blast,
Which first it opened; and bore all away.
Then the braue Maid, which all this while was plast,
In secret shade, and saw both first and last,
Issewed forth, and went vnto the dore,
To enter in, but found it locked fast:
It vaine she thought with rigorous vprore
For to efforce, when charmes had closed it afore.Where force might not auaile, their sleights and art
She cast to vse, both fit for hard emprize;
For thy, from that same roome not to depart
Till morrow next, she did her selfe auize,
When that same Maske againe should forth arize.
The morrow next appeard with ioyous cheare,
Calling men to their daily exercize,
Then she, as morrow fresh, her selfe did reare
Out of her secret stand, that day for to out weare.All that day she outwore in wandering,
And gazing on that Chambers ornament,
Till that againe the second euening
Her couered with her sable vestiment,
Wherewith the worlds faire beautie she hath blent:
Then when the second watch was almost past,
That brasen dore flew open, and in went
Bold Britomart, as she had late forecast,
Neither of idle shewes, nor of false charmes aghast.So soone as she was entred, round about
She cast her eies, to see what was become
Of all those persons, which she saw without:
But lo, they streight were vanisht all and some,
Ne liuing wight she saw in all that roome,
Saue that same woefull Ladie, both whose hands
Were bounden fast, that did her ill become,
And her small wast girt round with yron bands,
Vnto a brasen pillour, by the which she stands.And her before the vile Enchaunter sate,
Figuring straunge characters of his art,
With liuing bloud he those characters wrate,
Dreadfully dropping from her dying hart,
Seeming transfixed with a cruell dart,
And all perforce to make her him to loue.
Ah who can loue the worker of her smart?
A thousand charmes he formerly did proue;
Yet thousand charmes could not her stedfast heart remoue.Soone as that virgin knight he saw in place,
His wicked bookes in hast he ouerthrew,
Not caring his long labours to deface,
And fiercely ronning to that Lady trew,
A murdrous knife out of his pocket drew,
The which he thought, for villeinous despight,
In her tormented bodie to embrew:
But the stout Damzell to him leaping light,
His cursed hand withheld, and maistered his might.From her, to whom his fury first he ment,
The wicked weapon rashly he did wrest,
And turning to her selfe his fell intent,
Vnwares it strooke into her snowie chest,
That little drops empurpled her faire brest.
Exceeding wroth therewith the virgin grew,
Albe the wound were nothing deepe imprest,
And fiercely forth her mortall blade she drew,
To giue him the reward for such vile outrage dew.So mightily she smote him, that to ground
He fell halfe dead; next stroke him should haue slaine,
Had not the Lady, which by him stood bound,
Dernely vnto her called to abstaine,
From doing him to dy. For else her paine
Should be remedilesse, sith none but hee,
Which wrought it, could the same recure againe.
Therewith she stayd her hand, loth stayd to bee;
For life she him enuyde, and long'd reuenge to see.And to him said, Thou wicked man, whose meed
For so huge mischiefe, and vile villany
Is death, or if that ought do death exceed,
Be sure, that nought may saue thee from to dy,
But if that thou this Dame doe presently
Restore vnto her health, and former state;
This doe and liue, else die vndoubtedly.
He glad of life, that lookt for death but late,
Did yield himselfe right willing to prolong his date.And rising vp, gan streight to ouerlooke,
Those cursed leaues, his charmes backe to reuerse;
Full dreadfull things out of that balefull booke
He red, and measur'd many a sad verse,
That horror gan the virgins hart to perse,
And her faire locks vp stared stiffe on end,
Hearing him those same bloudy lines reherse;
And all the while he red, she did extend
Her sword high ouer him, if ought he did offend.Anon she gan perceiue the house to quake,
And all the dores to rattle round about;
Yet all that did not her dismaied make,
Nor slacke her threatfull hand for daungers dout,
But still with stedfast eye and courage stout
Abode, to weet what end would come of all.
