Convert woods to pastureland naturally through rotational grazing with pigs.
With the right setup, a few pigs can turn your overgrown property into workable land.
Buckwheat establishes quickly and grows well in low-fertility soils.
Pigs will graze on young saplings, ferns, grasses, and weeds, but they are also notorious rooters.
Once overgrown forest, the author's property is now being restored to workable land through rotational grazing.
A pig's strong snout and sharp hooves make them excellent rototillers.
The author's paddock eight weeks after seeding buckwheat.
Gritty works hard to keep his property in tip-top shape.
When I first laid eyes on the neglected and overgrown property I would soon call my own, I saw through the saplings and trees that engulfed the pastures of the historic farm. I saw potential, and knew that with time and work it could be restored to its former use of pastureland again. It was apparent that no land management had been practiced on the 200-year-old farm for at least half a century. That meant in addition to the trees, there were decades’ worth of leaf litter and forest floor cover to work through to unearth the soil below.
What I did not see or plan for was the price tag attached to the equipment required to do all of this work mechanically, as well as the cost of properly fertilizing the land in preparation for seeding. To add insult to injury, being a New England farm, the land is riddled with ledge and boulders, which would make navigating any kind of equipment through the rock minefield nearly impossible. All of these barriers forced me to seek out a more natural method to work the land while simultaneously fertilizing.
Pigs are the farm’s natural rototillers, and by utilizing intensive rotational grazing they can not only turn over the thick detritus with their snouts, but also provide necessary aeration and fertilization to the soil in the process. Utilizing cover crops after moving the pigs out of a paddock provides erosion control while increasing biomass and fertility of the topsoil.
Rotational grazing is the practice of rotating livestock throughout paddocks. An intensive rotational grazing system uses this method as a way to maximize the quality and quantity of forage. Pigs will graze on young saplings, ferns, grasses, and weeds, but they are also notorious rooters. This behavior earns them a bad reputation for being destructive animals that will ruin any land they are raised on. With continual exposure, their pointy hooves and strong snouts can and will do significant damage to the land and, over time, deplete the soil’s quality. However, by exercising good land stewardship practices, this behavior can be used as an advantage to enrich the soil and turn woods into grazing land.
Before getting piglets, the land should be properly prepared and fenced. I prepared my area in the fall, knowing there was a good chance there would be snow on the ground when it was time to bring the piglets home the following spring. Because I wanted to create a silvopasture as opposed to open pasture, I selected hardwood trees to stay that would provide shade, shelter, and food for future livestock. After the choice trees were selected, everything else was cut down as close to the ground as possible. Pigs will root down several inches, even up to a foot or more around the stumps, allowing stumps to be cut below the soil line where they can be covered with dirt and seeded over in most cases. This drastically cuts down on the amount of work required with a stumper.
When implementing a rotational system, proper fencing design is critical to success. Poor fencing equates to pigs escaping and potentially never being recaptured. When trained properly to respect it, pigs can do very well on pasture that’s solely electric, without any permanent perimeter fence. My piglets had exposure to a hot wire when I got them, but for safe measure they spent their first couple of weeks at my farm in a training pen with hot wire surrounded by cattle panels before I was confident they wouldn’t test it. They spent the next six and a half months contained by electric alone, and never once attempted an escape. A three-strand perimeter at 4, 8, and 12 to 16 inches above the ground is ideal, as it will contain a pig of any size. The lower wires will prevent small piglets from being able to slip out underneath, while the top wire will be at nose and eye level for a 300-pound hog. To break up the perimeter into paddocks, polywire fence with insulated handles is preferable, as it’s the quickest and easiest to set up with fiberglass posts, giving the needed flexibility in a rotational setup.
Once the unwanted trees have been removed from the area and a perimeter has been established, a plan for paddock layout needs to be designed. The 1⁄3-acre area that I focused on is roughly rectangular in shape. My original plan was to divide this area into five rectangular paddocks of approximately equal size to rotate the pigs through from left to right.
I quickly learned that they have a tendency to focus on their favorite areas while leaving others seemingly untouched, and they were utilizing only approximately half of the space for forage. This forced me to divide each paddock in half, now creating 10 paddocks each roughly 1,450 square feet in size. Although the pigs were in a smaller area, they worked the land more evenly, and to compensate, were rotated more frequently to prevent the soil from being overworked.
The main concern with rotational grazing with any type of livestock is how often they should be moved onto new ground. The frequency of which they need to be rotated can vary depending on the number and size of the pigs as well as the paddock size. They should be kept on an area long enough that the ground is thoroughly worked, with any leaf litter and detritus turned over exposing the soil. They will eat invasive weed species, while stimulating growth of grasses and grazing forages through their rooting. Left in one spot for too long, pigs will cause the soil to become compacted.
The frequency of rotation is going to determine how long the paddock is able to rest before putting the pigs back on it. Once they are rotated out of a paddock, it should lie farrow for a minimum of 21 to 28 days. This fallow period may help to break the cycle of any parasites that are potentially present, while allowing cover crops and native grasses to grow back. I found the ideal rotating frequency to be two to three weeks, depending on the size of the pig. A small 50-pound pig will do significantly less damage and may be in a paddock for three weeks before being moved, as opposed to a 250-pound one that needs to be moved every two weeks or even less. With a 10-paddock setup and rotation frequency of every two weeks on average, the paddock is allowed to rest for 18 weeks before being worked again. This is more than enough time for parasite cycles to break and cover crops to flourish.
Cover crops are a great way to add natural organic fertilizer to an area while providing additional forage for the pigs to consume. Depending on geographic location, season, and soil type, the choice of cover crop can change. Here in the Northeast, raising pigs from spring to early winter, the temperature ranges from below freezing to the mid-90s. Because of this drastic temperature swing between the seasons, the cover crops I use in the spring and fall months differ from those in the summer.
Cover crops are broken down into two main categories: legume and nonlegume varieties. Legume crops include perennial clover and winter annuals such as field peas, hairy vetch, and various clovers. Nonlegumes include the cereal grains (rye, wheat, barley), various grasses, and brassicas.
