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UK government staff caught snooping on citizen data
Don't worry about hackers illegally accessing government systems. It turns out government workers and civil servants who are trusted with private citizen data are more likely to access your data illegally.
The U.K. government is haemorrhaging data --- private and confidential citizen data --- from medical records to social security details, and even criminal records, according to figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests.
Just shy of 1,000 civil servants working at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), were disciplined for accessing personal social security records. The Department for Health (DoH), which operates the U.K.'s National Health Service and more importantly all U.K. medical records, saw more than 150 breaches occur over a 13-month period.
And all this comes to light no more than a fortnight after the Queen formally announced the U.K. government will monitor all Web and email traffic, and log all landline, mobile phone, and Skype calls.
And it's the privacy campaigners who are in the wrong to say that the data won't be illegally accessed or abused?
There is one, simple fact: from health records to criminal records, employment details and other personal data, government databases are not only open to abuse, but are actively being exploited by the very people we supposedly trust with our data.
Crunching the numbers: the DWP has a database of around 100 million people. More than 200,000 civil servants have to be vetted to extremely high standards before they can access this database.
Between April 2010 and March 2011, 513 civil servants were found to have made "unauthorised disclosures of official, sensitive, private and/or personal information". The year continuing, between April 2011 and January 2012, more than 460 staff were disciplined.
The DoH on the other hand said it did not log each and every breach of unlawful access to U.K. medical records. It did say there were 158 recorded breaches in 2011. Only four years earlier, there were only 28 cases, representing a fivefold increase.
The FOI requests were made by Channel 4's investigative series, Dispatches.
Out of the hundreds of thousands of employees in both departments, the numbers represent only a fraction of the total staff. Having said that, it took only one person --- allegedly --- to leak more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables to Wikileaks, the largest unauthorised release of classified data in the history of the United States.
Currently, under the Data Protection Act, it is a criminal offence to obtain or disclose personal data without permission or procure disclosure to other persons. The penalties for a criminal offence go up to £5,000 ($7,900) in a lower magistrates court, or an unlimited fine in a higher Crown court.
Some British politicians even called for some extreme data breaches to result in prison sentences --- something dismissed by other parliamentary committee members.
Rarely does the fine rise to five-figures, let alone six. Only recently, one Scottish local authority was fined £140,000 ($220,000) for five separate data breaches --- the highest fine imposed by the courts to date.
But as is often the case, the financial benefits from selling personal data are rarely outweighed by the fines or penalties imposed.
Under new legislation presented by Europe, if a data breach occurs, whether by an individual deliberately acting outside the law, or accidentally due to unforeseen events, the person for which that data relates to must be informed.
But those laws are at least two or three years away, and until then, companies and public sector organisations will face meagre fines compared to the €1 million flat-rate or 2 percent of their annual global turnover.
Image credit: ZDNet UK.
- Queen's speech unveils UK's 'Patriot Act' Web monitoring plan
- European draft data law announced: What you need to know
- UK government 'bracing' for private email, text messaging FoI requests
- UK government reneges on censorship-free web promise; Plans to ban 'cyber-criminals' from the web
- British MPs call for prison sentences over data protection breaches
- UK government keeps RIM in play with BlackBerry 7 security rating
- Irish data protection watchdog rules on Facebook


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Canning season is almost upon us. I can feel the throws of fruit picking mania just over the horizon. Last year was our first real initiation into the U-Pick market. We learned a few things.
While waiting in line for our peaches to be weighed, we ogled the fruit crates of an older man in front of us. He had his red wagon train stacked with peaches, all nicely nestled and perfectly balanced. Nothing was bruising as he bumped along the gravel road. There was serious skill here. This man had canning season down to an art. We proceeded to ogle and awe further vowing to take on his Jedi-like fruit season knowledge.
Our one hundred pounds of peaches started to soften and bruise the instant we brought them through the door last year. A frenzied, sticky day was spent peeling, slicing, and canning. Jules had to finish up all by himself (gulp!) due to me needing to go to work that evening. We figured we had at least two days to split the canning up into. We were totally wrong.
When a stack of pallets was up for grabs on a street corner, we grabbed them. Later, we saw an older fruit crate at an estate sale and grabbed it, too. Together, these would become our coveted fruit crates.
The construction of a fruit crate is remarkably simple. The important parts are 1) to leave air spaces between the slats so the fruit can have air circulate all around it preventing spoilage, 2) no sharp edges inside so that the fruit could become bruised or ripped open, and 3) stackable but not resting on the fruit. These fruit crates provide all that and cost about 50 cents a piece using salvaged wood. 'Trol around on Craigslist or Freecycle a bit and see if you can find any pallets up for grabs. They can easily be sliced apart to form light weight, uniform boards. If the size of your deconstructed pallets isn't exactly the same, just go with it.
A box of 4D nails
Miter saw (though any kind of saw would work)
Tape measure
Deconstructed Pallets
2 - 52 inch lattice trim boards (a whopping 26 cents a piece at Home Depot)
To begin with, cut your pallet boards to the correct sizes. You will need:
2 - 6 inch x 17 inch (bottom)
Miter the corners of these boards at a 45 degree angle 3/4 of an inch in from the corners. The mitered edges allow the crates to stack without bruising the fruit.
From each lattice board cut:
1 - 14 inch bottom support board
Now that all the pieces are cut, you just have to stack them up and have a lovely assistant (that's always my job) hold them in place while you nail things together. As much as the assistant isn't completely necessary, they make things a ton faster (and it gives me a job when Jules' works).
Have your lovely assistant hold the front and back boards while you nail the bottom boards on one at a time. There should be a 2 inch gap down the center of the crate to allow airflow.
Cover the nails holding the bottom boards with the bottom support board, by carefully nailing it on top. This board provides added structure to the crate for fruits picked hard and therefore extremely heavy (like pears). This piece also allows for additional airflow when the crates are all stacked together.
Turning the crate up on one side, carefully nail in each lattice board leaving a gap down the center for airflow. Flip the crate over and do the same thing on the other side.
Now you just have to make a whole bunch and head on out to the orchard.

