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Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet create a rainbow that delights kids when the colors appear like magic, streaming across the sky after a spring shower.
Because young kids love anything related to rainbows, why not spend a rainbow-filled afternoon with your youngsters doing activities bursting with color?
Here are a few simple ideas that playfully and artfully teach the basic spectrum of the rainbow and the hues in between.
Rainbow discoveries: Rainbows aren't just in the sky. On a sunny day, pour some water in a clear glass, then tilt the glass sideways and move it slowly along the edge of the kitchen counter until you catch rays of sun shining through the water. A beautiful ribbon of rainbow colors will appear on a white floor or on a white sheet of paper placed on the floor.
Rainbow wear: Choose clothes to wear from head to toe representing the colors of the rainbow. Name each one and sing a song about it. Then draw a self-portrait in living color.
Rainbow art: On the left side of a large sheet of construction paper, spoon puddles of poster paint in the sequence of rainbow colors, one above the other. Leave a small space between each. Using a household squeegee, spread the paint in an arc with one swift movement to instantly form a rainbow.
After kids try this technique, they likely will add more paint and drag their new painting tool in different directions, making rainbow paths and valleys all over the paper.
Hang the rainbow art on the wall, wrap a birthday present with it or use it as a place mat, a colorful addition to springtime snacking.
Tip: Be sure to wash the squeegee in hot, soapy water after using it. You might decide to add one to your family art-supply box.
Rainbow dreams: Use your kids' rainbow artwork to inspire a bedtime story about an adventure "over the rainbow." Ask them to describe what they would like to find at the end of the rainbow.
Donna Erickson's award-winning series "Donna's Day" is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit donnasday.com and link to the Donna's Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is "Donna Erickson's Fabulous Funstuff for Families."


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If you are following me on Instagram, you might have known that I got this face pack few weeks ago and honestly I cannot stop raving it. I mean, I just can't wait anymore to share about it to you all. So I decided to share my initial thoughts about this product.
|Michael Todd True Organics Milk + Honey Firming Mask
The product I am talking (raving) about is from Michael Todd True Organics Milk + Honey Firming Mask. It is a moisturizing and nourishing mask made for normal to oily skin.
I have combination skin which started looking uncomfortably shiny and dull these days. This face pack is designed for 2-3 uses per week. I have used it four times and it is very good.
It makes my skin look refreshed and above all, it is the only face pack that did not dry out my skin despite me using it thrice a week. How cool is that? It makes my skin look visibly brighter and healthy. It did not break out my acne-prone skin and the active acne which I had dried out sooner than usual but I am not sure if it is because of this face pack.
Their packing and shipping also requires a special mention. I received my face pack within 10 days of dispatch. My face pack came well packed (double layered packing) and I did not pay any customs duty on it. The face pack has a pump dispenser which adds to the cool factor.
Await a much more detailed review soon. Meanwhile, for those who want to take a look at their website and order couple of organic skin care that actually works, click here.
Update: Price: $31.99 for 100 ml. Looks like the website has some offer going on. Do check it out
Update: Price: $31.99 for 100 ml. Looks like the website has some offer going on. Do check it out

subset: commoncrawl


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This post will be packed with everything I have been up to recently as I have had the busiest month ever! So I apologize for my absence but it shall all make sense in this post! So I'll start from the beginning...
After finishing my internship at Browns, I had a bit of a quarter life crisis, what was I going to do now? Where will I work? What do I want to do? It was all a bit too much and I just had to shut myself away and try to figure out my life. It was a very hard few weeks because of few other personal issues but I can gladly say, that is all behind me now and I am back to myself!
So The first of my 'celebrations' was the fact is was my 22nd birthday on the 4th of October and I made my way up to London to spend it with my boyfriend. I was so happy and surprised when I found out he was taking me to The Rainforest Cafe in Piccadilly because I'd never been and have always wanted to go! We had an amazing dinner and was given this little cutie at the end so i could remember my night... I had such an amazing weekend with such lovely company!
The second celebration was my graduation! Yes it is official, I am now a graduate and it was the strangest feeling walking across that stage after 3 years of hard work! I was so proud and quite emotional as I am the first to graduate in my family and they were all their to support me on my big day and it meant so much to me!
Now my blog would be nothing without a fashion write up, so here is what I wore for my graduation, I can honestly say, I've never felt so classy haha! A few of these pictures include my nearest and dearest so i hope you enjoy! My dress was from Coast at £95, so comfy and elegant and my shoes were from Primark, total bargain at £15! Topped it all off with my Tiffany necklace and bracelet.
The final event I want to write about is a MAC make up tutorial that me and my friend attended at the Make up London Academy. We got to hear all about the MAC products to use and which regimes to follow for your type of skin which was really interesting, after that, we got to play with all the make up and practice smokey eyes and all other fun things! I had a really good day, what girl doesn't love to play with make up?!
So I hope you enjoy reading about my last few weeks, so much to blog about! But from now on, I will be blogging regularly again :) Thank you for reading!


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Thursday Thoughts: Advice from Singer --The More Things Change…
Recently the following photo was circulating on Facebook.
Responses ranged from laughter to sarcasm to outrage to fond memories of Mom or Grandma.
After all, we've come a long way since 1949. This is the stuff of dusty attic memories. Right???
I disagree.There is some timely and good advice in this yellowed page.
One of the consequences for better or worse of the technology age is the ability to work from home.
In the 1980s, I was one of the early wave of this new concept of working from home. It was ad-hoc, at first. Snowstorms such as those we are experiencing in the Northeast would be accompanied by the packing up of files and the saving of documents to 3.5 inch disks so that time would not be wasted. Of course, many managers still "suspected" that we were all really home with our feet up watching soap operas and Phil Donahue while painting our toenails.
Fast forward to 2014…. The age of the indie, the solopreneur both male and female. One of the consequences of a prolonged recession (is that all it is?) are hundreds of thousands of people trying to earn a living from home-based businesses. Combine that with the struggling authors, musicians and other artists who are pursuing their passion without the resources to have a workplace separate from their home and the combined numbers are probably in the millions.
On December 3, 2008, not quite 60 years later, the Washington Post published an article called Strategies for Working from Home. The link to the complete article is here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/03/AR2008120302769.html
What it reveals is the wisdom of 1949 updated for the "modern" world.
Singer 1949: Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing,
WPost 2008: Many people believe that they lack the discipline to effectively telecommute. They fear that they would be too distracted, lured away from their job duties by household chores, too easily tempted by the television and the bed.
Creating the right mental attitude for work
Singer 1949: When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress… If you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home, and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing,
WP ost 2008: Get ready for work in the morning as if you were about to leave your home. Take a shower, brush your teeth, and change out of your pajamas. I am not suggesting that you slip into an Armani suit, but do wear clothing that you would not be embarrassed to be seen in. This exercise will help you to set the stage for a successful day of work.
Discipline and Focus
Singer 1949: Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do… Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference predominates.
WPost 2008: Although the challenge of remaining focused without the positive influence of a bustling office environment is very real, I doubt that most telecommuters actually spend their work days watching "The Price Is Right," napping and doing laundry.
Working from or at home effectively has not changed.
It requires discipline, a routine, and the right mental attitude, including having a regular and organized workspace and personal approach. You would not wear PJs to work or work on the couch in the reception area. Your home is your workplace act accordingly so that you can do your best work.
I am like many. Without the full-time day job I needed until my writing pays more, I worked from home. I set up a space and organized my day around a routine that started with job-hunting before I turned my energy to writing, editing (privately and for a small publisher), reading submissions and books for review. I am blessed in that an unmade bed does not cause me any loss of sleep. I make time each week to go out to hear live, local music and schedule other recreational activities to refresh and recharge.
I haven't got it down to a science but I am always focused on how to be more productive so that I can achieve my dreams.
Ah but you say, Singer didn't tell woman that sewing was work…. They used words like enjoy and fun.
If you work from home, no matter how successful you think you are, if you do not enjoy it and have fun…..you are not reaching your potential. Time to rethink your choices!
Do you work from home? What do you do? What is your best strategy? Where could you improve?


