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Covering the Front and Back Pages of the Newspaper
February 27, 2009
POLITICS: Time For Olbermann To Apologize To Jindal
We have an editorial up at RedState calling for Olbermann to retract and apologize on air for slandering Bobby Jindal.
Posted by Baseball Crank at 12:08 PM | Politics 2009 | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)
Jindal starts his anecdote with the words "[d]uring Katrina . . . ." I interpreted that to mean "during," while the storm was hitting the coast or in the immediate aftermath. Erickson expands that to cover ". . . Bobby Jindal met with them in person on the ground in the days and weeks following the storm . . . ."
I'm Erickson's statement is true, but it really does not support the implication Jindal sought to convey. Did Olbermann et al go too far? Sure, but Jindal was not as precise as he should have been, though precision would not have served his political purpose.
And, in any event, the federal bureaucrats about whom he complains were the result of Bush's cronyism, aided and abetted by the GOP-controlled Congress.Posted by: Magrooder at February 27, 2009 3:13 PM
I was waiting for the head-of-a-pin dance to start. The city flooded on Monday, Jindal was probably in Lee's 'office' around Thursday, when the rescues were being mopped up but much of the city was still under water, and Lee was on the phone getting grief about having sent the boats out. Jindal's people explained it to Ben Smith here, although it took Smith a couple of tries to get the story straight.Posted by: Crank at February 27, 2009 3:19 PM
Like in Alice in Wonderland, we are debating whether words or speakers of words are the masters.
Sounds Clintonian. "I didn't really mean 'during,' I meant 'after.'"
Or, is it Bush-like? We don't torture because John Yoo came up with a new definition and we are using that one.Posted by: Magrooder at February 27, 2009 3:44 PM
Griping over the meaning of "during" (personally, I'd just assumed he meant the week the hurricane hit while the city was flooded, but then I'd heard the Jindal-Katrina stories before so I knew the context) is sour grapes. The point of the story was to demonstrate an example of how you can rely on citizens when government breaks down, a story Jindal got straight from the source. The left-o-sphere and Olbermann invested a lot in the idea that Jindal wasn't with Lee that week and wasn't on the ground in the critical days after the levee was breached, and none of that is even close to being true, so you are left fighting over whether he implied he was talking about Monday instead of Thursday. Have fun with that.Posted by: Crank at February 27, 2009 3:58 PM
Olbermann is awful. Check out Somersby's dailyhowler.com
As for Jindal, he's obviously putting in his lot with the rich morons and their clownish tea parties over the struggling people of his state. That ought to be enough rope.Posted by: Berto at February 27, 2009 4:16 PM
There are at least as many examples (outside of the Bush administration Katrina fiasco) of how you can rely on the government when the private sector breaks down as there are of "an example of how you can rely on citizens when government breaks down." So what? Jindal's single data point proves nothing.Posted by: Magrooder at February 27, 2009 4:39 PM
What, if Olbermann refuses to apologize, it'll then make him a dishonest hack who reads far-left bloggers' erroneous postings on his show and MSNBC a house organ for the Democratic party?
A. Waste of time.
You guys are treating him as though he were a voice to be reckoned with. He's a joke, a laughingstock, a cartoon. You don't demand apologies from that which you have zero respect and if Keith Olbermann hasn't distinguished himself as someone to be ridiculed and nothing more, then there is no bottom of any barrel for anyone to reach.Posted by: RW at February 27, 2009 4:46 PM
Substitute Limbaugh for Olbermann, far-right for far-left, FOX for MSNBC, and Republican for Democratic and RW would have an equally valid comment.Posted by: Magrooder at February 27, 2009 5:58 PM
Except for one thing, Magrooder. Name one Fox show that NEVER presents the opposing POV. Olberman is a coward and so are his viewers. He's afraid of being embarassed and his viewers are afraid of the truth.
BTW, Limbaugh has about 20 times the ratings Olberman has. FWTW.Posted by: spongeworthy at February 27, 2009 8:55 PM
RW, I respectfully disagree. Failing to respond to your critics merely because they are lunatics who should have no credibility is Bushthink. You see where that got us. Olbermann has a national microphone, and the people who take him seriously should never, ever, for an instant be permitted to forget that they are choosing to listen to a guy with no credibility and no regard for the truth simply because he promotes their fantasy world.Posted by: Crank at February 27, 2009 9:14 PM
Fox shows that don't provide opposng views -- um, let's see, oh yeah, ALL of them.Posted by: Magrooder at February 28, 2009 12:05 AM
So, Crank, who are we referring to here? Limbaugh? O'Reilly? Beck? Hannity?
"people who take him seriously should never, ever, for an instant be permitted to forget that they are choosing to listen to a guy with no credibility and no regard for the truth simply because he promotes their fantasy world."
It works for any of them.
Fox shows that don't provide opposng views -- um, let's see, oh yeah, ALL of them.
We've got ourselves an expert. It must be a drag, watching Fox News 16 hours a day.Posted by: Jim Treacher at February 28, 2009 3:12 AM
Fox News went to court to defend themselves as an entertainment source, not a news source.
Anyone who watches Fox News for a minute should have to wear a Miss America-style sash which reads "Miss Informed".Posted by: Berto at February 28, 2009 9:37 AM


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Connecting Travel with Food: How to Become an International Chef
Becoming a chef is something like becoming an artist. There are hundreds of careers and options, but becoming a top chef is a challenge. You can become a career chef almost anywhere in the world, but there are many advantages to becoming a chef overseas.
You don't have to live in a country for long to gain the advantages of the career. There are both temporary and long-term chef jobs that you can get abroad. If you want to get ahead in the chef industry, try cooking in one of the following environments.
Temporary Work
Some chef jobs only last a few months, and these jobs are ideal for learning a variety of cooking styles and learning about traditional foods in other countries. You can learn a lot without having to apply for extended visas and deal with other complicated laws.
Cruise Ships: On a cruise ship, you have a chance to create some of the most elegant dishes in the world. Cruise ships turn food into art, so if you are looking to land a career in high-fashion foods, then a cruise ship is the ultimate training grounds.
Resorts: Resorts in the summer and winter abroad will deliver a wide variety of foods. Learn about cooking hearty foods in the winter and lighter fare in the summer. You can also learn a variety of cooking styles, from the fish and chips variety to high-class foods with the most expensive ingredients in the world.
Summer Camps: A summer camp is the best place to start out in cooking abroad. The venue is perfect for learning how to feed a crowd and the timing of dishes. You can learn much about catering and the business of saving money with the right ingredients when you work at a summer camp.
Long-term Careers
If you want something a little more long-term, you can try for a permanent cooking job. If possible, look to work in places where top chefs from that country work. Even if you have to take a lower position than your qualifications, it is worth it if you get to work with the top chefs in the world.
Line work: As a line chef, you will work in a typical restaurant kitchen. You can learn a variety of native foods as a line chef, as well as how to work in a large kitchen. None of the experience you get while working overseas will be wasted from a line position.
Own you own restaurant: You may also want to try opening your own restaurant in another country. Sell food from your native country, or branch out on your own. This choice is best for established chefs with several years of experience.
Food truck: A food truck is a low-cost investment that can help you learn how to sell food in another country. You can sell nearly anything off the back of a truck, and many famous chefs got their start as food-truck owners.
Benefits of Working in another Country
So why bother going to another country for study or experience? You can learn a lot more about different cooking styles when you move out of your comfort zone. You will get to experience a wide variety of cultures and cooking styles that are impossible to teach in a classroom.
You don't become an international chef overnight. The best way to ensure success is to attend culinary school (at home or in another country) and try to work with top chefs from around the world. One day, you might just be one of the best chefs in the world.
About the author: This guest post was written by George Watts. He is a freelance writer who shares his food and lifestyle tips on various blogs.