Traditionally, both of these crops are used as a way to fix nutrients into the soil, suppress weeds, and increase the biomass of the soil between planting seasons for crops. In a rotational grazing system, I use them as forage to supplement feed, as well as a way to add organic matter to the soil and prevent erosion while the paddock lies fallow between periods of the pigs grazing. The crops are not tilled by a tractor, but by the pig’s snout. Because of this, I focus on cover crops that grow as quickly as possible, provide ample forage, and turn into fertilizer quickly through decomposition.
After rotating the pigs throughout the paddocks and seeding with cover crops behind them, the land was unrecognizable six months later. What used to be thick forest floor cover built up over several decades became rich, dark, loamy soil. No longer shaded by a canopy of trees, there is now sun exposure for native grasses to grow and pasture grasses to be sown in the spring.
Although using pigs to clear land is a slower method, they are able to simultaneously rototill and fertilize with ease regardless of the terrain. The additional use of cover crops not only adds organic biomass and natural fertilizer, but it also provides forage for the pigs as well, helping cut feed costs. Hiring a crew or renting equipment to come in and do the same work may take a fraction of the time, but it would come at an enormous cost and headache. Through the use of pigs, I was able to achieve the same result naturally, with the added bonus of filling the freezer with two 300-pound hogs. No matter the amount of acreage or the land’s layout, a rotational grazing system can be applied to naturally convert woods into usable pastureland.
Buckwheat: A quick-growing nonlegume crop for summer and cool weather seasons. Not frost tolerant. Rejuvenates low-fertility soils, suppresses weeds, decomposes quickly to add organic fertilizer, and attracts beneficial insects.
Barley: Cool-season nonlegume cereal grain. Provides excellent erosion control, suppresses weeds, and produces more biomass in a shorter time than any other cereal grain.
Oats: Cool-season annual nonlegume crop. Inexpensive, suppresses weeds, prevents erosion, and improves productivity of legumes when planted in a mixture.
Red Clover: Cool-season legume. Inexpensive, creates loamy topsoil, suppresses weeds, provides excellent forage, and is widely adapted to many soil types.
Related: Find the perfect pig for your property with GRIT's "Pig Breed Guide."
Kate St.Cyr lives on a small farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts. She and her husband are rejuvenating the neglected land on their 1700s farm. Kate raises dairy goats, pigs, meat chickens, laying hens, turkeys, geese, and ducks. She uses her livestock to help restore the land back to viable pasture. She keeps vegetable and fruit gardens, and enjoys canning and cooking. In her spare time, she’s a freelance writer and photographer. Read her blog The Modern Day Settler.


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How to value covenants not to compete; the appraiser must put a dollar figure on a series of qualitative assessments.
Valuation consultants often are called on by corporate buyers and sellers to appraise various intangible assets as part of an acquisition. Although an intangible asset appraisal may be necessary for a number of reasons, one of the most common reasons is to allocate the purchase price for tax reporting purposes.
One intangible asset that's appearing more frequently is the convenant not to compete. This is an agreement that precludes the seller from competing with the buyer for a specified time. From a tax perspective, valuing the covenant is particularly advantageous to a buyer because he or she can deduct annually, as an ordinary business expense, the amortized value of the covenant based on its legal life. According to Internal Revenue Code section 167, two conditions must be present for depreciation of an intangible asset to be allowed: The asset's useful life must be limited and it must be possible to estimate its value with reasonable accuracy.
The covenant not to compete presents some unique valuation problems. Its appraised value frequently is subject to detailed review by the Internal Revenue Service. This article discusses some of the reasons for the current increased interest in these valuation issues and provides an example of one method of valuing a typical covenant not to compete.
The slower pace of mergers and acquisitions in 1989 didn't dampen buyer willingness to pay premiums for companies they acquired. Often a portion of these premiums can be allocated to the covenant not to compete. Premiums are bolstered by buyers who are willing to pay, and even fight for, acquisitions that extend their product line or geographic reach and boost their ability to compete.
A typical covenant not to compete prevents the seller from competing with the buyer for a specified time. There are four elements that must be present to make the covenant a legal, valid and enforceable contract.
1. There must be an offer and an acceptance.
2. Both the buyer and seller must have the legal capacity to make a contract.
3. There must be no evidence of mistake, fraud, undue influence or duress.
4. Consideration, or the exchange of one item of value for another, must be present.
While covenants not to compete can be quite restrictive, they can't be so restrictive as to prevent the seller from earning a living. And the period of restriction must be reasonable; most covenants specify a term between 3 and 10 years.
If consideration must be present to make the covenant a valid contract and if this consideration is specified in the covenant document itself, why is an appraisal advisable to value the covenant not to compete? The answer hinges on some important provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and on the definition of "value."
1. Assets consisting of cash, demand deposits and similar items.
2. Assets consisting of certificates of deposits, marketable securities and similar items.
3. All assets other than those listed in 1, 2 and 4--both tangible and intangible.
4. Assets in the nature of goodwill and going concern value.
A covenant not to compete must be shown to be separate from goodwill to qualify for category 3.
The term "fair market value" is used in both IRC section 338 and temporary regulation 1.338(b)-2T. In general, it's defined as the estimated amount at which the property might be exchanged between a willing buyer and a willing seller--neither being under compulsion and each having reasonable knowledge of all relevant facts. Implicit in this definition is the concept of arm's-length exchange--that is, both parties are well-informed or well-advised and each is acting in what he considers his own best interest.
In an acquisition, the fair market value of a covenant not to compete is taxed to the seller at ordinary income rates, while the sale of the rest of the business is taxed at capital gains rates. Before the TRA, sellers were hesitant to agree to a highly valued covenant because ordinary income tax rates were higher than capital gains rates. Buyers, of course, preferred a large value on the covenant because it's an amortizable asset that will yield future tax savings. These adversarial positions created an arm's-length exchange situation and the price specified in the contract therefore was considered to represent strong evidence of fair market value.
