text: Repositório Comunidade: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/430 2018-05-26T08:24:34Z 2018-05-26T08:24:34Z Write-erase and read paper memory transistor Martins, Rodrigo Barquinha, Pedro Pereira, Luís Correia, Nuno Gonçalves, Gonçalo Ferreira, Isabel Fortunato, Elvira http://hdl.handle.net/10362/3962 2014-05-30T01:15:54Z 2008-10-01T00:00:00Z Título: Write-erase and read paper memory transistor Autor: Martins, Rodrigo; Barquinha, Pedro; Pereira, Luís; Correia, Nuno; Gonçalves, Gonçalo; Ferreira, Isabel; Fortunato, Elvira Resumo: We report the architecture and the performances of a memory based on a single field-effect transistor built on paper able to write-erase and read. The device is composed of natural multilayer cellulose fibers that simultaneously act as structural support and gate dielectric; active and passive multicomponent amorphous oxides that work as the channel and gate electrode layers, respectively,complemented by the use of patterned metal layers as source/drain electrodes. The devices exhibit a large counterclockwise hysteresis associated with the memory effect, with a turn-on voltage shift between 1 and −14.5 V, on/off ratio and saturation mobilities of about 104 and 40 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, and estimated charge retention times above 14 000 h. Descrição: Applied Physics Letters, Vol.93, issue 20 2008-10-01T00:00:00Z Influence of the deposition pressure on the properties of transparent and conductive ZnO: Ga thin-film produced by r.f. sputtering at room temperature Fortunato, Elvira Assunção, V. Marques, A. Águas, H. Martins, Rodrigo Costa, M. E. V. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/3263 2015-10-29T20:13:14Z 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z Título: Influence of the deposition pressure on the properties of transparent and conductive ZnO: Ga thin-film produced by r.f. sputtering at room temperature Autor: Fortunato, Elvira; Assunção, V.; Marques, A.; Águas, H.; Martins, Rodrigo; Costa, M. E. V. Resumo: Highly conducting and transparent gallium doped zinc oxide thin films have been deposited at high growth rates by r.f. magnetron sputtering at room temperature on inexpensive soda lime glass substrates. The argon sputtering pressure was varied between 0.15 and 2.1 Pa. The lowest resistivity was 2.6=10y4 V cm (sheet resistance f6 Vysq. for a thickness f600 nm) and was obtained at an argon sputtering pressure of 0.15 Pa and a r.f. power of 175 W. The films present an overall transmittance in the visible spectra of approximately 90%. The increase on the resistivity for higher sputtering pressures is due to a decrease of both, mobility and carrier concentration, and is associated to a change on the surface morphology. The low resistivity, accomplished with a high growth rate (290 A˚ ymin) and with a room temperature deposition enables these films deposition onto polymeric substrates for flexible optoelectronic devices. Descrição: Thin Solid Films, vol. 427, nº 1-2 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z Effect of different dopant elements on the properties of ZnO thin films Fortunato, Elvira Nunes, P. Tonello, P. Fernandes, F. Braz Vilarinho, P. Martins, Rodrigo http://hdl.handle.net/10362/3255 2015-10-29T20:03:48Z 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z Título: Effect of different dopant elements on the properties of ZnO thin films Autor: Fortunato, Elvira; Nunes, P.; Tonello, P.; Fernandes, F. Braz; Vilarinho, P.; Martins, Rodrigo Resumo: In this work we studied the influence of the dopant elements and concentration on the properties of ZnO thin film deposited by spray pyrolysis. The results show that the doping affects the thin films properties mainly the electrical ones, function of dopant concentration and nature. The most important changes were observed for films doped with 1 at% of indium which exhibit a resistivity of 1.9 10 1Ocm associated with a transmitance of 90%. After the annealing treatment, the resistivity of the film decreases to 5.9 10 3Ocm without significative changes in the optical properties. The films were also used to produce amorphous silicon solar cells where the best results were obtained for ZnO : In. Descrição: Vacuum, Vol. 64 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z Fully transparent ZnO thin-film transistor produced at room temperature Fortunato, Elvira Barquinha, Pedro Pimentel, A. C. M. B. G. Gonçalves, A. M. F. Marques, A. J. S. Pereira, L. M. N. Martins, Rodrigo http://hdl.handle.net/10362/3254 2016-10-24T15:06:18Z 2005-03-01T00:00:00Z Título: Fully transparent ZnO thin-film transistor produced at room temperature Autor: Fortunato, Elvira; Barquinha, Pedro; Pimentel, A. C. M. B. G.; Gonçalves, A. M. F.; Marques, A. J. S.; Pereira, L. M. N.; Martins, Rodrigo Resumo: Fully transparent thin-film transistors (TFTs) are produced at room temperature by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering. Measuring the drain current (IDS) as a function of drain voltage (VDS) at different gate voltages (VGS) shows the TFTs possess hard saturation with on-currents of about 0.2 mA (see Figure) and saturation mobilities of 20 cm2 V-1 s-1. The optical and electrical properties and the compatibility of the fabrication process with low-cost plastic substrates show promise for invisible and flexible electronic circuits. Descrição: Advanced Materials, Vol. 17, nº 5 2005-03-01T00:00:00Z


text:
I would love to find you under my Christmas Tree. I need to send Santa another letter.Hi guys!
Christmas is 'round the corner and so are xmas-shopping, xmas-parties, xmas-family-visits... It's really stressful Are you stuck in that xmassy life as well? I hope not...
So, well... some of you asked about my drunken night last week... It was not one of my worst drunken nights I had, but it was sort of 'funny', because that idiot wrote that words on my stomach and the ink lasted for days on my skin. So when my girlfriend was back from her trip we were about to have some fun, but then she removed my shirt and saw those really 'funny' three words written on me and she just couldn't stop laughing. Yeah, that was the end of all the sexual tension...
But I took revenge on that 'funny' guy some days later when we were playing tennis. I shot one tennis ball so bad in his goods. His balls are probably still blue like the caribbean ocean and won't get laid for weeks. (Revenge is sweeeeeet, buddy!)
Uhm,... no special pics today, I'm sorry... just some shower shots and one before I headed to bed.
Attachment 907718 Attachment 907719 Attachment 907720 Attachment 907721
P.S.: I'm goign to answer all your messages tomorrow.
- Sam

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Thursday, April 21, 2011
That was weird
I got a Google screen which gave me a message about suspicious activity and to change my password.
Anyone else have something weird like this happen? I've never had a virus and freaked. All appears okay now. Let's hope so.
5 comments:
I had this happen to me, yesterday. I don't know if my account was hacked into or what. I had to do the same thing that you did-change password. Today all is well; knock on wood.ReplyDelete
Has not happened to me, yet. But you just reminded me to back up my blogs!ReplyDelete
That's scary. Yep, time to back up my blog...ReplyDelete
Btw, I just got the same Google message. Wonder what's going on..ReplyDelete
Last week I had something similar too, a notice to say that something suspicious was detected, then a virus alert appeared which offered to remove the alleged nasties. I panicked and accept it's offer to remove stuff. I then couldn't access anything else on my computer afterwards.ReplyDelete
It appears to have been some malware that has cost me £50 to have removed.
I have been told to ignore any notices like it in future and simply come off the internet completely, then open a new page.
Yesterday the same thing happened again, so I did as instructed and it worked well.
Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your comments.
Due to a recent high volume of spam I have activated the comment moderation instead of discontinuing posts by anonymous visitors.


text:
Eight-time Pro Bowler and four-time First Team All-Pro and Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith's extreme talent doesn't end on the football field – he's taking fundraising to the next level and raising money for underprivileged youth.
Smith and his wife, Pat, created the Pat and Emmitt Smith Charities to "offer kids education and experiences that broaden their opportunities for success." To help raise funds for their organization, the Smiths host seven qualifying golf tournaments around the country, evaluating a team's "fundraising skills [and]…golf ability." At the end of the qualifying rounds, "the highest fundraising team and the best golfers from each tournament will be invited to the Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational" in Dallas in May 2014.
The Emmitt Smith Golf Challenge kicked off last month at The Clubs of Kingwood, and is now headed to Austin, TX. The Hills of Lakeway welcomes the Emmitt Smith Golf Challenge on March 3, 2014.
We look forward to the next qualifying round in Austin, as well as future qualifiers!
Tampa Palms Country Club — March 12, 2014
Queen's Harbor Yacht & Country Club — March 17, 2014
Bear's Best Atlanta — March 25, 2014
Las Colinas Country Club — March 31, 2014
Haile Plantation Golf & Country Club — April 14, 2014
(Quote and logo courtesy of emmittsmithgolfchallenge.com)


