text:
[What's Going On]
By Victoria Horsford
In the interests of diplomacy, I say to heck with all of the Barack Obama political naysayers, men and women of ill will.
I will cast my lot with the hundreds of professionals, who attended the recent Denver International Astrologers Conference, 80% of whom concur that of the three U.S. presidential hopefuls, Barack Obama has the best chance of winning the November election.
Why? The planets are aligned for transformation; and Barack Obama (Leo) chart is more synchronized with that of the U.S. than Senators Clinton (Scorpio) and McCain (Virgo.) I lucked upon this info on AOL's opening page last week.
Moving along his victory trajectory, I recommend reading a clever Ebonyjet.com essay about Obama's cabinet choices, as much for its insights as for its levity. The essayist, Eric Easter, allows that it is a fantasy list but does not see lots of highly visible Blacks in Obama's first term; but many will work close to him in advisory capacities. The first term Obama Administration looks like this: Jim Webb, Virginia Democrat, Vice President; Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Department of Energy: Al Gore, UN Ambassador; Bill Richardson, Secretary of State; Congressman Jesse Jackson, Secretary of Transportation; Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Secretary of Labor; NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg, NO WAY!; Senator Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense; John Edwards, Attorney General; Susan Rice, National Security Advisor; and Meg Whitman, CEO of Ebay, as Transparency czar, an idea that Obama originated; Richard Parsons, Ambassador to China; Senator John Kerry, Ambassador to France; and former Baltimore Mayor, current Howard University Law School Dean Kurt Schmoke, as Drug policy czar. The 6/2 Newsweek issue includes a cover story, an OPEN LETTER TO OBAMA
This is not a prediction, on May 27, Mercury went retrograde, an occurrence which impacts natives all zodiac signs and which means three weeks of communications inconveniences, hopefully no more Senator Clinton gaffes! Beware computer crashes, fax and telephone problems, transportation schedule disruptions. This is a great time to become introspective. And watch your mouth!
Sorry ladies, another handsome, intelligent, most eligible African-American bachelor jumped the broom last month and married blond lovely Emily Threlkeld, a New York based fashion publicist for designer Carolina Herrera. Highly pedigreed Harold Ford, Jr., is a UPenn undergraduate, University of Michigan Law School grad, former Tennessee congressman, who is Merrill Lynch vice chairman, an MSNBC correspondent , who also heads the Democratic Leadership Council. Guess he's no longer interested in the Tennessee gubernatorial mansion.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female head of state and the granddaughter of a market woman, comes to NY to promote one of many initiatives – the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund – and will be assisted by the African Women's Development Fund, in collaboration with the NY Society for Ethical Culture Social Service Board and actress Cicely Tyson, on Wednesday, June 4.
For this tribute to Liberia's Market Women, the backbone of the national economy, President Sirleaf and the Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and the Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, invite you to join them and attend the Friendraising launch of the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund's Adopt-A-Market Campaign at 2 West 64 Street NYC. A three-tiered affair, the evening includes a VIP Reception, a silent auction and market, followed by an arts and entertainment program.
Tickets are scaled from $50 to $100,000, which gets your name superimposed on a rural market in Liberia. Please call MaryLou Amarosa at 212.997.0100 for reservations and more info or visit email@example.com.
Congratulations to Juliana Hernandez, who graduated with honors from Choate and who is Harvard bound as an economics major and to Rwanda carnage survivor Georges Ndabashimiye, CUNY Physics honor student, graduating with highest honors in physics and math, with a 3.8 GPA, who is en route to Stanford University grad school where he plans to specialize in experimental physics. One Rwandan friend advised that not only is he brilliant me but he also is a very humble young man.
: This is the season for dance lovers. There is news from two pre-eminent institutions- Alvin Ailey and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater AAADT begins a new year with a DANCE IS FOREVER performance, a part of its 50th Anniversary celebration, which continues to underscore the importance of Alvin Ailey's vision of fuller access to modern dance.
The golden anniversary will be punctuated with a year-long fundraising events, which will help provide free AAADT performances and classes throughout NYC. The AAADT performs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) from June 3-8. For more info, reservations, and donations, visit www. Alvinailey.org.
The Dance Theatre of Harlem School presents its Annual Spring Performance, featuring "The Ugly Duckling," adapted from a Hans Christian Anderson story, at the Manhattan School of Music at 132 Claremont Avenue, due west of Broadway at 122 Street, Harlem, on Saturday, May 31 at 6 pm and Sunday, June 1 at 5 pm. Founded in founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and the late Karel Shook, the Dance Theatre of Harlem addresses both classical and modern dance forms. To purchase and reserve tickets, $25 for adults and $15 for children, online visit www.dancetheatreofharlem.org or call 212 690.2800.
Open to the public, to the US Mission to the UN and the UN Action Against
Sexual Violence in Conflict, present a feature film, THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO, on Friday, June 13, at the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium at the UN. If you do not have a UN pass and you are interested in attendance, contact firstname.lastname@example.com for admission, or call 212.665.3003.
The Society for the Study of Africana Philosophy, hosted by Leo Downes, presents Henry Miller, PhD, who will lecture on "The Spiritual Origin Of The Drama" at the Harlem YMCA, at 180 West 135 Street, Harlem, USA, on Tuesday, June 3 at 7:30 pm. Lecture is free but space is limited. Reserve your seat by calling 212.281.4100.
The Hamilton Heights Home Owners Association hosts its 20th House and Garden Tour with a rich cultural weekend, 5/30 to 6/1, offering tours and literary and jazz salons.
Hamilton Heights north/south borders are 135-155 Streets, from Edgecombe Avenue to Riverside. For more information and reservations, visit www.hamiltonheightshomeowners.org.
To comment, to subscribe to or advertise in New York's leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper, please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to firstname.lastname@example.com
Also visit out sister publications Harlem Business News www.harlembusinessnews.com publications and The Groove Music magazine
"Speaking Truth To Power."
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...
Black Star News has been producing stellar investigative journalism since 1997, including focusing on police brutality and other abuses targeting marginalized communities. We have broken several major stories. We welcome news tips to firstname.lastname@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com
We need your advertising support to produce strong journalism, especially during periods of economic instability, so please contact email@example.com for advertising rates and long term packages.
Black Star News has been producing stellar investigative journalism since 1997, including focusing on police brutality and other abuses targeting marginalized communities. We have broken several major stories. We welcome news tips to firstname.lastname@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com
We need your advertising support to produce strong journalism, especially during periods of economic instability, so please contact firstname.lastname@example.com for advertising rates and long term packages.
All content is copyright Black Star News © 2011. All rights reserved.


