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A scroll saw is a handyman tool used for cutting decorative styles or patterns. It's an excellent saw for those who love producing intricate, odd shapes or designs. But just like an actor or an actress, this saw has struggles as well. Here are the ways an actor and a scroll saw are similar:
Electronic power tools nowadays suffer from the overheating problem. Sadly, the scroll saw isn't exempted. The cause, of course, is overworking. When the saw has been used for long periods of time without rest, the saw overheats, the blade becomes dull, and you get annoyed. The best way to solve this problem is to turn the scroll saw off, unplug it, and let it cool off. If it's still overheating even after you've allowed it to rest, then contact your manufacturer.
Likewise, actors can also "overheat" when they work too much. When you're into theater, sometimes you practice your lines and your acting too much that you forget to sleep well, rest for a while, and give yourself time to renew your mental and physical strength. Just like a scroll saw, an actor can prevent overheating by unplugging—staying away from work and allowing yourself to cool down.
Twisted Blades
If actors tend to have problems with their lines, twisting words after words or phrases after phrases, scroll saws also undergo twisting. Their blades also get twisted, making it impossible to produce clean cuts. Blades get twisted when they cut unfamiliar materials. To prevent this, the right blade should be used. Do your research on the right blade to use on a surface before you make a cut to prevent the blade from getting twisted.
For actors, it's best to solve the problem of twisting words by practicing a lot and by first exercising the vocal cords and the tongue. This may sound a bit ironic, but tongue twisters can help.
Blade Tensions
There are also tensions when using a scroll saw. If the saw cuts with lesser accuracy as you work with it, then it only shows that the blade needs to be tightened. But before adjusting, first, confirm with your fingers if the blade needs some altering. If it really does, then tighten it using the lever which you can find at the end of the rod.
Scroll saws are like actors in this aspect. Actors and actresses also have tensions between themselves. Sometimes the tension gets too big that it causes a problem on stage. When this happens, it's best to loosen up the pressure by clearing up any issues so that the performance on stage won't be an issue. Who knows? Maybe all you need is some loosening up of the tension to tighten up a better kind of relationship.
Tripped Breakers and Blown Fuses
A scroll saw is also prone to tripped breakers and blown fuses. When this occurs, you should check your fuse box right away because that mishap will affect the operation of your saw. After solving the problem set the saw to a lower blade speed, and gradually increase to your desired rate.
It's the same thing with acting. Gradually improve yourself. Take one step at a time. Take the right step every time. Don't try to make a shortcut through a morally wrong path. It's essential to elevate your status without cheating.
Don't have a scroll saw? Check out the top 5 scroll saws for a beginner.


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Pre-Season Scouting in the Winter
For years, I did my pre-season scouting in the spring of the year. It was not until recently that I found that this is not the best time. The best time to scout an area is in the winter months soon after deer season has ended.
Consider in the spring, the vegetation is new and growing. Trails that were worn by the deer are likely to be overgrown and masked by the new vegetation. In the winter, right after the deer season has ended, the trails will be fresh and well-worn making it easier to detect them and pattern the deer.
Patterning the deer right after the season has ended will give you a better sense of their movements during the season as opposed to the spring which may not represent their hunting season movements. You may be able to detect their hiding places in the winter by following their trails that would be too overgrown in the spring to follow.
In Kansas, we have an extended season that lasts until January so that means scouting in February. February is ideal because you can kill two birds with one stone. Not only will you be able to scout for the deer by finding their travel paths, but you can also shed hunt.
Shed hunting is fun and makes scouting more interesting. And, besides finding a nice trophy, you will learn something about the deer in that area. One you will know they made it through the hunting season and two, you will know the quality of the deer in the area.
Use the spring and early summer to set your stand, but do your scouting in the winter. Not only will it be more reliable, you also do not have to contend with the bugs and poison ivy.
I never really thought of it
Submitted by ManOfTheFall on Sat, 2011-05-07 14:07.
I never really thought of it that way. I was like that too. I may not be able to do that this year , but starting next year I will definitely be doing that. For now it's scouting, rearranging, and hanging stands all at the same time. Thanks for sharing.
Post season is the time!
Submitted by groovy mike on Thu, 2010-12-30 13:13.
In the post season rubs and scrapes have some of the same benefits, but I always wonder if the buck who made them was killed late in the season. Sheds tell you that he made it through hunting season!
When you are walking around your hunting area with snow on the ground, you are literally learning with every step you take. You learn where animals feed from their pawing through the snow to reach browse or mast, and you learn where they bed. The tracks tell you not only where the animals have been but how many have passed and how frequently they do so. They tell you which direction they travel and whether different species use the same paths or different ones. The tracks in the snow can tell you what paths get used the most frequently and where those trails converge you will either discover the ideal ambush point for next season. Besides learning where animals feed and sleep and the travel routes between sleeping and eating, you learn where the animals do NOT go. If there are no tracks, there has been no traffic since the snow fell. If you can put all the clues together you will definitely be in a better situation to find those bucks that make it through the winter to next year!
Post season "scouting" really pays off helping to locate deer for next season.
I agree 100% - there are
Submitted by jim boyd on Sun, 2010-12-05 10:59.
I agree 100% - there are several additional benefits... it is a lot less hot... and you get to "see" what the woods look like in late fall and winter condition - when all or most of the leaves are off of the tres.
I will use January and February for scouting and come March, I will be on the tractor working on the plots and also greeting turkey season mid month....
I was on a new lease this year and I hung my stands in mid spring - when I came back to hunt them in august, some were so grown up I could hardly find them much less see anything from the stand once you got up there.
I have a new lease for 2011 also - season ends on 1 JAN and that is when I take posession of the proerty - I am immediately going to put some corn out (very legal) and place some trail cameras on the food piles to try to determine which bucks made it through the season unscathed...
I work a lot with GoogleEarth and will use my GPS to walk and record the trails... and import them into GE - and also mark all of the rubs and scrapes I find to see if that will give me a head start on 2100...
Great tip!
Agreed. Leave spring and
Submitted by cscott711 on Wed, 2010-12-01 11:59.
Agreed. Leave spring and summer for habitat improvements. Doing your scouting soon after the season is closed is your best bet to pattern deer and understand their movements for the next year. It also allows you to be more effective when doing the previously mentioned habitat improvements later that year.

subset: commoncrawl


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"The Body Where I Was Born" by Guadalupe Nettel [Why This Book Should Win]
This entry in the Why This Book Should Win series is by Charlotte Whittle, translator, and editor at Cardboard House Press. We will be running two (or more!) of these posts every business day leading up to the announcement of the finalists.
The Body Where I Was Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated from the Spanish by J. T. Lichtenstein (Mexico, Seven Stories Press)
Guadalupe Nettel's unsettling autobiographical novel, which follows on the success of her story collection Natural Histories, recounts the disorienting childhood of a girl coming to terms with living in her own skin. From the psychoanalyst's couch, the narrator recalls a youth marked by trauma and displacement, and details the magnified perceptions and small-scale metamorphoses of her coming of age. The Body Where I Was Born is a story of a girl learning to inhabit a body, and of how the body inhabits its surroundings. In her exploration of this process of becoming, the author trains her gaze on the uncomfortable discoveries of youth many of us would prefer to forget. Nettel's prose is elegant yet unadorned, and her translator, J.T. Lichtenstein, has preserved the book's matter-of-fact and sometimes deadpan tone in her skillful rendering of the novel.
Born with a birthmark on her cornea, the young Guadalupe is subjected to a series of corrective treatments and forced to wear an eye patch the color of her skin. This gives her the uncanny appearance of having only one eye, making her classmates "curious and uncomfortable," and initiating Guadalupe into her status as an outsider. The treatment regimen also involves exposure to black light: "for this, my parents built a wooden box that my small head fit into perfectly, then they lit it up. In the background, like a primitive cinemascope, drawings of animals went around and around: a deer, a turtle, a bird, a peacock." The image anticipates Guadalupe's withdrawal into her own world, where animals will become her protective totems.
In a defensive gesture, Guadalupe grows hunched and turns in on herself. Critical of her posture, her mother nicknames her "Cucaracha." Partly as a result of this, Guadalupe comes to identify with the kingdom of insects, creatures that provoke the same mix of curiosity and revulsion she feels she causes in others. This process of identification reveals Nettel's interest—also visible in Natural Histories—in the distasteful and beastly aspects of existence, those from which we might prefer to look away. Guadalupe's cold, distant grandmother, with whom she is forced to live after her parents abandon her, banishes her from lunch "exactly how one might throw an undesirable insect outside so as to not have to squash it in front of guests." Around the time of her first stirrings of sexual desire, Guadalupe sees in the mirror "something similar to the caterpillar found dead in my shoe." Even as she discovers the latent potentialities of her young body, she creates an "alternative geography" for herself, recognizing that "I really did resemble the cockroaches that travel through the marginal spaces and buried pipes of buildings." It is fitting then that Guadalupe reads Kafka, and recognizes her kinship with Gregor Samsa of The Metamorphosis: "Nowhere in the story does it say exactly what kind of insect Gregor Samsa was, but I quickly gathered it was a cockroach. He had turned into one; I was one by maternal decree, if not by birth." Guadalupe's identification with the indestructible cockroach and with the ancient trilobite places her within a tribe of tough-shelled survivors.
While Guadalupe's narrative is profoundly intimate and personal, it is also punctuated by far-reaching events that marked the era of her childhood. She grows up surrounded by members of the diaspora prompted by a series of Latin American dictatorships. Recalling the Villa Olímpica where she lived, built in 1968 to accommodate athletes and journalists attending the Olympics, Guadalupe associates it with the 1968 massacre of students at Tlatelolco on the eve of that same event. And in 1985, she and her mother watch in shock as a Mexico City in ruins, after the earthquake that killed thousands, appears on the television in their living room in Aix-en-Provence.
A child of the 1970s, Guadalupe is subjected to experimental practices typical of the decade. She attends a Montessori school, and witnesses her parents' flirtations with open relationships, communal living, and the predictive capacities of the I Ching. But despite their apparently liberated mindset, her parents are still conditioned by the mores of their own childhoods, and subject to curious blind spots and inconsistencies in their parenting ethos. When, after years of insisting that no truth should be withheld from their children, Guadalupe's father disappears, it takes years for Guadalupe to discover the truth of his whereabouts.
One of the book's most memorable episodes concerns the silent communication between Guadalupe and Ximena, daughter of exiles from Pinochet's military dictatorship. In a ritual of "marvelous symmetry" the two girls see each other from their windows and each recognizes the other in her isolation; they return to their respective windows night after night to quietly watch one another. It is as if each had found in the other a companion to share the quiet, intuited truths of their afflictions. But while Ximena sets fire to herself and escapes "once and for all from the cage of her life," Guadalupe is already on her way to developing the cockroach-like carapace that will shield her.
The novel's epigraph "I always wanted / to return / to the body / where I was born," from Allen Ginsberg's "Song" is borne out in the final sequence, in which the eye surgery Guadalupe's mother has been planning is ultimately deemed unsafe: returning from the journey, Guadalupe accepts her body and the marks it bears, saying: "my eyes and my vision were the same but I saw differently: . . . I decided to inhabit the body where I was born, in all its peculiarities."
The Body Where I Was Born captures the alienation of a childhood spent in solitude, and is a powerful testimony of a woman claiming her agency and her place in the world. In its measured, incisive prose, the small incidents of adolescence carry as much weight as the global, political events that frame them. We are thus invited to witness the evolution of a hardened, resilient self that wears its wounds like stamps of survival: "these tattoos and scars we add with our personality and convictions, in the dark, by touch, as best we can, without direction or guidance." Nettel's complex, probing testimony of survival and Lichtenstein's deft translation make The Body Where I Was Born a strong contender for the BTBA.
"Load Poems Like Guns," compiled and translated by Farzana Marie [Why This Book Should Win]