Because the TRA taxes all income--including capital gains--at the same rate as ordinary income, a seller now is indifferent about whether he sells the stock of a company or a covenant not to compete. Thus, a greater burden of proof now exists in demonstrating the agreed-on value represents an arm's-length agreement. A qualified appraisal can help.
Valuation consultants, the IRS and the Tax Court all have concentrated on economic substance and the intent of the parties as the controlling factors in determining whether to allocate a portion of the purchase price to a covenant not to compete. Economic substance exists if it can be shown the buyer would not have been willing to purchase the assets or stock without the covenant or would not have paid the price he did without the covenant. The intent of the parties generally can be shown by writing an allocated amount in the purchase agreement.
Several relevant court cases illustrate the important considerations--and the wide range of values--attached to a covenant not to compete.
* In R.A. Hammett, TCM1987-205, the court ruled the amount allocated to a covenant not to compete, although low, properly reflected the intent of the parties. This was a case arising from the purchase of an insurance agency in which $500 of a $200,000 purchase price was allocated to the covenant.
* In James A. Patterson (85-1904, 6th Cir., Feb. 2, 1987), the taxpayer had tried to make an after-the-fact allocation of $1 million of a $19 million purchase price to a covenant not to compete. The U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a court ruling that when there's no agreement between a buyer and a seller to allocate any part of the purchase price to a covenant, the seller could treat all proceeds as capital gain.
* In an earlier case, Peterson Machine Tool, Inc., 79-TC no. 4, 1982, however, the court placed a value on a covenant not to compete despite the absence of a specific amount in the agreement. The sales contract, however, did state explicitly that covenants not to compete were essential to the consummation of the sale of the business. The court concluded this statement of materiality was sufficient to allocate one-quarter ($70,000) of the purchase price to the covenants.
* In Gene L. Kreider (Docket no. 4389-81, TC Mem 1984-68, Feb. 13, 1984), the court concluded that $454,255 of a purchase price of $1.2 million should be allocated to a covenant not to compete. In this case the court cited the seller's ability to be a formidable competitor if not restricted by the covenant.
These cases illustrate the wide range of values that can be assigned to covenants not to compete. In R.A. Hammett, the value was 0.25% of the purchase price. In James A. Patterson, the court denied an attempt to allocate 5.3% of the purchase price to a covenant. In Peterson Machine Tool, the court allocated 25% of the purchase price to the covenant and in Gene L. Kreider, the court allocated 37.9% of the purchase price.
* Will both an employment agreement and a covenant not to compete be included in the language of the contract?
* What's the contract term?
* Who are the parties to the covenant?
* How restrictive is the language?
* How old are the signers of the covenant?
* What technical or industry knowledge do the signers possess?
* How well known in the industry are the signers?
* Does the seller possess an "entrepreneurial" bent?
* How long has the business been in operation?
* How are the major competitors?
* Are there any barriers to entry into competition?
* What's the market share of the company?
* Are any trade secrets or unique service or manufacturing methods involved?
* How important are client relationships in the industry?
* What's the probability of the seller competing in each year of the covenant if he were free to do so?
* How much is the company earning? How much is it forecast to earn?
* What's the appropriate discount rate to use to determine the present value of future earnings or cash flow?
Obviously, it's important for the valuation consultant to read the contractual document and obtain a thorough understanding of its provisions. As a general rule, the more restrictive the language, the more valuable the covenant. But the language can't be so restrictive that it makes the covenant unenforceable.
The appraiser should interview the person subject to the covenant not to compete to determine the likelihood, absent the covenant, that he would leave and compete. Age can be a factor here, as can "entrepreneurial" bent--that is, the desire to run the show. The person's technical knowledge and industry reputation also should be assessed. Finally, the valuation consultant should analyze the industry carefully.
There are three approaches to appraisals--the cost approach, the market approach and the income approach. All must be considered and the approach or approaches deemed most suitable for valuing each element of property should be selected.
The cost approach sets value according to the cost of reproducing or replacing the property. Deductions are made for physical deterioration and functional and economic obsolescence, if present and meansurable.
The market approach, on the other hand, estimates value by analyzing recent sales of comparable property.
The cost approach and the market approach generally apply in the valuation of tangible assets--such as machinery and equipment and real estate. In valuing a covenant not to compete, the income approach is used most often.
1. Project the total monetary benefits expected to accrue to an investor in te property.
2. Discount these to present worth using a discount rate that considers both the degree of risk involved and the layers of taxes included in the projection--precorporate tax, after-corporate tax and preindividual tax, or after both the corporate and the individual taxes.
Everything else being equal, the higher the risk, the higher the discount rate and the fewer layers of taxes included in the projection, the higher the discount rate.
The monetary benefits of a covenant not to compete include how much the buyer's earnings would be hurt if the seller entered into competition, tempered by the probability the seller actually would enter into competition at any point during the term of the covenant. Also included would be tax savings resulting from the covenant's amortization. All of the qualitative factors described above should be used to assess these benefits and to determine an appropriate discount rate.
Joe smith is the senior executive with Smithco, a management consulting firm, which is being acquired by the much larger Nationalco. He's 50 years old, in good health, has worked for Smithco for 15 years and has developed some strong relationships with many of Smithco's most important clients. Because of these facts, Nationalco requests he sign a 3-year agreement not to compete within a certain geographic territory or to attempt to solicit any clients of either Smithco or Nationalco.
The valuation consultant engaged by Smithco and Nationalco to determine the value of the covenant has obtained both optimistic and pessimistic 5-year earnings projections for Smithco. Based on his financial analysis of historical results and industry trends and forecasts, the consultant determines these projections are reasonable. Furthermore, he has interviewed key managers at both companies and estimates that, if Joe Smith did compete, earnings of Smithco would decline by approximately 50% in the initial year of competition but that it gradually would recover the earnings over a 3-year period.
in each year is shown in exhibit 1 on page 91.
The valuation consultant estimates the effective tax rate is 40% and determines the appropriate discount rate to be 15%. Since the covenant has a contractual life of 3 years, its value will be amortized over this period. Thus, the valuation model becomes one based on cash flow and must account for tax savings from amortization as an element of that cash flow. The valuation model is presented in exhibit 2 above.
