text:
Israel Aerospace Industries is carrying out a contract with Russia for Russian-based production of UAVs, based on the firm's Searcher system. Israel is not terminating previously scheduled deals with Russia, but is severely limiting its export approvals amid turbulence in Ukraine. (Israel Aerospace Industries)
TEL AVIV — Israel has forfeited some US $1 billion in defense trade and dual-use development projects with Russia due to a delicately balanced foreign and export licensing policy aimed at preserving security ties with Moscow without harming vital interests of the US and its NATO allies.
In interviews here, officials underscored Israel's sovereign right and need to advance its diplomatic and security agenda through strengthened ties with Moscow, an increasingly pivotal player in the region and the world.
But given ongoing US-Russian geopolitical posturing and recent tensions over Ukraine, Israel must remain sensitive to the interests of its key ally in Washington, officials here say.
The result, a senior MoD official said, is a delicate and continuously calibrated "policy of balance" that has already cost Israel more than $1 billion in lost sales and opportunities for strategic cooperation with Russia.
"We could gain from Russia billions of dollars," the official said in a recent interview. In a typical year, Israel signs about $7 billion in export deals worldwide. But even more than lost sales, the official noted Moscow's unique capacity to influence Israel's strategic standing in the region through its ties to enemy states such as Iran and Syria.
"We obviously gained greatly from Russia's decision to cancel a huge S300PMU contract with Iran," he said of the $800 million contract signed in 2007, but terminated in 2011 after years of active Israeli-Russian engagement and the September 2010 UN Security Council arms embargo on Tehran.
But, the official added, "We need to be concerned about US concerns."
Israeli government sources insisted Israel has not suspended defense trade with Russia, nor has it forced local firms to terminate previously signed deals. Rather, it is restricting exports to less advanced technologies and systems, primarily for purposes of counterterrorism and homeland security.
The senior MoD official said Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is in the final stages of implementing a $400 million contract with state-owned Oboronprom for Russian-based production of unmanned aerial vehicles based on the firm's Searcher system.
That October 2010 deal, government and industry sources here said, was expected to segue into a follow-on multiyear co-production package worth more than $1 billion based on the front-line IAI-built Heron-1 UAV. In parallel, Russia expected to procure previously denied synthetic aperture radar and other sophisticated multimission payloads for domestically built UAVs.
But unless tensions subside over Russia's annexation of Crimea, continued intervention in western Ukraine and other hot button issues, Israel will continue to shy away from high-profile sales and strategic cooperation with Moscow.
Sources here note indefinite delays in implementation of a March 2011 Russian-Israeli framework agreement for space cooperation. Candidate projects included dual-use technology development based on Israel's small, very high-resolution imaging satellites and an Israeli-based ground station for improving the accuracy of Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System.
"Nothing is happening on the Russian framework agreement," said Zvi Kaplan, former director of the Israel Space Agency who signed the 2011 agreement with Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency.
"There were some here who thought we should push ahead on some projects," Kaplan said. "But as much as we wanted to expand cooperation and trade ties, and as much as they wanted access to technologies and projects pertaining to our small, high-performance satellites, we couldn't risk upsetting our American friends."
Israel also denied a Russian destroyer, the Vitse Admiral Kulakov, docking privileges at its Haifa port in April.
First reported by Israel's Ha'aretz daily newspaper, Israeli National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen denied Moscow's docking request after consulting with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, the Israel Defense Forces, the Foreign Ministry and Israel's Shin Bet security service.
"All opinions were negative," wrote Ha'aretz's Barak Ravid.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor declined to comment on Israel's so-called balancing policy, which he described as "a particularly sensitive subject." Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a native Russian speaker, personally manages Israel's relations with the Russian Federation and former Soviet states.
Israel has struggled to remain neutral on the continuously evolving crisis in Ukraine so it won't upset Russia, Ukraine, the US or its NATO allies.
In a rare departure from its tradition of voting with Washington in the UN, Israel abstained from a late March vote on a nonbinding, but highly symbolic US-led General Assembly draft resolution declaring Moscow's annexation of Crimea "invalid."
"We have good and trusting relations with the Americans and the Russians … so I don't understand the idea that Israel has to get mired in this," Lieberman told Israel's Channel 9 television.
Andin April, during a visit to Israel by then-candidate and now Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Lieberman flagged his desire to help Kiev and Moscow repair their intensifying rift.
"I would be happy if I could help them … the sooner the better," Lieberman said following the April 21 visit.
As for defense trade with Moscow, the senior MoD official insisted Israel has full discretion over export licenses to Russia. Unlike potential exports and technology transfers to China, which require prior consultation with Washington, Israel is under no bilateral obligation to the US to coordinate its defense dealings with Moscow. ■


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We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to align health, environment and economic objectives, say Maria Neira and Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum of the World Health Organization.
While climate change is identified as the defining challenge of this century, ensuring health for all remains the unfinished business of the last century. More than 10 million children die every year-an affront to human dignity. And in recent months, the emergence of the global financial crisis threatens to cut the resources available to spend on tackling either of these problems. This is prompting some to ask, in such hard times, should we invest in saving lives now, on combating climate change, or neither? Which is more important: glaciers, people, or bank balances?
On closer inspection, however, these apparently stark choices start to break down, to be replaced by a more hopeful outlook. Could this be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring health, environment and economic objectives into better alignment?
Over the last 20 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been sounding the alarm bells with ever greater urgency. Climate change will affect, in profoundly adverse ways, the basic requirements for good health: clean air and water, viable food crops and adequate shelter. Each year, about 60,000 people die in weather-related natural disasters, almost one million from malaria, over two million from diarrhoea and 3.5 million from under-nutrition. With each of these threats being highly sensitive to climate conditions, we can expect increasing temperatures and more extreme weather to make it even more difficult to combat them. The burden of these diseases falls mainly on the poor, on women and particularly on children who have contributed least to global greenhouse gas emissions. They need, and deserve, protection.
Here is the first opportunity for alignment between climate change and health. In the language of the climate change community, there is a need for 'health adaptation', to protect those who are most vulnerable from the risks associated with climate change. Our global machinery and resources such as the Adaptation Fund (for concrete adaptation projects in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol) should therefore be directed to help protect health.
When the health community looks at this situation, they use their own language, of disease prevention, or public health protection. But the objective is the same-safeguarding lives, whatever the weather. Most importantly, the health community has a great capacity to help achieve this goal. Climate change is expected to lead to changes in existing health issues rather than the emergence of new, unfamiliar, diseases. The necessary preventive actions to deal with most climate-sensitive diseases are already well known. Strengthening these actions would help save lives now (the goal of health protection) and reduce vulnerability to climate change in the future (the goal of adaptation).
To take one example, climate change, along with other global trends such as increasing movement of people, disease vectors and pathogens, threatens to spread infectious disease and exacerbate epidemics. The health sector already has surveillance systems in place, from the local to the international level, but there are weaknesses in coverage and in response capacity that will be increasingly shown up in a changing climate. The best response therefore is to strengthen existing health surveillance systems and integrate them with those that monitor climate and other environmental conditions that favour disease outbreaks, along with disease in wildlife and farmed animals.
As another example, global freshwater resources are declining, mainly due to water extraction and contamination. Climate change is expected to add to water stress, particularly in already dry regions such as the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. An integrated programme of scaling up of water and sanitation services, provision of point of use disinfection and water conservation, would reduce both the current burden of disease and vulnerability to further water stress.
Each year, about 60,000 people die in weatherrelated natural disasters, almost one million from malaria, over two million from diarrhoea and 3.5 million from undernutrition.
Of critical importance in the current economic conditions is that these actions are highly cost-effective. Investments in water and sanitation infrastructure have a significantly favourable benefit-cost ratio.
New approaches such as warning and alert systems to prevent deaths in heat waves are also showing themselves to be highly costeffective. Whether these are called climate change adaptations or public health measures, they are good deals.
The second point of alignment relates to the long term goal of climate stabilization. Many of the measures that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as the use of cleaner energy sources for power generation, transport and in the home, and urban planning that enables safe and efficient use of public transport, carry important health 'cobenefits'. These include potential reductions in some of our largest disease burdens-the 800,000 deaths per year from outdoor air pollution, the 1.5 million from indoor air pollution, the 1.9 million from physical inactivity and the 2.6 million from obesity.
Health arguments present a huge and neglected opportunity for those pushing for climate change mitigation. Experience has shown that quantifying the benefits to health and well-being can often tip the balance in favour of more environmentally-friendly choices. For example, a cost-benefit analysis of the US Clean Air Act showed that each dollar invested in implementing the Act generated 42 dollars in societal benefits-almost entirely through health improvements. The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report showed that the costs of many mitigation interventions would be partly or wholly compensated by health benefits. These are often valued close to or higher than the 'social cost' of carbon dioxide or the 'market cost' in carbon trading schemes. In other words, these interventions should be valued and provided with incentives as much for protecting health as they are for protecting the climate.