subset: commoncrawl


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Monday, 25 June 2012
This point right here
Do you ever stop and think about how you got to this point?
This point in time. Right here. And right now.
This place where your feet rest.
This place where your eyes gaze.
This place where your mind wanders.
This place where your heart beats.
I've been stopped in my tracks a few times in the past week {gazing at where I am, at the emotions I'm fuelling, at how far I've come and at how far I haven't}.
And it's all a little overwhelming {to look back and see where I was}.
Because some of those places are brimming with happiness {a joy so great that just visualising that moment sees me smile}.
Because some of those places are filled with tears {single tears that taste a little bitter a little sweet, and sometimes hundreds of sobbing tears that cry a mixture of sick, lost, exhausted and stuck}
Because some of those places are a blend of fun, effort, laughter, love and comfort too {a haze of colours, textures and emotions, but mainly a gentle rhythm of days}
But it is here my feet rest {firmly planted on the ground, putting down roots of love and strength}.
And it is here my eyes gaze {wondrously into the big bronze eyes and loving hearts of two giggling baby girls}
And it is here my mind wanders {to thoughts of the future I dream}
And it is here my heart beats {a thankful tune for the love it recieves and the love it gives}.
And so here I am at this point in time {stronger than before, and dreaming more than ever}.
Elisa xx
Where are you {at this point in time}? Do you ever stop and think about how you got to where you are now?
3 comments:
I love this. I have been thinking about this lately too. Definitely feeling stronger than before.. feet planted fiercely protective, supportive and surrounded by so much love. I wonder where tomorrow will take me.... or us :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Angie! It's refreshing to feel stronger than before, and a blessing to be surrounded by love! But I wonder about tomorrow too :) xxDelete
You write so beautifully Elisa, I really enjoy reading your posts. They are always thought provocutive & make you stop & think. Today I'm feeling a bit sad & helpless as my little man is very ill & then daughter #1 is testing her boundaries as she is hitting puberty!! Hoping tomorrow brings better health for my boy & gives me strength to deal with my daughter in a positive manner:) NxReplyDelete


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I've mentioned before that the general public needs to be more scientifically literate and engaged with science related issues.* Well, here's some interesting news about science news… is your head spinning yet? It may be no surprise to you that scientists like to objectively evaluate everything- even how science is communicated to the general public. Someone from the science side or the journalism side is keeping track of how breaking discoveries are communicated and perceived. As it turns out there is a new wrinkle in the science communication arena- specifically with the ubiquitous reader comments that follow every online news article.**
Here's what a recent study found: You are under the influence of other reader's comments. Your perception of a news article's validity and trustworthiness can be influenced by what other random people post at the bottom of the page.
Let that sink in a minute.
Just when you think you have been as objective as possible and trying to minimize your bias and tease apart the bias emanating from any given news article, you scroll down a few more inches and BAM! more bias.
I'm not gonna lie to you- I'm a big time comments section lurker.*** I rarely post anything, but I somewhat enjoy reading through the comments sections at the bottom of articles. Some of them are quite amusing. Some of them just make me sigh and shake my head. For me, it's another level of data to process, a way to gauge how the most vocal members of society feel about certain issues, a way to get exposure to other perspectives much different than mine. Now, I wonder how much subconscious influence I was letting anonymous reviewers have over me.
In the context of social commentary on the behavior of Miley Cyrus at the VMAs or who was wearing what and how well on the Emmy's red carpet, this new insight on commenter influence doesn't matter much. However, when it comes to 'important stuff' that shapes public opinion and influences national policy, the stakes are higher.
Check out this in depth analysis of the implications to science communication by Matt Shipman at Scilogs. As scientists, we want to engage with the public about our research and its implications. On-line news, blogs and social networks are convenient platforms for mass broadcasting what we think is important. Always up for debate and critique, scientists generally welcome commentary. However, these results mean that any random person in cyberspace with who-knows-what-probably-none credentials will influence how readers perceive the news as truthful or important.
So this new finding puts us in an uncomfortable position: (Presumably) the author of a science news article has carefully crafted an informative and well-referenced piece with solid supporting evidence that should adequately convey new information to the reader so that they can come to their own decisions based on the data therein. (I'm sure the author tried to contain his/her own bias and was not writing an overly-opinion-based piece.) All of that work can be undone by anonymous internet trolls**** that comment with impunity.
What can be done? Readers, just try to be aware of the influence of the comments section on your opinions of on-line news or skip reading them altogether. Commenters, comment judiciously. Please try to add something to the conversation and be honest about your biases. If you are Popular Science, you shut down comments on on-line news articles across the board. Click here to read their justification for the policy shift.
As for me, I will leave the comments section open. For any of you brave enough to de-lurk***** yourselves, I think there is currently more value in discussion than harm from undue influence.
* Again, check out the Resources page for links to science news sources.
** In case you have been living under a rock for the past several years, anyone with an internet connection and a keyboard can post their unsolicited thoughts for the world to see at the bottom of a news article. But you already knew that since you were savvy enough to find an internet connection and stumble upon my blog.
*** Lurker (n): the official internet term for one who reads lots of internet content, but never engages in the comments section of an article, a blog, etc.
**** Troll (n): the official internet term for one who posts ugly, offensive, obnoxious, and possibly-unrelated comments on news articles for the purposes of shock value and baiting other commenters in pointless debates that general have little to do with the content of the original article.
***** De-lurk (v): the internet term for stepping out of the shadows of lurker status and into the realm of insightful commenter. (Please don't de-lurk into a troll).


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The Family Photo Session
I love photographing children and creating the family portraits outdoors. Choosing a location that is special to your family is a wonderful way to add a personal touch to your images.
However, sessions at home tend to be more intimate, relaxed, and more personal. They are the perfect setting for all seasons and are ideal for newborns, younger babies, and those who want to have a customised photographic experience. The photo session can last anywhere from 2-4 hours.
Clothing is a key element for beautiful, timeless portraits. I recommend simple and classic outfits. Anything neutral, cream and soft pastel always works. By all means, add accessories like jewellery, belts, scarves and headbands to make it even more fun.
Bare feet works best!


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"Like Plastic" was first published as a serial novella online, where it attracted over 100,000 readers, many in Japan. It's a story of manners, of offence taken and honour restored. So, meet nightclub owner Alexei Shakirov, warped scion of a Russian billionaire and brother to the beautiful Anna. Alexei has a fetish for collecting an unusual trophy from the women he drugs. After Megumi falls foul of him she calls her cousin Roku in Tokyo to help her. He and his beautiful wife, Yuko, go to London to right the wrong done to Megumi. Roku, a comic book devotee, looks to his hero, Brett Plastic, for inspiration. What would Brett Plastic do? A hero famed for his superhuman niceness, Plastic would show Alexei the error of his ways, through well-reasoned argument and politeness. But as Roku knows, Plastic moved into darker territory as his comic book series progressed, and when all else fails, sometimes force is needed. As things escalate it's time for the women to step in and sort things out. This updating of Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" will appeal to fans of Japanese fiction, Manga, Jim Jarmusch and Wes Anderson, and to anyone with a sense of the absurdity of modern life.
The extracts on the right should give a brief taste...
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Solar DAO ICO
Reduce risks and costs while surpassing
technical barriers of investing in PV solar plants across the globe.
Solar DAO ICO information
Platform: Ethereum
Pre-ICO: July 27th to August 31st.
Pre-ICO max cap: $4M
ICO start date: end of October / TBA
Objective amount: $8M
"We think we are the first who go this way and when we do that other companies want to do the same. We are competing with classic funds and financial tools and we can offer more functionality thanks to blockchain technology. " – Solar DAO
SolarDAO ICO start date TBA
Interview with Solar DAO
BitcoinChaser: What kind of problem, market deficiency or opportunity inspired you to launch your project?
Solar DAO: There is problem to invest in PV solar plants. Only people who can invest $1M+ could get good ROI. People who can participate with $10k-$50k-$100k cannot achieve so cool ROI. Investors still have a lot of issues and expenses for owning solar plants.
We create a new financial tool to all of them. Our project project provide opportunity to invest in PV solar plants across the globe buying "solar" assets. They are almost like real plants. You can get dividends and also freely trade them.
It is also a great opportunity of you want to buy more "assets" and don't want to spend money on accounting, local company dedication and so on. Generally, you just become a co-owner of large PV solar plant… many solar plants.
BC: How will your project address this problem, market deficiency or opportunity in a unique way?
SD: At first we are going to create fully working model with dividends distribution. Create holding structure and create the way to operate in real world with using all blockchain features like smart contracts, assets issuance and others.
We issue tokens to raise first funds. Then we are going to use collected funds to PV solar plants construction and will continue to grow their total capacity using classic debt financing. For this we hired people experienced in crypto trading and investing in classic business.
BC: How do you think that competition will develop following your ICO?
SD: We think we are the first who go this way and when we do that other companies want to do the same. We are competing with classic funds and financial tools and we can offer more functionality thanks to blockchain technology.
BC: What are you planning to do with the proceeds of your ICO, and why?
SD: We are going to use 85% of collected funds on PV solar plants construction and further development to continuously grow total capacity of solar plants under the Solar DAO control. Net profit will be shared among token holders.
BC: For all those who have read your white paper (pdf) and are still on the fence about contributing to your ICO, what can you tell them that could lead them to buy into your project?
SD: We are famous team, including people with huge experience in Photovoltaic. People who are not willing to risk their names. And we are here to make totally legendary and unique project. We totally understand all issues in this industry and our purpose is to create totally new and useful financial tool combining real world business and blockchain features and opportunities.
Those are two reasons to invest: performance and immediate usability of the tokens. However, for blockchain believers, the first reason should be to extend the blockchain to companies IT systems, as the internet did, replacing other internal communication protocols. This first reason is more a belief than a short term calculation.


