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72Lux, Inc. DBA Shoppable® ("Shoppable," "we," "us," or "our") has created this privacy policy (this "Privacy Policy") because we know that you care about how we use and share the personal information that you provide to us. This Privacy Policy relates to our information collection and use practices in connection with our online services and mobile applications (the "Services"), which are made available to you through a variety of platforms, such as through http://www.Shoppable.com (the "Website"), through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media (collectively, "Social Media"), and through cell phones, personal digital assistants, and other mobile devices (collectively, the "Mobile Devices"). The Website, our Social Media pages, and the Mobile Devices are collectively referred to as the "Platforms."
This Privacy Policy is an important document. We recommend you read it carefully.
Capitalized terms not defined in this Privacy Policy shall have the meaning set forth in our Terms of Use.
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In order to provide some of the Services including local grocers and retailers, we may, at your consent, collect geolocational information from your Mobile Device, your wireless carrier, your IP address, or certain third-party service providers ("Geolocational Information"). You may decline to allow us to collect such Geolocational Information, in which case Shoppable will not be able to provide certain Services to you. Because your Geolocational Information is subject to abuse by others, please be sure to manage your Mobile Device and privacy preferences on the Services on an ongoing basis.
In addition to the Personal Information and Geolocational Information that you voluntarily provide to us, we may collect additional information (collectively, the "Other Information"). Such Other Information may include:
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We may share Other Information about your activity on the Platforms with third parties for the purpose of tailoring, analyzing, managing, reporting, and optimizing advertising you see on the Platforms and elsewhere. These third parties may use cookies, pixel tags (also called web beacons or clear gifs), and/or other technologies to collect such Other Information for such purposes. Pixel tags enable us, and these third-party advertisers, to recognize a browser's cookie when a browser visits the site on which the pixel tag is located in order to learn which advertisement brings a user to a given site.
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We use the Personal Information, the Billing Information, the Geolocational Information, and the Other Information to provide you the Services, process your orders, solicit your feedback, inform you about our products and services and those of our third-party marketing partners, to administer our rewards and promotional programs, to provide technical and customer support to you, and to improve our Services to you.
We may share Personal Information, the Billing Information, Geolocational Information, and/or Other Information as described below.
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We take commercially reasonable steps to protect the Personal Information, the Billing Information, the Geolocational Information, and the Other Information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. We use industry-standard SSL ("Secure Socket Layer") encryption technology, a secure server, and other physical and procedural safeguards to protect the security of such information. Please understand, however, that no security system is impenetrable. We cannot guarantee the security of our databases, nor can we guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted to and from us over the Internet. In particular, e-mail sent to or from the Platforms may not be secure, and you should therefore take special care in deciding what information you send to us via e-mail.
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Attention LEGAL: PRIVACY POLICY
139 Fulton Street, Suite 707
New York, NY 10038
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If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please e-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com or write to us at:
Attention LEGAL: PRIVACY POLICY
139 Fulton Street, Suite 707
New York, NY 10038


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Entering the
One morning this summer, I went to the bank to visit Adam Posen, a member of its Monetary Policy Committee, the custodian of the pound. With bright red curly hair and a trim beard, Posen, who is 46, stands out in all the M.P.C.'s official photographs. He is " fatter" and "fuzzier" than the other officials, he joked. Posen also happens to be only the second American economist ever to serve on the committee.
It's impossible to imagine the uproar if
Posen arrived in
Today these two approaches offer a crucial case study and perhaps a breakthrough in an age-old economic argument of austerity versus stimulus. In the past few years, the
The British economy, however, is profoundly stuck. Between fall 2007 and summer 2009, its unemployment rate jumped to 7.9 percent, from 5.2 percent. Yet in the three and a half years since — even despite the stimulus provided by this summer's Olympic Games — the number has hovered around 7.9. The overall level of economic activity, real
When I visited Posen this summer, he refused to publicly criticize a sitting administration's policies, but every time the topic of austerity came up, he was unable to hide his frustration. Posen's term ended in August, and his subsequent nondisclosure agreement expired last month. Now he wants to persuade everyone he can that Britain should abandon its austerity program. He says that he has a solution that would quickly return healthy economic growth. His critics say that his prescription would bring about another financial panic. But whether you think he's right or wrong depends on what you make of the data.
Economics often appears to be an exercise in number-crunching, but it actually resembles storytelling more than mathematics. Before the members of the Monetary Policy Committee gather for their monthly meeting, they sit through a presentation from the Bank of England's economic staff. The staff members take the most recent economic data — G.D.P. growth, the unemployment rate and more subtle details gathered from interviews with businesspeople throughout the country — and try to fashion it into a narrative. Does a sudden spike in new factory orders represent a fundamental shift, or is it just a preholiday blip? Do anecdotal reports of rising
A few days later, each of the nine members of the M.P.C. puts forth his or her own interpretation. Over two days, the members debate these competing narratives and discuss what the Bank of England should do. Then the committee votes, and the winning policies are implemented.
Soon after Cameron was elected, Posen argued that the committee should endorse a more radical, expansionary approach of economic recovery. He believed that the data indicated the sputtering would end and the economy would grow only if the Bank of England began buying many billions of pounds' more worth of bonds. This added stimulus would flood the banking system with new cash and indirectly push banks to lend to businesses and citizens. (Banks don't make money by sitting on cash.) Some of Posen's colleagues warned that this would lead to inflation. He countered that the economy was operating below its capacity, so there was no reason to fear inflation.
Each month, the committee heard Posen's advice. Each month, it voted 8 to 1 against him. The bank eschewed his more expansionary suggestions and stuck to a more conservative approach of keeping interest rates low and modest bond-buying. Soon Posen became a famously divisive figure in London's financial community, alternatively the enlightened genius trying to save the country and the mad Yank who wanted to inflate the pound out of existence. "There was this period," he remembers, "when I would lie awake at night and think: Am I just crazy? Maybe I'm nuts. It's like the scene in '12 Angry Men.' I almost wavered. But then I decided: No, no, no. I was convinced: They're nuts and I'm right."
It wasn't necessarily that simple. Over the past several years, the economic data in Britain have been so unusual that they have forced a rethinking of some of the most fundamental assumptions underlying economics. There just isn't any pre-existing narrative to explain what's going on. When major market economies have experienced extended periods with little or no growth, like the global economy during
This detail might seem like a minor quirk, but it poses a huge problem for economists. Every major economic school of thought is based on a few shared principles, and one of them is that companies will fire workers when they become less productive and hire them when they become more productive. This basic idea provides a foundation on which modern theories about economic recovery are built. Left-leaning Keynesian economists support government stimulus, because they think it will increase overall economic demand and give an incentive for employers to hire more workers. Economists on the right counter that paying off debt will actually inspire more confidence and prompt employers to hire. So what do you do when the unemployment rate stays roughly the same even as the economy gets worse? What does it mean when a larger work force, given the population increase, creates less output.
Prime Minister Cameron and his economic team — like many centrist and right-leaning economists — looked at this confusing data and settled on a clear narrative: businesspeople and global investors, discouraged by an expanding and debt-ridden government, had concluded that the economy would remain stuck if nothing changed. And any fiscal stimulus, Cameron argued, would make the government even more bloated. Those mounting debts would be ever-harder to pay off, terrifying global investors. After all, that's what happened in
If properly understood, this narrative also contains a projection so dark that it's almost never uttered out loud. When the housing and
According to this theory, if the entire economy is less productive, it's harder for the government — with its lower
To Posen, this view was not only wrong; it was also dangerous. The data, he told me, showed precisely the opposite. The economy wasn't irrevocably shrinking. It was experiencing an output gap, or a situation in which the economy is prevented from growing not through any fault of its own but by a failure in government policy. If the Bank of England adopted a more expansionary approach, and if Cameron's government reversed its austerity program, the economy would bounce back remarkably quickly. Posen knows, he said, because he saw it happen before — in an economy even bigger than Britain's.
