text:
Who Cares about Semantics Anyway?May 30
On semantic markup, conveying its usage to those who generally don't need to care, and a reusable markup guide for your enjoyment.
This is how I like to define the term 'semantic markup':
Semantic Markup is the result of using (X)HTML elements for their proper, intended usage.
This is a pretty limited definition, better examples exist, and it's by no means the only viewpoint out there. The terseness is partially the result of HTML being semantically limited to begin with. We don't exactly have a rich vocabulary of element types capable of capturing the meaning and nuance behind every piece of text: We have code, but we don't have caption; We have kbd, but we don't have childlikescrawl; We have emphasis, but we don't have publicationtitle. And so on.
Why care? It's a good question, one I've also asked. If you spend time putting semantic markup into a page, there ought to be a payoff. Unfortunately, the payoff is less than visible. Since CSS is able to make any element look like any other element, you won't see the result in a visual browser. It's only when you load a semantically-rich page in a text-only browser, or in a screenreader (or other alternative access device) when you'll start to understand the benefit of authoring this way. Additionally, various stabs have been made at extracting the semantics from a document and putting them to more general use. See Mark Pilgrim's Million Dollar Markup and Tomas Jogin's Hierarchy.
XML gets us the ability to work around this limitation, of course. By defining new, semantically rich languages, we can add extra meaning to our documents (and while we're at it, create tools to pull that meaning back out later and actually do something useful with it). But that's strictly tangental, considering the utility of HTML here and now. We use HTML for web pages, so the limitations are something we have to think about.
Semantic debates about which element to use in which scenarios are usually quite arbitrary and prone to subjective interpretation. Here's a good example: the
address element. The spec has this to say:
addresselement may be used by authors to supply contact information for a document or a major part of a document such as a form. This element often appears at the beginning or end of a document.
Then it goes on to list an example with virtual addresses, in this case URI's to the page author's profiles. Presumably, email addresses would be acceptable in this space, but does that hold true for physical addresses? You may be surprised at how many different individual opinions exist about this, as evidenced by this SimpleQuiz from a year ago.
The ambiguity lies in the fact that the term 'contact information' is undefined in the spec, and therefore it's left to the user's best judgement to fill that in with whatever contact information they deem relevant. So one person's email address is another's street address, which is yet a third's PO box, which is a fourth's airport locker number.
And that's all okay, you know. The spec is loose enough that it provides guidance, but actual usage is going to determine the most relevant and appropriate ways to use the markup in question. Individual preferences will guide deployment of the elements, and if a consensus is ever formed, so be it. Until then, vive la différence. HTML elements are basic constructs, it's up to you to build something with them.
But even this gets tricky when you no longer have control of the semantics of a particular document. What happens when you pass your markup on to a client? Ever worked with a content management system that allows multiple authors to mix and match their own elements for whatever purposes they have in mind? How often do you find them choosing elements based on how they look, rather than what they mean? I see more than a few heads nodding.
"Just educate your clients", you may think. I hope you understand why this doesn't always work. As an analogy, compare and contrast these situations:
- You just built a site for a plumbing company, complete with a CMS. You tell them to make sure to use
 elements for parts lists, and
 elements for product names on their respective pages. 6 months from now, you check the site and find a ton of
 elements to separate the list items, and headers in  tags. D'oh.
- In exchange for your work on the site, the plumbing company gives you some advice on your kitchen remodeling. They suggest copper pipes for your water lines running through the exterior walls, with a small length of flexible CPVC inside the house. You decide to go all CPVC because it's slightly cheaper. 6 months later, your pipes burst during a particularly cold winter night. D'oh.
In both cases, a little bit of education goes a long way. In both cases, the client needs to take a little initiative of their own to ensure higher quality. In both cases, there will be people looking for shortcuts who simply won't take the advice of the expert.
Simply, you can't assume the client will care unless the task they need to perform is personally relevant to them. Education can only go so far, there has to be motivation. But that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile to try anyway; the site may be delivered to a single person or company, but after that it will be used by a far wider audience who will benefit from proper semantics. That's why it's important to care about semantics, as a web designer/developer, and at least try to convey some of that importance to your client.
To that end, I've recently started work on a rough style guide that I distribute to clients as a part of my completed deliverables. This is a single HTML document, marked up with both examples and descriptions of various elements. It also serves as a palette of sorts, graphically depicting the various elements when rendered in the site's style sheet (assuming the CSS file has been linked.) It's a rough start, and will evolve over time, but it's important enough for the education process (and easy to re-use) that I've been relying on it since I wrote it.
Here it is, the mezzoblue Markup Guide, available in formatted and bare-bones unformatted flavours, with a permanent home in the Downloads section of this site. Feel free to use, edit, and share alike. I'd love to see this expanded and improved upon by all of you, with revisions released under the same CC license.
Security, not ObscurityMay 19
Lesson learned: remove, don't rename.
Don't ever rely on security through obscurity, they say.
You know, they might just be right.
I'm giving TSEP a try to replace the limited Movable Type search box currently driving this site. Not only is it picking up all sorts of old archived files I had completely forgotten about, my heart absolutely sunk as I realized I had turned on PHP parsing just before it ran across an archived file that runs this little snippet of code:
$queryWipe = "DROP TABLE IF EXISTS submissions";
$queryCreate = "CREATE TABLE submissions (
submissions_id mediumint(8) NOT NULL auto_increment,
name varchar(48) NOT NULL default '',
email varchar(40) NOT NULL default '',
url varchar(128),
nationality varchar(64),
cssfile varchar(255),
zipfile varchar(255),
title varchar(64),
windows varchar(255),
mac varchar(255),
notes text,
status tinyint unsigned,
archived tinyint unsigned,
date datetime,
PRIMARY KEY (submissions_ID)
) TYPE=MyISAM";
require_once ('fetch-mysql-connect.php');
$result1 = @mysql_query ($queryWipe);
$result2 = @mysql_query ($queryCreate);
For those unfamiliar with SQL syntax, this sets up the data table for my Zen Garden manager by first erasing whatever exists. Essentially, it resets the database. (For those familiar with SQL syntax, yes I know I could stand for a huge dose of normalization, which is coming, but beside the point right now.)
You have no idea how much of a relief it was to open the file and find I had previously commented out the last two lines as so:
echo "Dangerous! Don't actually RUN this, you idiot.";
// $result1 = @mysql_query ($queryWipe);
// $result2 = @mysql_query ($queryCreate);
Two lessons learned here.
One: always delete the file with sensitive data or code. Don't rename it, don't move it into an ./archive directory (which I had done with this one). Get it right off the server. I was extremely lucky in this case, and you're probably smarter than me with scripts like this anyway, but it'll sure save you the mini-heart attack I just had at the very least, if not prevent actual damage.
Two: backup, backup, backup. I had done so recently, but still. If you haven't figured out how to backup a MySQL database yet, either use phpMyAdmin if you have the option, or this also does the trick provided you have ssh access to your remote server. (Make sure it's all on one line, it's broken here for spacing):
mysqldump -add-drop-table -u {your username}
-p {your database name} > {backup filename}.sql
And this restores it (again, all one line):
mysql -u {your username}
-p {your database name} < {backup filename}.sql
Since I'm the kind of person who always likes a good example to go along with my syntax, here's what that might look like in case you're the same way:
mysqldump -add-drop-table -u dave -p zengarden_manager > zengarden.sql
...Where dave is my username on the mysql server in question, zengarden_manager is the name of the database, and zengarden.sql is the file the database gets backed up to. You'd be prompted for a password after running the command. Make sure your path is currently located in the directory you want the file to end up, or else specify a full path in front of the file, maybe something like so: ~/backups/zengarden.sql
Columns & GridsMay 13
The difficulty of grid systems in web pages, the compromise of columns.
I seem to quite often go back and forth between creating organic layouts with intuitive proportions, and creating a grid that I can hang my various elements on. Lately I've been more interested in the latter. Frequently I've caught myself calculating in my head what 750 divided by 3 minus two 10px margins equals.
One of the larger problems in working with grids in web pages is that you often can't do much about vertical proportions. Often your content is dynamic, so the best you can do is approximate. Throw in any compensation for font scaling, and it's easy to lose any semblance of control over the way a layout expands downward.
