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Network maintenance 7/22/2009, midnight-1am PDT
Just got this from Speakeasy:
On Wednesday morning, July 22nd 2009, we will be performing emergency maintenance on the Seattle, WA Point of Presence (POP) through which your Broadband connection is routed.
Maintenance will begin at 12:01 AM PDT and end at 1:00 AM PDT on Wednesday morning. While you may experience a service disruption during this time, it is unlikely that your service outage will extend through the entire time frame. Service interruptions during a maintenance event like this often last only a few minutes.
You now know as much as I do...


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Supplier: Enabling
26 March, 2008
Client: Lyttelton Engineering
Lyttelton Engineering, a leading Canterbury marine and industrial engineering firm that has been an integral part of the Port of Lyttelton since 1953.
In 2002 the company was faced with the problem of replacing an outdated and inadequate financial system with as little disruption to ongoing business as possible. In order to find the right solution the company begun a research operation to explore appropriate software products and suitable vendors.
Read more about the solutions Enabling provided for Lyttelton Engineering, view or download a detailed PDF.

subset: commoncrawl


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Millennial Moms: When the ME Generation Grows Up/
With any passing of the torch from one generation to the next, the Millennial Generation (or Gen Y) is now wearing a giant red target, with statisticians, career experts, and journalists taking aim.
This isn't new for the much-studied generation — roughly categorized as those born in the 1980s and 1990s — but TIME Magazine's latest cover story, "The ME ME ME Generation" is bringing the spotlight back...once again.
To be fair, it's a pretty fascinating generation to study. And I'm not just saying that because I'm part of the pack. Born in 1986, I was introduced to the Internet in elementary school, where we pioneered this strange new world of screen name identities and chat rooms. I waited for that little yellow man to run across my AOL start-up screen to the music of a dial-up tone. I joined Facebook in 2004 — its very first year — back when it was a simpler version for college students.
I'm old enough to remember life before text messages, yet young enough to never have written a research paper without a search engine.
If you ask us, we'll say that Millennials are tech-savvy by nature — the first generation to have these innate skills from an early age. We'll say that we were at the cusp of Then vs. Now, and we've been seamlessly rolling with the rapid changes throughout our lives.
But if you ask "them", we're lazy, entitled, and shockingly narcissistic. (Actually, I might occasionally tell you the same thing. Not about myself, of course. And totally not about you. You're lovely.)
You can imagine why people — and by people, I mean Millennials — have been pretty defensive about the characterization of our people. This isn't the first time the younger generation has been called the "ME Generation", they say. Narcissism and laziness are characteristics of youth, not an entire generation — they chime in. And while I agree, I also kind of don't.
There is something uniquely narcissistic about today's culture — and I certainly don't think it's contained inside generational bookends. But still, it originated with us. It started with AOL profiles and AIM away messages, where we thought our daily to-dos were interesting enough for our entire buddy list to care. We invented "the selfie" and splashed them on MySpace. A Millennial created Facebook. A Millennial created Tumblr. A Millennial created Instagram.
Technology blurred the lines between private and public, but Millennials were the catalyst.
Another unique characteristic of our generation — a characteristic that everyone focuses on— is this new post-adolescence/pre-adult 20-something decade where we're putting off marriage and motherhood at record-making rates, except it's not always for a high-powered career. Often it's because today's 20-something are living back with their parents, extending the college lifestyle, until we suddenly have a new expectation for young adults. (And it's much lower than we've ever had.)
I don't need a study to tell me this; I have Facebook.
But I can't help but think that there's a conversation that isn't being had: What happens when the "ME ME ME" Generation starts raising the next generation?
As of right now, Millennial parents — those of us spending our 20s taking photos of our kids instead of selfies (OK, fine, maybe along with the selfies) — have a hard time deciding whether we're living traditional or unconventional lives, considering most of our friends aren't posting sonogram updates until they're teetering on 30. We can feel more isolated from our peers than any past generation, given the gaping disconnect in lifestyles.
It's also interesting to enter parenthood with such an overwhelming online culture, bombarding us with judgements and an over-saturation of information. Previous generations have had plenty of unwanted advice, but this generation has our family in one ear, well-meaning strangers in the other, and then the entire world blinding us with information behind a screen. And it's hard to ignore. Facebook and Instagram might feel like novelties to older generations, but it's just an extension of the buddy lists and MySpace pages we grew up with. As parenting chugs on, so will technology.
What affect will all of this have on the next group of kids — the narcissistic blurring of private vs. public, the constant Instagramming, the faces buried in screens?
What about our positive character attributes for parenting?
Can we predict the generational parenting mistakes up ahead — just like our parents were too helicopter-y, and their parents were too slap-happy, and their parents were too emotionally distant?
Are all of these societal issues, rather than generational? And does it make a difference?
One thing's for damn sure: We'll be documenting it all.


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There is a fine line between art and science in certain professions. A brilliant surgeon will never reach full potential if he or she has an awful bedside manner. As the project management professional (PMP) credential becomes more and more important, and as more and more project managers obtain the PMP credential, it is no longer enough to master only the science of project management. Earning the PMP credential demonstrates that a project manager understands the "hard skills" of project management: earned value management, development of the work breakdown structure, project schedule, project budget, and risk management plan. However, there is another set of skills a project manager must master to reach his or her full potential: "soft skills," such as interpersonal communication, leadership, negotiation skills, influencing, and personnel management. Soft skills are much more art than science. Companies that invest in the development of their project managers' set of soft skills are the ones that have the greatest chance of achieving project success.
Among the most difficult skills for a project manager to master is communication. The ability to plan and build a communication management plan is a hard skill that doesn't require finesse. Soft skills come into play when the project manager has to have difficult conversations, negotiate with the sponsor or stakeholders, or to detail subpar performance to a member of a project team. A 2012 study by Brandeis University cited that among the top ten reasons why projects fail is that there is inadequate communication within a project or among the project teams. [1] That same study rated the soft skill of communication, including progress tracking and reporting, as more than two times more responsible for failure or success than the hard skill set of creating the communication management plan. Many project managers live in the comfortable world of being able to make a plan, monitor the plan, and control costs, timelines, and scope. But the ones who will find the greatest success in the next decade will be those who can communicate clearly, influence stakeholders, and display team leadership.
Leadership within teams has long been something of a mystery. As a project manager, the number one resource that you have is your project team. What is holding you back from taking care of them? Do you have the necessary leadership skills to rally the team and deliver the big project on time and on budget? What constitutes a good leader is as difficult to define as what makes someone more prone to like chocolate ice cream over vanilla. Different people respond to different styles of leadership; the trick is to adapt your leadership style to the people on your team. If you are a project manager who has decided that your team has to adapt to you, then you are in for a rude awakening. Today's employees are not the employees of yesterday; those employees who were hired by a large, respectable company and stayed at a job for 35 years, despite little personal satisfaction, simply because they were happy to have a job. The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that the average 18-to-38-year-old stays at a job an average of four years. Two million employees quit their jobs every single month in the U.S. Alan Hall of Forbes Magazine has stated that this is purely a leadership issue. [2] Many employees do not feel that they are respected by their bosses. They also feel like they are not paid what they are worth, and that when the team achieves success, they are not included in the rewards for those successes. Many employees are also convinced that leaders within their organization are not invested in their personal development and don't underwrite honest mistakes. This all adds up to a growing sense within teams and organizations that those who are supposed to lead are only looking out for themselves, not for the health of the team or individual employees.
Retaining Team Members
How can the leadership gap be bridged and how can project managers hold onto their best and brightest? The answer is in inspiring, coaching, and mentoring your project team members. Inspiring your team members is not a difficult task if you get the right people on your team to begin with. This can be difficult if you are in a weak matrix organization that assigns team members to your team with little to no input from you. But if you are in a project-oriented organization or a strong matrix that allows you to have full or nearly full autonomy over hiring project team members, then the inspiration question begins and ends with you as the project manager. Ensure that you are hiring people who are in line with your organizational and project goals. Solicit input from those who are already serving on your team and ask for their feedback on the hiring process. Inspiring team members who already buy into the project and your organizational goals is much more easily accomplished than motivating someone who is only inspired twice a month: on the 1st and 15th.
Coaching and Communicating
The ability to effectively coach your team members is also important to the leadership dynamic within your team. Coaching the members of your team is a way to maintain constant communication, set expectations, and create a roadmap for success for your team members. Spending time communicating with your team members in a one-on-one setting demonstrates to them that they are important to the team. Communication ties directly back to the issue of employees leaving their jobs because they feel like their leaders don't respect them and their talents. Show them otherwise by taking some time to communicate directly.