subset: commoncrawl


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Critical Review of Dyasonhat's Premium Smart Sort WordPress Plugin
After hearing about the recently released premium version of Dyasonhat's Smart Sort Plugin for WordPress, I just had to give it a try. Occasionally working on projects requiring customized ordering of posts, I like to keep my utility belt well-equipped with any plugins or code techniques that will facilitate the process of man-handling post order. In this article, I discuss my experience with WP Smart Sort Premium.
About the Smart Sort plugin
There are now two different versions of the Smart Sort plugin. The first version is a free WordPress plugin that provides advanced sorting capabilities for your blog's posts. For example, the free version of the plugin enables the blog administrator to sort posts according to custom fields or any field available in the wp_posts
Going above and beyond, the "premium" version of the plugin also provides all of the "smart sort" functionality of the free version, as well as advanced sorting, filtering, and even searching of posts. These features will help transform your WordPress blog into a full-fledged CMS. The premium version is priced at $35 $25 (until January 31st, 2009).
Installation and setup
Okay, down to it. After obtaining a trial version of Smart Sort Premium, I installed it on a freshly installed, plugin-free installation of WordPress 2.7. Installation and activation of the plugin was a breeze, and is performed according to conventional methods. Once the plugin was installed, I found myself wondering where to begin..
After spending some quality time with the plugin's documentation, I still had difficulty connecting the dots between what the plugin does and how to configure it according to specific needs. Finally, I decided to just "jump in" and "play around" until things began to make sense. After adding each of the available function calls to the blog's home page, I spent a few minutes toggling between the various admin pages and changing numerous settings until everything finally "clicked."
Performance testing
After figuring things out, I began implementing various post-ordering configurations and did some testing from a performance perspective. Fortunately, even with some of the most convoluted settings applied, I was unable to discern any reduction in performance. All tested pages continued to load just as fast with the plugin installed as they did immediately after WordPress installation.
Advanced sorting
After selecting several custom fields via the Smart Sort Index page, I first tested the functionality of the advanced sorting options via the Sorting options page. Selecting different options and configuration of the custom sorting feature is fairly straightforward: each of the custom fields selected via the index settings page may be displayed in both ascending and descending order. Additionally, several display options are also included, such as basic drop-down menu configuration.
After testing the display and functionality of the sort feature on the public side of the blog (via home page), I have to say that I was impressed. The plugin performed flawlessly as I flipped back and forth between the various post-ordering options. For me, having this on-the-fly, custom sorting functionality available to visitors is the main reason for using the Smart Sort plugin.
Advanced filtering
After putting the sorting functionality through its paces, I began exploring the various filtering options available via the Smart Sort Filter page. Again, every field selected on the index options page was present and ready for advanced configuration. Each filtering option may be displayed via checkboxes, dropdown, input-range, and dropdown range. Further, in addition to selecting the display type, administrators may also select one of three ways to generate filtering options: automatic, semi-manual, or fully manual. Of course, not every possible configuration makes sense, like user-defined input ranges for categories and tags, or auto-selected check boxes for content sorting (trust me on this one!).
When you really need control over which fields are displayed, the advanced configuration options made available via the "fully manual" mode enable you to customize each filtering field and its associated text-display value. At least in theory; unfortunately, not much filtering was happening on the public side of the blog. On the home page, user-specified filtering of posts simply did not work. I tried several different fields — comments, date, and many others — but nothing. Post display and order remained the same regardless of which filtering options were tried. So, no filtering (at this time) on a default installation of WordPress 2.7.
Advanced search
Moving on to the "advanced search" functionality of the plugin, I explored and tested many different settings and configuration options, but experienced limited success. Certain features function as expected, however, several key configurations did not function at all. For example, trying to configure a smart search limited to categories, neither dropdown nor checkboxes worked for either "semi-manual" or "fully manual" mode; the dropdown menus displayed nothing and the checkboxes themselves were not even displayed. Fortunately, both of these display options seemed to work when using the "auto" data source option. This same pattern was seen across every search field that was available (comments, tags, date, and so on).
Observations and suggestions
After reviewing the core functionality of the WP Smart Sort Premium plugin, I spent some additional time with the plugin and observed the following:
- The public dropdown menu for the sorting options needs a default value that explains its purpose (something like, "customize post order..")
- The admin-specified text for the sort and filter menus did not seem to result in any publicly displayed text, or do much of anything for that matter
- The difference between "categories" and "category" needs to be explained/documented somewhere (one seemed to work, but the other did not)
- The advanced search function seems to search only post content; would be great to search everything (e.g., titles, comments, etc.) to avoid the need for a secondary search plugin
- The Smart Filter and Search admin pages need a single "update" button that updates all settings (as in the Sort page) instead of many individual buttons next to each configuration setting
- When using "categories" versus "category" in advanced search, "category" displayed "
" while "categories" worked as expected - The extended date format for the search and filtering display options is just too much — the plugin needs a method for customizing the date according to any format
- The toggling "advanced search" JavaScript link needs to be implemented unobtrusively; as is, users without JavaScript will not have access to the advanced search feature
- Provide customization options for the advanced search list items; currently there are links to the home page for each option, which just doesn't make sense.
- The plugin needs a complete "uninstall" option that removes all database information and restores original blog configuration
Bottom line
As with the free version of the plugin, the Smart Sort feature of the premium version is excellent, enabling custom sorting of post content according to virtually any database field imaginable. The premium version of plugin also promises advanced filtering and advanced search functionality, but unfortunately fails to deliver as promised. Without the fully manual and semi-manual data-source options available for configuring advanced search options, much of the plugin's strength and flexibility is lost. Likewise, with the filtering functionality not working, there is not much difference between the free and premium versions at this point, and thus not a lot of incentive to spend your hard-earned cash.
On the upside, the premium version of the plugin is still in its infancy, so chances are good that Dyasonhat will be spending some quality time with plugin and bring it up to par with other premium plugins very soon. With lifetime "free upgrades" and plugin support, there is good reason to be optimistic about the promising WP Smart Sort Premium plugin.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The business license must be displayed in an open and conspicuous space on the premises.
Show All Answers
On May 7, 2018, the Village Board passed an ordinance allowing the regulation and licensing of massage establishments in the Village of Deerfield.
The purpose of the ordinance is to regulate and license for the protection of the public health, morals and welfare of the residents of the Village of Deerfield including, but not limited to, the prevention of such establishments from being used for the purposes of prostitution and the spread of disease through unsanitary practices and facilities.
The ordinance affects any business in the Village of Deerfield with a licensed massage therapist offering massage services.
August 1, 2018
A massage establishment is the premises where any person, business, firm, partnership, association, corporation or limited liability company engages in or carries on or permits to be engaged in or carried on any massage services.
You can fill out a massage establishment license form at www.deerfield.il.us or in person at Village Hall (850 Waukegan Road). You may return the form and the $100 non-refundable application fee (cash or check) to Andrew Lichterman, Assistant Village Manager, in person at Village Hall or by mail.
In addition to the completed application, you must submit the $100 non-refundable application fee; the $35 annual business license fee; a complete set of fingerprints (contact the Deerfield Police Department at 847.945.8636); and a copy of your lease for leased premises only.
There is a $100 non-refundable fee for the application and a $35 annual fee for the license. Your license must be renewed each year by December 31. The fee may be paid by cash or check. There is also an additional fee associated with supplying a complete set of fingerprints – please contact the Deerfield Police Department at 847.945.8636 to arrange.
The Chief of Police, any duly authorized police officer or a building and code enforcement officer of the Village shall have the right to enter the premises for the purpose of inspecting the premises. Books and records shall be available at all times for inspection by the Chief of Police or his authorized representative.
Any person found guilty of violating the ordinance will face a daily fine of $250-$1,000. Licensed massage therapists may also have their license revoked.
Please contact the Andrew Lichterman, Deputy Village Manager, with questions at 847.719.7403. or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com. You may also stop by in person at Village Hall.


text:
AU Proof and Format Discussions
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Do you have a friend who works at a small business that doesn't offer health insurance and has a family history of heart disease? Or is your cousin a self-employed carpenter who can't afford insurance who had leukemia as a kid? Bet they worry about an accident or illness and the bills that will bring.
Obamacare is coming but most people don't know how the new system works.
You can make a difference by educating yourself and others.
Two elements are key for people buying insurance for themselves and their families.
First, cost will vary by income. Most working families without insurance will get financial aid.
CNN reports that nearly 26 million Americans qualify for a discount and "most of those who will be able to claim the subsidies are in working families with annual earnings between $47,100 and $94,200."
Second, starting Oct. 1, every state will open a website listing insurance available to people who don't have it through their employer, Medicaid, Medicare, or Tricare. Through this website for the insurance marketplace or exchange, people can pick the insurance they'll have next year.
Each company will offer three levels of insurance — the gold, silver and bronze levels — with different degrees of coverage. People under 30 can get catastrophic coverage, which covers the least and costs the least. Everyone should get insurance. If not, there is a fine applied to one's federal income tax (although people who truly cannot afford insurance are exempt).
To find out the cost, people enter information about the size of their family and their income. They also have to say how many adults and children are in the family and how many smoke. In Maine, due to a law passed when Republicans controlled the Legislature, those in rural areas are charged more. Pre-existing conditions don't add to the cost.
You can get an idea of how much insurance will cost by using a calculator created by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation.
Go ahead and Google "subsidy calculator." When I did it, the Kaiser calculator was my top result. If that doesn't work for you, Google something else like "Kaiser health insurance calculator."
I tried it for a family of four with the median household income in Maine, $47,898. If this family buys the silver plan, they would pay $3,074 a year. The bronze plan would cost $1,385.
Another family, a single non-smoking mother or father with one child and a $25,000 annual income, could pay $1,729 annually for the silver health insurance. The bronze plan would cost this family just $284 a year.
Make sure you tell people that they can't wait to buy insurance when they get sick. They can only buy insurance on the exchange during the open enrollment period (except for a special reason like having lost one's job or moving to a new state). For 2014, open enrollment runs from October 2013 through March 2014. In the coming years, people will pick an insurance plan during two months in the fall.
Groups financed by billionaires David and Charles Koch plan to actively discourage young adults from getting insurance. But those young people are one accident or tragic illness away from financial disaster. And when that happens to some of them, the Kochs won't step in to pay their medical bills and prevent them from going bankrupt.
Telling other people about their insurance options is critical. Because Gov. Paul LePage decided against Maine running its own exchange, the state has less money to explain the program. (Nor has LePage supported expanding Medicaid expansion, which would cover 70,000 low-income, working Mainers; many of them actually make too little to get subsidies.)
While research shows many don't know about the financial aid for buying insurance, big majorities in every age group want health coverage. As the Kaiser Foundation reports, only 11 percent of the uninsured say they don't have insurance because they don't need it. Eighty-eight percent agree that "insurance is something I need." "Among those ages 30 and younger, roughly two-thirds say they are worried about 'not being able to pay medical bills in the event of a serious illness or accident.'"
Check out the Health Care Reform website by WebMD and the AARP's Health Law Facts. They have clear explanations for many different kinds of families.
Who's going to tell people about health insurance? You.


