text:
In the last part of his series, Geoff Manaugh questions the context and outlook of blogging, and analyses the risks behind its success and fixes the goals which need to be met to ensure that architecture blogs have a future.
Blogging 101 – 05_FUTURE
In the last part of his series, Geoff Manaugh questions the context and outlook of blogging, and analyses the risks behind its success and fixes the goals which need to be met to ensure that architecture blogs have a future.
Text by Geoff Manaugh
This five-part series about our contemporary era of architecture and design blogging concludes here with a look forward at blogging's future: where blogging might go next, what divisive fates it should attempt to avoid, and even whether or not blogging has a future at all. It is, in some ways, an odd time to be looking ahead; after all, to discuss the future of blogging implies that there is a future for blogging. But the traditional blog – which I'll define as a regularly updated website whose content is posted in reverse chronological order, organized around a more or less thematically consistent cluster of topics, and written by a limited number of authors, often just one – seems to be on the verge of disappearing. Blogging, we might say, is in the process of going extinct. This overtly pessimistic prediction, however, need not come to pass, as we'll see below.
First, it is worth looking at two apparently unstoppable trends that, in the past few years, have fundamentally transformed how blogs are written, who writes them, what audiences now expect from them, and what role blogs play in the larger media landscape. One of these trends is the proliferation of micro-blogging services and apps – things like Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous, and even Instagram. Ironically, all of these encourage – in fact, explicitly reward – short-form content. For instance, Twitter's 140-character limit gives writers barely enough space in which to describe a link they're about to share with their readers, let alone enough space in which to offer their own original analyses or interpretations.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with this – I myself am an enthusiastic user of Twitter – it has had an undeniable side effect. Twitter has made it so easy to share links, without doing any critical work and without offering any elaboration or commentary, that many writers have been robbing themselves, in a sense, of potential blog posts. Instead, many writers now opt for the easy and immediate gratification of an off-the-cuff share on Twitter, where sharing new links and content can be achieved with no need to maintain an individual website. In other words, a writer's Twitter feed can often be in direct competition with his or her own blog. To a lesser extent, the same thing can be said about new photo-sharing services such as Twitpic or Instagram. After all, why write an entire blog post explaining where you are, how you got there, why what you are about to photograph has any significance or meaning, or even what your purpose was in going to see that location in the first place – when you can simply upload a quick, wittily captioned photo and wait for your friends to click "like"? Indeed, why do any work at all?
It should be obvious that this aggressively negative attitude overlooks the social utility and intellectual value of these microblogging services; but the larger point remains valid. It is now so easy not to blog that many writers who, as recently as two years ago, might have started their own blog with which to build an audience, are now simply sending things out into the world via Twitter, a service notoriously difficult to archive (and a decision that might ultimately prevent that writer from achieving the recognition or success that they believe they are pursuing).
In all of these cases, the path of least resistance seems to win. Another, more fatal change in the nature of blogging today is its absorption by what I will loosely describe as "corporate media". While I would actually argue that blogs run by magazines, newspapers, educational institutions, and private corporations aren't really "blogs" in any true sense of the word, that's something of a moot point. Today, it seems that literally anything written on the Internet is considered a "blog"; indeed, the difference between blogs, websites, and other online publications has been entirely and unfortunately eroded.
As blogs are now written less and less by individual critics or amateur enthusiasts, and more and more by paid teams of semi-professional writers working in the service of often much larger companies or publications – The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, USA Network, The Atlantic, Forbes – we are seeing blogs treated as little more than the PR wings of large media conglomerates. In the long run, this will devalue blogs' cultural role, it will neutralize their very real critical power, and it will make a mockery of the claim that blogging can give a voice to the otherwise unempowered.
Some home pages of architecture blogs:
The amateur, unaffiliated status of blogs should be thoroughly and unironically celebrated; in a sense, that is their whole purpose and value. Blogging – that is, taking notes in public about things of interest to you and your particular readers – will always be useful as long as there is an Internet. Further, blogging needs the impulsively produced, charismatically disorganized content for which is has become deservedly famous (and, in many circles, for which it has been sarcastically dismissed). Blogging does not need the big budgets and official connections of corporate media; it needs excitable people with interests, sharing things with the rest of the world. In any case, having said all that, blogging does also have a more straightforward future – a tactical usefulness that will never go away.
In a recent interview I recorded with architects Mason White and Lola Sheppard of Lateral Office, based in Toronto, they both referred to their blog InfraNet Lab, which they co-author with Neeraj Bhatia and Maya Przybylski. InfraNet Lab, they explained, functions as an open catalogue of possible future projects: possible sites, problems, materials, and even clients for which no immediate next step is yet clear. The blog serves, at its most basic, to quietly organize the designers' thoughts, helping take steps toward an interpretation or solution, no matter how speculative it might be. The blog is incremental and strategically incomplete. The blog, on the one hand, and the design practice, on the other, thus use and rely on each other's particular skills; each achieves what it is uniquely suited for.
It should not surprise anyone that blogs can be used this way. In fact, we could say that blogging's future is what it has always been, but without the hype or the overblown expectations – without the irrational exuberance that once claimed blogging would put universities out of business, replace whole networks of editors and their fields of expertise, and eliminate entire industries. Those delirious over-statements of blogging's power have done a disservice to blogging's genuine usefulness, and they have inadvertently contributed to the corporate takeover of blogging, described above. What blogging needs to avoid today, if it is to have any truly interesting future role in tomorrow's media landscape, is becoming nothing more than a misleading extension of corporate public relations; at the same time, blogging can't lose its impulsive, research-based, perpetually incomplete edge, the sense that a blog's author is out on a wild process of discovery along with us.
Further, what blogging does not need, if it is to survive in a useful form, are vacuous and divisive exhortations to "be meaner," as at least one critic has written – to be at each other's throats at all times and in all contexts – as if aggression and rhetorical offensiveness are the only things that make online discourse worth reading. Not poetry, not new ideas and diagonal perspectives on human spatiality, not the awesome ingenuity of architectural thought. Blogging should rise above these childish, playground taunts and focus on more ambitious goals. In the end, no matter how we look at it, the future of blogging is by no means guaranteed. Many people would prefer to see blogs domesticated and turned into camouflaged publicity for paying clients; others would like to see blogs replaced with the same insider arguments found in academic publications (from which so many bloggers and their readers were trying to escape in the first place).
The future of architecture and design blogging should: 1) make pop culture more interesting by introducing fringe ideas to wider audiences, acting as a bridge between the periphery and the center; 2) synthesize ideas from apparently unrelated fields; and thus 3) unite writers, designers, architects, clients, the reading public, and other practitioners across geographic and professional backgrounds around shared themes of inquiry and concern. In the process, blogging's future should pursue a larger political goal of changing what conversations take place in the context of architecture and design, who is able to participate in those discussions, and, finally, how widely – and in what form – the results of these exchanges can be disseminated. These are ambitious, even utopian, goals, but they are also part of what it will take to ensure that blogging will, indeed, have a future.
Geoff Manaugh (USA, 1976) critic. He lives in Los Angeles, USA. He launched BLDGBLOG in 2004 to explore where architecture, landscape, fiction, politics, science, and mythology overlap. He is currently teaching at the School of Architecture, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. In 2009 he published "The BLDGBLOG Book".
InfraNet Lab is an independent research collective of architects formed in 2008 who, probing the future scenarios determined by the contemporary resource logistics, runs a blog, curates exhibitions and conferences, edits publications and promotes collaborations and design projects.
Abitare © All rights reserved


