text: Next → Memorable Moments in Recent Inaugural History ← Previous 1877: An Inaugural Agenda for Civil Service Reform You might also like... Is President Obama prepared to release thousands of prisoners? (02/07/14) Book Review: FDR and Polio (12/20/13) Friday Feature: President Coolidge Not Riding a Tiger (08/30/13) Announcing the Miller Center's new Historical Presidency Series (06/21/13) What Are The Tea Party's Plans? (05/01/13) Presidential Speech Archive American President: A Reference Resource Presidential Recordings Presidential Oral Histories ← Return to Riding The Tiger January 9, 2013 By Tony Lucadamo How Will Hagel Tackle the Military Industrial Complex Eisenhower Warned of? Closeup of page from a draft of Eisenhower's farewell address, showing the phrase the address made famous: "military-industrial complex"; the speech was delivered on January 17, 1961. PD The year was 1961. America's General was stepping down. In his place, a King readied for coronation. President Eisenhower's years in the spotlight were at an end. The composition of JFK's inaugural was filled with speechwriting lore. The words are immortal. Thus, it comes as no surprise that President Eisenhower's farewell address, given three days earlier, went largely overlooked. However, what began as a historical footnote has seen a renaissance. With each passing year, his words become increasingly prescient. The 29 drafts put in were apparently well worth the effort. Eisenhower began: A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. There is certainly nothing surprising in this passage, but the tone changes. Eisenhower pivoted to the nexus of his address: military spending. More specifically, he was concerned with a new status quo that had emerged, including under his own leadership, following World War II. Specifically, spending on arms had become entrenched as an economic norm. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." The speech is not a celebration of the past, but a warning for the future. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow." In short, Eisenhower says that a large defense budget is a critical element to maintaining peace. However, if allowed to get too large, it has the opposite effect. At a point, the "military-industrial complex" endangers the very liberties it is designed to protect. The New Yorker recently took note of the prescience of the 34th President . As they note, the "web of power" Eisenhower warned us about has come to characterize the "wars from Vietnam to Iraq." Today's reality is exactly as he feared. A few stunning statistics courtesy of the Washington Post: · Since 2001, the base defense budget (excluding the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan) has grown from $287 billion to $530 billion · The United States spent 20% of the federal budget on defense in 2011 · Total expenditures on defense exceeded that of the next 13 countries combined These are but a snapshot in the well-documented litany of astounding defense spending figures. With this in mind, President Obama's nomination of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (Nebraska) is all the more important, particularly within the context of the looming "debt ceiling" debate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week that, "the biggest problem we have at the moment is spending and debt." That statement, in conjunction with the leverage Republicans hold going into the second round of budget talks, portends major spending cuts. Yet, it is unclear to what extent defense will be immune from that reality given that Republicans have generally opposed cuts to defense spending over the last several decades. Thus, Senator Hagel (if approved) will walk into the Pentagon with an unenviable task at hand. He must take on not only the powerful military-industrial complex of which Eisenhower warned, but also members of his own party. Many have failed in the attempt. His would-be predecessors, Leon Panetta and Robert Gates took office expecting to curtail spending. Both accomplished relatively little in that regard. Clearly, in the upcoming Senate hearings, there are important questions to ask the nominee: Why are you the most qualified to tackle the Pentagon's budgetary excess? What in your background prepares you for the battle ahead? Why will you succeed where many decorated public servants from both parties before you largely failed? How Hagel will handle transforming the Pentagon's to meet both the security and fiscal requirements of the United States are far more important questions on which Seantors should focus than unfounded criticisms of anti-Semitism. Elected officials seem to believe that one's voting record on Israel is the most important pre-requisite for the Pentagon's top post. Fiscal responsibility jockeys for a distant second, even for the self-styled party of fiscal responsibility. It remains to be seen whether or not Senator Hagel is the man for the job. I hope someone asks first. Tony Lucadamo serves as Sr. Editor for the Virginia Policy Review. He is a Master's candidate studying at the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Tweet Date edited: 01/09/2013 (5:28AM) Comments Rules for Comments We reserve the right to remove any post or user. Things that will get comments edited/deleted: Offensive or abusive language or behavior Misrepresentation (i.e., claiming to be somebody you're not) – using a "handle" is fine as long as it isn't offensive, abusive, or misrepresentative Posting of copyrighted materials Spam, solicitations, or advertisements of any kind We hope these rules will keep the discussion lively and on topic. Commenting is not available in this channel entry. ← Return to Riding The Tiger


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OREGON CITY, OREGON-Martin "Bary" Beach, age 45 passed away on May 7, 2006 of colon cancer. He was born in Price, Utah on Sept. 9, 1960 to Connie Beach Jones and Martin Beach. He was raised in Utah and Minnesota, and moved to Oregon in 1984. Bary married Karen in 1991, and was employed by the Laborers Union.
He is survived by his wife, Karen; his daughter, Nicole Beach; his sons, Jason Beach and Travis Beach; his step-daughter, Stacy Hafedorn; his mother Connie Jones; his father, Martin Beach; and his sisters, Cheri Breck and Colyn Mertes. He is also survived by four grandchildren.
Funeral services were held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Henrici Road in Oregon City, Ore. Donations may be made to the Nicole Beach education fund at any U.S. Bank. Funeral under the direction of Holman-Hankins, Bowker and Waud.

subset: commoncrawl


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|Posted by Sue on September 22, 2002 at 23:27:04:
|In response to Re: BEST PRODUCT FOR CLEANING FIBERGLASS SHOWER??
: What is the best product to use for cleaning a fiberglass shower? Also what the best product for cleaning the rough floor of a fiberglass shower(It seems to retain the soap & shampoo scum more & longer) Thank you in advance for your reply -
: Mart
Dear Mart:
I have been cleaning professionally for 13 years and swear by a few basic products to "get the job done". Fiberglass is a tough subject. By the time I inherit someone's shower stall to keep clean, it has been beaten up and abused with abrasives that permanently damage the glossy surface. There are products available to use on Fiberglass that are ment to protect the finish, but a high traffic shower blows through a product like "Gel Gloss" very quickly and must be reapplied often. I prefer to use Spic 'N Span, POWDER FORM ONLY. IT contains a cleaning agent called trisodium phosphate that's a real hard hitter on soap scum and grime. I dissolve some in water and apply to the walls and sprinkle the powder on the floor of the shower. The walls I let soak for 15 minutes and I use a nylon scrubbie or other approved scrub pad for fiberglass on the walls. The floor is scrubbed with an approved nylon scrub brush. That gets into the wells of the non-skid surface where the grime settles. Rinse thoroughly. If you have calcium deposits, you use an approved product like CLR or Lime-away to break down what Spic 'n Span will not take care of. I use a good car wax every couple of months after a very thorough cleaning to keep the pores of the fiberglass sealed and shiney. It takes a lot of work to keep fiberglas looking like new. Personally, I favor tile. It is so much more durable and there is a lot less maintenance.
Good Luck! There are no shortcuts! Another hint: If you want to get that shine back on old linoleum or vinyl. First use the spic'n span, then rinse with ammonia and water in a bucket. If there is a wax build up from "Mop and Glow", apply undiluted ammonia liberally to a 2foot x 2foot area (very well ventilated) and let the solution sit for five minutes. Scrub the area with a scrub brush and watch the wax and grime dissolve, then rinse well. Maintaining the floors weekly with a little all purpose liquid cleaner and ammonia in water will keep your floors shiney and clean. Throw away all those fancy floor products and get down on your hands and knees and use a little elbow grease once in a while.
|Replies to this post


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Avocados are a New World food, discovered by Hernando Cortés in 1519 and long enjoyed by the Aztecs and Mayans throughout Latin America.
To seed an avocado, cut the avocado in half lengthwise around the seed; twist halves gently to separate. Hit the seed with the sharp edge of a knife. Grasp the fruit, then twist the knife to loosen and remove the seed.


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Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Burnished Suede Sneaker - Mens
Sorry, this item is sold out!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Item # 248516
Nostalgic retro styling of the low-top classic Chuck Taylor All Star sneaker now has a vintage-feeling dusty suede upper. The Converse® Chuck Taylor® Burnished Suede sneaker is on trend and a perfect addition to your fall wardrobe.
- Suede upper with original Chuck Taylor® patch logo
- Accent foxing strip that ties back to the color of the shoe
- Vulcanized rubber outsole for increased traction and flexibility
- Imported
- More colors available
- View more Converse
By: novatomom
Location: Novato, CA
December 28, 2012
Awesome shoes
"If your guy likes chucks he will LOVE these. I call them my husband's "dress" shoes. Burnished suede, they are more like just leather in a faded/antique like finish. Husband says he has to buy Converse a 1/2 size smaller so these fit spot-on."
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Bottega Veneta Woven Metallic Leather Flat
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Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Item # 261765
With beautiful footwear and quality craftsmanship, Bottega Veneta is luxury at its best. This metallic leather flat pairs perfectly with skinny jeans and vintage tees for chic, casual style.
- Woven metallic leather upper
- Tapered square toe
- Fully lined in leather
- Synthetic sole
- Made in Italy
- Online Exclusive!
Tell us what you think!
Everyone has an opinion. Here's your chance to share yours! Be the first to write a review of this product and help your fellow shoppers pick the best of the best.