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Little Men: Chapter 14 — Damon and Pythias
Mrs. Bhaer was right; peace was only a temporary lull, a storm was brewing, and two days after Bess left, a moral earthquake shook Plumfield to its centre.
Tommy's hens were at the bottom of the trouble, for if they had not persisted in laying so many eggs, he could not have sold them and made such sums. Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes. Tommy certainly could not, for he spent his income so recklessly, that Mr. Bhaer was obliged to insist on a savings-bank, and presented him with a private one an imposing tin edifice, with the name over the door, and a tall chimney, down which the pennies were to go, there to rattle temptingly till leave was given to open a sort of trap-door in the floor.
The house increased in weight so rapidly, that Tommy soon became satisfied with his investment, and planned to buy unheard-of treasures with his capital. He kept account of the sums deposited, and was promised that he might break the bank as soon as he had five dollars, on condition that he spent the money wisely. Only one dollar was needed, and the day Mrs. Jo paid him for four dozen eggs, he was so delighted, that he raced off to the barn to display the bright quarters to Nat, who was also laying by money for the long-desired violin.
"I wish I had 'em to put with my three dollars, then I'd soon get enough to buy my fiddle," he said, looking wistfully at the money.
"P'raps I'll lend you some. I haven't decided yet what I'll do with mine," said Tommy, tossing up his quarters and catching them as they fell.
"Hi! boys! come down to the brook and see what a jolly great snake Dan's got!" called a voice from behind the barn.
"Come on," said Tommy; and, laying his money inside the old winnowing machine, away he ran, followed by Nat.
The snake was very interesting, and then a long chase after a lame crow, and its capture, so absorbed Tommy's mind and time, that he never thought of his money till he was safely in bed that night.
"Never mind, no one but Nat knows where it is," said the easy-going lad, and fell asleep untroubled by any anxiety about his property.
Next morning, just as the boys assembled for school, Tommy rushed into the room breathlessly, demanding,
"I say, who has got my dollar?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Franz.
Tommy explained, and Nat corroborated his statement.
Every one else declared they knew nothing about it, and began to look suspiciously at Nat, who got more and more alarmed and confused with each denial.
"Somebody must have taken it," said Franz, as Tommy shook his fist at the whole party, and wrathfully declared that
"By thunder turtles! if I get hold of the thief, I'll give him what he won't forget in a hurry."
"Keep cool, Tom; we shall find him out; thieves always come to grief," said Dan, as one who knew something of the matter.
"May be some tramp slept in the barn and took it," suggested Ned.
"No, Silas don't allow that; besides, a tramp wouldn't go looking in that old machine for money," said Emil, with scorn.
"Wasn't it Silas himself?" said Jack.
"Well, I like that! Old Si is as honest as daylight. You wouldn't catch him touching a penny of ours," said Tommy, handsomely defending his chief admirer from suspicion.
"Whoever it was had better tell, and not wait to be found out," said Demi, looking as if an awful misfortune had befallen the family.
"I know you think it's me," broke out Nat, red and excited.
"You are the only one who knew where it was," said Franz.
"I can't help it I didn't take it. I tell you I didn't I didn't!" cried Nat, in a desperate sort of way.
"Gently, gently, my son! What is all this noise about?" and Mr. Bhaer walked in among them.
Tommy repeated the story of his loss, and, as he listened, Mr. Bhaer's face grew graver and graver; for, with all their faults and follies, the lads till now had been honest.
"Take your seats," he said; and, when all were in their places, he added slowly, as his eye went from face to face with a grieved look, that was harder to bear than a storm of words,
"Now, boys, I shall ask each one of you a single question, and I want an honest answer. I am not going to try to frighten, bribe, or surprise the truth out of you, for every one of you have got a conscience, and know what it is for. Now is the time to undo the wrong done to Tommy, and set yourselves right before us all. I can forgive the yielding to sudden temptation much easier than I can deceit. Don't add a lie to the theft, but confess frankly, and we will all try to help you make us forget and forgive."
He paused a moment, and one might have heard a pin drop, the room was so still; then slowly and impressively he put the question to each one, receiving the same answer in varying tones from all. Every face was flushed and excited, so that Mr. Bhaer could not take color as a witness, and some of the little boys were so frightened that they stammered over the two short words as if guilty, though it was evident that they could not be. When he came to Nat, his voice softened, for the poor lad looked so wretched, Mr. Bhaer felt for him. He believed him to be the culprit, and hoped to save the boy from another lie, by winning him to tell the truth without fear.
"Now, my son, give me an honest answer. Did you take the money?"
"No, sir!" and Nat looked up at him imploringly.
As the words fell from his trembling lips, somebody hissed.
"Stop that!" cried Mr. Bhaer, with a sharp rap on his desk, as he looked sternly toward the corner whence the sound came.
Ned, Jack, and Emil sat there, and the first two looked ashamed of themselves, but Emil called out,
"It wasn't me, uncle! I'd be ashamed to hit a fellow when he is down."
"Good for you!" cried Tommy, who was in a sad state of affliction at the trouble his unlucky dollar had made.
"Silence!" commanded Mr. Bhaer; and when it came, he said soberly,
"I am very sorry, Nat, but evidences are against you, and your old fault makes us more ready to doubt you than we should be if we could trust you as we do some of the boys, who never fib. But mind, my child, I do not charge you with this theft; I shall not punish you for it till I am perfectly sure, nor ask any thing more about it. I shall leave it for you to settle with your own conscience. If you are guilty, come to me at any hour of the day or night and confess it, and I will forgive and help you to amend. If you are innocent, the truth will appear sooner or later, and the instant it does, I will be the first to beg your pardon for doubting you, and will so gladly do my best to clear your character before us all."
"I didn't! I didn't!" sobbed Nat, with his head down upon his arms, for he could not bear the look of distrust and dislike which he read in the many eyes fixed on him.
"I hope not." Mr. Bhaer paused a minute, as if to give the culprit, whoever he might be, one more chance. Nobody spoke, however, and only sniffs of sympathy from some of the little fellows broke the silence. Mr. Bhaer shook his head, and added, regretfully,
"There is nothing more to be done, then, and I have but one thing to say: I shall not speak of this again, and I wish you all to follow my example. I cannot expect you to feel as kindly toward any one whom you suspect as before this happened, but I do expect and desire that you will not torment the suspected person in any way, he will have a hard enough time without that. Now go to your lessons."
"Father Bhaer let Nat off too easy," muttered Ned to Emil, as they got out their books.
"Hold your tongue," growled Emil, who felt that this event was a blot upon the family honor.
Many of the boys agreed with Ned, but Mr. Bhaer was right, nevertheless; and Nat would have been wiser to confess on the spot and have the trouble over, for even the hardest whipping he ever received from his father was far easier to bear than the cold looks, the avoidance, and general suspicion that met him on all sides. If ever a boy was sent to Coventry and kept there, it was poor Nat; and he suffered a week of slow torture, though not a hand was raised against him, and hardly a word said.
That was the worst of it; if they would only have talked it out, or even have thrashed him all round, he could have stood it better than the silent distrust that made very face so terrible to meet. Even Mrs. Bhaer's showed traces of it, though her manner was nearly as kind as ever; but the sorrowful anxious look in Father Bhaer's eyes cut Nat to the heart, for he loved his teacher dearly, and knew that he had disappointed all his hopes by this double sin.
Only one person in the house entirely believed in him, and stood up for him stoutly against all the rest. This was Daisy. She could not explain why she trusted him against all appearances, she only felt that she could not doubt him, and her warm sympathy made her strong to take his part. She would not hear a word against him from any one, and actually slapped her beloved Demi when he tried to convince her that it must have been Nat, because no one else knew where the money was.
"Maybe the hens ate it; they are greedy old things," she said; and when Demi laughed, she lost her temper, slapped the amazed boy, and then burst out crying and ran away, still declaring, "He didn't! he didn't! he didn't!"
Neither aunt nor uncle tried to shake the child's faith in her friend, but only hoped her innocent instinct might prove sure, and loved her all the better for it. Nat often said, after it was over, that he couldn't have stood it, if it had not been for Daisy. When the others shunned him, she clung to him closer than ever, and turned her back on the rest. She did not sit on the stairs now when he solaced himself with the old fiddle, but went in and sat beside him, listening with a face so full of confidence and affection, that Nat forgot disgrace for a time, and was happy. She asked him to help her with her lessons, she cooked him marvelous messes in her kitchen, which he ate manfully, no matter what they were, for gratitude gave a sweet flavor to the most distasteful. She proposed impossible games of cricket and ball, when she found that he shrank from joining the other boys. She put little nosegays from her garden on his desk, and tried in every way to show that she was not a fair-weather friend, but faithful through evil as well as good repute. Nan soon followed her example, in kindness at least; curbed her sharp tongue, and kept her scornful little nose from any demonstration of doubt or dislike, which was good of Madame Giddy-gaddy, for she firmly believed that Nat took the money.
Most of the boys let him severely alone, but Dan, though he said he despised him for being a coward, watched over him with a grim sort of protection, and promptly cuffed any lad who dared to molest his mate or make him afraid. His idea of friendship was as high as Daisy's, and, in his own rough way, he lived up to it as loyally.
Sitting by the brook one afternoon, absorbed in the study of the domestic habits of water-spiders, he overheard a bit of conversation on the other side of the wall. Ned, who was intensely inquisitive, had been on tenterhooks to know certainly who was the culprit; for of late one or two of the boys had begun to think that they were wrong, Nat was so steadfast in his denials, and so meek in his endurance of their neglect. This doubt had teased Ned past bearing, and he had several times privately beset Nat with questions, regardless of Mr. Bhaer's express command. Finding Nat reading alone on the shady side of the wall, Ned could not resist stopping for a nibble at the forbidden subject. He had worried Nat for some ten minutes before Dan arrived, and the first words the spider-student heard were these, in Nat's patient, pleading voice,