At last that mightie chaine, which round about
Her tender waste was wound, adowne gan fall,
And that great brasen pillour broke in peeces small.The cruell steele, which thrild her dying hart,
Fell softly forth, as of his owne accord,
And the wyde wound, which lately did dispart
Her bleeding brest, and riuen bowels gor'd,
Was closed vp, as it had not bene bor'd,
And euery part to safety full sound,
As she were neuer hurt, was soone restor'd:
Tho when she felt her selfe to be vnbound,
And perfect hole, prostrate she fell vnto the ground.Before faire Britomart, she fell prostrate,
Saying, Ah noble knight, what worthy meed
Can wretched Lady, quit from wofull state,
Yield you in liew of this your gratious deed?
Your vertue selfe her owne reward shall breed,
Euen immortall praise, and glory wyde,
Which I your vassall, by your prowesse freed,
Shall through the world make to be notifyde,
And goodly well aduance, that goodly well was tryde.But Britomart vprearing her from ground,
Said, Gentle Dame, reward enough I weene
For many labours more, then I haue found,
This, that in safety now I haue you seene,
And meane of your deliuerance haue beene:
Henceforth faire Lady comfort to you take,
And put away remembrance of late teene;
In stead thereof know, that your louing Make,
Hath no lesse griefe endured for your gentle sake.She much was cheard to heare him mentiond,
Whom of all liuing wights she loued best.
Then laid the noble Championesse strong hond
Vpon th'enchaunter, which had her distrest
So sore, and with foule outrages opprest:
With that great chaine, wherewith not long ygo
He bound that pitteous Lady prisoner, now relest,
Himselfe she bound, more worthy to be so,
And captiue with her led to wretchednesse and wo.Returning backe, those goodly roomes, which erst
She saw so rich and royally arayd,
Now vanisht vtterly, and cleane subuerst
She found, and all their glory quite decayd,
That sight of such a chaunge her much dismayd.
Thence forth descending to that perlous Porch,
Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd,
And quenched quite, like a consumed torch,
That erst all entrers wont so cruelly to scorch.More easie issew now, then entrance late
She found: for now that fained dreadfull flame,
Which chokt the porch of that enchaunted gate,
And passage bard to all, that thither came,
Was vanisht quite, as it were not the same,
And gaue her leaue at pleasure forth to passe.
Th'Enchaunter selfe, which all that fraud did frame,
To haue efforst the loue of that faire lasse,
Seeing his worke now wasted deepe engrieued was.But when the victoresse arriued there,
Where late she left the pensife Scudamore,
With her owne trusty Squire, both full of feare,
Neither of them she found where she them lore:
Thereat her noble hart was stonisht sore;
But most faire Amoret, whose gentle spright
Now gan to feede on hope, which she before
Conceiued had, to see her owne dear knight,
Being thereof beguyld was fild with new affright.But he sad man, when he had long in drede
Awayted there for Britomarts returne,
Yet saw her not nor signe of her good speed,
His expectation to despaire did turne,
Misdeeming sure that her those flames did burne;
And therefore gan aduize with her old Squire,
Who her deare nourslings losse no lesse did mourne,
Thence to depart for further aide t'enquire:
Where let them wend at will, whilest here I doe respire.
At last she came vnto the place, where late
She left Sir Scudamour in great distresse,
Twixt dolour and despight halfe desperate,
Of his loues succour, of his owne redresse,
And of the hardie Britomarts successe:
There on the cold earth him now thrown she found,
In wilfull anguish, and dead heauinesse,
And to him cald; whose voices knowen sound
Soone as he heard, himself he reared light from ground.There did he see, that most on earth him ioyd,
His dearest loue, the comfort of his dayes,
Whose too long absence him had sore annoyd,
And wearied his life with dull delayes:
Straight he vpstarted from the loathed layes,
And to her ran with hasty egernesse,
Like as a Deare, that greedily embayes
In the coole soile, after long thirstinesse,
Which he in chace endured hath, now nigh breathlesse.Lightly he clipt her twixt his armes twaine,
And streightly did embrace her body bright,
Her body, late the prison of sad paine,
Now the sweet lodge of loue and deare delight:
But she faire Lady ouercommen quight
Of huge affection, did in pleasure melt,
And in sweete rauishment pourd out her spright:
No word they spake, nor earthly thing they felt,
But like two senceles stocks in long embracemẽt dwelt.Had ye them seene, ye would haue surely thought,
That they had beene that faire Hermaphrodite,
Which that rich Romane of white marble wrought,
And in his costly Bath causd to bee site:
So seemd those two, as growne together quite,
That Britomart halfe enuying their b[l]esse,
Was much empassiond in her gentle sprite,
And to her selfe oft wisht like happinesse,
In vaine she wisht, that fate n'ould let her yet possesse.Thus doe those louers with sweet counteruayle,
Each other of loues bitter fruit despoile.
