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by Mike Masnick
Tue, Nov 24th 2009 10:28am
Filed Under:
defense, independent invention, obviousness, patents
For quite some time we've wondered why there's no independent invention defense to patent infringement. It's hard to come up with any justifiable reason for not only barring those who come up with an idea on their own from making use of such an invention, but also for potentially making them liable for millions of dollars in damages for just making use of something they came up with on their own. For years, I've been waiting to hear any justification for this -- either economic or moral -- and I've never heard anything that makes any sense at all. Patent attorney Stephan Kinsella has now written up a post that also calls for an independent inventor defense, noting how incredibly rare it is for a client to ever have actually been accused of copying an idea. He notes that about the only reason most are against this idea is that they realize it would put a lot of patent lawyers out of work.
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GregSJ (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:06amI believe the economic theory behind not having an independent inventor defense is that by giving all the rewards to the first inventor there is increased incentive to invent and disclose as soon as possible. In theory this increases the speed of invention. Again in theory, the public good of earlier invention and disclosure outweighs the cost of decreased competition and increased price.
However I (and most economists I have spoken to) believe this theory fails to take into account the slowing of improvements or other future inventions due to patent infringement and legal uncertainties. As a result while the public good for the first invention may outweigh the costs, one of the first invention's costs is slowing of future inventions as patent boundaries and licenses are determined. As this increases exponentially based on the number of patents and the difficulty in making the information available to the inventor the costs begin to outweigh the benefits and the economic theory fails.
Chris Rhodes (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:43am
Re:I believe the economic theory behind not having an independent inventor defense is that by giving all the rewards to the first inventor there is increased incentive to invent and disclose as soon as possible.
And the theory behind that, I would guess, is so people can start licensing the idea sooner rather than later. In practice (at least from the perspective of software patents), the current system makes it so easy to infringe accidentally that your best bet legally is to avoid looking at any patents at all (so you can't be accused of willful infringement later), keep your head down, and just hope you don't tread on someone else's monopoly when your product ships. Frustrating.
MBraedley (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:16amHe notes that about the only reason most are against this idea is that they realize it would put a lot of patent lawyers out of work.
And this is a bad thing because...?
sehlat (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:18am
Most of the people in Congress are lawyersAnd they'll put *colleagues* out of work? Dream on!
Richard (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:21am
The reason for the lack of an independent Invention defenceIs that patents weren't originally just for "inventions" as such but also for processes copied from foreign countries (eg ceramics techniques from the far East). Since there was not necessarily an invention as such neither was there a concept of independent invention. It may have seemed reasonable to reward the first person who could "steal" a secret from China.
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:24amOne big reason is the difficulty in proving that the invention was truly independent. How to you prove that nobody from the second company/team ever read the patent in question? Even the most rigorous record-keeping won't prove that there was zero contamination. It's just plain simpler to presume guilt in IP cases; it all comes down to laziness.
(For the record, I completely agree that independent invention should be a defense; indeed, enough cases should invalidate a patent together by proving it "obvious".)
Michial Thompson, 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:26am
Just how could you prove it was done independently?The problem with this as a defense is you would have no legitimate and believable manner to prove that you invented something independently of the patent that has been issued.
Since patents are public record, and accessible by anyone worldwide with just a few keyword searches it would be impossible to prove that you had the idea without having ever seen the patent in the first place.
There is already the defense for having an invention prior to the patent which is about as close as you can get and remain on solid ground.
GregSJ (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 11:31am
Re: Just how could you prove it was done independently?Michial,
First since disclosure is not immediate on filing there should also be post invention prior disclosure.
Second, just because independent invention would be difficult to prove does not make it impossible. The standard is preponderance of evidence not absolute proof or even reasonable doubt/
Steven (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 12:36pm
Re: Re: Just how could you prove it was done independently?Are you guys kidding me?!?
The legal issue isn't to prove a lack of copying (not possible), it's to prove copying (you know that whole innocent until proven guilty thing).
And yes, at least here in the US, the standard for a civil suit is preponderance of the evidence.
GregSJ (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 1:04pm
Re: Re: Re: Just how could you prove it was done independently?Steven,
For an independent invention defense you would probably need to prove independent invention/lack of copying. For example the insanity defense is an affirmative defense. There the defense must prove insanity; the prosecution is under no burden to prove sanity.
Richard (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 3:21pm
Re: Just how could you prove it was done independently?Since patents are public record, and accessible by anyone worldwide
They are written in the worst kind of obfuscated jargon imaginable!
To prove you hadn't seen a patent might be hard - but to prove you hadn't understood it would be easy.
In many cases independent invention is actually easier than understanding what the published text of the patent actually means.
Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2009 @ 3:17pm
Re: Just how could you prove it was done independently?What is "the defense for having an invention prior to the patent"?
Anonymous Coward, 1 Dec 2009 @ 6:05am
Re: Re: Just how could you prove it was done independently?If you had an invention prior to the date of filing of the subject patent and you had publicly disclosed the invention prior to the date of filing, then the patent would be invalid under one or more subsections of 35 USC 102.
On the other hand, if you had the invention prior to the date of a patent filing, but had stuck it in a drawer without showing anyone, then good luck with that. The whole point of the patent system is disclosure, and hiding inventions in your sock drawer does not do that.
Andrew Fong (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 12:18pm
NoticeMy understanding is that patent holders typically send out information about their patent to every possible entity that might infringe, just so they can show that the possible infringer had notice of the patent and "should have known" about the invention. That makes showing truly independent invention pretty hard.
One thing I'd like to see explored is to get these possible infringers involved before the patent is granted. Given the presumption of guilt in patent cases, a more adversarial patent granting process might be worth looking at.
Richard (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 3:25pm
Re: NoticeMy understanding is that patent holders typically send out information about their patent to every possible entity that might infringe,
Phew! I'm safe - since I have never received any such notification it must be extremely unlikely that I will ever infringe a patent.
Actually I though patent trolls deliberately kept things as quiet as possible - until someone had actually built a business big enough to be worth suing.
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 4:05pm
Re: Re: NoticeYou see the difference between the vast number of patent holders and trolls. Patent holders that actually have a product or wish to make a product want as many people as possible to know about their patent. Patent trolls would rather no one know about their patent(s) until sales are high enough to make a suit worthwhile.
Lance (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 12:25pm
Because this defense isn't availableI am one of many software developers that now refuses to do any research or development outside the auspices of a large corporation.
In the past, I would write code for the company while I was at the office and then write code for various outside projects when I was at home. Most of these outside projects had no basis for existing other than to see if I could create something new and neat. Now, the risk of accidentally bumping into some process, method for interacting with users, or other obvious technique, that has been patented, is too high.
While I wasn't likely to write the next brilliant piece of software, I am now completely assured that I won't be doing anything of significance. I can't afford to think that I might have a unique approach to solving a problem; and thus ends the dream of independent invention.
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 2:50pm
Re: Because this defense isn't availableI think that you are needlessly holding yourself back. Unless you start making a bunch of money from one of your 'inventions' then no one will know or care about what you are doing.
Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2009 @ 12:27pm
There are reasons for not alleging copying...I find the whole issue of "alleging copying" to be humorous. As noted in IP Law & Business, the only reason for alleging copying is damages for willful infringement. If your primary purpose is the suit is to halt the infringement, why allege copying, which is hard to prove?
As an excellent example, the creation of the railroad spike.
The original inventor of the hook-headed spike invented a rather neat machine that put the hook on the head of the spike in an automated fashion (incidentally helping to make production of railways cheaper than before; some have credited Henry Burden's machine with enabling creation of the nationwide system of railroads; of more interest, Burden was the primary supplier of horseshoes to the North in the Civil War, using his patented horseshoe machine). Totally by coincidence, a factory in the very same Town where the inventor's factory was located "independently" invented an almost identical machine after the patent was filed but before it issued.
One teeny little problem. While the original inventor could not prove copying, the complexity of the machinery to make the hook was hardly obvious. To have two factories in the same valley come up with the same solution, given that there were many other places driven to come up with a solution that failed to come up with the exact same solution(many other solutions were devised, but none were reliable), seems more than remarkable and coincidental.
Ah, yes. But there is more to the story. It was routine for employees to shift their employment between the two factories, depending on who had a contract and offered better terms. In fact, the inventor made some attempts (which failed) to keep his employees from working for his competitor, particularly until his patent issued.
What ultimately followed as a decades long battle (around 28 years in total) over the infringement (the actual inventor eventually prevailed). Remarkably, though the machines were nearly identical and though employees routinely moved between the plants, copying was never proven. The "independent" invention defense would certainly have worked in that case!
Just because copying is not alleged does not mean copying does not occur; it may just mean that the plaintiff is more interested in stopping the infringement than making money from damages.
Robert A. Rosenberg (profile), 24 Nov 2009 @ 9:12pm
Independent Invention and the TelephoneIf this rule were in place at the time, the controversy between Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray for the invention of the telephone would not have occurred. Both would have been granted the patent since they used different methods. You just have the hope that the leaking of Gray's submission to Bell's Lawyers (and their modifying of the Bell Submission to include Gray's Method) would not occur in a similar situation of independent invention.
Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2009 @ 5:22am
Re: Independent Invention and the TelephoneIndependent invention is only a defense, it does not grant rights.
anonymous, 25 Nov 2009 @ 6:22am
Independent Marathon winner defense.There are many areas of life and law where "I didn't know" doesn't matter. Consider:
I didn't know someone else crossed the finish line before me. I deserve to win too.
I didn't know that some one else wrote parts of "Ice Ice Baby", I shouldn't have to pay royalties.
I didn't know that I stepped out of bounds in football.
I didn't know that the gun was loaded.
I didn't know that someone had written a screenplay based on the same idea.
Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2009 @ 7:33am
Re: Independent Marathon winner defense.I did not know the speed limit was 35 mph.
I did not know you were on the other side of the wall when my gun went off (just happened for real in Indiana).
I did not know that the book needed to be returned after 10 days.
I did not know there was a late fee.
I did not know I needed to keep my recieipt.
I did not know I needed to signal before turning or changing lanes.
Excuses are marvelous things. We should eliminate all personal responsibility so people no longer have to make excuses.
Mike Masnick (profile), 25 Nov 2009 @ 10:42am
Re: Independent Marathon winner defense.I didn't know someone else crossed the finish line before me. I deserve to win too.
That's a case where there is clear proof of who was first and there were clears rules and a race where first actually matters. Not so with inventions.
I didn't know that some one else wrote parts of "Ice Ice Baby", I shouldn't have to pay royalties.
That wasn't the claim, of course. But, you're not big on details.
I didn't know that I stepped out of bounds in football.
Again, where there is actual evidence, such things don't work. The same would be true with an independent invention defense. If the court could establish that the person did know, then the defense does not work.
I didn't know that someone had written a screenplay based on the same idea.
Actually, in that case, it is legit. Plenty of court rulings have found that just writing a screenplay on the same idea is perfectly legit.
And of course, none of your examples actually gets to the point. There is no harm done by an independent invention defense. It actually increases real competition and innovation in the market. The only reason I can think of to be against such things is if you have no ability to innovate yourself and need a monopoly to sue innovators.
What a sad world that would be.
staff1, 25 Nov 2009 @ 8:42am
contravention"For quite some time we've wondered why there's no independent invention defense to patent infringement."
Obviously, once someone has come up with an invention and published it it's a simple process for someone else to review the patent and duplicate the invention while claiming they did so without knowledge of the original inventor's work. Once a patent has been published the prima facie finding/assumption would be that the infringer did have knowledge of the patent. That's why they are published. In any event, in accordance with the Constitution exclusive rights are awarded to the inventor, meaning the original creator. What you propose would be in contravention to the Const.
Gene Cavanaugh, 25 Nov 2009 @ 8:56am
Independent Inventor DefenseIn the only two cases I know of where there was an "independent invention", careful sleuthing (in a lawsuit) proved convincingly the invention was stolen.
Make sense - if I have a product, and I think I have the choice of spending a substantial amount of money for royalties, or keeping it all for myself, which one will I choose (bad question; I personally would pay the royalty - but let's restrict it to corporate execs - who are either working or honest; never both).
Still, I basically agree; but I think mandatory licensing for people who are only licensing at low rates might work - or, if we were VERY careful how it was done, independent invention defenses might work - have to be careful, there, though; the reason we have IP laws is predatory companies.
Bob Webster (profile), 25 Nov 2009 @ 9:23amWhile I am strongly against software patents and stupid patents in general, the independent invention defense would allow almost anybody to copy a patent and claim independent invention. I think it's unlikely to happen.
bunk, 25 Nov 2009 @ 10:15am