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Recent Visitors to Truluck's Seafood Steak and Crab
- 4/27/2015
A diner from San Jose, CA tried it.
Truluck's Seafood Steak and Crab Articles — Things To Know Before You Go
Half-caf, triple shot, no-foam latte. What the heck does that mean? It's not as complicated as it sounds once you know how to break it down. Most coffee drinks are some combination of espresso and ...read more
1 review of Truluck's Seafood Steak and Crab, first by SavorHour.
San Diego's 'True Luck' Restaurant!
Well, we said we would do it, and we did. After our experience in Miami at the Truluck's restaurant there, we had to try the one in San Diego to see if it compared. And compare it did! There's really nothing negative we can say about this seafood and steak restaurant. It's more of an institution really. The quality, consistency, precision to detail, competitive customer service and above-average overall ambiance is just incredible. Known countrywide for their incredible award-winning seafood, stone crab claws, and succulent steaks, Truluck's is by far a leading company far ahead of the game.
The entrance to the San Diego Truluck's near La Jolla is welcoming, offers spacious outdoor patios and allows for most any celebration to be enjoyed easily.
Above, the huge glass-encased wine cellar right next to our table. We dined at the Captain's Table, which is where the owner sits when he visits the restaurant. Request this location when you have dinner here. The view from the table allows for oversight of most everything going on in the establishment from the lounge, the entertainment at the Baby Grand and the entire restaurant. No wonder Truluck's San Diego was voted "Best Wine List" in 2011 by the San Diego Magazine Reader's Poll and The Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence!
But that's not the only recognition this specific Truluck's has received. There's much more to their list of accredations:
Best of the Best 2011 / 2012 and Best Seafood 2011 / 2012 by the San Diego Magazine Reader's Poll, the Best Service 2012 San Diego Magazine Critic's Choice Award, Best Happy Hour 2011 and Best Service 2011 by San Diego Magazine Reader's Poll, Best of the Best, Best Seafood, Most Impressive Decor, Best Service and Happiest Happy Hour by San Diego Home & Garden Lifestyles, Best Service, Best Wine List, and Best Seafood by SanDiegoRestaurants.com (Diner's Poll), Best Steak by La Jolla Light Reader's Poll, and was rated Excellent for food and service in 2011 by Zagat. And there are plenty more where those came from!
Fresh crusty bread is promptly served to the table by an attentive waiter. Chilled sweet cream butter is also provided.
The presentation of one of Truluck's best-known specialties…crab claws…is presented to patrons before ordering. This is not only entertaining, but the visual enchantment is also worth while. I snapped a photo as our server was explaining their offerings of the evening above.
Upon arriving, we chose a bottle of 2009 Tolosa Pinot Noir, which we both enjoyed. Its huge nose and delicious finish was perfect for sipping while waiting to be served dinner.
As a starter, we selected four of Truluck's Stone Crab Claws. Precracked for ease of enjoying and served over ice with lemon and a creamy tasteful sauce, we knew these would be delectable. And they were!
Next, we agreed to share one of the Wedge Salads, which was so memorable from our visit to the Miami, FL Truluck's. It was just as good at this locale, if not better! Crisp, chilled and a beautiful visual presentation with all the flavor sensations we remembered from before.
Above and below, the Filet Oscar was cooked to a perfect medium temperature and was accompanied with an Oscar topping of grilled asparagus, fresh crab meat and Bearnaise sauce. What a beautifully presented and visually-pleasing contract against the brilliant green asparagus. We did, however, get a little carried away with the Bearnaise sauce!
We enjoyed the below dish so much during our Truluck's experience in Miami that we had to get it again in CA. The Miso-Glazed Seabass…MSC certified South Georgia Chilean Seabass served with crab fried rice and a chilled cucumber slaw. Immensely satisfying from first bite to the last taste on your fork, this is one of our all-time favorite Seabass dishes ever! The crab fried rice beneath is tender and erupting with flavor, while the Chilean Seabass is delicate, tender and almost melts in your mouth upon contact!
Of course, our server had to present us with their dessert tray after dinner. The below left photo shows Truluck's extensive array of sweet temptations. However, you already know what we ordered, probably…the Carrot Cake! A little coffee on the side led to the perfect conclusion to a wonderful meal, spectacular service and amazing ambiance!
By the way…I know I mentioned this in our review of the Miami Truluck's restaurant some time ago, but this restaurant has THE BEST CARROT CAKE EVER!!!
ESTABLISHMENT / DECOR: Having been voted ' Most Impressive Decor' by San Diego Home & Garden Lifestyles, there's reason this happened. Truluck's signature underwater vases of pale pink orchids are displayed atop the division wall between the lounge and the main restaurant, while the upscale feel of the steakhouse and seafood haven will have you relaxed, feeling at home and enjoying the intricate detailed design of the entire establishment.
FOOD / DRINK: Amazing Stone crab claws, succulent steaks, crisp salads and refreshing beverages. There's not a thing that we found to be unsatisfactory during our attendance for dinner.
LOCATION: This Truluck's restaurant is located near La Jolla at 8990 University Center Lane in San Diego, CA 92122.
HOURS: Truluck's in San Diego is open daily for Dinner Monday through Saturday from 5 Pm – 10 PM, and on Sunday evenings from 5 Pm – 9 PM. The Stone Crab lounge is open daily from 4:30 PM, where cocktail hour is presented until 7:30 PM Monday through Sunday.
SERVICE / STAFF: Todd Perry, a managing partner of the establishment, made sure we were seated in a satisfactory location with a beautiful view inside of the entire restaurant. Corey was our waiter, and we cannot express in words his exemplary service. Corey was informative, enlightening, amusing and supportive throughout our entire meal. We'll be sure to request his section the next time we dine at the San Diego Truluck's.
PRICE / VALUE: Taking a look at what we enjoyed for dinner, we expected the price for everything to exceed $100, which it did. But well worth the splurge, and well worth the additional consideration when we added in the quality of the cuisine we enjoyed, the incredible and attentive service and the stunning interior decor.
CORKAGE FEE: $20 per bottle, just remeber that on Wednesdays if you purchase a bottle of select wine or champagne from the bar, they will give you 50% off the regular price!
CONTACT INFO: Phone: (858) 453-2583, Website: www.trulucks.com
PARKING: Self parking is available for guests in the adjacent parking garage, however we recommend the valet service for a simple $8. It will save you a lot of time and allow you to relax and not have to worry about parking your vehicle.
TOTAL BILL: Our total bill came in over $100, but we were more than happy to accept that charge considering what we received.
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Love them or hate them, the common lawn violet (Viola sororia sororia) is a sturdy perennial that puts forth its pretty, violet-colored flowers every spring. This perennial wildflower is found in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9. Violets are stubborn and hard to eliminate. If you can't live with them, start eradicating them in fall. Plan on continuing your efforts the following season and perhaps even longer.
Spray the heart-shaped leaves until they drip with a ready-to-use spray bottle containing 2,4-D or dicamba. These are broadleaf weed killers that won't harm lawn grass when used properly. The chemical best translocates to the fleshy roots when applied in fall.
Spot treat violets that survive to spring with ready-to-use glyphosate applied with a spray bottle. Avoid getting much of the liquid on the grass and on other plants. The broad-spectrum herbicide damages or kills any plants it contacts.
Re-appy the glyphosate later in spring if the violets rally.
Repeat the fall and spring treatments until the violets give up the ghost and appear no more. It could take a few years to completely eradicate a patch of violets.
Dig out isolated violets by hand when they first appear in the yard. You can use your fingers for the smallest clumps, but you'll need to dig up bigger clumps with a trowel or hand-held garden fork. It's important to dig up all the fleshy root parts, or the violet could re-emerge.
Things Needed
- Ready-to-use 2,4-D or dicamba spray
- Ready-to-use glyphosate spray
- Trowel or garden fork
- Keep violets in check by maintaining a healthy, thick turf that chokes weeds out.
- Cutting the grass high, 2 or 3 inches, shades violet seeds, preventing their germination.
Photo Credits
- Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images


