text:
Xapian Fu
XapianFu is a Ruby library for working with Xapian databases. It builds on the GPL licensed Xapian Ruby bindings but provides an interface more in-line with "The Ruby Way"(tm) and is considerably easier to use.
For example, you can work almost entirely with Hash objects - XapianFu will handle converting the Hash keys into Xapian term prefixes when indexing and when parsing queries.
It also handles storing and retrieving hash entries as Xapian::Document values. XapianFu basically gives you a persistent Hash with full text indexing (and ACID transactions).
sudo gem install xapian-fu
Xapian Bindings
Xapian Fu requires the Xapian Ruby bindings to be available. On Debian/Ubuntu, you can install the `libxapian-ruby1.8` package to get them. Alternatively, you can install the `xapian-ruby` gem, which reportedly will also provide them. You can also just get the upstream Xapian release and manually install it.
XapianFu::XapianDb is the corner-stone of XapianFu. A XapianDb instance will handle setting up a XapianFu::XapianDocumentsAccessor for reading and writing documents from and to a Xapian database. It makes use of XapianFu::QueryParser for parsing and setting up a query.
XapianFu::XapianDoc represents a document retrieved from or to be added to a Xapian database.
Basic usage example
Create a database, add 3 documents to it and then search and retrieve them.
require 'xapian-fu'
include XapianFu
db = XapianDb.new(:dir => 'example.db', :create => true,
:store => [:title, :year])
db << { :title => 'Brokeback Mountain', :year => 2005 }
db << { :title => 'Cold Mountain', :year => 2004 }
db << { :title => 'Yes Man', :year => 2008 }
db.search("mountain").each do |match|
puts match.values[:title]
Ordering of results
Create an in-memory database, add 3 documents to it and then search and retrieve them in year order.
db = XapianDb.new(:store => [:title], :sortable => [:year])
db << { :title => 'Brokeback Mountain', :year => 2005 }
db << { :title => 'Cold Mountain', :year => 2004 }
db << { :title => 'Yes Man', :year => 2008 }
db.search("mountain", :order => :year)
will_paginate support
Simple integration with the will_paginate Rails helpers.
@results = db.search("mountain", :page => 1, :per_page => 5)
will_paginate @results
Spelling correction
Spelling suggestions, like Google's "Did you mean…" feature:
db = XapianDb.new(:dir => 'example.db', :create => true)
db << "There is a mouse in this house"
@results = db.search "moose house"
unless @results.corrected_query.empty?
puts "Did you mean '#{@results.corrected_query}'"
Transactions support
Ensure that a group of documents are either entirely added to the database or not at all - the transaction is aborted if an exception is raised inside the block. The documents only become available to searches at the end of the block, when the transaction is committed.
db = XapianDb.new(:store => [:title, :year], :sortable => [:year])
db.transaction do
db << { :title => 'Brokeback Mountain', :year => 2005 }
db << { :title => 'Cold Mountain', :year => 2004 }
db << { :title => 'Yes Man', :year => 2008 }
Complete field definition examples
Fields can be described in more detail using a hash. For example, telling XapianFu that a particular field is a Date, Fixnum or Bignum will allow very efficient on-disk storage and will ensure the same type of object is instantiated when returning those stored values. And in the case of Fixnum and Bignum, allows you to order search results without worrying about leading zeros.
db = XapianDb.new(:fields => {
:title => { :store => true },
:released => { :type => Date, :store => true },
:votes => { :type => Fixnum, :store => true }
db << { :title => 'Brokeback Mountain', :released => Date.parse('13th January 2006'), :votes => 105302 }
db << { :title => 'Cold Mountain, :released => Date.parse('2nd January 2004'), :votes => 45895 }
db << { :title => 'Yes Man', :released => Date.parse('26th December 2008'), :votes => 44936 }
db.search("mountain", :order => :votes)
Simple max value queries
Find the document with the highest :year value
Special queries
XapianFu supports Xapian's `MatchAll` and `MatchNothing` queries:
Search examples
Search on particular fields
db.search("title:mountain year:2005")
Boolean AND (default)
db.search("ruby AND rails")
db.search("ruby rails")
Boolean OR
db.search("rails OR sinatra")
db.search("rails sinatra", :default_op => :or)
Exclude certain terms
db.search("ruby -rails")
Phrase searches
db.search("'a steamer in the gene pool'", :phrase => true)
And any combinations of the above:
db.search("(ruby OR sinatra) -rails xap*")
Custom term weights
Sometimes you may want to increase the weight of a particular term in a document. Xapian supports adding weight(trac.xapian.org/wiki/FAQ/ExtraWeight) to a term at index time by providing an integer "wdf" (default is 1).
You may set an optional :weights option when initializing a XapianDb. The :weights option accepts a Proc or Lambda that will be called with the key, value and list of document fields as each term is indexed. Your function should return an integer to set the weight to.
XapianDb.new(:weights => lambda {|k, v, f| k == :title ? 3 : 1}
Boolean terms
If you want to implement something like [this](getting-started-with-xapian.readthedocs.org/en/latest/howtos/boolean_filters.html#searching), then:
db = XapianDb.new(
fields: {
name: {:index => true},
colors: {:boolean => true}
db << {name: "Foo", colors: ["red", "black"]}
db << {name: "Foo", colors: ["red", "green"]}
db << {name: "Foo", colors: ["blue", "yellow"]}
db.search("foo", filter: {:colors => ["red"]})
The main thing here is that filtering by color doesn't affect the relevancy of the documents returned.
Many times you want to allow users to narrow down the search results by restricting the query to specific values of a given category. This is called [faceted search](readthedocs.org/docs/getting-started-with-xapian/en/latest/xapian-core-rst/facets.html).
To find out which values you can display to your users, you can do something like this:
results = db.search("foo", facets: [:colors, :year])
# {
# :colors => [
# ["blue", 4]
# ["red", 1]
# ],
# :year => [
# [2010, 3],
# [2011, 2],
# [2012, 1]
# ]
# }
When filtering by one of these values, it's best to define the field as boolean (see section above) and then use `:filter`:
db.search("foo", filter: {colors: ["blue"], year: [2010]})
ActiveRecord Integration
XapianFu always stores the :id field, so you can easily use it with something like ActiveRecord to index database records:
db = XapianDb.new(:dir => 'posts.db', :create => true)
Post.all.each { |p| db << p.attributes }
docs = db.search("custard")
docs.each_with_index { |doc,i| docs[i] = Post.find(doc.id) }
Combine it with the max value search to do batch delta updates by primary key:
db = XapianDb.new(:dir => 'posts.db')
latest_doc = db.documents.max(:id)
new_posts = Post.find(:all, :conditions => ['id > ?', lastest_doc.id])
new_posts.each { |p| db << p.attributes }
Or by :updated_at field if you prefer:
db = XapianDb.new(:dir => 'posts.db', :fields => { :updated_at => { :type => Time, :store => true } })
last_updated_doc = db.documents.max(:updated_at)
new_posts = Post.find(:all, :conditions => ['updated_at >= ?', last_updated_doc.updated_at])
new_posts.each { |p| db << p.attributes }
Deleted records won't show up in results but can eventually put your result pagination out of whack. So, you'll need to track deletions yourself, either with a deleted_at field, some kind of delete log or perhaps by reindexing once in a while.
db = XapianDb.new(:dir => 'posts.db')
deleted_posts = Post.find(:all, :conditions => 'deleted_at is not null')
deleted_posts.each do |post|
More Info
- Author
John Leach ([email protected])
- Copyright
Copyright © 2009-2012 John Leach
- License
MIT (The Xapian library is GPL)
- Mailing list
- Web page
- Github