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Thursday, 18 February 2016
USA: Fight To Stop Swazi Elephants' Exported To US
American NGO Friends of Animals last week filed a lawsuit against the US Fish and Wildlife Service for granting permits to import these elephants to the Dallas Zoo, the Sedwick County Zoo in Kansas and Nebraska's Henry Doorly Zoo.
In papers filed before the US District Court of Columbia, Michael Harris and Jennifer Best, from the NGO's wildlife law programme, said Swaziland had about 39 elephants in game reserves, and its current population comes from 18 baby elephants imported from the Kruger National Park to Swaziland in 1987 as a result of hunting and poaching.
They said in 1994, Swaziland imported an additional 19 baby elephants from Kruger.
The NGO said Swaziland officials had claimed that elephants were overrunning their country and that if 18 were not captured and sent to the zoos, it would be forced to kill them outright.
This claim, they said, had been made before.
In 2003, Swaziland sold 11 elephants to American zoos for US$133 000.
Friends of Animals argue that if the zoos succeed in importing these elephants, they would be removing nearly half of all the remaining African elephants in Swaziland, leaving behind about 21.
The relief sought is to:
* declare that the US Fish and Wildlife Service violated the National Environment Policy Act by issuing a permit authorising the import of the elephants without providing a full and fair discussion of the "significant environment impacts"; and to
* declare unlawful and set aside the Service's decision authorising the importation until it complied with the Act.
Harris said he had not received word from the Service, but expected them to oppose the lawsuit.
"Our next step is to reach out to (the Service) attorneys to discuss whether the government and the zoos are willing to delay the importation of the elephants for the court process to play out. A case like this can take a year or more to be resolved in the US system.
"If a voluntary delay cannot be agreed to, Friends of Animals is likely to make a motion to the court for a preliminary injunction. That could occur in the next few weeks," he explained.
Harris felt it was time elephants and other animals "be given an ethical and legal right to consideration of their well-being before humans inflict pain and distress".
He said this case might just establish such legal precedent, "at least in situations like this, where the US must approve the transfer".
In court papers, they said many independent observers and elephant advocates believed the motive behind this transfer was "simply a business transaction", because the zoos involved had invested more than $25 million in elephant exhibits and needed to fill them.
The NGO explained that because Swaziland's African elephant population was protected by international agreements and US law, the zoos were required to obtain a permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service to transport and relocate them.
Friends of Animals were among those which apparently demanded the Service examine the social, behavioural and physical impacts on elephants to be imported and their family members left behind, but said the Service ignored these calls.
"FoA members reasonably anticipate that if imported, the elephants will have difficulties transitioning to life in zoos. These elephants are likely to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder from being separated from family members in Swaziland, transported across the world and confined in a foreign place," read their formal complaint.
A local NGO, Conservation Action Trust, quoted a recent study which found there was a 40-45% mortality rate for elephants in zoos.
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In the wake of recent hurricanes and other natural disasters, CDW Government Inc. (CDW-G) is offering recommendations that schools can use to avert IT breakdowns. While the hurricanes should have been a wakeup call, the company says, many schools—strapped for cash and IT personnel—still struggle to prepare for disasters and protect vital information.
"Few schools prepare in advance for disasters, and fewer yet have comprehensive disaster recovery plans in place," said Vic Berger, lead technologist at CDW-G. "Despite the shift toward automated record keeping and centralized computer data, a brick-and-mortar mentality still prevails. We want to build awareness both of the problem and of the solution."
CDW-G's recommendations to improve the disaster preparedness of schools include:
- Physical security: Even when buildings are closed, they should be secured through video surveillance or security personnel. Additionally, schools should consider using removable hard drives that can be locked or secured off-site.
- Backup storage security: Districts should use a secondary data storage site, ideally regularly replicating data to this remote site.
- Remote access: It might take days for IT personnel to physically access a site because of water or debris. A secure, sockets-layer virtual private network (VPN) gives staff secure access to data from any internet-connected computer.


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Imagine the heart of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson beating within the body of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and you'll have a sense of Danish documentarian Mads Brügger.
In his 2009 film, "The Red Chapel," he invented a cross-cultural comedy troupe as subterfuge to enter North Korea and examine conditions there. In his latest, "The Ambassador," opening Friday in Los Angeles, Brügger travels to Liberia and the Central African Republic, where, posing as a businessman with a penchant for safari jackets and riding boots, he exposes widespread government corruption and complicity in diamond smuggling.
"The Central African Republic is a Bermuda Triangle that attracts dodgy and creepy and weird characters. It is the ultimate hideaway," Brügger said recently, speaking by phone from his home in Copenhagen. "If you need to escape from everything you would go to the Central African Republic. And as such you meet some, diplomatically phrased, special people there."
Brügger, 40, began his career making more conventional radio documentaries before moving into television as a host of Danish shows. In 2004 he traveled across America in a campaign bus posing as a neo-conservative to make the telefilm "Danes for Bush."


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- JotForm Supportashwin_dAnswered on October 28, 2014 at 06:50 AM
Hello lbporter,
I am not sure if I have understood your question correctly.
Do you want to get your form's submission data in PDF format? Yes it is possible to achieve your requirement.
You can add the {pdf-link} tag in the form's notification email alert. When you receive the submission emails, it will have a pdf download URL which will download the form's submission data in PDF. Please check the screenshot below:
Hope this helps.
Do get back to us if you meant to ask something else.
Thank you!
- lbporterAnswered on October 29, 2014 at 11:26 AM
Hi Ashwin,
Thank you for your help. I believe I've entered the PDF Link correctly because now when I receive a submission it reads"Download Submission PDF New Submission...." I still don't see any way to download this though. Can you help me out?
Also, I have had multiple users over the last few days tell me that they have not been able to submit their forms. I really don't know much but when they go to submit it won't let them.
- JotForm Supportashwin_dAnswered on October 29, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Hello lbporter,
I am not sure if you added the PDF link correctly. I did check both of your form's notification email alert and none of them has any PDF link. Have you deleted it already?
I also checked your account "Email History" and the email logs also does not say that the PDF link was added.
As explained earlier, please go ahead and add the {pdf-link} in your email alert and that should solve your problem. Do get back to us if you would like us to add it in your form and we will do the needful.
Thank you!
- lbporterAnswered on October 29, 2014 at 02:24 PM
Thank you for looking into it. I guess my question then is how do I add in the PDF link?
Here's where I'm going: "Email Alerts" Button > "Notification" > "Compose Email" Window
Then on the right hand side under "Form Fields" I am selecting "PDF Link" which inserts {pdf-link} into the title, but that's it. After doing this, when I submit a test email there is still no option to download. How can I progress from here?
- JotForm SupportMike_TAnswered on October 29, 2014 at 05:12 PM
You have added the PDF link to email subject, and this will not work since the PDF link is being added as HTML.
In order to fix the issue, please add the PDF link to the email body instead.
Thank you.
- lbporterAnswered on October 30, 2014 at 12:29 AM
Thank you for your help on this.
Question. I have been using the widget "Short Scrollable Terms" and love it as it is exactly what I need, however, recently it started showing the message "502 Bad Gateway" so I had to delete it. I've noticed that if I enter more than a paragraph into it then it gives me this same message. There are a few alternatives but they are not at all what I need - 1 gives a URL Link and the other collapses the form and expands it to its full size but it is very awkward to use.
Is there any way that the "Short Scrollable Terms" widget can be repaired to its former state of being able to collapse a typical size contract document?
This would be a huge help.
Thank you!
- JotForm Supportashwin_dAnswered on October 30, 2014 at 02:02 AM
Hello lbporter,
We cannot answer multiple questions in one thread. I have moved your question related to "Short Scrollable Terms" widget to another thread and you will be answered here: http://www.jotform.com/answers/451530
Thank you!