text: Hi! I made a post several moths ago, but I still haven't solved the problem. I have a 25 replicas scenario, 5 of them are connected via ethernet (directly), 20 of them are connected by frame relay connections. I'm using openldap 2.2.23 and tried 2.2.24 (compiled from source) with berkley db 4.2 (Official Debian Sarge packages). I'm using 2.2.23 I'm using slurp replication, and about 20 out of the 25 replicas work just fine, but with 5 of them (one of wich is located in the local network) I have "rejects", all of the rejects are related to a missing previous replication (ie, at some point the directories gets "out-of-sync", and from that time on, you get rejects like: No such attribute (something like that) or no such object). I know that 3 of these sites has power failures wich are unavoidable (and thus can cause problems). Does anybody have a deployment this big working?, I'm running out of ideas (yes, I have a good cache size in the bdb (about 160Mb, the computer has 2Gb, and the replicas has a 30Mb cache and 256Mb RAM)). The directory is about 4000 objects in size. I'm using samba with ldap backend. Any ideas, Thanks in advance, Sincerely, Ildefonso Camargo icamargo at merkurio dot com dot ve icamargo AT unet dot edu dot ve ildefonso_camargo AT yahoo dot com ildefonso dot camargo at gmail dot com

subset: commoncrawl


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Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
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The transcript:Jon: In just a moment, I'll ask you to select one of three envelopes. In each of these envelopes, you'll find three different sets of clues unique to each playerThe players aren't shown picking up the envelopes; in one frame Jon says "Let's go!" and in the next frame you see the three walking off with their envelopes. Could producers have created nine different trips? Possibly, but I doubt it; I think each player's trip was the same, no matter which envelope was chosen. Then why not hand out tagged envelopes to each player? Beats me; appearance of randomness, maybe?
Gingerman I picked up on the wine in this episode.my thought was, is Jon getting hammered on his own?Wine has been an occuring theme throughout this series, I'm sure its something but what i don't know.
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Ecology (Ranger Award elective)
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
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*[http://www.scouting.org/venturing/awards/ranger.html Venturing Ranger Award] on the BSA scouting.org site.
*[http://www.scouting.org/venturing/awards/ranger.html Venturing Ranger Award] on the BSA scouting.org site.
Revision as of 17:09, March 1, 2008
Elective requirements
- Requirement 1. Explain the basic natural systems, cycles, and changes over time and how they are evidenced in a watershed near where you live. Include the four basic elements, land use patterns, and at least six different species in your analysis and how they have changed over time. Discuss both biological and physical components.
- Requirement 2. Describe at least four environmental study areas near where you live. Include the reasons for selecting these areas, their boundaries, user groups, past inventories, any outside forces that interact with them, and a list of what things could be studied at each of them.
- Requirement 3. Plan a field trip to each of the above areas, including detailed plans for conducting various investigations. Follow all of the requirements such as trip permits, safety plans, transportation plans, equipment needs, etc.
- Requirement 4.
- a. Under the guidance of a natural resources professional, carry out an investigation of an ecological subject approved by your Advisor. Inventory and map the area. Conduct a detailed investigation providing specific data for a specific topic.
- b. Document and present your findings to your crew, another crew, a Cub or Boy Scout group, or another group.
- Requirement 5. Teach others in your crew, another crew, a Cub or Boy Scout group, or another group how to carry out an ecological investigation. Use steps 3 and 4 above with the group so that they may also learn by doing.
Source: 1999 (2006 printing) Venturer Handbook (33494C)
1. These are the same requirements for the Venturing World Conservation Award. Completing these requirements also qualify Venturers for this award.
2. This requirement and the Plants and Wildlife (Ranger Award elective) are needed to earn the William T. Hornaday Awards for Venturers.
Help with these requirements
See also
External links
- Venturing Bronze Award on the BSA scouting.org site.
- Venturing Ranger Award on the BSA scouting.org site.


text:
The Ravens have hired former St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo as a senior defensive assistant.
Spagnuolo has been a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints.
His background with Ravens coach John Harbaugh stems from their days as fellow assistant coaches with the Philadelphia Eagles on Andy Reid's staff. They are close friends.
Spagnuolo coached linebackers in Philadelphia and Harbaugh was the special teams coach.
"Steve had a number of opportunities in the league right now, and we're excited he picked the Ravens," Harbaugh said. "He comes to a staff that we believe is very strong, and he makes us even better. His wealth of NFL coaching experience speaks for itself, and he'll help us across the board. We think he can help with every position on the defense, and we'll take full advantage of his knowledge and excellent teaching abilities. The Ravens got better today with the addition of an outstanding coach and person like Steve.
Spagnuolo has coached in the NFL for 14 years and was fired by the Saints after one season as defensive coordinator and by the Rams as head coach following the 2011 season.
He's been a part of eight playoff teams, six division title winners, five conference championship games and won Super Bowl XLII as the defensive coordinator for the Giants.
During the 2007 NFL season, the Giants ranked in the top 10 in eight statistical categories as they led the NFL with 53 sacks.