Adam Posen grew up the son of scientists in Brookline, Mass., an upper-middle-class suburb of
After graduating near the top of his class at Harvard, Posen returned to
In his Ph.D. dissertation, Posen argued that central bankers do not always behave like Paul Volcker. By comparing the ways that central banks behave in different economies, like those of
By 1997, Posen was a young economist when an acquaintance at the U.S. Embassy in
By the time Posen arrived for the conference, though, Japan had been in a recession for several years. The prevailing wisdom among many of the country's economists and political figures was that Japan simply grew too much, too fast, and that as long as the central bank and finance ministry protected the core institutions — like its banks — the country would soon grow again. There was also a general view that Japan's economy — with its rapid growth and unique system of cooperation among large corporations and the government — was thoroughly unlike any other. It didn't need counsel from outsiders.
In the month before the conference, Posen read up on data pertaining to national G.D.P., employment and banking-sector activity. G.D.P. growth had slowed. Unemployment was rising. Banks were not lending freely. Posen quickly recognized that the data looked remarkably familiar. "I had this aha moment," he told me. Japan was not going through a unique and inevitable economic slowdown, Posen realized. The country was experiencing something that looked a lot like the Great Depression. And neither the government nor the central bank realized it. Like the governments and central banks of the United States and Britain 60 years earlier, Japanese bankers and policy makers were doing everything wrong to turn the economy around. He began writing a series of recommendations.
Posen diagnosed the problem as a large output gap. The economy, he argued, was fundamentally capable of producing far more goods and services, employing more people and making more money. Bridging that gap between the depressed economy and its potential required that the central bank create a lot more money and get it out into the economy. At the same time, he wrote, the government needed to spend far more, too. To accomplish both of these goals, the
Many of the particular issues that Posen raised had been mentioned before, but at that 1997 conference he was the first to put them all together in a coherent alternative narrative. The speech was well received, and by the time Posen returned to the United States, he had decided to focus all of his attention on the issue. Within a year, "Restoring Japan's Economic Growth," the monograph that fleshed out his argument more thoroughly, became a key guide to Japanese economic and financial policy. Other prominent economists — notably Paul Krugman and
Posen spent much of the aughts ensconced at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a prominent Washington policy group, advising central banks and finance ministries around the world. Posen, who developed special expertise in the German economy and the euro, enjoyed the work. (He was among a small group of economists who, long ago, were skeptical about the euro.) But in 2009, when the British government asked Posen to become a voting member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, he leapt at the opportunity. It set up something of a replay of Posen's arguments in Japan. This time, however, he would be coming at a crisis from within a central bank.
What Posen didn't expect was that the job would also reinforce his darkest fears about the role of central banks. Leaked cables on
But it was too late. After Cameron's 2010 election, the chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, had already laid out a budget that called for several years of cuts. If they were not implemented, he warned, Britain would experience "higher interest rates, more business failures, sharper rises in unemployment and potentially even a catastrophic loss of confidence and the end of the recovery. We cannot let that happen."
Every two months or so, each member of the Monetary Policy Committee is encouraged to give a speech outside London. It's part of an effort to erase the Bank of England's reputation for seeming uninterested in the concerns of average citizens, or at least those who live far away from the city's bankers and financiers. And so on the afternoon of Posen's final speech as an M.P.C. member, it was hard to miss the paradox. He was in a small town on the southeast coast of
It was a rainy day in
Posen gave the speech, which ran over an hour, with only minimal notes. Much as he did in the bank's monthly committee meetings, he projected economic data on a screen and explained the narrative that he thought best accounted for what was happening in the British economy. He quickly focused on the core economic riddle — the data showing that worker productivity has fallen while the unemployment rate has stayed the same. It seemed impossible, he said. How do more people make less? "If you're a worker, you didn't wake up one day in October 2008 and find your left arm missing," Posen told the crowd. "You didn't find yourself lobotomized and forget how to run whatever machine or do whatever it is you do. In November 2008, a business owner did not wake up one day and find that their factory had been bombed in the blitz like their grandparents had. It's all still there."
Then Posen's defense became more technical. He said the problem wasn't a sudden collapse in the capacity of workers and factories. The problem, more simply, was that there wasn't enough demand to support full production. The private sector, in other words, was no longer able or willing to spend enough money for the economy to function at its peak levels. If the government or Bank of England could do more to stimulate the economy through any number of tools at their disposal — like more
It was a subtly (but crucially) different way of looking at the problem: the country was not truly less capable. The problem was not one of supply, Posen suggested, but rather of demand. Workers were not less productive than they used to be. They merely needed some help from the government and the central bank — rather than budget cuts — to close the output gap.
To those who follow the economic debates in the Bank of England and Parliament, Posen's speech was a barely concealed attack on Cameron's policies. In Chatham, though, the crowd didn't seem to understand that the polite American enthusiastically pointing to graphs on a projector was declaring that their prime minister was a financial philistine. Posen followed central-bank custom and declined to mention Cameron by name or explicitly critique the government's policy. (His sharpest and most overt statement — "When your government is cutting its budget deficit, it tends to drag down consumption" — wouldn't exactly start a bar fight.) Months later, Posen told me that his tenure in England was often enormously frustrating. Next month he begins a new job as the president of the Peterson Institute. He thinks that he can do more to revise the economic narrative from Washington than he ever could from within the Bank of England.
The economics profession advances by one confusing financial disaster at a time. A series of 19th-century banking crises in England and the United States inspired policy makers to create the modern central bank. Then came the Great Depression, a period of economic misery that existing ideas could not explain. John Maynard Keynes and the far more libertarian Friedrich Hayek spent the 1930s trying to make sense of the inexplicable economic data. In the process, they developed the two schools of thought that still dominate economic arguments. The Keynesians overwhelmed public discussion in the United States and Britain until the 1970s, when Hayek, along with
By the 1990s, the debates between these two radically different theories seemed to have abated. Economists seemed to have accepted a consensus view of the world, one in which the profession would provide technocratic, nonideological solutions. It seemed like the fulfillment of Keynes's dream that one day economists would be like dentists: boring practitioners of an uncontroversial and undeniably helpful science.
Then the financial crisis ripped this consensus apart. When Cameron's government began its austerity program, many of the world's leading policy makers were behind him. That September, the
Since then, though, an increasing number of global economic policy leaders have turned on austerity. Earlier this year, in a remarkable joint statement, the I.M.F., along with the
Cameron and his chief financial-policy minister, Osborne, say they have only deepened their commitment to austerity. Osborne recently announced that while he had hoped austerity could end by 2015, it now looks as if the policy will continue until at least 2018. That is, if the Tories are in power. Recent opinion polls show that after years in a dead heat, the
As long as it continues, this experiment offers some crucial lessons for the United States. So far, austerity has not significantly improved economic health. The plan to shrink the size of government did not generate a sudden surge of private-sector confidence and investment. For all its differences, Britain is similar enough to the United States to suggest that severely cutting government spending in America wouldn't be enough to quickly speed up our own frustratingly slow recovery either.