text:
Mumbai: Unbeaten so far, a formidable Australia will take on giant-killers Sri Lanka in what could turn out to be an interesting Super Six clash of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup here on Sunday.
Buoyed by the two-run victory over defending champions England in the previous game, five-time champions Australia will go in with their tails up against an unpredictable Sri Lanka.
Australia's bowling attack is their strength and the Jodie Fields-led side showed it against arch-rivals England, when they successfully defended a meagre 147.
The pacers would look to rip through the batting order of their lesser fancied opponents, though their own form with the bat has been a concern.
"We need to work on the batting. We were very disappointed with the total that we posted (against England). It was swinging a little bit earlier but we are a better team than that," said Aussie all-rounder Alexandra Blackwell.
Australia endured a batting collapse and lost half of their side at the score of 32 before being bowled out in 44.4 overs against England.
They lost their top four batswomen, Meghann Lanning, Rachael Haynes, Jessica Cameron and Alexandra Blackwell for a paltry score of 27 runs.
An 82-run sixth wicket partnership between Lisa Sthalekar (41) and Sarah Coyte (44) was the highlight of Australia's innings as it helped them post a three digit score.
The teams have met twice in the past with Australia winning on both the occasions but Sri Lanka had never defeated.
England or India prior to its league matches in the World Cup.
"It is a different bowling line up with Sri Lankans. They have got some quality spinners. Little bit more pace off the ball, from what I have seen. They are a form side. They have some tremendous victories so far in this World Cup. We are certainly not going to take this game lightly," Blackwell has said about the minnows.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would like to continue their dream run and try to dent the World Cup hopes of a few more top teams. The island nation has become a force to reckon with after stunning England and hosts India.
The Lankans would now look to bounce back from their defeat against New Zealand in their Super Six opener.
In batting, they seem to depend heavily on Eshani Kaushalya Lokusooriya who played a whirlwind knock of 56 off 41 balls against England and then followed it up with an unbeaten 56 in 31 balls against India.
Skipper Shashikala Siriwardene said, "She is a huge advantage for us. (But) I believe that the top order needs to do well."
Asked if Australia have a game plan for Lokusooriya, Blackwell said, "She has been playing very well. One of the players of the tournament so far, I would say. Very dangerous player with the bat and scoring at rate she can and the boundary hitting ability of her.
Siriwardene said Australia would be wary of the things her team has achieved in the tournament so far. "Since (they know) what we can play and are capable of I am sure they won't take us lightly."
The Sri Lankan bowling attack lacked spark against New Zealand and they would expect Lokusooriya and Udeshika Prabodani to get some early breakthroughs and put Australia on the back foot.
Teams (from):
Sri Lanka: Shashikala Siriwardene (captain), Sandamali Dolawatta, Chamari Attapaththu, Eshani Lokusooriya, Lasanthi Madushani, Dilani Manodara, Yasoda Mendis, Udeshika Prabodani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Deepika Rasangika, Sherina Ravikumar, Chamani Senevirathne, Prasadini Weerakkody, Sripali Weerakkody.
Australia: Jodie Fields (captain), Alexandra Blackwell, Jessica Cameron, Meghann Lanning, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Erin Osborne, Sarah Coyte, Lisa Sthalekar, Renee Chappell, Julie Hunter, Megan Schutt, Elyse Vilani, Holly Ferling.


text:
All massage is not relaxing.
The Swedish massage, or as Gerry Haracsi likes to call it, the "Love Boat Rubdown," is a gentle, relaxing manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue.
What Melissa Sewell is subjecting him to with her "tools" — knuckles, thumbs and elbows — is a therapeutic massage, and that's not very relaxing, he says, lying face down on her massage table, laughing.
"It's not as much fun as you might think. If you could see my face right now, it would be grimacing."
In fact, there's no way he could take a therapeutic massage two days in a row. "The amount of pressure she's using now, I'm going to be sore tomorrow -almost a bruise-type soreness," he explains. "So I would think three or four days minimum between massages, at least for me."
But Haracsi knows he's going to sleep like a baby tonight and feel really great after the tenderness goes away in 48 hours.
Sewell, a massage therapist with Target Your Energy at an Edmonton YMCA, says some people tell her to stop a massage because they find it too uncomfortable. The more muscle tone you have, the less sensitive you are, she explains.
But most book more appointments because they can feel the difference a massage makes, and because the costs are often covered by their health plans.
The health benefits of massage have become so well known, most of the people who get them know what they need, what's going to happen, and what areas are going to be worked before they arrive for their first appointment, Sewell says.
The most common issues prompting people to get a massage are headaches, migraines, and neck and shoulder soreness from bad posture, something she sees a lot of working in the downtown world of office drones, who sit hunched over computers all day.
Lower-body problems involve pain from inflamed IT (Iliotibial) bands — the thick bands of fibrous tissue that run along the outside of the thighs from the hip to just below the knee joint — and plantar fasciitis, pain and inflammation involving a thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of the foot and one of the most common causes of heel pain. Both are common causes of pain from overuse by athletes, specifically runners, and people who are overweight.
Pain may require one or two massages a week, and exercises and stretches recommended to strengthen the affected areas, Sewell says.
"If there are no specific (problems), we recommend a massage once a month for the maintenance of good health, so we can find any (problems) the person may not be aware of," Sewell says.
For example, Haracsi knew he had tennis elbow, but he wasn't aware of the tension causing discomfort in his lower back until Sewell came across the trigger point.
"With trigger points, unless you're working out or unless there's direct pressure put on the area, you won't really feel them," she explains.
"We probe out the problem areas that could be causing pain — for a headache, that could be the muscles in the neck or shoulders — and try to get rid of them first."
Haracsi's regular workouts, six days a week, also play an important part in keeping any small problems at bay, Sewell says.
"If you were to stop and not work out for two weeks," she tells him, "you'd go to mush and probably feel way better initially, but then your muscles would atrophy and you would become more sensitive. You would start to notice some little problems coming back, especially if they're related to bad posture."
Haracsi rates massage as important as regular exercise and nutritious food to a healthy lifestyle, and plans to keep on getting kneaded after the challenge ends.
Juli Isaac, another challenge finalist, says her workouts are her stress relief, but massage is like a reward for exercising six days a week — necessary, too, when you don't have any rest days.
"I've never really gone for a massage outside of spa weekends with the girls or on holiday, but I have $500 built into my company (benefits) program which I've never used, and I think that's ridiculous, so I'm at least going to use those."


text: Hi guys, I'm new to blackberryos.com but not Crackberry.com. I did a search and found no info. I recently installed OS .323 and everything was working perfect. As of last night the myspace app has gone buggy. I don't know if it's app or OS related. I cannot update my status and the mood box is invisible but I can still click and choose a mood. After updating and closing and reopening the myspace app it will clear the status and update to no mood and "in your extended network." Also any friends who update their status shows their multiple updates (meaning the show up in the status update log multiple times on the home screen) versus showing once and their current status. I have deleted myspace and reinstalled, done several battery pulls and even wiped my phone and reinstalled .323 and still having the same problem. Is anyone else having this problem or am I the special random one? Thanks.


text:
Want to remind yourself or a friend about this program? Fill out this simple form and klru will email you a reminder on the day that it will air.
Reindeer Games / Along Came A Spider
series: Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!
air date: 12/24/12 8:30 AM
WARNING: Email reminders for this program have already been sent out. Your reminder may not reach the intended address in time for this program's airing.
Back to TV Schedule


text:
all the time. sometimes, i think someone is a dickhead and it turns out, they're cool as hell. other times, i think so and so is cool and they turn out to be a dickhead. you never know.
all the time. sometimes, i think someone is a dickhead and it turns out, they're cool as hell. other times, i think so and so is cool and they turn out to be a dickhead. you never know.
So did you give him a hummer as a thank you?
I wish I had teachers like this in uni... rather than the conceited kind who's only here to feel important and belittle his students...
Actually my Mandarin teacher is like that, I love her
Who knows what you are missing by skipping his classes?
I had a similar thing happen. I rarely missed a class, but I skipped out on one once. I went in the next class period, and heard him talking about trying to get the tests graded before the week was done. It suddenly hit me that I'd ditched class on test day. I stayed after class and told him "This is going to sound really limp, but I missed class on Monday, and had no idea it was test day." He smiled and said, "Would you like to take it now?" I said "Yes, please". He led me to his office and I took it there and then.
I learned really important that day. Free cookie for those who can figure out what it was.
I wondered if this was actually going to be about being on the panel of a beauty contest.
I have had cunty professors and nice professors. The cunty professor wouldn't let me makeup my final due to jury duty and I had to go to the academic integrity council to fight it. I had to miss two midterms on one day once due to my grandmother passing and the professors let me take home the exams and do them.
Yes all the time.
It's always a pleasant surprise, and often an eye-opener, when others exceed our expectations.
You shouldn't feel ashamed of making such a judgment though, as we all do it on a subconscious level every time we meet somebody. I'm sure many would be inclined to categorise this as an isolated incident in order to avoid taking responsibility for their misjudgments. "Even though he still let me take the test when I rocked up late, my professor is such an asshole". Instead, you took the mature route of reflective introspection; you were willing to acknowledge your own error and concede that you may have misjudged his character.
Not only were you open and honest with him about why you were late, but you also let go of your preconceived notions when his behaviour went against them. That's two wins right there, my friend. Nothing at all to be ashamed of.
Yes, I have misjudged people. We all do from time to time. My most recent example was a person that I thought was nice and funny. Turns out he is a vile, reprehensible, morally bankrupt human being. We all misjudge people from time to time.
Out of curiosity, what class is this?
I do sometimes. But I usually try not to judge someone as I really don't like it as well when people makes assumptions about me.
Yes, Enchanted. I thought he was nice.
fair enough
My gut feeling has been right so far.
With professors and teachers - yes, very often, usually for the ones who look nice at first but turn out destructively vile.
For everyday people, I usually have a 'dislike' sense when there's something wrong with them, so I rarely misjudge.
I would say all people must have misjudged at least times in their lives.
come now, my child. if we were planning to harm you, do you think
we'd be lurking here beside the path in the darkest part of the forest?
yes i misjudge people because im used to people trying to break the rules constantly. working with the public will warp how you view people.