So the focus is usually on the horizontal layout, which usually means columns. (Incidentally, if you're ever wondering why fixed layouts are so popular amongst designers, this has a lot to do with it—it's awfully difficult to build any coherent form of grid when you lose control of proportions in both dimensions at once.)
1 Column
As simple as it gets, the one-column layout has been around since the beginning of the web. 1994 gave us a grey background and black Times in a single column running down a browser window, the most primitive one-column possible (although calling it that is a bit of a stretch. See: an early Yahoo). It has evolved nicely since then, and some recent redesigns are putting it to good use. (See: Garrett Dimon)
2 Columns
The realm of the blogger. Two columns are utilitarian and perfect for presenting content and further navigation/archives/whatever side-by-side. Popular variations include the fixed sidebar/liquid content area setup (See: Malarkey) and the fixed-width, narrower sidebar/wider content area setup (See: the sadly now-defunct Weightshift).
Layouts with 2 columns or more force a choice that a single column doesn't: equally sized columns, or varied widths? Ratios are important, and certain width combinations are more aesthetically pleasing than others. It's pretty hard to go wrong with 1:1 widths (or 1:1:1, or more). It's a little more difficult to choose non-equal sizing because there are no hard rules. You could pick a 5:8 Golden ratio (in a 750 pixel wide layout, translating to roughly 290px and 460px), a 3:4 ratio (320px and 430px), a 1:2 double square (250px and 500px), and so on. (Pleasing rhythmic proportions often share proportions with musical time scales, as you may have noticed.)
3 Columns
Once you add a third column, the options increase. What a third column enables is the possibility of a virtual column, one that is not absolutely defined in the layout, but exists by proxy. Consider this site, for example. On all pages with a sidebar, it appears to be a two-column layout. On the home page, the larger red panels imply the existence of three equal-sized columns. I haven't pushed the possibilities of this third column yet, but this design does allow for it if I ever feel so inclined.
As well, 3 column layouts allow for overlapping elements. Consider the home page of Stopdesign, and how the leftmost two columns are joined by the overlapping featured article. Of course, it's theoretically possible to pull this off with only two columns, but I rarely see it done on the web. A 2 column layout has traditionally meant that the content of each column lives in that column, never to overlap.
4 Columns
4 column layouts are where screen size constraints start becoming more obvious. With only so many pixels per column, it rarely makes sense to rely on 4 equal-sized, side-by-side columns on a site. StyleGala redesigned last year to a widescreen format with 4 equal columns; to compensate, a narrower version exists with 3 columns instead.
Not to say the columns need to be equally sized. Josh Dura appears to have made a stab toward a smaller-sized 4 column layout, with 3 skinny columns on either side of a larger content area. (Although there's plenty of overlapping going on, so in some places it's 2 columns, in other places it's 3. Whew!)
More Columns
4 columns is hardly the limit though, even within sensible designs that don't push the width requirements too hard. Consider B. Adam Howell's redesign—your screen size determines how many columns you see, up to six. And the entire thing stretches to fill the screen, so it's resolution-independent.
And you knew I was getting to Subtraction eventually, right? Khoi's layout turned heads for more than just its black-and-white sparseness. Subtraction uses an equal-sized 8-column grid, with intelligent overlapping and column arrangement to make it seem quite a bit less.
What's particularly clever about Subtraction is how all elements on the page intentionally fit into the grid. Whether it's the Quick Access panel on the right spanning 2 columns, a content image spanning half the page (4 columns), or a caption sitting in the left-most column, every element on the page has a specific place within the grid and it all meshes wonderfully.
Further Reading
- Geometry of Design, Kimberly Elan
- The Elements of Typographic Style, Robert Bringhurst
- Grid Systems in Graphic Design, Josef Muller-Brockmann
Image AttributesMay 10
width and
height values for images.
Paraphrased, from the inbox:
widthattributes no longer apply to images, I suspect. How then do my images render? They seem to automatically size. Is it based strictly on their original size, or should I be defining my attributes in my CSS?
Good question. I still set these particular attributes in my HTML, for both historical and practical reasons.
It used to be, before we were building table-less layouts and offloading all presentation to the CSS, that defining an image included things like turning off the border (darn 2px, blue-bordered linked image default!), specifying ALT text, and defining the width and height values. The latter were important because, as a page loaded, the space for an image needed to be set in advance. Without width and height, the image dimensions weren't known until the image was entirely loaded. Small spaces were left for each image by default, but a page would jump around disconcertingly as it resized to fit the images as they loaded. This was particularly annoying given the image slicing and dicing that table-based layout forced, so specifying the dimensions alleviated the problem nicely.
(Interesting side note—Safari 2 seems to have an entirely new way of loading in larger images. [30k or more? I'm not sure what the threshold is, but it applies even to background images defined in CSS. Clear your cache and hit up Stopdesign for an example, see the header image.] Whether they're interlaced or progressive or not [who interlaces images anymore?] it appears that the image is loaded in progressive chunks, which appears to 'slide' in the image. It looks like a Flash transition of an image, starting out squished up at the top, and expanding to fill the regular image dimension. Hard to describe, a little disorienting at first, but neat to see in action once you get used to this new method.)
Now, that's the historical reason which, while in some contexts may still be relevant, generally isn't a trick we need anymore. So why not offload these presentational
width and
height values to the CSS? I don't believe they belong there.
First of all, there's the practical management issue. If you have a series of images that are all precisely the same dimensions, then defining a single class to control those is easy. If you have a few dozen that come in wildly varying dimensions, setting a unique class for each makes less sense. In many realistic scenarios, you have to account for images you won't know the dimensions of ahead of time. So the CSS route doesn't make sense, given that a) you may have hundreds of images to define separately, and b) you can't define them when they're not known.
Secondly, image dimensions are presentational values, so it might make sense they belong in the CSS... but they're also metadata about the image itself. Very important metadata. I wouldn't go so far as to call them "content", but consider that the size of an image is as important to its final presentation as the colour of the pixels. If you can successfully make an argument for an image being an item of content, surely this metadata is more important than the sometime sacrifice-able presentation CSS affords. (Dimitri Glazkov recently explored the difference between presentational and content images.) So, if the dimensions are specifically bound to the photo, can they peacefully exist in the CSS (which may or may not be present in the final rendering of the page)?
Actually, the question put forth was more direct—why bother specifying attributes at all, whether in HTML or CSS? The image comes with built-in dimensions, the browser will know how to render the image. It seems almost pointless to bother specifying them, since that metadata already exists in another form.
Which seems theoretically true, but for just one little problem—the way the page loads before the image is placed. Since we're talking about content images here, and not the hundreds of tiny GIFs that would previously made up a sliced and diced site, it's a pretty small problem nowadays. Although given the rise of RSS, you may have noticed the same thing I have—the resizing problem is far more obvious when a content image is embedded in a news feed, and the accompanying HTML doesn't include image dimensions. Since RSS aggregators typically display a feed as plain text with minimal decoration, it's more obvious given the sparse surroundings. Specifying image attributes alleviates this, the same as it did in '97.
Ultimately I don't think specifying attributes in CSS is wrong, I just see plenty of reason to continue doing as I've always done on this point.
(Sharp readers will notice that my second argument for keeping image dimensions out of CSS is invalidated by the later conclusion that this data exists elsewhere; however, this still leaves the first, and more relevant point: management is difficult, if not impossible. I'll continue to specify attributes in my HTML unless a really good comment on this article convinces me otherwise.)
An Inevitable Tiger ReviewMay 2
A running tally of all the cool (and not so cool) new things I find to love/hate in Mac OS X 10.4, otherwise known as Tiger.
Tiger—the latest version of Mac OS X—was released to a lot of fanfare on Friday afternoon, as you're no doubt aware by now since it seems to have garnered an inordinate amount of press. For an insanely comprehensive review of the low-level stuff, turn to ARS Technica. For a look at the smaller changes that affect day-to-day usage, check out John Gruber's running tally.
As a fairly recent Mac convert myself, I hadn't bothered going out of my way to find myself a copy of Panther, the previous upgrade, until a few weeks after its release. This time around, I made sure I was at the front of the line when the boxes went on sale. The store was busy, but not nearly as much as I might have expected. Looks like the Apple stores themselves (of which we have none in Canada yet) had a bigger turnout.