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Last week on Play It Down, the UK-based label from Jesse Rose, two very talented gentlemen by the names of Doc Daneeka and Nick Hook came together on a brilliant collab track called 'Jacking Dogs'. Doc and Nick are two extremely multi-faceted guys in the industry, both dipping their fingers in multitudes of genre and talent pots, and more importantly doing it with all sorts of style and grace. 'Jacking Dogs' is their first collaboration together, and with such comes with a new pseudonym: Doc:Hook.
'Jacking Dogs' is smooth, infectious house music, keeping with the classic Play It Down vibes whilst remaining as interesting and fresh as can be. For now it's out exclusively on Beatport, and you can stream and purchase it below:


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Catch the glamour of this Spanish influenced flamenco styled gown. The Jiselle is beautifully ornate with a hi/ lo style of tiered ruffles and a bustier top.
Wear this romantic feminine, delicate, graceful and airy angelic wedding dress on your big day. Detailed tulle bottom add creative style to this gorgeous gown.


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BootsiTootsi Skull Head Flip Flop
Sorry, this item is sold out!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Item # 275651
Flat in height but high in style, this glittery flip flop from BootsiTootsi will make your style shine. The skull head ornament adds the perfect edgy touch to this adorable flat sandal.
- Glitter jelly upper
- Center skull ornament
- Synthetic sole
- Imported
By: Triana
Location: San Francisco
September 18, 2013
Super cute and a little edgy!
"Bought these for vacation, and wasn't disappointed!"
By: Yimmi414
Location: New Jersey
April 23, 2013
Super Cute
"These flip flops are super cute. I absolutely adore skulls & glitter so to have them together is a plus. However, they definitely run a little short. My foot is almost about to hang off the edge, being that they are so cute I'm going to keep them. I'll wear them around the beach or pool. Definitely go up at least a half a size if you get them."
By: karen597
Location: pittsburgh, PA
April 18, 2013
not sure
"1st off the flip flop is very hardcore!! however it does run short i wear a 8 1/2 to a 9 so i ordered a 9,my foot almost doesn't fit the shoe. as far a comfy It's to early in the season for flip flops so, havnt worn them yet(they r cool as bleep to look at tho)! I suggest whatever size u wear order the next size up.Also I had to super glue 1 of the jewel eyes in the skull as it arrived free floating in the box!"
By: HoneyBunnyy
Location: Michigan
April 13, 2013
"True to size. The glitter is actually a multi color and the skull is a gold tone. Kind of hard to tell from the pics. These are pretty comfy, but the bottoms have NO traction, so they'll slide indoors on carpet, etc."
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- Manuscripts
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Manuscript Collections
Amerine, Maynard A. (1911-1998). Papers.
Collection Number: D-060
- Extent
- 64.5 linear feet
- Biography
- Professor of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis; author, lecturer, bibliographer, and consultant on wine matters.
- Description
- Correspondence, manuscripts, wine labels, and pamphlets pertaining to the production of wine and spirits. Travel diaries, menus, photographs relating to the Viticulture and Enology Department, California wine industry, and wine research. Miscellaneous collected foreign and domestic wine labels. Correspondence with publishers, researchers, and enologists (1959-1960 and 1971-1973).
- Inclusive Dates
- 1959-1975.
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- Viticulture and Enology
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- Access
- Many collections are stored offsite and need to be retrieved for your research visit. To begin the request process, researchers should e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com at least seven business days before visiting. Please wait for confirmation that the collection is available before visiting.


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Look how cute this little moose came out. I wanted to make an animal that was not only easy to replicate, but I also wanted it to come out looking incredibly adorable. Unfortunately hunting season is approaching us with quickness and these moose that wander around in the wooded forests, will soon be hunted. Some folks believe that hunting is an act of cruelty, and then there are some that believe that hunting is a sport, or a means to put food on the table. I on the other hand don't hunt, but I have been invited to. I live in a part of the United States where hunting is part of living so for me it is a normal thing to recognize. Either way, just because moose are hunted, that doesn't mean you won't enjoy drawing a moose in a for kids style. Whenever I draw animals for kids I always try to make the animals look better, and more realistic so that when you tackle the lesson, you will be drawing something that at least comes out looking like the animal it supposed to be. have fun with this tutorial guys and don't forget to rate or comment on any or all the lessons you view. peace out and don't forget to join me another Live session tonight at 8pm eastern time.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Wi-Fi Signal Booster£19.99 instead of £49.99 (from AMS Global) for a home Wi-Fi signal booster - save 60%
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The Fine Print
- May buy multiples.
- Voucher valid until 23rd Mar 2014.
- Postage costs an additional £4.99 per item.
- Please allow up to 10 working days for delivery after redeeming.
- Subject to availability.
Full Details
Sick of watching your egg timer rotate? Don't lay an egg! Lay your hands on today's deal instead…
We're offering you a Wi-Fi signal booster for just £19.99, saving you 60% off AMS Global's price of £49.99 (correct as of 4.3.14).
If your Wi-Fi is weaker than a kitten and the words 'loading' and 'buffering' trigger unspeakable blasphemies from within, it might be time to give your wireless a little helping hand. Using your existing Wi-Fi connection, this booster acts as a hotspot by extending and enhancing your coverage, delivering a stronger internet signal that can be picked up by your smart devices in areas that were previously unreached. Installation couldn't be easier - simply plug the booster into any socket and say bye-bye to buffering! Plus, you can even connect the booster directly to your PC or laptop using the included LAN cable. Fab!
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text: During her art classes with Anthony Dattilo Rubbo in Sydney, Cossington Smith was inspired by lunchtime readings from a letter Van Gogh wrote about his bedroom in Arles. In particular she was interested in the idea of conveying an emotive response through colour. She explored these ideas in her own way in Van Gogh's room and also experimented in a range of works on a small scale with different aspects of light and colour at different times of day.


