text:
Special offers and new attractions at Citi Field for 2013 season
Birthdays and First Days Highlight Special Offers; T-Shirt Tuesdays, Power Packs and Student Rush Return; Tickets Available for Opening Day, Monday April 1 at Mets.com and (718) 507-TIXX
FLUSHING, N.Y., March 26, 2013 - The New York Mets today announced the lineup of special offers and new attractions at Citi Field for the 2013 season. The Mets open the season this Monday, April 1 against the San Diego Padres at 1:10 p.m. Tickets are available at Mets.com and (718) 507-TIXX.
Special Offers
Birthdays - As a happy birthday present from the Mets, fans can receive a complimentary ticket to that day's game to celebrate their birthday at Citi Field. Fans can show a valid form of identification (birth certificate, driver's license, passport, etc.) at the Citi Field Ticket Windows on their birthday to receive a ticket, subject to availability. Offer does not apply for games on Opening Day, April 1, the Subway Series May 27-28, or after September 29. For those celebrating their birthday when the Mets are on the road, on an off day, in the off-season or on non-eligible games, their complimentary ticket can be redeemed for games on April 3-4, 23-25 and September 13-15.
First Days - Fans who are coming to a Mets home game for their first time are encouraged to stop by Fan Assistance to receive a personalized First Game certificate signed by Mr. Met.
T-Shirt Tuesdays - Fans will receive an exclusive limited edition t-shirt plus a game ticket for just $19. For more information, visit: Mets.com/tshirts
Power Pack - For $23, fans can enjoy a ticket to a game in the Left Field Landing and a Nathan's Famous Hot Dog, Two Boots pizza slice, Brooklyn Burger or veggie burger, Nathan's Famous French Fries and a regular sized 16oz Pepsi-branded soda. Fans can upgrade their seating location to the Baseline Box on the Field Level for $39 per ticket. For more information, visit: Mets.com/powerpacks
Student Rush - High school and college students can purchase tickets for $10 with valid school identification for all home games except Opening Day, April 1 and the Subway Series, May 27-28, subject to availability. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: Mets.com/studentrush, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, March 27.
Military Go Free - Military personnel with active military identification will be issued complimentary tickets day-of-game only in the Ticket Office lobby in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, subject to availability. Accompanying non-military persons must purchase tickets, subject to availability.
Kids Go Free - Pick up a copy of the Daily News starting April 3 and fill out a voucher to receive up to three free kids tickets with the purchase of a regularly priced adult ticket for the April 19-28 games. Vouchers can be redeemed at the Citi Field Ticket Windows on the day of the game.
Renamed Seating Locations
Hyundai Club - The all-inclusive club, formerly known as the Champions Club, features a gourmet buffet includes a daily chef selection of carved meats and pasta and unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. A selection of peanuts, popcorn, fresh baked cookies and ice cream are also available. The club, located on the Field Level behind home plate, is only accessible to Hyundai Club ticket holders.
Citi Field Dining
Under the direction of Citi Field Executive Chef Robert Flowers, the Mets and ARAMARK have added new dining options throughout the ballpark.
The Delta Sky360° Club Market will feature a LaFrieda family custom blend sausage, Two Boots pizza, and Batter Up Chicken by Tribeca Grill, buttermilk fried chicken, warm pizzelle cookies and a whipped maple butter.
El Verano Taqueria at Taste of the City on the Field Level behind centerfield will feature a new Cantina bar menu with frozen drinks and housemade snacks such as chile roasted peanuts and pork rinds. The newly renamed Hain Celestial Gluten-Free Stand adjacent to the World's Fare Market will offer gluten-free Hain Celestial snacks, hot dogs, sausage and peppers and beer. The Promenade Level will feature a bar by section 414 with frozen and mixed drinks.
Two new single-serve Zipz wines - Fetzer Crimson Cabernet Blend and Fetzer Quartz Chardonnay Blend - will be available at several locations throughout the ballpark including most Taste of the City concessions and through in-seat service.
The following is a sampling of some of the new items and where they are available:
- Shake Shack - 'Shroom Burger (vegetarian), High Heat Cheese Fries, Cheese Dog/High Heat Cheese Dog, "Meet the Pretz" (black & white custard, chocolate covered pretzels and malt powder)
- Blue Smoke On The Road - Beef Brisket Sandwich, Corn Bread, Pit Beans
- El Verano Taqueria - Steak tacos/quesadillas
- Catch of the Day - Fish tacos
- Acela Club - Moules Frites, Braised Short Rib, Pork Milanese, Bouillabaisse "A La Peron"
- Caesars Club - New paninis and sandwiches
Mets Hall of Fame and Museum
With the Mets hosting Major League Baseball's All-Star Game for the first time since 1964, the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum will feature a special display highlighting All-Star Game memorabilia from Mets All-Stars. Johan Santana's no-hitter, the first in franchise history, will be honored in the Put it in the Books display with the pitching rubber and home plate from the June 1, 2012 game. The museum will also commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Mets capturing the National League pennant in 1973 by displaying artifacts from members of that team. The Jersey Wall will return and display uniforms from such Mets greats as Edgardo Alfonzo, David Cone, Pedro Martinez, Willie Mays and John Stearns.
The following is a sampling of All-Star Game items:
- 1964 All-Star Game program, ticket, pennant
- Gary Carter game-used cap from 1986 All-Star Game
- Darryl Strawberry 1986 All-Star Game trophy for most votes
- John Franco 1990 All-Star Game ring
- Mike Piazza 2002 All-Star Game bat
- David Wright game-used cleats from his first All-Star Game in 2006
- David Wright 2006 Home Run Derby bat
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Merchandise
A selection of Major League Baseball All-Star Game merchandise will be available at the Mets Team Store and throughout the ballpark. The items include: backpacks, bags, baseballs, blankets, caps, fleeces, jackets, jerseys, mini bats, mugs, pennants, pins, towels and t-shirts.


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Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (PC) review
"The central narrative arc is beautiful: this is a game which expands on its predecessors coming of age story, and presents something altogether more grown-up. If The Longest Journey demonstrated the progression from the naivety of youth to the responsibility of adulthood, Dreamfall is a game about taking that newfound maturity and giving it back to those in need."
Freelance review by Lewis Denby (November 14, 2011)
A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.
More Reviews by Lewis Denby [+]
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
An uncornerable market
An uncornerable market
An uncornerable market
The Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) has a history of accurately forecasting election results, and like any financial exchange, there is always the risk someone will try to cheat the system for personal gain.
But a new study by a pair of University of Iowa professors who use the IEM for research suggests the market is well guarded against long-term manipulation.
Joyce Berg, professor of accounting in the Tippie College of Business, and Tom Rietz, professor of finance, said there have been attempts by traders to game the IEM in the past. In fact, they note that two researchers acknowledge they tried and failed to manipulate prices on the 2000 presidential election market.
Rietz and Berg say those attempts can cause short-term price fluctuations on the market, but unlike traditional stock, bond or commodities markets, the IEM's design makes it much more difficult to game and alter the market's overall predictive ability.
The IEM is a real money market that started in 1988 where traders can invest up to $500 buying and selling contracts based on what they think the result of an election will be. The IEM's presidential vote share market has predicted the final vote percentage for the two major party candidates within an average margin of 1.13 percentage points. In comparisons to 964 national political polls, the IEM was closer to the actual election outcome 74 percent of the time.
The market operates using the theory of the wisdom of crowds, that a group of knowledgeable people aggregating information can assess the likelihood of future events with some reasonable degree of accuracy. The real-money aspect adds to the accuracy, giving traders an incentive to make a more thoughtful forecast. There's something in it for them, after all: if they buy the right contract, they make money; buy wrong and they lose.
That financial incentive also provides a motivation for traders to manipulate the market, but Berg and Reitz say that's extremely difficult to do. First, the $500 trading limit on traders per election cycle means that no one trader has enough financial muscle to corner the market or make any kind of long-term impact. In the 2000 election market, for instance, more than 500,000 contracts were traded with a value of $210,633.
"A $500 account is extremely small relative to that market," Berg and Rietz write.
The market also works against manipulation because traders who want to buy a contract don't have to buy them directly from the person selling the contract. Traders can also buy bundles of contracts from the market itself, which means that for $1 they receive one of each contract offered on a market. They then keep the contract they want and sell those they don't to other traders. This creates an arbitrage opportunity for traders, which helps to keep the prices in the proper probability range.
"The manipulated prices don't stand long against the onslaught of arbitrageurs," they write.
Berg and Rietz say that some manipulators may even hope to affect the election outcome, but say those efforts are all but impossible. They point out that there's no conclusive evidence that opinion poll numbers or prediction market prices affect the outcome of an election. They note that political scientists are split as to whether perceived big leads actually help or hurt, if a "bandwagon" effect brings in more voters for the candidate expected to win, or the "underdog" effect encourages more voters to support the trailing candidate.
The study, "Market Design, Manipulation and Accuracy in Political Prediction Markets," will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Political Science and Politics.