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Frank Horwill
- These articles were first published many year's ago and whilst some are as relevant today as they were when new, many are now mostly of historical interest as modern research and coaching methods have superseded them.
By Frank Horwill
1. Name two runners who, in winning their Olympic 1,500 metres final, also broke the world record.
2. Who was the first man to break 13 mins for 5,000m?
3. Who was the first Englishman to break 3 mins for three-quarters of a mile?
4. Name the man who ran his first ever marathon in the Olympics and not only won, but broke the Olympic record?
5. Who was the first British woman to break 2 mins for 800in metres?
6. What extraordinary cross-country feat did Dave Bedford achieve in one afternoon?
Exercise Physiology
7. What is the difference between VO2 max testing and lactate threshold testing?
8. What middle distance event produces more lactic acid in the blood than any other?
9. What is the latest method of calculating your maximum pulse in theory?
10. What is one of the benefits of training in the morning?
11. What speed of running is running at 100% of your VO2 max?
12. What pulse rate is required to run at 80% of your VO2 max?
Sports Nutrition
13. What is the body's main fuel used in running?
14. Name the anti-stress and anti-infection vitamin and mineral.
15. How can you calculate your daily carbohydrate needs for running?
16. What foods help manufacture new red blood cells?
17. Why is excessive consumption of cola drinks particularly bad for runners?
18. When is it particularly advisable to consume carbohydrates?
Sports Medicine
19. What is Morton's Foot?
20. How long should ice be applied to a fresh muscle injury?
21. What is the substance recommended for those who get stress fractures of the foot?
22. What are "contrast baths"?
23. What percentage of hamstring strength to quadricep strength is required to reduce hamstring injury?
24. Name a simple anti-inflammatory medicine?


text:
|Birth Date:
|Oregon City, Ore.
|High School:
|Oregon City HS
Earned honorable mention All-Big West recognition for the second straight season...Nailed perhaps the biggest shot in Gaucho history, a fade-away jumper from the right wing with 1.1 seconds remaining to lift UCSB to a 57-56 upset over fifth-seeded Louisiana Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (March 15)...Scored 11 of her 13 points against La Tech during Santa Barbara's second-half comeback run...Emerged as UCSB's floor general last season, leading the Big West with a 1.84 assist-to-turnover ratio while playing more minutes (28.3) than any other Gaucho...Also ranked fifth in the Big West by averaging 3.93 assists per game...Dished off a combined 14 assists vs. only three turnovers during two-game Pac-10 road trip to Arizona (Jan. 14) and Oregon State (Jan. 16), including a career-high eight helpers in the win over the Wildcats...Sprained her ankle in the second half against the Beavers, but returned for the end of the contest and played through injury the rest of the season...Enjoyed two-game stretch vs. UC Riverside (Feb. 15) and at Cal Poly (Feb. 17) without committing a miscue, tallying 12 assists in the process...Five or more helpers on 12 different occasions during the season...274 career assists are eighth-most in Gaucho history...Three-point shooting remains Hansen's calling card, as she buried a team-leading 56 triples and connected at a 39.7% clip from behind the arc, second-best in the Big West...Made 29 of 54 three-pointers (53.7%) over a 11-game span against league foes ...Returned from missing two games with a bruised kidney to nail four-of-eight triples at UC Riverside (March 2) and reclaim the school record for three-point shooting accuracy from Caine...Has made 41.7% of her treys as a Gaucho, while her 148 total three-baggers is third best in UCSB history...Kidney injury was suffered against Long Beach State (Feb. 22), forcing Hansen's first inactivity of her three-year Gaucho career after appearing in 89 straight contests...Buried four three-pointers in back-to-back games at Cal State Northridge (Feb. 10) and vs. UC Riverside...18 points against UCR (Feb. 15) matched her season-high from a Nov. 30 win at Ohio State...16-point effort in the aforementioned Northridge game...Scored 15 points to open Big West tourney vs. Cal State Fullerton (March 6), and made career-high nine-of-10 free-throws to help ice championship game victory over Pacific (March 9)...A Big West All-Academic Team honoree.
Hansen was rewarded for a solid sophomore campaign with All-Big West honorable mention recognition...Upped her per-game scoring average to 9.0 points...Was the Big West leader in three-point field goal percentage at .425...Interestingly, that figure was higher than her overall shooting percentage of .369...Assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.59 was also tops in the league...One of only two Gauchos and six BWC players to tally more than 100 assists...Ranked sixth in the Big West in assists at 3.74 per game...one of only two Gauchos and six BWC players to tally more than 100 assists...Assist per game average of 3.74 ranked sixth in the Big West...Shattered previous career high with 26-point performance against NCAA Tourney participant Virginia on Dec. 28...made a career best six three pointers against the Cavaliers ...23-point effort came at Stephen F. Austin, due in large part to a five-for-five performance from behind the arc which tied a school record...Shot a perfect 1.000 from behind the arc on two other occasions...Also cracked the Big West top-10 list in steals, tying Katye Christensen for 10th with 1.45 swipes per contest.
Jess Hansen finished her first season as a Gaucho averaging 6.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game...She played in all 34 games, starting two of them and averaged 19.3 minutes per game...Scored in double figures eight times during the season, including a career-high 19 points against Long Beach State at the Thunderdome...Hansen led the Gauchos with a 43.6% three-point percentage...Connected on 44 three-pointers, the second most on the team...Made a career-high four 3-pointers against Boise State at the Thunderdome...Made a 3-pointer in 24 games and two or more threes in 13 games...Had a career-best four assists against Cal State Fullerton at the T-Dome...Shot 64.5% from the free throw line...Made a career-high eight free throws in eight attempts against Long Beach State at home...Her five field goals at New Mexico State were also a career-best...Fouled out of one game as a freshman.
High School
Jess Hansen came to UCSB from national power Oregon City High School...Helped guide the Pioneers to three consecutive Three Rivers League Championships, including two Oregon State titles and the 1996-97 National Championship...Played both point and shooting guard for Carl Tinsley and Brad Smith...Was named First Team All-State and All-League following her senior year, and was also named to the State Tournament's First Team after setting a record for most assists (32)...Averaged 22 points, 6.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 steals as a senior...Set a Three Rivers League record for most three-pointers in a career...Had a high school GPA of 4.0...Would like to one day be a high school teacher and basketball coach.
Jessica Frank-Hansen was born August 25, 1981 in Anaheim, CA...Majoring in religious studies at UCSB...Loves watching movies and lists her favorites as "A Few Good Men", "Braveheart" and "Simon Birch"...Is a fan of the Denver Broncos and Phoenix Suns...Enjoys listening to country music, especially Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks...The Daughter of John and Bodil Hansen.
"The Shot"
For diehard Gaucho fans, is any further description really necessary? For the uninitiated, here's how the most dramatic shot in UCSB women's basketball history went down on March, 15, 2002. With 8.9 seconds to play and her fifth-seeded team holding a 56-55 lead in an NCAA Tournament First Round game in Austin, Texas, junior forward Cheryl Ford of Louisiana Tech went to the free throw line to shoot a 1+1 after being intentionally fouled by UCSB's Lindsay Taylor. Ford's first attempt drew iron and the rebound was corralled by Taylor, who immediately handed the ball of to Jess Hansen. The guard from Oregon City, Ore., drove along the right sideline and - after stutter-stepping near the three-point stripe - buried an off-balance 17-footer over three Lady Techster defenders with 1.1 ticks remaining on the Frank Erwin Center clock. Pandemonium ensued on the Gaucho bench, and when Taylor batted down La Tech's inbounds pass, Santa Barbara was ensured of its fourth-ever NCAA second round appearance, the first since 1998.
Three is Her Magic Number
Hansen's improbable game-winner against La Tech actually came from a spot on the floor a bit closer than where she prefers shooting. For third straight season, the two-time All-Big West honoree connected on more three-point attempts than baskets from within the arc. Hansen also displayed greater accuracy on long bombs, connecting on 39.7% of her "treys" to rank second in the Big West compared to 37.5% overall. She padded her school-record career three-point field goal percentage during a six-game stretch culminating with the Big West Tournament opener during which she sunk 20-of-38 trifectas (52.6%). Hansen buried four shots from behind the arc in four of those contests, and enjoyed a similarly successful streak early in non-conference play when she racked up at least two three-pointers in five straight games.
Leaving Her Mark
Jess Hansen may only have one year of her storied Gaucho career remaining, but the records section of this media guide will ensure that she is not forgotten any time soon. In addition to being the most accurate three-point shooter in UCSB history at 41.7%, the Danish Dynamo has the third-most baskets (148) and attempts (355) from downtown of any Gaucho. Her increased role running the offense in 2001-02 allowed Hansen to break onto Santa Barbara's career assist leaderboard as well, ranking ninth with 274 helpers during her three years of wearing the Blue and Gold. Finally, the senior guard has shown she is as comfortable shooting the rock unabated as she is with a trio of opponents in her face, burying her free throws at a .762 clip that is seventh-best in school history.


