text:
Last month posting GraphvizFiddle did provide a nice (cool) tool to automatically layout (directed) graphs and even to load and save the input DOT language files. This was nice and useful, but missed an important feature the other "fiddle" tools I mentioned in the posting provide -- Share!
Since today new "Share" button is available in GraphvizFiddle tool -- let me give an example "shared" link:
States of Germany borders
This is how the graph should show up in your browser (tested with big5 browsers):
If you move your mouse cursor on that link or open it, you will see that I just made the URLencoded DOT file the Fragment part of the URL. This has some nice consequences ;-)
- Accessing above link is "secure" -- while clicking on that link the GraphvizFiddle page and viz.js are still retrieved from my private website (stamm-wilbrandt.de), the Fragment part will NOT be submitted to my site. Instead your browser will open GraphvizFiddle tool, and then trigger <body> onload fucntion that does URLdecoding of the fragment (in your browser), and finally Draw it
- Since all the information is in the URL, you can bookmark, send by email or twitter, publish on website or blog, ...
Especially sharing GraphvizFiddle links on twitter is nice!
As you know there is a 140 character limit for a twitter tweet -- but since the URL gets shortened it does "cost" nearly nothing! Copying above link into a fresh Twitter form results in 118 characters remaining! And that is independent of the size of the DOT language file. [Of course sharing a GraphvizFiddle link on twitter is NOT secure anymore :-)]
Only small changes to the original GraphvizFiddle page were needed. The most important and visible change is that addition of a timestamp in the URL. What is the reason for this you may ask? I use this "trick" to make sure than <body> onload() function gets called for each click on a bookmarked or twittered link. A change in only the Fragment part of the URL would not trigger invocation of onload() function, but that is needed to draw that graph. Adding the timestamp by Javascript "new Date().getTime()" (Epoch time at millisecond resolution) to the query part of the URL makes EACH shared link (nearly) unique -- only if two shared links get created at exactly the same millisecond point in time they would collide.
Have fun with the new GraphvizFiddle link feature -- I will twitter some nice ones from time to time myself.
Hermann<myXsltBlog/> <myXsltTweets/> <myCE/> <myFrameless/> <GraphvizFiddle/> <xqib/>