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Let's begin with a little fun. There's plenty of serious stuff for later.
Scott who writes the blog, Polite Dissent, Comics, Medicine, Politics & Fun, recently had a post on "Fourth-Dimensional Surgery". In his words, "There's something charming about seeing "futuristic" 30th century medicine as imagined by writers in the 1960s."
Scott's piece reminded me of Buckaroo Banzai and his fight with the evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension. If only surgeons were truly as cool as Buckaroo Banzai! The man was an adventurer, a neurosurgeon, and a rock musician. Buckaroo Banzai's band of men were called the Hong Kong Cavaliers. If you have never seen the movie, you should check it out. Very campy, but fun.
Here is a video of the closing credits of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984).
For more fun, check out this game featured by Sterile Eye -- a free online flash game called Amateur Surgeon.
Okay, moving on to more serious posts, and may I say to you all--some very good ones.
What happens when the popularity of new surgical procedures outpaces science? David Gorski discusses this issue over at Science-Based Medicine.
Speaking of new surgical procedures, check out this post on NOTES meets the robot by Chris over at OpNotes. Is it a procedure ahead of its time?
Dr Wes discusses the "remarkable amount of excitement about closing patent foramen ovales (PFO's) or larger atrial septal defects (ASDs) to cure intractable migraine headaches based on observational studies, and many, many companies have rushed to develop devices for this indication".
Aggravated DocSurg discusses the winning attributes of a surgeon in The "A's" Have It. "Back in the Dark Ages (i.e., when I was in training) it was said that the most important attributes a surgeon could have in order to be successful were: 1)Availability, 2) Affability, 3) Ability" [Buckaroo definitely had all three!!!] DocSurg has so much more to say!
Dr Bruce Campbell, an amazing writer, submitted this post -- Inside Out. In it he tells how he imagines the surgical procedure he is about to perform. I would also like to direct you to another of his more recent stories -- Listening to Leviticus (It was printed in JAMA here).
Dr. Alice, Cut on the Dotted Line, is an intern in a general surgery residency. I love the enthusiasm she has. It is so obvious in this post, Real Surgery -- "I realized what a wonderful day I was having".
Dr Schwab, another amazing writer, discusses being a surgical hospitalist (again) in a recent post, Different Cloth. As always, he is thought provoking.
Chris, OpNotes, presents a look at surgeons "biases and old habits" when we determine both the need for surgery and the best procedure for a given condition. " Believe us when we say it isn't pretty."
Sterile Eye talks about Retirement. "Lately I've had the pleasure of working with two recently retired surgeons. It seems to me retirement can be a more drastic moment in mentor based professions like surgery." Very thoughtful post.
Not sure, then do what Bone MD does. He re-exams a patient when there is doubt about the diagnosis of septic arthritis. A good thing to do.
Ever had that Sense of Doom? The one that tells you things may go horrible wrong. ER Stories tells of a recent case involving just that -- "There is nothing worse than a patient who has that look of impending doom in their eyes. We have to learn to recognize it and act on it fast." Then he tells another story about a patient acting totally weird--"the moral is that not EVERY one is crazy".
T, Notes of an Anesthesioboist, in her post The Edge of the Precipice writes "It was the second repeat C-section of the day.........Then it started happening. That sinking feeling that something was just not quite right. Like when you're watching a film of someone climbing up a dangerous incline......"
In the same vein, Dr Val recalls her experience with the patients you don't forget. As her attending put it-- "Inexperienced residents like you are wasting hospital resources on drug seekers!" Her story is a reminder that even a "frequent flier" in the ER can have truly serious problems.
QuietusLeo, an anesthesiologist in Israel who writes a blog called The Sandman. He writes about the events involved in the soldier's care and the emotions that came with the outcome. "on call in the ICU. There was a lot of activity surrounding an injured soldier......... Despite this, I wouldn't hesitate doing it all over under the same circumstances. Because. Because another man's son might have been my son." While you are there, check out some of his other posts.
Back to Dr. Alice, who finds things Unsatisfactory "and asking for help, I gave up and called the pre-code alert." Dr. Alice, don't judge yourself so harshly. Someday you may be as good as Bongi.
Check out this series from Bongi, other things amanzi,regarding difficult codes (or resus) in his recent posts, Resus Fun and tube and cuban resus and hands tied behind my back. All very well written.
"There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Now, mostly dead ... is slightly alive." --Miracle Max, The Princess Bride
Mitch Keamy, The Ether Way, discusses just that in his post, Donation after Cardiac Death: Is mostly dead slightly alive? He also gives you some trivia on the first use of the above quote by Miracle Max, pre-Princess Bride.
Buckeye in his post, Transplant Shadiness, discussed some of the same from a different point of view. Then join him as he muses about life's tough breaks being Not Acceptable. "It took me a while to gather myself for the post op family talk. It went as you would expect. Devastation. Grown men and women crying. A wife stoically trying to keep herself together. Nothing cuts like the unabashed wail of a mother grieving her son....."
Leaving that discussion behind, go with Dr Alice on a Donor Run, "A donor run is when a transplant surgeon travels to an outlying hospital to harvest organs. ....."
Random Ness has done a post on the history of medicine told with a twist of humor. "Well, my tale here is not very humorous, more like horrific. And that brings us to the PDA, which is a landmark in the history of anesthesia in the whole wide real world. PDA means Public Demonstration of Anesthesia and this happened ..."
Sterile Eye tells us the story of why a common surgical instrument is called a peang in his post, "--this beautiful surgical instrument has many names. In Scandinavia it's simply called a "peang" (pronounced [piaŋ]). For a long time I've wondered why we call it that. Here's the story "
Anatomy on the Beach is a medical student in the Caribbean. In a recent post, Functional Anatomy, he was helping with a Mock exam. "I ended up writing only two questions and not tagging anything. One of them was a complicated clinical scenario that forced them to think about the venous anastamoses important in portal hypertension."
Street Anatomy has put together a gallery of anatomical street art. "The artists who did these pieces have helped put a little bit of anatomy into the lives of everyday people." Here's an example. This is graffiti I wouldn't mind having on my office building!
The Midlife Midwife writes "In my scrapbook of memories, I have one simple memory that is still very vivid." It is more a post on the simple act of service to a fellow human being than on surgery, but sometimes that's what is needed of us.
T, in her post The Last Day, "the O.R. was not the right place for this lovely woman to spend her last moments, unconscious.......a bunch of stressed-out docs and nurses scrambling to try and help her survive. She belonged with her family, ..... encircled by love"
This need of human contact is reinforced in Dr Val's post, Social Networks Improve Postop Pain and Length of Stay. Support by family and friends sure make my job easier. I try to remember to thank them for taking care of "my patient" for me. They are truly important in outpatient surgery.
Belly Tales discusses the lack of the access to a simple procedure in many women's lives in A Walk to Beautiful. "The cure for fistulas is a simple surgical procedure, but with access to modern health care often hundreds of miles away, the cure might as well exist on another continent."
TBTAM was herself at patient recently. She had to have Moh's surgery and wrote about the experience in Mohs Nose Woes-Part I and Part II. She even posted pictures for us. Take care, TBTAM.
Lisa, over at The Cushing's Disease Journey, tells about her latest surgery and the difficulty with pain relief, nursing staff, etc. After all she went through, she ends her post "My head hurts, but in a good "healing" sort of way." Keep healing, Lisa!
Doctor David has a nice post about a teenager who had surgery -- How do you know a teenage is well? Check it out. It will make you smile (IWMYS).
Chris Oliver, another physician/patient, continues his story of his life post gastric banding with posts on his recent Skiing (it had been a few years) and Rugby experiences. Wishing you continued success, Chris!
Midwife with a Knife got a new gastroenterologist recently who discussed the possibility of surgery to treat her problem. "He might not be my ideal gastroenterologist, but it's a step up."
Check out GruntDoc's latest pic in his helmet series. "Needs no further explanation."
Get the story on these Smokin' Slippers from Dr Bruce Campbell, then read Smoke Scream by Dr Sid Schwab.
Doug Atkins gives insight to the patient experience relative to heart valve surgery (bicuspid aortic valve) on Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog. The blog has some good information for patients.
Charles, Trusted Advisor Assoc, has a post about two personality types of surgeons, how they treated the family/patient, and asks: "The question is: when it comes down to something like that—life and death—who do you trust? Do you go with the credentialed expert? Or the one who cares?
I suspect Rob would make the same decision again. I suspect my sister would make hers again as well. How about you? Who(m) would you trust?"
A news link, via Dr Kevin, regarding a surgical mishap--Granny victim of colostomy confusion. Wow! It boggles my mind to think how that mistake was made!
I hope you have enjoyed this edition of SurgeXperiences. I enjoyed bringing it to you. The next edition (118) will be hosted by the guys at OpNotes on March 30th. Please, submit your posts here. The submissions should be made by March 28th.
Here is the catalog of past surgXperiences editions for your reading pleasure. If you wish to host a future edition, please contact Jeffrey who runs the show here.
Hope you all have a good week. I'll leave you with some music by Buckaroo and the guys


