text:
George McGovern, whose death was announced this weekend, is being remembered for his work in the U.S. Senate and for being a consistent, outspoken voice on progressive causes.
But he also provided one other significant service to the country: when he ran for president, he lost big.
Despite his other accomplishments, the liberal senator will always be remembered for losing in a landslide to President Richard Nixon in 1972. That loss was a public service of sorts because landslide elections, to put it bluntly, are good for America.
U.S. & World
Why? Two big reasons. Decisive verdicts from the voters offer clear mandates for the party that wins; this makes it easier to break through gridlock and get things done.
And, as a poiltical matter, landslides are unifying, not divisive. Close elections can divide us -- and create incentives for gamesmanship and controversy over elections that can lead to lasting hard feelings. Think Bush-Gore 2000.
McGovern's death reminds us of the unfortunate development that landslides are in decline.
Our presidential elections are now razor-thin in this era. The 2000 and 2004 elections were extremely close, and polls suggest this year's contest will be extremely close too.
All these close elections have fueled what the UC Irvine election law expert Richard L. Hasen calls "The Voting Wars" in his new book of the same name. Parties and politicians seek every advantage and opening in the voting system that they can; conspiracy theories about votes and elections have flourished.
So in remembering McGovern, we might all say a prayer -- a special prayer that Hasen calls the prayer of election administrators: Please, Lord, don't let the election be close.


text: Louisiana filmmaker, Pat Mire, teams up with veteran filmmaker and cinematographer, Charles Bush, to capture the natural drama of handfishing in this award-winning documentary. Highly visual, the film examines the thrilling regional phenomenon of Cajuns who wade in murky bayou waters to catch huge catfish and turtles by reaching into hollow logs and stumps with their bare hands. Friends and family accompany the handfisherman to the bayou banks for Cajun music, festive cooking, and storytelling, and to witness this increasingly rare tradition. Told from the inside with multiple voices, Mire and Bush explore the chain of events set off by man's attempt to "improve" his environment by dredging bayous in this remarkable study of the relationship between cultural and natural resources.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The SPRY Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Washington Hospital Center, the University of Maryland, and the Community Preservation and Development Corporation partnered to teach seniors tools of the Internet
SPRY Gives Congress a New Look at High Tech Future of Caregiving for Older Adults.
The SPRY (Setting Priorities for Retirement Years) Foundation functions as an "operating foundation" and carries out applied research and education programs designed to enable people to age with purpose, and to continue to have meaningful engagement in their lives. Of special concern are disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.
The SPRY Foundation is interested in the inter-relationships of four basic domains: physical health and wellness; mental health and environment; intellectual and social pursuits; and financial security. SPRY focuses on better understanding the design, dissemination and usage of information in these domains, with a special interest in the appropriate use of modern technology so as people age they can better understand choices, make better life decisions, and continue to live productive and personally satisfying lives.
The SPRY Foundation works with partner organizations to translate evidence-based research into applied settings; and, based on such experiences, to develop strategies and policies that have national implications.
"SPRY Conference Participants June 18, 2006 Photo by R. Adler"
How Science Centers can Engage an Older America
On June 18-20, 2006 in Washington, D.C., the SPRY Foundation in partnership with the Association of Science -Technology Centers (ASTC), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) AARP's Educator Community, and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), together with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), sponsored a ground-breaking national conference to lay the foundation and stimulate the development of creative new strategic partners between seniors and science centers throughout the United States. The primary focus was on programs that would take place at the community level.
"SPRY-ACT Master Training Session, 13 National Trainers, along with Senior Staff and Partner Organization representatives at July 28,2007 session in San Francisco, CA."
Aging and Communications Training (ACT) Project:
This collaborative project, funded by the Retirement Research Foundation, and initiated in 2006 is being planned and implemented by the SPRY Foundation, in partnership with the Baltimore City Commission on Aging and Retirement Education and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A).
Click here to view background information.
Nature of Problem:
The project grew out of an awareness on the part of the SPRY Foundation that there would be an increasing need for training community-based direct care workers as the number of older Americans continues to increase and the demand for these (often low-paid or volunteer) workers expands. In some cases, there is a large gap between direct care workers and their clientele in terms of age, culture, language, and socioeconomic level. By training direct care workers about the basics of aging, communication with older adults (and key issues which arise), and stress management arising from candida yeast symptoms in many cases, this project laid the groundwork for training a core group of master trainers and spreading the curriculum through the n4a network.
Click here to view status report.


text:
Free quotes for PC and Laptop Screen Repair
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Call us now at (02)94101067 to get a free quote or simply contact us through our website
In the light of the information mentioned above, it can almost be taken for granted that there are a number of benefits associated with choosing RepairsXpress if you are looking forward to get your iPhone broken screen repaired in a reliable and efficient fashion. With such a huge list of benefits at your disposal, what else could you possibly ask for? Rest assured, you won't have to be disappointed of making the decision of choosing our services over the alternatives. So what are you waiting for? Choose us now and see the difference for yourself.
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Laptop Screen, VAIO / New Laptop Screen Repair Price: $250


text:
directorychannelSpecial schoolsRemove
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Showing search results 1 - 8 of 8
Belmont Park School
Belmont Park School is a special school for students with challenging behaviour. We have 60 students at Belmont Park. Most…
Belmont Park School101 Leyton Green RoadLeytonLondonE10 6DB
020 8556 0006
Age Ranges: From 7 to 19 years
Inspection Grade: Good
Hornbeam Academy Special Academy
Hornbeam Academy is part of The Hornbeam Academy Trust, a DFE approved sponsor. Hornbeam Academy has two different sites, William…
William Morris CampusFolly LaneWalthamstowE17 5NT
020 8503 2225
Age Ranges: 2 years to 19 years
Inspection Grade: Good
Joseph Clarke School
Joseph Clarke School and Service is situated in Waltham Forest and is a centre of excellence for visual impairment in…
31Vincent RoadLondonE4 9PP
020 8523 4833
Inspection Grade: Good
St John's RC Special School
We aim to offer outstanding education for young people from 5- 19 with a range of learning difficulties including ASD…
Turpins LaneWoodford GreenEssexIG8 8AX
020 8504 1818
Inspection Grade: Good
St Piers School & College
We offer outstanding specialist education for students with neurological conditions and learning disabilities. Set in stunning rural grounds, St Piers…
St Piers LaneLingfieldSurreyRH7 6PW
01342 831202
Age Ranges: 5 - 25 Years
Tree House School
We deliver provision as set out in a child's Statement of SEN/Education, Health and Care plan, and supplement this with…
Woodside AvenueLondonN10 3JA
020 8815 5424
Trinity School
Trinity is the only special school in Barking and Dagenham and we serve the special educational needs of over 280…
Trinity SchoolHeathwayDagenhamRM10 7SJ
020 8270 1601
Whitefield Schools
Whitefield Schools is one of the largest providers of Special Education in Europe, with an international reputation for expertise, curriculum…
Whitefield Schools and CentreMacdonald RoadWalthamstowLondonE17 4AZ
020 8531 3426 Fax: 020 8527 3613
Age Ranges: From 3 years to 19 years


text:
This Toolkit can help. It is designed to assist and educate employers who have made the proactive decision to include transitioning Service Members, Veterans and wounded warriors in their recruitment and hiring initiatives.
The U.S. Department of Labor recognizes that employers can sometimes find it difficult to navigate the plethora of Veterans hiring resources available to them. So, this Toolkit was developed to simplify the process and put valuable resources at your fingertips. It serves to pinpoint helpful tools and outline some important steps to take when designing a Veterans hiring initiative that works for your particular business.
Recognizing that each employer is unique, this guide allows you to select from promising practices and other resources that employers are using to successfully welcome talented and skilled Veterans into their companies. Whether you are looking to create a plan from scratch or retool existing efforts, we encourage you to reference this guide and design an initiative that works for you.
- Step 1 — Design a Strategy for Your Veterans Hiring Program
- Step 2 — Create a Welcoming and Educated Workplace for Veterans
- Step 3 — Actively Recruit Veterans, Wounded Warriors and Military Spouses
- Step 4 — Hire Qualified Veterans and Learn how to Accommodate Wounded Warriors
- Step 5 — Promote an Inclusive Workplace to Retain Your Veteran Employees
- Step 6 — Keep Helpful Tools and Resources at Your Fingertips


