text:
Throughout the Republican US Senate primary, Gabriel E. Gomez described himself as "personally prolife," but said he would not try to change abortion law, a nuanced position that has fanned some confusion on both sides of the abortion divide.
In a recent interview scheduled with the Globe specifically to explore his views on abortion rights, Gomez said that he favors parental consent for both abortion and the morning-after pill and that he opposes late-term abortion unless it is necessary to protect the life and health of the mother.
But he refused to take a stand on two of the most heated women's health issues of recent years — congressional amendments that nearly derailed the health care overhaul and fueled allegations of a Republican "war against women" — because he said he remains unfamiliar with the details.
"Honestly, I haven't read the Blunt Amendment, so it's hard for me to go yea or nay without reading the full Blunt Amendment," Gomez said last week, regarding a 2012 proposal that would have allowed employers to deny workers birth control coverage based on moral beliefs. "That's part of the reason why these guys and women down there should read these whole things. . . . I'm happy to look at it."
In the Globe interview, as in past interviews and debates, Gomez also tried to explain his acceptance of the law that legalized abortion by saying that even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative, has accepted it as "settled law."
"I'm not a lawyer, and obviously, Justice Scalia is about as educated a lawyer as you can be and has read thousands and thousands and heard thousands and thousands of cases," Gomez said. "When I hear Justice Scalia say that 40 years is basically precedent in established law, I just kind of take it from a nonlawyer's view and say, that pretty much — that makes sense to me just from a common-sense perspective.
Gomez's campaign later acknowledged that he had misspoken when he referred to Scalia in the interview, as well as during previous debates and public appearances; he had confused him with Chief Justice John Roberts, who has called Roe v. Wade "settled law."
Abortion is an issue on which Gomez and his Democratic rival, US Representative Edward J. Markey, differ sharply. Markey, who was an abortion rights opponent when he entered Congress in 1976, became a supporter in 1983, and has since developed a record strongly aligned with abortion rights advocates.
The 2012 Blunt Amendment, which would have let employers deny workers birth control coverage based on their own moral beliefs, died after outraged opponents said it would allow women's health care decisions to be made by their bosses.
The amendment's cosponsors, including Scott Brown when he was a senator, said they were defending religious liberty by protecting churches from paying for coverage that violates their doctrine.
"Oh, is this like the Catholic Church and all?" Gomez said, when pressed about the amendment. "Yeah, I don't believe the Catholic Church – or any faith, any organization like that — should have to do something that goes against their doctrine."
He also declined to take a stand on the Stupak amendment, a measure that threatened health care reform and erupted into controversy in the 2009 Senate special election in Massachusetts.
That measure, named for US Representative Bart Stupak, would have restricted federal subsidies from going to private health care plans that offer abortion, a move that abortion rights advocates said would have discouraged abortion coverage even in the private market.
In a recent interview on New England Cable News, Gomez said he would have to review the amendment before commenting on it. A week later, he told the Globe he had yet to read it.
"Is this federal funding for abortion? I don't believe that there should be federal dollars to fund abortion," Gomez said. When told that it was about whether private insurance companies that cover abortion can receive federal subsidies, Gomez said: "OK, but I don't think there should be federal funding for abortions."
Gomez said he hardly expects such issues to consume him at a time when he is focused on jobs, the economy, education, and veterans. While he calls himself personally prolife, his views resemble those of other successful Republicans in Massachusetts, who approached the issue of abortion rights carefully.
Those issues and women's contraception surprisingly took center stage in 2012, an election year that saw Brown unseated, the president reelected, and other Republicans criticized for making ill-informed remarks about abortion and rape.
Brown, who lost his seat to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in November, had backed abortion rights but had cast some votes against abortion and contraception, often embracing a "conscience clause" for religious organizations to opt out of abortion and contraceptive coverage.
Like Brown, many of the Republicans who have been successful in Massachusetts have run on a more socially moderate platform accepting abortion rights.
Former governor Mitt Romney, who opposed abortion when he ran for president, had backed abortion rights when he ran for governor in 2002, saying that while he did not personally favor abortion, he would, as governor, respect the "law of the land" and protect a woman's right to choose.
At the time, his spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom characterized his stance as "exactly the same position as any other prochoice politician."
In his interview with the Globe last week, Gomez spoke in more detail than he has in past forums about what has shaped his views.
Though he said he considers himself prolife as a result of his Catholic faith, he accepts exemptions in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life or health of the mother. He also said repeatedly that he would not seek to change the law if elected senator.
"I just believe that it's established law and that's what the law is," Gomez said. "I'm not going to go down there and proactively change the law. I'm not sure how much more clear I can be on that."
Gomez said he opposes federal funding for abortion, except in those exemptions, and he would vote for a new bill extending abortion coverage to Peace Corps volunteers overseas who fit into those exemptions. He disagreed, however, with a current Senate proposal to expand abortion access to all women in the military, beyond rape, incest, and life-saving measures.
Gomez also said he favors parental consent for abortions and even for Plan B, the morning-after pill that prevents pregnancy and that a judge recently ordered the Obama administration to allow to be sold over the counter without age restrictions.
Gomez also said he opposes late-term abortion, though he could not pinpoint when that would be.
Gomez's reluctance to explain his positions on various aspects of abortion law and his acknowledged unfamiliarity with some of the recent issues generated added skepticism from abortion rights advocates.
"If the issues are too hard for him to understand, maybe he shouldn't run for the US Senate," said Martha M. Walz, president and chief executive of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
The political arm of her group, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said it did not receive a reply from Gomez when seeking details about his views on abortion and contraception in February.
The group has endorsed Markey, who supports late-term abortions to protect the life or health of the mother, opposes the Blunt and Stupak amendments, opposes parental consent requirements for abortion, accepts the Food and Drug Administration's minimum age of 15 for the morning-after pill, and supports federal funding for abortions.
Under normal circumstances, Gomez's positions might be enough to merit him support from the state's largest antiabortion advocacy group, Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
But Gomez has not yet met with that group either, and advocates see little room for hope in his position.
"If Gomez were elected, he would be better for us than Markey, I'd think," said Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. "But I don't count on him for much of anything."Globe librarian Lisa Tuite contributed to this report. Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @stephanieebbert.


text:
Chip Fesko keeps a folder of his past correspondence, a nearly inch-thick stack of the words that cause less-resilient authors to pack it in:
"We have now had a chance to consider your material, and we regret to say that it is not right for us."
"After a great deal of discussion, we came to the unhappy conclusion that we are not ready to expand our market..."
"Thank you for your recent query. ... Unfortunately, it does not suit our editorial needs at the moment."
That binder, quite a bit thicker than Fesko's actual manuscript, contains some rejection letters so old they were written on manual typewriters.
While he scored pieces in magazines throughout the decades, his goal of an entire book remained elusive. But last year, the Newport Beach resident's luck changed.
To put it in appropriate terms: Officials at Apple iBooks had a chance to consider Fesko's material, and it turned out to be right for them.
After a great deal of discussion, the author enlisted a professional voice-over reader to narrate his online book, "Fireflies & Honey Bees: Children's Poems for You and Me." And this Saturday, Fesko will present his work at the Newport Beach Central Library.
"It's been a labor of love," Fesko said Monday in an upstairs room at the library, surrounded by original watercolors and printed copies of "Fireflies," which is now available on the Apple iBooks site. "It's one of those books that I had on the shelf, you know, and you bring it out every once in a while and say, 'Hey, let's try to get this published again.'"
Fesko may not have gotten his book published in the traditional sense; the iBook program, launched in 2010, allows authors to upload their own work, although Apple screens submissions for inaccuracies or illegal content.
Still, when library officials heard about the publication of "Fireflies," they were happy to feature the author — who had his work exhibited at Newport Beach City Hall in 2009 — as part of the countywide Imagination Celebration.
At 11 a.m. Saturday in the library's Friends Room, Fesko will introduce his book and discuss his writing and painting process — he does his own artwork — while actress Eila Ulyett, who advertises her business as "the perfect place for your female British voice-over needs," will recite the poems.
Fesko, who loved A.A. Milne's "Winnie-the-Pooh" poems as a child, went online to find a British woman to perform the work for his iBook. He came upon Ulyett, a fellow Newport Beach resident, and her prim delivery turned out to be just what he needed.
The 15 poems in "Fireflies" have the lean, proper cadence of Milne — and also Robert Louis Stevenson and even Emily Dickinson, both of whom Fesko counts as childhood influences. For Ulyett, the familiar style made voice-over recording easy.
"There was a lilt to it," she said. "I don't know what it is — what the technical term is — but the flow of the poems was very easy to my ear. I didn't have any difficulty reading his book at all. As soon as he sent me the poems, it was just like a natural flow."
"Fireflies," which combines Fesko's poems with his own illustrations, covers common themes in children's poetry: animals (scary and otherwise), the wonders of nature, the absurdities of getting through a busy day and more. One piece, "A Hundred Humming Honey Bees," begins:
A hundred humming honey bees
In an apple blossom tree
They were too busy humming
To even notice me
A great dance they were performing
All in perfect time
You could almost call it poetry
For they sounded like a rhyme
While Fesko said "Fireflies" has sold less than 100 copies to date, it got an impressive plug recently: Scholastic magazine included it on a list of recommended titles for National Poetry Month.
The book is dedicated to Fesko's son, who is 16 now and appears more than a decade younger in a photograph inside. The author, though, didn't write the poems specifically for his child — or any child, for that matter. A nature lover, Fesko jotted down many of the pieces after excursions into the wild and only later recognized their innocent quality.
"I didn't concentrate and say, 'Hey, I want to write this for kids,'" he said. "I wrote the poetry, and then I said, 'This is something a kid could really relate to.'"
If You Go
What: Poet Chip Fesko and actress Eila Ulyett present "Fireflies & Honey Bees: Children's Poems for You and Me"
Where: Newport Beach Central Library, Friends Room, 1000 Avocado Ave.
When: 11 a.m. to noon Saturday
Cost: Free
Information: (949) 717-3870 or http://www.newportbeachlibrary.org