"Don't, Ned! oh, don't! I can't tell you because I don't know, and it's mean of you to keep nagging at me on the sly, when Father Bhaer told you not to plague me. You wouldn't dare to if Dan was round."
"I ain't afraid of Dan; he's nothing but an old bully. Don't believe but what he took Tom's money, and you know it, and won't tell. Come, now!"
"He didn't, but, if he did, I would stand up for him, he has always been so good to me," said Nat, so earnestly that Dan forgot his spiders, and rose quickly to thank him, but Ned's next words arrested him.
"I know Dan did it, and gave the money to you. Shouldn't wonder if he got his living picking pockets before he came here, for nobody knows any thing about him but you," said Ned, not believing his own words, but hoping to get the truth out of Nat by making him angry.
He succeeded in a part of his ungenerous wish, for Nat cried out, fiercely,
"If you say that again I'll go and tell Mr. Bhaer all about it. I don't want to tell tales, but, by George! I will, if you don't let Dan alone."
"Then you'll be a sneak, as well as a liar and a thief," began Ned, with a jeer, for Nat had borne insult to himself so meekly, the other did not believe he would dare to face the master just to stand up for Dan.
What he might have added I cannot tell, for the words were hardly out of his mouth when a long arm from behind took him by the collar, and, jerking him over the wall in a most promiscuous way, landed him with a splash in the middle of the brook.
"Say that again and I'll duck you till you can't see!" cried Dan, looking like a modern Colossus of Rhodes as he stood, with a foot on either side of the narrow stream, glaring down at the discomfited youth in the water.
"I was only in fun," said Ned.
"You are a sneak yourself to badger Nat round the corner. Let me catch you at it again, and I'll souse you in the river next time. Get up, and clear out!" thundered Dan, in a rage.
Ned fled, dripping, and his impromptu sitz-bath evidently did him good, for he was very respectful to both the boys after that, and seemed to have left his curiosity in the brook. As he vanished Dan jumped over the wall, and found Nat lying, as if quite worn out and bowed down with his troubles.
"He won't pester you again, I guess. If he does, just tell me, and I'll see to him," said Dan, trying to cool down.
"I don't mind what he says about me so much, I've got used to it," answered Nat sadly; "but I hate to have him pitch into you."
"How do you know he isn't right?" asked Dan, turning his face away.
"What, about the money?" cried Nat, looking up with a startled air.
"But I don't believe it! You don't care for money; all you want is your old bugs and things," and Nat laughed, incredulously.
"I want a butterfly net as much as you want a fiddle; why shouldn't I steal the money for it as much as you?" said Dan, still turning away, and busily punching holes in the turf with his stick.
"I don't think you would. You like to fight and knock folks round sometimes, but you don't lie, and I don't believe you'd steal," and Nat shook his head decidedly.
"I've done both. I used to fib like fury; it's too much trouble now; and I stole things to eat out of gardens when I ran away from Page, so you see I am a bad lot," said Dan, speaking in the rough, reckless way which he had been learning to drop lately.
"O Dan! don't say it's you! I'd rather have it any of the other boys," cried Nat, in such a distressed tone that Dan looked pleased, and showed that he did, by turning round with a queer expression in his face, though he only answered,
"I won't say any thing about it. But don't you fret, and we'll pull through somehow, see if we don't."
Something in his face and manner gave Nat a new idea; and he said, pressing his hands together, in the eagerness of his appeal,
"I think you know who did it. If you do, beg him to tell, Dan. It's so hard to have 'em all hate me for nothing. I don't think I can bear it much longer. If I had any place to go to, I'd run away, though I love Plumfield dearly; but I'm not brave and big like you, so I must stay and wait till some one shows them that I haven't lied."
As he spoke, Nat looked so broken and despairing, that Dan could not bear it, and, muttered huskily,
"You won't wait long," and he walked rapidly away, and was seen no more for hours.
"What is the matter with Dan?" asked the boys of one another several times during the Sunday that followed a week which seemed as if it would never end. Dan was often moody, but that day he was so sober and silent that no one could get any thing out of him. When they walked he strayed away from the rest, and came home late. He took no part in the evening conversation, but sat in the shadow, so busy with his own thoughts that he scarcely seemed to hear what was going on. When Mrs. Jo showed him an unusually good report in the Conscience Book, he looked at it without a smile, and said, wistfully,
"You think I am getting on, don't you?"
"Excellently, Dan! and I am so pleased, because I always thought you only needed a little help to make you a boy to be proud of."
He looked up at her with a strange expression in his black eyes an expression of mingled pride and love and sorrow which she could not understand then but remembered afterward.
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, but I do try," he said, shutting the book with no sign of pleasure in the page that he usually liked so much to read over and talk about.
"Are you sick, dear?" asked Mrs. Jo, with her hand on his shoulder.
"My foot aches a little; I guess I'll go to bed. Good-night, mother," he added, and held the hand against his cheek a minute, then went away looking as if he had said good-bye to something dear.
"Poor Dan! he takes Nat's disgrace to heart sadly. He is a strange boy; I wonder if I ever shall understand him thoroughly?" said Mrs. Jo to herself, as she thought over Dan's late improvement with real satisfaction, yet felt that there was more in the lad than she had at first suspected.
One of things which cut Nat most deeply was an act of Tommy's, for after his loss Tommy had said to him, kindly, but firmly,
"I don't wish to hurt you, Nat, but you see I can't afford to lose my money, so I guess we won't be partners any longer;" and with that Tommy rubbed out the sign, "T. Bangs & Co."
Nat had been very proud of the "Co.," and had hunted eggs industriously, kept his accounts all straight, and had added a good sum to his income from the sale of his share of stock in trade.
"O Tom! must you?" he said, feeling that his good name was gone for ever in the business world if this was done.
"I must," returned Tommy, firmly. "Emil says that when one man 'bezzles (believe that's the word it means to take money and cut away with it) the property of a firm, the other one sues him, or pitches into him somehow, and won't have any thing more to do with him. Now you have 'bezzled my property; I shan't sue you, and I shan't pitch into you, but I must dissolve the partnership, because I can't trust you, and I don't wish to fail."
"I can't make you believe me, and you won't take my money, though I'd be thankful to give all my dollars if you'd only say you don't think I took your money. Do let me hunt for you, I won't ask any wages, but do it for nothing. I know all the places, and I like it," pleaded Nat.
But Tommy shook his head, and his jolly round face looked suspicious and hard as he said, shortly, "Can't do it; wish you didn't know the places. Mind you don't go hunting on the sly, and speculate in my eggs."
Poor Nat was so hurt that he could not get over it. He felt that he had lost not only his partner and patron, but that he was bankrupt in honor, and an outlaw from the business community. No one trusted his word, written or spoken, in spite of his efforts to redeem the past falsehood; the sign was down, the firm broken up, and he a ruined man. The barn, which was the boys' Wall Street, knew him no more. Cockletop and her sisters cackled for him in vain, and really seemed to take his misfortune to heart, for eggs were fewer, and some of the biddies retired in disgust to new nests, which Tommy could not find.
"They trust me," said Nat, when he heard of it; and though the boys shouted at the idea, Nat found comfort in it, for when one is down in the world, the confidence of even a speckled hen is most consoling.
Tommy took no new partner, however, for distrust had entered in, and poisoned the peace of his once confiding soul. Ned offered to join him, but he declined, saying, with a sense of justice that did him honor,
"It might turn out that Nat didn't take my money, and then we could be partners again. I don't think it will happen, but I will give him a chance, and keep the place open a little longer."
Billy was the only person whom Bangs felt he could trust in his shop, and Billy was trained to hunt eggs, and hand them over unbroken, being quite satisfied with an apple or a sugar-plum for wages. The morning after Dan's gloomy Sunday, Billy said to his employer, as he displayed the results of a long hunt,
"Only two."
"It gets worse and worse; I never saw such provoking old hens," growled Tommy, thinking of the days when he often had six to rejoice over. "Well, put 'em in my hat and give me a new bit of chalk; I must mark 'em up, any way."
Billy mounted a peck-measure, and looked into the top of the machine, where Tommy kept his writing materials.
"There's lots of money in here," said Billy.
"No, there isn't. Catch me leaving my cash round again," returned Tommy.
"I see 'em one, four, eight, two dollars," persisted Billy, who had not yet mastered the figures correctly.
"What a jack you are!" and Tommy hopped up to get the chalk for himself, but nearly tumbled down again, for there actually were four bright quarters in a row, with a bit of paper on them directed to "Tom Bangs," that there might be no mistake.
"Thunder turtles!" cried Tommy, and seizing them he dashed into the house, bawling wildly, "It's all right! Got my money! Where's Nat?"
He was soon found, and his surprise and pleasure were so genuine that few doubted his word when he now denied all knowledge of the money.
"How could I put it back when I didn't take it? Do believe me now, and be good to me again," he said, so imploringly, that Emil slapped him on the back, and declared he would for one.
"So will I, and I'm jolly glad it's not you. But who the dickens is it?" said Tommy, after shaking hands heartily with Nat.
"Never mind, as long as it's found," said Dan with his eyes fixed on Nat's happy face.
"Well, I like that! I'm not going to have my things hooked, and then brought back like the juggling man's tricks," cried Tommy, looking at his money as if he suspected witchcraft.
"We'll find him out somehow, though he was sly enough to print this so his writing wouldn't be known," said Franz, examining the paper.
"Demi prints tip-top," put in Rob, who had not a very clear idea what the fuss was all about.
"You can't make me believe it's him, not if you talk till you are blue," said Tommy, and the others hooted at the mere idea; for the little deacon, as they called him, was above suspicion.
Nat felt the difference in the way they spoke of Demi and himself, and would have given all he had or ever hoped to have to be so trusted; for he had learned how easy it is to lose the confidence of others, how very, very hard to win it back, and truth became to him a precious thing since he had suffered from neglecting it.
Mr. Bhaer was very glad one step had been taken in the right direction, and waited hopefully for yet further revelations. They came sooner than he expected, and in a way that surprised and grieved him very much. As they sat at supper that night, a square parcel was handed to Mrs. Bhaer from Mrs. Bates, a neighbor. A note accompanied the parcel, and, while Mr. Bhaer read it, Demi pulled off the wrapper, exclaiming, as he saw its contents,