Adam Posen says that the challenge of economic policy at a time when the economic data are so unlike anything that has come before is that no one can be sure what will work. But he says that's no reason for inaction. Our options, he argues, can be divided into three general categories: austerity, stimulus and doing nothing. He, like an increasing number of mainstream economists, believes we can now scratch austerity off the list. Doing neither stimulus nor austerity — which is basically what's happening in the United States — isn't working, either. So, he says, let's try stimulus, even if we don't know for sure it'll do the job. Now he wants to persuade America that it's the best shot it's got.Continue reading the main story

subset: commoncrawl


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Questions & Answers
There are two purposes for the Investing in Generations Capital Campaign:
- Mortgage Reduction: The goal is to reduce and potentially eliminate our mortgage debt from our Lakeville Campus. This will free up available funds to support CROSSROAD CHURCH'S mission, ministries and outreach. The current mortgage is $1.4 million with monthly payments of $9,120.
- Property Improvements: We have several important building projects needing prompt attention. Here are the projects we hope to accomplish as campaign funds are received:
Lakeville Campus – Estimated Cost of $100,000
- Roof Replacement
- New carpet and paint in the front lobby and side hallways
Inver Grove Heights Campus – Building & Grounds Enhancements – Estimated Cost of $150,000
- Roof replacement
- Sealing and repaving the parking lot
- Replacement of windows
- Installing a playground for CROSSROADS youth as well as a possible daycare
CROSSROADS CHURCH Leadership, based on amounts pledged, will finalize which projects require immediate replacement or repair and will prioritize others for attention.
- Minimum Goal = $1 million
This amount will enable CROSSROADS CHURCH to complete the necessary facility and grounds projects at the Lakeville and IGH Campus and continue making monthly payments on our mortgage.
- Faith Goal = $1.5 million
With prayer and focus on our mission as a church, reaching our Faith Goal will assist in completing the proposed building and grounds projects and considerably decrease our mortgage principal.
- Miracle Goal = $2 million
We believe that all things are possible through Christ. If we reach our Miracle Goal, CROSSROADS CHURCH can complete the proposed building enhancement projects, eliminate our debt and have money in a reserve fund for future building maintenance. Eliminating our debt will also free us from monthly mortgage payments and enable CROSSROADS CHURCH to spend that money on future ministries.
If we reach our minimum goal or more, all building projects will be completed and the remaining funds will be directed towards debt reduction.
The Capital Campaign will raise funds for mortgage reduction and property improvements via a 3-year commitment. These are funds that are considered above and beyond the ongoing operations of CROSSROADS.
The Annual General Fund covers CROSSROADS' ongoing operating expenses, such as mission and ministries programs, as well as staff salaries, utilities, administration, and supplies. This is our regular giving, via a 1-year commitment, made each fall.
Yes, in order to reach our goal we encourage donors to think creatively. Gifts can be made by check, stocks, bonds, retirement distribution, life insurance policies and personal property. There are tax advantages to giving assets that have appreciated in value. Please consult your financial and/or tax advisor for more information.
Colleen LaBeau
Honorary Chair
Howard Newton
Committee Members
Anne Ashfeld
Jeremiah Dally
Lowell Collman
Jim Corniea
Pastor Deb Marzahn
Pastor Paul Marzahn
Bridget Powers
Jeff Shaw
Steve Spychalla
Suzanne Wharton
Dear Holy and loving God,
We lift up our hearts in prayer today recognizing you as the source of all good things. You created the world and everything in it. You bless us with the sun, rain and even snow, and we are grateful. We thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to die upon the cross. Through belief in his death and resurrection we have eternal life with you.
We come before you this day giving you thanks for our family called CROSSROADS. CROSSROADS CHURCH was built on a firm foundation of faith. We continue to build on that foundation as we look to the future. Give us strength and courage to share our faith with future generations. As we invest in future generations with our finances, may we in our love of you. Help us to continue to be faithful to our vision of being a "biblically functioning community of believers."


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Global PresenceRocland has a strong international presence.Our reach is as far as it can get. We have collaborated with a network of agents and distributors around the world to ensure service and support to our customers, wherever they are.
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We would like to extend our sincere thanks for a flooring job done at our residence in Pune. We are very pleased with the final product and look forward to working with your professional team again in the future.
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A campaign on Indiegogo.com is attempting to raise money to bring the game of lacrosse to Southeastern High School in Detroit.
According to that webpage, "Players, coaches, and parents of the game of lacrosse all know what tremendous values it can instill in those the game touches: hard work, discipline, and the ability to work as a team, among many others. Yet for our students at Southeastern High School in Detroit, this opportunity is beyond their reach. But, with your help, we can change that. Help us bring lacrosse to Southeastern High School and, soon, the entire city of Detroit! Our young and energetic staff, full of experienced lacrosse players and supporters, is uniquely suited to bring this sport to our eager students. And our administration and community are 100% behind our campaign. "
There are 53 days left to achieve the $10,000 goal and at the time of writing, $1,871 has been raised.
It's an interesting, unconventional move. Lacrosse certainly isn't generally viewed as an inner city Detroit sport. As TotalProSports said, "Lacrosse is a gateway rich person sport. It's not entirely exclusive, but it's one of the first conscious steps that a rich athlete can make towards engaging in rich-person sports. What's funny about lacrosse is that there isn't anything inherently "rich" about it other than its origins at Catholic prep schools in the mid-Atlantic states. It's played on a regular 'ole field, the equipment is pricey, but no more than football gear or an expensive baseball bat, but for some reason, it's the official sport of entitled white kids who don't want to be thought of as entitled white kids (but still actually do). Other ways lacrosse players in high school or college "break the mold" of being rich white kids are: listening to Widespread Panic, smoking lots of pot, driving an American SUV, having longish hair, and wearing leather necklaces that they got on near their parent's friend's winery in Spain."
What do you think? Is this a worthy cause?Follow @City_Slang
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Dale Hollow Lake, TN
July 9th 1955
Found in: Lakes & Rivers
Warm Waters 25C
Smallmouth Bass have a robust, laterally compressed body with a large, long; head with dark bars which radiate back from the eyes. Their long, blunt snout has a slightly longer lower jaw. Two joined dorsal fins which appear as one and the back and top of the head are brown, golden brown through olive to green. The sides are lighter than the back, more golden with golden flecks on most scales and marked by 8 – 15 pronounced to vague, thin vertical bars. The underside is cream to milk-white; the pectoral fins are clear and the others are opaque, dark to amber with some black on rays, spines or membranes. The body color is variable with size, condition and habitat: in clear water they are darker with pronounced, contrasting markings; and, in turbid water they are lighter with vague markings.
They are usually found in rocky and sandy areas of lakes and rivers in moderately shallow water and near rocks of shoals or submerged logs. The smallmouth bass spawns in late spring and early summer, usually from late May to early July. The male builds a nest (2 – 20 feet) of water on a sandy, gravel, or rocky bottom, of lakes and rivers, usually near the protection of rocks or logs. After spawning, the male guards the nest and fans the eggs. The eggs hatch in approximately 4 – 10 days. After 5 – 7 days, the young begin to leave the nest, but are guarded by the male for several days.
The food of the smallmouth bass is mainly composed of insects, crayfish and fishes. The smallmouth bass takes this variety of food from the surface, in the water column, and off the bottom.


text:
Recipes for an afternoon tea
See my other tea stories: Best afternoon teas in Vancouver
Serious tea and The tea hunter and A tea farm on Vancouver Island
Chef Margaret Chisholm of Culinary Capers has a built-in alarm for tea. At 2:30 every afternoon, instinct kicks in and she must have her tea. And most likely, since her workplace is a gigantic kitchen, she'll have a nibble or two with it.
"After being a dedicated tea drinker for six or seven years, I was in a shop with the most exquisite teas and I found the tea I really love," she says. "It's an oolong called ti kwan yin and it means 'iron goddess'. For me, it's sort of like pinot noir.
Who better than a tea loving chef to ask for some snack ideas to go with one's afternoon tea? "A mix of savoury and sweet is fun but everything should be on the light and delicate side."