With barely a few days of usage on the new OS, how am I liking it? That's inconclusive for the moment, as I still haven't had any lightning bolt revelations like the way Exposé struck me. I'll need more time than this to really form an opinion. It looks like there's a lot of good new stuff to explore, and of course a few new annoyances to adjust to. I'll keep this list running over the course of this week as I dig further in to my new toy, and add new items as I find them.
System Slowdown
Anecdotally, and based only on a gut feeling, my system feels slower. Many have reported the opposite to be true, so I think I might be an exception. I upgraded my 10.3 install instead of doing an entire re-install, which might be part of the problem. Just prior to the upgrade though, I was rapidly running out of primary drive free space (to the point where I only had a few hundred MB left). I've since cleared off about 5GB, so my virtual memory shouldn't be a bottleneck here, although I'm tempted to assume my drive is quite a bit more fragmented now. If so, I wouldn't be surprised if that alone explained the slowdown. Otherwise it might be time to think about dropping a few widgets off my Dashboard..
I finally got around to tinkering with the new Automator, and I feel pretty positive about it. It's limited to a series of pre-canned actions for various applications, which currently consist entirely of Apple products. But it's also open to developers adding hooks within their own applications, so that will probably change. I get the feeling it's essentially AppleScript lite, for those who choose not to learn the language. Suits me fine.
Image Dimensions in Column View
Finally, it's no longer necessary to Cmd + 1 to switch to icon view for the sake of getting image dimensions. As long as 'Show Preview Column' is checked in view options (Cmd + J) the preview column contains 'em.
Installation was a snap, as I'd pretty much expect from any major software release right now. After appropriately backing everything up, unplugging the external Firewire drive, and clicking a few dialogue boxes to get things underway then ducking out for a movie, coming back to a freshly Tigerized computer was a nice treat.
Safari 2.0
The new RSS feature seems pretty much useless to me, a happy NetNewsWire user. I don't see much point in reading a site's RSS feed in the browser, when I can simply read the full site. Maybe I'm missing some kind of aggregation feature that lumps all the various feeds together the way a traditional news reader does.
If you haven't already overridden your default RSS button action with a non-Safari aggregator (like I have), apparently creating a bookmark folder of RSS feeds will enable you to view them all together after all.
Credit where it's due though, Safari lets me click on the blue RSS button to subscribe to a feed in my default newsreader, which happens to be NNW. It doesn't lock me into Safari itself, which is smart. Beyond RSS, there's plenty new to see in Safari 2.0. This is the one I expect to dig into much further, but for now I'm quite impressed by the speed improvement.
Minor annoyance: context-sensitive menus on links and images have improved, but the old standbys "Save Image As..." and "Download/Save Linked File As..." are a bit different, saving to the Desktop by default. Pressing Option brings back the old menu items, but still. I categorize my downloaded items as I grab them to avoid a marathon clean-up session later; why discourage that behaviour?
I've never quite gotten the hang of the Photoshop file browser, and iPhoto is way too slow, so this is one of the best new additions for my particular workflow. Ever since switching from Windows XP, I've missed the equivalent functionality of being able to view a folder of images in slideshow format. The Tiger implementation is spectacular, allowing you to quickly alternate between a series of slides and a full-screen view of any particular image.
Here's how you get to it:
Here's the full-screen view and controls:
And here's the slide view, which expands and collapses in a way reminiscent of Exposé:
But read the next point.
What's absolutely appalling is how buried this new functionality is. The only way I've found to get to it is by running a Spotlight search, and browsing through the resulting images that return in your search. This might be acceptable if all I ever did was browse by keyword, but there's a reason I categorize my images into folders. I can't imagine why this hasn't been implemented in the Finder somehow.
Turns out it can be done after all. Too bad it's so buried. This is one area where XP has OS X beat.
Dashboard is mostly (very slick) eye candy, but I could see the potential for a few really well-built widgets becoming staples of my daily computer usage. A fair criticism I've heard is that the Dashboard layer, which exists almost as a virtual second desktop for the various widgets, is too exclusive. There's a demand for the ability to move these widgets out of it and onto the real desktop, and move other applications into it. I may be alone in this, but I wouldn't want these widgets cluttering up my desktop. Having them pulled into view by a tap of F12 is a great way of managing them. But a choice is always nice in cases like this.
The widgets themselves look to be a little weighty, memory-wise. No noticeable slowdown yet, but this will be the first place I look if and when. And how come new widgets I've downloaded don't show up in the control panel thingy at the bottom of the screen?
DVD Install
Tiger comes on a DVD. Apparently you can get CDs by mailing the original disc back to Apple along with a nominal service fee, but it's pretty clear that DVD is the new distribution medium going forward. Fine for my Powerbook, not so great for my older iBook which is still ticking along just fine. It'll be interesting to see how its older OS ages.
I've yet to determine how much Spotlight actually changes things. I'm pretty darn addicted to QuickSilver and its adaptive selection; Spotlight feels a lot slower, and the jumping around as new results filter in is particularly annoying.
My biggest pet peeve so far is that results will appear, then disappear as newer and more relevant results filter in. If you're going to show an item in the results at all, leave it there. Yes, I can pull up the full Spotlight window and hunt down the flash of an item I happened to notice, but the relative speed of the incoming results often means I didn't catch enough of a glimpse to retain the name or location.
My searching so far has consisted of a few half-hearted guesses though, instead of anything concrete. Things that are annoying while there's no goal in mind (the multiple clicks to filter by location, the wild variation of data types) might prove incredibly useful when I'm looking for something in particular. I'll have to get a little more comfortable with Spotlight before I'm using it for tasks like that, so it seems like there might be not so much a learning curve as an adoption curve: I understand how it works, and why I'd need it, but I just haven't felt comfortable enough with it to make it a part of my standard routine yet.
Smart Folders
Smart Folders. Saving search results as a virtual folder is brilliant. My favourite new smart folder: Items within "Bright Creative" Last Modified within Last 3 Days. One-click access to all my most recent working files, it's a thing of beauty.
Menu Bar
The menu bar at the top of the screen went glossier, while the blue Apple and Spotlight icons on either side went flatter. In all the pre-release screenshots I've seen, both icons appeared to "cap" either side of the menu bar with a full background colour that was clickable; it looked like a great solution to me. In the final release they simply sit there as roundish icons, while retaining the clickable area. Yawn.
RSS Screensaver
The new RSS screensaver is great. Select a source, and watch the latest realtime headlines swoosh around a swirling blue background. Click on any headline to visit the article. Not entirely practical, but hey, it's a screensaver after all. They're allowed to be cool for the sake of it.
Canadian Fix
Previously, in order to enable easy access to advanced character entry tools like the Keyboard Viewer or Character Palette, it was first necessary to select a keyboard language and enable a flag in your menu bar. Annoying, but livable... unless you happened to be a Canadian english speaker, of whom there are many; selecting the Canadian flag would enable a french keyboard layout. The only way around this was to live with having an American (or Australian) flag in your menu bar all the time. Thankfully, the problem has been fixed in Tiger.
A built-in, system-wide dictionary and thesaurus are a Ctrl+click away. Available as a context-sensitive menu, Dashboard widget, and stand-alone app, the vocabulary is large enough to be useful, but the built-in search ironically isn't. Results are exact; don't know how to spell a word? Too bad. dictionary.com still has a place in my workflow for now.
(It was interesting to see Apple didn't bother pulling the punches either. All your favourite dirty words are in there and defined, with pronunciation guides.)


text:
Back-to-back-to-back? Lipsett previews world championships
With Taylor Lipsett in the captain's role, the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team is aiming for an elusive third consecutive world title.
When the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team opens pool-play today at the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge World Championships in Goyang, Korea, a third consecutive title is the aim for Team USA.
"Our goal is to defend the gold medal that we won in Norway," said team captain Taylor Lipsett. "Last year, we became the first team ever to go back-to-back at the world championships. This year, we want to be the first to go back-to-back-to-back. We never go into a tournament looking for a silver medal."
In 2012, Team USA became the first to win consecutive titles when it defended the 2009 crown with a 5-1 victory over Korea in Hamar, Norway.
While the historical aspect is a motivator for Team USA in Goyang, the priority is to maintain the No. 1 ranking heading into Sochi, where the team will try to become the first ever to defend a Paralympic Winter Games title. In 2010, the U.S. became the first to win two Paralympic gold medals, the first claimed in 2002.