text:
As part of the Daytime's Division's ongoing new initiative to reach fans in more cities, more often, SOAPnet will serve as the presenting sponsor for the maiden voyage of "Rock the Soap," a three-day cruise (from Los Angeles to Mexico) hosted by Bob Guiney that will set sail March 20-23. The cruise will be filled with top soap stars from "All My Children," One Life to Live," "General Hospital," "Days of our Lives," "As the World Turns" and "The Young and the Restless."
Throughout the cruise, fans will have a chance to mix and mingle with their favorite stars. Stars confirmed to date include "All My Children's" Rebecca Budig, Melissa Claire Egan, Thorsten Kaye, Eden Riegel, Michael E. Knight, Aiden Turner and Bobbie Eakes; "One Life to Live's" Kassie DePaiva, Kathy Brier, Susan Haskill and Bree Williamson; "General Hospital's" Kelly Monaco, Kimberly McCullough, Jason Thompson (pictured) and Brandon Barash; "Days of our Lives'" Bryan Dattilo; "As the World Turns'" Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann; "The Young and the Restless'" Greg Rikaart, Thad Luckinbill and Elizabeth Hendrickson, and "The Bold and the Beautiful's" Constantine Maroulis! "Rock the Soap" will offer fans a unique opportunity to have laid back interactions and exciting musical moments with the stars.
Festivities throughout the cruise feature musical performances, book signings, meet & greet sessions, optional beach parties and even a chance to sing Karaoke with your favorite soap stars, as well as some other very special 'one of a kind' moments to be announced.
*All talent participation is subject to change.
For updates on the soap star lineup and more information about "Rock the Soap," fans can log onto rockthesoap.com and SOAPnet.com.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Rock the Soap Cruise
GL: Casting News
Krista Tesreau returns as Mindy on Guiding Light on Friday, March 6, Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March 10 to attend hers, Rick's, Philip's and Beth's 25th high-school reunion.
Days Charity Event
Days of Our Lives actors Eric Martsolf (Brady Black & former Ethan of Passions), James Scott (EJ Dimera, pictured), Arianne Zucker (Nicole Walker), Darin Brooks (Max Brady), Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Horton), Matthew Ashford (former Jack Deveraux)
Event will benefit Retinoblastoma International presented by Days Charity Events, Inc.
Saturday April 18, 2009
11-4 p.m. Meet & Greet/Q&A Session with the Stars
7 p.m.-12 a.m. Cocktail Reception with the Stars
Hartford Marriott Downtown
200 Columbus Blvd
Hartford, CT
(Ticket prices for the different events and sponsorships are available on the website)
Y&R Anniversary
Happy Anniversary! Melody Thomas Scott celebrates her 30th anniversary as Nikki today. Here's to 30 more!
Interview: Rosie O'Donnell Saves America, Part 2
Former daytime queen Rosie O'Donnell's most recent project is the Lifetime Original Movie called America, which premieres on Lifetime Television on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In it, she plays Dr. Maureen Brennan, but Rosie also is an executive producer and co-writer on the movie. Based on E.R. Frank's book of the same name, America follows the touching journey of 17-year-old America as he traverses the foster-care system.
Rosie explains how she assembled such a stellar cast, which includes Academy Award-nominee Ruby Dee (American Gangster): "When I read the book, I knew that was Ruby Dee's role right from the beginning. For six years, that had been the vision in my mind. I'm friends with Attallah Shabazz, the eldest daughter of Malcolm X, and she is like family with Ruby. I was telling Attallah for years about this movie. So when we got the green light, I called her up and said, 'Attallah, will you tell your aunt?' And she's like, 'Yeah, no problem.' So, we got her that way.
"It was the biggest thrill to be in Detroit on Election Day with Ruby Dee, talking all about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and (her late husband) Ossie Davis giving the eulogy (at the latter's funeral). It was pretty astounding to hear her talk about her life, and just the reality of being there with her on that day was fairly overwhelming."
There are also a number of new faces, including star Philip Johnson, to help round out the cast of young characters. "We purposely tried to get young actors who you didn't know, so it wouldn't take the viewer out of the movie.
"For instance, I'll be watching a movie with my kids, and they'll be like, 'Isn't that the guy from The Wizards of Waverly Place?' It takes you right out of the film.
"So we found all new actors. The young girl who plays Liza (Raquel Castro) is from a town right close to where I grew up. And the young boy who plays Marshall (Logan Huffman), I think he is fantastically talented and absurdly handsome. He reminded me of all the boys I used to pin up on my bedroom wall as a kid from Teen magazine, the kind of boy you would have loved when you were 14."
To top off the stellar cast, Rosie found an even-more-stellar director for the project. "The director, Yves Simoneau, is unbelievably gifted. He is a true artist. Working with him was the most fulfilling experience on a movie, because he was so open to new ideas and so full of life. He knew exactly what he wanted to do and how he wanted it to look. I think that visually it is absolutely captivating."
At the end of the day, though, this movie is about the forgotten children who are shuffled through the U.S. foster-care system. Rosie hopes that her film enlightens the audience and provokes them to take action.
Rosie explains: "I hope people get an understanding of these kids. With our nation becoming more and more economically depressed, the numbers are going to grow in foster care. We need to do something right away. It is an emergency; it is an epidemic in some capacity. If we were losing that many kids a year to a disease, there would be fundraisers and telethons. But these kids are invisible, and will remain so until we give them a voice."
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Must See TV: SOAPnet's Being Erica
If you haven't been watching SOAPnet's newest original series, Being Erica, then you need to remedy that, quick!
For those who don't know about it, here is the show's description:
We all have regrets and we've all made mistakes. But what if you could go back in time and fix them? Erica Strange (portrayed by Erin Karpluk, right) can – and desperately needs to. She's 32 years old and facing a premature midlife crisis. With no boyfriend, no job, no prospects, her life is in shambles, and she often blames her past mistakes for her current predicament.
Enter Dr. Tom, part therapist, part mysterious rogue. He comes into Erica's life at a time when nothing seems to be going right for her and offers one simple proposition: Whatever she is unhappy about, he can fix it. And with that they begin their extraordinary journey together, as he sends Erica back in time to excavate her past, to relive her regrets, and to make different choices this time around.
We've all, at different points, had the feeling that our lives would be much better if only we'd made wiser decisions in the past. In a world of big dreams and even bigger expectations, we're quick to label ourselves 'failures' when we fall short of achieving these goals.
In Being Erica, we empathize with some of these universal regrets through the eyes of our 32-year-old heroine, Erica Strange. Her experiences and insights are comical, sometimes whimsical, and always poignant. In each episode Erica discovers if what could have been should have been.
I had the chance recently to talk with the show's star, Erin Karpluk, and here is a portion of that interview:
Erin explains what drew her to the character of Erica: "I loved the character, because she is just an average gal, but she's so flawed and awkward. And yet she is resilient in overcoming all of the adversity that has been thrown at her in life. She is very candid and funny. It is the opportunity of a lifetime to get a chance to go back in time with the foresight, the life experiences and past mistakes, and try to overcome them. The stakes are always really high in playing this character, and it's a lot of fun."
Being Erica has the honesty and humor of My So-Called Life and the time-travel/fantasy aspect of Quantum Leap. And, like the latter, Erica realizes that "when she does go back in time, she has a very big responsibility, and she knows that what she does in the past really affects those around her. The things that she learns isn't 'paint-by-numbers,' it's messy, just like life."
And, just like life, Erica has her flaws. "The appeal of the show and the character is that everyone has regrets, and we all make mistakes in life," Erin says. "We all fall down in our career and life, and we pick ourselves up and push on. I can really identify with her. She's a relatable gal."
I have seen the first six episodes of Being Erica, and each one just gets better and better. Tune into SOAPnet on Thursday nights at 10 ET/PT, and see what all the hubbub is about. You won't be disappointed.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Interview: Rosie O'Donnell Saves America
Rosie O'Donnell is best known to daytime audiences as the host of her popular talk show The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1996-2002), as well as a co-host on The View (2005-2007). But she is also known for her child-welfare advocacy. Rosie has teamed up with Lifetime Television to help bring to light some of the flaws in the U.S. foster-care system by writing, producing and starring in the movie America, which is based on the book of the same name by E.R. Frank.
America follows the touching journey of a 17-year-old boy, America, as he traverses the foster-care system. Rosie stars as a therapist who gives America the support he needs to deal with his troubled past and helps him find the courage to live.
Rosie explains how the project came about: "I read the book in 2002. I was going out to L.A. I needed a book for the plane, and an intern handed it to me. I read it on the plane to L.A., and I wrote the script for the movie before I got back.
"I am such a big fan of books, and a big reader, and so often you come across a book you really like but someone has already bought the rights to it. When I first read this book, I didn't even ask — I just started to write. I could see the movie in my head; the book was just so well written. It just came to life in my head, so I wrote it anyway and just hoped that it wasn't sold already."
To Rosie's relief, the rights to the book had not been sold yet. Rosie says: "I called the author, E.R. Frank, who was a young woman, a 35-year-old social worker. I met with her and told her it would be hard for me to make this, but I would do my best to get it made. So, it's been seven years in the making."
A key part in making this movie was getting the right actor to play the part of America. "We had seen about 500 kids for the role, and I knew that if you didn't love that child and relate to him, the whole movie would fall flat. We had two actors that we were going to put on tape that day, and we had stopped at a restaurant to eat. There was a family sitting at another table; they were the only other people at the restaurant.
"I saw Philip (Johnson) sitting there and said, 'That's the kid who should play America.' I kept trying to make eye contact with anyone at the table, and his uncle finally asked, 'Are you Roseanne Barr?' and I said, 'Close enough,' and I got up and walked over to them. I explained the movie I was doing and asked Philip if he had ever acted. I told the father it was a heavy subject — it's about foster care and abused kids — but your son has the stillness and intensity that just drew me to him."
Rosie admits that the movie can be hard to watch. "Most people who I've shown the movie to say, 'I had no idea it was like this.' Until I became a foster parent back in 1998, I didn't know either. It was an education that I got.
"Did you know that 80 percent of prison inmates were at one time in foster care? That'll tell you a little bit about how we do as a state raising children; it's not really what we do best. The foster-care system was originally established for war orphans around the time of World War II. We need to reconfigure the system to accommodate the needs of today's kids."
Check back next week for part two of the interview, where Rosie talks about working with Ruby Dee, filming the movie and how we can get involved in helping foster children. America premieres on Lifetime Television on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Y&R: Such a Tease!
•Esther and Roger get married.
•After filing for divorce, Cane plans to do whatever it takes to make Delia his daughter, but will Billy (Billy Miller, pictured) fight him for her?
•Gloria receives stunning news that may change her fate forever.
•Sharon's guilt over her recent affairs gets the best of her. Will she be able to hide it from Jack?
•Heather and Victor have a showdown over Adam.
GL: Such a Tease!
•Buzz and Alan face off.
•Phillip (Grant Aleksander, pictured) vows to make things right with his children.
•Dinah and Mallet team up.
•Bill learns that Grady kidnapped Lizzie.
ATWT: Such a Tease!
•Casey digs himself deeper into trouble.
•Katie collapses on the floor, much to Brad's horror.
•Lucy turns up on Craig's doorstep.
•Carly (Maura West, pictured) turns to the bottle for comfort.
B&B: Such a Tease!
· A heroic act goes unappreciated.
· Brooke sees Rick in a different light.
· Steffy makes a sacrifice for the man she loves.
· Thorne (Winsor Harmon, pictured) prepares for his new position within the company.
· Owen's future at Forrester Creations is at stake
Days: Such a Tease!
Lucas blames Sami (Alison Sweeney, pictured) for his drinking problem.
Hope tells Bo that she wants to come home.
Stephanie breaks up with Philip.
Chloe tells Daniel that they are over — for good.
Sami has an emotional reaction when she meets baby Sydney.
Thursday – Nicole threatens to leave EJ because he still loves Sami.
Friday – Will returns home to Salem.
Rafe takes Sami into his arms and promises to always protect her.
Chloe and Lucas decide to give their relationship a second chance.
Bo has a vision of Hope with another man.
Philip calls Stephanie into his office and kisses her.
EJ tries to file a complaint against Rafe.
Thursday – Max and Chelsea make love.
Friday – Sami tells Nicole to rein in her man.
Monday, February 23, 2009
GH: Such a Tease!
Sam and Jason team up to find Anthony.
Kate continues to be a thorn in Claudia's side.
Maxie is in an alternative universe.
Everyone's destiny takes a strange turn in Maxie's dream.
Maxie is happy to be alive.
Jason and Sam are hot on Anthony's trail.
Sonny is hit with a dose of reality.
Rebecca finds it easy to be around Lucky.
Anthony accuses Claudia of having feelings for Sonny.
Jason is impressed by Sam's resourcefulness.
Jax and Carly team up to help out.
Anthony puts Sonny in a no-win situation.
Spinelli finds himself in hot water yet again.
OLTL: Such a Tease!
Jared and Natalie set out to solve a mystery.
Vanessa (Jacqueline Hendy, pictured) makes a startling confession.
Natalie is determined to find out what happened the night Chloe was born.
David and Dorian won't give up without a fight.
Cristian feels betrayed by Vanessa.
New questions arise about David's paternity.
Gigi is troubled by Stacy's behavior.
Rex wants the truth from Roxy.
The Buchanans receive some very unexpected news.
Blair has it out with John.
Lola has been keeping a major secret.
Viki leaves David with plenty to think about.
Starr severs all ties with Todd.
Gigi is troubled by her sister's behavior.
Cole is furious because he thinks that Starr ratted him out to Schuyler.
AMC Such a Tease!
Zach refuses to help Reese.
David warns Amanda to stick to the plan.
Zach won't tolerate the distance between him and Kendall.
Bianca shares an emotional goodbye with Erica and Kendall.
Krystal and JR grow suspicious of David and Amanda.
Reese lets Zach and Kendall know she's not going anywhere.
David puts the screws to Amanda.
Aidan admits to Angie (Debbi Morgan, pictured) he's fallen in love with Annie.
Jake convinces Krystal to keep Amanda's secret.
Reese tells Adam she overheard Kendall's confession.
Ryan plans on stealing the casino away from Zach.
Adam is confident he has the ammunition he needs to take Zach down.
Amanda can't go through with destroying JR.
Angie's shocked to learn what Jake and Frankie did.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Terminal Concurrency: The Printing Process
One simple way to see some of the problems that concurrency can cause is to try printing to the terminal concurrently. Try loading up GHCi, and typing import Control.Concurrent followed by:
mapM_ (forkIO . putStr . replicate 100) ['a', 'b']
This code spawns off two threads: one that prints 100 'a's, and one that prints 100 'b's. Your results will likely differ from mine, and the results will likely differ each time, but here's a sample (with line breaks added for readability):
aabababababaaaaaaaaaaaaabababababababababababababababababab ababababababababababababababababababbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Technically, this is non-determinism: the observable behaviour of the program is different each time, even though there is no obvious randomness in our program. The theoretical implications can wait for another day — this is also a practical issue. If we have several concurrently executing processes wanting to write to stdout, how can we stop this messy interleaving from occurring? We want to get all 100 'a's together, and all 100 'b's together.
In CHP, the answer is the printer process. The printer process continually reads Strings from its input channel, and prints them:
printer :: Chanin String -> CHP () printer input = forever $ readChannel input >>= liftIO . putStr
We need to connect this printer process to the processes that want to do the printing. A naive attempt might be:
unsafePrinting :: CHP () unsafePrinting = do c <- oneToOneChannel printer (reader c) <|*|> writeChannel (writer c) (replicate 100 'a') <|*|> writeChannel (writer c) (replicate 100 'b')
This is unsafe, however. The reason is implied by the name oneToOneChannel:
CHP's standard channels are designed for use by one writer and one reader at a time. Using the output twice in parallel as shown above will sometimes give a run-time error (sometimes you may get away with it, which can make locating the bug hard). The compiler will not stop you writing this code, as encoding the safe-usage restriction in the type system would be very cumbersome. Instead, you must use a shared channel.
We want to share the writing end, but do not need to share the reading end; thus we need an anyToOneChannel, allowing anyone (of multiple writers) to send to one recipient. With this channel, we must use a claim function to grab the shared writing end for ourselves — a form of mutual exclusion. Hence we can get 100 'a's together and 100 'b's together (in either order) by using:
safePrinting :: CHP () safePrinting = do c <- anyToOneChannel printer (reader c) <|*|> claim (writer c) (flip writeChannel $ replicate 100 'a') <|*|> claim (writer c) (flip writeChannel $ replicate 100 'b')
The claim function takes a shared channel end (e.g. Shared Chanout String), and a function that takes the claimed end (which has the same type as a normal end: Chanout String) and performs some block of code. The claim function claims the channel-end for the duration of the call; releasing is automatic at the end of the block. If you try to use a shared channel-end without claiming it, you'll get a type error. You can perform multiple communications on the channel during the claim block — we could choose to write "a" to the channel 100 times rather than 100 'a's at once, and the resulting output would still have the 'a's uninterrupted.
You would use this printing process in your real application by running it in parallel with the whole system (probably at the very top level), and passing out the shared channel-end to any process that may want to print a message. Each process will then have to claim the channel to send messages, and it is really this claiming process that serialises the messages. Only the printing process actually prints the messages on stdout, which has the effect of stopping any concurrent use of stdout (and hence stopping this garbledness). You could make the printing process print to stderr or to a logfile, if you want to use this method to keep track of errors/warnings/debug messages in your concurrent application.
October 14, 2009 at 12:59 pm