text:
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Not taking any time out from his many charity endeavors, stand up guy and hard working Hollywood actor Matt Damon spent some time riding for charity in the Cape Argus Cycle Tour.
Damon rode with his team of cyclists in the 68-mile South African ride and helped raise funds for Make A Difference.
'It was windy at first. We had a bunch of bike problems so we were on the side of the road quite a bit but it is nice to finish, it was beautiful,' Damon said about the ride, which was made even more difficult by strong winds.
Whilst in South Africa shooting a film, as well as riding the Cape Argus Cycle Tour Matt Damon has also spent time with Zimbabwean refugees.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ted Wright has very specific taste in music. The founder and CEO of a marketing agency in Atlanta adores bands like Pylon and R.E.M., an alt-rock sound that took shape in Athens, Georgia, in the 1980s (he bought the latest R.E.M. on CD the day it was released). And he prefers to listen to his music on products designed by the Danish consumer electronics company Bang & Olufsen. The centerpiece of Wright's B&O collection is a BeoSound 9000 CD player — "the classic," Wright calls it. This device isn't like any other CD player you've seen: Mounted on a wall, it's a glittering strip of metal and smoked glass about a yard long (or tall, depending on how you orient it). It holds a half-dozen compact discs in such a way that their labels face outward, visible through the pane of glass. The unit's "CD clamper" slides back and forth to whichever disc you select. Wright has had it since around the time it debuted in 1996, and B&O sold it until August of this year — the company's site describes it as a "kinetic sculpture."
Wright's CD player is connected to an equally eye-catching BeoLab 3500 speaker, a 4-foot-long tube with a base that makes it appear to hover in midair. He also owns a BeoCom 1401 corded analog telephone. Introduced in 1993, it features an impossibly slim rectangular handset that juts from the wedge-shaped receiver like a Kubrick monolith. Like many B&O offerings, each of these objects is strikingly appointed in brushed aluminum or matte black, and each is strikingly expensive: The CD player will set you back $5,250, the speaker $2,175, and the phone $159.
by Rob Walker (28.7 MB .mp3)
Wright shrugs off those price tags. To him, B&O gear is like one of his $3,000 suits: It is made better, looks better, and lasts longer than anything else. "Their stuff is so cool," he says. "The sound is awesome, it's beautifully designed, and it's unobtrusive."
Unobtrusive? That CD player looks like something from Buck Rogers' bachelor pad in New Chicago. In fact, for much of B&O's 86-year history, a common compliment — and complaint — has been how much its products resemble props in sci-fi films. Back in the analog era, each new B&O offering was a kind of self-contained world's fair, a window into a sleek utopian future. The company attracted a coterie of audiophiles and connoisseurs, mostly in the EU, where there are around 500 dedicated Bang & Olufsen boutiques. (There are more than 700 worldwide.) Wander through one of its 41 US stores, which are often devoid of customers, and you'll see a baffling mix of retro-futurist style and surrealist pricing. An $1,100 cordless phone that's thin and tapered like a Brancusi sculpture or a walrus tusk, a $23,000 pair of 3-foot-tall loudspeakers that look like Daleks from Doctor Who, an $85,000, 6-foot-wide, 3-D TV with a triangular speaker that juts from its base. Product names generally begin with Beo and end with a number: the BeoVox 1, the BeoSound 2, the BeoSystem 3, the BeoVision 4.
B&O's distinct menagerie of wares has brought handsome profits — even though the future that it seemed to promise never came to pass. While the Danish company pursued its own cult of design, others like Apple formulated a new aesthetic that took into account the graphical user interface and Moore's law. As the iPod and iTunes took off, conversation-piece home-entertainment objects seemed less and less relevant. It turned out that the sound system of tomorrow wasn't an elegant $5,000 device that gave you instant access to six CDs; it was a $400 gadget that allowed you to slip thousands of songs into your hip pocket. Audiophiles lost out to audio files.
In the midst of this consumer electronics upheaval, Bang & Olufsen remained adamantly, diligently, and somewhat endearingly committed to following its own path. But in 2008, the global financial crisis confronted B&O with perhaps its gravest existential threat since Nazi sympathizers blew up its factory in 1945. Between 2008 and 2009, annual revenue plunged from $853 million to $528 million, and its stock price plummeted from $52 to $8.50. The manufacturer could no longer ignore the urgent realities of the present. It was forced to shed product lines, shuffle CEOs, and lay off hundreds of workers.
Yet remarkably, B&O endured. This eccentric company, which seems so out of sync with current trends, even returned to profitability last year. It's a testament to the mystique of its products and to the ardent loyalty they have inspired over many decades. B&O is now healthy enough to contemplate the future again and to figure out exactly what its place there will be.
In 1924, a young Dane named Svend Olufsen started tinkering with a relatively new piece of technology — the radio. He soon teamed up with Peter Bang, a gifted engineer and former classmate who had just returned from a stint in the U.S., where the novel broadcast medium was taking off. The two set up a makeshift laboratory in the Olufsen family's 300-year-old home. Olufsen became the business guy, while Bang dreamed up new products. In 1927, Bang and Olufsen borrowed money from their fathers to build a factory and quickly established the reputation that their company lives on today: quality media delivery via striking objects. Early products included the Five Lamper, a sumptuous radio in a walnut and maple cabinet. It took its aesthetic cues from furniture, a radical departure at a time when most radios were purely functional. This attention to design as well as engineering found an audience that was willing to pay the price premium it entailed.
After World War II, B&O embraced television sets, and by 1960 the company had started a push to become a distinct global brand. Its star designers, Henning Moldenhawer and Jacob Jensen, defined a whole new vision of home electronics, one that reveled in iconic representations of accuracy and precision. The Beomaster 1200 tuner featured a dial suggestive of the slide rule. The tonearm on the Beogram 4000 turntable glided automatically into place with sensuous smoothness, like a plane coming in for a perfect landing. The Beovision 8800 TV boasted an infrared remote control and a profile that at the time was remarkably slender. In 1978, New York's Museum of Modern Art held an exhibition consisting entirely of Bang & Olufsen designs. Each product seemed to symbolize a sort of platonic ideal of its category.
"B&O absolutely ruled the world," says Lee Marriott, the 40-year-old owner of enthusiast site BeoWorld, where chat boards crackle with B&O gossip and tips about its products old and new. "Once you have one piece, nothing else compares." He grew up in public housing in the UK and remembers being dazzled by a B&O system at a wealthy friend's home — especially when he was ordered not to touch it.
"Have you ever experienced any B&O products from the classic period?" asks Tim Jarman, who refurbishes the company's wares when he's not running another fan site, Beocentral. "Oh, they are absolutely fantastic. Made out of solid metal and proper hardwood, and the performance is just unbelievable." The brand's offerings were spectacularly expensive, he says, but worked so well for so long that they were more of an investment than a splurge.
"If you look back 10, 20, 30 years, Bang & Olufsen had a fantastic position," Tue Mantoni agrees. The 36-year-old returned to his native Denmark to become president and CEO of the company in March after earning praise for helping the moribund British motorcycle maker Triumph successfully retool its bikes and image. But he'll have a harder time reviving B&O's aura of design and engineering superiority. A motorcycle plays the same role in an owner's life today as it did a decade or even a generation ago; the function of a piece of consumer electronics morphs as quickly as its form. "Bang & Olufsen made some fantastic products, made a lot of money. And at some point, they simply became complacent," Mantoni says.
That complacency coincided with the rise of portable audio players, networked computers, and digital media. (At the same time, Asian competitors were learning to make slim TVs with good-enough picture quality that cost a fraction of the price of even the cheapest BeoVisions.) New product categories ushered in a new rate of progress, one in which continuous upgrades made entertainment devices seem practically disposable. Everything about this emerging paradigm was anathema to the proud Danish company.
B&O tried to compete as it always had, by creating the most elegant and luxe offering in each category. There was the BeoSound 2 digital music player, a stainless steel disc with no display, no built-in hard drive, and a $460 price tag. Then there was a $1,275 mobile phone. These products acknowledged the digital revolution, but they had a me-too quality. Also, the pace of innovation made it increasingly difficult to make the devices feel like future-proof investments — why pay so much for an MP3 player or a mobile phone if you suspect you'll have to upgrade in a few years?
B&O got out of mobile phones and MP3 devices entirely, and those cutbacks have helped it survive the global financial crisis. But the company is still struggling to adjust to the contemporary universe of products, software, and services. "This is about carving out our niche — our reason to be, really — in a market that has completely changed," Mantoni says.
It's open to debate whether the image projected by B&O's products is even desirable nowadays. "There's an 'impress the neighbors' quality" to this gear, says Lucian James, founder of brand consultancy Agenda, which specializes in the luxury market. "And that's an embarrassing concept to a lot of people these days." Louise Rosen, a 40-year-old brand consultant in Paris, illustrates the problem from the consumer's point of view. Her Danish mother, she says, is of a generation that aspired to own the company's wares: "Every electronic device in her house is Bang & Olufsen." But Rosen has never bought B&O, finding its aesthetic off-putting. "For me," she says, "it's nonsense."
Good taste is no minor matter in Denmark. "We are very aware that Danish design is something the world knows us for," says Jeppe Trolle Linnet, a social anthropologist and consumer-culture expert in Copenhagen. For proof, go to the city's Stroget shopping thoroughfare and step into Illums Bolighus, a stunning emporium with four floors of home-design products. You'll see long-celebrated Danish creations like the refined housewares of Georg Jensen and the legendary PH lamps of Poul Henningsen, with their nested shades that tame glare by emitting reflected light; they were devised around the time B&O was founded and are still sold today. You'll also see newer arrivals on the Scandinavian design scene: Normann Copenhagen's amusing round-bottomed tumblers, Muuto's clever tea-light holders that feature a slot to accommodate a match. These engaging wares make a collective statement about "thingness," a palpable feeling that every object, no matter how trivial its function, ought to be treated seriously and built to last.
That view of material culture guides B&O, as everyone will tell you at company headquarters in the hamlet of Struer, about four hours outside of Copenhagen and just a short drive from the house where Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen toiled 86 years ago. A visit here begins in a high-end simulacrum of a family room displaying the BeoLiving concept. The Beo6 remote control — a silvery ball with a small screen mounted on top — can operate every piece of gear in the room. Later, the visitor is plopped in front of the half-ton, 103-inch BeoVision 4 plasma HDTV, which swivels while six booming BeoLab 5 speakers (the ones that look like Daleks) surround the viewer. The total B&O immersion feels like actually being in a science fiction movie, a scary one that triggers your fight-or-flight response.
In the nearby Struer Museum, a third-generation B&O employee leads a tour through a wing devoted to the company's products. Everything from an early Bauhaus-inspired radio to electric shavers (a brief B&O foray) displays the brand's signature mix of unique form and quality function. The guide points out a scroll-wheel control on a 1990s stereo and makes a sideways remark about where Apple gets its ideas. Danes are polite but not necessarily modest.
But the genuinely impressive moments in a journey through B&O's world come from peeking at its process. You expect a company that sells incredibly expensive products to pour tremendous time, effort, skill, and craft into making them. But in an age of outsourcing and cost efficiencies, it's still something to witness. In one of the dozen soundproof garages where B&O car stereos are fine-tuned, engineers are testing the audio in an Audi Q7 tricked out with some 50 speakers. Elsewhere, a Rube Goldberg machine burns cigarettes and shoots the smoke at TVs to make sure their screens can withstand such abuse. Best of all is the tidy Factory Five, where robots and humans mill and polish aluminum to insanely precise standards. The guide points out an enormous Swiss-made Niederberger grinding machine used to create the grain on the frame of the BeoVision 7 TV. Like everything in the factory, this assembly line was meticulously organized to turn designers' exacting visions into reality.
"At a time when everybody's doing design, we have to think about true design," Torsten Valeur says. The 45-year-old represents the future of Bang & Olufsen; he works closely with the company's longtime design guru, 72-year-old David Lewis, and will take over when his mentor retires. Valeur explains what he means by "true design" by citing the $23,000 BeoLab 5 speakers. "I'm very much in love with them," Valeur says. Each speaker's unique conical shape is dictated by its function — 2,500 watts of digital amplification, with bass control that reads the acoustics of a room and adjusts accordingly. Valeur admires that they are sui generis, not a tweaked version of something else. "Every new product we do for Bang & Olufsen," Valeur says, "should come as a surprise."
It's hard to overstate how much free rein B&O has given its designers. In 2005, then-CEO Torben Ballegaard Sorensen practically bragged to Fast Company about caving in when Lewis objected to tweaking the design of a TV, even though it would have accommodated technology that could have extended the set's life cycle into the emerging hi-def era. Since adhering to Lewis' taste would have cost B&O "only" $10 million in cash flow, it was evidently a no-brainer to capitulate. "I have no influence on design," Sorensen is reported to have said.
I hear no such boasts from the new CEO. In fact, Mantoni sounds intent on prodding B&O toward a less aloof attitude about the marketplace. "We need to go out and talk to customers," he says. He recently told 30 of his top executives that they would be working in B&O stores for a while to meet customers face-to-face. There's a message here about design: Of course the company has to keep producing distinctive wares — but these also have to fit shoppers' actual lives. "We need to get the core of our target customer group really interested in the brand again," Mantoni says, "so they'll say, 'Bang & Olufsen is back.'"
Consider one of its latest products: the BeoSound 8, a docking device for iPods, iPhones, and iPads. This is a first for B&O, which took until 2010 to finally concede that we're all now living in a future of Apple's making. Granted, at $999, the BeoSound 8 is about 10 times the price of most iPod docks. And it looks otherworldly and obtrusive, with two plate-sized speakers joined by a brushed-aluminum bridge. But audiophiles rave about its sound quality. "Pin sharp, tight, and precise," declares brand-obsessive site BeoWorld. According to Zean Nielsen, president of B&O's American division, the dock already accounts for up to 14 percent of US sales and is bringing in customers who may have previously regarded its products as mere curiosities. B&O seems to see a future here. This summer, the company announced plans for a line of products designed for a distinctly non-B&O retail venue: Apple stores.
Rob Walker (email@example.com) is the author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are.Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.