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Friday, December 12, 2014
STRATOVARIUS: "Elements Anniversary Reissue" [3CD+DVD]
Label: earMUSIC/Edel 2014
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
Ho! Ho! Ho! What would the merry Stratovarius fan like to have for Christmas? What? A Mistress? Well. How about this posh 3CD+DVD digi-pak, limited to 10.000 copies worldwide? It's the second best thing to the more expensive and limited to 3.000 copies worldwide box set. Don't bother with that now as you get the albums "Elements Pt. 1" and "Elements Pt. 2" on this Anniversary release (it's been 11 years since their release so what kind of anniversary are we talking about?), also included are a bonus CD including unreleased and rare songs like B-Sides or live versions from the 2003 Elements tour and a DVD that features the 5.1 mix of both albums, rare bonus songs as well as a photo gallery.
Impressive. Ambitious work indeed. Add to this a fat booklet with lyrics and liner notes by Jens "Metal Mozart" Johansson as he talks about the elements albums on eight pages, the idea behind the work, the recording process, reception and consequences, and what not really. He goes on and on about everything from their sonically pristine way to record to equipment and how he had completely free reign regarding keyboard arrangements. The latter could of course be due to the fact that Tolkki was stuck in Madrid and told Jens to go ahead and record the keys by himself. 'I Trust you. I'm sure it will be fine', was the words from the Finn and no longer part of the band even if he started it all. The Swede was obviously over the moon and started throwing s**t at the studio wall to see what would stick. Happy, happy. Joy, joy.
Stratovarius succeeded what only few bands manage to achieve with these albums: they opened doors, tore down (genre) walls and created two milestones in progressive symphonic metal. The DVD bonus audio tracks are mostly demo versions of songs that ended up on the albums. Some of them are drum machine pre-demo versions and others are simply just keyboard or orchestra demos. Not always that interesting if you're not the 'mad die-hard must-have everything ever recorded by Strato' fan.
The CD bonus tracks are previously unreleased tracks such as "Run Away", ever so slightly distorted vocals by Kotipelto during the verse and the nice and catchy refrain in a happy poppy power metal style and way. "Into Deep Blue" is the more complex and Gothic ballad with the 'Defenders of the Crown' theme going on in the background (if you can recall the cult Amiga game from your childhood). Actually, Dream Theatre-ish would be a more correct description. Very nice and excellent vocal performance by Kotipelto. "Ride Like The Wind", not the Christopher Cross tune as this was written by Johansson and speak of 'black clouds gathering' and it's the straight ahead uptempo rocker ála early Strato or Yngwie Malmsteen and feat. the impressive solo by Jens. The French version of "Papillon" is something for Kotipelto to build on (articulation?), but could possibly work as the different take and version. The next six tracks are all live versions of Elements and other songs such as "Black Diamond" and "Hunting High and Low". These titles are strongly connected to KISS and A-HA in my books.
The surround (5.1) audio mixes of the album(s) could blow ya' away if you're the tech nerd. What better X-mas gift to the die-hard fan?
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For a high quality pdf version please click here:February 2012
Month: January 2012
Weekly Creativity Affirmation Card~January 31st 2012
Weekly Writing Spark~Jan 30th|| Igniteyourcreativity.net
Normally, I am a "no regrets" type of person who believes that the decisions we make and the consequences of our actions shape who we are as a person. However, on the rarest of occasions I sometimes wish I could go back and have a "do over".
What is something you have done which you wish you could go back and change? Would you change your major in college, spend more time with a loved one, not date "that creep", not waste energy on those who didn't deserve it, or perhaps realize that perms, despite being all the rage then, perhaps just weren't for you?
Reflect and write!
Quote of the Week~January 27th, 2012
"I learned… that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic, striving, but it comes to us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness."
~Brenda Ueland, Author
Wednesday Wallpaper~January 25th~Ignite Your Creativity
Weekly Creativity Affirmation Card~January 24th 2012
Weekly Writing Spark~Jan 23rd|| Igniteyourcreativity.net
A big television network has contacted you to write a pilot for a new show based on your day-to-day life. What type of show will it be; a comedic farce, an after school special, a crime drama, an alien invasion series, a 24-hour burning fireplace or a dramatic weeklong miniseries?
Get creative, write and above all, have fun! 🙂


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[Correspondence] The CONFIDeNT trial – Authors' reply
We are pleased that the CONFIDeNT study1 has attracted the interest of several correspondents. Philip Hartley and colleagues point out the discrepancy between the prespecified primary and secondary outcomes detailed on the clinical registry (ISCTRN) and those in the final Article. We have reviewed these discrepancies and concede that we failed to fully update the trial registry. Nevertheless, we can confirm that all recorded study outcomes were fully reported and that these are entirely consistent with the final (Research Ethics Committee approved) trial protocol and those prespecified in the study analysis plan before unblinding of data.


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If you haven't noticed already, the Christmas decor is already hitting some of the store shelves and when you think about it, December is really not that far away!
In our family, we LOVE to give personalized gifts instead of items the either end up being returned or unused...which seems like quite a bit of waste on our strict spending budget. So this year, we are planning on sending out photo books as family gifts!
Maybe it is just me, but I think it's much easier to learn how to do something by watching a video (even if it is a short one). For instance, making your own custom book seems like it would be really complicated, but then you watch a video walking you through it and it becomes pretty understandable.
Here's a quick video from Blurb (less than 3 minutes) that quickly walks you through publishing your own book using their BookSmart tool—sort of a book making boot camp.
|Click on image to watch video
Simple enough, right? In fact, creating photo books with Blurb is so fun and you can even add photos quickly from your phone or Instagram account. I am a pretty big fan of Blurb and love the quality and speedy shipping of my past order, and I am quite sure that you will be pleased too!
Blurb is offering an amazing promotion right now, which is great news if you're thinking ahead to the holidays and making a gift to send.
New Customers :
Returning Customers :
Don't wait...these offers ends on October 31st!
Click on the image below to get yours started today
Have you considered a photo book as a gift?
What memories would you like to capture?
Disclosure : Leettle Baby is an affiliate of one or more of the products and banners you will see on this site. Regardless, all opinions expressed are still 100% my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials In Advertising.


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Iqaluit, Canada's most northern capital of the territory of Nunavut, is located on the head of Frobisher Bay overlooking Koojesse Inlet on the southeastern coast of Baffin Island. Iqaluit, once known as the community of Frobisher Bay, is the largest community in Nunavut with a population now of more than 7,250 (2010 estimate). Iqaluit means "the place of many fish" in the Inuktitut language of the native Inuit people. Iqaluit originated as a Second World War military airfield, however. the airfield was never fully used for its intended purpose as a refueling base for short-range military aircraft en route from America to Great Britain. Today the airfield is the cornerstone of the city of Iqaluit as it has opened the region to development during the postwar years. Iqaluit has subsequently become a key transportation and communication hub for the eastern Arctic.
The temperature in Iqaluit in January averages -30°C, and in July it is 15°C. There are nearly 24 hours of daylight per day in June whereas in December there are 6 hours of daylight per day. The long cold winter begins in September and the ground is usually snow covered until June. July and August are the summer months.
Climate data for Iqaluit
Source: Environment Canada (2009)
The picturesque Sylvia Grinnell River is just a 30-minute, one kilometre walk from Iqaluit. There are ancient Thule archaeological sites, a variety of rare plants, several species of wildlife and some 40 species of birds. Key environmental factors include permafrost and ground ice, but also surface hydrology, sea ice, drifting snow, storms and flooding hazards. The macrotidal setting creates spectacular tidal flats and challenges for shipping. Climate change is imposing changes in a number of species, including seals, which are among the most important country food besides fish.
In Iqaluit, dominant economic factors include the territorial and federal government offices, denoting its place as capital of the Nunavut territory and the airfield and coastal port, denoting its postion as a transportation hub. The harvest of country food is also important to the local economy. Economics around this mainly cultural activity include fishing, sealing, and trapping. Tourism and the making of local crafts are gaining in importance as related economic and cultural activities.
Inuit represent approximately 85 per cent of the population and Inuktitut is the dominant language, with 60 per cent of Nunavut residents speaking it at home compared to about 35 per cent for English. In Nunavut, a high population growth rate over the past several years has resulted in the territory having the youngest population in Canada. Approximately 60 per cent of the population are under 25 years of age (92 per cent of whom are Inuit) and 41 per cent of the population are under 16 years of age.
Although the airport provides transportation into the community, ground transportation in Iqaluit is limited to snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicle as there are few roads in Nunavut. Larger shipments are mainly transported by barge or cargo plane.
Most government documents in Iqaluit are translated into English, French, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun (a western Arctic Inuit language). Inuit culture is woven into daily life and 'Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit', or local indigenous knowledge and values, is considered a "guiding principle of public government.
Local outfitters offer a wide variety of trips to the Qaummaarviit Territorial Historic Park, which is rich in archeological artifacts dating back to the Thule culture. Iqaluit also hosts a number of festivals and activities. The Snow Challenge is a snowmobile race from Iqaluit to Kimmirut and back that takes place in March. In April, celebrate the spring at Toonik Tyme, a weeklong festival of traditional Inuit activities. In June, enjoy the Nunavut Arts Festival, and Alianait!, the newly formed multicultural arts festival that a variety of film events, art displays, theatre productions, and concerts.
May 2010 © C-Change Secretariat (Canada) & C-Change Partners for Iqaluit.