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Fusebox web methodology may change the way you approach architecting data-driven web applications.
The latest version of Fusebox is the most scalable and effective incarnation of a "web box" – style architecting approach. Created by Steve Nelson, Fusebox has been further popularized by the arrival of a PHP port by David Huyck of http://bombusbee.com. Armed with Fusebox and a few simple tools, PHP developers can now architect scalable web applications across project teams, technical disciplines, and display mediums.
If you've ever found yourself working long hours trying to debug code in an application that you know will probably not be appreciated by the client, you're not alone. The fact is that most software development projects fail. That's right, and the number is scary: 70%. They fail for a number of reasons – excessive time spent coding and too little spent understanding the client's needs, poor documentation, code that can't be reused, code that's difficult to maintain. The list goes on and on.
You now have the opportunity to find out why using Fusebox can make your life much easier by dramatically increasing your project's chances of success. Based on a hub-and-spoke model, Fusebox allows sections of code to work independently of each other while promoting code reuse, distributed development and cheaper maintenance. This translates to a happy client and happy developers – the perfect end to any project.
Let's jump into the code and set up a simple application. As we build, the possibilities will reveal themselves, and hopefully we'll emerge on the other side with a handy technique for your web-building arsenal.{mospagebreak title=Step 1: Setting Up the Core Files}
If you have access to a web server running PHP, you have all you need to begin using PHP Fusebox. Well, almost.
We're going to download the PHP Fusebox core files, and then learn how they work. Then we'll set up two circuits. In this case it'll be a simple website with two sections: home and biography.
Now let's set up our application!
First you need to download and copy the core files into the root directory of your application. These files can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/php-fusebox/ in their pristine state, ready to be shaped into a new website.
The Core Files:
fbx_SaveContent.php{mospagebreak title=What do the "core files" do?}
Let's go take a look at these files now. If there are any I don't cover today, we'll be going over them in a future article.
Included by fbx_Fusebox3.0_PHP4.1.x.php (see below), fbx_Circuits.php is where the circuits of our Fusebox are defined. This is the place where values are set that determine the structure of the app. A typical fbx_Circuits (and the one you downloaded) looks like this:
$Fusebox["circuits"]["home"] = "home";
Don't worry – we'll be adding circuits to this code soon enough.
fbx_Fusebox3.0_PHP4.1.x.php (or fbx_Fusebox3.0_PHP4.0.6.php)
This is the "engine" of the Fusebox application – the file that makes it all possible. It does the following things:
Includes fbx_Circuits.php, where the circuits array is populated with your application's circuit definitions. The circuit definitions in fbx_Circuits.php map your site's folder structure to a central circuits structure.
Creates a reverse-lookup of the directory structure you defined in fbx_Circuits.php.
Includes fbx_Settings.php, where default values are set for your application.
Receives the fuseaction and circuit variables, which control what content is displayed in your application.
- Executes the fuseaction in the correct circuit's fbx_Switch file.
- Includes fbx_Layouts.php, where you can customize the look and feel of your application.
You'll be happy to know that this file should not be modified in any way, and can function as the heart of your web application right out of the box, so to speak. You should understand the full functionality behind this key file, but this is by no means required since editing the file's source code could make your application incompliant with the Fusebox 3 specification, defeating the whole purpose of using the methodology in the first place!
This file consists of a switch/case statement that tells the application which files to include. Here's the code you see when you open it up:
switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) {
case "main":
case "Fusebox.defaultFuseaction":
print "I received a fuseaction called '" . $Fusebox["fuseaction"] . "' that circuit '" . $Fusebox["circuit"] . "' does not have a handler for.";
Leave this file alone for now. We'll be back to it shortly.
This is where default values are set for each circuit. Circuits (subdirectories) each have their own versions of this file. If they do, the variables' values in the individual circuits' fbx_Settings.php files will overwrite their default values in the root directory's fbx_Settings.php.
index.php – or whatever your server's default document is called.
This is where we load the core file, or for lack of a better word engine, of the Fusebox architecture: fbx_Fusebox3.0_PHP4.1.x.php. We'll be linking back to this file for every page request and passing it a variable called a fuseaction. The fuseaction will give the engine the information it needs to display the circuit's content. Note: this file can be renamed to whatever your web server uses as its default document.
This is a typical layout file, and is required in each circuit of your application. If you were making an application with many circuits, you'd want to make sure this file is placed in each circuit's directory, along with the other core files required in each circuit. In a future article we'll discuss the incredibly cool use of nested layouts, which are another example of the versatility and scalability of Fusebox-based architecting.
You should have at least one fbx_layouts.php in your application, depending on which circuits require unique layouts. This file controls the layout of each circuit or $Fusebox["layoutFile"] element. Any circuit that has its own layout requirements should have its own fbx_Layouts.php file in its root directory. If not, fbx_Layouts.php can be omitted and the application root's fbx_Layouts.php will take over. Fusebox enables you to "nest" these layouts in a powerful way, but that topic is best left for another time.
A typical display file. This file will be included in our main circuit.{mospagebreak title=A Word on FuseDocs}
Requirements baselines and prototyping are thoroughly embedded in the architecting techniques favored by Fusebox developers. Part of this process is the creation of documentation elements called FuseDocs. The basic form of a Fusebox 3–compliant XML fusedoc for PHP:
<fusedoc fuse="dsp_circuitName.php">
I display information to the user.
<history author="Mike Britton" email="email@example.com" date="20 April 2002" type="Update">File created</history>
<string name=" " default="" />
<string name=" " default="" />
<boolean name=" " default=" " />
<string name=" " default="" />
For more on FuseDocs, visit http://www.HalHelms.com, where you'll find a wealth of resources on the subject.{mospagebreak title=Fusebox Naming Conventions}
You're trying to make a website, so you'll obviously need content. The files that make up your Fusebox application are broken down into a few different categories:
The Fusebox "core" files, or files that act together to provide the Fusebox functionality.
Display fuses, prefixed with "dsp", are used to show information to the user.
Query fuses, prefixed with "qry", contain all your database queries.
Action fuses, prefixed with "act", typically perform some kind of action, such as emailing someone with the mail() function.
Location fuses, prefixed with url, redirect the application to a new URL.
Keeping the responsibilities of each type of file in mind, it should become apparent how to properly fashion your FuseDocs. A good rule of thumb is to make sure a developer who knows nothing about the overall application can code each fuse based entirely on the fusedoc.{mospagebreak title=Picking Up Where We Left Off: Setting Up the Core Files}
Now that we've copied the core files into the root directory, let's go ahead and create a simple circuit app that demonstrates the basic principles behind the PHP Fusebox architecture.
1. Open fbx_Circuits.php. You'll see the fusedoc XML at the top, followed by the default home circuit definition:
$Fusebox["circuits"]["home"] = "home";
This code is identifying the $Fusebox["circuits"]["home"] nested array element as "home". The lack of slash mark(s) in the value in quotation marks tells us this circuit is in the root directory.
When the $Fusebox["circuits"] structure is passed, fuseaction=home.main in the URL for instance, the application will know this circuit is in the application root, and the core "engine" file, fbx_Fusebox3.0_PHP4.1.x.php, will include the application root's fbx_Switch.php to complete the request.
Note: Although it isn't explicitly required to create PHP Fusebox 3 web sites, you can see how all this works by opening the "engine" file we discussed earlier, fbx_Fusebox3.0_PHP4.1.x.php. Checking under the hood of this file is advisable. The code is well commented with in-line comments and FuseDocs.
Ordinarily, if we were constructing a complex web application with PHP Fusebox, we'd add additional code to define more circuits in the application root's fbx_Circuits.php:
$Fusebox["circuits"]["sectionOne"] = "home/sectionOne";
$Fusebox["circuits"]["sectionTwo"] = "home/sectionTwo";
There could be as many circuits as you want. For our purposes, we'll only be working with two circuits: the "home" and "biography" circuits. Change the code of fbx_Circuits.php to read:
$Fusebox["circuits"]["home"] = "home";
$Fusebox["circuits"]["biography"] = "home/bio";
The circuit you have just defined below the "home" circuit could be accessed through either the URL or some kind of form action (POST or GET). For our purposes, we'll be calling our circuits through simple text links.
2. In the root directory of your application, open fbx_Switch.php. This is where you'll define all the fuses in this, the home (or root) circuit. Like I said before, you'll be using the switch / case statement in this file to include files based on the fuseaction passed to the application.
The default code looks like this:
switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) {
case "main":
case "Fusebox.defaultFuseaction":
print "I received a fuseaction called '" . $Fusebox["fuseaction"] . "' that circuit '" . $Fusebox["circuit"] . "' does not have a handler for.";
The switch statement switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) receives
the $Fusebox["fuseaction"] variable from the URL, a form ñ- whatever you want
to use to pass it – and passes the fuseaction down through the case statements until
it finds one that matches. When a match is encountered, the matching case statement specifies which files are included.
In this situation, if the "main" fuseaction were specified, the file dsp_main.php would be included. If no fuseaction were passed, the same
file would be included because the default case statement calls the same fuse.
Let's say you want one screen on your web site to lead into another, like in a traditional login system where the user types his / her username and password into a text field and presses the submit button. In Fusebox, instead of hard-coding a path to a CGI script or another PHP page in your form's "action" parameter, you simply specify an exit fuseaction, or XFA.
What's an XFA?
PHP Fusebox filenames must begin with either dsp_, act_, url_, or qry_. They contain exit fuseactions that are picked up in a circuit's fbx_Switch.php file.
For example, one of your circuits' dynamically-included files will contain references collectively known as XFAs. When called, these XFAs communicate with the switch/case statement in fbx_Switch.php, telling it to find a matching circuit (case statement), and an XFA definition inside the case statement, one that tells the application where the exit for that fuseaction is. It helps to remember "X for exit".
To further illustrate, let's focus again on fbx_Switch.php. Add the following code under the initial case statements:
$XFA["biography"] = "biography.hello_world";
Now your switch statement should look like this:
switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) {
case "main":
case "Fusebox.defaultFuseaction":
// Add this line:
$XFA["biography"] = "biography.hello_world";
print "I received a fuseaction called '" . $Fusebox["fuseaction"] . "' that circuit '" . $Fusebox["circuit"] . "' does not have a handler for.";
This may take a while to get right in your head. While fbx_Switch.php dynamically includes files, it also controls the flow of the application. Think of it as a railroad switch that directs your model train by moving the switch to the correct track. Your train signals the switch where it wants to go, and the switch moves into place to match the signal sent by the train. What you've just done is instruct the circuit to go to the bio/ directory (or "biography" circuit if you think about it from the perspective of the application root's fbx_Circuits.php file) when passed an XFA called "biography". The biography circuit's fbx_Switch.php will have a case statement that looks for the fuseaction "hello_world" and include the files you define for this circuit.
But wait, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Deeeep breath. First, we have to understand how these XFAs are passed in the context of the application.
An XFA or exit fuseaction called from a URL:
Example Link
An XFA or exit fuseaction called from form POST:
<form action="$PHP_SELF?fuseaction=".$XFA["biography"]."" method="post">
Or a GET:
<form action="$PHP_SELF">
<input type="hidden" name="fuseaction" value="".$XFA["biography"]."">
The beauty of PHP Fusebox is in the abstraction of the file system's real structure: using XFAs, you can send the application to any circuit (directory) you want, and have it perform whatever duties you wish. As long as the root directory's fbx_Circuits.php contains a matching circuit definition and its fbx_Switch.php contains a corresponding XFA that can tell fbx_Circuits.php where to go next, the sky's the limit!{mospagebreak title=Step 2: Creating the "Biography" Circuit}
You've added code that references the biography circuit, so now it's time to create it! In your application root (the one you're calling "home" in fbx_Circuits.php), create another directory and call it bio. This is where we're going to build the biography circuit.
Now you must copy the following PHP Fusebox core files into the bio directory (it's a subset of the same files found in your application root):
See, there's fbx_Switch.php again! The biography circuit's fbx_Switch.php will include the files needed to satisfy the fuseactions passed to it, as we've already discussed.
Open the /bio directory's fbx_Switch.php.
You will see similar code to the fbx_Switch.php we already edited, in the application root:
switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) {
case "main":
case "Fusebox.defaultFuseaction":
print "I received a fuseaction called '" . $Fusebox["fuseaction"] . "' that circuit '" . $Fusebox["circuit"] . "' does not have a handler for.";
Keep this file open, and focus back on fbx_Switch.php in the application root. Remember when we created an XFA for the "biography" circuit?
switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) {
case "main":
case "Fusebox.defaultFuseaction":
// Add this line:
$XFA["biography"] = "biography.hello_world";
print "I received a fuseaction called '" . $Fusebox["fuseaction"] . "' that circuit '" . $Fusebox["circuit"] . "' does not have a handler for.";
Now we're going to adjust the fbx_Switch.php file in /bio to accommodate the XFA we just set up in the application root's fbx_Switch.php. Add the code in bold to the /bio directory's fbx_Switch.php:
switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) {
case "main":
case "Fusebox.defaultFuseaction":
case "hello_world":
print "I received a fuseaction called '" . $Fusebox["fuseaction"] . "' that circuit '" . $Fusebox["circuit"] . "' does not have a handler for.";
Now open dsp_main.php in /bio and save it back down as dsp_hello_world.php. Add the following code to dsp_hello_world.php:

Biography: Hello World!

This is the place where the world can come learn about me.
echo "Home";
?>{mospagebreak title=Almost There!}
Now that both dsp_ pages are there for either circuit, the fusebox should work, right? It will – as soon as you add the XFA you just referenced in dsp_hello_world.php to the fbx_Switch.php in /bio. Without reference to this XFA in your fbx_Switch.php file, your PHP Fusebox application won't know what you're talking about!
Open the fbx_Switch.php in /bio and add the line in bold.
switch($Fusebox["fuseaction"]) {
case "main":
case "Fusebox.defaultFuseaction":
case "hello_world":
// Add this line:
$XFA["home"] = "home.main";
print "I received a fuseaction called '" . $Fusebox["fuseaction"] . "' that circuit '" . $Fusebox["circuit"] . "' does not have a handler for.";
As soon as you do this, add an XFA link to the biography circuit in the application root's dsp_main.php, and you'll be finished with your first PHP Fusebox application!

Home: Main Page

This is the home page. Click the link below to find out more about me.
echo "Biography";
Now fire up a browser and surf to your application root. The default fuseaction should be triggered automatically since you didn't type a fuseaction.
Mouse over the link to go to Biography. Notice how the URL is now a real fuseaction and not an XFA? That's because we defined the XFA in the application root's fbx_Switch.php file. The Fusebox knows this XFA is a call to the application root's $Fusebox["circuits"]["biography"] circuit, which you can see when you open fbx_Circuits.php in the root:
$Fusebox["circuits"]["home"] = "home";
$Fusebox["circuits"]["biography"] = "home/bio";
Now click on the Biography link. The Biography pages comes up. Now click the Home link. You're back home. Continue doing this for a few hours while listening to high-energy dance music!
If you think this might work for you, don't stop here. There are great Fusebox-related sites all over the web. And Fusebox isn't just for PHP – it was originally written for ColdFusion and is available for Java, as well.{mospagebreak title=PHP-Fusebox Links}
David Huyck's Bombusbee:
Fusebox for PHP at SourceForge:
Wireframing tool for PHP Fusebox:
Demo Applications:
http://php-fusebox.sourceforge.net/index.php?fuseaction=downloads.main{mospagebreak title=Fusebox Links}
Steve Nelson's SecretAgents.com:
Hal Helms' Personal Site:
Lee Borkman's Bjork.net:


text:
Ridiculously Good-looking Surgery Baby Is the Cutest Meme Ever
All parents think their baby is ridiculously good-looking. However, when it comes to the handsome newborn department, the Powling family of Lowell, Massachusetts has the ultimate bragging rights for now.That's because of this photo Joey Powling Jr.'s mom, Sarah, snapped of the three-month-old. As you can see, the camera loves the little fella, and what makes his good looks all the more impressive is that the picture was taken when he was in the hospital recovering from open heart surgery.
The image went viral after Joey's uncle posted it on Reddit with the caption, "My three-month-old nephew just had open heart surgery. Chicks dig scars, right?"
Like other ridiculously photogenic people before him, Joey quickly became a meme. Check out some of our favorite Ridiculously Good-looking Surgery Baby macro images below.