Setting Expectations
Setting clear expectations for the members of your project team is another critical leadership task. It can be extremely frustrating for team members to constantly wonder whether or not they are meeting or failing to meet the project manager's expectations. While ground rules for a project are addressed in a kickoff meeting, individual duties and deliverables are not. Taking the time to address the senior members of your project team individually and setting the expectation that they demonstrate leadership will create a cascading effect within your team. You are responsible to set their roadmap and lead them, and they, in turn, are responsible for those who report to them.
Developing a mentoring program within your team is how to foster the professional development of our team members. Senior members of the team should be receptive to taking a junior member of the team "under their wing" and sharing success secrets. New team members should be encouraged to find a more senior member of the team with whom they would like to establish a mentor-mentee relationship. The agreement between the two team members must be mutual; there can be no mentoring or development if one of the parties is not interested. The sharing of a mentoring relationship between team members leads to greater team success by building camaraderie and trust within the team. The payoff for the junior members is receiving guidance and career advice, which strengthens their commitment to the team and to the project. The payoff for the project manager and leadership team is that committed team members will deliver better results. Forward-looking companies embrace and commit to developing project management soft skills in their project managers, which in turn reduces turnover and builds cohesive project teams.
Reproduced from Global Knowledge white paper: Emerging Trends in Project Management.
1. Marando, Anne. "Balancing Project Management Hard Skills and Soft Skills" (PDF) February 2012.
2. Hall, Alan. "'I'm Outta Here!' Why 2 Million Americans Quit Every Month (And 5 Steps to Turn the Epidemic Around)" Forbes Magazine, March 11, 2013.
Related Courses:
Project Management, Leadership, and Communication
How to Communicate with Diplomacy, Tact, and Credibility
Coaching and Mentoring Team Members


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- Home
- People
- Research
- Publications
Commentaries on Stanley Klein's Research Articles
1993 - 1996 | 1996 - 1999 | 2000 - 2002 | 2002 - 2006
(Click on a topic heading to expand)
Classification Images
(2003) Noise provides some new signals about the spatial vision of amblyopes.
164. Levi DM & Klein SA (2003). Noise provides some new signals about the spatial vision of amblyopes. J Neurosci. 23, 2522-2526.
Levi & Klein (2003) is a follow-up to Levi & Klein (2002) where we measured classification images for detection and vernier acuity of a bandpass bar that consisted of a sum over a discrete number (1st to 11th harmonic) of Fourier components. The advantage of using a small number of components is that the classification image can be obtained by linear regression rather than by the standard "reverse correlation". The linear regression method is more accurate so that one can get a classification image in substantially fewer trials than the usual methods. The Levi & Klein (2002) paper found that for both the detection task and the vernier task observers deviated from the ideal template in that they used more high spatial frequencies than optimal. They attended to the very central bar near fixation more than the ideal observer would. Levi & Klein (2003) found a different story for amblyopes where there was a dramatic decline in the classification image tuning at high spatial frequencies, more than would have been expected from the observer's acuity loss.
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(2005) What is the signal in noise?
173. Levi DM, Klein SA & Chen I (2005). What is the signal in noise? Vision Res. 45 1835-1846.
Levi, Klein & Chen (2005) is the first classification image (CI) vision paper to use noise rather than a fixed pattern as the target. Previously, noise was only used as the noise background. We were interested in learning what aspect of the noise was being used as signal for detecting changes in the noise. The classification image was based on Fourier power (independent of phase) rather than Fourier amplitude. We expected to find either a relatively flat (in frequency space) classification image or one that followed the expected contrast sensitivity function. However, the classification images that we found were shifted to higher frequencies than expected. Straightforward multichannel models were unable to match the data. We had to come up with a fascinating ad hoc mechanism to account for this data. An important feature of this paper is that it is the first CI paper to discriminate between systematic and random noise, where systematic noise produces response errors that are the same every time an identical stimulus is presented. To measure systematic noise we used a multipass formalism where each sample of noise is presented more than once. Our results showed that systematic noise is negligible except at very low noise levels. Present multichannel models of pattern detection have nonlinear summation across neighboring frequencies producing systematic noise near detection threshold. We were slightly surprised that systematic noise was not found at higher noise strengths, implying that at suprathreshold levels the human visual system is a relatively unbiased power detector that doesn't pay special attention to local contrast features. Further discussion of systematic noise is provided in the commentary to Li, Levi & Klein (2006)
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165. Levi DM, Li RW & Klein, SA (2003). "Phase capture" in the perception of interpolated shape: cue combination and the influence function. Vision Res. 43, 2233-2243.
172. Levi DM, Li RW & Klein, SA (2005). "Phase capture" in amblyopia: the influence function for sampled shape. Vision Res. 45 1793-1805.
  Levi, Li & Klein (2003 & 2005) involve cue combination in normals (LLK2003) and amblyopes (LLK2005). We measured the perceived location of a 0.8 octave Gabor patch (envelope SD=2/3 carrier wavelength) relative to four similar reference patches (an inner pair and an outer pair). The observer's task was to position the central test patch so that it was perceived to lie on a circle defined by the reference patches. In a single run the reference Gabors had the following characteristics randomly intermixed: a) Three possible envelope centers (on a circle curved upward, downward or aligned), b) Five possible carrier phases (all five Gabors at zero phase, inner reference pair shifted up or down by 90 deg, outer reference pair shifted up or down by 90 deg). Linear regression was used to determine the relative importance of the three cues: envelope centers, inner patch phase, outer patch phase. This "importance function" triplet can be considered to be a classification image. The relative importance of the envelope and carrier cues depended strongly on patch separation. For normal vision we examined the hypothesis that the envelope and carrier cue weightings are proportional to the inverse variance of each cue. The variance of the two cues was obtained from Whitaker's data on thresholds for detecting envelope shifts and carrier shifts as a function of spatial frequency and separation. Our hypothesis that cue combination is based on inverse variance worked very well. This result was quite gratifying since it was able to account for wide range of separations and a factor of three change in viewing distance. The inverse variance weighting is in agreement with results in other modalities such as haptic/visual interactions as explored by Banks and colleagues. We also found subject dependent biases of judged circularity, where typically an oblate positioning looked circular.
  For amblyopic observers (Levi, Li & Klein, 2005) there was an expected loss of dependence on inner carrier phase as compared to normals (the outer carrier phase of normals was already degraded). The surprising finding was an increased effect of the outer reference Gabor. In normals an upward shift of the outer reference carrier produced a downward shift in the match for the central test Gabor, a property of being on a circle. However, in the amblyopic eye the central match was often in the same direction as the shift of the outer reference. It is as if there is a visual capture of the composite pattern by the outer reference. We argue that this could be a form of crowding where the outer and inner reference Gabors become mixed together. This novel measure of crowding, where one feature can "drag" or "merge with" another feature, is a more interesting attribute of crowding than the more usual threshold elevation effect..
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(2006) The receptive field and internal noise for position acuity change with feature separation.
177. Li RW, Levi DM & Klein SA. (2006). The receptive field and internal noise for position acuity change with feature separation. Journal of Vision. 6, 311-321.
Li, Levi & Klein (2006) is of interest both for the question that it asks and also for the new methods that it introduced. The question we asked was what information is used for making vernier judgments. Each of the two vernier lines consisted of five Gabor patches with the gap between patches fixed within a run but varied across runs from very close (1.1 carrier wavelengths) to well separated (10 wavelengths). The classification image showed that for closely spaced lines (a small gap between lines) the weighting of the five patches was a slowly decreasing function of patch number with the inner patches (those closest to the midline) having the largest weightings, as would be expected. The surprising finding was that for the large separations more than 50% of the weighting was for the innermost patch with negligible or even negative weighting on the outermost patch. One of the four observers showed a more uniform weighting, but still with a sharply negative weighting of the outer patch. A decreased weighting of the outermost patch could be a consequence of uncertainty of overall orientation but the discontinuous nature of the weighting pattern suggests a baffling inefficiency in the vernier mechanism. The novel 10-pass nature of our methodology, discussed next, gives us high confidence in the replicability of our results.