But now my teme begins to faint and fayle,
All woxen weary of their iournall toyle:
Therefore I will their sweatie yokes assoyle,
At this same furrowes end, till a new day:
And ye faire swayns, after your long turmoyle,
Now cease your worke, and at your pleasure play:
Now cease your worke; to morrow is an holy day.


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Subject index
Conducting research into crime and criminal justice carries its own unique challenges. The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Research Methods focuses on the application of "methods," broadly understood, to address the core substantive questions that currently motivate contemporary criminological research. It maps a canon of methods that are more elaborated than in most other fields of social science, and the intellectual terrain of research problems with which criminologists are routinely confronted.
Drawing on exemplary studies, chapters in each section will illustrate the techniques (qualitative and quantitative) that are commonly applied in empirical studies, as well as the logic of criminological enquiry - the ways in which the specific nature of research questions dictate the kinds of data and analytic strategies required to effectively answer these questions. Organized into five sections, each of which is prefaced by an editorial introduction, the Handbook covers:
Crime and Criminals; Crime's Contexts: Networks, Cultures and Communities; Perceptual Dimensions of Crime; Criminal Justice Systems: Organizations and Institutions; Preventing Crime and Improving Justice
Edited by leaders in the field of criminological research, and containing contributions by internationally renowned experts, The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Research Methods is comprehensive, forward-thinking and broad in its enquiry. Written for graduates, researchers and academics in criminology, criminal justice, policing, law, and sociology, this exciting, much-needed addition to the criminological library is set to become a definitive resource for research.
27 Large-Scale Criminological Field Experiments
27 Large-Scale Criminological Field Experiments
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This article is more than 1 year old
Sun to open source Java - eventually
NetBeans, Zander lend a hand
JavaOne Sun Microsystems has pledged to open source Java if individual developers, rather than corporations, sign-up to the Java Community Process (JCP) and also adopt Sun's NetBeans development environment.
Sun chief executive Jonathan Schwartz and newly recruited software chief Rich Green opened the annual JavaOne developer conference in San Francisco, California, saying it's not a matter of "whether, but how" Sun open sources Java.
Green stressed it would be important to preserve Java's cross-platform portability and to prevent fragmentation. "The flip side is compatibility really matters. One of the great values of Java is you can keep it together and rely on its consistency and evolution. The challenge is to how to solve both," Green said.
No date has been set for open sourcing Java but Sun is anxious to get more developers involved in the JCP and using NetBeans to get their feedback. "This has to be done as a group and the community process is critical," Green said.
In an apparent step towards open source, Schwartz announced Sun has updated licensing for distribution of Java Standard Edition (Java SE) 5.0 with GNU/Linux. The Distro License for Java (DLJ) specifically allows the Java Development Kit (JDK) and Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to ship as installation packages, and has received backing from the Ubuntu, Debian and Gentoo distributions.
Also on the agenda, is Ubuntu running on Sun's Niagara T1 hardware with support from Sun, Schwartz said.
The company's commitment came wrapped in a bundle of announcements and statements intended to prove Sun's credentials as an open source and Linux supporter under Schwartz, made during Schwartz's debut JavaOne performance as Sun CEO.
Schwartz acknowledged that the growth in Solaris service revenue - Sun has issued five million free licences for the operating system over the past year, had been an implicit factor in the change of heart.
"There are those companies that will not use Java without an OSI licence and they can now consider it," Schwartz said. "It simply grows the tent."
Schwartz used his appearance to rally developers to the JCP, the group that changes Java, by encouraging individuals to sign-up. The JCP is commonly known for its corporate membership, which includes heavy weights like BEA Systems, IBM and Nokia.