text:
This blog is posted from a now retired 33 year CAW (now UNIFOR) member. The purpose of this blog is to allow others to see the perspective of the average worker, rather than the views of the Union Leadership
If you have any concerns or comments on this blog, contact me at Email:firstname.lastname@example.com On Twitter: @PaulinAjax
Monday, June 1, 2009
The CBC: How To Turn Bad News For The Liberal's Into Good News..
EKOS survey indicates Ignatieff's party would clip Tories in election tomorrow
If your a Liberal that headline would be good news, right? Wrong. Technically the poll is right in that the numbers could indeed lead to a Liberal minority government. Aside from that, this article has been spun more than cotton candy in that machine at a carnival.
Take this line for example: "News of the federal deficit topping $50 billion appears to have put the Liberals slightly ahead of the Conservatives in a poll asking Canadians how they would vote if an election were held tomorrow."
Reading that sure gives the impression that the new deficit figure has put the Liberal Party ahead in the polls, right?
Then this line: "Up until the deficit news of May 26, the Conservatives appeared to have been benefiting from the fact some more prosperous Canadians, perhaps with an eye more to the stock market than the job market, were becoming more optimistic about the economic future.
Reading tha sure makes one believe that Conservative numbers are dropping, right?
And this line: "However, their advantage appeared to vanish after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty revealed Ottawa expected a budgetary shortfall of $50 billion for the 2009-10 fiscal year that will end in March 2010"
That sure makes it sound like Conservative's had an advantage in the polls, but the recently released deficit figure has caused that advantage to disappear, right.
The fact is all these statements are wrong, in fact they are wrong based on the same CBC and Ekos polling companies information from the April poll. The numbers from April to May show a drop of -3.7% for the Liberal's, while the Tories gained +1.8%
H/T to Wilson who left this comment on Joanne's blog:
"p.s. What the CBC article doesn't state is that Cons have GAINED support since the last poll done April 8-15,THEN Michael Ignatieff's Liberals enjoying an upsurge, says a new poll from EKOS released exclusively to CBC News.
April…. 36.7 Libs ,
30.2 Cons
May …. 33 Libs,
32 Cons
One would have thought today's headline might read Harper enjoying an upsurge, says a new poll released exclusively to CBC news. Funny That...
22 comments:
- Roy Eappen said...
Neverending msm bias in favour of the grits. people at the cbc must realize that most conservatives want them sold off ASAP.
- June 1, 2009 at 10:48:00 AM PDT
- Ted said...
All partisanship aside and my reluctance to trust polls aside, this is a very fascinating poll.
First of all, it is massive. With over 10,000 polled it is the largest poll by far in Canadian history (aside from an actual election or referendum, of course!).
Second, it took place over several weeks instead of a couple of days. If you read the analysis, this why they can conclude that there was an uptick for the Liberals after the deficit was announced to be at minimum 50% greater than Harper was saying it was going to be only a month ago. The analysis indicates that they did see the Conservative slide halted after the ads - i.e. they were having some clear impact - but then at the end of the polling period when the budget numbers were revealed there was a big uptick in Liberal support. With the poll lasting over 3 weeks, it mutes out the immediate reaction to new information: meaning we don't know if the last uptick will last or not, but you have a much better sense of what support is more solid and what support is up and down with different news.
Third, the regional breakdown analysis is itself fascinating. Us consumers of information tend to focus only on the total picture which has the Liberals and Conservatives neck and neck, but the regional breakdowns of the polls have such small population samplings adn such large margins of error that they are highly unreliable. In the EKOS poll, however, the samplings in each region are themselves very big and so much more accurate/reliable.
What is interesting about that is what that means as far as seat projections are concerned. Maclean's has one here. It shows a week but clear Liberal minority given the way the support breaks in each province.
Fourth, their methodology makes this a much more reliable analysis of what Canadians are actually thinking. They did not use online polling. Remarkably, they for the first time included cell phone users. Almost one quarter of Canadian households only have cell phones; these households have different socioeconomic and voting patterns than traditional landline users; so this is a significant break from other polls.
There is still good reason to hesitate in saying this is fully reliable because, for example, it is not an election period and there is no breakdown within the provinces.
But still, wow. For a political junky, this is a wealth of much more detailed and reliable data, regardless of which way this is spun by any one side.
(Of course, it is certainly nice that this information is all good for the Liberals, but I'm trying hard not to have a partisan comment here. ;-) )
- June 1, 2009 at 11:03:00 AM PDT
What troubles me about this poll is that 50% of respondants other than no comment or refused were from Quebec.
I may be wrong but I think Quebec only represents less than 30% of Canada's population.
This survey has not been peer reviewed and was commissioned by a partisan entity.
NOBODY who understands statistics or public analysis would ever ever give this survey any bonafide credence for reliable statistical data.
But, it does give the media some nice headlines and the general public can be easily fooled by inaccurate data.
Expert researchers can skew any question and methodology of data collection to get the results they want.
That is why a peer review is required at all stages before a seal can be applied declaring the data reliable.
This one does not pass the test. Sorry - no matter what side of the political spectrum you are - it is no more reliable than reading horoscopes.
- June 1, 2009 at 11:29:00 AM PDT
- paulsstuff said...
Nice analysis Ted. I agree with much of it. I just don't give polls between elections a whole lot of merit. We Canadian's by our nature are very wishy-washy.
It's like the polls in the days of the coalition showing Conservative support in the high 40's. Those numbers would never had held in an election.
Looking at past polling between elections, Paul Martin should still be PM, Stephane Dion should still be leader of the Liberal Party, and Stephen Harper should now be running a majority government.
There are too many possibilites of game-chngers in a 36 day campaign.
- June 1, 2009 at 11:34:00 AM PDT
- Ted said...
Oh, I agree Paul. I am always pretty wary about polls. Especially individual polls; trendlines among many polls can tell you something.
I think though that polling can tell you something, lots. The problem is that there are so many poor polls out there and so much weak guessing that counts as analysis. PLUS, a most important plus, too much assumption on the importance of a snapshot in time.
But like I said, polling can tell you things, provide you with valuable information. When it gets this large a sampling and this detailed, it can tell you quite a bit.
The primary take-away from this that is good for Liberals is not that they are still in a minority government position despite hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the negative attack ad. What is good for the Liberals is that their support numbers appear to be less volatile than in the past. You are right to say we are wishy washy voters, but there is a clear sense in this poll that Canadians are looking seriously at the Liberals as a serious option for governing and are not looking away as soon as the Conservatives try to re-direct their attention.
There is also a lot you could say good or bad about the Conservatives in this poll that would be pretty meaningless. But what I think you can say more certainly that is good for the Cons out of this poll is that Canadians outside of Quebec are not done/fed up/angry with the Conservatives - despite the economy, three years of governing, three years of flip flops and broken promises and abandoned principles, mismanagement of our finances, the backlash against the ad campaign, etc.
When Martin ran the 2004 election, Canadians were fed up with the Liberals but not convinced about Harper. By 2006, they were even more fed up with the Liberals and so it would not have mattered how bad Harper was (he wasn't - he ran a good campaign) or how good the Martin was (he wasn't - he ran an awful campaign). The media gave up on him. Canadians gave up and weren't even listening to him.
This poll shows the Conservatives, although clearly on a decline, are far from that point.
- June 1, 2009 at 11:46:00 AM PDT
I checked the seat projections and there is no way the Liberals would get 11 seats in BC. They will be lucky to hold on to the 2 they won by less than 50 votes so if anything they will lose seats in BC.
Remember that BC just re-elected their conservative government.
- June 1, 2009 at 11:46:00 AM PDT
- Ted said...
Anonymous 11:29,
In your zeal to attack and dismiss a poll that is overall more positive for the Liberals than the Conservatives, I think you must not have even bothered to read it. I think you are referring to the CTV poll that surveyed 1000 Canadians and 500 Quebecers, not the EKOS poll that surveyed over 10,000 Canadians.
You also have it wrong. That they interviewed more Quebecers just means the Quebec numbers are more accurate, not that the overall numbers are wrong. This is because they weight the regions by their populations. So if you interviewed 1000 voters in Alberta and 1,000,000 in Ontario and every single Quebecer, the 1M Ontarians still account for only 38% of the overall poll numbers, the Quebecers surveyed would still only account for 23% of the overall poll numbers, etc.
The CTV poll is worth dismissing not for this reason, but because they only interviewed 1000 which is very small and it included online polling.
- June 1, 2009 at 11:51:00 AM PDT
- Ted said...
Anonymous 11:46,
Seat projections is a very unreliable game to play, regardless of how fun it can be.
As a precise tool, it is pretty useless outside of an election and even then only if your size samples are large enough in the region.
Still they can tell you things based on history and that is how they work. Historically, if a party has at least X%, they will get at least Y number of seats. It was explained to me once by a Harris Tory riding campaign chair during the 2003 election and why they knew internally they were toast even when the polls were showing them fairly close to the Liberals.
But it is more of a rule of thumb than a science.
- June 1, 2009 at 11:55:00 AM PDT
- paulsstuff said...
I looked at the regional breakdowns Ted, and I think the Quebec numbers are a little on the generous side for the Conservative's as are the B.C. numbers for the Liberal's.
I think the most accurate seat prediction I saw last election was still off by 27 seats. Given the tightness in the polls that makes them pretty much useless.
As a Conservative supporter I am quite pleased with these numbers. sitting governments around the globe would look at those polling numbers with envy, considering the beating some are taking.
I think by mid-summer the ecomonomic picture will be quite a bit more rosy than today, and that will correspond to Conservative support rising.
- June 1, 2009 at 12:06:00 PM PDT
wah wah wah the MSM hate Conservtives.
Please. Quit your bellyaching. It's pathetic.
- June 1, 2009 at 12:08:00 PM PDT
- revanche said...
Ah yes, another poll to commissioned to fill another 24 hour news cycle.
The thing to remember about polls is 50% of respondents will stay home on election day.
The next election will be determined on the ground. The party with the best ground game will win. A simple polls can never account for that.
The lack of a solid organization in Quebec is the only reason Harper doesn't have a majority right now.
- June 1, 2009 at 12:09:00 PM PDT
- paulsstuff said...
"The thing to remember about polls is 50% of respondents will stay home on election day."
Excellant point. Last election Conservative's did a great job getting their voters into the booths on election day. and they learned quite a bit from that to do even better next election.
- June 1, 2009 at 12:13:00 PM PDT
- Ted said...
I hope the economy returns, even though I agree with you that that will mean a recovery of support of sorts for the Conservatives.
Not sure what line of work you are in, but I deal every day with business leaders who are trying to figure out the economy (not just the markets, but the economy) as it relates to a myriad of different industries. And they have good money - and their own! - riding on it which, as a capitalist, I believe is a better predictor than economic pundits and certainly better than self-serving politicians.
The conclusion is pretty consistent: we are just starting to see the depths of the economy and it will take another 9 months before we see real recovery.
Also, there is a fairly consistent conclusion that markets may go up, not because the economy is getting better but because the next 6 months of bad economy have already been factored into their analysis.
The markets will also go up because troubled companies have gotten so bad that they have been forced to restructure and the market is responding to announced restructuring plans. The economy won't start to truly recover though until several months after those restructuring plans are fully implemented.
In between, and as part of those restructuring plans (like GM) are hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, which means less cash for consumer purchases, which supports the view of a recovery 9-10 months from now at the earliest.
- June 1, 2009 at 12:16:00 PM PDT
- paulsstuff said...
I've been in the auto sector for over 30 years Ted, and this is the first time I've ever seen them miss so far off with maket projections. Normally they can predict sales 1-2 years ahead of time. Now they can't predict next week. Really quite amazing.
In reality the sales of vehicles was unsusatinable, hitting roughly 17 million yearly in North America. 12 million is a more realistic number.
As for the Conservative's, I hope they can improve on those Quebec numbers, but if not, I have no problem cheering for the Liberal's to kick those Bloc asses out of Parliament.
By the way, I can't remember where, but someone poted that a number of Bloc MP's need another 13 months of service to qualify for an MP pension. My guess is they are more worried about that pension than their constituents, and won't be to quick to force an election.
- June 1, 2009 at 12:25:00 PM PDT
- Joanne (True Blue) said...
Who says Liberals and Conservatives can't get along? ;)
- June 1, 2009 at 12:43:00 PM PDT
- paulsstuff said...
I think Ted is a decent enough guy Joanne. We just differ on politics. If I'm not mistaken Ted was a Mike Harris supporter (I'm sure Ted will quickly correct me if I'm wrong). I love debating with people of differing views, whether it be politics, economy, sports, whatever.
Ted and others come hear voicing their opinions in a civil way is what blogs are all about. Joanne is a perfect example of that. Joanne's blog (my fave), welcomes different opinions. Unfortuneatly from time to time th trolls roll in, not to debate, but to prevent debate. And Joanne knows better than anybody when that line has been crossed.
- June 1, 2009 at 12:49:00 PM PDT
- revanche said...
Ted, I could have a beer with you.
I can't say the same about some of the knee-jerk idealogues in my own party right now though...
- June 1, 2009 at 1:01:00 PM PDT
Here are a few little tricks used to skew poll results.
- If you want a more socialist entitlement social services dependent population you get a larger percentage of your sample during the day on weekdays.
You will get proportionately more retirees, welfare recipients, unemployed, stay at home Moms, etc.
These demographics are more inclinded to the nanny state government should give you everything politics offered by the NDP and Liberals.
It is a favourite ploy of pollsters.
They also have an easier time recruiting polling phone workers during weekdays so it helps with their staffing.
- June 1, 2009 at 1:18:00 PM PDT
They had to poll 50% in Quebec in order to get the results they wanted - just edging the liberals a bit ahead of the Tories in numbers. That is also why they polled so many - they realized by polling the normal amount of people - the Tories were ahead so they polled more in Quebec where they knew they would get a greater number for their liberal party.... Canadians are not that stupid - but note - they still pick PM Harper over the visiting Iggy - even though the media is pushing him in our face all the time...
- June 1, 2009 at 1:26:00 PM PDT
- wilson said...
'Harper preferred as PM choice'
and that will make the difference in an election.
Funny how CBC polled and polled but Cons were ahead,
then they polled and polled some more,
and on a bad news day...Cons and Libs were tied.
Voila, we get the poll.
Torstar was smarter, they just polled for the 2 days following the bad news $50B deficit....Cons and Libs tied.
- June 1, 2009 at 1:27:00 PM PDT
- tao_taier said...
Polls are a joke no matter what the result...
You would have to break them up by riding in-this-country since that is how votes are tolled come an election ballot, for the "Local" Party Candidate Representative.
And repeat for a year if polled weekly for a general trend or monthly if by the day.
Poll 100 (or 6-11% of last voter turn out) different people each day for a month then tally up the numbers and start all over again for the next... same riding over again for a year.
Then match up the trend line and start all over again.
That should start a polling company off to a more accurate read of each riding.
then maybe polls would start to reflect something closer to reality... or at least further from the current delusions.
- June 1, 2009 at 6:38:00 PM PDT
- tao_taier said...
Forgot to add my main point, is that when Ontario first started shedding jobs the income revenue loss also hits the federal budget negatively...
In other words, when Ontario leads in job losses by vast numbers even before the global recession hit, while other provinces were booming as they were, you know then that this is definitely NOT a Federal or "Conservative Made recession".
- June 1, 2009 at 10:25:00 PM PDT