text:
State wants your transportation advice
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wants to know what you think about the state's transportation options. The state launched a campaign Tuesday seeking feedback from the public, businesses and advocacy groups on how to improve the state's highways, rail lines, and other modes of transit.
The Transform CT initiative includes a website, transformct.org, where the public can submit their own ideas on improving the transportation network and sign up for schedules of future public meetings and focus group events in the state, said Thomas Maziarz, chief of policy and planning for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
In announcing the campaign, Malloy said a better understanding of how to invest in major transportation expansion and improvements would determine the state's economic success.
Speaking to reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday, Malloy said he wants the length of Interstate 84, as well as Interstate 95 East of New Haven to be widened to three lanes all the way from their New York borders to the Massachuetts and Rhode Island borders, respectively.
"I think I-95 needs to be three lanes in all directions, for its entirety," he said. "I believe I-84, likewise, needs to be widened. There are major improvements that need to be taken in transportation."
Public meetings and other outreach is expected to begin this fall.
While the need to maintain the Metro-North New Haven Line and I-95 is imperative, the study will evaluate the potential economic benefit of highway and rail expansion projects, Maziarz said.
"There is a need to look beyond what we have to do for system preservation and think about what we need to make the economy grow," Maziarz said. "In some ways the congestion we're experiencing in Connecticut on I-84 and I-95 is beginning to limit our ability to grow the economy and we need to start looking at what we can do for transportation system advancements."
Transit advocates said they were pleased with an effort to refresh the state's long term approach to investing in transportation and proposed effort to seek perspectives from many sources, including residents who don't normally participate in the transportation planning process and business leaders.
"A website is one way to get input from residents and stake holders because it is a citizen's plan," Karen Burnaska, director of Connecticut for Transit said. "I think you'll have more from the stakeholders and from the average residents because a lot of times people don't think the government cares about them directly."
Steven Higashide, executive director for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a group that advocates on behalf of expanding transit and reducing automobile use, said the campaign will give people a chance to contribute creative ideas to expand mass transit systems to catch up with the needs of growing urban populations.
"Gov. Malloy and Transportation Commissioner Redeker are demonstrating bold leadership by announcing the `Transform CT' effort to begin an interactive, strategic transportation planning process," Higashide said. "Fewer people are driving, new rail and bus lines are being built, and local leaders see walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods as the key to economic success. Now is the right time to plan for our 21st century reality."
Staff writer Ken Dixon contributed to this report.