text:
This behavior is so destructive and egotistical, and is literally holding back the progress of HumanKind, from experiencing the Promised Land of a ROBOTIC WAGELESS ECONOMY.
This reminds me of how much talent is likewise wasted on b
Now the real question is why do I list Apollo 1 as kind of? Because NASA does. You see, they were not going to launch. They were simply checking out the system. As such NASA only kind of counts their deaths. If you check out the history, you will find that a number of Americans have died on the ground during the early days. Sometimes from accidents (similar to Scaled's, or Brazil's recent accident). Others, have died from simple t
Scaled Composites, the people who created SpaceShipOne, is the group that suffered the explosion. From what I've read, they were running a test that had been run a number of times before without mishap.
The failure killed three people and put three others in the hospital, two in critical condition and one in serious condition. That failure could be due to flawed materials, unknown damage to the equipment, sabotage, simple human error, a design flaw or any one of a number of other reasons. It is currently
The Space Review asks whether space enthusiasts can ever get past the humans/robots and private/government flamewars.
But then, I'm just a crazy dissenting American (who doesn't think we should have wasted all that money on Iraq either).
Spending trillions of $ just to be the first to plant a freaking flag on a distant sterile rock is not my idea of any triumph. But then, I'm just a crazy dissenting American (who doesn't think we should have wasted all that money on Iraq either)
Personnaly I'd sleep much better at night knowing that the government was spending trillions on real science and exploration rather than trillions blowing shit up for no reason.
I'm no expert in the politics of space exploration... but who are these "interest groups" really? As far as I know, NASA pursues both manned and robotic missions... and so NASA is composed of people from both "interest groups." So, really, isn't NASA very much a "joint activity" between these "interest groups" ?? Everytime that NASA uses humans to effectuate repairs on automated space systems (e.g. Hubble), it is a joint activity between the human-exploration and robot-exploration projects.What would a non-zero-sum future look like? More joint activities between the interest groups would be a good beginning.
Human exploration has always been about the inner struggle. Collectively, we watch struggles and use those that struggle as proxies. Our souls go with them, be it a sporting match, a voyage across the world, or a rocket into space.
In the end, the human involvement in space exploration, the human touching foot on a ground that is not Terran, is about the expansion of the human experience and the human soul. It is not about the attendant science, its about Man's struggles, triumphs, defeats, and lessons.
The science can be done by robots.
It's also about getting us off this bug-infested mudball before an asteroid wipes us out.
I think it's crucially important to distinguish between "pointless flamewar" and "productive debate." For each of the "vs." you described (and for the ones from TFA), we can find examples of both kinds of disputes. Arguing the subtle differences between BSD and Linux (or trying to prove that one is "better" in some way or for some task) is crucial to the continual improvement in these things. The FOSS movement is about many things--and open debate is certainly one of them. This open discussion leads to alot of "productive debate"... although it also leads to the occasional "pointless flamewar."vi vs. emacs, command line vs. GUI, BSD vs GPL, BSD vs Linux, the language arguments and so on.
No... Avoiding debate is not the answer. I would rather argue that the mature thing to do is to not get overly emotional in the debates. Arguments are a good thing--that's how progress is made. Maturity is knowing how to think rationally in a debate, and to change your mind when others have presented compelling evidence or logic.I think getting beyond the arguments is the mature thing to do, but that's not an easy thing either.
As for the vast foreseeable future, it would be MUCH more efficient to figure out how to survive extinction events HERE than to relocate to distant planets with incredibly hostile environs. For example, digging giant bunkers and developing resilient underground agriculture in the face of a possible meteor strike is almost infinitely more practical than planning a mass evacuation to a dis
How about a global scale nuclear war where even those giant bunkers are considered war targets
If humanity ever truly decides to destroy itself, space colonies won't help us. They will, of course, be targets too. You'd be better off living with some scattered tribe deep in a rainforest in Brazil, or hidden in the Australian outback than under the easily-destroyed dome of some fragile Martian colony.
Pirates v. Ninjas
Chuck Norris v. Vin Diesel
Horde v. Alliance
Atari ST v. Amiga
vi v. emacs
Eris v. FSM
When you get NASA involved, you are immediately in rent-seeking hell with the bonus that the only way you won't drive private capital away from critical technologies NASA is working on is for NASA to show such gross incompetence over the course of decades that the private investors no longer worry that NASA will do to them what it did to private launch services when it introduced "The National Space Transportation S
news: gotcha


text:
By: Elizabeth Nickerson
Tallahassee, FL-- January 25,2013
Residents call Lake Ella a landmark to the Tallahassee community.
"The Lord made a special plan for this park, and I have been here long enough to appreciate it, I appreciate it everyday," said Greg Scott, a Tallahassee resident.
A local volunteer group from the Knight Creative Communities Institute does community-based projects and is aimed to bring more locals to the hang out spot and more revenue to the retail shops.
"I think there is always room for improvement because I'm sure they can use more customers, but I don't know how many people know there is actually places here," said Matthew Lavery, a Tallahassee resident.
The KCCI local volunteers conduct on-site interviews and on-line surveys to find improvements needed, but many residence feel changes do not need to be done.
"We come here to exercise and I love what they have now, the way they have the flowers and all the plants," said Colleen Lavery, a Tallahassee Resident.
The volunteers hope they can get more locals to give there opinions and take the survey.


text: Local designer Cibeline Sariano and her daughter Josephine Dillon kept busy on Valentine's Day by supporting Eve Ensler's One Billion Rising campaign, which aims to raise awareness about violence against women all over the world. Sariano, who used to have a retail shop on Charles Street and now makes custom designs, donated 10 percent of all sales from trunk shows during the day to the One Billion Rising cause. Her partner in the local One Billion Rising event, Nia instructor Kira Hower, donated 100 percent of her proceeds from the day's classes to the platform. (Nia is a cross between martial arts and dance.) Sariano and Hower hosted the day of Nia classes and trunk shows in a studio on Lake View Avenue in Cambridge.


text:
WILKES-BARRE - News of two more teenager suicides rocked Luzerne County on Tuesday, prompting promises by school and police officials to explore solutions to prevent young people from taking their lives.
As students shuffled into class Tuesday, the Pittston Area school community grieved the loss of a 15-year-old sophomore from Avoca who killed herself in Duryea on Monday night. Hours later, authorities learned a 13-year-old boy from Hazleton had killed himself inside a Church Street home.
In one week, the lives of four Luzerne County schoolchildren had ended in suicide, a bleak time many veteran educators say they have never experienced in their careers.
A Greater Nanticoke Area eighth-grader, 13, fatally shot himself Sept. 18 inside his Nanticoke home. A Pittston Area junior, 16, killed himself with a hunting rifle Sept. 21 at his Jenkins Twp. home. Authorities did not name the most recent victims or disclose how they died.
Prior to the Hazleton teenager's death, Pittston Area officials organized a public forum set for 7 tonight at the high school to address teenage suicide, inviting parents and students to talk about solutions with experts. The district, which had grief counselors comforting students the past two days, had become ground zero for the topic with two students dead from suicide.
The suicide in Hazleton reinforced the need for a call to action by everyone in the region, officials said.
"We need to respond. We just want to try to reach out to the parents in the community and make them understand we all need to work together. This is not a Pittston Area School District issue only. This is an issue that is bigger than the school district," Pittston Area Superintendant Michael Garzella said early Tuesday afternoon. "This is a community issue. This is a national issue. This is a problem that has to be dealt with. The only way we're going to be able to prevent these things from happening is if we all work together."
A few hours later, the problem would criss-cross the county, with authorities being called to the Hazleton home where a 13-year-old boy was found dead from suicide.
"It's devastating when you hear another young person took their life," said Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis, who confirmed the death in a 5:40 p.m. phone call. "My heart is with these families."
Later, Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea addressed the boy's death at an 8:30 p.m. press conference at City Hall with Hazleton Mayor Joseph Yannuzzi, Hazleton Area Superintendent Francis X. Antonelli and high school Principal Rocco Petrone.
"I always say that fighting crime is a team effort, and grieving is also a team effort," Chief DeAndrea said, explaining the reason for the news briefing.
Officials made a plea to young people to seek help if they are experiencing emotional problems and said grief counselors will be at Hazleton Area today. Chief DeAndrea also noted the suicide was not "bullying-related."
Many students in Nanticoke and Pittston had claimed bullying and harassment led to the first two suicides.
After learning about Monday's suicide of the Pittston Area girl, Ms. Salavantis called an emergency meeting Tuesday morning with the county coroner and area law enforcement who investigated the suicides.
Authorities said despite some hearsay claims from classmates, there was no evidence that bullying or harassment led the children to suicides. The district attorney urged students and parents to be cautious in forwarding such rumors as the investigations continue. Ms. Salavantis, who will be on the panel tonight at the Pittston forum, also advised anyone with suicidal or mental health issues, or their loved ones, to call one of the area's 24/7 hotlines for help, such as Luzerne County Help Line.
The girl who killed herself Monday was a cheerleader with a 3.5 grade-point average who had a very involved family, Mr. Garzella said.
With two more teenage deaths Monday and Tuesday, officials said it became clear there could be a host of factors contributing to the rash of suicides and shifted their focus to awareness and prevention.
"It has been really tragic," Mr. Garzella said. "I think the staff here is taking it as hard as the students. Teachers who have worked with these children are really taking it hard. It really has been very difficult, but I think we're doing everything possible to provide support and counseling for everybody involved."
After word spread of the second suicide of a Pittston Area student, some parents picked up their children early from school Tuesday. Those parents included Duryea resident Lisa Cummings, who picked up her son, Ryan, a junior at the school.
"He's just quiet about it. Everybody has a different way of dealing with grief," Ms. Cummings said. "It's terrible."
Ms. Cummings said she would like to see an anonymous hotline set up where students can call to report bullying or other problems.
"It's going too far now," Ms. Cummings said. "Kids are down and have nowhere to turn. You don't know what is going on behind closed doors. You don't know what they're going through here and who they have to turn to. I think this is setting off a chain reaction now."
DENISE ALLABAUGH AND TOM RAGAN, staff writers, contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: email@example.com @cvbobkal on Twitter