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Delivers First Software-Only Unified File and Object Storage Technology
Sunnyvale, Calif. – July 20, 2011 – Gluster, the leading provider of scale-out, open source storage solutions, today announced the beta release of GlusterFS 3.3. This latest version of Gluster's innovative file system provides a system for data storage that enables users to access the same data as an object and as a file, simplifying management and controlling storage costs. Available on-premise, for virtual machines, and in public and private cloud environments, Gluster's software-only storage technology delivers the first true unified file and object data storage. Users can now have simultaneous access to data as a file and as an object, delivering the benefits of both.
"Enterprises are increasingly looking for a storage solution that can accelerate their adoption of the cloud and many have been hesitant because of the lack of storage technologies enabling them to do this," said Deni Connor, founder, Storage Strategies NOW. "Gluster is continuing to innovate and raise the competitive bar as they release new capabilities within their file system. GlusterFS 3.3, with unified file and object storage technology, is key to enterprise customer's ability to adopt and deploy cloud storage solutions."
GlusterFS 3.3 allows users to access data as objects from an Amazon S3 compatible interface and access files from a NAS interface including NFS and CIFS. In addition to decreasing cost and making it faster and easier to access object data, GlusterFS also delivers massive scalability, high availability and replication of object storage. For infrastructure as a service offerings, GlusterFS 3.3 enables organizations to build their own Amazon-like storage offering for their customers. Enterprises can use GlusterFS to accelerate the process of preparing applications for the cloud, simplify new application development for cloud computing environments, and backup from data center unified file and object to Amazon Web Services (AWS) or within the private cloud.
"Traditional object storage technologies have not been widely deployed because their approach has not integrated well with legacy applications – leaving 95 percent of those applications unable to easily migrate to the cloud. Additionally, NAS has been unable to scale across the Internet to the public cloud. GlusterFS 3.3 takes a unified approach via full integration of file and object storage within the file system," said AB Periasamy, co-founder and CTO of Gluster. "We are the first to solve both the NAS scaling and legacy application integration with object storage problems. We listen carefully to our customers and community and we are excited to deliver this next step of unified storage technology for virtual and cloud environments."
Infrastructure service providers can use GlusterFS 3.3 to offer access to both file and object storage, and enterprises will be able to use this latest release to ease the migration of legacy, file-based applications to object storage for use in the cloud. In both public and private clouds, Gluster enables enterprises to scale on demand to petabytes of capacity and GB/s of throughput on commodity physical and cloud hardware, yielding unrivalled economics in the process. Gluster also enables enterprises to scale out availability on-demand, enabling both Synchronous N-way replication within the data center and across high-speed links, and Asynchronous Geo-Replication between data centers across WANs. For public clouds such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), GlusterFS is packaged in an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for deployment in the AWS cloud. The Gluster AMI is the only way to deploy high-availability storage within AWS and deliver predictable high performance during rapidly changing and demanding workloads. For private clouds, the Gluster Virtual Storage Appliances integrate GlusterFS into a virtual machine for deployment on popular hypervisor environments such as Red Hat KVM, VMware ESX and Citrix Xen and run on the enterprise's choice of certified hardware platforms.
Product Availability
Version 3.3 of GlusterFS is currently in beta and is available as of July 20, 2011. To participate in the public beta simply download the software here http://bit.ly/33beta. To sign up as an official beta site, contact firstname.lastname@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com
Supporting Resources
Follow Gluster on the web for the latest news and information at:
About Gluster Technology
Gluster's software-only solutions let enterprises deploy storage the same way they deploy computing today–as a virtualized, commoditized, and scale-on-demand pool, radically improving storage economics. Combined with the customer's choice of commodity computing and storage resources, Gluster can scale-out to petabytes of capacity and GB/s of throughput at a fraction of the cost of proprietary systems. Gluster ensures high availability with n-way replication both within and between public and private data centers. Gluster is deployable both on-premise (as a virtual appliance or bare-metal software appliance) and in public clouds such as Amazon Web Services. Gluster is the primary author and maintainer of the open-source GlusterFS software, which has been downloaded over 200,000 times.
About Gluster
Gluster is the leading provider of open source storage solutions for public, private and hybrid clouds. Over 150 enterprises worldwide have used Gluster in commercial deployments ranging from a few terabytes to multiple petabytes, across the most demanding applications in digital media delivery, healthcare, Internet, energy and biotech. Gluster is privately-held and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Visit us at www.gluster.com.
# # #
Media Contact:
Danielle Tarp
Mindshare PR for Gluster


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Oct 10, 2013Tips on How to Eat Healthy and Save Money
Posted in Food + Drink
Unfortunately, the rising food prices are making it hard for people to eat healthy. For most people, the paycheck is certainly not rising as first as the cost of living is rising. This short article will give you top tips on how you can eat healthy and save money. Just read on to uncover them.
Jul 27, 2013How to Save Money when Shopping for Food
Posted in Food + Drink
It is always good to be prepared before you head out to do your shopping for groceries. This will help you to save a lot on food but you will still be eating well in the end. In this article, we take a look at some strategies to have in mind at all times in order to avoid spending too much and sticking withing your food budget. This will show you how to save money on food.
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Loving this month's:
Lavender and Green
My purple and green pinocean beads will have to work! :)
Maybe not the same shades - but I was inspired non-the-less.
Throw in a few other fun pieces and I should be able to get
something VERY fun put together.
Oh and the cute little vintage enameled caps will look oh so sweet
on these little green lampwork spacers from The Spacer Shop.
They'll make the perfect pair of earrings.
And the final tin has more from pinocean
together with that great pendant from Diane Hawkey
and a few awesome pieces I've been hoarding from Sue Beads...
aqua and green has to be just about the funnest combination.
Aqua with anything really works for me!!!
aqua and green magical.
Now to just get it put together...
This is what I pulled from my stash:
Got lots to do considering tomorrow's March!! :)