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By Brendan Murphy, Lead Researcher, Accessibility Observatory, University of Minnesota
The Accessibility Observatory is primarily concerned with—as you may imagine—measuring accessibility to destinations using our transportation systems. A good portion of our research and studies pertain to measuring accessibility by public transit and automobile. This is not without good reason—the vast majority of North Americans commute to work and other destinations by car or transit, although mode shares do vary across regions and among different cities in the U.S. However, people are steadily increasing the rates at which they choose to bike to where they need to go in cities, and with that comes the need to focus more intently on whether our road, trail, and path systems do a good job (or not) of getting people on bikes to destinations safely and efficiently.
At the Observatory, we focus on measuring transportation systems with readily understandable metrics of accessibility. For example: from the corner of SE Oak Street and SE Washington Avenue on the University of Minnesota campus, a commuter can reach an average of 220,169 jobs—by walking and using transit—within 30 minutes of travel time during the morning 7–9 a.m. commute. If someone only has 15 minutes of available travel time, that number reduces to 31,577 jobs; an hour affords access to 616,053 opportunities (although obviously not all job opportunities are both available and appropriate to individual people—equity is a conversation for another time). To produce these metrics, we calculate how long travel takes in real-world conditions, subject to actual bus and rail transit schedules and to automobile congestion during peak periods; we then count up the job opportunities at all places reachable within the travel time budget.
Evaluating real-world bicycle access to destinations is a significantly more challenging problem, since route planning by bicycle is significantly more sensitive to things like road type, speed limit, hills, and the presence (or lack) of dedicated infrastructure like bike lanes than route planning for cars or transit. The above map shows bicycle accessibility in the Twin Cities area, without accounting for where people actually would prefer to ride or avoid; the reality is likely significantly less geographically uniform.
D.C.-based consulting group Conveyal have written about this fundamental difference between traveler behaviors while biking vs. using most other modes. Defining the routes, roads, and facilities that people are willing to actually use has a significant effect on how many destinations they can reach within a given time. Among people who are interested in bicycling more often, many are dissatisfied with existing infrastructure and the desire for more protected bike lanes is a unifying factor among them.
To account for this sensitivity among people interested in bicycling, the Observatory is working to adapt the bicycle level of traffic stress (LTS) framework to our research. LTS assigns a "stress level" ranking to roadways based on data such as street width, number of lanes, speed limit, the presence of bike lane facilities, and other factors. The higher the stress level, the less likely people are to use the street for biking and the less likely people will be able to reach businesses and other destinations on that roadway by bike.
Incorporating LTS allows us to systematically include or eliminate individual roadways in the "bike-friendly" subset of roads that people would be willing to use and to allow for real-world metrics of bicycle access to destinations. A challenge in this area is the lack of unified, available data sources that give the inputs required for LTS evaluation—namely speed limits, lane configurations, and intersection geometries. Many of these details must be manually surveyed in LTS studies. The Twin Cities serve as the living doorstep laboratory for the Observatory's research, so while conducting a full LTS survey is possible, including other metropolitan areas for comparison becomes impossible without some type of shortcut. To approximate the rankings, we are working on developing a heuristic similar to the system Conveyal implemented, which can rely strictly on open-source, available OpenStreetMap data.
What we will get out of this process is incredibly useful: not only will we have much more accurate metrics of access to destinations by bicycle, but we will also be able to easily see how small changes in the bicycle network affect accessibility. If a specific path is closed for repair or a new bike lane or protected bicycle facility is installed, then people will alter their bicycle routes and accessibility will change accordingly. If a specific area of the city is less well-connected for bicycle travel, new facilities can be simulated in software, and the accessibility gains from specific bicycle infrastructure projects may be estimated. This could inform strategic placement of bicycle infrastructure connections where they are most needed for improving connectivity and access to useful and attractive places.


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"Take every item and use it with every other item."
If you choose the hint line option when you call the number for Videlectrix on Homestar's cell phone, another critique of the adventure game genre pops up. The Videlectrix guys tell Strong Bad to "take every one of your items, and then use it with every other item until you find the solution".


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In 2010, Sudanese telecommunications company Zain announced the launching of the Al-Tayeb Salih award for creative writing as a memorial for the late author Al-Tayeb Salih. The annual prize is given in three categories: short story, novel and a third category that changes every year, chosen by the board of trustees. The prize aims to encourage literary contributions in the Sudanese community as well as the Arab world. Zain has set aside $200,000 for the prize and its accompanying events.
The award is for unpublished works written in the Arabic language.
For the fourth round of the competition, whose deadline was 29 August 2013, the prize committee received 587 applications from all over the Arab world and Africa. The three categories were short story, novel and drama script. Most of the applications came from Sudan, followed by Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Yemen.
The Egyptian authors Ashraf Hassan Al-Sharbini and Ibrahim Abdel Fatah Ibrahim Saad won in the category of short story. Al-Sharbini won the first prize, $10,000, for his short story "The Secret Life of Abdo the Barber", while Saad won the second prize, $7,000, for his short story "Summer Rain". On the other hand, the first prize in the Novel category, $10,000, went to Syrian female author Tawfikiya Ali Mohamed Khodour for her novel "I Will Recreate the Moon", while the first prize, $10,000, in the drama script category went to Moroccan dramatist Zakaria Abumaria for "Season of Migration to the North".
Tayeb Salih was a Sudanese novelist, born in Karmakol in Sudan in 1928. After studying in the University of Khartoum, he travelled to the UK where he continued his education at the University of London. The novel that launched his international fame was Season of Migration to the North, which tells the story of a young man's return to Sudan after studying abroad. The novel explores post-colonialism and its effect on rural Sudan as well as the personal struggles of marrying east and west within a lone individual.
The guest of honour for this year was Sudanese author Hamadnallah Abdul Gadir.


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CoreSite offers colocation and interconnection solutions for networks, cloud and IT service providers and enterprise companies spanning a variety of industries.
CoreSite facilities are designed and constructed using industry best practices. We currently operate 21 data centers across eight U.S. markets.
Watch a video, read a customer testimonial, reference white paper research and review collateral covering our data center facilities and industry topics.
CoreSite Realty Corporation delivers secure, reliable, high-performance data center and interconnection solutions to a growing customer ecosystem across eight key North American markets.
No-IP's mission is to provide useful, reliable & powerful services that help home users, small and large businesses and even fortune 500 companies take control over all aspects of their DNS and domain services.
More than 20 million people use No-IP to access their computers remotely, run a home server, monitor an IP camera, or even manage their websites DNS, secure their website with an SSL certificate, or monitor a server for downtime. Whether you're a home user, self-employed, small or large business, or even a Fortune 500 company, No-IP has features and integrations that will suit your domain needs.


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Received an e-mail from Wolfpack today telling me that the Tribune has banned Redneck Hippie – aka Larry Kralj – from the Forums for 30 days. In the Trib's words:
This morning we blocked Redneck Hippie from posting further on this forum for a time. We have had online discussions with him in the past about his intemperate attacks on other participants in the forums — and on individuals in the news — and we have deleted a few of his posts over the past few months. One of his posts Tuesday was even more over the top than some of those, and in light of the previous warnings and discussions, we have banned him for 30 days.
So Larry can add yet another online forum to the list of places that have banned him (even if only temporarily in this case). And I hope that nobody cries "censorship!" or denounces the Trib as fascist. Larry is perfectly free and capable of starting his own blog and expressing his opinions on his own space. I'll even create a blog for him, if he wants me to.