We asked and she gave. Here are four tempting recipes, enough to host a fashionable afternoon tea as good as from Culinary Capers.
The recipes:
English tea sandwiches with fig, arugula and blue cheese
Amounts for these sandwiches vary depending on a number of factors, says chef Margaret Chisholm. Have extra ingredients on hand in case you need. And, she says, don't use too much filling. Thin layers are better.
1/2 cup (125 mL) fig compote (recipe below)
2/3 cup (160 mL) arugula leaves
3 oz (85 g) crumbled blue cheese
3 tbsp (45 mL) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 loaf of bread
Choose good quality plain white and/or brown bread. Ask your bakery to slice it thin for you. (Moore's Bakery in Vancouver will slice their bread extra thin lengthwise.) If you cannot get thin-sliced, use a rolling pin to roll your standard slice of bread thinner. Discard any crust pieces.
Lightly butter both pieces of the sandwich bread with butter. This will prevent the tea sandwich from getting soggy. Spread a thin layer of fig compote on one slice of bread. Top with crumbled blue cheese and finish with a layer of arugula leaves before covering with another buttered slice of bread. Wrap in plastic or slightly damp towels and chill for 1 hour.
Cut the crusts off bread with long, sharp knife after (not before) assembling sandwiches. This keeps everything neater.Cut each sandwich into small triangles or squares or use cookie cutters to cut into decorative shapes.
Allow 4 to 6 cut sandwich pieces per person.
Fig Compote
Black Mission figs are the best choice here. They have the intense fruity flavour that combines well with the red wine.
½ pound (225 g) dried Black Mission figs
¼ cup (60 mL) honey
¾ cup (185 mL) red wine
2 tsp (10 mL) fresh thyme leaves, chopped
Cut stems off figs. In a non-reactive saucepan combine figs, honey, red wine and chopped thyme. Simmer very slowly on low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed, leaving about 2 tablespoons (30 mL) liquid.
Cool until warm and purée in a food processor until very smooth. Chill.
Check the texture; it should be soft enough to spread on bread. If it is too thick, stir in a little hot water.
Makes 1 1/4 cup.
Jasmine tea-infused chèvre on savoury shortbread with orange marmalade
8 oz (225 g) fresh chèvre
4 oz (113 g) jasmine tea leaves
3 tbsp (45 mL) orange marmalade
40 savoury shortbreads (see recipe below)
Radish sprouts, chives or chervil for garnish
Roll chèvre into a 1inch diameter log. If cheese is too crumbly, add a little cream cheese to soften. Wrap in one layer of cheesecloth, cover with a layer of jasmine tea.Leave in the refrigerator for three or four days. Remove tea leaves. (Keeps for 1 week.)
Cut cheese into thin slices, about ¼ inch (6 mm) or less. If crumbly so use a hot, wet knife or wire to cut through it.
Top shortbread with a piece of cheese and small dab of orange marmalade. Garnish with a green leaf.
Savoury Shortbread
1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 tsp (25 mL) granulated sugar
2 ¼ cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour
¾ tsp (4 mL) sea salt
Beat butter just until soft and smooth. Do not whip. (The shortbread becomes too crumbly if over-mixed.)
Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add dry ingredients to softened butter and mix just until well combined (about 10 seconds on medium).
Shape into 2-inch (5 cm) logs. Wrap in plastic wrap.
Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove shortbread from fridge and cut into thin slices (approximately ¼ inch/6 mm)). Be consistent with the thickness so that they cook evenly. Lay on a parchment-lined baking tray.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until very pale golden but slightly firm.
Makes about 40 shortbreads.
Salted pecan sandies
2 cups (500 mL) blanched almond flour or almond meal
¼ tsp (2 mL) sea salt
¼ tsp (2 mL) baking soda
½ cup (125 mL) pecans (raw or roasted), finely chopped
4 tbsp (60 mL) unsalted butter or coconut oil
¼ cup (60 mL) honey
2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
Coarse salt for sprinkling on each cookie (optional)
Whole pecans for on top of cookie (optional)
Preheat oven to 300˚F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use a non-stick cookie sheet.
Blend all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
Scoop out mixture with a tablespoon. Roll each scoop into a ball and press down lightly. Sprinkle a bit of salt over each cookie and top with a pecan.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until they are just golden brown. Cool
Makes about 20 cookies.
Snickerdoodle sandwich cookie with maple buttercream
1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups (375 mL) granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour
½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1 mL) sea salt
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
2 tbsp (30 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and the first amount of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until incorporated.
Sift the dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredient into the butter mixture.
Combine the second amount of sugar with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
Scoop out mixture with a teaspoon. Roll each scoop into a ball. Dip each ball into the sugar-spice mix.
Place the cookie balls on the sheet pan with approximately 1 ½ inch (3.5 cm) space between each cookie.
Bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes.
Let cool.
Makes about 48 pieces.
Maple Buttercream
2 ½ cups (625 mL)icing sugar
2 cups (500 mL) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
3 tbsp (45 mL) maple syrup
Sift icing sugar. Whip butter until it is extremely light and fluffy, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Add in icing sugar and vanilla. Add maple syrup. Continue to whip until mixed together and fluffy.
To assemble cookie: Spread or pipe filling on the bottom of one cookie and top with a second. Repeat until all cookies are filled.
Makes about 24 sandwich cookies.


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The annotations are in Dutch, some are also in English. The translation into Indonesian that we are discussing will be really important. It will be the Indonesions for whom this part of their cultural heritage becomes accessible. It will be the Indonesians who are best positioned to assess the annotations and improve on it.
This week a conference call is planned to discuss these things.. I find it so exciting when I consider all the possibilities.


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Event Details
May 24, 2012 @ 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Conny Liegl | email
Vermicomposting can turn organic waste into high quality compost at Cal Poly and at home. Learn how at this Science Café!
Topics include the basics of composting, how microbiology is involved, and how it relates to small and large applied systems. You will see worms in action in a standard worm box and learn about why worm compost is prized by gardeners.
Event Information
- Photos: On Flickr
- Date: Thursday, May 24, 2012
- Time: 11am – 12:30pm
- Location: Kennedy Library, 2nd floor café lounge
Refreshments will be provided. Everyone is welcome and it's always free.
Featured guest speakers
- Ralph Crevoshay, President, VermiVision
- Crevoshay's career in horticulture has included research, production, marketing, online commerce, and certification. He has worked for well-known producers like Calavo and Dole and small businesses covering a diversity of crops from mushrooms to tropical fruits to floriculture. He's been active in produce industry associations, USDA trade missions, and agricultural sustainability initiatives.Ralph was trained in the scientific practice of aerobic composting during his years in the commercial mushroom industry. Decades later he came to learn that the methodology has been adopted as a best practice for commercial production of high quality vermicompost (VC). Recognizing VC as a high-impact transformative input for sustainable agriculture led him to become co-founder and President of VermiVision, Inc. in 2011.He holds a B.S. in Horticulture as well as certification in International Agricultural Development from the U. of Wisconsin/Madison. He has competed professional-level studies in International Agribusiness Management at Cornell.
- Hunter Francis, Director of the CAFES Center for Sustainability
- Hunter holds a Master's Degree in Agriculture from Cal Poly with a specialization in Soil Science. He is also a part-time lecturer and co-instructor of the Cal Poly Land Class: UNIV 330. Hunter worked for many years in the whole foods movement and has been active in the local community to promote regional agriculture through agri-tourism and place-based label initiatives. He is a Board Director of the Central Coast Ag Network and helped establish the Cal Poly Compost Project.