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In the 1.9 Gradebook, when using "Weighted Mean of Grades", the category weights are only editable on the individual Edit Category screens. This requires the teacher to go to multiple screens in order to set category weights.
A single page which allowed editing of all category weights at once would be much easier for teachers to understand.
Gliffy Diagrams
Issue Links
- has a non-specific relationship to
MDL-18158 Gradebook configuration page (Categories and items) should include complete information to compute a grade
- Closed
- will be (partly) resolved by
CONTRIB-775 Gradebook: New "Edit categories and items" interface
- Resolved
MDL-16913 New "Edit categories and items" page
- Closed
- All
- Comments
- Work Log
- History
- Activity
- Links Hierarchy
Just attached a patch of the first draft. Please take a look when time affords.
Attaching a screenshot of the current draft of the new interface. It's meant to be AJAX-free for now, but easy to transform into AJAX treeview.
Your screen shots do suggest a clear improvement, especially in terms of being able view and adjust the gradebook configuration on one page.
I am sure we can get some teachers to test it quickly for usability once that is ready and try to coordinate with others to provide some useful feedback of end users.
Since I teach with this and work with my faculty, I would anticipate some candidates for improvement just from looking at your screenshot:
- The weight of most interest is that of the categories. That does not appear to be shown. Perhaps it is when the parent category is Weighted mean of grades, but your sample does not show that.
- It is not evident to me what the symbols next to the category do. I assume that the first one is for empty = 0, but I am not sure which would be true or false. I don't know what the other two symbols do, and I am pretty familiar with the gradebook.
- Extra-credit is normally just true or false (and easily understood). Perhaps it is too late to change that, but I don't know how teachers are going to make sense of it being a number without careful training.
- You may just want to print text of any deviations from the defaults next to any item or category where that applies, and give an edit icon to change an item. That would keep the screen uncluttered in the standard case and give a quick visual indication of potential problems. The three icons would probably be better understood with text also (and only when different than the default).
- This is probably too big of a change of this iteration, but it would be nice to have the option to display a particular student's score next to each item and category so that one is not having to switch back and forth between pages to see the impact of a change.
- I still think that teachers are going to having difficulty finding this screen unless it is a tab or button labeled "Gradebook configuration".
- I would be very interested in seeing how this looks for my gradebook tutorial as I think that it would be more typical of gradebook setup than one with a complex set of rules and summary types. When it is stable enough to be tested, I will do that and can offer more detailed feedback.
Still, this is definitely a nice step forward and I look forward to seeing how it evolves.
Hi Gary,
Thanks a lot for your feedback, you continue to be a great resource to Moodle
The screenshot was not in sync with the latest patch I posted, so I've updated it now. But now it's the patch that needs updating, since I've changed the extra credit to a checkbox. However, extra credits apply to 2 aggregation strategies: Sum of grades and Mean of grades with extra credits. I am not sure if the checkbox is used for both of these aggregation types.
We will most likely NOT show any grades on this page, however. It would become too crowded IMO and people will complain again that it's too complex and they prefer 1.6 blah blah blah.
As far as teachers finding it difficult to find the screen, it's not much of a learning curve in comparison with the other features. Personally I don't think it's a concern.
You can actually test it right now, the patch is functional, although you won't have any images (only 2 icons missing).
Please continue to post feedback, I really appreciate it
I don't understand this item in your list:
|You may just want to print text of any deviations from the defaults next to any item or category where that applies,
|and give an edit icon to change an item. That would keep the screen uncluttered in the standard case and give
|a quick visual indication of potential problems. The three icons would probably be better understood with text
|also (and only when different than the default).
I can see the usefulness of an edit icon, but the text and defaults don't make a lot of sense to me.
Also, the icons have clear tooltips when hovered, and have alt text for when images are disabled.
This patch has been committed into HEAD, if anyone wants a hands-on test. It behaves exactly the same way as in 1.9, the only difference is in a couple of language strings. Even the code is almost identical, save for 4 database statements.
I applied gradebookweights2.patch to our Moodle 1.9.2 (Build: 20080711) instance. When I went to access the page, it threw this error: "require_js: yui_json - file not found."
I just re-read my comment, and realized it's a wee bit cryptic.
To elaborate, I do the following:
1) Go to the course
2) Go to the Gradebook
3) Select "Weights" from the pulldown menu
4) An error page appears with this message:
"require_js: yui_json - file not found."
The reason why you are getting this error is that this patch is against the upcoming 1.9.3 version, which includes new and updated YUI libraries. But you can actually comment out the lines in grade/edit/weights/index.php that start with require_js(), since AJAX is not currently used in this patch (it is there as a stub).
To explain the suggestion that this page prints out the deviations from defaults:
As I see it, the potential of this page is that it can encapsulate all the needed information for one to determine how a grade is computed in Moodle, and preferably without any specialized knowledge of the history of how these features evolved. The display should be self-evident to anyone who is familiar with how students are typically graded.
So, if I have scores and this page, I should be able to sit down with a calculator and compute the same summary statistics that determines the grade.
Showing weights and extra credits is really nice, as is the aggregation method. It does not, however, show multiplicator, offset, keep the highest, or keep the lowest, for example. In most cases these won't vary from the default, so they normally don't need to be displayed. But if something does not seem to compute correctly in the gradebook, the only way to find these issues is to drill into every item. And note that even if these were not applicable, the only way to be sure is to check each one, so it makes debugging the grade computation very difficult.
But you can resolve this by appending a comment to items that don't match the defaults. Then it would be a complete description of how grades are computed on one page, which would be swell.
As a note, the gradebookweights2 patch has some issues with empty categories (specifically, it does not detect it as a category since it does not have any children and stops the php script from running). We were able to fix up a patch to get around this, however someone more fluent in Moodle's source might want to revisit it under those conditions and fix it as you see fit.
We patched get_weight_input to check for boolean values of $item (only seen in the empty category case):
function get_weight_input($item) {
if (is_bool($item)) { // Added to workround empty categories.
return '';
if ($item->is_course_item()){ return ''; }
and modified the end of build_html_tree with:
$aggcoef_input = get_weight_input($item);
if (!(is_bool($item))) { //added to test for empty categories
$html .= '' . "\n$aggcoef_input\n{$element['item']
>name} (" . $item>get_formatted_range() . ")\n";
$html .= "
\n";
Again, more of a workaround than a 'proper' fix, but it works!
I am trying to test this, Nicholas.
So, I made a fresh install of HEAD, started a new database and made a new course. Going into the new weight report, I get a Fatal error opening required HTML/AJAX.php.
As suggested in an earlier part of this tracker entry, I commented out line 37 of grade/edit/weights/index.php for the require_js, and I get the same error.
When HEAD is fixed I will again try to test it.
I just made a fresh install of HEAD, installed the DB from scratch and created a new course: no fatal error with HTML/AJAX.php. I don't understand why you're getting this problem. Can you try checking out an entirely new directory of HEAD?
Just attached a prototype of a table-based interface suggested by Martin
I like both the designs in interface2 and interface4. I think I'll prefer interface4 because it looks more organized and makes use of complete words instead of icons (which I think is always better). It would also be nice to be able to move the grade items or categories by just clicking and dragging (like you can do with resources or activities in the course overview, when AJAX is enabled, that is).
In HEAD you will find a new version that includes all the functionality currently in the "Edit grade categories and items" page. The interface is currently JS-free, I will soon add the AJAX layer.
I really like Interface2 and Interface4. Screenshot-1 is more or less how Moodle 1.8 handled grade weights, and it was straight-forward enough for most professors (in a university setting) to understand without much assistance. Interface2 and Interface4 both seem to condense the versatility already within Moodle 1.9 pretty well. It would be really nice to set up extra credit easier than it is currently.
I have a few questions/ suggestions about extra credit:
1) Can the points an activity has add directly to a course total for extra credit if they are not in a category?
2) Can a category can be set up completely for extra credit with a checked box? It looks like Interface4 allows only for weights on categories instead of checking a box and saying something like, "this category is only extra credit and can add no more than 5% to a course total."
Since items line up in columns, I think weights_interface4.png is the better choice. It will allow easier scanning for instructors and support personnel to make sure the gradebook is set up correctly.
I wonder about ways to keep the line length as small as possible, to make scanning across lines easier. Would it be helpful to be able to contract column headings from full text to icon to make it more compact? Would the ability to hide columns be helpful? I am thinking of the users that feel overwhelmed and want to limit choices. Or would that lead to more problems of the type, "Why isn't my gradebook working right? Oh, I have a hidden setting wrong."
This version of interface don't consider settings in Administration ? Grades ? Grade category settings with checkbox "Force"
Glad to see this being worked on - will make my life as a teacher easier.
One suggestion - and not sure if this is the right place for it - if not, my apologies.
When using "weighted mean of grades" for a category, I see no place that the students can see what the relative weights are for each assignment. It would be nice if they could.
As a workaround for my students - I have suffixed each Grade item name with the relative weight in brackets. This allows me and the students to see it - but I have to remember to change it if I change the weighting. It would be nice if this was displayed automatically.
You can test this on http://test.moodle.org/1.9
username: admin
password: testm00dle
Hi Nicolas,
This is a great improvement to the gradebook, well done!
A couple of questions:
1. How do you navigate to the "weights_interface2" page or was that just a proposal?
2. On your testing site, how would you move Semester 2 category to the Testing Gradebook category? At the moment it's the child of Semester 1 and when I click on the edit item the parent category is not editable. Some check boxes next to the categories doing the same as for the grade items would be nice.
This patch is a big step forward in my opinion. Thank you for all the amazing work you do in the Moodle gradebook - I owe a debt of gratitude (if not many beverages of your choice). However, here is my personal, and hopefully positive, critique:
1) Replace the "check all" and "check none" links in the Select column for categories. Replace it with a single checkbox and javascript that checks all child boxes and moves the whole category, including parent category container.
2) Alternate to 1) get rid of the select column and moveselectedto buttons at the bottom altogether. There are already ways to move items (the little up/down arrow icon) and effort should instead be put into making this table AJAXy with dragging and dropping of categories and items. Having two or more similar ways to move items around only confuses and makes documentation more difficult in my humble opinion.
3) Overloading the weightsorextracredit column is really confusing in my opinion. It made me think that extracredit was being handled differently in this version, so I can imagine that faculty will think this is really a bad mix-up of meaning. IMHO extra credit needs some serious loving and improvement, but that is a different discussion.
4) Although I have limited/no experience using "aggregate including sub-categories" and it is not immediately obvious to me that it has a real affect on grades anyway. It would seem to me that checking this should gray-out/disable the sub-category aggregation settings (as they presumably don't matter since they are superseded by the parent category) and/or align the child categories to have the same aggregation method, then gray-out/disable all child settings except allow tweaking the weight (if appropriate), offset and multiplier of direct and indirect grade items.
Bugs I found:
1) As stated by Barry Oosthuizen: moving sub-categories (such as "Semester 2" on the test machine) is at best buggy. I tried with both the move icon at the category level and the select and moveselectedto button and neither seemed to be able to move things around reliably.
2) Using the "hide" icon on categories does not gray-out the text for the category or subcategories. It does gray-out direct and indirect child grade items, but not child grade category items.
Overall, this is really great work and I look forward to showing this off to our faculty.
Barry and Paul, thank you very much for your tests, comments, feedback and bug reports. I'll address your questions sequentially:
Barry -
1. The weights interface was an early draft of this more complete interface.
2. Moving subcategories is buggy at the moment. But you can successfully do it by clicking the up-down arrow icon (move icon) next to the sub-category, and clicking a target box below the main category, but not the one at the very top. For some reason it cancels the move if you select that one.
Paul -
2. We considered and even tried an AJAX drag and drop version of this. Unfortunately, the way categories and grade items are organised (especially the recursive nesting and cohabitation of grade items with categories on the same level) makes it virtually impossible to design a user-friendly drag-and-drop approach. Consider for example what should happen when you select a sub-category that contains grade items and drag it over another category which itself contains grade items and categories. Consider the empty space left behind while the selection is being dragged, the potential drop targets and the meanings of these drop targets. It becomes a real nightmare.
Because of the difficulty of point number 2, your point number 1 is moot since we need to be able to move a whole bunch of grade items by selecting them one by one (we don't necessarily want all the items in a category, or even items from the same category)
3. Extra credits are an area in which we need further feedback and ideas, your point is noted.
4. "Aggregate including sub-categories" doesn't override the aggregation of child categories, it just means that it uses the "totals" of its immediate child categories in its own "total". If switched off, it will only use grade items in its aggregation.
Thanks for the bug reports, I will look into them after I've finished my review of the LSU gradebook.
Hi Nicolas, thanks for clarifying.
1. Extra Credits
I agree with the point over extra credits, it's a bit confusing the way it is at the moment, a separate column for this with tick/untick options would make more sense to me (although I don't use this function so I'm not familiar with it).
2. Column/Page Width
On my little 15 inch screen I have to scroll left and right to find all the columns on the advanced interface. (If I zoom out the letters are too small to read easily). Icons instead of headers?
3. Hide/Show Advanced
In some of the other modules in Moodle you can specify what you want to classify/hide as advanced options. Is it feasible to include that kind of facility here?.
e.g. I only ever need to see the following columns:
Name|Aggregation|weightorextracredit|Range|Aggregate only non-empty grades Aggregate including subcategories|Actions|Select|
This would also solve my problems in point 2.
I guess another option would be to use icons instead of headers.
4. Moving Categories and items
It is needed to be able to move a category with all/some of it's items to become the child of another category. I can't see that it's possible at the moment. Tick boxes next to categories?
5. Bugs
Can't move subcategory to be child of another subcategory using up/down arrows or using editing icon. It only changes the order in which they appear (not who the parent is).
Nicolas Connault wrote:
> Because of the difficulty of point number 2, your point number 1 is moot since we need to be able to move a whole bunch of grade items by selecting them one by one (we don't necessarily want all the items in a category, or even items from the same category)
Okay, I sensed that AJAXy stuff was probably a bit too difficult and you confirmed that. However, I would still argue that if you're keeping the "select" column, change the "Check all" and "Check none" links in categories to be a checkbox themselves (which, when checked, automatically checks all child items). This way you still get multiple select, but you can also move categories and their contents the "checkbox way." This allows two parallel and nearly feature identical ways of accomplishing movement. The "icon method" has the advantage of precise placement and the "checkbox method" allows for multiple, but they both can move items and categories. Make sense?
If nothing else the phrase "All/None" is used elsewhere as common lingo – so you could drop the "Check" word for succinctness.
A usability enhancement could be made that indents the "move to" placement box (the dotted line box with an arrow you get when moving items). Currently the boxes are all indented at the same level which makes it very hard to determine if you're moving something into the last spot of category X or after the category (into category X's parent category).
Extra credit is something I have some (big picture) ideas on, is there some active discussion thread/bug where it's future is being discussed or where use cases are developed?
Again, thanks for all the effort.
The problem with putting a checkbox next to each category is that it will then look like this checkbox can be used for moving categories. This would be OK if the course category was movable, but it isn't. I think I will settle for All/None
Moving Categories:
Does this explain why you can "move" a category with the up/down arrows (only to change the order in which it appears) but not actually move it to become the child of another category? Wouldn't we want to be able to do both?
You can actually do both, but moving to a different category is buggy at the moment. If you play with it a bit more you'll see that it's possible. Maybe you need to recite a mantra or something beforehand, though
I'm working on a fix right now.
OK I just figured out what was happening. The "Move To" box immediately beneath each category is actually the target for dropping below the category, not within it. I've just fixed the indenting of the boxes so that it's easy to see where the selection will end up once dropped. But the target for "Below" the category still appears just below the category's title. I'm trying to figure out a way to make it appear at the end instead.
Right, the category moving is now fixed. Please check the test site within the next 12 hours, it should be up to date
Just took a look at the test site. Things look really good Nicolas! Moving items and categories seems to work like I think it should, and the indentation of the placement box really helps to understand where things are going to be placed. I think this is a wonderful improvement. As I look at even more polish here's what stands out to me:
1) Should the "Include Outcomes In Aggregation" column be included in the table if outcomes are disabled accross the site? (Admin - Grades - General Settings)
2) The placement of the "Category Total" item seems to always directly follow the category name in the categories and items edit view no matter what the setting is under "Course Settings" -> "Aggregate Position". I'm guessing you changed this to help rectify the problems with item movement. I feel this may be confusing to professors/teachers who expect that the order on the "edit categories and items" view is a top-to-bottom oriented list of the items that appear left-to-right at the top of the "grader report." This new view now breaks that 1-to-1 relationship.
3) If the parent category is set to "Weighted Mean of Grades" the two subcategory rows (name and "category total") both have input boxes for weighting. It is not immediately obvious which one should be filled out. I've always personally found this confusing when drilling down to edit either the name or category total and I want to just put in a plug to not have that behavior exposed in this view as well. Teachers will wonder "Do I have to set both?", "What If one says 0 when the other one is set?", "My percentages don't add up to 100%!" So, in essence, could one of these input boxes be dropped? I'd vote for dropping the "Category Total" box as then all the weight setting boxes are at the same level in the tree, though it appears that currently it is unsupported to change the setting via the course name row.
4) Many Warnings are exposed if you choose "Mode of Grades" for a category aggregation method.
Here in Portland with a bunch of other schools hammering over the gradebook. Great appreciation for all the work you've put into the Categories/Items interface. From the perspective of everyone here we tremendously prefer the interface represented by weights_interface2.png. Can you tell me if either of the posted patches or do you possess code patches to accomplish this for a recent version of Moodle? If for 1.92 (as indicated), we could likely take care of the diff for the most current release. Again, thank you for the time and effort you've put into a very important matter.
Hi Nicolas,
Thanks for fixing the buggy category moving.
I second Paul's comment on placement of the "category total". When you move a category to another category you would expect the "move to here" box to be below the category, not below the category total. With the new layout it seems you're dropping the category outside of the other category where you are actually moving it into it.
Paul, Robert and Barry, thanks for the encouragement and the bug reports.
Paul's points:
1) Yes I will take care of that and use this issue's number in the commit note
2) I'm looking at this now trying to display it in a less confusing manner
3) Not sure about this yet
4), I've filed a new bug for it (
MDL-17825), and fixed it immediately.
The interface2 interface was the initial draft, but a number of usability problems were popping up which literally crippled it. Here is a summary of them:
1) Due to the limited space next to each category, we had to resort to icons for some of the settings whose name is rather long. Icons with no label violate Moodle's standards unless their meaning is immediately evident, and we could not find adequate icons for all the complex settings of grade categories.
2) Related to the previous item, the recursive hierarchy of categories and items means that, potentially, the settings next to each category and item moves further and further to the right, the deeper we get into the hierarchy. It may look good in the screenshot with a simple hierarchy, but is quite horrible with more complex setups
3) The screenshot displays only a small portion of all the settings available for categories and items. The requirement of putting labels next to each setting would render this interface terribly crowded
4) There is no way to align settings with each other (actions, checkboxes etc.)
As you can see, these issues are all related to visual presentation. The only redeeming quality of this interface is its nice list-type appearance, which at first glance is quite easy to understand. However, if you are happy with the settings presented in the screenshot, you should be able to create a separate report using the patch. The underlying code it depends on should not have changed significantly since 1.9.2.
OK, I've just fixed items 1 and 2 of Paul's list.
Regarding the weights/extra credit appearing both for category and total, I think there's either a bug there, or a huge usability error.
- When I set the category to "Sum of Grades", its sub-categories have a checkbox in this new interface, but when I edit the category, I have an "Aggregation coefficient" field, not an "extra credit" checkbox. The category total, however, has an "extra credit" checkbox as expected.
- When I set the parent category to "Weighted mean of grades", both the child categories and their totals have a text input, and when I edit them, they also both have "Item coefficient"! That doesn't make any sense to me. One clue that the category probably shouldn't have this field is that, when you click on the help icon, the help file is missing...