In addition to determining the weighting of the cues used for making vernier judgments, this paper takes classification image (CI) research in three unique directions: 1) The noise used for generating the CI was additive position noise (rather than the standard luminance noise) whereby the centroids of each of the Gabor functions were jittered in the direction of the vernier offset. 2) The multipass methodology was increased to 10 passes rather than the typical 2-pass or 3-pass. The 10-pass method enabled us to obtain a relatively accurate estimate of the judged vernier offset and standard deviation for each noise condition. 3) The 10-pass methodology provided us with a unique method for estimating the systematic noise component as distinguished from the random noise component (see the Levi, Klein & Chen (2005) commentary for more details on systematic noise). Systematic noise can be explained with the following example. Consider the case in which the vernier offset is determined by just two Gabor patches rather than 10. Then a classification image formula could be written as: offset = a*x1 + b*x2 + c*x1*x2 + higher order terms, where x1 and x2 are the position values for the two Gabors. The ideal observer would have parameters values of c = 0 and a = b =0.5. The classification image methodology measures a and b giving the weightings of the two samples. Parameter c is an example of consistent noise that could degrade performance. Our 10-pass methodology allowed us to assess the strength of arbitrary nonlinear terms that would contribute to consistent noise. Our measurement showed that the contribution of consistent noise was negligible. Thus possible nonlinear interactions were unlikely to account for the unusual classification image pattern discussed in the preceding paragraph. .
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Detection and Discrimination
(2003) Cross- and iso- oriented surrounds modulate the contrast response function:
The effect of surround contrast.
166. Yu C., Klein SA, Levi DM. (2003). Cross- and iso- oriented surrounds modulate the contrast response function: The effect of surround contrast. Journal of Vision 3, 527-540
Yu, Klein & Levi (2003) measured contrast discrimination of a central two cycle test pattern in the presence of a surrounding annulus of the same spatial frequency with aligned or orthogonal orientation. We measured the dependence of facilitation and inhibition on the full range of center and surround contrasts. For the orthogonal orientation strong facilitation was found when the surround contrast was low, and inhibition was never found. This result was surprising because most physiological studies showed strong surround inhibition, but those studies used high contrasts in the annulus. For the case of iso-oriented surrounds we found both inhibition and facilitation depending on the center/surround contrast ratio. We developed a simple model that could account for most of the data and a more complicated model that included contrast tuning was able to account for sharp discontinuities when the test contrast was close to the surround contrast. See further discussion of contrast tuning in our perceptual learning paper (Li, Levi & Klein 2004). This study made it clear to us that there is still much to learn about center-surround interactions in the simple domain of contrast judgments.
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(2005) "Crowding" in normal and amblyopic vision assessed with Gaussian and Gabor C's.
170. Hanharan S, Levi DM & Klein SA (2005). "Crowding" in normal and amblyopic vision assessed with Gaussian and Gabor C's. Vision Res. 45, 617-633.
Hanharan S, Levi DM & Klein SA (2005) show aspects other than contrast that are involved in some types of surround masking or inhibition. This paper continues our search for aspects of strabismic amblyopic vision that resemble normal peripheral vision. We measured the detection threshold for identifying the orientation of a small letter C when surrounded by small flanker masks. The target letter was either narrow-band or low pass filtered to allow the scale (size) to be varied. We found that in both amblyopic and peripheral vision the extent of masking was substantially larger than in normal foveal vision. One of the interesting findings of this study was an apparent decoupling of peripheral masking from amblyopic masking in the feature specificity of masking. In the amblyopic eye the masking was relatively independent of contrast polarity (for low pass targets and maskers) and independent of orientation (for narrow-band targets and maskers). In normal peripheral vision masking would have been much reduced.
One of the special features of this paper are modeling calculations of a hypothesis for masking based on Fourier space considerations that had been suggested by Hess and by Thibos. Our fairly general modeling analyses show clearly (to us at least) that Fourier space approaches are not able to explain the data. One of the neat aspects of this modeling are the very pretty "peacock" figures (see Fig. 12) that we use to present our findings and make our point.
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(2005) Visual resolution: operational definitions with an eye towards historical precedence.
171. Carney T, Klein SA (2005). Visual resolution: operational definitions with an eye towards historical precedence. Vision Res. 45, 949-954.
Carney & Klein (2005) was a different sort of paper and was fun. It was a response to a short letter that Westheimer wrote critiquing our "test-pedestal" article (Carney & Klein, 1997) titled "Resolution acuity is better than Vernier acuity". With that provocative title it wasn't surprising that Westheimer had to respond. His objection was that our two-line vs. one line task for resolution could be done with a blur cue rather than a two-ness cue. It turns out that the challenge to devise a robust discrimination task that eliminates the blur cue is really interesting. We examine a number of possible 3-line vs 2-line discrimination tasks in both the space and the frequency domain. We propose several good candidates for a "true resolution" task. Our experiments showed that for these stimuli, thresholds are close to one minute of arc, rather than 0.35 min for 2-line vs. 1-line tasks where blur can be used. It is gratifying that for these "true resolution" tasks the "test-pedestal" framework may still hold, with the one minute of arc thresholds corresponding to the detection of a 60 c/deg grating at 100% contrast (possibly in the dipper regime).
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(2006) Separating transducer nonlinearities and multiplicative noise in contrast discrimination.
176. Klein SA (2006a) Separating transducer nonlinearities and multiplicative noise in contrast discrimination. Vision Res. 46 4279-4293.
  Klein (2006a) is on a topic that has been bothering me ever since my first vision paper: Stromeyer & Klein (Vision Research, 1974: how to explain the increase in contrast discrimination thresholds as the reference contrast is increased. The two standard explanations are: 1) a saturating contrast response function and 2) multiplicative noise. It has been notoriously difficult to devise experiments able to distinguish the two factors. Kontsevich, Chen & Tyler (2002) claim their 2AFC data provides evidence for multiplicative noise with an accelerating, not a saturating, contrast response function. Georgeson & Meese and Katkov, Sagi & Tsodyks offer rebuttals. In Klein (2006), I examine all these articles and end up claiming that there is indeed evidence for multiplicative noise, but of a type different from what Kontsevich imagined. I used this paper as a vehicle to explore several other topics having to do with statistics and experimental design that are rarely discussed. Topic 1 is the question of how to get error bars on parameter estimates. I found (in agreement with Kontsevich) that the multiplicative noise exponent and its standard errors (Table 4) to be q = 0.76±0.03, 0.83±0.08, 0.84±0.03, 0.85±0.04, for the four observers, where q=0 would be no multiplicative noise. These SEs are so small that the null hypothesis seems to be soundly rejected. However, those calculations of SE are based on the regression being linear regression, whereas this regression was nonlinear. Usually the linear approximation is fine for estimating SEs, but not this time. When done properly using a grid search one finds that the chi square surface deviates strikingly from the linear approximation and only two of the four values of q truly differ significantly from zero. Furthermore, one of those two has a chi square that is sufficiently large that Georgeson suggests that subject's data should be thrown out. Topic 2 that I raise is the question of under what circumstances does one throw out a subject or throw out data points. I argue that the subject that Georgeson wants to throw out is actually the most important subject for answering the question of the presence of multiplicative noise. I present a new type of analysis, inspired by Katkov et al., that reduces the chi square for that controversial subject to a statistically acceptable range, thereby removing Georgeson's objection and providing evidence for multiplicative noise. Topic 3 is the question of how to compare alternate fits to a data set from models that are not embedded in one another. The various models for the shape of the contrast response function and the multiplicative noise had different numbers of parameters and therefore provided a fine example to discuss questions of goodness of fit.
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Perceptual Learning
(2004) Perceptual learning improves efficiency by re-tuning the decision 'template' for position discrimination.
168. Li RW, Levi DM, Klein SA. (2004). Perceptual learning improves efficiency by re-tuning the decision 'template' for position discrimination. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 178-183.
Li, Levi & Klein (2004) asked what aspect of the vernier stimulus is used to achieve the hyperacuity thresholds. It's surprising that this question, so ideally suited for classification image methods hadn't been done earlier. Two important features of this paper are: 1) With training the observer's efficiency goes up. 2) Classification images reveal that the source of the increased efficiency was an increase in the discrimination template size. Before training only the inner few samples were used, consistent with the observer's poor overall efficiency. After training the number of effective samples that are used in the vernier task has about doubled. This use of classification images has clarified the mechanism of one instance of perceptual learning. This study was a direct precursor to Li, Levi & Klein (2006). .
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(2004) Perceptual learning in contrast discrimination and the (minimal) role of context
(2005) The essential role of stimulus temporal patterning in enabling perceptual learning.
169. Yu C, Klein SA, Levi DM (2004) [YKL04]. Perceptual learning in contrast discrimination and the (minimal) role of context. Journal of Vision 4,169-182.
174. Kuai SG, Zhang JY, Klein SA, Levi DM, Yu C. (2005) [KZKL05]. The essential role of stimulus temporal patterning in enabling perceptual learning. Nat. Neurosci. 8 1497-1499.