text:
A group for biologists, and those with an interest in biology, to get together and talk about what interests them the most: the fascinating study of life.
Members: 188
Latest Activity: Dec 10, 2015
Started by Ruth Anthony-Gardner. Last reply by Liz E Nov 18, 2013. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Started by TNT666. Last reply by HotMess Nov 12, 2013. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Pop science, pop biological sciences, has been experiencing a brain scan MRI craze in the past several years. In certain atheist groups, several MRI trippers have even left older atheist groups to create A+ or atheist universe, because of their pop science inability to distinguish good from bad science, and going along with the propaganda "look my brain scan is "different" ". Anyway... some articles to bear in mind any time someone tries to sell a brain scan study which claims to explain entire segments of social behaviour...
From ethics and art history to social policy experts are embracing neuroscience as the answer to understanding human behaviour. Raymond Tallis rallies the neurosceptics
Don't believe everything you read
I now work in a genetic engineering a biopharmaceutical research laboratory, where we diddle with murine DNA daily! - does that count?
TNT666, you have a good nose for interesting things, too. I get a real treat from your postings. Thank you.
Ruth, where do you find all these wonderful articles and photos? I track them down to the source if I can, and you either have a magnet that draws them to you, or you have computer with super powers, or you have in inquiring mind and seek out very interesting stuff. My days could be filled with reading or looking at your materials! Thanks you, dear friend.
Siberian Tiger Quest. One of the most beautiful and haunting video studies of these disappearing beauties of nature... yet another "tipping point" Homo sapiens is presently crossing.
I don't know if this video is available online anywhere, I didn't find any, but watch on PBS television, keep an eye out for future showings.
The Botany of Desire.
Just watching this interesting documentary on PBS, on how plants affect human populations.It contains, among others, a wonderful segment on the common history of Homo sapiens and Cannabis.
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The open wound of the California state budget is in no hurry to heal itself. Universities all over California are struggling to make ends meet and school officials are looking to students to foot the bill.
Take for example the new University Live-In Requirement at San Diego State University (SDSU). With this fall semester, all incoming freshmen from outside the SDSU local service area are required to live on campus.
First-time freshmen participating in the University Honors Program will also be required to live on campus. This means that even some students who live locally will have to pay thousands of dollars to live on campus.
Everyone knows the plight of the cash-strapped, ramen noodle-eating college student. Tuition and books already run a high price tag, factor in food and housing and you are easily looking at tens of thousands dollars a semester. In fact, the average cost of housing at SDSU for one school year is $11,485, not including tuition. The school's housing website recommends that students live on campus for at least two years; a recommendation that costs about $22,970.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
For some freshmen at SDSU, the decision to live off-campus in order to save money is no longer an option according to the school's new policy.
The University Residential Live-on Requirement comes on the heels of declining demand for on-campus housing. Chapultepec, a residence hall at SDSU, was closed down last fall due to low student enrollment. Enrollment at SDSU was cut by almost 5,000 students for this fall semester, putting the school in danger of having to close down more dorms because of declining demand.
The University Residential Live-on Requirement solves this problem, making it mandatory for certain freshmen to live on campus. In doing this, the school prevents the possibility of losing millions of dollars on empty dorms that fewer students are seeking to live in. The new policy is working so far, Chapultepec, the dorm that was closed last fall, re-opened this fall.
Each student pays about $1,300 a month for rooms. Since 60 percent of SDSU's dorms are double occupancy, each of those rooms averages about $2,600 a month. That is a high price to pay for a room that is around 11 x 15 feet, especially since the average rent in the entire San Diego County is $1,386.
The school offers aid but has not altered the amount to accommodate the now mandatory expense of dorm living. There are no reports of increased financial aid awarded for the upcoming school year, no guarantees for on-campus employment, no housing-specific scholarships. The average SDSU student receives about $9,000 in financial aid, which is not enough to cover the cost of a dorm, let alone tuition.
SDSU's website estimates the cost of attendance for one year as $22,306, that leaves $13,306 left to come out of the student's pocket after the average financial aid amount of $9,000 is deducted. For out-of-state students who attend school full-time the cost is even higher, reaching almost $30,000.
Despite the high cost of living in the dorms, the school says there are benefits to living on campus. The school's housing website says students living on campus have higher GPA's, a higher retention rate, and are less likely to be placed on academic probation.
Are you pro-dorm or pro-choice? Let us know what you think. Comment below, send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.


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Green Day Become Third Act Ever to Debut Atop Billboard Rock Songs Chart
Congrats to Green Day! It was a big opening week for the trio, who just became only the third act in Billboard's Nielsen BDS-based Rock Songs chart to debut at No. 1.
The song that accomplished the feat was 'Oh, Love,' the lead single from the '¡Uno!' portion of their album trilogy. Billboard reports that the track made 13 million first-week audience impressions with a 145 radio stations reporting on the track.
The only other two songs to accomplish a No. 1 debut were Linkin Park's 'The Catalyst' back in Aug. 2010 and the Foo Fighters' 'Rope' in March 2011.
For singer Billie Joe Armstrong, the chart-topping debut has to be an especially satisfying start for the group. The singer recently stated the trepidation he felt throughout the process not only debuting a wealth of new material, but even attempting an album trilogy in this day and age.
He explained, "I'm not going to conform to some consumer need. I believe people want to hear this kind of music, that people want to hear records that have a story. Or maybe they don't, I have no idea. I want to write killer songs, but I want them threaded together and to speak to each other within an album, which in this case is basically inside three albums."
The '¡Uno!' album arrives in stores Sept. 25, followed by '¡Dos!" on Nov. 13, with '¡Tre!" rounding out the run Jan. 15.