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Ode To An Amazing Journey: Or I Can't Believe They Paid Me To Do This For 28 Years!Posted: July 6, 2013 Filed under: catholic, Drama, education, Inspiration, Sports, technology | Tags: education, inspiration, journey, ode, retirement, teaching 4 Comments
"The moment you know, you know you know." – David Bowie
Where Are We Now? The Next Day Album
I cannot remember where I was or the exact moment I 'knew' it was time for me to 'toss in the chalk' and call it a career. All I know is, at some point within the past year the whispering voice of doubt within, eventually gave way to a roar of certainty that 28 years service in education (21 in the classroom & 7 as a technology coordinator) = time to move on .
What a glorious 28 year journey though! At its best – life in and outside of the high school classroom really was one daring adventure after another, a truly wonderful odyssey. I had the amazing and humbling honor to lead, be inspired by and, at times, inspire the students entrusted in my care.
It still beggars my imagination to realize that I actually got paid to share with my students my passion and love for: my faith, family, social justice issues, literature, media studies, drama, athletics, computer studies, and the natural environment. I will forever treasure the moments spent in the presence of every one of the thousands of students (with all their complexity, incredible 'beauty' and 'baggage') who walked through my classroom door every day.
The last 7 years as a system technology consultant and E-Learning contact has been an astounding whirlwind of networking and professional learning with a myriad of wonderful teaching collegues, I.T. support staff and technology consultants. Time away from the frenetic pace and pressures of the classroom, (lesson prep, marking, always being 'on' and chained to the bell) also allowed me the opportunity and time to pursue my dream of completing the Master of Catholic Thought Program at St. Jerome's University.
Still, it would be dishonest of me not to admit feeling a little like the poet, "my heart aches and a drowsy numbness dulls my sense as though of hemlock I had drunk," as I bid a bitter-sweet farwell to a marvelous 28 year run in education.
This sweet sorrow is softened by the following memorable highlights of a long, satisfying, rewarding and blessed career:
- Supervising a Philip Pocock student dance at which the Canadian new wave band The Spoons performed in the mid-80's
- Physically breaking up a fight between two male students outside my portable and walking both of them to the principal's office
- Coordinating and viewing countless dramatic performances by my students of scenes from a variety of plays (Macbeth, R & J, Man of La Mancha etc.)
- Facilitating at 2 Race Relations Camps for students from both local school boards
- Participating in teacher-led skits/performances at numerous school assemblies (e.g. Hans & Franz, teacher bands etc.)
- Advisor of the social justice committee at St. David C.S.S.
- Advisor for the St. David Perspective school Newspaper & Video Yearbook
- Joining in a 'Pro-Life' walk with teachers and students outside an abortion clinic in Toronto
- Accompanying World Religion students to Holocaust conferences and talks by Holocaust survivors and visiting the Holocaust Memorial Center in Toronto
- Facilitating workshops at the St. David Week For A Better World Symposia
- Teacher liason accompanying/supervising WCDSB students participating in dual credit courses at WCDSB & Conestoga College's Communication Program
- Coordinating the Ping Pong Panic fundraiser in memory of Michael Longo
- Hosting and speaking with former Canadian Heavyweight boxing champion George Chuvalo during a Drug Awareness Assembly at St. David
- Supervising students during numerous Shakespearian and other performances (Phantom of the Opera, We Will Rock You etc.)
- Playing 'Let's Play Carpe Diem' with my English classes
- Giving out 'Fearnback' bonus bucks to my students for particpating in class activities
- Inner-city social justice awareness walk with my grade 10 Religion students
- Leading my grade 10 & 12 Religion students during class retreats
- Meditating with my grade 11 World Religions classess in the school chapel
- Coaching boys wrestling, hockey & soccer teams and girls soccer and baseball teams
(including my daughters Melissa & Michelle on the girls soccer team)
- Coaching boys hockey players / teams during tournaments in Cape Breton NS and Lake Placid NY
- Accompanying my media students to a taping of the Camilla Scott day-time talk show in Toronto
- Hosting guest speakers / Chilly Beach creators/actors and former students Todd Peterson and Steve Ashton in my media studies classes
- Watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy film marathaon at the Princess Cinema Theatre with my media and English students
- Leading my media studies students in a silent protest to voice their concern over the ministry of education terminating the Gr. 11 media studies credit
- Witnessing the priceless look on the faces of students who finally understood something they struggled mighty hard to grasp
- Participating in the St. David Fast-in-Action in solidarity with the hungry poor
- Having my son Jonathan as one of my students in my grade 10 Information Technology course at St. David
- Canoeing, portaging and camping with grade 12 students during 5 trips to the Algonquin Park interior
- Participating in intramural ball hockey at St. David and being on the inaugural championship team – the Red Kellys
- Legendary ping pong games during lunch with the Mighty R (Runstedler) and other Celtic legends
- Stage managing during St. David's performance of The Wiz – my daughter Melissa as one of the actors.
- Supervising at numerous St. David Coffee Houses
- Attending 3 Graduation ceremonies at Philip Pocock C.S.S. and 18 Graduation ceremonies at St. David – 5 of which involved my own children
- Managing the Interactive White (SMART) Board Pilot at Waterloo CDSB
- Co-chairing the annual Waterloo Region Technological Skills Elementary Competition
- Creating the provincial Catholic resource – Ethical & Responsible Use of Information & Communication Technology: A guideline for all stakeholders in Catholic education – (This resource was shared with the former Pope Benedict and the Pontifical Council for Social Communication in Rome.)
- Coordinating the first-ever online course offering at Waterloo CDSB
- Managing 10 online courses and teacher training at Waterloo CDSB
- Leading professional learning sessions on Ethical Use of ICT, E-Learning and digital resources for teachers and administrators at numerous conferences/PD days.
Now as I prepare to fill my hours with other passions and dreams close to my heart, I sit and wonder . . . was all this a "vision or a waking dream? . . . Do I wake or sleep?"
Onward Sancho! The quest! The quest!


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Shoulder Tattoo Designs : Girls Houlder Tattoo Designs
Shoulder is the body part that cannot be separated from any tattoo design. Shoulder can be tattooed by various kinds of tattoo design. For you tattoo addict, you must have several tattoos on your body part. And you must have tattoo on your shoulder. The design of tattoo should be suitable with the body part. So, you should creatively design your own tattoo. Great design of tattoo will give a different view to your body. It will also beautify your shoulder although that part is not always shown.
One of famous shoulder tattoo design is dragon. Japanese and Chinese dragon tattoo gives their own meaning to people. This design tattoo is match in man and woman shoulder. You can carve it bigly from the upper part of your shoulder to your chest and arm. The other shoulder tattoo designs are tribal, skull and flower. For woman, the combination of strong flower and dark skull can be a unique design. Skull is placed on the upper arm then the flowers carved surround the skull.
The common tattoo designs for man is animal design like scorpion, tiger or spider. A shoulder in the picture shows man's shoulder with knight tattoo design. The background is on the battle field shows that you are a kind of strong man. You can fight all the detention on your way. Those shoulder design tattoo have their meaning. Pick one design then begin to carve your shoulder.
This pics of Girls Houlder Tattoo Designs has dimension 500 x 696 pixels, you can download and get the Girls Houlder Tattoo Designs pics by right click on the clicking the right mouse to get the high-res version.
Here is fundamental tip on sleeve tattoo ideas. We have the best sources for sleeve tattoo ideas. Check it out for yourself! You can find Girls Houlder Tattoo Designs guide and read the latest Shoulder Tattoo Designs in here.
Back to Shoulder Tattoo Designs


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Hi friends!
Rachelle here sharing my DT layout for
Guess what? You still have time to get yours done
and enter this challenge.
Here is my take:
More Views:
Here is my Stash List:
*Diecut *Envelope *Flowers
I hope you have been inspired today.
Thanks so much for stopping by and remember to...
God Bless Always & Huggies!


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Pick Up Parking. Are you ready for a new fun and intense parking challenge? In which you are tested in various parking spots, to see how skilled you are behind the wheels!
Try to park the pick up truck in 21 parking spots the game has to offer. See how good you are.
Developer: firstname.lastname@example.com
Published: 2014-09-11


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One of my favorite nonprofits is in a pickle. And a common pickle it is indeed. A board member suggested a smallish event a few months ago. It is now crunch time. The staff didn't get the invites out on time. The board has a bit of post-holiday malaise and bloat and the event chair is going ballistic. Where is all the support that was promised? Or was it?
Here is the most common scenario: A board member says, in best Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney fashion, let's put on a golf tournament, skeet shoot, wine tasting, wild boor hunt, you fill in the blank. The board hears, "I will put on the event." The board member thinks she is saying, "Together, WE will put on the event." Everyone agrees to the event, a date is set, and then fast forward, its crunch time. The board is dismayed that the event chair expects the board member to bring 10 people. A few of the board members confide, "The truth is, This really isn't my kind of thing, you know!." This is the stuff of antacid commercials.
How to avoid this? If this is a small event and you are counting on the board rather than an outside committee to bring in the guests, take ten minutes, ask the board for a conservative count and ask them how many people they can deliver that night. Take names and write it down. If you want 150 to attend and the board can deliver 37, this might just be the wrong event, wrong evening, wrong committee. This one step will make all the difference.
Carol Weisman, MSW, CSP, not a fan of small events


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First ever hyper-local crowdfunding platform
Beeline Reader
We're constantly looking for innovative ways to improve the Springwise experience, and so we're now introducing BeeLine Reader, a new technology that helps you read more quickly and efficiently. To learn more about BeeLine Reader, an award-winning startup funded by Intel Capital, see BeeLineReader.com.
There are already a number of crowdfunding sites helping companies get their feet off the ground, and many of the ideas we've covered on Springwise have made use of these platforms. Now we've come across one with a slight twist. Based in New York, Lucky Ant is taking a hyper-local approach, featuring one neighborhood business a week for the local community to support and fund.
Spotted another good idea???
Join our network and earn rewards


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I have a long script Teradata SQL in SQL Assistant 13.11 that has about 20 places where a date is used, each time I run it, I need to change the dates manually & want to name the Date at the Start & add the variable name instead of the date to save work (& mistakes).
One thing though, the date appears in both 'YYYY-MM-DD' & also 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' Format.
I don't mind if I have to create & change 2 variables at the start - one for each Format type as it would still be better.
Check the SQLA help topic "Parameterized Queries".
In SQL Assistant you can define a parameter and use it multiple times within a request.
select date '?dateparam', ...
from tab
where datecol between date '?dateparam' and date '?dateparam' + 3
Make shure Options - Query - "Allow use of Named Parameters in queries" is checked.
Thanks Dieter!!
Exactly what I needed, Thanks
How do I add thanks on this site for your help?
Just one more question Dieter,
I read the Parameterised Queries stuff in the Help menu, checked the checkbox etc.
I cant see a place where I actually name a variable a certain date?
Did you mean add a Select query at the start of my script?
I just want to add a variable called ?date for example & add that to every line that I need a date for.
Can you clarify for me?
Hi Peter,
just you run the query (F5).
An input dialog will pop up where you key in the date.
Thanks but I want to allocate a variable value somewhere in SQL Assistant - example "Date_Month" & then add "?Date_Month" wherever the script needs date input.
I have about 20 places that need the date which I need to update each month.
Is this possible?