text:
TechDoba needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 101 designs submitted by 33 freelance designers.
We are an IT Management and Software Consulting Company. In addition to our consulting services, we also provide software as a service solutions. So far our main presence is in the Pacific Northwest, and we are looking to attract more small to medium sized business with our products and solutions.
We love technology and strongly believe it is at the core of businesses today. At our roots, we are a conservative company who avoids risks where possible. We want our customers and future customers to believe that we are trustworthy, accountable, and flexible. We also don't want them to think that we are simply another technology start up, we are here for the long run.
Small to medium businesses who are small enough that they can't afford full time IT staff and would benefit from software created for other businesses with similar needs.
The logo must be delivered in vector format to allow for any future resizing needs. We love blues and greens. The logo must work on dark backgrounds as well as white backgrounds for letter head. In addition to the text "TechDoba", we would love to have some form of icon with it.
Please capitalize the T and the D.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Xyle scopeJune 26, 2006
At the recent @Media conference, I was pleased to share a stage with Rachel Andrew and Roger Johansson for a panel titled "Strategic CSS Project Management".
One of the tools I mentioned during the talk, the $20USD Xyle scope CSS debugger and analysis tool, is something I've been using and recommending since shortly after its release. I think it's high time I got around to writing up why exactly I think it's so great.
First and foremost, Xyle scope is not all things to every one. You can get very similar results from tools like the Firefox Web Developer's Toolbar and a future version of Safari. But I'll leave someone else to write those ones up.
What I like about Xyle scope is the richness of information it provides about a page's DOM and CSS, and how easy it is to get to that information. A typical scenario that's becoming far more common for me is that I come back into a site I last worked on a few months ago, and can't remember the specific
id and
class values I've used, or how specific my selectors ended up being, or increasingly, which files contain which style.
Here's an example of what I mean. On the front page of this site, there's a listing of the 5 most recent posts. If I needed to get back into the CSS at some point and start changing the formatting of the dates within that list, traditionally I'd have had to refresh my memory by determining a few things:
- What sort of HTML element the dates are contained in, and whether it has a class or id
- Parent elements, and their respective id/classes
- Which rules in the CSS apply to that element directly
- Which rules in the CSS that element inherits from parents
- The specificity of any of the CSS rules
- Which CSS files the appropriate rules exist within
Any time I need to make an edit to a page, I need to go through that list and figure out all the relevant information about the element in question. Though I only have a single file on this site, these days I favour breaking up a larger site's CSS into multiple files. This compounds the management problem, since it makes it a bit more difficult to narrow down on the exact rules I need. But that's only part of the problem, the rest is the mental overhead required to work out myself how the specificity breaks down, and which rules I actually want to edit in order to affect my change.
What I'm getting at is that the mental energy exerted to figure out all of this is something that can and should be done by software. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to just point and click on the element and have all of that information shown to me automatically. Enter Xyle scope.
I load up my page in the built-in browser, and then switch from browse mode to selection mode. The browser is simply Apple's WebKit engine (the same one as in Safari), and browse mode allows you to navigate a page, whereas selection mode allows you to click on any element and get detailed information about it:
The prevous screenshot gives you an idea of what all that click can tell you. Up in the top right (panel a), there's a DOM drill-down that shows you the entire hierarchy up to the element you've clicked on. It's informational, but it also acts as a DOM browser: if you need to, you can click on adjacent or parent elements and work your way back up or down the hierarchy (and the rest of the information, as well as the selection within the browser pane on the left, will update accordingly).
Down below the DOM browser (panel b), there's a markup synopsis that outlines what the HTML elements, classes, and ids are for the element (and its various children, where applicable).
Then down at the bottom right, there's a split-panel style rule browser. The more comprehensive listing includes selectors and fullrules on the left (panel c), and the summary on the right (panel d) is kind of a navigation for the left that includes just the selectors. The information in the left panel is extremely useful, and gives me exactly what I outlined above.
What we're looking at in panel c is a summary of the cascade, followed by a listing of all the style rules that could potentially apply to the date in that home page listing I picked as my example. You'll notice some properties are greyed out; these are properties that don't actually make up the final styling of the element, since they're being overridden in other, more specific rules. At a glance I can tell exactly which selectors are applying which properties, obviating the need to sift through multiple selectors and calculating specificity manually.
As well, you'll notice the word 'wintermint' sitting beside each selector in this panel; this is the name of the CSS file that the selector resides in. As I have one single CSS file for the site, it's not so useful in this instance. But when armed with a tool that clarifies to this level exactly which rules I should be looking at, you can see how that naturally eases any fear of maintaining multiple CSS files. Managing them is a snap with a tool like this.
I don't just use Xyle scope for debugging; I use it for any sort of editing or CSS creation that involves thinking carefully about specificity issues. It has cut down on the time I spend fooling around in a CSS file trying to figure out exactly where to make my change, and its mastery of specificity has actually impacted the quality of my overall CSS for the better. I can write tighter, more precise style rules without the worry that I won't be able to make sense of them later. And though other software offers similar results, as I mentioned at the top, I currently prefer Xyle scope's ease of use and stand-alone nature over built-in browser tools.
No, there's no Windows version at the moment, but Mac minis are cheap like bubble gum these days. You've already got a Mac for testing anyway, right? (And nope, I'm not getting paid for this posting or recommending the software, I'm simply an enthusiastic user.)
Good post, now I have a better idea of how Xylescope works. I had downloaded and tried this app out a few times, but never really sat down to use it extensively enough to really understand how to use it well. Thanks!
Another great extension for Firefox - Firebug ( https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1843/ ) is worth mentioning too.
Its "Inspect" feature is great. Like the rest :)
Dave, your post focuses primarily on using Xyle scope to edit and debug your own website and I agree it's a terrific tool for that. But another of Xyle's strengths is allowing you to really get under the hood of other people's websites as well! Sure, I could look at a site's (let's say, yours) source and look at the CSS file, but no other tool that I know of allows me to put those two bits of information together in such a cohesive, visual manner. So not only does Xyle help with development time, it also helps us learn! Great tool!
So how come you can't edit right in the programme itself? Or am I missing something?
"So how come you can't edit right in the programme itself?"
I don't know; ask them.
My guess: do one thing and do it well. Why patch on a half-assed text editor when a ton of great ones exist already? This app does what it does; I'm prefectly content to use it without an internal editor.
BTW, if anyone wants a debugger like this AND editor in the same package, check out StyleMaster - http://www.westciv.com/style_master/index.html
Something I wrote over a year ago, but good to see its getting some momentum. Hope Jürgen comes up with a Windows version too.
Great write-up, Dave! I knew there was something to this program, but I hadn't taken the time to dig into it yet. This helps a lot. As you mentioned before, a lot of this can be done with the Firefox Web Dev Extension, but this is very clean. I'm going to have to consider if it's $20 worth of clean, though!
"So how come you can't edit right in the programme itself?"
I know Jurgen was planning to start work on a separate CSS editor, but I think he might have changed his mind.
One other thing worth pointing out is the spiffy-neat CSS properties reference on the Cultured Code site. The keyboard support is really nice, too.
This tool looks very nice. If I will ever manage to switch to a mac, I would definitely give it a shot.
But for now I am happy with my PC workstation. I mostly use the DOM-Inspector that ships with Firefox in combination with the "InspectThis"-Extension (of course parallel to the "Web developer"- and "FireBug"-Extensions).
It gives me a tree-view of the DOM and also all the css-rules (along with the associated css-files) which apply to a certain element. For now I can live with that… although this "Xyle scope" looks very good. Especially the specificity-indicator. That one I would really like to be able to use. =)
You also have TopStyle which is really great. But it is a bit more expensive.
the firefox extension ViewFormattedSource can also show all selectors that are applied to an element, ordered by specificity.
I came across this web tool a little while back and have found it incredibly useful (especially if you ad a shortcut to it from your bookmarks).
This allows you to inspect items on a page on the fly. You put it in your favorites and click on it(or set up a shortcut) then it pops up a javascript window on the site you are on. It gives all kinds of information about the current site. Once you look at some of the shortcuts, it really becomes a powerful tool. Just thought I would give my two cents and yes Xyle scope is awesome as well!
For those who would like to edit directly their CSS, like Dave Shea mentioned there is of course StyleMaster, but a challenger is CSSEdit.
CSSEdit is Mac only whereas StyleMaster has the advantage of working on Windows as well as Mac OS.
CSSEdit is lightweight, quick, has a really smart auto-complete, a live preview, a clean visual editor for those who are still learning and is much cheaper than its full featured competitor.
The next CSSEdit release (actually still beta) also feature a XyleScope like selection mode. Not as complete as XyleScope, but it becomes really handy in a daily use.
ps: The main trouble I encounter with StyleMaster was a white flash on each refresh in StyleMaster, it trigger a headache in less than 10 minutes. Also they might have solved this problem by now, its been a while.
I may give this a go once I get a Mac. Those new Macbooks are just looking too tempting. The fact I can remote desktop to a PC and/or install Windows helped a lot in the decision :)
Dave, I saw your panel at @media and found it very informative. I'm just getting to grips with advanced CSS (playing catch-up, I know) and a tool like this is an excellent way to keep yourself sane! Shame it doens't ship for Windows as yet.
However, I'm finding Dreamweaver8 (which I use for most of my development) has much better CSS support than previous versions, and if you click any element in the design window, the CSS panel will tell you exactly which rules apply and where they are defined. That's pretty handy and saves a lot of head-scratching at times :-)
Great post! The app is awesome and literally saves me hours of work. Producing XHTML and CSS (use BBEdit for that) is one thing, but tweaking the CSS based layout on the fly is another! Couldn't live without it.
@juaron: Thanks for the heads up on that FF extension! That is one of the features of Xyle that I've desired most since being marooned once again on PCs several months back.
CssEdit is a good software with enhanced features that turns Css editing into fun. However, i believe it's overpriced, as afterall it's just a Css-editor.
Good post, now I have a better idea of how Xylescope works.
Thanks !