These health benefits are also immediate and local-often making them particularly attractive to politicians and the general public. Some people are arguing, correctly, that if richer populations moderated their consumption of red meat, this would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They should argue just as forcefully that this would also help reduce their risk of obesity, heart disease and colon cancer.
In order to achieve mutual benefits for health and the environment, we are going to have to start working closer together. We already have the mandates to do so. The UN SecretaryGeneral has identified climate change and health as priorities for his term in office. The Millennium Development Goals bring together health, environment and development objectives. The stated aim of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is as much to avoid damage to health and wellbeing, as to the environment and economic development. And last year, the 193 countries represented at the World Health Assembly passed a resolution calling for stronger action to protect health from climate change-bringing the health community fully on board in confronting this global challenge.
Climate change will affect, in profoundly adverse ways, the basic requirements for good health: clean air and water, viable food crops and adequate shelter.
But these efforts are still too isolated from one another. Although health is supposedly central to the UNFCCC and is frequently identified as a priority in national adaptation plans, there is close to zero health representation at the UNFCCCConference of the Parties. It is therefore no surprise that very fewhealth adaptation projects are submitted, and that even fewer are funded. Perhaps more importantly, we may miss the chance to ensure that a new, low-carbon future also promotes health, which would be everybody's loss.
We can do much better than this. The health and the environment sectors have huge strengths, in public support, the skills and motivation of millions of professionals and volunteers, and significant (although still inadequate) financial resources. There will be some situations when there are real conflicts between environmental and health objectives. In these cases, you can expectWHO to argue strongly for those actions which will save or improve the most lives in the shortest time. But we will be on the same side much more often than we oppose each other. Combating climate change and improving health should be the same battle.
Dr Maria Neira is Director of Public Health and Environment and Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum is a specialist on climate change and health at WHO.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Rush Limbaugh: Obama 'wants people to snap'
Says president seeks 'revenge,' suggests background check on him
PALM BEACH, Fla. – President Obama's newly announced gun-control initiatives are intended as "revenge" against many Americans, as he's pushing them "to snap," claims top-rated radio host Rush Limbaugh.
"I think he wants people to snap. I think Obama is challenging everybody's sanity," Limbaugh said on his show Wednesday afternoon. "Obama [is] literally pushing people to snap, attacking the very sanity of the country."
Obama announced a sweeping set of directives he intends will cut down on Americans' access to guns, setting the stage for a constitutional battle with states where lawmakers already are openly defying the latest power grab by the White House.
His plan would demand federal access to the details every time an uncle sells a .22 to a nephew, would ban some weapons outright through a limit on ammunition capacity, would waive medical privacy laws in some cases so individuals can be reported, and others.
Want to make sure you and your family are fully protected? Check out our self-defense section in WND's Superstore.
Coming on the heels of a recent birth-control mandate, Limbaugh noted, "All of this is so in our face. Everything that people hold dear is under assault. Deliberately making people upset. This is not what presidents do."
Speculating why Obama is taking this action, Limbaugh said, "Maybe this is about revenge. Obama used that word when he was on the campaign trail prior to the election. He told his supporters in Ohio to go vote and get their revenge. Revenge against who? Well, obviously the people that disagree with Obama. But who are those people? He clearly knows who they are, and I think the root of this … can be found in the comment that Obama made when he thought he was off the records at a fundraiser in San Francisco when he talked about the 'bitter clingers.'"
In 2008, Obama made the "bitter clingers" comment, referring to small-town Pennsylvanians upset over a number of issues, saying "It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
"These are people that the liberals all know," Limbaugh said. "These are 'the not very bright people' that want life to never change. They don't want any progress. They want to remain cloistered in their archaic, antique past and when things don't go right, when there's too much change, when there's too much progress or progressivism. Like when there's civil-rights laws, they don't like it. When there's gay rights and gay marriage. They don't like it. When there's all kinds of cultural rot on TV, they don't like it. … That's who Obama wants revenge on. Maybe he has an active dislike for the people he calls the bitter clingers. That birth-control mandate was revenge on the bitter clingers."
Limbaugh also came up with an absurd way to help put an end to abortion in America.
"You want to know how to stop abortion? Require that each one be carried out with a gun," he said.
Among Obama's 23 executive orders presented today several are aimed at upgrading the system of background checks for gun purchases.
Limbaugh noted, "If we're going to have universal background checks on virtually everybody who buys a gun, you think maybe it's time to require a background check on anybody wanting to be president? I would submit to you we still have not had a background check on Barack Obama.
"We are soon to be starting the second term of Obama's regime, year number five without a background check. And by that, I mean the media have never vetted Obama. Low-information voters have no idea who he is. A majority of people who vote don't really know anything about Barack Obama. Background checks, anybody?"
And regarding Obama's push to drive citizens to snap, Limbaugh said, "You just be cool and calm. Everything's going to be fine. I'll tell you when it's not."
Poll: Seeds of tyranny present in America
Obama plan: 'Assault-weapon' ban, universal background checks
47 states revolt against Obama gun control
Rush Limbaugh: Obama 'wants people to snap'
'Obama has dramatically overshot'
Oops! Gun-map hate mail goes to wrong paper
Constitution 'no impediment' to Obama
Chicago murders top Afghanistan death toll
Virginia's solution to guns in school
See WND's latest columns on gun control:
Guns don't kill people, the mentally ill do by Ann Coulter
What happened to Lanza's 4 handguns? by Jack Cashill
The consequences of volatile speech by Phil Elmore
It's all about safety by Craige McMillan
Guns and government by Andrew Napolitano
'Gun Culture' – what about the 'Fatherless Culture'? by Larry Elder


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Monday, November 12, 2007
It's really high time that I did a giveaway on this blog. I might do 1 every fortnight up until Christmas or something. Well, the thought is there, I'll try to follow through with it :)
Anywhoo, below is a pile of fabric from my stash. There's quite a lot there, but it's not all good. Some of the larger pieces have print defects - some minor, some serious. All cut-around-able. Most of the smaller pieces are completely fine.
The pile will go completely free to a fellow Aussie, or $10 to cover postage if the winner is anywhere else in the world. To go into the draw just leave a comment on this post and tell me what sorts of things you like (or would like) to make out of my fabric. Always useful to know!
116 comments:
- Kristi said...
I can barely sew a button on, so it would go to my handbag-crafting twin in a heartbeat!
- 1:05 pm
- Yuko said...
that's a great idea!
i have so many mis printed fabrics.
i might give away too. ;)
- 1:32 pm
I make cards & I would love to use some of your fabrics to bring my cards to life! I can also see a few little Christmas presents to make, for my sister's family (in Ireland ) in there too!
- 1:34 pm
I'd make pockets! Ones for the outside of my clothes for everyone to see the beautiful fabric and special secret ones inside so that only the wearer knows that they are there!
- 1:39 pm
- flanthrower said...
Oooooo! Giveaway! I LOVE your fabrics. I'd most likely use them in making bags since I've been on a big handbag kick lately, but really I think the possibilities are infinite!
- 1:47 pm
- jo said...
Where to start? If I had some large enough pieces, I'd love to make (another) Lotta Jansdotter sun hat. Otherwise, little purses for the girls in the family, or embellishments for bags, or softies for some new babes...
- 1:51 pm
- Jo said...
i have just received a number of japanese girls dress pattern books - and am enjoying making some wonderful summer clothes for my one year old, Daisy. For sure, I would love to make her some clothes with these fabrics as little feature elements... you never know there may even be enough to make some girls clothing to give away on my blog :)
- 1:51 pm
- Mel Goodsell said...
Thankyou for the give away opportunity, your fabrics are gorgeous!
I'd like to make some nice pillows for long journeys in the car.
- 2:11 pm
- funkylamb said...
Like everyone else, I find it hard to think of a single use but I'd definitely use some to make the decorative panels on Mei Tai's (baby carriers) and others to make cards or to cover books...drool....
- 2:11 pm
- Lindsay said...
It's so pretty. I think initially I'd keep it aside for a very special project, and then I'd make it into a gift for someone, possibly a cute little stuffed toy, or maybe it would turn into a purse or a bag.
- 2:12 pm
Hi Lara, I'd use your fabric to make a spiffy little collar for my cat so that he would be the funkiest kitty in the neighbourhood!
Lisa (firstname.lastname@example.com)
- 2:17 pm
- Ali said...
Mmmmm, I tend to let the fabric decide what it wants to be, but I can see possibilities. Like pockets. Some new pillows to make a shabby rented loungeroom feel more like home. Some reusable shopping bags to wrap xmas presents in. Maybe some napkins, for the times I'm pretending to be a grown-up? A soft toy for my niece? The only thing I can say for sure is that I would put it in a pile and look at it and finger it and dream for a good few weeks.