"Making history is in the back of our minds, but the immediate goal is to maintain the No. 1 ranking we have, which is important for us to have Sochi," said Lipsett, who started playing sled hockey in 2002. The home team has advantages which include matching the opponent's line.
"The No. 1 seed is huge in hockey," he said. "When you are the No. 1, you have a competitive advantage that can make a difference in those close games."
The No. 1 seed also has the opportunity to gain momentum in a tournament by playing lower seeds first.
"We respect all of our opponents, no matter what seed either of us have going into a game," Lipsett said. "We have seen some very close games when we're No. 1. It happened to us at last year's world championships against Estonia when they took us to a shootout."
Team USA takes on Sweden tonight at 8:15 p.m. EDT to kick-off the championship. All tournament games will be streamed live from Goyang at youtube.com/paralympicsporttv/.
"Sweden will be a tough opponent," Lipsett said.
But ultimately Lipsett thinks the toughest obstacle on the road to gold will be a familiar foe.
"Canada is definitely our toughest competitor," Lipsett said. "Team USA/Canada at any level of hockey is super intense. The rivalry produces some of the best hockey games ever played."
Team USA maintains a record of 10-2-0 on the season, with a loss to Canada in pool-play at the World Sledge Challenge and another loss to Canada in a three-game series Feb. 14-16 in Rockland, Ontario.
"We hold the upper hand with Canada, which is good for our confidence," Lipsett said.
Canada and the U.S. have won four of the last five world titles.
Korea, defending silver medalists, will also be an obstacle en route to history.
The U.S. has defeated Korea twice during the 2012-13 season, a 3-0 victory in pool-play at the USA Hockey Sled Cup and a 5-2 win in the championship game. Team USA also won the World Sledge Hockey Challenge in December in Calgary, Alberta, an event that included Japan and Norway.
"When I first started playing, South Korea was never even in tournaments," Lipsett said. "Now they are the world silver medalists. It is incredible how their program has grown over the years."
Czech Republic, Italy, Norway and Russia are also competing in Goyang.
"For the first six or seven years of my career, it was us, Canada and Norway winning the medals in every event," he said.
Since the debut of sled hockey at the Lillehammer 1994 Paralympic Winter Games, only five countries have appeared on the podium. Only Sweden (1994), Norway (1998), Canada (2006) and the U.S. have ever claimed gold.
"Now there is so much more competition than there has ever been," Lipsett said.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
LINGUIST List 21.856
Sat Feb 20 2010
Jobs: Comp Ling: Computational Linguist, Interactive Intelligence, Inc
Editor for this issue: Erica Wicks <erica
The LINGUIST List strongly encourages employers to use non-discriminatory standards in hiring policy. In particular we urge that employers do not discriminate on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, age, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. However, we have no means of enforcing these standards.
Job seekers should pay special attention to language in ads regarding employment requirements and are encouraged to consult our international employment page at http://linguistlist.org/jobs/jobnet.html. This page has been set up so that people can report on the employment standards of various countries.
To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
1. Jan Flamion,
Dutch; German, Standard; Polish; Spanish & Romance & Computational Linguistics: Computational Linguist, Interactive Intelligence, Inc, Indiana, USA
Message 1: Dutch; German, Standard; Polish; Spanish & Romance & Computational Linguistics: Computational Linguist, Interactive Intelligence, Inc, Indiana, USA
Jan Flamion <Jan.Flamion
Dutch; German, Standard; Polish; Spanish & Romance & Computational Linguistics: Computational Linguist, Interactive Intelligence, Inc, Indiana, USA
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University or Organization: Interactive Intelligence, Inc
Department: Development - Media Group
Job Location: Indiana, USA
Web Address:
Job Rank: Computational Linguist
Specialty Areas: Computational Linguistics; Phonology; NLP
Required Language(s):
Dutch (nld)
German, Standard (deu)
Polish (pol)
Spanish (spa)
Position Title: Computational Linguist - Media Group
Department: Development
Positions Available: 1
Location: Indianapolis or Montreal
The Media Group is responsible for the development of our cutting-edge
internet telephony (VoIP) and media processing components. We are working
on some exciting new product features related to speech recognition and
speech analytics.
If you are self-motivated, driven, and have a perfectionist streak, we have an
exciting opportunity for you. We are looking for an individual with a proven
track record researching new languages and their integration into speech
recognition and natural language processing engines. Ability to create
pronunciation dictionaries and transcription of large datasets is highly
Skills we look for:
- Strong background in phonology and computational linguistics
- In depth phonological/linguistic understanding of English and at least one
Romance, Slavic, or Nordic language
- Solid experience programming in C/C++ and scripting languages such as
Perl and Ruby
- Experience with large scale data collection efforts
- Experience in implementing statistical learning algorithms such as decision
trees and rule based systems
- Demonstrated ability to perform independent research and development
- Masters or Ph.D. in Computational Linguistics, Computer Science, Artificial
Intelligence or related field
Skills that would be a plus:
- Experience with data mining, pattern recognition, and machine learning
- Experience with speech recognition and natural language processing
To apply, visit the URL below.
Application Deadline: 30-Mar-2010
Email Address for Applications: Jan.Flamion
Web Address for Applications:
Contact Information:
Recruiting Manager Jan Flamion
Email: Jan.Flamion
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Doesn't fit? No problem! Send it back to us for an exchange. We'll cover the shipping costs to send the exchanged merchandise back to you.
We pride ourselves on integrity and service, and are dedicated to delivering the best customer service to all of our customers. If for any reason you are unsatisfied with any purchase made at SurfRide.com, we will gladly refund or exchange it.
* Returns are not accepted for certain items such as surfboards, bikinis (tops and/or bottoms) and sale items. Please view our return policy for complete details.
Can't get enough of Chemistry? Why not subscribe to our RSS feed? Or better yet, check out everything from Chemistry right now!
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That's right boys and girls... spend over $79 and we'll throw in free Ground Shipping!
This offer applies to orders shipped within the contiguous United States and excludes some larger items, such as surfboards. Excludes sale items. May not be combined with other offers.
Doesnt fit? No problem! Send it back to us for an exchange. Well cover the shipping costs to send the exchanged merchandise back to you. It's really that easy!
View our Return Policy for details.
If you see it on our website, we have it in stock. Since everything online is stocked in our 2 large retail stores, occasionally an item will sell in the store before we can pull it for your order. We will do our best to help you find a replacement item if this happens. Don't see it online? There's a good chance that we have it one of our stores. Give them a call.
No sales tax to customers residing outside of CA. All you kids buying wetsuits to surf Lake Erie get a tax break for manning up and surfing mega cold water.