text:
CPAs, or Certified Public Accountants, can help you in your individual or business accounting and tax preparation in many ways. With the laws surrounding accountancy such as generally accepted accounting practices for businesses, and tax laws that change every year for individuals, hiring a CPA to perform your accounting services needs is the best way to ensure that your accounting is error free in case of IRS or other audit.
CPAs are Certified Public Accountants, certified by the Board of Accountancy. These CPAs can perform a variety of services to small businesses, large corporations, or individuals. They are accountable to government agencies for their ethics and business practices, which ensures that you the consumer are protected from fraudulent activity by CPAs, and giving you security in knowing that your accounting is in good hands.
CPAs can perform general accounting, audits, or tax services. CPAs must have a college education in accounting, and an examination prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). A CPA can be self-employed individuals acting on their own behalf and that of the CPA's clients, or they can be employed within a public accounting firm in tax or audit services.
Having a CPA prepare your business or individual income tax return is a great way to avoid errors, not to mention the prying eyes of the IRS and an audit. A CPA must undergo continuing education as accounting and tax laws change from year to year. Therefore, only a CPA can ensure that your tax return is completely accurate. Not only is accuracy important to the IRS and in case of an audit, but it is important to your immediate financial future as well. Because a CPA has intimate knowledge of tax laws and available exemptions, a CPA can make sure you get the largest refund possible.
In the case that you are chosen for audit by the IRS, your best bet to come through the audit cleanly is to have a CPA by your side. A CPA is as familiar with tax law as the IRS representative performing the audit. Because of this, the CPA can negotiate a lower penalty, help you avoid penalties, and help you claim the deductions you deserve. You should contact a CPA as soon as you have received an audit notice from the IRS, because the CPA can help you prepare for your audit and gather the necessary information. Then, the CPA can walk into the audit interview by your side, completely in charge and confident of the outcome of your audit.
If you own a small business, a CPA can also help you determine what business taxes are required by your local, state, and federal government. In addition, the CPA can help you set up a double entry accounting system that includes a journal and ledger. The CPA can also help you to set up a standard chart of accounts for use with your ledger. All of these tools will help you stay organized and ready for tax time and any possible audits. The CPA can also use the information from these tools to create financial statements for your business, which will then help you to make business decisions, make comparisons with competitors, discover industry and company financial trends, and prepare financial reports and business plans for purposes of investors and bank loans.
Whatever the financial service required, a CPA is your best bet. With a CPA, you have the security of a licensed, monitored professional along with the peace of mind that all of your accounting is accurate and ready for any possible audit.
Subscribe for important tax updates!
More from our blog
See all postsRecent Posts
- How CPAs Can Help You June 20, 2018
- Why Use Outsourced Accounting? June 14, 2018
- How To Choose Accountancy Software For Your Business May 22, 2018

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The 2020 Census helps ensure that our community receives its fair share of government funding. Census data directly affect how much money is allocated for infrastructure: such as neighborhood improvements, emergency preparedness and disaster recovery, public health, education, transportation, senior services and much more.
Show All Answers
2020 materials will be mailed to your residence beginning in March 2020. You'll have the option of responding online, by phone, or by mail.
You will be asked four general questions about the household:
Yes. You can respond online in English and in 12 additional languages: Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Japanese. The online questionnaire conforms with the latest web accessibility guidelines. There will also be a video in American Sign Language to guide you through responding online. You can respond by phone in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese and Japanese. The paper form can be completed in English or Spanish.
When answering "What is this person's race?", you are asked to select one or more boxes and enter detailed origins in the fields below each checkbox. If you check a box, but leave the origin fields blank, a message will appear at the top of the screen and the blank field will be highlighted in red. If you do not know this person's origin, click next again to continue completing your response.
No, your answers cannot be used to impact your eligibility for any government benefits, including any potential stimulus package. The Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the U.S. Code to keep your information confidential, and the answers you provide are used only to produce statistics.


text:
An international team of researchers has described a new physical effect that could be used to develop more efficient magnetic chips for information processing. The quantum mechanical effect makes it easier to produce spin-polarized currents necessary for the switching of magnetically stored information. The research findings were published online on 28 July in the high-impact journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Random-access memory is the short-term memory in computers. It buffers the programs and files currently in use in electronic form, in numerous tiny capacitors. As capacitors discharge over time, they have to be recharged regularly to ensure that no data are lost. This costs time and energy, and an unplanned power failure can result in data being lost for good.
Magnetic Random Access Memories (MRAMs), on the other hand, store information in tiny magnetic areas. This is a fast process that functions without a continuous power supply. In spite of this, MRAMs have yet to be implemented on a large scale, as their integration density is still too low, and they use too much energy, are difficult to produce, and cost too much.
One reason for this is that spin-polarized currents, or spin currents for short, are needed to switch the magnetic areas of the MRAMs. Spin is the intrinsic angular momentum of electrons that gives materials their magnetic properties, and it can point in two directions. Spin currents are electric currents that possess only one of these two spin types. Similar to the way in which Earth's magnetic field affects the needle of a compass, a current of one of the spin types influences a magnetic layer and can cause it to flip.
To produce spin currents up to now, the desired spin type was filtered from normal electric current. This required special filter structures and high current densities. Thanks to the new effect identified by researchers from Jülich, Barcelona, Grenoble, and Zurich, magnetic information could now be switched more easily.
"We no longer need spin filters. Instead, we produce the spin current directly where it will be used. All that is needed is a layer stack made of cobalt and platinum," says Dr. Frank Freimuth from the Peter Grünberg Institute and the Institute for Advanced Simulation at Forschungszentrum Jülich. This reduces the amount of space required, makes the system more robust, and may simplify the production of magnetic chips.
An electric current, conducted through the stack at the interface, separates the spins in the platinum layer and transports only one spin type into the magnetic cobalt layer. This creates a torque in this layer that can reverse the magnetization. "Spin torques had already been observed in double layer systems in the past," says the physicist, who is part of the Young Investigators Group on Topical Nanoelectronics headed by Prof. Yuriy Mokrousov. "The fact that we have conclusively explained for the first time how they are created is a scientific breakthrough, because this will enable us to produce them selectively and investigate them in more detail."
The researchers identified two mechanisms that combine to produce the new effect, which they have dubbed 'spin-orbit torque': spin-orbit coupling and the exchange interaction. Spin-orbit coupling is a well-known relativistic quantum phenomenon and the reason why all electron spins of one type move from the platinum to the cobalt layer. Within the cobalt layer, the layer's magnetic orientation then interacts with the spins via the exchange interaction.
The researchers tested their theory successfully in experiments. Their next step is to calculate the effect in other materials with stronger spin-torque coupling to find out whether the effect is even more apparent in other material combinations.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Helmholtz Association. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Cite This Page:


text:
Candidates for governor make tax and spending promises
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty made taxes the main issue in his campaign for governor four years ago, when he signed a "no new taxes" pledge sponsored by the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. This campaign, he says he kept his pledge, saying he erased a $4.5 billion deficit without raising state taxes.
But his critics say Pawlenty isn't telling the whole story. They blame him for rising property taxes, college tuition and fees on everything from cigarettes to fishing licenses. The state DFL Party is running a television ad that says Pawlenty's budget cuts led to a billion-dollar property tax increase and tuition hikes of 50 percent.
Party Chair Brian Melendez accused Pawlenty of lying about taxes. Pawlenty said he's not lying.
"We told the people of Minnesota we wouldn't raise state taxes and we would increase some fees," Pawlenty said. "And that's what we did."
Grow the Future of Public Media
MPR News is supported by Members. Gifts from individuals power everything you find here. Make a gift of any amount today to become a Member!
It's true that Pawlenty's no-new-taxes pledge didn't include fees, tuition or property taxes, which are set at the local level. Pawlenty vetoed a gas tax increase during his term, and he pushed for a 75-cent-a-pack cigarette fee which critics viewed as a tax.
So while Pawlenty's opponents can criticize the way the governor balanced the budget, he did stick to the letter of his Taxpayers League pledge. Pawlenty said if his critics don't like property tax increases, they should support his push for a cap on property taxes.
Pawlenty's latest ad blasts his DFL opponent for saying he would have solved the state's budget crisis differently. The ad says Mike Hatch would have raised taxes on school spending, car repairs, and gas.
It's true that Hatch said the Legislature should have adopted former Gov. Jesse Ventura's budget recommendations in 2002, which included tax increases. But that was before the multi-billion dollar budget problem. And Hatch is not calling for raising taxes now.
"The advertisement has been universally condemned by every commentator as being misleading, because I'm not in favor of raising taxes," Hatch said.
Hatch said he can pay for more spending by cracking down on tax evaders and ending tax breaks for some corporations' foreign operations.
So far, Hatch has called for spending $10 million a year on stem cell research, $50 million a year for additional cops, and about $300 million a year to roll back tuition hikes. He has yet to release his education plan that may include "big-ticket items" such as all-day kindergarten.
Hatch said he'll get the money to lower tuition by ending the business tax break. He said they're using a loophole to hide their profits out of state.
We spend so much money on health care ... that if we don't really get after health care in a very serious way, we can't do other things.
Business groups view Hatch's proposal as a tax increase that would hinder job growth. Hatch acknowledges that his plan would increase corporate tax collections, but doesn't think it would drive Minnesota companies to other states.
"Sure, it's a business tax. It's a loophole," Hatch said. "It was a tax that's there by every other state, it's not going to encourage anybody to leave."
In addition to the corporate tax money, Hatch said he plans to get more money from tax cheats. A legislative auditor's report found an estimated $1.5 billion a year in unreported and uncollected taxes. But it's not that simple.
"We're never going to collect all of it," said Revenue Commissioner Dan Salomone. "Not at least in this world."
Salomone said his office would need more auditors to find tax cheats, so there is a cost to tracking down unreported taxes. Half a billion dollars in the legislative auditor's report is tax debt from people with no assets, or other cirumstances that make it difficult for the state to collect the money. And an estimated half a billion dollars is unreported sales and use tax.
Economist Bill Fox, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, said that category includes taxes on Internet purchases.
"Much of that is probably by individuals, and the ability to collect that is very, very limited," Fox said. "No state is very effective at that."
Hatch acknowledges the state probably can't collect the entire $1.5 billion a year, but said it's clear there is a large pot of money the state hasn't fully tapped.
The Independence Party's Peter Hutchinson has made the most spending promises, and has been the most specific about how he'll pay for them. He's the only candidate of the three to call for a gas tax increase to pay for road construction. And Hutchinson has released an ambitious health care proposal that he says will save the state and local governments $1.7 billion a year.
"We spend so much money on health care, and health care spending is growing so fast, that if we don't really get after health care in a very serious way, we can't do other things," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson's plan would slash the cost of health care administration in half, and improve the quality of health care to lower costs. With the cost savings from his plan, Hutchinson wants to provide health coverage for all Minnesotans, fund statewide all-day kindergarten, expand college financial aid programs, clean up polluted waters and increase wildlife habitat. All of that would cost more than $1.1 billion a year.
Roger Feldman, a professor of health insurance and economics from the University of Minnesota, applauds Hutchinson for proposing a plan that's more substantive and comprehensive than any of the other candidates. But he thinks Hutchinson's cost savings are overly optimistic.
"I think that's an extremely ambitious goal of saving 25 percent of the money that we're spending with these two initiatives," Feldman said.
Feldman said Hutchinson should focus on using money from his plan simply to expand health care access, not to beef up programs in other areas.
"I'm very concerned about trying to sell this idea as a money maker that will generate other revenues to help balance other parts of the state budget," Feldman said. "I think it would sell much better if it were proposed as a budget-neutral improvement in the health care system."
Gov. Pawlenty has made the fewest spending promises. He said he wants to increase education funding, but hasn't said by how much. Pawlenty is proposing that the state offer two years of free college tuition to high-performing students, at an initial estimated cost of $112 million a year.
Pawlenty said the state's improving economy should generate enough money to cover increased education spending.
University of Tennessee economist Bill Fox said state revenues are in much better shape than they were in the early part of this decade, but that could change in the next year or so.
"Sometime in the foreseeable future, revenue growth will slow," said Fox. "And so now what we're quibbling over is when, and nobody's very good at guessing when the next slowdown will be."
Fox doesn't think the slowdown will be as dramatic as the period from 2001 to 2003, which he called the worst time in modern history for state revenues.
The next Minnesota revenue forecast is due at the end of November -- weeks after voters have chosen who will occupy the governor's office for the next four years.


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Sick of walking into things while gawping at your iPhone? Apple has a patent app. for that
Look up from your texts while walking? What is this, 1997?
Apple has applied for a patent for technology that will warn of oncoming dangers to users distracted by their text messages.
An application submitted by the company to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (rooted out by AppleInsider) describes a user interface that displays transparent text messages over a live video feed from the device's forward-facing camera.
Your life-saving SMS patent
Thus, the tablet or handset can offer a view of what's ahead of the texter, allowing them to avoid anything they would otherwise crash into.
"The background within the text messaging session can continuously be a live and current video image of the view seen by the camera at any given moment," Apple's Stephen Payne wrote in the application.
"Consequently, the device's user is less likely to collide with or stumble over an object while participating in a text messaging session."
As with all patent application filings, we should note that this is only a proposed design from Apple and not necessarily a preview of upcoming features or technologies. Many such filings are never materialized in a prototype, let alone a commercial product. The document was also submitted in 2012, but published this week by the USPTO.
Still, this feature seems far more practical than other blueprints we've seen in the US patent officials' inbox. We can't help but wonder why someone hasn't already done this. Most of us have learned the hard way that staring at a mobile while walking can often end with in embarrassment, injury, or both.
A recent study of user kinesiology found that the mere act of looking down at a handheld device while walking changes a person's gait and decreases the ability to maintain a straight line while walking even when a collision is not imminent.
Until Apple can get this world-changing alert system onto the iPhone, it seems that the best way to avoid these hazards is to take the drastic but effective measure of not constantly staring at your phone and actually looking up to your surroundings while walking.
The future can't arrive soon enough. ®


text:
MI Bathroom Remodeling
We are a full-service remodeling contractor in Canton, MI.
MI Bathroom Remodeling is a full-service remodeling contractor serving the Canton, MI area. We offer kitchen remodeling, bathroom renovations, commercial remodels, and more. We offer full-service construction design.
Canton, officially the Charter Township of Canton, is a charter township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population of 98,659.Canton Township is Michigan's second most-populated township (after Clinton Township) and ninth most-populated municipality overall. The township is ranked as the 96th highest-income place in the United States with a population of 50,000 or more and is also consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in the state and nation. In 2015, the township was ranked as the 29th safest city in the United States. == Communities == Canton is an unincorporated community within the township, although the name often refers to the whole township itself.
Allmendinger Heights, Arbor Glen, Arborview Neighborhood, Bainbridge Park Apartments, Barton - McFarland, Brightmoor, Burns Park, Canton Township MPS, Carpenter, Castle Rouge, Central Park, Chatterton Village, Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill Village, College Heights