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I call BS, driver developers had over 3 years to get ready for Vista, and they dropped the ball. It had nothing to do with DRM, it had everything to do with the developers. MS changed the driver model, boo hoo, they do that once in a while. They did to the graphics card manufacturers with XP, they did it to the rest with Vista.
Please, get over this fictitious DRM issue. The hardware developers just basically refused to ship drivers.
"I call BS..."
"Please, get over this fictitious DRM issue. The hardware developers just basically refused to ship drivers."
I was one of many windows kernel devs disgruntled over the vista changes. Most drivers for windows XP actually did work *without any modification* when Vista crypto verification and DRM restrictions were circumvented, but these tools were subsequently revoked by MS. Here are a few links + excerpts that might change your mind with regards to the Vista DRM issues, bare in mind that they are from MS sources.
Thanks in advance for apologizing about the BS statement :-)
"The Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system introduces a new type of process known as a protected process to enhance support for Digital Rights Management functionality in Windows Vista."
"Drivers must have the correct content-protection signing attribute to handle some premium content. Microsoft Windows XP audio drivers work in Windows Vista, but cannot handle certain types of premium content if they do not have the correct content-protection signing attribute. If the content requires this attribute, the new protected user-mode audio (PUMA) engine enforces the requirement."
"In order for you to receive the Protected Media Path compliance and robustness rules, you will need to send an email request to email@example.com. WMLA will provide you with the licensing requirements and steps you will need to take."
"What you are describing is certainly possible in Media Foundation using Protected Media Path (PMP), however MF does not ship with such a network sink. A DTCP enabled network sink would need to be written and it would need to be signed by Microsoft in order for it to be loaded and used by MF."
"PUMA and PVP define interfaces and support specific to audio and video players, device drivers, and hardware, but PMP also relies on a general kernel mechanism introduced in Windows Vista called a protected process. Protected processes are based on the standard Windows process construct that encapsulates a running executable image, its DLLs, security context (the account under which the process is running and its security privileges), and the threads that execute code within the process, but prevent certain types of access."
"Further, to prevent compromise from within, all executable code loaded into a protected process, including its executable image and DLLs, must be either signed by Microsoft (WHQL) with a Protected Environment (PE) flag, or if it's an audio codec, signed by the developer with a DRM-signing certificate obtained from Microsoft. Because kernel-mode code can gain full access to any process, including protected processes, and 32-bit Windows allows unsigned kernel-mode code to load, the kernel provides an API for protected processes to query the 'cleanliness' of the kernel-mode environment and use the result to unlock premium content only if no unsigned code is loaded."
As a vista developer, you can get your driver signed by microsoft's chain of trust, but unless you pay/qualify for PMP certification, then your driver will taint the Vista kernel, imposing additional DRM restrictions on end user systems. When the kernel is tainted, the entire system mysteriously enters a reduced functionality state where hidef video & audio quality can be capped and ports can be disabled; the user is left wondering why things are broken. For example, this next guy came to the conclusion netflix was rejecting his new hidef monitor for hidef 420P streaming, but I actually suspect the actual cause may have been a non-PMP driver tainting the Vista kernel and consequently telling netflix not to render premium content. Even though he never uncovered this, his further comments seem to fit with this assessment.
You can blame manufacturers for not revisiting older hardware/software and spending resources to update/certify their older drivers. But MS deserves to share the blame for preventing unsigned/self signed drivers from running that were otherwise completely compatible at an API level. Also MS deserves all the blame for all DRM related driver problems.
Edited 2012-05-24 05:58 UTC


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Original URL: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/18/mobile_working_scuppers_office_romance/
Mobile working scuppers office romance
Where is the love?
Posted in Business, 18th December 2006 10:33 GMT
Northern Ireland workers may end up asking 'Where's the love?', according to a new survey on mobile devices.
The study, by communications firm Damovo, found that the increasing use of devices such as laptops and PDAs is allowing people to spend more time working from home, reducing the chances for an office romance. "There is a strong possibility that romance in the workplace will disappear if people stop coming into the office," said John McCabe, managing director of Damovo in Ireland.
But while the rise of mobile devices might see Cupid joining the dole queue, the survey found that 87 per cent of workers said such devices have helped them improve the balance between their social and professional lives. The opportunity to work from home was considered the most desired benefit offered by mobility for 52 per cent of survey respondents, with another 29 per cent saying they would like greater flexibility to work outside the office.
"It is clear that more people and organisations are seeing the benefits mobility can bring," said Richard Taylor, Northern Ireland business manager with Damovo. "With increasing technological advances, people will be able to do more things with fewer devices, which will provide many businesses with a great opportunity to reduce costs, drive productivity and, most importantly, have a happy workforce."
The study asked 100 people working in the public and private sector in Northern Ireland about how they currently use mobile devices at work. The vast majority said these devices are very important to their work, with voice-calls being the most important mobile application.
In spite of the more widespread use of mobile devices, 51 per cent of respondents said they are still only using one device for work. "There's definitely room to progress this area of the market. I think the move to more combined devices will see people making greater use of mobile technology," said McCabe. "In the past, many employees would have needed a mobile phone, Blackberry and laptop. Now a mobile phone and Blackberry can work together on one device."
Damovo operates in ten countries worldwide and employs over 1,500 people. Its clients in Ireland include Enterprise Northern Ireland, AIB, and Dublin Institute of Technology.
Copyright © 2006, ENN


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ALGONA - The Iowa Lakes Community College Board of Trustees Tuesday approved expanding the massage therapy program from the Spencer campus to include Algona.
Mark Gruwell, executive dean of instruction and development, told trustees the Spencer program would remain; however, due to high demand, he noted the program could also benefit the Algona campus.
"Because of demographics we believe we have an excellent chance to grow the program," Gruwell said.
Noting that massage therapists earn on average $30,900 nationally, he said in Iowa they earn $30,620.
The board approved the recommendation.
Also approved was a new event management program for the Spirit Lake campus.
"We have a very active and enthusiastic advisory committee," said Gruwell, projecting a January 2013 start date for the one-year diploma program.
The board approved the new program and also heard testimony from nontraditional students who have benefitted from their programs at the Algona campus.
Bess Wilkin told how in 1990 she was one semester away from a bachelor of science in nursing but put her academic career on hold to start a family. While she has put her professional training to use as director of nursing for Exceptional Opportunities in Burt, a fire destroyed her college records in California which meant she had to start her college career over from scratch.
However, she has found her college experience at Iowa Lakes greatly rewarding.
"I'm not just a number. I'm not just a record," Wilkin said.
"You have a stellar, stellar faculty," said Wilkin. "The community college fills a vital gap. You make it affordable for everybody. It's so important."
Similar testimony came from Annette Hawkins who has been working on her RN degree at Iowa Lakes since 2009.
"It's opened my eyes up that I can do anything I want to," said Hawkins, who drove truck over the road for 10 years but always dreamt of being an RN.
Hawkins is also a student senator at the Algona campus.


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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 6:29PM #11
Once again discussion needn't be argument--it's discussion of various points of view. In many ways my forties brought me to a zenith :I loved selling high-end electronics, helping my customers make wise choices and bring home substantial remuneration. My youngest daughter, in her early forties is remaking her career because the housing market went south; she is doing well as a CFO and loves what she is doing.
Our life stories create our daily philosophy. I like that old Army recruiting slogan : Be the Best You Can Be. Life is a cycle, but that holds different meanings for different people.
discuss catholicism
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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 7:15PM #12
#5 strikes me as argumentative. Who wouldn't be happy that somebody made it to age 115 years and is still "going strong"?
Black Lives Matter
Muslim Lives Matter
There is no such thing as "illegals"
LGBT Lives Matter
Poor Women's Lives Matter
"If we jump too quickly to the universal formulation, 'all lives matter,' then we miss the fact that black people have not yet been included in the idea of 'all lives.'"
--Professor Judith Butler
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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 8:07PM #13
Jeanne Calment (oldest person ever) was known to have said: "God must have forgotten me." ( L'Oubliee de Dieu?).
Hafta wonder if this is a common sentiment of the very, very old.
She developed issues with her hearing and sight. Not sure if I would be very upbeat with such issues. I know my grandmother- who had very little in the way of ill-health even in her 80's- began to express the notion that she was 'tired of living'. Kinda sad to think anyone would harbor such thoughts.
I sometimes think about what I would do if I didn't have a full-time job and school to occupy my hours. Wonder if I will be content when/if I retire?
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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 8:40PM #14
I find retirement a blessing because I can pursue mainly intellectual interests of mine. I miss my husband who died 10 years ago but I have fantastic memories of our lives : we had circumnavigated the globe with many stops, most with our children and lived in Southeast Asia for 2 years by the time we were 33 !!. I have pictures of us on the White House lawn greeting Prince Charles and Princess Anne when we were thirty. And I have pix of our 40th Anniversay trip to Maine a few months before he died. My son and his family are going to Maine this summer.
I wish you well.................
discuss catholicism
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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 9:03PM #15
"And I have pix of our 40th Anniversay trip to Maine a few months before he died. My son and his family are going to Maine this summer."
Vacationing on the coast I suppose? Coastal Maine is a delight, the seafood is to die for. But it seems to me that the Maine character is awfully diluted by the emphasis on tourism.
My own roots are in Frankln County, over in the west-central part of the state, in the foothills of the Appalachians, what they now call the mountains and lakes region. You can find some authenticity up there.
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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 10:07PM #16
My mother-in-law grew up near Pres Quile (sp). In 1959, before we were married my husband and I stayed with Aunt Pearl and Uncle Johnny in Kennebunk in a farmhouse not up to code !! Aunt Pearl baked bread everyday in a wood stove. When I caught a viscious cold she fixed me a huge glass of whiskey and sent me for a nap; recovery was complete.
My grandson and friends at MIT like a lake not on the coast. His dad's side of the family is totally New England : Mass. and Maine. My family is mid-Hudson valley not far from New England.
Coastal Maine is a law unto itself and so beautiful, an absolute haven for my husband and me who both grew up eating Maine lobster. I knew my m-i-l's family from Northern Maine. During WWII as a preschooler while his dad was a Capt. in the Signal Corps in Europe, my husband became friends with German POW's working the potato fields there.
A salute to State of Mainers............
discuss catholicism
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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 11:10PM #17
" Pres Quile "
Presque Isle. Pronounced, however, more like your spelling, not like the proper French.
Yes, it is great country. I may get up there this summer for the 55th reunion of my high school class.
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|6 years ago :: Apr 22, 2012 - 11:31PM #18
Here is a 100 year old Indian man completing a marathon (8 hours).you
I think if you live long enough you can win #1 in your age group by default.
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|6 years ago :: Apr 23, 2012 - 2:20PM #19
I'm of the understanding that this life is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. In light of that, it is possible to live too long... so to speak.
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|6 years ago :: Apr 23, 2012 - 6:59PM #20
Life as a means to an end? That's a curious way of looking at it.
For all we puny, goofy humans know, when this life is over we all disappear into the ether and are nothing.
Or, perhaps, we are just born again and have another round of trying to make sense of existence. It could be a never-ending story.
Maybe there are an infinite number of possible life scenarios, and we're just caught up in one of them at present - or we think we are. For all we know we're just holograms, or projections of some far more advanced being's thoughts. (I love that one.)
At any rate, whatever the reason we're around (or think we're around), I think we should try to do the greatest good we can. The older I get, the more I feel the truth of that.
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Payroll, health concerns may hinder Wilson's return
Three-time All-Star reliever has undergone Tommy John surgery twice
By Chris Haft /11/27/12 10:40 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants' expanding payroll exacerbates the risk that the club would face by tendering Brian Wilson a 2013 contract.
These cold, hard facts explain why Wilson, the beloved and bearded reliever, could be an ex-Giant after Friday night's deadline passes for clubs to offer contracts to unsigned players.
Despite his status as a three-time National League All-Star, Wilson has been considered a non-tender candidate since he underwent his second Tommy John elbow surgery in April. The urgency surrounding the issue escalated late Monday when the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Giants officials have "hinted" that Wilson won't receive a contract offer. Neither side spoke publicly Tuesday when approached for comment.
Baseball's Basic Agreement prohibits teams from trimming a player's salary by more than 20 percent. The Giants thus must offer Wilson, who earned $8.5 million this year, no less than $6.8 million following a season in which he made two appearances before surgery sidelined him.
The Giants conceivably could non-tender Wilson, which would make him a free agent, but still sign him to a deal including a low base salary garnished by lucrative performance bonuses. In this case, "low" would have to be quite low in relative terms -- probably less than $2 million -- because the reigning World Series champions already are running out of payroll room.
The Giants are believed to be prepared to increase the player payroll from this year's level of approximately $130 million. But that figure won't grow dramatically.
They already have committed approximately $84 million to eight players: right-hander Tim Lincecum ($22.25 million), right-hander Matt Cain ($20.8 million), left-hander Barry Zito ($20 million), third baseman Pablo Sandoval ($5.7 million), left-hander Jeremy Affeldt ($5 million), right-hander Ryan Vogelsong ($5 million), left-hander Javier Lopez ($4.25 million) and left-hander Madison Bumgarner ($950,000).
MLBTradeRumors.com projected that seven salary arbitration-eligible Giants ultimately will receive more than $32 million: right fielder Hunter Pence (predicted 2013 salary: $13.8 million), catcher Buster Posey ($5.9 million), right-hander Santiago Casilla ($5.4 million), right-hander Sergio Romo ($3.6 million), left-hander Jose Mijares ($1.6 million), outfielder Gregor Blanco ($1.3 million) and infielder Joaquin Arias ($800,000).
If those projections are close to being accurate, the Giants will have spent $116 million on 15 players. Should the Giants succeed in retaining free agents Marco Scutaro and Angel Pagan, their 2013 salaries easily would push the payroll beyond $130 million and into the $135 million range.
San Francisco still would have to pay eight more members of the 25-man Opening Day roster. Since non-arbitration-eligible performers such as shortstop Brandon Crawford, first baseman Brandon Belt, catcher Hector Sanchez and right-hander George Kontos have to accept whatever management offers them, they're not much of a payroll burden.
But should the Giants wish to add a significant free agent -- and they could use another outfielder and some pitching depth -- the active roster's price tag would soar past $145 million, representing more than a 10 percent hike from 2012.
Then again, the Giants operated with similar increases in each of the previous three years as they won two World Series and extended their streak of consecutive winning seasons to four.
Wilson, of course, was essential to much of that success. But the payroll mathematics, along with the questionable state of his pitching arm, demonstrate why the Giants might be reluctant to offer him even the 20 percent salary reduction.