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text:
@feelingdemi Yes and I love her style!#DemiLovatoVEVO
— VEVO UK (@VEVO_UK) February 19, 2013
@feelingdemi Yes and I love her style!#DemiLovatoVEVO
— VEVO UK (@VEVO_UK) February 19, 2013
Why do people keep asking celebrities if they like kristen?????ReplyDelete
Okay...i like demi:):)ReplyDelete
I'm with you Anon@10:50 - why do people keep asking this? Twitter is exhausting and spreads so many rumors. They take every quote out of context - like the Jared Leto thing. First of all, why is anyone even asking that? Then, HL takes his quote and makes a news story out of it. Then, ten thousand people quote that story as fact and it starts a whole other set of rumors. It's a vicious cycle. I don't click on the links any more because I don't want to support the lies, but wow - it is frustrating. When will it end? How do other celebs stay out of the mix? It's not like Kristen or Rob are even doing anything to perpetuate it - it's all just made up. I keep going back and forth on my opinion - if they would just stop hiding things, would it help? I don't know, because like Kristen said, people would just want more. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know, things need to change with that industry.ReplyDelete
I'm with you too.Delete
It must be be annoying to those people, i mean, im sure thay have nothing against kristen. but they got no business with her either. i feel like tabs and paps are trying to get a hit using kristen's name and the more they do that, the more haters gonna whine.Delete
Why dont they mention if they like robert i just think the celebrities who are been ask if they like kristen they answer it just to be nice i mean what do guys think do you think this celebrities sound sincere.Delete
I think interviewers name drop, knowing that mentioning either of them will give their little interview many more hits. All these so called reporters ( some are reporters, some are just fame-hungry sensationalists) want are the numbers.ReplyDelete
I agree with your comments Anon 12:14 and 12:51. I think though that this infuriates the fans more than Kristen and Rob. Kristen has mentioned that she's okay with people who hate as well as those who love as long as they don't stop her from doing what she loves which is making movies and acting. Unfortunately, some people go too far with the lies and the bashing which make her look like the most hated and evil person in the world and there is nothing anybody can do about it. This is totally unamerican and mind blowing. It is up to us fans to keep on supporting Kristen and Rob and be there for them.Delete
They are not reporters They are gossips mongers yek,yek.. Like old ladies ,,,, Nothing in their brain !! I notice they keep on bullyIng kristen just because she is a young girl who is shy and quite , call them shit head bully's not reporter !!!Delete
I think the celbrities know when an interviewer ask them if they like this person i think they know that the gossip ppl want to start a drama and write about it so they answer yes i like them i just think there trying to be nice because if a celebrity starts to talk badly about another celebrity theres going to be drama.I mean do this ppl really know kristen as a person like do they hang out with her or they just know her as the actress.Delete
I think the celebrities who are been ask if they like kristen they shouldnt answer they should just ignore them.Delete
I dont get it i did read that interview of kristen when shes talking about the ppl that love her and hate her when i read that i got the feeling that she was been tough and seem that she didnt care but if she dosent care what ppl think about her then why did she said in that interview that she apologize to the ppl she made angry if she didnt care then why say that thats because she does care what ppl think about her.Delete
Kristen didn't say thst she didn't care. She said that she is okay that people love her or hate her, and if you hate her for who she is, at least she is not pretending to be someone she is not. She totally understands that people are different and she is not your cookie-cutter person or HW actress. She is an original and is not apologizing for who she is but for unintentionally hurting people who really do not know her. This is what sets Kristen above everyone else. She knows she's flawed and has a lot of maturing still to do and a long way to goDelete
Its sad!!!!
Its like they are looking for that one person to say I hate her! So there can be drama. News flash if you haven't found that person by now ur not gonna!
look I completely agree the media takes things way out of context, It would be nice if Kristen and Rob where a little more open about their relationship in the public just to prove the rumors false. But I believe Kristen and Rob are being private about their relationship so that they can protect it, they feel like they have some sense of control when it comes to the media by not saying much about it. And as Kristen says no matter what people think or say about it it's not going to change anything, it wont change how Kristen feels about Rob how much she truly loves and respects him how she honors him and supports him and how much she takes care of him and it wont change how Rob feels about Kristen how much he loves her and supports her and respects her and protects her and how he can always make her smile or laugh and how he always makes her feel better and Kristen does the same for Rob she makes him smile and she can make him feel better. Nothing is ever going to change that and as Kristen says to the fans the real answer to weather they are really together or not is obvious, YES they are together and they are stronger then ever. No matter the dumb break up rumors with no inch of truth we know that Rob is probably on the phone with Kristen right now telling her all about the Australian outback trying to convince her to get on a plain and come down here. hey all the celebrities who they ask about Kristen all say the same thing, they love her, which makes me smile and I'm sure when she hears what they say it makes her smile too because it shows Kristen is a good person with a great big heart no matter her mistakes. Emma Watson hit back at the way Kristen has been treated in the media since last year and she's right Kristen is a human being with feelings and some of the things that where said where very hurtful Kristen may brush it off but it still hurts her, those hurtful comments should never have been said at all, what she's gone through in the past months it's the biggest form of bullying and it needs to stop. Kristen didn't need that it can't have helped her depression at all. Even now when we know that everything is OK the media still hit back at her. Sure everything is OK now and Rob and Kristen's family helped her through it but it still would cut her deep. but it's good to know that people have Kristen's back and they support her. Kristen I think was able to get through it because she knows how proud we are of her and all that she's achieved as fan's, how proud her mother is of how beautiful and smart her daughter is, how proud her father it of his little girl and all that's she's done and achieved how proud her bothers are of their baby sister but most of all how insanely proud Rob is of her with everything that she's achieved and also how much they have achieved together he beamed with pride when he saw On The Road because he was so proud of how amazing Kristen was and he knew she was unsure of herself, Kristen should be proud of herself despite mistakes she's made in the past, because at the end of the day she's a good person with a heart of gold. I know that she knows that the love she shares with Rob is something that can never be broken. Rob should be very proud of himself too because he's a very good man his heart is gold and he knows just how insanely proud Kristen is of him and all his success, she's the one that encouraged him to do Cosmopolis because she knew that he could do it she believes in him just as much as he believes In her, she beamed with pride when it got a standing ovation because she knew that he wasn't sure of himself be she knew all along he'd be amazing.ReplyDelete
Well what do they think she is going to say....do you think she wants the wrath of the Rob and Kristen fan fringe to come down on her...no way....all celebs I am sure are steering away from that possiblity. No one wants to feel the hate and jealousy, intrusion of privacy, and lack of sanity the fringe brings. If any celeb has learned anything from Rob and Kristen...it is....don't answer because you don't have to answer. Avoid the fringe at all costs.ReplyDelete
Actually demi tweeted about Kristen before. She said she really liked Kristen because she's seemed the realest person in Hollywood and would like to meet her.And this was a way long time ago.Delete
I dont think kristen is the only real actress in hollywood i know some actresses who are real too and not fake i know this is a kristen fansite but dont make kristen the only actress who is real and talented in hollywood.Delete
Demi Lovato tweets about Kristen Stewart
"Dear Kristen Stewart, you seem like the realest person in Hollwood. I admire you so much and I hope to meet you someday."
Now tell me where *I'm* making Kristen the only actress who is real? I only said Demi really does like Kristen and what she thought about her. Geez Louise.
Forgot to add that the tweet is from 2009Delete
Have you all come across the newest poll by the
local British store menkind.uk.co which allegedly shows that Kristen tops the list of all the HW actresses considered by British men to be the least sexy and least desireable. This is from a men and boys gift and gadget store that out if the blue is making this proclamation as part of the Oscars awards. I was googling and this is plastered all over the internet. They are making this as newsworthy which shows the extent that people would do just to get hits on their site. UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Those are her haters and people who can't form their own opinions about her. Believe it or not a lot of people have this unfavorable idea of her. Like with Jennifer Lawrence. What people like about her, they hate on Kristen. Because the media tells people to do so.Delete
dont worry, menkind.uk.co its only a joke, you can see the list, ten women least sexy and least desirable are all the beautiful and sexy women such as lucy liu, uma thurman, lindsay lohan etc I dont remember othersDelete
Today my country DJ on radio mention kristen the least sexy and I just laught my head off so stupid haha... Those are not men they are tiny British little boys who likes big tits and pastic face !!Delete
And yet the media in US re-published the poll,lol. All those media want is to creat drama and sales. Kristen is beautiful inside and out. SEXY is the word can't describe her enough.Delete
I don't think it's the fans who tweeted tose questions i think it's the interviewers themselves who create those tweeter accounts and drop KRISTEN's name because they know it will spread in a matter of seconds through the media by the way doing for them a kind of advertising for their article. Example I'm sure most of us would never know about DEMI's tweeter interview if there wasn't kristen's name on it.ReplyDelete
yups I agree with youDelete
Are you guys sure thats demi twitter because i read somewhere thats is not even her twitter i try to get in her twitter but i cant just to make sure is her and not another person who is trying yo be her.Delete
I think the media will cease to exist if they dont find something to print about Kristen(we all know that 99% of the time they print rubbish),nobody is bothered to read anything unless the magic name(-no not Voldemort)Kristen Stewart is mentioned.That lil lady is so popular i think her name could sell ice to eskimoes!
The media wants to keep showing her in a badlight coz she doent give a damn about them.
I think whatever the media keeps on printing eventually will work in Kristens favour because shes always in the news!!Do i still need to mention it ?ok ,i think i am Kristens biggest fan,i die laughing when i see the stupid media printing crap after crap trying to use Kristen,idiots all of them.