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Bachmann-Thome Overdrive
Over the past few days a couple of interesting things happened. In Iowa, Michele Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll in elegant fashion:
…while in Detroit, Jim Thome hit home run number 600 for his career and ruined Delmon Young's first game as a Tiger:
What do these two events have in common? Minnesota. And the fact that they scare me. I just hope that Bachmann follows in the Twins' footsteps and slowly dwindles away.


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Incident Report Forms
Insurance Summary of Cover Members
Insurance Summary of Cover Clubs
Insurance Summary of Cover Coaches
Insurance for Event Organizers
Incidents and Injuries that occur at Rallies and Events should be documented. The principle is to be able to track occurrences that might in the future lead to a claim.
There are self carbon pads* available from the PCAV Shop; or use this Injury Incident Report Form. It should be sent (post or email) to Head Office as soon as possible. A copy should be kept in the club.
As of July 2014 PCAV is insured by Gow Gates, they have made available an online form. We do not require both versions.
*Useful to have in the club rooms, or as part of a kit for instructors to have on the field. It is usually best to fill out the form when the event is fresh in people's minds. Please make sure they are posted to 73-75 Mackie Rd, Mulgrave 3170 - there is an old address on the form.
For more information about the Fall of Riders at competitions and activities, and special considerations for Games, Flat and Musical Ride Teams; see the Handbook of Bylaws.
NB: these rules do not apply to activities such as rallies and clinics that take place under instruction and supervision. In these cases the final decision and ultimate responsibility lies with the rider if 18 or over and the parent or guardian if the rider is under 18. However, it is advisable that if a fall results in unconsciousness or concussion that the rider takes no further part in the activity on that day.
Unconsiousness from a fall - automatically disqualifies the rider from taking any further part in the competition. Concussion automatically disqualifies the rider from taking any further part in the competition for the day.
Injuries of a minor nature (not requiring medical assistance and not a head injury) must submit to the Event Secretary a Fall Release form before proceeding. Injury necessitating treatment in an offsite medical facility must have a parent or guardian sign a release form in order to continue competing.
Rider Fall Release
Rider Fall Report Form for Cross Country Events


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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
I justed went into my shed and pulled out the one i picked up for my 67 car the date on the tank is 52 N 6 get a pic for you all so there has to be a couple for the 67 aswell
The code is stamped on the front RH (driver's side) corner flange of the tank.


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Daly City: Poodle - Standard Breeders
Below is a sample search of our Poodle - Standard breeders with puppies for sale. The search tool above returns a list of breeders located nearest to the zip or postal code you enter. From there you can see photos of their pups, find detailed information on their web page and contact them by e-mail, phone and even get driving directions.
(Detailed contact information has been omitted. Enter your zip or postal code above to access our up-to-date directory).
This is a FREE search tool! Use the form at the top to get complete listings for breeders in your area!
Important: Breeders.net has not screened the listed breeders and accepts no responsibility for their reputation or quality. It is your responsibility to investigate. See How to Find a Dog.
BluOaks Standard Poodles
Services: Puppies,Stud Service
Our mission is to provide beautiful, low COI (Co-efficiency of In-Breeding),dual registered AKC/UKC Particolored and factored Standard Poodles with great structure, health, temperaments and color.
Diamond Show Poodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service
AKC REGISTERED STANDARD Diamond Show Poodles couture breeders breeding the very best! We breed large standard poodles (Royal Standards) to the AKC standard, for temperament and beauty. We breed to show in conformation, obedience, agility, track and field. Special attention to training from birth and around the clock care creates the foundation for the learning ability, early training gives our most prestigious clients advanced pups ahead of the class. Puppies are raised in the home. Truly Magnificent! Our Large Royal Standard puppies leave potty trained and using doggy door from 5 1/2 weeks, responding to several commands, retrieving and much more... Diamond Show Poodles - Developing "High Achievers " using "Bio Sensor" Early Stimulation...
Designer Doodles
Services: Puppies
We have gorgeous F2B Golden Doodles that are hypoallergenic and non-shedding dogs! They are very intelligent and perfect for any family!
Pampered Poodles
Services: Puppies,Stud Service
Pampered Poodles are above the rest, pedigrees are out standing, all health tested, Puppies available for deposit now, All A.K.C. 30 day free pet insurance.
Mon Amie Standard Poodles
Services: Puppies,Stud Service
We are small in numbers but big on doing things right! Our dogs are family first. Wonderful Champion lines. Pet or show. Health tested. Our puppies are raised in our home in the middle of family life.
Tiara (Std & Moyen) * AKC Breeder of Merit *
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service
See our dogs' PROOF of health screenings for SIX generations at www.caninehealthinfo.com Search any parents of puppies you are interested in there for health screening verification. We Feed Raw.
Services: Puppies
Located in Idaho raising Akc standard poodle puppies in our home pre spoiled from our family to yours in phantoms partis and tris. Health tested parents. 2 year health guarantee.
Poodle Pets
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service,Rescue
Who we are? We are a collection of families that love these breeds! They are amazing, fun, loving, smart, protective, family pets. 360-241-4740 or email is [email protected]
Tank's Ready Stud Service
Services: Stud Service
Tank is AKC registered and has an excellent pedigree. He is Apricot in color with white markings. Very sweet and friendly disposition. He is 55lbs and studd fee is $500
Passion 4 Poodles
Services: Puppies
Passion 4 Poodles is located in Sunny Az. Our puppies are raised in our home, very socialized by our 9 grandchildren daily. We truly love the breed. We currently have puppies. See us on facebook.
Taylormade Standard Poodles
Services: Puppies
AKC registered standard poodles.
Mitchells Wyoming Standards
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service
Breeding AKC health tested, ranch raised, standard poodles. Ranging from cream to red and black! Raised with love and of course plenty of fun!
Argan Poodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service
Standard Poodles of Distinction. Puppies in Black, White, Blue and Silver for Show or Lovin.Genetic testing on parents.Raised in the home.Call Angie 972-658-7121.Lifetime support/lifetime guarantees.
MoJazz Multicolored Poodles
Services: Puppies
AKC/UKC registered, GRCH/CH-sired standard poodle parti and solid puppies occasionally available. Parent's health tests on OFA, 3 year health warranty. Pups raised with Puppy Culture protocols.
Palmares Red Standard Poodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service
Palmares Red standard Poodles Home to Distinctive Exceptional Red and Apricot standard Poodles.Raised in my home underfoot Preloved prespoiled.. I offer fully tested Parents and a lifetime of support
Bunne Poodles
Services: Puppies,Stud Service
AKC, full registration, one-year health guarantee, well socialized, dews and show-length tails, shots, champion bloodlines, doggy door trained, groomed, references, very clean, visitors welcome!
Willows Standard Poodles
Services: Puppies
Gorgeous puppies born Jan. 1st.🎆 8 pups, 5 boys 3 girls. Blk., cream/apricot and apricot abstract. Big healthy puppies. Mom is Cafe, and dad is dark red. $800.00. Call for pictures. 319-231-9155.
Promise Hill Poodles
Services: Puppies
Beautiful home raised and AKC registered. Dob 2-22-19. 1 male 10 weeks old and ready for his new family Health tested parents. UTD on vaccs.
McEnery Standard Poodles
Services: Puppies,Stud Service
We are a small conservative breeder of AKC registered Standard poodle puppies offering solid and parti colors. Our poodles come from health tested lines. Stud service available to approved bitches.
Jeff & Amy Sell
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service,Rescue
Kitchen-raised, family cuddled standard poodle puppies. Specializing in well socialized puppies. First shots done, dewormed, long dock and natural tails available. Delivery available on occasion.
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service,Rescue
White AKC male born 8-28-2018. Quality bred, parents health tested and on premises.Black male and black female available born Oct 11, 2018.
Calluna Poodles
Services: Puppies
We have a litter of creams and apricots born Mar 24th. A litter of reds is due May 22nd. They are AKC registered from health tested parents.
Scottland Yard Poodles & Doodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs
F1 BERNEDOODLE pups due JULY 2020. The fall of 2020 brings F1B Goldendoodles red/white and F1 Bernedoodles Tri or black/white. See my website for details on each litter and color patterns. Thank you!
Terrifick Standard Poodle
Services: Puppies,Stud Service
Terrifick Standard Poodles, AKC Breeder of Merit Genetically screened Champion/Performance parents.PupsTemperamentTested & matched to owner.Fall Breeding of Silver Pups.630-988-0240 2-7PM central-X
Jalyn Poodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service,Rescue
AKC Registered Standard Poodles Bred for temperment, health, beauty and intelligence- Health testing completed on all breeding parents Pet/Show avail. Pets sold on a spay/neuter contract.
Carpenter Creek Canines
Services: Puppies,Stud Service
We raise pups in our home, in our arms and under our feet. We strive to provide healthy, well-socialized pups. We have an older puppy, born 6/17/19, Callie is utd and full AKC.
NightWind Standard Poodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Stud Service
AKC Champion standard poodles home raised by veterinarian for conformation, obedience, agility, pets. Fully genetically tested with written health guarantee. Check our website and photos on Facebook.
Cadeau Poodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs,Rescue
Champion Donnchada, Lakeridge, Dassin, & By Request lines. Renowned for beauty, health, temperament and intelligence- bred for diversity.Health testing completed on all breeding parents Pet/Show
Cadeau Poodles
Services: Puppies,Adult Dogs
Exciting litter of top quality AKC Standards born 4/14/19. Champion Donnchada, Cadeau, NOLA, & Lakeridge lines renowned for beauty, health, temperament and intelligence. Parents health tested Pet/Show
Mustard Seed Meadows
Services: Puppies
Goldendoodles and Poodles