text:
History of the Presidio
In compliance with his orders "to erect a fort to occupy and defend the port from the atrocities of the Russians, who were about to invade us," his men constructed a presidio, or fort, at the southern end of the bay.
Portola's actions were spurred by the Spanish fear that other nations - particularly Russia - had designs upon her New World empire. Spain moved to occupy that portion of the western American coast which she previously neglected.
Monterey Bay, which has been visited a century and half before the Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino, was ripe for colonization and military fortification. There, Spain built one of four presidios and one of 21 missions in what is now California.
The original Presidio consisted of a square of adobe buildings located in the vicinity of what is now downtown Monterey. The fort's original mission, the Royal Presidio Chapel, has remained in constant use since it was founded in 1770 by Father Junipero Serra who arrived with Portola's party. The only direct relationship between the original site and the present Presidio is an earthwork at the latter location for cannons overlooking Monterey's harbor. The fortunes of the Presidio rose and fell with the times. It was moved, abandoned and activated. At least three times it was submerged by the tide of history, only to reappear years later with a new face, a new master and a new mission - first under the Spanish, then the Mexicans, and ultimately, the Americans.
Fort Mervine
American control of the area began in 1846 during the war with Mexico, when Commodore John D. Sloat, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron, landed unopposed with a small force in Monterey and claimed the territory and the Presidio for the United States.
He left a small garrison of Marines who began improving defenses to better protect the town and the harbor. The new defenses were named Fort Mervine in honor of Captain William Mervine, who commanded one of the ships in Sloat's squadron.
Soldiers from Battery F, 3rd Artillery, later replaced the Marines and continued the construction. Two of the company's officers, Lieutenants Edward O.C. Ord and William Tecumseh Sherman, were to achieve fame as Union generals in the Civil War.
Fort Mervine continued to be manned by a small garrison until the Mexican War ended and gold was discovered in California. Units of the fort were disbanded and most of the soldiers headed for the gold fields.
Ord Barracks
Army troops again occupied the fort for a few months at the end of the Civil War when it was known as Ord Barracks. From 1865 to 1902 the post was inactive. Not until after the Spanish-American War of 1898 was a force of significant size stationed there again. The 15th Infantry and the 9th Cavalry "Buffalo Soldiers" returned from duty in the Philippines, were sent there in 1902 and developed the fort further.
Presidio of Monterey
The post, which has been known at various times as Fort Halleck, Ord Barracks, Monterey Barracks and Fort Stockton, was officially redesignated the Presidio of Monterey in 1904 in honor of the original Spanish fort. From 1907 to 1913 the School of Musketry was operated on the post, forerunner of today's Infantry Center at Fort Benning, Georgia. Several units rotated through between 1902 and 1919. Between the two world wars the post was the home of the 11th Cavalry and the 2nd Battalion, 76th Field Artillery.
These units remained at the Presidio until 1940. In 1941, the Presidio of Monterey became a reception center for selectees, and for a while it housed III Corps headquarters. Declared inactive in 1944, the post was reactivated in 1945. For a few months the post was a staging area for civil affairs personnel preparing for the occupation of Japan.
On June 19, 1946 the installation became home to the Military Intelligence Service Language School. It was redesignated the Army Language School in 1947. In 1963, the Department of Defense established a joint service Defense Language Institute (DLI), headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Presidio of Monterey became the Defense Language Institute, West Coast Branch - the Presidio of Monterey, however, kept its name. In 1974 the DLI headquarters moved to the Presidio of Monterey. In 1976 the Defense Language Institute, West Coast Branch became the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), the Defense Department's primary center for foreign language instruction.
For much of its history, DLIFLC was a tenant activity on the Presidio of Monterey. The Presidio itself was a subinstallation of the nearby Fort Ord. On October 1, 1994 this situation changed when Fort Ord closed and the Presidio of Monterey became a separate installation again. Thus, DLIFLC became DLIFLC & POM.
More Historic Photos with description


text:
Archive for the 'Vermont Open Studios' Category
Spring Open Studios in Vermont
This year for Spring Open Studios we traveled ourselves to see what was in the neighborhood, including immediately down the street where I lived when we were dating. Precision Studio and Theresa Somerset made me seriously hyperventilate – she is amazing, the studio is to dye for!
Her dyeing areas and assorted tools:
Pieces of eggs she has decorated – basically no egg is safe!
Mixed media work – this has so many amazing techniques incorporated into it.
Completed Eggs: Theresa's photography set-up:
More mixed media work – part of a Vermont Arts Council challenge:
More mixed media – the puzzle piece was part of a state-wide challenge.
Who knew you could find an amazing sculpture garden in the heart of Winooski, Vermont? I could have sat there forever! Gorgeous property surrounded on two sides by tall cedars for privacy.
My favorite piece!
Also a visit to in Jericho – GREAT location, wonderful grounds! I loved this shelf for all the shapes and glazes.
Last stop for the weekend was John Churchman and his farm, where the sheep were being fleeced as we watched. She managed 20 sheep in three hours, with lots of skins to feel. It's a great working farm, but John is also known for his photography and his children's books about Sweet Pea. Fun fun time!