Really!!! you're posting this!!!ReplyDelete
Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate <3
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- Provides antioxidant support**
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Pycnogenol® is the extract of the bark of the French maritime pine tree. As a unique and powerful natural plant extract, Pycnogenol® possesses superior antioxidant properties that help fight against free radicals the body's cells, such as the eye and skin cells.** Pycnogenol® supports a healthy heart, and was found in one study at 200 mg to help maintain blood pressure already within a normal range.1** Laboratory studies have shown that Pycnogenol® supports the immune system, helps maintain glucose levels already within a normal range and may offer natural support for the discomforts of PMS in women.**
Pycnogenol® is a registered trademark of Horphag Research Ltd. Use of this product is protected by one or more of U.S. Patents #5,720,956 / #6,372,266 and other international patents.
1Hosseini, S., et al. Nutr Res. 2001. 21:1251-1260.No Artificial Color, Flavor or Sweetener, No Preservatives, No Sugar, No Starch, No Milk, No Lactose, No Soy, No Gluten, No Wheat, No Yeast, No Fish, Sodium Free.


text:
Intended Audience:
This course is geared to those with little or no experience conducting computerized legal research.
Location: 3rd Floor - Library
Course ID: L12121301
Number of Sessions: 1
Credits: 11 MCLE Credit: 1 Skills; Transitional
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Lexis Staff Attorney


text:
Secretary Clinton delivered remarks at the American Jewish Committee's Annual Gala Dinner on April 29, 2010.
The Secretary highlighted the American Jewish Committee's work for Jewish people across the world. She said, "This organization for more than a century has been a voice for the aspirations of the Jewish people for a secure and democratic homeland. We saw the pictures flashing before us on the screen -- the faces of those who have made Israel their home and those who have made America our home. You have fought for the core values that make this country great -- equality and religious freedom, civil rights and women's rights, a freer, fairer nation in which every child has the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential."
The Secretary spoke of the United States' commitment to a two-state solution. She said, "Regional peace must begin with the recognition by every party that the United States will always stand behind Israel's security and, as President Obama put it recently, "no wedge will be driven between us. Now, we will have our differences, but when we do, we will work to resolve them as close allies." Israel's right to exist, and to defend itself, is not negotiable. And no lasting peace will be possible unless that fact is accepted.
"But similarly, Palestinians must have a state of their own. They must be able to travel, conduct business, govern themselves, and enjoy the dignity of a sovereign people. There can be no equivocating on this either.
"And the only way to achieve a two-state solution is through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. So we will do everything we can to support such negotiations. We are literally working around the clock to move forward with proximity talks, which we hope then will set the stage for a resumption of direct negotiations on all permanent status issues as soon as possible.
"We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can agree to an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the '67 lines, with agreed swaps, and Israel's goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israel's security requirements."
See the Secretary's full remarks here.
Palgye in South Korea writes:
Dear to...
i want to examine to Goldman, by directly.
but, i think they are feels fear. it`s correct but, i think indirect method is good method.
we need negotiator. i think, it`s you.
Hillary Clinton, politician.
(American Jewish Committee's)
Palgye in south Korea writes:
Went to a meeting today. Goes sightseeing went, but to Secretary of State personage a thanks.
but, important thing is not mine, Sees a meeting and feeling anyone will be able to speak a reform but, feels the necessity of reform and the person whom practices feels that almost is not. More the person who is on the duty position which is President.
i support Secretary`s policy. also israel`s.
Benjamin in Japan writes:
Secretary Clinton's speech stands as a testament to America's commitment to everyone in the Middle East. The flow of the presentation is marvelous and I sat with my eyes glued to the screen throughout its entirety. She does an excellent job leading into the topic of equality to Palestine. I truly hope America will be just as committed to Palestine as to Israel in the years to come.
H writes:
Will Israel send founds to Greece as a gift?
W writes:
well.mrs.secretary...people generally ask for help and when they usually got helped they don't help nobody else...why a possible blind father gave all his material belonging to his second son?
well easy answer...cos he is the ....sooo...brothers should help each other


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About the Author: Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley serves as the U.S. Department of State's Special Representative for Global Partnerships.
Developing new partnerships around the world is at the heart of the Obama Administration's foreign policy.
That was the clear message delivered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her major address at the Council on Foreign Relations July 15, 2009. She called for creating a new architecture of cooperation to meet today's global challenges and "tilting the balance away from a multi-polar world and toward a multi-partner world."
This vision extends beyond cooperation with governments and multilateral institutions to include new partnerships with businesses, organizations, philanthropies, universities, religious groups, and Diaspora communities.
In a world of complex challenges and stretched budgets, harnessing the talent, resources, and expertise of the private sector and civil society is both an opportunity and a necessity. In the 1960s, nearly 70 percent of all money flowing from the United States to the developing world was official development assistance. Today, over 80 percent is from private sources.
As Special Representative for Global Partnerships, I am working to tap into the wealth of possibilities beyond government and forge the new partnerships around the world. Under the Secretary's leadership, we are positioning the State Department to fill three key roles:
First, as a convener, bringing together people from across regions and sectors to work together on issues of common interest.
Second, as a catalyst, launching new projects, actively seeking new solutions, providing vital training and technical assistance to facilitate additional projects.
And third, as a collaborator, working closely with our partners to plan and implement projects – avoiding duplication, learning from each other, maximizing our impact by looking for best practices. One example of how much we can accomplish through innovative public-private partnerships is our Phones-for-Health initiative, which leverages cutting-edge information technology to improve AIDS programs in developing countries. A number of technology companies and development funds joined with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the State Department to launch the $10 million program, which uses mobile phones to relay medical information from areas lacking internet access or hard lines directly to health authorities' computer systems, enabling rapid interventions such as distribution of medication and education programs for those at risk. This partnership has supported treatment for millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS and has helped prevent millions more from becoming infected.
If done right, public-private partnerships can deliver real results for people around the world and advance our national foreign policy objectives. That is our goal.
Secretary Clinton famously wrote that "it takes a village to raise a child." We must apply that same ethic of shared responsibility and common purpose to meeting today's global challenges. No one nation can meet these challenges alone. Only by developing new approaches and new partnerships can we achieve the progress we need.
F.G. in Israel writes:
New partnerships around the world are more then welcome, i happy to see that the new government doing some essential steps to heal the world.
Minega in New York writes:
That is great. Can the partnership goes far between those organizations? How can it be done? Thanks.
Normita in California writes:
Secretary Clinton, thank you for leading the way for global partnerships. You are simply the best. God bless you in your journey from villages to villages around the globe.
Ron in New York writes:
The best model for Global Partnerships can be seen in the UN ECOSOC/DPI and UN Global Compact.
In these systems; the values held in the UN Charter are emulated and implemented worldwide. The Obama/Clinton State Department could be a force to synergize this model.
Eric in New Mexico writes:
Dear Ambassador Bagley,
I don't know if a venue has been picked for next spring's nuclear security conference or not, but I had a thought on how to integrate it in both historical terms and academic partnership.
We have a saying in New Mexico, "We started it here, we can end it here."
In reference of course to the fact that the atomic bomb was designed, built and tested here long ago.
I could think of no better place to hold such a conference than at LANL, which is university run.
Eileen in California writes:
I hope all of your goals come true. I ask that you include in the Global Partners Initiative a renewed relationship with the Pacific Island Nations in particular those nations that do not benefit from being a U.S. territory like the Solomon Islands. There are many medical and economic issues that cannot be left to Australia alone to handle in the Solomon Islands one of the worst off of these southern pacific nations. Our country should partner with Australia in this region. We should also separate Oceana from the Asia Pacific region. The economic, developmental and social issues in Oceana are very different than in China, Japan, India, and Korea. By lumping these very disparate countries together in one geo-political region we do the small nations of Oceana a disservice.
Ron in New York writes:
More on Global Partnerships:
The USG and Internatonal private-public donors have so much on resources; but become useless when they allow backward poitical ideologies get in the way of effective action. Global AIDS has been a glaring
example of resorce-riches and ideologic poverty.