text:
gobject-introspection (GObject interface introspection library)
GObject Introspection is a project for providing machine readable
introspection data of the API of C libraries. This introspection data
can be used in several different use cases, for example automatic code
generation for bindings, API verification and documentation generation.
Maintained by: Andrew Psaltis
Keywords: pybank
ChangeLog: gobject-introspection
Download SlackBuild:
gobject-introspection.tar.gz.asc (FAQ)
(the SlackBuild does not include the source)
|Individual Files:
| gobject-introspection.SlackBuild
| gobject-introspection.info
| slack-desc
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Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds
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text: Put yourself in the middle of the Star Wars saga action with this amazingly realistic version of the LUKE SKYWALKER character's lightsaber. Press the button to power up your galactic weapon to see the first of the brightly glowing blade's light effects and hear the power-activation humming sound. Swing and slice your lightsaber through the air and you'll hear more motion sensor-controlled sound effects like clashing, battle impact and crackling sounds. When the battle is over, be sure to keep your trusty lightsaber by your side - you never know when you'll need it again!


text:
Stefan Koopmanschap has a new post to his blog today talking about the release of a library he's created to help interface with the NOS public broadcasting group's newly opended API.
NOS is a dutch public broadcasting organization focussing mostly on news. Some months ago, NOS announced opening up their data by offering an API which would give access to (some of) their data. Today, the API is opened up to the public and developers who requested API keys will start receiving them. To make it easier for developers to use the API, I've developed a PHP5.3 library. [...] Basically, the phpOpenNOS library is nothing more than a layer between the API and your application. It is there so you don't have to develop the code to make the requests to the server.
He includes some sample code of how to use the library to make a request to the API (in this case the "getLatestArticles" method) and return the results as an array. He's put the interface up on github so it can be forked and modified as you might need. Along with articles, you can also fetch the latest video and audio information from the service.