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Of course, the McCain campaign is thoroughly justified in taking Biden's statement and running with it, but let's give Biden a chance to defend himself. I certainly think he's being honest and believes, as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., put it "Taxes are the price we pay for civilization." I think it's is patriotic to pay our share for the civilization we get from the government that taxes us. (But let government give us civilization for the price.)
Anyway, here's what Biden is saying today:
"Catholic social doctrine as I was taught it is, you take care of people who need the help the most. Now it'd be different if you could make the case to me that by giving this tax cut to the very wealthy, everybody else was going to be better off. We saw what happened the last eight years when we gave that tax cut."Yes, don't you step down. Stand up! Stand up for American values.
He then explained his statement, first made at a rally in Sarasota, FL, two weeks ago, that asking the wealthiest Americans to accept tax hikes would be patriotic. And he added that the tax rates would still be lower than they were under the Reagan administration.
"I tell you, Democrats," Biden said, gritting his teeth. "Don't you step down from anybody telling you that we don't value, we don't have American values. … I want this debate about values! I want this debate about American values."
By the way, would you want the government to adhere to Catholic social doctrine?
ADDED: Why does Biden only give 0.06 to 0.31% of his adjusted gross income to charity?
IN THE COMMENTS: campy said...
Theocracy! Wall of separation!Yeah. Good point. Imagine if Sarah Palin backed up one of her political opinions with the assertion that it comported with the doctrine of her church. I will wait and wait for Andrew Sullivan to denounce Biden as a Christianist.
Oh wait, he's a dem. Never mind.
Palladian said....
The government is a lot like the Catholic church: an unaccountable, mystical authority that issues unquestionable edicts from a faraway domed temple ministered over by unelected robed clerics who announce their decisions by occasionally blowing smoke through their chimneys.So maybe the dome in that "Dome" ad was St. Peter's!


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Originally published on October 9, 2012 12:34 pm
Writer Sybilla Nash agreed to help out a friend by co-signing a mortgage. But after her friend neglected to make payments, Nash's credit score dropped 200 points. Nash wrote about the ordeal for The Huffington Post. She joins host Michel Martin and consumer education expert John Ulzheimer to talk about how to avoid sticky financial situations.


