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Why won't anybody listen to me?
Especially professional sports owners and general managers.
They think they know more than the rest of us when many times they really don't know as much (see the Magic's acquisition of Gilbert Arenas).
Why won't anybody listen to me?
Especially professional sports owners and general managers.
They think they know more than the rest of us when many times they really don't know as much (see the Magic's acquisition of Gilbert Arenas).
If the Jacksonville Jaguars had only listened last year, they might be way ahead of the game right now.
No, I'm not talking about the no-brainer move (acquiring Tim Tebow and building an offense around him) that the franchise with no brains refuses to execute. I'm talking about hiring Jay Gruden.
Remember last year at this time what I told the Jaguars – and the Dolphins for that matter?
Let me refresh your memory as to what I wrote:
"The Miami Dolphins need to hire Gruden as their head coach … The Jacksonville Jaguars need to hire Gruden as their head coach … He brings buzz and offensive imagination. He's won a Super Bowl ring and many other championships. He has Florida ties and knows how to coach young quarterbacks.
"No, knuckleheads, I'm not talking about Jon Gruden; I'm talking about Orlando's own Jay Gruden -- the first-year offensive coordinator for the shockingly good Cincinnati Bengals. … It would behoove the Jags or Dolphins to hire him while they still can."
Instead, as we know now, the Jags hired Mike Mularkey, who went 2-14 and was quickly fired after one miserable season.
Well, guess who the Jags interviewed Tuesday as Mularkey's potential successor?
Yep, Jay Gruden.
Granted, Jay, because he felt it would be disloyal to leave the Bengals after only one year as offensive coordinator, pulled his name out of contention last season for NFL head-coaching openings in Jacksonville, Miami, St. Louis, etc. But the Jaguars made the decision easy because they never really pursued him.
I've been telling people for years that Jay, not Jon, is the best coach in the Gruden family. Back when Jay was just an Arena League coach with the Orlando Predators, I scratched my head when Florida and Florida State wouldn't even give him a second glance as an offensive coordinator. Instead, they hired guys like Jeff Bowden and Steve Addazio. I even tried to tell the Miami Hurricanes when they ridiculously thought they were going to get Jon Gruden as their head coach that they should hire Jay instead.
Why won't anybody listen to me?
Now look at Jay. He's one of the hottest head-coaching candidates in the NFL, and you wonder if the Jaguars now have the cache to hire him. He's already interviewed for head-coaching jobs with the Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers and Arizona Cardinals. If the Jags are lucky, he will choose Jacksonville because he loves living in Florida and he doesn't need a high-profile job in a glitzy city to be happy.
In fact, I've said it before and I'll say it again: If the Arena League hadn't gone bankrupt a few years ago, Jay would probably still be the head coach of the Predators. If he would've hired an agent and promoted himself years ago, he'd already be an NFL head coach. But he never went after big-time jobs because he just wanted to be left alone to run his own team, draw up his own ballplays, watch his kids grow up and make a decent living coaching the Preds. He got his NFL fix (and a Super Bowl ring) by being a part-time assistant on brother Jon's staff with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
"I'm happy here," Gruden told me once when he was coaching minor league football in Orlando. "I've never been a media hound. I don't care if my name is in the paper or being mentioned for big-time jobs. I don't have to be on 'Hard Knocks.'
"I just love coaching football, and I love coaching players that have a passion for the game. I've got players I like, a staff I like and a town I love to live in. My wife and kids are happy. I'm not dying to make the jump just because it's the NFL."
Now he's a rock star coach who every wayward NFL team wants to interview.
If the woebegone Jaguars are smart – and that's a big if -- they have already offered him the job and are drawing up the contract.
Why won't anybody listen to me?
email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740 AM.


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Northbrook College Sussex owns one of the most comprehensive recording studio complexes in Europe. We have over 25 studios including control/ live room suites, air conditioned performance spaces, pre and post production rooms, along with dedicated computer clusters and a sound and synthesis lab. From October 2015, we take our facilities to the next level with new cutting edge recording and rehearsal studios designed and built at our University Centre in West Durrington.
Music students can also make use of The Northbrook Theatre, an on-campus performance space, which can accommodate up to 300 people. The purpose built theatre is extensively resourced with up-to-the-minute technical equipment: sound system, moving lights and multimedia projection. Learn more about The Northbrook Theatre
See our new state-of-the-art facilities showcased on Brighton's Latest TV:
Northbrook music courses give you the chance of a direct route into employment, self-employment and freelancing, developing your cultural, technological and business skills within the music industry. Our courses are crafted in close partnership with the music and media industries and endorsed by professional bodies, alumni and reviewers.
Northbrook music tutors have a wealth of professional music industry experience in Acoustics, Arranging & Scoring, Artist Management, Music Festivals, Songwriting, Artist Production, Composition, Event Management, Library Music, Live Performance, Live Sound, Music for Film, Sound Design and Studio Construction & Maintenance. Northbrook music courses assess you on the creation of your professional portfolio which showcases your talent. As you progress, you will grow skills in self-management to prepare you for a successful career in the music and cultural industries. We have our own radio station, a record label and promotion company that hosts regular nights in and around Brighton and Worthing. These businesses are run by students, for students, giving you the opportunity to highlight real music industry experience on your CV and prepare you for the exciting next steps.
See our latest news, events, updates on the new facilities and 'tips & tricks' tutorial videos

subset: commoncrawl


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The Research ICT Africa Network conducts research on ICT policy and regulation that facilitates evidence-based and informed policy making for improved access, use and application of ICT for social development and economic growth. Research ICT Africa consists of a network of researchers in 20 African countries.
"The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is an African initiative that has been established to:


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Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1049, se cing þa ⁊ eall here cwædon Swegen for niðing. (Then the king and all the army proclaimed Sweyne an outlaw.)
1956 R. SUTCLIFF Shield Ring iv. 39 You know how hard it goes with me to play the nything.
1999 Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune (Nexis) 27 May A2 On the perjury and obstruction of justice articles, five and 10 niddering Republican senators, respectively, conspired to obstruct honest judicial closure.
It's borrowed from "early Scandinavian", as in Old Norse níðingr "villain" (OED), from Proto-Germanic *nīþa- "animosity", from Proto-Indo-European *nei- "to be excited, shine" (AHD).
*nei- perhaps became Persian نیل nīl "blue, indigo", altered to līl and līlak "bluish". This was borrowed into Arabic as ليلك līlak, then Spanish as lilac, a shrub with bluish flowers.
It's tempting to connect Persian nīl or the Sanskrit cognate nīla- "dark blue" with Greek Νεῖλος, English Nile, but as far as I can tell no connection has been found.