- 2:22 pm
- caz said...
oh how generous lara!
i'm currently obsessing about making toys for friends' littlies (not me yet - bursting my mum's hopeful bubble...)
or maybe a patchwork apron? (to appease mum ;p)
ps: love the bobbin badges!
- 2:25 pm
- Megan said...
Yes, generous. And for your fabric, who could turn down such a chance?
I mostly make soft toys and patchwork items, and I see a big beautiful bunch of rabbits sitting in this pile just waiting to jump out. Also some Christmas ornaments. And like Ali, napkins, because I love odd napkins.
- 2:29 pm
- pinkchook said...
Uhmm cushions, details for bags, pockets for my jeans, coasters,softie. Oh there is just so much that could be done,some times its the littlest accent that can make an item.
- 2:30 pm
- Katherine said...
Yay, fabric! I would make some of your bookcovers and maybe a pretty wallet, too.
- 2:32 pm
- Amy said...
I would love to use these fabrics in making some hand bound journals as Christmas gifts for family, while I wait for my first baby to arrive ;)
- 2:34 pm
Your fabrics are so fab that the problem is what not to make out of them, or my other problem is that special fabrics need extra special projects that do them credit and don't waste them! With Xmas coming soon the honorable thing would be to make them into gifts especially as you are being sooooooo generous to give them away and perhaps make one thing to keep for myself, perhaps a small satchel for taking craft projects on car trips etc.
- 2:35 pm
- christina said...
I'd make hats and tops for some soon-to-be-born babies, and potholders to give away as holiday gifts. And maybe a little zippered pouch to keep in my handbag.
- 2:51 pm
- paperseed.wordpress.com said...
I think a giveaway is a great idea and as a matter of fact, I just started one too. Every sunday from now through the holidays I'm posting something free to download. I feel like its my way of giving back into the blogosphere.
I am just beginning to learn to sew and I am so excited about it (although, its really hard to find great fabric patterns like yours or lotta jansdotter's, for example. Your pile of scraps might turn into a patchwork apron, or a nifty new collar for my beloved dog, Barkley... the possibilites are endless!
- 2:52 pm
- vanou said...
I would send it to my friend right away...
She just got a new house, loves decorating, is great with a sowing machine and i'm sure would do great things with your material.
She's far away from home and to keep her mind of this, she crafts her little heart out.
- 2:57 pm
- siagrafica said...
yay, a kirin 'giveaweh'!
I'd make some tissue cozies like the ones on craftapalooza, or a cozy/fabric roll for my pens and brush pens {I always carry them with me so a cozy/fabric roll would come in handy}... or:
a nice collar thing for my cat Parker, because all the collars {with bells attached} from the pet store are dull. my cat would ROCK the neighbourhood with a kirin collar...
- 3:04 pm
- Hollabee said...
great idea...and it doubles your readership too ;) might do one myself one day...
- 3:07 pm
- l.y. said...
Since I can only sew straight lines, I imagine I'd use these to make wallets, gift card holders, a small tote...
- 3:10 pm
- Becky O. said...
I might use up the pieces as buttons... but I love the look of your lampshades. Perhaps a nightlight? Larger ones will be wristlets or bags : )
- 3:19 pm
- Sam said...
Hi Lara. Thanks for the opportunity. It is so nice that you are spreading some love around!
I have such a hard time cutting into your fabric that I think it would definately sit tempting me for some time before I sew it - probably into some applique's for t-shirts for my nieces - maybe some panels in a matching skirt and a little wraparound top. definately some coin purses and I would save some for the day I have a child to make a special quilt for!
- 3:23 pm
I've just used a bunch of your linen/prints to make some baby items. So cute!
Add my name to the list and I'll pay the $10. shipping if I get selected.
- 3:23 pm
- linda p said...
i'd use it in one of my many patchwork projects, i want to make a few hot mitts, pincushions and journals for the people on my list. (linda at lindamade dot com)
- 3:28 pm
- Rachelle said...
I never win these kind of things but I just love your fabrics so much I have to give it a try. I would use your beautiful creations for any of the hand bags I make or definitely something out of the new crafting book I just got :)
- 3:32 pm
- Pixie said...
I'd like to decorate my son's (aged 13)bedroom with black and white prints, or chocolate ones, with a shot of that clear bright blue. A duvet cover, some cushions, some stretched over a frame to be art, a blind, some desk accessories. He'd be so cool. Maybe one day!
- 3:35 pm
- Hyena In Petticoats said...
Jeepers - free stuff brings us all out of the woodwork, doesn't it?
I like that you're sending out some inperfects - it's like test prints and things like that, they can be beautiful in thier own way, even though they dont make the cut for the "professional" lot.
It'd be too wasteful not to use them!
So I'd make stuffed toys probably, though the mysteries of my craft room mean that they could come out as pretty much anything.....! The cathedral window quilt tends to munch up all the new fabrics that appear in this house, too!
Enjoy all those fabulous comments you're getting!
Leah xx
- 3:36 pm
- missmeshell said...
Oh how exciting! When I get some time, I intend to make lots of homewares with your lovely fabrics! I love the potholders you made. I really want to stretch one of the blue trees pieces over a canvas for the wall, I've used some of my rust/yellow poppies piece within a quilt, the colour just pops!
- 3:40 pm
- flygirl said...
luverly fabrics! i would make pressies for all my friends, including several years worth of backlog. probably bags and such like. then i would fill them with more pressies.
- 3:41 pm
- leslie said...
i love your fabric. yes, i do. and i'll even toss in some local japanese fabric with the $10 postage request.
- 3:43 pm
- Alina said...
Gosh... Well i'd be framing some on the wall, making a softie - perhaps for mirabel, cushion covers, and maybe even a lamp shade as laid out in your tute! And with the last bits I'd make a
scrap scarf from the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book...
It's v. generous of you to do this... I have been stalking your etsy shop for the fabrics... and finally found them at Mikes!
- 3:43 pm
- Anna said...
Oooh this is exciting! I would use it to create or embellish clothes (think of Akira-esque Bonds singlets and you get the idea) :)
And maybe pincushions. I'm kind of going though a pinchushion stage at the moment..
- 3:51 pm
- Tam said...
Ooh, so many options... I think some would cover some canvases and get hung on my living room wall (it desperately needs some colour!), and some would get sewn to linen to make some loverly napkins perhaps... And I don't think I'd be able to resist a bag, or a softie or two...
- 3:52 pm
- leslie said...
hmmm, definitely some patchwork cushions.. it would be really cool to make one with snippets of each of your fabrics, sort of a lara tribute : )
- 4:00 pm
- dani (pyglet) said...
WOW-WEEE!! What a bundle!
I'm making key-huggies and softies at the moment. Would be fantastic for either...
...my fingers are crossed!
- 4:11 pm
- rohanknitter said...
I like to make little zipped bags, or larger tote-style bags, I also think that fabric would make a cute potholder, or .......?
- 4:21 pm
- Ohm and the Art of Applicque said...
How could I resist leaving a comment after being a silent reader for so long.
I make art quits , fabric post cards and ATCs, so whatever is sent, is bound to find a home somewhere in a design.
Liz in Sydney ( email@example.com)
- 4:22 pm
- haleytucker said...
wow, It would be so great to actually win some of your fabrics! I've been mooning over them but always seem to miss out on the packages you post on etsy :/
- 4:34 pm
- Kloth & Bolt said...
wow! what a great give-away! i am kinda on a clothes kick at the moment, i love it for some applique for my son's summer tee's and maybe as some emblishments for a skirt or dress...or maybe a skirt or dress...-kb
- 4:34 pm
- Green Kitchen said...
Maybe some patchwork pants for my little boy? Little bits are always good for a mini quilt.
- 4:35 pm
- patricia said...
Oh thanks for offering!
I've been needing some little zippered pouches and these would work out great!
- 4:37 pm
- jilly said...
These need desperately to be made into some funky journals!
- 4:40 pm
- Geek+Nerd said...
Oooh, I think bodies for matryoshka dolls that I'm drawing up, or patchworks, if I got any pieces of your birch tree material I would try to use it in some fashion in our bedroom, because I'm trying to go for a nature-y theme. Your fabrics are so beautiful!
- 4:40 pm
- emma said...
Well I've been admiring your fabrics for a while. If I got my hands on some of that stash I would probably use it to make one or two of the sunhats in Lotta Jansdotter's book, which I'm already planning to make for my grandma for Christmas. She's going back onto chemo but I think her beanies might be a bit too warm to wear through summer. I was going to make a plain one but some of your prints would look great!
- 4:48 pm
- Karen said...
Oooh how lovely, I'd do appliques with some to make the fabric stretch as far as possible and then put some of it onto little canvases to put on the wall in my girls' room, and maybe a wallet for my Mum.
- 4:53 pm
- SQUID37 said...