"Why, it's the book Uncle Teddy gave Dan!"
"The devil!" broke from Dan, for he had not yet quite cured himself of swearing, though he tried very hard.
Mr. Bhaer looked up quickly at the sound. Dan tried to meet his eyes, but could not; his own fell, and he sat biting his lips, getting redder and redder till he was the picture of shame.
"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bhaer, anxiously.
"I should have preferred to talk about this in private, but Demi has spoilt that plan, so I may as well have it out now," said Mr. Bhaer, looking a little stern, as he always did when any meanness or deceit came up for judgment.
"The note is from Mrs. Bates, and she says that her boy Jimmy told her he bought this book of Dan last Saturday. She saw that it was worth much more than a dollar, and thinking there was some mistake, has sent it to me. Did you sell it, Dan?"
"Yes, sir," was the slow answer.
"Wanted money."
"For what?"
"To pay somebody."
"To whom did you owe it?"
"Never borrowed a cent of me in his life," cried Tommy, looked scared, for he guessed what was coming now, and felt that on the whole he would have preferred witchcraft, for he admired Dan immensely.
"Perhaps he took it," cried Ned, who owed Dan a grudge for the ducking, and, being a mortal boy, liked to pay it off.
"O Dan!" cried Nat, clasping his hands, regardless of the bread and butter in them.
"It is a hard thing to do, but I must have this settled, for I cannot have you watching each other like detectives, and the whole school disturbed in this way. did you put that dollar in the barn this morning?" asked Mr. Bhaer.
Dan looked him straight in the face, and answered steadily, "Yes, I did."
A murmur went round the table, Tommy dropped his mug with a crash; Daisy cried out, "I knew it wasn't Nat;" Nan began to cry, and Mrs. Jo left the room, looking so disappointed, sorry, and ashamed that Dan could not bear it. He hid his face in his hands a moment, then threw up his head, squared his shoulders as if settling some load upon them, and said, with the dogged look, and half-resolute, half-reckless tone he had used when he first came
"I did it; now you may do what you like to me, but I won't say another word about it."
"Not even that you are sorry?" asked Mr. Bhaer, troubled by the change in him.
"I ain't sorry."
"I'll forgive him without asking," said Tommy, feeling that it was harder somehow to see brave Dan disgraced than timid Nat.
"Don't want to be forgiven," returned Dan, gruffly.
"Perhaps you will when you have thought about it quietly by yourself, I won't tell you now how surprised and disappointed I am, but by and by I will come up and talk to you in your room."
"Won't make any difference," said Dan, trying to speak defiantly, but failing as he looked at Mr. Bhaer's sorrowful face; and, taking his words for a dismissal, Dan left the room as if he found it impossible to stay.
It would have done him good if he had stayed; for the boys talked the matter over with such sincere regret, and pity, and wonder, it might have touched and won him to ask pardon. No one was glad to find that it was he, not even Nat; for, spite of all his faults, and they were many, every one liked Dan now, because under his rough exterior lay some of the manly virtues which we most admire and love. Mrs. Jo had been the chief prop, as well as cultivator, of Dan; and she took it sadly to heart that her last and most interesting boy had turned out so ill. The theft was bad, but the lying about it, and allowing another to suffer so much from an unjust suspicion was worse; and most discouraging of all was the attempt to restore the money in an underhand way, for it showed not only a want of courage, but a power of deceit that boded ill for the future. Still more trying was his steady refusal to talk of the matter, to ask pardon, or express any remorse. Days passed; and he went about his lessons and his work, silent, grim, and unrepentant. As if taking warning by their treatment of Nat, he asked no sympathy of any one, rejected the advances of the boys, and spent his leisure hours roaming about the fields and woods, trying to find playmates in the birds and beasts, and succeeding better than most boys would have done, because he knew and loved them so well.
"If this goes on much longer, I'm afraid he will run away again, for he is too young to stand a life like this," said Mr. Bhaer, quite dejected at the failure of all his efforts.
"A little while ago I should have been quite sure that nothing would tempt him away, but now I am ready of any thing, he is so changed," answered poor Mrs. Jo, who mourned over her boy and could not be comforted, because he shunned her more than any one else, and only looked at her with the half-fierce, half-imploring eyes of a wild animal caught in a trap, when she tried to talk to him alone.
Nat followed him about like a shadow, and Dan did not repulse him as rudely as he did others, but said, in his blunt way, "You are all right; don't worry about me. I can stand it better than you did."
"But I don't like to have you all alone," Nat would say, sorrowfully.
"I like it;" and Dan would tramp away, stifling a sigh sometimes, for he was lonely.
Passing through the birch grove one day, he came up on several of the boys, who were amusing themselves by climbing up the trees and swinging down again, as they slender elastic stems bent till their tops touched the ground. Dan paused a minute to watch the fun, without offering to join in it, and as he stood there Jack took his turn. He had unfortunately chosen too large a tree; for when he swung off, it only bent a little way, and left him hanging at a dangerous height.
"Go back; you can't do it!" called Ned from below.
Jack tried, but the twigs slipped from his hands, and he could not get his legs round the trunk. He kicked, and squirmed, and clutched in vain, then gave it up, and hung breathless, saying helplessly,
"Catch me! help me! I must drop!"
"You'll be killed if you do," cried Ned, frightened out of his wits.
"Hold on!" shouted Dan; and up the tree he went, crashing his way along till he nearly reached Jack, whose face looked up at him, full of fear and hope.
"You'll both come down," said Ned, dancing with excitement on the slope underneath, while Nat held out his arms, in the wild hope of breaking the fall.
"That's what I want; stand from under," answered Dan, coolly; and, as he spoke, his added weight bent the tree many feet nearer the earth.
Jack dropped safely; but the birch, lightened of half its load, flew up again so suddenly, that Dan, in the act of swinging round to drop feet foremost, lost his hold and fell heavily.
"I'm not hurt, all right in a minute," he said, sitting up, a little pale and dizzy, as the boys gathered round him, full of admiration and alarm.
"You're a trump, Dan, and I'm ever so much obliged to you," cried Jack, gratefully.
"It wasn't any thing," muttered Dan, rising slowly.
"I say it was, and I'll shake hands with you, though you are ," Ned checked the unlucky word on his tongue, and held out his hand, feeling that it was a handsome thing on his part.
"But I won't shake hands with a sneak;" and Dan turned his back with a look of scorn, that caused Ned to remember the brook, and retire with undignified haste.
"Come home, old chap; I'll give you a lift;" and Nat walked away with him leaving the others to talk over the feat together, to wonder when Dan would "come round," and to wish one and all that Tommy's "confounded money had been in Jericho before it made such a fuss."
When Mr. Bhaer came into school next morning, he looked so happy, that the boys wondered what had happened to him, and really thought he had lost his mind when they saw him go straight to Dan, and, taking him by both hands, say all in one breath, as he shook them heartily,
"I know all about it, and I beg your pardon. It was like you to do it, and I love you for it, though it's never right to tell lies, even for a friend."
"What is it?" cried Nat, for Dan said not a word, only lifted up his head, as if a weight of some sort had fallen off his back.
"Dan did not take Tommy's money;" and Mr. Bhaer quite shouted it, he was so glad.
"Who did?" cried the boys in a chorus.
Mr. Bhaer pointed to one empty seat, and every eye followed his finger, yet no one spoke for a minute, they were so surprised.
"Jack went home early this morning, but he left this behind him;" and in the silence Mr. Bhaer read the note which he had found tied to his door-handle when he rose.
"I took Tommy's dollar. I was peeking in through a crack and saw him put it there. I was afraid to tell before, though I wanted to. I didn't care so much about Nat, but Dan is a trump, and I can't stand it any longer. I never spent the money; it's under the carpet in my room, right behind the washstand. I'm awful sorry. I am going home, and don't think I shall ever come back, so Dan may have my things.
It was not an elegant confession, being badly written, much blotted, and very short; but it was a precious paper to Dan; and, when Mr. Bhaer paused, the boy went to him, saying, in a rather broken voice, but with clear eyes, and the frank, respectful manner they had tried to teach him,
"I'll say I'm sorry now, and ask you to forgive me, sir."
"It was a kind lie, Dan, and I can't help forgiving it; but you see it did no good," said Mr. Bhaer, with a hand on either shoulder, and a face full of relief and affection.
"It kept the boys from plaguing Nat. That's what I did it for. It made him right down miserable. I didn't care so much," explained Dan, as if glad to speak out after his hard silence.
"How could you do it? You are always so kind to me," faltered Nat, feeling a strong desire to hug his friend and cry. Two girlish performances, which would have scandalized Dan to the last degree.
"It's all right now, old fellow, so don't be a fool," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat, and laughing out as he had not done for weeks. "Does Mrs. Bhaer know?" he asked, eagerly.
"Yes; and she is so happy I don't know what she will do to you," began Mr. Bhaer, but got no farther, for here the boys came crowding about Dan in a tumult of pleasure and curiosity; but before he had answered more than a dozen questions, a voice cried out,
"Three cheers for Dan!" and there was Mrs. Jo in the doorway waving her dish-towel, and looking as if she wanted to dance a jig for joy, as she used to do when a girl.
"Now then," cried Mr. Bhaer, and led off a rousing hurrah, which startled Asia in the kitchen, and made old Mr. Roberts shake his head as he drove by, saying,
"Schools are not what they were when I was young!"
Dan stood it pretty well for a minute, but the sight of Mrs. Jo's delight upset him, and he suddenly bolted across the hall into the parlor, whither she instantly followed, and neither were seen for half an hour.
Mr. Bhaer found it very difficult to calm his excited flock; and, seeing that lessons were an impossibility for a time, he caught their attention by telling them the fine old story of the friends whose fidelity to one another has made their names immortal. The lads listened and remembered, for just then their hearts were touched by the loyalty of a humbler pair of friends. The lie was wrong, but the love that prompted it and the courage that bore in silence the disgrace which belonged to another, made Dan a hero in their eyes. Honesty and honor had a new meaning now; a good name was more precious than gold; for once lost money could not buy it back; and faith in one another made life smooth and happy as nothing else could do.
Tommy proudly restored the name of the firm; Nat was devoted to Dan; and all the boys tried to atone to both for former suspicion and neglect. Mrs. Jo rejoiced over her flock, and Mr. Bhaer was never tired of telling the story of his young Damon and Pythias.