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Howdy Folks,
Like Bart i also finished my first map. Its called Tombstone but i just like the name so do not wonder if you will not find a Tombstone in it
Special Thanks to !NuB!Donut, he helped me a lot, Thank you !
And thanks to Pardner and all the others who [tried to] solve my first problems with Q3Map2Toolz and the Radiant.
I had a problem, because i wasnt able to make the tunnel like a real one... so its still a square...
Also the levelshot is to little so its "pixilated" I try to make a bigger one but it doesnt work.
It would be nice if you gave me some feedback for example if you find bugs, please tell me
Now some screenshots:
I dont know why that [img..] doesnt work :-/
Edit: I added a DM Mode
Give it a download - [New download BR and DM]
***Edited by Pardner, added img thumbs


text:
Bonds, Clemens, Sosa Set to Show Up on Hall Ballot
NEW YORK (AP) - For several years, baseball fans have argued whether Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa belong in the Hall of Fame.
Starting Wednesday, the voters who will actually decide that debate can get to work.
Bonds, Clemens and Sosa are set to show up on the Hall ballot for the first time, with all sides eager to find out whether drug allegations will block the former stars from reaching the shrine.
The 2013 ballot will be announced at noon EST.
Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza and Curt Schilling are certain to be among the other first-time eligibles. Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines are the top holdover candidates.
Longtime members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America will vote through next month and the results will be announced Jan. 9.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


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South Korea Travel Information
The Basics
Electric current is 220 volts, 60Hz. Two-pin, round plugs are standard.
The official language is Korean.
Travel Health
There are no required vaccinations for entry to South Korea and standards of medical care are high. Payment for treatment is usually expected in advance. Travel insurance with provision for repatriation is recommended.
Typhoid inoculations are recommended for those who plan to spend prolonged periods in rural areas. There is a small risk of malaria is rural areas. Tap water is chlorinated but may cause stomach upsets, therefore it is preferable to drink bottled water.
Tipping is not customary in Korea. Sometimes, expensive restaurants and luxury hotels may add a service charge of 10 percent. Taxi drivers are usually tipped small amounts if they assist with baggage.
Safety Information
Most visits to South Korea are trouble-free. The crime rate against foreigners is low, but it is still advisable to use sensible precautions, particularly in safeguarding passports, money and credit cards in crowded areas, and travellers should be cautious, particularly at night, travelling only in legitimate taxis or public transport. The political situation is generally stable but since the Korean peninsula was divided by a demilitarised zone in 1953, tensions have risen and fallen on occasion. It is wise to be informed about current conditions. You should carry some form of identification at all times.
Local Customs
English is not widely spoken or understood, so if you plan to use taxis or other local services it is wise to have instructions written down in Korean. It is advisable to carry some form of identification at all times. Social harmony is crucial, and public anger or criticism that causes an individual to 'lose face' or dignity is a serious breach of etiquette. Koreans will go out of their way to maintain a comfortable situation.
The increase in trade with Western countries has meant that Koreans do not expect visitors to understand all the nuances of their culture; however, attempts to respect traditions are appreciated. Koreans dress conservatively and formally and it is important to do the same. Koreans like to do business with people whom they know and often introductions via a third known party are necessary. Greetings often consist of a bow, followed by a handshake. Introductions are very important and ascertain the hierarchy, often according to age, which is to be observed and respected. Usually the most important person will be introduced first. Greetings and pleasantries in Korean will be appreciated, including 'an-yong-ha-say-yo' (hello), and 'kam-sa-ham-ni-da' (thank you). Business card etiquette is vital: cards should be given and received with both hands, with the details translated from English into Korean or Chinese on the alternate side, and must be treated with the utmost respect. Each one is to be read carefully and the name acknowledged. It is important, when issuing cards, not to stack them or keep them in one's wallet or purse. Koreans are referred to by their surnames or family names first and then their given names second and it is best to ask in advance how to address the person. The giving of gifts is appreciated and often reciprocated. Business hours are generally 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
The international dialling code for South Korea is +82. Telecommunications are well developed.
Duty Free
Travellers (over the age of 19) arriving in South Korea may
bring in the following items free of customs duty: 200 cigarettes
or 50 cigars or 250g tobacco products; 57g perfume; 1 litre of
alcohol (only those over 20 years old); and gifts valued at not
more than 400,000 won. Products from communist countries are
prohibited, as are fruit, seeds and any published or recorded
material deemed to be subversive or obscene.
Become our South Korea Travel Expert
We are looking for contributors for our South Korea travel guide. If you are a local, a regular traveller to South Korea or a travel professional with time to contribute and answer occasional forum questions, please contact us.


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Energy Choices Predict Future Climate
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu offered two predictions during his visit to Cancun last week for the recently concluded climate negotiations.
"The price of oil will be higher in the coming decades...the second prediction is that we will live in a carbon-constrained world."
Why? Because it is now more clear than ever what's behind climate change. "We've got our fingerprints all over. It's humans. Digging up fossil fuels, burning it and releasing it in the atmosphere."
Paired with higher oil prices, that means "the first thing we need to do is use energy more wisely." At the same time, to secure both the nation and its future economic prosperity, the U.S. government must continue to invest in energy innovation via programs like ARPA-e or the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis in California. They try to mimic plants in turning CO2, water and light into chemical energy, only better.
If we don't, we'll be storing up trouble for the future. "The damage we've already done now won't be known for another 100 years. If we wait another hundred years we'll have done even more damage which won't be known for a hundred years."
—David Biello


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Photography / Video / Visual Evidence Experts Serving New Brunswick
Change State | Show all New Brunswick experts
Find a Photography / Video / Visual Evidence Expert
Experts in photography, as an industry and/or as a forensic evidence discipline. Experts in forensic analysis and comparison of photographs and crime/accident scene evidence. Experts in photography industry standards, damages, copyright, rights of publicity, privacy rights, contracts, advertising, marketing, stock photography. Recorded Evidence Analysis Experts, Video/Audio/Sound/Film/Photographic/Surveillance/Time Lapse Forensics, Enhancement, Recovery, Authentication, and Analysis of Digital and Analog recording media. Photography / Video / Visual Evidence experts serve as expert witnesses and forensic consultants in New Brunswick legal matters, and provide expert reports and testimony for judges, attorneys, lawyers, law firms, insurance companies and government agencies in Federal and state court trials and arbitrations in New Brunswick.
The listings below are of Photography / Video / Visual Evidence experts serving New Brunswick.
Expert ListingsA Photography Expert Witness
Jeff Sedlik, Professor
Pasadena, CA
The leading consultant and testifying forensic expert witness on all issues related to photography: Copyright, licensing, contracts, business practices, industry standards, stock photography, model releases, rights of privacy/publicity, evaluation of lost or damaged photographs and film, evaluation of photography assets, technical matters, forensic digital analysis, forensic photography, litigation support.
Audio Video Forensic Lab
Robert Sanderson
Poughkeepsie, NY
Welcome to the most technologically advanced audio video forensic lab in the world! Results Where Others Fail! Job 1 - Deliver useful evidence whenever possible. Forensic analysis of video sources including CCTV, DashCAM, TaserCAM, BodyCAM, Camera Photographs, Cellphone, Tablet and Computer media as well as covert audio from investigations and wiretap recordings. Audio Enhancement, Video Enhancement, Audio Authentication, Video Authentication and Voice Identification services for law enforcement, legal professionals, general public. Skilled, experienced forensic audio expert and forensic video expert witness.


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Recommended Coffee Sites
Coffeee: History
Coffee In The News
Find A Coffee Shop
Coffee Reviews
Coffee Information Sites
Misc. Coffee Related Sites
General Dating Sites
Webcam Sites
Personals / Chat Sites
Funny Sites
ECM2008 has no current links.
just old me
old fool Handicapped guy seeking a few good friends...
No forum posts yet
No Favorite Books added yet.
Visit the Coffee Passions Book Library
No Favorite video games added yet.
Visit the Coffee Passions video game Library


text:
Dog Travel Supplies are extremely important while on vacations or road trips. Traveling with your pets can be a challenging task, that's why we put together select products that will make traveling easy. We offer everything from airline approved kennels, ramps, seat belts, strollers and much more. Our feature products are designed to keep you pets safe while traveling and keep the strain off the pet owners. Every Dog Travel product that we offer is made with durable materials that are completely safe for your dogs or pets. When traveling with your dog, remember to safely fasten them in a seat so they will not wonder around distracting you from the road. Dogs are great companions and they always have the desire to be with their owners. Traveling with your pet is great way to create a stronger bond. Stop paying outrageous prices for kenneling your dog while you are on vacation and start letting them join on the fun. Check out our great Dog Travel Supplies. We have the Lowest Prices on the web!
Our selection of Dog Travel Supplies provides the best and most efficient ways to travel with your pets. We carry products that promote safety and will keep your pet out of harm's way. For pet owners who like to travel with their pets, it is extremely important that your pet is secured at all times. Some products that will help you keep your pet secure are pet seat belts, kennels, and car seats. For larger pets, we have vehicle barriers that will keep your pet in the back of the SUV. We also carry products that will keep your pet comfortable while on long trips. Our SUV Cargo Mat offers a cushions pad that your pet will be able to relax on.
Dog Travel Ramps are great for everyday use to the park, occasional doctor visits, as well as traveling. It's natural for dogs to jump, however the older your dog gets, the more likely and your dog will gather injuries from the impact of hitting the ground. Our ramps are designed to keep the pressure off your pet's joints and give them a safe way to enter and exit the vehicle. Not only is a dog ramp good for your pet, but it is also great for you, the pet owner. Many pet owners will bend down and help their pets get into the vehicle; this movement will strain muscles, joints and could even pull your back out of place. Start taking good care of your dog and your joints today with a Dog Travel Ramp.
All out Dog Travel Supplies will keep your pet safe and secure while on vacation or even just driving to the park. When flying from one location to another, your pet will need to be held in an airline approved kennel for safety purposes. We also offer a wide selection of vehicle kennels and ramps to keep the strain off pet owners and their dogs. Check out of Low Prices and Free Shipping on orders over $50!