text:
Openbox is a lightweight and highly configurable window manager with extensive standards support. Its features are well-documented at the official website. This article will pertain to running Openbox under Arch Linux.
- 1 Installation
- 2 Stand-alone window manager
- 3 Window manager for Desktop Environments
- 4 Preferences
- 5 Menus
- 6 Startup programs
- 7 Themes and appearance
- 8 Recommended programs
- 9 Tips and tricks
- 10 Resources
Openbox is available from the standard repositories:
# pacman -S openbox
Once installed, pacman will direct you to copy the default Template:Filename and Template:Filename configuration files to ~/.config/openbox/, for example:
$ mkdir -p ~/.config/openbox/ $ cp /etc/xdg/openbox/rc.xml ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml $ cp /etc/xdg/openbox/menu.xml ~/.config/openbox/menu.xml
Template:Filename is the core configuration file for Openbox. It is used to manage keyboard shortcuts, themes, virtual desktops and other features.
Template:Filename controls the Openbox application menu that appears when you click on your desktop. The default items are pretty sparse, but it's very easy to modify the menu structure to suit your needs. See the menu section below for more details, or visit the Openbox website.
Stand-alone window manager
To run Openbox on its own, simply add the following to the bottom of Template:Filename:
exec openbox-session
If you have used another window manager before, such as Xfce, and Openbox wont start after logging out of X, try moving the autostart folder:
mv ~/.config/autostart ~/.config/autostart-bak
Using D-Bus/HAL or similar, use this instead:
exec ck-launch-session openbox-session
Window manager for Desktop Environments
Follow the next guide for GNOME 2.24. If it fails try this:
If after installing openbox and trying to log into the 'Gnome/openbox' session but it always fails then you can do the following as one way to achieve running openbox as your window manager every time you log into the 'Gnome' session from your login manager (xdm, gdm, kdm, entrance, slim, etc.)
- Log into your Gnome only session (which would still be using metacity as its window manager) if you aren't already.
- Install openbox if you have not done so already
- Explore your menus to System → Preferences → Startup Applications (possibly named 'Session' for older versions of Gnome)
- Open Startup Application, select '+ Add' and enter the text as seen in the box below whilst omitting the text behind the #.
- Now hit the 'Add' button for that data entry window and make sure the checkbox beside your new entry is selected.
- Thus log out of your gnome session and log back in and you should be running openbox as your window manager.
- Enjoy!
Name: Openbox Windox Manager # Can be changed Command: openbox --replace # Text should not be removed from this line, but possibly added to it Comment: Replaces metacity with openbox # Can be changed
This creates an entry in a startup list which is executed by gnome everytime that particular user's gnome-session is started.
First, create Template:Filename containing the following:
[Desktop Entry] Type=Application Encoding=UTF-8 Name=OpenBox Exec=openbox NoDisplay=true # name of loadable control center module X-GNOME-WMSettingsModule=openbox # name we put on the WM spec check window X-GNOME-WMName=OpenBox
Then, in gconf, set /desktop/gnome/session/required_components/windowmanager to openbox:
$ gconftool-2 -s -t string /desktop/gnome/session/required_components/windowmanager openbox
Finally, choose the GNOME session in the GDM sessions menu.
GNOME 2.22 and previous
- If you use GDM, select the "GNOME/Openbox" login option
- If you use startx, add Template:Codeline to Template:Filename
- From the shell:
$ xinit /usr/bin/openbox-gnome-session
- If you use KDM, select the "KDE/Openbox" login option
- If you use startx, add Template:Codeline to Template:Filename
- From the shell:
$ xinit /usr/bin/openbox-kde-session
Log into a normal Xfce4 session. From your terminal of choice, do:
$ killall xfwm4 ; openbox & exit
This will kill xfwm4, run Openbox, and close the terminal.
Log out, making sure to check the "Save session for future logins" checkbox. On next login, Xfce4 will use Openbox as its WM. To be able to exit the session using xfce4-session, open your file Template:Filename (if it isn't there, copy it from Template:Filename).
Look for the entry:
<item label="Exit Openbox"> <action name="Exit"> <prompt>yes</prompt> </action> </item>
and change it to:
<item label="Exit Openbox"> <action name="Execute"> <prompt>yes</prompt> <command>xfce4-session-logout</command> </action> </item>
Otherwise, using the "Exit" entry of the root-menu will cause Openbox to terminate its execution, leaving you without a window manager.
If you have an issue changing between virtual desktops with the mouse wheel skipping over virtual desktops, open your Template:Filename file and move the mouse binds with actions "DesktopPrevious" and "DesktopNext" from the context "Desktop" to the context "Root" (you may need to define the Root context).
If you want to use the Openbox root-menu instead of Xfce's, you may terminate Xfdesktop by running the following command in a terminal:
$ xfdesktop --quit
However, Xfdesktop manages the wallpaper and desktop icons, requiring you to use other utilities, such as ROX, for these functions.
(When terminating Xfdesktop, the above issue with the virtual desktops is no longer a problem.)
Currently, there are two options for configuring the core Openbox preferences; manually edit the Template:Filename, or use the ObConf tool.
Manual configuration
To configure Openbox manually, simply edit Template:Filename with your favorite text editor. The config file provides plenty of comments throughout, and full documentation is available at the official website.
ObConf is GUI-based Openbox configuration tool, which can be used to set most preferences including themes, virtual desktops, window properties and desktop margins.
To install ObConf, run:
# pacman -S obconf
Application configuration
Openbox features per-application settings, allowing you to define rules for your programs. For example, you can:
- load your web browser on a certain desktop
- load your terminal without a window border
- load your torrent client at a certain position on your screen
These are defined in Template:Filename. As you might expect, the instructions are well-documented within the file itself. Full details can also be found here: http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Help:Applications
The default Openbox menu includes a variety of applications to get you started, but you'll probably want to customize this at some point. There are a number of ways to do so:
Manual configuration
Similar to the Template:Filename file, you can edit Template:Filename with your favourite text editor. Although many of the settings are self-explanatory, full documentation is available.
MenuMaker is a powerful tool that creates XML-based menus for a variety of Window Managers, including Openbox. MenuMaker will search your computer for executable programs and create an XML menu based on the results. It can be configured to exclude Legacy X, GNOME, KDE, or Xfce applications if the user desires.
MenuMaker is available in the community repository:
# pacman -S menumaker
Once installed, you can generate a complete menu by running:
$ mmaker -v OpenBox3
By default, MenuMaker will not overwrite an existing menu.xml. To do so, run it with the -f (force) argument:
$ mmaker -vf OpenBox3
To see a full list of options, run Template:Codeline.
This will give you a pretty thorough menu. Now you can modify the menu.xml by hand, or simply regenerate the list whenever you install new software.
Obmenu is a GUI-based menu editor for Openbox. For those who don't enjoy editing XML source code, this is probably the best option for you.
It is available in the community repository:
# pacman -S obmenu
Once installed, simply run Template:Codeline and add or remove the desired applications.
obm-xdg is a command-line tool that comes with Obmenu. It can generate a categorized sub-menu of installed GTK/GNOME applications.
To use obm-xdg, add the following line to Template:Filename:
<menu execute="obm-xdg" id="xdg-menu" label="xdg"/>
Then run Template:Codeline to refresh the Openbox menu. You should now see a sub-menu labeled xdg in your menu.
This script can be found in Fedora's Openbox package. You will only have to put the script somewhere and add a menu entry.
Here is my paste: http://pastebin.com/f2f827625 And here is the head: http://cvs.fedoraproject.org/viewvc/devel/openbox/xdg-menu?view=markup
Download the one you like (maybe you'll prefer the head version of course). You can put the file anywhere, I used ~/Documents/build/xdg-menu (just modify the menu entry later according to YOUR filename/path.)
Then open your menu.xml with your favourite text editor and add the following entry where you want the new menu (of course, you can modify the label however you want):
<menu id="apps-menu" label="xdgmenu" execute="python /home/shiki/Documents/build/xdg-menu"/>
Save the file, and run: Template:Codeline.
Openbox (and other WMs like WindowMaker and PekWM) allow you to write scripts that dynamically build menus on the fly. Some examples are system monitors, media player controls, and weather forecasts. Many examples can be found on the openbox site.
Xyne has also created a file browser and brisbin33 has one for scanning for / connecting to wireless hot spots (requires netcfg). The relevant forum posts for these utilities are here and here
Startup programs
Openbox features support for running programs at startup. This is provided by the "openbox-session" command.
There are two ways to enable autostart:
- If you use startx/xinit to log into your X session, edit Template:Filename and change the line that executes openbox to execute openbox-session instead.
- If you log in with GDM/KDM, then select the Openbox session and it will automatically use autostart.
Startup programs are managed in Template:Filename. Full instructions and best practices for how to do this are available at the Openbox website.
Themes and appearance
With the exception of the Openbox Themes topic, the following section is intended for users who have configured Openbox to run as a standalone desktop, without the assistance of GNOME, KDE or Xfce.
Openbox themes
Openbox themes control the appearance of window borders, including the titlebar and titlebar buttons. They also determine the appearance of the application menu and on-screen display (OSD).
Additional themes are available from the standard repositories:
# pacman -S openbox-themes
This package is by no means definitive. You can download more themes at websites such as:
- box-look.org
- customize.org
- http://www.minuslab.net/themes/
- http://celo.wordpress.com/themes/
- http://vault.openmonkey.com/pages/openbox
- http://hewphoria.com/?p=submission&type=theme&cat=7
Downloaded themes should be extracted to ~/.themes and can be installed or selected with the ObConf tool.
Creating new themes is fairly easy and again well-documented.
For a GUI theme editor, take a look at ObTheme.
GTK Themes
GTK+ themes can be managed easily with the lxappearance, gtk-chtheme, or switch2 utilities. To install, run:
# pacman -S lxappearance
# pacman -S gtk-chtheme
# pacman -S gtk-theme-switch2
Now you can simply run Template:Codeline, Template:Codeline or Template:Codeline to set the desired theme.