text:
"Busted" lyrics - TAYLOR SWIFT
Well, I saw the things you were doing at the VMAs
And when I got that video award, you took the mic away
Now, I'll try to call security with every step I take
And nothing will even stop with all the music that I ever make
Don't think you're gonna win this time
'Cause you better believe that you're not what you do
I'll get ya! (yeah)
I'll get ya! (yeah)
And when I do, Kanye you'll be busted
I don't wanna be mean to you
But you better believe me when I tell you that
You are never what you do
You're busted. (Busted!)
Yeah, everybody makes mistakes
But, this is how it's gonna be until you apologize on the VMAs
You're busted!


text:
Outdoor Fields
Outside the Superior Dome overlooking Lake Superior, are Northern Michigan University's four outdoor athletic fields that were built for the 2003 season. Two fields are practice fields for football. The other two fields serve as the game field and practice field for the NMU soccer team. The soccer game field measures 120' x 80'.
There are also two fields on the corner of Lincoln and Wright Street near NMU residence halls. These fields are used by club and intramural sports.
For information on renting the fields, call 906-227-2850.


text:
Home User list Highscores Forum User groups About |
Convert text to CWHere you can convert any text to CW. The parameters such as speed, effective speed and tone frequency can be changed to arbitrary values. This can, for example, be used to create Morse cellphone ring tones, generate practice texts to listen to on your MP3 player, etc. The text size is limited, if you want to convert longer texts (like an e-book), you may want to have a look at the program ebook2cw which was written for exactly this purpose. |


text:
ABS 2011 Android discussion BOF
Here is information about the Android discussion Birds-of-a-Feather meeting at Android Builders Summit
The meeting will be held during lunch time at the Hotel Kabuki, during the lunch break of ABS.
- Date: Thursday, April 14
- Time: 12:00
- Place: Kosukura Room at the Hotel Kabuki, 1625 Post Street, San Francisco
The Kosakura room is on the Lobby level of the hotel. It is a small meeting room just west of the Sakura event rooms. (From the lobby, go south towards the event area, up the half-flight of stairs, and the Kosakura room will be on your right.)
Lunch will be served.
This was a private meeting, with the following people in attendance:
- From CELF:
- Tim Bird
- Hisao Munakata
- From Google:
- Erik Gilling
- Dima Zavin
- Arve Hjønnevåg
- From Linaro:
- David Rusling
- John Stultz
- Jesse Barker
- Alexander Sack
- From Qualcomm
- Mark Charlebois
- Bryan Huntsman
The main agenda is a discussion of technologies that would make sense to mainline, in the short term, and strategies for accomplishing it.
- CELF contract work status
- status of YAFFS2 mainline effort
- CELF project proposals
- possible project funding for small stuff (logcat, fastboot ubiquity, adb uptake, LTTng)
- Linaro status
- update on Linaro general status
- Things Linaro plans to do related to Android
- Google mainline effort report
- Qualcomm issues
- unified memory management for graphics layers?
- (I think this was covered in the ELC BOF Tuesday night - but I'd like to hear a status update)
- unified memory management for graphics layers?
- meta-issues
- handling community expectations and reactions
- avoiding distracting product developers
- issues with proxy contributions


text:
The economists over at StatsBee, a blog via NYCEDC's Center for Economic Transformation, examined the Restaurant Inspection Results from the health department to find the number of cafés, coffee shops and tea shops in the five boroughs.
In total, they found 1,700 such places. According to their research:
Manhattan neighborhoods have the highest density of cafés per ZIP code. The East Village ZIP code of 10003 has the highest number of shops with 49, closely followed by Midtown/Hell's Kitchen (10019) with 47. Midtown East (10017) and SoHo (10012) each have 41, and Tribeca/Chinatown (10013) has 40.
Researchers also looked at the breakdown between the chains and independent shops. And what they found:
With the Restaurant Inspection Results list, we counted 454 Dunkin' Donuts (including hybrids like Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins) and 272 Starbucks locations. 42.7% of the City's cafés are one of these two major chains, with the remaining majority made up of smaller chains or single-location establishments.
Find the full report here, including an interactive map. Not sure how telling any of this is, but we do enjoy conversations about coffee. And chains/franchises.
And this is ZIP 10003, because someone always asks ...


text:
| -UncategorizedWhoops. Surprised to find out that I'm handling the PinoyJUG newbie
track tomorrow (I _hope_ this is in a lab; it'd be insane to do it as
a lecture?). That doesn't leave me much time for aikido, so I'm going
to try to make it to today's session instead.
I'll have to prepare lots of exercises for people tomorrow. They want
practice in if/while/for/arrays, they'll get that kind of practice…
You can comment with Disqus or you can e-mail me at email@example.com.


text:
In Tyler Perry's sexy and electrifying thriller, a faithful wife (Taraji. P. Henson) is driven over the edge when it becomes clear she has been betrayed by her devious husband.
Director: Tyler Perry
Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Lyriq Bent, Crystle Stewart
GENRE: ThrillerSCREEN FORMAT: WideScreenAUDIO: 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL,5.1 DTS-HD MA,DESC. AUDIO (AD-DVS)RUN TIME: 120CC: NoCOLOR: ColorORIGINALLY RELEASED: 6/26/2018


text:
Walgreens announced this week that it plans to stock all of its stores across the U.S. with Narcan as the nation's opioid epidemic reaches new levels.
The medication, which is administered via nasal spray and can be used to reverse the effects of opioid drugs like prescription painkillers and heroin, will be available in more than 8,000 pharmacies nationwide, the company said.
"By stocking Narcan in all our pharmacies, we are making it easier for families and caregivers to help their loved ones by having it on hand in case it is needed," Rick Gates, Walgreens group vice president of pharmacy, said in a statement. "As a pharmacy we are committed to making Narcan more accessible in the communities we serve."
President Donald Trump is expected to formally declare the opioid epidemic a national emergency this week.
With an estimated 142 Americans dying every day from drug overdoses, more than 10,000 people have died in the weeks since the president first committed to the plan.
"This action is an important milestone and we applaud Walgreens initiatives to improve access to Narcan Nasal Spray in communities across the U.S.," Seamus Mulligan, chief executive officer of Adapt Pharma, the manufacturer of Narcan Nasal Spray, said in a statement. "This effort, combined with the opportunity for patients and caregivers to obtain Narcan Nasal Spray without an individual prescription in 45 states, is critical in combating this crisis."
Last year, Walgreens announced an effort to make naloxone available without a prescription in states where regulations allowed.


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Undiluted hocus-pocus: The autobiography of Martin Gardner
When I received my review copy of Undiluted Hocus-Pocus, Martin Gardner's new autobiography, the first thing I did was to take down my old, well-worn copy of his Mathematical puzzles and diversions and out fell a hexagonal paper model, a hexahexaflexagon, the subject of the book's first chapter, and indeed of the first Mathematical Games column which Gardner wrote for Scientific American. It is this column, whose highlights have been much reprinted in various collections, which inspired several generations of students to go on to become mathematicians. Gardner's success was the precursor to the explosion of "recreational mathematics" published in the last couple of decades. Familiar names as Ian Stewart, one of Gardner's successors as a writer for the same Scientific American column continued to carry the torch for a tradition which Gardner may be said to have ignited. To any readers who have not yet encountered Gardner's mathematical writings, I strongly urge you to try them! His collections of mathematical puzzles, tricks and articles all contain gems which serve to remind what amazing and beautiful subtlety can arise from the simplest-seeming questions. (See below for a list of Gardner's books reviewed on Plus.)
One point of great interest is that, in comparison to more contemporary popular mathematical authors, Gardner rarely delves into technically sophisticated or abstruse areas of mathematics, but will always give you something you can get your hands on, witness my model hexahexaflexagon. That is not to say his columns did not ever tackle deep subjects of current research interest — they did — but the problems were always ones you could in principle try to solve, even if you might have little chance of success! Perhaps the most surprising thing I discovered from reading Undiluted Hocus-Pocus was something of the reason behind this: Gardner had never, as I had assumed, trained formally in mathematics. As an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, he majored in philosophy, and it is this, rather than mathematics (apart from a few parenthetical teasers!) which pervades the book.
The style is that of a memoir, conversationally phrased, and not afraid to be sidetracked occasionally by an amusing aside. Gardner paints vividly an inside picture of American intellectual life in the twentieth century, coloured by honest accounts of the many influential figures with whom he came into contact. Both style and content reminded me of the anecdotal autobiographies of the physicist Richard Feynman. If you enjoyed such works as Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman you will certainly appreciate this volume. For Gardner though, the characters are all coloured by their various philosophical, and indeed theological, points of view. One of the central strands of the book is Gardner's journey of faith, from a Christian upbringing, through a variously fervent and disenchanted adolescence, to his position of "philosophical theism", a belief in a god, but not one directly involved in the world, or conforming to the deity of any organised religion.
Gardner explains how his career started off in journalism and writing. His passion for literature and poetry is another central theme of the book, which contains several extracts of his favourite verse. He is unashamed of his appreciation of science fiction and crime novels, genres not always lauded by literary critics, and boasts a simple taste in poetry and art, with scathing criticism for that which is inaccessibly abstract. The reader of Undiluted Hocus-Pocus who, like me, was unaware of Gardner's non-mathematical writing, will find in Perci Diaconis' preface a very helpful account of Gardner's novels, short stories and articles on philosophy and literature. Much of his fiction, it is revealed, has an autobiographical aspect to it, perhaps an indication of how he felt the wonders and eccentricities of the real world supplied enough enchantment to eclipse that of anything purely fabricated, the magic of our world being the Undiluted Hocus-Pocus of the title. This point of view he makes very explicit with respect to what he refers to as "pseudoscience", against which he aimed much of his writing, and in which he succeeded in uncovering a number of false claims.
The title also refers, more prosaically, to Gardner's significant involvement in magic. Although not a regular performer, he was known and respected by some of the most prominent magical performers of his time. Magic tricks with a mathematical slant regularly made it into Mathematical Games, as could anything which tickled his enthusiasm for conundrum and paradox. His sense of humour is also well-embedded in the pages of the book, with not a small number of amusing episodes and practical jokes of his own devising.
A reader hoping for mathematical puzzles and games would be disappointed — these can be found aplenty in Gardner's other works — for this is, as it says, an autobiography, a transparent and readable account of the character behind the enthusiastic expositions. Some may be surprised at the emphasis laid on the philosophical and religious beliefs of the book's characters and the context may mean that the odd cultural reference needs clarification for anyone not so familiar with American twentieth century history. However, both of these aspects are vital to Gardner's life as he tells it; his delight in mathematics is but part of his delight in the world. It's a sentiment he echoes from the writer G.K. Chesterton, perhaps surprisingly one of the most referenced authors in the book. This delight is grounded in a solidity of rational enquiry, which explains the importance he attaches to his intellectual environment. Perhaps the highest praise one can give is that, even if one disagrees with his ultimate conclusions, one feels enriched by his discussions and above all by his openness to ideas which, as he admits, allowed him to learn mathematics in the course of his writing for Scientific American. Although it is these writings by which I will always think of Gardner's influence on my own intellectual development, I am grateful to have seen the broader picture of the man's thought from which they arose.
Some of Gardner's books, and books inspired by him, have been reviewed on Plus:
- Mathematics, Magic and Mystery
- Origami, Eleusis and the Soma Cube
- A lifetime of puzzles, Homage to a pied puzzler and Mathematical wizardry for a Gardner
- Tribute to a mathemagician.
- Book details:
- Undiluted hocus-pocus: The autobiography of Martin Gardner
- Martin Gardner, Persi Diaconis and James Randi
- hardback — 288 pages
- Princeton University Press (30 Sep 2013)
About the author
Alexander Shannon has just completed a PhD in pure mathematics at Cambridge, where he studied at Christ's College, and has been a teaching associate at St. John's College.