  YKL04 and KZKL05 on learning in a contrast discrimination task initiated an important new direction for our lab, while building on our earlier research demonstrating the important role of contrast discrimination for a wide variety of visual processing tasks. The abstracts of this pair of papers do an excellent job of introducing the topic and in presenting the details of our findings, so there is no need to repeat those details here. Rather, this commentary will comment on how this research got started and some highlights. We were motivated by surprising reports from Dov Sagi's group that contrast discrimination was a task resistant to learning unless reference flankers were present ("context enabled learning"). Our intuition differed from those reported results so we attempted to replicate them. The replication failed since we demonstrated strong learning under conditions similar to Sagi's, without the need for context. In recent publications Sagi's results have come closer to ours. The most interesting aspect of our studies is that in agreement with Sagi learning can be eliminated by roving the reference contrast. In YKL04 we used a 2AFC paradigm randomly intermixing reference contrasts of 20%, 30%, 47% and 63% and found no learning. KZKL05 found that when the same four contrast levels were intermixed in a repeating pattern, learning was restored. This is a surprising result and has become the platform for many of our follow-up studies. One of the other directions that these studies have taken is the question of how learning along one dimension (like stimulus contrast or location or orientation or eye of origin) transfers to other dimensions. The most interesting case of non-transfer is that we found that learning at one contrast level has only partial transfer to other contrasts. Most neural mechanism based models of learning would have full transfer in the contrast domain. A modeling section of YKL04 explores several intriguing mechanisms that would produce the non-transfer. We especially liked the idea of mechanisms tuned in contrast. We plan to resolve competing models of contrast processing using electrophysiological approaches.
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EEG and Brain Imaging
(2006) Advances in multifocal methods for imaging human brain activity
178. Carney T, Ales J & Klein SA (2006). Advances in multifocal methods for imaging human brain activity. Human Vision and Electronic Imaging XI, Bernice Rogowitz, Thrasyvoulos Pappas, Scott Daly, Editors SPIE 6057.
Carney, Ales & Klein (2006) describes our new stimulation methods that overcome past limitations. Our previous lookup table "movies" limited the stimulus to 128 dartboard patches each with only two luminance levels. The new method allows very rapid presentation of highly compressed images with almost no restrictions on the number of patches and the content of each patch. This paper presents high quality data obtained using 192 dartboard patches (8 rings of 24 spokes). This is the type of data that we are presently using for our high quality early vision source localization. We demonstrate responses with high signal to noise not only from the 192 separate patches but also from the 8*22=176 within ring edges between patches (cross-kernels). We present data showing that the edge generated topographies are similar (thank goodness) to those from the adjacent patches. The new stimulus technique also allows multiplexing multiple stimulus attributes in each patch. For example independent m-sequences controlling horizontal and vertical gratings or spatial frequencies in each patch allow one to stimulate independent groups of neurons so that in the same recording session we are able to carry out two experiments at the same time. There is a time efficiency in this method to the degree that the multiple neural populations are independent and saturating.
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(2006) Localizing sites of activation in primary visual cortex using visual evoked potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging
179. Baker SL, Baseler H, Carney T & Klein SA (2006). Localizing sites of activation in primary visual cortex using visual evoked potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology, 23, 404 - 415.
Baker, Baseler, Carney & Klein (2006) presents a comparison of single dipole EEG source localization with what would be expected if the dipole were assumed to come from V1 based on MRI/fMRI maps of the same individual. One might worry about the one dipole per patch assumption. Luckily, with m-sequence rapid stimulation we (and Don Hood and Andrew James) have shown, using principal components analysis that typically, more than 50% of the response variance can be accounted for by a single dipolar source. What our paper is the first to do is to make detailed comparisons between the dipoles found from VEP data and what would be expected from the MRI/fMRI maps. We showed that the fit is quite good. We used a permutation test to calculate that there was a negligible chance p<10-6 that the agreement between the VEP dipoles and the MRI/fMRI maps occurred by chance.
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Dualities and Science/Religion Bridge Building
(2006) Order from virtual states: A dialogue on the relevance of quantum theory to religion
(2003) Free will and God in the quantum world
(2005) Yoking three horses (or forces) to change the world.


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[Cross-published at The Huffington Post]
NOTE: See addendum below this piece to as a response to HuffPo commenters.
IN A RECENT New York Times piece, Paul Krugman, one of my favorite columnists, explains how the numbers can't deny that Hillary's health plan is better than Obama's. But what "better" means here is relative even when stats and dollars are an issue. The idea is that Hillary's plan calls for a mandate and will result in more coverage dollars per person. You can't argue the logic of strong economic research. But what excites me about Obama is his less-than-bright-lining look at things. He's got a realistic hold on the healthcare crisis even if his plan is less likely to insure everyone immediately.
powerful, he's also clearly interested in eliminating waste that
contributes to hard-to-explain hardships for sick people. And from the
standpoint of someone somewhat young with chronic health problems in
the wake of serious cancer, it was damn-near
J.F.K.-inspiring to hear him discuss healthcare in the past by leading
talks about insured Americans who had survived cancer but now face secondary
problems and an endless onslaught of salary-zapping bills.
To be sure, getting everyone insured is of paramount importance. But so is realistically looking at how one can make that happen over a span of time so that it happens correctly in the nuanced way that it should. Does Obama have specific ideas for how to stop hospital and doctor billing fraud? For how to get cancer survivors better quality of life as they age and new bizarre conditions come their ways because of the toxic chemicals and treatments they were forced to endure to be able to vote in this election? I haven't exactly heard them. But if there's one thing that keeps people going after they've been very sick and now have uncertain futures, it's hope. And Obama gives me, a survivor of an autologous stem-cell transplant for pediatric lymphoma, hope.
I just wouldn't trust her looking out for me at the
infusion center if there was another chance for her to win some more
powerful support from someone across the street. I wouldn't look to her
for thoughtful looks at the small problems facing patients
double-billed by hospitals, giant corporations, in fact, who often
charge $150 facility (or in some cases, emergency room) fees in
addition to outrageous doctor fees just because a physician chooses to
practice inside a hospital-owned professional building a few blocks
from the actual hospital building--what I call the branding-inspired
Mayo Clinic model.
What's become evident, however, is that the sufferers and
survivors of chronic diseases in America should band together to endorse a
candidate based on the specific issues of getting and keeping not-just-OK-but-excellent insurance
after a war has been waged against our bodies. Medicare, for
instance, recently stopped paying out for some instances of immune deficiency treatments like intravenous
immunoglobulins (which is also used to treat auto-immune diseases affecting the
nerves, muscles, and joints, to say nothing of its promise for Alzheimer's and
other conditions). Someone needs to ask the candidates about this.
Universal health care is vital. But if some of us devoted to it aren't alive—or well enough—to fight for it as the years pass, voting for someone's broad promise of more coverage dollars for everyone when they may not really care about the details for those sick people lucky enough to already have insurance isn't going to help. If there's one thing sick people know, it's that there are a hundred questions to be answered and solved after deciding on a treatment plan.
There's a way to live more healthfully on the left side with insurance – and that doesn't mean just swallowing our severe insurance and medical care issues because the rest of the country isn't insured. Let's look at the problem in a complex, multi-angled manner, and not jump to the flashiest, sexiest solution just yet.
When flight attendants tell you to make sure your air mask is secured before you help others with theirs in the event of an emergency, it's about not being self-interested or conservative. It's about being smart. And while Obama's thoughts about healthcare may seem like an immediately smaller and less comprehensive band-aid for the country's uninsured, they may also be the most realistic and nuanced on the ticket because they come from someone who sees that this problem is a lot larger and more intricate than it seems.
Response to HuffPo commenters:
Don't teach me about the value of hope vs. the value of insurance. I know it all too well. But I also know it matters who's holding the cards. And it's never you as the patient. So in this case hope matters. Because I simply wouldn't trust Hillary holding the cards that concern my medical treatments--what's allowed, what procedures, what payouts, when. Obama has shown concern not just for universal health coverage but for a growing population in America: the chronically ill, the survivors who now face mysterious secondary conditions (and secondary can mean 5 or 6 or 12 of them). So to anyone who doesn't understand the above piece, let me say it clearly: More coverage dollars and an immediate quick-fix mandate doesn't mean jack if it means that the person in control won't necessarily grasp or care about the nuances involved in high-level medical treatments once plans are put into place. Obama has shown the most important quality here: human concern. My biggest nightmare is waking up to find Hillary with her hands around some patient's IV, discussing the economic worth and political value of his or her treatment with an insurance company.