"This is not a heavyweight thing," Schwartz said of the JCP. "We want to make sure all of you have your voice heard. This is not about corporations defining development of a platform. This is about users."
With typical flair, Schwartz extracted messages of support for NetBeans from JBoss and Motorola claiming both are endorsing the open source integrated development environment (IDE) and programming framework.
While it's unclear the extent to which Motorola or JBoss are actually backing NetBeans, given the fact both are members of the Eclipse Foundation and using the rival Eclipse IDE, Schwartz pulled CEOs Ed Zander and Marc Fleury on stage to lend their backing.
Schwartz even grabbed the chance for a sneaky photo opportunity with Fleury, by pinning an "I 'heart' NetBeans" T-shirt on the clearly surprised executive - an outspoken critic of Sun's Java strategy in past years. Sun claimed 100 partners signed up to NetBeans in the last nine months, including AMD, eBay and Amazon.
Sun is beefing up its NetBeans' appeal with new tools. This includes software for protocol-level interoperability between Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 5.0 and Microsoft's .NET, devised under Project Tango between Sun and Microsoft, and tooling for new open source Sun middleware projects - announced at JavaOne. Sun is open sourcing its BPEL Engine and Java System Portal Server.
One market Sun is keen to embrace is developers building applications for mobile devices. Mobile device growth is outstripping PC shipments, at 200 million devices a year, according to Schwartz with Motorola alone shipping 90 million devices in six months.
Zander, Sun's former chief operating officer and president until 2002 before a surprise departure that helped accelerate Schwartz's career, said Motorola is "moving as fast as we can to a Java and Linux platform." He went on that Motorola needs Java developers to help ensure that Java remains compatible, to solve security and digital rights management, and to port more applications to the mobile platform.®
Reg Developer editor Martin Banks contributed to this report.


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We love printing here at Free Printables, but whilst recently troubleshooting a printer problem, we found a really useful link we wanted to share. If you don't know your ink from your toner, or your duplex from your transfer belt you might just like to bookmark this handy printer glossary produced by Ink Factory who […]
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As the headlines about James Comey's scathing criticisms of President Trump multiplied on Monday — and as presidential attorney Michael Cohen headed to a New York court for a hearing on documents of his seized by the FBI — Trump flew to Florida for an afternoon roundtable on the tax cuts he signed into law last year.
That's probably just how Republicans facing re-election in November would want it:
The president touting his biggest legislative achievement, mostly sticking to the subject at hand and selling "the biggest tax cut in history, bigger than the Reagan tax cut" (still not true) rather than — or at least in addition to — tweets about the scandals surrounding his administration.
"You're getting a lot more money in your weekly or monthly checks than you ever thought possible, so people are really liking it," Trump said of the tax cuts.
But the massive tax cuts might not be the winning issue Trump and Republicans hope they'll be. While Republicans facing tough midterm prospects might be encouraged by a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showing that the Democrats' edge in a generic ballot has fallen by more than half since the beginning of the year, the tax cuts might not motivate voters enough to stem significant GOP losses.
"Some recent polls show that the majority of Americans still don't support the tax law, despite an uptick in sentiment since the end of 2017," Bloomberg's Sahil Kapur reports. The boost to paychecks has frequently been small, sometimes unnoticeable. And though some Republicans say they'll have to keep hammering the issue all year, a recent Quinnipiac poll found that, of the issues voters cited as most important to them heading into the elections, taxes ranked last. The Trump/GOP message just might not play even after Americans finish this year's taxes and start looking ahead to next year's returns.
"Part of the Republican party's problem in selling the tax cuts is that the answer is murky for many," Kapur writes. "Variables like dependents and itemized deductions can complicate the picture, even though most — 65 percent — will see a tax cut in 2018. And even for voters who do see a cut, whether it's enough to sway their decisions at the ballot box is far from clear."


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We don't usually think about it, but we live in a finite world. In other words, in theory we can count precisely how many atoms make up the earth. We can also theoretically count how many humans live on earth and how many of any other species live on earth at a particular point in time.
At some point, in a finite world, we start reaching limits. There are now about seven billion people in the world. We could probably add some more, but how many? What is it that limits our ability to add more people to the world we live in today?