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light bulbAnd now it's time for another episode of:
Good Idea: Driving to Burlington to see your old work friends.
I got to see Kate and Andrew's beautiful new home, Kelli's lovely bridesmaid dress for her cousin's wedding, and Heather, who is visiting from California. They also cooked an awesome supper and I got to see Andrew's big TV. I think I may have gotten some drool on it...
Bad Idea: Watching "Children of Men."
Quite possibly the most terrible, depressing movie I have ever seen in my whole life. No wonder the suicide drugs were so popular in the movie. Heck - 45 minutes into it I wanted one.
Good Idea: Getting the girls together.
I took it for granted when we all lived within 30 minutes of each other. Now it involves a plane ticket from Hawaii, a 4.5 hour drive, and me not crapping out on driving to Raleigh. And Ella's big enough to be really fun!
Bad Idea: Bringing up my house.
Nothing got done this past week. When I say we'll be in it by Christmas 2008, I'm not being sarcastic. I really believe it's going to take that long.
Labels: friends


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Deaf Woman Tasered, Jailed By Police
Lashonn White, who is deaf, contacted 911 after a guest reportedly started attacking her in her apartment on the night of April 6. But instead of getting help, Tacoma police used a stun gun on her and imprisoned her for three days without access to an interpreter, says KIRO. But it was only after spending 60 hours in jail that a prosecutor dropped the charges against White.
Under Washington state law, all individuals who are hearing-impaired must be provided with an interpreter soon after being arrested as well as during any investigation. Says state code RCW 2.42.120 (5):
"If a hearing impaired person is arrested for an alleged violation of a criminal law, the arresting officer or the officer's supervisor shall, at the earliest possible time, procure and arrange payment for a qualified interpreter for any notification of rights, warning, interrogation, or taking of a statement."
But failing to provide White with an interpreter is only one violation that she endured. After studying the transcript of the 911 call and other police records, a KIRO investigative reporter, Chris Halsne, found significant discrepancies in the accounts.
White has been deaf since birth. On the night of April 6, after she was reportedly attacked, she contacted 911 using a special video-equipped phone that is connected to a TV and a Web camera. A certified American Sign Language interpreter verbally conveyed White's request for help to a Tacoma police dispatcher.
Police records indicate that the two Tacoma police officers who were dispatched, Ryan Koskovich and his partner, Michael Young, had been repeatedly told that White was deaf. White herself made this clear on the 911 call, explaining that she would not be able to hear the police knocking on the door and asking where she should go to meet the police.
According to KIRO, White ran out to meet police. Within just a few seconds, Koskovich fired his Taser into her rib and stomach.
"All I'm doing is waving my hands in the air, and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground and then handcuffed. It was almost like I blacked out. I was so dizzy and disoriented," White said.
White suffered heavy bleeding from her knuckles and swelling on the right side of her face from falling on the pavement. According to KIRO investigators, she also suffered injuries to her cheek, chin, ribs, neck and arms.
But worse for White was the "incredible confusion that came with suddenly being handcuffed, under arrest and without the ability to communicate with Tacoma officers, who had no sign language skills":
"The next thing I know, they took me to jail. Told me to stand up, you're going to jail. I said, 'What? What have I done?' I couldn't figure it out. I had no idea what was going on," said White.
The two police officers submitted "near-identical" reports, says KIRO. Koskovich wrote that he had "yelled for White to 'stop' and held [his] right hand up to signal for White to stop" but that she had "ignored [his] commands" and also "was making a loud grunting noise, had a piercing stare in her eyes and had a clenched right fist in the air."
Neighbors who witnessed the incident dispute this account, pointing out that they told police that White was deaf and denying that Koskovich held up his hand as a signal for White to stop running. One neighbor, Margaret Sims, told KIRO that "They had tased her because he thought she was coming at him, but what she was doing was running to him. But he said, 'stop' and he didn't put his hand up. He just said, 'stop' and she couldn't understand that."
KIRO police conduct consultant and former Bellevue police chief Don Van Blaricom reviewed the official police report as well as witness and police accounts and concluded that the officer's reports "were obviously written in concert, after the fact, to CYA." Why, he asked, would White "run at police in an assaultive manner when she had asked for them to be there and was going out to meet them?"
Will the police own up to the discrepancies in their accounts?
At the very least, the Tacoma police should use the unnecessary tasering of White as a reason to make sure that all officers receive extensive training about individuals with disabilities and the need for accommodations — and why, in such cases, they should not reach first of all for their Taser.
Take Action: Sign the petition to ask for justice for Lashonn White.
Related Care2 Coverage
U.S. Border Patrol Continues Brutal Policies
Police Argue Tasers Are "Useful Pain Technique"
Another Argument For Learning Sign Language
Photo by davehighbury


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My name is Dana. I'm a new missionary here from Astoria, Oregon. I'll be helping with the communication side of things here at the farm such as the blog, newsletters, and website as well as helping with school and daily tasks at the Antioch house.
Samantha has also recently joined the team from Minnesota. She has been here about a month and is a teacher at the school building to the kids the Lord has brought to the farm.
Please keep Samantha and I in your prayers as we adjust to our new home and pray that we can navigate what the Lord has planned for us while here.
The new school year just started and also joining the teaching staff at the school is Darlys (Dar-leese) and Jeffry, both Colombians from Cartagena. Please keep the students and teachers in your prayers, that God may be glorified and the kids will learn, retain, and meet their goals for the year!
Since our last blog update we've gained two new boys, both 10 years old. Please pray that their hearts would be softened to the love of our Savior, Jesus, and for their adjustment time as it's always a difficult transition.
In some VERY exciting news; yesterday we did baptisms at our church service! We had a total of seven baptisms! Including three kids that live here on the farm and four adults from the church. It was a very exciting day and there wasn't a dry eye to be found! Please pray for those who were baptized to continue in their walk and obedience to God. Please also pray for the church as there has been some push back and attacks from the enemy, but we know who has already won the battle!
In other church news we're starting up four new Sunday School classes based off of curriculum from Children Desiring God: The Old Testament, ABC's of God, Promises of God, and In the Beginning... Jesus. Josh will also be preaching a six week series on parenting. Please pray for a fruitful time in fellowship and the Word while we seek to know Him more as a church body. Please also pray for those who will be teaching during Sunday School.
Thank you everyone for your continued prayers!


text: Hello All! Today I got the Droid Razr ICS update! I was having so much fun, until I got a phone call! My speaker has stopped working, (It worked fine hours ago when I was still using GB) The Headphones and Bluetooth still send sound, but Not the speaker, no ringtone, no alerts, no music no Speaker phone! I have tried a Factory Reset, manually manipulating the volume controls, a Hard Reset, Praying to Heathen Gods, Contacting Motorola and Contacting Verizon to no avail! I was tempted to try and flash Back to GB with RSD lite, but without a charge only mode, RSD lite can't see my RAZR! Any Tips or advice anyone can offer would be most appreciated! ~Sigma616


