text:
user comments 134 comment(s)
|2nd post (9:35am est thu jan 27 2005)
i remember having to save up about $80 for a new super nes game when they came out. i hope it doesn't come to that again. – by splob
|mmm… (9:36am est thu jan 27 2005)
my 1st comment is on topic: i predict that if prices go up, sales go down.
2nd comment: it's too bad there are so many juvanile people who have nothing better to do than start flame wars here. – by seljo meyri
|why so hi? (9:42am est thu jan 27 2005)
dvd burner: $100
1 pack dvd-r: $40
p2p: priceless – by spook
|genesis (9:53am est thu jan 27 2005)
i paid $79 for a genesis rpg game once…what was i thinking!!! – by jack
|yea (9:57am est thu jan 27 2005)
a genesis rpg??? genesis had the crappiest rpg's. all the good ones were snes and pc then. – by glass toy
|pricey games (10:21am est thu jan 27 2005)
i think the rpg in question is landstalker. it was brilliant. nintendo 64 games used to cost �60, but that was because it was a cartridge. the most expensive game i got was virtua racing on the mega drive. �70!!! – by worlock_ed
|when your the boss (10:22am est thu jan 27 2005)
you don't predict a price hike you make a price hike. – by hh
|genesis (10:49am est thu jan 27 2005)
it wasn't that…it was when the system first came out…and it wasn't that great of a game. it was sword of vermillion – by jack
|surprise! (10:52am est thu jan 27 2005)
gee, never saw this coming after ea has bought several competitors and signed that exclusive deal with the nfl. $75 for madden 2006 anyone? – by jrink
|ea (11:13am est thu jan 27 2005)
i can't actually think of a decent game ea have made lately. the best thing they did all last year was release burnout 3 and they didn't even make it. every time a new fifa game comes out, they forget to include the gameplay but are more interested in getting david beckhams hair right and make sure he has his newest tatoos. plus, they always include a gimmick off the ball, first touch. notice that it's ea saying price should increase and not sony themselves. i certainly won't pay them prices for games made by ea. nintendo on the other hand… – by worlock_ed
|chrono trigger (11:26am est thu jan 27 2005)
great rpg for 80 bucks!! man that was a crazy purchase. – by trogdor
|hopefully it will balance out… (11:30am est thu jan 27 2005)
in the long run. the price of premium games doubles that of dvd�s right now. you would have a hard time justifying that game development is more costly than movies. (characters don�t charge millions to be in the game). ea can charge whatever they want, but who wants it that bad. are you willing to pay 75$ or 100$ for a title? not me, $50 is abit high for al but the best games out. – by cc
|best thing to do is wait (11:35am est thu jan 27 2005)
i wait now until they go down in price to buy them…$50 is still too much for a stupid game…come on it's just a video game. once it goes to $30 or less or even $20 i would consider it. sometimes it doesn't even take that long. – by bob
|monopolistic practices? (11:48am est thu jan 27 2005)
this sounds a lot like what ms has done with their os' and office pkgs.
ea is running around sewing up exclusive rights, and eventually should have the major league sports all locked up, so unless you want to play a superior game by a different company with fake player and team names, your only option will be ea's titles.
it kinda sucks because imo their last few nfl and nascar tiles have been pretty much the same crap repackaged, not much new or cutting edge. – by harrybaulsak
|ea (11:53am est thu jan 27 2005)
i used to purchase a new game every few weeks. i would guess that i purchased around 10 ea games a year. (6 or which were sports titles). since ea's exclusive license to the nfl i have yet to purchase an ea title. this means includes christmas shopping for my family where i purchased 8 games. none of them ea. i will not purchase another ea game.
i don't see a problem with a price increase on some games if better work conditions for programmers follow, but i will never purchase from a company with horrible work environments that forces competition out with exclusivity licenses. – by enginerd
|no way (12:06pm est thu jan 27 2005)
i remember having to save up about $90 for a new sega genesis game – by praxi
|pc games are still the best (12:16pm est thu jan 27 2005)
pcs have the advantage of downloading and playing a demo to greatly enhance the game purchasing decision. patience is a virtue they say and i use that on almost all my game purchases. i play buying games like the stock market. after i decide the ones i want i categorize them then when the price hits a certain point buy it comes into play. usually i pay $20.00 for the good ones and $10.00 for the so-so games. the last game i paid full price was for doom3 and it scared the crap out of me. i still remember playing doom on a 386 machine and doom2 on a pentium 1 at 60mhz. – by regulas
|ea blows (12:48pm est thu jan 27 2005)
honestly, who really cares, only rich kids buy ea games because they suck! do us all a favor and keep buying your stupid overpriced ea games, that way we can play our true realism games without the queer ea game players! also, every ea game i played sucks when it comes to realism. bf2 will be no diffrent despite their remarks. – by sim bomber
|video game prices (2:00pm est thu jan 27 2005)
i agree with most of the posts above. i also don�t miss the �cartridge-days� when prices for new (not necessarily good � just new) games were somewhere in to $60-90 range.
i honestly think that $50 for a new, well-made game is fair. at $50 video games are still one of the best values out there in terms of $ per hour entertainment. just think about it � if you crank through a shorter game in 10 hours (and i�m assuming you are at least mildly entertained), your cost per dollar of entertainment is $5.00� which is cheaper than most movies at the theaters. (granted i�m not considering the level of entertainment or the cost of the system � just a general observation) like many of you i�ll wait till games are around $20 � then the value goes up considerably. plus, i�m not an uber-player so most of my ps2 games take me longer than 10 hours. compared to some forms of entertainment even a full priced game is still pretty good value. in the end though � i�m with most of you � if the price goes over $50 i�ll wait till it comes down.
it will be good for the people in the mod business though.
|1st $60 game (3:20pm est thu jan 27 2005)
the first game i bought at that price was phantasy star for the master system. at the time most games were $30-40 range. if you have a good copy of that game now you can get close to that on ebay…so i guess it works out in the long run eh? – by bob
|starts with ea.. goes where? (7:29pm est thu jan 27 2005)
everyone is missing the point. this isn't just about ea. you can look at just about any new game these days as starting at $49.99. once one person does it, others think "if they can, why can't i?".
if ea hikes the prices, other companies will follow suit. it's all a follow the leader or die type of game anymore. monkey see, monkey do. – by monkeycmonkeydo
|or maby?… (9:54pm est thu jan 27 2005)
other companys will keep there prices the same and watch ea suffer. go ahead ea, raise the prices of your games. it will be your downfall! muhahahaha! – by www.easucks.com
|game prices (11:31pm est thu jan 27 2005)
$86 per disc. – by ea
|street fighter 2 (11:55pm est thu jan 27 2005)
man, i paid $75 bucks for that when it came out on snes…and it was damn worth it! you know how much $$$ i spent playing it in the arcade before it came out!
ha! "arcade". i feel like i can't even remember what the word means anymore. – by arcade = teh suxx0rz
|and that's the piracy reason! (4:50am est fri jan 28 2005)
let's face it, all the time games, music, dvds, etc are over about �10/$15 people are gonna pirate the software. companies hike the prices saying that pirates are causing the price increase so they need to sell for more ��/$$ to make their profit margins.
if prices plummeted to �5/$10 a gmae/cd/dvd, who would actually bother to copy? they'd sell more copies and probably break their profit margins easily.
[/pennies worth] – by arc kane
|hey don't bash ea for that… (8:26am est fri jan 28 2005)
the just bought so many competitors, they are a bit tight financally.
and all those expensive licences for leagues/players, hey this is serious money.
and it's not like u got a choice.
harhar! – by bobeff
|hey! (12:36pm est fri jan 28 2005)
shut you fuckin' face, uncle fucka. you're a cock sucking ass licking uncle fucka. you're an uncle fucka. yes it's true. nobody fucks uncles quite like you. – by terrance
|hey terraaaance!!!!! (5:42pm est fri jan 28 2005)
hey boy, we should meet up sometime. i told my friends lyle and tyrisius about you. there dying to meet u sweet thing.
boyswholoveboys.com – by julius xoxo
|what a crock! (1:37am est sun jan 30 2005)
"but it's not the developers who get most of the money–any price increase would mainly go into the pockets of the retailer and the publisher."
retailer????? are you high man? what kind of chronic do you smoke 'cause i would sure like to have some!!! i own 2 video stores which rents console games as well and i can assure you there is next to little markup on console games.
for example here in vancouver b.c. a typical aaa game is $59.99 at futureshop. and what is my cost for the same game at wholesale $58.69! future always sells dvd movies and games either at cost or below cost so that they can lure to buy something else at a marked up price.
again i'll say it again. there is no markup when it comes to games. so that statement that the money goes to retailers is the biggest crock of sh*t that i've ever heard.
thank god that i could at least rent the damn things to get some return on investment.
again his statement is one big lie!!!! – by ea guy is lying!


text:
Ace of Wands
In this card, a magnificent soul potential in the form of a butterfly is being unveiled by two fairies. In Welsh mythology, fairies were known as the mothers or the helpers. These fairies are liberating the spiritual quality of humanity, There is a connection between the soul and the butterfly in Greek mythology. This stems from the belief that the human soul becomes a butterfly while searching for a new incarnation.
The process of transformation is extremely powerful in our lives as we search for a broad understanding of the future and a gentle surrender to the past. As we emerge from old wounds, we take on new colors and wear new wings of hope-much like the butterfly miraculously, unspiraling from the dark cocoon.
This butterfly is released into the light and is offered new conscious awareness. This may very well be happening in your life right now. The butterfly is an essential emblem of love, suggesting, in China, a wedding of souls. This winged gift is a reminder today that love, soul unity, and art are fluttering into your life.
An inspired rebirth is taking place. It is time to reveal your true colors. The flight has begun.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
2014 fashion forecast is short cuts and soft curls that rock. Posh salon uses and recommends Aveda Professional color and hair care products to help make your hair look fabulous!
I have been a hair designer since 1969. Early in my career I was fortunate enough to work for Redken Laboratories and receive advanced training in the chemistry of hair and hair coloring. I worked for Redken for several years training young hair designers in the scientific art of hair coloring on a national level. I have opened several salons on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in New Orleans, San Antonio, and Colorado Springs. I trained under many master hair designers including Vidal Sassoon, Paul Mitchell, and Xenon. I have been certified in Redken, Fermisi, Logics, Goldwell, and Schwartzkopf hair coloring systems. I have mentored many young hairdressers over the past 15 years to pursue their careers in cosmetology. I had the pleasure of working at the Broadmoor World Resort in Colorado Springs for five years. I now own Posh Salon in Williamsburg. We have a wonderful team of stylists and I am confident that we can handle any hair challenge that walks through our doors. We use only AVEDA hair care and hair color because it is plant derived, eco-friendly, better for your hair and scalp, and overall gives the most beautiful and vibrant results of any coloring system I have ever worked with.
We are located at 4680 18-C Monticello Avenue in Williamsburg.
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Posh Salon uses and recommends Aveda professional hair care products. If the scalp and hair are healthy and you combine that with a great haircut your hair will look fabulous.