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BOSS Parkour Nylon Trainers in Black and White. Tucking and Rolling into Footasylum with their high end Luxe, lightweight mesh in a mix of leather and a signature foam clad midsole provide cushioning. With side branding and rubber sole.
Fabric: Textile upper, Textile lining and Other Materials Sole.
Product Care: To maintain appearance we recommend removing any light marks with a clean and damp sponge or cloth.
Style: Premium.
We guarantee to refund or exchange any item you're not completely happy with, providing you return it to us in an unused and sellable condition within 28 days of the date on your receipt.
To make it even easier, any returns made via the Asda2You or Collect+ service are now free of charge. We aim to process all returns within 7 days of us receiving the goods back in our warehouse. To avoid delays please make sure that you fill out your returns form in full before sending your items back to us.More information on returns...


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Based on the success of the former YPIC events, the YPIC2019 will be the fifth event organized for Young Professionals world wide.
The aim of the event is to BRING TOGETHER young welding professionals of the world in the fields of welding and related technologies, to review recent achievements in the advancement of knowledge and understanding in these areas, SHARE the latest developments and ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES for the present and the future.
For further information please visit: www.ypic2019.com


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Hemp seed has been cultivated around the world for over 12,000 years. It's been used as a fuel, as paper, and as a textile, and it's a rather healthy choice for food with its fiber, chlorophyll, vitamins, and minerals, as well as protein. Hemp seed oil is great to use in salad dressings since it has such a robust flavor. It is best used at room temperature, rather than heated or used as a cooking oil.
Here's a simple way to whip up a basic hemp seed oil balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing using hemp seed oil, lemon juice, and balsamic vinegar, with some spices to boot. (This recipe is vegan, but it's not a raw food recipe since this recipe uses Dijon mustard.)
- 3 tablespoons hemp oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed and minced)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Steps to Make It
Gather the ingredients.
Whisk together all ingredients until evenly and well blended.
Adjust salt and pepper to taste. If you have any fresh herbs on hand, you can mince about 3/4 teaspoon and add them in.
Augment the recipe for a larger batch.
Recipe Variations
- Just about any kind of fresh herb will work well in this dressing recipe; consider adding a sprig of fresh basil, fresh oregano, or fresh thyme.
- You can swap out the balsamic vinegar for raw apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, sherry, champagne, or white wine vinegar. Although any of these will create a very different flavor, each one will complement the hemp oil, herbs, mustard, and garlic.
- To bring a bit of sweetness to the dressing, you can include a little agave nectar or honey.
- If you are looking for a warmer and earthy taste, sprinkle in some ground cumin.
- Changing up the lemon juice for lime or orange will give the dressing a nice flavor twist.
- To make a creamier version of this salad dressing, replace the hemp oil with raw hulled hemp seeds and add 3 tablespoons of water in a high-speed blender. To make it thicker, just store the salad dressing overnight.
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Stadio Sant'Elia Tickets
Via Amerigo Vespucci, 09126 Cagliari, Italy
The Stadium might not be on the Italian mainland but it does follow the traditions of its counterparts, it's stands are full of the 'Ultra' style of supporters that follow their team with a fervent passion. These home fans generally have the run of the stadium, with not many fans choosing to follow their team out to Sardinia. Take advantage of the location though and stay on the island for a few days!
Stadio Sant'Elia Fan Videos
Checkout the latest video tips from fans. Send your video tips to email@example.com
Latest Stadio Sant'Elia Fan Tips
The latest fan info for where to park, where to sit, which bars to go to and a lot more
- HOT TIPBest Insider tip at Stadio Sant'Elia?
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text: At Car & Custom Garage we provide tailored services for your Subaru and also sell products via our online shop within this website. The online shop that sells parts and merchandise provides all prices and shipping for all goods sold at the time and point of purchase. Shipping prices and timescales are subject to change at any time. Shipping prices provided in our online shop are based on shipping within the UK. For international orders and requirements please contact us for a personal quotation on shipping rates and timescales. For mechanical and customisation services to your vehicle, Car & Custom Garage provides a completely personal service and quotation based on your requirements and the nature of your vehicle. No vehicle is the same and no requirement is the same, hence there is no standard price list for our services. Pricing will be quoted at the hourly rate of the workshop at the time of enquiry and an agreement made between you the Customer and us Car & Custom Garage before any work or purchasing proceeds. Contact us for further details.


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Chase Coleman, III. Net Worth
Chase Coleman, III. Net Worth: Chase Coleman, III. is an American hedge fund manager who has a net worth of $1.9 billion. Even though Chase was born in "old money", he has managed to make quite a substantial amount of "new money" as well. As a matter of fact, Coleman has generated his net worth through his Tiger Global Management, which is one of the seeded funds of the "The Tiger Fund," a hedge fund set up by Julian Robertson that was actively investing from 1980 to March 2000. After closing the fund, Julian Robertson decided to use his own capital, experience, and infrastructure to launch 38 hedge funds ("Tiger Seeds") in return for a stake in their fund management companies. Thus, it was created Coleman's Tiger Global Management in 2001, a fund that now oversees a total $11 billion. One of Robertson's "Tiger Cubs", Coleman has also spent six years serving as co-chair of the Tiger Foundation, which Robertson started to fight poverty in New York City. What's more, Coleman is co-chair of the investment committee for the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Getting back to Tiger Global Management, it owes its success to making a bunch of smart investments like selling a big chunk of its stake in Facebook in the IPO. Most recently (in the first half of 2013), Tiger Global posted net returns of 5.5%, whereas in the previous three years, Coleman has scored net return in excess of 20%. This explains why he was regarded to be the most profitable hedge fund founder in 2011.
Tiger Management
|Net Worth:
|$1.9 Billion


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Pretty Cool Customers are now part of the Enfield based "Love Your Doorstep" campaign to keep people use local and trusted shops and services. Customers can write reviews and comment on the standard of the tradesperson or product they receive. We think its a great idea!!
Love Your Doorstep
Posted on October 11, 2013 at 9:09 am
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Air Conditioning Enfield, Enfield, Love Your Doorstep, LYDS, Refrigeration Engineers Enfield
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The Principle of Downward Slope reveals the correct placement of slopes and lower elevations on a property. A downward slope amplifies the energy of the direction towards which the slope flows. Downward slopes should be to the north, east and especially northeast.
The northeast should always be the lowest point on a property and the southwest, the highest. No matter what, the northeast should never be higher than any other part of the property. If the land is completely flat it is acceptable. Slope applies to the property, land surrounding the property, roofs, and floor levels within a building and a room. Generally, the slopes that influence the Vaastu of a property the most are the slopes of the surrounding land and the property itself. Note: The arrows always point in the direction of downward slope.
Benefits: Very Auspicious. A property or its surrounding land with a slope down to the northeast is one of the most beneficial features in Vaastu. A northeast slope brings wealth, peace, name, fame, and success in both material and spiritual endeavors.
Benefits: Very Auspicious. This is the second most powerful downward slope. A slope down to the north brings tremendous prosperity, material success, peace, name, fame and the ability to solve problems.
Benefits: Very Auspicious. The influences of an east slope are those associated with the benefits of the morning sun. An east slope brings noble qualities, peace, clarity, wisdom, inspiration, name and fame.
Results: Very Dangerous. It is a life risk. Avoid at all cost. Never stay-simply get out. Brings unnatural deaths, accidents, suicide, murder, financial ruin, illness, fighting, jealousy, enemies, mistrust, worry and depression. It negatively affects character, leading to immoral behavior.
Results: Very Dangerous. It is a life risk. Brings accidents, terrible financial loss, confusion, depression, chronic illness, heartbreak, enemies and addictions.
Results: Very Dangerous. It is a life risk. Brings failure, enemies, addictions, illness, heartbreak, relationship problems, depression, confusion and doubt. You will not be able to make money. Crazy things will start in your life. You will want to run away but you can't because it is hard to escape this negative influence.