text:
By Julie Small
Districts with a higher percentage of low income and non-English speaking families will get a greater share of school money under the state's Local Control Funding Formula. Some school officials say developing language-specific forms for some parents will be difficult.
"In order to really truly get input, you probably really need to be able to communicate effectively with those different populations," says Laura Duzyk is Assistant Superintendent of Business Services for the San Diego County Office of Education.
She also says getting the right documentation may be a problem because many poor parents work under the table.The Los Angeles Unified School District has expressed similar concerns.
But many education officials around the state are optimistic after years of education spending cuts.
"There's additional funding, prop. 30 allows that," says Dennis Myers with the California School Boards Association. "There's a new focus on local control while at the same time a renewed focus and a renewed commitment to students who need special assistance."
Many districts won't know how much LCFF funding they'll be getting until at least January.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Unity Output
The tests should be run as part the automated test
build. A single command builds and runs your test
executable. I prefer to build often, with
each small change. This is TDD. I set up my
development environment to automatically
make all whenever a file
is saved. Test output looks like this:
make compiling SprintfTest.c Linking BookCode_Unity_tests Running BookCode_Unity_tests .. ----------------------- 2 Tests 0 Failures 0 Ignored OK
Notice that when all tests are passing, the output is minimal. At quick glance, a single line of text says "OK," which means, "All tests passing." In the UNIX style, the test harness follows the "no news is good news" principle. (When a test case fails, as you will see shortly, it reports a specific error message.) It's pretty self-explanatory, but let's decipher the test output and summary line.
Notice also that a dot (.) is printed before each test case runs. For a long test run, this lets you know something is happening. The line of hyphens (- - -) is just a separator line for the test summary.
- Tests the total number of
- Failures the total number
TESTcases that failed.
- Ignored a count of the number of tests in ignore state. Ignored tests are compiled but are not run.
Let's add a failing test to see what happens. Look at the test output, and the intentional error in this test case will be evident:
TEST(sprintf, NoFormatOperations) { char output[5]; TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL(4, sprintf(output, "hey")); TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL_STRING("hey", output); }
The failure looks like this:
make compiling SprintfTest.c Linking BookCode_Unity_tests Running BookCode_Unity_tests .. TEST(sprintf, NoFormatOperations) stdio/SprintfTest.c:75: FAIL Expected 4 Was 3 ----------------------- 2 Tests 1 Failures 0 Ignored FAIL
The failure reports the filename and line of the failing test case, the name of the test case, and the reason for failure. Also notice the summary line now shows one test failure.
Now, let's look at CppUTest.
CppUTest: A C++ Unit Test Harness
Now that we've seen Unity, I'll quickly describe CppUTest, my preferred unit test harness for C and C++. In full disclosure, I am partial to CppUTest, not only because it is a capable test harness but also because I am one of its authors. The first examples in this article use Unity. The later examples, use CppUTest.
CppUTest was developed to support multiple OS platforms with a specific goal of being usable for embedded development. The CppUTest macros make it so that test cases can be written without knowledge of C++. This makes it easy for C programmers to use the test harness.
CppUTest uses a primitive subset of C++; it's a good choice for embedded development where not all compilers support the full C++ language. You will see that the test cases are nearly identical between Unity and CppUtest. You, of course, can use whichever test harness you prefer for your product development.
This CppUTest test case is equivalent to the second
Unity test case found in
the section on
TEST(sprintf, NoFormatOperations) { char output[5] = ""; LONGS_EQUAL(3, sprintf(output, "hey")); STRCMP_EQUAL("hey", output); }
Besides the macro names, the test cases are the same.
Let's look at a CppUTest test fixture that is equivalent to the earlier example Unity test fixture (discussed in the "Test Fixtures in Unity" section).
TEST_GROUP(sprintf) { char output[100]; const char * expected; void setup() { memset(output, 0xaa, sizeof output); expected = ""; } void teardown() { } void expect(const char * s) { expected = s; } void given(int charsWritten) { LONGS_EQUAL(strlen(expected), charsWritten); STRCMP_EQUAL(expected, output); BYTES_EQUAL(0xaa, output[strlen(expected) + 1]); } };
Again, it is very similar to the previous example, with all the same concepts
represented. One formatting difference is that the
TEST_GROUP is
followed by a set of curly braces enclosing shared
data declarations and functions. Everything between
the curly braces is part of the
TEST_GROUP and is accessible
to each
TEST in the group.
The shared data items
expected, and
length) are initialized
by a special helper function called
setup. As you might guess,
setup is called before each
TEST. Another special
teardown, is
called after each
TEST. (In
this example, it is not used.)
expect and
given are free-form helper
functions that are accessible to all
TEST cases in the
These refactored test cases are identical to the Unity test cases:
TEST(sprintf, NoFormatOperations) { expect("hey"); given(sprintf(output, "hey")); } TEST(sprintf, InsertString) { expect("Hello World\n"); given(sprintf(output, "%s\n", "Hello World")); }
One advantage to CppUTest is that tests self-install.
There is no need for an external script to
generate a test runner or to manually write and
maintain test-wiring code like
TEST_GROUP_RUNNER, and
RUN_TEST_GROUP. On the
minor difference list are the assertion macros; each
test harness supports different macros, though there
is functional overlap.
You may notice that Unity and CppUTest are suspiciously close in their macros and test structure. Well, there is no real mystery there; they do follow a well-established pattern that I first saw with JUnit, a Java test framework. The more specific similarities are because I contributed the test fixture-related macros to the Unity project.
CppUTest Output
As already explained for Unity, tests run as part of
an automated build using
make. Test output looks
like this:
make all compiling SprintfTest.cpp Linking BookCode_tests Running BookCode_tests .. OK (2 tests, 2 ran, 0 checks, 0 ignored, 0 filtered out)
Just like with Unity, when all tests are passing, the output is minimal. Here is how to interpret the summary line of the test run:
- tests the total number of
- ran the total number of
TESTcases that ran (in this case, they passed too).
- checks a count of the
number of condition checks made. (Condition checks are calls such as
- ignores a count of the number of tests in ignore state. Ignored tests are compiled but are not run.
- filtered out a count of the number of tests that were filtered out of this test run. Command-line options select specific tests to run.
Let's insert an error into the test to see what the output looks like:
TEST(sprintf, NoFormatOperations) { char output[5]; LONGS_EQUAL(4, sprintf(output, "hey")); STRCMP_EQUAL("hey", output); }
The failure looks like this:
make compiling SprintfTest.cpp Linking BookCode_Unity_tests Running BookCode_Unity_tests ... stdio/SprintfTest.cpp:75: TEST(sprintf, NoFormatOperations) expected <4 0x2> but was <3 0x1> Errors (1 failures, 2 tests, 2 ran, 1 checks, 0 ignored, 0 filtered out, 0 ms)
The failure reports the line of the failing condition check, the name of the test case, and the reason for failure. Also notice the summary line includes a count of test failures.
If you ever insert an error on purpose into a test case, make sure you remove it, or you risk baking a bug into your code.
Unit Tests Can Crash
One other possible outcome during a test run is a
crash. Generally speaking, C is not a safe language.
The code can go off into the weeds, never to return.
sprintf is a dangerous
function. If you pass it an output buffer that is too
small, it will corrupt memory. This error might crash
the system immediately, but it might cause a crash later. The behavior is
undefined. Consequently, a test run may silently exit
with an
OK, silently exit
early showing no errors, or crash with a bang.
When you have a silent failing or crashing test, let the test harness help you confirm what is wrong. Sometimes a production code change will cause a previously passing test to fail, or even crash. So, before chasing the crash, make sure you know which test is failing.
Because the test harness is normally quiet except for
test failures, when a test crashes, you probably won't
get any useful output. Both Unity and CppUTest have a
command-line option for running the test in verbose
mode (
-v). With
TEST announces itself
before running. Conveniently, the last
TEST mentioned is the one
that crashed.
You can also filter tests by test group (
-g testgroup) and test case (
-n testname). This lets you get very precise about which test
cases are running. These are very helpful for chasing
down crashes.
The Four-Phase Test Pattern
In Gerard Meszaros' book, xUnit Testing Patterns, he describes the Four-Phase Test, which is what I use, too. The goal of the pattern is to create concise, readable, and well-structured tests. If you follow this pattern, the test reader can quickly determine what is being tested. Paraphrasing Gerard, here are the four phases:
- Setup: Establish the preconditions to the test.
- Exercise: Do something to the system.
- Verify: Check the expected outcome.
- Cleanup: Return the system under test to its initial state after the test.
To keep your tests clear, make the pattern visible in your tests. When this pattern is broken, the documentation value of the test is diminished; the reader has to work harder to understand the requirements expressed by the test.
At this point, you should have a good overview of Unity and CppUTest, and understand how test fixtures and test cases allow a set of tests to be defined. Whether you use them to practice TDD on your C projects or just to ensure higher code quality is entirely up to you. [If you choose to go the TDD route, though, you might find the remainder of the material in the book from which this article is excerpted to be useful in your work. See below. Ed.]
This article is excerpted and adapted from Test-Driven Development for Embedded C, published by Pragmatic Programmers. You can find the complete code by visiting the book's home page. James W. Grenning invented Planning Poker, an Agile estimation technique, and is one of the original authors of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.