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Commenting on blog-articles
Dear Kris,
Would it be possible to comment an article on the originating blog instead of creating your own article. I found it very annoying when you did that to me, and now I see you doing it again :-)
I prefer discussions being held on the original article's blog (so people reading it can read your remarks) rather than having comments being posted as blog articles on different blogs. (That would only work for people reading a Planet anyway)
Not sure if there is an etiquette for bloggers, but if there is this should be on it :-)
(And before some smartass will do it, let me state that yes I commited the same crime to proof a point !)
Thanks for listening !
I believe a lot of people
I believe a lot of people comment by posting on their own weblog, but of course you want to be able to see on the original page that there is a reaction somewhere else. I guess a trackback ping would be nice.
Hi Dag,
I agree with you, but actually the pingback technique was designed to overcome this problem.
Too bad it's not so popular these days because of spam attacks.
Re: Commenting on blog articles
I agree with you but one of the problems
is that a lot of blogs require you to register
instead of allowing you to simply fill in a captcha or even use OpenID, Windows Live ID or GoogleID. Sometimes I feel like commenting on a blog post but I refrain from doing so because I really don't feel like creating yet another account.
Off-Topic: We seem to be using the same blog
skin :-) Although I'm using it with my own blog system and you're using it with Drupal. Cool :-)


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The Pitcher Bats
When an American League baseball team plays in a National League park, the pitcher bats. We don't question this, even if we are die-hard fans of the designated hitter. It's tradition and respect. Similarly, if I decide to head to Alabama or Arkansas, I know that I'm going to get weird looks if I ask for a soda or a pop. It's perfectly appropriate and so much easier to just ask for a coke and then name my flavor.
So, the question is, if so much of American culture is based on reverence for tradition and institutions, why is there such an uproar over our ultimate representative respecting those same institutions in other countries?
Now, I'll be the first to admit that it wasn't the most graceful bow ever. But, by the same token, have you ever watched an American League pitcher try to hit? Yeah, for a highly trained and highly paid athlete it sure isn't pretty. But it's part of the respect that one league pays the other in baseball.
Listen conspiracy mongers, here's how it breaks down. There's nothing
wrong with being respectful of other countries and cultures. In fact,
if the people planning the invasion of Iraq would have known the first
thing about the culture and people in that country, we wouldn't be
dealing with nearly 4,300 American lives lost and over 30,000 wounded.
Those who like to chatter in the blogosphere will continue to make a big deal of this incident and the right-wing pundits are enjoying every second of it. But if we took enough time to think about and respect the traditions of other countries as much as we respect who bats ninth in a National League ballpark, maybe this wouldn't be what the world thinks all Americans are like:
–Photo from http://www.newser.com


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Famous pakistani clothing brand Nishat Linen introduced its latest spring summer lawn collection 2017.
Nishat Linen's Spring Summer Collection 2017 is inspired by the elements of the floral rush and it's intense color palette. The Nishat Linen team had fun fusing the ethnic and the contemporary theme with the classic floral - and discovered that the magic is in the mix!
Who wouldn't fall for some lush floral this spring? Nishat Linen sides with style over fashion & think that attire ought to be effortless and timeless. Free -spirited yet elegant, this is the look & feel - of now.


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Generate PDFs Dynamically With PHPby webmonkey - 21 September 2009
PDF is the Portable Document Format developed by Adobe. It's an open standard implemented by Adobe in their Acrobat series of software, but implementable and extensible by anybody who's got the time, inclination, and knack. One trick that's got a lot of potential is using PHP to dynamically generate PDF files and serve them via the web.
PHP can do a lot for your web operation (Tutorial:PHP Tutorial for Beginners). You can generate nice-looking printable receipts, invoices, and brochures. Disc-Cover has a test site that looks up info about a CD automatically and then generates a PDF label for the CD box that you can print, cut out, and use. And there are literally one billion other possible uses for dynamically generated PDFs.
So what are you waiting for?
You have a variety of PDF-generation options. The standard, classic way of doing it is with PDFlib. Because it's so widely used and well-integrated into PHP, that's the library I'll go over today. But it's by no means the only way of doing things. PDFlib is source-available, but not free. The license specifies that PDFlib can be used and redistributed without charge for non-commercial projects, but commercial use carries a fee.
There are also a number of completely free options. These include R&OS, FPDF and Panda. The choice is yours. (I haven't had a chance to test these free packages very thoroughly. If you have had negative or positive experiences with them, please leave a comment.)
Installing It
In order to install PDFlib, you first have to download the PDFlib source (precompiled binaries are available but they watermark their output). Uncompress the package and compile and install it according to the instructions for your platform. We are assuming that you already have a working build of PHP. Instructions for installing PDFlib are included with the download, but I'll go over the instructions for Unixy systems (including Mac OS X) anyway.
This article may become dated in terms of version and patch information. In general, it's a good idea to download the PDFlib on PHP manual (PDF link) and read the most current instructions before installing PDFlib.
Install all the files in their appropriate places according to the instructions.
In your PHP directory, rebuild the configure file:./buildconf
Rebuild PHP, adding the switch --with-pdflib=PDFDIR (change PDFDIR to the name of the directory where PDFlib is installed).
Restart Apache, and there you go.
Using It
PDFlib, in conjunction with PHP, has over a hundred functions available for creating PDFs. To conserve time, space, and sanity, I'll only cover a few of these. The full gamut is explained both on the PHP site and in the documentation that accompanies the PDFlib download.
Let's zip through a step-by-step explanation of creating a new PDF document. Nothing fancy, just a couple of lines of text on a page. To start with, we need to initialize a new PDF object with the pdf_new() function. We will assign the object to the variable $pdf. This object handle is how we'll refer to the PDF we're creating from now on.
$pdf = pdf_new();
Next we want to create a new blank PDF file. This is done with the PDF_begin_document() function. We tell it the name of the PDF object we're working with:
Moving swiftly along:we've got a PDF object containing one blank PDF file. Now we start to fill it in. First let's set the metadata fields for the PDF. This step is optional. Every PDF has header information in which the document title, creator, and so forth can be specified. We set this data with the pdf_set_info() function. This function takes three arguments:the PDF object we're working with, the name of the property we want to set, and the value we want to set it to. The predefined property names you can use are Author, Creator, Keywords, Subject, and Title. So, for example:
pdf_set_info($pdf, "Author", "Paul Adams");
Next we create the first page of our PDF, specifying width and then height, in points. A point is 1/72 of an inch, so if we want an 8.5-by-11-inch page, we do a little multiplying:
pdf_begin_page($pdf, (72 * 8.5), (72 * 11));
(If you are following along with pencil and paper, you will see that we could have substituted "612" and "792" for the width and height terms.)
Now we've got everything set up. Next, let's get to the meat of our PDF:the content. First we need to choose a font to display our text. This is a two-step process:locating the font, and then using it. The PDFlib manual is very helpful on this topic.
Displaying Text
This section covers the use of a deprecated function. Please help us keep CodeSpanish up to date by commenting on it.
The function we use to locate and prepare the font is pdf_findfont(). It takes four arguments:the PDF object handle, the font name, the encoding of the font, and whether or not the font should be embedded in the document. We are going to use one of the 14 fonts built in to PDFlib, which means we don't have to get our hands too dirty. It means we don't have to embed the font (which we indicate by a "0" value for the last argument), and the encoding is "host". These 14 fonts are (still have that pencil ready?):Courier, Courier-Bold, Courier-Oblique, Courier-BoldOblique, Helvetica, Helvetica-Bold, Helvetica-Oblique, Helvetica-BoldOblique, Times-Roman, Times-Bold, Times-Italic, Times-BoldItalic, Symbol, and ZapfDingbats. For our text we'll use Times-Roman, okay? pdf_findfont() returns a font handle, which we'll pass to the $font variable:
$font = pdf_findfont($pdf, "Times-Roman", "host", 0)
If something goes wrong, the font handle $font will be set to "FALSE". But nothing ever goes wrong. Part Two is to tell the renderer that we want to use that font, and to specify the size in points, with:
pdf_setfont($pdf, $font, 16);
Now we're almost ready to print our text. We just need to set the position for it to appear, with pdf_set_text_pos(). With this function, we specify an X and Y coordinate in points, counting from the lower left corner of the page, which is (0,0). Let's print our text near the upper left of the page:
pdf_set_text_pos($pdf, 72, 720);
pdf_show() is used to print text at the current position. Its usage is very simple:
pdf_show($pdf, "My First PDF Document");
There's the text! At last! At this point, if we wanted, we could continue to move around the page, printing more text in various fonts, drawing images, adding new pages, and so forth. But I think we've covered about enough for an intro course. Let's close things down.
Wrapping Up
We end the page with the pdf_end_page() function:
and then close the object:
The complete PDF document that we've created is now neatly put away in the PHP buffer. In order to display or save it, we need to fetch it from there and do something with it. The pdf_get_buffer() function gets the contents of the buffer and puts it into a new variable.
$document = pdf_get_buffer($pdf);
Now let's create a new PDF — just kidding. Actually we can't use any more PDF functions until we get rid of this object we've just pulled from the buffer. That's a safeguard built into the system. We must either send the PDF to the user's browser, save it as a file on the server, or delete it from memory.
To display it, we need to first send HTTP header information, to let the browser know what's coming. This is done with the header() function. We need to send three headers:Content-Type, Content-Length, and Content-Disposition.
First let's find the length of the PDF, and give it a filename:
$length = strlen($document);
$filename = "myfirstpdf.pdf";
Then we output the headers:
header("Content-Length:" . $length);
header("Content-Disposition:inline; filename=" . $filename);
Now we're ready to send the actual document to the browser, with a simple echo() function:
All set. Finally, as a last step, we purge the memory to get ready for our next adventure:
Here is a look at all that code assembled in one place:
$pdf = pdf_new();
pdf_set_info($pdf, "Author", "Paul Adams");
pdf_begin_page($pdf, (72 * 8.5), (72 * 11));
$font = pdf_findfont($pdf, "Times-Roman", "host", 0)
pdf_setfont($pdf, $font, 16);
pdf_set_text_pos($pdf, 72, 720);
pdf_show($pdf, "My First PDF Document");
$document = pdf_get_buffer($pdf);
$length = strlen($document);
$filename = "myfirstpdf.pdf";
header("Content-Length:" . $length);
header("Content-Disposition:inline; filename=" . $filename);
That's kind of a lot of code to print one line of text, it's true. But that was just an example. The PDF format wasn't invented for displaying single lines (although it does them so nicely!). You can use the framework above to output all kinds of complex PDFs, with logos and diagrams and color and links and whatever. There are simple PHP functions for all that stuff. Just start small and work step-by-step. The PDFlib package includes a very cool demo, called pdfclock, of an analog clock rendered as a dynamic PDF. See where that leads you.
Stumble it! Bookmark it! Digg it! Menéame! Fresqui Suscribe Suscribe