text:
Charities are part of the fabric of our society - but what do we really mean by charity?
The word "charity" comes from the French word "charité" which in turn derives from the Latin word "caritas". Originally caritas meant dearness, costliness but gradually it became more equated to love and in the King' James Bible was used as a translation of the Greek word "agape". Unconditional love. Love for your fellow humans.
You might recognise the passage. It's from St Paul's Letters to the Corinthians is a favourite at Christian weddings. It goes something like this:
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
In the King James version the word "charity" is used instead of the word "love". Charity suffers long and is kind. Charity does not parade itself.
Those are the origins of the word which is used to describe the type of organisation for which many of us fundraisers work. Charities were born from the act of charity - the practice of giving alms. Almsgiving was a widespread medieval practice and it was one that helped to structure the economy and legitimise the social hierarchy.
In medieval times, the economy wasn't based on wages, it was agricultural - based on rents and taxes and tithes. Your average medieval baron wouldn't have a large paid workforce, but he would need extra people at peak times of the year (say harvest time): the medieval equivalent of a zero hours contract. In between those times there wasn't much of a financial safety net for those labourers. Alms had the useful function of making sure that those on the bottom rung of the social ladder neither dropped dead of starvation nor rioted nor turned to a life of crime.
It might have been possible to achieve the same thing through dropping rents or using violent coercion but these methods didn't have the positive benefits of almsgiving: peer admiration and most importantly, divine approval. If you wanted your place in heaven, you gave generously.
In medieval times, the wealthy didn't expect much from their giving apart from a touch of deference from the people that they ruled. They didn't get into the business of judging who was and wasn't deserving of charity. That was a concept which flourished in the 19th century along with social activism and the alignment of philanthropy with business interests. In the 19th century charities played a key role in addressing global issues and were crucial to the abolition of slavery.
|The 1840 World's Anti-Slavery Convention.
But not in medieval times. No, in its earliest days charity was about making sure society didn't fall apart. In an absence of state intervention, it was about plugging the gaps.
So what is charity about today?
These days we seem to have a confused relationship with charity and charitable giving. It's open season on charities. Today, an MP warned charities that they were in "last chance saloon" over "vile and disgusting" fundraising practices. Last September, the Government's Charities Minister warned charities straying into the realm of politics was not what they were about and not what donors would want. Charities - he famously said - should "stick to their knitting".
All of this comes at a time when public funding is under massive pressure and services are being cut. Today's budget removes maintenance grants for low income university students, not to mention the cuts tax credits and furthermore, the UK isn't exactly awash with research funding to help us find the solutions to the massive challenges we face. Cancer. Climate change. Poverty. Dementia.
Increasingly, we look to charities - and the people who support them - to address these things. Big, hairy, challenging problems. But we expect them to do that without asking us for help and without challenging the status quo. It's not fair and it's not possible.
The fact is that charity has played a crucial role in holding society together for more than a millennium. And it has done that because people gave money.
But we're not living in a medieval society any more. Most people don't give because they're worried about bread riots and hellfire tickling their toes. Today, most people give because they are asked to give by a cause which aligns with their personal beliefs.
The main reason people don't give is because they aren't asked.
If we want charities to play a role in our world they need funding. That funding comes from benefactors. People become benefactors because they are asked to give.
Let's stop saying that that's a bad thing.
In Dan Pallotta's super brilliant TED talk, he said:
"Our generation does not want its epitaph to read, 'We kept charity overheads low.' We want it to read that we changed the world, and that part of the way we did that was by changing the way we think about these things."
Rather than throwing rocks at charities, we should be examining the crucial role that they play in the 21st century and how best we can help them achieve the aims that will benefit us all.
If we don't like a fundraising technique, don't vilify charities - or charity fundraisers. Help them to innovate, to better support changing the world. Doing so will benefit all of us.
Related articles:
On being a donor and the Olive Cooke backlash
Charity Street: the value of Charity to British households (CAF 2014)


text:
Awewura Kwara, MD
Awewura Kwara, MB, ChB, MPH & TM
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases & Global Medicine
|MB, ChB
|University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana
|Tulane University
|Public Health and Tropical Medicine
|Cook County Hospital
|Internal Medicine
|Tulane University School of Medicine
|Infectious Diseases
Board Certifications
- Internal Medicine
- Infectious Diseases
- Wetmore Foundation Fellowship for Tuberculosis/HIV – 2001
Professional Societies
- American College of Physicians
- American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Infectious Diseases Society of America
- American Society of Microbiology
- International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
- Yawson AE, Appiah LK, Yawson AO, Bonus G, Aluze-Ele S, Owusu Amanhyia N, Lartey M, Adjei AA, Lawson AL, Beckwith C, Kwara A, Flanigan T. Sex differences perceived risked and testing experience of HIV in an urban fishing setting in Ghana. Int J Equity Health 2014; 13:109.
- Adjei AA, Brandful J, Lurie M, Lartey M, Krampa F, Kwara A, Adiku TK, Tettey Y, Gyasi RK, Lawson AL, Flanigan T. Human immunodeficiency virus, syphilis prevalence and risk factos among migrant workers in Konongo, Ghana. Advances Infect Dis 2014;4:132-141.
- Court MH, Almutairi F, Greenblatt D, Hazarika S, Sheng H, Klein K, Zanger U, Bourgea J, Patten C, Kwara A. Isoniazid mediates the CYP2B6*6 genotype dependent interaction between efavirenz and antituberculosis drug therapy through mechanism-based inactivation of CYP2A6. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2014;58:4145-4152.
- Haas DW, Kwara A, Richardson DM, Baker P, Papageorgiou I, Acosta EP, Morse GD, Court MH. Secondary metabolism pathway polymorphisms and plasma efavirenz concentrations in HIV-infected adults with CYP2B6 slow metabolizer genotypes. J Antimicrob Chemother 2014:6921-75-82.
- Kwara A. Cao L, Yang H, Poethke P, Kurpewski J, Tashima KT, Mahjoub BD, Court MH, Peloquin CA. Factors associated with variability in rifampin plasma pharmacokinetics and the relationship between rifampin concentrations and induction of efavirenz clearance. Pharmacotherapy 2014; 34:265-71.