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Clojure Brings STM, LISP to the JVM
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Clojure is rather new member of the LISP family of languages which runs on the Java platform. Introduced in 2007 it has already garnered a lot of interest. One reason is Clojure's approach to concurrency which is built upon the concepts of Software Transactional Memory (STM).
Stuart Halloway is the author of "Programming Clojure" (published by the Pragmatic Programmers), which is now in beta. We talked to Stuart about Clojure, STM, tooling and more.
InfoQ: Clojure uses STM to help with concurrency; what's your elevator explanation/elevator pitch for STM?
STM is one part of a bigger story: explicit APIs for mutable state. By dividing your code into pure functional and mutable layers, you get two enormous advantages:
* your pure functional code is much easier to test and reuse
* you can choose an explicit mutable API that matches your concurrency and scalability needs. Clojure provides four different APIs for different situations: refs and STM, agents, vars, and atoms. Plus, you can always drop down a level and use the Java Concurrency APIs.
InfoQ: Another group interested in Clojure are programmers already familiar with LISP; what do they need to watch out for when trying Clojure?
My advice to Lispers is "be patient at first." Clojure is Lisp unconstrained by backward compatibility with other Lisps. What this means in practice is that many things are different. Once you spend some time with Clojure, you will probably agree that Rich's design decisions are well-motivated.
The Clojure website has a document that shows differences with many other LISPs. The creator of Clojure, Rich Hickey, provides slides that (PDF links) explain Clojure for Java developers and vice versa from a LISPer's point of view.
InfoQ: What habits do Java users, or more generally, developers used to OOP, need to unlearn to work with Clojure?
Unlike other hot new VM languages, Clojure is *not* object-oriented. This can be intimidating at first: "How am I supposed to design a system without objects?"
But Clojure *does* provide many of the things you want from OO:
* encapsulation (via namespaces, private definitions and closures)
* polymorphism on steroids (multimethods)
* functional reuse is better than inheritance. (Functions and immutable state compose better than inheritance hierarchies.)
The difference between Clojure and many OO languages is that the OO languages offer a fixed menu, while Clojure's capabilities are a la carte.
InfoQ: What resources do you recommend for starting with LISP (besides your book, obviously)?
Clojure ties together a lot of good ideas. In addition to Programming Clojure, I would recommend
* Seibel, Practical Common Lisp for getting up to speed on Lisp
* Graham, On Lisp for Lisp macros
* Goetz et al, Java Concurrency in Practice for concurrency
* O'Sullivan et al, Real World Haskell for functional programming
* Abelson and Sussman, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, because everybody should read it
Note: most of these books are also available online for free: Practical Common Lisp, On Lisp, Real World Haskell and SICP.
InfoQ: What older LISP patterns/practices should Clojure developers stay away from? (Eg. instead of lists everywhere prefer Clojure data structures like maps/vectors/... where possible?).
You pretty much nailed it in the question. In Clojure, lists are mostly for code. For data, choose the right structure for the job, and embrace the sequences library. Don't be afraid to call Java APIs directly.
InfoQ: What's the library ecosystem like for Clojure?
For any given need (web development, db access, testing, bdd) there are three or four up-and-coming Clojure libraries. The book ends with a "Clojure in the Wild" chapter that briefly introduces several of these, and provides more extended examples using the test-is testing framework and Compojure.
On the Clojure mailist list, Rich Hickey recently asked for maintainers of Clojure libraries to report the library they're working on. Many Clojure projects can be found on GitHub under the Clojure language category.
InfoQ: Would you like to see a multi-platform Clojure (not just Clojure for the Java platform)?
No. Clojure's tight integration with Java is key to its power. Of course I would welcome a functional Lisp tied to the .NET platform -- but it shouldn't be Clojure.
InfoQ: What tools do you use for Clojure programming?
I use Emacs, plus SLIME sometimes. But I was already an Emacs user, so that choice was obvious. There are also plugins for vi, Eclipse, IDEA, and NetBeans.
Some examples of IDE/editor support for Clojure are: clojure-dev (Eclipse), clojure-intellij-plugin (IntelliJ), enclojure (NetBeans). Gorilla (VIM), is similar to SLIME (Emacs). (Bill Clementson has a has a howto on setting up Emacs and SLIME for Clojure).
As many of these tools need to do similar things, there's been talk of collaborating on a common backend for these tools. One option is to use an aproach like SLIME and Gorilla, ie. run a Clojure instance and query it for documentation lookup (Clojure symbols carry their docstring as metadata), code lookup, namespace browsing, etc.
InfoQ: Would you use Clojure in a commercial, non-trivial project now?
If you are on an agile team and have a good test suite I wouldn't hesitate to use Clojure in production today.
InfoQ reported recently about one example of a Clojure application being put in production. (More Clojure content on InfoQ).
Would you consider Clojure? Which aspect of Clojure is most interesting for you - it's LISP heritage, STM, something else?
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Tell us what you think
STM definitely attractive
Kacem Boufelliga
I highly recommend Stuart Halloway book.
Jules Jacobs
Clojure compared with Scala
Howard Lewis Ship
I think Scala's type system is a bit of a challenge, and it's not quite as powerful as Haskell's; I think Scala may fall into a kind of uncanny valley ... neither quite Java nor sufficiently Haskell, whereas Clojure seems to be building to a summit: best of Java and best of Lisp.
Re: Clojure compared with Scala
Gerald Loeffler
i also think that Scala's type system is actually one of its real strengths - it really shouldn't get in your way as it is both more consistent and more powerful than Java's while at the same time being clearly familiar to a Java developer.
i find Scala's OO-ness a real relieve because it means that my designs are still basically OO (with the addition of mixin-style multiple-inheritance!), which nicely fits the kind of entity-centric programs i write, while still benefiting (in the small) from Scala's closures, hardened static typing and numerous syntactic improvements. that's clearly just one of many ways of writing Scala code, though...
Re: STM definitely attractive
Luc Prefontaine
we have been in production now for more than a month with services
implemented in Clojure and we did not experience any unexpected down time
aside from the improvements we deployed in production.
The Clojure runtime is so stable that we felt confident enough to go live
without waiting for version 1.0.
The current status proves that we were right. Of course you might
face migration issues if you start to use some advanced features
or bleeding edge libraries. The forum has enough accumulated
threads that you can easily find out if some features will eventually
change and that should guide you to avoid these areas.
Both the code and the specs are very consistent over time so such
set backs are unlikely to happen.
Luc Préfontaine
SoftAddicts inc.