text:
Cyclist that killed pedestrian is a pain in my arse…
I've been watching this story for a bit, biting my tongue (and my fingers) trying to stay out of it. But I'm fed up. San Francisco cyclist Chris Bucchere, according to numerous reports both local and national, caused fatal injuries to a pedestrian in a crosswalk in the Castro area of San Francisco. Accidents are a terrible thing, but unfortunately somewhat inevitable in a crowded urban landscape such as San Francisco. Clearly that does not diminish the loss to the victim and his family, nor does it absolve the cyclist of any wrong doing should he be found to have been negligent.
No – what's pissing me off is the ridiculous amount of media coverage being given to this event – admittedly a tragedy. Actually, to be more clear it isn't exactly the media coverage I'm frustrated with, but rather the perceptional bias that is indicated by the media coverage.
My frustration is that a pedestrian being killed by a cyclist garners national coverage. Meanwhile, pedestrians are struck by autos every day in San Francisco and barely warrant a mention in local media.
In a statement you may rarely find me typing, The San Francisco Bay Guardian got it right:
Yet activists also sought to place this case in context, noting that an average of almost three pedestrians are hit by cars everyday in San Francisco, even though that rarely makes headlines. There were 220 pedestrians killed in San Francisco from 2000-2009, the vast majority hit by cars whose drivers rarely faced criminal charges. In fact, the same week that Sustchi Hui was killed there was another pedestrian killed by a motorist and another one by a Muni bus.
Yup – that's my gripe. Cyclist kills a pedestrian and we can't write enough words about it. Automobile kills a pedestrian and we (the collective we – the "sheep" we) chalk it up to an unfortunate necessity of living in an auto-centric society and remind pedestrians to look both ways before crossing the street.
Tell me I'm not the only one that feels there is a bit inequity in this coverage.


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Angels have 6:37 p.m. PT start times
Assuming the Yankees choose the longer of the two American League Division Series and open at home on Wednesday against the survivor of Tuesday's Tigers-Twins showdown, the Angels will kick off their series against the Red Sox on Thursday evening at 6:37 PT.
The game will be televised by TBS and carried on radio by ESPN.
Game 2 of the Angels-Red Sox series also would start at 6:37 p.m. PT on Friday evening. It too will be carried by TBS and ESPN radio.
If the Yankees choose the shorter series, the Angels and Red Sox would meet at 3:07 p.m. PT on Wednesday in Game 1. Game 2 would remain at 6:37 p.m. PT
The Yankees, by virtue of owning the league's best record, have the option of choosing the longer or shorter of the two series. They have good reason to want to open on Wednesday, given the short turnaround it will be for the winner of Tuesday's one-game playoff between the Tigers and Twins in Minnesota, which will be carried by TBS at 2:07 PT.
The Angels, with the AL's best record last season, chose the longer series against the Red Sox.
In any case, the Angels' John Lackey will face Jon Lester in Game 1.
5 Comments
How sure are you about that start time? Directv shows TBS showing the ALDS game 1 for Thursday starting at 11:30 PT with the NLDS games at 3:00 and 6:30 PT. I myself like your info better!
Scratch that last comment! I saw the link to your blog before I saw the new scheduling page. Thanks!
what time will the gates open?
The gates usually open two hours before game time…REVERSE "A" CURSE
I don't know about you, but I can hardly count the days. I just have a feeling we're going to take care of the Red Sox this year. I'm going to game 2! I can't wait! Go Angels!!!


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KY Press Service
Advertise Across Kentucky
Available through the Kentucky Press Service, the advertising placement service began as a full time KPS department in January, 1984. The KPS Advertising Director calls on advertisers and advertising agencies in Kentucky and surrounding states, encouraging them to advertise in Kentucky newspapers.
The service, known as One-Order, One-Bill, One-Check, allows advertisers using a multiple number of newspapers to use one source for placement, collection of tearsheets, and payment. The KPS Advertising Office prepares the insertion orders, mails the ad and insertion order to the newspapers, collects all tearsheets and issues the client one invoice. The client then pays KPS for the advertising placed and KPS issues monthly checks to the newspapers.
By policy of the KPS Board of Directors, payments are made to member newspapers within 60 days of placement, regardless of the status of collection. KPS uses national/commissionable newspaper rates and the service is paid for by member newspapers. There is no service charge to advertisers or advertising agencies unless materials must be prepared by the KPS Advertising Service. As a part of this 60-day agreement, the newspaper will be given five (5) days to comply with a tearsheet request. If the tearsheet is not received, the ad will be considered a "did not run" and no payment will be made to the newspaper for that ad.
KPS' Advertising Placement Service also works with the ADNET-Southeast placement service for advertising in newspapers throughout the southeastern region of the U.S.
Cost: KPS' commission is taken from the newspaper's national advertising rate.