text:
Richard III (play)
Shakespearean history play
The Life and Death of King Richard III (c. 1591) is William Shakespeare's version of the short career of Richard III of England, who is depicted as a villain. The play is sometimes listed as a tragedy but more correctly belongs among the histories. It picks up the story from Henry VI, Part 3 and is the conclusion of a series that begins with Richard II.
Act I edit
- Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds, that lour'd upon our house,
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visag'd war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now, — instead of mounting barbed steeds,
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,—
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, — that am not shap'd for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty,
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable,
That dogs bark at me, as I halt by them,—
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity.
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene i
- Villain, thou know'st no law of God nor man;
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.- Lady Anne, scene ii
- To leave this keen encounter of our wits.
- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene ii
- Look, how this ring encompasseth thy finger,
Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart;
Wear both of them, for both of them are thine.- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene ii
- Was ever woman in this humour woo'd?
Was ever woman in this humour won?
I'll have her; — but I will not keep her long.- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene ii
- A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman, —
Fram'd in the prodigality of nature,
Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt, right royal, —
The spacious world cannot again afford.- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene ii
- I cannot tell: the world is grown so bad,
That wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch:
Since every Jack became a gentleman,
There's many a gentle person made a Jack.- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene iii
- Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou liv'st,
And take deep traitors for thy dearest friends!
No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine,
Unless it be while some tormenting dream
Affrights thee with a hell of ugly devils!
Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!
Thou that wast seal'd in thy nativity
The slave of nature and the son of hell!
Thou slander of thy heavy mother's womb!
Thou loathed issue of thy father's loins!
Thou rag of honour! thou detested—- Queen Margaret, scene iii
- But then I sigh, and, with a piece of scripture,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil:
And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd old ends, stol'n out of holy writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene iii
- Talkers are no good doers: be assur'd,
We go to use our hands, and not our tongues.- First Murderer, scene iii
- O, I have pass'd a miserable night,
So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams,
That, as I am a christian-faithful man,
I would not spend another such a night,
Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days. —
So full of dismal terror was the time!- Clarence, scene iv
- Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower,
And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy;
And, in my company, my brother Gloster;
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches: thence we look'd toward England,
And cited up a thousand heavy times,
During the wars of York and Lancaster,
That had befall'n us. As we pac'd along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought that Gloster stumbled; and, in falling,
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
O Lord, methought what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears!
What sights of ugly death within my eyes!
Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wrecks;
A thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon;
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scatt'red in the bottom of the sea:
Some lay in dead men's skulls; and in the holes
Where eyes did once inhabit there were crept,—
As 'twere in scorn of eyes,—reflecting gems,- Clarence, scene iv
- I pass'd, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that grim ferryman which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.- Clarence, scene iv
- Clarence is come; false, fleeting, perjured Clarence,
That stabbed me in the field by Tewksbury;
Seize on him, Furies, take him to your torments!- Clarence, scene iv
- Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,
Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night.
Princes have but their titles for their glories,
An outward honour for an inward toil;
And, for unfelt imagination,
They often feel a world of restless cares:
So that, between their titles and low name,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.- Brackenbury, scene iv
- First Murderer: How dost thou feel thyself now?
Second Murderer: Faith, some certain dregs of conscience are yet within me.
First Murderer: Remember our reward, when the deed's done.
Second Murderer: Zounds, he dies; I had forgot the reward.
First Murderer: Where is thy conscience now?
Second Murderer: In the Duke of Gloucester's purse.
First Murderer: So, when he opens his purse to give us our reward, thy conscience flies out.
Second Murderer: Let it go; there's few or none will entertain it.
First Murderer: How if it come to thee again?
Second Murderer: I'll not meddle with it, it is a dangerous thing, it makes a man a coward; a man cannot steal, but it accuseth him; a man cannot swear, but it checks him; a man cannot lie with his neighbour's wife, but it detects him: 'tis a blushing shame-faced spirit, that mutinies in a man's bosom; it fills one full of obstacles: it made me once restore a purse of gold, that I found; it beggars any man that keeps it: it is turned out of all towns and cities for a dangerous thing; and every man that means to live well, endeavors to trust to himself, and live without it.
First Murderer: Zounds, it is even now at my elbow, persuading me not to kill the duke.- Scene iv
Act II edit
- Edward, my lord, your son, our king, is dead. —
Why grow the branches when the root is gone?
Why wither not the leaves that want their sap? —
If you will live, lament; if die, be brief,
That our swift-winged souls may catch the king's;
Or, like obedient subjects, follow him
To his new kingdom of perpetual rest.- Queen Elizabeth, scene ii
- A parlous boy: — go to, you are too shrewd.
- Queen Elizabeth, scene iv
Act III edit
- So wise, so young, they say, do never live long.
- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene i
- That Julius Caesar was a famous man;
With what his valour did enrich his wit,
His wit set down to make his valour live:
Death makes no conquest of this conqueror;
For now he lives in fame, though not in life.- Edward, Prince of Wales, scene i
- An if I live until I be a man,
I'll win our ancient right in France again,
Or die a soldier, as I liv'd a king.- Edward, Prince of Wales, scene i
- Off with his head!
- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene iv
- Woe, woe for England! Not a whit for me!
- Hastings, scene iv
- O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God!
Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks,
Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast,
Ready, with every nod, to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep.- Hastings, scene iv
- O bloody Richard! —miserable England!
I prophesy the fearfull'st time to thee
That ever wretched age hath look'd upon. —
Come, lead me to the block; bear him my head:
They smile at me who shortly shall be dead.- Hastings, scene iv
- A beauty-waning and distressed widow,
Even in the afternoon of her best days.- Buckingham, scene vii
- Alas, why would you heap this care on me?
- Richard, Duke of Gloucester, scene vii
Act IV edit
- But shall we wear these glories for a day?
Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them?- King Richard, scene ii
- O bitter consequence,
That Edward still should live, true noble prince.
Cousin, thou wast not wont to be so dull.
Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead,
And I would have it suddenly performed!- King Richard, scene ii
- Say, have I thy consent that they shall die?
- King Richard, scene ii
- I must be married to my brother's daughter,
Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass: —
Murder her brothers, and then marry her!
Uncertain way of gain! But I am in
So far in blood, that sin will pluck on sin.
Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye.- King Richard, scene ii
- King Richard: I am not in the giving vein to-day.
Buckingham: Why, then resolve me whe'r you will or no.
King Richard: Tut, tut, thou troublest me; I am not in the vein.- Scene ii
- Their lips like four red roses on a stalk.
- Tyrrel, quoting Forrest, scene iii
- The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham's bosom,
And Anne my wife hath bid the world good night.- King Richard, scene iii
- So; now prosperity begins to mellow,
And drop into the rotten mouth of death.
Here in these confines slily have I lurk'd,
To watch the waning of mine enemies.
A dire induction am I witness to,
And will to France; hoping the consequence
Will prove as bitter, black, and tragical.- Queen Margaret, scene iv
- Forbear to sleep the night, and fast the day;
Compare dead happiness with living woe;
Think that thy babes were sweeter than they were,
And he that slew them fouler than he is;
Bettering thy loss makes the bad-causer worse;
Revolving this will teach thee how to curse.- Queen Margaret, scene iv
- Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women
Rail on the Lord's anointed.- King Richard, scene iv
- Bloody you are.
Bloody will be thy end.
Shame sets your life,
And will your death attend.- Duchess of York, scene iv
- Look, what is done cannot be now amended:
Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes,
Which after-hours give leisure to repent.
If I did take the kingdom from your sons,
To make amends, I'll give it to your daughter.
If I have kill'd the issue of your womb,
To quicken your increase, I will beget
Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter.- King Richard, scene iv
- An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told.
- Queen Elizabeth, scene iv
- Is the chair empty? is the sword unsway'd?
Is the king dead? the empire unpossess'd?- King Richard, scene iv
Act V edit
- Fellows in arms, and my most loving friends,
Bruis'd underneath the yoke of tyranny,
Thus far into the bowels of the land
Have we march'd on without impediment.- Henry, Earl of Richmond, scene ii
- True hope is swift, and flies with swallows' wings;
Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.- Henry, Earl of Richmond, scene ii
- The king's name is a tower of strength,
Which they upon the adverse faction want.- King Richard, scene iii
- Despair and die!
- The Ghosts of Edward of Wales; Henry VI; Clarence; Grey; Rivers; Vaughan; Hastings; The Princes; Anne and Buckingham, scene iii
- Give me another horse,—bind up my wounds,—
Have mercy, Jesu!—Soft! I did but dream.—
O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!—
The lights burn blue.—It is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
What, do I fear myself? there's none else by:
Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.
Is there a murderer here? No;—yes, I am:
Then fly. What, from myself? Great reason why,—
Lest I revenge. What,—myself upon myself!
Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? for any good
That I myself have done unto myself?
O, no! alas, I rather hate myself
For hateful deeds committed by myself!
I am a villain: yet I lie, I am not.- King Richard, scene iii
- My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.- King Richard, scene iii
- I shall despair. There is no creature loves me;
And if I die, no soul shall pity me.
Nay, wherefore should they? since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.- King Richard, scene iii
- The early village cock
Hath twice done salutation to the morn.- Ratcliff, scene iii
- By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard,
Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers,
Armed in proof, and led by shallow Richmond!- King Richard, scene iii
- Not shine to-day! Why, what is that to me,
More than to Richmond? for the selfsame heaven
That frowns on me, looks sadly upon him.- King Richard, scene iii
- A thing devised by the enemy.
- King Richard, scene iii
- Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe;
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.- King Richard, scene iii
- Rescue, my lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!
The king enacts more wonders than a man,
Daring an opposite to every danger;
His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death:
Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!- Catesby, scene iv
- I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die!
I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.- King Richard, scene iv
- A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
- King Richard, scene iv
- God and your arms be prais'd, victorious friends;
The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead.- Henry, Earl of Richmond, scene v
- Inter their bodies as becomes their births.
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled,
That in submission will return to us;
And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament,
We will unite the white rose and the red: —
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction,
That long have frown'd upon their emnity!- Henry, Earl of Richmond, scene v
Quotes about Richard III edit
- In his 1916 essay "The Exceptions", Sigmund Freud interprets Richard's opening soliloquy saying "we all demand reparation for early wounds to our narcissism, our self-love."
- In Iran one cannot stage... Richard III... because no Iranian should see the death of a prince or a king on the stage. He might jump to conclusions, as if contemporary Iranian history itself is devoid of attempts at regicide.
- Reza Baraheni (1977) The Crowned Cannibals: Writings on Repression in Iran, p. 11
- The thing that is always so surprising about plays written in another century is how remarkably elastic they are. When you listen to the way in which Shakespeare attacks relationships, for example, even though the words may start off sounding foreign, in actuality they are so accessible, the motivations so clear, the resonances so contemporary. When you put it in a modern context - we could well be in a place with someone like Gaddafi or Mubarak - it becomes apparent how Richard III resonates with that type of personality, with media and manipulation, alliances and petty jealousies.
- Kevin Spacey, as quoted in The Old Vic, Summer 2011
External links edit
- The Tragedy of Richard the Third at Wikisource
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare at Wikisource
- Richard III quotes analyzed; study guide includes themes, characters, literary devices, teaching guide