Too Much Population "Morphs" to an Energy and Financial Limit
One obvious guess as to what might limit world population is the amount fresh water that is available. If we don't have enough fresh water available, we can't continue to expand population.
The amount of fresh water that is available can be changed, though, by adding desalination plants. There are many other ways of getting fresh water. To give an extreme example, the amount of fresh water available could be increased by melting ice in Antarctica and importing it by ship. Either of these solutions would require energy in an appropriate form—either to run the desalination plant, or to melt the ice and transport it by ship. Thus the fresh water shortage, at least for the foreseeable future, can be worked around if there is sufficient energy available of the right type.
The other not-so-minor detail is that the cost of desalination or of importing melted ice from Antarctica needs to be inexpensive enough that users of fresh water can afford it. In order for this to be the case, the cost of the appropriate type of energy must be extremely inexpensive.
We can think of other kinds of limits to population growth as well. For example, carbon dioxide limits. In theory, there are ways around carbon dioxide limits. For example, assuming current research projects are successful, we can build carbon capture and storage facilities and change our electricity generating plants so that the carbon dioxide that is emitted can be captured and stored underground.
Here, too, there are energy limits and cost limits. Carbon has a molecular weight of 12, while carbon dioxide has a molecular weight of 44. Because of this, if we create carbon dioxide from coal, the carbon dioxide we produce is much heavier and bulkier than the coal that we burned to make the electricity. It will take a lot of energy to store this gas underground in a suitable place. Thus, we have another problem that can be handled, if there is enough cheap energy of the right type available.
Almost any kind of obstacle to increased human population that we can think of has an energy-based work-around. Will people be so crowded that disease transmission will be a problem? There are workarounds: better water treatment plants and sewer treatment plants, especially in the poorer parts of the world; more immunizations; more and better hospitals; antibiotics for all those who need them. These solutions also require energy, as well as other inputs (which indirectly require energy as well). The difficulty is making them affordable for the people who need them.
If the problem is not enough food, perhaps because of degraded soil, there are energy-based workarounds as well. Food can be imported from a distance. More fertilizers and soil amendments (either made using fossil fuels, or transported using fossil fuels) may be used. Irrigation, which uses either diesel fuel or electricity to pump water may be used to pump water to too dry areas, to increase food production per acre. In some cases, artificial soil can be created, and plants grown in a greenhouse—again requiring much energy. The issue again gets to be whether consumers can afford the food produced using this more energy-intensive procedure.
The Problem with Degraded Resource Supplies
Degraded resource supplies occasionally run out—for example, an aquifer may run dry. A more common situation, though, is that resources become progressively more expensive to extract as we approach limits. We tend to extract the easiest to extract (and thus cheapest-to extract) resources first. These resources are the highest quality ones, in the easiest to access locations. We then move on to more expensive to extract resources. A similar pattern applies to many types of resources, including ore used in making metals, oil, gas, coal, and uranium.
When we analyze resources of a given type, say uranium, we find that there are always more resources available. The problem is that they are increasingly expensive to extract because the ore is of lower concentration, or is located in a harder to reach area, or there is some other problem involved.
We have illustrated this situation in Figure 1, as a triangle with a dotted line at the bottom, because of the uncertain cut-off regarding how much is available. The cut-off is really a price cut-off. At some point, the resource becomes too expensive for customers to afford products made with it.
FIGURE 1 – Triangle of Available Resources
Figure 1. Triangle of available resources, with dotted line indicating uncertain financial cut-off.
Related articles: Paraguay: Unexplored and Open for Business
A company starts from the top of this triangle, extracting whatever resource is involved. A company can "see" a little way ahead, as it looks down toward the bottom of the triangle. The company will report reserves which are continually increasing because the width of the triangle keeps getting wider, even though these reserves are of lower quality and can only be extracted in a more energy-intensive way. The question then becomes whether customers can really afford products made with these expensive-to-extract resources.
