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Accounting Research BULLETINS
Issued by the Committee on Accounting Procedure, American Institute of Accountants, 270 Madison Avenue, New York 16, N. Y.
Copyright 1951 by American Institute of Accountants
July, 1951
No. 26
Limitation of Scope of Special War Reserves
1. In January, 1942, the committee on accounting procedure issued Accounting Research Bulletin No. 13, Accounting for Special Reserves Arising Out of the War. In October, 1946, it issued Bulle-tin No. 26 concerning the accounting for the use of these special war reserves.
2. The committee is of the opinion that, in the light of subse-quent developments of accounting procedures, these bulletins should no longer be relied upon as a basis for the establishment and use of reserves.
The statement entitled "Limitation of Scope of Special War Reserves" (No. 26-Ad-dendum) was unanimously adopted by the twenty-one members of the committee.
1. Accounting Research Bulletins represent the considered opin-ion of at least two-thirds of the members of the committee on ac-counting procedure, reached on a formal vote after examination of the subject matter by the committee and the research department. Except in cases in which formal adoption by the Institute member-ship has been asked and secured, the authority of the bulletins rests upon the general acceptability of opinions so reached. (See Report of Committee on Accounting Procedure to Council, dated Septem-ber 18, 1939.)
2. Opinions of the committee are not intended to be retroactive unless they contain a statement of such intention. They should not
215-A (Precedes page 215)

subset: commoncrawl


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An Illiterate Hairdresser Goes to Hollywood
In their March issue, Vanity Fair has a fascinating article about producer Jon Peters, an illiterate hairdresser turned major Hollywood player (and ex Mr. Streisand), written by the woulda-been ghost writer of his memoirs, William Stadiem. Crazy Tinsel tales abound.
Peters is a notoriously bellicose, tall-tale-spinning oddity. Just look at all the famous Hollywood murderers he's supposedly run across!
He also lies or contradicts himself about many things, including small stuff like his diet:
Despite his aggressiveness and other strange quirks, or perhaps because of them, Peters is linked to (or has linked himself to, rather) many of Hollywood's once-golden goddesses:
Peters had such a swagger in those heady '80s that he managed to convince the brass at Sony that an illiterate former hair dresser whose only "In" to the business was Babs Streisand should run Columbia Pictures. Not surprisingly, he and his partner didn't exactly do well there:
Peters' latter-day failures (the last movie he produced was the super-boring Superman Returns in 2006) haven't stopped him from boasting about the good old days or trying to cozy up to the bigshots. He doesn't always succeed, but at least he's trying.
The entire article is definitely worth reading. Keep an eye out for it.


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In case you didn't see the countless posters and Facebook and Twitter posts, the Fall Job & Internship Fair was held at UWGB last week on September 28th. Now, being a first-year student, I really didn't know what it was all about. The professionals in the Career Services office were tangibly excited, but the students on the other hand, were terrified. The idea of walking into a room full of potential employers was almost as scary as meeting up with a band of monsters. But if there is one thing I learned from watching Scooby Doo it's that there is always a person behind that mask. So I set out for the Job & Internship Fair with one goal in mind: to solve the mystery of the Job Fair Scare!
Why are students so intimidated when it comes to interviewing? Is it the fear of answering a question wrong? Of being ill-prepared? These are the questions I asked myself as I began to investigate the topic. The Career Services website had tons (literally, TONS!) of advice on what to wear, how to sell yourself, and so many other ways to be prepared for the Job Fair, but students were still nervous. The nerves were even starting to get to me! At 10:30 AM, I arrived at the Job Fair wearing my best business attire and a brave face (I thought it best to skip the bell-bottoms and ascot). Not surprisingly, there were no cobwebs, no eerie fog, and NO masked ghouls anywhere. It didn't seem like this was going to be as eventful as anything Scooby and the gang encountered, but the mystery was still unfolding…
With my name tag on, I decided to begin my investigation with a little observation. The Fair was already in full swing: smartly dressed students were everywhere (obviously they checked out Career Services' "Dress for Success" tips!). And as I watched the many tentative (and some bolder) students work up the courage to approach the company reps, I wondered, "What are they afraid of?" "It's so nerve-wracking," one girl said. "They just seem so intimidating." The employers at every single booth were standing, smiling, and practically begging to be approached. Their tables held enticing goodies like candy, snacks, pencils, pens and other free stuff; anything they thought would lure in students. It was obvious that they wanted to be engaged, but they were waiting for students to make the first move. When a student approached, the interactions always started the same way: a firm handshake, the exchange of names and the four-word phrase that can make or break you in any job interview—"Tell me about yourself." Jinkies! My first clue! It was time to dig deeper.
I wanted to get some insight from employers, so I approached a table for WS Packaging Group, Inc. I spoke with a representative who told me what she thought the most important thing to do before an interview was. "I feel that when we read resumes, applicants are not looking at the job description and the qualifications." She felt it was extremely important to research the position and its requirements before you apply. Don't apply for a science-related position if you are an English major that hated your science classes. A representative from the Wisconsin State Government expressed concern that students and graduates looking for jobs "think they can jump right into an advising position." Students seem to be so confident in their abilities and eager to climb the career ladder that they forget they do have to start on the bottom rung. She said they must remember that no matter how smart they are, going from graduation to management is simply not (or at least very rarely) going to happen. When I asked employers about skills their company was looking for in a potential employee the responses were pretty much what you would expect: communication and writing skills, work ethic, leadership, and education among the most common. I realize that many students may think that these skills are obvious. They already know they must possess the vast majority if they even want to be considered for a job. That's when I knew I had found my second clue.
I stumbled upon my third clue in a much more subtle way. There is no doubt that the company representatives are all very good at their jobs and that they know what they are doing, so it's easy to see why students are intimidated at the thought of speaking to these employers. But who would be surprised to know that the employers were just as nervous? It's true! When I first approached a booth, I would introduce myself, telling them I was an intern with UWGB Career Services, and ask if they would mind answering a few questions. Almost immediately, there was a change. Their eyes widened a little, smiles faltered for just a split-second, and I knew right then that I had made a breakthrough. I had definitely caught them off guard: most of the representatives came to the Job & Internship Fair to interview students, but in an ironic turn of events, they found themselves in the middle of an interview. They answered my questions and were very helpful, but I could tell that it was quite unexpected.
At that point I had gathered enough information. I couldn't help feeling a little like Velma as I went through my list of clues, but I was definitely ready to solve the Job Fair Scare. First of all, I wondered, why do employers ask such a broad question to start the interview? Such openness makes some students very nervous. They aren't sure exactly what to say, but above all, they want to avoid rambling. Employers do this because they want to know about you. They generally look for the student to speak first at a job fair because their main objective is to get an idea of whether or not you would be right for their company. The representative is never going to try to embarrass you or make you look stupid. Just be confident and professional, but most of all, be you.
Secondly, it is one thing to have the skills employers are looking for, but it is entirely another to actually know what to do with those skills. A professor in one of my classes once said, "Interviewers are really thinking, 'I know you have the skills. So what? How is it going to help my company?'" I think this is a really important question that students should ask themselves as they prepare for a job fair or interview. If you can tell employers a specific example of how you can help their company, it is a much more impressive answer and will definitely help you stand out.
Finally, the third, and I feel most important thing I learned at the Job and Internship Fair, is that everyone is nervous about being interviewed! Even professionals that are very knowledgeable about their field and position are susceptible to the butterflies and stutters that come with this natural fear of speaking publically. It's important for you as a future job applicant to realize that it is natural to feel a bit on edge—everybody does! No matter if you're eighteen, twenty-two, or forty-three, the nerves get to us all. This doesn't mean we have to let it get the best of us, and miss important opportunities: no, it just means that we can recognize the nervousness and easily learn to push it aside.
So, jinkies, that's that! Mystery solved. There were no ghosts, goblins, or monsters running booths at the Job and Internship Fair; just normal professional people with the same emotions as students. So now that all of your fears are put to rest, start your own job search today! Go to http://www.uwgb.edu/careers/skills/job-search.asp to get started!