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Malware + Recommended + Security News
WannaCry and the State of Mac Ransomware
Posted on May 25th, 2017 by Joshua Long
By now, you've probably heard about "WannaCry" in the news. As a Mac user, you might assume your computer is immune from ransomware attacks of this sort. That may not be such a wise assumption.
Today we'll explain who WannaCry ransomware affects and how to protect yourself, as well as the current state of Mac ransomware. Read on to learn why you'll want to be proactive about protecting your Mac.
Wanna Cry? You Might if You Use Windows
During the past couple weeks, serious vulnerabilities in unpatched copies of Microsoft Windows have led to the spread of destructive malware on a global scale.
The first malware to appear — known by names such as WannaCry, WanaCrypt0r, and WCry — is ransomware that encrypts files on a user's computer and demands that a ransom be paid in Bitcoin currency. It spreads through wormable flaws in Windows' implementation of SMB, a networking technology associated with file sharing.
Microsoft patched the SMB flaws in Windows months ago, after the so-called "EternalBlue" vulnerability was publicly disclosed through an alleged leak of stockpiled NSA exploits. But some affected systems, such as Windows XP, are no longer officially supported by Microsoft and did not receive a patch until after WannaCry (and other malware using the same exploit) had already begun spreading across the globe.
Microsoft has published articles offering customer guidance and a very detailed overview of WannaCrypt's behavior, including links to download emergency patches for various versions of Windows back to XP and Server 2003.
Other Windows malware in the wild such as Adylkuzz, Uiwix, and EternalRocks have already begun to exploit the EternalBlue vulnerability.
What if I Have Windows on My Mac?
Apple's Mac operating system, macOS, is not known to be directly affected by the vulnerability.
However, those using Windows on their Macs will need to install the appropriate update to ensure that their Mac's copy of Windows doesn't become infected.
As a reminder, if your Mac is still running an old version of Windows, such as Windows Vista or Windows XP, Microsoft is no longer officially supporting those operating systems, so simply installing the WannaCry-related SMB patch will not protect Windows from other critical vulnerabilities that Microsoft has no intention to fix. In other words, it's unsafe to use old and outdated versions of Windows, even if you have them installed on your Mac.
The State of Mac Ransomware
You may be asking yourself: what if I'm a Mac user and I don't use Windows? Does that mean I'm safe?
The short answer is that as far as the first variants of WannaCry are concerned, if you aren't running Windows on your Mac, then this particular malware won't be able to infect your computer.
However, on the question of whether Mac users are immune from ransomware attacks, the answer is a resounding no.
A few months ago, the so-called "Patcher" (detected by Intego VirusBarrier as OSX/Filecoder) Mac ransomware began circulating on BitTorrent, masquerading as Adobe Premiere CC and Microsoft Office 2016 "cracks." Rather than circumventing Adobe or Microsoft's software activation requirements as implied, the Trojan horses instead encrypt the user's files and demand a ransom.
Full Details: Patcher Ransomware Attacks macOS, Encrypts Files Permanently
Last year, ransomware known as KeRanger (detected by Intego VirusBarrier as OSX/KeRanger) was distributed via infected copies of Transmission, a popular BitTorrent app for Mac. The twist is that Transmission's own site linked to the infected software, unbeknownst to the developer.
Full Details: Mac Users Hit by Rare Ransomware Attack, Spread via Transmission BitTorrent App
Even if you never do anything remotely related to BitTorrent, your Mac can still become infected.
Earlier this month, popular video transcoding software, Handbrake, was infected with the PROTON remote access Trojan (RAT), as reported by MacObserver. Similar to what happened with Transmission last year, the infected Handbrake software was distributed through the developer's own official site until the developer became aware of the problem.
What Can Mac Users Do to Protect Themselves?
Being cautious about where you surf online is a good start, but as we've seen, even legitimate sites can get hacked or exploited and may distribute software that can infect your computer.
Following are some additional ways you can help safeguard your Mac against ransomware.
Anti-Virus Software
Installing a trusted security suite, including Mac anti-virus protection, is an essential component to keeping your Mac and your data safe. Anti-virus software can help protect your Mac against known malware that's in the wild. Intego's protection suite also includes file backup software and other useful utilities.
Keeping an unattached backup is another essential component to protecting your data. What is an "unattached" backup? Leaving an external hard drive permanently attached to your Mac and using Apple's Time Machine functionality is insufficient because ransomware can encrypt your Time Machine backups as well, so you'll want to keep a backup that's detached from your computer so it can't be touched by ransomware.
One possible solution is to use an online or "cloud" backup service that continuously uploads your files. These services often have "rollback" or "versioning" capability, so if your files get encrypted by ransomware, and then the encrypted versions get uploaded to your online backup service, you can still recover an older version of the file.
Although for some people a cloud backup solution may be a good option, there are some potential challenges with this approach:
- You'll want to carefully vet whichever service you use, since they'll have copies of very sensitive data from your Mac. Ask yourself: should I really trust them with everything on my Mac?
- Backing up to the cloud may cause you to exceed your Internet service provider's data cap, so before you pay for a subscription to a cloud backup service, you'll want to contact your ISP to find out if they have a maximum number of gigabytes or terabytes per month before they impose penalties (such as additional charges, slower data speeds, or discontinuation of service).
- Depending on your Internet service's upload speed and the speed of your cloud backup service, it can take a very, very long time to do the initial synchronization of all your data over the Internet, particularly if you have hundreds of gigabytes or even terabytes of data. If you happen to get hit with ransomware during the days, weeks, or even months while your data is backing up for the first time, you may lose some data that had not been backed up yet.
Another option is to use a local backup that gets unmounted ("ejected") between backups. Be sure to see our step-by-step guide, and other tips about protecting your Mac from ransomware, here: A Layman's Guide to Ransomware Protection.
You can, and should, consider using multiple backup methods. Keep in mind the "3-2-1" backup principles, as described here: Data Backup Plan: How to Implement the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy.
For Über-Geeks Only
If practicing safe surfing habits, using a trusted protection suite including Mac anti-virus software, and implementing local backups and cloud backups still doesn't seem like doing enough to protect yourself — and if you're a very advanced Mac user — you could try using software that tries to generically detect ransomware, such as Patrick Wardle's RansomWhere? app.
Be advised that RansomWhere? is not well suited for the average or novice user; it often displays warnings related to legitimate software that's trying to update in the background (such as Google software and Dropbox), and its dialog boxes can be confusing if you don't know much about how Macs work under the hood.
Stay Safe Out There
Another way to help yourself stay safe online is to subscribe to The Mac Security Blog, where we cover important topics about Internet safety and keep you informed about security news that affects users of Apple products. You can also follow Intego on Twitter and Facebook.


text:
- "This bickering is pointless!"
- ―Wilhuff Tarkin, on the Joint Chiefs' endless debates
The Joint Chiefs of the Galactic Empire were members of the executive group that advised the Emperor on all martial-related matters. The cabinet was composed of the chiefs of the Imperial Army[1] and higher ranking members of the Naval chiefs.[2] Owing to the nature of their job, many were known to work closely with top officers of COMPNOR and its sub-agency the Imperial Security Bureau, Imperial Intelligence and the Naval Intelligence Agency, along with members of the Imperial Ruling Council.[1]
In 14 BBY,[6] the leading members of the organization were General Cassio Tagge, Rear Admirals Kendal Ozzel, Conan Antonio Motti and Tiaan Jerjerrod. Following shakeups in the Imperial Military, they were joined by Admiral Nils Tenant. At this time, they were joined in their meetings by several top officers from COMPNOR and the Naval Intelligence Agency.[1]
In 0 BBY,[6] General Tagge and Admiral Motti were both still members of the Joint Chiefs.[4] They were present in the Death Star's conference room for a meeting headed by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. After the station's destruction, Tagge was the only survivor of the group. Because of this, he was promoted to the rank of Grand General, which gave him supreme command of the military.[3] However, Tagge was later killed by Darth Vader because of his trust of Cylo.[7]
- Tarkin (First identified as Joint Chiefs)
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story novelization (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (First appearance)
- A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy
- Star Wars: Heroes Path
- Darth Vader 1: Vader (Appears in flashback(s))
- Ultimate Star Wars (As "gathered military commanders")
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
- Nils Tenant in the Databank (backup link)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Tarkin
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Orientation"—Star Wars Insider 157
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Darth Vader 2: Vader, Part II
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ Darth Vader 25: End of Games, Part VI