The Broader Energy Picture
Energy is pretty amazing. Energy is what allows work of any kind to be done, from making a clay pot by hand, to baking a cake, to creating a carbon capture and storage facility. Humans by themselves are able to produce some energy, because of the food we eat. But we are also able to leverage the energy that our own bodies produce with energy from other sources, such as from burning biomass. We learned to burn biomass a very long time ago, over 1,000,000 year ago.
If humans were like other large primates, there would be only 100,000 or 200,000 of us, rather than 7 billion of us. We would live in an area to which we are biologically adapted, most likely a very warm part of Africa. Humans' population is much higher, because once we learned to control fire, we were able to settle areas of the world that would otherwise be too cold or dry to live in, and we were able to increase population densities through energy-related techniques we developed.
One thing we learned to do was cook part of our food supply. This had many advantages. Unlike apes, we no longer needed to spend literally half of our day chewing. This freed up time for other activities, like tool-making, hunting, and clothing making. It also allowed the human body to evolve in a way that allowed a bigger brain and smaller digestive organs. Gradually we used our improved brain to develop other techniques such as making heat-tempered stone tools, which were sharper than other stone tools, and teaching dogs to help us with hunting for food. All of these approaches to using external energy allowed humans to leverage our own puny energy supply from food with energy supply from other sources and gain an advantage over other animals.
Human prosperity was able to increase and population was able to grow as we learned to use increasing amounts of energy from outside sources. Energy sources we gained control over included domesticated plants and animals, facilitating agriculture. World population by the year 1 C. E. reached 200 million, or over 1,000 times the population level before the leveraging impact of external energy supplies began enabling greater human world population.
Fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) use became common after about 1800 C. E., and population grew very quickly. In fact, when population is graphed, it looks like it went straight up starting when fossil fuels were added.
FIGURE 2 – World Population
Figure 2. World population based on data from "Atlas of World History," McEvedy and Jones, Penguin Reference Books, 1978 and Wikipedia-World Population.
Use of fossil fuels did not grow by themselves. Their use was facilitated by the development of improved technology, which provided the vehicle for their use. Increased debt also facilitated fossil fuel use, because it allowed potential buyers to afford the new products being developed, and provided companies doing energy extraction funds for their work.
Our ability to do physical work using human labor is quite limited. For example, if we want to dig a well for water, the depth that humans can dig without the assistance of a machine intended for this purpose is only about 20 feet. With mechanical drilling equipment, typically powered by oil, we can quickly and cheaply dig a well many hundreds of feet deep.
As another example, if we want to transport goods a long distance without external energy, we can only push a cart at the speed at which we can walk. Oil or another other modern fuel allows inexpensive long-distance transport of goods.
Adding energy use changes costs. There is a two-way tug on costs:
1. Costs are typically reduced when fossil fuel energy or electricity from any source can be substituted for human energy. This allows greater leverage of the energy of the remaining humans doing the "work".
2. Costs tend to increase, as the cost of the energy source in (1) increases. Such an increase in costs occurs as we approach limits of a finite world, partly because extraction is from more depleted resources (farther down in the resource triangle shown in Figure 1), and partly because we reach increased problems with pollution, such as the BP Deepwater Horizon well blowout in 2010. The cost of mitigating pollution problems also adds to energy costs.
Up until about the year 2000, this tug of war had a favorable outcome. An increased amount of fossil fuel energy was substituted for human energy, leading to lower costs. As mentioned previously, improved technology and additional debt enabling this substitution played a role as well.
In recent years, the tug of war has started to go the other direction. The cost, particularly for oil energy, has tended to rise far more rapidly than costs in general (Figure 3). This has produced many dislocations within the economy, making countries that use a lot of oil less competitive in the world marketplace and reducing economic growth rates, especially among countries no longer able to complete. The higher cost of oil products reduces disposable income of citizen, leading to recession and to deficit spending by governments.
Related articles: Canada's Oil Sands Threatened by Lack of Market
FIGURE 3 – World Oil Price in Current $
Figure 3. Brent-equivalent oil price in current $, based on data from BP 2012 Statistical Review of World Energy.
In future years, we can expect that two way tug on costs will increasingly be lead to higher costs, because of greater impact of limits of a finite world. This will tend to send economies increasingly into recession.