Wow, how generous! Thanks so much for this giveaway, I love your fabrics! I've been wanting to make placemats, coasters and things for the kitchen!
- 5:08 pm
- Elizabeth said...
Fantastic giveaway. I'm really needing some new coasters and some new throw pillows, so I figure with all of that fabric I could have some of both, along with some extra to add to my stash for future when-the-mood-strikes projects.
- 5:29 pm
- Natalie said...
This is rather exciting, I always check for your fabrics on etsy, but never get there in time before they sell out!
I'd love to make little stuffed toyes with massive heads with these :D
- 5:51 pm
- Melanie said...
Well for me they would have to be made into quilts! I always dream when I see your fabric in your etsy but never have enough money at the time
- 6:03 pm
- linda said...
Love your fabric - and would have used it for CD-holders!!
- 6:22 pm
- Danielle said...
One of your tissue box holders and some small purse sizes tissue holders were the first things that came to mind. I love your prints so much that I'd want to make them into everyday items.
- 6:24 pm
- ninadanwar said...
i can sew my new diary cover .and also my sling/ cross body bag...woow!! it will be great!!
- 6:35 pm
- Dako said...
I would probably make something nice for my girlfriend.
- 6:36 pm
- Melanie said...
Ooh, what a purdy pile of fabric :) My 'to-do' list includes making some of those cute little pencil/crayon rolls seen around craftland lately for my nephew and kids for Christmas. Not to mention one of your book covers for myself, and perhaps a wheatbag as well.
- 6:54 pm
- Jason said...
I prefer to use scrap fabric on my collage bags and pouches. So if I won, I would use them for that. And I am happy paying for the $10.00 postage.
- 7:01 pm
- Siany said...
Im only new to sewing, so I make lots of smaller items - a few purses, a deposit-book cover, some bags etc, but Ive got a small collection of beautiful fabrics and I would LOVE to add these!! Im also a scrapbooker,and fabric looks great on a layout!
- 7:11 pm
- Minnie said...
Hello Lara,
what a lovely thing to do. I'm thinkin' details on napkins for the christmas table.
I like a mixed-up ecclectic table setting. As long as everything is gorgeous and thoughtful it works even though it doesn't match, as such.
- 7:44 pm
Lovely idea and especially good to spark some crafty inspiration. I think I'd like to try my hand at making a window furnishing for my little baby's (Herb's) bedroom. Use some clever blockout product on the back of the fabric and make his window beautiful. If Herb and I were the lucky winners of your giveaway, the sun wouldn't get a chance to shine in his bedroom - the blind would always be down :-)
- 7:50 pm
- lupinbunny said...
I would make patchwork potmitts for people for Xmas gifts. Or if the pieces were large enough, a Martha Stewart bias tote bag (you can google it). Or an apron/ pockets/ trim on an apron. I'm all about the aprons this Xmas.
- 8:36 pm
ohh , so many things I would like to make, I would like to frame them to make some small medium wall art for my studio,with this tutorial
Or cover various wood boxes to keep sewing notions, I'll also like to cover-decorate some IKEA KNUFF magazine files, A nice little bag to carry my camera would be nice also... I can keep going !
So many ideas!! ^_^ for your precious fabric
- 8:49 pm
- Mel.J said...
I've been making those fabric covered notebooks & these would be great for that. Also I would love to use these for applique on my kids clothes & add a matching bag. (My 4 yo is a bit of a bag lady.)
- 9:02 pm
- Jen said...
So many wonderful ideas for your fabrics. I agree with them all - and would probably use them for patchwork aprons or a small quilt.
- 9:04 pm
- Bloom said...
Oooh, the possibility of winning some of your wonderful fabrics just makes my heart beat faster! I have been watching for your fabrics on Etsy as I am specifically looking for something modern & gorgeous to make gifts for my children's teachers. I am hoping to make some Pink Chalk Studio pencil rolls which need a special feature fabric on the outside. Yours would be perfect. Aaah, be still my beating heart! I will wait (impatiently) for the draw!
- 9:11 pm
- pipst*r said...
ooh gosh, i'm heading overseas again next year, so i'd make some rather glamorous travel accessories such as stuff sacks for my socks and smalls and a passport / ticket holder!
- 9:22 pm
I would make bags and pillowcases and bunny softies, fast and reliable projects for Christmas presents.
- 9:34 pm
- Shai Coggins said...
I do mixed media work and I'd love to use your fabric in my projects. Either in paintings or in my blank art journals. Or maybe, I'll venture in to sewing!
I've been meaning to buy some of your fabric on Etsy, but they're always sold out. :-(
- 9:40 pm
- Kristy said...
I would love to get my hands on some of your fabric I think it would make lovely Simplies
- 9:57 pm
- spider_knit said...
Those with green or brown would go to making patchwork cushions for my new quiet room in my new house. Those with red would go to making little things for my daughter, who's favourite colour is red. Anything else... Um... well, I want to make some small soft toys for my nephews-in-law for Christmas. (New house = limited funds for buying crafty stuff ;)
- 10:31 pm
I feel a bit guilty delurking today, but I won't feel too guilty if I get my hands on some of your beautiful fabric! :) I am fairly new to sewing and am overwhelmed by all the possible sewing projects I'd like to take on, but I'm finding that the fabric I love tends to dictate what I make, and I think your fabric would be perfect for my first attempts at bagmaking. Or maybe for a lampshade using your wonderful tutorial. Maybe both! :)
- 10:51 pm
- Sarah said...
Covers for books is the first thing that springs to mind, little pocket notebooks with coloured pages to match. Or pin cushions, or a patchwork quilt... the possibilities are endless! I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)
- 11:01 pm
- Maria said...
I am seeing my mum on the 1st of December, she's overseas and we haven't seen eachother for 2 1/2 years. I am bringing my girls to Denmark for Christmas.I would use the fabric for mum and me to make make-up bags for christmas presents for my grandmother and my sister. We'll sew every night when the kids are asleep and chat for hours to catch up on lost time.
- 11:02 pm
christmas stockings and gift bags
- 11:23 pm
- Concha said...
bags bags and bags!!
- 11:52 pm
hmm i hope it's not too late to enter.. i just adore your fabrics! i bought kikki-k pencils and pens for my mum n dad n sister for christmas that really need pencil cases.. or as i always have ten projects going on at once, the pieces may become feature panels on a bag or cushion, or part of my summer quilt i'm working on, or a fabric belt design i'm toying with.. of course, one needs time to see and feel the fabrics first..
- Jaz (email@example.com)
- 12:17 am
I've been making a pillow using fabric of yours I already have, but I think the small pieces would be great for some patchwork totes I've been working on!
- 12:19 am
- Janick - Nea Jewelry said...
I'm in the jewelry department, so for sure some pendants or fabric jewelry!
I also do paper items in my other Etsy shop, so probably cards with your fabric would look fa-bu-lous!! :P
- 12:26 am
- Jaime said...
An obvious answer would be to make handbags or purses... but I'd love to use the fabric to make cushions for my lounge room. And now that I've had that thought (and just realised that they would look perfect), if I don't win I'll have to buy some of your fabric to make the cushions.
- 12:35 am
- Monty said...
Oh, how exciting! Your fabrics are so lovely. I'd probably make a nice big totebag like I've been wanting, and maybe some pillows and stuffed animals.
☺ Monty
- 12:39 am
- Meghan said...
I'd probably spend a fair amount of time admiring it--opening it up, folding and re-folding it--until I got inspired as to what each piece should make. Perhaps a clutch? An accent fabric on a garment? A book cover? A wallet or coin purse? The possibilities are endless.
- 12:45 am
fit would be VERY tempting to just keep all your fabric to myself and make things for me.... but in a few weeks i will have to start making my family xmas presents.
so lets see... the material would be used as part of an apron for my 'i love cooking' nephew, a bag for sister #1, hot water bottle cover for sister #2, tea cozy for sister #3, coasters for my mum and a clutch (xmas present to myself)!
- 12:45 am
- matthew h said...
Ooh, I would make little piggy stuffed animals for my new little niece for her christening, Christmas, and just because she's a cutie!
- 12:57 am
- Cara said...
I would gladly pay $10 for all that great fabric, I think I would cut out some shapes and put them onto some tee's. and make little clutchs for my friends and the list could go on!
- 2:17 am
- Sequana said...
Oh, pls, pls, pls to the blogger goddess....I want these SO much.
The one piece of fabric of yours I've gotten so far is being used as a stand-alone wall hanging, it's so beautiful.
- 3:17 am
- Dawn said...
I love your fabrics and would probably make Christmas ornaments for all my friends and family here in the US and UK. I recently purchase Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts and there are a lot of great tutorials that would work perfect with your fabric stash "Giveaweh."
- 3:28 am
Yeah! Thank you for this giveaway. I would so happily use your fabric for bird's wings!
- 3:33 am
- julia said...