text:
One of the nation's top collegiate head coaches, Rich DeSelm is now in his 11th year as the head swimming coach at the University of North Carolina after serving for one year as the chief assistant and head coach designate under former mentor Frank Comfort. Every year, DeSelm is leading his alma mater to new heights in the swimming pool and the classroom.
DeSelm was named a U.S. Swimming National Team coach for the calendar year 2014, the highest honor U.S. Swimming can bestow on a coach, and he earned the honor again in 2016. In 2017, U.S. Swimming named DeSelm to its National Team coaching staff for the third time in four years for his work with open water swimmers Ashley Twichell and Chip Peterson and 100-meter butterflier Hellen Moffitt.
The program has made great strides under DeSelm's tutelage in the past 10 years. DeSelm had been a highly successful head coach at Davidson College and a long-time assistant at perennial Top 10 program Florida before he assumed the full-time head coaching duties at Carolina on July 1, 2007.
This past summer, DeSelm was named an assistant coach for the U.S. open water swimming team which competed at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. DeSelm personally coached two of the U.S. team members at North Carolina Aquatic Club. Ashley Twichell won a gold medal in five-kilometer open water swimming and a silver in the five-kilometer open water relay. Chip Peterson, a 2010 UNC alumnus, was fifth in the 25-kilometer men's open water race. Twichell was also a U.S. national champion this past spring.
DeSelm also had two of his swimmers named to the U.S. Team which competed at the 2017 World University Games in Chinese Taipei. Caroline Baldwin won the 50-meter freestyle at the event and Hellen Moffitt claimed gold in the 100-meter butterfly. The two swimmers also combined to win two silver and a bronze in relay events.
The 2016-17 Tar Heel teams placed 41 swimmers and divers on the ACC Academic Honor Roll and five individuals on the All-ACC Academic Teams. The Tar Heel men set seven school records in short course events, the UNC women established 10 short course records (including in four of five relays) and nine University long course records fell last summer. Both Tar Heel squads earned College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Team status in each semester of 2016-17 as well.
Carolina had another highly successful season in 2015-16 when both teams claimed 7-3 dual meet records against the most difficult schedule in school history and each team claimed a third place finish in the ACC Championships. UNC swimmers set a dozen new school short course and long course records over the course of the season. Forty-five Tar Heels were named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll. Thirty UNC swimmers competed in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.
In the 2014-15 season both teams returned to the Top 20 of the NCAA Championships with the men taking 18th and the women 19th. In a deep ACC league, UNC took top four finishes on both sides of the ledger. At the NCAA Championships, 12 of Carolina's 13 entries in the women's meet earned All-America honors as did seven of the nine entries in the men's championships. The two teams combined to establish 17 new short course school records.
The Tar Heels also had an outstanding 2013-14 season. Meredith Hoover earned first-team All-America honors for the second straight year to lead individual honors by the squad. The women finished 19th nationally and moved up to second in the ACC. The men had another solid campaign and finished third in the ACC. The teams combined for an 18-4 dual meet mark. During the course of the year the women set eight new school short course records and the men established seven University marks. A total of 48 swimmers and divers were named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll, the most in the history of the Carolina aquatics program.
In 2012-13, DeSelm led the Tar Heels to another brilliant season in the pool. Both teams finished in the top three at the ACC championships and UNC had the men's and women's ACC swimmers of the year in the same season for the first time since 1996 when Tom Luchsinger and Cari Blalock won the awards. The women's 12th place finish at the NCAA Championships was the highest placing in 11 seasons. Eleven Tar Heels earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. UNC set 13 short course school records and seven long course University marks. During the summer months, Stephanie Peacock won a pair of medals at the World University Games and Tom Luchsinger won the U.S. national title in the 200-meter butterfly, the first Tar Heel man to win a U.S. title since 1996. Luchsinger was also the first UNC man to swim for the U.S. at the World Championships since 1998.
DeSelm was also named the ACC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, the first back-to-back designation for a Tar Heel head coach since Frank Comfort in 2001 and 2002. In December 2012, Peacock set NCAA records in the 1000-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle under DeSelm's tutelage.
In 2011-12, DeSelm led Carolina to one of its most successful combined seasons in history. Forty-eight Tar Heels qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials, UNC swimmers combined to set 24 records, the Tar Heel men finished in the Top 15 for the third straight year and the Carolina women placed 19th at the NCAA meet. After a 14th-place finish at the 2012 NCAA meet, UNC's men achieved back-to-back-to-back NCAA Top 15 finishes for the first time since three straight from 1956-58. The 19th-place finish by the UNC women was the team's best finish since 2003. In August 2012, Peacock and Luchsinger were named to the U.S. National Team.
In 2011-12, DeSelm was named ACC Women's Coach of the Year and Peacock swept the ACC Swimmer of the Year honor and the most outstanding performer award at the ACC Championships. Peacock won the NCAA championship in the 1650-yard freestyle in an NCAA record time and she placed third in the 500-yard freestyle. It was the first NCAA championship for a UNC woman since 2003 (Jessi Perruquet in the 200-yard freestyle) and Steve Cebertowicz finished sixth in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles at the NCAA meet, the first time a Tar Heel man has made the championship final in both events since Pete Worthen in 1965.
In September 2011, U.S. Swimming named DeSelm to the National Team staff. This came on the heels of his first-ever international head coaching assignment in August 2011 when he piloted the ship for the U.S. men's team at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China. Two Tar Heel student-athletes mentored by DeSelm won bronze medals at the those Games — Tyler Harris in the 400-meter individual medley and Stephanie Peacock in the 400-meter freestyle.
The 2010-11 season was also a magnificent one under DeSelm's tutelage. The men and women both took second in the conference championships with the women achieving their highest point total in four years. The women garnered their third successive NCAA Top 25 finish while the men finished 14th at NCAAs, the highest team finish in 18 years. UNC's women won five individual titles and two relay championships at the ACC meet and the men won five individual crowns. Altogether, UNC rewrote the short course record book for both teams with nine new school records on the women's side and 12 on the men's ledger. Five school records fell during the long course season in summer 2011. Individually, Tyler Harris placed third in the 400 IM at the NCAA meet, the highest individual placing by a UNC man since 1966. Joe Kinderwater copped first-team All-America honors in the 1650-yard freestyle and became only the third men's swimmer in Carolina history to win first-team honors all four years of his collegiate career. The men's 800-yard freestyle relay garnered first-team All-America accolades, the first Tar Heel relay to do so in 18 seasons.
Carly Smith, Layne Brodie and Tyler Harris each won a pair of individual ACC titles and Tommy Wyher captured the men's 100-yard backstroke at the ACC meet, becoming only the 20th individual in ACC history to win the same event four years in a row. Tyler Harris was named the ACC Men's Swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year, following in the footsteps of Chip Peterson who won the award a year earlier.
DeSelm has been an elite coach at every level during 40 years of collegiate coaching. As an assistant coach at North Carolina (1978-93) and Florida (2000-06), he assisted on teams that won 16 conference championships and placed in the Top 25 on 37 occasions at the NCAA Championships, including 21 Top 10 finishes. As a head coach at Davidson his teams won seven conference championships and placed in the Top 10 of the ECAC Championships seven times in eight years.
A team captain, first-team All-America and long-time assistant coach at Carolina, DeSelm earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from UNC in 1978. He went on to earn a master's degree from Duke in 1988 in liberal studies. He swam at Carolina from 1974-78 as a distance freestyler. He was the captain of coach Frank Comfort's first team in 1978 when he was the squad's most valuable swimmer. In 1976, DeSelm was a first-team All-America selection in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
DeSelm served as head coach designate in 2006-07, and became the head coach when Frank Comfort retired on June 30, 2007. DeSelm had previously worked as Comfort's No. 1 assistant for 15 seasons from 1978-93, years in which the program competed spectacularly in both conference and national competitions. In DeSelm's sole year as the head coach designate, Carolina's women claimed the ACC title for the first time in five years and both the men and women improved their NCAA finishes from the previous campaign. Sixteen swimmers and divers were named to the 2007 All-ACC Teams.
In his first year at the helm of the Carolina program in 2007-08, DeSelm coached the Tar Heels to second-place finishes at the ACC Championships. The men's second-place finish was their highest placing since 2001. For the first time since 2004, three Tar Heel men achieved All-America honors. Tyler Harris won the ACC title and set a UNC record in the 400 IM. Joe Kinderwater claimed the ACC championship and first-team All-America honors in the 1650 freestyle.
He set school records in the 1000 and 1650 freestyles while making the finals of the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 1500-meter freestyle. Junior Whitney Sprague continued her record-setting career with ACC championships in the 500 and 1650 freestyles. She placed second in the NCAA Championships in the 1650 freestyle. The Tar Heel program went to another level during DeSelm's second year at UNC in 2008-09.
Carolina sent nine women and five men to the 2009 NCAA Championships with the women finishing 20th, Carolina's best placing since 2003. Sprague was the NCAA runnerup for the second year in a row in the 1650 freestyle while breaking the ACC record in the event.
Katura Harvey placed seventh at the NCAA meet in the 1650 and broke the ACC record in the 500 freestyle. Layne Brodie was named ACC Freshman-of-the-Year, the first Tar Heel to win the award since Jessi Perruquet in 2003. She broke UNC records in three events and conference records in the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. On the men's side, Tyler Harris broke the 200-yard IM and 400-yard IM school records. Kinderwater placed eighth at NCAAs in the 1650-yard freestyle where he was named first-team All-America and broke the UNC record. Kinderwater also placed fourth at World Championships Trials in the 1500-meter freestyle in 2009. Junior Chip Peterson broke the 500-yard freestyle school record. Sophomore Tommy Wyher captured a pair of ACC titles and set league records in the 100 fly and 100 back and a school record in the 200 back.
Both Tar Heel teams had banner campaigns in 2009-10. The Tar Heel men finished second at the ACC Championships with 656.5 points, the most points UNC had scored in the meet since 2000. Carolina's 15th-place NCAA finish was its best since 1996. Carolina captured an ACC relay title for the first time in 12 years. Three Tar Heels — Joe Kinderwater, Tommy Wyher and Tyler Harris — earned first-team All-America honors for UNC, the most in a single year since 1993. Nine UNC swimmers overall earned first-team or honorable mention All-America accolades, the most since 1996. Eight UNC performers were named All-ACC, the most since 1997. UNC swimmers eclipsed nine school records during the school year. Senior Chip Peterson was named the ACC Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year and a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America. He became the first Tar Heel men's swimmer since 1965 to win the Patterson Medal as the school's outstanding senior athlete. The women's squad improved their point total at ACCs for the second straight year, scoring 642.5 points, the most since 2007. For the second straight year UNC placed 20th at the NCAA Championships and the Tar Heels had relays score for the first time since 2003. Altogether, UNC swimmers established seven school records, including three relay marks. Laura Moriarty won three individual ACC championships, the most by a UNC women's swimmer since Richelle Fox won three titles in 1998. Moriarty earned first-team All-America honors and she was one of seven Tar Heels overall who earned All-America accolades.
DeSelm was an assistant at Carolina from 1978 to 1993. In his 15 years of coaching at Carolina, the Tar Heels won 14 ACC championships, including nine by the women and five by the men. The women had seven Top 10 and 14 Top 20 NCAA finishes, while the men finished in the national Top 25 on 10 occasions.
While at Florida, DeSelm helped recruit and coach men's and women's teams that were consistently among the best in the country. Each year from 2001 through 2006, both the men's and women's swimming teams finished the season in the Top 10 nationally, posting seven top five finishes along the way. The Gators earned more than 300 All-America honors in his six years in Gainesville, including a school-record 26 citations by Carlos Jayme, who DeSelm helped mentor from 2000-2004. Jayme was the 2001 Southeastern Conference Freshman-of-the-Year and the school record holder in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. DeSelm also assisted in the training of Brazilian Olympian Gabriel Mangabiera, who finished fifth in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2004 Olympic Games.
DeSelm led Davidson College to four women's and three men's titles at the Southern States Championships and he earned five coach-of-the-year awards. Mary Shell Brosche won three consecutive Southern States swimmer-of-the-year awards under his tutelage. The Wildcats placed in the Top 10 of the ECAC meet seven times in eight years.
He coached a pair of Tar Heels to berths in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Yann deFabrique, a first-team All-America at Carolina, was the 1993 French national champion in the 400-meter freestyle. David Monasterio, a first-team All-America at UNC in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly, swam on the 1992 Puerto Rican Olympic Team.
Other notable UNC swimmers coached by DeSelm as an assistant from 1979-93 included Sue Walsh, Barb Harris, Polly Winde, James Hamrick, Carrie Szulc, John Davis, Gary Gauch, Melissa Douse and Sarah Perroni. Walsh and Winde were members of the 1983 United States Team in the Pan American Games. While DeSelm was an assistant at Carolina, Walsh won 11 individual national titles and Harris also won an individual title and UNC's women's 200-yard medley relay team also won a national crown.
DeSelm was the assistant manager for the U.S. team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships. He was the head manager for U.S. teams at the 1997 and 1999 Pan Pacific Championships and the 1995 Pan American Games.
DeSelm and his wife, Tracy, a physician, have two children, Grant, 21 years old, was a football and lacrosse player at Chapel Hill High School, graduating in 2014. He is now a senior at the University of Georgia. Claire, 19 years old, graduated from Chapel Hill High School in 2016. She is a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame where she is a member of the women's swimming team. DeSelm is a native of Knoxville, Tenn., and attended high school there and in Jacksonville, Fla., where he graduated from The Bolles School in 1974.
National and international highlights of selected individual swimmers
Coach DeSelm has worked with during head coaching tenures at UNC
and Davidson and an assistant at UNC and Florida.
•Cari Blalock (University of North Carolina): 2013 ACC Swimmer of the Year; ACC champion and first-team All-America in 400 IM and 200 butterfly in 2013. School record holder in 200- and 400-yard IMs.
•Mary Shell Brosche (Davidson College): 1997, 1998, 1999 & 2000 Southern States triple-event individual champion; Female Swimmer of the Meet 3 years.
•Steve Cebertowicz (University of North Carolina): University record holder in 50-yard, 50-meter, 100-yard, 100-meter freestyle; sixth-place finisher in 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle at 2012 NCAA Championships, first Tar Heel to place in both events since Pete Worthen in 1965.
•John Davis (University of North Carolina): 11-time ACC Individual event champion, 1988-1991, most ACC titles by an individual in conference history; twice named ACC meet most outstanding swimmer.
•Yann deFabrique (University of North Carolina): 1992 French Olympic Team; placed 14th in 400-meter free in Barcelona; 1993 French National Champion in 400-meter free; 1993 World University Games 200-meter free Champion, representing France; finished sixth in the 200 fly and 9th in the 500 free at the 1993 NCAA Championships.
•Melissa Douse (University of North Carolina): 1992 ACC Swimmer of the Year and ACC Championships most outstanding swimmer; 1991 ACC Champion in 100 Free; At 1990 NCAAs was member of 4th-place & 5th-place sprint freestyle relay teams.
•Maureen Farrell (University of Florida): 17-time NCAA All-America from 2002-2005; NCAA record holder as member of 800 free relay; 5th at 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in 200 Back.
•Gary Gauch (University of North Carolina): 1990 and 1991 ACC Champion in 100 breaststroke. Led UNC to three ACC team titles.
•James Hamrick (University of North Carolina): Made 1993 U.S. Team for World University Games in 400-meter freestyle; at 1993 NCAAs, he was 5th in 500 Free, 8th in 1650 Free and 12th in 200 Free; Member of 4th place 800 Free Relay Team at 1993 NCAAs; At 1992 NCAAs, he was 6th in 500 Free and 10th in 1650 Free.
•Tyler Harris (University of North Carolina): ACC Champion in 400 IM in 2008 & 2011 and in 200 IM in 2011. First-team All-America in 400 IM in 2010 & 2011. Bronze Medalist in 400-meter IM at 2011 World University Games. UNC short course record holder in 400 IM and 200 IM. School long course record holder in 200 IM and 400 IM. ACC runner-up in three events in 2010. Member 2011 USA Swimming National Team.
•Katura Harvey (University of North Carolina): ACC 500 freestyle champion in 2009. Finished 7th at NCAAs in 1650 freestyle in 2009; NCAA first-team All-America in 2009; All-ACC in 200, 500 and 1650 free, 2009.
•Meredith Hoover (University of North Carolina): First-team All-America in 200 fly in both 2013 & 2014; 2014 ACC champion in 200 fly; conference record holder in the event. Winner of 2014 ACC Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship.
•Carlos Jayme (University of Florida): From to 2001-2004 was a 26-time NCAA All- America (most All-America citations in Florida men's swimming history); 2001 SEC Freshman-of-the-Year; 2003 SEC Champion in 100 Free; Florida school record holder in 50 Free, 100 Free and as member of 200 free relay, 400 free relay & 400 medley relay teams.
•Joe Kinderwater (University of North Carolina): ACC champion in 1650 Free, 2008; ACC runner-up in 1650 Free in 2010 & 2011; 5th place at NCAAs in 1650 Free in 2008; 8th place at NCAAs in 1650 Free in 2009; 6th place at NCAAs in 1650 Free in 2010; 5th place at NCAAs in 1650 Free in 2011; earned four straight first-team All-America citations in 1650 Free; Olympic Trials finalist, 1500 Free, 2008; 4th-place finish in the 1500-meter free at U.S. World Championships Trials, 2009; School record holder in 1000 & 1650 freestyles.
•Tom Luchsinger (University of North Carolina): Member 2011, 2012 & 2013 USA Swimming National Teams; U.S. Swimming National Champion in 2013 in 200-meter butterfly. Member of U.S. team at 2013 World Championships; 2013 ACC Swimmer of the Year; 2012 & 2013 ACC champion in 400-yard IM; 2011, 2012 & 2013 ACC champion in 200 fly; 2013 NCAA finalist in 200 butterfly; University record holder in 200-yard fly and 200-meter fly.
•Gabriel Mangabiera (University of Florida): Member of 2004 Brazilian Olympic Team (5th in 100-meter Butterfly); 2004 3-time Brazilian National Champion; South American Record holder in 100-meter butterfly; 15-time NCAA All-America; SEC Champion, 100 Back, 2003; Florida school record holder in 100 Back and as member of 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay & 400 medley relay teams.
•Hellen Moffitt (University of North Carolina): 2017 ACC champion in 100 fly; 2017 first-team All-America in both 100 fly and 100 back; 2017 World University Games gold medalist in 100-meter butterfly; school record holder in 100-yard fly, 100-yard back, 200-yard back.
•David Monasterio (University of North Carolina): 1992 Puerto Rican Olympic Team in Barcelona; at 1992 ACCs, he was champion in 500 Free and in 200 Fly; Member of 4th place 800 Free Relay Team at 1993 NCAAs.
•Laura Moriarty (University of North Carolina): Three-time ACC champion in 2010 (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 breaststroke); First-Team All-America in 200 Breast, 2010. Moriarty set school records in the 200 breast and 400 IM.
•Hendrik Odendaal (University of Florida): 2001 & 2002 NCAA All-America; Champion in South African National Championships; Member of 2002 South African Commonwealth Games Team.
•Stephanie Peacock (University of North Carolina): 2012 NCAA champion, 1650-yard freestyle; Bronze medalist, 400-meter free, 2011 World University Games; 2013 World University Games Selection where she won gold and silver medals; 2015 World University Games bronze medalist; set ACC records in 500-yard freestyle, 1000-yard freestyle, 1650-yard freestyle; was NCAA record holder in 1000-yard and 1650-yard freestyles; 2012 ACC Swimmer of the Year and ACC Meet most outstanding swimmer; placed 3rd in 800-meter free at 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.
•Sarah Perroni (University of North Carolina): At 1991 NCAAs, she was member of 6th-pace & 9th-place sprint free relays; at 1990 NCAAs, she took 8th place in 100 Free, 14th place in 50 Free and was a member of 4th-place & 5th-place sprint free relay teams.
•Chip Peterson (University of North Carolina): ACC runner-up in 1650 Free in 2007; ACC champion in 1650 Free in 2010; took 6th place at NCAAs in 1650 Free in 2007; National and World Open Water Swimming Champion; school record holder in 500-yard freestyle; Patterson Medal winner as UNC's outstanding senior athlete in 2010 (first male swimmer to win award since 1965); long-time member of U.S. National Team in open water swimming, concluding career at 2017 World Championships; former UNC assistant coach; gold medalist at 2007 & 2015 Pan American Games.
•Whitney Sprague (University of North Carolina): ACC Champion, 500 & 1650 freestyles in both 2007 & 2008; Two-time 2nd place finisher at NCAAs in 1650 Free in 2008 & 2009; took 3rd place at NCAAs in 1650 Free in 2007. Set the ACC and UNC records in the 500, 1000 & 1650 freestyles.
•Carrie Szulc (University of North Carolina): At 1993 World University Games she took 5th Place in 400 IM representing U.S.; Two-time NCAA finalist in 400 IM taking sixth place in 1992 and eighth place in 1993; 1992 ACC champion in 200 IM & 400 IM.
•Darian Townsend (University of Florida): 6-time NCAA All America in 2005; 2005 SEC Champion in 200 Freestyle; member of NCAA record setting 800 Free Relay Team; South African Commonwealth Games Team member; 2-time NCAA All-America in 2006.
•Ashley Twichell (North Carolina Aquatic Club): Won gold and silver medals in open water swimming at 2017 World Championships; 2017 U.S. open water national champion.
•Sue Walsh (University of North Carolina): From 1981-1984, she was an 11-time AIAW and NCAA Champion (10 individual, 1 relay); Set American Records in 50-meter backstroke, 100-meter backstroke, 100-yard backstroke; Three-time ACC Championships most outstanding swimmer; won 10 of 11 backstroke races in national collegiate championship meets from 1981-84.
•Candice Weimann (University of Florida): 5-time NCAA All-America in 2005 after transferring from Alabama where she was a 4-time NCAA All-America in 2004; broke Dara Torres' 17-year-old Florida school record in 100 Fly; 5-time NCAA All-America in 2006.
•Polly Winde (University of North Carolina): From 1982-1985 she was a multiple NCAA & U.S. Swimming Nationals individual finalist; 1983 U.S. Pan American Games Team Member; four-time ACC champion in 400 IM.
•Tommy Wyher (University of North Carolina): ACC Champion, 100 Back from 2008-2011 & 100 Fly in 2009 & 2010; ACC Record Holder, 100 Back & 100 Fly; First-Team All-America, 100 Fly (5th Place Finish), 2010; School Record Holder, 200 Back.