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This page was last updated February 2017. If you know of any sites with free models, please drop a link in the comments!
123D - This site is Autodesk's online suite of tools for modelling and 3D printing, but the site also hosts a modest but rapidly growing gallery of designs uploaded by users that can be downloaded by other site members.
3D Burrito - a 3D designs marketplace focused on hobbyists and amateur designers. This is among the least reliable markets out there, as file entries frequently include little to no information about the design specifications.
3D Content Central - 3D ContentCentral hosts free 2D and 3D CAD files from engineers and firms. You can also request models.
3D Parts Database - The Shapeways 3D parts database is a place where you can download free 3D models free for 3D printing. The files currently in the database have all been tested and printed by Shapeways and all "print for sure."
Archive 3D - an extensive collection of furniture models and the only 3D printable Lute I've ever found.
Artist-3D - I have found a perfect modelling site it does textures models everything you will need, and of course, its free.
CG Trader - a 3D model marketplace for computer graphics and 3D printing founded in 2011 and backed by a strong designer community. CG Trader offers both free and paid models, printer ready and incomplete designs.
CubeHero - this is my favorite 3D designs repository, at the moment. It offers an integrated versioning system that allows users are able to see changes that have been made to a 3D file, which makes collaborating as a community much, much simpler. There are still only about a hundred models on offer, but by offering their services and files for free, they're guaranteed to grow.
DEFCAD - Operated by Defense Distributed, this site is a makeshift response to Makerbot Industries' decision to censor firearm-related files on Thingiverse. They are hosting as many of the files pulled from Thingiverse, occasionally adding more.
GitHub - Yes, that GitHub. Everyone's favorite code repository is also an excellent place to browse 3D printer designs. GitHub integrated a 3D viewer for .stl files a few months back, and the response was overwhelming. There are now over twenty thousand files ready to download.
GrabCAD - GrabCad is a site for engineers to show off and share their CAD works, with over 75,000 free models available. There is an .stl filter available.
Instructables - this DIY project community offers quite a selection of 3D printing projects. The site's instructions often come with .stl files. User the "3D printing" tag to find projects for your printer.
My Mini Factory - A site from iMakr offering a nice selection of free 3D Printable objects. What sets this site apart from the rest is that it claims that all of its designs have been test printed by their team, which means you're not going to waste time printing out someone else's mistake.
The Pirate Bay - Since the creation of its "physibles" category, many new 3D designs have been uploaded to the Pirate Bay.
ShareCG - ShareCG.com hosts the web's largest collection of free Computer Graphics resources including thousands of free 3D CG Models
Sketchfab - a library of downloadable 3d model from dinosaurs to Minecraft cathedrals. All of them are downloadable under Creative Commons licenses, most of them are printable.
TF3DM - Tf3dm.com or "the free 3D models" boasts almost five thousands models.
Thingiverse - Thingiverse is a huge community of people who create and share 3D designs freely, so that all can benefit from them. Widely used by the RepRap Project, and by 3D Printer and MakerBot operators.
Trace Parts Online - TracePartsOnline.net is one of the biggest parts libraries in the world, offering 100+ million free 2D drawings & 3D CAD files.
Trimble 3D Warehouse - The Trimble 3D Warehouse (formerly Google 3D Warehouse until purchased by Trimble) is an accompanying website for SketchUp where modelers can upload, download and share three dimensional models. This is an especially good place to look for models of famous buildings, as SketchUp interacts with Google Earth.
TurboSquid - TurboSquid is a large repository of both pay-for and free 3D models. There's no area dedicated specifically to 3D printing, but users can search the site by file type, such as .stl and .sldprt (Solidworks part).
Yeggi - a meta search engine for 3D printable files. It aggregates content coming from 3D printing repositories such as Thingiverse. It's not the first such search engine, but at the moment, it's clearly the best. I suspect that, as 3D print grows in popularity, the competition is going to be fierce.
Yobi3D - finding the 3D model you're looking for can be a time-intensive undertaking. That's one of the reasons I assembled this directory, in fact. Yobi3D looks to simplify matters by serving as the Google of the 3D printable world. It has a keyword search interface, but after entering a search term, an infinite scrolling grid of thumbnails representing 3D models found on a diverse collection of websites is shown. By clicking on one of the thumbnails, users can see a 3D rendering of the model right away. They can use the mouse to rotate and move the 3D model around to see from different angles and zoom distances.


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Fool him once, shame on you. Fool him once with a widely circulated and obviously fake story from satirical newspaper The Onion that was published nine months ago? Yeah, that's all on him.
Congressman John Fleming (R-LA) is going to have a rough news cycle after his office posted a link to an outrageous story about Planned Parenthood's intentions to build an $8 billion "abortionplex," complete with shopping mall, movie theater and three-story night club. It's a laughable commentary on the outrageous charges that anti-choice groups use to attack Planned Parenthood, from one of the finest purveyors of satire, but the joke appears to have been lost on Fleming.
"More on Planned Parenthood, abortion by the wholesale," wrote Rep. Fleming (or more likely an overzealous staffer) before linking to the post. Just hours after the link was posted, Rep. Fleming's office deleted the post, but not before the blog Literally Unbelievable grabbed a screenshot:
Getting duped by false stories in The Onion is a common occurrence, as Literally Unbelievable demonstrates. But rarely does it happen to someone so public. And adding another layer of humor to the incident, the story Fleming posted is nine months old and was already a viral Internet phenomenon: several fake Yelp reviews of the abortionplex were published, and the story was the basis for Literally Unbelievable in the first place.
Fleming has been a punch line before. ThinkProgress reported in September that Fleming complained that he and his family struggled to live on an annual income of $400,000, more than enough to qualify Fleming as a member of the 1 percent.


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Hexyz Force – Cheats
Item Gallery
Main character of the story must reach level 50 (if you choose Levant's side, then he must be level 50, otherwise if you choose Cecilia's side, she must be level 50 ), then talk to Bigabu Beaze to get that item and a title of "Furious Fighter".
Unlockable How to Unlock Item Gallery Get the Encyclopedia from Bigabu Beaze at Glutchfort
Contributed By: chaosbreaker7.
You gain titles for accomplishing various deeds in the game. Speak with The Lycan at the argent statue to unlock them.
Unlockable How to Unlock Able Combatant Have the main character reach level 25 Component Hunter Harvest over 200 times Creation Crusader Purify all force sites Force Collector Save over 10000 FP Force Eater Beater Kill over 10 Force Eaters Force Fanatic Save 99999 FP Furious Fighter Have the main character reach level 50 Hyper Ultra Thanks! Play 100 hours In Your Face, Me! Proof that you have faced yourself and won. Inheritor of the Force Proof you've beaten the game Keen-eyed Adventurer Harvest over 50 times Legendary Hero Defeat 1000 enemies Master Force Scholar Craft over 300 Forcefacts Raging Demon Activate 50 Burst Attacks Ragnafact Blacksmith Max out one aspect of a ragnafact (best done early while the caps are lower) Reknown Hero Defeat 100 enemies. This unlockes the celestis mine and the ragnafact Devasti. Sword Greedy Obtain all weapons Technique Master Execute over 50 Overkills Traveler of Berge Play over 15 hours Treasure Hunter Open over 100 chests True Warrior Deal over 200000 damage to enemies Ultimate Champion Main character reaches level 99 Veteran Force Scholar Craft over 100 Forcefacts Victim of a Harsh World Have Force Eaters drain over 5000 FP White Flag Run away from 100 battles
Contributed By: UltimaShaman, Azn Playah, carlospenajr, tpt2789, DarkRPGMaster, Melefica, and maxblade56.
Unlockable How to Unlock Enemy Gallery Get the Scanning Specs from Dragon's Abyss Arena hard mode finish the game a second time using the clear data file Movie Gallery Get the Memory Crystal from Dragon's Abyss Arena. sound test, gallery and clear data finish the game
Contributed By: ADK and chaosbreaker7.
Know Something We Don't?
You can submit new cheats for this game and help our users gain an edge.
Have We Been Fooled?
You can submit a problem report for any non-working or fake code in the lists above.


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Hello guys, I am writing a program using ajax (obviously). The javascript calls a php script which writes an xml file that the javascript then uses to generate stuff.
The problem comes from the fact that the xml file that I receive is out of date and in fact does not update unless I physically access the xml file and refresh the page. This leads me to believe that the old page is getting cached so the new file is not getting looked at.
So far I have tried
obj.setRequestHeader("Expires", "0");
obj.setRequestHeader("Cache-Control", "no-store");
obj.setRequestHeader("Cache-Control", "no-cache");
but to no effect. Any help would be appreciated.