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NWSB Insider and Seattle Sonics blogger Steve Lee tells us another story in our Moments in time series about the legendary Sonics radio voice Kevin Calabro. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Calabro dabbled in local minor league sports before catching his big break, one granted by future Supersonic GM, Bob Whitsitt. Before moving over to be the voice of the Sonics, Calabro called the action for the Kansas City Kings in 1983.
Oh my goodness! Severe vibrations! Mic Check with Kevin Calabro
April 8, 2012 By


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Eat. Walk two steps. Repeat for seven hours.
That was my day at the Fancy Food Show in California. To say it was an amazing experience would be an understatement. The show is held twice a year (one time in San Francisco and one time in New York) and if you can ever make it to one, I highly encourage you to go.
Expect to see several cupcakes here based on products that I discovered at the show – starting with one of the best things I tried there, Nutorious Nut Confections.
I love candied nuts in my salads and have made my own on occasion, but Nutorious takes the candied nut to a new level. I was lucky enough to get to sample the four flavors you see above – not only did I get to try them at the show, but samples were waiting for me when I arrived back in St. Louis!
- Ooo La La Original – Walnuts, almond, and pecans in a rich buttery confection.
- Cranberry Orange Tango – Walnuts, almonds, pecans, and dried cranberries in a refreshing orange confection.
- Cherry Vanilla Va-Voom – Walnuts, almonds, pecans, and dried and Montmorency cherries in a sweet vanilla confection.
- Blueberry Lemon Meringue -Walnuts, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries in a delicate lemon confection.
I kid you not when I say that I loved all of them. They will all be used to top my salads, pancakes, waffles, and whatever else I can think of – all except for the Cranberry Orange Tango. I used up the whole bag of Cranberry Orange Tango making some delectable cranberry orange cupcakes.
You can look at Nutorious' website to see where it is sold near you. In the meantime, leave a comment letting me know which flavor sounds the best to you and what you would do with it for a chance to win some!
One winner will win all 4 flavors described above and two other winners will win a bag of the Cranberry Orange Tango to use in a cupcake or anything else! The winners will be chosen randomly on the morning of Wed., Feb 4th. You may enter up until the time that I post the winners.


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Shame on Lincoln Unified trustees for their recent decision to drug test athletes and cheerleaders. Does the school district know the words "civil liberties"?
Shame on Lincoln Unified trustees for their recent decision to drug test athletes and cheerleaders. Does the school district know the words "civil liberties"?
The only member who had enough sense to vote against this was Donald Ruhstaller. My praise goes to him.
My children went through Lincoln schools, and if they had been faced with this dilemma, I would have had to take the next step to ensure their rights would not be taken away. How sad that our schools have to take it upon themselves to try to protect our children. This is a parent's responsibility, from the home front.
With the nation's political climate today, and government so involved with our lives, it appears that our local school board has followed in the same direction.
If you enforce this with one group, you must enforce it for all.
Georgeanne Hislop
The Democrats coined the phrase "War on Women," but in reality, they promote, encourage and finance the "War on the Unborn" - the taking of innocent human life in the womb.
Their party platform was solidly pro-abortion and their partner, Planned Parenthood, the No. 1 promoter and provider of abortions, rakes in almost $500 million of your federal tax dollars every year.
In war, the medical corps saves lives. In abortion, the medical profession takes lives. Aborted babies get no purple hearts, no taps, no Memorial Day, no trial, no jury, no justice.
Aristotle says, "The State comes into existence that man may live" and the first duty of government is to protect life. If the state can legalize the murder of some, it can legalize the murder of many. Abortion today justifies euthanasia tomorrow.
Every voter will be judged on how he voted to protect or destroy innocent human life.
Mary C. Kaehler
We need to take our city back, like towns did back in the days of the Old West. What we're doing isn't working or having any effect on the escalating murder rate that has reached epidemic proportions. City Hall meetings, task forces and consultants aren't offering any solutions only good intentions.
Not to devalue the attempts to curb Stockton's increasing murder rate, but apparently the "full brunt of the law" appears to be nothing more than a slap on the wrist, warehousing criminals for $40,000 a year with other felons, where they're glorified by prison gang members, only to be released early to again wreak havoc on the communities.
It's high time to call it like it is and evoke Martial Law. Our city's murder rate is out of control. Some have said it's a turf war with gangs in Oakland. No matter what the cause, our citizenry deserve better protection from the subhumans who don't have an ounce of civility, affiliation with society or respect for human life.
If the murderers don't care about society, why should society care about them? We have to quit worrying about murderers' civil rights and deal shock on killers who have no regard for other people.
The National Guard combined with other law enforcement should set up road blocks, conduct house to house weapons checks and punish people caught with unregistered weapons. It isn't about rehabilitation, treatment or killer's rights, but one of incapacitating them from killing other people. Give them one week; cash for weapons, then deal shock.
We have to try something; we owe it to the innocent victims killed.
Ronald Conboy
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Lionel J. Gaumond of Southbridge has been placed on six months of probation for leaving a skunk to slowly die in a box in his yard.
Environmental police responded on July 17 to a neighbor�s complaint about a skunk trapped in Mr. Gaumond�s yard, according to a report by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Mr. Gaumond�s neighbor told police he first saw the skunk five days earlier, when it was alive in the box trap.
Environmental police removed the trap and dead skunk and noted in a report that the animal most likely died slowly and painfully in the trap.
Mr. Gaumond, it was reported, did not release the skunk from its trap for fear of being sprayed.
At Dudley District Court, Mr. Gaumond, 62, was charged with animal cruelty. Citing admission to sufficient facts, Judge Timothy M. Bibaud recently ordered pretrial probation until July 18.