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The Compassion Of Christ
Scripture reveals to us that God is all-powerful, but it also shows us that this power is tempered with tenderness toward those who trust Him. If we have been reconciled to the Lord through Christ, we discover that God is ...Read More
A Healing in the Crowd
When we first come to faith in Christ, our theology may be filled with many errors. Over time as God matures us, however, these errors are corrected, and we grow in our knowledge of what is true and right. Let ...Read More
Jarius Comes to Jesus
We should never fear that God is too busy with the needs of others to pay attention to us. Even when our needs seem insignificant in comparison to the needs of others, the Lord still cares and listens to our ...Read More
A Witness to the Decapolis
One day we will see the Lord face-to-face and enjoy His presence forever. Until then, we have been commissioned to preach the gospel and declare God's saving grace to the nations. This mission is for us all, though in God's ...Read More
Afraid of Jesus
Fallen people reject God not because they do not know His power. Instead, they reject Him because all they know is His power and purity. People who have no apprehension of the extent of His goodness, which is displayed in ...Read More
The Word of God in the Words of Men
John Calvin is known for his statement that God speaks to us in "baby talk," explaining things to us on our level so that we will know and love Him. God has not told us everything, but what He has ...Read More
Legion Destroys Some Swine
Scripture exhorts us to care for animals and not to be cruel to them. Even so, the Bible never puts the worth of animals on the same level as the worth of humanity. We "are of more value than many ...Read More
Jesus Confronts Legion
John Calvin comments on this episode, "It was a magnificent display of the power of Christ, that by his voice not one devil, but a great multitude of devils, were suddenly driven out." That Jesus could cast out so many ...Read More
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A collection of stories from individuals with disabilities, families, friends, and disability service providers in Tennessee
Showing stories 1 - 3 of 3
Results related to: 36 to 59 years / Quality of Life / Shelby County
"Mr. Williams credits GOD for his talent and gives thanks to this mother for opening his heart toward art."
"My biggest complaint is that people like us need help. Whenever they [policymakers] go to cut that budget it's always the people with disabilities who get hurt by it. They're the ones that need it. They can't do for themselves. I don't think that's right."
"With him [Danny] being 55-years-old, it's not like it was when he was born. Now, there's help. There are programs and suggestions, but when he was born there was nothing."


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White and Blue Spiked up Pixie Cut
This short hairstyle looks messy as the hair has been played around with and given this spiked effect. With the fringe coming down and across at the forehead, this look is rockabilly.The cut is layered and short.The hair colour is blonde with highlights.
AnneVeck Hair: Anne Veck Photography: Charlotte Kibble Make-up: Cheryl Corea Styling: Charlotte Woodly


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Firm's Recall Hotline: (888) 739-4120
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Name of product: Best Value Park Benches
Units: About 4,500
Distributor: Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, of Hudson, Ohio
Hazard: The benches can become unstable and break, posing a fall hazard to consumers.
Incidents/Injuries: None reported.
Description: This recall involves Best Value park benches with a green metal frame and wooden slats. The benches measure 50-inches long by 22-inches wide by 30-inches high.
Sold at: Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft stores nationwide from January 2008 through March 2008 for about $30.
Manufactured in: Taiwan
Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled park benches and return the product to the nearest Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft store for a full refund.
Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Jo-Ann Stores toll-free at (888) 739-4120 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or email the firm at email@example.com. Consumers can also visit the firm's Web site at www.joann.com
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of
thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the
nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or
mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household
chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 or teletypewriter at
301-595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing
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Times: 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET; Messages can be left anytime
Call to get product safety and other agency information and to report unsafe products.
Please use the below phone number for all media requests.
Phone: (301) 504-7908
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Your immune system produces antibodies that defend against foreign substances. This is good when a foreign substance is harmful (such as certain bacteria or viruses). But some people's immune systems overreact to substances that shouldn't cause an allergic reaction. When this occurs, the immune system sets off a chemical chain reaction, leading to allergy symptoms. Normally, allergy symptoms aren't life-threatening. But some people have a severe allergic reaction that can lead to anaphylaxis. Even if you or your child has had only a mild anaphylactic reaction in the past, there's still a risk of more severe anaphylaxis.
A number of allergens can trigger anaphylaxis, depending on what you're allergic to.
Common anaphylaxis triggers include:
Less common causes of anaphylaxis include:
Anaphylaxis symptoms are sometimes caused by aspirin and other drugs — such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) and naproxen (Aleve, Midol Extended Relief) — and the intravenous (IV) contrast used in some X-ray imaging tests. Although similar to allergy-induced anaphylaxis, this type of reaction isn't triggered by allergy antibodies.
Anaphylaxis triggered by exercise is not common and varies from person to person. In some people, aerobic activity, such as jogging, triggers anaphylaxis. In others, less intense physical activity, such as walking, can trigger a reaction. Eating certain foods before exercise or exercising when the weather is hot, cold or humid also has been linked to anaphylaxis in some people. Talk with your doctor about any precautions you should take when exercising.
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I can confirm you the motor is 4 poles (synchronous speed = 1800 rpm at 60Hz).
the youtube pietrosantos was modified with a new motor....The new motor was attached to the side.
Nope, that's a physically unmodified, stock Santos running on the factory motor. There is no chicanery like a hidden motor bolted on to the side.
I truly hope that the Santos makers TAKE NOTICE of all these posts we have been posting here.
So what is the big deal with just telling him how you did it? Or does it cost money for you to tell how you did it?
I wish you had told me, or I wouldn't have sold my santos!
aah, well it looks like you changed your plans after we talked. Sounds like you must have bypassed the capacitor for everything but the startup allowing the use of the vfd? I wish you had told me that works, or I wouldn't have sold my santos! This whole time I thought the curtain was there covering up the new motor and vfd. oh well, im glad you got it going, it must be amazing having that thing going at the right speed!
I propose five suggestions.
The inverter doesn't control directly the motor RPM, but produces a current with an adjustable frenquency; but on an induction motor the frenquency affects the RPM, which is the same goal indeed. All inverters are able to yield from 0Hz to 60Hz (and many more but it doesn't recommended to overspeed a motor which isn't designed for) : then you may be able to adjust the motor at the speed you want, from 0 up to 1600 RPM with an accuracy of a couple of RPMs.
I can only guess it was a variable frequency drive. . . .
Omid , Mr Fouquet said that it will take a few months for him to rethink and find a solution for a slower speed so hold on!
Under the U.S. legal system people will go off and hurt themselves then blame and sue someone else who was just trying to help
Sounds like you must have bypassed the capacitor for everything but the startup allowing the use of the vfd?
So a possible fix is to defeat the centrifical switch that disconnects the start capacitor (after start) and run on a VFD? Makes sense to me.
That's a physically unmodified, stock Santos running on the factory motor.
replacing the motor armature with a shaft and bearing block on the rear of the motor housing, and installing a treadmill motor (example: 0-8000rpm. ~2hp) with the controller to adjust the rpm may be the cheapest and safest solution. a simple gear reduction via chain or belt can be made to give you a max rpm of say 2000rpm, where you can add more speed to the shaft over stock, but allow a slow 15-20 rpm speed for adding ingredients liable to blow up all over the place at full speed.
Dear Omid!....Hope all is well !Mr Fouquet emailed me saying that they are at work in trying to reduce the speed , they found a way with a new gear box to reduce it 20% and are figuring out if they could go further!I think that it's really special of having someone dream about a better product and having someone like Mr Fouquet getting involvedin trying to find some solutions, we dont see this often !Louis
Omid,I am using the Pietroberto 2 speed model that you speak of. If you like I can take a video for you to use as a reference point.Matt
No trouble at all my friend! I am conducting pizzaiolo interviews this morning at the restaurant & will shoot a video for you. If you're interested in moving to Toronto I'll hire you anytime Matt


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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 is the third iteration of the company's Micro Four Thirds line-up.
Tags: panasonic, lumix, mirrorless system cameras
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Product Specification
|Effective pixels
|17.3 x 13mm MOS
|ISO rating
|Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 / Intelligent ISO
|Shutter speed
|Focal-plane shutter, Speed: 1/4000 - 60 and Bulb (up to approx. 4 minutes)
|Auto Focus
|Yes (AF/AE LOCK button or Shutter button halfway pressed in AFs mode)
|Specialty Shooting Modes
|3 frames/sec (High speed) or 2 frames/sec (Low speed)
|Exposure Compensation
|3,5,7 frame, in 1/3 or 2/3 EV Step, +/- 2 EV
|144-zone multi-pattern sensing system
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|Still Image: JPEG, RAW, DPOF compatible, Still Image with Audio: JPEG + QuickTime, Motion Image: AVCHD Lite / QuickTime Motion JPEG
|3.0-inch, 3:2 Aspect / Wide viewing angle, Pixels: 460K dots, Field of view: Approx. 100%
|USB 2.0 High Speed, miniHDMI TypeC, Audio Video output, Remote 2.5mm, Speaker, PictBridge compatible
|1250mAh ID-Security Li-ion Battery Pack
|119 x 71 x 36.3mm


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OCZ Technology Group, a leading supplier of memory and flash-based products, sees increasing demand towards solid-state drives (SSDs) despite of the high price of flash-based storage solutions.