Uuuuh, I have a thousand ideas about what to make with your fabric. Bags, baby booties, and... well, 998 other things.
- 3:41 am
- futuregirl said...
I would love to use them as linings for my handbags and wristlets. :)
- 3:53 am
- ~S~ said...
Leaving a comment for the Giveaway! Thanks~!
- 4:01 am
- Amber said...
I'd love to make linings for handbags, journal covers, tissue cozies, you name it!
- 4:04 am
- Melissa said...
I actually checked out your etsy store the other day, hoping that you had some fabric available because I really want to make Christmas stockings for me and my hubby. I thought your fabric would be perfect. So if I won, that is absolutely what I'd do!
- 4:16 am
- Heather said...
Looks like fun prints - I've been wanting to add some flair to my sons' room: cushions, covering frames, stuffies, a new pocket on a dull pair of jeans, over-the-shoulder bags for their little selves...
- 4:25 am
- Mich said...
I would love to begin a beautiful fabric collection with your fabric. (I'm sorta new at this:)
But I have a big desire to use that fabric to make a log cabin pillow. I also really want to make a quilt so I can definitly see that fabric coming in handy for that. Thank you!
- 4:26 am
- darling said...
I'd make pillows, table runners, place mats and save some scraps for collage and special art projects! xo
- 4:28 am
- Katy said...
I make softies, so I think I'd have to make some of those with the fabric...but I'd also have to keep some for myself, and make a few corsages and patchwork cushions.
In reality though, I'd probably be too scared to snip into it, and would treasure it and touch it every day!!!!
- 5:15 am
I would love to make some throw pillows for my mom to spruce up her new couches. I'd also love to put the fabric to use for a brand new stylish winter jacket for my dog, Sally!
Caitlin (email@example.com)
- 5:29 am
- Louise said...
I only discovered your blog and wonderful fabrics a few months ago. I managed to snap up a small piece of the red bonsai fabric from duckcloth but I missed out on your other lovely designs. I'm planning to make a few christmas gifts this year so I would use the fabric in zippered pouches, coasters, accents on totes, softies... Oh, the possibilities!
- 5:45 am
An iPod case. And coasters. And a bit into a quilt. **swoon**
- 7:47 am
- Jade said...
i have begun using your fabrics to make covers for some hand-me-down floor cushions. i plan for them all to be covered in a different one of your fabrics. i have also used riverstones to make cards for friends... but the possibilities are endless.
- 8:15 am
- Leigh said...
I would love to quilt some of your fabric! I have started a cathedral windows quilt and little scrappies would be perfect!
- 8:47 am
- sheetal patel said...
i would love to do some fabric canvases for my apartment walls (which are a horrendous shade of white that can't be changed! :()
i love your fabric!!!
- 8:57 am
- Sarah said...
Love seeing the new designs you print, i've always wanted to make a wallent and mine got stolen in the weekend so I'm trying to it as a chance to make something new! :)
- 9:39 am
Oh how exciting! I love your fabrics, just a far too pov uni student to buy them lol. Well firstly I'd make a tissue box cover if there were large enough pieces, (i really like the pattern you have in an earlier blog, I made some with less trendier fabric for xmas presents already). Oh and I'd definately make little 'emergency parking meter funds' which I plan to make out of japanese box patterns, but I think if I put some iron-on fusing I could make them with fabric, fill them with small change and give them as Christmas presents for people to put in their glove box. I reckon they'd come in handy now and then :) And oh... if there's more fabric left over, I would make little zipup bags just to put anything into! Bags are pretty useful things afterall!
- 10:02 am
Oh yeah, thanks Lara!
I would love to make a skirt from your fabric, these pieces are probably a bit small for that but pockets and a tie around the waist on a plain colored skirt could be on the cards.
Or a zippered coin purse and a pencilcase for my drawing pens would make me very happy :)
- 10:47 am
Oh yey exciting!! This is very in the christmas spirit! I think i would use your fabrics to make my 2yr old neice a little smock dress with big buttons and pockets, however ive only just taken up sewing for, as im studying jewellery at uni, (though i may convert) and im still very wobbly on the sewing machine!! though i love the cat collar idea..... hhmm i dont think my cat would be too pleased though, he has no fashion sense!
- 10:51 am
- Lissy said...
well... if I have to cut it up ...I quite fancy making a lampshade...not that I have any idea how...and some thing else decor-ish!
- 2:05 pm
- The Parsons Family said...
mmmm yummy... I make baby backpacks out of denim with cool fabric on one side and your fabrics would rock!
xox Chelsea
- 3:12 pm
- lindsey clare said...
Christmas decorations, for sure. little doves and conifers and teeny little stockings, all with ribbon loops. or maybe garland-style!
with the leftovers i would make one long piece of bias binding to use as gift ribbons to wrap everything up!
brown/red/mustard/orange/grey/blue/white is a perfect colour combo for Christmas, right..?
- 3:13 pm
- Kirsten said...
I am new to sewing, but strangely drawn to sewing bags and purses. Funny since I don't usually carry one. I am also dying to try my first quilt, so would love to use some on that. Thanks!
- 3:17 pm
Hi Lara,
Such a beautiful stack of fabric! I'm hoping to make a softie for the Mirabel donation (if I can get my act together by the 20th) and would love to use some of your material.
- 3:46 pm
- megsie said...
oh my! i nearly didn't respond when i saw the sheer number of comments but how could i pass up such an awesome opportunity. I mix applique with paint on kiddies tops so i would probably use it for one these. However, i have been wanntng to make my daughter a special dress so i would probably use it with some paints on a super special frock
- 4:08 pm
- ragtime girl said...
well I've been lurking for a while, so here goes...probably use my Bend the Rules Sewing book and do lots of nice placements and napkins to spruce up the dining table for the festive season. cheers, Marita
- 4:14 pm
- ShiriMe! said...
hi lara! a giveaway sounds like a great idea. i should do that too at some point, once i actually have items to give away.
i love your fabric and could envision myself making a patchwork pillow or a really neat apron or a tote bag. if i learn how, i may even set aside some fabric for making the cover to a notebook (will need to purchase strong adhesive...)
- 4:28 pm


text:
I am uploading my Hand Made Documents for you only on your request, So that you can download it from here. But one thing keep in mind that, this is only the hand made notes. If you want detailed knowledge then watch my video on YouTube. I am telling this because many important points I cover during making of video, so if you want to know in detail then watch my video whose link is given below.
Video Link : CLICK HERE


text:
Today I took Toby for a very short, first muzzle walk. I probably rushed it, but he did great all things considered. He did try to get it off a couple of times but I can say this much about a Baskerville muzzle- that bad boy probably isn't coming off if you use all three security points. There is a loop around the collar, the behind the head strap, and a strap that goes up between the eyes to the behind the head strap. I think Toby wearing a muzzle in public could really help me as far as actually getting him out again and not having to worry (AS MUCH) about off leash dogs and the likes. Obviously a muzzle isn't 100%, but it's certainly helpful. And sends a huge message to everyone that has an off leash dog that thinks it's okay to let it run up to my dog. Haha
I'm really pleased with the Baskerville, I just don't know if it's a good fit for him. I'm not experienced with basket muzzles at all, but it seems a little tight around his muzzle (width wise) and seems to squeeze the side of his face and sit really close to his eyes. It's also a fair bit too long... I did quite a bit of research before choosing this one and it had great reviews, I'm just concerned about it being comfortable for him.
I did do some prep work as outlined in the blog here: http://tubular-toby.blogspot.com/2012/1 ... uzzle.html . So he already associated the muzzle with awesome stuff and he also adjusted fairly quickly on our walk. Other than trying to get it off occasionally, he seemed to be doing okay. I'm also going to be buying a larger harness for him. We walked around for like 5 minutes today and kept it short, but this one is definitely snug on him now.
Does anyone have any muzzle recommendations that might be more customizable to his short, wide muzzle? Or does this one seem okay? I can definitely take more pictures next time he has it on.
Oh yeah, please excuse all the Kong spray treat on his muzzle.


text:
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Dragonsdoom's roots started as a hardcore gamer; playing hundreds of hours of Counter-strike, Baulder's Gate and Sim-style games for years. Even as he played such games, he was fascinated with the concept of 'Level Editors', creating many small levels for such games as Sim City, Age of Empires and Stronghold. He eventually experimented with further design concepts such as GUI style mods in Age of Empires. After a time, he decided to become a developer himself, to be more than a consumer amongst the horde and give back to the community. He learned true 3d level design by starting on the Source engine, and is currently learning how to do do every aspect of game development in the hopes of starting his own indie company with some college pals.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods and Kings is the first expansion pack for Civilization V - the critically acclaimed 2010 PC Game of the Year. This robust expansion covers the entire scope of time from founding your first Pantheon of the Gods and spreading religion across the world, to deploying your spies in enemy cities in order to steal information and technology. As you move through the ages, you'll interact with new types of city-states, engage in new city-state quests and global competitions, and master exciting new systems for land and naval combat. Civilization V: Gods and Kings will also include nine new civilizations, nine new wonders, three original scenarios, and dozens of new units, buildings, and techs that will offer even more ways for players to expand their empire and dominate the world.