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The Luca Glider combines clean lines with superior comfort to provide ergonomic arm height when feeding your baby, high back and head support, and therapeutic comfort for long days and nights!
Purchase the chair on its own, or as a bundle with the matching ottoman.
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We are excited to announce our three Keynote Speakers.
The conference will take place Wednesday to Thursday, October 17 to 18.
Also, we are planning to have now four Workshops running partly in parallel on Friday, October 19.
Reception on Tuesday Evening, 16.10., in Salzbüchsle!
The reception will take place at the Salzbüchsle from 6:00 to 7:30 pm!
Preliminary Program
The main conference room is C 425. There will be signs starting from the main entrance where the buses line 9 and 11 arrive. Workshop rooms for Friday will differ, please check out the corresponding workshop websites.
Wednesday, 17.10.2018
Registration opens
09:15 – 09:30
Conference Opening
09:30 – 10:30
Keynote I: Nicolas Holliman
10:30 – 11:00
Morning Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:00
Immersive Navigation and Storytelling
11:00 – 11:30
Revealing the Invisible: Visual Analytics and Explanatory Storytelling for Advanced Team Sport Analysis – Manuel Stein, Thorsten Breitkreutz, Johannes Häußler, Daniel Seebacher, Christoph Niederberger, Tobias Schreck, Michael Grossniklaus, Daniel Keim and Halldor Janetzko
11:30 – 12:00
Evaluating Navigation Techniques for 3D Graph Visualizations in Virtual Reality – Adam Drogemuller, Andrew Cunningham, James Walsh, Bruce Thomas and Maxime Cordeil
12:00 – 12:30
Visual Analytics: Exploration ISession Chair: Ulrich Engelke
12:00 – 12:30
Casual Visual Exploration of Large Bipartite Graphs Using Hierarchical Aggregation and Filtering – Daniel
12:30 – 14:00
14:00 – 15:30
Visual Analytics: Applications
14:00 – 14:30
OCP – Operative Curricular Planning: A Visual Decision Support System for Planning Teaching Resources – Raphael Sahann and Torsten Möller
14:30 – 15:00
REMatch: Research Expert Matching System –
15:00 – 15:30
Visual Analytics for Building Management –
15:30 – 16:00
Afternoon Coffee Break
16:00 – 17:00
Keynote II: Sheelagh Carpendale
17:00 – 17:30
Visual Analytics: Exploration II
17:00 – 17:30
Towards Visual Exploration of Large Temporal Datasets – Mohammed Ali, Mark Jones, Xianghua Xie and Mark Williams
19:00 – 22:00
Banquet in Constanzer Wirtshaus + Best Paper Award
Thursday, 18.10.2018
09:00 – 09:30
Theoretical Foundations
09:00 – 09:30
VISupply: A Supply Chain Framework for Visualization Guidelines – Ulrich Engelke, Alfie Abdul-Rahman and Min Chen
09:30 – 10:30
Text Media Analysis
09:30 – 10:00
LTMA: Layered Topic Matching for the Comparative Exploration, Evaluation, and Refinement of Topic Modeling – Mennatallah El-Assady, Fabian Sperrle, Rita Sevastjanova, Michael Sedlmair and Daniel Keim
10:00 – 10:30
LabelTransfer – Integrating Static and Dynamic Label Representation for Focus+Context Text Exploration – Qi Han, Markus John, Steffen Koch, Ivan Assenov and Thomas Ertl
10:30 – 11:00
Morning Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:30
Immersive Analytics: Display
11:00 – 11:30
Building Multiple Coordinated Spaces for Effective Immersive Analytics through Distributed Cognition – Tahir Mahmood, Erik Butler, Nicholas Davis, Jian Huang and Aidong Lu
11:30 – 12:00
Axes and Coordinate Systems Representations for Immersive Analytics of Multi-Dimensional Data – Adrien Fonnet, Toinon Vigier, Grégoire Cliquet, Fabien Picarougne and Yannick Prié
12:00 – 12:30
Visual Analytics on Large Displays: Exploring User Spatialization and How Size and Resolution Affect Task Performance – Gokhan Cetin, Wolfgang Stürzlinger and John Dill
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch Break
14:00 – 15:00
Keynote III: Paul Cairns
15:00 – 16:00
Visual Analytics: Pipeline
15:00 – 15:30
Pattern-Driven Exploration of Big Data – Michael Behrisch, Robert Krueger, Fritz Lekschas, Tobias Schreck, Nils Gehlenborg and Hanspeter Pfister
15:30 – 16:00
Multiple Workspaces in Visual Analytics – Maha El Meseery, Yuyao Wu and Wolfgang Stürzlinger
16:00 – 16:30
Afternoon Coffee Break
16:30 – 18:00
Geo-related Visual and Immersive Analytics
16:30 – 17:00
SocialOcean: Visual Analysis and Characterization of Social Media Bubbles – Alexandra Diehl, Michael Hundt, Johannes Häußler, Daniel Seebacher, Siming Chen, Nida Cilasun, Daniel Keim and Tobias Schreck
17:00 – 17:30
Immersive Visualisation of Geo-Temporal Narratives in Law Enforcement – Andrew Cunningham, James Walsh and Bruce Thomas
17:30 – 18:00
Tangible Braille Plot: Tangibly Exploring Geo-Temporal Data in Virtual Reality –
18:00 – 18:15
Conference Closing
Friday, 19.10.2018
Workshops Registration opens
09:00 – 11:30
Session 1
VGI Geovisual Analytics Workshop I
Introduction to IATK: An Immersive Visual Analytics Toolkit
TRR Workshop: Visualizations + Interactions + Workflows = Data Science for Everyone
Morning Coffee Break
VGI Geovisual Analytics Workshop I
TRR Workshop: Visualizations + Interactions + Workflows = Data Science for Everyone
Lunch Break
13:00 – 15:30
Session 2
VGI Geovisual Analytics Workshop II
Glyphs-based visualization: Opportunities and Challenges
Afternoon Coffee Break
Accepted Paper Abstracts
Immersive Navigation and Storytelling
Manuel Stein, Thorsten Breitkreutz, Johannes Häußler, Daniel Seebacher, Christoph Niederberger, Tobias Schreck, Michael Grossniklaus, Daniel Keim and Halldor Janetzko.
Revealing the Invisible: Visual Analytics and Explanatory Storytelling for Advanced Team Sport Analysis
Abstract: The analysis of invasive team sports often concentrates on cooperative and competitive aspects of collective movement behavior. A main goal is the identification and explanation of strategies, and eventually the development of new strategies. In visual sports analytics, a range of different visual-interactive analysis techniques have been proposed, e.g., based on visualization using for example trajectories, graphs, heatmaps, and animations. Identifying suitable visualizations for a specific situation is key to a successful analysis. Existing systems enable the interactive selection of different visualization facets to support the analysis process. However, an interactive selection of appropriate visualizations is a difficult, complex, and time-consuming task. In this paper, we propose a four-step analytics methodology for an automatic selection of appropriate views for key situations in soccer games. Our methodology covers classification, specification, explanation, and alteration of match situations, effectively enabling the analysts to focus on important game situations and the determination of alternative moves. Combining abstract visualizations with real world video recordings by Immersive Visual Analytics and descriptive storylines, we support domain experts in understanding key situations. We demonstrate the usefulness of our proposed methodology via two proofs of concept and evaluate our system by comparing our results to manual video annotations by domain experts. Initial expert feedback shows that our proposed methodology improves the understanding of competitive sports and leads to a more efficient data analysis.
Adam Drogemuller, Andrew Cunningham, James Walsh, Bruce Thomas and Maxime Cordeil.
Evaluating Navigation Techniques for Large Data Visualizations in VR
Abstract: For new and complex emerging data visualizations, research has been ongoing into how Virtual Reality can be a beneficial tool for Data Scientists and Analysts to review and visualize large sets of data. The purpose of this paper is to review approaches made in the past to navigate 3-D visualizations in Virtual Reality and test their effectiveness with a Large Graph Visualization as a use case for a large data visualization. We evaluate two prominent navigation techniques employed in VR (Teleportation and One-Handed Flying) against more obscure navigations (Two-Handed Flying and Worlds In Miniature) and evaluate their performance and effectiveness through a series of tasks through a Large Graph Visualization.
Immersive Analytics: Display
Tahir Mahmood, Erik Butler, Nicholas Davis, Jian Huang and Aidong Lu.
Building Multiple Coordinated Spaces for Effective Immersive Analytics through Distributed Cognition
Abstract: Multiple coordinated views (MCV) has been widely used in visualization techniques. This work explores the 3D version, multiple coordinated spaces (MCS), for utilizing a large physical environment that integrates various 2D displays as the analysis workspace. Built upon the rich background of distributed and embodied cognition, we provide MCS to support interactive analysis in a connected, distributed set of subspaces. We also provide visualization and interactive techniques for coordinating classical WIMP GUIs systems and augmented reality devices. Using a multivariate, geo-spatial application of biodiversity, we demonstrate the flexibility of MCS on revealing various complex data correlations. The major advantage of MCS is a flexible coordination framework for creating new immersive analytics methods through mixing visualizations from different devices, as well as physical and virtual operations from different environments.
Adrien Fonnet, Toinon Vigier, Grégoire Cliquet, Fabien Picarougne and Yannick Prié.
Axes and Coordinate Systems Representations for Immersive Analytics of Multi-Dimensional Data
Abstract: Axes are the main components of coordinate systems representations. They play a critical role for the visual analysis of multi-dimensional data. However their representation seems to have always be considered self evident, with oriented lines crossing at an origin, completed with labels such as ticks and names. Such classical representation show limits when it comes 3D visualization and immersive analytic (IA), mainly because orthogonal projection of points on linear axes is hard in a 3d environment, and because the user can move therefore the axes can get out of his field of view. In this paper we propose a task-based definition of axes and coordinate systems representation, as well as a tentative design space for coordinates systems representation in immersion. We also present an exploratory user study we carried out to compare three grid-based representations of coordinate systems for multidimensional data analysis with 3D scatterplots.
Gokhan Cetin, Wolfgang Stuerzlinger and John Dill.
Visual Analytics on Large Displays: Exploring User Spatialization and How Size and Resolution Affect Task Performance
Abstract: Large, high-resolution displays (LHRDs) have been shown to enable increased productivity over conventional monitors. Previous work has identified the benefits of LHRDs for Visual Analytics tasks, where the user is analyzing complex data sets. However, LHRDs are fundamentally different from desktop and mobile computing environments, presenting some unique usability challenges and opportunities, and need to be better understood. There is thus a need for additional studies to analyze the impact of LHRD size and display resolution on content spatialization strategies and Visual Analytics task performance. We present the results of two studies of the effects of physical display size and resolution on analytical task successes and also analyze how participants spatially cluster visual content in different display conditions. Overall, we found that navigation technique preferences differ significantly among users, that the wide range of observed spatialization types suggest several different analysis techniques are adopted, and that display size affects clustering task performance whereas display resolution does not.
Visual Analytics: Applications
Raphael Sahann and Torsten Möller.
OCP – Operative Curricular Planning: A Visual Decision Support System for Planning Teaching Resources
Abstract: We conducted a design study to do an in-depth analysis of the problem of operative planning at universities and designed a decision support tool for that problem, called Operative Curricular Planning (OCP). Based on our observations we abstracted the planning process into separate tasks. Focusing on a subset of tasks that we characterized, we present the OCP tool for visually supporting decision making in the process of planning teaching resources. We show the steps leading to the final design of our visual decision support system and discuss the design decisions made while building the tool. Finally, we present an evaluation with four domain experts in a real-world scenario and talk about lessons learned from building the OCP tool, including the issue of integration and adoption of the system.
Md. Iqbal Hossain, Stephen Kobourov, Helen Purchase and Mihai Surdeanu.
REMatch: Research Expert Matching System
Abstract: We describe a system designed to process, analyze and visualize academic data, from research papers and research proposals to list of courses taught, consulting, internal and external service. This can be helpful in identifying experts in a given field for future collaborations, as well as in putting together strong multi-disciplinary teams to apply for future research funding. Our REMatch system aims to support such tasks by leveraging natural language processing, machine learning, and interactive visualization. Specifically, REMatch provides a functional system that implements in-the-browser, map-based interactive navigation of a large underlying network, supporting semantic zooming, panning, searching, and map overlays. A prototype of the system is evaluated with a small-scale case study.
Arnaud Prouzeau, Tim Dwyer, Manivannan Balasubramaniam, Joshua Henry, Dharshini.M.B Anu and Ngọc Hoàng.
Visual Analytics for Building Management
Abstract: Building management systems (BMS) provide monitoring and control of most of large-building assets (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, security systems, and so on). With the recent advancement of the Internet of Things and data management systems, BMS must gather and manage increasingly detailed data coming from a greater number and diversity of sources. The availability of such data should help building managers optimize the energy consumption of buildings. However, current BMS don't allow efficient visualization of such data, which means that even if the data is available, it is not used to its full potential. In this paper, we describe a prototype BMS interface providing interactive visualizations of traditional building data (temperature, energy consumption), as well as more novel data (comfort feedback from occupants and live occupancy). We evaluate this prototype by first showing how it could be used to plan a long-term energy saving strategy, and then in a feedback session involving facility managers at a university.
Visual Analytics: Exploration