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Professional papers:
Academic Council, 1944-48, 1969
Activities, Women's Physical Education
Administration of Physical Education (ED 175), 1962 - course materials
Alumni Association - Athletic fashion show 1971
American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 1950-71
Assorted brochures and publications
Classes and majors, Fall 1951
Correspondence 1941-43
Correspondence 1956-59
Correspondence 1960-64
Correspondence - Mary Yost 1941-47
Departmental miscellany
Departmental records Fall 1968
Departmental records Spring 1969
Departmental records Fall 1969 (1)
Departmental records Fall 1969 (2)
Dyment, Bertha - obituary and memorial notes
Elementary School Physical Education (ED 157) - lesson plans
Extramurals, 1962-63
Extramurals, 1963-69
Future of the School of Education at S.U. - report, 1971
Grade study, P.E. courses, 1953-58
Library Committee, School of Education
Major course of study
Mechanics of movement - bibliography, 1946
National Association for Physical Education of College Women, 1939, 1964
PAC 8 Tennis, 1970
Physical Education - co-ed department at S.U., 1970
Physical Education majors
Physical Education majors
Physical Education Program evaluation
Proposed P.E. minors
Reports and papers by other authors
Santa Clara County unit of California Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 1940-42
Santa Clara County unit of California Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation - Institute, 1941
School of Health - committees, 1941-45
Sports Day - planning outline
Staff meetings
Stanford Ski Club
Stanford Ski Club - emblem
"Co-recreational Skiing in Colleges and Universities" (pamphlet by Luell A. Weed [Guthrie]) 1947
Stanford Women's Tennis Club, minutes, 1934-52
Summer recreation, 1953
Summer recreation - swimming report 1953
Summer recreation, 1957-58
Summer recreation, 1959
Summer recreation, 1961-71
Tennis 182 (tournament organization)
Tennis tournaments draw sheets
Tennis Umpires Association - history by L. Guthrie, 1937
Triangular Sports Day, Mills College, 1940
Winter sports
Personal Papers:
Berta Gray - information concerning
Christmas cards from F. Terman and family, 1973-76
Miscellaneous items
Obituaries of friends and colleagues
Student paper "The sound value of play and games," University of Washington
Travel records, 1965-79
Travel records, 1981-87
University of Washington alumni newsletter, 1960
Photographs - dogs
Photographs - dry-skiing classes
Photographs - people
Photographs - Red Cross work
Photographs - Stanford women's gymnasium
Photographs - tennis
Photographs - travel
Photographs - negatives
Scrapbook of clippings, photographs, postcards, memorabilia, and her letters to her parents pertaining to her work with the Red Cross, 1943-44
Scrapbook of clippings, photographs, postcards, programs, and memorabilia pertaining to her association with Stanford University, 1936-40


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This article is more than 1 year old
Novell's Vibe Cloud floats away
Farewell, web-collaboration service – we hardly knew ye
After floating it around the market for only three months, Novell has decided to evaporate its Vibe Cloud web-based "social collaboration platform for the enterprise".
The decision to decommission the Vibe Cloud service as of September 30 was announced by Novell's new president and GM Bob Flynn in a Thursday post on the company blog, optimistically entitled "Defining the Next Chapter of Novell: Focus and Commitment".
According to Infoworld, Vibe Cloud had a mere 50 customers, all of them using the stripped-down free version – stats that must have made the decision a relatively easy one for Flynn, who has been Novell's headman for even less time than Vibe Cloud has been a product offering: Vibe Cloud came out of beta on April 4 – just over two weeks before Novell's acquisition by Attachmate was completed – and Flynn's appointment was announced on May 18.
The Vibe platform, however, isn't disappearing from Novell's offerings – it's merely leaving the cloudy heights of offsite service. Vibe OnPrem, the company's enterprise-hosted team collaboration service will be beefed up and incorporated into their GroupWise messaging, calendar, and collaboration suite, which Infoworld notes has around 30 million end users.
Flynn promises that more will be revealed about the Novell's plans for these and other products at the company's BrainShare customer and partner confab, to be held on October 10-14 in the marvelously named Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. ®


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The relocation of existing water lines currently located under various points along the upcoming Expo Light Rail Line route in Santa Monica will begin Monday, June 25 and continue through the end of August.
Major work activities will include saw-cutting and removal of asphalt, excavation of soil, pipe installation, backfilling, and asphalt restoration.
When feasible, in order to lessen the community impact and expedite the construction schedule, work at several locations may be scheduled concurrently. Upon completion of the work, the street will be restored.
The work hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.
Construction activities will be located along the Expo Right-of-Way crossings listed below:
· Stewart Street (between Olympic Boulevard and Exposition Boulevard)
· 26th Street (between Olympic Boulevard and Michigan Avenue)
· 20th Street (between Olympic Boulevard and Colorado Avenue)
· 19th Street (between Olympic Boulevard and Colorado Avenue)
One travel lane in all directions will be maintained throughout this construction activity; with the exception of 19th Street. This street will be closed intermittently at night during construction; no other street or intersection closures are planned as a part of this construction activity.
Turns onto Stewart, 26th, 20th, and 19th Streets will be limited throughout the construction area during non-peak traffic hours.
Electronic message boards, directional signage and/or flagmen will be used to safely direct vehicles and pedestrians around the construction zone.
Parking restrictions will be strictly enforced at all times and signage with specific restrictions will be in place in all construction areas.
Water service interruptions will be required and will be noticed at least 72 hours in advance of the interruption.
Noise levels will be monitored to ensure work performed is within the necessary compliance levels.
For additional information, contact the City of Santa Monica Public Works Department at 310.458.8721.


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On 11.10, which Compiz plugins are enabled by default? I.e. I should leave them enabled for some particular reason.
I've imported my Compiz settings from my previous install and so I can't tell. I'd like to disable all unnecessary plugins because I've noticed the potential for interference or performance issues.
I don't think I can trust the CCSM feature "Reset to defaults" because when I use it I need to run unity --reset
afterwards in order for my desktop to work again (implying that the default values it resets to are not the values that Ubuntu/Unity requires).