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Windows 7 UAC Isn't Inherently Insecure; Users Are
Click here for the original report by Leo Davidson on which the controversy is based.
A little background: If you run Windows 7 as an administrator this does not require a UAC prompt, while it did in Vista. If you're logged in as Administrator in Vista or Windows 7 then you are actually run in a less-privileged mode and, when you attempt to perform a privileged action (or so it's supposed to do) you get a UAC prompt. These prompts just have a Continue button, unlike the ones for standard users which also require administrator credentials. The basis of all of the controversy is that in Windows 7 Microsoft changed UAC so that it did not provide a warning to the user if the program performing privileged operations was a Windows program signed by Microsoft. A typical example would be using regedit to change a registry key in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive.
Researchers discovered that, in this environment, if the user was logged in as administrator, a malicious program on the system could trick the UAC control panel applet to turn off UAC altogether. After some argument, Microsoft agreed to change the behavior of this and some other Microsoft applications in order to avoid this abuse.
Back to the report which started this controversy which, by the way, was written back in February when all the initial controversy played out: The claim is that a malicious program can inject code into the process of one of these "whitelisted" Microsoft programs and thus bypass the UAC prompt. I'll assume all of these claims are true and they seem reasonable to me, although I haven't tested them. Davidson confirmed that it all still works on Windows 7 RC1.
Here's why it's, at best, overblown: You have to be running as administrator for this to work. This means that you have to run a malicious program while logged in as administrator. UAC was never meant to be a secure barrier against this. It did work a lot of the time in Vista and (as Davidson points out) it does in Windows 7 if you change the UAC setting to the default Vista level. But in fact there are other ways to get around UAC in Vista as well. It blocks certain operations but, as Microsoft techies have pointed out for a long time, it's not a security barrier.
Davidson blows off all the counter arguments: The point of UAC is to get users to run as standard user, which isn't affected by this? He complains about how standard users get as many prompts as they ever did. I would argue that a standard user doing standard things gets few or no prompts, since they shouldn't need to elevate privilege in the normal course of their work. I run as standard user on Vista and it's probably a week since I got my last prompt.
UAC is not a malcode blocker. If you want to block malicious code, get a good anti-malware product with an IPS in it. And of course they're not perfect either. Also be careful about what code you run on your system. All of these are things you've heard for years. Nothing's new.
When it first came out I like the administrator UAC prompts in Vista, but I've gone sour on them. They create a false illusion of security. Standard user UAC is much more meaningful and in fact it's the only good excuse for UAC: the point of it all was to help ISVs to get their software to work correctly in a less-privileged environment. UAC prompts call them out for doing things they shouldn't do. But when you're logged in as admin you need to be able to do anything and be responsible for anything you do. In that sense Davidson is correct in calling UAC "security theater". But his solution to go back to the Vista approach is wrong.
Originally posted on the PCMag.com security blog, Security Watch.


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You'll almost always find this savory, polenta-like side dish nestled underneath Espírito Santo's moqueca. Pirão has the ideal creaminess to soak up the stew's juices but also contributes plenty of character to the dish — made of manioc flour (coarse yuca meal) cooked in a stock made from fish and vegetables, including green and yellow bell peppers, it subtly suggests the tropics.
- Yield
- Makes 8 (side dish) servings
- Active Time
- 20 min
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- For stock
- 2 pound heads and bones from white-fleshed fish
- 16 to 20 shrimp shells (from 1 pound extra-large shrimp; optional)
- 1 pound tomatoes, quartered
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped yellow bell pepper
- 5 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 (1-inch-thick) slices yellow plantain, peeled
- 4 cups water
- For soft manioc polenta
- 1 cup toasted manioc flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- Make stock:
- Bring fish bones, shrimp shells, tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, cilantro sprigs, parsley sprigs, lime juice, salt, garlic, plantain, and water to a boil in a 5- to 6-quart pot, then reduce heat and simmer stock, uncovered, until liquid is reduced to about 4 cups (vegetables will exude liquid as they cook), about 25 minutes.
- Pour stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, discarding solids.
- Measure stock:
- If there is more than 4 cups, boil until reduced; if there is less, add water. If using stock right away, bring to a boil in cleaned pot; otherwise, chill, uncovered, until completely cooled, then cover.
- Make soft manioc polenta:
- Add manioc flour in a thin stream to boiling stock, whisking constantly, then whisk in salt. Reduce heat to moderately low and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Stir in chopped herbs and let stand 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
Cooks' note:
Stock can be chilled in an airtight container up to 3 days or frozen 3 months. Bring to a boil before adding manioc flour.
Related Video
Nutritional Info
- Calories239
- Carbohydrates30 g(10%)
- Fat2 g(4%)
- Protein26 g(52%)
- Saturated Fat1 g(4%)
- Sodium435 mg(18%)
- Polyunsaturated Fat1 g
- Fiber3 g(10%)
- Monounsaturated Fat1 g
- Cholesterol57 mg(19%)


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CHAMBERSBURG - Apparently Upper Perkiomen doesn't mind just a half-hour to change, warm-up and wrestle.
Because of an late-afternoon accident on Interstate 81 that delayed the Indians arrival for Monday night's PIAA-Class AAA Team Duals opener, that's all the time the Indians had to fire up the competitive juices for host Chambersburg.
And after a convincing 38-25 win over the favored Trojans, no one was complaining.
'We were absolutely concerned about getting there late,' said Upper Perkiomen head coach Tom Hontz. 'We were in that bus for four hours. But sometimes a little adversity makes the guys step up. I do know they were chomping at the bit.'
That was obvious at the outset, when Dan Jordan started it off with a pin in the 132-pound opener. Wolfgang McStravick followed with a pin at 138, Kyle Fellman added a 13-5 major at 145, and unsung Chris Kramer needed 5:20 to get the slap at 152 and the Indians had a 19-0 lead.
'Chris Kramer has been a (junior varsity) all year,' Hontz noted. 'But we plugged him in there recently and he keeps stepping up for us.'
Chambersburg's defending state champion Garrett Hammond would end the Indians' flurry with a pin at 160 and Calvin O'Farrell used a takedown with 20 seconds left to eke out a decision at 170, getting the Trojans back in contention at 19-9.
The teams would halve the ensuing four bouts - the Indians getting a pin from Casey Cook (182) and decision from Tyler Godshall (220), with the Trojans getting a technical fall from Dontez King (195) and decision from Cameron Kiger (285) - which still enabled Upper Perkiomen to hold a 28-17 advantage going into the final four bouts.
'Cook going down (to 182) helped a lot, and Godshall is another senior who's only been wrestling for four years but just battles and battles,' Hontz said. 'At that point, though, I felt good knowing we had the Steffeninos to go in three of those final matches.'
At 106, Dustin Steffenino did his job with a second-period pin, and at 113 Eric Miller limited returning state medalist Tanner Shoap to a technical fall. That meant Chambersburg - the District 3 runner-up to state power Central Dauphin - needed two pins in the final two bouts to create a tie and look for positive tie-breaking criteria.
It never happened. Dante Steffenino dominated his 120-pound encounter with Garrett Kyner, taking a 10-2 major to put it out of reach and drop Chambersburg to 17-5.
'It did feel good knowing we had the three Steffeninos to go with just those four matches left,' Hontz said. 'Dustin's pin was big. Miller had a tough one against a real good kid (Shoap). But Dante really set the tone and actually lit his kid up.'
So Upper Perkiomen (18-7 overall) didn't mind the long bus ride home, and they were actually looking forward to the long bus ride Thursday out to Hershey for the remainder of the state duals tournament.
The Indians take on District 12 champion La Salle College High School at approximately 8 p.m. Thursday in a second-round showdown at the Giant Center.
'We just keep plugging along,' Hontz said. 'We're getting some breaks and making some things happen. It's been a lot of fun so far.'
Spring Grove 37, Boyertown 24
Boyertown dropped seven of the first eight bouts before rallying back to within seven points, but it wasn't quite enough as host Spring Grove took three of the remaining four bouts to capture the PIAA-Class AAA Team Duals opener.
The Bears, who finished third in last weekend's district tournament, used Jordan Wertz (220) and Jordan Wood (285) pins and a decision by Lucas Miller (106) to sneak back to within 25-18. But Spring Grove, third in last weekend's District 3 tournament, clinched it moments later when Zack Clingan - ranked second in the district - posted a 10-1 major.
'We had our opportunities, but we didn't take advantage of them,' said Boyertown head coach Pete Ventresca. 'We were right there, but just didn't get the win.
'We're pleased the guys went out and fought well, though. (Spring Grove) has a lot of tough kids in certain weights, and they kind of put it on us in the first few matches.'
The Rockets (24-1), who fell to state power Central Dauphin for its only loss this season by a narrow 33-27 margin in their district semifinals, got off to a solid start with a major and pin. Boyertown's Gregg Harvey halted the run with an 8-7 decision at 152, but the Rockets soared right back with four straight wins - an overtime decision, pin and two close 8-5 and 9-8 decisions.
Wertz needed just 43 seconds and Wood another 1:25 for their respective falls, and Miller recorded a 2-0 shutout. But after that the Bears' only remaining points came from Eddie Kriczky's pin at 126.
'A lot of those close matches could've gone either way,' Ventresca said. 'We had our chances, but... and that's on us.
'We obviously wanted to get out to Hershey (into the second round beginning Thursday), so the kids are disappointed. But we're proud of them. This was a good start for our future. We only losing two seniors, and we have a good group of ninth- and 10th-graders coming up next year. Hopefully this will give them some motivation.'
Boyertown, now 17-8 overall, closes out its regular season Wednesday night at Pottsgrove.
Get the latest updates on local teams on your phone; text PTSPORTS to 22700. Standard text messaging and data rates apply. Text STOP to 22700 to end the service, HELP for assistance.