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ANTIGUA, Guatemala (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will press for reform of the 35-nation Organization of American States and back a broad approach to tackling drug-related violence at OAS meetings this week, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.
Kerry, who arrived in Guatemala on Tuesday, will also meet with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua on the sidelines of the OAS meetings on Wednesday, the official said.
Venezuela has been a vocal critic of the United States in Latin America, and Wednesday's encounter would be the first high-level meeting between the two countries in several years.
Kerry is on his first official visit to Central America as President Barack Obama's top diplomat.
The U.S. official said Kerry would push for an overhaul of the OAS to improve its effectiveness by refocusing its mission on the defense of democracy and human rights, while promoting security and development throughout the region.
In a belt-tightening environment, the United States, the OAS's chief paymaster, is reluctant to see its contribution to the body increase and is pushing for the organization to put its finances on sounder footing, the official added.
"It is particularly important to us at this time of budget constraints that the OAS be using those funds responsibly," the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The meetings are set to debate new strategies in the region's crackdown on drug gangs and discuss a recent OAS report on drug policy in the Americas, which called for a "flexible approach" and suggested that legalization of marijuana be considered.
The OAS urged a reconsideration of global drug policy at a general assembly in Guatemala this week, saying that efforts must focus on treatment of users and education rather than incarceration.
Central America has been ravaged by criminal violence as Mexican drug cartels, squeezed by attempts to root them out at home, have sought to diversify their operations southward.
The OAS, which issued a report in May calling for a softer approach toward drug users, said that harsh law enforcement policies face complex challenges and that member states should reach an agreement to improve prevention and reduce the demand for illegal substances.
Without issuing any concrete recommendations for new policies, OAS General Secretary Jose Miguel Insulza said that the meetings will encourage greater debate for reform.
"This won't be the closing chapter, rather the opening chapter," Insulza told reporters this week. "We are knocking on sensitive doors, but we need to examine drug policy."
Guatemalan president Otto Perez, who met Kerry on Tuesday, has said the war on drugs in Latin America has failed and has called for decriminalization of narcotics.
After the meeting, Perez, a retired general, said the United States had shown it was ready to support "dialogue" on the issue.
The U.S. official said Venezuela had requested that Kerry meet with Jaua.
Washington has held back recognition of leftist President Nicolas Maduro, chosen successor of the late Hugo Chavez. "We still have concerns about how the deep divisions in Venezuela after the last elections get resolved," the official said.
Maduro said immediately after the April 14 election that he was open to a full audit of the results, but in the following days ruled that out. The electoral authority several days later agreed to an extended audit, but the opposition refused to participate on the grounds that it was not sufficiently thorough.
Capriles alleges hundreds of election day irregularities and is challenging the results in the country's top court.
"We would like a positive relationship with them," the U.S. official said, adding that the United States was seeking a "positive, functional relationship on issues that we're both interested in talking about."
Disputes between Caracas and Washington were common during Chavez's 14-year socialist rule. Maduro has said he wants better ties with Washington as long as the relationship is respectful. But he has also accused the United States of seeking to destabilize the country.
Historically, Venezuela has been the United States' fourth-largest supplier of imported crude oil and petroleum products.
Kerry will also lobby for a position for the United States on the OAS's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Stanford law professor James Cavallaro, founding director of the Stanford Law School's International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, is vying for one of the three positions open this year on the commission.
(This story has been corrected to clarify circumstances of the audit of Venezuela's election results in paragraphs 18 and 19)
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)


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BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – For the first time in three games, things went the LA Galaxy's way.
A second-half collapse led to a 4-3 loss to San Jose and a last-second hiccup resulted in a 2-1 loss in Philadelphia in their last two games. But without David Beckham or Landon Donovan in the starting lineup, Robbie Keane's goals on either side of halftime gave the Galaxy a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Sunday.
The loss in front of a sellout crowd at Toyota Park ended the Fire's four-game unbeaten streak and moved LA into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Beckham was serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation, while Donovan was a second-half substitute as he nurses an injured hip.
Although it was the Galaxy that eventually came out on top, the Fire almost struck early when the ball bounced to a wide-open Jalil Anibaba just outside of the six-yard box. The defender got all of the ball but his volley went wide.
In the 22nd minute, a cross from Keane struck Anibaba in the arm on the edge of the box, and referee Jair Marrufo pointed to the penalty spot, although it was unclear whether Anibaba touched the ball in the box. Keane calmly slotted home the penalty kick to the right, sending goalkeeper Sean Johnson diving the opposite direction.
Chicago had a chance to equalize in the 43rd minute when Patrick Nyarko found himself on the end of a wide-open header at the edge of the six-yard box, but once again, he headed wide as the Fire left another chance begging.
Nether team was sharp in front of net – with Juninho, Keane Michael Stephens all sending shots well over the bar and the Fire rarely threatening – but Chris Rolfe eventually found a opportunity to test Josh Saunders. Gonzalo Segares squared the ball across the box, but Saunders went low to make a fingertip save to deny his precise strike.
In the 78th minute, LA made it 2-0 when Landon Donovan served Keane a breakaway pass and the Irish international beat Johnson at the near post to effectively putting the game out of reach.
OPTA CHALKBOARD: Fire dominate possession but not scoreline
After ending a two-game losing streak, the Galaxy will try to climb further out of the depths of the Western Conference when they play Portland on Saturday.
Despite holding 60 percent of possession and outshooting the Galaxy 14-13, the Fire were blanked for the second game in a row, ending their best run of the season.
With their four-game unbeaten streak, the Fire were climbing toward the top of the Eastern Conference before they lost at Toyota Park on Sunday for just the second time this season. They'll try to redeem themselves when they host Vancouver on Saturday.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
|What We Saw
|Robbie Keane
|He wasn't particularly sharp, but you can't argue with a two-goal haul. LA will hope he's starting to come around.
|A.J. DeLaGarza
|Made his share of crucial tackles and helped keep the Fire from breaking through LA's tight lines.
|Gonzalo Segares
|Active and a threat in attack, he fed Chris Rolfe for the Fire's best chance and was a threat out of the back.


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Earlier this morning, the highly anticipated Raspberry Pi system-on-a-chip was put on sale. The team had been teasing a big announcement regarding the release of the system on their Twitter account for the past few days, and the response for what some might have assumed was a niche device has overwhelmed them.
Over the last couple of days, the Raspberry Pi website has been bombarded with views, as eager fans overloaded the servers trying to find out what the big news was, and if they could finally get their hands on it. The Twitter team announced they would put up a static page at 6am this morning to combat the traffic spikes.
As well as putting the device on sale, licensing deals with manufacturers were announced. Partnering with British firms Premier Farnell and RS Components, this insures that the Raspberry Pi can be built to better meet demand.
The past few hours have been a whirlwind of success, with the device selling out within an hour from one of the suppliers, and interviews appearing on BBC morning shows. The launch story became the number one read item on the BBC website, beating news on the iPad 3 down in third.
You can register your interest for the next batch of Raspberry Pi on the RS Components and Farnell websites. Currently, only the $35 model B is available, which includes an extra USB port and LAN over the $25 model A to be launched at a later date.
You can read our full interview with Eben Upton about Raspberry Pi in the upcoming Linux User & Developer 111. We reported on excerpts from the interview about benchmarking and the price guarantee a couple of weeks ago.
Related Raspberry Pi articles
- Raspberry Pi interview: Eben Upton reveals all
- Raspberry Pi gets Arch Linux
- Raspberry Pi to run BBC Micro 2