text:
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text:
سؤال البحث
نتائج البحث
بحث متقدم
البرنامج العام
ابحاث مهمه فى الكومبيوتر
تابع تعلم اللغه من الكومبيوتر(دودو)
كاتب الموضوع
عدد المساهمات
تاريخ التسجيل
موضوع: تابع تعلم اللغه من الكومبيوتر(دودو)
الثلاثاء ديسمبر 02, 2008 4:21 pm
Generally speaking, the use of technology inside or outside the classroom tends to make the class more interesting. However, certain design issues affect just how interesting the particular tool creates motivation. [6] One way a program or activity can promote motivation in students is by personalizing information, for example by integrating the student's name or familiar contexts as part of the program or task. Others include having animate objects on the screen, providing practice activities that incorporate challenges and curiosity and providing a context (real-world or fantasy) that is not directly language-oriented.
For example, a study comparing students who used "CornerStone" (a language arts development program) showed a significant increase in learning (compared to students not using the program) between two classes of English-immersion middle-school students in language arts. This is because CornerStone incorporate personalized information and challenging and imaginative exercises in a fantasy context. [14] Also, using a variety of multimedia components in one program or course has been shown to increase student interest and motivation. [6]
One quantifiable benefit to increased motivation is that students tend to spend more time on tasks when on the computer. More time is frequently cited as a factor in achievement. [6]
[edit] Adapting learning to the student
Computers can give a new role to teaching materials. Without computers, students cannot really influence the linear progression of the class content but computers can adapt to the student. [2] Adapting to the student usually means that the student controls the pace of the learning but also means that students can make choices in what and how to learn, skipping unnecessary items or doing remedial work on difficult concepts. Such control makes students feel more competent in their learning. [14] Students tend to prefer exercises where they have control over content, such as branching stories, adventures, puzzles or logic problems. With these, the computer has the role of providing attractive context for the use of language rather than directly providing the language the student needs. [2]
[edit] Authenticity
"Authenticity" in language learning means the opportunity to interact in one or more of the four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) by using or producing texts meant for an audience in the target language, not the classroom. With real communication acts, rather than teacher-contrived ones, students feel empowered and less afraid to contact others. Students believe they learn faster and better with computer-mediated communication. [2] Also, students learn more about culture in such an environment. [6] In networked computer environments, students have a conscious feeling of being members of a real community. In situations where all are learners of a foreign language, there is also a feeling of equality. In these situations students feel less stressed and more confident in a language learning situation, in part because surface errors do not matter so much. This works best with synchronous CMC (e.g. chats) as there is immediate feedback but email exchanges have been shown to provide most of the same benefits in motivation and student affect. [2]
[edit] Critical thinking skills
Use of computer technology in classrooms is generally reported to improve self-concept and mastery of basic skills, more student-centered learning and engagement in the learning process, more active processing resulting in higher-order thinking skills and better recall, gain confidence in directing their own learning. This is true for both language and non-language classrooms. [6]
[edit] Problems and criticisms of CALL instruction
The impact of CALL in foreign language education has been modest. [5] Several reasons can be attributed to this.
The first is the limitations of the technology, both in its ability and availability. First of all, there is the problem with cost[3] and the simple availability of technological resources such as the Internet (either non-existent as can be the case in many developing countries or lack of bandwidth, as can be the case just about anywhere). [2] However, the limitations that current computer technology has can be problematic as well. While computer technology has improved greatly in the last three decades, demands placed on CALL have grown even more so. One major goal is to have computers with which students can have true, human-like interaction, esp. for speaking practice; however, the technology is far from that point. Not to mention that if the computer cannot evaluate a learner's speech exactly, it is almost no use at all. [5][3]
However, most of the problems that appear in the literature on CALL have more to do with teacher expectations and apprehensions about what computers can do for the language learner and teacher. Teachers and administrators tend to either think computers are worthless or even harmful, or can do far more than they are really capable of. [8]
Reluctance on part of teachers can come from lack of understanding and even fear of technology. Often CALL is not implemented unless it is required even if training is offered to teachers. [8] One reason for this is that from the 1960's to the 1980's, computer technology was limited mostly for the sciences, creating a real and psychological distance for language teaching. [15] Language teachers can be more comfortable with textbooks because it is what they are used do, and there is the idea that the use of computers threatens traditional literacy skills since such are heavily tied to books. [15] [16] These stem in part because there is a significant generation gap between teachers (many of whom did not grow up with computers) and students (who did grow up with them).
Also, teachers may resist because CALL activities can be more difficult to evaluate than more traditional exercises. For example, most Mexican teachers feel strongly that a completed fill-in textbook "proves" learning. [16] While students seem may be motivated by exercises like branching stories, adventures, puzzles or logic, these activities provide little in the way of systematic evaluation of progress. [2]
Even teachers who may otherwise see benefits to CALL may be put off by the time and effort needed to implement it well. However, "seductive" the power of computing systems may be[2], like with the introduction of the audio language lab in the 1960's, those who simply expect results by purchasing expensive equipment are likely to be disappointed. [3] To begin with, there are the simple matters of sorting through the numerous resources that exist and getting students ready to use computer resources. With Internet sites alone, it can be very difficult to know where to begin, and if students are unfamiliar with the resource to be used, the teacher must take time to teach it. [2] Also, there is a lack of unified theoretical framework for designing and evaluating CALL systems as well as absence of conclusive empirical evidence for the pedagogical benefits of computers in language. [5] Most teachers lack the time or training to create CALL-based assignments, leading to reliance on commercially-published sources, whether such are pedagogically sound or not. [3]
However, the most crucial factor that can lead to the failure of CALL, or the use of any technology in language education is not the failure of the technology, but rather the failure to invest adequately in teacher and the lack of imagination to take advantage of the technology's flexibility. Graham Davies states that too often, technology is seen as a panacea, especially by administrators, and the human component necessary to make it beneficial is ignored. Under these circumstances, he argues, "it is probably better to dispense with technology altogether".[9]
[edit] References
^ a b c "CALL (computer assisted language learning) Guide to Good Practice 3". Davies Graham. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Computer-assisted language learning: Increase of freedom of submission to machines?" (Domingo Noemi). Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
^ a b c d e f "Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction". Warschauer Mark. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
^ a b c Ten Hacken, Pius (May 2003). "Computer-assisted language learning and the revolution in computational linguistics". Linguistik online 17.
^ a b c d e f Ehsani, Farzad; Eva Knodt (July 1998). "Speech technology in computer-aided language learning: Strengths and limitations of a new CALL paradigm". Language Learning and Technology 2 (1): 45–60.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Stepp-Greany, Jonita (January 2002). "Students perceptions on language learning in a technological environment: Implications for the new millennium". Language Learning and Technology.
^ Mitchell, R; F. Myles (1998). Second Language Learning Theories. London: Arnold.
^ a b c Thelmadatter, Leigh (July/Sept 2007). "The Computers Are Coming … Are Here!". TESOL Greece Newsletter 95.
^ a b "ICT4LT Module 1.1". Retrieved on 2008-07-11.
^ "Introduction to multimedia CALL". Retrieved on 2008-07-11.
^ a b "Managing a multimedia language centre". Retrieved on 2008-07-11.
^ Reinders, Hayo (July 2007). "Big brother is helping you. Supporting self-access language learning with a student monitoring system". System 35 (1): 93–111. doi:10.1016/j.system.2006.10.009,
^ [1]
^ a b Traynor, Patrick (July 2003). "Effects of computer-assisted instruction on different learners". Journal of Instructional Psychology.
^ a b Ravichandran, T (2000). Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in the perspective of the interactive approach: Advantages and apprehensions.