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Sure, one extremely popular destination on the internet is safe, because throngs of angry users will raise a stink. But what about all the small players who get throttled into oblivion before their innovations get a chance to have the kind of army of defensive consumers that Netflix has?
This is an information warfare[1] campaign where the Establishment is trying to make sure they stay there indefinitely, safe from all new comers.
[1] http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4766259&cid=46193879 [slashdot.org]
And if they grow big enough to appear on the provider's radar, they are so wellknown, it will be noticed if they get throttled.
I'm not sure you understood my point. My point was that without Network Neutrality, and with throttling, the Establishment can keep them from growing in the first place. Or did you understand that? If so, please clarify your point.
if (trafficSource != VerzionOnDemand && trafficSource != Netflix) {
Seems relatively easy from a logic point of view.
Would anyone notice if they randomly started dropping UDP packets? Your average web user would see pages load just as fast. Statistical analysis would have to be very large scale and long term to notice a trend that couldn't be attributed to the normal fluctuations of speed and reliability of the internet. But home users could get a subtle difference in viewing experience for video from their ISP and a competitor.
In reality, ISPs simply need to slack on peering arrangements so their competitors are hammered during peak usage. Something Verizon has already been accused of.
This all leads me to think the real problem is the vertical monopoly/integration of ISP and content provider. If the government doesnt step in, we'll continue to see this war over and over just with ever shifting battlefields. Even with common carrier, we would likely still have ISPs pulling these tricks. regardless of whether they can charge Netflix more.
*obviously it's more complicated than the pseudo code above
... If the video was delivered via UDP.
UDP for video calling, good idea. Nice and real-time.
For anything else, pointless. You'll need to deal with the dropped/out-of-order packets with no benefit, except maybe less RAM usage for buffering. I'd rather have quality video thanks.
You're right, looks like most video services use a form of TCP with different strategies for chunking and ack'ing. Not sure why I thought video streaming was done using UDP. [pdf source [arxiv.org]]
Thanks for the correction.
Won't stop them dropping random UDP packets to entice VoIP users to go back to fixed line though...
Considering that they are doing their best to kill fixed lines and go all IP I do not see that happening. They might very well be tempted to somehow degrade experience for any VoIP service but their own, but then we are back at the Netflix situation.
But I am sure you could fix all that, end world hunger and save the whales with a custom hosts file...
Actually it makes sense to use UDP. With TCP, when one packet is out of order / dropped you delay all remaining packets. With UDP you either forget about the packet if you wish and continue with the rest of the data. This is especially important for real time streaming or VoIP. Then again, if you only "stream" an entire file for replay, you can basically use clunked HTTP 1.1.
Verizon signs-up Oracle to tackle Amazon in the cloud
Verizon Plays Catch Up with Cloud Computing, Storage Offerings
if (trafficSource != VerzionOnDemand && trafficSource != Netflix) {
*obviously it's more complicated than the pseudo code above
Probably not that more complicated, though - when you consider that my cable company already offers me a choice of *nine* different plans, ranging from 10-250 Mbps down, and 512Kbps - 15Mbps up, it's pretty clear that I'm already being throttled. It'd be pretty trivial (to the point that I would be amazed if they weren't doing it already) to add a bit of code that ups the speed to their Favored Partners.
I miss the good old days, where companies had to compete on speed (I remember dial-ups hyping that all t
If what your doing on the internet, fits in the parameters set by the incumbent of what a good netizen does you'll be fine;
hanging out on an irc channel, no problem irc is just a den of hackers anyway back to dial-up speed for them, in fact lets just block any Well-Known Ports [wikipedia.org] for anything except plain vanilla ports like HTTP, POP, FTP, it's just stinky long-haired, neck bearded linux hippy using them anyways.
Sure, one extremely popular destination on the internet is safe, because throngs of angry users will raise a stink.
Well, I wouldn't say that. For example, P2P was throttled because of its bandwidth consumption... and was rescued by the "user community", even though there was no large corporate interest behind it. But your point is taken: this could represent a huge barrier-to-entry for startups.
Folks, there is a simple solution to all this: pressure the government to classify ISPs as Title II Common Carriers, as they should have in the very beginning. (Corporate lobbying prevented it.)
Make them common carriers, and a huge set of problems essentially goes away overnight. Net Neutrality is built-in. Snooping (including government and corporate snooping) is prohibited. Etc. It may not be perfect, but it's just a vastly better world, all around.
Sure, one extremely popular destination on the internet is safe, because throngs of angry users will raise a stink. But what about all the small players who get throttled into oblivion before their innovations get a chance to have the kind of army of defensive consumers that Netflix has?
Nobody is going to slow down some small player, because, well, they are a small player.
But slowing AWS blocks a boat load of people who go there for hosting precisely because the have become popular and they need to scale.
The point of the test mentioned in the summary is that it makes it easy to compare the various sites, side by side.
My results on that page is that AWS California gets 1/3 the speed as AWS Oregon, but linode Freemont is worse.
The thing is, if anyone wanted to target anyone it would be Netflix, since that's where a huge majority of the traffic is, and also it theoretically competes with video offerings from other carriers.
So if you were to engage in ANY throttling, it would make way more sense to act against Netflix than anyone else.
If Netflix is safe (and it is) then so is everyone else.
Um, AWS caters to anyone, just put your innovative project on an AWS VM, and you'll have no worries of throttling, everyone will think you're Netflix!
What about: Netflix defending it's own turf? Why must the government step into everything?
Now before you mark this as 'flamebait', consider this: What does Netflix and other providers have, that ISPs generally do not? A direct line of sight. Their own apps.
Consider: What if Netflix decided to provide an 'ISP test', presented to the user when playback is poor? Or, conversely, what if Netflix just pulled a 'Time Warner' and displayed something like: 'Your ISP purposely limits the quality level of your connect
Exactly this.
People care more about their favored video service (Netflix, Amazon, iTunes) than their ISP.
The content providers need to show how the ISPs affect the speed, and who the best option in your area is.
If the Telco's can get away with theft of $300 billion, they can get away with pretty much anything.
Welcome to Kleptocracy, Government for thieves by thieves.
http://www.newnetworks.com/bro... [newnetworks.com]
They are letting far too many things happen, they are either asleep at the wheel, or have been paid off. Either way, us consumers are the ones that are going to lose in the long run. The ones they are supposed to be protecting.
The FCC wrote the Net Neutrality rules in the first place. It was the federal courts that struck them down, declaring the FCC doesn't have the authority to enforce net neutrality.
We're blaming the FCC now for...reasons? I realize "fuck beta" and all, but at least target your hate on a reasonable target. The FCC charged up this hill for us, and got shot down in flames.
What exactly do you expect they could be doing differently that would help?
The FCC made the decision on how to classify internet service providers which lead to this being an option. When they tried to take back just part of their decision the courts said it they didn't have the authority due to how they classified ISPs. They still have the option of going back and reclassifying ISPs to give themselves the authority to enforce neutrality.
So yes we are blaming the FCC because they made the mess and thus far has refused to do what they have to (and the courts say need to and are l
The FCC wrote the Net Neutrality rules in the first place. It was the federal courts that struck them down, declaring the FCC doesn't have the authority to enforce net neutrality.
We're blaming the FCC now for...reasons?
The other two respondents already answered, but perhaps not as clearly as they could have. The FCC had two choices - they could categorize ISPs as common carriers, or as information services.
Common carriers are like phone companies. They provide the lines, but they cannot control wh
Well they clearly fucked up when they categorized internet providers which resulted in the ruling. I have yet to see an explination of their categorization that doesn't leave the FCC looking incompetent or corrupt. This court ruling seemed pretty inevitable and its not clear that there was a valid reason for them to not make them common carriers in the first place.
So there is some argument, but if the FCC responds soon enough (by re-categorizing internet providers) I think you have to give them the benefi
Its not the fault of the FCC, the FCC said "ISPs must do xyz", the ISPs went to the federal court and challenged it and the federal court said "we agree with the ISPs that the FCC doesn't have the right to require the ISPs to do xyz"
I wish I had a provider good enough to be called shitbag.
In the end, I am unsure how the FCC lets this occur.
They tried but a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down their rules [reuters.com].
Two judges, with partial support from a third, said the commission has the authority to regulate broadband access but had failed to show that it has a mandate to impose the anti-discrimination rules on broadband providers.
Yup. Wherever it leaves Amazons data center to whoever provides service to Amazon - thats it, Amazon has paid for their connection. Everything else is peering agreements or smaller services buying service from larger ones, up until it leaves the end-user's ISP and hits their cable/dsl/dialup modem/carrier pigeon/whatever, at which point that end user is payign their service provider for their traffic or rather right to access at a particular speed.
and haven't been re-investing those profits in infrastructure in proportion.
Could you clarify this? In proportion to what?
In the end, I am unsure how the FCC lets this occur.
First you have to say WHAT is occurring - no-one can say for sure right now.
Why does it occur to no-one that AWS might well be throttling significantly long transfers? I get slower results to AWS East over the NJ server too, on Comcast. But I still get plenty fast speeds to AWS, it's not like it's crippling - just somewhat slower. There could be a lot of reasons for that.
Yeah, I wanna drive 90 MPH during commute on I-80 in SF Bay Area. Sadly, the congestion just won't let me. Ever stop to think, no one is throttling anyone, it's just congestion? Pipes are only so wide ya know. There is a limit, and it could very well be there's no malicious or spiteful intent, there's just too many of us driving on the net.
You cannot expect the corrupt Telcos who stole $300 billion of US taxpayer money
to do anything remotely in the realm of honest.
Welcome to the Kleptocracy.
http://www.newnetworks.com/bro... [newnetworks.com]
Has already been abandoned by the FCC, so better get used to it.. Its only going to get worse.
The FCC tried [reuters.com].
Two judges, with partial support from a third, said the commission has the authority to regulate broadband access but had failed to show that it has a mandate to impose the anti-discrimination rules on broadband providers.
The FCC tried [reuters.com].
Two judges, with partial support from a third, said the commission has the authority to regulate broadband access but had failed to show that it has a mandate to impose the anti-discrimination rules on broadband providers.
You forgot to mention (if I'm not mistaken) how the court practically invited the FCC simply to invoke common carrier regulation as the legally proper way to achieve it's Net Neutrality anti-discrimination rules. While the "FCC tried", the FCC also _has not tried_ to reinstate Net Neutrality via its legal authority to regulate common carriers that way (vs 'information services'). The FCC, also, after a year and a lot of press, has never given me a single sentence of analysis of my 53 page Net Neutrality c
Right, the court told them how to do it in no uncertain terms, and they effectively looked the other way.
So it sort of proves our point.
Congress said don't do that [broadcastingcable.com].
48 of 535.
Not exactly a consensus.
Those are the ones who sponsored the bill. The article refers to many other who have made similar comments.
The classification is the main issue [arstechnica.com]:
In the court case, the FCC said its rules aren't common carrier regulations because "Verizon is free to offer or decline to sell broadband Internet access service to any end user. Verizon need not hold itself out to offer service indifferently to anyone.
Re-classifying them as common carrier would open up a whole different can of worms. The FCC is waiting for Congress to change the rules [broadcastingcable.com].
Somehow that is OK, but god forbid any innovator in their own home makes a profit
They are only prohibiting commercial use of consumer grade contracts. There is no prohibition for the innovator getting a business line contract and making money at home.
They are only prohibiting commercial use of consumer grade contracts. There is no prohibition for the innovator getting a business line contract and making money at home.
"commercial use of..." huh?? Are people who sell knick knacks on Ebay engaging in "commercial use of consumer grade contracts"? (yes, they are). Are people who agree to view advertisements on gmail in exchange for 'free' use of a service that costs money to run engaging in "commercial use of consumer grade contracts" (yes, they are). Network Neutrality was intented to prevent giving ISPs arbitrary power over such things. Without it, ISPs can charge consumers extra to visit, e.g. Netflix, or FoxNews, o
None of those examples requires a server at the customer's house and therefore are not relevant. The restriction is about servers not browsing.
None of those examples requires a server at the customer's house and therefore are not relevant. The restriction is about servers not browsing.
Actually, after a couple 5 year old kids started holding up protest placards in Utah, GoogleFiber backed off the 'servers' and made it just about 'commercial servers'.
If you want an example including a server- Quake3 server, making money for Id Software.
The point is that there is nothing about a server as opposed to a client, that makes it 'dangerous to the network' in a way that (back when we thought the FCC's Net Neutrality rule was enforceable, pre-verizon-ruling) can reasonably fall under the 'reasonabl
Doesn't cost the ISP more to pass the traffic than it does to pass Skype client traffic.
Consumer grade prices are based on consumer grade usage. Consumers are people who sleep, have jobs, etc. Much of the time they are not using the net connection. There are basically physical limits on how much a person or small group of people can consume and that limit is far below the bandwidth limit. Contrast that with a commercial server that could be pumping out nearly bandwidth traffic 24/7. This high traffic costs money to support. That is why there is difference in pricing between consumer and commer
I'm on FIOS with their 50 down/25 up plan. Linode in Newark is 48Mbps, AWS East is 60Mbps. Just saying that a particular path is slow doesn't mean that it's Verizon interfering - it's more likely something else that's causing the problem.
Just saying that a particular path is slow doesn't mean that it's Verizon interfering - it's more likely something else that's causing the problem.
Dude, you're forgetting the talking points of the modern internet crowd. Any and all unexplained slowdown is the result of ill intention by ones ISP. The fact that the network is a broad collection of networks that your ISP has no control over is irrelevant. Congestion at a peering site two networks removed from your ISP? That's Verizon's fault! Google doesn't give Youtube the money to upgrade their infrastructure? Verizon's fault!
You're out of date. it's not the ISP.
The slowdown is caused by NSA packet inspection.
Google doesn't give Youtube the money to upgrade their infrastructure? Verizon's fault!
If YouTube is slow for you, it's not because it's slow at Google's end. This is why Google is starting to rate carriers by video performance, because they're tired of being blamed for what carriers are doing (or not doing). The rating project is so far only rolled out in Canada: http://business.financialpost.... [financialpost.com]
Internet Exchange Points.
If you are a customer of a large nationwide ISP accessing a large content provider present in the same country, you aren't going to have to go through any 3rd parties, as your ISP will exchange traffic at the closest IXP (directly). There around 50 IXPs in the USA alone. Many Hundreds worldwide.
So the theory that the problem is elsewhere doesn't sound very credible.
If they have trouble connecting to the closest IXP, in all likelyhood you'll see a broad slowdown.
I know a thing or two
Please learn about traceroute.
I don't have specific sites to go to (the site linked doesn't tell you what they're connecting to to test) but I have to go on the assumption that both AWS and Linode are eating their own dogfood. Going to Linode takes me through Level3 whereas going to Amazon takes me through Qwest. As soon as I've gone two hops (my local router, the other end of my FIOS link) I'm on divergent paths. By hop #5 (out of ~18 hops) I'm off the Verizon network.
But you're the expert.
Verizon uses Level 3 or Qwest to get to AWS ?
Insane. Get off Verizon. Don't go back, ever. I know, impossible. Sorry.
I'm from Brazil. I thought Verizon was a nationwide carrier, are they ? Only small/medium ISPs do that.
The possibility is AWS isn't large enough to have carrier status. So Verizon don't want to peer (they want AWS to buy bandwidth) but they might have peering agreements with L3 and/or Qwest. And L3 and Qwest certainly have peering status with Verizon. So they follow the cheapest route.
But a c
In Brazil the three largest national backbone carriers reject peering from anyone but the 10 largest other backbone carriers (not an exact number, but a list of rules that reject all but the pretty big ones). Foreign backbones also reject peering, but that makes a little more sense (I'll peer with you in Miami, but not in Brazil, otherwise I'm giving you a free link to my customers abroad, in Brazil I sell links).
Their strategy is if they reject peering (as a cartel), chances are fifty/fifty the other side
I'm seeing faster speeds to AWS too, 60mb down from AWS California, about 35-40 on Linode Fremont. Charter cable here.
You can't make a trend from one data point, nor are all routes created equally.
I do believed that Verizon would do something sleazy like this, but this certainly isn't proof of that.
Exactly. The vast majority of internet users (even those that can network their own houses and fix their friend's computers) don't know what a "hop" is or that there are usually a dozen+ computers between them and their internet destination. And if any of these links is slow, for whatever reason, there's going to a general slowdown. That makes it very difficult to determine if you're being throttled, if you're the victim of bad DNS routing, or if there's some random problem that you can't solve from your en
The submitter typically dashes it off in a hurry, afraid someone else will get it in first. He figures the 'editors' can fix an odd typo or whatnot before posting. He has not been here very long, or he would realize they never do. They just pick one of the two dozen nearly identical submissions at random and post it, maybe with a snide editorial comment added, but they never proofread anything.
Generalizations usually fall down. I've had submissions reorganized before, and in one case had an additional clarifying link added. Just because something's mostly true doesn't make it always true ("never").
Someone else mentioned that Comcast has to follow net neutrality rules for a few years regardless of court rulings. It's getting full speed to AWS during Primetime for me (single data point, but people keep saying it's an issue during prime time).
There's been much discussion lately about how to prove whether Comcast is throttling Netflix, or if Netflix is simply vastly over capacity and throttling everyone.
Netflix using and depending on AWS is quite the opposite of their claims lately (toward the end of 201
On Comcast I get slower response to AWS East than the Linode NJ server.
But AWS is still plenty fast. I don't think anyone is throttling AWS, I think that the people who are claiming it does have a very small understanding of what is actually occurring with the network traffic.
The video content isn't coming off of AWS. It's coming from the Open Connect Appliance Platform.
(I'm on the OCA team at Netflix.)
It's not Verizon, or if it is they aren't doing it to everyone. I get the same speed results hitting AWS anywhere that I get doing just about anything else. I pay Verizon for a 75 megabit FIOS connection that in reality usually does about 83, and that's what I just got hitting AWS East.
Yeah, Google Fiber will be great for accessing YouTube and Google Maps. It might not be quite so effective for accessing services that compete with Google.
Google is no different from Comcast or Verizon or AT&T. Without governmental enforcement of net neutrality, carriers cannot be trusted to provide equal service to competing services.
"because tools for monitoring the performance of carriers will emerge nd we'll catch them if they try."
Oooh! Some geeks will "catch them". That must have these megacorporations (with Congresscritters on their payrolls) just shaking in their boots.
It can actually work. The advent of cheap tests for lead and other toxins, of GPS for home survey work, and of cell phones for photographing criminal behavior have all altered what people or companies can do without detection and prosecution.
Sorry if this looks like I'm a shill...
At $werk we had a company called Cedexis come in to see us. They have a service where they 'ping' their customers infrastructure from end-user's web browsers. The idea being that $user on $provider hitting $cloud gets different service levels for different values of $provider and $cloud (where $cloud can be anything, including your own datacentres). Thus, if $provider == Verizon, then maybe using MS Azure is better than AWS. If that was the case, then Netflix could use
Am I the only prophet in the room? We will never have true network neutrality until the physical medium is fully publicly owned. Our telecom companies should be contractors to the common good, not infrastructure owners. That is the core problem: when they own the infrastructure, there's little we can effectively do with laws to regulate their behavior with it.
Not only do we need apps and programs that monitor bandwidth being provided to different websites by service providers, but we also need a website dedicated to registering and amalgamating all such statistics in an open forum that automatically ranks politicians with respect to what they are going to do about it to increase speeds. Only when one can make political contributions and votes dry up at the first hint of bad news, will anything really change for the better.
The other day, I tried to stream 3D Netflix content. They list 6mbps service as needed. I did a speedtest from my laptop 50+, then from my LG TV 39+....
Yet Netflix informed me my connection was too slow. So I am HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS. And will be very curious to see if this confirms my suspicions.
http://netneutralitytest.com/ [netneutralitytest.com]
e-credibility: the non-guaranteeable likelihood that the electronic data you're seeing is genuine rather than somebody's made-up crap. - Karl Lehenbauer