text:
Although LA's hillside burn areas remained intact Wednesday morning, the same could not be said for the morning commute -- it was a mess.
The California Highway Patrol said there were 186 traffic crashes in Los Angeles County during the six-hour period ending at 6 a.m. There were 19 crashes during the same period a week ago, a dry day.
The morning drive included jackknifed big-rigs and crashed vehicles. Lanes on some roads were impassable because of hubcap-deep pools caused by overwhelmed storm drains.
An overturned big rig blocked traffic on the northbound 5 Freeway near the 134 Freeway. The crash was cleared just before the morning drive.
The storm also caused power outages. At 7 a.m., SoCal Edison reported 10,000 customers without power from Santa Barbara to the Inland Empire. LADWP said 13,195 customers were without power.
The storm took its toll on Venice's drainage system. Standing water was reported on several roads.
Moderate showers continued into the morning, but conditions cleared later in the day.
Although the rain is moving out of the region, authorities said the mudslide threat remains because of drenched hillsides.
Concern is especially high in the La Canada Flintridge area, near the scorched hillsides left behind by the Station Fire. In the order listed by Public Works, the communities considered vulnerable for "small isolated debris and mudflows," are:
- La Canada, La Crescenta, Glendale, Tujunga and the Acton area, which are all vulnerable to mountain watersheds scorched by the 250-square-mile Station Fire in September and August.
- The Portuguese Bend area, adjacent to the Palos Verdes Fire in August.
- Glenoaks Boulevard and the 134 and 2 freeways, near the Freeway Fire in August.
- Sloan Canyon Road and Interstate 5, near the Sloan Fire in July.
- Little Tujunga Canyon and Cottonwood Canyon, near the Tujunga Fire in July.
- Sylmar, Newhall and the San Fernando Reservoir area, adjacent to the Sayre Fire of November 2008.
- Porter Ranch, Twin Lakes, and part of Granada Hills, vulnerable to areas burned by the Sesnon Fire in October 2008.
- Little Tujunga, Pacoima, Kagel and Lopez canyons, near the Marek Fire of October 2008.
- Canyons and ridges above east Sierra Madre, adjacent to the Santa Anita Fire of May 2008.
- Malibu, between Corral Canyon and Latigo Canyon, near the Corrall Fire of November 2007.
- Val Verde and Castaic, near the Ranch Fire of October 2007.
- Malibu, between Las Flores Canyon and Malibu Canyon, near the Canyon Fire of October 2007.
- Santa Clarita and the Angeles National Forest, between Dry Canyon and Mint Canyon, near the Buckweed Fire of October 2007.
- Malibu, in the vicinity of Malibu Bluff State Park, near the Malibu Fire of January 2007.
- The Sand Canyon area of Santa Clarita, upstream of Placerita Canyon. The community is adjacent to watersheds burned by the Cross Fire in August 2006.
All county roads within the Station Fire burn area were closed because of the approaching storm and will remain off-limits until at least midnight, public works officials said. Angeles Forest Highway, Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road are closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles and Department of Public Works personnel.
Residents will not be permitted to use the roads, which officials say would be unsafe during a forecasted rainstorm due to the potential for debris flows.
"We urge residents to continue to monitor news broadcasts or visit the website at www.dpwcare.org for further updates," said DPW spokesman Bob Spencer.
Sandbags and concrete barriers called K-rail were placed on streets in suburbs northeast of Los Angeles to try to direct any debris flows away from homes.
"Those barriers will be there all winter and into next year," said County Fire Battalion Chief Mike Brown. "Regrowth on those steep slopes is going to take a while so we'll have these problems for the next five to seven years."
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning early Wednesday for a burn area in Santa Barbara County. Heavy rainfall was expected to cause flash flooding and debris flows in a part of the county scorched by recent wildfire, according to the weather service.
An 8,700-acre blaze in May left hillsides barren in the area. Forecasters were looking at 3 to 6 inches of rain.
The USGS released a report that said flows might measure about 100,000 cubic yards, or enough material to cover a football field 60 feet deep.
Rain started to fall in the foothills of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo late Monday night, according to the National Weather Service.
And it's not just rain. Powerful winds on the coast between Point Reyes and Big Sur, and several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada, meteorologists said.
Last week, on the potential for landslides in California's burn areas.