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Statement jewellery is everywhere right now, and it doesn't look as if its going to be leaving any time soon. Personally I am a huge fan of statement pieces, especially when it comes to jewellery so I am loving this trend. You can find such a huge variety on the high street so I wanted to share a few bits that I have picked up over the past two or three weeks.
The necklace with the pearls and the one with the spikes are both from Primark and if I remember correctly were around the £4 mark. I really liked these two when I found them, the spikes are more on the edgy side and the pearls well... pearls are just one of my favourite things so I just fell for it, it looks great with black lace tops. I have been wearing the spikes with blacks and greys and it just finishes outfit off nicely. The other two are from H&M. The neon coral roses I just knew I wanted when I seen it, its not as big as the others but it is very bright. I think it will look great in summer with some white and navy pieces, and great with black just now as the colour is so bright it will just stand out beautifully. The last one I had no outfits in mind when I bought it, it just looked ridiculously pretty in the bright store lights and the colours change when you move. It was the most expensive being around £12 with the roses only being £4.99. Yes...to some these piece will be a little gaudy and a little too bright and garish but I think that I what can make them fun to wear. It is sometimes nice to add a little something different to an outfit.
Even though this is somewhat of a recent trend I have had a few bits of statement jewellery for quite a few years now.
These are two of my favourites and the two I would consider to be the biggest in terms of size and impact. They are both from the Danish brand Pilgrim. I have been collecting Pilgrim jewellery from years now, I even have a Pilgrim Jewellery box! I find the designs so interesting and so different from what you can find elsewhere. It can be a little pricey so most of what I have where gifts as I was much younger when I started and couldn't really afford to buy any myself. The gold necklace looks beautiful on especially with a v-neck or over a very high neck and the stones catch the light so nicely. The butterfly is quite large and sits high on your chest. Because it is so large it can catch a lot of attention, over the years it has had its fair share of compliments.
What are your thoughts on statement jewellery? Do you love it or do you think they can be a bit too much? As I said I love them! I think a statement necklace can add so much to a simple rather plain outfit, turning it into something special. It can instantly make an outfit dressier without much at all. I will definitely be looking out for one or two more pieces.
Thanks for reading :)
14 more sleeps!!!