Daniel Steinböck, Eduard Gröller and Manuela Waldner.
Casual Visual Exploration of Large Bipartite Graphs Using Hierarchical Aggregation and Filtering
Abstract: Bipartite graphs are typically visualized using linked lists or matrices. However, these classic visualization techniques do not scale well with the number of nodes. Biclustering has been used to aggregate edges, but not to create linked lists with thousands of nodes. In this paper, we present a new casual exploration interface for large, weighted bipartite graphs, which allows for multi-scale exploration through hierarchical aggregation of nodes and edges using biclustering in linked lists. We demonstrate the usefulness of the technique using two data sets: a database of media advertising expenses of public authorities and author-keyword co-occurrences from the IEEE Visualization Publication collection. Through an insight-based study with lay users, we show that the biclustering interface leads to longer exploration times, more insights, and more unexpected findings than a baseline interface using only filtering. However, users also perceive the biclustering interface as more complex.
Mohammed Ali, Mark Jones, Xianghua Xie and Mark Williams.
Towards Visual Exploration of Large Temporal Datasets
Abstract: Visual analytics for time series data has received considerable attention in previous literature, and different approaches have been developed to understand the characteristics of the data and to obtain meaningful information. Visualizing, analyzing and presenting large temporal datasets are important tasks to understand, navigate and explore such data. Onedimensional time-series charts are usually used to visualize time series data but if the dataset contains multiple time series with a large number of observations a high degree of overlap will occur which may obscure important information. This problem has become a vital challenge in many domains such as finance, biological systems, and meteorology. The need for analyzing and exploring large time-series data led researchers to develop various interactive visualization tools and analytical algorithms which aim to give insight into the data, and most of them either focus on a small number of tasks or a specific domain. We propose a visual analytics system and approach which aims to visualize, analyze, present and explore large temporal datasets. Our approach consists of three main stages which are preprocessing, dimensionality reduction, and visual exploration. It assists with finding the interesting features in the data which are often obscured in the line chart or the visual compression that is required to render the large datasets on a small screen. Also, it helps to obtain an overview of the entire dataset and track changes over time. Moreover, it enables the user to detect clusters and outliers and observe the transitions between data. The juxtaposed views are used to visualize and interact both with raw time series data and projection data. Different time series datasets are deployed on our system, and we demonstrate the utility and evaluate the results using a case study with two different datasets which show the effectiveness of our system.
Visual Analytics: Pipelines
Michael Behrisch, Robert Krueger, Fritz Lekschas, Tobias Schreck, Nils Gehlenborg and Hanspeter Pfister.
Pattern-Driven Exploration of Big Data
Abstract: Abstract—Pattern extraction algorithms are enabling insights into the ever-growing amount of today's datasets by translating reoccurring data properties into compact representations. Yet, a practical problem arises: With increasing data volumes and complexity also the number of patterns increases, leaving the analyst with a vast result space. Current algorithmic and especially visualization approaches oftentimes fail to answer central overview questions essential for a comprehensive understanding of pattern distributions and -support, their quality, and relevance to the analysis task. To address these challenges, we contribute a visual analytics pipeline targeted on the pattern-driven exploration of result spaces in a semi-automatic fashion. Specifically, we combine image feature analysis and unsupervised learning to partition the pattern space into interpretable, coherent chunks, which should be given priority in a subsequent in-depth analysis. In our analysis scenarios, no ground-truth is given. Thus, we employ and evaluate novel quality metrics derived from the distance distributions of our image feature vectors and the derived cluster model to guide the feature selection process. We visualize our results interactively, allowing the user to drill down from overview to detail into the pattern space and demonstrate our techniques in a case study on biomedical genomic data.
Maha El Meseery, Yuyao Wu and Wolfgang Stürzlinger.
Multiple Workspaces in Visual Analytics
Abstract: Exploratory visual analysis is an iterative process, where analysts often start from an overview of the data. Subsequently, they often pursue different hypotheses through multiple rounds of interaction and analysis. Commercial visualization packages support mostly a model with a single analysis path, where the system view represents only the final state of the users' current analysis. In this paper, we investigate the benefit of using multiple workspaces to support alternative analyses, enabling users to create different workspaces to pursue multiple analysis paths at the same time. We implemented a prototype for multiple workspaces using a multi-tab design in a visual analytics system. The results of our user studies show that multiple workspaces: enable analysts to work on concurrent tasks, work well for organizing an analysis, and make it easy to revisit previous parts of their work.
Theoretical Foundations
Ulrich Engelke, Alfie Abdul-Rahman and Min Chen.
VISupply: A Supply Chain Framework for Visualization Guidelines
Abstract: Visualization is widely accepted as an effective medium to communicate complex data to a human observer. To do this effectively, visualizations have to be carefully designed to achieve a certain intent. Visualization guidelines are proposed by the academic research community and practitioners to facilitate effective visualization design. A few guidelines have been received a fair amount of attention, and effort has been made to study, discuss, validate, falsify, adopt, adapt, or extend them. However, many guidelines have not received adequate exposure or have not had the opportunities to undergone a similar level of scrutiny. When some of these guidelines managed to emerge or resurface, it is often not clear about their scientific rationale and the state of play in their validation. In this paper, we juxtapose the development and consumption of visualization guidelines with that of consumer products. We outline a conceptual model for a Visualization Guidelines Supply Chain, VISupply. It describes an idealized loop of actions for formulating, curating, using, and improving guidelines systematically. By enabling an ecosystem for visualization guidelines, the community can collectively optimize these guidelines and adopt them with confidence in a given context. We examine the current and potential roles of different stakeholders in this ecosystem.
Text Media Analysis
Mennatallah El-Assady, Fabian Sperrle, Rita Sevastjanova, Michael Sedlmair and Daniel Keim.
LTMA: Layered Topic Matching for the Comparative Exploration, Evaluation, and Refinement of Topic Modeling
Abstract: We present LTMA, a Layered Topic Matching approach for the unsupervised comparative analysis of topic modeling results. Due to the vast number of available modeling algorithms, an efficient and effective comparison of their results is detrimental to a data- and task-driven selection of a model. LTMA automates this comparative analysis by providing topic matching based on two layers (document-overlap and keyword-similarity), creating a novel topic-match data structure. This data structure builds a basis for model exploration and optimization, thus, allowing for an efficient evaluation of their performance in the context of a given type of text data and task. This is especially important for text types where an annotated gold standard dataset is not readily available and, therefore, quantitative evaluation methods are not applicable. We confirm the usefulness of our technique based on three use cases, namely: (1) the automatic comparative evaluation of topic models, (2) the visual exploration of topic modeling differences, and (3) the optimization of topic modeling results through combining matches.
Qi Han, Markus John, Steffen Koch, Ivan Assenov and Thomas Ertl.
LabelTransfer – Integrating Static and Dynamic Label Representation for Focus+Context Text Exploration
Abstract: In recent years, interactive visualization to analyze text documents has gained an impressive momentum. This is not surprising considering the fast increase of electronically available textual documents of various kinds. These include, for example, patents, scholarly documents, social media messages, and many other sources that contain valuable knowledge and insights for many stakeholders. Interactive text visualization turned out to be an important means for exploring and gaining insights into complex and often large document collections. An established visualization strategy to represent such collections are projection-based techniques that visualize documents as glyphs in a 2D representation aiming to reflect the semantic similarity of documents by the proximity of their placement. Static labels have been suggested to characterize the overall topics contained in the projected data to improve the effectiveness of such visualization techniques. Other approaches employ magic lenses that enable users to freely explore the 2D spatialization on various granularity levels. In this work, we propose a visual exploration approach that combines cluster-based labeling of projected documents with an interaction concept for magic lens-based techniques. We offer a set of novel interactive features to support a smooth transition between static labels and the magic lens approach while exploiting the different levels of visual abstraction of both techniques without introducing additional clutter through overdraw. Finally, we provide insights gained from a preliminary user study and present the benefits of our approach.
Geo-related Visual and Immersive Analytics
Alexandra Diehl, Michael Hundt, Johannes Häußler, Daniel Seebacher, Siming Chen, Nida Cilasun, Daniel Keim and Tobias Schreck.
SocialOcean: Visual Analysis and Characterization of Social Media Bubbles
Abstract: Social media allows citizens, corporations, and authorities to create, post, and exchange information. The study of its dynamics will enable analysts to understand user activities and social group characteristics such as connectedness, geospatial distribution, and temporal behavior. In this context, social media bubbles can be defined as social groups that exhibit certain biases in social media. These biases strongly depend on the dimensions selected in the analysis, for example, topic affinity, credibility, sentiment, and geographic distribution.
In this paper, we present SocialOcean, a visual analytics system that allows for the investigation of social media bubbles. There exists a large body of research in social sciences which identifies important dimensions of social media bubbles (SMBs). While such dimensions have been studied separately, and also some of them in combination, it is still an open question which dimensions play the most important role in defining SMBs. Since the concept of SMBs is fairly recent, there are many unknowns regarding their characterization. We investigate the thematic and spatio-temporal characteristics of SMBs and present a visual analytics system to address questions such as: What are the most important dimensions that characterize SMBs? and How SMBs embody in the presence of specific events that resonate with them?
We illustrate our approach using three different real scenarios related to the single event of Boston Marathon Bombing, and political news about Global Warming. We perform an expert evaluation, analyze the experts' feedback, and present the lessons learned.
Andrew Cunningham, James Walsh and Bruce Thomas.
Immersive Visualisation of Geo-Temporal Narratives in Law Enforcement
Abstract: Recent advances in virtual reality technologies enable high-fidelity exploration of data in an immersive environment. This is potentially advantageous for professional applications of high-dimensional datasets (such as geo-temporal narratives), as we can leverage all three spatial axes while immersing the user in the information itself. Geo-temporal narratives tell a story of entities, their movements, and as a result, their potential relationships, thereby defining the who, what, where, and when that define a story; everything except the why. This paper describes an immersive virtual reality system we have developed to convey these narratives, specifically focusing on the law enforcement domain. The system lets users not only view who was where and when, but also view explicit and implicit relationships between entities, repeated visits to recurring locations, as well as the crucial descriptive information explaining the why. We present the results of an expert review of the system from federal law enforcement and defence agencies that validate our approach.
James Walsh, Andrew Cunningham, Ross Smith and Bruce Thomas.
Tangible Braille Plot: Tangibly Exploring Geo-Temporal Data in Virtual Reality
Abstract: Despite the resurgence of virtual reality (VR), the primary method of interacting with the environment is using generic controllers. Given the often-purpose-built nature of applications within VR, this is surprising, as despite the effort put into the design of the application itself, the same attention is not paid to the input control. This is despite the advantages that tangible interfaces have for user understanding, especially in the context of visualization, where user understanding is paramount. This paper presents the adaptation of a previous 2D temporal-geospatial visualization into VR, and more importantly, describes the development of a novel 8DOF TUI developed to support the exploration of that data. For our application, this centers around the exploration of geospatial data to explore colocation and divergence of entities, but could easily be extended to other domains. We present our novel controller as an example of the benefits of the utilization of purpose built physical controllers as a first-tier method of enabling immersive analytics. We describe the immersive system and controller, followed by an example use case and other applications encouraging further development of novel tangibles as a key component of immersive data analytics.