text:
Quantum Materials Corporation Supplies Tetrapod Quantum Dots to U.S. Government Researchers
Mar 27, 2013, 06:00 ET
CARSON CITY, Nev., March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantum Materials Corporation (OTCQB:QTMM) has recently developed and delivered customized tetrapod QD samples for applications being developed by Department of Energy National Lab researchers. As one of the largest sponsors of US technical and military research, the DOE helps move innovative technologies into the commercial marketplace creating new jobs and future industries. QMC has also agreed to supply customized tetrapod quantum dots to a U.S. government defense related agency in support of a nano-biological project.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121120/DA16554LOGO)
More than 110 science-related Nobel Prizes have been awarded to DOE-associated researchers. Department of Energy National Labs, Energy Innovation Hubs and Technology Centers are developing quantum dot and other nanoscale applications including solar photovoltaics, batteries, biofuels, physics and in biological sciences. An example of this is work at Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) exploring quantum dot- fluorescent proteins (QD-FP) in devices utilizing pH-sensitive fluorescent protein acceptors to produce long-lived sensors for biological imaging. LANL's use of quantum dots for precise cellular imaging produces valuable data for the hopeful cure or treatment of many diseases and conditions.
Quantum Materials Corporation believes its technology meets three NNI National Signature Initiatives objectives: new advanced materials (tetrapod quantum dots), mass production (continuous flow process) and nanomanufacturing (roll-to-roll printing). Stephen Squires, Quantum Materials Corporation CEO commented, "The many DOE National Labs are in the forefront of quantum dot research and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with them. QMC has enabling technologies to help fulfill NNI National Signature Initiatives years ahead of forecasts, advancing the nation's research rapidly while perhaps saving the U.S. Government millions that can be redirected to application development."
QMC currently offers high-brightness Cd-based and ecological Cadmium-free non-heavy metal tetrapod QD and can synthesize many Group II-VI inorganic mono or hybrid tetrapod quantum dots. QMC intends to build out its quantum dot production facilities in the U.S. with full commercial production expected in the fourth quarter of 2013.
About Quantum Materials Corporation, Inc. and Solterra Renewable Technologies, Inc.
QUANTUM MATERIALS CORPORATION, INC has a steadfast vision that advanced technology is the solution to global issues related to cost, efficiency and increasing energy usage. Quantum dot semiconductors enable a new level of performance in a wide array of established consumer and industrial products, including low cost flexible solar cells, low power lighting and displays and biomedical diagnostic applications. Quantum Materials Corporation intends to invigorate these markets through cost reduction and moving laboratory discovery to commercialization with volume manufacturing methods to establish a growing line of innovative high performance products. (http://www.qmcdots.com)
SOLTERRA RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGIES, INC is singularly positioned to lead the development of truly sustainable and cost-effective solar technology by introducing a new dimension of cost reduction by replacing silicon wafer-based solar cells with low-cost, highly efficient Quantum Dot-based solar cells.
Safe Harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning our business, products, and financial results. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted. More information about potential risk factors that could affect our business, products, and financial results are included in our annual report and in reports subsequently filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). All documents are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System (EDGAR) at http://www.sec.gov/ or from our website. We hereby disclaim any obligation to publicly update the information provided above, including forward-looking statements, to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Art Lamstein
Director of Marketing
Quantum Materials Corporation
Solterra Renewable Technologies
SOURCE Quantum Materials Corporation


text:
WASHINGTON — Reports of sexual assault in the military increased sharply during the last fiscal year, new Pentagon figures showed Wednesday, just weeks before a defense bill with provisions to tackle the problem is expected to reach the Senate floor.
There were 3,553 sexual assault complaints reported to the Defense Department in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, from October 2012 through June, a nearly 50 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. Defense Department officials said the numbers had continued to rise.
The numbers included sexual assaults by civilians on service members and by service members on civilians. Sexual assault was defined in the report as rape, sodomy and other unwanted sexual contact, including touching of private body parts. It did not include sexual harassment, which is handled by another office in the military.
Military officials cast the increase of reported complaints in positive terms and said it showed an increased willingness among victims of assault to come forward. But the numbers are also the latest in a series of developments underscoring the problem of sexual assault in the military, which has vexed Pentagon officials and drawn fire from Congress and the White House.
"More reports mean more victims are getting the necessary health care," said Maj. Gen. Gary S. Patton, the director of the Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. "More reports means a bridge to more cases being investigated by law enforcement and more offenders being held accountable."
Each year the department reports the number of assault claims, which lag behind a separate survey on sexual assault taken every other year among 1.4 million active-duty service members. Last summer that survey found that about 26,000 men and women in the military were sexually assaulted in 2011, up from 19,000 in 2010.
The release of the new data comes at a time when Congress is considering changes to the military justice system that would give sexual assault victims more resources and possibly reduce the power of military commanders to reverse the convictions of offenders.
On Thursday and Friday a congressional panel will hold public hearings designed to assess the progress of the military in reducing the problem of sexual assault. So far the Pentagon is offering military commanders more education on preventing such assaults, expanding an Air Force program designed to provide legal counsel directly to victims and increasing the accountability for leaders across the chain of command.
In a twist, the Pentagon found that a substantial number of the reported cases of sexual assault — something less than 10 percent — occurred before the victim entered the military.
"Folks have heard about the services and programs that we have for victims, and they are walking in the door to get those services," General Patton said. "This is a strong indicator that people have heard our message and believe we are going to take care of them."
The number of cases of sexual assault that occurred before a victim joined the military were included in the 3,553 complaints.
The defense bill that is set to come to the Senate floor this month includes various changes to the military justice system. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, is to offer an amendment that would take sexual assault cases outside the military chain of command and give military prosecutors, rather than accusers' commanders, the power to decide which cases to try. Pentagon leaders are strongly opposed to Ms. Gillibrand's amendment.
Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, is pushing legislation that does not go as far. Supported by the Pentagon and Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, the measure would strip commanders of their ability to overturn jury verdicts and mandate dishonorable discharge or dismissal for anyone convicted of sexual assault. But it would keep control of court-martial proceedings within the chain of command.
Another measure offered this week by Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, would exempt victims of sexual assault from having to testify at what the military calls Article 32 pretrial hearings, which can include cross-examinations of victim that are so intense they frighten many victims from coming forward.
On Wednesday, Ms. Gillibrand made a broad push in an effort to drum up 60 votes in support of her measure.
"There is no accountability," she said during a news conference on Capitol Hill. "Because the trust that any justice will be served has been irreparably broken under the current system, where commanders hold all the cards over whether a case moves forward for prosecution."
Ben Klay, a former Marine, choked up as he described the ordeal of his wife, Ariana Klay, a former Marine officer who was sexually assaulted.
"I'm lucky I married someone so strong," he said, as Ms. Gillibrand and Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, appeared to cry. "Even though she still suffers."
There remains little support for Ms. Gillibrand's bill within the Pentagon.
"We want commanders more involved in solving this problem of sexual assault in the military, not less involved," General Patton said.