So my guess is that, as you say, Categories should not hold any info about aggregation coefficient. This is the case in the database anyway.
Hi Nicolas,
As Bob said, thank you for all of your hard work on this! The ability to assign weights to all categories and/or items on one screen is a big functionality improvement.
I agree with Bob's assessment about the interface: interface2 is very preferable to interface4. The layout is closer to the current layout, which is what our instructors are now used to. As you mentioned, this layout is very intuitive and makes it easy to see what items and categories are nested within other categories.
I agree with you that a string of unfamiliar icons is not the correct way to address this issue. Instead, I would argue that showing all of the category options on a single page is unnecessary and overwhelming. The vast majority of instructors do not need those options, so it would make more sense to me to create a separate report with all of those options instead of jamming them onto the default Categories and Items page.
I have been working with a group of instructional technologists from other institutions on gradebook usability. Here are some usability issues we've found with the current patch (interface4):
1) The "weights and extra credit" column is confusing. There is no visual indication of which text boxes are for weights and which are for EC. I don't think it makes sense to lump these two options together. I would argue that EC does not belong here at all. (As I mentioned above.)
2) There is no visual indication in the weights column of which items/categories are nested inside other categories. It should be effortless to see which items are being weighted against each other; instead, it looks like each item is weighted against everything else on the page.
3) This is a minor cosmetic thing, but the font is larger than necessary, and larger than the rest of Moodle. I have to lower the font size in my browser to avoid horizontal scrolling.
Based on the above assessments, the things we'd like to see on this page are:
1) A more clearly defined tree structure, like the current core C&I interface or the interface2 screenshot. For me, the interface4 layout does not provide this.
2) The only additional options we'd like to see on the C&I main page are the aggregation method and the weight. It is advantageous to be able to set these from a single page because they are interrelated; the weights are relative to each other, so it is necessary to be able to set them on one page. The other settings (e.g. multiplicator) only affect the individual category, so it makes more sense to set those on that individual category's options page.
I understand Gary's desire for instructors to be able to work through the gradebook's calculations to verify that it is set up and calculating correctly. My instructors have been asking for the same thing. However, I don't think the current patch fits the bill, since the instructors would have to have the grader report open separately (or on paper) while they worked through the calculations. Instead, I would propose adding a column to the grader report (with a show/hide toggle) which shows the calculations the gradebook is doing as a formula. This would be much more useful to my faculty.
Thank you again for all of your hard work! I know it's difficult to balance everyone's needs and figure out an interface that works for everyone. We really appreciate what you're doing!
Hi Nicolas,
Gradebookweights2.patch appears to do exactly what I wanted to see: it adds the ability to edit aggregation methods and weights for all categories and items on a single page, and it packages it as a separate report called "Weights." I really like this. Instead of editing the original Categories and Items page (as in weights_interface4.jpg), could you package that ability to see all category options on a single page as a separate report? Then people who want that functionality would have what they needed, but instructors who don't need to see all of those options would still have the view they are used to.
Hi all! Lots of great feedback here - please keep it up!
Some provoking questions:
A. There are two ways to separate simple from advanced functionality on an all-in-one screen.
1) implement two separate reports in the menu
2) have a simple/advanced button which toggles the view
Which of these do people prefer and why? I'd really like to hear from real teachers about this (admins/developers seem to find it hard to judge)
B. What are simple and what are advanced category settings? Should the Admin/teacher decide this (possibly further complicating the interface) or should it be hard-coded according to some sort of consensus that we reach here?
MDL-17829 for another improvement related to this interface, also ready to test on test.moodle.org/1.9
This addresses Paul's point on weights and extra credits being shown for both categories and their total.
On A), I would choose #2. From a coding perspective I would suspect there would be better code reuse and with #1 there would more likely be code drift/bugs/layout issues. As a faculty trainer, I sense there would be less confusion with an "Advanced" view that exposes more esoteric settings rather than a whole different view that overlaps in many ways – it seems less easy to toggle back and forth with a separate view.
On B), I feel like there is already a reasonable mechanism for setting which attributes are advanced and which are simple (Admin -> Grades -> [ Grade Category Settings | Grade Item Settings ]). I would personally like those two settings pages to be more similar, perhaps with a table that looks like a matrix (looks much better with a monospaced font, but I see no way to force that here):
========================= Grade Category Settings ==============================
Default Advanced Force
Aggregate only non-empty grades: [______] [] []
Include outcomes in aggregation: [______] [] []
Aggregate including subcategories: [______] [] []
Keep the highest: [______] [] []
Drop the lowest: [______] [] []
=========================== Grade Item Settings ================================
Default Advanced Force
Item info: [] []
ID number: [] []
Grade type: [] []
Scale: [] []
Minimum grade: [] []
Maximum grade: [] []
Grade to pass: [] []
Offset: [] []
Multiplicator: [] []
Grade display type: [] []
Overall decimal points: [] []
Hidden: [] []
Hidden until: [] []
Locked: [] []
Lock after: [] []
Aggregation coefficient: [] []
Parent category: [] []
Then, the categories and items page needs to respect the "advanced" flag and "force when hidden" flags to build the simple, and advanced pages.
For our environment: simple would include columns: Name, Aggregation Method, Range, Drop the Lowest, Actions, Select.
Clicking advanced would show everything except: Include Outcomes in ... as we don't use outcomes at this time.
I've put together another mock interface based on the last draft. It uses coloured filler cells as indentation, making the hierarchy really clear:
With regard to the colored mock up:
While I'm not a huge pastel fan I do think the color and indentation mechanism really increases immediate knowledge of encapsulation/levels. The current color scheme with each depth a different color shows depth, but does not differentiate between siblings (for instance between "Subcat 1" and "Semester 1" in the mockup.html link). Maybe not a big deal, but something I thought of when looking at this. Perhaps each level is a hue and then each category at that level alternates saturation or has a cross-hatch transparent png background image for better color-blind accessibility?
One of the places where I would see understanding depth and category levels as very important for accuracy is in assigning weights (as per Caroline Moore's #2 point above). Perhaps the same CSS/styling used to differentiate between depth and siblings could also be placed right next to the weight field? Or perhaps an onfocus event on the weight field might highlight all the other weight fields in the category at the same depth)?
Great work! Having made the switch from 1.8 to 1.9, these updates and changes are tremendous in getting accustomed to the gradebook.
One thing we see from our end is a need to have grades calculate above 100 percent. If you add an offset of 10 points, then those students who have 100 do not get this "bonus". If the student was a solid 100% for the entire category, this would not effect the overall percentage for that category, but for those students who need these points to help pull there grade up, having the grade book calculate the 105's or 110's would be helpful. Or maybe I'm just missing something all together. Thoughts?
Your hard work is appreciated by all!
In response to Martin's query for input from faculty on their preference, here is one response requested and received today from a Psychology Professor at our college:
"Although my biggest complaint with moodle is the number of screens (and
hence clicks) necessary to get things done, I have to admit I like the
first (weights_interface2.png), stand-alone screen much better than the second collapsed/expanded
option (weights_interface4.png). It is much easier to see the overall structure of course
assignments in the first view and to understand that weighting is being
done for each category not for items within a category."
A very important update with the new colour scheme, including a vast number of cosmetic improvements. Please go and check it out at
username: teacher
password: testm00dle
This is great! It's so easy now. Thanks a lot.
I especially like the fact that you got rid of the category totals altogether when moving categories. Much easier to navigate this way.
The vertical lines combined with the pastel colours on the non-advanced screen are also very helpful. Sometimes there is a line missing though. Sometimes it's missing on the advanced screen and sometimes on the simple screen.
I've updated the attached screenshot previously named weights_interface4.png
Thanks Barry. There are a couple of cosmetic wrinkles yet to iron out, but they shouldn't affect usability in any way.
Paul, thanks for your ideas and comments, I have implemented most of them in the latest version on test.moodle.org.
I would be grateful if people who offer feedback would do so using the test site instead of the screenshots. There really is no way to know which interface is better just by looking at the screenshots. The ones your professor looked at were out of date, so the usefulness of his comments is reduced, unfortunately.
Although it is a fairly common request, I have never understood the logic of allowing points above a maximum, when you simply need to decide not to grade your students above a certain (informal) maximum, then use the grade item's real maximum to allot extra points.
That being said, we are looking at ways to implement something like this in 2.0, but it will not be backported to 1.9, because that would require changes to the database structure, which is not allowed for released versions.
Regarding the colours:
Currently colours are based on the depth of the categories. This is the simplest method, and it can easily be overridden by editing the style sheet. Assigning custom colours to each different category would require a new database field, so it's not feasible in 1.9, but we can certainly look at it in 2.0 if there is sufficient user demand for it.
I've done a bit of testing again, and, as always I see great steps forward. Thanks Nicolas!
The colors really do add a lot to improve things.
The only bug I found was that when moving a single item using the icon and placement box method, it appears to me that the placement box for the last spot in category is not indented appropriately and is actually on the same indentation level as the next placement box which is after the category.
I'm guessing the remaining things I'd like to see addressed would require a DB change, and thus would only be considered for 2.0 if at all...
1) break apart weights and extra credit column as in comment on 06/Jan/09
2) modify and obey the grade_item and grate_category settings as in comment on 09/Jan/09 part B
The only nitpicky additional comments I have are that some columns wrap when they shouldn't have to; As I see it the Name and Range columns should have a no-wrap CSS property (white-space:nowrap or at least be allowed to expand the table as necessary and all the other fields have a predictable maximum width (at least in terms of em). The Actions column wraps with not enough space for more than 5 icons (I have up to 6). The overall width of the table should be allowed to fill all my screen real estate if necessary.
Again, things look really good. Thanks a ton!
Thanks Paul,
I've fixed the placement box bug which you just reported, and implemented the excellent suggestions you gave regarding CSS and presentation. You're correct about items 1 and 2 though, we'll need to wait for 2.0 for these. Thanks again for your time and feedback.
Hi Nicolas,
Apologies if I'm missing something totally obvious, however I was wondering how you can edit the course total, or any of the category totals, say if you want to set ID numbers?
On the test site there are more than just one improvement. Some are not related to this current issue. One of them is the combining of all category-related information on a single form (see
MDL-17829). You just need to click the edit icon next to the category title to access all its settings.
Thanks Nicolas, I'll take a look at
Something else I was wondering about, was the "Drop the lowest" and "Keep the highest" fields. I can't find them on the edit category pages. Is that intentional?
The reason is that these settings are "Forced" to "none" on this site (see http://test.moodle.org/1.9/admin/settings.php?section=gradecategorysettings). They obviously need to be grayed out or disabled in the new interface to reflect this forcing at site level. Also see http://docs.moodle.org/en/Grades_FAQ#I_can.27t_find_setting_X_in_the_grade_category_edit_page.21_Where_is_it.3F
I would like to get everyone's opinion on which settings to display in the "Simple" and "Advanced" views of this interface in its current stage of development. Here is a list of approaches, in order of increasing flexibility + complexity:
1. The current method: All columns are considered advanced except Name, Actions and Select. No setting can change this, it is hard-coded.
2. Use the "Advanced settings" already in place at the site level (Site admin -> grades -> Grade (item|category) settings), as suggested by Paul Ortman in this discussion (09/Jan/09 11:43 PM). This gives us more flexibility, without adding much complexity to usability. Another advantage is that it requires virtually no additional coding.
3. Add a site-wide configuration page just for this interface, with grade category and grade item settings combined, in which advanced settings can be selected independently of the other gradebook pages. This is not very complex to create or to use, and is slightly more flexible than option 2
4. Create a "preferences" page for this interface, where advanced columns can be configured per-course and/or per-user. This is significantly more complicated, since it adds yet another page of parameters. The advantage is that it is very flexible.
Please test the current interface (using option 1) at http://test.moodle.org/1.9/grade/edit/tree/index.php?id=2 (username teacher, password testm00dle), and give your feedback here.
For the first week of new feedback coming in, it was not clear to me that all the weighting and configuration features had been implemented, but now that I see that these are shown under the "advanced" tab, it is now possible for me to share some ideas.
I think the goal of this configuration page should be that one does not need to drill down into things to determine how a final grade is computed, and that straight-forward grading strategies should be uncluttered.
So, what I would do is add the "aggregation" method to the standard view, as well as the weight and the range. The weight should be grayed out for those methods that don't employ them (then teachers will discover how to use weights by changing the aggregation method). These three properties additional properties are essential for deciding how a grade is determined, so they are not "advanced" in my view.
The other settings could be advanced, but to allow the grading strategy to be fully revealed in the standard view, when the settings don't match the defaults, there deviations from the default should be printed as a string in 9 point type below the aggregation method.
The test to see if this is effective is that one should be able to view this page in either standard or advanced mode, be able to plug in some values, and to be able to perform the arithmetic by hand and come to the same final score. Ideally this could be done by someone not familiar with Moodle. The above suggestions move us at least to it being able to be done by somebody fully familiar with the Moodle gradebook (and advanced Moodle teacher or experienced administrator or trainer.
We should see if we can reach a consensus (if there is not already) on "reasonable defaults" for these settings, and allow for for them to be changed by institutions using the #2 option as suggesed by Paul Ortman, recognizing that most institutions won't make changes.
Extra credit should be a checkbox, but it can be an advanced option, provided that when it is selected the standard view shows it is enabled with the "small type" feature I described above. I understand how it is internally implemented, but that implementation detail should be hidden from users. Perhaps the checkbox should put a 1 in this field, but the weight does not display 0 or 1, but allows for a different value for 1 to be entered to maintain its current ability to serve as a multiplier (I doubt many people use it that way).
Those are my main comments on this particular implementation, and I agree with others that this is all a step forward.
To be complete, I would also repeat some of my previous suggestions:
- Gradebook configuration should be a tab in the grader report. Having it be one of the dozen items in the gradebook report makes it too difficult to find.
- Extra credit should be implemented in other aggregation methods. I have discussed in other tracker reports how we have implemented that at Seattle Academy, and it does not require a database update. Extra credit is the standard method for a teacher to recognize non-required work and exceptional performance and to correct for disappointing performance early in a course, so it should not be too difficult for a teacher to do.
- Naming of "Aggregation" and these summary methods should be reconsidered as I think these are not self evident.
Thanks for your comments and ideas, Gary.
Do you have some suggestions regarding better names? Please believe that we (at least 10 of us) have racked our brains and spent hours discussing these terms, trying to find the most descriptive (and short) words. If you have some better suggestions, please share them in a forum discussion so that other users can also share their opinions.
1) I second Gary's suggestion on tabs.
In fact, I think that all items at the dropdown menu should be converted to the tab view. Dropdown makes it hard to realize where you are exactly. Plus, it requires extra mouse click.
2) I have a suggestion regarding colors for weights.
Right now Category Totals are white. I would recommend to make them the same color as the color of the category, so visually people will see that Total is not just another item on the list.
3) Btw, I find words "Grader report" to be confusing. For me Grader - is the person who grades.
I suggest something like this:
View Reports:
- Grade Roster <aka Grader>
- Outcomes <Outcomes>
- By User <User>
- My Grades <Overview> - I would put this one to be the last one
I will post this to the forum, since I have not fount an item in tracker for this.
Nicolas, thanks for explaining about the "Drop the lowest" and "Keep the highest" fields. I would suggest that, to simplify things, settings which are forced at site level are not shown in the grading UI.
Gary, thanks for your comments. Apologies again if I'm missing something obvious, however I'm just wondering why a column showing ranges is necessary on the edit categories and items page?
Hi Helen:
The reason that range should be in the standard view of the gradebook configuration page would be in keeping with the principal that one should be able to do a hand computation of the total grade by looking at this page and assigning values to individual activities. One would need to know how many points is possible for an assignment to compute the overall grade.
As a starting point for discussion, these terms have been more self-explanatory to my fellow teachers and students. But I made these arguments when 1.9 was in Beta.
Old name-> New name (explanation)
Aggregation -> Summary method
Weighted mean of grades -> Weighted grades (weights can be applied to categories or activities)
Mean of grades -> Average of percentages (items are converted to a percent and then averaged)
Simple weighted mean of grades -> Average of points (The grade is the total points earned divided by the total number of points possible)
Mean of grades (with extra credit) ->[commented out] (We don't use this as we allow activities to be extra credit and/or go over the assigned maximum)
Mode of grades -> [commented out] //causes clutter, complexity, and confusion
Sum of grades -> Total of points (The grade is the number of points earned)
Gary, thanks for explaining about the range.
Re. renaming terms, please post in the gradebook forum, as Nicolas suggests, as this tracker issue is already extremely long!
Elena, it would be great if you could post in the forum too.
I've just implemented the site settings for grade categories and grade items into this new interface. As Paul and Helen suggested, the display of this interface can be controlled via these site settings:
1. Grade category settings that are forced are shown in plain text (not user input possible), or hidden entirely if the setting "Hide forced settings" is on.
2. Grade item and grade category settings that are advanced are hidden from the "normal" view
The main limitations of this method are that regular teachers cannot change these settings, and that they apply equally in all courses.
I like the changes Nicolas, but I think something is a bit overzealous in hiding the weight setting field for grade items. I can set the weight of a grade item by clicking the edit icon, but that same field is completely missing from the "Categories and Items" page – but only for grade items, it's there for category items.
I can't do a whole lot more playing around testing the various settings as I only have teacher access on the test site. Is this code checked in somewhere so I could test on my own box?
Gary, I really like most of your terminology suggestions and I clearly need to figure out how you did your extra credit improvements as we have quite a bit of demand for that at our institution.
You may want to repost an admin password (or at least a course creator password) so we can set up our own courses. The one course I made I can no longer access. Given that you can reset the database if there is any funny business, I don't think this would be too big a risk. As an alternative, you could email them to those of us commenting.
But it would be nice to have more realistic courses to test these with; most courses will not be complicated, just a little different.
I think this issue is a particularly good example (though not alone) of why major UI discussions SHOULDN'T take place in the tracker. 24 people are getting this back-and-forth while hundreds (if not thousands) have a vested interest. But of course, they need to know how to use the tracker, they need to find the issue and they need to watch it, along with the many, many other issues they could then watch, since subscription to a forum dealing with the range of issues no longer suffices. Hopefully one of the 24 watchers has the power to bring about a change to this major flaw in UI design for Moodle.
sorry to spam here - it is quicker
May be we can get a separate "Gradebook developer" forum? Otherwise, I was going to start posting here: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=109444
All those interested, could you please forward to me your email address so that I may create a user account for you on test.moodle.org? This way you'll be able to have your own course and set it up the way you want. (Email it to firstname.lastname@example.com)
As we just chatted about, here is a graphic of how to add exceptions to this page using a small font type so that a grade can still be computed in either view if scores are given.
Also, I point out where max can be added and suggest that extra credit not be labeled here; it should be a checkbox in advanced view.
Long wordings are a problem and I will suggest those in my sample course.
Gary, could you create a separate issue in the tracker for this improvement? This one is getting rather long. Thanks!
Some more little suggestions:
1) The title tags on the item names and icons should not be the item name, they could be just the item type (eg "Assignment") which would be useful when you hovered over them.
2) Default colours should be colour-blind friendly - don't put green and blue together.
Thanks everyone for your comments. As this issue is extremely long, let's use
MDL-16913 for any remaining improvements to the new 'Edit categories and items' page.
Thanks to everyone who voted. The new 'Edit categories and items' page will certainly be part of our gradebook improvements http://docs.moodle.org/en/Development:Gradebook_improvements
Watchers, thanks for your interest. You may wish to watch
MDL-16913 from now on.
Martin, thanks for your suggestions, which I've added to
MDL-16913 as subtasks.
Thanks Nicolas, this improvement is now documented: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Edit_categories_and_items
I'm just removing 2.0 fix version as the instructions state 'Do not include the current HEAD version unless it's the only one.'