Determining the value of a covenant not to compete, or testing the reasonableness of a value that has been assigned to such a covenant in a purchase agreement, is a process in wider use since the TRA. The appraisal process itself in volves a careful analysis of qualitative data supporting the economic reality of the covenant not to compete and the intent of the parties, as well as a detailed pro forma look at the effect of possible competition on the buyer.
LEE C. RUSSELL, CPA, CMA, is manager of professional services for American Appraisal Associates, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an international valuation consulting firm. He is a senior member of the American Society of Appraisers.
Auditors and bank examiners: a new era of cooperation; cooperation can lead to more effective bank audits and examinations.
Purchases of stock and a covenant not to compete: a trap for the unwary.
Tax Court allows postpurchase allocation to covenant not to compete.
Deducting a portion of the costs of sec. 197 intangible assets over a shorter period.
Noncompete agreement entered into contemporaneously with stock redemption.
Deduction for covenant not to compete allowed after accounting firm break-up.
Noncompetition payments are taxable to donor of CRUT.


This document defines an XMPP protocol extension for communicating the status of a user in a chat session, thus indicating whether a chat partner is actively engaged in the chat, composing a message, temporarily paused, inactive, or gone. The protocol can be used in the context of a one-to-one chat session or a multi-user chat room.
Has this person paused the composition?
Is this person actively paying attention to the chat?
Is this person temporarily inactive (i.e., not paying attention right now)?
Is this person simply gone (i.e., no longer participating in the chat)?
In essence, chat state notifications can be thought of as a form of chat-specific presence. For example, consider what might happen if a user "loses" a chat window on his desktop; the user might still be interacting with his messaging client (thus never automatically changing his basic presence to "away"), but the user's state with regard to the chat session might change progressively from active to inactive to gone. This information would help the user's conversation partner understand why she has not received a response to her messages in the chat session.
A "content message" -- that is, a message stanza whose primary meaning is contained in standard messaging content such as the XMPP <body/> or any other properly-namespaced child element(s) other than those defined for chat state notifications in this specification.
A "standalone notification" -- that is, a message stanza that does not contain standard messaging content but instead is intended to specify only the chat state since it contains only a child element qualified by the "http://jabber.org/protocol/chatstates" namespace (or possibly also the XMPP <thread/> element; see the Threads section below).
The five chat states specified in this document are described below. The suggested triggers are simply that: suggestions. It is up to the implementation to determine when to generate chat state notifications and which notifications to generate.
<active/> User is actively participating in the chat session. User accepts an initial content message, sends a content message, gives focus to the chat session interface (perhaps after being inactive), or is otherwise paying attention to the conversation.
<inactive/> User has not been actively participating in the chat session. User has not interacted with the chat session interface for an intermediate period of time (e.g., 2 minutes).
<gone/> User has effectively ended their participation in the chat session. User has not interacted with the chat session interface, system, or device for a relatively long period of time (e.g., 10 minutes).
<composing/> User is composing a message. User is actively interacting with a message input interface specific to this chat session (e.g., by typing in the input area of a chat window).
<paused/> User had been composing but now has stopped. User was composing but has not interacted with the message input interface for a short period of time (e.g., 30 seconds).
Note that the <active/>, <inactive/>, and <gone/> states refer to the overall chat session interface whereas the <composing/> and <paused/> states refer to the message input interface (and are in some sense a subset of <active/>). Some implementations might support only events related to the message input interface, some implementations might support only events related to the overall chat session interface, and some implementations might support both kinds of events.
The following figure attempts to capture the most common state transitions in visual form (all four of the states shown can also transition to the GONE state).
Note: Other transitions are not forbidden if the developers of an implementation feel that such transitions are desirable (e.g., INACTIVE to PAUSED if a user returns to a chat session interface containing an unfinished message).
Before generating chat state notifications, a User SHOULD explicitly discover whether the Contact supports the protocol defined herein (as described in the Discovering Support section of this document) or explicitly negotiate the use of chat state notifications with the Contact (e.g., via Stanza Session Negotiation (XEP-0155) ).
If the User desires chat state notifications, the message(s) that it sends to the Contact before receiving a reply MUST contain a chat state notification extension, which SHOULD be <active/>.
If the Contact replies but does not include a chat state notification extension, the User MUST NOT send subsequent chat state notifications to the Contact.
If the Contact replies and includes an <active/> notification (or sends a standalone notification to the User), the User and Contact SHOULD send subsequent notifications for supported chat states (as specified in the next subsection) by including an <active/> notification in each content message and sending standalone notifications for the chat states they support (at a minimum, the <composing/> state).
The foregoing rules imply that the sending of chat state notifications is bidirectional (i.e., both User and Contact will either send or not send chat state notifications) rather than unidirectional (i.e., one of the conversation partners will send chat state notifications but the other will not); this is by design.
A client MUST allow users to configure whether they want to send chat state notifications.
Note: Support for only <active/> and <composing/> is functionally equivalent to supporting the Composing event from XEP-0022.
Even if the user types continuously for a long time (e.g., while composing a lengthy reply), the client MUST NOT send more than one standalone <composing/> notification in a row. More generally, a client MUST NOT send a second instance of any given standalone notification (i.e., a standalone notification MUST be followed by a different state, not repetition of the same state). However, every content message SHOULD contain an <active/> notification.
This protocol MUST NOT be used with stanzas other than <message/>.
This protocol SHOULD NOT be used with message types other than "chat" or "groupchat".
The 'type' attribute for content messages and standalone notifications SHOULD be set to a value of "chat" (for one-to-one sessions) or "groupchat" (for many-to-many sessions).
A chat session MAY span multiple user sessions (i.e., chat state is orthogonal to the presence of one's conversation partner), although this is unlikely given the suggested timing of event triggers.
A client MAY send chat state notifications even if not all room occupants do so.
A client SHOULD NOT generate <gone/> notifications.
A client SHOULD ignore <gone/> notifications received from other room occupants.