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Los Alamos National Laboratory
Hazmat work opens up career options for Adam Sayre, agricultural economist
Adam Sayre previews professional work experience
Adam Sayre, an undergraduate student, discovers his interests while working with the Project Engineering group. Project engineers are deployed to a variety of locations throughout the Laboratory to assist with engineering and engineering records projects. He works behind the scenes, ensuring the Plutonium Science and Manufacturing Directorate properly perform assigned tasks and functions.
Currently, Adam assists with two glovebox projects. Gloveboxes are large stainless steel containers workers use to handle hazardous materials. Two gloveboxes will replace gloveboxes used to decommission the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research (CMR) Facility. The other project is the Direct Current Arc Glovebox, which will uses a spectrometer to sample and verify plutonium fuel shipments from Russia.
Adam works closely with many aspects of project management and engineering, such as scheduling and procurement. His main role is to capture and track information and questions during the fabrication process. Subcontractors often come to the Lab with questions like what grease to use in a vacuum system, a clarification on a part number, or what to do about design flaws. Adam comments, "This is a great opportunity. You can find a group to apply work in your specific field. It's a good preview of what a job would be like."
Adam recently graduated from Los Alamos High School. This fall, Adam will be a freshman at New Mexico State University, studying agricultural economics. Adam participated in the Los Alamos High School marching band as the drum major, and will continue his interest in music as a member of the Pride of New Mexico Marching Band for New Mexico State.
Los Alamos has many opportunities for children of all ages to gain interest in the various fields of science, engineering and math. Growing up in Los Alamos, Adam remembers attending extra science programs taught by people working at the Laboratory, such as the children's college and forensics at the local college, University of New Mexico – Los Alamos. the Lab supports and enhances education programs in the community.
Adam will continue to work as a student throughout his undergraduate studies. He has been encouraged to try different areas of interest within his field, such as financial planning, and may switch groups further into his studies. Although he hasn't pinned down his specific career interests, his long-term goal is to work at the Lab. Adam states, "I read that 40% of employees are former students. That makes me hopeful to have a job at the Lab."
The Lab is helping Adam learn what career field he is most interested in. He describes the Lab as "a great resource. You can find out what you want to do with your degree while working with world-class scientists, doing groundbreaking research in the best facilities."


text: Building engineering services have been a passion of Ken's for close on 30 years. Currently Director and Head of Engineering Design for the Buildings team at WSP, this position gives him a unique overview and involvement in a wide range of building projects. A chartered building services engineer, Ken is also a BREEAM accredited professional with a keen interest in the design of highly sustainable buildings and believes the full role buildings play in human ecology is only just beginning to be appreciated.


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My mom and dad taught me I could do anything I put my mind to; for most of my childhood my dad was in graduate school and then medical school, and my mom taught junior high school science and health. So even with their long hair, organic garden and peace medallions, they remained productive contributors to society rather than just dropping out of it. Both my parents were flummoxed when I opted to play with Barbies instead of help my dad fix the engine of their 1970 Toyota Landcruiser. Now, my mother admits, "Anyone who thinks the difference between males and females is all nurture just hasn't had children yet."
So much of the women's rights movement has focused on breaking women out of limiting, rigid roles. My mother, who got the highest grade of any student on her organic chemistry final exam, was told by her advisor that women shouldn't go to graduate school. The history of women's rights has been breaking one after another assumption: women shouldn't wear pants, women shouldn't vote, women shouldn't work outside the home. All along the way were the men and women observant enough to realize that women were equals and brave enough to say so.
The most sexist comment anyone ever made to me was a fifth grader who told me once I threw like a girl. I called him a sexist pig.
We are in some ways so very fortunate now, as women, to have so many more career opportunities open to us. Females excel in a range of subjects and it's no longer an oddity to see women engineers or space physicists. To my mind, the revolution is complete in some ways.
However, I believe that the next frontier for women's rights is the honoring of work that used to be traditionally done by women. While the world needs astrophysicists, it also needs parents and teachers, very badly indeed.
What if our society came to recognize the deep, precious value of parenting done well? Good parenting can and ideally is shared as a team. Astrophysicists can be terrific moms and dads, but the simple fact is that parenting is a job that involves actually being with children, and the more the better - particularly when they are very young.
I've grown up hearing soul-crushing stories of Rosie the Riveters who discovered they could fly planes and fix engines for the good of their country, only to be thrown back into an endless cycle of waxing and dusting - and often, depression - when the men returned from World War II.
I know, too, of the boundless lessons to be had in the work world, mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Just because some women and some men would make beautiful parents shouldn't damn half the population to a limited role. But now that we know that men and women are equal - though different - can we now find a way to strengthen our families and care for our children?
I was so very fortunate to be able to work part time until our daughter was 4, and spent hours with her nursing and snuggling, singing, walking, exploring rocks and insects, flowers and painting, reading, music and the world in the unique view of the toddler. I learned the rhythm of a walk downtown to the library, and home for lunch and a nap. I learned to never go anywhere without a snack on hand.
Working full time has gone better for me since I realized that I literally work two jobs. As I drive home I put on another hat, take a deep breath, and ready to support my child, encourage and contribute to her development and wellbeing physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. So from about 4 to 9 p.m., I'm helping with homework, cooking dinner, doing dishes, traveling to activities, supervising play and making sure her needs are met.
"When do you rest?" some might ask. "When do you clean the house?" others might ask. "When do you and your husband find time together?" or "When do you hang out with friends?"
Yes, those are very, very important questions, and I don't really have the answers. But except for cleaning the house, I can safely say I don't do those other things as much as I want to.
Children are not supposed to either raise themselves or be raised entirely by schools and daycares. The liberation of women need not and should not come at the expense of children.
Also, I threw a softball rather well when I was a kid. Why is doing anything "like a girl" still an insult?
I read that Hillary Clinton's poll numbers went down when she teared up. To me, that suggests that the evolution is far from complete. Most women know that a good cry nourishes the soul the way rain replenishes growing crops. Water is a good metaphor for female strength, which I think is soft, like water, and yet strong enough to carve the Grand Canyon. I wonder whether men, too, have felt supported to step outside their roles into their fullness as humans.
While stereotypes are just that, many women do have a special strength in the area of embracing and nourishing families, and I'm proud of this strength. It may not be glamorous, but a morning when we all get out the door fed, lunch in hand, while having actually enjoyed each other is not only practically an Olympic feat but, also feels so good. It's my second job, done well.
I remain a feminist to the core but would never, ever ask a mother "do you work?"
Our history used to be an example of the male at the expense of the female, the mind at the expense of the body, spirit at the expense of the earth. Yet a win-win balance between mom and dad that helps children thrive must be a worthy future. Our bodies can help us make decisions that access all of our knowing, not just logic. And the earth as a physical manifestation of the glory of spirit is more likely to nourish and teach us than one spit on and devalued.
I am a mother, wife and writer, one that would put my family before my career, every time. And yet I'm so thankful to the brave warriors who had the strength to embrace my freedom to choose.