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Dr. Scholls Jennie Sneaker - Womens
Sorry, this item is sold out!
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Item # 294882
Sporty-chic with a touch of whimsy, the Jennie low-top sneaker from Dr. Scholl's is will pull double duty keeping your feet comfy and looking good! These fun striped sneakers feature an Energy Wave™ insole and stretchy collar to keep your feet feeling great with your on-the-go lifestyle.
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- View more Women's Dr. Scholl's Shoes
By: Sblake323
February 13, 2014
By: FrenchTweety
Location: Bothell, WA
November 19, 2013
Cute and comfy for work.
"I was looking for a pair of shoes I could wear to work with slacks or a skirt that were super comfy for walking to and from the bus. I love the shoes I found. They are really comfy and unique enough to make a statement. I am so glad that I found these especially since the color goes with all of the pants I have."
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Printable View
I was just reading that the beaches of Normandy scene in Saving Private Ryan is one of the most expensive filmed scenes ever.
Man, that movie had some brutal ****....what a great film
I saw a behind the scene thing to Band of Brothers. That was cool. A lot of the heavy weapons were made of rubber. Recreating a lot of the tanks was tough. The Bastogne episode was filmed in a huge hanger. took them months to decorate it.


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Andrew Geller Yaleeda Wedge Pump
Sorry, this item is sold out!
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Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Item # dsw12prod4460153
Why not have it all? The Andrew Geller Yaleeda is both cute and comfortable! This lightweight wedge has all of the features of a comfort shoe without sacrificing your style.
- Leather upper
- Pleated round toe with buckle
- Extra cushioning for added support
- 2" rounded stacked wedge
- Synthetic sole
- Imported
By: KanaGirl
Location: Boise ID
September 25, 2013
Cute & Comfy
"I'm always on the lookout for cute shoes that are COMFORTABLE, and these definitely fit the bill! They're just a tad long (I usually wear between a 9.5 & a 10, but these are *almost* too long in 9.5) so I'd recommend considering a half-size down, especially if (like me) your feet are "between sizes"--go for the smaller choice."
By: Thursday12
Location: MA
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Great Work Shoe
"These are a great neutral metallic that you can wear with any work outfit. The heels are definitely not that high so they're comfortable enough to wear all day."
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Location: Mississippi
August 06, 2013
Love Them
"These shoes are cute and super comfortable. Definitely a great purchase."
By: AmyLovesShoesNYC
July 31, 2013
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Federal Regulations require first-time Stafford Loan borrowers at CSULB to complete an entrance loan counseling session prior to loan funds being disbursed. This counseling provides critical information about the student loan programs and the student loan delivery system. The counseling session is completed online, and must be done BEFORE your federal student loan funds will be released for payment of your tuition and mandatory fees.
You will go through a sequence of screens that cover the entrance counseling followed by a 15 question quiz.