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Indifference99 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 55 diseños de 16 diseñadores freelance.
M Miller & Son
Now into its third generation of leadership, M. Miller & Son retains the passion and timeless values of its roots. Founded in 1928 by Morris Miller of Newark, New Jersey, M. Miller & Son's initial expertise originated as building and restoration contractors.
The company established itself as a Public Adjusting firm in 1960 by Morris' son, Jack Miller, and grandson, Gerald. With Gerald's three sons now at the helm, decades of experience have enabled M. Miller & Son to be forerunners in this field.
As one of the oldest and most prominent public adjusting firms in the tri-state area, with corporate headquarters in Hillside, New Jersey, M. Miller & Son is an accredited member since 1969 of NAPIA, the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters. We are committed to providing ethical and quality public adjusting services to our clients.
Our primary goal is to assure professional results by maximizing the policyholders' ultimate recovery while providing peace of mind. With over forty years of experience and the favorable settlement of tens of thousands of claims, we have been successful in recovering more from the insurance companies than our clients would be capable of collecting on their own.
M. Miller & Son insures both individuals and businesses who suffer property loss. This can be anyone but generally are middle aged individuals of all backgrounds.
Right now we have a website that has been online for 10+ years. We began the redesign process 3 years and therefore have a second website that is in development but we want to modernize it and blow it away. Therefore you can see both sites to get an idea of where weve come from and where were going.
Our current site - http://www.mmillerson.com
Our second site which never went public - http://www.softwebny.com/miller/index2.html
We want a new design including all the elements on the SECOND site.
The black and orange "M" logo found on the second site will not change!
Our slogans (the ones that rotate) should not change either!
The fonts for our name and licensed public adjuster should not change (the drop shadow CAN be removed)
Please design homepage first and then we can decide on interior pages later
Homepage - the homepage should include the following -
1. our logo
2. the three rotating slogans
3. navigation bar with dropdown menus
4. message from the president
5. why choose us text
6. place holder for the video
7. phone number
8. en espanol link
9. NAPIA logo
10. all current links
11. there should be a lot of pictures of damage on the homepage - they dont have to be rotating like they are now. VERY IMPORTANT - the pictures MUST come from SHUTTERSTOCK NOT ISTOCKPHOTO. This is our stock account and we must stick to it.
http://www.adjustersinternational.com/ - one of our main competitors


text:
Roll the trailer: Kenny hanging with one hand onto the rear axle of a runaway Cobol stagecoach headed straight for a cliff off which a team of otherwise sensible horses soon will be jumping reaching with his other hand to his ankle sheath and pulling out... COPY...REPLACING!]
Well, someone on comp.lang.lisp made a joke about Cobol and Lisp so I thought I would tell this twenty years later still astonishing cobol-and-lisp-separated-at-birth? war story within a war story about how COPY...REPLACING -- no, that is real Cobol , not a Cobol joke -- ended up taking away the award for Best Supporting Language Feature.
A war story within a war story, with the same theme because I guess they shared a central figure, a young project lead we will call (...thinking of a name...) Reggie. That is good. I got it from Regular Guy and I want to make clear that Reggie was a good guy with a good sense of humor, someone I would party with any time, a young guy his manager (another good guy... look, all these people working in tall buildings are good guys tolerating loose cannon per diems like me to get their code written but not inviting us to the company Christmas party (in the cafeteria -- no loss -- I would have showered had I known) actually causing a boycott by one great guy who could not believe I was left sitting alone at my workstation) ... a young guy his manager trusted implicitly I am sure because of Reggie's technical triumphs past.
The outer story is that I was not even supposed to be working on the task from which I was about to be fired for incompetence. I had not even interviewed with Reggie. (Was that the problem? Hmm.) Reggie had gone to an RDB training class and done his first relational schema and an in-house consulting team had deemed it faulty. Reggie's manager backed him so I was brought in as an out-house... hang on... external consultant to provide a second opinion.
I agreed with the in-house team but Reggie would not budge and the manager still backed him (and I need to admit no one was able to make Reggie see his confusion which must be a story in itself because he was listening to us, he really was a good guy). The schema stayed, and a stage was now a phase:
Reggie's mistake was that he saw that two drug trial business objects (phase and stage) both had a one-to-many relationship with the sample biz object, so he treated stage as a phase. But a stage is not a phase. In Phase IV of testing the samples from Phase III were divided into different stages.) But Reg was fixated on that one abstract commonality and could not get past it.
So? Going away lunch for Kenny? Maybe just handshakes all around since I had only been there a couple of weeks? Nope. It turns out I was there for another reason besides my brilliant mastery of relational DB design: they needed someone to grind out nineteen nearly identical query screens which can best be described as exactly what 4GL packages provide at the push of a button.
Feel free to groan.
Yep. Nineteen screens, each aimed at some node in the DB hierarchy. A few fields at the top constituting key fields and selection criteria, while below was a scrolling list of matching items, each column showing some attribute. Select a row, hit the zoom key and.... sorry, could those of you still awake please nudge the ones who are snoring?
The stack was VAX/VMS, COBOL, TDMS for forms management, and I forget what RDB. Based on the nineteen identical screens take one down pass it around eighteen screens to code on the wall functional spec a child of three could see some template approach was in order, if only through the miracle of cut and paste. But I had been around long enough to know how fast the Red Sea can collapse when after cutting and pasting nineteen screens the user comes along and says could these screens work just a wee bit differently?
Now it happens I had been on a project run by a team of English yobbos who had nothing but contempt for us the few American cowboys (they called us) hired to fill some chairs but they were great fun and pretty good and we had together discovered that Cobol not only had copy-replacing but it could even replace part of a name. I forget what it took, but we found just one letter in the ASCII character set (pretend it was the octothorpe) that lets us code:
perform edit-#fieldname.
...in a template and then (guessing at much of this syntax):
copy "edit-template" replacing #fieldname with customer-id.
Well, one was all we needed, so away we went and life was good and now here I am staring at nineteen screens and I forgot to mention Cobol's MOVE-CORRESPONDING which could populate TDMS data records from DB data records if I was bright enough to name things the same and stand back Argentina! Here come the screens!
I told Reggie what I was going to do. He said, Fine. I said it would help knowing which of the nineteen screens was the nastiest (OK, they were not all that identical). He got it. Fourteen, is a beast. It pulls in data from two yadda yadda. Off I went.
You all know how it goes. I spend a week on screen fourteen, not because it takes a week but because I am building a framework, with one eye on the other eighteen screens sitting in the corner. Hell, I even built an IDE.
The command language for VMS was DCL, a gorgeous little thing. This was all before the multi-window days of VMS. Things got a little tedious as I bounced from editing the TDMS form to the Cobol template to the screen-specific Cobol copy-replacing the template to testing the thing, so I wrote a DCL script that just needed to know on which screen I was working and what I wanted to do and then did The Right Thing. When I exited I fell back into the script, which asked what now? Way cool and productive.
Where was I? Oh. You know how it goes. With screen fourteen working I launch into screen one, hoping it Just Works because Reggie and I had picked out A Beast. Ah, not bad. Screen two. Check. Screen three. Here's a twist. Scribble scribble... good.
Screen four. Excuse me? Two lines of info in order to display one detail? Ouch, did not see that one coming. Bang bang hammer thwack... OK. And on we go. Sure, I still had to build a TDMS form for each screen, but I will live. Or so I thought.
It is Monday of week three and Reggie is standing at the door to my windowless little room.
"How's it going?"
"I ask because I haven't seen anything yet."
"Sorry?" Hairs on end.
In five years of programming including three as a pricey independent consultant I had yet to hear one discouraging word from a manager unless you count the time the guy (a very big guy) stood over me beet red literally spitting "Sh*t! Sh*t! You didn't test it, did you?!" as my program gleefully copied only every third record in its first production run because I had left in the bit that did that to make tests run faster. Another day.
"Well it has been two weeks and I haven't seen one screen yet."
"I told you. I am doing all nineteen, not one."
"That's all well and good, but I will be at a class all week, won't be back till Friday, and I need to see something by then."
"Fine." Not sure if you can see the smoke rising from my collar.
It is now Friday noon. Kenny has logged no overtime, but Kenny has had his game face on for four solid days. Co-workers discovered they could rewarm their coffee faster than the microwave if they just put it in the same room with me.
Kenny has little hope of a Hollywood ending, but suddenly Reggie is standing in the doorway, right where he was when he hung the sword over my neck.
"How's it going?
"Good. How was the class?"
"So where do we stand?"
"With the screens?"
"They're done."
"They're done? All of them?"