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Kyle York had just finished a two-day multimillion-dollar sales pitch to a Los Angeles-based security company. As he gathered his breath, the executive whose business he was courting thanked York and asked if he had any questions. York, ever dauntless, dove right in: How did we do?
The executive responded: There was only one issue.
York wracked his brain. Was Dynamic Network Services, Inc. (Dyn), the Manchester-based managed DNS and e-mail delivery services provider he worked for, too small? Was his bid too high? What was the issue? The executive answered for him: You're in New Hampshire.
This infuriated the now 28-year-old York, who is Granite State born and bred. It was an all too familiar tune. As a rising technology company, Dyn had for years heard about how it should be in New York City or San Francisco. York was sick of it. He began passionately articulating New Hampshire's many strategic advantages.
The executive told him not to be so defensive. It wasn't New Hampshire specifically. It was just that Dyn was in a different time zone.
"Sometimes you try to overcome issues that are not even there," York said.
The world isn't flat, it's viral
In today's information-loaded society, image is everything. And on the international stage, New Hampshire isn't as sleek and sexy as Silicon Valley. It's a perception many companies have had to overcome, but it is quickly becoming irrelevant. New Hampshire doesn't have Wall Street, but it does have Internet connections, and in the burgeoning field of ideas, that's enough to get a company off the ground. While space may be the final, the Internet is the next great frontier. And its potential is as limitless as it is unexplored.
And as with any new frontier, there are pioneers who will lead the way. But no longer must they heed the words of Horace Greely and "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country." Now they can stay East, and help change it.
Dyn, whose early days read like an Aaron Sorkin script, is an example of just that.
The most important thing we don't know
In less than a generation, the Internet has pervaded culture. We disregard a business without a website, ignore friends who can't correspond via e-mail and question the existence of people who aren't on Facebook. Yet what do we really know about the workings of the web?
Jeremy Hitchcock and Tom Daly, co-owners of Dyn, know a great deal. Their company specializes in managed Domain Name System (DNS). Typically, this is described as the Internet phone book. It is code that translates a domain name we can remember, like www.amazon.com, into an Internet Protocol (IP) address, which is often a string of numbers such as 126.96.36.199. IP addresses indicate what content you're searching for, where it is and how to get there.
An example that York, who is the VP of Sales and Marketing for Dyn, used to explain DNS is your cell phone. You may not remember your Aunt Cindy's phone number, but it is saved in your phone as "Aunt Cindy." You scroll over the name, hit send, and presto, you're talking to her. Cell phones are easier to understand because we can actually see the cell towers that receive and transmit frequencies.
Instead of towers, the Internet uses servers, which are essentially high-powered computers. Dyn has 17 data centers strategically placed around the world full of their servers.
Websites that specialize in domain names and web hosting, like Go Daddy, also include DNS. But a company like Dyn and its major publicly traded competitors, Neustar, Verisign and Akamai, appeal to a more tech-savvy audience. If John Doe has his own website, www.JohnDoe.com, in which he shares his personal stories with 10 or 15 friends, it doesn't really matter if his site is slow or a server crashes and his website goes down.
But companies like Netflix, Twitter and Pandora, all clients of Dyn, can't, for all intents and purposes, crash or suffer from poor performance. That is why they outsource their DNS to a specialist. So if for some reason the server used by Pandora is attacked and goes down, it will be re-routed to the next closest one and the site would never skip a beat. All of this is happening in less than 20 milliseconds. Dyn's DNS network is one of the fastest in the world.
But why would a DNS provider come under attack in the first place? Daly, who York said is one of 12 people in the world who knows this much about DNS and Internet routing, said it could be for a variety of reasons including cyberterrorism or a gamer's anger at a particular website.
Sometimes a particular client becomes too big a liability.
On Dec. 2, 2010, Dyn entered the national spotlight when EveryDNS.com, which Dyn purchased in January 2010, stopped providing DNS services to Julian Assange's controversial Wikileaks, a website that shared confidential government reports.
"It was too big a threat to come under attacks and affect over 500,000 other websites," York said.
It is no surprise that such attacks take place. What is surprising is that more don't, especially since the Internet is run more on good faith than on a hard set of rules. Daly said an organization like the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an open international community dedicated to making the Internet better, sets guidelines on how the Internet is supposed to work. But it is loosely formed and there is no official international governing body.
There is nothing stopping, say, Amazon.com from introducing disruptive technology that would prevent its site from being accessed by users of the web browser Internet Explorer, for example, Daly said. This doesn't happen because the Internet functions in the currency of faith.
"The Internet works today because we choose to trust it," Daly said.
It is this trust that pioneers, like Daly, take seriously. He said everyone is trying to make money and run a business but sometimes they must take their capitalist hats off and do the right thing for the Internet. Dyn does not guard its codes in an Ivory Tower. It is active in both the business and technical side of what it does, participating in different shows, events and conferences.
"We all power Internet infrastructure, a huge distributed tree that we each have responsibility for," Hitchcock said in a previous interview with MO.com. "A strain on one branch puts others at risk."
For example, Dyn has stepped in when competitors have been under attack and helped out. A more cold-blooded business might have let their competition crumble and then swooped in to steal business. But as Daly pointed out, that would have damaged the public's trust in all DNS providers, which would be bad for business.
Business is booming
It must be working — business is far from bad. In fact, it is booming. Although, in some ways, it always has been.
While it is common for start-ups to receive millions of dollars from venture capital firms, Dyn has been profitable since the day it was incorporated in 2001. Dyn has five million active users around the world, 200,000 of which are paying users. Many of those are in the United Kingdom, which is why the company plans on opening a London office.
Late last year, Dyn acquired SendLabs (one of three acquisitions it made), a Manchester-based company that specializes in e-mail delivery services. In 2008 the company employed 20 people; now it has 75 employees. In the last year, the sales department has jumped from three people to 18. Their current office on the fifth floor of 1230 Elm St. in Manchester is bursting at the seams, which is why they will be moving into a new 23,000-square-foot office, with the potential to expand an additional 7,000 square feet, at 150 Dow St.
"Dyn Inc. is a bit unusual," said Thomas Elliott, director of the Idea Greenhouse, a business incubator in Durham. "Typically companies don't achieve that scale of success without outside capital."
Dyn has used a combination of success and a casual work environment to create a culture that appeals to people both locally and nationally. The average age of the employees at Dyn is 33, including the two 29-year-old co-owners. Youth is an asset when it is combined with ambition. York said while they are a New Hampshire-based company, they only have five clients in New Hampshire: Gourmet Gift Baskets, Eastern Mountain Sports, Ektron, WhippleHill and Griffin, York & Krause.
"We travel a lot," York said. "We jump on planes all the time. Manchester is home, but if we want to be a global company, we need to be global."
Why, then, is Dyn based in Manchester? And will other companies follow their lead?
The New Hampshire advantage
The short answer is that both Hitchcock and Daly grew up in New Hampshire and attended Manchester high schools. When they graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, they could have based their company anywhere.
Hitchcock said he and Daly were honest with themselves early and realized they weren't a New York City or San Francisco type crew. They felt the quality of life in New Hampshire was a better fit. Plus, Hitchcock's former principal at West High School, Bob Baines, was the mayor of Manchester at the time. Hitchcock also knew his company could attract employees if he told them they'd be traveling north on Interstate-93 to get to work.
The freedom to make such a decision is a result of a change in the way business is conducted.
"The Internet is a way to reduce friction that used to exist with starting a business," said Graham Chynoweth, VP of Business Operations and General Counsel at Dyn. "The friction to create a global company is now non-existent."
Chynoweth is a major supporter of the state's recruitment efforts. He previously received a gubernatorial appointment to co-chair the New Hampshire Task Force on the Recruitment and Retention of Young Workers and founded New Hampshire's first young professionals organization (MYPN.org).
"There are plenty of jobs in New Hampshire," Chynoweth said. "They are just geographically separated from the universities."
Chynoweth said students at the University of New Hampshire or Dartmouth are disconnected from the jobs available in Manchester, Nashua and Concord. As a result, there is a myth that there are no jobs in New Hampshire or that the state is uncool. Consider Chynoweth a myth-buster. After graduating from Duke Law School, the Canterbury native chose a position at a Manchester law firm instead of a high-powered Boston firm for the very reason he preaches: New Hampshire's quality of life.
The Internet is making it an easier sell. Chynoweth said in the past living in San Francisco had its benefits because it was easier to make connections there. But the Internet has flattened the world and allowed ideas to be the things that generate success.
"It's not an evolution; it is a revolution in the way people communicate," Chynoweth said. "The ability to do things won't be restricted by technology."
This is a point validated by Kate Luczko, executive director of StayWorkPlay New Hampshire, a non-profit organization focused on letting the 20- to 30-year-old demographic know the benefits of staying, working and playing in New Hampshire.
Luczko said the increase in communication has changed the way companies are perceived. For example, she said StayWorkPlay NH has no brick-and-mortar office. She works on her cell phone and computer from her house. Yet no one knows whether she's working out of a downtown corporate office or from her couch.
This movement toward low overhead is a trend she has seen gain steam in the past year. The former Amoskeag Small Business Incubator in Manchester has been re-branded as the abi Innovation Hub and is looking to attract new high-tech start-up companies. Such movements are happening elsewhere in the state as well with the Idea Greenhouse in Durham and the NH-ICC in Portsmouth.
Carol Miller, director of Broadband Technology for the state's Division of Economic Development, said there are many people who live in New Hampshire and telecommute with their employers in other states. And, while New Hampshire has a reputation as a high-tech state, Miller wants to ensure that broadband access is spread to even the state's most rural areas. That is why she believes wireless carriers will be part of the solution, yet they too are faced with challenges. Putting up cell towers is done on a municipal basis, and many residents don't want those towers in their town.
"We all want state-of-the-art telecommunications but not in our backyard," Miller said.
Miller did say the state has come a long way and with fewer restrictions, people can choose to work where they want to live. New Hampshire's four seasons and its proximity to the ocean, mountains, and Boston have long been championed by tourist bureaus.
The state has a new generation of champions. Luczko said she has seen a trend, one she believes will continue, of young professionals getting involved in their community. Many, and those at Dyn are no exception, are involved with boards and committees.
"It is good for the individual but it is also good for the company," Luczko said.
It is also good for the state, which benefits from having these ambassadors who not only talk the talk but walk the walk of staying, working and playing in New Hampshire.
This flexibility has occurred in the past five years because the cost of server infrastructure has come down so much, according to Elliott. In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore speculated in what is now known as Moore's Law that "each new memory integrated circuit contained roughly twice as much capacity as its predecessor, and each chip was released within 18-24 months of the previous chip," according to Webster's on-line dictionary. "If this trend continued, he reasoned, computing power would rise exponentially with time." As capacity rose, cost fell. Whether this trend will continue or not is debatable, but it has held up remarkably well since Moore first made the prediction.
This is good news for Elliott, who, as chair of Durham's Economic Development Committee, believes that Internet-based companies that choose to be in New Hampshire for reasons other than technology are a huge part of the future of Durham.
But Elliott realizes a company the size and breadth of Dyn is a rarity. He said modern communication helps New Hampshire in that more small, four- or five-employee companies earning $1 million to $2 million a year in revenue will locate or sprout up here. But if a company wants to do something on a larger scale, like Google or Facebook, it will need outside capital. And unless New Hampshire grows its own venture investor community, it will see many of its most promising start-ups leaving the state to be closer to the funding, which is still found in Boston, New York and San Francisco.
While this has long been discussed, action is now taking place. The New Hampshire House of Representatives has passed HB 605, which "authorizes the business finance authority to establish a New Hampshire innovation business job growth program, the purpose of which shall be to promote investment in venture capital funds that evidence a commitment to providing venture capital to New Hampshire businesses."
The bill, which has moved on to the Senate, would create an authority that would apply for grants from the federal government and other outside sources for money, which could be used to cover the risk of investors willing to put money toward innovative businesses in New Hampshire.
Star search
Being one of the leaders in its field and having a unique company culture (can you say Wii bowling tournaments?) has allowed Dyn to not only harvest local talent but also import employees from out of state. York himself went to school in Waltham, Mass., at Bentley University, moved to California for a few years and was lured back home after being recruited by Hitchcock, a high school classmate.
"I was asked by a VP of Sales from one of our much larger competitors, 'How are you finding good DNS sales reps in New Hampshire?'" York said. "I said, 'I'll tell you a secret: we're not selling DNS.'"
But there is a certain type of person who is attracted to a business that can go from zero to 60 and back to zero in the blink of an eye. And these people aren't reading the classifieds in the local paper.
Take Brian McCall, who spent his life in Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia. After earning his MBA from the University of Georgia, he was trying to figure out what to do next. Ed Bender, a friend of McCall's for 10 years, had just relocated from Seattle by way of Brooklyn to Manchester (Bender is originally from New Hampshire) to work at Dyn. Bender suggested McCall apply to the company. Taking Bender's suggestion, McCall submitted an application, came for an interview (Bender was away on a business trip at the time), got hired and moved to Manchester just before the wild winter weather. Here's the thing: McCall had never met
Bender in person. The two were friends through an online gaming site.
"It's not easy to move across the country," McCall said.
Scott Smith, a graduate of Brigham Young University, disagreed. He said he would go anywhere for a job. This is a concern for someone like York, who hired both men.
"Guys who move here could just move away if they're unhappy," York said. "So as an employer, you have to stay ahead of your talent."
There is little room for mistakes in hiring, as a company like Dyn doesn't have millions of dollars of capital on hand. That is why such companies align with organizations such as StayWorkPlay NH that specialize in bringing together young professionals.
Simba is now king
Besides changing the hiring structure, technology is now shifting the power. Young minds, intoxicated with images of The Social Network, want to be their own bosses. Ideas drive the world, not experience, so some only need to climb a single rung to reach the top of the corporate ladder.
"Now I interview kids coming out of college and they figure if Mark Zuckerberg can do it, I'll figure it out," York said. "Younger and younger kids are on Facebook and Twitter and they're enterprising and starting companies at any age."
This is why Luczko is focused on mentoring these youngest of professionals who may have great ideas but haven't learned how to navigate through the business world. Then again, York believes that inexperience isn't necessarily a negative.
"Age is just a number," York said. "Eventually you realize people 20 years your senior are just figuring it out as well. You've just got to find out what motivates you and work hard."
This youth revolution is also a result of a change in philosophy often credited to a Chicago-based company called 37signals (a Dyn client, it so happens), according to Elliott. This philosophy advocates for ultra-light start-ups that build web-based products or services to develop Minimum Viable Products. This means a company delivers its idea to market as quickly as possible. It doesn't spend time building and perfecting. If it doesn't stick, then fix it. If it does, then you throw bodies at it. Obviously, this is not a sound strategy for a pharmaceutical company, but it can be for a company developing cell phone applications.
"Dare to fail," Elliott said. "Most major web servers started as something else."
Elliott said some of the most vocal advocates of this strategy are industry veterans who have seen products be perfected for years and then fail because they had never gone before customers. Elliott said these veterans, who came of age before the Internet, are energized by these new strategies. For young entrepreneurs, it is second nature.
To see the possibilities of entrepreneurs paying their dues while they're still under their parents' curfew, look again to the founding of Dyn.
Dyn's story
It all began with a part-time job at the web development office at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Here Hitchcock, who intended to major in chemistry but ended up graduating early summa cum laude with a degree in Computers and Management, met up with Daly and two other students, Tom Wilde and Chris Reinhardt, who had founded something called DynDNS, which was a free DNS service, in 1998.
They say necessity is the mother of invention and that is true of Dyn. At WPI, Tuesday night was the party night and so Hitchcock and Daly wanted a little extra sleep on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, there were those pesky lab reports.
They realized if they could write their lab report on Tuesday and then access it from the bulky computers in the school lab, they could print it off, put it in the stack at the end of class and get an extra couple hours of sleep. Thus the free DNS service was born.
Throughout college the guys worked on the company, but during the first years it was more of a hobby. In fact, Hitchcock said he was working on another business plan for a class that he thought was going to be the real success. But since they were so young, they had the advantage of time. There was no pressure to turn a profit and they were able to try several models over the years, from a free model to donation-based models, in which they received $40,000 in a matter of weeks from users around the world, to the more recent premium enterprise offering called Dynect Platform.
There was early success. Hitchcock said there was a Cheesecake Factory near where they worked and the college kids would often eat there.
"We weren't eating Ramen noodles," Hitchcock joked. "We were living large."
As is the case with many new ideas, the other two guys drifted away from the project. In 2006 Hitchcock became CEO and Daly became president and CTO.
"It was a pretty gradual transition," Hitchcock said. "There is no manual for any of this stuff."
New rules
The two found that essentially they had to make it up as they went along. This is too easy a generalization — a lot of strategic planning and discussion went into leading the company to where it is today. Hitchcock talked of hiring the company's first employee. He was a man twice their age who had a family. Hitchcock and Daly were 21 years old.
When they moved the company to Manchester, they wanted to look legitimate and so they went looking for office space. They found an office on Sundial Avenue in Manchester.
The first time Hitchcock and Daly met with a banker to get a $1 million to $2 million mortgage on the office space, the banker was skeptical of the two kids sitting across from him. But then he asked to look at their books.
"He had a smile on his face the entire time," Hitchcock said. "Then he went out of the room chuckling. When he came back in he said, 'That's a nice little business you've got here.' We got the pre-approval note the next morning."
As time has gone on, the issues have become smaller, yet like York's misconceptions about the bias against New Hampshire, Hitchcock and Daly tried to play the role. In 2006, they moved to 1230 Elm St. because legitimate companies worked there and it was a fairly corporate atmosphere with a grand view of Manchester.
Yet success breeds confidence. No longer needing to bow to an older generation, Dyn has developed its own brashness. Or perhaps, if all the rules have changed, the only ones to follow are your own.
For example, Hitchcock operates in a different mentality than many CEOs in that he wants to have a good time without making a fool of the company.
"I want to expand the horizon," Hitchcock said. "A board room isn't the only place where a business exchange can take place. Conversations are happening everywhere. What's wrong with a seaplane in Seattle?"
Hitchcock is referring to his meeting with executives at Amazon. The meeting was supposed to be held in Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, but at the last moment Hitchcock decided to change the meeting to be inside a seaplane as it circled the coastal city.
"The person we met with said he saw those seaplanes every day out his window and although he was raised in Seattle, he had never been in one," Hitchcock said.
"What meeting do you think he'll remember?" York asked. "When he looks out his window and sees those planes, he'll think of us." The company cannot comment on whether Amazon became a client.
Once when meeting with Gov. John Lynch, Daly was asked by the governor where he saw himself in five years. Daly joked, "The Cayman Islands."
Such boldness flows from the head down and applies to the company's hiring process as well. Before interviewing a potential sales representative, York makes the candidate leave him a sales pitch on his voice mail. Smith, the young man from Utah, won over the office by having pizzas delivered following his interview with a note attached, thanking Dyn for the opportunity.
This self-confidence and the culture that you don't have to wait in line to be somebody is in high demand. It is also a concept Dyn did not invent. Hitchcock said while the company is on the early side, he acknowledged that Google is leading the way. And before Google it was Apple, and before Apple it was Xerox.
In fact, in a recent survey, nearly 25 percent of young professionals (college graduates with 1 to 8 years of work experience) want to work at Google, according to the Wall Street Journal. That was almost twice as many as chose Apple, which came in second. Disney World was third. The top write-in on the list: Facebook, Inc.
"There aren't a lot of Googles," York said. "But there are plenty of cool companies out there like Dyn, but you never hear about them."
And while many young professionals probably won't land jobs with Google, they have a likelier opportunity with companies like Dyn.
What makes these companies so attractive?
Casual is cool
In a world where the balance between work and personal lives is blurring, people want to enjoy where they work. That is why in the new Dyn office building there will be everything including a tree fort, a museum exhibit that looks like a dorm room, which represents the founding of Dyn, a television, some beer taps, Wii, and of course, a Segway or two.
"The values of this generation are a little different," Luczko said. "In the past you may have seen a hesitancy to work from home, but now my generation is pushing to work from home one day a week. You see more and more of this changing culture now."
While having a young boss might eliminate the age gap, it doesn't necessarily eliminate differences. In a society of LinkedIn, where everybody knows everybody else's positions, job titles have a certain gravity, according to York. Yet, Hitchcock often wonders why people care about job titles so much. York said it is easy for him because he's been CEO since he was in his early 20s.
But with the big job titles also comes the pressure. Dyn swims with some pretty big fish. If it went down, a large portion of the Internet would crash alongside it. That is a great deal of pressure, and yet Hitchcock seems impervious to it all.
Once York's wife, Katie, asked Hitchcock why he never seemed stressed. Hitchcock, perhaps only half-joking, answered, "What's the worst that can happen? I'd have to get a real job."
It is this is ability to look at their work as service instead of business that seems to be a defining characteristic of many of these young high-tech CEOs. Since their work is more about moving the world forward, Hitchcock and, for example, Mark Zuckerberg, don't seem to care a great deal about money. In fact, Hitchcock is much more likely to talk about producing a quality product and creating a fun work environment than worrying about what other people speculate the company is worth.
Such a philosophy may have penalized Dyn in the tech media because it has been so reliable and hasn't needed a huge influx of outside capital. (As Dyn is a private company, its officials declined to reveal its annual revenues.) Yet, Hitchcock must know he is sitting on a golden ticket. If he and Daly chose to sell Dyn, as co-owners, they would be in line for a multimillion-dollar payout.
As has been their business model, Hitchcock and Daly will cross that bridge when, and if, they get to it.
"Right now, I'm living the dream," Hitchcock said. And his dreams and those of other companies like Dyn will help shape the country's future.