Note: Use of chat state notifications in the context of groupchat can result in multicasting of such notifications. Forewarned is forearmed.
A message stanza MUST NOT contain more than one child element qualified by the 'http://jabber.org/protocol/chatstates' namespace.
A message stanza that contains standard instant messaging content SHOULD NOT contain a chat state notification extension other than <active/>, where "standard instant messaging content" is taken to mean the <body/>, <subject/>, and <thread/> child elements defined in XMPP IM  or any other child element that would lead the recipient to treat the stanza as an instant message as explained in Message Stanza Profiles (XEP-0226) .
A message stanza that does not contain standard messaging content and is intended to specify only the chat state MUST NOT contain any child elements other than the chat state notification extension, which SHOULD be a state other than <active/>; however, if threads are used (see below) then the standalone notification MUST also contain the <thread/> element.
Clients MUST copy back Thread IDs (i.e., the value of the <thread/> element) in any replies.
When a client terminates a one-to-one chat session (e.g., when a user closes the chat session interface), it MUST generate a <gone/> event.
Upon receiving a <gone/> event, a client MUST NOT re-use the same Thread ID and MUST generate a new Thread ID for any subsequent chat messages sent to the conversation partner.
Servers in constrained network environments (e.g., serving small-footprint clients via Jabber HTTP Polling (XEP-0025)  or BOSH (XEP-0124) ) and services that rebroadcast message stanzas (e.g., Multi-User Chat services) MAY process standalone notifications differently from other messages. In particular, a server or service MAY refuse to deliver standalone notifications to its users, and SHOULD NOT store them offline. In contrast to XEP-0022, chat state notifications are completely the responsibility of the client, and MUST NOT be generated by a server or service.
In the following conversation, both User <bernardo@shakespeare.lit> and Contact <francisco@shakespeare.lit> support chat state notifications.
Because the User now knows that the Contact supports chat state notifications, the User can send other notification types.
The following conversation flow illustrates in more detail the workings of chat state notifications (in this case also using threads) between a User <romeo@shakespeare.lit> and a Contact <juliet@capulet.com>.
Romeo begins composing a reply to Juliet's heartfelt question, and his client notifies Juliet that he is composing a reply.
Romeo realizes his reply is too rash and pauses to choose the right words; after some (configurable) time period, his client senses the delay and sends a state of <paused/>.
Romeo starts composing again, and his Jabber client sends a <composing/> notification to Juliet's client.
Romeo finally sends his reply.
My, these star-crossed lovers do go on, don't they?
A client that receives a chat state notification might never receive another message or chat state notification from the other entity (e.g., because the other entity crashes or goes offline) and needs to plan accordingly.
The states of a chat thread can reveal information about a user's interaction with his or her computer, including his or her physical presence; such information SHOULD NOT be revealed to conversation partners who are not trusted to know such information. Client implementations MUST provide a mechanism that enables the user to disable chat state notifications if desired.
The XMPP Registrar  includes 'http://jabber.org/protocol/chatstates' in its registry of protocol namespaces.
1. XEP-0022: Message Events <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0022.html>.
2. These states do not necessarily refer to the state of the client interface and certainly not to the disposition of a particular message. However, the user's involvement with the system, device, chat session interface, or input interface can provide important clues regarding the user's involvement with the chat session; these clues can be used by the client in determining when to generate chat state notifications.
5. XEP-0155: Stanza Session Negotiation <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0155.html>.
8. XEP-0226: Message Stanza Profiles <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0226.html>.
9. XEP-0201: Best Practices for Message Threads <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0201.html>.
10. XEP-0025: Jabber HTTP Polling <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0025.html>.
11. XEP-0124: Bidirectional-streams Over Synchronous HTTP <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0124.html>.
Clarified that any state change is allowed.
Per a vote of the XMPP Council, advanced specification to Final; clarified the implicit discovery mechanism.
Added service discovery use case.
Clarified suggested triggers to discourage prospective notifications.
Clarified terminology; specified suggested state changes; removed section on superseding XEP-0022.
Further clarified business rules regarding generation of notifications.
Clarified business rules regarding generation of notifications; added reference to XEP-0155; rewrote introduction; moved previous introductory text to section on superseding XEP-0022.
Added optional <initial/> state; added business rule on repetition of notifications; added implementation note.
Made <inactive/> state definition consistent with <paused/> per list discussion; made slight adjustments to wording throughout.
Further clarified state definitions and adjusted suggested event timing.
Clarified the meaning of the <gone/> state; adjusted suggested timing for events.
Added <paused/> state; defined the chat states; clarified the state chart; simplified the business rules.
Clarified that 'type' must be "chat" or "groupchat" for chat state notification messages.
Made Thread IDs optional; made <inactive/> and <gone/> states optional if Thread IDs are not used; removed requirement for explicit service discovery in favor of implicit discovery.
Clarified terminology; added support for groupchat; added several implementation notes.


Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder - Hook Ups!
W hen a divorced woman on "the wrong side of 45 with a brace of kids" began to write about her experiences of being single last week, she opened her blog with the extraordinary statement that she was in "relationship no man's land", condemned to be alone for the rest of her life. The anonymous woman, whose blog is called The Plankton, is not alone in believing that there are problems specific to being a single woman in middle age.
A survey this month found eight out of 10 women over 50 think they have become invisible to men. Seven out of 10 women in the study felt overlooked by the fashion industry, while Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder of women in their 60s believed they had lost their identity by being labelled as a "mum". Women and men are living longer and fitter lives; the average age at which Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder divorce is rising — 41 now for women and 43 for men — and the number of single parents is projected to rise to 1.
There is Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder new demographic of confident and experienced women, at their sexual peak as far as science is concerned, who would like to find a partner. But life, friendship and love for the single woman in her mids and beyond has its own particular complications and sorrows.
Susan Quilliam, a relationships expert and agony aunt, said that some women were suffering "terribly". They are also much Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder in a rush to get into a Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder relationship and are much less likely to give someone a second chance, which may seem callous but they are much more likely to fall in love quickly.