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After almost four hours of mental torture, Novak Djokovic sank to his knees, crouched over the hallowed Wimbledon turf, plucked a blade of grass and put it in his mouth – never before had victory tasted so good.
It was a victory that he should have been celebrating almost an hour earlier, it was a victory that almost slipped through his sweaty fingers, it was a victory he had been craving for three years.
At 6.07pm local time on Sunday, the Serb's agony finally turned into ecstasy when Roger Federer whipped a backhand into the net to end one of the greatest finals seen at the All England Club.
The 6-7(7) 6-4 7-6(4) 5-7 6-4 triumph elevated Djokovic to a double Wimbledon champion, while denying Federer a record eighth title.
Fifty two minutes earlier the Serb had also stood one point away from victory at 5-4 in the fourth set – only to watch Hawkeye deliver the cruellest of blows.
The technology that had left Federer seething in the 2007 final, when he yelled "God it's killing me", came to his rescue at match point down by ruling the Swiss's serve had in fact kissed the line after the line judge had called it out.
What should have led to a second serve from Federer had now turned into an ace, producing another twist in the gripping drama that had 15,000 people sitting on the edge of their seats and Djokovic tied up in knots.
"This win has a special importance to me mentally. Because I managed to not just win against my opponent but win against myself as well and find that inner strength that got me the trophy today," said an emotional Djokovic, who had lost five of his previous six grand slam finals.
Special final
"I could have easily lost my concentration in the fifth and just handed him the win.
"It's the most special grand slam final I've played. At the time of my career for this grand slam trophy to arrive is crucial, especially after losing several grand slam finals in a row. Started doubting a little bit.
"I needed this win a lot," added Djokovic, whose Wednesday wedding with long-time girlfriend Jelena Ristic, has now turned into a double celebration.
The triumph handed Djokovic a seventh grand slam title – surpassing the total won by his coach Boris Becker – and halted Federer's bid to become the oldest men's champion at the All England Club for more than half a century.
"It was a great final. I can't believe I made it to five, it wasn't looking good for a while," the 32-year-old Federer said after missing out on an 18th grand slam title.
"I thought it had everything for fans to like.
"The swing of momentum in the first set, him coming back in the second, staying even in the third, all the back and forth in the fourth set … when things got a bit crazy, and then the drama of the fifth.
"I kept believing… and kept trying to play offensive tennis, I'm very disappointed not being rewarded with victory. I was very sad walking off the court not with the winner's trophy.
"I already have seven. It's not like I need another one. But it would have been awfully nice to have it," added the Swiss, who was consoled by Prince William and his wife the Duchess of Cambridge after walking off court a beaten man.
It was a contest in which Federer fired down 29 screaming aces, including four in one game, produced 75 winners, and won 180 points in total – just six fewer than the champion.
While Federer was disappointed at coming off second best in another five-set final thriller, six years after being beaten by Rafael Nadal in what is dubbed the 'greatest match ever', losing was not even an option for Djokovic.
It was therefore little surprise that the man whose tennis had been rather wayward this past fortnight, brought out the heavy artillery on Sunday.
From the off, 20-shot rallies were followed by 22-stroke exchanges as the two gladiators went toe-to-toe, both showing astonishing levels of athleticism as they chased down anything the other threw at them.
Dropshots were turned into rasping angled winners, lobs were chased down and flicked away for audacious winners, and volleys flowed off racket strings like liquid gold.
"This has been the best quality grand slam final that I've ever been part of. Quality-wise from the first to last point, this is definitely the best match," Djokovic said following a performance that also lifted him to the top of the world rankings.
During the presentation ceremony, he told the Swiss directly: "I respect your career and everything you have done… thank you for letting me win today."
The absence of break points in the first set led the battling duo into a tiebreak, Djokovic carving out the first set point at 6-5 only to see it vanish seconds later when he hit a forehand wide.
Super coaches
Four points later Federer had his usually unflappable coach, Stefan Edberg, leaping to his feet and shouting "Yes" and "C'mon" from the front row of the player's box when his charge nabbed the first set thanks to a Djokovic backhand error.
With the showdown also billed as the 'battle of the super-coaches', Edberg having beaten Becker in two of the three Wimbledon finals they had contested from 1988 to 1990, the clearly agitated German slumped back into his seat.
The hollering crowd, however, were ecstatic. As they rose to salute the man many call "a tennis god", the Serb looked up to the heavens, holding his racket grip between pressed palms, praying for some divine intervention.
He did not need any help from outside forces when he broke Federer, who had won 99 percent of his service games during his run to the final, for a 2-1 second-set lead with a blazing crosscourt passing shot.
That was enough to give the top seed the set and when he took the third 7-4 in the tiebreak, it seemed there would be no way back for the crowd favorite.
But Federer loves the feeling of ball on racket, he loves creating magic – and that is exactly what his ageing limbs and battle-weary mind produced in the fourth set when he stormed back from 5-2 down, saved match point, thanked Hawkeye, and left Djokovic stunned and deflated.
The cheering crowd wanted more, Djokovic did not.
Holding his arms wide and he gestured skywards, perhaps questioning: "What more do I have to do to beat this man?"
After Federer saved three nerve-jangling break points in the eighth game, Djokovic's prayers were finally and thankfully answered two games later, allowing him to enjoy "a nice bite" of grass for the second time in four years.
"I thought that there was less grass today than it was a few years ago, so I had a little bit of soil, as well. It tastes like the best meal that I ever had in my life."


text:
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"Foreign Decisions
79. We were provided with two thick bundles of decisions about the corresponding patent in a host of jurisdictions (the US, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, China and Hungary). In some countries there was more than one decision.
80. I did not find this all that helpful. Mr Carr invited us particularly to follow the Canadian decisions (where the patent was held invalid) and in particular the decision of Hughes J of June 5th 2007. He essentially followed the IG approach in saying that the Patent had to disclose an advantage over the prior art. It does not seem he was shown the EPO case law (why should he have been?). It does not seem that he was invited to consider patentability on the basis of whether the Patent disclosed real advantages over what was actually known. So I decline Mr Carr's suggestion.Jacob LJ's sentiment regarding the German citation was quietly echoed by the Master of the Rolls:
81. I do not find it necessary to refer to any of the other decisions, save for that of the German Supreme Court (the Bundesgerichthof) of 16th December 2008, which I have mentioned briefly already. The Court held the Patent valid. All the arguments before us were available to be considered, although only some were considered explicitly. The Bundespatentsgericht had held the patent anticipated over Chakrabarti 1980 (a point not run here). The BGH rejected both anticipation and obviousness over 235, pithily but essentially for the same reasons as Floyd J did and we do. They had an expert who said that there was no reason to pick olanzapine out of the vast prior class and that was enough both for novelty and non-obviousness. And they rejected in some more detail obviousness over Chakrabarti 1980.
82. We of course are not bound by a decision of another national court. And indeed it is quite possible for national courts applying the same law to come to different conclusions because the evidence is different. So I say no more than that I am glad we reach the same decision as the BGH. It is an example of the fact that, by and large, different courts in Europe do reach the same conclusions – even though, perhaps understandably, the rarer cases where they differ get more publicity".
"118. I should add that I draw comfort in reaching this conclusion from the fact that in Germany both the Oberlandsgericht, determining infringement in the decision I have mentioned in paragraph [23], and the Bundesgerichthof, determining validity on appeal from the Bundespatentgericht, reached the same conclusion, namely that the Patent was valid".


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Egypt Violence Pressures Oil
Tensions in Egypt helped push crude-oil futures past $100 a barrel for the first time since September. Jerry diColo reports on MoneyBeat. Photo: AP.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... ay ay mm mm ... live ... here's where Cairo ... hundreds of thousands of pro Mohammad Morsi demonstrators seeing right there ... voicing their support as an ultimatum set by the Egyptian military ... furthermore since the Dow resolve the crisis has come and gone Egyptians were bracing ... for potentially buyer violent confrontation ... between Morsi's supporters in the military ... after Morsi rebuffed a stern warning ... from the head of the armed forces but as of now and it was a violent night but as of now ... fell forty four thirty pm Cairo time ... is a waiting game to see who made who makes the next move ... morning everybody welcome to the MoneyBeat show I am Paul vignette where obviously falling everything that happens in Egypt but right now or take a step back one a look a what's going on in the oil markets are really being affected by this ... the scene of the last couple of days charity polo ... covers oil for us to see crude oil over a hundred and one dollars a barrel ... on you really all about Egypt originators nurture aam and that that's for their own stock in on the market and its first summer of two dollars a barrel since the things of Number man and yet I mean this is one of those cases where ... even the region is a huge supply remain in this well under one of longer million dollar barrels a day ... its instability in the Middle East and when that happens ... you know the alarm bells go off on a trading plan is that ... I mean honestly if it's not production XOM has a transportation the Suez now we have ... all that great I mean is that it's it's it you know the ... engine sits in one of those choke points yet you know and when the oil market will handle a time when its approach and offices can now there's other areas around the world ... aam and so anytime that were seen some issues in this country and there's concerns about ... the government's this stability in the ability for ships to pass there are there for the ... lines of the Trinity go through ... any type of those issues can deftly is stifling an array is the temperatures ... among oil market and to snow question and there's always the result was the email possibility that ... these things spread further that they may start to make another nearby countries so that ... you know other countries get involved in regional tensions rise and then you know that there's a lot been innocence when the Middle East is a lot of things can get to see what else is there ... are two big bang for the file is the what did OVTI West Texas area which is always just showed you a second ago right and as Brian which is more of the European benchmark in a very severe ... ah but find it shifted the WTI this morning's of more than the current whoa that's actually summon the wooden watching for awhile now aam the reason that men actually has less to do with what's going on in juvenile lot of what's the lesson here in the marker reaction is a story in the bishop or priest data about talking about how ... come we're seeing in the US is that you know ... there's a ton of supply visit us upon us ... it's coming back and ... we're also seeing now is that all that supply which in stock in the US ... is starting to get the infrastructure to bring it to refineries on the cost of infinity and so the prices of really that the brand price yet and that EI price have really just come back and then collapsed at this point in their ... trading very close to something unseen over the three-year now it's ... on par with live the Dryden weekend as president stuck around three fifteen it seems like forever ... this move in the oil market is that going asserts not only that but it's not translate to a tiny filtered guessing from the shore or whatever was not enough to see it ... aam and Yala to seventy with the stock around three fifty ... three off eighty cents a gallon for a while actually think ... Rex a five month lows in terms of new gasoline prices and that actually has a lot more to do with what's happening the U S market which is that regardless of what we're seeing in Egypt or were seeing in France ... we're very well supplied here and ... the U S view of the U S Truman and still get oil production ... aam it's really allowed the market to stay on steadier than on so we're not seen big spikes in either direction for the High Peninsula Iowa word for sticking around ... to hide your nickel think you're a much