For legacy GTK1 themes, install the gtk-theme-switch package:
# pacman -S gtk-theme-switch
Then run Template:Codeline to select a desired theme.
GTK fonts
To manually change the type and size of your fonts, add the following to Template:Filename:
style "user-font" { font_name = "[font-name] [size]" } widget_class "*" style "user-font" gtk-font-name = "[font-name] [size]"
where Template:Codeline is the desired font and point size. For example:
style "user-font" { font_name = "DejaVu Sans 8" } widget_class "*" style "user-font" gtk-font-name = "DejaVu Sans 8"
Both Template:Codeline and Template:Codeline fields are required for backwards compatibility.
You can also use gtk-chtheme or lxappearance to set GTK font settings. Please refer to the above section.
GTK Icons
First, extract the desired icon theme to /usr/share/icons (system-wide access) or ~/.icons (local user access), then:
Add the following to Template:Filename:
gtk-icon-theme-name = "[name-of-icon-theme]"
where Template:Codeline is the name of the icon theme directory. For example:
gtk-icon-theme-name = "Tango"
Ensure Template:Filename is configured to parse Template:Filename:
# ~/.gtkrc-2.0 # -- THEME AUTO-WRITTEN DO NOT EDIT include "/usr/share/themes/Rezlooks-Gilouche/gtk-2.0/gtkrc" include "/home/username/.gtkrc.mine" # -- THEME AUTO-WRITTEN DO NOT EDIT
You can use lxappearance to choose GTK icon themes. Please refer to the above section.
Mouse cursors
Extract the desired Xcursor theme to either /usr/share/icons (system-wide access) or ~/.icons (local user access). There are also a limited amount of themes available in the community repository that can be installed using pacman.
Add this to Template:Filename:
Xcursor.theme: [name-of-cursor-theme]
where Template:Codeline is the name of the cursor theme directory. For example:
Xcursor.theme: Vanilla-DMZ-AA
To change the size:
Xcursor.size: [size]
Desktop icons
Openbox does not provide a means to display icons on the desktop. PcmanFM, ROX, iDesk, or even Nautilus (and the gnome-settings-daemon) can provide this function.
ROX and PCmanFM have the additional advantage of being lightweight file managers.
Desktop wallpaper
Openbox itself does not include a way to change the wallpaper. This can be done easily with programs like Feh or Nitrogen. Other options include ImageMagick, hsetroot and xsetbg.
Recommended programs
There is list of Lightweight Software at Arch's wiki, most of them nicely fits with Openbox.
Login managers
SLiM provides a lightweight and elegant graphical login solution for standalone Openbox configurations. Refer to Arch's SLiM wiki for detailed instructions.
Qingy is ultralight and very configurable graphical login. It support login to both console and X Windows sessions. It uses DirectFB, therefore it does not start X Windows unless you choose X Windows session. See article about Qingy at Arch's wiki.
Composite desktop
Xcompmgr is a lightweight composite manager capable of rendering drop shadows, fading and simple window transparency within Openbox and other window managers. (It's worth noting that xcompmgr is no longer developed, and so any issues are unlikely to be fixed) (Developed an issue with tint2 0.9, the systray icons have a tendency to corrupt)
Cairo Composite Manager -- A versatile and extensible composite manager which uses cairo for rendering, is an alternative.
Panels, trays, and pagers
There are quite a lot of utilities available that provide a panel (taskbar), system tray, and pager to Openbox. The most common are:
- PyPanel
- BMPanel
- tint2
- LXPanel
- fbpanel
- PerlPanel
- fspanel
- Xfce4-panel
- GnomePanel
- avant-window-navigator
- cairo-dock
- wbar
- screenlets
Make your choice and add it to your startup file. If you wish to set the desktop layout without using a pager, you can use obsetlayout, which is a packaged version of the setlayout tool from the Openbox wiki.
File managers
There are many possibilities, but the most popular lightweight file managers are:
- Thunar. Thunar supports auto-mount features and other plugins.
# pacman -S thunar
Thunar may be started in daemon mode for tighter desktop integration. For instance, inserting a USB pendrive will invoke a Thunar window to popup, with the drive contents listed in the window.
To start Thunar in daemon mode, edit Template:Filename and add:
thunar --daemon &
- ROX (ROX provides desktop icons)
# pacman -S rox
- PCManFM (pcmanfm also provides desktop icons)
# pacman -S pcmanfm
For even lighter options, consider Gentoo or emelFM2, both of which use the familiar 'Midnight Commander' two pane layout.
Others: Xfe muCommander (Will edit it later after I have tried them both.)
Of course, you can also use GNOME's Nautilus. Although slower than the above solutions, it has the additional advantage of VFS support (e.g. remote SSH, FTP and Samba connections)
Application launchers
Set-up dmenu as described in the dmenu wiki article. Then, add the following entry to the <keyboard> section Template:Filename to enable a shortcut to launch dmenu:
<keybind key="W-space"> <action name="Execute"> <execute>dmenu_run</execute> </action> </keybind>
gmrun provides an excellent Run dialog box, similar to the Alt+F2 features found in Gnome and KDE:
# pacman -S gmrun
Add the following entry to the <keyboard> section Template:Filename to enable Alt+F2 functionality:
<keybind key="A-F2"> <action name="execute"><execute>gmrun</execute></action> </keybind>
bashrun provides a different, barebones approach to a run dialog, using a specialized bash session within a small xterm window. It is available in the community repository and can be launched through the Alt+F2 style approach mentioned previously. To make bashrun act more like a traditional run dialog, add the following entry to the <applications> section Template:Filename:
<application name="bashrun"> <desktop>all</desktop> <decor>no</decor> # switch to yes if you prefer a bordered window <focus>yes</focus> <skip_pager>yes</skip_pager> <layer>above</layer> </application>
Launchy is a less minimalistic approach; it is skinnable and offers more functionality such as a calculator, checking the weather, etc. Originally for Windows, similar to Gnome Do.
# pacman -S launchy
It is launched by Ctrl+Space key combination.
The LXPanel run dialog can be executed with
lxpanelctl run
The gnome-panel run dialog can be executed with
gnome-panel-control --run-dialog
Clipboard managers
You may wish to install a clipboard manager for feature rich copy/paste ability. xfce4-clipman-plugin, parcellite, or glipper-old may be installed via pacman. Add your choice to autostart.sh. From the terminal, Ctrl+Insert as copy and Shift+Insert as paste generally works as well. You may also copy from terminal with Ctrl+Shift+C, and paste with mouse middle click.
Tips and tricks
Copy and paste
From the terminal, Ctrl+Insert as copy and Shift+Insert as paste generally works as well. You may also copy from terminal with Ctrl+Shift+C, and paste with mouse middle click.
By using the program transset-df, it is virtually the same as transset, (available by: pacman -S transset-df) you can enable transparancy of windows on the fly. For instance by editing the following in Template:Filename you can have your middle mouse scroll enable and disable transparency by scrolling down and up on the scroll button, respectively, while over the title bar (it is in the <mouse> section):
<context name="Titlebar"> <mousebind button="Left" action="Press"> <action name="Focus"/> <action name="Raise"/> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Left" action="Drag"> <action name="Move"/> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Left" action="DoubleClick"> <action name="ToggleMaximizeFull"/> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Middle" action="Press"> <action name="Lower"/> <action name="FocusToBottom"/> <action name="Unfocus"/> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Up" action="Click"> <action name= "Execute" > <execute>transset-df -p .2 --inc </execute> </action> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Down" action="Click"> <action name= "Execute" > <execute>transset-df -p .2 --dec </execute> </action> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Right" action="Press"> <action name="Focus"/> <action name="Raise"/> <action name="ShowMenu"> <menu>client-menu</menu> </action> </mousebind> </context>
As of now, it only appears to work when no other actions are taken.
Xprop values for applications
If you use per-application settings frequently, you might find this bash alias handy:
alias xp='xprop | grep "WM_WINDOW_ROLE\|WM_CLASS" && echo "WM_CLASS(STRING) = \"NAME\", \"CLASS\""'
To use, run Template:Codeline and click on the running program that you'd like to define with per-app settings. The result will display only the info that Openbox requires, namely the WM_WINDOW_ROLE and WM_CLASS (name and class) values:
[thayer@dublin:~] $ xp WM_WINDOW_ROLE(STRING) = "roster" WM_CLASS(STRING) = "gajim.py", "Gajim.py" WM_CLASS(STRING) = "NAME", "CLASS"
Xprop for Firefox
For whatever reason, Firefox and its open source equivalents will ignore application rules (e.g. <desktop>) unless Template:Codeline is used, regardless of what xprop reports as the actual WM_CLASS values.
Some people would want to link the Openbox main menu, or any other, to a command. This is useful for creating a menu button in a panel, for example. Although Openbox doesn't support this, a very simple script, xdotool, can simulate a keypress by running a command. Xdotool is available on AUR. To use it, simply add the following code to the <keyboard> section of your Template:Filename:
<keybind key="A-C-q"> <action name="ShowMenu"> <menu>root-menu</menu> </action> </keybind>
Restart/reconfigure Openbox. You can now magically summon your menu at your cursor position by running the following command:
# xdotool key ctrl+alt+q
Of course, you can change the shortcut to your liking.
Urxvt in the background
With Openbox, running a terminal as desktop background is easy. You won't need devilspie here.
First you must enable transparency, open your Template:Filename file (if it doesn't exist yet, create it in your home folder).
URxvt*transparent:true URxvt*scrollBar:false URxvt*geometry:124x24 #I don't use the whole screen, if you want a full screen term don't bother with this and see below. URxvt*borderLess:true URxvt*foreground:Black #Font color. My wallpaper is White, you may wish to change this to White.
Then edit your Template:Filename file:
<application name="urxvt"> <decor>no</decor> <focus>yes</focus> <position> <x>center</x> <y>20</y> </position> <layer>below</layer> <desktop>all</desktop> <maximized>true</maximized> #Only if you want a full size terminal. </application>
The magic comes from the Template:Codeline line, which place the application under all others. Here Urxvt is displayed on all desktops, change it to your convenience.
Note: Instead of using <application name="urxvt">, you can use another name ("urxvt-bg" for example), and use the -name option when starting uxrvt. That way, only the urxvt terminals which you choose to name urxvt-bg would be captured and modified by the application rule in rc.xml. For example: urxvt -name urxvt-bg
- Openbox Website – The official website
- Planet Openbox – Openbox news portal
- Box-Look.org – A good resource for themes and related artwork