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"Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected."
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive officer, contends this maxim remains at the core of the organization's purpose. And on the pages of Facebook, these words still ring true, from facilitating communication between people who reside hemispheres apart, to disseminating the messages of citizens protesting repressive regimes like Syria's, to connecting organ-seekers with potential donors.
But the initial public offering (IPO) that has just concluded was anything but "open and connected" for ordinary Americans. "Following the traditional Wall Street model, Facebook shares are being parceled out to a select group of investors at an offering run by the company's bankers on Thursday evening, at an estimated $38 a share," The New York Times reported yesterday.
I wanted to invest in Facebook because I believe in its generally powerful and life-affirming impact on humanity. But based on my own conversations with those familiar with the nature of the deal, I learned this week that I lacked the prerequisite ingredient: A personal connection to Facebook's original backers.
Moreover, I would essentially be precluded from investing in the company until it went fully public and the price of its shares rose. Moreover, at $38, it's hardly affordable in any meaningful quantity to a twenty-something such as myself.
As leaders of a publicly-traded company, Mr. Zuckerberg and his colleagues have the potential to reform a corporate arena in which neither ethics nor concern for the wider American population guides many choices.
More than ever before, the notion of a "public company" has become a grand misnomer: Capital raised and invested seeps through so few hands, and financial success in the stock market is still a remote reach for many Americans. In too many cases, the public and business interest have become uncomfortably antithetical.
To truly live up to its mission, Facebook will have to reconcile its millions of non-share-holding subscribers with the elite group of early angel investors and stakeholders who will control the company.
More than half of Americans have an active Facebook account. In an informal style that can appeal to the masses, Zuckerberg has the potential to rekindle confidence in the markets and to engage everyday Americans in the kind of economic growth that has been limited to only a handful of individuals in recent years.
To demonstrate this inclusiveness, Facebook could offer each unique user a piece of the enterprise (perhaps a free share or a discounted five-share stake in Facebook).
The company, further, could become a model for transparency and disclosure – practicing what it preaches – by virtually bringing the public inside its shareholder meetings and explanations of quarterly profit reports. Facebook has a charitable foundation that operates independently. But it should bring its social-justice mission directly into its business, making it one of its corporate objectives.
Zuckerberg and his team can also accomplish something by simply avoiding the kind of financial decision-making and scandals in which the rich try to get richer exclusively for themselves.
Recent examples of such misbehavior include former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's missing billion-plus-dollar fiasco, J.P. Morgan's recent admission of "stupid...bad judgment," and a Facebook co-founder's renouncement of his US citizenship to avoid taxation.
Zuckerberg has already proven his chops as a precocious innovator. But can he preside over a break from the current mold of financial management, and instead ground his corporate leadership in the ethos of Bill Gates's post-Microsoft philanthropic activity?
If so, Zuckerberg can lead the best kind of publicly-minded revolution for the next generation of CEOs.
Alexander Heffner, a freelance journalist, has written for The Washington Post, Boston Globe, and USA Today.


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Farmers, residents debate priorities for lakes
More than miles separate the rice farms of the Texas coast and the Highland Lakes, where the outward march of Austin is marked by each new house, strip mall and marina.
They are divided by how to share the water of the Colorado River, pitting agriculture against recreation in a state that values both.
Growers have turned on a new plan that would guide allocations in the lower Colorado basin for the next few decades, grousing loudly about water cutbacks to help preserve playgrounds. Meanwhile, those who live and work around Lakes Buchanan and Travis want guarantees of boater-friendly levels at the reservoirs.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will consider the plan by April. How the three-member panel rules could influence management of Lake Conroe and other popular reservoirs across the state.
The water fight reflects changes in Texas since farmers began drawing from the Colorado in 1885. The Lower Colorado River Authority built the lakes to generate power and tame floods in the 1930s, and the state's population has surged since then, with more and more people moving into communities that barely existed, if at all, when the dams were constructed.
The state projects the population of the lower Colorado basin to double to 2.8 million people by 2060, and it is clear there is not enough water to meet everyone's needs.
"The issue is: Texas is a different place than when this system was set up," said Andrew Sansom, executive director of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University. "We have to find a way to equitably allocate these shortages in a future that is nothing like the time of its origin."
With increasingly more straws in the river and Central Texas in the grips of a wicked drought, the LCRA, which controls the Highland Lakes, withheld irrigation water from one of the nation's most fertile granaries for the first time this year.
Rice growers are the largest water users in the lower Colorado basin. Their supply, however, can be interrupted during dry times, unlike the shares for cities and industry, which pay significantly more per acre-foot than agricultural users.
For decades, farmers received an unlimited supply of water once the river authority had met its obligations to cities and industries when the lakes are above a trigger point. The new plan would cap the amount for irrigation and, thus, keep more water in the reservoirs.
The LCRA has said the plan, developed with the help of cities, businesses, environmentalists and farmers, tries to balance the varied interests and protect customers during times of drought. Not everyone is sanguine about the arrangement.
Rice farmers contend that maintaining a full lake for its beauty and recreational use and allowing the water to evaporate is a waste of the limited resource.
"That's what we believe is happening in this plan," said Ronald Gertson, a fifth-generation farmer in Wharton County. "It has gone beyond protecting firm interests — cities and industry — and is acting to keep lake levels higher for those incidental uses."
Texas law recognizes agriculture, industry and cities as the highest beneficial uses for water. Recreation stands lower on the hierarchical ladder, below power generation, mining and navigation.
Still, recreation plays an important role in the Central Texas economy. Property values around Lake Travis totaled $8.4 billion in 2010, while tax revenues fluctuated with lake levels, according to a recent study by Travis County.
Lakes Buchanan and Travis were at 49 percent capacity Friday after a few days of rain.
Jo Karr Tedder, a Lake Buchanan resident, said lake levels are lower than at the same point last year and would be worse if the river authority had released water to rice farmers in the spring. The cove near her home has been without water for two years, she said.
"The only thing that will help us, literally, is rain," said Tedder, who leads the Central Texas Water Coalition, a group of property owners. "If we don't get rain, it's only going to get worse."
Tedder said there needs to be a rethinking of lakes as development anchors rather than just buckets of water. Ultimately, she said she would like to see an operating range that keeps lake levels high.
Farmers could expect an unlimited supply of water "when we had enough, but we don't anymore," she said. "This is not 1938, and it is not the 1950s."
The 1950s drought spurred water planning in Texas — a time when everyone owned a ranch or had a family member who did, said Sansom, author of the book "Water in Texas."
The state has become more urbanized, and "we are seeing the pain of that transition," he said. "We should not be surprised that development along the Highland Lakes has a greater economic benefit and more political clout than the rice farmers at the bottom of the basin."
It is unlikely that the Legislature will step in and mandate specific levels for Lakes Buchanan and Travis, said state Sen. Glenn Hegar, a Katy Republican and farmer.
"People moved there and they understandably want to see a full lake," Hegar said. "When they don't have one, that is a significant part of the economy. But you cannot turn them into constant-level lakes."