"Well, if that's true, that's great."
Withering look. And the fun has only begun.
Late Monday Reggie swings by with a list of trivial bugs and issues.
"I really like the way it works."
"It's your design."
"Right," and reaches over his shoulder to pat himself on the back.
Did I mention he was a good guy?
"Could you print out the source code for me? I'll read it on the train."
"Will do," looking forward to the praise and astonishment soon to be heaped on me.
Tuesday. My turn to stand in the door of his office.
"Kenny, I was trying to read your code on the train home."
"First I'm up here, it says perform this, I have to flip down to find it, then there it says perform that, I'm flipping down again, then I flip back up and it says perform something else and I am flipping down again. Then up then down then up again. What's up with that?"
"It's called structured programming. It's in all the books."
I forgot to mention that by this point I had already given notice. I explained that I thought I was signing on for a short DB design review, not a job in a body shop. They reacted with all the chagrin of the monks at learning Ace Ventura was leaving the temple.
"Yeah, well that's all well and good, but if I cannot understand your code we won't be able to use it."
Well, I was right about one thing, only it turned out to be the garbage heap. By now I think I have made clear to my Honored Reader that I do not consider myself an exemplar of human social interaction including especially the delicacy required by the workplace, but what I did next disappointed even myself but felt great because it was so perfectly honest: I slowly closed my eyes, leaned my head against the door jam, and just stayed that way.
Reggie could not help laughing. Did I mention... yeah, I did.
"All, right. Look. We'll do a code walk-through with Roger [his co-lead] this afternoon, see if we can figure this out."
This afternoon. Twenty-thirty minutes. Copy-replacing. Here is the template, here is a usage. The usage has all and only the stuff specific to that screen. The template. blah blah blah. This is here because of screen eight, two lines to show one detail. If you get other screens like that use eight as your starting point. Oh, this is because of fourteen, that special XYZ requirement. Yadda yadda yadda but there was one strange thing and I was deeply worried.
Neither of them asked a question. Ever. Not one. Have I conveyed the smallness of the questioning? This cannot be good, but I had no more to say.
"Any questions? Reg?"
"No." Pause. "Pretty obvious, actually."
And then silence.


text:
If you've ever been in a position where you've bought an app only to have it retired from the iOS App Store and furthermore unsupported as a result of a new paid upgrade, you'll be happy to hear there is a workaround, though it doesn't seem to be a mechanism publicized by Apple. Basically, end users can find their old apps by navigating to the Purchased section of the app store - developers need only send this link to customers looking to download the old app again (with their own ID number, of course): http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftwareRedownload?id=295660203&mt=8&at=10l3Vy&ct=UUimUdUnU14840 . Developers can continue issuing bug fixes and updates to apps that have been removed from sale, so long as they don't delete the old version from iTunes Connect. It's a clunky workaround, and the download link is only accessible from the device, but it works.
Obviously Apple wants to give developers the power to fully and completely pull the plug on old apps, since it pushes end-users to pay for the latest and greatest. Plus if Apple needs to backpedal and remove offending apps that slipped through the approval process, they have a mechanism to do so. It's not such great news for end users though, since they paid good money for their apps, and to have them made inaccessible down the line is just pulling the rug out from under them.
Have you ever been put in a position where one of your older apps was removed from the App Store, never to be found again? Was a decent alternative available, or have older versions provided you with some function that didn't make it to future iterations?
Source: David Smith


text:
As Omaha glories in Creighton Bluejays hoops superstar Doug McDermott's historic season, another local sports figure going for greatness flies under the radar.
Top Rank boxer Terence "Bud" Crawford challenges for the WBO lightweight title March 1 against champion Ricky Burns in the title holder's native Scotland. The scheduled 12-rounder is being televised in the States by AWE, a hard to find cable-satellite network. The fight is scheduled for 2 p.m. (CST).
The CU campus McDermott's put on the map is mere few blocks from The Hood Crawford grew up in and where his recently opened gym, B & B Boxing Academy, 3034 Sprague Street, is located. But these two stars might as well be worlds apart. McDermott's a product of white privilege. His biggest challenge was deciding whether to return for his senior year or sign an NBA contract. The African-American Crawford is a product of the inner city. He grew up fighting in the streets and getting kicked out of schools. On the eve of his first pro bout he was shot in the head on the same mean streets of his youth.
McDermott, soon to be a three-time All-American, is the consensus favorite to win national player of the year honors. He competes before 18,000 adoring home fans. Crawford's compiled a 22-0 record, 16 by knockout, yet he's never once fought professionally in his hometown though he trains and resides here. Where McDermott excels at a team sport embedded in popular culture, Crawford toils at a lone wolf game that's lost traction in this mixed martial arts age. While McDermott's every move is celebrated and scrutinized, Crawford operates in relative obscurity. Unless you follow boxing on HBO, you've likely not seen him fight and until reading this were oblivious to his upcoming title shot.
Decades ago, when boxing still mattered in places like Omaha and when there weren't alphabet soup titles with deluded value, Crawford's world championship bid would have been big news. Still, just getting in this position should be cause for celebration today. If he prevails in Glasgow – oddsmakers and experts give him anywhere from a decent to an excellent chance – he'd be the first major boxing champ from Neb. since heavyweight Max Bear in 1934. The last time a local fought for an undisputed title was 1972, when Ron "The Bluffs Butcher" Stander met heavyweight king Joe Frazier at the Civic Auditorium and got bloodied like a stuck pig for his trouble.
Co-manager-trainer Brian "BoMac" McIntyre feels Omaha's not embracing this historic moment involving one of its own. He says given the way Crawford represents by proudly identifying his hometown on his trunks and giving it props in interviews, it's a shame Omaha doesn't "stand up" for him in return. If that lack of love bothers Crawford the hard-as-nails pragmatist with washboard abs isn't admitting it. He's aware boxing is dead here and he's intent on reviving it. He did soak up support from friends, family and well-wishing fans at a send-off party at Brewsky's before Team Crawford left Feb. 22.
Ask what winning a world title might mean to his community and Crawford answers, "Honestly, I really don't know because Omaha is really big on MMA, Creighton and Nebraska and nobody really talks about boxing that much. I feel if I was to bring that title back here it could boost us or it could just stay the same, where like a handful of people acknowledge what just happened and the rest are still like, Oh, it's just boxing.
"We've got a lot of talent in Omaha but a lot of people give up because of no resources and backing. As a professional you have to go to your opponent's backyard because we don't really have professional boxing in Omaha. I can't remember the last time we had a full professional boxing card in Omaha. It's real down here, so it's real hard to get motivated on boxing."
He hopes his academy does for youth what the CW Boxing Club where he started and still has ties did for him and many others.
"We want to help kids that need help with that father figure in their life by talking to them, teaching them to stay in school and listen to their parents and elders, things like that. A lot of kids in the neighborhood don't have nowhere to be after school. They can just come in here, relieve some stress, relieve some anger. We don't know what's going on in their household. They might be going through a lot and boxing might be the outlet to relieve some of that rather than doing something they'll regret the rest of their life."
Crawford hasn't let Omaha's tepid interest hold him back.
"You know what, he don't give a f___ about that, I swear to God he don't," McIntyre says. "He looks at it like, 'If they do get behind me so be it, if they don't, oh well.' They really weren't behind him when he was an amateur and now that he's here they're really still not behind him. That's just more fuel to the fire to win the fight."
McIntyre, a Team Crawford member since the fighter was a top amateur for the CW, whose namesake Carl Washington discovered the young scrapper, says Crawford's always fought an uphill battle for respect. As a teen Crawford's hot temper made him a handful. After some false starts, CW coach Midge Minor took him under his wing.
"I was a bad kid, when I came in I was just rough, I didn't care about training, nothing, I just wanted to fight," recalls Crawford. "Midge would throw me in there with anybody, he didn't care. Sometimes I'd get beat up, sometimes I'd win. The thing that separated me from everybody else was if I got beat up by one of the older kids I'd come back the next day like, 'I want to spar him, I don't want nobody else but him.' And Midge would be looking at me, 'You've got heart, I like you.' So I'd get in there and keep sparring until I started beating them. I think that's what really elevated me to where I'm at."
Minor, who's old enough to be Crawford's grandpa, has been the main wise counsel and steadying influence for the fighter.
"Anytime I needed anything or needed someone to talk to he was always there," Crawford says. "He's played a big factor in my life. He's a great father figure in my life."
Following stints at alternative schools, Crawford finally found a home at Bryan High School, where he graduated, Despite great success as an amateur, his hard case attitude alienated him from the boxing establishment. He also ran up against the stigma that fighters from here traditionally fare poorly at nationals. Crawford dispelled that image by advancing to the semis of the National Golden Gloves in Omaha. Outside the Gloves he beat virtually everyone in his weight and age class. But the politics of the sport pegged him a bad apple and so certain opportunities bypassed him.