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Where can I go to find out what pets have strong abilities vs other specific pet families?
Right now I'm on the Northrend Pet Tamers quest. I'm stuck on the one in Dragonblight who has 2 Dragon Whelps.
How can I find out which pets I can go tame who would have strong abilities vs Dragonkin.
There are many search engines here at Warcraft Pets, but none that would allow me to filter for "Strong Ability vs [insert pet family here]". There's "Abilities OF [insert pet family here]", but that doesn't help one fight against pets of that family.
Any help is appreciated.


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Luera, Zuniga-Romero Leads Softball To Sweep
The Roughrider softball team swept a weekday doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Bill Vallely Field over the visiting Gauchos from Glendale Community College, 11-2 and 10-2. YC is now15-10 overall and 11-7 in the ACCAC. Glendale falls to 15-13 on the season and 11-11 in conference action.
In the opener, YC pounded out 16 hits, six for extra bases. Valerie Luera provided the big bat leaving the park twice. Hannah Hill was 4 for 4 with a home run. Brandi Heimburg was a perfect 4 for 4 with two doubles. Kasey Oliver, Luera and Brook Eifert-Pancoma each had two hits apiece.
Aundria Zuniga-Romero went the distance from the circle scattering five hits and striking out 3.
In the nightcap, Glendale took an early two run lead, but the Roughrider bats quickly regained the advantage scoring 10 unanswered runs for the run-rule shortened game.
Luera hit her third home run of the day and Heimburg added two more hits to her afternoon.
Zuniga-Romero picked up her second victory of the day giving her 11 for the season.
Weather permitting, Yavapai will play host to South Mountain Community College (9-14, 8-10) on Saturday, March 9th. The twinbill is scheduled to start at 12:00 PM at Bill Vallely Field in Prescott.


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Situated at the foothills of the grand Shivalik Range, the city Chandigarh is famous as the most well designed town with stylish structures and attractive gardens. This stunning city with the blend of traditions and modernity and the capital of the states Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh attracts a lot of tourists all round the year. This attractive city, which is the organizational capital of two states and a union territory of India, is famous for its organized structures. The olden times of Chandigarh saw the novelty, ability and joint effort of some famous persons, who made promising work on an urbane town out of a huddle of farming fields. Chandigarh is well linked by road to approximately all the big and small towns in the northern India. Chandigarh Bus booking can be done from the Inter-State Bus Terminus also famous as ISBT that is situated in the Sector 17 or by logging on to Make Mytrip for Chandigarh Online Bus Tickets. Buses at frequent intervals ply from Chandigarh to all the adjoining states like Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The types of buses that serve on this route are deluxe Volvo Buses, Luxury Buses, Ordinary buses etc. All the Air conditioned buses are well equipped with excellent flooring, lean back seats that can be adjusted as per your convenience, charging points for mobiles on each seat, Audio system and TV with DVD. For offering regular services there are buses all set to serve the travelers and ISBT Chandigarh always has buses ready for departure. Majority of the buses are from Punjab and Himachal Roadways but with the increasing traffic there are several private operators that are offering services on this route. They are Arya Travels, Zamindara Travels, Guardian Travels, Kanwal Travels, Moonlight Travels, JMK Travels, Karan Tours and Travels, Bajaj Travels, Mahajan Travel Service etc. So, for the Chandigarh Bus Tickets Booking log on to Make Mytrip and avail the best possible deals.
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The talented team led by the French architect Le Corbusier was behind the transformation of Chandigarh. Chandigarh can be pertinently called as a city of resourceful people and inventive monuments. Sensitive educational shows of renowned personalities have become a soul of this city of theaters, art galleries and museums. A vivacious city, which got its name from the Goddess Chandi, offers a calm and soothing time to all those who come here in search of fun.
Nearby Cities From Chandigarh Chandigarh Delhi : 257 Kilometers : Travel Time is 4.5 Hours Chandigarh to Amritsar : 240 Kilometers: Travel time is 4.5 to 6 Chandigarh to Ludhiana: 99 kms. Travel Time is 2 Hours Chandigarh Jaipur: 510 Kms. Travel Time 10 Hours. Chandigarh Kota: 627 Kms. Travel Time 13 Hours
Nearby Cities From Chandigarh Chandigarh Delhi : 257 Kilometers : Travel Time is 4.5 Hours Chandigarh to Amritsar : 240 Kilometers: Travel time is 4.5 to 6 Chandigarh to Ludhiana: 99 kms. Travel Time is 2 Hours Chandigarh Jaipur: 510 Kms. Travel Time 10 Hours. Chandigarh Kota: 627 Kms. Travel Time 13 Hours
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Hi all,
Recently I discover OpenEmm and installed in a own server working like a champ running CentOs 6 64bits.
I'm still learning all the options and features of this piece of software and I'm very agree with it, everyday I learn something new, it's great.
Currently I'm doing mailings for two customers and manually reporting statistics to them on email, but would be better if I can create a user and force to only view his mailings and statistics. I think this is not possible on current version. Looking into user rights I see can limit almost every option of the features, but If I let them access to mailing and statistics, they can view all of them.
I think about the possibility to limit this adding a field to mailinglist tables called "propietary" and assign the user id. After that, modify source files to limit the query to only owner mailing lists. Anyone think is this one of the best option to do this? or maybe it's better to assign a owner directly to mailings? Any suggestion?
If I goal this purpose, I share the results and the modified files to the community.
All the best