text:
A nearly six-karat diamond ring will be among more than 80,000 forgotten valuables that the state will auction at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Hilton Hotel
A nearly six-carat diamond ring will be among more than 80,000 forgotten valuables that the state will auction next month at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Hilton Hotel.
But if bling isn't your thing, there will also be four American eagle gold bullion coins, a 59-piece sterling silver flatware set and a 1776 $7 Continental currency note at the two-day auction set for Aug. 23-24.
After a year hiatus, the state of Florida is again auctioning items found in abandoned safe deposit boxes that banks and other financial institutions are required by law to hand over to the state. The proceeds are used to help fund the state's public schools.
Instead of the traditional yearly auction, there will be two events this year, said Chris Cate, spokesman for the office of Jeff Atwater, the state's chief financial officer.
The first, held in Tampa last month, attracted 220 bidders who paid $1.16 million, the second-highest amount in the 52-year history of the state auction, according Atwater's office. Items sold included an 1876 gold watch and a 1776 Continental note.
The upcoming Fort Lauderdale auction may generate even more money because there are about 4,000 more items for sale than at the Tampa event.
The stash has a "minimum reserve value in excess of $650,000," according to an email statement from Atwater's office Friday. That means prospective buyers are required to start bidding at a predetermined price on many items.
Florida now has about $1 billion in unclaimed property, Atwater said.
Floridians can visit http://www.FLTreasureHunt.org to see if they have unclaimed property taken by the state. If they see the state has taken property, they can file at claim at the website. The state will return it for free. If the property has already been sold, Atwater's office will issue a check for the amount received.
Atwater was $34.75 richer earlier this spring after he discovered he had forgotten to cash an insurance refund check that ended up in the state's coffers.
Floridians have reclaimed more than $535 million worth of property since January 2011, Atwater said.
Although the Fort Lauderdale event will last two days, the actual auction will take place on Aug. 24.
Aug. 23 is set aside for prospective buyers to view the property.
And if jewelry fans fail to win the bidding for the 5.82-karat diamond, they shouldn't despair. They'll still have a shot at an 8.6-karat diamond and gold watch, Cate said.
firstname.lastname@example.com or Twitter @donnagehrke


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Video Game Exec Claims Used Games 'Cheat' Developers
from the lets-learn-you-some-economics dept
This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the law, basic economics and the customers THQ is failing to serve. On the law, Ledesma and others should familiarize themselves with the First Sale doctrine before making silly statements. On economics, repeated studies have shown that a healthy secondary market for products actually significantly helps the primary market. If you take more than a second and a half to think about it, it's easy to understand why. If there's a healthy secondary market for products, it reduces the risk for the buyers in the primary market. That is, if they buy the product and don't like it, they know they'll be able to resell it and recoup some of their losses. That makes it effectively cheaper for them to buy the primary product, increasing the number of sales. On top of that, the secondary market also helps in markets like video games in acting as a good way to segment the market, and get new buyers into a game or series of games. I'm sure many of the folks who are now buyers in the primary market, at one time purchased an earlier game in a series used. How is it that so many video gaming execs have so much trouble recognizing these basic concepts?


text:
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 7th Jun 2012 22:31 UTC
"If you're an aspiring Android developer, it may have been discouraging to read some of the recent conversations about what it's like to develop for Android. With the number of different Android smartphones and tablets growing - by OpenSignalMaps' count, 3997 distinct devices - the app-building process might seem complex, frustrating and, if you have to buy all these devices, way too expensive. But having just come off a successful Android launch for Pocket, and having supported Android devices since our Read It Later days in 2010, my message for you is this: fear not." Lots of interesting bits of advice, but as a user often encountering horrible software on any mobile device, this one stands out as the one most mobile developers seem to not understand: "It may seem obvious, but if you want to develop for Android, become an Android user yourself." Replace 'Android' with any other mobile operating system and it'd be just as valid.
Permalink for comment 521380
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by Modafinil on Fri 8th Jun 2012 20:17 UTC
Pocket is an excellent product and I use it daily.
However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how the developer makes any money from it as it has no in-app advertisements and there is not a paid version in the Play Store either.
I'd gladly pay a few quid for it if he started charging for it.


text:
18 May 2008 11:00
South Carolina Direct TV Deals(via)
To get the absolute maximum from your programming subscription, you'll want to consider upgrading to a Directv DVR (Digital Video Recorder) receiver. Directv receivers with DVRs are superior to other receivers because they give you more flexibility while watching programming. Without a DVR you are stuck with guessing what happened while you were interrupted or with waiting for a rerun to catch a program you weren't home for.
1 (1 marks)


text:
WA still making up its mind on federal ed waivers
Washington state education officials haven'treally decided yet if the state will apply for a waiver...
Long sentence sought in Wenatchee slaying
The Chelan County prosecutor says he'llseek an exceptional sentence against a man accused of...
Pasco Fire Started by 9-Year Old
Investigators say a fire that damaged abathroom at Pasco's Markham Elementary School was started by...
Fake Baby Bump - Movie Deal
Faking her pregnancy is the high school projectthat keeps paying off for one Toppenish teenager....
Finance Minister resigns over protester deaths in Cairo
Egyptian minister resigns over protester deaths
Egyptian Coptic Christians feel like second class citizens
Christians under siege in post-revolution Egypt
Category: General News
Pistorius' Defense Has Its Say
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The defense lawyer says a substance found in Oscar Pistorius' bedroom was an "herbal remedy" and not banned. The comment at a bail hearing came in response to a police claim they discovered two boxes of testosterone and needles in the Olympic athlete's house. Pistorius is charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend.


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If you're going to excel in maths it helps to start early — and that's what Peter Scholze certainly did.
Ingrid Daubechies, President of the International Mathematical Union, about the importance of community in mathematics.
Martin Grötschel, Secretary of the International Mathematical Union, about maths at school, integrating developing nations, and his dream of putting all maths that's ever been produced online.
Manjul Bhargava tells us why playing with maths in important in finding your own way of thinking.
Why doing maths is like being Lewis Carroll's Red Queen and how to keep going beyond the formidable age of 84.
Artur Avila tells us about taming chaos.
How burning paper can win you a prestigious maths prize.
Cormac O' Raifeartaigh recently made a surprising discovery – an unpublished paper by Albert Einstein that sheds light on how Einstein's thinking about the Universe changed as he tackled some of the big questions in cosmology at the time.


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extreme drinking and thirst
i have a one year old dobermann male who was rehomed to us (and i know his prev owner personally)two months ago, and has really settled in well.
when we brought him home he wa rather slim and we have worked hard ever since to get him to gain weight and to build muscles.
he weighed about 28 kilos when we got him and three weeks ago when we did the mandatory ad/hd x-ray they clocked him in at amazing 35,4 kilos..
a week after that all of a sudden he stopped eating, i thought it was because there might be some bitch in heat in the area..no such luck..
i fiddled and desperatly tried to get him to eat but all he wanted to do was drink...and drink...and drink... about 7-9 LITERS per day ....and no matter what i tried to offer him he didnt wanna eat... not even grinded meat or beef or...well anything...no dogfood brand or variations was untried..
had to seriously cut back on the trainingsessions...
i kept calling the vet ever day (started the second day when he was excessivly drinking) and was yet again put off with a well he drinks so there should be no problem..
i finally went to the vet and refused to leave before they had a look at him... he was by then down to 27 kilos (a loss of more than 30 % of his weight in two and a half week)and shaking like a rattler. severly dehydrated and shaking unable to walk it became even more acute since his problems escalated while we were waiting...
now nthree days on dripbag and several tests later all they can say for sure is what it is NOT... they have test for diabethics,addisons,cushings,kidney problems,etc...
what they could see was that he had very very low levels of natrium and kalium in his blood.and a little bit of urea... noting else seems wrong except for the fact that no matter how much drop (NaCl) they give him his levels doesnt raise and his urine doesnt seem to get much dilluted... now they are sorta giving up...with lets try cortisone so i reach ouut and ask is there anyone out there who has any idea or has experienced anything similar???
Note: kidney x-ray and ultrasound is done,ACTH test is done,and bloodworks aswell...
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Sampling nutrients in stone fruit trees during the dormant period, instead of using only the customary mid-summer leaf sample analysis, would give growers an opportunity to correct any deficiencies before the growing season.
With that idea in mind, Scott Johnson, University of California Cooperative Extension pomologist at the Kearney Agricultural Center, Parlier, continues this year to seek a better way to measure levels of phosphorous, boron, zinc, and other elements in trees.
Johnson recently outlined his progress during the Fertilizer Research and Education (FREP) Conference in Salinas. He said he has been able in a study funded by FREP to correlate productivity and quality of fruit with deficiencies in major and minor nutrients.
"It's been standard practice to make foliar sprays in the early fall, whether the trees really need it or not. We want to figure out how to improve the efficiency of the sprays," he said.
His observations, begun in 2001, were collected through nutrient analyses of dormant shoots of peach, nectarine, and plum trees grown in 60 large tanks of sand at KAC.
Deficiency thresholds
By 2004, he arrived at proposed deficiency thresholds for nitrogen (1.2 percent), phosphorus (0.12 percent), boron (14 ppm), and zinc (20 ppm).
His next step was to apply those thresholds to commercial orchards early in 2005, but he found those results were not conclusive, since many of the nutrients did not appear to be deficient in any of the orchards tested.
During July of 2004, Johnson did leaf sampling in 60 commercial orchards on sandy soils or in areas where boron deficiency had been diagnosed in nearby vineyards. He did nutrient tests on dormant shoots the following January and treated those orchards found to have deficiencies below or near the thresholds found in his test trees in the sand tanks.
"The use of dormant shoots to test for deficiencies in phosphorus, boron, and zinc," he said, "still seems reliable even through we have not been able to test the procedure fully in commercial orchards."
However, Johnson added, the commercial orchard trials prompted some new directions to his research for 2006. In the case of nitrogen, for example, he said studies with arginine and other amino acids have shown they indicate nitrogen status in trees. Arginine is the main storage amino acid in dormant peach trees, so he will evaluate how it relates to vegetative growth and nitrogen deficiency symptoms.
Shortages in potassium, magnesium, and calcium were not observed in the sand tank trees, except for a single plum tree that showed potassium deficiency late in 2005. "One of the problems has been the fairly hard water that is our main source of irrigation," he said.
To create deficiencies in these elements in the test trees, he will install a water softening system this year to remove magnesium and calcium from the water and a few of the tanks will be irrigated with deionized water.
Role of zinc
His research also raised questions about what role zinc plays. Johnson said he found a range of zinc deficiency in his sand tank trees in the spring of 2003, 2004, and 2005 that correlated well with dormant shoot levels.
"However," he said, "there have always been some trees with very low zinc levels that showed no symptoms and grew vigorously. Likewise, in the orchard survey there were several sites that tested low in zinc but showed no symptoms."
That led him to try to unravel more mysteries with zinc with a separate, FREP-funded project on how the micronutrient behaves in peach and pistachio trees.
Zinc, he explained, is universally deficient, causing economic losses throughout the world, particularly in peach, pecan, citrus, and avocado crops. It is the most widely limiting micronutrient in California tree fruit and is most severe in sandy or alkaline soils.
Many growers have responded with foliar applications, but Johnson noted that recent research literature suggests that foliar-applied zinc remains in the leaves and is not moved to other parts of the plant. When the leaves fall, much of the zinc finds its way into the soil.
This year he will continue studies begun in 2005 with a group of practices to promote the trees efficient recovery of zinc from both soil and foliar applications.
One is a method used in Germany to add iron and zinc to ammonium fertilizer applied to acidified portions of the root zone to lower the pH and increase uptake of the micronutrients.
Another is seeding with barley as a companion crop. Johnson wants to see if barley roots close to the tree roots will interact to capture more zinc for the trees. He has been able to obtain for his trials a scarce barley variety having much greater zinc efficiency than normal varieties.
He will test the rootstock Hiawatha, found to have considerably more zinc in its foliage than the standard Nemagard, even without being treated with any zinc fertilizer.
He plans to again evaluate the ZN68 isotope to trace zinc mobility in the tree. "In one experiment, we have been able to show about 7 percent of the zinc applied to peach leaves in late fall is taken into the perennial parts of the trees before leaf fall."
Greater mobility
Noting that this suggests zinc mobility is much greater than originally thought, at least in peach, he said of the amount taken up, almost half is transported to the roots but is then remobilized in the spring and mostly ends up in new growth.
Johnson has planned a series of experiments with rates, timing, and additives to further study the movement of zinc from foliar applications into other parts of the tree.