text:
Today's Web applications handle large amounts of data processing on the client side. They may even need to be able to operate offline. These demands things go a long way toward explaining why client-side data storage is vital to next-generation Web-based applications.
Until recently, however, cookies were pretty much the only way to store data in a user's browser. If a Web app needed repeated access to some bit of data, it needed to ship that data to the server, then make repeated requests to the server, or store that data in cookies.
Cookies offer only limited storage space -- a maximum of 4K or 4096 bytes -- so large amounts of data had to be broken into cookie-size chunks and managed explicitly and directly.
This isn't a workable approach to storage allocation and management. Obviously, a new approach was needed.
It Doesn't Take Much for Cookies to Crumble
Web browsers were originally nothing more than applications for loading documents via HTTP and parsing HTML. Shortly after the first Netscape browser appeared, however, it became obvious that much more was both possible and necessary, but that some mechanism for tracking state using the inherently stateless HTTP protocol would be needed. Lou Montulli thus implemented the browser cookie (also known as the "magic cookie") in 1994, for version 0.9b of the Mosiac Netscape browser.
Cookies, along with access to server-side scripts that the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) provided, enabled the earliest Web applications. Ultimately, this started us down a path toward browsers transforming into a universal application platform.
Alas, cookies are flawed. As noted, they can store only very small amounts of data, and they're vulnerable to numerous types of attack, which limits their usefulness for storing personal or sensitive data.
Further compounding the problem is the observation that this theoretical 4K cookie is transferred from the browser to the server; most users have asynchronous Internet connections, whereupon upload speeds are slower than download speeds. Inevitably, transferring cookie data inside HTTP headers creates unnecessary overhead.
With so many negatives attached to using cookies for local storage, it's no wonder that various competing proposals have emerged to get this job done right. In recent months, two such proposals have been on a fast track to W3C recommendation status -- which makes browser support for local storage good and about to get better.
There are four main methods for storing large amounts of client-side data today: Web SQL, IndexedDB, Web Storage and Application Cache. The sections that follow examine each method individually and explore basic aspects of their programming and operation.
Web SQL: Familiar (But Obsolete?) Database Creation, Execution
Web SQL is an API for storing data in a database and retrieving it using SQL. Until recently, Safari, Chrome, and Opera supported Web SQL over the competing IndexedDB standard. However, in 2010, SQLite was the only database that worked with Web SQL, and the W3C ceased working on this specification, citing a lack of implementations as its reason.
That said, Web SQL works in a cool way, so let's look at some sample code.
Working with Web SQL databases will be familiar to anyone who's worked with relational databases and SQL. The first step in using a database is to create it and open it. If you don't want to specifically create a database, you can just start using a database, and the API creates it for you.
Here's some code for creating a database:
var db = openDatabase('cats', '1.0',
'a catalog of my cats', 2 *1024 * 1024);
Left to right, the parameters taken by openDatabase are database name, version number, text description, and estimated database size.
Once you've created a database, you can start using it. Executing SQL on a WebSQL database is as easy as creating a transaction object and then executing it:
db.transaction(function (tx) {
tx.executeSql('CREATE TABLE cats (id unique, name)');
tx.executeSql('INSERT INTO cats (id,name) VALUES (1,"Mr. Jones")');
Although Safari, Chrome, Opera and Mobile Safari still support this API, nothing new has happened with Web SQL since 2010, so it's unlikely to emerge as a standard for local storage.
Web Storage: Benefits of Cookies Without the Bloat
Web Storage provides a simple means to store key/value pairs in a user's browser. But its similarities with cookies end there.
Web Storage is persistent. Once a value is stored, it doesn't disappear or expire until it's explicitly removed by the application or the user.
Web Storage can handle large amounts of data. Current browsers limit total size per storage area to 5MB.
Web Storage doesn't depend on the server and sends no data to the server. You're free to store data locally and sync it with the server asynchronously, of course, but Web Storage works equally well and is just as useful offline as it is online.
Web Storage provides four primary methods -- getItem(key); setItem(key,value); removeItem(key); and clear().
But...: Web Storage Loophole Can Be Abused to Fill Hard Disks With Junk Data
Lastly, Web Storage includes of two different types of storage: SessionStorage and LocalStorage.
SessionStorage limits the scope of data saved in the current browser window to just that browser window. When used with an ecommerce application, for example, using sessionStorage to record the contents of a user's shopping cart eliminates the potential for accidental double purchases.
LocalStorage, meanwhile, persists across windows and tabs within a single browser. So, if you have the same site open in three windows in Chrome, all could all share the same localStorage container. If you have three different sites at different domains open, each one needs its own container. Likewise, if you have the same site open in different browsers, each browser needs its own container, since they don't share a common runtime context.
To set a new key-value pair then retrieve it, you could use the following JavaScript:
//first set firstname equal to Sparky.
localStorage.setItem( "firstname", "Sparky" );
//next, get the value of firstname (hint, it will be Sparky).
localStorage.getItem( "firstname" );
The Web Storage API reached W3C Recommendation status in summer 2013. Going forward, Web Storage can pretty much be used anywhere you would normally have used cookies.
News: W3C's Web Storage Technology Goes Live
But Web Storage is also capable of much more. If your data sets aren't enormous, Web Storage provides what's perhaps the simplest way -- even easier than cookies -- to set and retrieve key-value pairs in a browser.
IndexedDB: Searchable, and Without File Size Limits
Indexed Database is an API for storing and retrieving data using an indexed, transactional database of key-value pairs on the user's computer. IndexedDB provides faster, more sophisticated data storage and retrieval than simple key-value pair storage of the type available from Web Storage or cookies.
The IndexedDB API, like Web Storage, took a major step forward in the Web standards process this summer, becoming a W3C candidate recommendation in July 2013.
IndexedDB offers four specific benefits over Web Storage:
Indexed data can be searched efficiently.
Databases allow multiple values to be stored as a key, whereas key-value data requires every key to be unique.
Transactional databases offer some protection against system and application failures. If a transaction doesn't successfully complete, it can be rolled back.
IndexedDB databases impose no size limitations. In Firefox, the browser will ask for permission to expand a database beyond 50MB, but the sky's the limit (actually, the volume or disk drive's the limit) for storing data in IndexedDB.
All major browsers except Safari currently support IndexedDB. Because Safari supports Web SQL, however, it's possible to use an IndexedDB polyfill (called a shim) that implements the features and syntax of IndexedDB using Web SQL.
The first step in using IndexedDB is to open a database.
var request = indexedDB.open("myDatabase");
After you've created the database, you can create an object store (which is something very much like a table) and add data to it. Assume we have the following data:
const petData = [
{ id: "00-01", firstname: "Butters", age: 2, type: "dog" },
{ id: "00-02", firstname: "Sammy", age: 2, type: "dog" }
We can then create a data store and use it with the following code. Note the onupgradeneeded handler: This is the method to call when you need to change the structure of your database.
request.onupgradeneeded = function(event) {
var db = event.target.result;
var objectStore = db.createObjectStore("customers", {keyPath: "id"});
for (var i in customerData) {
How-to: Improve Application Performance and Reduce Latency
IndexedDB excels at searching large data sets and can speed up Web app performance by moving structured data to the client side wherever possible. It's approaching W3C Recommendation status and is usable in every browser -- albeit with some differences between implementations and, as noted, only through a polyfill in Safari.
Application Cache: Making Offline Client-Side Storage Happen
The Application Cache isn't like other client-side data storage APIs listed here, but it's worth mentioning, as it's an important component in enabling offline client-side Web apps.
The Application Cache uses a cache manifest. This is a simple text document listing resources that should and shouldn't be cached, to tell the browser to download certain files, hold onto them and use the cached version rather than make a request to the server. Every major Web browser supports the Application Cache.
To use the Application Cache, save a text file with the extension .appcache in the root of the website containing the files you want to cache. Depending on the Web server you're using, you may need to create a custom MIME type for .appcache files to make sure they're served to the browser correctly and can be read as application cache files.
Here's an example of a cache manifest file:
/img/weathertoday.png /img/weathernotavailable.png
And here's what each part does:
The CACHE section tells the browser which resources to cache for viewing offline. These files will be cached until the cache manifest changes. Remember that requirement; it's important.
The FALLBACK section tells the browser what files to display instead of a non-cached resource. For example, in the FALLBACK section above, a graphic that presumably says that the latest weather isn't available in offline mode will display if the latestweather.png graphic can't be downloaded.
The NETWORK section tells the browser which resources are only available in online mode. An asterisk indicates that anything that isn't cached is a network resource.
Related: 9 Programming Tools Tuned for JavaScript
More: 17 JavaScript Tools for the HTML5 Generation
Application Cache is a handy tool with almost no downsides if used correctly. If you simply cache everything on your site, you (and your site visitors) will soon be wondering why the content never changes. If you cache only resources that don't change very often, or are diligent about keeping your cache manifest up to date and releasing a new version when you update files, then Application Cache will make your application work offline as well as be much more responsive in online mode.
Local browser storage has undergone a major upgrade in the last few years. The variety and similar names of the different implemented APIs and recommendations have led to quite a bit of confusion over what's OK to use now versus what should be left alone. The bottom line is that different ways of storing data in the browser are available -- and each has its own place.
The days of developers trying to use cookies for more than sending very simple and very small name-value pairs to the server, however, are over. Today, much better options are available.
Chris Minnick runs a Web design and development company and regularly teaches HTML5 classes for Ed2Go. Ed Tittel is a full-time freelance writer and consultant who specializes in Web markup languages, information security and Windows OSes. Together, Minnick and Tittel are the authors of the forthcoming book Beginning Programming with HTML5 and CSS3 For Dummies, due Sept. 3, as well as numerous other books.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.