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Wearable Art for the bohemian and creative soul!
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BACKGROUND IMAGE: iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
Keep remote offices in sync
With regulatory compliance, data protection requirements and the need to share data, remote office data can no longer be ignored. Wide-area file system products can rein in and protect remote data.
|WAFS appliances
- Locking open files globally to prevent multiple people from simultaneously editing a file
- Controlling which files get sent to specific remote offices and under what circumstances
- Transmitting only file changes when files are saved or closed
- Working in conjunction with existing remote file servers or by replacing them
- Minimizing WAN traffic
WAFS products--whether software or appliances--address different file-server configurations and enterprise needs. For example, Burlington, MA-based Signiant Inc.'s Mobilize product is deployed as an agent on remote file servers, but provides only point-in-time replication and lacks the edit locking and synchronous file services most WAFS products offer. Conversely, San Francisco-based Riverbed Technology Inc.'s Steelhead product is installed as an appliance in the network where it maintains real-time file consistency and speeds up the performance of all TCP network application traffic like e-mail.
Most WAFS software is intended for small companies/departments that need to keep their existing remote file servers and allow remote users to collaborate on files at near-LAN speeds. Hardware WAFS products deliver files at LAN speeds, and manage data and file servers centrally. Many WAFS products also offer disk caches that feature file segmentation, application optimization and data compression as standard features.
|WAFS software
Software-only WAFS products require installing an agent on file servers at the data center and remote location. The storage administrator must configure which directories and/or files are replicated to the remote sites. (Tacit's IShared, classified as a hardware product in this overview, is also available in a software-only version which doesn't require server agents.) One distinct benefit that most software products provide and appliances don't is that they allow groups of remote offices to collaborate and share data using their existing file servers.
Signiant's Mobilize provides point-in-time file replication that can execute as frequently as once a minute to keep files consistent. Although Mobilize sends these changes in byte-level increments, it was originally designed as a data replication and protection solution. It's possible for files to become out of sync, however, if users at different locations start manipulating the same file in between file replications. To avoid inconsistencies, Mobilize includes file versioning that tracks file changes and can maintain up to 39 versions of the same file. If consistency problems do occur, someone must review each version of the file to determine which is the most current or correct.
Availl 3.0, from Andover, MA-based Availl Inc., is another software-only WAFS product. It tries to overcome potential file inconsistencies by maintaining a real-time copy of all files on the file servers it manages. Availl creates a mirrored disk cache on all of the different file servers. Every byte-level change to each file is mirrored to all of the file servers as changes occur. Availl claims this lets users at multiple sites work on the same file at the same time, and to see their edits and changes as they occur. But this real-time approach can give users a false sense of security; if a WAN link to a site fails, a file change at the offline site may still need to be reconciled if the file was changed at other sites.
The initial sync up of files between sites is a slow process and should be scheduled during relatively inactive periods or off-hours. To minimize network traffic, Availl and Signiant employ bandwidth optimization techniques such as data compression, and only send changes to files once the initial file synchronization completes. However, these products generate increased CPU and memory overhead, so the performance of busy file servers may be affected during peak times.
These two products also differ in the number of operating systems and file-sharing network protocols they support. Availl 3.0 supports Windows file servers and the CIFS protocol. Signiant's Mobilize works with a much wider range of OSes, including Linux, VMware, Windows and different varieties of Unix, and it supports the CIFS and NFS protocols. A major deficiency of both products is their inability to address the existence of NAS appliances such as Network Appliance (NetApp) Inc. filers or EMC Corp.'s Celerra.
WAFS appliances
WAFS appliances are available in three forms:
- An integrated hardware and software appliance
- Software loaded on a standard, off-the-shelf server
- A blade on an Ethernet switch
- No agents to deploy
- Operating system agnostic
- Works with any vendor's NAS appliances
- Removes most responsibility for data management from the remote office
- Stores all files in the central office data center
- Allows organizations to introduce new functions beyond WAFS
While all appliances deliver protocol optimization and some replication features, not all appliances work with file systems, an important consideration for a WAFS implementation. Juniper Networks Inc., Network Executive (NetEx) Software and Orbital Data Corp. offer protocol optimization and replication in their respective WX, HyperIP and TotalTransport products. Each product complements existing file- server replication and synchronization approaches by eliminating or reducing the network overhead created by the chattiness of the CIFS protocol.
Disk caches
Remote office users may suffer when WAN links slow down, CAD programs open large numbers of files or Microsoft Office applications create multiple temporary files. To ease these pain points, four vendors--Cisco, DiskSites, Riverbed Technologies and Tacit Networks Inc.--now include disk caches in their appliances that keep local copies of centrally stored files. Disk caches at the remote office maintain a limited or complete copy of the central office files needed by the remote office and provide remote users with the following benefits:
|Implementation considerations
WAFS products offer many attractive benefits, but the following questions should be considered before they're implemented:
Do you know what applications remote offices run? Applications use chatty protocols like CIFS and MAPI to communicate with file servers. Although they work fine in remote offices, they're not optimized for WAN connections. Document which applications branch offices use and which files the applications open, create, save and delete.
What happens to existing file servers? When WAFS appliances go into remote offices, remote file servers or NAS appliances go out. Establish how these servers or filers will be managed or disposed of to prevent the remote office from reusing them without your knowledge.
Is there a pre-installation checklist? All vendors promise nearly transparent installations, but ask for a pre-install checklist to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible. The vendor's reaction to this request can tip you off as to how well-prepared they are to do the install.
How will the disk cache be managed? Disk caches increase the performance and availability of files at remote sites, but they also introduce remote management issues. Make sure you verify what RAID levels the disk cache supports, how the appliance reports drive failures and who will manage the appliance when problems occur.
- Near-LAN speed access to centrally stored files
- Local access to files should the WAN link drop or the central server go offline
Cisco also offers disk caches on its Wide Area Application Engine (WAE) line of products. "The working set of data for branch-office users is typically less than 10% of the total data repository," says Baruch Deutsch, director of product marketing for Cisco's caching division. "Generally, 90% of the branch user file requests can be served locally for the data set in the cache. We've discovered that the amount of storage needed to handle these requests and store these files is often only in the hundreds of megabytes." Despite this statistic, Cisco's remote office WAE disk cache starts at 80GB and tops out at 840GB.
But as the size and number of files on remote disk caches increases, the challenge to maintain and support the availability, consistency and integrity of these files across the enterprise grows. In addition, apps like CAD, e-mail, Office and enterprise resource planning create unique problems such as opening multiple network files, creating temporary files or using chatty network protocols that are acceptable in LAN environments but can choke WAN links. Meeting these issues head-on requires WAFS vendors to fine-tune their products for different mission-critical applications.
Optimizing applications
With applications designed to run in a high-bandwidth LAN environment, a normal application operation like "Open" or "Save" can clog the WAN with network traffic. For instance, to open a single AutoCAD drawing with links to other files results in AutoCAD accessing and opening those other files. Similarly, a "Save" operation from a Microsoft Office application generates 1,000 to 1,500 transactions on the network. While the size of each transaction may be small, a composite of thousands of them slows performance across a WAN link.
Appliance vendors use different techniques to minimize the impact of application file operations on WAN performance. For temporary files created as a scratch file by applications such as AutoCAD or Microsoft Office, DiskSites' FileController and Tacit Networks' IShared use file-aware differencing technology. This configurable option allows these applications to store temporary files on the remote appliances disk cache, but can prevent these files from being transmitted to the central office until the primary file is actually saved.
Cisco's WAE and Riverbed Technology's Steelhead appliances send and receive all files, but minimize network traffic by first breaking up and storing files as file segments. Cisco's WAE transmits only changed file segments across the WAN. Riverbed Technology similarly stores like segments from different files together, but takes the concept of file segments one step further. Its Steelhead stores file segments in lengths of approximately 100 bytes in size; the appliance then recognizes which file segments have the same underlying structure and stores them as one logical segment. This approach led to the discovery that many of the files companies work with are copies of files that already exist. This technique reduces the amount of new data, the data in the remote office disk cache, and the number of changes that need to be transmitted over the WAN.
WAFS products are evolving to address a variety of enterprise-wide concerns. While some of the available WAFS products effectively solve the problem of real-time file consistency, an extended WAN outage can, of course, affect the currency of file synchronization operations. Still, they can help organizations to get much closer to providing central and branch-office users with secured, simultaneous access to files. The introduction of file segmentation and application optimization techniques give remote users the near-LAN speed they require and the centralized file protection and management data centers seek.