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Conservation and Environment in South Africa: Monthly Updates
Botswana Conservation-Monthly Update: November - December 2014
The summer has been with us for more than a month now, and heavy occasional rains in the reserve and hot temperatures are common. Nearly 200mm of rain has fallen and helped to change the bush into a dense shiny green forest, with a carpet of lovely flowers and green grass. The vegetation is really tasty too all the herbivores!
In December we had our first generation of emperor moth caterpillars (Imbrasia belina), also known as the Mopane worm, a caterpillar very common on the area. Thousands and thousands of them were busy eating the leaves of the Mopane trees (Colophospermum mopane). When you are close enough to hear them eating, it sounds like a nice soft rain falling on the leaves.
After two weeks the Mopane trees were leafless, and after few weeks the caterpillars disappeared underground to pupate and become lovely moths. The caterpillar of the species is also eaten by the villagers and is an important food source for the animals.
These last two months have been incredible for us at Wild at Tuli. The volunteers have been working hard to improve the reserve and to protect the wildlife by helping other neighbouring nature reserves to remove wire on the property as well as taking out rubbish from several properties, and much more!
As always in the bush, there have been some incredible sightings! The most delightful and incredible are all the babies who were born just after the rain. Greater kudu (Trgelaphus strepsiceros), impala (Aepyceros melampus), blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), and plains zebra (Equus quagga) are starting their new life - after few minutes all the young are already jumping and following their mothers.
In this world you need to learn quickly to walk and run if you want to survive. The volunteers were amazed to see some shy Eland running in the bush, and also to hear the distinct clicking noise that Eland make when moving. This noise is made by the hooves striking together.
In this world you need to learn quickly to walk and run if you want to survive. The volunteers were amazed to see some shy Eland running in the bush, and also to hear the distinct clicking noise that Eland make when moving. This noise is made by the hooves striking together.
The summer birds are back and gave us some lovely sightings: European Roller (Coracias garrulus), several species of cuckoos, southern carmine bee-eater (Merops nubicoides), and violet-backed starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) are some examples.
The whole team wishes to take this opportunity to thank all the present and past volunteers for their hard work, which has made a huge difference to the environment. We hope you all enjoyed your time with the Wild at Tuli family!
We also hope you will enjoy this latest update and learn a lot of interesting facts about African wildlife and life in the bush.
Helping other nature reserves
Solidarity in the African bush is important, and if a neighbouring reserve needs assistance we are always available to help.
This month we helped out twice. Firstly, on a Sunday morning after a windy night, we were called in the early hours to assist in removing a century tree that had fallen on part of a lodge. Volunteers worked hard, in the dust, to remove the huge trunk and branches. We also packed away all the grass that could be saved from the former thatch roof for later rebuilding. In the end a little jump in the swimming pool made everybody very happy.
The following Sunday, a bush fire was detected. Luckily, the trees are bare from leaves at the moment, so the fire wasn't able to spread far. The problem was that there was no road access to where the fire was. However, volunteers stood ready in case their help was needed, next to our 1000 litre water tank.
The fire was eventually put out manually by other brave helpers; our volunteers learned about African bush fires and how hard they can be to stop! One of our neighbours remembered a time when a fire went on for two weeks before they were able to stop it.
Mammals Census
A total of 39 species of mammal, out of the 55 species possibly found in the area, have been identified during our censuses using spoor identification activities, and thanks to our cameras traps.
A census, or a mammal inventory, is an important activity in order to keep track of which species we have in the reserve and their evolution. It also helps to understand the utilization of waterholes throughout the year.
We are currently conducting censuses at four different sites, all overlooking a waterhole or a natural spring. Mornings, afternoons, evenings and even through the whole night, volunteers cover all time slots to record all possible mammal species, some with more luck than others!
Wire Removal
In the past, most of the land in this part of Botswana was divided into cattle farms, separated by wire fences. Nowadays, most of the farms have been converted into wildlife reserves and the fences have either fallen down or have been removed, and animals can roam freely again.
This month, while exploring the reserve, volunteers found some wire on what used to be a fence line between our reserve and the neighbouring one. A huge patrol along the now invisible boundary of the reserve has thus been undertaken with volunteers to find and remove all remaining wire and poles that once used to form the fence. This is important as animals can become caught in the wire or get injured when walking on a pole. Plus, walking in the African bush is always an adventure loved by all the volunteers.
On the ten kilometres of former fence that has been patrolled this month, volunteers have removed around one kilometre of old fencing wire and the metal poles will be removed soon to complete the job. This patrol will continue until all of the 5 000 hectare reserve's boundaries are completely checked and safe for the wildlife. Future volunteers, be prepared to walk!
Conservation Manager
Sophie Juget