text:
Pocket: save articles, videos, and more to view later
CLICK ON YOUR PLATFORM (free): iOS or Android
From Google Play Store and iTunes Store
Save articles, videos and other web content for later in a beautiful and optimized easy-to-view experience for your phone and tablet — even offline.
Pocket is your perfect mobile companion for commutes, travel, or curling up on your couch.
★ Webby Award for Best Productivity App and Best User Experience 2014 ★
• Unlimited storage to keep all the articles and videos you save in one place.
• 3 full-screen reading modes for Day and Night.
• Save data with wi-fi only syncing.
• Organize easily with powerful search and tagging.
• Works with your favorite apps and sites like Twitter, Flipboard, Feedly and more.
• Easily share anything from Pocket to Evernote, Twitter, Facebook or a Friend.
• Desktop Browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer lets you save anything from your Desktop to your Phone and Tablet in a one click. Available at http://getpocket.com/welcome
Learn more about us at http://www.getpocket.com/


text:
MONTREAL--Retired City of Montreal engineer Luc Leclerc has already admitted to taking more than half a million dollars in bribes, but he still thinks Montrealers got a good deal for their money.
Cross-examined Monday at the Charbonneau Commission, Leclerc said that apologizing would be of no use. "I don't think the people would forgive me," said Leclerc. However, he wrapped his testimony in the afternoon with an apology.
"I regret what I did," Leclerc said. "I appeal for the mercy of the general public, of the taxpayers of Montreal, and of members of the Order of Engineers."
After days on the stand where he had expressed little remorse for his actions, even boasting about his ability to falsify contracts, the retired civil servant pleaded for clemency.
On Monday, he was grilled about the culture of accepting bribes and gifts. According to the engineer, kickbacks were in the open and accepted by all. Leclerc said that gifts arrived during holidays by the truckload and were placed on chairs or under desks, but that nothing was done to hide the fact that construction companies were handing out presents.
"When we would go outside to get the gifts, we didn't hide it, and there were even times when the contractors would come inside with gifts," said Leclerc.
When pressed about vacation trips he took with construction company owners and known mafia members, such as Lino Zambito and Vito Rizzuto, Leclerc said there was no way his bosses did not know something fishy was going on.
In fact the most recent trip was this spring, when Leclerc, his former partner Gilles Surprenant, and their boss went south.
The retired engineer said there was little oversight of his department and the problem was compounded by staff cuts. He said independent auditing of some contracts was common until the mid-1990s and then the practice stopped.
On Monday afternoon Gilles Vezina took the stand. Vezina has supervised both Leclerc and Surprenant, men who bilked the public coffers out of over $1 million. Vezina admitted that he also received gifts like hockey tickets, fancy dinners and golf outings but said it never affected his objectivity.
He admitted that he had a chummy relationship with Mafia-linked contractors—having attended a birthday party for construction mogul Frank Catania and the marriage of a daughter of construction boss Nicolo Milioto, where he gave a $300 present.
But Vezina was adamant that it didn't affect his relations with contractors.
"At no time, with all these advantages that we received, did my opinion or my decision on any file change to favour a contractor," said Vezina, a team leader in the infrastructure department who is currently under suspension.
"I've never done that."
--with files from The Canadian Press.


text:
February 22-24, 2013
Hilton Los Angeles International Airport
As the size and performance requirements of storage systems have increased, file system designers have looked to new architectures to facilitate system scalability. Ceph is a fully open source distributed object store, network block device, and file system designed for reliability, performance, and scalability from terabytes to exabytes.
Fault tolerance is a key challenge for both system design and operations. Ceph is designed to be both highly available and elastic. In large clusters, disk, host, and even network failures are the norm rather than the exception, hardware is heterogeneous and incrementally deployed or de-provisioned, and availability must be continuous. This talk will describe the Ceph architecture and the impact that has on system operations, including failure management, monitoring, and provisioning.


text:
I have multiple users on my home desktop. I am content with most of the default user directories, however I would like to make one change.
I would like to setup a common directory for Music (ie /home/common/Music/
) that is writable to all users and Nautilus/Dolphin/whatever recognizes as the user's Music directory.
I know that it would involve changing the xdg user directory setup, but everything I see points that it is relative to the user's $HOME
. Is there a way I can specify an absolute path?


text:
Lots of fun and educational content about fireworks. Free stories, free sounds, free animations, free video clips, free discussion forum, free articles, free buyer's guide, free antique postcard images, free trivia quiz, safety tips and more. And it's all about fireworks!
Fireworks! Reader Reviews
The following site reviews were submitted by readers like you. Discovered (or created) a cool site we should know about? Click here to add URL.Emergency Exit Arts
July 27, 2000 -- From Paul Lowe, a reader from London, England who is affiliated with the site
If you want to see what can be done with both fireworks and sculptural bonfires then visit this site. See the amazing windmill with its sails going up in flames. This is for real and not a special effect.


text:
Trend watch: Microinverters invade solar
OK, maybe it's not quite an invasion. But microinverters -- a new techie spin on the traditional solar inverter that converts direct current into alternating current for the grid -- are popping up with increasingly regularity and have been embraced by some powerful industry players including SunPower.
Solar installations typically have a large central inverter that takes the direct current generated by a group of panels and converts it into AC for the electrical grid. Microinverters function essentially the same way but are placed on each solar panel (see photo), which has some distinct advantages over central inverters. Microinverters make a rooftop or large commercial installation more efficient. They also make it easier to monitor power generation of each panel and quickly pinpoint a failure in the system. The idea is the added expense of the microinverter is offset by the savings created by increased efficiency and lower maintenance costs.
The number of microinverter solar products and partnerships that have been unveiled in recent weeks indicates the industry is paying attention and beginning to invest in technological innovation beyond the panel itself.
A few of recent microinverter developments
SunPower announced Monday that it was launching a series of AC solar panels. The microinverters, made by startup SolarBridge, are embedded into the panel at the factory. Microinverter leader Enphase Energy , which takes a different approach by selling their units directly to solar installers and system manufacturers, recently partnered with Hanwha Solar One, which will add the microinverter to its modules.
Earlier this month, Upsolar unveiled an AC module that features Enphase's microinverter and uses a mounting and grounding system from Zep Solar. The logical next step of this arrangement -- a microninverter designed to be compatible with any Zep Solar mounting and grounding system -- was announced today at the Solar Power International conference currently underway in Dallas.
Photo: Enphase Energy
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com


text:
New Makeup By RenRen Ad!
You probably have noticed my new ad posted right below my Makeup By RenRen Insignia. This is my newest piece of marketing material that i've begun distributing around my Atlanta outlets.
Big thanks to MaddMike for the hot flyer! Check him out www.myspace.com/itsmaddmike
So if you're in the ATL area and looking for a makeup artist, holla!