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New Challenges in Addressing an Age Old Sin
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My T-Mobile Dash (HTC 620) couldn't break out of its endless boot loop. So, despite my dislike of hard resets, I went ahead and reset the Dash. Here's how you perform a hard reset on one of these things, btw.
- Press the left and right soft keys simultaneously
- While pressing the soft keys, press and hold the On button for a couple of seconds and then release it
- You will see a screen that tells you to press Send to reset the device. You can sort of see a blurry picture of this screen above (sorry 'bout that). The Send button is the green Call button
I just deleted the former partnership with ActiveSync and then re-partnered the Dash with my PC. Everything looks ok so far. The problem might be related to one of the beta apps I tried recently on the unit. But, I'm not assigning blame until I can find more information.
The bad news is that I lost the OneNote Mobile notes after re-partnering. Everything on the PC side was deleted. I think I backed it up a week or so ago. So, I should be able to recover most of my notes though.
The good news is that the phone looks like it is working. I will use my TyTn as my main phone for another day or two until I get a better feel for how the Dash is behaving after its hard reset.


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New Delhi: Market watchdog SEBI has extended the deadline by one month for submission of bids by public sector banks and KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) to conduct "in-person verification" of about three crore investors in the high-profile Sahara case to ascertain their genuineness.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had floated a tender in this regard on November 2 and had earlier asked the public sector banks and KRAs to submit their applications by November 22.
However, SEBI has now decided to extend the deadline for bid submission to December 21 and would open the technical bids on the same day.
Earlier, the technical bids were scheduled to be opened on November 22, while a pre-bid meeting was held by SEBI with the interested parties on November 7.
The selected 'In-Person Verification (IPV) Agency' would be mandated to interact "face-to-face" with all investors in the Sahara case to ascertain their genuineness. SEBI has been mandated by the Supreme Court to facilitate refund of about Rs 24,000 crore with 15 per cent interest to the bondholders of two Sahara group firms after ascertaining their genuineness.
In its order dated August 31, the Supreme Court had asked SEBI to ascertain the genuineness of an estimated three crore bondholders of OFCDs (Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures) of two Sahara group companies (Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd and Sahara Real Estate Corporation Ltd) and thereafter facilitate refund of the money with the interest.
In this regard, SEBI has decided to carry out in-person verification of these bondholders, for which it is seeking the services of public sector banks and KRAs.
The KRAs are authorised agencies to carry out KYC (Know Your Client) requirements for all the market entities, including brokerage firms and mutual funds.
The selected agency would have to meet the bondholders face to face to establish their existence, visit their given address to ascertain their residence proof and verify their original identity and address proofs vis-a-vis given details.
The IPV Agency would also have to get the copies of identity/address proofs signed by the bondholders and verify the documents related to investment in OFCDs vis-a-vis details provided by SEBI and its agencies.
SEBI is also in the process of appointing investigating agencies to assist it in this matter, while it is also hiring a Registrar and Transfer Agent (RTA) for investor data and payment processing related works in the case.
The RTA's job would involve scanning and verification of investor documents, setting up and managing of toll-free investor helpline and grievance redressal cell and processing of payments to the genuine investors.