text:
I was waiting, staring through the window as if the glass wasn't there.
It was harder to do the same thing with walls. How funny, when you think about it, since both are made of sand. Walls and windows. Like coal and diamonds.
I think I prefer the transparent forms.
He came and turned around. Yes, the shirt was great, and he looked fine. I just wanted us to leave already, but he thought that the shirt did not really feel like The Shirt for The Evening. He needed more time to decide.
I turned and looked outside.
I was getting really good at this; now I could see through the curtain of snowflakes as if they were not there. But, the walls were not giving up yet. Well, I had plenty of time.


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Toward a Common Language and Taxonomy of Poverty Tourism
UPDATE: An updated graphic with new notes has been posted at Poverty Tourism Taxonomy 2.o
Poverty Tourism has lately been the subject of renewed blogger chatter and debate. It seems a perennial issue that gets a paroxysm of attention each time a major media outlet runs a story on it. The latest series of posts was set off by a recent NYT op-ed by Kennedy Odede, a Kenyan who had some personal experience and harsh words for what he called Slumdog Tourism. The tone has ranged from reflective to outright shrill.
A decent assemblage of some relevant blogs and articles was posted a couple days ago at Good Intentions Are Not Enough. Especially thoughtful is the Dilemmas post from Lindsay Morgan at Dispatches. Especially interesting is the exchange (criticism, defense, partial apology) between William Easterly at Aid Watch and the Director of a group that operates a Millennium Village Tour in Rwanda.
As I read through these and other posts, it became apparent that many bloggers were talking past each other and using wildly different working definitions of what poverty tourism (or development tourism) is. This makes it hard to have a coherent debate. I'm not the first to notice this; some older posts from Tales From the Hood made a brief attempt at a taxonomic approach noting, "We need some common language for talking about this subject. … We need to be able to make sense of things." So, I began creating a compendium of names used across the posts – some openly disparaging like "poverty porn", others more benign like "community tours." While "Poverty Tourism" or "Development Tourism" is like a family name in biological taxonomy, the dozen or so other terms are sub-varieties like distinct genus or species.
Consider this comment by Chris Blattman in Slum tourism, easy target, harder solution:
I don't think there is anything good to be said about the worst of the slum tour, but that's not to say development tourism can't be respectful or beneficial.
He's saying that while slum tours are bad, not all development tourism is bad. Implied is that the former is subsumed by the later – a genus within a family. What follows then is my proposed taxonomy of the Poverty Tourism family along with some examples of comments that frame the discussion for each type. I hope this helps us have more linguistic clarity around the fault lines and confluence in our ongoing discussion of poverty tourism.
Type 1: Slum Tours. aka – poverty safaris, ghetto tours, poverty porn, & disaster tours.
When bloggers use these terms, it is generally to derogate poverty tourism. (See Disaster Tourism). Implied by these terms is a dehumanizing voyeuristic approach to travel in poor communities, where the poor are objectified and treated like a zoo exhibit. The tourist remains far removed from their reality as she passes through on a gratuitous visit taking pictures of colorful, exotic, and fascinatingly miserable people, limiting her understanding of them to what the tour guide tells her, and blurring individual lives into a medley of abstract smudges of poverty. It seems the worst of these are those that are organized by for-profit (even if socially-conscious) tourism operators.
Alanna Shaikh at Blood and Milk writes an unusually beautiful and vulnerable reflection related to this:
…poverty makes for great photography. Poverty has texture. … In other words, a good synonym for picturesque is desperate. Aesthetics are seductive. … That can lead you all sorts of terrible places; it can lead you to mistake tragedy for authenticity. It can make you think there is some value to authenticity when people are starving. It can lead you to take gorgeous pictures of the countryside without ever realizing that you are documenting a quiet horror.
Kennedy Odede, who grew up in Kibera, one of the largest slums outside of Nairobe, writes this in Slumdog Tourism:
Slum tourism turns poverty into entertainment, something that can be momentarily experienced and then escaped from. People think they've really "seen" something — and then go back to their lives and leave me, my family and my community right where we were before.
Nor do the visitors really interact with us. Aside from the occasional comment, there is no dialogue established, no conversation begun. Slum tourism is a one-way street: They get photos; we lose a piece of our dignity.
But is there anything good about this type of poverty tourism? Chris Blattman writes in an older post on Development Tourism that "Its only virtue, perhaps, is that it is not disguised as a helping hand." (Thus distinguishing it from other species like voluntourism.) Several bloggers go further, proposing specific changes in attitude and behavior that mitigate the worst dehumanizing effects of slum tours. Nilima Achwal at next billion offers 6 things to look for to make such tours more sensitive to and empowering for the local communities in A New Brand of Poverty Tourism. And, in an otherwise shrill post On poverty tourism: my two African cents at Project Diaspora, the writer admonishes:
"You really want change? Put down the camera, walk up to anyone in that slum, get to know them. Have some tea and crumpets, maybe a chapati slice or two."
The implication is that there is perhaps a principled, relational approach to slum tourism that preserves human dignity. I particularly like the image of sharing tea, since staying for tea is this blog's metaphor for a principled, relationship-driven approach to accompaniment and community development. The problem, however, is that while it could be possible for an individual to approach a slum or a community in crisis in this relational, slow way, it is hard to imagine an organized tour managing to pull off anything short of our worst fears.
Type 2: Voluntourism. aka – volunteer vacations, service tourism
Voluntourism is essentially a vacation with a few volunteer activities peppered in. People who sign up for these volunteer vacations sometimes do so out of a desire to touch something more authentic and gritty than the standard cruise ship fare. In other words, the home base in terms of purpose is still tourism. Others, sign up out of a real desire to do something good in the world, but they don't know where to begin and decide to rely on the professionals to provide not only the logistics, but also the development thinking for them. In this case, the home base is service. Given this duality of purpose, it is not surprising that two very different sort of providers have stepped in to meet the growing demand: for-profit tourist operators and volunteer-sending development NGOs. While the NGOs have mostly just rebranded existing volunteer opportunities as voluntourism, the tourist operators are creating something new, something that looks and smells a lot like a development organization, but is actually customer-centric rather than community-centric, something that aims to generate private profit rather than common good.
But, either way, the poverty tourist is given the opportunity to "do something" immediately about what they are seeing and experiencing during their poverty tour. In some ways, I think this can be a less honest approach, as often as not the volunteer activities provide superficial and marginal benefit to the community, while assuaging the conscience of the tourist by making them believe they've actually done something meaningful. I think I'd rather the tourist observe, struggle with their desire to do something right then and there, discuss, reflect, and then go home to figure out what the experience means for them and how they can be part of something bigger than themselves that is helping make a lasting change.
I tried to give a fair treatment of the subject in my post: The Future of Voluntourism, while raising the necessary red flags. Two other resources are: Voluntourism Gal, a blog dedicated solely to the topic, and VolunTourism.org, which continues to be relevant as one of the first signficant organizations dedicated to voluntourism by name. (I should note that not all voluntourism is associated with poverty-allevation – e.g. there are also many environmentally- and culturally- focused voluntours.)
Type 3: Exposure Trips. aka – vision trips, immersions, & donor tours.
Taking a step toward acceptable practice is the Exposure Trip. The difference between this and a slum tour is two-fold: who goes and with what purpose. Exposure trips are taken by those who have at least an interest connection with development activities taking place in the visited community. Often the visitor is a committed or potential donor, sometimes a Board member of an NGO, sometimes a staff member whose job isn't field-facing (i.e. someone who works in a pro-poor organization, but whose tasks don't bring that person into actual contact with the intended beneficiaries of his labour.) The purpose of these trips is for someone with an actual connection or interest in ongoing activities in the community to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of what is actually happening there by seeing it first-hand. Some reasonable unease with exposure trips centers around them being used to justify what are in fact gratuitous visits (i.e. slum tours).
Tales From the Hood writes in Development Tourism: thinking out loud…:
I don't really want it to be my job. But we need a way to meaningfully and appropriately expose our work to our third audience: ordinary people in our home countries. I'm not saying development tourism is the answer. But it's one possibility.