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Welcom to Hoover ElementaryPhysical EducationPart of your child's educational experience at Hoover Elementary is participation in regular physical education. Physical Education is a class designed to develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for leading a physically active lifestyle. Lessons will focus on various topics such as physical fitness, health, and life-long physical activities. The physical education program will also provide afterschool activities and special events throughout the year. We look forward to your support and participation throughout the 2017-2018 school year.
Last Modified on September 27, 2018


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Gill Stewart, writing as Gillian Villars, tells us about 'Tomorrow's Promise' – The Evolution of a Story
In her recent post , Kate Harrison discussed the task of re-writing a story once the novel had actually been published. That really is quite a challenge and it was fascinating to read about it. The evolution of my story has been slightly different and probably easier as it has not taken place 'in public'.
The story I'm referring to is 'Tomorrow's Promise', my second People's Friend Pocket Novel which is out now. The title was new to me and made me think about all the evolutions this story has been through to reach eventual publication.
Firstly the title – it started off in my head as 'Lara' and stayed with that title for years. Then when PF accepted it, it was as 'Lara of Ladybank Row'. And now it is published under the completely different title of 'Tomorrow's Promise'.
But it's not only the title that has been evolving. The story itself has changed many times, although as always been essentially the same – the story of Lara, a teacher, who takes on the challenge of a new job and run down house, who is quite happy thank you and certainly isn't looking for love or reconciliation with her parents, but through the novel finds both…
In its original incarnation the story was intended to be the first of a trilogy, each centring on the love story of one of three friends. The second incarnation was as a novel in its own right, with some of the friends' stories woven in. The third and final version was altered to suit the format of the People's Friend Pocket Novel and had to be considerably shortened (it helped having to take out all the swear words and sex!).
This is a story I am very fond of and I'm delighted I didn't give up on it and that it has eventually found a home. For me it shows that the saying 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again' is very true, especially when it comes to writing.


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So, I was reading Roger Ebert's blog -- it's excellent, BTW. I think it's the second-best written blog I know of, after Grace Undressed, which I wrote about on Blogroll Amnesty Day, and has the best comments, often with responses from the Great Man himself, which is pretty unusual for someone of his stature. Anyway, I was reading his blog and he wrote about the movie The Reader, and how it isn't a "Holocaust movie," it's a movie about a moral dilemma. And that reminded me of something I'd written before, but never put on my blog:
My grandfather was a Nazi.
My grandfather was a schoolteacher in Bochum, Germany, during the Nazi regime. By law, all public employees, and schoolteachers particularly, were required to become members of the Nazi party. Opa, however, didn't join for several years. Ordinarily, a teacher would have been presented with an ultimatum -- join the party immediately or lose his job -- shortly after the rule went into effect.
My grandfather, however, was protected by his status as a World War I vet -- he lost a leg in combat, was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class, etc. Essentially he was a war hero, the German equivalent of a Purple Heart veteran, a type of person for whom the Nazis professed great respect. By 1942, however, things were coming to a head. Some of Opa's friends learned there was a movement to have him fired. A delegation of his friends went to him and told him what would happen if he didn't join the party.
Opa had never been a believer in Nazi ideology, and he was no anti-Semite. My mother has a vivid memory of him angrily telling her never to talk that way the only time she repeated an anti-Jewish remark in his presence. But he was 45 years old. His disability rendered him unfit for manual labor, the only kind of work he would possibly be trusted with -- if he avoided prison -- if he were fired for refusing to join the party. He had a wife and four children under the age of 10 to support.
So he joined the party. He became a Nazi in 1942. Nothing else changed; he didn't go off and work as a guard in a concentration camp or anything, he just went on teaching school. As a member of the Nazi party.
What would you have done?


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Here we will compare the HTC Droid Incredible vs iPhone 4 in terms of features and capabilities. The HTC Droid Incredible is one of Verizon Wireless' top smartphone offerings today. It's a great follow-up to old HTC Android phones. Being the successor to a series of great smartphones, this phone has successfully beaten its predecessors in so many ways. But the question is, can it stand its ground against the feature-rich iPhone 4?
Read on as we compare these two great smartphones based on their features, design and performance.
Design and Form Factor
When it comes to looks and design, I have yet to find a smartphone that matches up with the iPhone's industrial design. The HTC Droid Incredible is no exception. While the phone sports a handsome design of its own, when compared with the iPhone 4, it just doesn't measure up. Probably it's because the HTC Droid Incredible is mostly made of plastic material as compared to the iPhone 4's metallic and glass make up which is more durable and sturdy while emitting an aura of elegance and class. When it comes to their dimensions, both smartphones are thin with the iPhone slightly thinner at 0.37 inches as compared with the Incredible's 0.47 inches thickness. But of course whichever is the better-looking device still depends on individual preference. As for me, I prefer the iPhone 4's design and form factor to that of the HTC Droid Incredible.
Display Features or Retina vs AMOLED
Like our previous comparison article for iPhone 4 and Samsung Captivate, the comparison between the iPhone 4 and HTC Droid Incredible's display features is similar in various ways. The only difference here is the fact that the HTC Droid Incredible sports a smaller display than the Samsung Captivate – 3.7 inches to be exact. As you all know the iPhone 4 has a 3.5 inch display with a resolution of 640 x 960 pixels while the Incredible only supports a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. When it comes to display, the iPhone 4 is slightly better than the HTC Droid Incredible. This is especially true when displaying text on the iPhone 4's Retina display – it is more visible.
Another point of comparison is with regards to the phone's brightness levels. The iPhone 4 wins in this battle for having more luminance when viewed at all angles.
Performance and Battery Life
Looking into both phone's speakers, which drive call quality, the HTC Droid Incredible slightly beats the iPhone 4. The Incredible has a louder speaker which produces clearer voices during calls. This is not true for the iPhone 4 which, based on my personal experience has some noises in the background which affect the clarity of voice calls. When it comes to reliability of connection to the network, of course as we all know the iPhone 4 is beset by the dropping signals and loss of reception due to the Antenna Gate issue. This is never a problem with the Incredible which has a strong and solid connection to the network.
When it comes to battery life, the iPhone 4 wins the battle. It can last up to around 36 hours of normal usage as compared to the HTC Droid Incredible's full day's usage time.
Multimedia Features
At first you would think that the HTC Droid Incredible has a better camera than the iPhone – 8MP vs 5MP, but it's not. The iPhone 4 is capable of capturing sharper and more natural looking photos than the Incredible. Another problem with the Droid Incredible's camera is the dual LED flash which, when used, gives photos an over-exposed look, especially in low light environments.
Apple iPhone 4 vs HTC Droid Incredible, which has the better video playback feature? Both. The iPhone 4 and HTC Droid Incredible are capable of running videos smoothly with detailed colors. But unfortunately, the HTC Droid Incredible can only record 800 x 480 pixel resolution videos at 27 FPS. Compare this with the iPhone 4's 720p video capture features at 39 FPS and we don't have a fair comparison.
Another area where the iPhone 4 beats the HTC Droid Incredible is on the video chat facility. The iPhone 4's FaceTime is one of the best things to happen to the iPhone 4. Plus of course its front-facing camera which enables the FaceTime feature. Too bad, the HTC Droid Incredible can only do voice chat through the Fring Android app.
Finally, how good is that multimedia content if you can't store it on your device for viewing any time, anywhere? In this regard, the HTC Droid Incredible beats the iPhone 4. The Droid Incredible has 8GB internal storage which you won't probably use because it also has support for microSD. The iPhone 4 only has internal memory storage which is good at up to 32GB.
Which is the Better Smartphone?
Obviously, the iPhone 4 is the better of these two devices. While each of these smartphones has its respective strengths and weaknesses, the iPhone 4's shortcoming are too minor compared to its many positive features. To be precise, the iPhone 4's features can bring the the HTC Droid Incredible's features down, any time.
Yes, the iPhone 4 is obviously the better device. However, there is still a captured market for the HTC Droid Incredible. Some of them simply hate the iPhone 4 and would claim that the HTC Droid Incredible is the better device.
Which is the better device? That will ultimately depend on your personal preferences.
- iPhone 4 images courtesy of Apple, https://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=OTY2ODA2OQ
- HTC Droid Incredible images courtesy of HTC, https://www.htc.com/us/products/droid-incredible-verizon#overview