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GenScript Announces Collaboration with AMDeC: Seeks to Decrease Biological Research Costs at NYC Area Institutions
By: PR Newswire
Dec. 11, 2012 04:01 AM
PISCATAWAY, New Jersey, Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- GenScript has cemented an alliance with AMDeC, LLC, becoming a member of AMDeC's Vendor Partnership Program. The program unites academic investigators with commercial entities by providing discounted vendor pricing to consortium members, which includes NYC area research institutions, like NYU Langone Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College.
GenScript is offering AMDeC members DNA sequencing services at deeply discounted prices. The services feature an easy, flexible sample submission and short turnaround times. But financial incentives aren't the only motivation for this collaboration. DNA sequencing has been a catalyst for biological research since the 1970s. Access to fast, affordable sequencing has enabled researchers to sequence the first human genome, and study a variety of gene functions. Hence, the value of sequencing services to the research community has increased, as service turnaround times and prices have decreased. The GenScript-AMDeC collaboration provides scientists with rapid, economical, high-quality sequencing services, which will help accelerate research in the NYC area.
That's just the tip of the iceberg for GenScript's CEO, Frank Zhang, Ph.D., who anticipates that through this collaboration, GenScript will eventually offer its complete arsenal of one-stop custom services, including gene and peptide synthesis, protein expression and purification, antibody production, and cell line development. Access to these premier services would have the same catalytic effect as DNA sequencing has had over the years, since outsourcing these tasks expedites academic laboratory research.
"By working with AMDeC, we hope to establish services [at] every single university in the USA," said Zhang. "Our vision is to make the research easy by providing custom reagents to scientists…[so that] the productivity in academic research labs will be improved."
Both GenScript and AMDeC are committed to accelerating discoveries in biological research. Thus, it's no coincidence that the potential for advancements in science and technology through this alliance is in parallel with AMDeC's assertion as "A Catalyst for Breakthroughs" and GenScript's core motto, "Transforming Biology Research".
*Read more about the GenScript-AMDeC collaboration in the November 2012 issue of Nature Medicine.
About GenScript
Founded in 2002, GenScript is a leading biology CRO offering customized services to aid biological research, and drug discovery/development. GenScript is headquartered in Piscataway, NJ, with subsidiaries in Europe, Japan, and China.
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The Chef: Gabrielle and Cha-Ya Vegetarian Japanese Restaurant
The Menu: A steaming bowl of Kinoko (mushroom) soba noodles in a savory broth, with nori, shimeji, shiitake, portobello, and oyster mushrooms.
The Goods: This is my first day back to work after a horrible weekend spent fighting the flu, and when my container of quinoa salad that I packed this morning broke on my way out the door, I knew I needed to treat myself to lunch. Fortunately, Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and Associate Editor Liz Miller were happy to join me at Cha-Ya, an 100-percent vegan Japanese restaurant a mere block from the office. Despite the fact that San Francisco is experiencing a new-to-me phenomenon known as a "November heat-wave," I knew my recovering immune system could still use some soup. I'm a wild mushroom freak—the more obscure the variety, the better—and Cha-Ya left me extremely satisfied, with leftovers to boot.


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Siblings Show Off Works
ST. MARYS — The Arts Place Collective Center, 142 East Spring St, St. Marys, held an opening reception for its newest exhibit, "Different Visions," featuring artists and siblings Kay and Val Sluterbeck. The Van Wert residents share a house, and a studio, but have very different artistic styles.
Val Sluterbeck, who has been painting and drawing for about five years, likes to create works based off of things he sees in everyday life.
One painting on display, of a tree with an eyeball in the middle of its trunk, Val took from something he saw during a visit to OSU's campus. There was a tree on which someone had really painted an eyeball, he said, and he wanted to capture that image.
"I think it's just neat," he said.
Val received the "Best of Show" award for the painting at the Van Wert County Fair in 2010, his sister Kay said.
"I've never gotten best of show," she said. "I got third best of show (one year)."
Another painting on display from Val's collection showed the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The inspiration for this watercolor work came from a picture he saw of the building and liked.
"I just liked the looks of it," he said.
Val's medium of choice depends on what he feels like doing, he said. He also draws. Art is all about enjoyment for him, he said.
"It's fun," he said.
While Val's works are very uniquely drawn or painted in a style that is entirely his own, Kay's are all very different.
"I'm trying to figure out why I do that," she said, about the variation among her paintings.
They range from whimsical, depicting fantastical scenes with wizards, crystal balls and dragons, to winter landscape scenes to multi-colored cats.
"(I've) absorbed a little bit of everything," she said, reading how-to art books and biographical books about specific artists.
One artist in particular who influenced Kay's works was pen-and-ink artist Aubrey Beardsley.
"I like drawing best of all, so pen and ink (is my favorite medium)," Kay said.
Kay worked off and on for 20 years as an editorial cartoonist for the Van Wert Times Bulletin, where she received an AP "Best Editorial Cartoonist" award.
Art is something that has always been a part of Kay and Val's life, as their mother was also an artist. She did many different types of paintings, Kay said, including landscapes.
"Still-life was her favorite," she said.
Kay has been painting and drawing since the age of about 5, she said. It was such a huge part of her life that she was under the impression as a child that everyone could draw, she said. For her, art is an escape.
"Your pencil and pen and brush are magic wands," she said. "Anytime you want to go someplace different you just draw it."
The paintings that are dearest to her heart are those that bring back memories. Before moving out of her house of 40 years, she painted several pictures of her cats in the house and of the house itself.
A lot of these say "not for sale" for that very reason.


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John Coleman joins the celebrity line-up who have experienced the splendours of one of Vancouver's premium boutique hotels.
We arrive at Vancouver's Wedgewood Hotel & Spa near midnight, tired and jaded after 20 hours of flights and delays, but are immediately revived by the spectacle of hundreds of miniature lights wreathed through the maple trees lining the hotel's entrance.
That and, as we find next morning, the warmth and intimacy of this boutique, family hotel and its environs, where the locals sprawl in the sun on what look like oversize bean bags around Robson Square, with its gardens and waterfalls. On the fringe of the square is the beautiful, old former provincial courthouse, now the Vancouver Art Gallery.
The 83-room downtown hotel is a member of the exclusive Relais & Chateaux. Its remarkable, Greek-born proprietor, grandmother Eleni Skalbania, was the general contractor and designer for a makeover of the hotel, relying only on her natural sense of colour and texture. We're told she took over what was the Mayfair Apartment Hotel 28 years ago, gutted it, moved in personal collections of antiques and art for public areas, and commissioned custom-designed furniture from craftsmen.
The results everywhere are memorable: we're left with the impression of traditional English country house elegance.
The decor of our deluxe executive bedroom is in muted beige, carried through to the furnishings in beige and rust. A huge soaker tub dominates a corner of the bedroom; there's a sitting area with desk; walls adorned with hunting scenes; a bar; bathroom in Italian marble with shower; Gilchrist & Soames products; and spacious balcony (all bedrooms have them) overlooking the square.
Suite features include separate living rooms and two bathrooms, while the four penthouses - from 83.6 square metres to 116 square metres - have living rooms with marble fireplaces, double jacuzzis, antiques, original artworks, limestone bathrooms with heated floors, and patios that almost qualify as backyards.
The hotel attracts a high proportion of Australians, New Zealanders and celebrities including movie stars Pierce Brosnan (he once rented a penthouse for months while filming), Sean Connery, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. We're told 40 per cent of guests are repeats.
Wedgewood's Bacchus Restaurant specialises in modern French cuisine - executive chef Lee Parsons began his career at London's Claridges.
For dinner, we choose avocado and hand-peeled prawn salad. I follow with much-in-demand Alaskan weathervane scallops in sweet pea and asparagus risotto with Padano cheese, while my wife enjoys poached wild British Columbia salmon with asparagus, butter lettuce and lemon butter sauce. We complement it with a district verdelho, and resist the dessert trolley.
Among its features, the hotel has two meeting rooms for corporate or social events, with the latest technology, authentic tapestries, oil paintings, antiques and fireplaces.
A "Liaisons Room", catering for 66 at a seated meal, has a 16th-century fireplace.
The hotel's general manager, Philip Meyer, who came to the Wedgewood after extensive experience in Britain and Canada, including on the QE2, has a passion for cycling, stemming from his youth racing as a junior followed by annual visits to France for the Tour de France. The hotel sponsors a cycling team, which competes in gran fondos - meaning long distance and great endurance - to raise money in support of British Columbia's Cancer Foundation for brain-cancer care and a new system of therapies offering hope for sufferers.
Meyer, part of the 35-member Wedgewood team, last year finished the 160-kilometre Prospera Valley GranFondo in four hours nine minutes, and was first in his age group and sixth overall. The team raised $C70,000 ($67,500) for the Cancer Foundation, adding to the $C350,000 donated by the hotel.
Meanwhile, as the hotel prepares for another gran fondo in July, Eleni Skalbania no doubt will continue to focus her creativity on the hotel with another program of upgrading and improvement - as she does each year.
The hotel has received a string of awards, including 2012 TripAdvisor Traveller's Choice and Certificate of Excellence; Travel + Leisure inclusion in World's Best Hotels; and it is consistently on Conde Nast's Gold list. And Bacchus Restaurant has been named Traveller's Choice Vancouver's Favourite Restaurant.
The spa - named Vancouver's Best Day Spa - features natural skincare products, while the new health club has the latest fitness technology, personal trainers and a luxurious relaxation room.
And we were pleased to note the spa packages included one for jet-lag recovery.
The writer was a guest of the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa.
Trip notes
Where: Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, 845 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6Z 1V1. + 1 604 689 7777, wedgewoodhotel.com.
Getting there: Air Canada and Air New Zealand have regular flights to Vancouver.
How much: Rooms from $C275, penthouses $C1000 (winter); $C350-$C1500 (summer), plus taxes and GST.
Top marks: Elegant, family-run boutique hotel; warm and friendly service; excellent facilities; in a superb location. We appreciated the twice-daily maid service, complimentary bottled water and freshly baked biscuits each morning.
Don't miss: Vancouver Art Gallery, just across the square — Monet exhibition staged during our visit — or walk a few blocks to the ferry for brief the crossing to Granville Island markets for gourmet and seafoods, arts /crafts, fruit, vegetables, galleries, artisan studios, restaurants and shops.
Black mark: A quibble: we found no electric jug for tea-making, although presumably the coffee percolator could be used for boiling water.


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Hey all,
I have been checking out different LED Drivers for months now, and including in this forum I have not been able to find a LED driver which will strobe at a frequency of anything higher than 14 - 15 hz. I am looking for an LED driver that would have modes, low, medium, high, and a strobe in the range of 20 hz to 100 hz. No luck .
One driver in particular that I have been looking at is the DX SKU 6190 driver which has the four stars for wiring different modes in different combinations. Another driver I have been looking at is the DX SKU 7612 which has 16 different modes which have several strobe frequencies available.
Here is some information I have found while digging through the net - please see photos for some modification help as to get my desired 20 hz - 100 hz frequency range ( if this is at all possible of doing by mechanically bridging circuits in a specific way and/or altering them ):
Have you figured out a way to mod this driver to supply a higher strobe rate than 10 hz? I was messing around with this driver and somehow I managed to get it to strobe double rate - but I have no idea how that could be repeated. I would love to have an LED driver similar to this one that strobes at 20 hz -100 hz