Co-sponsored by CAFES Center for Sustainability
Photo credits
Worms in hand photo by OrganicNation on Flickr. Farm and student photos courtesy of Cal Poly CAFES Center for Sustainability.


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2014: The Continuing Series
In the last of our series of sneak peeks at Gollancz's 2014 schedule, our focus turns to ongoing series. We're thrilled as always to have so many authors and series returning, and the books below are all eagerly awaited by their fans. If you haven't tried any of these series yet, you're missing out! Metro […]Read More
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FSN Northwest to Televise Apple Cup Game
Nov. 12, 2009
SEATTLE - The University of Washington's November 28 home football game against the Washington State University - the Apple Cup, sponsored by Boeing - will kick-off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised live from Husky Stadium by the school's local broadcast partner FSN Northwest.
FSN Northwest will open coverage of the 102nd meeting between the schools at 2:30 with a pre-game show hosted by former UW softball All-America Angie Mentink. Tom Glasgow, Mack Strong will provide game analysis from the press box, while Jen Mueller and Jason Stiles will offer sideline reports during the game. After the game, Mentink and crew will offer post-game analysis that will be televised at 10:30 p.m., following the USC/UCLA game that evening.
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--Gene Ross
Porn Valley- Pro wrestler Gangrel goes about 270 these days. With his size he doesn't have to say, sir. But he says it a lot during the interview we had Wednesday afternoon.
Gangrel's in town with Craig Valentine on a p.r. blitz. They were heading for Playboy Radio when we had our sit down at Rob Spallone's Star World Modeling. In what's got to be the ultimate full circle, Gangrel's directing porn now, and this is why he's making the rounds of the Valley.
Gangrel also tosses in a shocker. He tells me he's a grandfather. He had a kid at the age of 16. Gangrel wed his high school sweetheart but later married Luna Vachon. Imagine having Luna Vachon as a stepmother.
I ask Gangrel how he winds up in the sleazy business of porn.
"I don't know if it's a sleazy business," he laughs. "Wrestling's a pretty sleazy business. It's pretty shady. But what I have noticed here- with the girls and everything- they're pretty upfront with how they feel about you. They'll tell you I don't like you. But in wrestling there's just a bunch of backstabbing that goes on. It's a lot of mental games."
Though he's new at the porn game, it's something Gangrel's always been interested in.
"This just kind of fell into my lap," he notes. "I don't look a gift horse in the mouth- that's why I'm going to take it."
Gangrel's wrestled for 21 years and says, well, you can't do that forever. He ran into Valentine and Summer Haze at a wrestling show. They talked and became friends.
"They're slowly breaking me into this," says Gangrel. "And I'm digging it. I'm liking it."
This is Gangel's first trip to Porn Valley.
"I've been up and down the streets," he adds. "I've had a couple of dinner dates with people, talking business and picking up sponsors for Miami Rump Shakers 2 which is coming out."
Gangrel didn't direct the entire movie, just a scene to get the feel of it.
"And I can't even remember the peoples' names," he admits. Which is already par for the porn course.
"But everything's going along good- I'm having a good time."
Though he's not up on the new porn, Gangrel watched it "back in the day" when it starred Christy Canyon, Ginger Lynn and Nina Hartley. So the fact that he was being interviewed by Lynn and Canyon on Playboy later was something of a charge for him.
"I used to steal my dad's old porn and watch it all the time," he laughs. "I watched it over and over and wore it out."
Because he's been in wrestling over two decades, Grangel's asked for a litany of his injuries.
"I can't tell you how many times I've broken my nose or how many stitches I've had," he says.
"I've had to hold my eyeball while they stitched my eyelid back together. I've blown each shoulder out, both knees. I've torn my right pec out; and tore this bicep [he points to his left arm] about two months ago. I've herniated my 5,6,7 discs; I got a hot spot on my brain because I had a permanent concussion for over a year. When I was out with a neck injury they discovered it. I had a year out not so much because of the neck but more so because of the concussion."
"They didn't think I was ever going to come nack to wrestling," he continues. "I came back- I fought through it all and I'm still wrestling today. I'm still paying the bills by wrestling. Now I'm getting into this [porn]; it's really cool and I'm really excited."
And he'll have plenty of excitement. Gangrel just signed a 12 picture deal.
"We got a movie we're shooting, Rated: XPW in Ft. Lauderdale, and we've got a lot lined up in December," he goes on. "It's like planes landing, it's stacked."
The first time he got laid, Gangrel was 13 and the girl, who was from England, was 18. She was on vacation over here.
"It didn't last very long- it was probably 20 seconds!" he roars. "It was in a dugout at Deerfield Beach. She was hanging out at an apartment complex. We hit it off. Now that I've worked in England and spent six months working there- I understand now- they're pregnant at 12 over there. She was well seasoned and took advantage of me. She was robbing the cradle but it was cool. It was a good experience."
Gangrel's a Florida boy born in Hollywood and raised in Deerfield. He currently lives in Talahasee but is moving back to Hollywood.
"Were you always a big kid?" I ask.
"I was always a fat bastard!" he laughs. "I struggled to lose the weight and keep it off. I'm floating around 270-275. I like to be 250 but I was always heavy. It takes a lot of work for me to keep trimmed down. If I wanted to be 300 that would be easy."
"By the way, those jeans don't make your ass look big," I tell him.
"No? Thank you so much," he says.
"Were you always a gym rat?"
"I started wrestling when I was 17," Gangrel continues. "Then I went to Puerto Rico. I was 19 and I never lifted weights until I went down there. I went to a gym with some of Craig's trainers, Dan and Bruno. We're in the gym and I couldn't even lift a bar. They were, c'mon, dude. I couldn't even balance the bar, but by the time I left that island a year later I was bench pressing about 340. Then I stayed a gym rat until about three years ago. But I had so many injuries."
I always wondered how with all the traveling, wrestlers can even find time to get inside a gym.
"It's very hard," says Gangrel. "And with the wrestling I firmly believe that's where most of the main injuries come from. You're on the road six days a week. Sometimes you're out three weeks- like when WWF was hot. So you travel and with making all your airlines and driving to the arena, you hit the gym and you also have personal appearances, and you don't even get out of the show until 12, 1 in the morning which means you have yo drive to the next town, be up and catch a flight by 5am.
"You have to squeeze all this in there and you keep running and running. So you're bound to make mistakes. Your body gives out and that's where the big injuries come from."
Since every wrestler of note seems to be writing a book, Gangrel's asked about his.
"I've been asked," he says. "I was married to a pro wrestler- I was with Luna Vachon- THE toughest lady in pro wrestling and the craziest.
"I was married to Luna- we've been apart for a year but she's still my best friend," says Gangrel. "It was hard on our relationship. Getting back to the book-thing, people thought we'd write a great book together because of the things we've seen. She came on in '85 and I didn't come on until '87, '88. She grew up in a wrestling family. Her father was a wrestler; her uncle [Mad Dog]; her aunt Vivian, and The Butcher Paul Vachon. Her aunt was married to Buddy Wolfe. It was just a big wrestling family and I came into that.
"Mad Dog always threatened me- even though he had one leg I was scared to death of that man," Gangrel says. "He'd say [Gangrel growling], 'You ever hurt my niece I'm going to break your fucking neck!' And he meant it! I was yes sir. But she's still a good friend."
Gangrel continues to use the name noting that Vince McMahon doesn't own it.
"It doesn't seem to be quite that big an issue right now," he states. "The WWE doesn't own it. They don't have anything to do with it."
The development of the character comes from the film, The Lost Boys, he says.
"Luna tuned me on to it. And her ex-husband Dick Slater turned her on to it. She said it would be really cool to wrestle as a vampire. I said I don't think it'll ever work. She always pushed and said it'll work."