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Welcome to Duluth Veterinary Hospital!
We have been providing state of the art care for pets and their owners since the late 1940's. We are accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), which designates higher standards in veterinary care. Our mission is to provide personalized, high quality care for pets and their owners characterized by trust, respect, and compassion. We strive continually to improve our care of pets and people through innovation, education, and teamwork.
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text:
Ever think about Dr. Seuss' Thing 1 and Thing 2, those asexual beings whose unwavering partnership goes unquestioned?
What about "The Cat in the Hat?" What if Seuss decided to make his mischievous feline gay?
Chicago area author Christine Gayle made that exact decision with "Dottie the Sock: How I Found My Pair," the first children's book in a new 10-book series.
Gayle's series revolves around the main character, a lesbian sock named Dottie, encountering various modern day situations. In the first book, Dottie searches for her mate – a fellow female sock.
"We're built on the belief that you're supposed to be with your own kind," Gayle said. "I (approach homosexuality) in a very simple language. It's very simple for kids to understand. It's not vulgar or inappropriate in any way."
Still, Gayle – a straight woman – said she's received numerous e-mails in the week since the book's release with parents accusing her of misrepresenting her book and dooming our country to hell.
They demand she clarify the book's homosexual connotations by changing the title to "Dottie the Lesbian Sock." Obviously these parents aren't in the book marketing business.
Many angry parents want warning because they say religious restrictions forbid them from reading the book to their children. But that, of course, begs the question -- did they read it themselves before they read it to their kids?
Gayle refuses to put a sock in it.
"I just feel that [changing the title would be] labeling her [Dottie the Sock] as if she has a disease," Gayle said. "The story I'm trying to tell is that Dottie is just like anyone out there. It doesn't matter if she's black or white or Muslim or lesbian."
Forget about homosexual rumors between The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious – or should we say bi-curious? – George. Dottie the Sock is staying out of the closet.


text:
My other website is a Facebook.
Here's one asset of a set we developed for Dr. David Pascoe over at the Auburn School of Kinesiology. He wanted to be able to follow up with networking contacts he met at a conference in Las Vegas. So we made him a nifty booklet to pass out to potential associates.
That booklet had a QR code on it that led to a Facebook page, allowing Dr. Pascoe to answer questions, post thoughts, and directly interact with industry connections.
Putting something on the web doesn't always have to mean a website! We can help you use multiple media strategies to deliver your message, and we'll make sure to create a combination that's just right for you.


text:
Developer had insult carved into forehead by kidnapper
Missing property developer Kevin McGeever, who was found wandering at the side of a rural road, was mutilated and had an insult carved across his forehead.
Mr McGeever, who is currently in hospital, has told gardai he was abducted eight months ago by armed men but he cannot recall what happened to him after that.
He was discovered in a dishevelled state near Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, on Tuesday night and had lost about five stone in weight.
He had been reported missing to the gardai at Gort, Co Galway, on June 22 last.
The 68-year-old man has told gardai that he was abducted by three masked men at gunpoint from the garden of his mansion home at Craughwell, Co Galway, last May.
He said the kidnappers had demanded a ransom for his safe release but he did not know whether a ransom had been paid. Mr McGeever said he could not remember what had happened to him in the meantime but, as he was being released, he was given a mobile phone and warned to keep it with him at all times.
Gardai said he was feeble and thin when he was found and, apart from the weight loss, he had a lengthy beard and very long fingernails.
He was taken to Mullingar hospital where he was treated for malnutrition and dehydration.
The marking on his forehead was thought to have been cut into him with a knife.
Officers are trying to establish whether he had been held across the Border before he was dumped in Co Leitrim.
Mr McGeever told the couple who found him that he had been thrown out of a van and did not know where he was.
During the boom, he ran a successful property business selling luxury homes in Dubai to wealthy Irish and British clients.
He is currently listed in legal proceedings before the High Court in a case being taken against KMM Properties, which began in 2009.
Catherine Vallely discovered the missing man on the Leitrim-Cavan border on Tuesday night.
She was on her way home to Ballinamore with her partner Peter Rehill when they spotted him in the middle of the road.
"He had red trousers that made me think it was a cone in the middle of the road.
"When the man got into our car he told us he had no shoes on. He said three men threw him out of a van," Ms Vallely said.
"The man said his name was Kevin and he didn't realise he was in Leitrim. He didn't even know the month," she said.
They brought him straight to Ballinamore garda station.
"A female garda immediately invited him in for a cup of tea.
"As he was eating tea and biscuits he asked her if she had any more. He said he hadn't eaten for God knows how long.
"He had a pair of enormous eyes in a very thin face and his cheekbones stuck out.
"He was rubbing his beard with fingers that had long nails. He was very well-educated, well-spoken and polite and articulate.
"He was just skin and bones," Ms Vallely said.
A bag of curry chips was brought to him as gardai discovered that he had been reported missing to their colleagues in Gort last May by his partner, Siobhan O'Callaghan.
"We were told he used to be 16 stone. He was just skin and bones," Ms Vallely added.
Mr McGeever's lavish mansion in Craughwell was empty yesterday.
Irish Independent