^ a b Bollin, G.G. (Mar/Apr 2003). "The Realities of Middle School for Mexican Children". The Clearing House 76 (4): 198
تابع تعلم اللغه من الكومبيوتر(دودو)
من اصل
صلاحيات هذا المنتدى:
الرد على المواضيع في هذا المنتدى
البرنامج العام
ابحاث مهمه فى الكومبيوتر
البرنامج العام
ابحاث مهمه فى الكومبيوتر
انتقل الى:
اختر منتدى
|--قسم الترحيب بالاعضاء الجدد
| |--سوء استخدام الناس للتطور(هام جدا)
| |--قسم الترحيب بالاعضاء الجدد
| |--خواطر
| |--من اجل فلسطين الحبيبه
|--قسم شامل للمنتدى الاسلامى
| |--منتدى القرآن الكريم
| |--منتدى الصوتيات والمرئيات الإسلامية
| |--قسم شامل للمنتدى الاسلامى
| |--طريق التوبه
| |--الاخت المسلمه
| |--الطب والصحه
| |--احكام فى الاسلام
| |--طريق الهدى
| |--اناشيد
| |--فتاوى نسائيه
|--الهندسة الكهربائية و الالكترونيةوالكنترول والمحركات
| |--الهندسة الكهربائية و الالكترونيةوالكنترول والمحركات
| |--;كل ما يخص الالكنترونيات
| |--الكنترول
|--الفئة الأولى
| |--المنتدى الأول
|--البرنامج العام
|--البرنامج العام
|--قسم البرامج المشروحة
|--قسم البرامج الكامله والمميزه
|--منتدى تعليم الكمبيوتر والانترنت وحلول المشاكل
|--ابحاث مهمه فى الكومبيوتر
|--قسم الفوتوشوب
|--المحمول وكل ما يخصه
|--شروحات للكمبيوتر
منتدى مجاني للدعم و المساعدة
التبليغ عن محتوى مخالف
انشئ مدونة


text:
The Magic Millions Sale on Australia's glittering Gold Coast came of age this year. Supported by a stronger catalogue, a dedicated international buying bench, plus local optimism courtesy of buoyant property and stock market prices, the sale average for the Premier Session (Days 1-4) leaped 30 per cent from 2006 levels to a new high of A$182,191 (R 1,030,922). Overall more than A$108 million (R611,241,439) was traded, up some 35 per cent on last year's figure.
Magic Millions Managing Director David Chester said "The first four sessions of the sale have been a resounding success. To increase the sale average 30 percent from last year's record figures is terrific. We were confident the catalogue was the best ever assembled, and obviously buyers agreed with us."
Local Sydney trainer Gai Waterhouse was the biggest spender outlaying A$7.55m (R42,730,304) for 26 yearlings, including the sales record price of AUD$2m (R11.308m) for a son of Sadlers Wells out of the Grade 1 Oaks winner Sunday Joy.
Charles Laird, buying for major stable client Markus Jooste, was the second highest buyer at the sale, and was the leading international buyer. He outlaid A$6.485 (R36.65m) for 18 yearlings including 7 fillies and 11 colts. His highest purchase was the A$775,000 (R4.38m) paid for the beautifully bred daughter of Encosta de Lago out of the multiple Grade 1 winning Danehill mare Merlene.
The considerable marketing efforts of Magic Millions, plus the glamour injected into the January sale courtesy of the combined efforts of the Sales company itself, the Gold Coast Council, and Queensland Tourism can rightly be credited with attracting a large proportion of interest in the sale from both the media and the buyers who have attended the 2 week extravaganza.
Summerhill's Mick Goss accredits much of the sales success to AUSHORSE, a national body consisting of major commercial breeders that oversee an International Inwards Buyers Scheme.
"John Messara has assembled a remarkable team for Aushorse," Goss says. "They do a greater job than any other agency I know in promoting an Industry and it is a revelation to see them at work. There is no doubt that the huge international buying bench is substantially attributable to the work of these people and now that they have representatives in most of the major racing regions they have leapfrogged the rest of the world. As a result competition for horses at this sale has been extremely tough."
Whilst Laird's spending spree certainly kept him the media spotlight during his Australian visit, he was not alone in attracting the auctioneers' attention. A number of other yearlings were knocked down to South African bids with Basil Marcus, Dennis Drier, Andy Williams, Chris Snaith, Dave Goss, Cyril Naidoo, Paul du Preez, Ian Van Schalkwyk, Mick Goss, and Rob Knuppe all active.
Laird considers his bloodstock investments as benefiting South Africa in the longer term. He stated "All horses bought will hopefully end up at Klawervlei for commercial selling through all South African sales. The commitment to South African Bloodstock is unquestionable to improve our industry's pedigrees. At this level of financial investment we believe it is an investment in South Africa."
In all, close to 50 Australian yearlings from this sale will be imported to South Africa in coming months. As a group they represent some of the finest thoroughbred bloodlines in the world. A number are half or own relations to stakes winners, or sons/daughters of Graded stakes winners or Champions of their respective year, or have South African connections.
It wasn't only South Africans who were keen on the international pedigrees on offer in Australia during the week. Buyers from Hong Kong, Japan, the UAE, France, Ireland, the UK, New Zealand and North America all purchased yearlings, with additional buyers from South Africa, New Zealand, Macau, Malayasia and Korea expected to be active on Days 5, 6 and 7. In the 4 days of the Premier Sale alone, international buyers spent more than A$23m (R130m) for 114 yearlings, their 2007 spend almost 26% higher than the entire sale last year.
"The importance of an international buying bench in this country cannot be underestimated," stressed Chester. "Australia is a small country with a relatively small population. The best stallions in the world travel to Australia or are born and raised here and our local breeders support these stallions with their broodmare bands. Without the international interest in our horses however we would not be in a position to effectively market the quality of the product that we are producing, and ultimately the market would be much weaker."
The Sale continues until the 19 January.
Katrina Partridge is Business Development Manager for Summerhill Stud. She is also the AUSHORSE representative for South Africa
The Magic Millions Sale on Australia's glittering Gold Coast came of age this year. Supported by a stronger catalogue, a dedicated international buying bench, plus local optimism courtesy of buoyant property and stock market prices, the sale average for the Premier Session (Days 1-4) leaped 30 per cent from 2006 levels to a new high of A$182,191 (R 1,030,922). Overall more than A$108 million (R611,241,439) was traded, up some 35 per cent on last year's figure.


text:
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text:
Techdirt Reading List: The Piracy Crusade
from the read-it-now dept
For nearly two decades we've been discussing this space and trying to get people to understand that the fight over copyright isn't about how artists should get paid -- that tends to just be a smokescreen by the giant gatekeepers who have done an awful lot to screw over actual content creators for years. It's a fight about freedom of speech and civil liberties -- and yet, by turning it into a debate around "piracy" a small conglomerate of gatekeepers have been successful in clamping down on civil liberties, freedoms and free speech. Sinnreich's book does a great job dismantling the mythical arguments from the gatekeepers while highlighting the important civil liberties issues at stake in the copyright fights.
The book is a tremendous contribution to this discussion and a worthwhile read if you want to really understand some of the core issues that underlie the fight over copyright.
Oh, and of course, you can also download the book for free, if you'd like. Vuze is offering it as a bundle that comes with not just the books, but some video lectures by Sinnreich as well. Of course, if you buy it from the Amazon link above, it also helps Techdirt by giving us a cut, but in case you were looking for other options, Vuze has you covered.


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on 12/21/2014 6:16:00 PM
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on 5/8/2013 4:06:00 PM
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Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Brown
If you're looking for the most perfect, elegant, undersated, classy, greigey pink your search is over!. Like other reviewers I carried this nail polish around in the store going back and forth on whether or not to buy it. I have so many nude pinky greys that just don't look right with my cool coloring that I swore I'd never buy another and just quit searching. That is until this baby showed up. Oh my but it's beautiful! Delicate, but it makes a statement. It has that kind of futuristic , clean minimalist look...polished and utterly gorgeous! I can't stop raving about it or looking at it on my fingertips. Everyone and I mean everyone (that wears nail polish) has asked me "who makes that and where can I get it!?". The color pairs well with my wardrobe of neutral clothes and looks great with pops of any color, too. I used a $4 off coupon (in this weeks Sunday paper) for any Sally Hansen polish over $5 and these were on sale for $5.99 at walgreens this week. 99 cents for my HG shade is not bad! I have other colors in this line and love the formula...even the wide brush. If you take nothing else away from this review and you want this polish brand/color to remain chip-free for (at the very least) 4 days, and up to a week, then do not use a base or top coat...they're already built-in. Believe me, I've tried all variations of each and this polish alone works far better by itself than with anything under or over it. I'm going on my 6th day with this color and not a single chip. It's quite shocking as everything chips on me within the 1st day! If you love light beige, with a hint of gray, pink and lavender (no shimmer) then you're gonna be in love with this polish!!
on 4/15/2013 2:35:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral
Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Green
After amassing an absolutely SHAMEFUL collection of "nude" polishes, I have finally come across this -- my HG nude.
At first glance, I thought it looked way too dark/purple/grey in the bottle, but it coats beautifully and I love that fat Sally Hansen brush, regardless of other critiques.
Don't let the name fool you, it's more purple-pink than grey.
My "undertones" are apparently "purple" - who knew!
Beautiful color for fair/cool toned girls!
on 3/9/2013 3:06:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Other, Other, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Other, Other
Eyes: Other
Eureka!! I discover my hg nude nail polish!!