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Click here to see what those perplexing clues really meant.
The Kansas Wheat Festival Medallion was located under a tree limb, in a Taco Bell wrapper, at the junction of Wellington High School, McDonald's, and Wal-Mart. No one was able to decipher the 10 clues, released once a day for the last 10 days, to claim the potential $1,000 prize. That money will now go to charity, which charity is yet to be determined. Below are the list of clues, and their meanings.
Clue #1
Got rules? Read 'em!
No? Get 'em!
Next step: Follow 'em!
Or...we're done!
Meaning: Exactly what it says...no more property damage, trespassing, etc.
Clue #2
Carry A Nation
Meaning: Abolitionist crusader - crusader is the key word here, identifies WHS
Clue #3
Don't cross the line
Meaning: South Boundary Road between McDonald's, Wal-Mart & WHS doesn't exist yet so you can't cross it
Clue #4
Zoom, zoom
Meaning: Highway traffic in front of McDonald's and WHS / Mazda commercial
Clue #5
Out in left field
Meaning: Facing WHS from 160, medallion is located "out in left field"
Clue #6
The Rocket
Meaning: National Hockey League & Montreal Canadiens Maurice Richard - stands for Maurice & Richard McDonald - McDonald's founders
Clue #7
Meaning: Latin for bell - medallion is wrapped in Taco Bell paper referring to WHS bell
Clue #8
Famous Vacation Destination
Meaning: National Lampoon's Vacation - Walley World - Wal-Mart
Clue #9
Heard many of you say this is a Kroc
Meaning: Ray Kroc of McDonald's
Clue #10
Daisy _ _ _ _ _
Meaning: Duke for WHS Dukes


text:
A kite that has not been mentioned yet that I have found one of the best in lightwind for waves is the Airush Lithium.
It is very stable and flies extremely well underpowered, it is also very fast turning with a pivotal turn, perfect for waves. Also drifts extremely well and good response with slack lines. I have used the Airush one in the waves in smaller sizes and this is also great, even faster turning and lighter weight, they are combing the two in 2013 for the 16m to make a 16m one strut Lithium to reduce the weight and also a an 18m with no struts if you want a super lightwind kite!


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DescriptionEvery picture hides a number of objects, and it is up to you to discover them! Find all objects listed below the picture, and you will qualify for the bonus mini-game!
- Normal mode: All items in the list are hidden in the picture. Find them.
- "Night mode": Move the cursor to light up the scene and find all objects in the list.
- "Spot the difference mode": The two pictures are not the same. Find the differences.


text:
The European Union's three presidents have collected the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of six decades of work promoting "peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights".
Prime Minister David Cameron stayed away - one of six EU leaders to decide not to attend. But his deputy Nick Clegg was there to represent the UK in the splendour of the Nobel Institute in Oslo.
Attendees heard Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland praise the EU's role in transforming a European "continent of war" into a "continent of peace". He said: "That should not be taken for granted - we have to struggle for it every day".
Mr Jagland emphasised that the same prize had been awarded in the 1920s to the foreign ministers of France and Germany marking post-First World War reconciliation. Then in the 1930s the continent had degenerated into conflict and war once more.
But he said now was the time to celebrate prolonged peace - and welcome the French and German leaders sitting side by side in Oslo.
However, the announcement of the peace award in October caused surprise and controversy in the midst of one of the EU's worst crises and at a time of deep - albeit non-violent - rifts between major member states.
The ceremony comes in the week of yet another EU summit to try to resolve the continuing euro crisis which, according to UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, risks "engendering violence, poverty and despair across Europe".
But European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said: "This is an award for the European project - for the people and the institutions - that day after day, for the last 60 years, have built a new Europe.
"We will honour this prize and we will preserve what has been achieved. It is in the common interest of our citizens. And it will allow Europe to contribute in shaping that 'better organised world' in line with the values of freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law that we cherish and believe in. The last 60 years have shown that Europe can unite in peace. Over the next 60 years, Europe must lead the global quest for peace."
Receiving the award alongside him were the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and the president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.


text:
Throwback Interview Of The Week: Diddy Inspirational Interview With Tim Westwood Speaking On His Rise To Fortune Going From A Intern To A Business Mogul!
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An Investigation of Student Engagement in a Global Warming Debate
Diane M. Schweizer, Gregory J. Kelly
January 2005
Journal of Geoscience Education v 53, n 1, p. 75-84
This study investigates how using debate as a pedagogical tool for addressing earth system science concepts can promote active student learning, present a realistic and dynamic view of science, and provide a mechanism for integrating the scientific, political and social dimensions of global environmental change.
The investigation examines how students make use of observationally-based climatic data sets when debating the cause of global warming. The results indicate that students used observational data sets in a variety of ways, such as supporting their own argument; negating the argument of the opposing side; presenting challenges to the opposing side; and raising new scientific questions.
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Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:
Climate Change
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Research Results, Pedagogic Resources, Journal Article
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Logan & Katherine's Bright Cambridge Home
Name: Logan & Katherine
Location: East Cambridge, Massachusetts
Logan and Katherine have lived in their two bedroom East Cambridge apartment for six years and were joined by their son Soren 2½ years ago. They are both New England transplants who met in Cambridge in 2003 and decided to stay forever. Determined not to have their home overrun by colorful plastic, they have worked hard to create a space that is kid-friendly without looking like a daycare — all while maintaining their sense of style.
They are a young, small family with a strong DIY mentality and have learned to be creative with space and a limited budget. They work around the little quirks that always make apartment living interesting. Most of their furniture has been made or refurbished by one of them, bought from Craigslist or snagged off the street.
They both love all the natural light that fills their apartment, especially during the dreary New England winters. Katherine says her favorite piece is the large scale photo she took of Logan and Soren at a local beach and loves how it looks with the orange chair she reupholstered — which she admits has seen better days thanks to their darling son. Logan loves the open living space which makes 800 square feet seem like much more. Soren's favorite feature is the view of the trains which turn around about ten feet from their kitchen window — a little boy's dream and city living at its finest.
It was important to them that their apartment feel like a real home and they can't imagine living anywhere else!
Thanks Logan & Katherine!
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• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
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Baby just had a three month growth spurt and has been really sleepy the last few days. He is even sleeping longer (5 hours average) before he nurses again.
Is that normal after a growth spurt?
I am not really worried, but now that I have gone back to work part time in the mornings I am (probably unnecessarily) anxious about my milk supply.