text:
Audi A4 Saloon | 40 TDI Quattro S Line 4dr S Tronic
Audi A4 Saloon Overview
I would like all maintenance and service costs included
Initial Rental (Personal)
£2,771.50 inc VAT
Initial Rental (Business)
£2,309.58 ex VAT
Contract Length
48 Months
Processing fee
£199.99 ex VAT
Standard Options
- Privacy glass
- Rain and light sensors
- Windscreen with acoustic glazing
- Electronic Stabilisation Control (ESC) including ABS, ASR and EDL
- Hill hold assist
- Multi collision brake assist
- Sports suspension lowered by 23mm
- Audi connect safety and service (e-call)
- Audi smartphone interface
- Bluetooth interface
- Voice control system
- Audi drive select
- Audi parking system plus with front and rear sensors
- Cruise control system with speed limiter
- Electromechanical power steering
- Rear view camera
- Automatic start-stop system with coasting functionality and efficiency programme
- Electric boot lid release
- Audi virtual cockpit
- MMI Navigation plus with MMI touch includes 10.1" high resolution colour MMI display, 3D map
- Auto dimming rear view mirror
- Body coloured door mirrors
- Electrically folding auto dimming/adjustable/heated door mirrors with LED side indicators and kerb view function for passenger side
- Matt brushed aluminium inlays
- 2 USB charging ports
- 8 passive loudspeakers
- DAB digital radio reception
- Body colour door handles
- Body colour front spoiler lip
- Body colour side sill trim
- Grained matt black side air inlets with matt aluminium silver inlay
- Honeycomb structure radiator grille in grained matt black
- Illuminated door sill trims with S logo
- Matt aluminium silver tailpipe trim
- New design rear diffuser
- S Line badges on the front wings
- S line front and rear bumpers with side skirts
- S Line rear diffuser in matt titanium black with trim strip in matt aluminium silver
- Solid paint
- High beam assistant
- LED headlights with LED rear lights dynamic rear indicators headlight adjustment and high beam, turning light LED daytime running lights
- Deluxe 3 zone electronic climate control
- 3 spoke high multi-function sports leather steering wheel grips in perforated leather with S badging including paddle shift
- Alcantara/leather upholstery with front sports seats S embossed logo
- Black cloth headlining
- Black perforated leather gearknob
- Contrast stitching on seats, steering wheel and gear lever gaiter
- Door sill trims with aluminium inlay
- Front centre armrest
- Stainless steel pedals and foot rest
- Tool kit
- High gloss package - A4
- LED Interior light pack - A4/S4
- 3 rear seatbelts
- 6 airbags - Driver, front passenger, curtain and side windows
- Pop-up bonnet for pedestrian protection
- Pre sense city
- Seatbelt monitoring
- Warning triangle and first aid kit
- 4 way electric lumbar support
- 40/20/40 split folding 3 rear seat bench in 3 parts with rear centre armrest
- Heated front seats
- ISOFIX child seat mounting and top tether
- Manual seat adjustment
- Anti theft alarm
- Anti theft wheel bolts
- Keyless Go
- 19" 5 arm torsio design alloy wheels
- Tyre repair kit
Technical Options
- Particles: N
- Standard Euro Emissions: EURO 6
- Catalytic Convertor: True
- Cylinder Layout: IN-LINE
- Engine Layout: NORTH SOUTH
- Fuel Type: COMMON RAIL
- Gears: 7 SPEED
- Valve gear: DOHC
- EC: True
- EC Combined: 53.3
- WLTP - MPG - Comb - Min: 6.2
- WLTP - MPG - Low - Min: 6.2
- WLTP - MPG - Medium: 6.3
- Any aspect of the vehicles safety cause concern?: Data Not Available
- Based On ID: N
- Coin Description: TDI Quattro
- Coin Series: S Line
- Man Corrosion Perforation Guarantee - Years: 12
- Manufacturers Paintwork Guarantee - Years: 3
- NCAP Adult Occupant Protection %: N
- NCAP Child Occupant Protection %: N
- NCAP Overall Rating - Effective February 09: 190
- NCAP Pedestrian Protection %: 2.0
- NCAP Safety Assist %: M1
- Service Interval Frequency - Months: N
- Special Edition: Data Not Available
- Special Order: Data Not Available
- Standard manufacturers warranty - Mileage: 60000
- Standard manufacturers warranty - Years: 3
- Timing Belt Interval Frequency - Months: N
- Timing Belt Interval Mileage: N
- 0 to 60: Data Not Available
- 0 to 62: 7.4
- Engine Power KW: 140
- Engine Power RPM: 3800
- Engine Torque LBS.FT: 295
- Engine Torque MKG: 40.8
- Engine Torque NM: 400
- Engine Torque RPM: 1750
- PS: True
- Top Speed: 146
- Alloys?: True
- Space Saver?: Data Not Available
- Tyre Size Front: 245/35 R19
- Tyre Size Rear: 245/35 R19
- Tyre Size Spare: TYRE REPAIR KIT
- Wheel Style: 5 ARM TORSIO
- Wheel Type: 19" ALLOY
- Height: 1431
- Height (including roof rails): N
- Length: 4762
- Turning Circle - Kerb to Kerb: 11.6
- Wheelbase: 2820
- Width (excluding mirrors): N
- Width (including mirrors): 2022
- Fuel Tank Capacity (Litres): 58
- Gross Vehicle Weight: 2160
- Max. Towing Weight - Braked: 2000
- Max. Towing Weight - Unbraked: 750
- Minimum Kerbweight: 1585
- No. of Seats: 5
- Payload: 575
Audi A4 Saloon A4 EFFORT (80/100)
Audi's A4 has sharpened up its act a little in the face of tough competition from BMW's 3 Series, Mercedes' C-Class and the Jaguar XE in the image-conscious compact executive sector. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.
Ten Second Review
This fifth generation Audi A4 now features a sharper look and continues to claim to be class-leading in nearly all the areas that really matter to business buyers in the compact executive segment. That means efficiency, cabin quality, practicality and technology. As a result, it'll be hard to ignore if you're looking for a car of this kind.
Audi knows a thing or two about mid-sized family cars with a prestigious feel, compact executive contenders like this A4. This model, along with BMW's 3 Series, has driven huge growth in that compact executive segment, vanquishing Mercedes' C-Class in the process. Today though, things are different. The C-Class has been rejuvenated into a much stronger proposition, the 3 Series range has been usefully improved and a very accomplished class rival has arrived in the form of Jaguar's XE. This MK5 model A4 is Audi's response. What we have here is a car that's lighter, sleeker and cleverer than it's ever been. As a result, this Audi is inevitably more efficient too, with a tax-beating sub-115g/km of CO2 WLTP-rated figure now promised on the most frugal diesel models. Inside, we're promised the classiest cabin in the segment - and one of the most technologically advanced. Plus, as usual, there's the option of quattro 4WD and either saloon or Avant estate bodystyles.
Driving Experience
The A4 has always struck an appealing balance between handling and comfort and with this MK5 model, the Ingolstadt engineers sought to improve its credentials still further by developing a new five-link suspension system. Optional adjustable shock absorbers with 'sports' and 'comfort' modes will enable owners to get the most from this and a dynamic steering system is another extra cost feature that'll reward those you like their driving. Both features can be controlled through the standard Audi drive select driving-dynamics system, which alters throttle response and auto gearshift timings in its most basic form. Talking of auto gearshifts, the old CVT automatic gearbox has gone, replaced by a seven speed dual clutch 'S tronic' unit that claims to be able to improve both performance and fuel consumption. As before, the A4 differs from its BMW 3 Series rival in its use of front wheel drive for most models. Also as before though, quattro 4WD is optional - and standard on the top V6 variants. The most powerful of these models even has the option of a sports differential for the rear axle to maximise traction. Refreshingly in a segment dominated by cars fueling themselves from the black pump, TFSI petrol models are still very much part of the mainstream A4 range, a 150PS 1.4-litre '35 TFSI' unit offered alongside a pokey '40 TFSI' 2.0-litre powerplant offering either 190PS or 245PS. There's also a 354PS 3.0-litre TFSI sporting S4 model near the top of the range. And a 450PS 2.9-litre V6 RS 4 Avant model beyond that. Most A4 buyers though, will continue to want a diesel, probably the 2.0 TDI 150PS '35 TDI' variant, which gets to 62mph from rest in a brisk 8.6s. If you want more diesel power, then a 190PS '40 TDI' version of this unit is also available, plus there's a 286PS 3.0 TDI V6 '50 TDI' model further up the range.
Design and Build
The external changes made to this fifth generation A4 are relatively slight. The volume 'SE' and 'Sport' versions get a revised front and rear bumper design, more pronounced side skirts, a special finish for the Singleframe and side air inlet grilles, a roof edge spoiler in Avant versions and a rear diffuser flanked by new look trapezoidal tailpipes. The 'SE' versions retain wheels of the same 17-inch diameter as before but in a new design, while 'Sport' models upgrade to a smarter, larger 18-inch wheel. The top 'S line' and 'Black Edition' models get a more striking 3D-look finish for the Singleframe front grille, plus 'S line' variants get new 19-inch wheels and a re-designed rear diffuser. Otherwise, it's as you were, which - to remind you - sees this MK5 model A4 riding on a light, stiff MLB platform and boasting the lowest drag coefficient in its class. As ever, there's a choice of either saloon or Avant estate bodystyles, the latter offering 505-litre boot - or 1,510-litres with the rear seats folded. The interior is of course typically Audi and a very classy place to be. Everything is well laid out with high grade materials in all areas you'll interact with regularly. There's the option of getting an 8.3" touchscreen mounted on top of the dashboard but even if you stick with the standard centre dash infotainment screen, you'll get an up-to-the-minute set-up able to support the latest Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Overall, you wouldn't call the appearance of this A4's cabin exciting but it would certainly be a soothing environment for long journeys. It's surely clever, a key option being the neat 'Audi virtual cockpit' we first saw on the TT sportscar. This replaces all the dials in front of the driver with a 12.3-inch high resolution LCD screen.
Market and Model
Prices have inevitably risen slightly, but still occupy much the same bracket as before, so expect to be paying somewhere between £29,000 and £40,000 for most models, with a premium of £1,400 for the Avant estate bodystyle. You get four trim levels - 'SE', 'Sport', 'S line' and 'Black Edition'. And there's a choice of three transmission options, a six-speed manual gearbox, plus two auto set-ups, a seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic and an older-tech eight-speed tiptronic. At least standard equipment is pretty complete across the line-up. All trim levels include alloy wheels of at least 17-inches in size, Xenon headlights with LED daytime running lights, the 'Audi smartphone' interface, the 'Audi drive select' driving dynamics system, three-zone climate control and a 7-inch colour MMI infotainment monitor. We'd want to look at a couple of key options. The 'Audi phone box' connects smartphones to the on-board antenna and charges them. Meanwhile, for discerning hi-fi fans, a Bang & Olufsen 3D Sound System with innovative 3D sound is available. As for safety, well along with the usual airbags and electronic safety nets such as ABS and stability control, there's optional active lane assist, a rear cross traffic alert, collision avoidance assist plus a cruise control system that assists with tiresome traffic-jams.
Cost of Ownership
Running costs are of course a vital consideration in this segment and this A4 offers some impressive WLTP-rated numbers thanks to this generation model's weight reductions and that sleeker shape. The volume 2.0 TDI 150PS '35 TDI' diesel variant delivers best-in-class readings of up to 65.7mpg on the combined cycle and CO2 emissions of 114g/km. Opt for the pokier 2.0 TDI 190PS '40 TDI' variant and the figures become up to 62.8mpg and 118g/km, so there's no huge penalty for the extra performance. The 1.4-litre 150PS '35 TFSI' petrol engine manages up to 48.7mpg on the combined cycle and up to 133g/km of CO2. Also deserving of a special mention is the 2.0-litre '40 TFSI' petrol engine with 190PS. It manages up to 47.9mpg and slashes CO2 output to as little as 136g/km through the use of a smart combustion process developed using the familiar Miller cycle as its basis, and will be notable for its ability to deliver optimal response across the entire engine speed range. All A4s come with a three year 60,000 mile warranty which can be extended to four years/75,000 miles or five years/90,000 miles for a fee. Audi residuals are some of the best in the business, assuming you pick a desirable engine and trim combination. Some restraint on the all too tempting options list will help too.
Audi has spent nearly a quarter of a century perfecting its A4 - and that really shows in this fifth generation model. It's a spacious, classy car that's very composed to drive and is fully conversant with the kind of hi-tech design and faultless cabin quality that its target junior executive market likes to expect. So it stacks up in the showroom just as well as it does on the balance sheet, with running cost returns that with most engines will make it your company accountant's go-to choice. Even more than before, this A4 feels like a car that's been lovingly and very carefully considered. The depth of engineering and the thought that's gone into the tiniest details combine to further enhance the warm fuzzy feeling that's charmed Audi customers for years. If you're one of those people, then you'll like this car very much. And even if you're not, you'll find it hard not to be impressed by way it systematically ticks almost every box on the compact executive market wish list. It's very thorough. And very Audi.
Why use All Car Leasing?
Browse alternate Audi A4 Saloon models
See other trim levels:


text:
B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (June 24, 2010) – Although Hoffman Estates, outside Chicago, is more than 2,000 miles away from the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, Calif., where the U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team trains, the U.S. Men's Team feels at home here.
For the third year in a row, the U.S. Men will be at the Sears Centre Arena for FIVB World League matches (Friday and Saturday, June 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. both nights). And for the second time in three years, it will play Finland.
"I'm really looking forward to going to Chicago this year," said U.S. outside hitter Sean Rooney, a native of nearby Wheaton, Ill. "I've already started contacting people (to get tickets). I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends. The fans there know volleyball and we always get really good support."
The last time the U.S. Men played Finland at the Sears Centre was in 2008. Team USA won both matches on its way to winning both its first World League title and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
At the halfway point of this year's World League Continental (pool play) Round, the United States is in second place in Pool C with a 4-2 record while Finland is in third at 1-5. It holds a one-point lead over fourth-place Egypt. Russia leads the pool with a perfect 6-0 record.
Team USA is in Hoffman Estates without part-time starting setter and 2004 Olympian Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania), who was injured during the United States' first match against Egypt on June 18 in Concord, N.C. Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.), a 2008 Olympic gold medalist, will start for the U.S., backed up by Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, Ariz.).
Also on the U.S. 14-man roster (rosters are cut to 12 for each match) for the first time in 2010 is 2008 Olympic gold medalist Scott Touzinsky (St. Louis, Mo.) at outside hitter.
Regardless of the players, U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.) says his team needs to play better against Finland than it did against Egypt if it hopes to maintain second place in Pool C and set up a final showdown against Russia on July 9-10 in Wichita, Kansas.
"It's about what we do on our side of the net," Knipe said. "It's our attention to detail. We need better preparation. We need to be better on serve receive, both individually and as a team. We need better swings out of system.
"Finland is a very nice team. It has the ability to set the ball fast and is an aggressive serving team. We're going to have to be ready to play."
Opposite Antti Siltala leads Finland in scoring after six World League matches with 96 points on 85 kills, six blocks and five aces. Urpo Sivula, also listed as an opposite, is second with 72 points on 67 spikes, two blocks and three aces.
Finland libero Pasi Hyvärinen leads all World League players in digs with 89 and 13 faults in 120 attempts. He averages 3.71 digs per set.
Outside hitter Matt Anderson leads Team USA in scoring with 61 points on 51 kills, three blocks and four aces.
U.S. middle blocker David Lee leads all World League players in blocks with 28 blocks in 111 attempts and a per-set average of 1.22.
The U.S. Men have an overall record of 15-2 against Finland since 1978.
U.S. World League matches are being shown via tape delay on Comcast Sportsnet stations, with the final matches against Russia being shown on Versus. Click here for a schedule.
For the U.S. Men's World League Media Guide, click here.
To view U.S. World League photo galleries, click here.
The USA Volleyball page for World League information is http://usavolleyball.org/events/2878.
To visit the FIVB World League page with photos, statistics and live scoring, click here
2010 FIVB World League
June 25-26 in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
U.S. Roster (Roster will be reduced to 12 for the matches)
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1 Matt Anderson (OH, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2 Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)
3 Evan Patak (Opp, 6-8, Pleasanton, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
4 David Lee (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Calif., Long Beach State)
5 Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, Tustin, Calif., BYU)
6 Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
8 C Reid Priddy (OH, 6-5, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)
11 Tyler Hildebrand (S, 6-4, Mesa, Ariz., Long Beach State)
13 Clay Stanley (OPP, 6-9, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Hawai'i)
14 Kevin Hansen (S, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)
15 Russell Holmes (MB, 6-8, Fountain Valley, Calif., BYU)
17 Max Holt (MB, 6-9, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
18 Scott Touzinsky (OH, 6-6, St. Louis, Mo. Long Beach State)
19 Alfee Reft (L, 5-10, Oxnard, Calif., Hawai'i)
Head Coach: Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Team Leader: John Hawks (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Gary Sato (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Trainer: Jeff Stork (Topanga, Calif.)
Technical Coordinator: Chris Jackson (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Medical Support: Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa)
Pool C Standings (As of June 19)
Country (points) record
Russia (17) 6-0
Finland (4) 1-5
Egypt (3) 1-5
Note: Match won 3-0 or 3-1: 3 points for the winner, 0 point for the loser
Match won 3-2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
In case of tie, the teams will be classified according to the following criteria: number of matches won, points ratio and sets ratio
2010 U.S. World League Schedule and Results
Date: June 4-5
Location: Ekaterinburg, Russia
June 4: Russia def. United States, 25-15, 26-24, 25-14
June 5: Russia def. United States, 25-14, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21
Date: June 11-12
Opponent: Finland
Location: Tampere, Finland
June 11: United States def. Finland, 25-27, 25-18, 27-25, 25-28
June 12: United States def. Finland, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21, 28-26
Date: June 18-19 (7 p.m. both days)
Opponent: Egypt
Location: Cabarrus Arena in Concord, N.C.
June 18: United States def. Egypt, 25-19, 25-15, 14-25, 25-21
June 19: United States def. Egypt, 25-20, 25-22, 11-25, 25-14
Date: June 25-26 (7 p.m. both days)
Opponent: Finland
Location: Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Date: July 2-3
Opponent: Egypt
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Date: July 9 at 7 p.m.; July 10 at 6 p.m.
Opponent: Russia
Location: Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. - www.wichitasports.com/
Final Round (must qualify)
Date: July 21-25
Location: Cordoba, Argentina
Other Pool C Results
June 5: Egypt def. Finland, 23-25, 26-24, 25-16, 20-25, 15-13
June 6: Finland def. Egypt, 25-22. 23-25, 25-20, 25-19
June 11: Russia def. Egypt, 26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15
June 12: Russia def. Egypt, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 15-8
June 18: Russia def. Finland, 25-16, 25-21, 25-18
June 19: Russia def. Finland, 25-18, 25-16, 18-25, 25-18


text:
Bluetooth has been with us for around 15 years. Named after Denmark's King Harald "Bluetooth" Blatand, who reigned in the 10th Century AD, it is a technology that everyone is aware of on their computers and phones, yet not many people choose to use. As a means of allowing devices to talk to each other cheaply and wirelessly over short distances, it has tended to stay largely in the shadows, leaving the limelight to the technologies it connects.
Now however, with the rapid growth in the use of mobile and sensing technologies, along with the release of an updated version of the system, means the list of its applications is growing steadily. From health and agriculture, to business and electioneering, it is quietly playing an ever more central role in many of our lives.
"It's a very flexible, low power, and predictable technology," says Professor Roch Guerin, Chair of Computer Science and Engineering at Washington University, St. Louis. "Bluetooth targets lower transmission ranges and data rates than wi-fi, and as a result has lower cost and lower power consumption."
These costs have dropped further, in some cases significantly, thanks to recent advances. Bluetooth Smart, launched in 2011, includes a smarter power management system that allows it to turn on, transmit data and shut down more quickly – in just a few milliseconds in some cases. Depending on the devices being connected and the data being transmitted, this updated system consumes anywhere between half and 1/100th of the power of the previous version. As a result, machines using Bluetooth that previously ran for a few months on a coin cell battery, can now run for years.
"Bluetooth classic is for sending steady streams of voice and audio," says Suke Jawanda, Chief Marketing Officer of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which owns and licenses Bluetooth technology. "Bluetooth Smart is about sending packets of bits and data to applications."
Life changing
Healthcare is frequently cited as one area that hasn't witnessed the radical transformations underway elsewhere as a result of the ongoing digital mobile revolution. The growth of novel personal medical sensing technologies, many of which use Bluetooth, could soon change this. Earlier this year, a Silicon Valley-based start-up called Scanadu sought to raise $100,000 on the crowd-funding site IndieGoGo. In fact donors pledged over $1.6 million, making it the most funded project in the site's history. The product description may have helped: the Scanadu Scout is perhaps best described as something approaching a real version of the medical tricorder wielded by Star Trek doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy.
Placing the cookie-sized device to your forehead for 10 seconds provides stats on your heart rate, blood pressure, core body and skin temperature, respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels, blood pressure and emotional stress levels. This data is transmitted via Bluetooth to users' phones or tablets.
"With recent advances in technology such as Bluetooth, we are now able to build medical devices that weren't possible just a decade ago…. at an affordable price [using] existing infrastructure of smart phone telecoms" says Scanadu's CEO Walter de Brouwer. "For people who live far from hospitals, in places like Africa, this could be life changing."
On the other side of the Atlantic, a group of researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, is working on BlueCell, a half inch-long device that, once embedded under the skin monitors substances in the blood such as glucose and cholesterol so that chronic diseases like diabetes or the effects of treatments such as chemotherapy can be monitored. The raw medical data, which is sent wirelessly via Bluetooth to an Android app, can be forwarded automatically to doctors. BlueCell is still a few years from commercialisation.
"We chose Bluetooth because of its wide distribution in consumer devices," says Jacopo Olivo, one of the researchers. "It's an interesting way that Bluetooth can interact with the biotech industry."
Other personal health sensors that use Bluetooth include the Cardiopad, an electrocardiography (ECG) machine developed to monitor heart activity in patients in remote areas of Cameroon, and Monobaby, a device being developed to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as cot death, using an accelerometer attached to baby clothing.
Growing signal
Bluetooth can improve health prospects beyond humans too. Flower Power, a device due to be launched towards the end of this year by Paris-based wireless tech company Parrot, measures sunlight, soil moisture, temperature and nutrient levels in plants, and sends that information directly to an iPad app via Bluetooth.
By cross-checking this data against a database, the app provides information about the health of plants, when and how much to water them, and whether they should be moved to change sunlight levels.
Flower Power and related technologies could be vital in developing countries with dry climates. Sensors could be linked via Bluetooth to sprinkler systems to automatically optimise moisture levels. The ability to use just the right amounts of water and fertiliser to produce a good harvest without wasting resources can improve crop yields and rural incomes.
Bluetooth is also being used to help those in agriculture in other ways. Kenyan mobile tech company Virtual City has developed AgriManagr, an app designed to speed up and automate the flow of information and reduce costs for farming businesses. Small, rural tea farmers in Kenya, for example, complain that unscrupulous buyers routinely under-weigh their produce by 10-20%. Using AgriManagr, electronic scales are used to transmit the weight of produce via Bluetooth to a mobile phone which records this in farmers' accounts on a cloud-based server. Hard copy receipts are also printed out.
"When [payments] used to be a paper-based system, farmers would get conned on the weight," says Virtual City chief executive John Waibochi. "Buyers would tamper with the weight scale." Going digital and printing receipts "cuts out fraud… and increases the value to farmers 9-13%," he adds.
This system could of course be done without Bluetooth, but being wireless makes it easier. "Out in the rural areas, cables would not survive," claims Waibochi. "And I need my devices to go to sleep immediately after they are used. With Bluetooth, our devices do that, and can work for 12 hours without electricity."
Bluetooth can also provide new ways of communicating in rural settings where internet access is unavailable or out of reach for the poor. Gary Marsden, a computer scientist at the University of Cape Town, developed Big Board, an electronic notice board that disseminates information wirelessly and for free.
The system displays a series of icons representing information on various topics on a screen. Users take a picture of an icon they are interested in with their phone and send it via Bluetooth to a nearby device which sends them the information they want. Files can be pictures, text, video or audio. Potential applications include distributing information on health, job offers or entertainment.
In a pilot project Big Board was used to inform voters about the manifestos of politicians standing in the 2007 Kenyan presidential election. People could take a photo of a candidate and receive an MP3 of that person speaking. Marsden is currently working with NGOs and government agencies to develop new applications.
He also developed Com-Me, a collection of hardware and software components to help people with limited access to electricity and the internet create and share content. This includes a solar-powered phone charging station and a Bluetooth-based local version of Dropbox, designed to allow off-grid communities to share and store information in a variety of formats.
Bluetooth Smart, like its older sibling, may be a relatively straightforward radio wave-based transmission technology. But as we devise more and more ways to benefit from ever greater connectivity between the people, other living organisms, objects and our environments, it seems to be getting smarter by the day.
If you would like to comment on this article or anything else you have seen on Future, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.