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Facebook Updates User Controls On iOS, Android And Desktop Coming Soon
Social media behemoth Facebook has updated the controls on its news feed, giving users more control over what they're able to see.
The new features include Select friends and Pages to see first – Choose the friends and Pages that you would like to see at the top of your News Feed.
Find new Pages to connect to – Based on Pages you've liked in the past, you can discover new Pages you might be interested in.
Select which friends and Pages to follow or unfollow – You can now see a list of the top people, Pages and groups that you've seen in your News Feed over the past week, as well as who you've unfollowed in the past. You can easily tweak your preferences at any time.
"The goal of News Feed is to show you the stories that matter most to you," said Facebook in a blog post. "To do this, we use ranking to order stories based on how interesting we believe they are to you: specifically, whom you tend to interact with, and what kinds of content you tend to like and comment on.
"We're always working to improve and personalise your News Feed experience. We know that ultimately you're the only one who truly knows what is most meaningful to you and that is why we want to give you more ways to control what you see."


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First Big Day Of The Year
What a lovely day and a great turnout.
There was a total of 15 aerotows done today.
Lots of time in the air and several cross country flights.
Cloud base was up to around 5500 feet and average climbs of around 6 knots.
It wasn't all roses though and there were some difficult bits so well done to all those who had a go.
Thanks to Maureen for providing the tows and sorry to those who had to spend the day in work.


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With a baby coming in 11 days, the last thing I want to think about is dusting the ceiling, ceiling fans, wiping down the cabinets in the kitchen, scrubbing the tub, etc. Of course I WANT my house clean, but bending, kneeling, squatting…. none of that sounds like something I could handle at this point! In comes the King of Maids. The King of Maids has locations in Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonia, Texas. This review is for the Chicago location.
We have a 3 bedroom 2 bath home (1 bath is under construction). Our home has a living room/dining room combo and a family room. We only had the maids do the main living area and not go into the basement at all. I was very happy to see the maids show up right on time. This is my first time ever having anyone clean my house, so it was a very strange feeling to me. The maids came in and asked for a quick tour and got to work. They brought all of their own supplies so I didn't have to supply anything, not even a vacuum.
I ran to the store while they were cleaning and let me tell you how awesome it was to come home to a clean home! My ceiling fans look wood again instead of like some kind of fuzzy creature hanging from my ceiling! They cleaned all the cobwebs around the ceilings, wiped off baseboards, vacuumed all the rooms, and dusted all the dressers. In the kitchen they cleaned the microwave, stove, wiped down the cabinets and counters, cleaned the sink, swept and mopped the floor. In the bathroom they cleaned the tub, wiped down the sink, counter, and cabinet, cleaned the toilet and did the floor.
After the maids left, my husband said he'd really like to see us have someone come in once a month to do the cleaning we don't get to. That would make a happy wife!! For my house, a one time clean is $139 to start. They offer discounts if you schedule monthly (10%), every other week (15%), or weekly (20%). They even offer a referral service which gets you $15 off your clean and your friend will get $15 off of their first clean as well.
I am offering a 20% off coupon code for your first clean. Use the code: FROSTEDFINGERS. Also I'm giving away a cleaning to one lucky Chicago resident. Just be sure that you are in the service area for the Chicago office by filling out the pricing quote on the site. It will tell you when you enter your zip code if they cover your area. If The King of Maids cleans in your area and you'd like to win, please comment below and I'll choose a random winner!
I would definitely use King of Maids in the future, but unfortunately they don't normally clean where I live. I'm pretty bummed about that!
Note: I was given a house cleaning in exchange for my review, but all opinions are my own. Giveaway ends 12/17/15. No purchase is necessary to win and will not increase your chances. Winner will be chosen randomly.


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Autonomous Tuggers Pull Their Weight in FedEx Hub
March 19, 2018
Autonomous, or driverless, tuggers are being used by FedEx Ground to transport bulky packages through hub facilities. The tuggers know the shape of the building and are packed with sensors.
These large e-commerce deliveries (trampolines, exercise equipment, canoes, etc) represent the fastest growing portion of FedEx Ground package volume, currently about 10% of total volume.
Using automated tuggers for repetitive, simple tasks allows team members to focus on high-value, skilled work. [Related: check out more in the New York Times.]
Watch more Tech Minutes videos about robots and yard management system.
Autonomous Tuggers wow! Impressive!
Those tugs are so awesome!!
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Belfast, Northern Ireland
In his own words Jason is 'a designer who likes to keep things simple'. Bob and Betty were brought to life using matchstick drawings and buttons, Bap is the slang word for head in Northern Ireland, hence the name Buttonbaps! Jason's greeting cards have been made and printed on the highest quality recycled card.


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Bedford based, website design & development agency offering web design and development services, flash banner creation and email marketing.
Xigen Limited, Stephenson Court, Fraser Road, Priory Business Park, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK44 3WJ
During Ramadan, all Muslims, who can afford it, are required to contribute a proportion of their wealth to those less fortunate. Unicef wanted to help make this process as simple as possible for those people who do this deed during the holy month.


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Save project. Save your image buttons as html
You can save current project in the project file (*.xwb) or into the HTML file (*.html).Web With Photoshop
Overlap all Html Elements on the Page
Submenus drop down over all the objects of the page (select, flash, object, embed).Button Save In HTML
Export graphic picture
Using Vista Buttons you can save menu graphic picture as gif-files (*.gif).Drop Down Menu XP
Insert button script into the existing HTML page
You can insert your button script into the existing HTML page. To do so, click "Page insert" button on the Toolbar.Image In HTML Button
Menu Template:Green Toolbars Buttons
Website Icon Button
This menu is generated by Vista Buttons.
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Menu, Button, and Icon CollectionVista Buttons provides huge collection of 1400 web buttons, 6600 icons, 300 ready-made samples, so you'll create really nice looking menus and buttons with little or nodesign skills at all! Web 2.0, Mac, iPhone, Aqua buttons, Vista, XP, transparent, round, glossy, metallic, 3d, tab menus, drop down menus will be a breeze!
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- Now let's set the html buttons web-behavior. That is, set their Link properties. To set the button link, select the button by clicking it and then enter the link address in the "Link" field on the Properties toolbox.
Another way to set the button link is to select it and then click the "Select page" button on the Properties toolbox. Open dialog will appear, in which you can select the page you would like to link to. This page's address will then appear in the "Link" field.
- Also, you can assign link target attributes for each button. This will define where a linked page will be opened in your Web-browser. For example "_blank" attribute will open the linked page in new browser window. Note that link target attribute act exactly like the Target attribute of the <a> tag in HTML. To set button link target attribute, just select the button and then either choose one of the predefined values from the "Link target attributes" list on the Properties toolbox or enter your own value (window/frame name, where the linked page should be opened). Learn more about link target attributes from the user guide.
- Use images for backgrounds of submenus and items, icons, arrows. Using web images you can create menus completely based on graphics. Design both horizontal and vertical menus and submenus with any amount of menus on a single page. Place any HTML code inside the menu item - be it a flash-object, form, picture, or text. This ability lets you to build various menus of any complexity.
SupportPlease contact Customer Support at (please include template name in the message title)
- "..How do I make the sub-menu backgrounds non-transparent so that web page text that is behind the sub-menus when the website menus open does not appear?"
- ".. Can site buttons be added to my existing web pages and how easy is it to update once it is installed and do? " Input Buttons Style
- "..The submenu of a menu buttons do not appear in front of a flash movie, it is allways under it. "
- ".. How SEO friendly is the button maker software? "
- "..I want the web page navigation bar in the top frame but the sub menus to appear in the bottom frame."
- ".. I want to clone one of your vista button, make some changes, and save the changed button to a new theme and I'm having trouble figuring out how to do that."


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Groom's Tux Free -- The groom's tuxedo is complementary with a wedding party of 5 or more. Stop in for details today!
Ring Bearer's Special -- The ring bearer's tuxedo (select styles) only $75 with a wedding party of 5 or more. Stop by to get all the details.
Wedding Gown Preservation -- 20% off the bride's gown preservation when the groom and his groomsmen rent their tuxedos from us.
We'd love to hear from you.
Call or stop by
Jimmy's Tailor Shop
and Formal Wear
22 E. Vine St.
Millville, NJ 08332
Phone: 856-825-7790
Monday - Friday
8:300am - 5:30pm
9:00 - 2:00
Or By Appointment
Call us at:
Click HERE for all specials
Custom alterations
Always the perfect fit at the right price at Jimmy's Tailor Shop and Formal Wear