text:
I am new here and since I selected audacity for my program of choice, I thought I would join this list.
When I ssay new, I am straight out the gate new when it pertains to audio recording and editing, so please bare with me while I ask questions that might irritate or test patience. I'm studying as I go btw, so not to confuse I'm here to get training.
What can people tell me about what I should have for starters pertaining to plug ins for audacity, and my other question is why when I export to mp3, the entire song doesn't play when I play the mp3 file?
I imported a song, then I did left and right bracket to mark what I wanted to delete, I exported the audio to save on my computer, but when I play it back, the entire song doesn't play, just about 30 to 45 seconds. Is this common when exporting as mp3?
Thank you and I look forward to learning lots.it
Kimsan Song
[hidden email]


text:
Close (X)
Regular Price:
Vilhelm Lauritzen's lamp design, VL38 and the pendant VL45 both designed for Radiohuset, started to appear in Louis Poulsen catalogues after World War 2 in the middle of the 1940s.
Both VL38 White/brass and VL45 were relaunched in fall 2016.
To accommodate contemporary advances in light technology and energy efficiency the fixtures have been fitted with LED.
The black edition of the VL38 has a stronger outline than the original white version, though maintaining the loved retro look and the soft, curvy expression of the original design.
Dimensions: H:120 x D(base)25 x Ø(shade)13.5cm
Concept: The fixture emits downward directed light. The angle of the shade can be adjusted to optimise light distribution.The shade is painted white on the inside to ensure a soft comfortable light.
Finish: Brushed brass. Black, powder coated.
Base: Die cast aluminium.
Shade: Spun aluminium.
Stem: Brushed brass.
Mounting: Cable type: Plastic cord. Cable length: 3.3m. Light control: Switch in the Lamp stand. Two light levels. LED driver: separate, plugs into power outlet.
Weight: 6.7 kg
Class: Ingress protection IP20. Electric shock protection II w/o ground. Energy Class A++ - A.
Light source: 2700K LED
Vilhelm Lauritzen (1894–1984) is one of the most significant architects in the history of Denmark; he was the trail-blazing figurehead of functionalism in Denmark. He is the architect behind a range of well-known buildings, including Nørrebro Theatre, Daells Varehus department store (the Skt. Petri Hotel today), the Radiohuset building and the famous Terminal 39 at Kastrup Airport. Other significant buildings to stem from Vilhelm Lauritzen's drawing board include Folkets Hus (known today as the Vega concert venue), the Shellhuset building and the Danish embassy in Washington. In particular the Radiohuset building and the earliest version of Kastrup Airport – both listed today – are considered peerless monuments to modernism in the European genre of construction.
5-6 weeks
Made to order item
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© Skandium 2019