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Coco Chanel Tray 7.5"x13"
Coco Chanel Tray 7.5"x13"
The One Of A Kind trays feature vintage photographic images of Cities such as New York and Paris, iconic buildings, lavish interiors, and the Grand Dames of the golden age of Hollywood. Hand applied crystals are added to create sparkle and glamour.
They are vintage from the 1950's, and are topped with three layers of a high gloss finish to make smooth and waterproof. Because they are handcrafted using vintage elements, they may have some small imperfections or as I like to say "Perfectly Imperfect".
Use for serving hors d'oeuvres, afternoon tea, perfume display or as a beautiful addition to any interior. Makes great wedding and housewarming gifts!
Commission a Tray using your Family photos, Pet, Home, Interior, Favorite City, or Special Event in your life


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Buffalo Bandits transition player Jon Harasym today announced his retirement from the National Lacrosse League.
"It's extremely difficult to walk away from the game I love and have enjoyed playing for most of my life," the 33-year old said. "But it's a lot easier knowing I get to spend more time with my beautiful wife Cara, and our two amazing kids, daughter Hazel (4) and son Harley (1). First and foremost, I want to thank all my teammates and coaches for making it an absolute pleasure to play this game. I also want to thank the Bandits organization for making Buffalo my home for the majority of my career. And I can't forget to thank the amazing fans in Banditland for all the support. Simply put, you are the best."
Harasym spent the better part of five seasons with the Bandits over his career, compiling 48 points (14+34) to go along with 128 penalty minutes and 283 loose balls in that time. After suiting up for Buffalo during the 2005 and 2006 campaigns, he was reacquired prior to the 2010 season and finished his career with the club.
"Jon is the epitome of what being a Buffalo Bandit is all about," said Bandits General Manager Steve Dietrich. "It's guys like him who teammates appreciate the most. He's a blue collar, hard working guy who gave everything he had each and every time he came to the rink. You don't come across guys like Jon Harasym everyday."
Appearing in a total of 135 NLL contests between Buffalo, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Minnesota, Rochester and Columbus, Harasym tallied 46 goals, 95 assists and 463 loose balls. The Edmonton, Alberta native also added three points (0+3) in four career playoff games, all with the Bandits.


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Tapping into Emotional Intelligence at Work
Here are some simple steps to you can follow to get your work-life back into balance, reduce stress, and resolve conflict. By connecting with your emotions at work, you'll be better equipped to identify, handle, and avoid difficult situations before they escalate.
Exploring situations that bring out your best at work
You may notice that you're happier at work at certain times, and at other times you're annoyed or frustrated. Pay attention to these feelings or moods. By identifying them, you can start to determine a pattern so that you can increase the amount of time you're happy and reduce the occurrence of negative emotions.
Stay on top of your feelings at work by keeping a feelings diary. Get a small notebook and use one page for each day. Just follow these steps:
On each line, down the left margin, write the times of the day, in one-hour increments.
For example, if your workday starts at 9 a.m., write 9, 10, 11, and so on.
During the day, at the top of each hour, record your current feeling next to the time.
For example, you might write happy, sad, frustrated, or indifferent.
3Next to your feeling, record the most recent event that occurred.
Write down an event such as sent an e-mail to Bill, talked to Sam, or on the phone with Fran.
Once a week, sit down with your notebook and go down the feelings column, marking each feeling as positive (+), negative (–), or neutral (0).
Work your way down the negative feelings, one at a time. Note the situations that led to the negative feelings. Start to look for patterns.
Does dealing with certain people always trigger a negative response? What about doing certain kinds of things at work? See if you can come up with two or three things that seem to cause the most negativity for you.
Go through all the positive items that you've checked.
Look for patterns in the situations. Are there certain people or kinds of work that make you feel good over the course of a day? Do you notice that you feel more confident, happy, or generally positive at certain times of the day or when you're doing tasks that you excel in?
Come up with ways that you can increase the number and quality of the good situations and decrease the frequency of the negative ones.
What can you do to get more out of your interactions with people? Can you find networking opportunities that can help you further your career? Can you increase sales with your people skills? You may want to explore how your social skills can lead to greater work happiness and success. Then, formulate a plan to build your social skills to their full potential.
For the negative patterns, investigate whether they're related to a particular hassle or anxiety.
The moment you recognize that you're feeling aggravated at work, you can begin to identify why you're feeling that way. More likely than not, something small is bothering you. Studies at work have shown that you're more affected by the little hassles and frustrations, over the long term, than by a major positive event. If you perceive many hassles over the day or week, these hassles erode your feelings about your work or the organization.
What can you do about hassles? Follow these steps:
Identify the hassles you experience at work, both big and small.
Determine how each hassle prevents or impedes you from getting your job done.
Brainstorm solutions about to how you can remove or reduce each hassle. Record these in your notebook.
Come up with a few ideas for each hassle.
Meet with your supervisor to discuss the hassles that you're facing and your suggested solutions.
Let your supervisor know that you want to be as efficient as you can during your workday — you want to get the most bang for your buck at the end of the day.
Try to use the patterns to identify any areas of weakness that you may need to address.
Your negative emotions at work should provide a signal for you that something may need to be changed. By analyzing the situation, you can then determine the nature of that change. Sometimes, you need to make only minor alterations. Other times, you may need radical surgery, meaning major change to your work.
Take a good look at your strengths. Try to determine whether you're maximizing your strong areas. You may be able to use your strengths at work in ways that you haven't considered yet. You may have a flair for public relations, sales, training, or any number of areas that require good interpersonal skills.
If your strengths are more technology oriented (your best times at work are when you use the computer), you might want to move towards research, programming, database management, or any number of more technically oriented jobs. Do you enjoy helping others with their computer questions? Training or technical support may be logical directions.
Having more control over workflow yet getting the same amount of work done (or, as often happens, accomplishing even more work) benefits everyone. If you have the mood that's most productive for your work, you feel like you're in control of your job, instead of the job controlling you. Feeling that sense of control improves your attitude towards the job, the workplace, and the organization as a whole. If you know that your supervisors and top management are really interested in helping you do your best work, then you're more motivated to perform.


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TORONTO - The Canadian dollar closed lower Tuesday amid stronger than expected U.S. housing data.
The loonie fell 0.11 of a cent to 90.68 cents US as the U.S. dollar strengthened in the wake of a report showing existing home sales fell 0.2 per cent last month to an annual rate of 4.59 million. That was higher than the annual rate of 4.55 million that economists had expected..
Other data showed a solid rise in Canadian wholesale sales during February.
Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales rose for a second consecutive month in February, up 1.1 per cent to $50.7 billion, led by motor vehicle and parts. Excluding this subsector, wholesale sales rose 0.8 per cent.
Traders also looked ahead to Wednesday for the latest retail sales data. Statistics Canada is expected to report that retail sales in February rose 0.4 per cent from January, when sales posted a big 1.3 per cent bounce from the poor performance registered in December because of severe winter weather.
Economists expect a good chunk of the retail sales gain will be driven by higher gasoline prices.
The big number for the U.S. this week is March durable goods data coming out on Thursday. Economists looked for goods orders to have risen by 1.9 per cent following a 2.2 per cent gain in February.
On Tuesday, commodity prices were mixed with the June crude contract in New York down $1.90 to US$101.75 a barrel.
June bullion faded $7.40 to US$1,281.10 an ounce while May copper was up one cent at US$3.05 a pound.


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june 19 is Juneteenth!
june 19 is Juneteenth!
"In India when we meet and part we Often say, 'Namaste', which means: I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides; I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us." ~~Ram Dass~~
My adventures in self-publishing and other gibberish
Where Creativity and Imagination Creates Wonderful Ideas for Your Home!