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Mediterranean Diet Recipes: Entree Salads
Although the entree salad is more popular in the United States and Canada, you can still create a Mediterranean–inspired meal by combining fresh produce with protein sources like salmon or chicken. Entree salads are also a great summer meal for celebrating the foods that are in season.
Grilled Salmon with Caramelized Onions over Mixed Greens
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus marinating time
Cook time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 large sweet or yellow onions, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1 pound salmon filet
4 cups romaine lettuce
4 cups red leaf lettuce
1/4 cup walnuts or almonds, chopped
In a heavy skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat.
Add the onions and sauté over medium-high heat until slightly soft and caramelized, being careful not to fully brown, for 3 minutes, tossing with tongs to separate pieces and evenly coat with oil mixture.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue sautéing uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.
Mix the dill, garlic, lemon zest and juice, remaining olive oil, and melted butter and season with the sea salt to taste.
Place all but 1/4 cup of the dressing into another bowl and use the 1/4 cup to brush both sides of the salmon; marinate for 10 minutes. Discard this portion of the dressing.
Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the salmon on each side for 4 minutes or until it achieves the desired doneness.
In a large mixing bowl, lightly toss the greens with the reserved dressing and plate on four dinner plates.
Divide the caramelized onions evenly among the four plates.
Cut the salmon into four equal pieces and plate them over the onions; sprinkle with the chopped walnuts and serve hot.
Per serving: Calories 322 (From Fat 161); Fat 18g (Saturated 5g); Cholesterol 74mg; Sodium 290mg; Carbohydrate 15g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 27g.
Char-Grilled Chicken with Feta over Mixed Greens
Prep time: 40 minutes, plus marinating time
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Four 4- to 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons honey
8 cups mixed salad greens
2 Roma tomatoes
16 black olives
4 ounces feta, crumbled
Place the chicken breasts in a 9-x-11-inch glass baking dish.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, mustard, oregano, fennel seed, coriander, and honey.
Pour 1 cup of the dressing over the chicken and coat each breast. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 4 hours. Discard this portion of the dressing.
Divide the mixed greens among four plates.
Halve each tomato and cut it into 1/2-inch wedges. Divide the tomatoes, olives, and feta evenly among the plates.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and discard the marinade.
Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the chicken for 10 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Allow the chicken to rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes prior to slicing.
Slice each chicken breast on an angle in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Fan one breast over each salad.
Drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons of the remaining dressing over each salad and serve.
Per serving: Calories 290 (From Fat 92); Fat 10g (Saturated 4g); Cholesterol 126mg; Sodium 576mg; Carbohydrate 7g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 41g.
Seared Tuna with Lemon Dill Sauce over Mixed Greens
Prep time: 25 minutes, plus marinating time
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
8 small new potatoes
1/2 pound green beans, cleaned, with stems and ends removed
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons dill, chopped
1/4 cup onion, minced, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound 1-inch-thick tuna steaks
6 cups green leaf or red leaf lettuce, washed and torn
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 carrot, grated
Nonstick cooking spray (optional)
2 tablespoons capers
In a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water.
Bring to a boil over high heat and cover; reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Strain the potatoes in a colander and run under cold water to halt the cooking. Set aside.
In the same saucepan, boil 3 cups of water and add the green beans; boil for 3 minutes.
Strain the beans in a colander and run under cold water for 1 minute. Set aside.
In a shallow dish, combine the lemon zest, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, the parsley, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the dill, and 2 tablespoons of the onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the tuna to the marinade from Step 3 and coat on both sides.
Allow the tuna to marinate for at least 10 minutes while you assemble your salad.
Place the lettuce in a large salad bowl and layer with the green beans, whole potatoes, and carrots.
Spray a cast-iron grill pan with nonstick cooking spray (if desired) and heat it over medium-high heat.
Sear the tuna for 4 minutes on each side or until it reaches the desired doneness.
Place the tuna on a cutting board. In a shallow bowl, whisk the remaining lemon juice, olive oil, dill, and onion and the capers.
Whisk and pour the dressing over the salad. Slice the tuna steaks into 1/2-inch slices and serve over the salad mixture.
Per serving: Calories 397 (From Fat 136); Fat 15g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 51mg; Sodium 213mg; Carbohydrate 34g (Dietary Fiber 5g); Protein 32g.