McIntyre says, "He wasn't the poster boy for USA boxing. Terence was a bodacious kid. He's always been the underdog. When he went to the nationals and to the Olympic Trials people said you can't do it because you're from Neb. and they always get beat in the first round, so he's always had something against him."
Crawford never let those perceptions stop him, even after being kicked off the USA team, thus spoiling any chance of fighting in the Olympics, which was fine with the fighter, who had a bigger dream in mind.
Then, as now, nothing gets in the way of what Crawford wants.
"He was ranked number one and there was a national tournament in Calif. we couldn't afford to go to," says McIntyre. "USA Boxing gave him a stipend every other month and he saved his money and paid for his own ticket and hotel. At 17 he went out there by himself, he found a coach to get him to the weigh-ins. He found a way. That will and determination separates him from anybody I've ever run into."
Crawford's not only kept McIntyre and Minor in his camp. he's assembled a team made up of his old sparring partners and coaches. Loyalty is big with him. His other co-manager is Cameron Dunkin, a Las Vegas-based boxing magnet who handles the business side.
Some predict the highly skilled Crawford, who combines quick hands and feet with deft moves and some power, will handle the more experienced Burns. The champ's 36-2-1 record includes many high stakes fights but some recent disputed decisions. Others question how Crawford will deal with such a big stage before a hostile crowd.
Crawford says, "It's going to be a different atmosphere, everybody's going to be against me, but I like it like that because that's just going to feed me energy to shut 'em up and keep 'em quiet."
He's well aware he can't afford to leave anything to chance and give the judges any wiggle room to score the fight in favor of the home boy.
"That's the plan – to dominate like I'e been doing with all my other opponents. In my 22 fights I can't think of a fighter I've fought that won two rounds, so I've just got to be me and do what I do best."
He's keeping his emotions in check leading up to the bout.
"Honestly, I ain't got no feeling at all, like I'm not excited whatsoever. The other day BoMac said, 'Man, ain't you anxious?' and I was like, 'Naw, I'm just ready to fight' I've been doing this all my life, this is my dream. I never wanted to be an Olympian, I never wanted to win a gold medal, I always wanted to be a world champion. I wanted to turn pro at 17 but they insisted I try out for the Olympic team."
With him finally on the cusp of HIS dream he can't afford giddiness.
"This is what I wanted to do, so now that it's here I'm the one who's got to go in there and handle my business and then when I win it I'm going to be happy. It's strictly business right now. I'm not happy I'm fighting for a world title, no. I'm going to be happy when I win it though.
"I'm ready to do what I've been doing all my life and that's showing people how good my talent is."
Many Omaha boxing scene veterans believe Crawford may just be the best fighter, pound-for-pound, to ever come out of here.
Crawford, the father of two children, says his confidence is high because he's left nothing to chance in training. Sticking with a routine that's worked before, he began training for Burns in Omaha, then went to Colorado Springs for the added conditioning high altitude promotes and the better sparring available there, the site of USA Boxing. Being away from home also helped eliminate distractions. McIntyre says it's all about getting focused and following a regimented workout process from 8 to 8 daily that ensures he didn't peak too early.
After the four-week camp Crawford returned home mid-February to fine-tune, stay sharp and maintain just the right edge.
Even after weeks of intense training that encompassed running, swimming, sit-ups and sparring, Crawford says there's still an element of doubt that naturally attends any fight.
"There's always going to be a doubt and a what-if with any fighter, I don't care who he is. They're going to always have doubt in the back of their mind. Did they do enough? What if this happens? What if that happens? But that's when you got to adapt and you got to adjust to the situation and that's what I plan to do."
As for his strategy, he says, "basically it's just me fighting my fight," adding "I just always feel like if I fight like I want to fight can't nobody beat me. I've got so many styles, so it's going to be hard to capitalize on one style because I'll switch up or change it up."
All the coaching and strategizing in the world doesn't mean anything, he says, if you can't execute it.
"It's up to me to establish it and carry it on into the ring. We can train all day, every day, we can do this and that. Like Ricky Burns, he can say he's got something new, he's going do this and that, but all that don't matter if you get in the ring and you can't establish what you want to do. When we get in the ring then it's all going to tell."
Crawford refuses to fight out of character. He's too smart to be drawn into adopting a style or forcing the action that's not in his best interest. Even when boos rained down on him in Orlando, Fla. as he dismantled Russian Andrey Klimov in an Oct. 4, 2013 fight, Crawford was content to stick with his plan of outboxing his foe even though going for a KO would have pleased onlookers and HBO executives. He says he'll neither get into a brawling match with Burns nor take undue chances testing the champ's repaired jaw, which was broken in his last title defense, for the sake of pleasing the crowd or boosting ratings.
"I'm not going to go out there and just go for haymakers and get caught with stupid stuff. I'm just going to go out there and do what I do and if the knockout comes it comes, if it don't it don't. I'm just going out there to win that title and that's the only thing on my mind."
He maintains a healthy respect for Burns or any opponent.
"I don't underestimate nobody. Even if it's a fight I know I'm going to knock the dude out I always go in there like, What if? It keeps me driving, it keeps me on my Ps and Qs, it keeps me more focused because you never know – one punch can beat you."
He says you also won't catch him doing any pre-fight grandstanding or gamesmanship at the weigh-in press conference. Not his style, though he's says if Burns comes at him he'll come right back. However, Crawford does use those occasions to size up his opponent and what he finds can be revealing.
"Sometimes I'll see right through you. I can see in your eyes a little twitch. On the outside you look like you're this big bad guy but on the inside you're afraid for your life. You're a nervous wreck."
At the end of the day, there's nothing about this fight or any fight that scares him. Compared to a bullet in the head it's no big deal.
"I've been shot, I'm not going over there worried about what's going to happen in the ring. I'm ready, period. I've got my mind made up, I've got my goals set, and I'm going up there and I'm going to get it. I'm not going to let nothing or nobody stop me from conquering my dreams."
Meanwhile, Team Crawford asks Omaha to do the right thing and stand up for one of your own as he goes for history.
Read more of Leo Adam Biga's work at leoadambiga.wordpress.com.


text:
"This is one of the most emotional moments in our heritage work for AUDI AG – we have come full circle," stated Thomas Frank, Head of Audi Tradition.
The Type-D twin-supercharged Auto Union racecar has been returned to its rightful home inside the Audi Museum. The car was built in 1939 soon lost inside the USSR for many years after the start of World War 2.
Audi made the purchase a few weeks ago – equipped with mostly original parts. Identified as one of the two legendary "Karassick" cars, Audi now adds to its collection of Auto Union cars raising the number to three of the five originals.
When Auto Union and Mercedes hit the racing circuit in the late 30's, both companies came out swinging for the fences with futuristic design, silver paint and drivetrains still influential today.
Paul Karassik, an American collector of high-class classic vehicles, came to Europe with his wife Barbara, whose family came from Germany, and began to search for the car. As a small boy he had been a spectator in Belgrade at the last Grand Prix held before the Second World War – an unforgettable experience.
Later after immigrating to the USA and becoming successful it became Karassik's goal to find the cars. Since he descended from a White Russian family and grew up in Serbia, no to mention speaking fluent Russian, his mission was reinforced by the universe decades before he set out on the hunt.
Karassik was able to locate two dismantled Auto Union cars in Russia and the Ukraine. After arduous negotiations and a bit of haggling talent, Karassik was able to purchase the both cars.
Once in his possession the cars had to find a way through the Iron Curtain of the Cold War. Several hair-raising trips in delivery vans across the boarder to Western Europe, eventually every part successfully made it out of the USSR.
The cars were shipped to Florida where in autumn of 1990 Karassik made a call to experts, which included AUDI-AG Tradition department, who acted as advisors throughout the restoration.
Sadly none of the original bodywork survived resulting in replica bodywork being constructed by Rod Jolley Coachbuilding in England. Grosthwaite & Gardiner, also of England, was tasked in the actual rebuilding of the cars – having an extensive history in reviving significant racecars to their high-speed glory.
Once completed the cars appeared on the starting line of the 1994 Eifel Classic at the Nürburgring – a sight unseen since 1939. Sadly Karassik's vision of seeing both cars run on the Belgrade Gran Prix circuit would not be realized under his ownership since the Balkan War was firmly underway. Soon the cars would be separated after AUDI AG purchased the 1938 model (single supercharged spec) and the 1939 model (featured here) would be sold to a private collector in Florida.
Now that Audi has acquired the 1939 Type-D the company plans on displaying the vehicle in its Audi Museum in Ingolstadt on a long-term basis, accompanied by its Auto Union brothers the famous hillclimb car Type C/D driven by Hans Stuck, and the 1938 Type-D.
The 1939 Type-D will make its triumphant public debut at the Goodwood Revival in England this September 14-16. Warranting a standing ovation we're sure.