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LENOX, Mass. - For the next couple of months you might want to think of Shakespeare & Company as Corneille & Company. That's because through March 24, the company is producing "The Liar," an extremely funny farce by Pierre Corneille(1606-1684). The French playwright, who preceded Moliere, wrote great farces during the 17th century. This production of a truly neglected play is delightful fun and a joy to experience. However, one has to give a lot - if not most of the credit for the laughter - to modern comic playwright David Ives who adapted the work. In most translations it is difficult to know what the adaptor contributed. That's not so with "The Liar." The voice is pure Ives as the comedy is so fresh and references so contemporary the play would have seem to be written in the 21st century. What's really remarkable is few, if any, of the modern references and colloquialisms included in the text are bothersome. Equally as remarkable is how pleasant to the modern ear are the rhythms and flow of a play written in verse. As important as is the work of Ives is the comic sensibilities of director Kevin G. Coleman. This is a guy who can find comic moments in Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale," so you can only imagine how much fun he can have with a farce. Coleman sets a brisk pace, urges his performers to embellish a comic moment and best of all he has his performers find the urgency of a situation that is pure froth. "The Liar" is about a young man who cannot tell the truth. One lie leads to a bigger lie, which leads to an even bigger lie and eventually to conniving behavior to get out of the first lie. Since every lie is about romance - no harm is done. And really would a romantic farce be satisfying if several mismatched couples didn't end up together? Those characters include a dumb valet, twin maids, a grouchy father, a jealous suitor and two female love interests. All performances are well done. However, David Joseph perfectly captures the innocent boyish immorality of Dorante, the spoiled young man for whom "the unimagined life is not worth living." Douglas Seldin is wonderfully naive as the valet who cannot tell a lie nor know when his master does. One of Ives' finest adaptions is converting two maids into a set of twins - one earthy the other a prude who are deliciously portrayed by Dana Harrison. If you are looking for a funny modern farce, look no further than Shakespeare & Co. for the updated version of "The Liar." It might be the funniest show you're going to see all year. And that's the truth. "The Liar," Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, Mass. through March 24, performances 7 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. 413-637-3353,Shakespeare.org
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Training Services AHA – Food Allergen Management Awareness Training
This training provides an introduction to Food Allergen Management Systems (FAMS) and the principles of FAMS that have been developed by SAS (Service Allérgie Suisse).
The objective of this training is to provide participants with an understanding of the AHA standard (Allergie, Haut, Asthma) that determines the system, process and product-related general requirements for the production of goods that are identified with the SAS quality label. The participants will learn about food allergen and intolerances, management of allergen risk, legislative and labelling requirements related to food allergen and intolerances.
This training is for anyone involved in the development, implementation and management of FAMS. If you plan to complete other training you will receive during this course the knowledge and understanding upon which to build auditing skills.
This training comprises lectures and workshop exercises.
Contact SGS today to find out more about AHA Food Allergen Management Training.


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Compare Bridgestone TURANZA AR20 and Nexen Classe Premiere
- Variant Name
- Price (INR)3,695Contact Dealers2,307Contact Dealers
- Models Supported2 Models Supported3 Models Supported
Cars using TURANZA AR20 145/70 R13 71H Tubeless
Cars using Classe Premiere 155/65 R13 73T Tubeless
- HandlingThis feature explains how good this tyre is in term of handling & response.4.2/50/5
- Fuel SavingThis feature explains how much this tyre helps in improving vehicle fuel efficency.4/50/5
- Wet GripThis feature explains performance and control in wet road conditions.4/50/5
- Ride ComfortThis feature explains how smooth and comfortable ride this tyre delivers.4.2/50/5
- DurabilityThis feature provides an indication of tyre wear and tyre life4.3/50/5
- Reviews & Rating1 ReviewNo Reviews Available
Reviews for TURANZA AR20 145/70 R13 71H TubelessWrite a Review
- By MukeshPosted on 20-02-2015 14:18:394.1
Bridgestone specializes in producing high quality tyres, which are supplied to several countries in the world. This particular model from the company named TURANZA AR20, is made of Flat Contact Patch (FCP) that gives a better contact area. It also prevents risk of tyre deformations, while increasing its life span. The use of advanced silica tread compound is an advantage as it aids in offering a matchless performance by reducing its rolling resistance.
Reviews for Classe Premiere 155/65 R13 73T TubelessWrite a ReviewSpeed Rating (kmph)This indicates the maximum speed ( in kmph ) for the tyre when the vehicle is at full load.210190Load Rating (Kg)Which corresponds to maximum weight ( In kilogram) a tyre can carry at full speed.345365Width (mm)145155Aspect Ratio (%)t is the ratio of the sidewall height's to the cross section width.7065Rim Size (Inches)This stands for the diameter of the wheel that the tyre is designed to fit.1313Construction TypeR stands for radial-ply construction. B stands for bias ply.RRWarranty (Year)6 Years