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Hotline : (84-4) 37474138
Email : firstname.lastname@example.com
International Tour Operator Licence No : 01-217/2010/TCDL-GPLHQT
Ngày đăng : 4/16/2013
Vungtau is a resort town in Baria - Vungtau, located 125 kilometers from Hochiminh City. It houses many bungalows and vacation homes from olden days, besides large and modern hotels.
There are many tourist attractions in here, including beaches, pagodas and temples, many leaning against the mountains and face the oceans. Not surprisingly Vungtau is windy all year long with a very pleasant average temperature of 28 degrees centigrade which makes it a popular destination for sightseeing in Vietnam.
Along with being one of the tourist city, Vungtau is also a centre of services for the exploitation of gas and oil and fishing.
Others 'Ba Ria - Vung Tau Attractions'
Sales Manager
Mr. The Hau
Phone : (+84-4)3 7245 364
Email : firstname.lastname@example.com
Gallery - Incentive group of Philip Morris Singapore Pte. Ltd from 20-23 April 2011
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Mammals of Thailand
9 galleries
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26 imagesBats are the second largest order of mammals (after the rodents), representing about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with about 1,240 bat species divided into two suborders: the less specialized and largely fruit-eating megabats, or flying foxes, and the highly specialized and echolocating microbats. About 70% of bat species are insectivores. Most of the rest are frugivores, or fruit eaters.
52 imagesCivets is the common name is used for a variety of carnivorous mammalian species, mostly of the family Viverridae. They are small, lithe-bodied, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests.
59 imagesWild Asian or Asiatic Elephants (Elephas maximus), sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies, the Indian Elephant, is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas. It is the largest living land animal in Thailand.
108 imagesA selection of wildlife photographs showing some of the mammals found in the National Parks of Thailand, that we do not cover in our other galleries.
262 imagesPrimates belong to class Mammalia of phylum Chordata. They include apes, monkeys, and humans. In taxonomy, the order Primates is the highest order of mammals. They are placental mammals with good eyesight and flexible hands and feet.
104 imagesRodents (from Latin rodere, "to gnaw") are mammals of the order Rodentia, which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents.
247 imagesDeer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the family include Sambar deer, muntjac such as the common muntjac or barking deer, Fea's muntjac, Hog deer and Eld's deer. Also there are the closely related Chevrotains or mouse deer which we will include in this gallery. Male deer of all Thai deer species grow and shed new antlers each year.
127 imagesThailand's wild cats are extremely elusive. In particular, its tigers are extremely rare as well as cryptic and few pictures exist of them. It is estimated that approx 200 tigers still exist hidden deep inside Thailand's forests. Which is the largest population of the endangered Indochinese tigers in nay country in the world. Since 2010 we have been using automated cameras to capture glimpses of these rare creatures deep inside Thailand's dense forests. All of the cats shown in these galleries are wild and photographed in their natural habitats. ThailandWildlife shows no pictures of captive animals in any of its galleries.
33 imagesThe wild dogs of Thailand's National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries consist of the Asian Wild Dog or Dhole (Cuon Alpinus) and the Golden or Asiatic Jackal (Canis Aureus).


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Love. It's a strong word. What I meant when I wrote it on my rock, was to love everyone no matter what. You don't know what people are going through when you talk to them. Even if they're your best friend. Don't ever hate someone or be mean to anyone because they are having an … Continue reading Love Rock
high school
I think high school is kind of stupid. Why should I have to take a class that I won't use when I get older. When am I going to need to understand what James Madison thought of factions in the 1700s or when am I going to need to know what the difference between an … Continue reading high school
I hate being sick
Being sick is horrible. I'd rather be so sick that I can't go to school than have a cold. Overall I'd rather not be sick. Waking up and not being able to breathe... walking around all day feeling achy... feeling like you're going to pass out... I'd rather be at home all day sleeping in … Continue reading I hate being sick
i love you
i love you three words three words that when said too many times, it starts to lose meaning three words that could be just as powerful as it was the first time three words that you really can't describe three words the remind you of someone even when you don't want to think about them … Continue reading i love you
It's Fall Y'all!!
So its finally fall and I'm so excited. But since I live in a state that doesn't have consistent weather... it's really cold already. Although, it seems like the whole United States is like that. I have a lot of exciting events coming up and I can't wait! Have you ever been so excited for … Continue reading It's Fall Y'all!!
Whats to come?
Have you ever been so scared you're going to lose something that you really don't want to lose? Personally, I think about losing things a lot. I have so many great things in my life and I'm scared that one day I'm going to get too annoying or needy and my friends, who I love, … Continue reading Whats to come?
Blog # 2: Are we even real?
Today in psychology we learned about sensation and perception. My teacher gave us the example of thinking about your car, then he began to tell us that the image you see when you think of your car isn't actually an image at all. In order to have a picture and see what you're thinking about, … Continue reading Blog # 2: Are we even real?


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Beef Short Ribs (bone in)
Italian Sausage
½ cup diced onion
½ cup diced celery
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 cup tomato paste
1 ½ cups crushed tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
4 cans (15oz) tomato sauce
4 cups hot water
¼ cup sugar
2 to 4 whole boiled eggs, peeled
DirectionsSalt & Pepper to taste the beef short ribs. Drizzle olive oil in medium heat pan and cook all sides of ribs til golden brown.
Sauce: In medium heat sauce pan, add olive oil, celery and onion and cook until clear – do not brown. Add tomato paste and allow to cook for 30 or 40 minutes for best results. Stirring occasionally. Stir in 4 cans of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. Add hot water and allow to come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, add seared ribs and Italian sausage and allow to simmer for 3 hours. Sauce will reduce down. About an hour before serving, add boiled eggs.
Serve sauce hot over cooked pasta with meat. Top with bread crumbs, if desired.


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These checklists are intended to give you an idea of what you should get from good equipment and a good alarm service. When looking for an alarm, you can print out this page and tick off the points for each of your choices.
Portable trigger
- Is the portable trigger comfortable to wear?
- Can it be worn in different ways - around your neck, wrist or on clothes?
- Is it easy for you to press the button?
- Will it set off the alarm from anywhere in your home and garden?
- Does it look substantial enough to stand up to knocks and drops?
- Does it automatically send a low-battery warning to the alarm centre?
- Does the manufacturer or alarm scheme regularly replace triggers or their batteries?
The alarm unit
- Does the alarm unit provide full two-way speech?
- Will the button be easy to see and use in an emergency?
- Does it have battery back-up power that lasts at least eight hours?
- Does it warn you if mains power fails or back-up batteries run low?
- Does it warn the centre if power fails or batteries run low?
- Are there clear signals to show that an alarm call is getting through?
- Does it warn you if the telephone line is faulty or disconnected?
- Can it be used with other types of triggers that you need?
The call centre
- Is the alarm centre a member of the Telecare Services Association (TSA)?
- Does the centre provide cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?
- Are all calls answered quickly? The TSA requires 80% in half a minute and 98.5% in one minute.
- Are there at least two operators at all times to answer calls?
- Do all operators take account of the user's wishes when deciding what to do?
- Are there procedures to ensure operators provide appropriate assistance in a wide range of circumstances?
- Is all information on service users kept and handled confidentially by all staff?
- Does the centre work well with emergency services in your area?
- If the centre holds keys to users' homes, are they kept securely and identified only by code?
- Does the centre check from time to time that users are satisfied with the service?
- Does the centre have a complaints procedure that all users are told about?
- Can the centre continue to work if essential services such as telephone or electricity fail?
Last updated: October 2012
Previous: Using an alarm | Checklist | Next: Test reports


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In Louisville, and across Kentucky and neighboring states of Ohio and Indiana, we talk to many borrowers with student loans. Often they have found themselves having trouble with repayment, given the difficulty in finding jobs and, as important, finding jobs that pay enough so they can afford to live and repay the loans.
Many believe that student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and are practically ready to give up. While many student loans may not be dischargeable in bankruptcy, there are circumstances that may permit a discharge. Even if you cannot obtain an outright discharge for your student loans, filing a Chapter 13 can greatly help your financial situation.
To receive a discharge of your student loan, you need to show 'undue hardship.' This is measured by the three-part Brunner test. This is test was once very difficult to meet, because you need to show that you cannot maintain a 'minimal standard' of living, that your financial situation will not improve for the foreseeable future and that you have made a good faith effort to repay the loan.
Sadly, the second factor has become easier to show given the lack of hiring and job growth since the recession. The long-term contraction of the job market may mean you may never be able to obtain a job in your field of training, and if you are saddled with six-figures of debt, your situation may be so dire as to qualify under Brunner for discharge.
Because this can be very factually specific, you need to discuss this issue with a bankruptcy attorney.
Source: Huffington Post, "What Can I Do About My Overwhelming Student Loan Debt?" Steve Rhode, May 14, 2013


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After a year's long planning and confusion (to be or not to be), we sat out on our journey to Goa from Vadodara. One insane man, a nagging wife and 2 pure souls (pure till now; as one is 7 and one 8 months old). All of us sat in Datsun Go+ to accomplish a 2 days long journey. I hope it doesn't sound like a Go+ advertisement- but kids had a sound sleep in the car, since we started early. Thankfully they did not have to compromise on their comfy bed sleep. Check out the pic- I call it BECAR ( bed+car) room.
We started at 5:00 am on 18th August'16 from Vadodara and took NH8 which was not as calm as expected. Dominated mostly by heavy trucks, my husband needs three cheers for driving with patience amongst the six tyres giants. Thankfully we crossed the Bharuch Bridge without any hassle (if you have never been there then u have been saved from its famous jams). But who can be spared from the Mumbai Traffic? After a lot of "where" and "how to take the turn" it was Thane and finally Mumbra bypass. That was the end of ear piercing vehicle sounds that may irritate you till your last breath.
The inside of Maharashtra is an intricate network of roads with greenery on both sides. The small towns and villages are clean and you will see hard working Maharastrian women, all around. Snake like roads are well maintained and smooth for a great car ride. It was a fun journey (pardon the fact that we were traveling with a little boy who had his "time-ups" after every two hours).
After crossing Kashedi Ghaat (Raigarh district) which was pretty difficult for me because of the twists and turns (better than many TV series), we reached Chiplun. Ahh! Forgot to mention that various websites have benchmarked
Kashedi Ghat (a particular spot) as haunted. But don't tie back your adventurous soul reading them. I feel it's more of an accident prone area due to the swirling turn. When you drive there just be a little extra cautious and patient. Back to Chiplun- it was our hault for the day. It was a long journey of 15 hours (due to various factors) but I am sure it can be squeezed into lesser hours. After being car jacked for so long Hotel Reemz was a pleasant encounter. Situated on Mumbai-Goa highway (NH66) it is a 3star luxurious one with spacious rooms and good food. And wallah! We got a good off-season discount too. Finally out of the car- kids were happy!!