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(Reuters) - Easton-Bell Sports, which makes Riddell helmets for the National Football League and other equipment for the National Hockey League, is being prepared for a sale by its private equity owner, in a deal that could fetch as much as $900 million, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Easton-Bell's owner, New York-based buyout firm Fenway Partners, is finalizing advisers for the process, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.
Based in Van Nuys, California, the company sells its products under several brands, including Easton, Bell, Riddell, Giro, Blackburn and Easton Cycling. It generated net sales of $827.2 million in fiscal year 2012.
Easton-Bell may be a tough sale, two of the people said, as a Colorado judge ruled this week that its Riddell brand had not sufficiently warned players wearing their football helmets about the danger of potential concussions.
Riddell was ordered to pay several million dollars in damages to a man who may have suffered brain damage as the result of a concussion in 2008 during a high school football game.
The sale also comes as Fenway Partners, once considered a top middle-market buyout firm, has seen a stream of managing directors depart, Buyouts reported earlier this year. A spokesman for Fenway Partners declined to comment.
Editing by Maureen Bavdek


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Industry News
Agilent Technologies Inc. announced it has acquired certain assets of Signametrics, a manufacturer of PXI, VXI, PCI and USB digital multimeters (DMM), and modular switching products. These test and measurement products are commonly used in manufacturing production and automotive test systems. The acquisition expands Agilent's current offering in DMMs and data acquisition and switching solutions.
CPI International Inc. announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which CPI International (CPI) will be acquired by an affiliate of Veritas Capital Fund IV (Veritas Capital) for $19.50 per share in cash. The purchase price reflects a premium of approximately 35 percent over the closing price of CPI common stock on November 24, 2010, and 38 percent over the average closing price of CPI common stock for the 90 days ending November 24, 2010. The transaction is valued at approximately $525 M.
Microsemi Corp., a manufacturer of high performance analog-mixed signal integrated circuits, high reliability semiconductors and RF subsystems, announced the successful completion of its tender offer, through its wholly owned subsidiary Artful Acquisition Corp., for all outstanding shares of Actel Corp. Based upon information provided by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., the depositary for the tender offer, approximately 23.1 million shares, representing approximately 87.9 percent of Actel's outstanding shares, were validly tendered and not withdrawn in the offer, together with an additional 860,000 shares tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery. Artful Acquisition Corp. accepted for payment all such validly tendered shares. Microsemi does not intend to offer a subsequent offering period in connection with the offer.
Fairchild Semiconductor, long-acknowledged as a power semiconductor leader, is increasing its focus on the mobile handset market. The company is building on its success in the development of semiconductor solutions that deliver new levels of functionality to help differentiate mobile designs. Fairchild creates feature-specific semiconductor products that complement chip sets in mobile devices. It is increasing investment in and development of a targeted portfolio of analog and power intellectual property (IP) to support handset manufacturers' specific signal path requirements.
Technical Research and Manufacturing Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacturing of passive RF and microwave components, is announcing the changing of its name to TRM Microwave and the launch of its new website, www.trmmicrowave.com.
RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD), a leader in the design and manufacture of high performance radio frequency components and compound semiconductor technologies, announced the company has added its world-class Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) technology to RFMD's foundry services portfolio and will begin providing a full suite of GaAs Pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor (PHEMT) technologies to customers of its Foundry Services business unit. Specifically, RFMD will make available three distinct GaAs PHEMT technologies optimized for high power, low noise and RF switching products.
Tektronix Service Solutions, a single-source provider of instrument calibration, repair and related services, announced the expansion of services into Canada with a new service lab in Mississauga, Ontario. The expansion provides enhanced service options and added flexibility for companies that rely on their test, measurement and control instrumentation for day to day operations. Tektronix Service Solutions' new facility is located at 400 Britannia Road East, Unit 2, Mississauga, ON L4Z 1X9.
M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. announced that its Santa Clara Design Center has moved to a new facility with state-of-the-art equipment to accommodate the expanded engineering and business functions that occur at this location. This Design Center is focused on the design and development of monolithic PHEMT integrated solutions covering 6 to 50 GHz for commercial and military applications. M/A-COM Tech had previously announced in May 2010 that Henrik Morkner joined the company as Director of Engineering to lead this team in Santa Clara, and this expansion points to the group's commitment to collaborating with its marketing teams and customers to develop industry-leading devices. The new Santa Clara Design Center occupies approximately 11,600 square feet and includes a 1,200 square foot engineering lab for design and test characterization of MMICs, surface-mount devices (SMD) and connectorized modules.
Renaissance Electronics Corp./HXI announced that HXI has moved to the corporate headquarters in Harvard, MA. The new address is 12 Lancaster County Road, Harvard, MA 01451 and the phone number is (978) 772-7774. Web and e-mail addresses remain the same.
IKE Micro, and its sister company Bonding Source, have moved into a newly refurbished facility, doubling their capacity. The 14,000 square foot IKE Micro facility includes a 3,200 Class 10,000 clean room, ESD flooring in the clean room and SMT areas, a larger material handling area for additional turnkey business, and proprietary manufacturing areas. IKE has also installed a high end Palomar 8000 automatic ball bonding machine. The expanded Bonding Source facility includes an area for monitored freezers and a clean room for the laser cutting of epoxy pre-forms. Bonding Source has purchased a CO2 laser machine that will be installed in February 2011.
Remcom announced a new partner in its program to provide custom computer systems for speeding FDTD electromagnetic simulation performance. Exxact Corp. develops and manufactures innovatively engineered high performance systems for graphics processing unit (GPU) computing, professional workstation, visual computing and other applications. The company's custom configured systems include the most modern GPU technology available today and can run XFdtd® simulations at speeds orders of magnitudes faster than traditional hardware.
Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) and Cellular South announced their collaboration to build and deploy a fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband network using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. The agreement also calls for Samsung Mobile to design and launch two LTE-enabled smartphone handsets available in 2011 in Cellular South's 700 MHz footprint.
Giga-tronics announced that Giga-tronics Inc. and Advanced Test Equipment Rentals (ATEC) partnered to offer lease and rental of Giga-tronics' high-end RF and microwave test and measurement equipment. ATEC, a leader in electronic test equipment asset management, will provide rental and leasing of Giga-tronics RF and microwave test solutions, including fast-switching microwave signal generators, microwave power amplifiers, and high-accuracy power meters and sensors. The partnering agreement will include options for integrated promotion, advertising and sales of test solutions. ATEC will be able to access the US market with the Giga-tronics sales channel and Giga-tronics will be able to supply its products for rental, lease and distribution through ATEC.
Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that Moray Rumney, the lead technologist specializing in LTE at Agilent, has won the Informa LTE North America 2010 award for individual contribution to LTE development. The Informa LTE North America Awards recognize and celebrate excellence in the LTE community. The nine awards categories cover LTE standards, product design and network deployment, plus the individual contribution award. Rumney's work is centered around radio standardization at 3GPP RAN WG4 and more recently at the LTE/SAE Trial Initiative where he helped develop LTE field trial tests. A frequent presenter and chair at wireless industry conferences, he has published many technical articles, hosted web seminars and edited LTE and the Evolution to 4G Wireless. His current standards work includes development of antenna testing methods for LTE MIMO user equipment, and he is working with other Agilent LTE experts on the second edition of Agilent's LTE book, which will include 4G LTE-Advanced.
Rogers Corp. announced that it has signed an agreement with PolyWorks Corp., North Smithfield, RI, to license PolyWorks' technology for molding Rogers' industry-leading high performance foam brand, PORON microcellular polyurethanes, into three-dimensional shapes. The agreement, finalized on November 2, 2010, stems from a multi-year joint development effort to adapt PolyWorks' molding technology to PORON materials technology, enabling Rogers to expand its PORON urethane offerings beyond its traditional continuous sheet form. It calls for Rogers to acquire a custom molding machine from PolyWorks and a license to utilize PolyWorks' technology for the molding of PORON formulations.
Maxim Integrated Products recently qualified and shipped production analog product built on 300 mm wafers. This gives Maxim a significant technology edge in the analog/mixed-signal market. Maxim is now producing 300 mm wafers using its state-of-the-art 180 nm BCD analog process technology (S18) in Powerchip Technology Corp.'s wafer fab through a foundry agreement. This achievement gives Maxim a strategic advantage in the analog market, providing a capital-efficient manufacturing model that enables quick response to changing market conditions. It extends Maxim's hybrid approach to wafer fab capacity, utilizing both in-house and outsourced wafer fabrication.
The US Department of Defense is awarding Raytheon a $52.25 M contract modification for 19 APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars to be retrofitted into F/A-18E/F aircraft, Lots 26-29. The APG-79 AESA radar, which will replace the APG-73 radar, will provide increased air-to-air detection and track range, increased air-to-ground targeting capabilities, longer launch range for standoff weapons, enhanced capability against advanced threats, and optimized utilization of the Super Hornet's weapons systems. The contract was awarded to Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems of El Segundo, CA. Work will be performed in Forest, MS (43 percent); Dallas, TX (29 percent); El Segundo, CA (27 percent); and Andover, MA (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2013.
Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, has received orders from the US Marine Corps totaling $21 M for additional Falcon III® AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radios, vehicular amplifier adapters and other accessories. The Marine Corps will acquire the systems as part of its accelerating transition to high-speed, wideband networked tactical communications. The orders were received in July, August and September.
Anaren Inc. has been selected to receive a contract valued in excess of $20 M from Thales-Alenia-Space (France) for development and production of integrated beamforming assemblies that will be deployed on the IridiumNEXT satellite payload. The contract award, expected to be finalized within 90 days, covers design services and manufacture of up to 81 beamforming networks. Work has been authorized to begin immediately, with production deliveries starting in October 2012.
ITS Electronics Inc. announced an initial $4 M contract with TECOM Industries Inc. to supply its High Power Transceiver-HPT that will enable the antenna system for a major commercial carrier's new onboard Wi-Fi service. TECOM's KuStream™ 1000 antenna system is being installed on the carrier's fleet of more than 500 aircraft. Equipage has begun at a rate of 15 aircraft per month, and will ultimately expand to 25 aircraft per month.
Herley Industries Inc. announced that its Micro Systems Inc. subsidiary in Fort Walton Beach, FL, has been awarded $3 M in contracts to accomplish changes to its aerial target ground control stations and airborne avionics for a US Navy customer. The contracts require a change in operating frequency and a major update to the company's ground control station hardware to transition to the use of laptop computers to replace aging custom designed target and master control consoles. The change in operating frequency is directed at minimizing interference issues that are sometimes encountered with the existing systems.
Integral Systems Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, RT Logic, has been awarded more than $21 M in multiple government, military and commercial contracts over the past three months, $11.4 M of which was closed in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010. Under the terms of the contracts, RT Logic will provide its proven commercial-based Telemetrix® signal processing systems that are currently used by greater than 85 percent of US space missions.
TriQuint Semiconductor, an RF products manufacturer and foundry services provider, announced that it has been awarded a Defense Production Act Title III gallium nitride (GaN) manufacturing development contract by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The overall goal of the contract is to increase yield, lower costs and improve time-to-market cycles for defense and commercial GaN integrated circuits. The contract was awarded based on TriQuint's success and experience developing new gallium nitride technologies and products.
Auriga Microwave recently secured two contracts with Department of Defense prime contractors. The work product from the two contracts will be derived from Auriga's ongoing successful efforts within the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program.
Demonstrating its key role in helping drive the most advanced 3G and 4G mobile devices, ANADIGICS Inc. announced that its power amplifiers have been selected by Samsung for their highly anticipated GALAXY Tab product. ANADIGICS' AWC6323 power amplifier (PA) is used in the Samsung GALAXY Tab offered by Sprint and Verizon Wireless in the United States, and ANADIGICS' AWU6601 PA powers the Samsung GALAXY Tab in the Korean market. Both PAs are part of the ANADIGICS High-Efficiency-at-Low-Power (HELP™) portfolio of products that enhance the performance and efficiency of 3G devices.
Applied Radar Inc. recently delivered a 64-Channel Analog RF Receiver Unit (ARRU-64™) to the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. The system development was funded through an AFRL Phase-3 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract managed by AFRL at Hanscom AFB, MA, and the hardware prototype was purchased by the Air Force through a separate contract from MacAulay-Brown Inc. (MacB) in Dayton, OH.
SkyCross announced it has appointed Ben Naskar, a wireless industry veteran, to the position of CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Naskar succeeds outgoing Chairman and Acting CEO, Dennis McKenna, who had previously announced his plan to retire at the end of 2010. Naskar has more than 20 years of experience in the wireless semiconductor industry. Prior to joining SkyCross, he was a Corporate Officer, Vice President and General Manager of the Wireless Networking Business Unit at Atheros Communications. In this position, Naskar grew business unit revenue by 200 percent over three years, gaining market share in all product segments. Previously, Naskar served as Vice President and General Manager of the Communications Group at PMC-Sierra.
Aeroflex/Inmet has announced that Mark Burton joined its sales team as a Regional Manager of Business Development. Burton had served as Director of Business Development for MCE Technologies prior to its being purchased by Aeroflex. He has also served in various sales, marketing and operations roles at Allan Industries, JFW, Broadwave and Trilithic. He can be reached at (734) 792-9608 or by e-mail at: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Rep Appointments
Paciwave Inc., a supplier of microwave solid-state switches, attenuators, DLVAs and custom integrated microwave assemblies, announced the expansion of its network of regional sales representatives with the following new representative appointments: Medeos SRL (+39 02 458 62160), located in the greater Milano area, will be representing the company in Italy. Versys SARL (+33 1 69 59 1653), located in the greater Paris area, will be representing the company in France.
Valpey Fisher Corp. announced the addition of GIGACOMP to the Valpey Fisher global sales network as its authorized sales representative for all Valpey Fisher Corp. product lines in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Eastern Europe. The cooperation between Valpey Fisher and GIGACOMP will create greater local presence for Valpey Fisher to introduce its new RF/microwave products in Europe.
America II Electronics Inc., an independent distributor of semiconductors and passive components, has finalized a global authorized distribution agreement with Aviel Electronics, a division of RF Industries. Through this agreement, America II strengthens its product portfolio and further demonstrates a commitment to its customers.