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Pisa has been in the Herald again... this time to attack the practice of streaming. In fact, it's a bit broader than this because the Herald seems to want to make a big conversation given that their headlines are "Dumbing Down a Generation" and "Streaming a Weapon of Maths Destruction".
As you might expect, the Herald says a lot of the easy and boring stuff everyone says. There's the old line about league tables (not officially published) and there are references to international comparisons. However, in truth, the focus is NZ's decline relative to NZ. That's new and very good to see (well, in truth, it is old news but whatever). Similarly, the focus on streaming suggests that they want to move the questions away from NCEA (although, naturally, it does get some criticism). There was also some stuff I didn't know, like:
But our gaps in reading and maths [best versus worst performers] have narrowed because our top students have slipped more than our bottom students. Our bottom 10th actually scored higher in maths in 2015 than in 2012, while our top 10th's scores dropped.or, and I here preserve their surprise, there is this:
Surprisingly, Australia and New Zealand are the eighth and ninth most equal OECD countries on the Pisa index of socio-economic status, based on parents' education and occupations and their books and other possessions in the home.However, on that last point, they do follow up with what we already knew about resilience:
So our wide gaps in 15-year-old achievement are not because our students start less equal than others; they are because our schools are less effective at closing the gaps that students start with.So, on the whole, a lot better than much of their education coverage but there are some things I would like to quickly talk about... these were remarks made by a Warwick Elley (described as an Emeritus Professor of Education by himself here... not sure of where, though, possibly Canterbury) in the context of Anglosphere Education policy changes, manifest here in NCEA and National Standards.
The First Thing
Focused teachers narrowly on teaching what is tested (only reading, writing and maths in the case of national standards), so students are flummoxed when faced with Pisa's tests of broader knowledge and skills;I think Elley distinguishes this from a later point on the grounds that this is pedagogical. However, I am not sure and if the issue is pedagogical then the solution, too, is surely pedagogical. That is, the solution is to teach differently and talk about stuff that may or may not be on the test or is, in fact, just related. I know some teachers do this... which is why my economics teacher once talked about comparative advantage even though that wasn't an idea in our assessment. The trouble is that it's not just pedagogical in the sense that teachers are listeners and fall prey to the "Is this examined?" trap? Maybe, in that sense, the issue is the assessment... in which case this is really no different at all to the third thing.
The Second Thing
Encouraged schools to steer weaker students into easier NCEA subjects that they can pass, such as statistics instead of algebra, so they can't cope with Pisa's harder questions;On the other hand, maybe different is okay.
I took calculus at school, rather than statistics, and can't tell you that I ever had any easier internals than the two we did that year. The externals were definitely harder but I don't think they were particularly good preparation for university maths. Maybe it was because maths is poorly taught via lectures. Maybe it is because the word problems don't translate well to the way maths is taught at Auckland. Maybe I just ignored certain signs... and was able to ignore difficulties in certain areas because the same marks could be obtained via other aspects of the standards. Who knows?
But what this does is beg an interesting question... does Pisa actually assess what we care about? It's important, we have decided, that pupils know certain things. Do we lack ambition or just have different social priorities to Pisa? I can say that I definitely don't want to live in a world where pupils are convinced that a valid response to a regression model is 78.5% of statistics are made up on the spot. If the alternative is that they have to use trial and error to figure out how much fencing they can afford, I can live with that. On the other hand, I don't think that this is a trade-off we're actually faced with. Both are teachable.
I think the more concerning idea is like what happened in drama in year eleven. Based on our term two exams, some of the year was told to not do one of the external standards. That kind of channelling is more concerning because it means we might teach both statistical reports and algebra but the pupil only learns one of them as they're only assessed on one (the apparently easier stats stuff). And when pupils do this of their own accord (the SNA problem I've mentioned before) we see that the issues are deeply ingrained. Punishment is probably the only option here. (What of the psychological impacts of failure? Or is learning to fail something we don't do enough of?)
The Third Thing
Broken up subjects into small chunks for NCEA credits, rather than helping students achieve the deep understanding that comes from seeing the big picture;I call this standards-as-silos. Basically, what I learn in AS 1.1 is irrelevant to AS 1.4, even if both are in the same subject, taught in the same school. The exceptions are rare and happen when the research standard (1.1 etc.) and the writing standard (1.2) are dovetailed in history. Maybe there are other exceptions. I... don't really know them... possibly things are generally more subtle and unconscious.
I think breaking things up into standards is broadly equivalent to breaking things up into concepts. The trouble is that sometimes these concepts (not the same as small chunks) relate to things that need to be integrated a bit more. Indeed, I would like to see a world where we try and get candidates to synthesise pretty much everything they know (hopefully I'll elaborate on this soon)... like scholarship on steroids.
What we can do, in the meantime, is develop an common assessment task, like that one external maths internal, that is done just after the exam break at a special end of year week of school-time (it's a long holiday, dammit). What would happen is that for each subject, some question (or questions) is (are) posed that require(s) tying together, over a couple hours (and in a communal fashion, like a history internal, where appropriate), the strands individually part of the various standards. It wouldn't be graded like a normal external but it would be marked... meaning feedback is provided and the thing would be be returned later on in January (after/with the scholarship results?). Attempting it (i.e. one of five or six versions for each course*) would be necessary for counting the credits from the subject towards the level certificate and it would have a credit value attached too, but this wouldn't really be the point. The main thing is that pupils do it and try hard on it without making it a make or break thing. That is hard but we ought to try.
*This means you can have schools sort out the timetable so that it works for them rather than having to have another exam timetable.
The Fourth Thing
Allowed our top students to relax as soon as they reach the standards or gain 80 NCEA credits, instead of stretching them to achieve their full potential;You know, the SNA problem is really nasty. On one hand, what it means is that the above is bollocks. If people just relaxed, getting some NAs or whatever because you already have Excellence wouldn't happen. Indeed, in principle, the SNA problem arises because the candidate hasn't already got an Exellence endorsement because, believe it or not, but getting 50 credits at E out of 80, 70, 60 or however many internal credits a candidate has available is actually a lot more difficult than doing so from 160, 140, 120 or whatever credits all up. That is to say, only for candidates with massively internal assessment (i.e. none of the "traditional" subjects) does NCEA allow this. On the other hand, the SNA problem is indicative of a failure to stretch... that's obvious.
Now, the other part of this thing is a repackaged version of "four grades isn't enough to motivate people" that further misunderstands how NCEA works. The standard is achieved... he's telling us that top pupils aren't motivated to do better than achieved. I think that is bollocks. If you're a top pupil with no excellences? Sorry, you're not a top pupil. Come back when you walk, talk and quack like a duck. Heh, ducks. See... that's funny.
The Fifth Thing
Intensified competition between schools, so the best schools attract the best teachers and students at the cost of declining quality in other schools.Yeah... I don't have anything "quick" to say about this. No, wait, I do... I agree wholeheartedly with this link between competition and quality... but I don't pretend to know which changes are responsible for this bent in NZ.
The Last Thing
Here we'll move on from Elley's comments and talk about streaming:
The reason [less streaming is associated with better Pisa scores] is not hard to see. Streaming predetermines children's performance, removing challenges they might have faced in a class of mixed ability, foreclosing the possibility they might be a late improver, permanently lowering, or raising, their confidence in themselves.Basically, ask yourself if you're okay with the reason that drugged-up drop-out Joe doesn't become a physicist is that ten years earlier he was in the stream that was never asked the extension question, "Why isn't Pluto a planet"? I'm not okay with that and if you are I rather suspect you should get yourself checked for an empathy disorder... which is, on reflection, the sort of phrase that suggests I should too but I feel it needs to be said, implications be damned.
That being said, I did think I had talked about streaming on this blog before and that I'd been fairly positive about it. When I think about streaming as I experienced it, I have fond memories, basically. Indeed, there are two models. One of which I feel is defensible, the other of which I feel is practicable and hence that is why it is done.
Model One
When I was at primary school we had, every year, reading groups and often also maths groups. In each group we got (slightly? substantially?) different work to the other groups, with the work being aimed at our level. Basically, this means you could have some sort of general lesson on the mat or wherever and then you could split everyone up and teach in contained units. In other words, there is no such thing as aiming at the middle (see: either article) because each group creates a pool of variation around however many teaching levels the teacher deems appropriate.
In principle, of course, there is no reason why the groups couldn't be formed and collapsed as necessary. The way I think about it is that learning and teaching are two different things. And to extend those who need it, the isolated groups work well and to help those who need more help, the groups are great then too. The groups can be teaching and learning instruments. In practice, of course, groups are going to be fluid and possibly even aspirational. In year four a friend of mine and I tried quite hard to move up a maths group... he made it, I didn't. And in year six, I sat close enough to the front to be able to pay at least some attention to the teaching of the maths group above us. But, obviously, these are formed groups... our friend Joe is only going to hear about Pluto if everyone gets the extension material or if he's close enough to someone who has got it. We can do this by collapsing the groups.
The collapsed state of these semi-informal instruments is why I would defend this model. We can have four tables with six people sitting at them, right? That's 24 pupils altogether. That sounds like a realistically sized and set up classroom, right? And you can see how if we have four pupils in the top group, it's possible that when we're not treating them as a group that we can have them at a different table each... allowing them to help their fellows or just plain exposing their work to the same. Obviously it is important to do both things... have the formed groups for extension/assistance and the collapsed groups for learning, communication and co-operation.
Model Two
This strikes me as the kind of streaming most relevant to the discussion at hand: the 28 "brightest" pupils, then the next 28 and then the third 28 and then all the way down to the end of the ranking. I liked this as it worked out for me. My stream consisted of people behaviourally and intellectually akin to myself, which made things better for me and for our teachers. However, this was obviously at the cost of having mixed ability classrooms with mixed ability work... with the exception of the handful of upwardly mobile people that our school eventually deemed needed movement. And, in truth, after the third lot of 28 the school just jumbled everyone in together excluding the people who needed the absolute most help (the cabbage stream as I am sure everyone knows it by, even though, now, it seems most cruel a designation... obviously in the real world the label was "development" not cabbage officially). Basically... um, I can't really comment on how varied the abilities really were being isolated in my advanced class... and by year eleven where streams broadly ceased due to new subjects, seating plans seem childish... so one hopes that a friend group is mixed ability.
This is a difficult post to wrap up. I have sort of left the streaming bit, probably the most interesting thing, unresolved. That is, thus, one of the conclusions I need to write here. On the other hand, combining the various parts of this post into a coherent piece without basically going, "No, bad Elley" is challenging because, you know, that's not how it was written. All the same, I think the title gives us some room to at least start thinking about what the above means.
As I noted in the introduction, when we've tried to talk about education in NZ, it has traditionally boiled down to "Bad NCEA"... often with the hilarious suggestion we adopt a system indistinguishable from NCEA (see any Herald comments section ever). And when we try to talk about Pisa specifically the same goes: actually interesting stuff is sidelined in favour of ideological anti-NCEA remarks and hysterical reactions to movement up and down a dubiously constructed ladder. But here we have a debate about what it is we're doing that is focussed on an improvement, at least implicitly: let's get rid of streaming.
On reflection, the truth is very simple: it's hard to defend streaming. A lot of work needs to go into disputing the conclusions that the OECD has come to about streaming, and theoretically speaking one only finds reasons to dislike streaming. But streaming is very much something that forms a core part of NZ's educational experience. It doesn't happen like it does in Germany with gymnasia and the like, but it does happen in its own way. And the reason is really easy to understand: it's practical. It is so much easier to find clusters of similar abilities and teach to that cluster than it is to jumble everyone in together. But, at the same time, it is also apparent that we could cluster within a jumble. I know that my socks are a mess when I pull them out of the dryer... but I can work with the result if I pair them up, or even lump them into the various models (e.g. stripey, plain, grey). It sounds stupid, but it is pretty much the same idea if we imagine my socks as being one classroom and your socks another. Yet, the analogy ultimately fails because while no-one wants odd socks, collapsing the in-class groups is fundamental. Otherwise, we just have a less practical version of macro-streaming. In short, it will walk like a duck, quack like a duck and look like a duck... but we'll tell ourselves we've solved streaming.
NCEA is also something we should worry about thinking we're solved. Elley's point of view seems hysterical and I think that it's important to temper it with a more reasonable outlook. However, it remains that there are real concerns with NCEA. I increasingly find myself sympathising with those who would critique its insular standards-as-silos approach. And, despite what I said just above, 50 credits seems too low a level to award excellence or merit. I think it needs to go up to 60. And the SNA problem continues to get no media attention... but four years out of school by the end of this year means that I no longer have my finger to NCEA's pulse... it may be they've done something about it. Yet, it stretches all credibility to ask us to believe that top pupils lack all intrinsic motivation to do well: that an A just rolls off their backs, like water. This was why I questioned most strongly Elley's characterisation. But, on the whole, an honest analysis would favour NCEA... recalling the curriculum is the issue if we are teaching too much statistics and not enough algebra: not NCEA.
I don't know what a mature education debate looks like. I don't think one exists. It seems to me, in whatever country, education debates are ideologically fraught... this is particularly true if we think about the US and like it or not, discourse is informed by what we have convinced ourselves we're interested in watching. But I feel like we've at least come close today to this mythical form. It seems far too much to ask that it continues, but one can at least hope, that it is not one's own contribution that causes the regression. However, I feel like an NCEA-educated citizen would be able to identify the features of this blog that lend that last sentence its distinctly hollow ring. And that's a good thing. The curriculum that NCEA assesses may well teach maths poorly, but it theoretically imbues its pupil with the knowledge its society needs it to have. The knowledge, for instance, that is useful for a citizen of a democratic age in a modern state. We can't lose sight of that. We can't forget that maybe Pisa and its like don't have goals that necessarily correspond with what we need. But maybe that's just me. Although, I think, a mature debate recognises these kinds of contexts. And I think the Herald's just shown signs of wiping the sleep from their eyes.