text:
Kenra Platinum Color Care Sulfate-Free Shampoo - Thick/Coarse
- Overview
- Ingredients
- Features
- Sleek, new look
- Extra gentle sulfate-free formula cleanses without stripping hair color
- Maximum protection from color fading
- About the brand
Kenra Platinum Color Care Sulfate-Free Shampoo for thick/coarse hair is a rich moisturizing shampoo that protects color.
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein A protein that adds moisture to hair. Hydrolyzed Silk Protein A protein that adds strength to hair. Color Care Complex Internal and external color protection with Microsilk, Heliogenol and Benzophenone.
Work a small amount of product into wet hair and massage gently. Rinse with warm water.
Founded in 1929, Kenra formulates professional hair care products from the finest ingredients for polished styling. This collection features the popular Volume Spray, a four time BehindtheChair.com Stylist Choice winner for Best Hair Spray.
Follow UpThis is a follo-up to my previous review. I ordered two more bottles of this and received them in December. I noted that this was the first shampoo I had used in which the first ingredient was not water. This has changed. The shampoo consistency is and fragrance are the same. However the ingredients on the bottle are different from the first bottle I received. I wish Folica would list the ingredients on the bottle in full, not just list the ingredient superstars that we like such as silk amino or rosemary. List them all!! The 1st bottle I received listed the following ingredients respectively: Rosemary Leaf Extract, Lavendar Flower/Leaf Stem Extract, Sunflower Seed Extract, Purified Water, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Laury Sulfoacetate, Lauramidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Methyl Cocoyll Taurate, Cocamidopropyl Amine Oxide, Glycol Distearate, Hydroloyzed Silk, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Benzophenon-4, Amodiemthicone, Trideceth-12, Cetrimonium Chloride, C11-15, Pareth-7, Laureth-9, Glycerin, PEG-7 Glycerly Cocoate, Butylene Glycol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiaolinone, Methylparaben, Poropylparaben, Gragrance, Red33, Yellow6. Now the 2nd and 3rd bottles list the following ingredients respectively: Aqua, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetae, Lauramidopropyl Betainesodium methyl-2 sulfolaurate and disodium2 sulfolaurate, cocamidopropylamine oxide, glycol distearate, amodimethicone, trideceth-12,cetrimonium chloride, phenoxyethanol, parfum, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloridee, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, benzophenone-4, c11-15 pareth-7, laureth-9, glycerin, methylisothiazolinone, peg-7, glyceryl cocoate, sunflower seed extract, silk amino acides, lavendar flower, rosemary leaf extract, hydrlyzed wheat protein, red 33, yellow 6. So suffice to say the ingredient list has changed or been re-ordered. I don't know what this means but I still like the shampoo and it still smells good. I just appreciated that water was not the 1st ingredient, but it is now.Jan 15, 2011Janet / The SouthwestHAIR TYPEDark Brown / Thick or Coarse Hair / Relaxed Hair
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The Best!!!OMG!!! this is the best shampoo, thanks kenra for making in platinum.Nov 11, 2010Asha P.HAIR TYPEMedium Brown / Color Treated Hair / Thick or Coarse Hair
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Luxurious Shampoo For Luxurious Hair!The first shampoo I have found where the 1st ingredient is not water! It contains rosemary extract, lavendar extrace, wheat protein... AS soon as I put it on my hair the entire room smells of a lovely garden. It's so luxurious and makes my hair instantly feel soft and manageable. It lathers a bit but I don't get a sink full of suds like I do with the shampoos that use sodium laurel sulfate which I understand strips the hair of natural oils. I have thick, long hair and when I use this and the Platinum conditioner my hair is smooth and soft. I am really pleased with this line and will not go back to sulfate shampoos except to clarify.Oct 1, 2010Janet / Tucson, AZHAIR TYPEDark Brown / Thick or Coarse Hair / Relaxed Hair
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Sulfate Free And Fantastic!!!I just started using this product for now 2 weeks and its the BEST my hair has ever looked or felt! It definitely keeps your hair color from fading unlike other shampoos where it makes your hair fade soon after coloring your hair. Thank you so much Kenra makers! I feel like I washed with a product from Beverly Hills! I feel gorgeous and my hair feels soft, shiny and "colorful!"Mar 21, 2009Noelle / Washington
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Kenra Plantimum Cured My DandruffA Miracle Has Happened in my life - I am finally dandruff free and by accident! I have been plagued by dandruff since I was 18 years old. I am now 47 years old and I had given up trying to find a cure for my severe scalp problem. The dermatologist told me to use a zinc shampoo for my dandruff - it did not work. Years later, I went to another doctor and he gave me a prescription for a newer dandruff treatment and it did not work. I have tried every thing known to mankind to treat the dandruff - every dandruff shampoo on the market.I have been using this shampoo for about 1 week and guess what? No dandruff, not even a flake. My scalp was driving me crazy, always itching, always flaking, Now it is not. I could not wear black or dark colors. Now I can for the first time in years without walking around with a lint remover. The doctor did not consider this - that maybe I was allergic to sodium laurel sulfate.My son had the same problem, but now he doesnt - after using this shampoo.I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR SHAMPOO AND WE ARE SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS. It was a free sample with the Kenra Hairspray. The shampoo is the greatest and so is your hairspray. The shampoo also leaves my colored hair soft and shiny. Sincerely and Grateful,Debra F.North CarolinaDec 22, 2007Debra F.
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text:
"The Gentlemen alliance".
Well, is a Tanemura´s one. (I think is the newest, after Fullmoon wo Sagashite)
I really like it. The drawings are really really great, and the story is very interesting now (the begginig was a little... weird?... slow?)
I think is the longest one too, 'cuase it has more than 7 volumes.
Does anyone know this manga?
Here some images