For years- everyhere he went- Puerto Rico, Memphis, Calgary, promoters all pushed the gimmick as a mummy, a monster-thing. But Gangrel kept trying to push the coolness of The Lost Boys.
"They didn't understand it," he said. "But Bruce Pritchard and a guy named Vince Russo who got creative control of WWE at one point, he saw what I was talking about- you get a group of young guys and make them really cool vampires. It didn't matter if you got your ass kicked as long as you're cool about getting your ass kicked."
According to Gangrel, McMahon never thought the idea would work.
"He told me himself that he'd never use a vampire character," states Gangrel. "But he gave Vince Russo creative control. Vince Russo hired the vampire character and it worked as much as everyone worked against it. It came off cool and just the way I pictured it with The Brood- me Christian and Edge- I was the older one and the guys liked me because the women weren't hitting on me. They were all hitting on Edge. The twenty to thirty year olds loved Edge; the 12 to 18 year-olds loved Christian. So we had that bracket covered. It was just a good mixture, it worked out really good and we had a fun time."
Gangrel left WWE at the time he herniated his 5,6,7 disc. He had the hot spot on his brain and went out for a year. When he came back, in the process of his getting cleared, the company bought WCW. They told him the talent roster was full.
"They didn't think I was ever going to wrestle again," he says. "They wanted to fuse four vertebraes. I told them, no. I rehabbed it. Then a year later they hired me back and just sat me home which killed all my contacts overseas. It killed everything. I didn't think I could get going again. Then they let me go after a year. Another year and a half went by and I went back to England and started doing the same thing. Then they hired me again. Then I got let go.
"They also had these big plans for ECW, then they put another kid in there who worked a lot cheaper," Gangrel adds.
With all this happening, it was about the time Gangrel ran into Valentine, Haze and The New Porn Order.
"One day we were talking online and they said if you ever want to check this out... so they're breaking me in and showing me the ropes. I've had the special tour through Porn Valley. I've been to Porn Star Karaoke night already. I'm hitting the spots."
On a side note, Valentine's saying Tyler Faith's scheduled to appear at a future wrestling event.
I ask Gangrel if he knew Chris Benoit. Not only Benoit, he used to travel on the road with Eddie Guerrero as well.
"I learned a lot in that time," he says. "And the ride before that was with Big Bossman and he's gone."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to get in a car with you," I tell Gangrel.
"Wrestlers live life in the fast lane," he states philosophically.
Asked if he saw the Benoit tragedy coming, Gangrel says no.
"I know he loved her [Woman]so hard," he continues. "I can't say what was really going on his mind but I do know that he was a really good person and one of the few guys I'd say, man, I love you, dude. I had a special bond with Chris. I wasn't there. I don't know what happened. He loved her, he loved his kid. People snap.
"I don't think it had anything to do with the steroids or anything else. There was a whole lot of other demons. If it had been a garbage man who went out and killed his family, it would have been in the newspaper for one clip. But it was someone who was in the spotlight that kids idolized. It was another stab at the wrestling industry and people are going to take stabs at anything that's making money."
"It's sad- that's the bottom line- it is what it is," Gangrel says.
"And Eddie was a great person, too; and The Bossman and Crash Holly- they were all my boys," he continues. "You see them come and go. Some of them were older and took care of me; and I've seen the younger ones go before me.
"They all said it would be me, but I got my life turned around. I had my problems. I had a lot of substance abuse problems and I had a wife that would have killed me any second. And that's the truth. She's put a 940 Glock to the back of my head and fired it into a wall in downtown Tampa. But I love Luna to death. She's the sweetest person in the world but you just don't mess with her."
According to Gangrel, Luna kept him in wrestling and showed him the ropes.
"She taught me that survival guide," he says. "She gave me the basic rundown how to get from A to Z and that helped a lot. She'll always be my best friend but I'll never cross her. She's a good woman, though."
Craig Valentine brings up the big wrestling event scheduled for December 16 in Florida which Tyler Faith will apparently participate in.
"That's me and Gangrel versus Evan [Stone] and whoever he thinks he can find and we'll see who's going to AVN [in January] with the gold," says Valentine.
Valentine brings up the story that appeared on TMZ. www.adultfyi.com/read.php?ID=25255 and said Ron Jeremy got stuck with the check at Bamboos when all of them went out in the parking lot.
"Evan's still miffed about what happened a few weeks ago in the wrestling ring," Valentine explains. "Evan made a couple of smart comments- which is like him to do. I told him to shut the fuck up before I bust his other arm and he got mad. I don't know why he would get mad."
"I didn't realize he had such aggression," I comment.
"Neither did I," replies Valentine.
"It's the little man complex," adds Gangrel.
"After I got into the car he [Stone] threw his book," Valentine relates. "I told him, dude, after you pick it up can you stand on a box so you can look at me eye-to-eye and talk to me? He's going look at you, you're a fat guy with a little cock. I'm like you're a short dude with a big cock, so what's your point? Evan was just being Evan and he got smart, so I threw it back at him and I guess the Prince of Porn isn't too pleased with the king of reality porn. But the wonderful people at the restaurant titled it as an East Coast-West Coast fight."
According to Gangrel, Stone had to realize sooner or later he was going to get hurt in the ring.
"Now he's trying to take advantage saying Craig did it on purpose."
"Did you do it on purpose?" I ask Valentine.
"We don't want to admit that!" yells Gangrel. "We're on tape right now. I'm just trying to cover up for that whole little man complex."
Valentine says the match with Stone and a partner-to-be-named is going to be at Club Passions at the Club Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
According to Valentine, at the behest of Jesse from Hot Movies, he and Stone have to stay separated from now until then.
"They're kind of our benefactor so we have to behave," says Valentine, noting that he and Stone expect to be at Monday Nite Raw this Monday in Ft. Lauderdale with two other female porn actresses. But he doesn't know who they are, yet.
Regarding Tyler Faith getting into the ring, Valentine said he heard Faith was going to manage Summer Haze at Haze's title defense which is also on the 16th.
"It's a big show- there's five matches, and since Mr. Ego [that would be Stone] thinks that because he's so famous, The Prince of Porn, he's putting together a special guest list. I don't see why he thinks people will show up just to see him.
"It's all women, I'm sure," adds Gangrel.
"Guys might show up, you never know," muses Valentine. "It's going to be pretty entertaining but I'm more curious what's going to happen when we get to Ft. Lauderdale. We're sitting ringside and we'll see what happens."
I like Valentine's reference to Stone as Prince of Porn.
"Look at it this way," says Valentine. "He decided he wanted to mouth off on TMZ."
Gangrel's asked if he's going to do any scenes.
"I'm just going to stay on the other side of the lens," he replies noting that the majority of his income is still from wrestling.
"And I'm a grandfather," he adds. "I have two boys and a grandson. I mean I'm not an old dude. I started young and had a kid at 16. It was a childhood sweetheart and it lasted until I was 18 then met Luna. She corrupted me.
"Fresh meat she said as she dragged me out of the locker room."
On another note Valentine said he was signing his first contract girl and that she comes out the end of the month to sign.
Copyright © 2007
AdultFYI.com All rights reserved.