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Part of National Museums Liverpool
Also in this section…?
Handbook (on the left) and calendar (on the right) with images of the company's famous ships
For more than a century the Ocean Steam Ship Company, better known as the Blue Funnel Line, was the leading British shipping company trading to China.
Founded by Alfred Holt in 1865, the Blue Funnel Line ran the world's first regular, long-distance cargo liner service. It played a major part in the port of Liverpool's shipping activities for more than 100 years.
The legendary service is celebrated in this small display of colourful publicity posters, interviews, personal items from crew members and ship models at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.
China and the Far East formed the company's core business until the 1970s, although the business expanded to cover the United States, Australia, and Java from the 1890s.
'The China Company', as Blue Funnel was known on Merseyside, built up an unrivalled reputation due to the quality of its ships, management, crews and shore staff. Many seagoing staff were from Wales, north-west England and Scotland, but it also employed large numbers of Chinese seafarers. The origins and development of Liverpool's Chinese community, one of the oldest in Europe, are partly due to the Blue Funnel connection.
Until the 1880s, Chinese tea and silk were the main imports, but by the 1930s cargoes from Malaya (Malaysia) included rubber, tobacco, sugar and coffee. The earliest outward cargo was Lancashire cotton bound for Shanghai, but by the 1960s consumer goods, food drink and cars had taken over.
Chinese emigrants sometimes travelled on the Blue Funnel ships as temporary workers and deck passengers around South East Asia and beyond. The ships also carried thousands of Muslim pilgrims to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia - the nearest port to Mecca. Eventually, passenger facilities were halted when air travel became popular in the 1960s.
Regular Blue Funnel services to China ended in the early 1970s due to the unfavourable political climate in Communist Climate and global changes in trading patterns.
Alfred Holt was the most famous member of the renowned Holt shipping dynasty of Liverpool.
His father was cotton broker George Holt. George Holt was responsible for the construction of the first India Buildings in Water Street, where the Blue Funnel Line had its head office. The original building was demolished in 1927 to make way for a new design, but this was damaged during the blitz (1941) and was not fully restored until 1958.
Alfred's elder brother George (junior) was also a ship owner (Lamport & Holt Line) and he lived at Sudley House - his significant art collections can be visited at the house in Mossley Hill, Liverpool.
Alfred made his name as a marine engineer and ship owner, founding the Ocean Steam Ship Company in January 1865. He developed a type of compound steam engine which enabled ships to travel further and more economically than ever before.
His original aim was to build safe and reliable ships, but his exacting standards gave rise to the terms 'Holts' class' - the technical excellence of Holts' ships became a tremendous source of pride within the company.
The ships had a distinctive look with tall, almost vertical funnels and were widely considered as the aristocrats of the port of Liverpool and the British merchant marine.
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Gluten-free St. Patrick's Day: Leek Kale Cabbage Colcannon Recipe
I have to admit, I have never had green beer. Back when I was a college student, they hadn't come out with all the wonderful gluten-free beers that are out today. Root beer was my brown bottled beverage of choice, and I never got my ID checked to buy it, which somehow takes all the fun out of it. And, even more of a shame is the fact that despite all my travels, I've never been to Ireland. I hear my family has some Irish ancestry, though. And, given my pale skin, hazel green eyes, and intolerance to gluten, I can believe it. This might be why I love the idea of St. Patrick's Day, and love the idea of having a dinner menu that celebrates a culture halfway around the globe from us. You know me, I'll take any excuse to explore an international cuisine!
Previously I've made a delicious vegan pot pie and dill bread to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I love these recipes, but this year I wanted to do a little something different, so I started searching online. Once I came across an Irish dish called Colcannon made from potatoes, cabbage, or kale my mission was clear. I needed to make this lovely dish in celebration of my deep love for that most healthful of emerald-green veggies, kale. But I also needed to make it a bit rich and naughty so my green-leafy veggie reluctant husband would enjoy it too. Thus I used copious amounts of butter and salt, and even dipped into Baby Yum's organic whole milk, to create something rich enough to qualify as celebration fare. If you are feeling a bit more health conscious than I am, or have a more greens-enthused family, feel free to cut down on the butter (or use a vegan substitute such as margarine or coconut oil) and use the salt more sparingly. Keep in mind that the seasonings on the green flavor the plain potato as well, and go forth and experiment. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do, and as much as I suspect my potato-obsessed Baby Yum will tonight for dinner.
I'm cooking at my in-law's house in Boulder, Colorado this week. It always feels like a holiday cooking at someone else's house- as long as they have the gluten contained. (My in-laws are very careful about keeping gluten away from us, bless them!)
I don't think I cook with cabbage near enough. It is surprisingly tasty in Japanese okonomiyaki, savory cabbage pancakes/ pizza, and equally good with an Indian spiced-treatment of caramelized onions and golden cabbage. I've even had it in a delightful raw sesame oil salad- so yummy and good for you! You can't even see the cabbage in the end product. Good for cabbage-haters!
Looking for more gluten-free vegetarian recipes for St. Patrick's Day?
*Colcannon Puffs at Fat Free Vegan
*Gluten-free Irish Coffee Cupcakes at Simply Gluten-free
*Elana's Gluten-free St. Patricks Day Recipes, including one for Irish Soda Bread (yummy) and Peppermint Patties
*Vegan Spinach Pie Recipe from the Book of Yum
*Karina's Delicious Gluten-free Irish Soda Bread Recipe
*Vegan Colcannon Casserole at Manifest Vegan
*Dairy-free Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with a surprise from Gluten Free Easily
Vegetarian Colcannon with kale cabbage and leeks Recipe
8 small potatoes, washed with eyes removed
3 tbsp. butter (or Earth Balance margaarine for vegan)
3 leeks, green tops removed, with white part sliced in half horizontally, soaked in water and then drained and chopped into 1/4 inch crescents
1/4 small cabbage, quartered and then thinly sliced
handful of de-veined kale, cut into bite size slices
copious amounts of salt and pepper
Generous glug of the highest fat milk in your house (hey, this is holiday food)- unsweetened plain non-dairy soy, almond or rice milk for vegan
Sunny Paris or other shallot-or-onion + dill herbal blend (optional)
Quarter potatoes and boil in a pot for 30 minutes or until soft enough to mash
Heat one tablespoon of butter in a pan on medium and add about 2 leeks worth of chopped crescent shapes, sauteeing until softened. Add your kale and an additional 1/2 tbsp. of butter. Sautee for a minute or so. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then add a dash of water, covering the pan and lowering the heat. Let cook on low for 10-20 minutes, covered, or until kale is buttery soft and leeks are nicely caramelized. Remove to a bowl. Melt another tbsp. of butter in the pan on medium heat and add your remaining leek crescents. Sautee for a minute or two and then add your thinly sliced cabbage. Cook your cabbage for about five minutes, and then add your remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter, generous amounts of salt and pepper to your taste, lower heat and cover until you have nice caramelized leeks and very soft, buttery cabbage with light browning. You may wish to turn the cabbage once during this.
While the cabbage mixture is cooking on the stove-top, mash your potatoes with a masher and add your glug of rich milk. Fold the leek-kale mixture into the potatoes gently. When the cabbage-leek mixture is done, you can add it to the potatoes as well. Don't over-stir; you want the potatoes to have a slightly lumpy, rustic presentation.
Sprinkle with a dill-onion type herbal blend and serve.
Serve in a pretty piece of pottery as a side dish for a St. Patrick's Day themed feast!
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Sophisticated, easy-to-use exploit kits turning crime into a comodity
Are you digitally challenged? Don't know a byte from a bit? Have a limited command of Unix? Don't worry: With a new generation of professionally packaged exploit kits, you, too, can become a successful cyber criminal.
New attack kits, which package proven exploits for vulnerabilities in popular software for easy installation and management, are bringing cyber crime to a new generation of criminals who have only limited technical skills, according to a new report from M86 Security.
The existence of exploit kits, which date back to at least 2006, is no secret. But they are becoming increasingly user-friendly, lowering the bar for entry to the cyber underground and creating a new source of revenue for the coders and hackers who devise them. One such kit, the Eleonore Exploit Pack, apparently was used in recent attacks on three Treasury Department sites.
Related story
Treasury shuts down 4 cloud-hosted Web sites after infection
"Cyber criminals find it easier, faster and more cost-effective to make money by buying exploits rather than taking the time to create exploits themselves," states the report, titled "Web Exploits: There's an App for That."
"Savvy, knowledgeable individuals with skills in developing Web applications and basic knowledge in hacking have filled a niche by creating exploit kits," it states.
The report provides a detailed look at how the kits are packaged and marketed and how they operate. Prices for the packages start at about $100, but most sell for $400 to $1,000. Interfaces for the packages often are in Russian, and although their English skills often are limited, they show a firm grasp of Western marketing.
"We are here to introduce to [sic] the newest exploit system on the market and a whole new concept for the people. 'Highest rates for the lowest price'," reads the promotional material for the popular Crimepack toolkit. "All exploits used are modded to perfection to get the highest rates out of it possible. And instead of throwing together as many exploits as possible (like other packs out there) we decided to handpick a few with higher effectiveness."
The license even includes two new domain builds if the first domain the buyer uses for the kit is blacklisted.
Browser vulnerabilities usually are the most common targets for the kits. But M86 reported that exploits for vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash, Java and PDF are on the rise. The kits are designed for easy installation on a Web server and are linked to a database for logging and reporting.
Reporting can be critical because the kits can be used to distribute pay-per-install code, for which the kit owner is paid to install third-party malware on compromised computers. Rates range from a modest $50 per 1,000 installs on European and Australian computers to a healthy $170 per 1,000 U.S. computers.
The criminals can drive victim traffic to the exploit Web page with techniques such as spam that contains malicious links or by setting up a bogus Web site and using search engine optimization to popularize it. But the most common technique is to inject malicious iFrames into legitimate sites and redirect traffic to the exploit page. Some entrepreneurs will even sell redirected Web traffic at a reasonable rate.
But don't get any ideas about reselling these exploit kits. These guys might be criminals, but they don't tolerate piracy. "You are not allowed to resell/share, if we catch you doing this your license will be revoked," the purveyors of Crimepack warn.
About the Author
William Jackson is a Maryland-based freelance writer.
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By Robert Chafe
Directed by Michael Worthman
Here they are – the Hockey Moms. You have seen them in the rink cheering on their kids with a vengeance unmatched by the fiercest NHL enforcers. They are dedicated. They are colourful. They are the real cheerleaders of hockey. This hilarious play captures them in all their mad glory. Pucks fly and pandemonium ensues. Great fun is had by all. Written by Artistic Fraud's Robert Chafe, one of Newfoundland's finest and most successful playwrights with shows including Oil and Water and Tempting Providence. We are pleased to bring this show to the stage.


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Gone With the Plasmaspheric Wind
¡Viva la Science!
Researchers using data from the European Space Agency's Cluster spacecraft have found evidence that a "plasmaspheric wind" is releasing a kilogram (over two pounds) of plasma from the plasmasphere into the magnetosphere every second.
I swear you're not reading an X-Men comic. Supervillains do not appear to be involved. Yet.
The plasmasphere is a region of dense, cold plasma that surrounds the Earth. Filled with charged particles, it's shaped like a donut and forms the inner part of the magnetosphere, the area around our planet controlled by the magnetic field.
The existence of plasmaspheric wind was theorized over two decades ago, but it's difficult to detect. It requires fancy instrumentation and detailed measurements of moving particles in the plasmasphere. Now, the four Cluster spacecraft have provided ion measurements from the plasmasphere that support the plasmaspheric wind theory.
We need to understand what's going on in the plasmasphere because of its effect on things like satellites, GPS and traveling astronauts. Presumably, we also need to keep one step ahead of Magneto.


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HRworks necesitaba un nuevo diseño de tema de wordpress y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 79 diseños de 15 diseñadores freelance.
HRworks GmbH - the company behind the weblog:
HRworks is the leading provider for web-based travel expense calculation, absence and equipment administration in Germany. We offer our product as Software as a Service (SaaS) for rental via internet without minimum terms.
The product is a sector-independent software-solution developed with plenty of experience which helps our clients with efficiently designing business processes and realising cost saving potential.
German legal terms include a wide range of paragraphs which have an impact on the travel expense calculation. The money spent cannot simply be reimbursed to the employee. There are per diems to calculate, reductions for meals to make and a large variety of norms, terms and exceptions to consider. This distinguishes German travel expenses calculation from other countries.
Today more than 70.000 employees in over 550 companies benefit from HRworks.
Read more about HRworks: http://www.hrworks.de/de/related
THE WEBLOG "www.reisekosten.de"
Create a blog including related articles, current topics and discussions about travel expenses, latest news about the German legal terms and support people with reliable information.
Moreover we want a blog easy to use and to attract people to read, comment, pick up, provide and exchange their knowledge with the community. Just as we are going to exchange our expertise with them.
Besides we want to attract search engines and the blog needs to strongly reflect expertise, reliability and professionalism.
By the way, we already started to insert the blog with content: http://www.reisekosten.de.
Reisekosten.de should attract and keep conservative accoutants, business travellers of any age and life stage, executive staff, simply everyone dealing with travel expenses in his daily life.
1.Wordpress features, like Tag-Cloud, categories or links have to be enhanced, the range of functions should be given
2.We want to define the task bar. It has to be possible to include several pages&to have several categories, too.
3.Not child-like&silly = no cartoons, animals
4.Gender-neutral = no pink, flowers or leaves
5.Font should be clear& easy to read = no Times New Roman or cursive
6.Like the site itself to be framed in a box, e.g. a travel expense report, sitting on top (http://bruceeyewear.com/blog/)
7.Colours: choose a color palette reminiscent of http://www.hrworks.de HRworks colours:Pantone 287&Pantone 116
8.The weblog shall be linked, associated to our official website http://www.hrworks.de but shall not be exactly like it (no twin).
9.It has to attract,support SEO & Google Analytics
10.Use images or symbols from http://www.hrworks.de to create the title, background,.Visualize used hotel or cab vouchers, air tickets, a calculator, travel expense reports - maybe marked, clipped
If you need any images from http://www.hrworks.de please contact me. I will send you the Logindata to our image-file with about thousand photos.
Please note: HRworks has the exclusive photo rights & our images are password protected. You are prohibited from using the images for any other project/work or pass them down to a third party.
If you have any idea for a logo, don't hestitate to show us.
We're excited to see our blog come alive online!