I have not been too interested in bold colors. I am always on the hunt for neutrals. I love essie chinchilly but it's too dark for Spring. This is perfect for work and school but at the same time, this has an interesting tone, it has a touch of rose in the beige color. This is a warm tone and looks great with my NC 30 skin color. I get compliments on this too and it makes my hands look elegant. Also the quality of this nail polish is nice and does not chip. It reminds me of OPI and the brush is nice too. It's wide and it fits my nails well. Also I did not use top coat and I worn it for 5 days without any noticeable wear or chipping. I usually wear this with 3 coats for complete opacity.
Neutral lovers- run and get this now!! It retails for about $8 and there's always sales at the drug store. I also love the packaging of this, there is a rubber ring around the cap and it works as a grip making it easy to paint my nails,
on 3/3/2013 2:53:00 AM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Dry, Medium, Neutral
Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Brown
I finally found my go-to taupe/nude! This color looks great on my skin tone. This is what i expected Commander In Chic to be but I was wrong, it was wayyy too dark, it looked very muddy. Definitely recommend!
on 2/17/2013 6:45:00 PM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Oily, Dark, Warm
Hair: Brunette, Curly, Fine
Eyes: Black
I have just found my staple nude polish. This opaque slightly pinkish and definitely more beige nude is beautiful!!! Although it's called Gray-t Escape there's no gray undertone. It looks like a clean shade beige on my NC45 complexion. It's similar to OPI's Gargoyle from the Germany collection. My only concern is that the polish was on the thick side. I find Sally Hansen polishes vary in consistency. Definitely make sure it's dry before applying a 2nd coat.
on 2/12/2013 1:22:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Combination, Fair, Neutral
Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium
Eyes: Grey
HG HG HG HG! I LOVE this polish!
My skin tone is on the warmer side, but I'm still pretty fair (NC25) so I can't really use "nude" polishes successfully.
I've always been the kind of girl that prefers the least maintenance possible, but still likes to look well taken care of and put together. I don't like using colored polishes or dark polishes because they always look like crap after only a few days of wear.
When I stumbled upon this color in Walmart, I was a little unsure. They had another more "nude" color that I really wanted to try. I kept going back and forth and eventually decided on this one after remembering past experiences with solid "nude" polish.
I'm SO GLAD I did! I'm a very minimalistic type of person. I have one eyeliner, one makeup palette of each color (smokey, natural, etc.), and have pretty much always had just one nail polish. This has become THAT polish.
I love that the applicator has a ring of rubber around it so if your hands are wet for some reason or whatever the case may be, you always get precision. This polish also has great lasting power. Everytime I paint my nails, within a day or so my nails look like crap - chipped, scratched up, bleh. Not with this! No need for a top coat either.
It's just nude enough that it goes with every single thing I wear, but not too nude that it makes it appear that I don't have finger/toe nails. It's more of a purplish, pinkish nude. I think it was around $7 at Walmart. Not too bad at all. I'm going to go buy a couple back ups in case it ends up discontinued (:
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Also I just found out yet another bicyclist has been killed on the bike-pathless-streets of Pomona. This is the second peacock and second bicyclist killed by cars in Pomona this month.
The city has needed to get out a can of paint and do bike paths for, well forever. From what I am told, students from Cal Poly Pomona designed an awesome, citywide bike path for free years ago, submitted it to the City, who pretty much ignored it. Meanwhile, Claremont's groovy bicycle zone signs and paths are everywhere. I know Darryl Grigsy got the Pomona bike path idea rolling again, but he's gone and there are still no bike paths. I's argue that a bike rider who is injured or killed in a City that does not supply bike paths for it's residents would have a decent claim against the City. Pomona needs to save lives and protect the City from future lawsuits by putting in some bike paths.
Maybe David Allen will do a column on the plight of Pomona bicyclists and the Lincoln Park peacocks? David picked up on the Curse of Downers Grove/ Film Pomona story for his Sunday column, perhaps saving a peacock will be the next feather in his newsman cap? Please?
The other thing constantly in the news in recent days is the shootings of young men going on in the area west of Stater Bros. I wish there was an answer to that problem as easy as a bike path or peacock caution sign. Very sad indeed.


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Subject: I have found a DVD that I think you would enjoy
|Once Upon a Time in China Part 2
Actors: Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, Donnie Yen, Siu Chung Mok, David Chiang
Director: Hark Tsui
Genres: Action & Adventure, Indie & Art House, Educational, Military & War
R 2001 1hr 53min
Tells the story of Wong Fei Hung, legendary Cantonese martial arts master and folk hero of turn of the century China. Genre: Foreign Film - Chinese Rating: R Release Date: 17-SEP-2002 Media Type: DVD
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Movie Reviews
Now THIS is a kung fu DVD to get!
Guy DuBlanc | USA | 06/10/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I think that this is a must-buy DVD for fans of martial arts films from Hong Kong. This movie delivers, and this DVD also delivers. First, the DVD. It's great. A lot of people have complained about Hong Kong movie DVDs, and rightly so, but this one delivers the goods. First, the video transfer is VERY good. Usually, they do NOT look this good. The print is sharp and relatively clean. There's an artifact or two on occasion, but by and large, it's a very nice transfer. Much better than a lot of other movies, especially for its age (1992). The sound is also very good. I noticed that it was in Dolby Digital 5.1 and there was actually some use of the surround channels. Not like some of those other DVDs in Dolby 2.0 or mono! For the langauges, you get the English dub AND a Cantonese soundtrack with English subtitles. Remember those Jet Li DVDs with only a dub? Well this one isn't like that! And another benefit is that the subtitles are presented extremely well. They are in yellow and in the black bar at the bottom of the screen (it fits since it's 2.35:1). The letters are easy to read since they are large enough, it is a clear sub without spelling errors, and the titles don't move too fast that you can't read them. I've had some really bad experiences with some HK subtitles, but rest assured, this one is good.So the DVD is of high quality, no question about it. But how's the movie? It's also very good! I've seen my share of HK movies, and this one was definitely one of the better ones. There's some very cool action. A mix of wire and non-wire. Jet Li is great and so is Donnie Yen. It may not be wall-to-wall action, but I felt there was enough and what you do get is really good. Oh, and the film's soundtrack is also good, clearly above average. Heck, even the plot isn't that bad. This movie as a whole certainly blows Part III of this series out of the water.I'm very happy with this."
"EXQUISITE" History in the making!
Seal | Hawaii | 02/19/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"JET LI & DONNIE YEN! (need I say more!)...actually I could go on-and-on about this movie, but I'll try to stick to the essentials. Personally, I think this one's the best of all the other OUATIC sequels. Yes, they're all excellent films, but what makes this outstand; well it has two of the most gifted martial artists of all time.I still get goose-bumps everytime I watch the dramatic scene where General Lan (Donnie Yen), is shown in an eerie-evening setting, and demonstrates his amazing skill and grace using a wet cloth-stick. Its an exquisite visual with glowing lanterns hanging everywhere...and then the scene explodes into a fierce and thrilling all-out battle with Wong Fei Hung (Jet Li) using bamboo sticks. (Talk about tension!)Of course the entire film is done equally impressive; a powerful story about the political turmoils of China. Here, Wong Fei Hung is caught in the choas while visiting Canton for a medical conference. Although the scripts are brief and simple, the story in itself is very dramatic with much credit to the stunning cast performaces. Not to mention, a chilling soundtrack/effects that captivates and brings out the mood of the story. Truly a high-quality film, directed by Tsui Hark, and put it together with the brilliant Yuen Woo-Ping as the action choreographer, well you got one of the best films ever made."
Must have for Jet-Li fans
GreatMovieCriticForever | 08/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Very,very good movie, on top of that it's a great
martial arts flick. Any Jet-Li fan needs to have
this in their library.
A different reversal of roles, he plays a doctor
who looks like a monk helping people and fighting
occupation over territories in China.
His character Wei-Fong is well layed out, he has
some flaws, but he is great when the time comes.
The martial arts stunts are really top notch,
I can even list all the stunts but the fights
with the White Lotus bunch is outstanding.
Pretty good acting too all around.