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Simulcast (CD)+ Outer Sunset Poster Print + Weather Tycho Text Hoodie
Simulcast (CD) + Simulcast Digital Album Download + Outer Sunset Print + Weather Tycho Text Hoodie
Printed by Ambient Inks on a premium Independent Trading Co. 4000 sweatshirt.
Includes instant grant tracks "Stress" and "Outer Sunset"
- Weather
- Alright
- Outer Sunset
- Into The Woods
- Easy
- Cypress
- Stress
Format: Compact Disk
Release Date: February 28, 2020
Poster print of the artwork for "Outer Sunset" Designed by Scott Hansen. Dimensions: 18x24" on 100# stock paper. All ISO50 prints come in rigid, super sturdy .125 thick reinforced tubes to prevent any damage during transit.


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The BIG & CLEVER podcast is a brand new satirical podcast brought to you by Danny Blaze & Keith True← Episode 48 Episode 50 → February 14, 2014
This weeks episode; @KeithTrue has a drink, @IamDannyBlaze upsets more 'celebs' on twitter & is banned from a popular hardware store!
what more could happen in this hour?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSSThis entry was posted in bigandclever2. Bookmark the permalink. ← Episode 48 Episode 50 →


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Lights out
Jacob Summerville, Staff Reporter
February 5, 2019
On Monday, Jan. 28, the university and the surrounding Hammond area were impacted by a power outage. The power in several buildings on main campus was disrupted, and by 1:44 p.m., classes and most food services were canceled for the remainder of the day. Byron Patterson, director of the Physical Pla...


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Originally from Argentina, Manuel is a self-taught artist. He participated in various competitions and art markets in the early 90s. His first exhibition was held in 1994 in the small town of Gualeguaychú. In 1995, he studied at the Prilidiano Pueyrredon National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires. Two years later, he became an assistant in artist Sofia Althabe's studio.
In 1999, he received a scholarship from the Antorchas Foundation to study with painter Jorge Demirjian, and became his assistant until 2001. That year, he was awarded the title of professor of painting from the National University of Art and moved to the Entre Ríos province, where he now lives. From 2001 to 2012 he taught painting and drawing for children and adults in the cultural centres of the region (Colon, Villa Elisa). He participated in various artistic and educational projects for the La Fragua Cultural Centre, of which he is a founding member. He has exhibited in South America and Spain over the past fifteen years.
Manuel paints with a brush directly on paper without any preliminary drawing. He works from a reduced palette by focusing on neutrals and pastels. Figurative and realistic, the artist combines his traditional and modern education by bringing a contemporary stylish finish to his technical expertise. Manuel appreciates Italian painting of the nineteenth century. His works appear both classical in his choice of subjects (landscapes, portraits, still lifes) and modern in the way he deals with sobriety. Haunting, they exude a sense of serenity.
In its quest for purity, Manuel wants to seize the beauty of everyday life. He goes straight to the essential and leaves no room for the superfluous. He paints intimate moments by staging characters absorbed in their occupations (dancer, swimmer, fisherman, musician...) and approaches nudity with humility. His elegant figures have the nostalgic charm of the 60s. Discrete and melancholy, they recall the lonely figures of American painter Edward Hopper (twentieth century).
bool(false) NULL string(32) "boutique_2 cat_1371 cat_root_194"
| Moscou Petrovka
More info
| 17/1 Petrovka
105187 Moscou / Moscow
Phone: +8(495)625 35 04
Monday: 11h00 - 22h00
Tuesday: 11h00 - 22h00
Wednesday: 11h00 - 22h00
Thursday: 11h00 - 22h00
Friday: 11h00 - 22h00
Saturday: 11h00 - 22h00
Sunday: 11h00 - 22h00


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Are dental implants treatment right for me?
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Check on what you might need to prepare before planning before you're dental implants treatment or trip to Phuket.