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The Road to Gamma
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Gamma: The Learned Classifier In machine learning and statistics, classification is the problem of identifying a semantic class for an observation, on the basis of a training set of data containing observations (or instances) whose class membership is known. a learned classifier: Gamma is a classifier, that given a document, will give us the class that document belongs to (with an associated degree of probability to boot!). Our job is the build the function gamma, which takes a document, and returns a class. Application: Sentiment Analysis... [More]
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What do we mean by unstructured data? We limit this to ASCII text. Could also mean scanned documents, images, etc. There is no data about this data – no meta data. The only information we have about this data is contained in the data itself. There are no rows, columns or annotations. Unstructured Data (or unstructured information) refers to information that either does not have a pre-defined data model and/or does not fit well into relational tables. -Wikipedia Unstructured information might have some structure (semi-structured) or even... [More]
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Tokenization The process of segmenting running text into words and sentences. Electronic text is a linear sequence of symbols (characters or words or phrases). Naturally, before any real text processing is to be done, text needs to be segmented into linguistic units such as words, punctuation, numbers, alpha-numerics, etc. This process is called tokenization. In English, words are often separated from each other by blanks (white space), but not all white space is equal. Both "Los Angeles" and "rock 'n' roll" are individual thoughts despite... [More]
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We don't know whether the information we find on the Web is accurate or not . The Dublin Core model describes a resource for the purpose of discovery. The W3C PROV model describes entities and processes involved in producing and delivering that resource. This article introduces the mapping between both models. Rationale for Mapping DC Terms to PROV: This mapping gives insight into the different characteristics of both data models (in particular it explains PROV from a Dublin Core point of view). This mapping can be used to extract PROV data... [More]
NLP-driven Ontology Modeling
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The Mechanics and Value of an Ontology Model An Ontology is a "specification of a conceptualization" ( Tom Gruber ). I still don't understand what this means. This is a difficult definition, and has done little to further the understanding of Ontologies, and how they can help in the enterprise. A far better definition of an Ontology is "a description of things that exist and how they relate to each other" ( Chris Welty ). Ontologies and Natural Language Processing (NLP) can often be seen as two sides of the same coin. An Ontology... [More]
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Chain Rule (Probability) Give any of these word sequences, what is the probability of the next word? Premature optimization is the root of all ____ -Donald Knuth A house divided against itself ____ ____ -Abraham Lincoln The quick brown fox jumped over the ____ ____ _____ -Wm. Shakespeare A friend to all is ____ ____ ____ ____ -Aristotle If you were able to complete these word sequences, it was likely from prior knowledge and exposure to the complete sequence. Not all word sequences are this obvious. But for any given word sequence, it... [More]
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Spatial Relations through Prepositions What is a preposition? Prepositions are function words and characteristically express spatial relations. Like any function word, prepositions are important for the structure they bring to a sentence. A function word has little semantic content of its own and chiefly indicates a grammatical relationship. The extraction of semantics (that is, meaning) from English text is chiefly served by examination of content words. Function words serve an important role in determining the structure of the sentence,... [More]
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Linking Verbs Linking verbs are about characteristics. Linking verbs do not express actions. Instead, they connect the subject of the verb to additional information about the subject. In contrast to intranstives , linking verbs cannot end sentences, nor can they be followed immediately by adverbs. These must be followed by either nouns or adjectives, one or the other; those nouns and adjectives may be single words or multiple-word phrases. In addition, linking verbs constitute a small class of probably no more than a few dozen verbs.... [More]
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Two-Place Transitive Verbs (VC) The second two-place transitive verb construction is similar in that the action of the verb is divided equally in two places. Constructions with VC verbs are often more subjective in nature. The ability to express the context of the action (through reification) is a must in this case. Given the business scenarios expressed in the VG section, the loss of one of the triples would have meant the loss of important context. But it would not have impacted the objective truth of what remained. Both: Clark Gable gave... [More]
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Triple Extraction from Verbs Verbs are basic to sentences. Verbs determine the other constituents (of the sentence), and define the relationship between these constituents. A verb can tell you that a certain noun phrase functions as a subject, or that another other noun phrase functions as an object, or a predicate noun, or perhaps an object complement. There are six types of verbs that define core sentences. These verbs are differentiated by two criteria: The constituent that follows immediately to its right. The relationship of the verb to... [More]
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Two-Place Transitive Verbs (Vg) When we looked at transitive verbs, we saw that action was passed to a single object. We might refer to this as a "one-place" transitive verb as in, all the action passes to one place. In a two place transitive verb, we might reasonably infer that the action passes to two places. Vg transitive verbs are followed immediately by two noun phrases. Each of these noun phrases are equal recipients of the action performed by the subject. The school board NP:Subj gave Vg a raise NP:DObj to the teachers NP:IObj If we... [More]
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Intransitive Verbs The sentence may be a truncated three words or include a lengthy description, but the action never moves beyond the subject. To use the old riddle, there is no one else in the sentence to hear if the lone tree falling in the forest makes a sound. An intransitive verb can be used to end the sentence. The mayor spoke . The president resigned . The dog barked . Intransitive verbs may be followed by an adverb (something that adds to a verb): The mayor spoke convincingly . The president resigned hastily . The dog barked sharply .... [More]
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Transitive Verbs A transitive verb demonstrates an action that passes from one entity to another. We might say that the first entity (the subject) commits the action on the second entity (the object). The action is what links the subject to the object. This connection between a subject and an object is considered a triple. The action passes over from the subject to the object. Transitive verbs lend themselves well to triple extraction from unstructured text. The performer of the action is not always the subject of the verb. If the action... [More]
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Reification generally refers to making something real, bringing it into being, or making something concrete. Or, the making of something abstract into something more concrete or real; the action of regarding or treating an idea, concept, etc., as if having material existence. This definition is about as useful as the classic definition for an Ontology. I don't think the word reflects the idea. But who cares. It's a simple and powerful concept in RDF, and easy to understand . So let's say we log onto Wikipedia or some other trusted... [More]
Precision vs Recall in NLP
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Consider the IBM Software Product catalog that contains several thousand software items. One item in that catalog is "Rational Software Architect for WebSphere". This item, like many others, also contains many versions. Assume that you are tasked with creating a system capable of understanding natural language input in this domain. A high-precision approach would be to preload dictionaries with the items from this catalog: Rational Software Architect for WebSphere Rational Software Architect for WebSphere 8.0.1 ... [More]
Ontology Modeling: Distinguishing Parts from Kinds
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Here is a simple Ontology: Person Mother Father Child Boy Girl Gender Male Female We read the Ontology like this: Mother is a Person Father is a Person Child is a Person Boy is a Child is a Person Girl is a Child is a Person Male is a Gender Female is a Gender If the "X is a Y" relation are logical (does the relationship make sense in the real world ?), then the Ontology class hierarchy is valid. Here's an example of an invalid Ontology class hierarchy: Person Father Male This model asserts that "Male is a Father". Or, if you... [More]
W3C Provenance Model Primer
CraigTrim 110000G799 Visits (12181)
Introduction PROV is a core data model for provenance for building representations of the entities, peoples and processes involved in producing a piece of data or thing in the world. The provenance of digital objects represents their origins. Provenance records contain descriptions of the entities and activities involved in producing and delivering (and otherwise influencing) a given object. PROV is meant to describe how these objects were created or delivered. By knowing the provenance of an object, we can make determinations about how to... [More]


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About this blog
FLEFF Intern Voices
The Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival from the interns' point of view
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Blog post by Haley Stearns, Still Photography '15, FLEFF Blogger, Buffalo, New York
It's two days after FLEFF and I cannot stop thinking about all of the moving films that I was able to see this past week. When signing on to be a blogger for this years festival, I had no way of knowing the powerful way that these films and festival guests would impact my interpretation of the world around me.
After spending countless hours sitting in the dark and cozy movie theatres of Cinemapolis, watching numerous films, listening to festival guests from around the world, and interacting with a gathering of different people, I can confidently say that I have immersed in FLEFF. So many guests, films, and speakers have resonated with me from this past week, but overall there are three films that I am positive I will never forget.