Our financial system has been built assuming that economic growth will continue indefinitely. There is significant risk that the recessionary influences of high oil costs will bring down the current economy. We know from a recent analysis by Peter Turchin and Sergey Nefedov (Secular Cycles, Princeton University Press, 2009) that historically, when civilizations collapsed, they did so for financial reasons, as the cost of government became too great for citizens to fund with tax revenue. There would seem to be a significant risk that today's economy will reach the same end.
Why didn't others recognize this issue?
Reaching limits of a finite world is a subject that does not easily fit into any one subject area, so the subject tends to be missed by researchers concentrating on one field of study.
The closest fit came in the analysis The Limits to Growth (Donella Meadows et al, Universe books, 1972). This analysis came very close, but did not quite hit the nail on the head because it missed the connection of debt to limits to growth. (The model was of course not expected to be complete.) More recent analyses along this line to miss the debt connection as well, pushing the likely date of collapse forward.
There is much confusion about the question of what limits, such as oil limits, mean. Many people believe that rising oil reserves (which are a given when the problem is ever-more expensive to extract oil, as illustrated in Figure 1) mean that our oil problems are solved. Our problem is not a lack of oil reserves; our problem is that the selling price needs to keep rising, to cover the rising costs of extraction and to cover government dependence on tax revenues. This increase in selling price makes oil ever less affordable, which is our real problem.
Even when oil price drops, this is not necessarily a good sign. It may mean that some oil extraction companies will no longer be able to afford to add new wells, because production will not be sufficiently profitable at the new lower price. It may also mean that some oil exporting nations will not be able to get enough tax revenue from oil operations to fund programs (food subsidies, for example) that prevent revolt.
Reaching limits in a finite world is a scary issue. The book Limits to Growth was not well received when it was published. Governments have tried their best to avoid the issue. No president or prime minister wants to announce, "We have a problem that we have no way to solve."
Why might I be able to shed light on the real impact of finite world limits?
My background is as a casualty actuary, doing financial forecasting for insurance companies. Thus, I started with somewhat of a financial background, but did not have the usual "brainwashing" that comes when a person has studied the economy from the perspective of today's economists. My background gave me a great deal of experience hunting for publicly available databases, making graphs, doing analyses, and explaining the results to lay audience.
I got interested in the issue of oil limits and what impact they might have when read the book, The Empty Tank: Oil, Gas, Hot Air, and the Coming Global Financial Catastrophe(Jeremy Leggett, Random House, 2005). His view comes from the "peak oil" view, which is close to my view, but not quite the same.
When I read Leggett's book, it hit a responsive chord because I had had first hand experience with the impact that high oil prices had on insurance companies in the 1973-1974 period. In 1973, I was the actuary for a small insurance company that ultimately went bankrupt, at least partly because of the indirect impact of higher oil prices. Reporting to the president of the company, I got to see up close what kind of havoc high oil prices could cause in the financial world.
After I read Leggett's book, I started researching the issue on my own. I wrote an article for insurance executives in early 2006 and an article for actuaries in early 2007. In March 2007, I decided to take early retirement, and work on the issue full time.
I set up my blog site, OurFiniteWorld.com in March 2007. I soon was asked to help with the website TheOilDrum.com, where I wrote under the name, "Gail the Actuary," and made many contacts with others interested in the issue of limited oil supply.
To make a long story short, over the past several years, I have made many contacts with researchers who have discovered at least part of the story of oil limits and energy limits. Through my blog posts, I also received much valuable input, including suggestions from readers regarding academic books that might be helpful.
My work is now being published in the academic world as well. I wrote a paper, "Oil Supply Limits and the Continuing Financial Crisis," published in the journal Energy in January 2012. It has so far been cited by 10. I was also a co-author of "An analysis of China's coal supply and its impact on China's future economic growth" (Energy Policy, June 2013). My most recent publication is an article called, "Financial Issues Affecting Energy Security" in the soon-to-be published book, Energy Security and Development–The Changing Global Context, (B. S. Reddy and S. Ulgiati Eds., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013).
By. Gail Tverberg


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What is Linux?