text:
Stephen Crummy, archaeological illustrator, British Museum
As illustrator in the Department of Prehistory and Europe at the British Museum, I am always looking for the best way to help our curators interpret an object. My role is to produce artwork that shows the form, construction and nature of objects and any decoration on them so that they can be clearly understood. This will usually result in illustration for academic publications and exhibitions as a result of research work on the Museum collection, or excavations.
Traditionally I have produced pen and ink technical drawings but new opportunities are available through various computer-generated methods of recording, analysing and understanding information about objects and excavation. With the Chiseldon Cauldrons material, I am exploring some of the possibilities of these new technologies, and in this case using photogrammetry and laser scanning programs to produce 3D records of the archaeological remains of individual cauldron blocks as they are excavated by Alex and Jamie.
We are using a laser scanning system to produce 3D computer models of the individual pieces from each cauldron. This is achieved by plotting a thin red laser line as it is slowly moved across the surface of an object. Having recorded each piece we are hoping to use the photogrammetry programme to virtually re-construct the blocks as excavated.
The early results we achieved proved somewhat variable, especially with the laser scanning, but we are now starting to produce some very good quality scans in terms of both modelling and colour accuracy.
The plan is to produce virtual models of each cauldron as excavated which will enable us to understand much better what they would have originally looked like, and how they were made. It is also hoped that an overall plan of the pit and its contents can be reproduced. We'll also be able to produce artwork for both printed and online publication, and to generate virtual re-constructions for publication and display. As we create interesting images, we'll also post some of them here on the blog so you can see what we're finding.
The Chiseldon cauldrons research project is supported by the Leverhulme Trust
Filed under: Archaeology, Chiseldon cauldrons, Conservation, Research, cauldron, excavation, illustrator, laser scanning, research


text:
Audrey Brooke Paris Suede Flat
Sorry, this item is sold out!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Looks like you've got more shoe shopping to do - have fun!
Item # dsw12prod3840074
Showcase your posh style in the Audrey Brooke Paris. This suede flat is comfortable, stylish, and just what you've been searching for to pair with your skinny trousers and skirts.
- Suede upper
- Metal buckle overlay at round toe
- Rubber sole
- Imported
By: Mums
Location: Cleveland
March 10, 2013
Paris flats
"This shoe is fabulous. I am a 7.5 and these shoes fit just as they should, with just enough wiggle room. The fuschia is deep and rich, yet classy ; not garish. I wore them with dark skinny jeans, and a chambray shirt, the shoes finished the look. The shoe is very, very comfortable. Soft and supple material. Lots of compliments. If other colors were available, I'd buy again.."
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Location: Dallas, TX
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Bright & Cute!
"These caught my eye for several reasons: cute, bright, price, & quality (own several AB shoes). These shoes are too cute! They are perfect for spring! They look great with skinny jeans, denim, or for a pop of color! They are also comfortable -- I'm on my feet all day (teach kindergarten) and these shoes didn't bother my feet at all -- they're also flexible and bend when needing to sit, stand, and move all about. Great shoe. They also easily transition from work to happy hour! Excellent buy! Highly recommend."
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Location: KS
February 26, 2013
Lots of compliments!
"These flats are very comfy and soo cute! I've paired them with skinny jeans and also a dress with leggings and they look great with both! Based on precious reviews that I had read I ordered 1/2 size smaller than normal and they fit perfectly."
By: JAworkit
Location: Nashville, TN
February 19, 2013
Flats of perfection
"These flats are very comfortable, no breaking in needed. Sizing is true in both length and width. I was concerned about the rouching at the heel but it didn't rub at all. The color is a great pop to any outfit and the Audrey Brooke branded topper earned me lots of compliments. Possibly a new favorite shoe brand!"
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