text:
So, forgive me for being slow with the bloem blog updates. I have my hands full right now. You can follow us through life as new parents on our family blog, One Ring Short of a Circus.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Holiday Baby!
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 9:53 AM
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Labels: Baby
Monday, December 20, 2010
Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar (Easy & Budget Friendly Gift)
This year, we made Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar for our neighbors and friends. Just a little gift to warm people up during the holidays, without breaking the bank.
Here's how we did it:
1 Cup Powdered Milk
3 Heaping Tablespoons Dutched Cocoa Powder
3 Level Tablespoons Sugar
1/4 Mini Marshmallows
We mixed 5 batches at a time
2 Cups per Mason Jar.
I decorated the jar top with Christmas-y fabric and a raffia bow.
Make sure to include a card that tells your recipient how to make and enjoy their delicious treat!
"Mix 3 heaping Tablespoons (1/4 to 1/3 cup) cocoa with 8 to 10 oz of hot water.
Makes about 4 servings"
That's all there is to it!
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 3:57 PM
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Day 14: Reverb 10 - Appreciate
December 14 – Appreciate. What's the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? (Author: Victoria Klein)
I'm guilty of taking most things for granted. Who isn't? I was originally going to post about appreciating my family and friends. Although I do thorougly appreciate both, I read my best friend's response to this prompt on her blog, Living a Brighter Life, and since she wrote about friends and family (probably better than I can write it), I figured I should come up with something else. Besides, there are plenty of things to appreciate, right?
In a weird way, this year, I've learned to appreciate my job. I didn't say I learned to enjoy it, or even to like it a little. Just to appreciate the fact that I have a well paying, fairly stable, job that has provided the money for everything we need and lots of things that we want. In a time when the poor economy has left many people in worse situations, we've managed to not only skate through, but also to take advantage of some unique opportunities. All because of my job.
I wouldn't say I really show much of this appreciation. Most of my conversations around my job are a more towards the negative side. Also, I don't always stop to think about how great it is to have a job. Like Nellie, at Wired, Witty, and Well Dressed, I've decided that "lucky" isn't the right term to justify my success. I've earned my paycheck. But I can admit that I'm fortunate.
So, there it is, I appreciate my job. Live it up, because that's probably the last time you will ever hear me say (or write) those words!
Dilbert, by Scott Adams. Courtesy of www.dilbert.com
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 9:18 PM
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Monday, December 13, 2010
Day 13: Reverb 10 - Action
December 13 – Action When it comes to aspirations, it's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen. What's your next step? (Author: Scott Belsky).
Action is the hard part. I can dream all day about what I could do and would do, but actually doing it is a whole 'nother thing!
In the past, I haven't really held myself accountable for making things happen. Well, that's not exactly true. I used to be very accountable. I did what I needed to do to get where I am. BUT, lately, I've been more complacent about actually achieving my goals.
The best way I've found to keep myself on track is to make a list. I LOVE checking off lists! So much that I will do whatever I have to do just so I can put down another check. Sometimes, I even cheat a little and list things I've already done. That way, I get to check off even more!!
I have a few ACTIONS that I'm currently taking to change my life. They're not huge and they're not abstract, because, really, they are the things on my list. The small, but tangible steps that I have to take.
One action on my list is to build an inventory of handmade, unique-but-general, Baby Shower invitations, Birthday Party invitations, Thank You cards, and more. I'm trying to make enough to host a table at a local farmer's market. I've been able to get a good start already since my time off from work. This will, hopefully, help promote as well as fill the gaps between my custom jobs.
|Umbrella - Baby Shower Invitations by bloem
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 5:59 PM
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Labels: Bloem, Reverb 10, starting my business
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Day 12: Reverb 10 - Body Integration
December 12 – Body Integration This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn't mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present? (Author: Patrick Reynolds)
|Hmmm....all my horse riding pictures seem to be of Rogér.
I usually find that my body and mind are most cohesive during horseback riding. This wasn't immediate. It took some time to learn to ride again (and I'm still learning). Once that balance was found, though, this seems to be the place where my mind and body can connect.
It will be interesting to see how I am able to get back into riding after childbirth.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 5:11 PM
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Day 11 Reverb 10 - 11 Things
December 11 – 11 Things What are 11 things your life doesn't need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson).
In 20100, I'm actually really going to have to think about this harder from both a mental and materialistic standpoint. We're starting a family. I want to eliminate mental and emotional baggage so that I can be a good example. I would also LOVE to be a stay-at-home mom. I know that my husband would also. We're trying to figure out how to swing that financially, so looking at what we really don't need may become a necessity in itself.
Here are the things I've come up with for myself:
1. Anxiety - I get anxious over just about everything. Even things that I'm excited to do. Anxiety will set in if I'm running a little late. Or if I took a wrong turn driving somewhere. I'm anxious almost every day I come home....'cause who knows what mischief Domino might have gotten into today. I'm always anxious on my way to the ranch, even though once I'm there, it's the most relaxing place in the whole world, besides maybe, the gym. Anxiety is a worthless waste of energy and a form of stress and stress is never good. I probably won't be able to eliminate anxiety, but I'm trying to lessen it by reminding myself that the things I'm worrying about are really not worth it.
2. Left Over Wedding Things - Our wedding was almost two years ago, but we still have leftover favors, candles, napkins, gift bags, invitations, lights, and mason jars, just to name some. These leftovers are hard to part with because I think "oh, we can USE that for SOMETHING", but in two years, we haven't, and we're probably not going to, so I just need to chuck it.
3. Excuses - For why I'm not going to go for a jog this morning. And why I don't have time to work on starting a small business for invitations and announcements. And for why I'm not taking classes to learn Adobe Illustrator, and jewelry making, and some other things I've always been interested in. These are things I enjoy. Isn't it strange to find reasons not to do them??? Why do I do that? I've found that getting started is the hardest part. If I can get a routine going, then I don't make those lame excuses for myself.
4. Socks (and other worn out things) - I already went through a whole bunch and got rid of the solo socks that lost their partner somewhere in the abyss. I need to learn to toss the ones that don't stay up because the stretch in gone, and the ones that my big toe sticks out of because my razor blade toenails cut through them after a couple months. This might seem trivial, but it's actually part of my ADMITTED hoarding tendencies, which I constantly try to quell. Even though I think it's wasteful to buy and toss, I'm not going to fix the holes in my socks like people did back in the day so they need to go.
5. Self Doubt - I've already mentioned this in earlier posts. I sabotage myself with "I'm not as good" statements. I always need someone else to reassure me. I want to rely more on myself and be confident in myself and my abilities. I know I can, because I have before. I'm not sure where I lost my self-esteem, but I'm working on getting it back.
6. My Temper - I have a BAD one. I'm pretty mellow, most of the time. Until I get pushed over the edge, and then, boy, will you pay for giving me that final shove. Surprisingly, my blood pressure is actually on the low side. Maybe that's because I do have blowouts, instead of holding it all inside forever. I'd like to find a better way to let loose my frustration without boiling over, because sometimes, the biggest victims of my frustration are not the ones who caused it.
7. Resentment - Of people who are continuously given chance after chance and still manage to be poor examples of human beings. These people bug the bahjeezes out of me. There's nothing you can do about these people though. And it seems impossible to get others to stop enabling them. In the end, I don't envy them and I don't want to waste my time on them. If I give up resenting them, I can spend that time on people that deserve it.
8. My Grandparents Things - Losing the people that you love is obviously not the most fun part of life. It makes sense that we try to hold on to them by holding onto the worldly possessions they left behind. My grandparents were very inspirational to me. My grandmother was an independent, successful, adventurous woman and my grandfather was a physicist, who sparked and nurtured my interest in the scientific world. I inherited a lot of old (and what I find to be really cool) scientific toys, as well as some things that are probably just old. The fact is, these things take up (coveted) space and I've never found a good use for any of it, but I feel like letting go of it would somehow be letting my grandparents down. I wish I could get rid of these things in a way that I would feel good about, but I haven't found that yet.
9. My Job - I gotta make some money somehow. Eliminating my job is probably not an option. I do want to find a more fulfilling job. If I have to spend 8 hrs a day doing something, I'd like to feel like it's time well spent.
10. Mani/Pedis, Hair Color, a Tan, and the Latest Fashions - It's not at all that I'm currently obsessed with these things. In fact, many would probably say spend enough time and money on me. Although I'm a big advocate of taking time for yourself and taking care of yourself, I'm just going to have remind myself to to keep myself up without shelling out the dough. I can paint my nails at home. I can love my natural brown hair color. I can work with the clothes that I have. And, if I'm pasty, well, O-Well.
11. Dinners Out - Rogér and I have become used to "grabbing dinner somewhere" out of convenience and ability. While this is a nice escape from life chores and it's often time well spent together, I'd like to get us on a healthier (and less expensive) track of home-cooked meals. I think we'll both feel better physically if we're eating fresh foods prepared with less "junk".
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 4:58 PM
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Friday, December 10, 2010
Day 10: Reverb - Wisdom
December 10 –Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Author: Susannah Conway)
Yeah, I'm behind on this Reverb10 thing. It's hard to keep up! I'm trying!
The wisest decision I've made this year is to focus on the positive people and things in my life. As many of us do, I tend to worry too much about what others think and wonder what's wrong with me that I can't seem to please some of them or that things didn't work out quite like I expected. I tend to think I'm not capable, or not good enough. What terrible things to think about! Especially when there are so many great things about me and my life.
I'm not saying that I've been able to forget those people and things that cause me to doubt myself, my relationships, my abilities, and so on. What I have been able to do is recognize that they really don't matter that much.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 12:19 PM
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Day 9: Reverb 10 - Party
December 9 – Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)
There is one "party" that sticks out in my mind. It was the reception that Rogér's family in The Netherlands threw for us when we visited them this summer. While it may not have "rocked my socks off", it did blow my mind. Why? Because their incredibly warm welcome was unexpected, (at least by me), after the family drama that rained all over our engagement and wedding last year. Apologies in advance for my word spewage on this one.
It's way too much to explain all the details of the back story, but what it boils down to, is that a couple members of Rogér's immediate family persistently caused trouble over EVERY.LITTLE.THING related to our wedding and specifically, over me. Rogér and I were led to believe that we were also unsupported and severely frowned upon by ALL of his extended family in The Netherlands. The main reasons, (besides the obvious fact that Rogér and I don't really love each other and our 6 years together prior to our engagement had all been some sort of bad phase that they were nobly trying to save him from), being that our wedding was on a Sunday, in a location that was three hours further away than where they wanted it to be, and for us deciding not to make the super-easy, quick trip to visit them during our honeymoon...in Greece, (because it's not so hard for us to travel a little longer, and, honeymoons are the PERFECT time to meet and hang with a whole hoard of foreign-language-speaking extended family, who already don't like you, due partly to the totally legit reasons already given, but mostly for being the demise of Rogér and his family in general).
When we were finally in the financial situation and state of mind to take the trip to The Netherlands, it still came with a LOT of hesitation on my part. I should mention that here were some agreements that we had already made to ensure things wouldn't get too harry. We were ONLY visiting Rogér's dad's side of the family. We had actually planned on seeing his Oma on his mom's side, but when he called her one night to tell her we were going to Holland and would like to see her, she chewed him out for being a disgraceful son and grandson, so we decided not to. Go figure. And Rogér's melodramatic, needy, gossip-mongering sister was going to Holland at the same time, so we had a couple of Plan B's in case we needed to get out of there fast.
It was already hard for me to understand why Rogér's family would be so judgmental and demanding. I mean, don't they have better things to think about than my inadequacies and our relationship? But it became even harder to understand once we met up with the family, because from the moment we set foot on Dutch soil, we were greeted and treated like beloved and welcomed guests. Were they just putting on a show to our faces so they could bash us behind our backs? It didn't seem that way. It didn't seem like they had any reason to.
Rogér's youngest uncle had offered his house as a "home base" for us. He, and his wife and children, made sure that we were taken care of the entire time. He had also planned, with other family members, to throw us a little wedding reception during our visit. This was a sweet idea, but a little daunting, given the history. However, without any prompting from Rogér or I, his uncle and aunt sat with us the night before the reception and had a very-open hearted discussion with us about the wedding, and our relationship with each other and with the family. They talked candidly and honestly, and we went to bed knowing that these people did not, and had never harbored any negative feelings towards us. We suddenly could move forward, with the confirmation that the that the hateful things we had heard were coming from a few bitter mouths making mountains out of mole-hills.
The next evening was the reception. With the weight of judgment off my shoulders, I felt like I could actually enjoy meeting Rogér's family. Did I mention, he has a BIG family? Almost all the aunts and uncles and cousins and cousin's babies and boyfriends and girlfriends were there. We were served delicious Dutch finger foods, and even a cake with a picture of our engagement on it! All the cousins talked my ears off. They LOVED showing off their English! In fact, everyone had kind of given themselves a rule that they would only speak English so that I would not feel left out of any conversations, (which I found to be an incredibly nice gesture, although, I think it made it too easy for me to avoid practicing my Dutch!) His Oma on his Dad's side was also there; probably one of the sweetest ladies in the world, she spent almost the whole evening by my side, making sure that I was doing okay. We enjoyed wonderful food and converstation, and we got to share our wedding photo album with many of his aunts and cousins. I was having a great time, and I could see that Rogér was in Heaven. It had been too long since being in contact with all his family, but they reconnected like it had been no time at all.
It wasn't a big blowout party. But for us, it was HUGE. It was healing. It somehow gave Rogér and me some much needed permission to be who we are and to be happy for ourselves, even if some other people can't be.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 11:23 AM
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Thursday, December 9, 2010
French Memo Board - Tutorial
How to make a French Memo Board
by bloem
I just made a French Memo Board for one of our friends daughters. These are a fun and stylish way to display and stash mementos like pictures, tickets, hair clips, etc.
Here's how I made my French Memo Board.