Linux is a free computer operating system authored by a community of open-source developers. Linux serves as an alternative to the more well-known Windows or OS/X. Unlike these mainstream operating systems, Linux is a crowd-sourced project that anyone can alter. Technically, Linux is a "kernel", or the fundamental component of the operating system. The system can alternatively be installed to run alongside Windows and share the drive. While other operating systems protect their code from outside interference, Linux welcomes collaboration. This spirit has earned Linux a reputation as a breeding ground for innovation. Linux has developed features that were eventually adopted by major operating systems.
Linux is based on the earlier Unix system, which used the principle of modular design. In this type of system, the OS provides simple tools, while shell scripting and command language combine to perform complex workflows. Linux supports a number of languages, including PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python and others. This diversity gives developers the freedom to write code in whatever language they feel most comfortable.
Linux follows the free and open source software development and distribution model and is available through Linux distributions called "distros". No purchase is required to use, distribute or modify Linux. Currently, more than 300 modified versions (distros) of Linux are available with new versions continuously being created. Some of the most popular distros include Debian and Redhat, each of which has their own spin-offs. Though originally developed as an operating system for specific Intel computers, Linux is now the most frequently ported, or uploaded, of all computer software platforms. More than 95 percent of the world's 500 fastest computers utilize some form of a Linux operating system. Linux usage has experienced slow growth over the last decade, but as a new generation of developers gets their hands on this system, expect more users to get on board.
Who uses Linux and why?
Since its inception, businesses have used Linux extensively on their servers. Linux is also used in some corporate environments as the desktop platform for their employees, with commercially available solutions including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and Ubuntu. Many commercial, nonprofit and governmental organizations (called Linux adopters) utilize a version of the Linux operating system, including the White House, the U.S. Department of Defense and Wikipedia.
Additionally, Linux is used for some game consoles, such as PlayStation3. In 2013, Valve Corporation publicly paired with Linux to run certain ports through Linux, allowing many popular titles to be played on the operating system. Valve also announced that its upcoming gaming console, Steam Machine, will by default run SteamOS, an operating system based on the Linux kernel.
Linux desktop users are typically those who value an open source operating system and appreciate the speed, security and user experience of this open-source software. Linux may not be the most polished OS, but it's on the cutting edge of innovation. If there's a security hole, developers usually release an update within the day. Instead of waiting months for update packages, Linux users receive regular updates as new technology becomes available. To top it all off, Linux is free and supports a culture of collaboration in the software world.
What are some popular Linux distributions?
While they all have the Linux kernel in common, various Linux distributions build their own operating systems on top of the basic open-source foundation. Linux distributions, referred to as "distros," boast a range of backgrounds and features. Ubuntu is the world's most popular free OS and the most widely distributed Linux software. Ubuntu leads a brigade of commercially backed Linux distributions that includes Fedora, SUSE and Mandriva. In the spirit of open-source development, some distributions are completely community driven and receive no financial support. Debian, Slackware, Gentoo and Arch Linux are a few of the prominent community distributions.
The distributions drive a community of users who support open-source software and communal innovation. Linux, an alternative to well-known Windows and OS X operating systems, relies on a community of developers to create software and improve the computing experience. Linux users receive regular updates as coders tweak and enhance their programs. With a collection of great minds working together, Linux has delivered some of the most innovative software in recent memory.
As these distributions become more popular, more users are giving Linux a try. With open-source freedom and the energy of an army of developers, Linux presses on toward innovation in computing.
What Lenovo laptops are certified to run Linux?
Lenovo's line of desktop computers, laptops and servers feature a number of devices that support the Linux operating system. If you're looking for a laptop, a number of the models support various forms of this open-source software. For more information on specific models supporting Linux see Lenovo's Linux overview page.
An equally robust selection of servers supports Linux. Six Lenovo servers support Ubuntu.
Linux users benefit from a tight community of developers who collaborate to create some of the most innovative computing functions on the market. Rather than waiting for wholesale updates, Linux users receive regular software improvements as developers tweak systems and apps. This line of Lenovo devices supports the open-source nature of Linux systems. Whether you're a developer or a loyal user, Linux-based Lenovo desktop computers, laptops and servers will reliably support whatever innovation you introduce.


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