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ConAgra to Pay Nearly $1 Million to Victims, Make Job Offers, Provide ADA Training to Managers
San Francisco - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a conciliation agreement reached with Gilroy Foods and its owner, ConAgra Foods, Inc., a Nebraska-based foods company with $27 billion in annual sales. This resolves complaints filed with the EEOC alleging disability discrimination at an onion and garlic dehydration plant in King City, near Salinas. The federal investigation found that workers were denied hire, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Providing compensation of $993,500 and job offers (estimated value of $500,000) for thirty-nine workers, today's agreement is the largest disability settlement ever for the EEOC in the agricultural industry.
EEOC San Francisco District Director Susan McDuffie commended ConAgra for moving quickly and decisively to reach conciliation. "By working with EEOC to resolve this matter, ConAgra has clearly shown its commitment to making needed changes to policies and practices that ensure equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. I am very pleased by this agreement, which avoids litigation and allows the workers to move on with their lives." She noted that in addition to the monetary benefits and job offers, ConAgra has committed to ADA training for all its management staff and posting notices about the agreement for a year.
In July 1999, the Teamsters Local 890 led a strike of 750 workers at 800-worker plant in King City, then owned by Basic Vegetable Products, LP. In November 2000, ConAgra bought the facility, and in August 2001, it successfully negotiated with the union to end the two-year strike with a new contract that would recall workers based on seniority. However, the recall process excluded people who were on leave at the time of the purchase including those out due to work injury or pregnancy. Others were denied jobs due to a history of previous injury or illness, even though they had been doing the work for years and had no restrictions against returning to work.
Most of the thirty-nine workers who were excluded from the recall process had been working at the plant processing garlic and onions for ten to twenty years some even longer. Primarily Hispanic and mostly female, many of them were in their thirties and forties and married with children.
Elvira Parales, a Lab Technician who had worked at the facility for 15 years, said through a translator, "After winning such a long hard strike, it was devastating to be told that I was not fit for duty and could not return to work. I have been processing onions and garlic and checking product quality for over a decade. I am thankful to the EEOC for investigating our case, and very happy to go back to work."
According to EEOC Enforcement Supervisor Rich Proulx, who oversaw the investigation and negotiation of this case, "The ADA protects workers qualified to work who have a disability, or have a history of a disability, or are regarded as having a disability." He noted that ConAgra's recall process denied jobs to workers who were on leaves of absence at the time of the purchase and those who had medical records of impairment or illness without properly assessing each worker's qualifications. "Employers have a duty to make decisions based on each individual's abilities and not myths, fears and stereotypes about disabilities."
He added, "The courage of these workers to step forward and protest discrimination is laudable. It was an important victory, breaking through the barriers that often keep immigrant workers from asserting their rights."
"This dispute arose over a misunderstanding of re-employment rights of a small group of employees who were on leaves of absence when ConAgra Foods bought the plant," said Jessica Berg, a ConAgra Foods spokesperson. "We are pleased to have resolved this dispute and believe this agreement is in the best interests of all parties involved."
Title I of the ADA prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, discharge, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms and conditions of employment. In addition to enforcing the ADA, EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Equal Pay Act; prohibitions against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal government; and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. For more information about EEOC, please visit www.eeoc.gov.
This page was last modified on May 20, 2003.
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We've all seen them – those crosses and shrines along the side of the road, marking where someone died in an accident. Many find them offensive and dangerous, others find them touching and thought provoking. In the past twenty years, roadside memorials have increased and states are now having to enact laws concerning them.
Roadside memorials have had a place on our highways and byways since man began traveling. It was only practical, and necessary, from ancient times through the end of the 19th century, to bury someone where they fell on a journey. The Spanish brought the tradition of roadside memorials to America. The coffin bearers would place a stone on the route each time they set the coffin down to rest on the way from the church to the cemetery. This was a reminder for others to pray for the deceased. The Spanish word for this is descansos meaning 'place of rest'. The use of stones eventually gave way to marking those resting spots with crosses.
Today, roadside memorials are set up at the place where someone has died. Family members seem to be universal in their reasons for creating roadside memorials: It marks the spot where their loved one drew his/her last breathe, or where their spirit departed, and allows families to display their grief to the world.
Those opposed find the memorials ghoulish, a distraction and hazard to drivers, and a problem for road workers in maintaining the road's right-of-way. Many oppose special exemptions being given for roadside memorials when the law bars all others from placing signs, advertising or promotions on public property.
Another problem stems from the use of public space for personal mourning. Many feel it is the state's responsibility to keep roadways and right-of-ways clear of debris and distractions. And the constitutional right of the separation of church and state, i.e. religious symbols placed on state (public) property is being violated. (It doesn't matter if a Christian cross, Muslin crescent or Jewish Star of David would be used, it is still in violation of the separation of Church and State.)
States around the country are finding that roadside memorials are distracting and dangerous. With over 50,000 travel-related deaths occurring each year in the U.S., the memorials are becoming too numerous, and if not constantly attended to, quickly dissolve into distracting eyesores.
Although there are no federal laws concerning roadside memorials, many states in the U.S. are enacting laws to limit or eliminate them.
In California and Montana, a roadside memorial may only be put up if alcohol was a factor in the crash.
Wisconsin and New Jersey limit the amount of time a memorial can remain in place.
Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and West Virginia all offer state-issued memorial markers that bear a safe-driving message and the words "In Memory of" with the victim's name. These can be placed at the crash site.
The state of Delaware has taken a different approach – offering remembrance in a memorial garden. These memorial parks are located near highway exits and at rest areas. They have reflecting pools, landscaped walking areas, and red bricks –inscribed with the name of someone who died in a highway accident. The bricks are provided, inscribed and placed free of charge by the state. Other states such as Illinois and Maryland are considering offering the same type of memorial gardens.
In view of the problems with roadside memorials, it seems that the state of Delaware may have the optimal solution. Experts say the increase in roadside memorials offers a new way for people to share the grieving process. However, these memorial gardens will allow family and friends to share their loss without distracting or endangering the lives of highway drivers. The bottom line must be safety first or the end result could be another roadside memorial.
~ Joy