1. Pre-stretched canvas, your choice in size. 2. Fabric of choice, enough to cover canvas with about 1.5" to spare on each side. 3. Batting. 4. Ribbon of choice. 5. Buttons of choice. 6. Scissors. 7. Staple gun. 8. Glue gun or needle & thread (not shown).
|Click this image to enlarge
1. LAY the canvas face-down on the batting. PULL the batting around the edges and STAPLE the batting to the back. Stretch the batting as you go, just enough to be taught.
2. LAY the batting covered canvas face-down on the fabric and do the same thing with the fabric that you did with the batting.
3. TUCK the fabric to make your corners are neat and STAPLE.
4. LAY the ribbon out in the pattern that you want (Generally criss-crossed). You may want to double check that the ribbon is spaced far enough apart to hold whatever you plan to put in the memo board.
5. & 6. STAPLE the ribbon onto the back. Tip: tape the ribbon in place first to make sure the ribbon is evenly spaced and where you want it to be.
7. SEW buttons on at the ribbon cross sections, or GLUE them with a hot glue gun.
That's it! It's super simple!
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 5:56 PM
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Day 8: Reverb 10 - Beautifully Different
December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you'll find they're what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)
This post requires a lot of looking inward, and I could probably really benefit from this.
BUT, I just wrote the "About Me" section for my blog, and I really don't feel like writing more about me. So, I'm going to direct you to my "About Me" section for the time being.
My apologies. I'm looking forward to others' posts about how they are beautifully different.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 3:29 PM
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Karla & Christopher S. - Custom Made Wedding Thank You Cards
I had the pleasure of designing custom wedding invitations for Karla & Christopher S. I was really pleased with the design and they must have been too, since they decided to order coordinating Thank You cards.
bloem - Custom Thank You Cards - Karla & Christopher S.
These cards are what I call "matchbook" folded. They clasp with the little olive branch tab. The matchbox fold can be used to create cards which can be mailed sans envelope, saving trees! However, the cards are designed to fit into a standard 4-bar envelope which, in this case was provided in a shimmering champagne color.
Coordinating Wedding Invitations, designed by bloem, for Karla & Christopher:
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Day 7: Reverb 10 - Community
December 7 – Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? (Author: Cali Harris)
I consider our neighborhood about as "community" as it gets in San Jose. We knew we wanted to buy in this neighborhood because of the sense of community. Our neighbors are the kind of people you could go borrow a cup of sugar from (or a hedge trimmer, or Halloween lights, or a SawzAll...the list goes on). They'll watch over your house if someone accidentally leaves the garage door open, and put your dog back in the yard if, or should I say, when, he uses his Houdini skills to escape.
But that's the obvious answer.
When I think about it a little more, I realize that the community that I've really discovered this year, is the Mommy & Daddy (and those-to-be) Community. When you find out you're expecting, all of a sudden a whole new world of people seem to come out of the wood-work. It's like you're being inducted into a private club, and they're all so excited to welcome you in! This is a community of playdates, nannyshares, mommy walks, school talk, hand-me-downs, stories shared, and some great advice, and some bad advice .
Like joining any club, I think there's a sense of belonging, but also a sense of "do I belong?" There's a great support system to be found here, and there can also be a lot of judgment, and a need to feel accepted by the rest of the gang. Luckily, I believe I've stumbled into a great group of new and experienced parents both within our neighborhood and beyond our neighborhood who will nurture us as a young family.
This is the community that we're entering in 2010, and it's going to be our community, and pseudo-family, for many years to come :)
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 4:44 PM
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Monday, December 6, 2010
Brother Sewing Machine - Zigzag Stitch Issue SOLVED!
I never posted my recent sewing issue, however, I did spend WAY too much time trying to find the answer on the internet. Luckily, I was able to find an answer, but I can't remember where, so I thought I'd share it here in case anyone else has the same problem.
I was trying to make a Christmas stocking, (a major pain in the butt project, as posted earlier), and the zigzag stitch on my Brother CS-6000i sewing machine was not working. Not unusual for this POS machine. Specifically, the right side of the zigzag would not pick up the bobbin thread, so I ended up with a straight line.
I found a few people out there online who had the same issue and the responses were mostly related to changing the needle, changing the bobbin, changing the tension...the usual. Anyway, I happened to find one brilliant response that mentioned that only Schmetz needles seem to work on her Brother. Desperate, I switched out my cheapy-cheap needle for a Schmetz (I can't actually believe I had some) and my zigzag nightmares were over...almost. I still had a lot of problems with the tension. It's always something with that machine! Arrgghhh!
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 4:10 PM
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Labels: Lessons
Day 6: Reverb 10 - Make
December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin)
Well....since you asked....I JUST made a stocking for our baby-on-the-way!
This was hands down the most aggravating project I've ever done! It seemed as if I hit road blocks at every turn. In the end, I had to live with the fact that it's not exactly how I wanted it to turn out. I'm just thankful that I was able to work through the issues...sort of.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 3:52 PM
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Sunday, December 5, 2010
Day 5: Reverb 10 - Let Go
Prompt: December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)
I let go of a lot of junk. Both Rogér and I made it a real goal to get rid of a ton of our EXTRA stuff. Moving into a new house helped prompt this grand release tremendously. It's part of our mission to simplify our lives so that we can enjoy everything we have more.
Did I mention that we're big fans of TLC's Hoarders. Ha ha! It's a good wakeup call for anyone who tends to pack-rat.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 6:16 PM
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DAY 4: Reverb 10 - Wonder
My computer died last night before I could post, so I guess I'll do two today. Here's my Reverb 10 post from yesterday.
December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (Author: Jeffrey Davis)
I like to call myself a realist (others say pessimist, but I like realist better). A sense of wonder often escapes me. But for me, I find I see wonder most in my animals. They never cease to amaze me.
Domino, our dog, reminds me what it means to love, and be to be a friend. While he tends to cause a lot of stress in our lives (of which he has no clue), he loves us blindly and unconditionally. His never-ending mischief teaches us to be patient and to laugh.
With Ronin, our horse, I am constantly bewildered by why such a beautiful and powerful creature lets us sit on his back and steer him around with a bit in his mouth.
And Buddy, the parrot, has the biggest personality wrapped up in the smallest package. He's the boss of the house and no man, woman, or dog is going to tell him otherwise.
The animals make me appreciate everything I have and they inspire the wonder in my life about life. I think it's triggered by the fact that they have short lifespans; we will (most likely) out-live them, and, yet, I can't imagine life without them. In this way, they remind me how incredible and precious each little part of life is, and how much I want to soak it up while I have the opportunity.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 10:42 AM
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Friday, December 3, 2010
Day 3: Reverb 10 - Moment
Today's Reverb 10 prompt is:
December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)
It's hard to remember one moment in so much detail. I may have to pick two...yep, I'm picking two, because both moments were very empowering for me.
The first moment during which I felt most alive this year was snowboarding in Bear Valley with my husband. I really LOVE to snowboard in the first place, but this particular day was exceptionally memorable. Everything felt right. Bear Valley is currently our favorite ski spot because of the beautiful, tree studded terrain and the limited number of people. It's like you own the mountain. I was in a good groove, so I headed through a patch of trees. The snow was perfect. The air was crisp and chilled, but fresh. I weaved through the trees, landing a couple (small) jumps along the way! My muscles moved all the right ways. I didn't have to think about anything. It was pure freedom.
The second moment happened in the spring. I'd been riding my young thoroughbred horse, Ronin, a lot, and we were really becoming a TEAM. I hadn't tried cantering him yet, well, I take that back....I did try once, about a year before, which started and ended in disaster. Now I was finally ready to try again. The arena was mostly empty. We trotted around for a while, practicing our serpentines and spirals. He was responsive, I was in control. Coming into a short end of the arena, I gave Ronin the queue for more and a big *SMOOCH*. And there we were, cantering! And it felt good; exhilarating and liberating. There's a deep connection when you and your horse both know you've done something well. It's hard to describe but it's one of the best feelings in the world, for me, anyway.
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 8:19 AM
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Thursday, December 2, 2010
Day 2: Reverb 10 - Writing
December 2 Writing.
What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
(Author: Leo Babauta)
What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
(Author: Leo Babauta)
Hmmm, this one is interesting. I do a lot of things that don't contribute to my writing. However, my goals aren't centered around my blog writing, so I may modify my entry today and make it about what I do each day that doesn't contribute to my life goals.
Here's a short list of the big hitters:
#1. Work - I mean my current day job. I consider this the worst culprit! I don't think it actually contributes to much happiness in my life other than it gives me money to have a few things that I enjoy...like my horse. It also doesn't give me confidence in myself. In fact, since entering the "industry" I've lost much self esteem. I feel like a lackey. Trust me, I'm trying to figure out how to eliminate this one.
#2. Shopping - I shop just to shop. I will only go by myself and I can spend hours. Luckily, I usually don't buy anything, so it doesn't do much damage on my wallet, but it wastes time and I think it's some sort of disease....like hoarding (btw, does anyone watch TLC's Hoarders? WOWZA - if that's not motivation to simplify your life, I don't know what is!). Okay, eliminating it...well, yeah, I've admitted I have a problem, so that's step one, right?
#3. Clutter - A cluttered living space = a cluttered mind. This stresses me out and renders me useless. I am really really trying to be good about putting things in their rightful place so as to get rid of the clutter in my house and free my mind! For instance, I've been doing small loads of laundry to keep the mountain under control. This has done wonders! I don't HATE laundry anymore, because I don't let it pile up.
#4. TV & Video Games - Yes, I'm a victim of trash TV and Mario Bros (or Rock Band). But I'm listing this last on my short list, because I tend to try to do too many things in one day and sometimes I need to relax and enjoy a mindless show or develop my hand/eye coordination on the DS ;) That said, Rogér and I ditched Cable/Satellite and it's been a release. We only watch on Netflix, or streaming from other websites, and local TV. Cuts our monthly costs too!
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 9:26 AM
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Day 1: Reverb10 - One Word
I just read about the Reverb10 challenge on my best friend's blog Living a Brighter Life. It's an opportunity to reflect on the past year and look forward to the coming one, and to share your story along the way. Sounds good to me! You can read more about it and learn how to participate.
Tonight, on our way home from the ranch, I was talking to my husband about what makes some people more capable of accomplishing goals than others. Our conversation was actually related to sports, and the ability to commit without apprehension. My husband pointed out something to me that I know, but never really thought about; when I haven't done something in a while, I'm always scared to try it again, even if my experience was nothing but amazing the first, second, third,...time around. I don't know what about my chemistry, biology, psychology leads me to sabotage myself with worry for no logical reason, and even though I feel like I've been able to overcome enough that I don't feel like my life is hindered, I want to be even better!
I mean, I'm going to be a mom! I want to set a good example for our little boy. I want to be confident in myself and be one of those people who DOES THINGS.
So, I'm going to try this reverb10 thing and see if I can discover my confidence. The first prompt is:
December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you're choosing that word. Now, imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you're choosing that word. Now, imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)
My word for 2010 is Aspire. I chose this word because I had so many (kind-of-fanciful) ideas of what I wanted to do; I wanted to grow my craft business, try a new career, canter my horse, start a family, buy a house and renovate it! I've been fairly successful with many of the things I wanted to do, but I've held back on many as well because I'm scared to move forward.
That's why my word for 2011 is Confidence. During pregnancy (and I'm sure for some time after), I've had to take a break from a many of activities and I've found myself looking to the future as if I'm not going to be able to do those things again, especially the things I loved to do before. This coming year, I'd like to find the confidence to take on my aspirations with less apprehension and less self doubt.
Okay, there's Day 1. We'll see how this goes!
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 11:00 PM
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In bloem...
Holiday Gift Tags!
I just listed a small line of handmade gift tags to add a special touch to your holiday gift giving. These tags are stamped with rustic, charming snowflakes.
Enjoy :)
Gift Tags in bloem
Posted by Sarah Nicole at 6:10 PM
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05. April 1816
From Lady Horatia Melton to her husband
Dear Melton
I hope that this letter finds you in good health. I fear that I cannot yet tell you when I may return to London. My sister is still in low spirits and my mother has had a chill. I believe I must stay with them for at least another month.
You may have seen Robert while he was in London. He has just visited with us and was in good health and spirits. I am happy to tell you that he met a young lady he admired. Miss Susanne Smith is just sixteen and not really out but he was able to be of service to her when her hat blew off in a sudden gust of wind. It turns out he knows her older brother well and has been invited to spend his next leave with them. Of course Susanne is much too young to think of an engagement yet but Robert has some years yet to serve and I daresay in another three or four years – if they continue to like one another – we may have some interesting news.
I ask you to forgive any neglect on my part but I do not think you will miss me. You have so many friends and amusements that it cannot be of concern to you where I choose to reside.
Your wife Horatia.
05 April From Lady Horatia Melton to her brother Robert Jenson
My own dear one.
Words cannot express how happy I was to see you. Our walks together were a joy and I was gratified that you gave your approval of my friendship with a certain person. He is the most delightful man, do you not agree? His kindness, concern for Antoine, Mama and myself are I am sure perfectly honest and deeply felt. I know you feel I must be very careful not to arouse suspicion or gossip. I have tried to conceal my feelings even from my sister, but when the three of us were together there was no need and I am certain you saw my happiness.
I know you will understand when I tell you that I long to be free of a marriage, which has ceased to mean anything to me, but for your sake, Mama's and my sister's, I shall do nothing in haste. Mama would be terribly upset and shocked, and Bathurst might forbid my sister to see me. I should not like to be estranged from my family. However, my main concern would be for you, Robert. I know that it is your intention to take up politics once you leave the army and a scandal could only harm your chances.
Yet my heart tells me that I cannot face an empty future. My dearest friend tells me that we should live abroad. He believes my mother, sister and Bathurst would eventually forgive me and I might be allowed to visit when the scandal has blown over. I have asked him to be patient. If Melton would agree to an amicable separation there need be no scandal. I could just go abroad for the sake of my health and a divorce could follow in a year or two.
Take care of yourself, my dear one. Please write when you have the time and I shall do the same.
Your loving sister as always.