"We are seeing a nice uptick in demand for the complete spectrum of SSDs, this continues to be our fastest growing product category. Besides the economy picking up, the maturity of SSD solutions as well as the reduction in prices are both positive factors," said Alex Mei, executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
OCZ recently unveiled SSDs "for the masses" with prices around $100, however, the bulk of OCZ's solid-state drive shipments is represented by premium solutions powered by advanced flash chips and controllers.
"The reason that we have seen such explosive growth is because we offer drives for the complete spectrum of applications and users, whether it is consumer or enterprise we have a solution. Our Vertex and Vertex 2-series of drives continue to be hot sellers for us, but we are selling a lot of 3.5" Colossus and Z-Drive PCI-e drives as well," said Mr. Mei.
While SSDs are still more expensive than traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) in terms of per gigabyte cost, the are faster, which is crucial for desktops, and more reliable, when it comes to notebooks. Apparently, according to OCZ, loads of consumers have learned these two facts.
"Consumers are now familiar with SSDs and their advantages and now that the price per GB has come down, they are only more attractive. We continue to add value to our drives with special firmware's designed for max performance and reliability," concluded the high-ranking executive.
Tags: OCZ, SSD, Flash, Business


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Fairmont area sees outbreak of scabies
FAIRMONT – About a month ago, The Clinic at Walmart started seeing a trend: patients with bug bites that itched so bad they were unable to sleep.
Linda McClintock is a certified nurse practitioner and the main provider at The Clinic at Walmart, which is affiliated with Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont. With 32 years in the health field, she has been to able to quickly diagnose the culprit.
"Just from my little clinic, and understand there are other clinics seeing them too, I've seen about 40 cases this past month," she said. " … Of course, people are freaked out when they find out, the looks on their face.
"'I stay clean,' they say. 'I wash my clothes. What do you mean I have scabies?'"
According to the National Library of Medicine, "Scabies is an easily spread skin disease caused by a very small type of mite."
The itching comes as the mite digs under the skin, forming burrows in which it lays eggs, dines on epithelial tissue and poops, McClintock explained.
How easily does it spread? That's up for debate. Prolonged skin-to-skin contact is one way to catch scabies, but it's not the only way. Scientists are finding the human parasite is more resilient than they first thought.
"They used to think scabies could only live 15 minutes on a dry surface and they would die, but now it's 24 to 36 hours on a dry surface," said McClintock, who suspects the Minnesota State Fair is where some of her patients picked up the mite. Public restrooms, hotels and even changing rooms at clothing stores are other potential places she listed for catching scabies.
"It doesn't mean that you're dirty. It doesn't mean that you have poor hygiene. People of all incomes get it. In some places it's actually epidemic," she said.
While the recent outbreak isn't as serious as other places McClintock has worked – most of the cases she has treated are adults, not school-age children – there is a lot of it going around, and people should be aware of the symptoms.
Different people have different reactions to scabies. For some, the itching is so intense it keeps them awake at night. Others may just appear to have a light rash, which can make diagnosis tricky.
"In some people, they're allergic to the mites that burrow under the skin and lay eggs, so it can be mistaken for hives. It can also be mistaken for eczema … or you can mistake it for a fungal skin infection," McClintock said.
To identify the problem as scabies, she looks at the pattern of the bites, the remedies patients have tried, and other family members, since the scabies typically spread to other people in a household, though it may not impact everyone in that household. For whatever reason, some human hosts are tastier than others, so some people are less likely to catch the mite.
The symptoms can show themselves immediately, or take six to eight weeks to appear. Its evasiveness is part of what helps scabies thrive.
"If people think it's bug bites or something, they're scratching sometimes for weeks or months 'til they come in, and in the meantime, they're spreading it," McClintock said.
The good news is that once properly diagnosed by a health care provider, the treatment for scabies is relatively simple and affordable. A pill is available, but it's expensive and most insurance companies won't cover it, so McClintock usually prescribes elimite cream instead.
Patients should apply the cream from the chin down, covering 100 percent of their body, including under the fingernails. For any bites on the scalp or face, she recommends spot treatment. The ointment is clear with no odor, and should be kept on for up to 18 hours. Then wash and dry recently used clothing, bedding and towels, using hot water. McClintock recommends two treatments a week apart.
"Once you put this cream on once, you are no longer contagious," she said. "Normally you don't need that treatment a week later, but I like to make sure they're all dead."
Even after the mites have died, the itching will likely continue for a couple weeks, or even last as long as a month, until you shed enough skin cells to discard the dead mites and eggs.
More helpful information on scabies is available on Mayo Clinic's website, at www.mayoclinic.com/health/scabies/DS00451


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Last Friday, I had the opportunity to introduce Secretary Clinton as she, Assistant Secretary Ann Stock, and I welcomed a group of 21 Youth Ambassadors to the State Department from the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The conversation I had with these amazing high school leaders from non-elite backgrounds reminded me of why I'm optimistic about our hemisphere -- and why I love my job!
These young people will spend three weeks in Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Texas, and Marquette, Michigan, staying with host families, attending workshops on leadership and service, and taking part in community service projects and cultural activities with American teenagers. It was clear from the start of our conversation why they were chosen -- they were so eloquent on the abundance of talent among young people in their countries, but the lack of opportunity and real encouragement too. Their enthusiasm to absorb everything they could in their three weeks here and return home as agents of change in their communities and mentors to their peers was infectious.
I'm confident that we will learn as much from them as they do from us, and that they'll return home with life-long networks of friends and colleagues. This is policy that makes a real difference in people's lives!
You can view photos of the meeting on the State Department website and on our Flickr site, as well as a short video in Spanish here.


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Amid the ongoing national challenges of rising higher education costs, Delaware State University is making accessibility a priority by not increasing its tuition, housing and fee rates for the upcoming 2013-2014 academic year.
While tuition costs may be increasing elsewhere, both the annual in-state and out-of-state tuition and fees for DSU in 2013-2014 will remain the same as they have been in the current school year -- $7,336 and $15,692, respectively.
The annual traditional fees that will remain unchanged are the fees for student activities, technology and the Student Center Complex.
In addition, the cost to live in the campus' traditional housing will be unchanged from the current year costs – remaining in the range of $6,976 to $7,490, depending on the residential hall in which a student resides.
The DSU Board of Trustees decided not to increase the tuition rates during a special board meeting on May 6.
"We wanted to give our students and their families as much time as possible to plan their finances for the upcoming school year," said Dr. Claibourne D. Smith, board chair. "It is our hope that students will be encouraged by finding out this early."
Over the last four years, DSU's increases in costs to students have been modest as compared to the national trends.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the national average for tuition and fees at public institutions of education increased by 15% from the 2008-2009 to 2011-2012 academic years. During that same period, DSU's tuition increased to just over 9% -- more than 5% percent below the average national increase.
DSU President Harry L. Williams said the Board of Trustees' unprecedented decision not to increase tuition, fees and housing costs is consistent with President Barack Obama's priority to make college more accessible by keeping the costs down for students.
"While we hope that the federal government will do all it can to provide more financial aid to encourage students to attend and be retained in higher education, colleges and universities also have a role to play in keeping the costs down," said Dr. Williams.
"DSU has worked hard to be very conservative in its increases in the past few years, and now the University is stepping up to the plate again this year to do its part to help our students attain a degree."
Today's tuition rate announcement follows the DSU Board of Trustees' decision in April to reduce the cost of summer session courses by 35%.
The only rise in costs for students will be in the meal plan – an increase of 3% -- and health insurance for certain students, the result of a new federal mandate.
Due to the federal Affordable Care Act that will be enacted on July 1, 2013, students who are not already covered by adequate health insurance will be required to subscribe and pay the cost of a University-offered Student Accident & Sickness insurance policy. The cost of the University-offered insurance will be approximately $1,100 per year.