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Is suicide 'cowardly desertion'?
Culture | Late 19th century newspaper editors thought so
by Marvin Olasky
Posted 8/16/14, 08:55 am
Should newspapers criticize persons who commit suicide? Should they report gory details? Since the suicide of Robin Williams hit front pages on Tuesday, whirled views on those questions and others have roamed the internet. But just as it's good to read old books to gain a perspective that differs from what is socially correct now, so it's useful to read old newspapers to compare past and present coverage.
We've posted below a paper—presented at an academic gathering in 1986—that I dug up in light of this week's debate. I'd write some things differently now, and we've left off the footnotes, but I think the quotations from late 19th century newspapers will interest today's readers. For example, an 1883 editorial in the New-York Tribune, then one of the nation's most influential newspapers, proclaimed that the person who commits suicide "is an ass, a very distinct and unmistakable ass. Is this too harsh? … [O]ur self-killing friends themselves must confess that they can make no serious claim for charitable consideration. … There is no dignity, and seldom any decency in suicide. … It is at best cowardly desertion … the insanity of personal vanity, of overwhelming egotism."
In 2014 we're not as wise as we generally think we are, but we probably understand more about mental illness than our 19th century predecessors did. Telling a person who's clinically depressed to "buck up" is rarely helpful, so I'm not defending all the hard lines you'll read below. But it's worthwhile to ponder the theological considerations underlying the Tribune's toughness: "That we are not yet called from the scene of wearisome struggle and disaster, seemingly consummate, should prove to us that Providence has some design in continuing our existence."
Editors in those days were also more likely to consult ancient than modern wisdom in figuring out how to discourage suicides—and Plutarch, in his tale of the maidens of Miletos, had suggested a way to stop copycat suicides that today would be considered incredibly insensitive. I report that, and I also want to warn readers about another insensitive element: Despite what you've heard about purported Victorian Age niceties, big city newspaper stories 125 or so years ago often contained lots of gore, blood, and guts. In this paper presented before scholarly adults I quoted sentences about the post-suicide appearance of brains and bodies that would not make it past most newspaper editors today.
Was 19th century practice good? Was it bad? I have mixed feelings about such coverage, but it is part of our history and worth considering—although not by children or those with queasy stomachs.
Maidens of Miletos and newspaper coverage of suicide: Examining late 19th and late 20th century practice
Suicide stories are hard for reporters to write. They usually do not involve homicides or violent accidents that could be called "public" in nature, spectacular fodder for the evening news. Nor are they inevitable events like the death of an elderly person, which we can view sadly but sedately. For the individual who commits suicide, the end may be explosive; for journalists, suicide is neither bang nor whimper.
Yet, journalists have an imperative to cover suicide, or at least some suicides. The shock of suicide makes it news, private torment or insanity going public. Like homicide stories, properly written suicide stories give us valuable information about the nature of man's heart of darkness. How, then, should today's reporters reconcile pursuit of a story with the need to say a sermon over the dead? Can we learn anything from the way American journalists at other times carried out similar assignments?
This paper developed out of an immersion in suicide stories of the 1870–1900 era published in 12 newspapers from across the United States: The Atlanta Constitution, Arkansas Gazette, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Herald, The Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, New York Journal, The New York Times, New-York Tribune, San Antonio Express, The San Francisco Examiner, and The Washington Post.
The study included an average of three months' worth of coverage per newspaper—1,010 suicide stories in all. The style of coverage was so different that examination of a typical recent suicide story in the light of late 19th century practice raises significant questions, as we shall see.
Bloody detail a century ago
The most surprising finding was the explicitness of many suicide stories. Although the late 19th century may have been a "Victorian Age" in which "legs" became "limbs" and "breasts" were tucked away as "bosoms," blood and guts reporting dominated suicide coverage. For instance, The Dallas Morning News described relatives finding a "lifeless body still warm seated in a chair with the top of his head blown off, with blood and brains scattered around the room." The Atlanta Constitution described "blood oozing from the gaping wound" after another shooting.
New York newspapers not known for sensationalism were vivid in their treatment of those who leaped from buildings or in front of trains. The New-York Tribune reported that one jumper's "brains were scattered over the flagstones" and that another "fell three stories and struck her head foremost, almost smashing her entire skull. She lay there for about ten minutes before she was seen. … By that time an immense quantity of blood had flowed from the body and trickled into the gutter." The New York Times wrote, concerning a man who jumped in front of a subway train, "[H]is head was knocked clean off." Another man had (according to the headline) "His Body Cut to Pieces."
Those who slit their throats prompted particularly grotesque word portraits, such as this one from The New York Times: "His throat was cut, there was a foam on his lips, and his eyes stared wildly." Other newspapers went in for "pools of blood," typically, a man found dead in his room "lying on his face, under the bed, in a pool of blood."
Newspapers also tended to report the physical remains of suicides: A "mangled body," a "crushed and bleeding form," and so on. Sometimes, only part of the form was there: Fish had eaten the face of a man who committed suicide in a lake; the corpse of a man who hanged himself in a wooded area was not found for several weeks, by which time "the lower part of the body had evidently been eaten away by animals."
Reasons given for suicide
Specific reasons for the suicide were offered in most of the stories read. After a while, a typology became evident: According to the newspapers, suicides often were committed by those who had sinned, yet were unwilling to admit the irresponsibility and ask for forgiveness. Suicide was an irreligious act, a wrong on top of a previous wrong. Essentially, newspaper coverage of suicide causes ran through the entire second tablet of the Ten Commandments: Honor your parents, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet.
For instance, The Washington Post told of a man committing suicide in a county jail, thus receiving from his own hand the punishment he was said to deserve for brutally kicking his aged mother to death three months previously. The New-York Tribune explained that one person committed suicide because he had hit his mother in the face. Murderers were also likely suicides in the press. The New-York Tribune explained how a convicted wife-murderer hanged himself in jail with a handkerchief. The Los Angeles Times also had a front-page story about a murderer hanging himself.
Newspapers of the era liked to dwell on the Seventh Commandment: Adultery was a particularly frequent cause of suicide. The Chicago Tribune reported how one man took arsenic after learning of his wife's adultery. The New York Times had a man killing himself after his wife found love letters another woman had sent him. The New York Journal wrote of a woman taking poison and dying in the yard of a man's residence, not her husband's. Illicit sexual relationships of all kinds were seen to have terrible consequences, including suicide: The New York Journal had many headlines such as, "HER LOVE FATAL. Frederika Was Disappointed and Killed Herself."
Theft was probably the leading single cause of suicide, a reader of late 19th century newspapers might conclude. Stories such as this 1877 version were typical: "SUICIDE OF A DEFAULTING CASHIER. J.P. Hassler, late cashier of the Carlisle Deposit Bank, hanged himself his afternoon in the garret of his dwelling, which was attached to the back. Mr. Hassler was elected cashier in 1863, and held that position until last October, when he was found to be a defaulter. Today the bank officers instituted criminal proceedings against him. …"
Similarly, the Dallas Herald noted the cyanide-taking of a bookkeeper arrested for theft, and the Los Angeles Times noted that a man shot himself after stealing $100.
The physical end of suicidal thieves often was described with particular vividness. One front-page story, "A Thief & A Suicide," showed how a bank robber shot himself and was found with "his face shattered and covered with blood." Another man, who also had a record of wife beating, slit his throat in the courtroom after being convicted of grand larceny. A bank defrauder was found "with half of his head blown off."
Bearing false witness could also lead to suicide, as stories in the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers indicated. Covetousness of various kinds, particularly greed, ranked just behind its close cousin, theft, as a newspaper explanation of suicide. The San Francisco Examiner explained that one suicide had gone through several high-paying positions but was "extravagant" and spent all that he earned. Another woman was said to have jumped off a bridge after her husband had squandered a fortune.
One key contributing factor was added to many of the suicide accounts in these pre-Prohibition days: alcoholism. The Dallas Herald explained that one suicide "had been constantly under the influence of liquor." The San Antonio Express and The Atlanta Constitution gave prominent play to drunkards killing themselves. So did newspapers in regions that would have no part of Prohibition for as long as possible: New York newspapers noted that "despondency, due to drink, was said to be the cause which led the man to take his life, or that "DRINK HAD DRIVEN HIM FROM HOME IN DISGRACE," or that a lawyer was "addicted to drink and his downfall was rapid." The Chicago Tribune had similar stories. Also typical were generalized headlines about "dissipation," as in "She Ended a Life of Dissipation … Pretty, Though Dissipated. …"
Editorial comment
Newspapers generally reported their linkage of sin and suicide dispassionately, but occasionally newspapers cheered what they saw as self-administered justice. "Good Riddance to a Brute" was the headline on the story of a husband who shot himself after threatening to murder his family. No one was sorry about the suicide, the reporter stated amid descriptions of how the drunken man tore off his wife's clothes and tried to rape her.
More frequently, editorials remarked on how suicidal individuals ended their worlds with a whimper. One editorial, titled, "Why They Do It," typified the late 19th century newspaper view:
"The life insurance agent who shot himself on Thursday last, had been an unusually successful man. … The wealth which he acquired he spent freely—it came easily and it went easily, for its fountain seemed inexhaustible. Fine horses were kept; land was purchased at high rates; and habits of profuse expenditure, including a habit of excessive drinking, resulted in embarrassments. … [A]t last, in sheer desperation, worried by his troubles, more worried, perhaps, by his conscious inability to grapple with and conquer them, the unfortunate man found refuge in self-slaughter."
An emphasis on personal responsibility led to an unwillingness to show sympathy toward the person who committed suicide. This New-York Tribune comment was typical:
"It is dangerous, it is inequitable, it is demoralizing for us to regard merely the ruin, appealing as it naturally does to our charity and our pity. It is necessary that we should also take into account the long concatenation of causes which have culminated in the tragedy—follies intellectual, moral, and physical … vices which are undeniable tokens of selfishness; passions to which the bridle has been given until it cannot be resumed; with all the waywardness and misemployed persistence of which the race is capable. …"
The Tribune tried particularly hard to strip suicidal individuals of any hope that their actions would be honored. An editorial in 1983 summed up the era's coverage:
"The Tribune would like to say something about the suicide business which, to persons contemplating that manner of egress, may seem harsh and unfeeling. [The suicide] is an ass, a very distinct and unmistakable ass. Is this too harsh? … [O]ur self-killing friends themselves must confess that they can make no serious claim for charitable consideration upon those whom, by the very act of suicide, they adjudge incompetent to make the world tolerable. … [T]here is no dignity, nor seldom any decency in suicide, whatever of charitable consideration time and the de mortuis sentiment may impart to it. It is at the best cowardly desertion of the ranks in the presence of the enemy. It is insanity, of course, always. But always, it must be observed, the insanity of personal vanity: of overwhelming egotism."
Deviance and Durkheim
The consistency of suicidal coverage throughout the country during the late 19th century was remarkable. All of the newspapers surveyed, with the occasional exception of the Arkansas Gazette, gave prominent display to suicide stories, and included mention of base motive and/or bloody detail. Newspapers with largely middle-class readerships, such as the New-York Tribune, covered suicide as frequently as those with a generally less-affluent readership, such as the New York Journal. There was little change in coverage over the time period studied.
How is that consistency to be explained? John Stevens observed recently that readers of sensational news are "participating, at least vicariously, in the redefinition of their own values." Sociologist Kai Erikson noted, "An enormous amount of modern 'news' is devoted to reports about deviant behavior and its punishment." News accounts, Erikson suggested, "constitute our main source of information about the normative contours of society. …"
The information provided by suicide stories in the 1870–1900 era was straightforward: Suicide was wrong, socially and theologically. It was wrong, among other reasons, because it reflected a lack of belief that God has a purpose for individual human lives. The New-York Tribune editorialized in 1877 that:
"The highest wisdom, therefore, even for a wretch whose life is saturated with sorrow, and for whom apparently there is no future, is to wait. Surely, considering how much we need them, faith and persistence should be lightly abandoned. The very fact that we are not yet called from the scene of wearisome struggle and disaster, seemingly consummate, should prove to us that Providence has some design in continuing our existence. …"
Newspapers during the 1870–1900 era, by linking suicide with other unethical or illegal behavior, by playing up the bloody physical results of the action, and by affirming a Providential plan for individual lives, were declaring that suicide was definitely out of bounds.
Today, greater concern for invasion of privacy, and awareness of potential lawsuits, sometimes keeps journalists from being explicit in their judgment of suicide's rightness or wrongness, even if they would want to be. But a more fundamental change has occurred also: Suicide is now seen as an act of social estrangement rather than one of religious despair.
The book that helped to create that changed perception, Émile Durkheim's Suicide, was published in 1897. Durkheim argued that patterns of social relationship, rather than theological beliefs, should be weighed most heavily in examining the causes of suicide. An individual's personal relationship with God was not a factor for Durkheim, because he believed that religion was only a mechanism for social cohesion. Other sociologists with atheistic presuppositions had similar views of suicide: Since religious faith was an ideological rationalization—part of the superstructure erected by individuals on a material base—it could not have a primary impact on that base.
Durkheim, often called the father of sociology, had an enormous impact on several generations of sociologists and popularizing psychologists. His way of looking at suicide has spread throughout Western culture. Recent literature on suicide stresses societal and environmental causes, rather than personal failings. Some recent books are even of a "pro-choice" variety, indicating that suicide can be a proper existential decision for individuals. It appears that societal and journalistic attitudes concerning suicide no longer include the absolute condemnation prevalent a century ago.
Current suicide reporting paradigm
The current format—evident from reading recent newspaper suicide stories and journalism textbook discussions of how to cover suicide—suggests that reporters should clean up the blood and avoid criticism of the dead. For instance, one standard textbook noted, "Gory details are nearly always omitted in suicide stories." Editorial Research Reports warned that the motives of suicidal young people in particular should not be criticized, because "this merely adds to their belief that no one understands them."
Comments by editors reflect a hesitancy even to deal with suicide. One survey showed that only 23 percent of editors polled had a policy of always printing the cause of death in suicide accounts. A typical editor responded, "Individual suicides are not worth the pain to report unless it is something spectacular or a well-known individual." Another editor, discussing coverage of suicide, replied, "We don't feel that kind of information is so important to readers that it is worth violating the privacy of the individual."
Such statements may reflect advice of legal counsel. Yet, when the decision is made to cover suicide (at least of young people), the typical approach reflects not late 19th century American newspaper practice, but a romanticism reminiscent of some early 19th century European literature. One of the heroes of a German suicide-prone generation at that time was Goethe's character Young Werther, whose ideal was "to cease upon the midnight with no pain" while still young and full of promise.
For instance, when The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., covered the 1983 suicide of Kent Green, age 16, the newspaper's Sunday magazine put his smiling picture on its front cover, with the caption, "Star athlete, solid student, popular leader—in every way he seemed to be a youth with every reason to live. …"
The story inside quoted Green's suicide note—"I just didn't have a future"—and noted simply that, "One night he put a rifle to his head and pulled the trigger." Readers were not shown brains and blood all over the floor. Readers were told of Green's burial in his favorite clothes, and of how he was deeply missed by parents, friends, and teachers who often think about him. The story's final sentence concerned Green's mother: "She also still keeps the door to Kent's room closed, and for the most part she stays out. But sometimes, when she's home during the day, she will open the door and just look in." The romanticized story had a tragic aftermath. Terry Ray Cahill, a friend and classmate of Kent Green, read the article five times, according to one of Cahill's friends, and said "that it wouldn't be a bad way to die." Two days after its publication, Cahill shot himself in the head, just like Green had, and died. The local school superintendent noted the next day, "I'm very concerned about the fact—whether it's irony or whatever—that this kind of tragedy falls right on the footsteps of this Courier-Journal article."
No one can reasonably state that The Courier-Journal's printing of the article caused the Cahill suicide. Studies show that suicide attempts are generally long in coming, may be touched off in many different ways, and may not be related to newspaper stories. But Courier-Journal editor David Hawpe, to his credit, was still pondering the matter two years afterward. Interviewed in July 1985, he noted that the article exploring it was not written or edited quickly or cavalierly. Hawpe and his associates, he said, spent "a long time" discussing whether to print the story and what to include in it. In the end, though, they followed the regular format: bloodlessness and sympathy.
Questions to raise
One reason The Courier-Journal editors acted as they did is that late 19th century–style journalistic harshness concerning suicide offends our sensibilities. Furthermore, that style goes against the Durkheimian stress on environmental causes and individual helplessness. But journalists, when they approach their next suicide story, might want to keep in mind a new critique of Durkheim currently appearing in social science literature, and several penetrating comments by Dostoevsky, Dante, and Plutarch.
The critique of Durkheim is a reaction to his assumption that religious faith does not have any real effect on suicide. In 1983, Rodney Stark of the University of Washington argued that it does make "a difference if, on the one hand, one thinks one's problems are overwhelming and unshareable, or, on the other, if one thinks that Jesus also knows and cares." Steven Stack of Pennsylvania State University similarly emphasized the importance of believing that God watches and cares about human suffering. Stack noted that Bible readers have role models such as Job who suffer but do not give up.
Those observations were based on several recent sociological studies that suggest that religion is the central explanatory factor in suicide-rate changes. Stark and his associates, after controlling for a series of variables (including rate of population growth, poverty, and unemployment), found a sharp correlation between suicide and lack of religious involvement in the United States' 214 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas. William Martin, in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, studied suicide rates during the 1970s and also concluded that religious belief deters suicide. A Sociological Quarterly article reported similar results after its authors studied data from 42 countries.
These findings would come as no surprise to great writers who have looked deeply into the human soul. Fyodor Dostoevsky had his character Kirilov explain that people who might otherwise commit suicide do not kill themselves for two reasons: fear of pain and fear of the next world. We might ask, following Dostoevsky's thought: What happens if newspapers do not report pain and do not discuss the religious questions involved in suicide? Might journalistic compassion for those contemplating suicide actually require some harshness in coverage of those who have?
Dante, in his Inferno, poetically placed suicides in a dark, pathless wood, where their souls took the shape of thorn-stunted trees. The harpies, with their great wings and feathered bellies, human faces and clawed feet, nested in those stunted trees and tore at the leaves, endlessly repeating the violence the soul had inflicted on itself. Reporters are hardly likely to wax poetic or become neophyte theologians, but if suicides are portrayed as gentle good nights, does that not represent a certain (non-traditional) theology in its own right?
Plutarch, in his tale of the maidens of Miletos, noted that at one point they were hanging themselves in abundance. The perverse craze continued until one of the city elders suggested shaming the suicides' bodies by carrying them through the marketplace—whereupon vanity, if not sanity, prevailed. In Plutarch's estimation, suicidal young people could be brought back to their senses when they realized that shame rather than a perverse kind of fame would be the result of their suicidal action.
A reading of new sociological research and old literature makes it appear that today's journalists have a lot to learn from late 19th century suicide coverage. Harsh, yes. Religion-oriented, yes, and some will object to that. But also: A deeper sense of the reasons for suicide than today's social cause–stressing coverage. Less romanticism. And, if Plutarch was right, more likelihood of making a potentially suicidal individual think twice.
Marvin Olasky
Marvin is editor in chief of WORLD and the author of more than 20 books, including The Tragedy of American Compassion. His latest book is Reforming Journalism. Follow Marvin on Twitter @MarvinOlasky.


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The 89-year-old father of actress Jodie Foster faces 25 years in prison after being convicted of cheating poor and elderly people in a home-building scheme.
Lucius Foster, a Sherman Oaks, Calif., building contractor, collected a total of $130,000 in downpayments from people after promising to build them modular homes out of shipping containers. He was convicted of 21 counts of grand theft and nine counts of contracting without a license – all misdemeanors. He is set to be sentenced today.
"Not one of these homes has ever been built in the city of Los Angeles," Deputy City Attorney Don Cocek told the jury. "It's all a big scam."
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
He called Foster, who had been soliciting customers since at least 2005, the "Bernie Madoff of Sherman Oaks," according to People magazine.
Foster, who uses a walker and served as his own attorney, argued he intended to build solar-heated three-bedroom, two-bath homes that would cost customers less than $100,000.
The actress, who was born months after her parents divorced, has been estranged from her father.