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60 Walnut St S
Hamilton, ON L8N 2L1
Published by kslack
La Cantina is my favourite Italian restaurant bar none. The lasagna is served straight from the oven and is still bubbling when it hits the table. The Glazed Walnut salad is also definitely worth trying as a shared appetizer or a main course. If you can get your hands on the mushroom soup (it is sometimes featured as the soup du jour) don't even think just order it!
La Cantina also has some of the best Sangria I've ever had as well as deliciously decadent homemade tirimisu.
Their pizzas also make an amazing entree--sometimes I get the margherita pizza to share as an appetizer--they have a real wood-burning oven which makes the pizza extraordinary.
La Cantina is a great place to take family or friends who are visitting Hamilton from out of town. It's an impressive, casual yet somewhat fancy place where you'll feel at home dressed smart casual or dressy. The food is amazing. The salads are huge. my favourite soup anywhere on earth is from here: the Strachatella (sp)! And their Italian food is to die for. They have food heared to special dietary restrictions too, including rice noodles, gluten free and whole wheat.
La Cantina is my go-to place for Italian. They have 3 different areas to dine - The patio, the bar and the dining room. All have that great ambiance that makes you feel like you're one of the family. This is Italian food the way that it was meant to be. Fresh ingredients, warm bread and HUGE portions will make La Cantina your favourite too.
This is really two restaurants in one. A dining room serves up plates of veal scaloppini in a dry Marsala sauce, and seared ostrich medallions cooked with pinot noir. The casual pizzeria features more than 20 varieties of pizza, including the traditional Quattro Stagione (four seasons) with prosciutto, artichokes, olives, and mozzarella. This is a very popular spot, so try to make a reservation... more
This used to be my favorite place to go but wow has it gotten bad. The pastas were kind of soggy. To their credit the olive oil based ones were okay but the cream pastas were more like risotto. The pasta was over cooked but what did it in was the service. It took almost 40 minutes all in all to get the wine. It was much more labor intensive than getting wine should be. So bad service, not great... more
Recently spend a leisure lunch on the patio at La Cantina, I enjoyed the meatball Panini and my husband had the penne arribiatta, both meals were delicious and portion sizes were good.
From one of our favorite restaurants ........... Two weeks in a row the bread was salty. Pizza was hard ,cold and terrible on this visit. Pasta was not cooked properly. As for the service, other then being really slow, our table was not cleared in a timely fashion and the bill took 10 minutes to receive. My stomach is upset... more