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In a season where hemlines are unabashedly high and tank tops are routinely sheer, it's hard to stand out in a sea of bare skin — especially if a crop top just isn't your thing. But, all of that changes when you throw on an attention-grabbing red dress. In fact, we're pretty sure it's hard not to feel gussied up even in the simplest scarlet-hued frock.
So, from a pleated blood-orange dress to a wine-red maxi, we culled through our favorite shops for 11 red stunners that are just as hot as the summer sun. And, no matter if you dress them up with a pair of heels or down with a jean jacket and fedora, be prepared: These picks are about to make you the center of attention.


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Radamel Falcao Garcia is, without doubt, one of football's hottest properties right now. A relentless goalscorer for Atletico Madrid, who have built on last season's success and are currently flying high in La Liga, he is also a leading light for a Colombia team that is fighting for a place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™.
Named in the 23-man shortlist for this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or and author of one of the ten goals shortlisted for the FIFA Puskás Award, the man known as El Tigre (The Tiger) found time for an exclusive chat with FIFA.com. Among the items discussed were Colombia's fine recent form, Jose Pekerman's role in the side's resurgence, recent comparisons between the current Cafetero crop and the golden generation of the 1990s, and his targets with Atletico.
FIFA.com: Falcao, Jose Pekerman told a press conference recently that Colombia would now qualify for the FIFA World Cup after missing out on the three previous editions.Would you go along with that? Radamel Falcao Garcia: The World Cup is the goal we're working towards. There's still a long way to go in the South American qualifiers, but we realise we're in a strong position. We'll keep striving towards our target of competing in this great competition and hope to continue in the same vein for the remainer of the qualifying campaign.
How do you explain the fact that you've won more games on your travels than at home in these qualifiers?
It shows we've matured and grown as a team, both home and away, something that's enabled us to remain strong on the road and win key games. That's always a good thing and hopefully we can continue to do that.
Playing at a World Cup with my national team is my principle objective, although the goal is not only to qualify and take part, but also to play a prominent part once there.
The last time Colombia graced a FIFA World Cup was at France 1998, when you had players like Carlos Valderrama, Freddy Rincon and Faustino Asprilla.Is the current generation comparable with that one?
We're not looking to be compared with them. We want to make our own history and pave our own way, and do it with a different style of play. Hopefully we can go far without seeking to compare ourselves to the Colombian teams that have come before us.
At France 1998 you were just 12. What you do remember about that tournament?I remember a great deal as I watched almost the entire thing. Colombia didn't do well in the group phase and went out. Later we had [Zinedine] Zidane's crowning achievement, but it was also a World Cup in which Ronaldo and [Gabriel] Batistuta scored a lot of goals. So yeah, I remember it well.
Brazil coach Mano Menezes said recently that Colombia "were more than just Falcao" and praised the work done by Jose Pekerman since assuming the reins. Was the arrival of the Argentinian the tipping point for Colombia or have other factors contributed to the team's improvement in the race to Brazil?Without a doubt, Pekerman's arrival turned things round for Colombia in terms of the team's football, results and self-confidence. He tried to give us the necessary belief to go out there with freedom and play the kind of football that we're used to. That means always trying to compete toe-to-toe whether home or away and seeking to win, but without throwing caution to the wind. Today we've become a more mature and balanced team in South America.
*Is getting the chance to compete at a FIFA World Cup your prime objective right now, and what other goals are you hoping to achieve? *Playing at a World Cup with my national team is my principle objective, although the goal is not only to qualify and take part, but also to play a prominent part once there. I believe we have a good team, and hopefully we'll grow and improve a great deal both individually and as a group so that we first of all qualify then afterwards feature prominently in Brazil.
Will this FIFA World Cup be different with it being staged in Brazil?Yes, of course. We'll be closer to home and it's Latin America, whose people share a certain affinity. So if we made it there, we'd enjoy a degree of support from the hosts.
Before then might we see another triumph for Atletico Madrid in La Liga?There's a long way to go, but we want to keep battling game by game and then we'll see where we are come the end of the season. The most important thing is to keep winning games, so we keep racking up the points.
Finally, we must mention the remarkable technical progress you've made over the last year. When you started out you were known for powerful heading, but you now seem to have really worked on your left foot, as evidenced by almost identical goals against Chelsea, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and Paraguay. Is that something you've been particularly focused on?Yes, I have worked on it. When I have the chance to work on my own game in training, I try to fine-tune technical aspects of it. In this case I've tried to improve my left-foot shot a bit, and have seen results. What's more, most the goals I've scored this season have been with my left. There've been some beautiful and really well-taken ones to tell you the truth. It's always good to work on improving yourself every way you can.