Obviously it all has to be structured and handled in a way that does not objectify and demean beneficiaries, and that will necessarily mean that some projects in some places never ever ever get visited as part of development tourism. But again, I have personally seen enough instances where project beneficiaries were very happy – positively stoked, in fact – to receive as visitors "ordinary citizens"…
Saundra Schimmelpfennig at Good Intentions Are Not Enough asks, When is it appropriate for a donor to visit an aid recipient?
Donors do need to have a greater understanding of what does and does not work in aid as well as common problems associated with aid. Properly structured visits can help them become better donors. However, it is important that donor visitations are done is such a way that it puts the needs of aid recipient over the needs of the donor. Care should be taken so that the visit does not objectify aid recipients and ensures that the recipients concerns are heard.
Saundra goes on to suggest 10 very constructive guidelines to help ensure that donor visits focus on education (of the donor), not titillation.
There's also been some good discussion around Ravi Kanbur's recent paper "Poverty Professionals and Poverty" that was quoted at some length in Owen Barder's blog Owen Abroad. Dr. Kanbur suggests that development professions engage in immersions every year or so to get a reality check and reset their focus on the core mission: "serving and helping poor people to work their way, sustainably, out of poverty." Again, there is some unease about these becoming a way to justify slum tourism, but I think it is reasonable to hope for a net positive affect from connecting those whose work or support is related to the development activities taking place in a community with the community members.
Type 4: Study Abroad. aka – service-learning, cultural exchange & student research
Like exposure trips, study abroad has as its purpose and intentional focus on learning. Obviously, a lot of study abroad trips have nothing to do with poverty tourism. (e.g. a semester in France) But, with the increasing interest in international development, more and more study abroad programs, service-learning programs, and student research is bringing students into poor communities with the intention of learning about them, about poverty, and about anti-poverty projects. The potential for these trips to result in the same pernicious outcomes of the worst of poverty tourism is real.
Chris Blattman takes a rather negative view here:
Yesterday I mourned the extractive and self-serving quality of many student research trips. For me, two-week development adventures fall clearly in the tourism category as well. Is there an argument for these trips actually helping? If so, is the benefit even close to the best use of the thousands of dollars it took to get that person out there?
But these trips also have a potentially rosier upside. Students presumably go with an open mind and an attitude to ask questions and learn. And, if done right, they can even build on a longer-term institutional/community relationship that supports longer-term development activities. One example of this is the Comprehensive (Intercultural Servant) Leadership Program at Gonzaga University lead by Josh Armstrong that has a study abroad component designed collaboratively with community members in Zambezi, Zambia. The community recognizes itself as the host and teacher of the students, while at the same time as beneficiary of student assistance with ongoing activities. By returning each year, a relationship of trust and feedback can be developed between the community and the university.
Beyond the question of what benefits are immediately provided to the host community, study abroad holds out wider potential to shape future global citizens with greater sensitivity to and understanding of global issues like poverty, cultural sustainability, and environmental vulnerability.
Type 5: Short-term Volunteer Trips. aka – church mission trips, missionary safaris
Each year hundreds, if not thousands of short-term volunteers go to all corners of the earth to dig trenches, paint churches, construct latrines, maybe play a game of soccer, and perhaps share their version of the gospel. Each year dozens, if not scores of bloggers aim derision, destain, and disgust at them. It's an easy group to pick on because they are so green, go with such upside notions of what they doing, and are so clearly the unsuspecting beneficiaries of the whole endeavor.
Maurice at Mostly Maurice offers his critique by way of a definition of a development tourist:
An intern or short-term employee on a contract of up to 1 year, who wants to "experience the developing world" and "help out", and who will afterwards leave the country, leave Africa and/or even leave development aid work altogether.
Tales From the Hood flat out condems the idea from a Do-No-Harm perspective:
I do not think that it is a good idea for untrained, unpaid foreigners to be sent to work in another country as part of a development or relief program. …if the motivation is an honest and informed desire to offer the very best programming to beneficiaries in the most efficient manner possible, it is all but impossible to justify international volunteers.
Some argue against volunteers from an economic view comparing the cost of exporting unskilled labor from the USA or Germany against the cost of hiring a local. The value of the "free" volunteer doesn't come close to offsetting the cost of planning, hosting, and managing him, let alone his airfare, room and board. But I think this misses at least half the point of international volunteerism. Of course, the material or project benefit could have been purchased for less than the plane ticket, but the personal and relational benefit of mutual transformation for both the host community and volunteer…well that's harder to place a dollar value on. And this doesn't consider any long-term committments to justice and pro-poor policies that begin with exposure and leads to understanding through relationships. Even Tales From the Hood acknowledges:
I got my start as a volunteer. … That initial year as an English teacher in Bangkok changed my life on multiple levels. It exposed me to life outside of North America. It opened a world of possibility. And it led to formal employment with an INGO.
I got my start as an MCC volunteer. Saundra at Good Intentions Are Not Enough got her start as a volunteer. In fact, most people that I know who care deeply about international issues of justice, human rights, environmental and cultural sustainability, fair trade, etc. got that way because of some international volunteer experience that rocked their world. The Jesuits at JVC have a great saying regarding the life-long effects of volunteer service: "Ruined for Life." This is a big part of the philosophy behind The Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship, for which I serve as a Board member.
The value proposition is changed lives, not just of the visited, but of the visitor, and this is a worthy value proposition. That said, s-t volunteerism would be less nauseating to the professional development/aid worker if this value proposition was explicitly acknowledged by the visitor (in the place of say a Christ complex) and downright virtuous if made explicit by all parties: the volunteer, the sending organization, and the host community.
Chris Blattman again:
I'm more comfortable with development tourism if it is explicitly that: if students and Westerners are going with an eye to learning rather than saving; if they recognize that they are receiving a service from others more than they are giving of themselves.
Type 6: Community Tours
This is perhaps the most benign and potentially empowering type of poverty tourism because it is the community that manages it. They are involved in the design of the tourism project, sometimes even initiating it. They control who comes, how many come, and what messages they hear. In terms of economic benefit, a typical slum tour may generate some employment in the communities and the tourists may end up donating money to an aid or development organization working with them, but there really isn't any empowerment or agency happening. With community tourism, on the other hand, the communities control the message – they retell their own story rather than let the tour guides decide how to treat it. And as the hosts, they can also have more say in how the profits are shared and used. For a thorough and very positive (if self-interested) take on community tourism, read Is Community Tourism a Good Thing? at Grassroots Journeys.
Tourism Concern provides a good 10-point checklist of "shoulds" for community tourism in What is Community Tourism? Among the obvious shoulds (be run with involvement and consent of community, give a fair share of profits back, etc.), they say that community tourism should have mechanisms to help communities cope with the impact of western tourists, brief tourists before the trip on appropriate behavior, not make local people perform inappropriate ceremonies, and leave communities alone if they don't want tourism.
The Millennium Villages tour in Rwanda that was much debated between William Easterly and Michael Grosspietsch seems to be in this category. Dr. Grosspietsch's response to the initial critique defends the project in part by pointing out the role of the community is designing and controlling the tours. World Vision report also recently aired an interview with Josh Ruxin, the founder and director of the MV project in Rwanda, who discusses the importance of community involvement.
Some, however, will still find the whole idea of tourism in poor communities degrading, regardless of community involvement. William Easterly is one of these:
I continue to believe that the whole idea of tourists going to see poor people simply because they are poor — or to see the interventions targeted at these poor because they are poor — is degrading. It perpetrates the patronizing view that the poor are some faceless mass of helpless victims which the MV is rescuing, which is part of the flawed philosophy of the MV itself.
A little help here?
So there it is – one of the longest blogs ever posted with over 25 links and a dozen quotes. I already feel a little ridiculous for having written it, but it's at least ordered my own thinking about the poverty tourism debate. I hope it meets a need for others as well by providing a common linguistic platform for the discussion to move forward on. If you think I've gotten something wrong or missed an important distinction, I absolutely welcome your feedback.