text:
Long time no write, but it's no use dwelling upon that sad fact. Life happens and we get carried off to unknown parts sometimes.
I thought I'd kick off the renaissance by introducing a new regular (I hope!) feature spotlighting what are the points that had the most impact on me script-wise in my weekly comic haul. I thought I'd proceed as such: name one thing that really surprised me by how good it was (I loved…), one thing that made me smile (I liked…), and one thing that frustrated me because I know the guy or gal is better than that (I was disappointed by…). And no, you'll never see me do any I hated… because what would be the point in throwing a tantrum?
Ready for the first one? Let's go!
I loved…
The tone of Brian Wood's CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 – When I first heard that Brian Wood was going to pen the script for the new Conan series at Dark Horse, I knew it was the right moment to get into the notorious barbarian's adventures. Contrary to your probable expectations, I knew of Wood's writing through THE NEW YORK FOUR and its sequel THE NEW YORK FIVE, not through to thematically closer NORTHLANDERS. I had already been charmed by the way he can craft engaging and natural-sounding dialogue. This comic is… quite the opposite, to say the least. It is however a perfect fit for conferring that pulpy epic feel that the narrative needs. Let's face it: we're talking about grim fantasy fare here, not Blackberry-obsessed college girls. If you can't go for natural contemporary sensibility, you better go all-out with the the epicness – which is delivered in spades.
Here, taste this sample:
Page 1 (5 panels)
Panel 1
CAPTION: Messantia, capital of Argus.
CAPTION: Like a gilded pearl glittering against the cobalt waters of the Western ocean.
Panel 2
CAPTION: A city of aristocracy, of the rule of law and the justice system.
CAPTION: A city where great merchant villas adorning terraces high in the hills look down over…
Panel 3
CAPTION: …grimy hovels bordering the quays, crime-infested bazaars where the abstract corruption of the upper classes translates down to a knife lodged in the ribs of a man dying in a dark alley.
Panel 4
Panel 5
CAPTION: Conan the Cimmerian does no notice this divide.
Page 2-3 (splash spread)
CAPTION: This barbarian from the north is busy riding for his life.
The most interesting thing about this is that Brian Wood is in fact adapting the original novelette QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST by Robert E. Howard, breaking down the prose into more digestible captions and dialogue for the comic while preserving the feel and tone of the original. The result is a magnificient homage to pulp literature instead of yet another watered-down modern adaptation. I strongly urge you to have a look at the writer's commentary track on CBR for more details.
Here, have another sample straight from the book:
Also bonus points for Becky Cloonan's character designs for Conan. Finally someone lets go of the Frazetta imagery and Schwarzenegger portayal to show a more plausible character. "Barbarian" was his origin, not his job. This isn't Dungeons & Dragons!
I liked…
The witty dialogue in Adam Glass' SUICIDE SQUAD #6 – You'll have to forgive me for quoting a Monty Python sketch but: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being witty, and that is not being witty." If there's one thing that the comics world doesn't lack, it's witty people. Unfortunately, not all of of these people get to write dialogue. I wince at times when I read some of what passes for clever repartee, lines that would find a better fit in a 90s made-for-TV action movie than in a medium that should pride itself in part for its writing. Well to be completely honest, I don't wince that much, I do groan more than I'd like, but most of the time I just go with the obligatory and unenthusiastic "heh".
Such was not the case for this month's SUICIDE SQUAD offering. This time, I replaced the "heh" with a heartfelt "Ha!"
After killing a roomful of Harley Quinn male impersonators (don't ask)
SAVANT: Man, this is going to make for some *weird* chalk outlines.
DEADSHOT: Mind repeating that…
Gun pointed at SAVANT's groin
DEADSHOT: …in a slightly higher voice?
Interrogating siamese twins (again don't ask)
DEADSHOT: So… which one of you is the smart half?
Granted, the characterization of the Joker has something that felt slightly off to me but still, you can't fault a comic when it has this line in it:
KING SHARK: Kill more clowns.
I was disappointed by…
The disjointed narrative in J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman's BATWOMAN #6 – Oh how the mighty have slightly slipped half a point down my imaginary ladder of excellence. It's not much of a drop, but when you start at such a lofty position as the first five issues of BATWOMAN occupied, it can't help but feel like a huge disappointment, even though the comic is still very, very good.
The problem? This comic is literally ALL OVER the place. Every scene switch is a new jump in time as well as change in character POV.
Pages 1-3: Batwoman, now
Pages 2- 4: Colonel Jacob Kane, one month ago
Pages 5-6: Detective Maggie Sawyer, one week ago
Pages 7-8: Maro, four months ago
Pages 9-10: Kate Kane, three weeks ago
Pages 11-20: Chase and Batwoman, two weeks ago
Page 21: Batwoman, now
Now if the POVs had been limited to one or two characters of if the jumps always moved forward in time, it wouldn't have been so disturbing. Not to mention that DC's habit of slipping in ad pages at every two pages is not helping keeping up with the screwed up timetable at all. As it is, it's a confusing narrative that forces you to manage an unwieldy timeline thus taking you completely out of the story. Reading comics should be an experience that engages your reader naturally, not something that requires more concentration than channel surfing. I'm not saying it should be mindless entertainment, but "what the hell is happenin right now" shouldn't be one of the enlightening questions to occupy my mind as I'm reading.
And seriously, guys, you did this just as Amy Reeder was starting on her turn drawing the comic. Not cool at all.
That's all for now! Come back next week for some new Points of Impact!


text:
"I visited North Carolina Central Law last week. It's a tier-four HBC in Durham, NC. (I live in the area, and am applying to other schools in the area.) I am looking at NCCU primarily for minority status." -Taft52 I am soo tired of white people's neurotic necessity to apply to HBCU's in some ignoramus attempt at "minority status." The reason it is characterized as an Historically Black College or University is because not too long ago in America, black people were barred from obtaining a legal profession due to the majority communities xenophobic,racist, supremist mentality. Subsequently, blacks had no choice but to open HBCU's fueled by dogged strength, by the desire to be educated, despite the racist status-quo. There are many qualified black people who could be there attaining a quality legal education in lieu of individuals like yourself who are looking at NCCU primarily for minority status. I guess it's another illustration of blacksploitation, only this time you don't want diamonds, natural resourced or slave labor.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DXK/is_9_20/ai_104521280?tag=content;col1I'm not sure if any even care to integrate their brain with the Ada Lois Sipuel case (I'm sure some of you would rather just turn the blind eye and deaf ear, pretend to yourself that facts such as these are not, and have never been important). Her case is one of the principle reasons why HBCU's were created. Also, she wasn't trying to attend OU School of Law in an attempt at "minority status" but rather to gain a quality legal education. See the difference? And please believe, the chair that was marked "colored" separated from the white students in the class, was separated with barbed wire. http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1921/Ada_Lois_Sipuel_Fisher_an_Oklahoma_legend"The daily life of the Negro is still lived in the basement of the Great Society. He is still at the bottom despite the few who have penetrated to slightly higher levels. Even where the door has been forced partially open, mobility for the Negro is still sharply restricted. There is often no bottom at which to start, and when there is, there almost always no room at the top."-Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr.
I don't want minority status, I think that affirmative action is inherently racist.


text:
Toggle navigation
Elder Care Services
Elder Care Finder:
Elder Care Services
Bascom, FL
Elder Care Servies Serving Bascom, FL
Below is a list of caregivers in Bascom, FL that provide elder care services.
Area Agency on Aging for North Florida, Inc.
2414 Mahan Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Area Agency on Aging for North Florida, Inc is one of the eleven Area Agency on Aging in Florida. The Area Agency is also designated as an Aging and Disabilty Resource Center (ADRC) providing services to help preserve the independence, and quality of life of elders and persons with disabilities desiring to remain within their own Community. Services include Home Care Program, Nutrition Programs, (Home Delivered Meals, Congregate Meals, Nutritional Counseling),Family Caregiver Support Program, Adult Family Care, Personal Care Management Program, Money Management Program, Congregate and Supportive Housing,Home repairs, Nursing Home Ombudsman Program, Options Counseling, Respite, and Information and Referral, Legal assistance, Health care counseling, transportation, and employment.
Learn More »
Department of Children and Families Abuse Hotline *Florida*
1317 Winewood Boulevard
Building 6
Tallahassee, FL 32399
The Florida Abuse Hotline serves as the central reporting center for allegations of abuse, neglect, and/or exploitation for all children and vulnerable adults in Florida. Serves children and vulnerable adults who are the victims of maltreatment as well as vulnerbale adults in need of services. (Confidential reports)
Learn More »
FL Department of Elder Affairs
4040 Esplanade Way
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Mission: To foster an environment that promotes well-being for Florida's elders and enables them to remain in their homes and communities.
Learn More »
Florida Senior Legal Helpline
1302 North 19th St Suite 400
Tampa, FL 33605
Provides free legal advice and brief services by telephone for seniors to address civil legal questions regarding housing, health care, family law, employment, advance directives, and many other issues. When clients need representation in Court or other extended services, we help them find free legal providers in their area.
Learn More »
North Florida Legal Services
2119 Delta Blvd
Tallahassee, FL 32303
Learn More »
Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders (SHINE) Program
4040 Esplanade Way
Tallahassee, FL 32399
SHINE gives free information and assistance on Medicare, Medicaid, Medigap, long term care, supplemental insurance, and other health insurance benefits
Learn More »
Elder Care Services
Elder Care Finder App
© Copyright by HappyElderCare.com. All rights reserved.