A Great Sequel to a Great Action Movie
Mr. JKW | Honolulu, Hawai'i | 05/14/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In the second film in this series, martial arts film legend Jet Li stars as Dr. Wong Fei-Hung, a real life folk hero of 19th century China. Combining solid martial arts action (as you'd expect from a Jet Li movie) with an equally solid storyline which delves into actual historical elements, this movie is a winner all-around, thus justifying the Hong Kong Film Award that it received.THE STORY:It is 19th century China and Western influence is growing in China bringing with it both good and bad elements. Dr. Wong Fei-Hung, a noted martial arts instructor and doctor, as well as his countrymen must contend with the expanding influence of the West and its impact on Chinese society. The country is in turmoil. An anti-Western extremist reactionary cult, the White Lotus Society, has arisen with a maniacal following bent on destroying all things Western, including Chinese who have begun to adopt Western ways. It is up to Wong Fei-Hung and his loyal followers, his loving "Aunt" Yee and his student Foon, to stop the ruthless destruction of the White Lotus. In addition, the film delves into history further as Wong and his companions meet and aide Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the famous Chinese revolutionary. There are tons of battles as the White Lotus, The Chinese Government, the British forces and Dr. Sun Yat Sen's revolutionaries all battle against each other, with Wong Fei-Hung and his followers all caught in the middle...THE COOL STUFF:If you love martial arts action you've got TONS of it here. The fight scenes are NUMEROUS and ELABORATE as you'll be treated to tons of fighting set in 19th century China is tons of marketplace settings as well as vintage Chinese dwellings and buildings. The sets and costumes are just awesome. The fight scenes between Wong and the White Lotus are just awesome. In addition, though the storyline is serious, unlike in the first film, this film does incorporate some humorous moments into it courtesy of the Westernized Aunt Yee and her interactions with Wong and Koon which lead to some hilarious moments (on the train ride as well as the dinner scene with the dog). Another hilarious scene is the acupuncture seminar that Wong and Koon attend with Sun Yat Sen and the Western doctors.THE DVD FEATURES:The features of the DVD, while not extensive as most new DVDs are, are perfectly acceptable. Included on this DVD are the following:1. Bonus Movie Trailers for the following: a. Once Upon a Time in China IIb. Once Upon a Time in China Trilogyc. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragond. Miracles by Jackie Chan2. Filmographies for Director Tsui Hark, Jet Li and Rosamund Kwan, Donnie YenTHE VERDICT:The most common criticism for most martial arts/action flicks are that the stories [disappoint]. The redeeming quality for them is, of course, the action. Like its predecessor, Once Upon a Time in China II overcomes 8these criticisms by delivering solid action and (lo and behold) a GREAT story. In addition, the film, besides having an awesome story and action sequences also incorporates just the right amount of humor to make it a nice package all around.Overall, besides oohing and aahing to tremendous fight scenes you'll also be treated to a great look at a crucial period in Chinese history.Highest Recommendation"


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Property Location
When you stay at Four Points by Sheraton Levis Convention Centre in Levis, you'll be connected to the convention center and close to Terrasse De Levis and Citadelle of Quebec. This hotel is within close proximity of Levis Forts National Historic Site of Canada and Centre D'art de Levis.
Make yourself at home in one of the 150 air-conditioned rooms featuring LCD televisions. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with bathtubs or showers feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include phones, as well as desks and complimentary newspapers.
Rec, Spa, Premium Amenities
Enjoy a range of recreational amenities, including a nightclub, an outdoor pool, and a spa tub. Additional amenities include complimentary wireless Internet access, a television in the lobby, and complimentary use of a nearby fitness facility.
Satisfy your appetite at the hotel's restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or stay in and take advantage of room service (during limited hours). Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at a bar/lounge.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include a 24-hour business center, limo/town car service, and a computer station. Event facilities at this hotel consist of conference space and meeting rooms. Free self parking is available onsite.
Are you affiliated with Four Points by Sheraton Levis Convention Centre? Apply to the Hotel WiFi Connect program to take control of your account, improve your hotel's confidence score and ranking.
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text: A number of wheat samples have been showing up in the SDSU Plant Diagnostic Lab with root rot symptoms, and there are several cases in south-central South Dakota. Brad Ruden, Manager of the Plant Diagnostic Lab has seen Fusarium root rot, quite a bit of common root rot, and a few plants that he suspects are infected with take-all. Root and crown rotting diseases are among the most common and destructive diseases of wheat in South Dakota. They are present in every growing season and are estimated to cause as much as 3-4 percent crop losses in an average year. Losses may be greater in years with environmental conditions favoring specific root or crown diseases. Several different fungi cause these diseases, but each fungus is associated with crop residue in the soil. Successive years of cropping wheat or other grass crops, as well as grassy weeds, in the same fields may increase populations of these fungi in the soil and the potential for causing damage. Reduced tillage practices, especially no-till, can increase the population of root and crown rotting fungi by maintaining the residue that they survive on. The single most effective management strategy to control root and crown rots is crop rotation. Since many grass crops can support the pathogens, including one or more broadleaf crops in the rotation is critical. Tillage is also effective, but the benefits of no-till provide incentive to use other strategies. There is no real resistance among wheat varieties to root rots, more of a difference in susceptibility. Variety selection can be a tool in controlling the disease. Seed treatment fungicides may also be partially effective against root and crown rots. Several products are effective when applied to spring wheat, but may be less aggressive against the fungi on winter wheat. The highest rate should be used in fields with a risk of root and crown rot diseases planted to winter wheat. Pesticide container collections Recycling empty, clean pesticide containers is a safe way to dispose of them, and producers have a no-cost option available to them through a South Dakota Department of Agriculture program. State Agriculture Department staff will pick up containers at locations around the state starting July 2 and continuing into August. Due to an interpretation of the pesticide regulations, there has been a change in how we can dispose of pesticide containers in South Dakota. In the past they could be landfilled, burned on site, or buried. Due to air quality concerns, burning is no longer an option. Some landfills are no longer accepting pesticide containers. So recycling of containers is one of our best options. A list of dates and locations where containers will be picked up is available at: http://www.state.sd.us/doa/das/2007collections.pdf. Locations and dates for the collections that will be held in south-central South Dakota are listed in the calendar below.


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An Iridium flare is a sudden burst of light in the sky caused by sunlight reflecting off an Iridium satellite. While any satellite can produce a reflection flare, the Iridium network is particularly prone to do so because of its satellites' low orbits, large numbers and unique design. Iridium satellites use large, flat reflective panels to bounce signals to and from Earth, and these panels readily reflect the Sun's light.
Iridium Communications began launching these satellites in the late 1990s to provide satellite phone and data communication worldwide. The network became operational in 1998, and as of 2014, there are 66 active satellites in the constellation that orbit around 485 miles above the surface of Earth. The network is designed to cover the entire Earth at all times, which is why these satellites pass overhead so frequently.
The bright Iridium flare is caused by the large, door-shaped antenna at the base of the satellite. Its configuration focuses the Sun's light into a single bright point as the satellite passes overhead at certain times of the day, making it look extremely bright for a moment when observed from the ground. Several astronomy groups track these satellites, providing information about the times and locations where the brightest flares may occur.


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October 10, 2012
Sherwin Momenian, a student at Colvin Run Elementary School, reads his essay for the Friends of the Great Falls Freedom Memorial. Momenian wrote about Arthur Ashe for his essay, which won second place in the annual contest.
Stories this photo appears in:
Colvin Run Students Honored
Students take first, second place in annual Friends of the Great Falls Freedom Memorial essay contest.
The Friends of the Great Falls Freedom Memorial named the winners of their second annual essay contest Saturday, Oct. 6, hosting several participants at the Great Falls Library. Two Colvin Run Elementary School students, Maren Kranking and Sherwin Momenian were named first and second place winners, respectively.
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text: Hope…Joy…Gratitude Abundant Every Child Has a Story, Life Coach Services, Life MasteryLeave a Comment Where did the time go? Here we are already at the end of the year. Looking back there have been so many things that have happened for which I am grateful. This time of year always makes me think of the innocence of children. Their faces glowing from the holiday lights shining brightly everywhere you look. Random acts of kindness....bells ringing outside of shopping centers....people rolling up dollars to place inside the Salvation Army bucket...others donating toys and goodies to the Angel Trees. This has always been one of my favorite holidays mostly because of all the memorable family times I hold dear to my heart. Growing up in Alabama we didn't see much snow, but all the wonderful smells that are "Christmas" filled the air. I especially loved my trips to the local Farmer's Market with my dad to buy fresh fruit, nuts and candy! Candy canes were my favorite, but I loved those big red apples too! I have great memories. It is my sincere wish and prayer that every child has the opportunity to experience a memorable Christmas. I pray that every child has a happy face, warm home and plenty of food to eat. Please don't forget to do whatever you can to help those in need. The blessings that we receive are not ours to keep...please share them with others. Remember also, that this time of year long ago... a child was born in a manger, giving all of us the ultimate gift...the gift of redemption and hope. I am taking my holiday break to spend with family and friends making more enriching memories. So, it is from my home and heart that I wish you all the Happiest of Christmas Wishes and a Blessed and Abundant New Year! See you in January 2017!