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Report: Hawaii hotels see occupancy drop last month
HONOLULU (AP) - A Hawaii tourism report shows hotel occupancy dipped last month across the state, but room revenue increased slightly.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the Hawaii Tourism Authority report on hotel performance shows occupancy was just over 78 percent, falling by nearly 3 percentage points last month.
According to the report, the average daily room rate across the state increased by more than 4 percent to $282. The revenue per available room increased by nearly 1 percent to $220.
Jennifer Chun, the authority's tourism research director, says the effects of Hurricane Lane likely influenced results late last month, but the hotel industry typically performs well in August. She says the state's tourism industry still had a strong summer despite the hotel occupancy drop last month.
Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com


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Beaver Falls, PA – You can only fly under the radar for so long. The Geneva College women′s volleyball team has been doing just that for the majority of the 2010 campaign. Quietly going about their business, the Golden Tornadoes have reeled off nine straight victories and are sitting at 18-2 for the season. The best start in school history came back in 1976 when Geneva finished the year with a mark of 20-2. The record for victories in a season was set in 1986 with a 23-15 overall mark. It seems inevitable that both records may fall before too long as the Golden Tornadoes are preparing for their most important weekend of the season.
One of the reasons that it′s easy to look past their special season is the fact that the Golden Tornadoes volleyball team, along with all the other athletic teams at Geneva, are in the final year of NCAA Division III provisional status. For the last four years, Geneva′s athletic teams have been ineligible to compete in the NCAA post-season and have placed its primary focus on the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association). With the NCCAA once again at the top of the priority list, the Golden Tornadoes will travel to Rochester, Ny, this weekend for the NCCAA East regional tournament. Playing its toughest competition of the season, the Golden Tornadoes will go up against four scholarship programs in search of an automatic bid to the NCCAA national tournament, a venue that no Geneva team has ever ventured.
The task will be difficult as four of the top ten NCCAA volleyball teams in the country will be competing this weekend. In addition to Geneva, Roberts Wesleyan, Malone and Mt. Vernon Nazarene are all having outstanding seasons. If there was ever a year that Geneva could make a run at the regional title, the 2010 season may be that time.
What has made the current season so successful? Like many championship caliber teams the answer is not an easy one. The fact is that there have been several keys to perhaps the most successful volleyball season in school history. One look at the PAC statistical leaders will help explain some of the success. Senior outside hitter Adriane Blake will most likely graduate as the all-time kills leader in school history. This year, Blake leads the PAC with 3.71 kills per game while teammate Rachel Kuegler ranks fourth in the conference at 3.10 kills per game. It has been the inclusion of stand-out freshman setter Deanna Briody that seems to have brought things together. The freshman ranks number one in the PAC with 10.52 assists per game. If service success is your game then look no further than sophomore Kristland McCracken with her conference best 0.48 aces per game. Both Kirsten Ley (8) and Maggie Bowersox (14) are among the leaders in blocks while Brianna Mixter ranks fourth in digs per game at 5.11.
Geneva′s defensive excellence has been evident from day one. In fact, the Golden Tornadoes not only lead the PAC as a team with 20.83 digs per game but they also lead the entire NCCAA in that category.
Records are made to be broken and by week′s end the 2010 Geneva women′s volleyball team may be standing alone as the most successful team in school history. There is much volleyball left to be played, but by all indications the Golden Tornadoes and co-head coaches Wendy Smith and Curt Conser are set up for what looks to be a record setting year and perhaps a trip to the NCCAA national tournament for the first time in school history.
Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).
© Geneva College | All rights reserved