text:
Review Article
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Continuum of care in pediatric sepsis: a prototypical acute care delivery model
Disease prevention & health promotion: what's critical care got to do with it?
From the street to the ICU: a review of pediatric emergency medical services and critical care transport
No more pediatric code blues on the floor: evolution of pediatric rapid response teams and situational awareness plans
Improving transitions of care between the operating room and intensive care unit
Pediatric palliative care in the intensive care unit and questions of quality: a review of the determinants and mechanisms of high-quality palliative care in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)
Original Article
When is early septal myectomy in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy justified?
Optimal exposure for closure of ventricular septal defects through the tricuspid valve
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Research Highlights
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Spanning the genomics era: the vital role of a single institution biorepository for childhood cancer research over a decade
Column on Metabolism of Childhood Cancer
Metabolism of Childhood Cancer Column (Review Article)
Rare Diseases Column (Review Article)
Below are the latest Translational Pediatrics articles published online ahead of print publication.
Original Article
Ferric carboxymaltose in the treatment of iron deficiency in pediatric Inflammatory bowel disease
Letter to the Editor
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- Neurocognitive function and CNS integrity in adult survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma
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text:
September 13, 2012
Several large clinical trials have demonstrated that a daily oral dose of one or two antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection can prevent infection in an approach known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. The level of protection, however, depends on taking the drugs regularly. For instance, the landmark iPrEx study found that overall, men who have sex with men who received a daily dose of tenofovir plus emtricitabine (Truvada) had a 44 percent lower risk of HIV infection compared with those who received a daily placebo pill. But for the subset of participants who had detectable drug in their blood -- indicating that they were actually taking Truvada regularly -- the risk of HIV infection was 92 percent less than for the placebo group.
Led by study chair Robert M. Grant, M.D., of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, the iPrEx team recently set out to estimate what drug concentration in blood cells was associated with a 90 percent reduction in HIV infection risk, and how many Truvada doses per week would achieve that concentration. The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, all part of the National Institutes of Health.
The authors caution that the findings of this study, which are relevant to men who have sex with men (the iPrEx study population), may not be applicable to other populations, such as heterosexuals. This is because the minimum protective drug concentration in the blood and the number of tablets per week required to achieve that concentration in target tissues may differ depending on the route and frequency of exposure to HIV.
This study was funded by NIH grants R21 MH085598, UO1 AI084735, RO1 AI062333, UO1 AI064002 and UL1 RR024131.
Anderson et al. Emtricitabine-tenofovir concentrations and pre-exposure prophylaxis efficacy in men who have sex with men. Science Translational Medicine DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3004006 (2012).
NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and Carl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D., director of the NIAID Division of AIDS, are available for interviews.
No comments have been made.
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text:
Nice terraced house with private pool in Empuriabrava
Object ID: 1051
Property type: Terraced house, 2 rooms, 70 m2,
Country-Region: Spain-Catalonia-Marina d'Empuriabrava
This House is located in a very typical peaceful neighbourhood area next to the centre, which 600 meters from the beach.
The house it is totally renovated, there are all as you need for to spend a blissful holidays. There is a private car park.
Distance from the beach: 600 m
Distance from Roses: 6 km
Distance from Peralada Golf: 17 km
Distance from Barcelona: 40 km


text:
The group has met again to form a new party. What stands in their way? What mysteries will they uncover?
It's been over 200 years since the last major incursion of chaos! An old god was raised from the sea, only to be brought low by valiant band of heroes and a well placed cannon shot!
Now, with Chaos at its quietest, this troop of merchants are about to uncover a secret hidden away since the last time Chaos challenged the rule of man.