text:
MeeGo, a Linux project combining Intel and Nokia software, released an early version of the mobile phone OS to developers on Wednesday.
MeeGo combines Intel's Moblin software with Nokia's Maemo into an open source OS designed for netbooks or mobile phones. The project released an early version for netbooks in May and said at the time that it would come out with an early release for mobile phones in June.
"This milestone marks the completion of the merger of Moblin and Maemo as major architecture decisions and technical selections have been determined," wrote Valtteri Halla and Imad Sousou of the MeeGo Technical Steering Group in a blog post about the release.
Wednesday's release includes MeeGo APIs (application programming interfaces), a reference user interface and applications including a status bar, lock screen, application launcher, onscreen keyboard, phone dialer, short message service client, browser, contacts application and photo viewer.
It also includes the MeeGo Core OS with middleware components as well as support for Intel Atom-based handsets and Nokia N900 devices.
The blog post includes links to screenshots of the software and a video of a phone running various applications.
Project developers hope to release the first final version of MeeGo around October, after which phones will hit the market.
Nokia recently said that the Nokia N8 would be the last of the N-series phones to use Symbian. Going forward, N-series phones will be powered by MeeGo. While Nokia is committing resources to open sourcing Symbian and has been the biggest Symbian user, it has said that it would start using MeeGo to power its high-end phones.
When the first MeeGo phones hit the market, they'll face stiff competition from Apple's iPhone and Google's Android devices. While Nokia is still the number one phone maker in the world, it has slipped behind Apple among smartphone makers. MeeGo represents a fresh attempt by Nokia to regain some smartphone market share, although the first phones will appear more than three years after the iPhone hit the market.


text:
Machine safety: What is ambient air temperature and the relationship to safe operation?
How can the ambient air temperature range from -30 to +120 degrees Fahrenheit inside a manufacturing plant? The product specs call for certification at -5 to +30 degrees Centigrade for safe operation. Do the international machine safety standards address this?
How can the ambient air temperature range from -30 to +120 degrees Fahrenheit inside a manufacturing plant? The product specifications call for certification at -5 to +30 degrees Centigrade for safe operation. How do we accommodate an ambient air temperature range like that? Do the international machine safety standards address this issue?
You know what I say – welcome to the big league!
First of all, is there a common global definition and application for the word ambient air? Think about different locations around the world for manufacturing plants. Phoenix, Arizona? Puebla, Mexico? Xilin, China? Belo Horizonte, Brazil? Riyadh, Saudi Arabia? Innsbruch, Austria? Rotterdam, Netherlands? Is there anything common about ambient air in all of these locations?
I've been to a manufacturer in Xilin, China. The large plant had big wide doors that were open all year long. The ambient air (in my definition) was 18 degrees Fahrenheit while I stood by a CNC controlled machine with color graphic HMI operator panels. I was told that the ambient air in July and August often exceeded 120 degrees Fahrenheit. There was no heat and there was no air conditioning in the facility.
So, when a machine safety standard talks about an ambient air temperature requirement for safe operation of a machine safety control element – what does that mean? Is the ambient air temperature of concern that air which is inside of the small cabinet/box containing the safety control element? Or, is it the ambient air temperature around a machine outside of the small cabinet or box? Or, if the small cabinet or box is mounted inside of a large control cabinet is it the ambient air temperature inside of the large control cabinet? How are these questions about ambient air temperature to be interpreted and understood consistently by different languages and cultures in multiple countries? What was intended by the manufacturer of the machine safety control element?
In my opinion, having participated in several discussions around the world on this subject, decision makers really need to fully understand the product, application, and the conditions where the application will ultimately reside to determine the ambient air temperature issue. Having said that, ultimately an interpretation of the requirement stated in the international standard will have to be made. This could mean the addition of some capability to treat or control a defined ambient air temperature to meet the requirements for safe operation.
Has this presented you with any new perspectives? Add your comments, thoughts or advice to the discussion by submitting your ideas, experiences, and challenges in the comments section below.
Related articles:
NFPA 79: Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery, 2012 Annotated PDF Edition
IEC 60204-1 Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 1: General requirements
Contact: https://www.jbtitus.com for "Solutions for Machine Safety".
Do you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our CFE Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Click here to start this process.


text:
One time procedure: Create a new folder under EasyData and name it "TimeCards". Create a shortcut path to the TimeCard folder (i.e. network share) Example z:EASYDATACTC142Timecards
EasyPay: the EasyPay Customizer module must already be installed and setup
before you can do your first transfer.
From TimeWellScheduled
- Approve timecards
- Select reports
- Select either:
- Hours preparation report
- Hour and shift preparation report
- Hour, shift and pay preparation report
- Enter the required date range for the pay period
- Check all departments, hourly, active and verify if all the employees that fit this category are properly selected
- Compare to EasyPay report and verify if accurate, then print
- View and print report
- Export to: select EasyPay
- Right click the selected named report
- Save link using a meaningful file name like pp11_2011.txt
- Save the file to the shortcut path created (refer to OneTime
procedure above) - Check to ensure that the file was saved to the desired folder
- Make sure to use the correct file name and not the default
From EasyPay
- Close previous pay period
- Make any changes to employee profiles (i.e. terminations,
activations) - Print list of active employees using the click & pick reports
- Select Periodic
- Select Customizer Module
- Select import timecards
- Select create regular time cards
- Check to ensure correct pay period is showing. Change as
required - Select Import Folder/File, select the correct folder that has already
been setup - Click O.K. twice
- Verify that the timecards are there


text:
Chief of Strategy for Content and Media Chase Franklin International
by Princess Santos consultantChase Franklin
Chase Franklin is Chief of
Strategy for Content and Media at Amdocs, the leader in providing Intentional
Customer Management systems for world's largest telecommunications, cable and
satellite companies. Prior to Amdocs, Chase was a co-founder and CEO of Qpass,
Inc. Under Chase's leadership the company grew from a startup to more than 200
employees with offices in North America and Europe, before committing to a
restructuring that reduced headcount to 50 and committed the company to a new
strategy and market. The restructuring ultimately paved the way for five years
of rapid growth, culminating in a $275 million liquidity event.
Prior to
founding Qpass in 1997, Chase Franklin spent more than a decade at Microsoft
Corporation in key product development and strategic management positions.
Chase played a key role in Microsoft's transition from individual application
to the suite that became Microsoft Office. He was part of the original design
team for Word for Windows before transitioning to focus on the integration and
interoperation of the elements of Microsoft Office. Subsequently, he
spearheaded some of Microsoft's earliest e-commerce strategy and new business
development initiatives. In this role he led planning initiatives for key
aspects of the original programming on Microsoft's interactive television and
MSN initiatives, including interactive advertising, online retailing, and other
network commerce service businesses. As Microsoft shifted strategy in the
mid-1990s to address the emerging Internet, Chase formed and led the team that
partnered with Wal-Mart and created the first release of the Microsoft Merchant
Server product. Chase also pioneered Microsoft's initiatives in secure Internet
payments, including SET. Chase holds 3 patents relating to the design of various
Microsoft and Qpass technologies or applications.
Chase has a
double BS in Mathematics and Economics from Western Washington University.
Chase also serves on the Board of Directors for New Futures, a non-profit that
offers after-school, literacy and other programs for disadvantaged children.
Sponsor Ads
Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.