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LWW a new pay-per-view supplier for FIZ AutoDoc
14. März 2012
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Philadelphia, PA, US), a WOLTERS KLUWER HEALTH INC business, will be available as a new FIZ AutoDoc document supplier for the pay-per-view option. Thus, articles from more than 260 e-journals of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) can be ordered and downloaded via FIZ AutoDoc immediately.
- If your ordered document is electronically available on LWW's server, the corresponding link is generated. In this case, you may purchase the original document directly from LWW in PLAIN PDF-format using the "Purchase Now" button. As usual, the costs for the full-text document will be added to your monthly invoice.
Example: Order details page for a document to be downloaded
from Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Delivery format: PDF).
- Benefits of FIZ AutoDoc's pay-per-view option are: Immediate availability of the document, best publisher quality, PLAIN PDF format i.e. NO DRM, lower priced than via classic document suppliers.
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins is a leading international publisher of professional health information for physicians, nurses, specialized clinicians and students. LWW provides essential information for healthcare professionals in print and electronic formats, including textbooks, journals, CD-ROMs, and via intranets and the Internet. Products available include drug guides, medical journals, nursing journals, medical textbooks, and eBooks.
- Other scientific publishers for which we offer journal articles via the FIZ AutoDoc pay-per-view option are ACS, Elsevier, Future Science Group, Karger, Oxford University Press, Springer, and Thieme. At present, FIZ AutoDoc provides immediate download options for journal articles from more than 5,100 e-journals. We will continuously enhance this future-proof delivery option by cooperating with further publishing houses.


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The California economy could lose $2.2 billion this year because of the drought. That's according to a UC Davis study that shows the agriculture industry alone could lose $1.5 billion.
The study says California will have to make do with a third less water this year and that could lead to 430 thousand acres of fallow farmland. The study's authors say the pain won't be spread evenly throughout the state.
"On average, people will get their fruits, nuts, raisins, vegetables and wine," says former UC Davis Economist Richard Howitt. "But there are pockets of extreme deprivation where they're out of water and out of jobs."
Howitt estimates 17,000 seasonal farm workers could be unemployed. The report recommends California adopt statewide groundwater pumping rules and keep regular track of groundwater levels.
The drought is expected to continue for at least another year. US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Fresno on Friday to announce the next phase of federal drought relief.


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Ubisoft announces four new downloadable song for Just Dance 4
Ubisoft has announced four new downloadable songs are currently available for Just Dance 4 on the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.
One Direction – "One Thing"
Gossip – "Heavy Cross"
Selena Gomez and the Scene – "Hit the Lights"
Cher Lloyd – "Want U Back"
The songs will be available for PlayStation starting December 18th, and the Wii U at a later date.
For more information please visit the Just Dance 4 website.


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I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Please tell me about yourself & your wedding. I will check my availability & respond within 24 hours.
If you prefer, call or text me at (336) 454-5901 or simply send me an email.
If you have not heard from me within 24 hours, please check your spam folder. Sometimes my response to your inquiry is considered spam by some service providers, especially Yahoo.


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BCI is a group of citizens and business owners who work to improve the quality of life and review development proposals in the Baum-Centre corridor. BCI meets the third Tuesday of each month at the First United Methodist Church at 6:00 p.m. For more information, contact Lenore Williams at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: September 16South Oakland Block Party
Later Event: September 18Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting


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1 Events Found
Tuesday Talk 'n Treat
Tue, Apr 14, 2020 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDTSpecial presentations by various local authors, crafters, demonstrators and educators.
Topics such as:
Women in the Everglades
Seminole Indian Clothing
Florida Panther
Florida Black Bear
Life in the Glades
Collier Seminole
Naples, FL
Naples, FL
Operation Recreation Geotour
The Operation Recreation GeoTour hosted by Geocaching.com, stretches from Pensacola to Key West and includes 71 of the First Three Time National Gold Medal Award Winning Florida State Parks and Trails. Visit 20 caches and win the Official Operation Recreation Geocoin.
The Outsiders Club
"The Outsiders Club" is an exciting 30-minute program starring kids who explore the great outdoors and model ways to pursue a healthier, more active, nature-connected lifestyle. Each episode is set in a beautiful Florida State Park and features an outdoor adventure, such as camping, fishing, kayaking or hiking.


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How Social Media Can Help Your Business to Grow?
At the dawn of the digital age we are living in today, it's mandatory to harness the power of social media if you want to see the growth of your business. A carefully devised and managed social media campaign can bring along with it a plethora of new opportunities. Maintaining a strong presence on the social media network is not an easy task – in fact, it needs a plenty of work and efforts.
Once you've embraced the right social networking platform and social media marketing strategies, the payoff your business gets to experience down the lane is simply incredible. If you are wondering how social media can help your business to grow, here's what you need to do to reap the benefits.
Reach Out to the Right Audience
It's not easy for every business to reach out to everyone. However, this is achievable to some extent through social media – at least to reach out to the right set of audience. Once you accomplish this and reach your target audience to engage with through social media, it can work wonders for your business. Unique social media channels like Pinterest and Snapchat are highly effective in reaching out to a particular group – it's more manageable than ever before.
At the same time, it's important to share updates that are adapted to your target audience. Such social media strategies are absolutely invaluable. If you closely watch the strategies of some of the businesses that have been successful on social media, you'll realize that they would uncover plenty of customers they were earlier not aware of simply by joining a conversation on a social media channel. That's really powerful!
Run Promotions to Gain New and Returning Customers
Social media promotions are a great way to attract new users as well as returning customers. Provide a new outlet for sales, deals and its likes. When you offer such promotions exclusively for your social media followers, you can gain a lot of traffic and this in turn creates a buzz word around your business or brand.
In the recent years, almost everyone is active on one or the other social networking platform. So, you just have to attract them with freebies through promotions. The best part is that both the parties benefit from promotions. The new follower or returning customer gets the freebies, while your business generates more followers, which is indirectly crucial for further growth of the business.
Check out some of the successful Facebook contests and promotions in this HootSuite article.
Learn More about Your Audience
Most businesses overlook this particular aspect of social media benefit. When you start using social media for your business growth, you get to learn more about your audience. And this understanding in turn lets your customer base to grow because you can now customize your marketing efforts and work based on your understanding to satisfy them.
Many of the key social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook let you to access metrics and information about those who visit the pages. Such insights help businesses to know where the audience is located in the world, the language they speak, their gender and age. You can then consider all these aspects while devising strategies for future product offers and marketing campaigns. In a nutshell, learning more about your audience indirectly helps your business to grow incredibly.
Enhance Customer Service
Good customer service is the key for any business to grow and social media is a great platform to enhance customer service, which in turn helps businesses grow. For any business, offering stellar customer service is of topmost priority. In addition to the 2-way communication provided by social media, it also gives a unique chance to improve customer service and offer immediate gratification to the target audience.
This will also let you to show to what extent you care about offering a memorable experience and will make sure that customer inquiries don't go unnoticed. Businesses can drive their results by constantly monitoring social networks for customer feedback and giving them instant responses.
Offering customer support service through social networks is quickly turning out to be an expectation of most of the customers. If your customers are trying to find your business on Twitter or Facebook and not finding it, you may be missing out the chance to win new customers. So, it's high time that you create a strong presence for your business on social media if you are not on it already – it doesn't cost you a dime to kick-start your social media campaign.
This is what the power of social media is and how it can help your business to grow. Read this article to realize the power of social media if you still don't understand how effective this platform is. This is just a small percentage of what this strong network can help your business achieve, while there's much more that it can do practically. So, get off the bench and join the huge network and other businesses that are already growing their presence through social media.