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Cheerful Weather for the Wedding
Item #: IB91705
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|A young woman frets upstairs in her family's country manor on her wedding day, fearful she's about to marry the wrong man. Downstairs, both her fiancé and her former lover grow increasingly anxious.
|Directed by:
|Donald Rice
|Felicity Jones, Elizabeth McGovern, Mackenzie Crook, Luke Treadaway, ZoëTapper, Ellie Kendrick, Barbara Flynn, Julian Wadham, Olly Alexander, Fenella Woolgar, John Standing, Kenneth Collard, Emil Lager, James Norton, Luke Ward-Wilkinson, Joanna Hole, Sophie Stanton, Paola Dionisotti, Melanie Gray, Jim Conway, Elizabeth Webster, Ben Greaves Neal, Jonathan Saxby, Edward Saxby, Oliver Gilbert, Eva Traynor, Kevin Hudson


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ACTEGA is honored to receive the Innovative Supplier Award from WestRock which recognizes outstanding performance in research and development efforts related to the commercial success of our MotionCoat™ product line.
KBA-Sheetfed, the world's second-largest manufacturer of sheetfed offset printing presses, and ACTEGA have entered a strategic alliance in the field of inline finishing. It is the target of this cooperation to provide users with high-quality coating systems at the high-performance sheetfed offset presses.
For the third time, ACTEGA Artística has received the Rexam's Supplier Award. With this award, REXAM honors those suppliers that show outstanding and reliable performance.
FoodSafe® - These are coatings that fulfil applicable food packaging regulations. Thus, FoodSafe coatings are not only low migration, but certified for the direct contact to foodstuffs. Moreover, they comply with the Swiss Ordinance.
Hardly any other industry sector is more tightly controlled than the one of food contact materials. This also applies to sealants and coatings for metal vacuum closures. ACTEGA has taken up this challenge and released the first PVC-free sealing compound to the market.
"Together with our customers, we would like to protect from pharmaceutical counterfeiting. This requires the adequate realization of the new legislation on falsified medicines. With the new encoding coating by ACTEGA Terra, we offer our customers an innovative product solution for a safe and flexible coding."
Tasked to produce a regulations ruler on synthetic stock for measuring salt water fish, Ambassador Press searched for a water-resistant UV coating solution. With the ACTEGA UV 9834 Gloss Coating, inks did not flake off from the substrate – results were fantastic.
As a market-oriented organization, ACTEGA offers high-value products for eight customer segments. Discover our solutions for your specific application.
As a valued partner of its industries, ACTEGA provides a great variety of product solutions for packaging and graphic arts.
With strong brands we are focused on what we do best. To produce high-quality products and to provide customer-oriented services. Discover our world of innovative brands.
The business of ACTEGA is headquartered in Wesel, Germany and operates manufacturing sites in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
An innovative tool that helps you to find the suitable coating for your defined requirements. Realized in cooperation with pacproject, KBA and storaenso.
Again, our photo wall calendar shows the diversity of coating finishing. Access production and finishing details online and visit our innovative calendar microsite.