For men, it's a case of you fulfil the criteria, let's buy the double duvet. It's a shame men aim for the younger age range because women of 45 and 55 are arguably much more sexually mature and able to give a lot more pleasure than, say, a woman of The author of the Plankton blog Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder up the emotional aftermath of her divorce in bleak fashion: I am already in Dating a divorced man in his 50s Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder wilderness — maybe [facing] my time again, over 40 years, it's possible, but with no one.
She points to a passage in the book Intimacy by Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder Kureshi, when his narrator briefly considers the fate of the woman he is leaving: She will, unfortunately, become the recipient of sympathy. At dinner parties divorced men will be placed next to her. But according to many singles, even getting invited to the dinner party can be tricky when people tend to socialise with other couples as they get older and settled into marriages and parenthood.
Looking for second-time love when children are a first priority is a challenge. Nicola Lamond, Netmums spokeswoman and mother, said: Single parents describe themselves as lonely, isolated, vulnerable and worthless. There is a real sense their world has shrunk. Trying to meet people in bars and clubs can feel like a younger person's game, especially when you need a single friend and a babysitter to get there.
Susan Broom is a bubbly woman with a ready laugh who is 48, single, and has now given up actively looking for a man, certainly online, and is not afraid to admit that she does feel the sadness of that.
I prefer men of my own age. But a lot of those men my age are only looking at women in their 20s or Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder. Because of its 'anything is possible', 'sweet-shop' appeal, online dating just encourages men to Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder their ideal — usually younger — mate.
Which is depressing if you're a Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder of Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder certain age. Studies across all cultures and nations have shown a consistent trend for men to have younger partners.
An unhappy pattern for plus women Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder want Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder new partner. It's an invisible band of women, they don't complain and they just get on with their lives, but actually it's tough for them. It's hard to meet people, especially in London. I'd like to try to set something up for the single people in my area, I know they are out there.
A physical event where people actually meet instead of everybody finding online dating a bit of a letdown and just staying home feeling sorry for themselves. Women also report losing friends because of the differences between single and attached lives. So it's tough because you also have to get out there and find a new bunch of female mates too, and, of course, they end up being younger than you, and then you worry about going out with them and they'll be getting chatted up and you won't!
And in a real way — not just in a 'singledom rocks' way. Because quite often it really doesn't. There are rewards, however, for remaining single, says Kate Grussing, the founder of the management consultancy firm Sapphire Partners, who believes single, childless women in their 40s and 50s have huge advantages Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder work.
They have proved themselves, they are good at what they do and at the top of their game. And they will have got where they are in their careers by juggling far fewer balls on the way up. When actress Lynda Bellingham, 62, met her third husband, Michael Pattemore, in she assumed "he wouldn't fancy me".
Reaching Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder 50s was an unsettling time, and I felt that my romantic life was over. And that kind of assumption is something which holds a lot of women back, claims Julia Macmillan.
Our battle is to change women's mindset and get women to believe that there are younger men who want what Dating a divorced man in his 50s tinder are, experienced, strong-willed, confident. Men in their mids slow down, women are dynamic and full of energy. We need to match that energy. We have a lot of happy matches.
But nor does everyone feel that they will find love on the web. Topics Online dating The Observer. Relationships Internet Dating Middle age features. Order by newest oldest recommendations. Show 25 25 50 All. Threads collapsed expanded unthreaded. Loading comments… Trouble loading?
About ME: If you can handle me come take a shot. Very attractive, intelligent, sweet, healthy girl looking for intelligent, caring business man for ltr and possible marriage. I am looking for a grown-up man, no boys. Someone that wants to meet up. Drop me a message and lets hook up.
Girl ended date after 1 hour..bad sign?
Should I just get over my trust issues?
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How Does Bipolar Disorder Present in Children and Adolescents?
Even doctors have difficulty diagnosing bipolar disorder in children and teens because the typical symptoms of bipolar seen in adults may not be the same in children and adolescents.
Bipolar disorder is a controversial area within the field of children's mental health. Today, most doctors agree that it exists. The disagreement centers on the symptoms of bipolar disorder in young people and how they differ from those in adults.
When it comes to diagnosing young people vs. adults, bipolar disorder may look different. Children with bipolar disorder often have mood swings that shift rapidly over hours or even minutes, while adults' mood swings typically shift over days to weeks. Whereas adults with bipolar disorder generally have discrete periods of depression and discrete periods of mania, children with bipolar disorder are more likely to have moods that are not distinct. Children who develop the disorder very young are particularly likely to experience irritability and frequent mood shifts rather than discrete periods of mania and depression.
During a depressive episode, children or adolescents may look frequently sad or tearful; they may be constantly irritable; or they may be tired, listless, or uninterested in favorite activities. Children or adolescents having an episode of mania often have more prominent irritability, aggression, and inconsolability than adults having an episode of mania. In a manic or mixed state they may be excessively giddy, happy, or silly; they may be intensely irritable, aggressive or inconsolable; and there may be changes in their sleep patterns. They may be restless, persistently active, and more talkative than usual; they may display behavior that is risky or hypersexual beyond what is age-appropriate; and they may have grandiose thoughts, such as the belief that they are more powerful than others; they may also hear voices. Explosive outbursts may involve physical aggression or extended, rageful tantrums.
A child or adolescent who first experiences symptoms of depression may in fact turn out to have bipolar disorder. Studies of children with depression show that 20 percent or more will go on to develop bipolar disorder, depending on the characteristics of the study population and the length of time they were followed. Since it is uncertain whether a child with a first episode of depression will later develop symptoms of mania, children with depression must be carefully monitored for the emergence of mania symptoms.
Because doctors only recently began to identify bipolar disorder in children, researchers have little data with which to predict the long-term course of the illness. It is not known whether early-onset bipolar disorder with rapidly shifting moods evolves over time if untreated into the more classic, episodic form of the disorder as the child reaches adulthood, or whether this outcome can be prevented by early intervention and treatment. Puberty is a time of high risk for the disorder to develop in individuals with genetic vulnerability.