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July 2008
Solving Data Collection Problems
Evaluators of any kind of program frequently face resistance to data collection efforts. Surveys or activity logs can be burdensome, and analyzing test scores or grades can seem invasive. In the online arena, there can be additional obstacles. The innovative nature of online programs can sometimes create problems: Some online program administrators simply may be struggling to get teachers or students to use a new technology, let alone respond to a questionnaire about the experience. And in the context of launching a new program or instructional tool, program staffers often have little time to spend on such data collection matters as tracking survey takers or following up with nonrespondents.
Still more difficult is gaining cooperation from people who are disconnected from the program or evaluation—not uncommon when a new high-tech program is launched in a decades-old institution. Other difficulties can arise when online programs serve students in more than one school district or state. Collecting test scores or attendance data, for example, from multiple bureaucracies can impose a formidable burden. Privacy laws present another common hurdle when online evaluators must deal with regulations in multiple jurisdictions to access secondary data. The problem can be compounded when officials are unfamiliar with a new program and do not understand the evaluation goals.
When faced with these data collection challenges, how should evaluators respond, and how can they avoid such problems in the first place?
Among the evaluations featured in this guide, data collection problems were common. When study participants did not cooperate with data collection efforts, the evaluators of Chicago Public Schools' Virtual High School and Louisiana's Algebra I Online program handled the problem by redesigning their evaluations. Thinkport evaluators headed off the same problem by taking proactive steps to ensure cooperation and obtain high data collection rates in their study. When evaluators of Washington's Digital Learning Commons (DLC) struggled to collect and aggregate data across multiple private vendors who provided courses through the program, the program took steps to define indicators and improve future evaluation efforts. As these examples show, each of these challenges can be lessened with advance planning and communication. While these steps can be time-consuming and difficult, they are essential for collecting the data needed to improve programs.
Redesign or Refocus the Evaluation When Necessary
In 2004, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) established the Virtual High School (CPS/VHS) to provide students with access to a wide range of online courses taught by credentialed teachers. The program seemed like an economical way to meet several district goals: Providing all students with highly qualified teachers; expanding access to a wide range of courses, especially for traditionally underserved students; and addressing the problem of low enrollment in certain high school courses. Concerned about their students' course completion rates, CPS/VHS administrators wanted to learn how to strengthen student preparedness and performance in their program. Seeing student readiness as critical to a successful online learning experience, the project's independent evaluator, TA Consulting, and district administrators focused on student orientation and support; in particular, they wanted to assess the effectiveness of a tutorial tool developed to orient students to online course taking.
At first, evaluators wanted a random selection of students assigned to participate in the orientation tutorial in order to create treatment and control groups (see Glossary of Common Evaluation Terms, p. 65) for an experimental study. While the district approved of the random assignment plan, many school sites were not familiar with the evaluation and did not follow through on getting students to take the tutorial or on tracking who did take it.
To address this problem, the researchers changed course midway through the study, refocusing it on the preparedness of in-class mentors who supported the online courses. This change kept the focus on student support and preparation, but sidestepped the problem of assigning students randomly to the tutorial. In the revised design, evaluators collected data directly from participating students and mentors, gathering information about students' ability to manage time, the amount of on-task time students needed for success, and the level of student and mentor technology skills. The evaluators conducted surveys and focus groups with participants, as well as interviews with the administrators of CPS/VHS and Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS), the umbrella organization that provides online courses through CPS/VHS and other districts in the state. They also collected data on student grades and participation in orientation activities. To retain a comparative element in the study, evaluators analyzed online course completion data for the entire state: They found that CPS/VHS course completion rates were 10 to 15 percent lower than comparable rates for all students in IVHS in the fall of 2004 and spring of 2005, but in the fall of 2005, when fewer students enrolled, CPS/VHS showed its highest completion rate ever, at 83.6 percent, surpassing IVHS's informal target of 70 percent.10
Through these varied efforts, the researchers were able to get the information they needed. When their planned data collection effort stalled, they went back to their study goals and identified a different indicator for student support and a different means of collecting data on it. And although the experimental study of the student orientation tutorial was abandoned, the evaluators ultimately provided useful information about this tool by observing and reporting on its use to program administrators.
Evaluators very commonly have difficulty collecting data from respondents who do not feel personally invested in the evaluation, and online program evaluators are no exception. In the case of Louisiana's Algebra I Online program, evaluators faced problems getting data from control group teachers. Initially, the state department of education had hoped to conduct a quasi-experimental study (see Glossary of Common Evaluation Terms, p. 65) comparing the performance of students in the online program with students in face-to-face settings. Knowing it might be a challenge to find and collect data from control groups across the state, the program administrators required participating districts to agree up front to identify traditional classrooms (with student demographics matching those of online courses) that would participate in the collection of data necessary for ongoing program evaluation. It was a proactive move, but even with this agreement in place, the external evaluator found it difficult to get control teachers to administer posttests at the end of their courses. The control teachers had been identified, but they were far removed from the program and its evaluation, and many had valid concerns about giving up a day of instruction to issue the test. In the end, many of the students in the comparison classrooms did not complete posttests; only about 64 percent of control students were tested compared to 89 percent of online students. In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita created additional problems, as many of the control group classrooms were scattered and data were lost.
In neither the Chicago nor the Louisiana case could the problem of collecting data from unmotivated respondents be tackled head-on, with incentives or redoubled efforts to follow up with nonrespondents, for example. (As is often the case, such efforts were prohibited by the projects' budgets.) Instead, evaluators turned to other, more readily available data. When planning an evaluation, evaluators are wise to try to anticipate likely response rates and patterns and to develop a "Plan B" in case data collection efforts do not go as planned. In some cases, the best approach may be to minimize or eliminate any assessments that are unique to the evaluation and rely instead on existing state or district assessment data that can be collected without burdening students or teachers participating in control groups. The Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) allows districts and schools to release student records to a third party for the purpose of evaluations.11
Both the Chicago and Louisiana examples serve as cautionary tales for evaluators who plan to undertake an experimental design. If evaluators plan to collect data from those who do not see themselves benefiting from the program or evaluation, the evaluation will need adequate money to provide significant incentives or, at a minimum, to spend substantial time and effort on communication with these individuals.
Take Proactive Steps to Boost Response Rates
In the evaluation of Thinkport's electronic field trip, Maryland Public Television was more successful in collecting data from control group classrooms. This program's evaluation efforts differed from others in that it did not rely on participation from parties outside of the program. Instead, evaluators first chose participating schools, then assigned them to either a treatment group that participated in the electronic field trip right away or to a control group that could use the lessons in a later semester. Teachers in both groups received a one-hour introduction to the study, where they learned about what content they were expected to cover with their students, and about the data collection activities in which they were expected to participate. Teachers were informed on that day whether their classroom would be a treatment or control classroom; then control teachers were dismissed, and treatment teachers received an additional two-hour training on how to use the electronic field trip with their students. Control teachers were given the option of receiving the training at the conclusion of the study, so they could use the tool in their classrooms at a future point. As an incentive, the program offered approximately $2,000 to the social studies departments that housed both the treatment and control classes.
Evaluators took other steps that may have paved the way for strong compliance among the control group teachers. They developed enthusiasm for the project at the ground level by first approaching social studies coordinators who became advocates for and facilitators of the project. By approaching these content experts, the evaluators were better able to promote the advantages of participating in the program and its evaluation. Evaluators reported that coordinators were eager to have their teachers receive training on a new classroom tool, especially given the reputation of Maryland Public Television. In turn, the social studies coordinators presented information about the study to social studies teachers during opening meetings and served as contacts for interested teachers. The approach worked: Evaluators were largely able to meet their goal of having all eighth-grade social studies teachers from nine schools participate, rather than having teachers scattered throughout a larger number of schools. Besides having logistical benefits for the evaluators, this accomplishment may have boosted compliance with the study's requirements among participating teachers.
Evaluators also took the time to convince teachers of the importance of the electronic field trip. Before meeting with teachers, evaluators mapped the field trip's academic content to the specific standards of the state and participating schools' counties. They could then say to teachers: "These are the things your students have to do, and this is how the electronic field trip helps them do it." Finally, evaluators spent time explaining the purpose and benefits of the evaluation itself and communicating to teachers that they played an important role in discovering whether a new concept worked.
The overall approach was even more successful than the evaluators anticipated and helped garner commitment among the participating teachers, including those assigned to the control group. The teachers fulfilled the data collection expectations outlined at the onset of the study, including keeping daily reports for the six days of the instructional unit being evaluated and completing forms about the standards that they were teaching, as well as documenting general information about their lessons. By involving control teachers in the experimental process and giving them full access to the treatment, the evaluators could collect the data required to complete the comparative analysis they planned.
Besides facing the challenge of collecting data from control groups, many evaluators, whether of online programs or not, struggle even to collect information from regular program participants. Cognizant of this problem, evaluators are always looking for ways to collect data that are unobtrusive and easy for the respondent to supply. This is an area where online programs can actually present some advantages. For example, Appleton eSchool evaluators have found that online courses offer an ideal opportunity to collect survey data from participants. In some instances, they have required that students complete surveys (or remind their parents to do so) before they can take the final exam for the course. Surveys are e-mailed directly to students or parents, ensuring high response rates and eliminating the need to enter data into a database. Appleton's system keeps individual results anonymous but does allow evaluators to see which individuals have responded.
With the help of its curriculum provider, K12 Inc., the Arizona Virtual Academy (AZVA) also frequently uses Web-based surveys to gather feedback from parents or teachers about particular events or trainings they have offered. Surveys are kept short and are e-mailed to respondents immediately after the event. AZVA administrators believe the burden on respondents is relatively minimal, and report that the strategy consistently leads to response rates of about 60 percent. The ease of AZVA's survey strategy encourages program staff to survey frequently. Furthermore, K12 Inc. compiles the results in Microsoft Excel, making them easy for any staff member to read or merge into a PowerPoint presentation (see fig. 2, Example of Tabulated Results From an Arizona Virtual Academy Online Parent Survey, p. 38). Because the school receives anonymous data from K12 Inc., parents know they may be candid in their comments. With immediate, easy-to-understand feedback, AZVA staff are able to fine-tune their program on a regular basis.
Web sites and online courses can offer other opportunities to collect important information with no burden on the participant. For example, evaluators could analyze the different pathways users take as they navigate through a particular online tool or Web site, or how much time is spent on different portions of a Web site or online course. If users are participants in a program and are asked to enter an identifying number when they sign on to the site, this type of information could also be linked to other data on participants, such as school records.
Define Data Elements Across Many Sources
Another common problem for online evaluators is the challenge of collecting and aggregating data from multiple sources. As noted earlier, Washington state's DLC offers a wide array of online resources for students and educators. To understand how online courses contribute to students' progress toward a high school diploma and college readiness, the program evaluators conducted site visits to several high schools offering courses through DLC. In reviewing student transcripts, however, the evaluators discovered that schools did not have the same practices for maintaining course completion data and that DLC courses were awarded varying numbers of credits at different schools—the same DLC course might earn a student .5 credit, 1 credit, 1.5 credits, or 2 credits. This lack of consistency made it difficult to aggregate data across sites and to determine the extent to which DLC courses helped students to graduate from high school or complete a college preparation curriculum.
Figure 2. Example of Tabulated Results From an Arizona Virtual Academy Online Parent Survey About the Quality of a Recent Student Workshop*
Title I Student Workshop Survey–Phoenix
At this time 12 responses have been received. 100% returned, 12 surveys deployed via e-mail.
Source: Arizona Virtual Academy
* The U.S. Department of Education does not mandate or prescribe particular curricula or lesson plans. The information in this figure was provided by the identified site or program and is included here as an illustration of only one of many resources that educators may find helpful and use at their option. The Department cannot ensure its accuracy. Furthermore, the inclusion of information in this figure does not reflect the relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this information; nor is it intended to endorse any views, approaches, products, or services mentioned in the figure.
The evaluation final report recommended developing guidelines to show schools how to properly gather student-level data on each participating DLC student in order to help with future evaluations and local assessment of the program's impact.
Plan Ahead When Handling Sensitive Data
Any time evaluators are dealing with student data, there are certain to be concerns about privacy. Districts are well aware of this issue, and most have guidelines and data request processes in place to make sure that student data are handled properly. Of course, it is critically important to protect student privacy, but for evaluators, these regulations can create difficulties. For example, in Chicago, Tom Clark, of TA Consulting, had a close partnership with the district's Office of Technology Services, yet still had difficulty navigating through the district's privacy regulations and lengthy data request process. Ultimately, there was no easy solution to the problem: This evaluator did not get all of the data he wanted and had to make do with less. Still, he did receive a limited amount of coded student demographic and performance data and, by combining it with information from his other data collection activities, he was able to complete the study.
District protocols are just one layer of protection for sensitive student data; researchers also must abide by privacy laws and regulations at the state and federal levels. These protections can present obstacles for program evaluations, either by limiting evaluators' access to certain data sets or by requiring a rigorous or lengthy data request process. For some online program evaluators, the problem is exacerbated because they are studying student performance at multiple sites in different jurisdictions.
Of course, evaluators must adhere to all relevant privacy protections. To lessen impacts on the study's progress, researchers should consider privacy protections during the design phase and budget their time and money accordingly. Sometimes special arrangements also can be made to gain access to sensitive data while still protecting student privacy. Researchers might sign confidentiality agreements, physically travel to a specific site to analyze data (rather than have data released to them in electronic or hardcopy format), or even employ a neutral third party to receive data sets and strip out any identifying information before passing it to researchers.
Evaluators also can incorporate a variety of precautions in their own study protocol to protect students' privacy. In the Thinkport evaluation, for example, researchers scrupulously avoided all contact with students' names, referring to them only through a student identification number. The teachers participating in the study took attendance on a special form that included name and student identification number, then tore the names off the perforated page and mailed the attendance sheet to the evaluators. Through such procedures, evaluators can maintain students' privacy while still conducting the research needed to improve programs and instructional tools.
As these examples show, program leaders and evaluators can often take proactive steps to avoid and address data collection problems. To ensure cooperation from study participants and boost data collection rates, they should build in plenty of time (and funds, if necessary) to communicate their evaluation goals with anyone in charge of collecting data from control groups. Program leaders also should communicate with students participating in evaluation studies, both to explain its goals, and to describe how students will benefit ultimately from the evaluation. These communication efforts should begin early and continue for the project's duration. Additionally, program leaders should plan to offer incentives to data collectors and study participants.
Evaluators may want to consider administering surveys online, to boost response rates and easily compile results. In addition, there may be ways they can collect data electronically to better understand how online resources are used (e.g., by tracking different pathways users take as they navigate through a particular online tool or Web site, or how much time is spent on different portions of a Web site or online course).
When collecting data from multiple agencies, evaluators should consider in advance, the format and comparability of the data, making sure to define precisely what information should be collected and communicating these definitions to all those who are collecting and maintaining it.
Evaluators should research relevant privacy laws and guidelines well in advance and build in adequate time to navigate the process of requesting and collecting student data from states, districts, and schools. They may need to consider creative and flexible arrangements with agencies holding student data, and should incorporate privacy protections into their study protocol from the beginning, such as referring to students only through identification numbers.
Finally, if data collection problems cannot be avoided, and evaluators simply do not have what they need to complete a planned analysis, sometimes the best response is to redesign or refocus the evaluation. One strategy involves finding other sources of data that put more control into the hands of evaluators (e.g., observations, focus groups).