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Often people deride professional wrestling as not being a true sporting endeavour because the winner and loser of each match are predetermined. Yet, after watching the first two rounds of the 2013 NHL Playoffs the question has to be asked as to whether or not the games are any less "rigged" compared to pro wrestling.
As many in Canada are aware, 2013 marks the twentieth year of the last Stanley Cup winner from Canada, the Montreal Canadiens. Since 1993, no other team from Canada has won the Stanley Cup. That's whole generations of hockey fans in Canada who have grown up and never known what it is to see one of the country's NHL teams win the Stanley Cup. That's a tragedy. Through that time there has always been at least six Canadian NHL teams out of a total of 30; 20% of the league. Statistically speaking that means we should have seen at least one Stanley Cup winner from Canada during the last 20 years, but instead there have been none.
So could this be a case of the Canadian NHL teams either being mismanaged or unlucky? It seems very unlikely. Since 1993 there have been five occasions when a Canadian NHL team has made the Stanley Cup Finals; the Vancouver Canucks in 1994, the Calgary Flames in 2004, the Edmonton Oilers in 2005, the Ottawa Senators in 2007, and the Vancouver Canucks in 2011.
From all appearances, the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals between the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers seems to have been refereed and judged fairly by the league without any undue influence on the end result. Yet, fast forward to the 1999 final between the Dallas Stars and the Buffalo Sabres and you begin to see questionable results. For the entire 1998-99 season if a player was in the goaltender's crease when a goal was scored that goal would be disallowed. Yet, in the third overtime of Game 6 the goal scored by Brett Hull to win the game and the series was allowed despite the fact that Hull's foot was in the goal crease.
When the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals between the Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning rolled around the NHL officials were conveniently not counting what appeared to be a legitimate goal by the Calgary Flames in Game 6. In the third period of that game, Martin Gelinas appeared to score a goal for Calgary, but the play continued on; and Tampa Bay eventually scored to tie up the game and send it to overtime. The goal by Gelinas was never even officially reviewed by the NHL and by not doing so created an impression of the league trying to favour the Lightning. The Flames would go on to lose Game 6 in overtime and eventually the Stanley Cup.
The 2006 Stanley Cup winners, the Carolina Hurricanes, would win the finals through a different sort of dubious means. In the first round of the NHL playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes Justin Williams hit Saku Koivu of the Canadiens with a high stick in the eye despite Koivu wearing a visor. Not only was there no suspension, but there was no penalty on the play. The following game a similar high sticking incident was committed by Carolina and again no suspension was forthcoming for the offending Hurricanes player. In the Eastern Conference Finals Carolina continued injuring players on the other side by taking out several Buffalo Sabres defencemen. Not one Carolina Hurricanes player was suspended. By the time of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, the Hurricanes had perfected the art of injuring players without getting suspended when they took out Oilers' goaltender Dwayne Roloson in the final period of Game 1. The Oilers were never quite the same after that and while they valiantly pushed the series to seven games they eventually lost to Carolina. Of course, no Hurricane player was suspended, nor any of the coaching staff who had obviously implemented this approach.
In 2006 Chris Pronger demanded a trade, but limited the NHL teams he would be willing to report to. His actions resulted in the Edmonton Oilers having to trade him to the Anaheim Ducks for very little in return. The Ducks would go on to win the Stanley Cup in 2007 over the Ottawa Senators, and Pronger was a key reason why.
Sadly, that final also slanted things in favour of the Anaheim Ducks which did have a discernible effect on the results. First, the Ducks delayed the beginning of the final by saying their arena was unavailable for a couple of days due to it being used for other events. Later events would show that the contracts signed with their arena contained clauses that would have allowed the Stanley Cup final to start on-time. This meant that the Ducks got additional days of rest that they shouldn't have had; and because the Ottawa Senators had beaten the Buffalo Sabres in five games they were off so long that rust set in and they weren't as game ready as Anaheim.
However, that would not be the end of the unsettling advantages given to the Ducks. Throughout the 2006-07 season, and all the rest of the NHL playoffs, the referees had actively made an effort to call the interference and holding which had plagued the game for years and made for some truly ugly hockey. Yet, for the 2007 Stanley Cup Final the referees conveniently stopped calling those sorts of penalties further slanting things in the Ducks favour. The image that sums up the 2007 Stanley Cup Final best is an Anaheim Ducks defenceman sitting on top of Ottawa Senators winger Dany Heatley for about five minutes in front of the referee while laughing at him. Is it any surprise that the smaller Ottawa Senators team only won one game and lost the Stanley Cup?
By the 2010-11 season it became more and more apparent that the NHL was focused on having teams from the larger television markets win the Stanley Cup. The previous spring the Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup since 1961, and that trend would continue in 2011 when the Boston Bruins would beat the Vancouver Canucks in the final. The Bruins would employ a similar strategy throughout that season which the Hurricanes had employed back in 2006 -- injure the opponent's players and not get suspended.
Who can forget the ugly hit by the Bruins captain Zdeno Chara on the Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty towards the end of the 2010-2011 season which resulted in no suspension and excuses from the league about why it wasn't illegal? Yet, the NHL would display their hypocrisy when they suspended Vancouver Canucks' defenceman Aaron Rome for a lesser hit on the Bruins Nathan Horton in Game 3 of the finals. While Canucks goaltender Roberto Loungo did not play well in the losses to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 final, if you review a number of the goals you can see the Bruins frequently interfering with him in the crease which went uncalled and further helped Boston to win.
With all of that on display it seems strange that so many analysts didn't understand why in Game 5 of their 2013 second round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the last remaining team from Canada, the Ottawa Senators didn't play with the desperation of a team trying to stave off elimination; they knew the fix was in. The one-sided refereeing, the first two doubtful goals allowed by league reviews, the no-trade/no-movement clauses, the NHL allowing Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby to call up Jarome Iginla just before the trade deadline to encourage him to nix the deal that would have sent him to the Bruins and better helped his former team, the Calgary Flames, and a salary cap system that's a joke and allows Pittsburgh to bring in a bunch of ringers and make a mockery of the regular season; all of these are why the Ottawa Senators didn't kill themselves in Game 5 and make the eventual victory by the Pittsburgh Penguins more glorious.
It is pretty apparent that the entire Canadian marketplace is probably not as important to the NHL brass as the Los Angeles or Chicago marketplace. So for anyone wondering why the NHL would want certain teams to win the Stanley Cup over others it's rather simple. It's all about money. The Stanley Cup wins by the Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes, and the Tampa Bay Lightning were all about popularizing the game of hockey in non-traditional markets. The wins by the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings were about garnering the money and ratings in the second largest market in the United States and the wins by the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks were for similar reasons.
Being the Pittsburgh Penguins are made up of star players picked up from teams throughout the North American continent, who have been heavily marketed by the NHL, it is highly probable that the league wants them in the Stanley Cup final this year against either Chicago, or one of the California based teams in order to generate a truck full of money.
If that isn't a case of setting up a system to predetermine the outcome of the Stanley Cup I don't know what is. Still, it wouldn't be so horrendous if the National Hockey League would at least stop pretending that these are fair contests and rather simply sporting exhibitions.
That's in large part why I have infinitely more respect for professional wrestling as they simply try to entertain you and not to insult your intelligence.
Many years ago Brett Hull was playing a game in Ottawa against the Ottawa Senators where he was roundly booed. He was interviewed during the intermission and asked how he felt about it. He responded and said it didn't bother him because he saw himself as an entertainer. It may have been the most honest thing he ever said during his career.
Matthew Byer would like to thank his father David Byer for his thoughts and opinions which went in to the making of this article. Check out Matthew's advice column The Male Perspective.


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Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen is a new United Nations advocate for environmental awareness — and reportedly wants her own president to do more to halt Amazon deforestation.
Bundchen tells reporters in New York that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should propose better laws to stop the razing of the world's largest rain forest.
Her comments were published Monday in major Brazilian newspapers that covered her comments as she was named a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Environment Program.
Silva said Monday that his new proposal to limit sugarcane production in the Amazon and other ecologically sensitive areas is proof of his commitment to Amazon preservation. It was unveiled last week.
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Mini-golf as a kid and some long drives out in the desert as a teenager are about the extent of my golfing experience.
Mini-golf as a kid and some long drives out in the desert as a teenager are about the extent of my golfing experience.
Despite my lack of knowledge on the green, I can still help improve your golf game. Not with swing skills or shoe recommendations, but with some simple strength and mobility tools.
Many of my past and current athletes play golf. Some play as a hobby and others play in tournaments. No matter your level of play, there are two key principles to getting better at most any sport. The first is strength and the other is mobility.
There is no substitute for absolute strength. Technique only goes so far. It needs to be fueled by strength. When it comes to improving golfers, I have found that latissimus dorsi strength is key. It leads to a strong back and aids in rotational force needed for a powerful swing.
Correlated with strength is stability. Lats stability lets player to focus a swing instead of just crushing a ball down-range in an unknown direction.
Also, strength balance is necessary. Though a player may be dominant on the right or left side, having strength balanced between the two sides is crucial. It can help prevent viral movement patterns that can degrade your technique and possibly lead to injury.
Sports generally have a few repetitive movements that are sport-specific. Repetitive movements are great for practicing. That's how we improve performance. However, repetitive use of the muscles involved with those movements can cause them to tighten; especially maximal effort movements. Without being promoted to relax and release tension when not in use, they can lead to crummy movement patterns and injury.
The thoracic spine is the spinal segment in the middle of the back. If it is tight, the torso won't rotate as it should and the drive will be less powerful than it could be. Remember, you can have as much as 30 percent of your strength tied up in tight muscles.
I've discovered in my history with golfers that they could use some back strength and mobility. Strength in the lats to allow for a powerful and accurate drive. Mobility in the thoracic spine is needed to facilitate the rotation required, to reduce the risk of injury and to allow for proper technique.
The first exercise is a negative pullup. If you are unable to do pullups, then use the lat pull-down machine at your gym. The "negative" part refers to the use of a slow tempo on the eccentric (letting the body down from the pullup) portion of the movement.
I have found this creates both strength and stability in the back. I have used this exercise in the past to make women strong enough to drive from the "men's" tee without sacrificing accuracy. It can easily make you swing just as far with a lighter club. I have had athletes jump two club sizes because of strength gains.
No, they did not get bulky, just strong. The time frame to see results could be anywhere from two to three weeks to upward of six months. If you can't perform a pullup, then work toward that goal on the assisted pullup machine or use a band as featured in today's column. Remember to keep your goal movement specific. Everything else will come. Be patient if pullups are difficult for you.
The thoracic spine drill is good for breaking up knots that hold back a powerful torso rotation. This may take as little as two to three weeks to see major results. The result is to keep an eye out for being able to play a full game with decreased middle and/or lumbar pain and a fuller swing instead of a partial-range motion swing. If you are already mobile, then the ease of your swing may surprise you. Loose muscles can also mean less warm-up time. The warm-up swings you use can morph into patterning drills instead of back-loosening exercises. That is as they should be.


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Dallas Cowboys to Open Pre-Season Football This Year
The NFL announced today that the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins will kick off pre-season football later this summer.The two teams will meet in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio on August 4th. The day prior to that will be the induction ceremonies for the class this year. Entering the hall, will be former Dallas offensive lineman Larry Allen, former Dolphins wide receiver Chris Carter, and Bill Parcells who coached the Cowboys and later was Miami's Vice President of Football Operations.