If bipolar disorder is left untreated, all major realms of the child's life (including peer relationships, school functioning, and family functioning) are likely to suffer. Early treatment with proper medication and other interventions generally improves the long-term course of the illness. A trained clinician (such as a child psychiatrist, child psychologist, or pediatric neurologist) should integrate information from home, school, and the clinical visit to make a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
A child or adolescent with bipolar disorder can behave quite differently at home than at school or in the doctor's office. Because the child appears different in different settings, diagnosing bipolar disorder sometimes invites disagreement between parents, schools, and clinicians. Children's behavior, which reflects their brain's mood regulation, may be well controlled at school or at a doctor's office, but the same child may have severe temper outbursts at home.
In general, young people with bipolar disorder are most symptomatic at home, since moods are harder to control when the child feels tired (morning or evening), stressed by the intensity of family relationships, or pressured by the demands of daily responsibilities (such as homework and having to get ready for school on time). They are also more likely to show troubling emotions such as anger, anxiety, and frustration when they are in the security and privacy of home and immediate family.
At home, children with bipolar disorder may have some or all of the symptoms listed below.
Rages, tantrums, crying spells, or explosive outbursts that can last hours and occur with small provocations (such as being told "no"). These episodes may be triggered more easily, occur multiple times each day or week, last longer, involve greater intensity, and require more recovery time than tantrums in other children.
Episodes of unusual aggression, directed to the most available person. Family members, particularly parents and siblings, are often the primary targets.
The differences in behaviors seen at home and at school can be dramatic. Because children react differently to the stresses of schoolwork, classroom noise, and transitions between classes and activities, some children show more severe symptoms at school, while others show more severe symptoms at home. Over time, these symptoms may worsen if the child is untreated, if the illness worsens, or if new problems develop. Families often seek treatment once problem behavior affects a child's school performance.
At school, children with bipolar disorder may be affected by some or all of the following symptoms.
Crying for no apparent reason, appearing upset out of proportion to actual events, or seeming inconsolable when distressed. School staff may notice how "irrational" these children seem to be, and that trying to reason with them often doesn't work. Most of these children suffer from extremely high levels of anxiety that interfere with their ability to logically assess a situation.
Side effects from medications. Medications may have cognitive effects or physically uncomfortable side effects that interfere with school performance. Sharing information with the school about a child's medications may allow parents to obtain helpful feedback regarding overall effectiveness and any side effects that should be addressed.
Learning disorders, which are often overlooked in this population. A child's difficulties or frustrations in school should not be presumed to be due entirely to the bipolar disorder. If the child still has academic difficulty after moods are treated, an educational evaluation for learning disabilities should be considered. A child's repeated reluctance to attend school may be an indicator of an undiagnosed learning disability.
The mood and behavior problems prompting an office visit may look different or may not be seen during the actual appointment. Clinicians may need to talk with parents, schools, and other important caregivers to evaluate a child's functioning in these areas.
Clinicians may have to deal with some of the following challenges in diagnosing and treating a child or adolescent with bipolar disorder.
Symptoms vary over time and their appearance changes as the child grows. A clinician may need to see a child over a period time to determine the appropriate diagnosis.
Symptoms caused by other medical conditions and by certain medications can be confused with bipolar disorder. These conditions include hyperthyroidism, seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, strokes, tumors, and infections. Prescribed medications (steroids, antidepressants, stimulants, and some treatments for acne) and non-prescribed drugs (cocaine, amphetamine) can cause severe mood changes. Relevant laboratory tests and physical examinations may be helpful when bipolar disorder is considered.
Bipolar disorder often first appears as depression in adolescents. Sudden onset depression, accompanied by sluggishness and excessive sleeping has been the most common "depression profile" seen in young people who later develop manic symptoms. A family history of bipolar disorder also increases the possibility that a depressed child may go on to develop bipolar disorder. In children with bipolar disorder, antidepressants may improve depressive symptoms but can sometimes unmask or worsen manic symptoms. Careful monitoring is recommended for any child receiving antidepressants.
Bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed as ADHD because some symptoms overlap, and many children with early onset of bipolar disorder also have ADHD. Stimulants (such as Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall) can aggravate mood instability, so it is important to stabilize the child's mood before beginning treatment for ADHD.
Especially during periods of relative wellness, older children and adolescents may refuse to take their medication. They may prefer to think of themselves as totally well.
Families may need to be coached about what they can reasonably expect from their child. Children who suffer from bipolar disorder will benefit if their family understands that therapy and medicines may reduce, but do not cure, symptoms.


Can a Female Dog Who Didn't Give Birth Feed Another Dog's Pups?
In some situations, orphaned or abandoned puppies can be nourished by the milk of another female dog.
In some tragic situations, a mother dog may be unable to care for her newborn offspring. Whether the dam died from birthing complications, has no milk or is not interested in mothering her puppy, you'll need to step in and provide care for the litter. A surrogate mother can be used, but with caution, and you'll have to closely supervise the care and feeding of the pups.
When the mother dog is not suitable or available for her puppies, another female dog may step in to nurse and care for the litter. To provide milk for the puppies, the surrogate dam must have recently given birth and still be lactating. Take great care when you introduce the surrogate to the puppies -- you must ensure that she has mothering instincts and won't harm them. For their safety, closely supervise the mother with the puppies.
Proper nutrition is crucial to newborn puppy health. Even if the surrogate dam is still lactating, you may need to supplement her milk supply with puppy formula. Puppies need nearly 'round the clock feedings, and you'll need to make sure every puppy is getting adequate nutrition. Consult a veterinarian if the puppies do not seem to be thriving on the surrogate mother's milk alone.
In their first few weeks, newborn pups require a very warm environment in addition to quality nutrition. A surrogate mother can be the perfect heat source if she's able to stay with the puppies most of the time, but it's also a good idea to add an additional source of heat, such as a heat lamp or a pad. This is especially important if the surrogate mother is smaller than the biological dam and isn't able to keep all the puppies near her body.
If the newborn puppies did not receive colostrum (the first milk that a dam normally provides, which passes on vital nutrients and the mother's immunities), early vaccinations may be necessary. You veterinarian should be consulted in this case. Check the puppies' weights regularly to ensure that each is receiving the necessary nutrition.