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- Page 1 Panasonic DMP-B15 Portable Blu-ray Player Review
- Page 2 Panasonic DMP-B15 Review
- Page 3 Panasonic DMP-B15 Review
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £484.00
If you want to watch Blu-ray movies on the move, then Panasonic has made it possible with the DMP-B15, the world's first portable hi-def disc spinner. Not only does this groundbreaking product allow you to play hi-def discs wherever you like, but it also provides the same features and functionality you'd expect from its standalone decks, making it a viable candidate for the home as well as the car.
To display those hi-def pictures, the DMP-B15 is fitted with an 8.9in, WSVGA (1,024 x 600) screen, which may not match the 1,920 x 1,080p resolution of most Blu-ray movies, but is high enough to make the picture look sharper than your average portable DVD player.
The unit isn't particularly compact or elegant but it's sturdily built and boasts an unusual design. The screen folds open just like a regular portable player, but then you have to swivel the screen 180 degrees, pull it down and prop it up like a picture frame using the plastic stand attached to the back. That makes on-lap viewing a bit trickier than usual, particularly as the stand doesn't shut flush to the back panel, and all of the buttons are awkwardly placed along the top edge. These include playback, AV select and volume controls, as well as a small joystick for menu navigation.
The bulky lower section houses the disc tray and built-in speakers, while down the side you'll find a generous row of connections. Most significantly there's an HDMI output for feeding hi-def pictures (available in 1080/24p) and HD audio bitstreams to a receiver when using the DMP-B15 as a regular Blu-ray player.
It's joined by a single headphone jack and an AV minijack, which outputs composite video/stereo audio and accepts the same signals from external sources. Because the DMP-B15 is a Profile 2.0 player, there's also an Ethernet port that lets you connect to the Internet and download movie extras. As an added bonus, you can also access Panasonic's Viera Cast portal and watch movies on YouTube or browse photos on Google Picasa. This is as slick and enjoyable to use as Panasonic's regular Blu-ray decks, but the novelty factor is increased when viewed on this little screen.
Of course, the wired Ethernet connection means you can only use these features at home, but built-in Wi-Fi would have allowed you to watch YouTube when you're out and about, which could have been quite useful. Hopefully Panasonic will add it to the next generation.
Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. We'll always tell you what we find. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.