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Raise A Bookwork From The Womb
Photo credit: Tetra Images/Jamie Grill/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
Baby is listening... so speak up!
It's no secret that babies can hear external sounds during their stay in the womb. So why not make the first words he hears ones of love, nurturing and education? In addition to talking to your bump to help you bond with your baby-to-be, reading to is a great way to help with voice recognition... especially if you run out of things to talk to him about (hey, it could happen!). Lullabies, classic nighttime stories (Goodnight Moon, anyone?) or even the lyrics to your favorite song (I used to sing my favorite Jewel tunes to my babies-in-waiting) can be the beginnings of a beautiful friendship between your baby and the written word.
Once Baby is born...
From the time Baby is a newborn, continue the habit of talking — in addition to reading and singing — to him. Choose a quiet time such as before a nap or at bedtime to start a reading routine. Understand that as your infant grows and becomes mobile, he may be more interested in crawling around and exploring than sitting down for a good read, so be patient. Choose books with bright colors, large and simple text, unique textures or patterns, flip-ups and other interactive options to pique Baby's interest.
Check out your library's offerings for babies and young kids
The very first thing I did when I started venturing out with my babies was renew my library card. Before kids, I hadn't been inside our local library since... well, I can't remember when. I discovered that it has an amazing kids' center as well as kid-centric programs like interactive story times for specific age groups — beginning from birth. Public libraries also have great summer programs to keep kids' noses in books during the break from school. Now that my kids are four and six, they have their own library cards and we participate in our library's summer reading program, which awards points for the activities they do at the library as well as the number of books they read during the summer. My kids get super-excited about going to the library, and I think it stems from our humble beginnings of strolling about the place before they could even walk.
Let Baby choose
When your baby gets to the point where he can start picking and choosing (believe me, this happens earlier than you think it might), go ahead and let him pick out his own books. Start with the board book section, but don't limit him to that... as long as he isn't into tearing out or eating the pages of a paperback!
Let Baby see you reading independently
To encourage Baby's love of learning and reading, spend some time reading to yourself. When Baby sees you curled up enjoying a good book, he's more likely to be encouraged to discover his own love for reading. When I first became a mom, my love for reading moved to the back burner (along with many other things... my sanity, for instance.). Now that I am finally enjoying more free time to read the things I want to read, I feel like my mind is coming out of that 'mom fog.' Phew!
More for you and your newborn
Nursing challenges?
Decoding Baby's skin
Swim safety for babies


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With Romeo & Juliet opening in just a few days, we asked our company dancers about THEIR first loves. Hopefully the stories aren't as tragic…
My first love was a girl named Celeste that I dated for two years. Then she dated my best friend and I at the same time before breaking up with us on the same day. I was 8. [Ed note: Paul will be tweeting during this weekend's performances. Follow him at www.twitter.com/balletaustin. Look for tweets signed ^PB.]
My first love was the childlike empress from the Never Ending Story… Turns out I just wanted to be her.
My first love is my husband of 9 wonderful years, Ambrose Krumpe. We met when I was 18. I knew he was 'the one for me' when he used a coupon on our first date!
Jessica Rabbit.
I met my first love at a music store. Upon first sight, I knew immediately she was to be my first love… She was an Everett Upright Piano. We've been together for 3 months.
Todd, my best friend. He is my first and only love. We met two years ago, fell in love a year after that, and four weeks ago he proposed. [Ed note: Congrats, Beth!]
Most people would say that "ballet" was my first love, but in all seriousness I would have to say my husband Rhys Ulerich. [Ed note: Michelle will be tweeting during Sunday's performance. Follow her at www.twitter.com/balletaustin. Look for tweets signed ^MT.]
I thought my first love was JTT (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). Little did I know, I would finally find true love years later in my husband… also named Jonathan!
Don't miss Romeo & Juliet this weekend, May 11-13, at the Long Center! Get tickets here.