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GH6654, Reviewed June 2009
Most women capably juggle their many responsibilities as long as everyone stays healthy. However, when a family member becomes ill, women are faced with that dreaded decision, "Do I stay home or do I go to work?" For many women this becomes a no-win situation.
By staying home, they may lose pay, miss an important meeting or even risk losing their jobs. If they go to work, they feel guilty about leaving a sick child or aging parent home alone or in someone else's care.
Learning to care for your family's health may seem like just one more task to do. Yet, as a woman, it is probably something you are already doing. Ask yourself, "Who treats common illnesses and injuries occurring in your home, who makes appointments when someone needs to see a health care provider, and who makes up the grocery list in order to ensure that nutritious food is available?"
Learning how to do these tasks more effectively is no guarantee that family members will stay healthy. However, learning how to handle common illnesses and injuries at home, knowing when and how to work with health care providers and encouraging lifestyle behaviors that promote positive health and prevent disease can ease your mind, save you time, help reduce unnecessary doctor visits and cut the family's health care costs. Learning how to do this important job better may be easier than you think.
This guide provides information about home treatment and working effectively with your health care provider.
Home treatment is not a substitute for professional care. However, when you know what you are doing, you can treat many common illnesses and injuries at home safely and effectively. For example, you can do as much for the common cold as your health care provider. Unless you have other health problems, wait a while before going to your health care provider for a cold or flu. Try home treatment first, because antibiotics won't help. Home treatment involves getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of fluids and, if you choose, taking an over-the-counter medication to relieve the symptoms.
It is time to see your health care provider if the symptoms last more than a week or if the symptoms become worse again after you have started to feel better. This could indicate that the cold has turned into a secondary infection that needs to be treated by your provider. Use the "Common cold checklist" below developed by the MU School of Medicine to help you determine when to see your provider. Treat each box as a separate symptom or group of symptoms. If any are present contact your provider.
The information in this chart applies to children over the age of two and most adults. Special care should be taken with infants and toddlers and with older adults and other individuals with chronic health conditions. They may need to see a doctor before these warning signs are present. Remember, if you decide to give your child something to relieve the symptoms, use acetaminophen rather than Aspirin.
One of the critical decisions you will have to make is, "Do I go to the doctor or can I apply home treatment?"
Your goal is to keep your family healthy, so you want to apply home treatment only when it is safe to do so.
Because making the choice between home treatment and professional care depends on the symptoms that are present, having a good health care reference available is important.
Even "common" illnesses can be rare in any one family, so having a reference handy and knowing how to use it makes more sense than trying to remember detailed information about symptoms. After all, even experienced health care providers use reference books when they treat rarely-seen problems.
A good reference should be easy to use and should provide medically-sound information about health conditions and home treatment. The table of contents and index should list symptoms, for example: rash, fever, ear discharge, rather than just diseases, such as: chicken pox, flu, asthma. You can observe symptoms when someone is sick, but may not know what disease they have. A good reference will also help you with that all-important decision about seeing a health provider or applying home treatment. Some references, like Donald Vickery and James Fries' Take Care Of Yourself, use decision charts to help.
In addition, a reference should provide information about what to expect when a trip to the doctor is necessary. This information can be helpful when preparing yourself or a child for an appointment.
Use common sense when using any reference. While good ones can provide you with useful ideas, they provide only general information. Don't follow the advice blindly. Follow your provider's advice if it differs from what is presented in the book. If the problem does not improve, or becomes worse in spite of good home treatment, don't hesitate to contact your health care provider.
When buying a reference, ask the following questions:
Good observation skills are critical in enabling you to use a reference and communicate effectively with your provider. Next time you or your child go in for a routine health exam, ask your provider to point out what is normal for skin, eyes, ears, throat, etc. There are going to be individual variations, so getting to recognize what is normal for you and your family members is important.
Ask your provider to show you how to do a simple head-to-toe exam on your child, so you can do a better job of observing. Find out the best way to take a temperature and how to check pulse and respiration.
By observing and paying attention to symptoms that signal a potential problem, you are better prepared to use your reference for decision-making and to share information with your provider when a call is necessary. By treating symptoms early, you can frequently prevent a more time-consuming and costly provider visit.
She should be available when I need her.
Don't call her unless you have a good reason.
Becoming a wise consumer of health care products and services is another way of keeping your family healthy. Twenty years ago, a generous health care benefits plan was a low-cost tool that companies used to attract and retain good employees.
Today, it's not unusual for companies to ask employees to pay a greater share of the medical and dental bills while also having them pay more for health insurance coverage.
Because health care costs are rising faster than incomes, families often find that a greater percentage of their income is going to provide health care. This means having less to spend on other necessities such as housing, food, clothes and children's education.
To keep out-of pocket health costs as low as possible, employees have to be wise consumers of health care. The short quiz below, "Being a wise health care consumer," will give you a chance to test your knowledge about the wise use of health care products and services.
Developing positive working relationships with your health care providers has always been important. As this country moves toward managed care, good communication becomes critical. In a managed-care environment, health care providers will rely more on communication with patients to determine treatment plans, and patients will be expected to actively participate in the decision-making.
It might help to think of this relationship as a partnership where both you and your provider have rights and responsibilities. In the space provided list some things you want from your health care provider.
These could be considered your rights as a patient. They could also be considered your provider's responsibilities. An example is provided for you. As a patient, you also have responsibilities for maintaining the partnership. These responsibilities, in turn, can be defined as your provider's rights. In the space provided, list some of your responsibilities. For more examples, see Patient rights and responsibilities below.
Many patients choose not to take an active role in their own care, so you may need to clearly state your interest in being an active partner. Reinforce your statement by doing the following:
After you and your provider have agreed on a course of action, follow it closely. If you can't follow the recommended plan, admit it. Frequently, treatment plans can be changed if your provider knows that you are not comfortable doing what is being suggested.
Many women don't see their health providers until they have a problem. However, physicians and other providers can also help you maintain your health. Periodic health screenings and staying current with immunizations require regular visits. Your age and medical history will determine the type of screenings needed. Talk with your provider to determine a schedule that is best for you.
Whether you work outside of the home or not, controlling your family's health care costs and keeping yourself and your family healthy are probably two of your major interests.
In spite of your best efforts, you and family members will become ill from time to time. Nevertheless, by making better health care decisions and encouraging family members to accept more responsibility for maintaining their own health, it is possible to reduce your time away from work and save on your family's health care bills.
How wise a health care consumer are you? For each question, circle the one best answer. The correct answers are listed after the quiz.
If you've just moved into a community, a health care referral service can get you started. However, the best way to find a new physician is by interviewing. You need to find out how long the physician has been in practice, whether he/she is board certified and if he/she has been successful at treating particular health ailments or concerns that you may have. An interview also gives you a chance to find out if you and this provider can effectively communicate with each other.
Answer C
Generic drugs can save you money. When given a prescription, ask your provider about taking a generic drug. Then double check with your pharmacist to make sure that the only difference in the generic drug is cost.
A second opinion is always a good idea when surgery or an expensive treatment is recommended. Today, most health care plans offered through employers require a second opinion or some type of utilization review.
Answer B
Being familiar with the provisions in your medical plan can help reduce your out-of-pocket costs. Make sure that your benefits are properly computed, especially in such areas as deductibles, co-payments and coordination with your spouse's insurance or with Medicare. Watch for pricing errors and for services that were billed, but not received.
Answer A
Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and other forms of managed care are being widely used by employers as a way of reducing health care costs. When preferred provider organizations contract to provide health care services they usually provide these services at a lower cost because they gain access to a "steady-pool" of patients. When given a choice of plans and physicians, take the time to make sure the plan and provider will meet your needs.
Periodic health screenings and tests can lead to the early detection of some health problems and earlier treatment. When treatment is delayed it is typically more costly and the outcomes less satisfactory. The recommended frequency of your preventive medical and dental tests and exams will depend on your age, gender and medical history. Work with your health care provider to determine a schedule and review it with him/her every few years.
Health maintenance organizations contract with your employer to provide comprehensive health care services to you and your family for fixed, prepaid fees or premiums. The advantage of an HMO is that an increase in services to you does not necessarily mean an increase in out-of-pocket expenses. When given a choice, make sure the plan and provider will meet your needs.
Through "flexible benefits" programs, you can use pre-tax dollars to pay for health care services not covered by insurance, including your insurance plan's deductible, co-payments and maximum. You can also use these funds to pay for uncovered expenses such as check-ups, eye exams and glasses. If your employer offers such a plan it allows you to save on your federal, and if applicable, state income taxes.
Procedures performed outside the hospital save you and your insurance provider the costs of paying for room and board. This will also get you home earlier than if you were an inpatient admission.
Employer-sponsored programs range from complete wellness centers to offering occasional health screenings and educational programs. Taking advantage of programs offered by your employer may help you to become healthier and reduce your medical costs.
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