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Degenerative Joint Disease and Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is not inevitable, but as we age, most people will eventually have some degree of osteoarthritis. The disease results from a degeneration of cartilage in joints, which can be thought of as wear and tear on the joint. As the most common joint disease, osteoarthritis currently affects over 20 million Americans. In addition to damage to the cartilage, a degenerative joint disease can include bony overgrowths and sclerosis (hardening) of the bones at the joint. There may also be deformity of the joints. If the cartilage is damaged or sufficiently worn, the bone on one side of a joint may begin to rub against the bone on the other side, causing pain.The most common form of osteoarthritis occurs in finger joints, which become enlarged from bony overgrowths. Another form happens in the spine, mostly in the neck and lower back. The disease is also common in the knees and hips, and can result in joint replacements.A sign of osteoarthritis is stiffness, especially when getting out of bed or after sitting for a while. If this stiffness is due to osteoarthritis, it gets better as the day goes on. Other signs are a "crunching" feeling in a joint, or swelling in one or more joints, especially the knees. One of the most common signs that patients have osteoarthritis is pain, and sometimes it is a great deal of pain. When you go to see a doctor, they will ask about your symptoms and want to know when and how the symptoms started. To confirm a diagnosis of osteoarthritis, a doctor might request various tests, including X-rays and an MRI. If the symptoms of osteoarthritis include swelling in the knees, the doctor may do a fluid aspiration to check for other causes.Osteoarthritis is a common result of aging, but it can also be caused by an accident, and there is a strong genetic component as to whether the degeneration will occur. While aging is clearly a factor, there are some very elderly people who do not have osteoarthritis.Aside from the normal wear and tear of aging, contact sports that stress the joints will increase the chance of osteoarthritis, though this does not include the exercise of running. Weight has a great deal to do with this illness, because the more the patient weighs, the more stress there is on the weight-bearing joints of the knees and hips.Goals for treatment of osteoarthritis are (1) to control pain, (2) to improve joint function, (3) to maintain a normal weight, and (4) to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Treatment depends on the severity of the condition, and in some cases ice or heat are enough to control the discomfort and allow for normal activities. For pain relief, patients might take acetaminophen, or for both pain relief and swelling, an NSAID (aspirin, ibprofen, naproxen).Treatment will also usually involve exercise, including low-impact aerobics and walking. In general it is important to do exercises that involve a range of motion, to maintain limberness. Some doctors also say that maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and keeping body weight in normal ranges will help to prevent osteoarthritis.Valerie Coakley, RN,BSN, is the Orthopedic Case Manager at Mount Nittany Medical Center, State College. More info on osteoarthritis and classes about joint replacement surgery, go to www.mountnittany.org or call Valerie at 814.278.4810.


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You see, we learned recently that local shutterbug Dominick Totino has an $85,000-per-year contract with the Borough President's office to take photos of a smiling Helen Marshall at fancy society events and cutting ribbons and signing bills and all types of professional duties. That's right - $85,000 per year! (Now we know why Totino is always smiling.)
That's a lot of dough. Now, it's not unusual for local elected officials to take photos of themselves for their own publicity purposes. Our inbox is flooded daily with unsolicited shots of politicians in various acts of public service. It's just that most of them have a member of their staff take the photo (it's pretty easy now with digital cameras, after all), and while we can't speak for all of them out there, we're pretty sure that staff member taking the photo ain't getting paid $85,000 a year. What's more, they probably do lots of other things - such as dealing with constituents – in addition to their duty to faithfully cpature on the good work their boss does for posterity.
But hey, if that's how Helen Marshall wants to spend her money, then by golly that's how she should spend her money. Of course, you could make the argument that it's actually taxpayer money that goes into the bank account of Totino in exchange for uttering "Say cheese!" a few times a week, to which we would counter, "hey, that money came out of the borough president's discretionary funds."
You know what that means? It means that while it is taxpayer money, she can do what ever the hell she wants with it! You see, she spends them at her "discretion," and if she thinks lots of pretty photos of herself are what's best for you and the rest of the borough, then you are just going to have to trust that she knows what's best for you!
Which is why we now owe you, dear goslings, an apology. We had no idea that all of those photos we were receiving from Marshall's office were costing you so much money. Hey, you paid for them, you've got a right to see them.
Actually, we're not entirely sure that Totino actually took these particular shots, the photo credit in the email just said "Office of the borough President," but considering each one probably cost you more than a few hundred dollars, we're not taking any chances!


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Q. We are machining a 6-inch, complex-shaped, 6061 aluminum part. We need to further improve the surface finish from the machined 32 Ra to 12 Ra, maintaining a uniform, pleasant finish. What finish system should we consider? S.M.
A. Visual mechanical finish options include a variety of line-grain, satin-matte or bright finishes. Abrasive, blasting and mass finishing all will provide a uniform visual finish, but only abrasive finishing and mass finishing will reduce your finish from 32 Ra to 12 Ra.
Featured Content
The three measurements of surface finish are roughness, waviness and lay. Roughness is the most important and standard of the three, and Ra is the most common of many surface roughness measurements in the U.S. It represents the average of all peaks and valleys in a standardized measured area. Working a surface to reduce Ra measurements requires a finishing system that will reduce the peaks to the valleys. The lower the Ra number, the smaller the peaks, and, therefore, the finer the finish.
Abrasive and mass finishing produce a rubbing action that is efficient at working the surface peaks, reducing surface Ra measurements. Blasting, on the other hand, propels particles at the surface and works both the peaks and valleys. The blast particles may beat down some peaks, slightly improving Ra, but because it works both the peaks and valleys, it is not effective in significantly improving Ra.
Here are my mechanical and visual finishing recommendations:
Abrasive finishing using a 320-grit coated abrasive (disc, belt or non-woven wheel) will reduce the surface from 32 Ra to 7-11 Ra. This method is capable of achieving a uniform straight, swirled, random-lined or bright buffed finish. However, abrasive finishing will be time-consuming by hand and expensive to automate for a complex shaped part.
As stated above, blast finishing on its own will not reduce a surface finish from a 32 Ra to 12 Ra. This method will produce a bright, reflective satin finish with a fine glass or ceramic bead. If a blast finish is visually preferred, it will have to be a two-step process—surface Ra improvement first and blasting second.
Mass finishing is an excellent choice because this process automatically finishes complex shapes. High-energy mass finishing will reduce the 32 Ra to 12 Ra in 30 to 45 min. The vibratory process will reduce it in 2 to 4 hrs. A good media choice is a fast-cut or high-density plastic media. Larger media will produce a large-pattern matte finish, while smaller media will produce a tight-patterned, soft matte finish. A secondary burnish process after plastic media refinement can achieve a bright reflective finish.
Related Topics
Taking the (Oxide) Edge Off
Metal fabricators that laser-cut with oxygen take steps to prepare parts better for powder coating.
Mastering Sanitary Stainless Steel Finishes
Here's a primer on the types of finishes required for equipment used in sanitary applications.
Increasing Vibratory Efficiency by Optimizing the Choice of Media Shape Relative to Part Geometry
When choosing vibratory media, understand the size, shape, starting roughness condition and metallurgical structure of the part.


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25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
here. And no, I did not go there in 1959. I just happen to have a fierce love for vintage/retro stamp-a-tude. Call me "geek" and I shall answer.}
46. What is your favorite color?
And there you have it! What about you? Are any of you willing to share with us?


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I'm again handling the Designer Monthly Challenge.
For this month you'll have to use my part of the Scrap With Friends blog train called A la Belle Etoile. It's a freebie until August 30th. Click here to get the download link!
So I ask you to make a page with:
- 2 photos at less (each photo should be in a circle shape)
- to make circles (paper scraps in circle shapes)
- to use only items included in the freebie
- to write a text in a circle
- please do not recolor the items
I'm sure that you'll be very creative once again.


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Search our database of handpicked sites
Looking for a great physics site? We've tracked down the very best and checked them for accuracy. Just fill out the fields below and we'll do the rest.
You searched for "stars", type: Video
We found 16 results on physics.org and 6 results in our database of sites
(of which 0 are Websites, 6 are Videos, and 0 are Experiments)
Search results on physics.org
Are we really all made of stardust?
How many planets are there like Earth?
Listening to stars twinkle
All about... supernovae
A beginners' guide to exoplanets
How to spot an alien Earth
All about... SETI
The Herschel Space Observatory
All about... the Venus transit
Are lightsabers possible?
Molecules at the Movies
Light pollution - does anyone care?
Top 4 Bonkers things about the universe
The Science of His Dark Materials
The physics of Santa
6 Things you may not know about the afterglow of the big bang
Search results from our links database
Showing 1 - 6 of 6
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How Do We Measure the Distance to Stars? - Instant Egghead
Short video on how we can use the parallax method to measure distances to nearby stars.
The Stars - for BBC Science and Nature
Video for BBC Science and Nature about the lifecycle of stars.
Death of the Universe
Brian Cox describes how stars will eventually turn into black dwarves.
Where did we come from?
A short video explaining how the elements that make up everything were created inside giant stars and what nuclear pasta is.
The Beginning of Everything -- The Big Bang
A great animation looking at the first instances after the big bang until the first stars formed.
Why astronauts appear weightless in space
Deep inside an astronomer's head, a parasite (voiced by Alan Tudyk) taps into his brain to learn about...science! Specifically, about why astronauts appear weightless in space. Wil Wheaton co-stars.
Showing 1 - 6 of 6