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Commentary: For reporters, the rules at Guantanamo change daily
WASHINGTON — Guantanamo's Camp Justice is a place where you can sit at your laptop or by your phone only if there's a member of the military within earshot.
It's a place where you can go to court only in the custody of a military public affairs officer. Inside, if there's only one escort — this happened recently — and somebody has to go to the bathroom, every reporter has to leave court, too.
It's a place where a soldier stands over your shoulder, looks in your viewfinder and says 'Don't take that picture, I'll delete it.'
This happened earlier in July. The government censor stands in front of a No Photography sign and says, "New policy, the sign and scene behind are now OK. Have at it." You take your camera to a shed for a security review a few minutes later and a sergeant says, "Um, 'No Photography' signs are forbidden." "They just told us it was OK," I say. "For real?" he asks. "For real," I reply. He deletes it anyway. There was a sliver of concrete in the frame. The fringes of a bunker you're not allowed to see.
And it's a place where the Pentagon believes it can tell you not to include in your story the name of a man who outed himself in a newspaper interview in 2008 to clear his name.
It's a place where, if you ask why, they tell you, "That's the rules ma'am." If you say that wasn't the rule a year ago, a month ago — they shrug and say that's the rule today.
You can't write that man's name any more. Never mind that reporters at the same war court reported that same interrogator's name in Guantanamo stories in 2008.
I go to Guantanamo to write about a place the government intentionally chose to be outside the rule of law. The Supreme Court decided otherwise.
It's a place the Pentagon likes to call the most transparent detention center on Earth. Hundreds of reporters have visited there, they say, since the first al Qaida suspects arrived eight years ago.
They skip the part about how few go back more than once — stymied by the sheer frustration at the rules, the hoops, the time, and the costs of doing basic journalism. Being a court reporter. Writing a feature story. Conducting an interview.
I'm here to tell you what it's like to be a reporter at Guantanamo. It's hard.
Not just because you sleep in tent city where the ventilators and generators sound like you're inside a jet engine. Nearly everyone else expected in court gets housing elsewhere. The lawyers have trailers. The translators get townhouses and the judge and juries get guest quarters. The reporters get tents because if you protest, guess what they say: Don't come.
Did you know there are hotels at Guantanamo? We used to get rooms there, and now we can't check into them.
A reporter can't just fly to Guantanamo either. To cover a 3.5-hour hearing on Monday, I flew from Miami to Washington on Saturday, stayed in a hotel and went to Andrews Air Force Base Sunday morning to pay $400 to ride the Pentagon plane that reporters are required to take to cover commissions. I've been doing this a long time. Sometimes I can find a direct flight from South Florida to Guantanamo. I used to take them. Not anymore. Now it's forbidden.
It's hard to be a reporter at Guantanamo because when you ask to read an unclassified motion, see the judge's scheduling order that's been sent out in a mass e-mail, find out who testified under subpoena, get a copy of a video already leaked to "60 Minutes" the answer is "no" — because those are the rules.
Earlier this month, I covered a really crucial crossroads hearing for Omar Khadr, a Canadian who's been held at Guantanamo since he was 16. He fired his legal team, revealed a secret government offer of a plea deal, announced a boycott but then said that maybe, after a third of his life at Guantanamo, he'd like to function as his own lawyer. It's a week later and they still won't release a copy of the motion that was argued.
I've covered Supreme Court arguments and murder and mayhem trials in Massachusetts Superior Court. I've reported spy cases, done gavel to gavel of a court martial. This is a court like none other I've ever seen.
You can't get up in the morning and stand on line to cover it. You can't bring a lawyer to protest if there's a closure. The public and the press have no standing. Increasingly, you can't read the motions in advance. You can't ask the lawyers during a break to clarify something. You can't go home at night. You can't check into a hotel.
There's a court security officer, a nice guy, a contractor paid by the Pentagon. He tells the sketch artist in the court room whose nose and eyes she can sketch. If something "protected" slips out in court, it's his job to send word to the writers: You can't print it.
When the sketch artist, Janet Hamlin, drew the first public image of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, after years in CIA custody, she dutifully showed it to the security officer.
He takes it to KSM, who studies it and sends Janet a message: Find my FBI photo and fix it. My nose is too big. You see, at Guantanamo, even an alleged terrorist gets to be a censor.
When the topic comes up in court of what psychotropic drugs were given another accused 9/11 conspirator, Ramzi bin al Shibh, the courtroom censor hits a white noise button so reporters viewing from a glass booth can't hear the names of the drugs. Why? One minder said it's because Ramzi bin al Shibh has HIPAA health privacy rights. In a place where they still argue that the Constitution doesn't apply.
Guantanamo is a place where you get assigned seats in court, and if you're me you usually get one of the two or three seats that can't see the witness stand. Even if the media gallery is mostly empty.
It wasn't always that way. When the court opened in the summer of 2004, reporters were VIPs, afforded seats front and center — and during breaks the lawyers would lean over the bar and explain, amplify. We stayed in guest quarters.
Now, in court, according to the ground rules, you can't talk to the lawyers, even during breaks. Even if they want to be quoted.
It's a place where for years a public affairs officer would scrupulously provide the number of captives being force-fed. This summer, it stopped. We never give out those figures, they said. I protest. I ask again earlier this month. How many of the 180 are being tube fed? Answer: About half of less than 10. Huh?
It's a place where one day in the cafeteria, your escorts harp on you to display your media badge. Then another tells you to put it away because it's creeping out the troops.
It's a place where they say you can never take pictures at McDonalds. But I have, with permission and an escort. Where they say no one has ever taken pictures in Khalid Sheik Mohammed's courtroom, the maximum-security bunker. But I have. They took me there, and approved the photograph.
It's a place where they clear the court so only those with security clearances can see a video of a Canadian agent questioning Omar Khadr. We are taken back to the filing center, where we watch it on YouTube. Canadian courts released it more than a year ago.
It's a place where now, suddenly this summer, defense lawyers can't step inside the air-conditioned press conference room — cost to taxpayers: $49,000 — unless the prosecutors also want to brief. So reporters now do mini pressers with defense attorneys in the humid, filthy hangar.
It's a place where the defense lawyers are barred from setting foot inside the filing center, but the Military Commissions deputy legal adviser comes and goes as he pleases.
It's a place where some years back, a colleague got a map of the base in her press packet. On her return, she brings it back. A minder sees it at her computer and confiscates it. You're not allowed to have that. But it's still included in every guest packet at Guantanamo's guest quarters.
Some of the treatment seems petty.
How about this: They control the access to food at times and somehow forget there have been, consistently, Muslims and vegetarians among the media. Some years back an officer with the Louisiana National Guard declared it too inconvenient to let us go out to eat and sent us to our quarters with a stack of pork pizzas. Two journalists from Canada who had been working full tilt all day went hungry until breakfast.
Once, a Chinese reporter, an official guest of the foreign press center, filmed her standup from a pre-approved spot. Escorts took her there, and watched while she did it. The next day she came to me bewildered. They deleted the shot in the spot they approved because there was a fluorescent orange barrier in the distance. Surely, I said, you must've said something that was protected. Not likely. The censor shut off the sound and fast-forwarded through the standup because he didn't speak Chinese.
Minor stuff? Not if you're trying to do your job.
I don't break the rules. I protest the ones that make no sense. Now they've got a new expansive interpretation of military censorship authority. A colleague calls it a bid to impose collective amnesia on reporters of things we've known for years. I say protect the secrets that are secret, not the prerogative. Don't create a bunch of ad hoc rules that keep us from doing our jobs. Some days we can't challenge all of them. They come too fast, without rhyme or reason.
(This article is adapted from a speech given to the National Press Club in Washington by Carol Rosenberg, a reporter for The Miami Herald, who was one of four reporters banned in May from covering future military commission hearings for publishing the already publicly known name of a witness that the Pentagon wanted kept secret. The Pentagon lifted the ban after news media attorneys complained such restrictions are unconstitutional and illegal under the Military Commissions Act of 2009. On Monday, Aug. 2, the Pentagon has agreed to meet with news media representatives to discuss the ground rules for covering Guantanamo. Rosenberg, who has covered the detention camps at Guantanamo since they opened in January 2002, is expected to be among the attendees.)
News outlets appeal Pentagon's ban on Guantanamo coverage
Change you can believe in? Secrecy still shrouds Guantanamo proceedings
Guantanamo court cleared to screen 'secret' YouTube video
Guantanamo detainees still waiting for day in court
Follow Carol Rosenberg's Guantanamo reports on Twitter.