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Episode 13: In conversation with the Knitting Monk
This episode is a little different than normal as it is the first time I welcome a guest onto the podcast.
Aidan, aka the Knitting Monk on Instagram and YouTube, joins me to discuss the book "Cræft: How Traditional Crafts are About More Than Just Making" by Alexander Langlands (published under the title Cræft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts").
You can find me as Mrs_M_Curiosity_Cabinet on Instagram and as Meg-aka-Mrs-M on Ravelry.
There is also a Ravelry Group for the podcast.
Shownotes can be found at: Mrs M's Curiosity Cabinet. These include references to other podcasters who have reviewed or shared thoughts about this book.
Music: As I figure by Kevin MacLeod on FreeMusicArchive and licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 License


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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in Las Vegas, which closed its doors on January 11, has a wealth of high-tech objects. FTechBlog has comeup with ten gadgets presented at CES 2013 in Las Vegas.
Touch table
Put it on a tripod and that this touchpad transformed into a coffee table. Defense to topple his beer.
A huge 3D TV
It measures 213 cm and costs 20 thousand dollars. The show goes around does not come with.
TV in both programs
On the same screen, two programs overlap, each sees only through special glasses. Another good reason for couples not to share anything.
The TV screen curve
Like in the movies, the big screen is concave. Expected convex screen.
The flexible screen smartphone
A solid foundation that feeds a flexible screen that rolls, bends, twists.Do not crumple like a piece of paper when you wiped sms.
The tapered edge smartphone
The screen also dressed the side of the phone. As beautiful and hast thou seen a swimming pool.
The hull Touch
Shell to tickle her phone in the back or on the edge: the screen reacts.Very welcome this gadget mutants with four hands.
Transparent 3D TV
We can see through the screen of this TV: objects behind appear on the image. Whether to stand behind its television now …
The touchscreen relief
When you want to enter text, the keyboard "push" embossed on the touch screen. If the machine goes, it can give funny stuff.
Tablet paper
A touch pad as thin and flexible as paper. If it fails, it can be used to pack his potato peelings.
I hope you like the gadgets and also the article. Share your comments and views with us on CES 2013. We are eagerly waiting for..


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Food Stamp Follies: Oregon Governor's Publicity Stunt, and the Reporting on It, Are Both Wrong on the Facts
Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski got lots of attention earlier this week as he tried to show us how allegedly inadequate the Food Stamp program is (bold is mine):
Ore. gov. starts week on food stamps
By Julia Silverman, Associated Press Writer | April 25, 2007
SALEM, Ore. –If Gov. Ted Kulongoski seems a little sluggish this week, he's got an excuse: he couldn't afford coffee.
In fact, the Democratic governor couldn't afford much of anything during a trip to a Salem-area grocery store on Tuesday, where he had exactly $21 to buy a week's worth of food — the same amount that the state's average food stamp recipient spends weekly on groceries.
Kulongoski is taking the weeklong challenge to raise awareness about the difficulty of feeding a family on a food stamp budget.
The governor put on quite a show trying to stay within that $21:
The governor pined wistfully for canned Progresso soups, but at $1.53 apiece, they would have blown the budget. He settled instead for three packages of Cup O'Noodles for 33 cents apiece. Kulongoski also gave up his usual Adams natural, no-stir peanut butter for a generic store brand, but drew the line at saving money by buying peanut butter and jelly in the same jar.
"I don't much like the looks of that," said Kulongoski, 66, staring at the concoction.
….. At the check-out counter, Kulongoski's purchases totaled $21.97, forcing him to give back one of the Cup O'Noodles and two bananas, for a final cost of $20.97 for 19 items.
After the hourlong shopping trip, Kulongoski said he was mindful that his week on food stamps will be finite and that thousands of others aren't so lucky.
"I don't care what they call it, if this is what it takes to get the word out," Kulongoski said, in response to questions about whether the food stamp challenge was no more than a publicity stunt.
But there's a significant problem with the premise behind the governor's awareness campaign, and with the reporting by the AP's Julia Silverman — a problem that could have been prevented with just a few minutes of research. You see, USDA's "food stamp budget" provides per-person per-week benefits to recipients with no other available resources that are 28%-70% higher than the $21 used in the article.
The Food Stamp Program's "Fact Sheet on Resources, Income and Benefits" provides a table of "Maximum Monthly Allotments" (bold is mine; I converted the Monthly Allotments to weekly allotments per person by dividing by the average number of weeks in a month [4.345], and then by the number of people), and says the following about benefit levels:
The amount of benefits the household gets is called an allotment. The net monthly income of the household is multiplied by .3, and the result is subtracted from the maximum allotment for the household size to find the household's allotment. This is because food stamp households are expected to spend about 30 percent of their resources on food.
The governor, in using $21 as his "budget," and the AP's Silverman, by describing that $21 as what "the state's average food stamp recipient spends weekly on groceries," are clearly misleading their public, and their readers, respectively, by ignoring the subtraction clearly described in the above paragraph.
If $21 is indeed the correct per-person per-week Food Stamp benefit in Oregon, the example that immediately follows the table at the linked Fact Sheet page makes it perfectly clear that the $21 is what remains AFTER a person or family on Food Stamps has contributed what the Program believes they can contribute towards buying food from their own resources (a fairly complex calculation that is beyond the scope of this post, except of course to note its existence). It is definitely NOT what "the state's average food stamp recipient spends weekly on groceries." The Program's table assumes that Food Stamp recipients will spend more, and it's reasonable to assume that many if not most recipients do indeed spend more.
Just to be sure that Oregon's Food Stamp program doesn't vary from the national norm, I verified that the Oregon DHS Food Stamp benefit calculator generates results consistent with USDA's table. I used a family of 4 with very little income, and expenses exceeding that income, thereby ensuring that such a family would have no other available resources to put towards buying food according to the Program's definitions. Bingo — the estimated benefit was the same $518 for a family of 4 listed in the table above.
Now perhaps it's the case that USDA's allotments are inadequate, or that the deductions for available resources are unreasonable. But the allotments are closely in line with the "Thrifty Plan" version of the agency's most recent "Cost of Food at Home" report (link is to a page containing links to each month's report in PDF format), and it isn't unreasonable to expect recipients of government benefits to be thrifty. As to the available resource deductions, they were designed and mostly came about in 1996 as a part of a series of welfare reform laws passed by a Republican congress and signed by a Democratic president, and were seen as needed to curb the rampant fraud and abuse that was occurring at the time.
The bottom lines:
- If a state governor is going to try a publicity stunt to "get the word out" about a cause he believes in, the least he can do is have his facts straight first. Governor Kulongoski could have picked up nine of those $1.53 Progressos he "pined wistfully for" without busting the program's assumed budget for a one-person household's food needs (yes I know he's married with three grown children, but in his stunt he was shopping as a single person), with 93 cents to spare.
- As to reporters — Rather than gullibly acting as the
governor'sstunt director's mouthpiece, it wouldn't hurt to spend a few minutes verifying some basic facts to avoid being misled ….. would it?
Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.
UPDATE: Mona Charen was on to this yesterday afternoon, and had much to add –
Now even $32 seems like a very small amount of money per person, but that is only a small part of the largesse provided by the U.S. government, which spent $522 billion on low-income assistance programs in 2002. It doesn't count hot breakfasts and lunches at school (which push high-calorie, high-fat diets on kids). It doesn't count the Earned Income Tax Credit by which the working poor get cash back from the federal government ($41.4 billion went to 22.2 million recipients last year, according to the Los Angeles Times). It doesn't include housing subsidies, Medicaid or the Supplemental Security Income program, which can free up funds for food. Nor does it count the WIC program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
….. Douglas Besharov of the American Enterprise Institute notes that while he can recall visiting rural Mississippi in the 1960s and seeing severe cases of malnutrition, the problem among the poor today is more likely to be obesity. Today, 70 percent of low-income Americans are overweight, compared with 60 percent of the non-poor.
….. We are pushing food at the poor as if hunger and malnutrition still crouched at the door when the bigger threat these days is saturated fat and excess sugar. The Food Stamp program arguably needs a massive reform, offering cash grants instead of vouchers or credit cards, which encourage over-consumption. Is it too much to ask that politicians and journalists (that photo of Gov. Kulongoski showed up everywhere) address today's problems and not those of 40 years ago?
UPDATE 2, Apr. 29: NixGuy –
That this whole fraud is exposed by a bloggers and columnists should be a source of shame and embarrassment to journalists everywhere. Yet it isn't. Well, it's a free country and they can print what they want. They have nothing to lose but their credibility.


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My third cat (Mocha, see icon) is basically indifferent to me. She's not a friend; she's a roommate. She doesn't sit on my lap, and although I occasionally pet her I'm never sure if she really likes it. She's an odd duck. Um, cat. She'll meow and roll around and purr, like she wants to be petted, but if I actually try to she'll spring up and run away, or move around in circles so I can't actually do so.
Even odder is that fact that other people often pet her when they visit. She's not a lap cat, and won't ever curl up with somebody, but sometimes she'll lie next to visitors and purr away while they pet her. She'll squirm and rub her head against them and wiggle, but she likes to be petted.
Sometimes I wonder if she would be happier elsewhere. She's so cute, and she plays and rolls around and meows like a kitten, but she just doesn't seem to like being with me much. She also fights a lot with Mouse, hissing and snarling and chasing each other around. Then they'll stop and glare at each other, making deep--in-the-throat growling noises that creep me out. They sound like beasts, not pets, and I'm sure none of the three of us are happy when they do that.
She and Robin used to get along really well, cuddling up together frequently, but I haven't seen them do that as much anymore. She doesn't fight with him at least, and I think occasionally they'll still curl up together. I think Robin might be the only one Mocha likes here.
Mocha was really S's cat. I had two cats when I moved in with him, and we went to a pet supplies store one day -- they were having an adoption thing, and he fell in love with Mocha. I thought she was adorable, in a "pet her a lot in the store and then leave her there" sort of way, but he really wanted to take her home with us. I allowed myself to be talked into it, on the condition that she was HIS if we ever split up. I didn't really want three cats, but it wasn't so bad when two of us had three cats.
Obviously I inherited her when he died, and now I have three. I wonder if that's why she's indifferent to me, because she knows she was an accident? (She wasn't planned, after all.)
Sometimes I wonder if she'd be happier elsewhere. She really does seem to get along with my friends better than she does me. In some ways, she makes me sad. It makes me sad when she doesn't seem to like me, and even sadder when she and Mouse fight. Sometimes I wonder: does anybody want a kitty? Or know somebody in need of a kitty? She's beautiful and funny, squirmy and friendly, playful, but doesn't sit on laps much. She's almost 10, spayed, and has no front claws.
I'm more-or-less serious about this. I'd never send her to a shelter or to a place where she wasn't loved and happy. But if I found a place she'd be happier, I'd let her go there. If she went somewhere and it wasn't right, I'd take her home again. But sometimes I think she doesn't really feel at home here. I wish I could find her a place where she was happier.
I feel awful for even thinking this or suggesting such a thing. That's why this post is titled "weird thoughts". But at the same time.... I don't know. I wonder if she's really supposed to be somewhere else.