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Why is earth called the blue planet? Why is Earth the only planet where life exists? The answer to these important questions is one Water!
Images of the Earth captured from space, depict a beautiful blue planet, covered in oceans and seas that make up almost ¾ of the surface of the earth. It is the only planet in the solar system where humans can live thanks to the presence of water. No other planet in our solar system has other life forms, oceans, or oxygen to breathe comfortably. Earth is referred to as the blue planet because of the immense water content. 71% of the surface of earth is water.
Earth Is A Water Planet
Though 71% of the earth is covered with water, it is not drinkable, as it is either in a frozen form or is salty. Earth is the only planet orbiting the Sun, that is called a water planet, water is present on it surface in the form of gas, ice and liquid. Fresh water covers rivers and lakes by less than 1%. Thick sheets of ice cover the Polar Regions while glaciers are spread across the high mountains. Half of the surface of the earth is covered by masks of clouds, while volcanic eruptions continuously extract gases and water from the Earth's interior surface. The presence of so much liquid on the planet makes it quite unique. Due to the presence of so much water, Earth is often referred to as the Blue Planet.
Water Movement
Earth is often referred to as the blue planet, due to the presence of huge water across its surface. Water usually moves rapidly throughout the surface in cycles, which are normally powered by the solar energy. Hydrologic cycle is the process by which water evaporates from the surface of the oceans which is warmed by energy received from the sun. This vapor soon condenses and falls over the oceans in the form of rain. The vapor which does not fall as rains travels a bit forward and falls on the land. It falls over land as rain and again in the cyclic order returns to the ocean through river discharges or ground water discharges.
Ocean water present near the poles cools down and they tend to become denser and denser and start sinking just below the surface. They flow slowly towards the equator and they soon return to the surface to get warmed up and so that the cycle starts again. This subsurface take several years for each cycle and these are an important part of the heating system of our Earth. This is the process by which cool waters return to the tropics, so that they get warmed up again and return in the form of surface currents and flow back to the polar oceans. The presence of water makes Earth unique and habitable and this is why, Earth is often called the blue planet.


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Mike Kent & Tama Leaver (Eds.)
An Education in Facebook? Higher Education and the World's Largest Social Network (Routledge, 2014)
Just a quick glance at the figures shows how ubiquitous Facebook has become. Even though it has only just celebrated it's 10th birthday the last figures show that it has over one billion members who use it at least one a month. At least 10% access Facebook through a mobile device and (no surprise here) the largest user group by age are 18-25 year olds.
Given the all-pervasive nature of Facebook it's little wonder that universities have had to find ways of dealing with it in as a useful and positive way as they can. Of course Facebook started life on university campuses in the United States but it was not created as a tool for learning but as (and I feel I'm stating the obvious here) as a "social network". The one thing that universities (and by extension all involved in life-long learning) cannot do is ignore it.
The first section of the book explores how Facebook can be used as a successful transition tool for students who are starting their new lives at university. The chapters draw on UK and US examples to show how Facebook can help to build communities within and between universities. One chapter uses a case study to explore how a university uses Facebook to link together past, present and potential students to create a form of bulletin board and support network. Another chapter explores how students set up their own groups and discussions outside of whatever the university has supplied.
I was interested in this because several of the most recent online courses that I have taken through MIT Media Lab, FutureLearn and Coursera have not jumped onto the Facebook bandwagon. These platforms encourage students to connect with each other through bulletin boards integrated into their websites or hashtags on Twitter. Nevertheless, on several of these courses I have noticed that students have set up their own 'unofficial' Facebook pages in order to continue peer-to-peer learning outside of the boundaries set up the course providers. If the plan was to ignore or somehow circumnavigate Facebook then they were not entirely successful.
Section 2 is all about Facebook being used as a teaching and learning tool - in both a formal and informal sense. There are interesting chapters on how one university in Sweden uses Facebook for supervisory purposes and another on how the creation of learning communities on Facebook have helped to develop the social capital of both students and teaching staff. The first fly in the ointment appears in this section. Two authors from the University of South Australia explore the cultural clash between the ethos of universities as a whole and the social etiquette that has developed amongst users of Facebook. This has led many university teachers to develop what is called an academic armour in which they find ways to protect themselves from the demands of students in a social media environment. The informal style of communication used on Facebook may also be at odds with the way that universities would prefer students to interact with each other and with their teachers.
For those working outside of universities and are more involved with open, informal learning (i.e. through peer-to-peer learning) this may be less of an issue. This kind of learning has a strong social media presence built into it right from when the course is constructed. This means that the social etiquette used on social media then becomes the etiquette used on the course.
The next section address some of the more practical and philosophical issues that arise as Facebook becomes a replacement for more established Learning Management Systems. The most interesting chapter explores how Facebook has quickened the collapse in the boundaries between the private and public spheres through the ideas of Hannah Arendt. There are also comparisons between Facebook and LMSs such as Blackboard and Moodle. Many students appear to be resisting using these platforms because they are already familiar with Facebook and are unwilling to learn a new system when they already have a platform that they are familiar and comfortable with. However, even when university departments do start using Facebook it does not follow that students engage with them. The chapter on how university libraries are using Facebook perhaps shows that it is not the panacea that some feel it may be.
The last sections of the book where for me the most useful as it looks at some of the actual and potential problems that extensive use of Facebook can bring. Much of this revolves around the issues of privacy (which appears to be a greater concern for the universities than for the students); how Facebook creates an environment in which students regard their tutors as being available to them 24/7; the thorny issue of whether staff and students can be 'friends' on Facebook and the fact that Facebook is a commercial entity with shareholders to please and revenue to be raised through advertising. Facebook is also under scrutiny because of their habit of 'data mining' details about their users that they pass onto their advertisers. For anybody involved in education these are real issues that need to be thought about before using Facebook either as LMS or as a way for students to connect with each other. From this book it is clear that this is an issue that does not seem to worry students so educational bodies will probably have to do the worrying for them.
At the moment (leaving aside some evidence of Facebook fatigue and the rise of other social media platforms such as Tumblr and Instagram) Facebook is still growing, is here to stay and has become part of the learning and social environments of students. For anybody working with those students this book is invaluable in helping to navigate your way through that environment.
If you want to buy a copy of this book then here is the link.


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Single Estate Tea
Seasonal creations are made from our single-estate plantations, and as such unique notes may never be enjoyed again.
All our tea is grown from a single estate, which means a sole tea artisan grows it, as well harvests and crafts the leaves into tea. We only use tea leaves harvested from our own land. This distinguishes our tea from other brands where, more often than not, they process harvested tea leaves from various other third-party tea plantations for sale. Single estate tea artisans give the highest quality commitment as they do not sell tea leaves not grown by themselves.


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Send our Spooky and customized invitation for your Costume Party this Halloween! A pair of watercolor spiders are swinging down from the top corners of the invitation, which along with a witch hat will lend a spooky edge to your party theme. The light gray and white stripes and the modern fonts could easily allow you to take your costume party towards a more glam themed evening. Each invitation is personalized with your information, and printed professionally so that you can send your guests a high quality double-sided invitation. The back of the invite is fully printed with purple and white polka dots.
Perfect to hand out or send in the mail, these party invitations are 5×7″ (A7 size).
Our personalized Halloween invitations are professionally printed on high quality paper and ship via FedEx. Invitations are priced in sets of 10, 20, 30, and 40, and come with matching white envelopes!
This invitation may include graphics and colors that can not be changed. For custom order requests, please Contact Us!


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OMG! Where do I begin? On Friday when I went to the Expo to pick up my race bib number a lady came up and started talking to me. We soon realized that we were both in Team in Training with LLS and we were both walking the half […]Read more →
Typically, in my life to avoid stress, confusion and forgetting things I make a list. I have sticky notes with lists everywhere, on my desk, in my purse, in my car, on the hall table, in the kitchen, on my phone. I always make lists. My maintenance guy is […]Read more →
Finally, after Days and Days of feeling kinda stuck in a slump. I got my Mojo back. I'm ready! I'm ready to love myself enough to treat my body like I deserve. After about a week of not blogging, not working out and eating all kinds of […]Read more →
I was finally able to move on to the next week in my training schedule. I was a little nervous about what to expect. To my surprise, the goal for the day was a 25 minute run, and what do you know, I DID IT! Baby, it […]Read more →
What's My NAME???!!! I exclaimed as I completed my 20 minute run in the park today, only stopping to find the car keys I lost in my sports bra, and jogging in place at the stop light. The little sister witnessed one of the total strangers […]Read more →


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On this page you will find Dr. Magic videos. We will be publishing regular updates to this page. We have made arrangements with Dr. Magic to provide us with some original content, as well allowing us to publish other material he produces.
These Videos are from an internet series called Moments with Dr. Magic, and will show you how to do some really great tricks.
These videos are for the most part how to do a particular trick. Dr. Magic takes you throught the steps of creating a simple magic trick.


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We are located at:
3711 NE 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 708-1537 - voice
(206) 402-3627 - fax
For special orders, advance orders & pick-ups, or any other questions, email us at:firstname.lastname@example.com
We are also now online at www.laurelhurstwm.com
Shop online from the comfort of your own home, order and pay online, and have it ready for you to pick up at your convenience!
Laurelhurst Wine Merchants
Laurelhurst Wine Merchants mission is to offer the best wines from around the world at competitive prices. We spend our days tasting so you can buy with confidence because we only buy wines we want to drink ourselves. Whether you want to spend $10 or $100, we're sure to have something you'll love.
If you don't see what you are looking for, let us know. We are happy to special order any wine available to us with no minimum purchase and no extra charge.
Our weekly tastings provide a great opportunity not only to find something new and tasty, but also to meet the faces behind the bottles. Check out our Events page for upcoming tastings.
Planning a party or your own event? When you purchase your event wine here we'll loan* you our Riedel glasses at no charge.
*Loan of glassware subject to availability and a minimum purchase of 1 case or $150.00
Need a space for your next book club, shower, or get together? Our private room will accomodate 10 seated or 20-25 for a mix & mingle event.
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