text:
Well, my AKC papers say otherwise, but my friends at the Vet's office have changed my chart to my new name. And we all know, it is what your friends call you that counts.
Here I am with my floppy ears.
This is my big snow nose.
I like the marrow bones we get here.


text:
PETA wants charges against Aurora bird hoarder
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is pushing the city of Aurora to press charges against the man who hoarded 478 birds -- 120 of them dead -- in his townhouse, saying he needs court-mandated mental health treatment.
PETA sent a letter Wednesday to police Chief Greg Thomas, Mayor Tom Weisner and other city officials requesting criminal charges be filed against Dave Skeberdis, 57, whose large population of birds inside his trash-infested home was discovered Oct. 19.
"We are pushing for Skeberdis to be charged under Illinois state statute, the Humane Care for Animals Act," said Kristin Simon, a senior cruelty caseworker with PETA's cruelty investigations department. "It provides specific details for how animals are to be cared for with regard to food, water, shelter and humane living conditions."
Simon said reports about the condition of Skeberdis' townhouse, which had stairways covered with about three feet of garbage, bird feed and bird feces, indicate his animals were not living in humane conditions. She said the Humane Care for Animals Act also defines an animal hoarder as someone who possesses a large number of companion animals, keeps them in an overcrowded environment and is unable to properly care for them.
"We believe Skeberdis is a hoarder and if he's convicted, he needs to be sentenced as a hoarder," Simon said. "The most important part is that he receive court-mandated mental health help. He needs to be seen specifically for hoarding tendencies."
Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli confirmed the city received the letter from PETA. He said the investigation is ongoing and criminal charges have not been ruled out.
Simon said PETA is most concerned with making sure Skeberdis gets mental health counseling so he does not continue to mistreat animals. The living birds removed from his home Oct. 26 now are in the care of Greater Chicago Cage Bird Club, which is quarantining them for up to two months in a Villa Park storefront.
"This is a mental illness; it needs to be dealt with as a mental illness," she said. "That's the only way to preclude him from getting more animals again."


text:
The Basic Ethics Case - A Prescription for the Patient's Spouse?
Glenn began with a case typically discussed in medical school ethics courses:
a scenario where a standardized patient asks the student at the end of the examination if his prescription can be written in his spouse's name as the spouse has health insurance which includes prescription drug coverage while the patient does not.
poses the question as to whether it is ethical for physicians to deceive third party payers to secure coverage for their patients.
The Politically Correct Way to Teach the Case
Glenn stated that there is a politically correct way for faculty to teach this case:
Though we are never expressly instructed to tow [sic] a party line, there is a 'correct' answer to this ethical quandary as far as the institution we work for is concerned. Students who express a willingness to practice deception of third party payers for the good of their patients are to be commended for having their heart in the right place. However, we discuss many reasons why this action would not be a good solution to the problem. One of the issues is that to do so would be committing fraud.
Now, of course, writing a prescription for a patient who does not actually need the drug in question, understanding that the patient will give the drug to someone else who does not have insurance coverage to pay for it, is dishonest. However, the larger point that Glenn made is that it is not politically correct to allow discussion about why the patient made such a request in the first place, and that this ought to be troubling.
Note that Glenn did not explain how he inferred what the "correct" answer was, nor its actual source within the institution.
Over the first few years of having this conversation with young medical students, I have always come away feeling empty and flat. Framed as a session on the ethics of 'truth telling,' the conversation and the readings we provide to prepare for it works to obfuscate the much larger ethical issue impossible to tackle in an hour's time. In essence, 'truth telling' is only a secondary ethical issue at play. The more important ethical issue is a question of social justice: what commitment do doctors have to poor patients and making sure that they get the health care services that they need?
Social Justice as Part of Professionalism, and its Avoidance
The article by Glenn then emphasized that some of the original conceptions of physicians' professionalism included social justice. A definition promulgated by Herbert Swick in 2000 expressly included these relevant competencies. Physicians ought to:
- subordinate their own interests to the interests of others
- respond to social needs and work toward the benefit of the communities in which they live and serve
- adhere to the core humanistic values of honesty and integrity, compassion, altruism, empathy, respect for others, and trustworthiness.
Glenn noted that these three competencies, however, have been turned into a more narrow imperative, that
doctors should treat patients with an equally high quality irrespective of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion or cultural background according to what is best for them. In most codes of professionalism, however, class is not expressly implicated.
Note that Glenn did not question why the issues of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or cultural background became important in this context. He did further question why the issue of class did not. While
The professionalism code adopted by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1999 was bolder and specifically states that doctors are to advocate for 'the best possible care [for their patients] regardless of the ability to pay'
Glenn asked
But where in the medical school curriculum do we teach medical students to be strong patient advocates and take on third party payers and hospital administrators? We now discuss the importance of prescribing generic drugs and we warn against the influence of big pharma, but when do we teach students to rebel against the high cost of medical education that drives students toward boutique medicine and fields of specialty care that offer the most money and most comfortable lifestyles?
Furthermore, he noted,
When it comes to justice in medical ethics instruction, the parameters of the discussion are usually constricted to focus on the conservation of health care resources and rationing care rather than providing more care to more patients.
So, now seemingly getting to the key question,
We have created an entire system where all the middlemen that stand between a patient and her health care are expecting to get rich. No oath or professionalism curriculum is structured to teach medical students how to ethically and morally navigate through that. How did the terms of the debate get so co-opted by the health care economists?
The Key Question also Avoided
However, after this build up, Glenn then had trouble grappling with that question. He noted that the prices of various parts of US health care are rarely questioned, and wrote about some of the particular issues in pricing new technologies, including the costs of development of new drugs, the tax treatment of drug development, and whether the licenses drug companies obtain from universities to develop drugs are fairly priced. He also touched on the rising cost of medical school tuition and students' consequent assumption of large levels of debt. This was interesting, and provided some useful references, but never really directly addressed the key questions above: why was the discussion framed in terms only of current health economics, and more importantly, why did he and other ethicists feel they could not openly discuss any larger issues?
Only at the very end of the article did this appear
the structure of our current medical system has created a network of health care providers, researchers, purveyors and administrators who have strong financial incentives to work against the best interests of patients. This situation makes it difficult to talk with students about the ethical principle of justice in any meaningful way that is not hypocritical, leaving it seldom emphasized relative to the other three core principles of medical ethics.
Glenn did not further explain these "financial incentives," detail further who had them, explain how they "work against the best interests of patients," and most importantly, explain how these incentives make "it difficult to talk with students about the ethical principal of justice in any meaningful way that is not hypocritical." He concluded only
How can we cultivate within our students an understanding of the threats to medical professionalism posed by the conflicts of interest inherent in the various financial and organizational arrangements in the practice of medicine? We start by not shying away from the conversation.
So Professor Glenn argued that social justice has been considered part of health care ethics, and that ethicists should teach about it by questioning the current economic arrangements within the health care system. He then suggested that ethicists have been somehow pressured not do raise such questions, and that this pressure has something to do with perverse incentives and conflicts of interest prevalent within health care. However, he never actually addressed who pressured the ethicists, how the pressure was applied, and how that pressure was related to conflicts of interest.
Thus, it seems that authors in scholarly health care journals may now hint that there are certain things one must not discuss, that are taboo to discuss in health care, but cannot actually say what exactly is taboo, and why it became that way. Thus, the article by Glenn seems related to what we sometimes coyly call the "anechoic effect," that the issues we discuss on Health Care Renewal often do not seem to be considered topics of polite conversation. But in a strange recursive way, the article never could quite manage to discuss what it is it said others cannot discuss, which in a way just further validates the importance of the anechoic effect.
The Glenn article is reminiscent of another article we posted about. That article, by Souba and colleagues, found that there are many "elephants," that is, unmentionable subjects, in academic medicine, However, that article also never clearly defined what these unmentionable subjects actually are, other than subjects that displease those in power. Thus this too reinforced just how taboo these topics are. Even those willing to admit that taboo topics exist are still unable to name them.
At least the Glenn article did suggest, however vaguely, a relationship between conflicts of interest and the anechoic effect. We have documented that individual and institutional conflicts of interest are rampant in health care, including, and probably particularly academic medicine. For example, pharmaceutical companies (and also all sorts of other health care corporations) may pay medical school faculty members and administrators (as consultants, "key opinion leaders," speakers, advisers, even board members). The leaders of academic medicine seem particularly prone to such conflicts. For example, a majority of US medical school department chairs have significant financial relationships with health care corporations (see post here). We have shown how top medical school leaders may simultaneously serve on the boards of directors of health care corporations (see post here). Such health care corporations may now also support various aspects of medical academia (through research grants, "unrestricted" and other educational grants, other gifts to hospitals and universities, etc). Financial conflicts of interest may help to directly enrich many faculty and academic leaders, and indirectly enrich them by enriching their organizations. People who are personally profiting from relationships with health care corporations are unlikely to question such relationships. The leaders of organizations which depend on funding from such corporations are unlikely to question whether conflicts of interest might lead to corruption. People whose colleagues, friends, family members, or supervisors are personally benefiting from conflicts of interest may hesitate to challenge such relationships. Since these relationships permeate the economics of health care, is it any wonder that the entire topic has become taboo?
So the first step in challenging this taboo is to acknowledge it exists, and to not "shy away" from discussing it, as Glenn suggested. People are beginning to acknowledge there is an elephant in the room. Now we have to describe the elephant, discuss the elephant, and eventually figure out how to get the elephant out of the room.
Hat tip - to the Medical Professionalism Blog.


text:
ampulla(redirected from ampulla of rectum)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical.
1. Anatomy the dilated end part of certain ducts or canals, such as the end of a uterine tube
2. Christianity
a. a vessel for containing the wine and water used at the Eucharist
b. a small flask for containing consecrated oil
3. a Roman two-handled bottle for oil, wine, or perfume
A dilated segment of a gland or tubule.
A small air bladder in some aquatic plants.
(invertebrate zoology)
The sac at the base of a tube foot in certain echinoderms.