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Tenby , like many holiday resorts , struggles to cope with the large amount of cars that arrive in the summer. Here we will try to explain the restrictions in place in the streets around the hotel . A few years ago the local authority brought in a residents parking scheme which allows each house holder to purchase one parking permit with the cars registration number on it. Sadly there is no provision for hotels to purchase more permits for the guest's use. The bays are marked with dotted white lines and a post on the pavement showing the restriction.
Now the good news , only half of the street is allowed to be taken by the bays the other half is available for anyone to park. Last year the local authority took over the policing of the bays and far more tickets have been issued , even in the evenings.
If you fail to find free street parking the Rectory car park is only 40 yds from us. The pay and display machine accepts coins ( no notes ) or card payments can be made by phone
on 0330 400 7275 or on line paybyphone.co.uk . The car park reference number is 88549
winter 16/17 Summer 17 ( Provisional )
1 Oct - 31 March 1 April - 30 September
24hrs £ 5.00 24hrs £ 7.00
48hrs £ 9.00 48hrs £ 13.00
72hrs £ 13.00 72hrs £ 19.00
weekly £ 28.00 weekly £ 40.00


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Fabric storage basket/bin made from our Monstera Leaf print. This bucket is unlined and has 2 leather side handles.
These buckets are ideal for dropping a 6" potted plant into and freshening up your space. Great for plastic nursery size pots of 6" or less.Also great for cosmetic storage, lunch... so versatile!We're making these fabric buckets in 3 sizes and this one is just above the small size, measuring 6 inches tall with a diameter of 7 inches. These buckets can be easily folded and packed and are washable!*machine wash delicate, hang dry **Our fabric is hand screen printed by us and therefore the print layout on the buckets will vary.


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US senators and about 20 countries met in Washington this week to oppose Europe's decision to charge airlines for their carbon emissions by including them in its emissions trading scheme (ETS). This "coalition of the unwilling" failed to agree on a joint declaration, but a US spokesman said: "The meeting confirmed strong opposition to the ETS, but indicated interest in continuing to work on the suite of activities in the International Civil Aviation Organization [to tackle emissions from aviation]."
To hear this coalition speak of the need for the ICAO to tackle aviation emissions makes it sound as if the problem appeared yesterday and the Chicago Convention created ICAO just last week.
In fact, attempts to address this problem on a global basis have been festering for more than 15 years in ICAO and the United States is at the centre of the problem. For US senators to urge official action only now, when Europe drew up legislation in 2007, says it all. It's not calls for action at ICAO we need, it is deeds, and they have been very few and infrequent, particularly from Washington.
ICAO's leadership rather bravely stepped forward earlier this year promising to develop a global market-based measure to tackle aviation emissions. Putting aside whether Europe's decision to implement an ETS prompted this change of heart, the move was widely welcomed.
Sadly however, the cabal of the unwilling now make no mention of this move. Suddenly no one in Washington can say how long technical or political work on a global measure itself might take while senators jostle to take aim at the ETS.
Need one ask whether the US really wants or ever wanted a "market measure"? Isn't the answer clear? The coalition's language has now been dialled back to ICAO's 2010 Assembly Resolution of frameworks and voluntary aspirational goals as if these offer anything new that will save the planet.
Operations and air traffic reforms at the airline and national level that are mentioned are fine, even one or two biofuels might help if they can ever prove to be sustainable, but CO2 is a global problem requiring the political will to forge global action. Yet ICAO's first litmus test, to secure its members' agreement on a fuel burn metric as the basis for setting an aircraft CO2 standard, was a tortuous and contentious affair.
We still have a precious window over the next months for ICAO's experts to produce a feasible and environmentally effective global action plan. The main elements are all there.
Air travellers will bear the cost if given a chance. They already pay fuel surcharges and mandatory US fees on airline tickets without any quibble. As citizens we accept the cost of clean electricity, of gasoline taxes and of charges to cut industrial air pollution. Aviation should not be different. But sadly it is different.
Leadership is more concerned to protect tomorrow's profit forecast than to implement sustainability measures that represent the only future that aviation has. Behind them, the travel industry and large corporate buyers who sustain airline profits and wield undoubted influence, stand shamefully silent.
Given that aviation is the most carbon intensive and fastest-growing source of transport CO2 emissions, it is imperative that the EU stands firm on the ETS until and if something better globally emerges. ICAO has the chance now to prove it is more than a talking shop.
It could rise to the challenge but that depends on enlightened governments and industry empowering it to do so. The role of the Obama administration and of Washington's elite is critical; will they prove to be the guardians of a sustainable aviation future or of their own selfish interests?
• Bill Hemmings is programme manager on aviation and shipping for the campaign group Transport & Environment


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Refinancing Gets Even More Attractive
ANNAMARIA ANDRIOTIS, Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2011, link
Homeowners who have resisted the urge to refinance their mortgages until now could be rewarded for their willpower. Mortgage rates have fallen to new lows—and banks are rolling out incentives to win business.
Economic uncertainty in Europe and slow growth in the U.S. are prompting investors to pile into ultrasafe U.S. Treasurys. That, in turn, is pushing down mortgage rates, which are tied to Treasurys.
The average interest rate on a 30-year mortgage fell to 4.05% for the week ended Dec. 23, the lowest in 60 years, according to HSH Associates, a mortgage-data firm. And rates on jumbo mortgages—private loans that in most parts of the country are larger than $417,000—also have hit new lows, averaging 4.61%.
Despite the incentives, many would-be applicants remain sidelined because they can't meet the long list of qualifications.
"It's hard to argue rates will get much lower than they are today," says Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the University of California, Los Angeles.
That's good news for homeowners. A person who refinanced a $400,000 30-year mortgage in February would pay an interest rate of 5.04% on average, according to HSH Associates, and fork over $2,157 a month; at the current rate of 4.05%, he'd save $236 per month, or $2,830 per year.
What's more, demand for refinancing is declining, since many homeowners already took advantage of lower mortgage rates. Applications for refinancing are 17% below this year's peak in September, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
That and other factors have prompted some lenders to offer incentives to win new business—particularly regional and community banks, which are focusing more on jumbo mortgages, says Stu Feldstein, president at SMR Research, which tracks the mortgage market.
The discounts can be sizable. Regional bank Valley National Bank charges homeowners in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania a flat fee of $499 for closing costs on mortgages as large as $1 million. Since average closing costs on a refinance run about 2% of the total loan amount, a person with an $800,000 mortgage could save about $15,500.
A spokesman for the bank says it is aggressively marketing the discount in part to bring in more customers.
While many lenders don't refinance mortgages that are larger than about $2 million, Union Bank—which has branches in California, Oregon and Washington—refinances up to $4 million at no extra cost. (Many banks that refinance multimillion-dollar mortgages tack up to an extra quarter of a percentage point on the interest rate.)
Since November, Union Bank has also allowed borrowers to roll the costs of a refinance, like the appraisal fee and loan processing fee, into the mortgage. And borrowers whose original mortgage is from Union Bank don't have to provide all of the income documentation that other customers do in order to refinance.
In part, the bank's goal is to develop relationships with high-net-worth clients, says Stuart Bernstein, national production manager of residential lending at Union Bank.
Despite the incentives, many would-be applicants remain sidelined because they can't meet the long list of qualifications.
The home-equity requirement is one of the toughest hurdles, says Mr. Feldstein. Homeowners with at least 10% home equity make the cut, but people with less have a tougher time.
Borrowers with 10% to 19% equity in their home usually have to buy private mortgage insurance, whose cost varies based on many factors, including their credit score. A borrower with 15% equity and a FICO credit score above 720 could pay 0.44% of the total loan amount, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president at HSH Associates. On an $800,000 loan that would be $3,520 a year—eating into the potential savings of a refinance.
In December, the federal government rolled out a revamped version of the Home Affordable Refinance Program with relaxed home-equity requirements, to allow more borrowers to refinance. To qualify, the current mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, and borrowers need to be mostly current on payments.
For regular refinancing, applicants need a FICO credit score of at least 740 to get the best rates, says Mr. Gumbinger. And they must provide copious documentation, including at least two years' worth of tax returns and proof of income as well as recent statements for assets such as retirement and brokerage accounts.
After clearing those hurdles, you might wait about 60 days for refinancing to be completed, says Mr. Gumbinger—longer than the typical 45 days. While some lenders are offering 60-day rate locks for free, others charge a quarter of a percentage point of the total loan amount for the service. On an $800,000 mortgage, that's $2,000.
Or you could opt to take your chances with a free 45-day lock and hope rates don't spike between day 46 and the date your loan closes. With the euro zone still in economic crisis and global investors rushing to the safety of U.S. Treasurys, housing-market analysts say it could be at least six months before rates rise significantly.


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