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- 4 Beds
- 3 Full, 1 3/4, 1 Half Baths
Property TypeResidential – Single Family
SubdivisionSUMMERWOOD PUD
Listing Date06/04/20
Year Built1999
Lot Size0.25 Acres (10,890 SqFt)
Property Description
BREATHTAKING MOUNTAIN VIEWS! PRIVACY! Located in coveted Summerwood community, this quality home features open floor plan with soaring ceilings and lots of natural light. Move in ready, completely furnished and equipped. Main floor master with impressive marble bathroom. Gourmet kitchen with granite slab countertops and stainless steel top quality appliances. Large deck, radiant heat, sauna and laundry rooms on each level complete the idyllic picture. Community recreation center and near skiing.
Presented By
- See Remarks
- Mountain(s)
- None
- Clubhouse
- Pool
- Fireplace
- Handicap Access
- Jetted Tub
- Vaulted Ceiling(s)
- Central Vacuum
- Cable Available
- Sewer Available
- Radiant
Financial Information
About Dillon
Come experience the magic of the Colorado high country and fall in love with the town of Dillon. Perfectly situated on the scenic shores of the Lake Dillon Reservoir with recreation, entertainment, relaxation, and pure fun all at your doorstep. Dillon is a great getaway close to Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain, Vail, Beaver Creek and Denver. Aside from being an excellent, central location for embracing Summit County's winter activities, Dillon bustles with summer events for all ages, from the Thursday Nature Nights series and Friday morning Farmers Markets to the popular weekend concerts at Lake Dillon Amphitheatre. Spend an afternoon at the Dillon Marina where rental boats, guided sailing tours or sailing lessons are available, or visit the School House Museum and historical park where relics from the mining days come to life. World-class lodging, dining and shopping are within minutes.
Area Market Data
We get asked this question a lot. Below is a tool that gives you the ability to see what the market is like in your community. Find out what homes like your own are selling for right in your back yard. Simply enter in your address, choose the proximity of the search and find out market data for other homes that are selling near you.
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The data relating to the real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of the Vail Multi-List Service, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Vail Multi List, Inc. (VMLS). The information displayed herein was derived from sources believed to be accurate, but has not been verified by VMLS. Buyers are cautioned to verify all information to their own satisfaction. This information is exclusively for viewers' personal, non- commercial use. Any republication or reproduction of the information herein without the express permission of the VMLS is strictly prohibited.
Listing courtesy of Trelora Realty


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- 4 Beds
- 3 Full, 1 Half Baths
Property TypeResidential – Duplex
SubdivisionEagle-vail 1
Listing Date08/14/19
Year Built1983
Lot Size0.10 Acres (4,356 SqFt)
Parking1 Car Garage
Property Description
Rare opportunity for a 4-bedroom duplex on corner lot in the heart of Eagle-Vail. Private driveway with extra parking and 1-car garage. Enjoy an open floor plan in the main living and same level master bedroom. Beautiful upgrades in the bathrooms and kitchen and a bright, sunny deck. The home is strategically located between Vail and Beaver Creek with great proximity to schools, parks, restaurants and all the amenities of EagleVail. Perfect for year round residents or a weekend getaway!
Presented By
- See Remarks
- Mountains
- See Remarks
- Clubhouse
- Golf-Public
- Hiking/Pedestrian Trail
- On Bus Line
- Pool
- Tennis Courts
- Cable Available
- Deck
- Fireplace - Gas
- Clubhouse
- Pool
- Tennis
- District Sewer
- District Water
- Electricity Avail.
- Natural Gas Avail.
- Snow Removal
- Trash Pickup
- Baseboard
- Natural Gas
- Dryer
- Washer
Financial Information
About EagleVail
Situated between two world-class ski resorts, the community of EagleVail is one of the valley's most prime locations in terms of access. With an 18-hole golf course, par 3 golf course, tennis courts, community pool, hiking and biking trails, sporting fields, a community garden, local restaurants and more, this community has something for everyone. EagleVail serves as a basecamp for families, second-home owners and adventurous thrill-seekers alike. Wave hello to your neighbors on an evening stroll around the golf course, hang out at the community pool or ski home from Beaver Creek — whatever lifestyle you're looking for, EagleVail delivers the perfect setting for it. Real estate in the community includes a healthy mix of condominiums, townhomes, duplexes and single-family homes. In EagleVail, neighbors hang out together at the community garden, driving range, Turkey Trot or the pool. EagleVail is also just a bike ride away from Vail, Avon and Edwards, and multiple county bus stops in the neighborhood provide easy shuttle service to anywhere in the valley. With its commercial and residential zones, adjacent National Forest lands, beautiful green spaces thanks to the golf course and other pocket parks, EagleVail features alpine living without sacrificing any conveniences. It's also a community that offers pricing from entry-level to luxury buyers.
Area Market Data
Sorry, there are currently no properties available that meet this search criteria.
We get asked this question a lot. Below is a tool that gives you the ability to see what the market is like in your community. Find out what homes like your own are selling for right in your back yard. Simply enter in your address, choose the proximity of the search and find out market data for other homes that are selling near you.
While we'll provide you with plenty of information, this is a snapshot of your market data and there are real people behind the high-tech and automated tools. If you would like more detailed information or help in understanding the results we are here to help.
Until then, enjoy the tools!
The data relating to the real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of the Vail Multi-List Service, Inc.
Copyright © 2020 Vail Multi List, Inc. (VMLS). The information displayed herein was derived from sources believed to be accurate, but has not been verified by VMLS. Buyers are cautioned to verify all information to their own satisfaction. This information is exclusively for viewers' personal, non- commercial use. Any republication or reproduction of the information herein without the express permission of the VMLS is strictly prohibited.
Listing courtesy of LIV Sotheby's International Realty - Bridge Street


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I was looking up different techniques for digital storytelling using PowerPoint when I came across this cool video onYouTube. I liked the spinning effect and thought it could be used for an animated acrostic.
I talked a teacher friend of mine into doing it with her class (4th grade) during their colonial unit and they turned out pretty good (the ones that finished). The hardest part was getting the kids to pre-make the acrostic! If you click on the video above you will watch a 6 minute tutorial on how to make the effect happen (or you can click on THIS LINK to go directly to my YouTube video).
I tried something new with this class. Normally we go through all the steps together but I wanted to see if students could follow a detailed tutorial so I could just be there for support. I made a 9 minute video and told them that if they followed all the steps they could do this project. I had maybe a total of five students in the class who finished with little or no help from me. All the rest could not, or did not, want to follow the video tutorial. In hindsight I should have done the first part (saving and typing) whole group and then as students finished they would watch a shorter video on how to add the animations. I think 9 minutes was too long for many of the students and they didn't get the concept to pause the video after each section.
I did a similar tutorial with another class and changed it to a 2 minute video and the kids did much better with that (different project but the concept was the same).
Anyway….if you are looking for a slightly different take on a PowerPoint you might want to try this technique. It can be done in any subject area. This one modeled use in a Social Studies class but I've also done it with a science class using the word "Light."


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Hi guys,
This is my first thread.
I have the following problem to resolve. I was able to do it within one method, but the requirements are different.
The program should pick a random number between one and ten (inclusive) and prompt the user for their guess. For each guess made, the program should tell the user if the guess was too high, too low, or correct. The user should only have four (4) tries to get it right before they lose the game.
When a game is over, a dialog should announce if they won or lost and ask the user if they want to play again. Your dialog should have yes and no buttons. If they lost this dialog box must show them what the correct answer was.
Requirements :
- All user input and output should be done using javax.swing.JOptionpane class
- The program should use the class java.util.Random to generate the numbers
- Your code must have the following methods at least:
public static void main ( String [] args ) This method is responsible for the "Play again?" logic, including the you won/you lost dialog. This means a loop that runs at least once, and continues until the player quits.
static boolean playGame ( ??? ) This method is responsible for playing one complete game each time it is called, including the what is your guess? input dialog. Note the message displayed in the input dialog changes each time through the loop, to show if the user's last guess was too high or too low. The method should return true if the user won. If they don't guess correctly after four tries, the user has lost and the method should return false.
static int compareTo ( ???, ??? ) This method compares the user input (a single guess) with the correct answer. It returns a negative integer if the guess is too low, a positive integer if the guess is too high, and 0 (zero) if the guess is correct.
So far I am stuck with this code:
import javax.swing.*; import java.util.*; public class GuessingGame { public static void main (String [] args) { //This method is responsible for the "Play again?" logic, including the you won / you lost dialog //This means a loop that runs at least once, and continues until the player quits boolean x =false; boolean win = false; do { playGame(x); } while (win == false); JOptionPane.showInternalConfirmDialog(null,"please choose one", "information",JOptionPane.YES_NO_CANCEL_OPTION, JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE); } public static boolean playGame (boolean choice) { //This method is responsible for playing one complete game each time it is called, including what's your guess //input dialog final int TOTALGUESS = 4; //Number of total guesses the user has. int guessCount = 0; //Number of guesses the user has made int rndNumber; // A random number picked by the computer. Random rndNumbers = new Random(); //Generate random number. rndNumber = rndNumbers.nextInt(10); //Create input dialog while (guessCount <= TOTALGUESS) { // A number entered by user as a guess. String guess = JOptionPane.showInputDialog (null, "What's your guess? (1-10)", "Guessing Game", JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE); // From string to int int intGuess = Integer.parseInt(guess); compareTo (intGuess, rndNumber); //Call method to compare guess with random. guessCount++; } return choice; } public static int compareTo (int num1, int num2) { String message; //This method compare the user input with the correct answer if (num1 == num2) { message = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Well done! Your choice was right!", "Guessing Game",JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE); return 0; break; } else if (num1 > num2) { message = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Sorry too high! Try again", "Guessing Game", JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE); return 1; } else { message = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Sorry too low! Try again", "Guessing Game", JOptionPane.QUESTION_MESSAGE); return -1; } return num2; } }
Can someone please help me with this ?
It seems I am quite confuse with the way how the methods are called.
Thanks in advance!


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