text:
Kristen Stewart appears to be getting a little tired of being asked about her kiss with Dakota Fanning in the upcoming movie, "The Runways."
When asked about the already-infamous smooch with Dakota by Access Hollywood's Tony Potts at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Kristen had a little fun.
"I just hated doing it!" Kristen – who plays rocker Joan Jett in the movie – joked about her kiss with Dakota, who plays fellow Runaways rock girl Cherie Currie, adding, "Cuz, yeah, ugh!"
"She's kidding everyone!" Dakota said to a momentarily stunned Tony.
All jokes aside, Kristen said she didn't mind the intimate moment with her co-star.
"It was cool," she said.
Also cool was having Joan Jett on set to help Kristen nail the role of the legendary rock star.
"I wouldn't have known what I was doing," Kristen said. "Just because you read a book and look at pictures…you can't capture their essence."
To find out what happened the first time Kristen met Joan Jett, CLICK HERE!
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: 'Twilight's' Leading Lady Kristen Stewart
PLAY IT NOW: 2010 Sundance Film Festival: Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning On Making 'The Runaways'
PLAY IT NOW: 2010 Sundance Film Festival: Kristen Stewart - 'It Was Cool' Kissing Dakota Fanning
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Sundance - Joan Jett - Kristen Stewart - Tony Potts - Dakota Fanning


text:
Herman Miller Authorized RetailerShop All Herman Miller
Shop Best Sellers
Browse through other customizations for the Eames Outdoor Wire-Base Table by Herman Miller
In Stock
Frame Finish | White
Frame Finish | Graphite Satin
Best Sellers
Frame Finish | White
Frame Finish | Graphite Satin
Eames Outdoor Wire-Base Table by Herman Miller
designed by Charles and Ray Eames
At A Glance:
The timeless Eames Table has been revisited and revived for the outdoors. This renewal of the classic Eames Wire-Base Table will hold your drink with pleasure as you're soaking up the sun. Available with a striking marble or granite top, with a powder-coated metal base (available in white or graphite satin) that will withstand the rigors of the outdoors with easy care and maintenance.
See the entire Herman Miller outdoor collection.
What's To Like:
We won't pretend to know all there is to know about great design, but we're certain of one thing: this table looks really, really good. From the beveled top to the intricate wire base, everything just feels right. And now, for the first time ever, you can take your Eames table for a walk in the rain. (Send us a video if you actually end up doing that.)
The Bottom Line:
The Eames Outdoor Wire-Base Table is an icon of the mid-century modern era. It's immediately recognizable for the enduring quality of its design, and will be an heirloom-quality feature anywhere you put it - on the patio, or indoors.
- Dimensions: 10" h x 15.5" w x 13.25" d
- Powder-coated metal base in white or graphite satin
- Marble or granite top
- Top is cut to order and finished with a beveled edge that echoes the original birch plywood top
Table Surface Options:
- Georgia Grey Marble comes from the quarry that produced the marble used in the 2004 renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York
- Wisconsin Black Marble is a unique dark stone, speckled with lustrous green and grey veins
- Quebec Graphite Granite, a subtly patterned, deep-hued stone, was used to rich effect in Chicago's John Hancock Center
The Herman Miller Eames Outdoor Wire-Base Table is also known by the following manufacturer Item Number: LTRT5
About the Designer
Designers, artists, thinkers, and filmmakers- the Eameses were married for 37 years, and operated the Office of Ray and Charles Eames together for 35 of those years. They were partners in every sense of the word, sharing a home, an office, and collaborating on every piece of furniture and film they made together. For many years it was thought that Charles had been the driving force behind most of their design work, but recent findings have proven what had always been obvious about the two; they were inseparable, and the ideas they had and the projects they worked on were mutual and cooperative.
Charles and Ray collaborated on some of the most stunning and beautiful film and design projects of the last century. They are responsible for the Powers of Ten film, Tocatta for Toy Trains (film), The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, the Eames Aluminum Group furniture, the molded plywood chair, the TimeLife chair and stool, and various award winning museum exhibitions, including Mathematica. The Eames left not a stone unturned in their lifelong quest to bring the "uncommon beauty of common thing" into modern design, and practically no medium was ever eschewed when it came to getting their point across. Separately they would be ranked extremely high on any respectable list of great designers in the 20th century, but together they were unstoppable.
The Office of Charles and Ray Eames is still operating in California, with family member Lucia (daughter) and Eames Demetrios (grandson) running the family business. A great place for innovative and now historic film, toys, furniture and exhibits, the Office of Charles and Ray Eames is a California treasure.
About the Manufacturer
Herman Miller is an industry leader in the integration of cutting edge technology to furniture and other household items to make everyday life more comfortable, convenient, and stylish. Herman Miller stands out at the forefront of such fields as ergonomic technologies, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, and customizable furniture items.
In addition to producing some of the most outstanding office furniture in the world, Herman Miller has also taken on the responsibility of manufacturing some of the most celebrated furniture designs by some of the world's most famous designs. These "modern classics" include works by Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, and Isamu Noguchi. Herman Miller celebrates these famous mid-century designers' works through its extraordinarily precise manufacturing techniques and industry-leading green production processes.
Herman Miller is a global company with operations, sales offices, dealers, and licensees in more than 40 countries in North America, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, serving customers virtually anywhere in the world. Herman Miller is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, while manufacturing facilities are located in the U.S., China, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Materials & Measurements
Materials: marble or granite table tops, powder coated wire frame. Each stone top has an embedded piece of metal underneath for easy leg assembly.
Overall: 10" h x 15.5" w x 13.25" d
Package dimensions: 16" h x 18" w x 12" d
Package weight: 21 pounds
Caring and Maintenance
With regular care and maintenance, your Herman Miller product will provide many years of superior performance and satisfaction. To maintain quality, please follow the cleaning instructions outlined here.
The instructions for the care and maintenance of Herman Miller products are provided to you as a service.
Stone Tabletops
Stone tabletops are susceptible to staining. Exposure to insect repellents and suntan lotions and sprays may cause discoloration. Spills of acid-based liquids—such as coffee, wine, and fruit juice—should be wiped up immediately with a clean, soft cloth to avoid staining.
For routine maintenance, rinse the tabletop with warm water to remove surface dirt and wipe dry with a clean, soft cloth. For normal cleaning, wash the surface with a mixture of a mild detergent and warm water and rinse immediately with warm water. Wipe dry with a clean, soft cloth. Do not use abrasive or acid-, alcohol-, or solvent-based cleaners. They will damage the surface.
Herman Miller outdoor stone tabletops are treated with a sealer that penetrates deep into the porous surface. These tops require occasional resealing. To determine whether it's time to reseal your tabletop, pour a small amount of water onto it. If the water beads, resealing is not necessary. If beading does not occur, apply a natural stone sealer, available at hardware and home improvement stores, to provide continued protection. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for use.
Table Bases
For normal cleaning, wash coated metal surfaces with a soft cloth soaked in a mild detergent and warm water, then rinse thoroughly and dry immediately. Remove scuff marks from low-gloss coatings with presoftened paste wax, following the manufacturer's instructions. Use automotive polishing compounds, either liquid or paste, to remove scuff marks and scratches from high-gloss coatings. After polishing, apply a presoftened automotive paste wax to restore the original sheen.
Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight will cause your stone tabletop to fade. Placing the table away from direct sun or covering it appropriately when it is not in use will help avoid fading. If you choose to cover your table, be sure to remove the cover when the weather is warm or humid to reduce the chance of mold and mildew growth.
We also recommend bringing the furniture indoors for storage if the temperature stays below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) for an extended period.
Shipping & Delivery
Standard Shipping: Free
With Standard Ground Shipping, shipments are typically completed with UPS or FedEx to your front door or main lobby. Once shipped, items generally arrive within 2-5 business days. Simple, fast and easy service. Tracking will be emailed to you upon order shipment.
*If additional tracking info/scheduling is needed, both UPS and FedEx have sign-up services on their website which allow for more detailed tracking/options. Shipment signature may be required, or signing the delivery note authorizing the shipper to leave the next day.
*Some larger products or multiple quantities may ship with a freight carrier (not UPS/Fedex), which will call you for a delivery appointment if delivering to a residence (or business hours for commercial address). We'll send you an email with the shipper/tracking info as soon as your order ships either way.
Package dimensions: 16" h x 18" w x 12" d
Questions & Answers
Warrantied for 3 years. The following conditions above are not covered under the warranty:
Natural characteristics in stone result in variations in hues, veins, crystals, and distinctive marks. These variations, as well as the subtle changes that occur as the stone ages are typical of natural materials. Over time, the stone may fade in color, the surface may stain, and surface cracks, if not already visible at time of purchase, may appear. Small cracks do not affect the structural integrity of the tabletop. Stone tabletops are susceptible to staining. Exposure to insect repellents and suntan lotions and sprays may cause discoloration. Spills of acid-based liquids, such as coffee, wine, and fruit juice, should be wiped up immediately with a clean, soft cloth to avoid staining.
Do you have specific questions about what's covered under Herman Miller's warranty for this product? Give our sales team a call at 888-467-6278 to get your questions answered.
Did you purchase a piece of Herman Miller furniture that's not working as expected? Send an email to email@example.com or contact our customer service department at 888-762-7841, and we'll take care of you. We usually ask for a photo or video of the warranty issue that you're experiencing, so if you want to expedite the warranty claim process, you can e-mail us with those attachments, and we'll jump on filing the claim for you right away
Shop With Confidence
Check out our 45-Day Return Policy!
Free Shipping on Most Items*Click here for exceptions.
Secure SSL Checkout
We've ensured your personal data and sensitive information is always private and protected.


text:
Sign up for our monthly eNews or look through past issues
Please click here to visit the E-News Section.
Spruce Meadows 'National'
June 6-10, 2018
Please Click Here to view our Industry Directory with links to equine sport groups, breed groups, facilities, calendars and publications in Alberta.
Office Address:
97 East Lake Ramp NE
Airdrie, AB
Phone: 403-420-5949
Fax: 403-948-2069