1. Arise
Before FLEFF week I interviewed filmmaker Lori Joyce about this film. After reading the description and hearing her input, I knew that this would be one of the films that I absolutely had to see. For me, Arise put so many environmental issues and concepts into perfect perspective.
One of the main goals of FLEFF is to tie the global in with the local. The environment is currently a global concern. This film presents that concern on a global level by introducing female perspectives from around the world. By bringing this film to Ithaca, New York, and presenting it to the festival guests, Lori opened up a local dialogue about a global topic while inspiring and educating audience members.
Prior to seeing this film, I had never heard of green burials. A Will for the Woods chronicles Clark Wang's battle against lymphoma, and his quest to help establish the first green burial ground in North Carolina.
A Will for the Woods opened my eyes to how un-environmentally friendly traditional burials are, as well as cremation. This film wove an environmental message around one mans compellingly beautiful, heartwarming, and heart aching battle and journey through lymphoma.
Not only did this film move me by exposing me to Clark's graceful yet sad journey through his final stages of life; but it also allowed me to think in larger terms of how we can still impact the Earth and the environment following our undeniable death.
The Hungry Heart exposed me to the world of prescription drug addiction. Watching Vermont pediatrician Fred Holmes work one-on-one with various prescription drug addicts inspired hope and compassion in a dark situation.
Prescribing suboxone to patients struggling with prescription drug addiction can either aid an addict in their recovery process, or become a crutch. Either way, Dr. Holmes was determined to try what he could to help his patients.
I was incredibly moved and inspired by the work that Dr. Holmes enacted throughout the duration of the film. The testimonials of the addicts as well as some of their family members were both informative and powerful. This film shed an incredible amount of light on an often hidden problem.


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If there's one category that unfailingly turns us into shopping monsters, it's affordable dresses. From floral prints to bright colors and fun silhouettes, a stylish dress under $50 or $100 is the definition of fashion kryptonite. So, despite being in the thick of Summer (and reveling in our beachwear, sun dresses, and comfy sandals), we're starting to plan our new-season wardrobes with affordable Fall trends at the crux. And one of the very first things we're planning to scoop up is a selection of new dresses!
For Fall, there are loads of wearable new trends from feminine silhouettes with an ultra-romantic twist to vibrant colors like yellow, green, and orange and playful prints from bold blooms to animal prints galore. In the dress department, you better believe there are iterations of these trends in mini, midi, and maxi lengths with plenty of options that cost less than $100 and even $50 (including options for curvy figures). When you're planning a fresh Fall wardrobe, does it get any better? I think not.
Ahead, witness five Fall dress trends every fashion girl will be wearing in the new season with shoppable options from brands like Mango, Zara, and our very own POPSUGAR collection at Kohl's. As an added bonus, we're providing you with fresh dress outfit ideas you can start wearing now, during the transition season, and into Fall, courtesy of the always-stylish street style set. Affordable dress + tons of outfit ideas? So. Much. Yes!


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The Halloween quiz.
Ghosts on the Prairie. There's a section here about Harry Houdini. Here's the scoop on that guy
Pet Corner: Dog halloween costumes.
Embarrass your pet here.
Dept. of Educashun: The history of Halloween.
(This entry post-dated since I'm up at the New Hampshire Kerry rally all day. Hopefully I'll have pics.)


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On the 29th of November we'll speak about trust and innovation to drive Digital Transformation.
From 28th November to 30th November InfoCert will be at Trustech, the largest international event dedicated to trust-based technologies in payment and identification which will take place in Cannes (France) at the legendary Palais des Festivals.
Trustech aims to be the hub of the international secure-connection community, to help market players define future strategies, develop the ways the technologies are used and generate business opportunities.
Over these 3 days we'll meet more than 13,000 attendees, 350 exhibitors and 250 leading international speakers. We'll speak to high-quality visitors from all around the world to create a quick and easy way for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Clusters, actively engaged within the field of ICT and digital services, to meet potential business partners and to operate internationally.
This digital era demands businesses to meet their new customers online and to conduct business based on the highest level of trust – compliant with EU regulations.
That's why, on the afternoon of 29th November, InfoCert will walk the Trustech's attendees through how its customers have implemented their processes to identify customers online ready to conduct electronic transactions – highest trust for lowest fraud – infusing innovation – hiding complexity to the end user.
Marc Straat, Head of International Business Development at InfoCert, will describe how InfoCert helps enterprises in finance, utilities, telcos and governments to accelerate their digital transformation at the start, through a platform by on boarding customers through online identification as well as enterprise applications to enable trust in customer's transactions.
Find out more about Trustech at https://www.trustech-event.com/
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If you enjoyed Murder on the Mullet Express, you will be pleased to learn that the sequel, Murder at the Million Dollar Pier, will be coming out this September. Our intrepid snowbirds from the first novel, Cornelia Pettijohn, Teddy Lawless, and Uncle Percival, arrive in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and take lodgings in the then-new Vinoy Hotel. Uncle Percival selected the hotel for its excellent view of the construction on the Million Dollar Pier, but when Teddy Lawless sees her ex-fiance in the dining room, trouble follows.
Like the first novel, this one will be published by Mystery and Horror, LLC.
Circle of Dishonor is on sale this week in a Kindle Countdown!
Read the first novel in the Nessa Donnelly saga.
Pay 99 cents in the USA, 99 pence in the UK.
Or, as always, it's free if you have Kindle Unlimited.
Next Event: Bouchercon
The next event I will be attending is Bouchercon 2018, which will be held at the Vinoy Renaissance St Petersburg Resort. The location is practically in my back yard, and it's a beautiful, historic one.
Bouchercon is an enormous mystery and crime fiction festival held annually. Both fans and authors attend the conference, and it's a great place to meet people you've admired from afar.
Sarah Glenn and I will both be attending, as will several members of the different Sisters in Crime chapters we belong to. I'm looking forward to catching up with my friends from Kentucky.
Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading
Sarah and I were part of the crew at the Florida Writers Association booth for the festival. It was held on the USF campus in downtown St. Petersburg. It was nice to see so many authors in one place.
The people overseeing the 2018 Bouchercon Mystery Convention also had a booth. Expect to see us there!
A Rewarding Summer
This was a busy summer. Sarah and I toured the Tampa Bay area with Murder on the Mullet Express, meeting new people and generally having a good time.
On August 5th, we won the silver at the Florida Authors & Publishers Association President's Awards. We saw many familiar faces from the book fairs we've attended this year, including other members of our Sisters in Crime chapter. It's very rewarding to have the work we put into the book recognized by our peers.
Writers in attendance will include:
Our Visit to Amelia Island
The Amelia Island Book Fair was a great opportunity to make new friends and network. We were at the table with the Golden Crown Literary Society authors.
Sarah takes a break from her new Instagram feed to watch me ply the trade.
After the fair was over, we explored the historical side of the island and did some touristy things.
February 18th: Amelia Island
Sarah Glenn and I will be attending the Amelia Island Book Festival on Saturday, February 18th. Come to the Author Expo/Readers Extravaganza, and look for the Golden Crown Literary Society booth to find us.
It is my great pleasure to announce that we will have a table at this Saturday's Local Author Fair in Homosassa, the location of our novel. We'll be there from 11 am to 3pm. Drop on by!
January 16th, 2017
Launch Party for Murder on the Mullet Express
Books at Park Place
10468 Roosevelt Blvd N
St. Petersburg, FL
(727) 388-9093
February 18th, 2017
Amelia Island Book Festival
Author Expo/Reader's Extravaganza
Fernandina Beach Middle School
315 Citrona Drive
Fernandina Beach, FL
Gwen is a history junkie who loves a good mystery.
March 2019