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A clip from the 1955 DePaul game. This original film was donated by Vernon Hatton and digitized this year by The Media Preserve — a division of Preservation Technologies.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
2 comments:
- Janice Childers said...
Ooh, I'm excited that you're able to digitize some of the films now! Yay :)
- October 22, 2010
- das said...
It has been really exciting. We were able to digitize five games from the 1950s in addition to Rupp's Road to the Championship, 1957-1958 and the 1958 Seattle UK game.
- October 27, 2010
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The World's Famous Orations.
Great Britain: II. (1780–1861). 1906.
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3d Marquess of Salisbury
On the Desertion of Gordon in Egypt
But I think that such objections are unreasonable. We depend in one of the greatest crises through which our country has ever passed on the wisdom and decision of those who guide our counsels, and we can only judge of what dependence is rightly to be placed by examining their conduct in the past, and seeing whether what they have done justifies us in continuing that confidence in the difficulties which are to come.
Now, whatever else may be said of the conduct of her majesty's government, I think those who examine it carefully will find that it follows a certain rule and system, and that in that sense, if in no other, it is consistent. Their conduct at the beginning of the Egyptian affair has been analogous to their conduct at the end; throughout there has been an unwillingness to come to any requisite decision till the last moment.
There has been an absolute terror of fixing upon any settled course, and the result has been that, when the time came that external pressure forced a decision on some definite course, the moment for satisfactory action had already passed, and the measures that were taken were taken in haste, with little preparation, and often with little fitness for the emergencies with which they had to cope. The conduct of the government has been an alternation of periods of slumber and periods of rush. The rush, however vehement, has been too unprepared and too unintelligent to repair the damage which the period of slumber has effected.
Now, my lords, these three things—the case, of the bombardment of Alexandria, the abandonment of the Sudan, and the mission of General Graham's force—they are all on the same plan, and they all show that remarkable characteristic of torpor during the time that action was needed, and of impulsive, hasty, and ill-considered action when the moment for action had passed by.
Their future conduct was modeled on their conduct in the past. So far was it modeled that we were able to put it to the test which establishes a scientific law. The proof of scientific law is when you can prophesy from previous experience what will happen in the future. It is exactly what took place in the present instance. We had had these three instances of the mode of working of her majesty's government before us. We knew the laws that guided their action, as astronomers, observing the motions of a comet, can discover by their observations the future path which that comet is to travel; and we prophesied what would happen in the case of General Gordon.
At all events, this is clear: that throughout those six months the government knew perfectly well the danger in which General Gordon was placed. It has been said that General Gordon did not ask for troops. Well, I am surprised at that defense. One of the characteristics of General Gordon was the extreme abnegation of his nature. It was not to be expected that he should send home a telegram to say, "I am in great danger, therefore send me troops." He would probably have cut off his right hand before he would have sent such a telegram. But he did send a telegram that the people of Khartum were in danger, and that the Mahdi must win unless military succor was sent forward, and distinctly telling the government—and this is the main point—that unless they would consent to his views the supremacy of the Mahdi was assured.
My lords, is it conceivable that after that—two months after that—in May, the prime minister should have said that the government was waiting to have reasonable proof that Gordon was in danger? By that time Khartum was surrounded, and the governor of Berber had announced that his case was desperate, which was too surely proved by the massacre which took place in June.
And yet in May Mr. Gladstone was waiting for reasonable proof that they were in danger. Apparently he did not get that proof till August.
A general sent forward on a dangerous expedition does not like to go whining for assistance, unless he is pressed by absolute peril. All those great qualities which go to make men heroes are such as are absolutely incompatible with such a course, and lead them to shrink as from a great disgrace from any unnecessary appeal for exertion for their protection. It was the business of the government not to interpret General Gordon's telegrams as if they had been statutory declarations, but to judge for themselves of the circumstances of the case, and to see that those who were surrounded, who were the only three Englishmen among this vast body of Mohammedans, who were already cut off from all communication with the civilized world by the occupation of every important town upon the river, were in real danger.
I do not know any other instance in which a man has been sent to maintain such a position without a certain number of British troops. If the British troops had been there treachery would have been impossible; but sending Gordon by himself to rely on the fidelity of Africans and Egyptians was an act of extreme rashness, and if the government succeed in proving, which I do not think they can, that treachery was inevitable, they only pile up an additional reason for their condemnation. I confess it is very difficult to separate this question from the personal matters involved. It is very difficult to argue it on purely abstract grounds without turning for a moment to the character of the man who was engaged and the terrible position in which he was placed.
When we consider all that he underwent, all that he sacrificed in order to serve the government in a moment of extreme exigency, there is something infinitely pathetic in reflecting on his feelings, as day after day, week after week, month after month passed by—as he spared no exertions, no personal sacrifice, to perform the duties that were placed upon him—as he lengthened out the siege by inconceivable prodigies of ingenuity, of activity, of resource—and as, in spite of it all, in spite of the deep devotion to his country, which had prompted him to this great risk and undertaking, the conviction gradually grew upon him that his country had abandoned him.
It is terrible to think what he must have suffered when at last, as a desperate measure to save those he loved, he parted with the only two Englishmen with whom during those long months he had any converse, and sent Stewart and Power down the river to escape from the fate which had become inevitable to himself. It is very painful to think of the reproaches to his country and to his country's government that must have passed through the mind of that devoted man during those months of unmerited desertion. In Gordon's letter of the fourteenth of December he said: "All is up. I expect a catastrophe in ten days' time; it would not have been so if our people had kept me better informed as to their intentions."
They had no intentions to inform him of. They were merely acting from hand to mouth to avert the parliamentary censure with which they were threatened. They had no plan, they had no intentions to carry out. If they could have known their intentions, a great hero would have been saved to the British army, a great disgrace would not have fallen on the English government.
Now, by the light of this sad history, what are the prospects for the future? Was there ever a time when clearness of plan and distinctness of policy were more required than they are now? I am not going to say that the policy of the government is bad. It would be paying them an extravagant compliment if I said so. They have no policy.
On one point only do they put down their foot and that is, the Egyptians shall not keep the Sudan. We were told that they were going to smash the Mahdi, but now we are to make peace with the smashed Mahdi. If you smash the Mahdi thoroughly he will be of no use to you, and if you do not smash him thoroughly he may maintain at the bottom of his heart a certain resentment against the process of being smashed.
Now, let us examine what are the interests of England in this matter. With Mediterranean politics as such we have no great interest to concern ourselves; but Egypt stands in a peculiar position. It is the road to India. The condition of Egypt can never be indifferent to us, and, more than that, we have a duty to insist—that our influence shall be predominant there. I do not care by what technical arrangements that result is to be obtained; but, with all due regard to the rights of the suzerain, the influence of England in Egypt must be supreme.
Now, the influence of England in Egypt is threatened from two sides. It is threatened from the north diplomatically. I do not think it is necessary that the powers should have taken up the position they have done, and I believe that with decent steering it might have been avoided; but, unfortunately, we have to face inchoate schemes which will demand the utmost jealousy and vigilance of Parliament I do not know what arrangement the government has arrived at, but I greatly fear that it may include a multiple control, and to that I believe this country will be persistently and resolutely hostile.
But we have to face a danger of another kind. We have forces of fanatical barbarians let loose upon the south of Egypt, and owing to the blunders that have been committed this danger has reached a terrible height. Unless we intend to give over Egypt to barbarism and anarchy we must contrive to check this inroad of barbarian fanaticism, which is personified in the character and action of the Mahdi. General Gordon never said a truer thing than that you do this by simply drawing a military line. If the insurgent Mohammedans reach the north of Egypt it will not be so much by their military force, as by the moral power of their example. We have therefore to check this advance of the Mahdi's power.
Her majesty's government in the glimpses of policy which they occasionally afford us have alluded to the possibility of setting up a good government in the Sudan. I quite agree that a good government is essential to us in the Sudan. It is the only dyke we can really erect to keep out this inundation of barbarism and fanatical forces.
All those advantages can be obtained if England will lay down a definite policy and will adhere to it, but consistency of policy is absolutely necessary. We have to assure our friends that we shall stand by them; we have to assure our enemies that we are permanently to be feared. The blunders of the last three years have placed us in the presence of terrible problems and difficulties. We have great sacrifices to make. This railway will be an enormous benefit to Africa, but do not let us conceal from ourselves that it is a task of no small magnitude. If you are to carry this railway forward you will not only have to smash the Mahdi, but Osman Digna also.
All this will involve great sacrifices and the expenditure not only of much money, but of more of the English blood of which the noblest has already been poured forth. And we are not so strong as we were. At first all nations sympathized with us, but now they look on us coldly and even with hostility. Those who were our friends have become indifferent, those who were indifferent have become our adversaries; and if our misfortunes and disasters go on much longer we shall have Europe saying that they can not trust us, that we are too weak, that our prestige is too low to justify us in undertaking this task.
My lords, those great dangers can only be faced by a consistent policy, which can only be conducted by a ministry capable of unity of counsel and decision of purpose. I have shown you that from this ministry we can expect no such results. They can only produce after their kind. They will only do what they have already done. You can not look for unity of counsel from an administration that is hopelessly divided. You can not expect a resolute policy from those whose purpose is hopelessly halting.
It is for this reason, my lords, that I ask you to record your opinion that from a ministry in whom the first of all—the quality of decision of purpose—is wanting, you can hope no good in this crisis of our country's fate. And if you continue to trust them, if for any party reasons Parliament continues to abandon to their care the affairs which they have hitherto so hopelessly mismanaged, you must expect to go on from bad to worse; you must expect to lose the little prestige which you retain; you must expect to find in other portions of the world the results of the lower consideration that you occupy in the eyes of mankind; you must expect to be drawn on, degree by degree, step by step, under the cover of plausible excuses, under the cover of highly philanthropic sentiments, to irreparable disasters, and to disgrace that it will be impossible to efface.


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Working for OPEC
The Secretariat of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is located in the city of Vienna, Austria. It is the sole office of the Organization.
The Secretariat primarily carries out analytical research and public relations activities. It is not involved in oil production.
The OPEC Secretariat is always looking for talented and qualified individuals to join its multinational team, aiming at securing the highest standards of competency and efficiency to meet the standards required by its Member Countries. It currently employs 134 people from 41 countries around the world from scientific, technical, managerial and professional backgrounds. In addition to competitive employment packages, it offers a rich multicultural work environment with English being the official working language.
Read moreVacancies Open
to OPEC nationals only
No vacancies are available at the moment.


text: From the 1/13/03 Aviation Week & Space Technology, "AeroBytes", pg 393: "Boeing is modifying B-1B bombers to carry a greater variety of smart weapons in the Conventional Missions Upgrade Program, which includes replacing the six computers in the avionics, navigation and weapons systems with four more powerful units, each with a pair of PowerPC processor cards. The new computers employ Green Hills Software's Integrity real-time operating system to take advantage of multiple-target capabilities and other new features, and programming will be done in Ada with the company's AdaMulti development environment." Also, the article immediately preceding this one, about BAE Systems Controls teaming up with DDC-I to develop Score-653 for safety critical embedded systems, mentions that "Ada is considered a reliable language". Marc A. Criley Quadrus Corporation www.quadruscorp.com