Chris - It's over 7 miles down to the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. The pressure there is more than 1,000 atmospheres. What's actually down there, if anything? How can we find out?
Alan - My name is Alan Jamieson. I'm a research fellow at the University of Aberdeen's Ocean Lab and what I primarily work on is exploration of the deepest points in the ocean. This is basically made up of the deep subduction trenches around the pacific rim. We have designed video cameras and still cameras that can descend through the water column and hit the sea floor completely unattached and unmanned. They take footage of animals attracted to bait and they do that for up to 24 hours. At the end of the experimental period, we send an acoustic command to these systems and they drop ballast weights and float to the surface. We then download them and see what we filmed. On top of that, we also have some traps which are positioned around the bottom of the lander to catch small scavenging species.
Chris - And they're dragged up too?
Alan - Yes, they are.
Chris - When you say deep, when you talk about these sorts of trenches, how deep is deep?
Alan - The trench we're looking at is a biological zone that's called the hadal zone, so it's actually deeper than the abyss. The abyss is just technically 3,000 to 6,000 metres. What we're looking at is the hadal zone which is 6,000 to 11,000 metres, which is about 5 to 7 miles deep.
Chris - Just paint a picture of what it looks like. What's it like down there?
Alan - Dark. Primarily dark. There's absolutely no solar light influence whatsoever beyond about 1,000 metres, so if there is any light it's probably biological produced by bioluminescence. The trench habitat is a characteristic V-shape in cross section. When you see images of trenches in journals and on TV, they tend to exaggerate the vertical scales. When you look at a whole trench, it's probably not quite as steep as you'd imagine but there are places which we've seen and which we can see on charts that are up to 45 or 50 degree slopes.
Chris - And how much life is down there?
Alan - Far more than you would think. I think when we started this in 2006, there wasn't really much information to go on. Pretty much, all the big sampling expeditions happened in the 1950s. So the Danish Galathea and a Russian expeditions went out and did lots of trawling and grabbing all around the Pacific. Since then, nobody really did anything at all, so what we've been trying to do is deploy our cameras in as many different trenches as possible because what we're seeing is similar trends in each trench. What seems to happen is certain species become far more abundant the deeper you go. So when you go to 10,000 metres for example, we see more of an animal called an amphipod than you'll see anywhere else in the ocean.
Chris - Are these big creatures or are we at the depth where you're down to the scale of microbes and tiny stuff only?
Alan - No, I wouldn't say the word 'big creatures' but the amphipods which turn up after a couple of hours of filming, there were several thousand in the view of the camera, and they're all maybe between 10 - 20 millimetres long. Down to 8,000 metres we find fish that can be up to 30 centimetres long quite easily. We see brittle stars, holothurians and things like that, of exactly the same size you would find them off the coast of Scotland.
Chris - Now you mentioned that you look at multiple trenches. So given that you've got species sitting in the bottom of those trenches and that between the trenches you have a ridge of shallower water, organisms cannot spread from the depths of one trench into the next trench because that ridge is in the way. So, do you end up with very unique ecosystems down there then in these deep places?
Alan - Yeah. What you're referring to is what we call abyssal partitioning. It means that the hadal zone has been partitioned by often a vast span of the abyssal plane which can be more than a thousand kilometres. In some species, what you find is they only seem to exist at a very deep point in one trench and then you'll find them again in the deep point in other trench. If you look in between they're not there. There's two explanations for that - one could be they had a common ancestor that was capable of going shallower and for some reason, the shallow end of the population has since died out. Secondly it could be that the previous population was capable of traversing across these ridges.
Chris - And when you recover these animals up, are you able to get clues from working on them about how they tolerate those environments that they inhabit under those extraordinary conditions?
Alan - Yes. It's not quite the line of research we've been doing ourselves but there's a little bit of work that's going on based on some of our samples. It does seem to be there that they are able to cope with high hydrostatic pressure. I mean, we're talking up to a ton per square centimetre, and very low temperatures which are normally less than 2 degrees. Being able to adapt to this is obviously a prerequisite to survival, so they all do it. What we're finding is there's some taxa that doesn't quite make it all the way to the deep and there's some that do quite happily. It's possilbe on a cellular level of course to find differences in the genes between the high pressure animals compared to shallow animals. So there's definitely a high pressure adaptation.
Chris - And apart from the obvious academic interest of exploring in detail an area which has largely been neglected, what else are you able to glean from doing this? What's the other spin-off from it?
Alan - Our ultimate goal I guess in the future, maybe not at this stage because trying to biologically map these trenches is an enormous task. I mean, we think we've done lots and lots of deployments but the scale of a trench is enormous. Ultimately, what we're thinking of is the ocean from the top to the bottom and it's particularly now when we've got changing environment, things like that, that ocean conservation takes an anthropocentric opinion. The opinion that the deeper you are, the less important it is. The ocean should be considered as a whole though, not just necessarily the depth at which you can dive and take nice photographs and so on. So yeah, it all plays a big part. Furthermore it seems the trenches are playing a fairly major role in carbon cycling as well, because ultimately, all the sediment in the deep abyssal planes ends up being subducted back into Earth's mantle. If all the carbon that's taken up in the surface layer eventually dies and sinks to the bottom, and is consumed and recycled, and buried at the same time, eventually it will end up in the trenches. So that's a new line of research which is just beginning in other institutes.
Chris - Have you got any evidence that man's activities could impact on that or are you trying to quantify how important or what sort of contribution it makes to carbon handling?
Alan - In terms of carbon handling, I'm not sure. I know that it's almost certain that man has other impacts at those kind of depths. I saw an image recently at a conference from a Challenger Deep, the deepest place in the world, and one of the first things to find when they got there was a raincoat.
Chris - I guess that's what they call a water jacket. Aberdeen Marine Biologist Alan Jamieson who's other claim to fame is having a new species of shrimp named after him. Princaxelia jamiesoni is white and it's about 6 centimetres long and lives several thousand metres underwater. Alan is a bit bigger but he does spend quite a bit of time at sea.
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