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Electronic Recordkeeping
Automating Electronic Records Management in a Transactional Environment: The Philadelphia Story
by Mark D. Giguere
When information system designers and program managers discuss the functions of a new system, they rarely include records management capabilities in that conversation. In the paper world, the fact that few people thought about records management issues at the time of the creation of records was not as serious a problem as it is in the electronic world. Records managers and archivists are faced with a multitude of problems trying to preserve records in electronic form. But many records managers understand that an organization in the throes of re-engineering is a perfect candidate for the incorporation of records management functionality into the re-design and/or procurement of information systems that support re-defined business activities.
In 1991 the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) supported a national meeting to devise an electronic records research agenda. Since that meeting, the Commission has funded over 30 projects that have examined a set of questions that need to be answered for the profession in this developing area. The city of Philadelphia project is one of the most technically ambitious of these efforts.
In Philadelphia, the need is to jump start an electronic records program for the municipal Records Department at a time of development or redesign of over 100 significant information technology systems outlined in the city's strategic IT plan. This massive city-wide information systems effort has caused the NHPRC project to concentrate on intervening in the redesign of specific, small- and medium-sized transactional information technology systems. This article outlines the approach taken in this initiative jointly sponsored by the city of Philadelphia's Records Department and the Mayor's Office of Information Services, the alternatives to such an approach, and the risks associated with our proposed course of action.
Principles Tempered by Pragmatism
Archivists and records managers recognize that information and records are not synonymous concepts, and our understanding of the differences helps us to articulate the distinctions between automated information systems and electronic record keeping systems. In fact, there are many contentious issues associated with the notion of transforming an information system, whose primary function is to facilitate the update and delivery of electronic information that supports business processes, into a system capable of generating records from that electronic information.
One of these issues is determining who has stewardship of the electronic record and what additional contextual information must be bound to the information content of an electronic transaction for record keeping purposes. Another matter of concern is whether adding the record keeping functionality to each system individually is better than an enterprise-wide solution, such as an integrated paper and electronic system.
The activities pursued in Philadelphia thus far sidestep many of these issues because of the prototype nature of these efforts and the need to demonstrate to city agencies an agreeable means of incorporating records management functions into system redesign and procurement. By the conclusion of the final phase of the project (November 1997), we hope to have achieved a workable solution and will report to the larger, national records management community the successes and shortcomings of our approach.
The Various Approaches
Recent judicial decisions have required that certain information be preserved with electronic files to make them meaningful. The best known of these decisions was handed down in Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President, commonly referred to as the PROFS case, which established that additional contextual information be bound and preserved with the electronic information content of a transaction (i.e., e-mail message) in order to achieve record status. Examples of additional information that could be added include who created an electronic record, when the record was created, who received it, if and how it was altered, which version was it, what is its electronic structure, etc. There has been much research activity in recent years into precisely what additional information is needed and the best methods by which it can be preserved so that future users can access electronic records many decades or even centuries from now.
The University of Pittsburgh Research Project
One such research project took place at the University of Pittsburgh. This three-year, NHPRC-funded effort established a set of functional requirements for electronic record keeping. The Pittsburgh project focuses on records as evidence of business activities for the purpose of accountability.
Results of this effort have advanced one possible set of contextual information necessary to describe an electronic record. It includes hardware- and software-related information that provides for the long-term access to the electronic record, audit trail information that denotes subsequent use and inviolability of the electronic record, and retention and disposition information that can be used to automate the subsequent management of the electronic record. All of this contextual information is bound with the information content of the record and packaged into some uniform electronic record data structure which is thought to be capable of acting as evidence of an electronically accomplished business transaction. The last point is significant, in that the efficacy of their recommended body of additional contextual information has yet to be legally tested. And indeed, there may well be other facets to an electronic record's required contextual information beyond the evidential focus achieved by the Pittsburgh research.
This contextual-information-binding alternative that is a natural by-product of the Pittsburgh functional requirements model is known as a record-description-record (RDR) approach and was the basis for the short-lived Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) effort at the federal level. The hallmark of this approach, however, is simple:
In this way, the electronic record is self-contained, self-sufficient, inviolable and hopefully acceptable as evidence for lawyers and judges, auditors, journalists and historians - in short, it would satisfy all potential uses of records, not just for archival purposes.
Similarities to the OOD Approach
The RDR approach bears some similarity to an object-oriented (OOD) approach to software design, in which electronic record keeping software would be organized as a collection of discrete objects that incorporate both data structure and behavior. The most familiar example of object-oriented software design is the Windows operating system's graphical user interface. A window is an object that possesses characteristic attributes (e.g., it has dimensions, it may be active or tiled, etc.) as well as having inherent behaviors that are programmed into it (e.g., it may be resized, maximized, minimized or closed). Clearly, each electronic record created in the RDR approach can conceptually be thought of as an object. The additional contextual information specified in the RDR approach becomes the attributes of the electronic record "object" data structure. What differentiates the RDR approach from the OOD paradigm is that RDR electronic records do not internalize any of the software procedures that would typically be associated with a record (e.g., disposition, migration, retrieval, access). Some system analysts would argue that incorporation of such records-related "behaviors" would be a natural extension of the RDR methodology. While the resultant self-containedness of the OOD approach would be desirable, this method would greatly inflate the "byte-wise" volume of the electronic record.
The University of British Columbia's Approach
Work at the University of British Columbia (UBC) at Vancouver has approached electronic records management from a more global and traditional systems analysis viewpoint. The project employs the science of diplomatics as a means of defining records management related "entities," namely archival fonds. The archival fonds identified in the UBC research could form the basis for a traditional systems development approach to building a records management information system. Traditional systems analysis is predicated on the credo that it is possible to build information systems that are capable of mimicking real-world activities as a series of "data flows."
Typical information systems primarily consist of various software modules that interact with or manipulate a database of information. When analysts build such a system, one primary concern is how to define the information bins contained in the database. The UBC-defined archival fonds could conceivably act as bins in such a records management information system's database.
Furthermore, the UBC research has preliminarily identified relationships between archival fonds that could easily be translated into data flows (i.e., transfers of pieces of information between the records management application's database bins).
On the basis of this discussion, it is clear that the scope of the UBC inquiry is much broader than that of the Pittsburgh research. An electronic records management application that is based on their analysis would clearly be an enterprise-wide application, given the amount of time and money necessary to conduct a traditional system analysis and development. In comparison to the RDR approach, much of the evidential acceptability of the electronic record in the traditional systems development approach is inherited from the integrity and inclusivity of the records management application. Obviously, this approach is predicated upon an overarching system that monitors the electronic record via database information recorded in the entity bins, as the electronic record moves from platform-to-platform or application-to-application.
Philadelphia's Approach and the Associated Risks
In Philadelphia, the Electronic Records Project has concentrated on the use of an RDR approach in facilitating the delivery of functioning, prototype systems within the time frame of federal funding in order to demonstrate to city agencies the relative ease of incorporating records management functionality at the system design stage. Specifically, Philadelphia's project has focused on two test case, transactional systems: a mid-sized human resource information system and a smaller adjudication tracking system. Each of these approaches represents an integration to some extent of both the RDR and OOD approaches to electronic records management. The human resource system will represent an attempt to incorporate automated records management functionality at the system design/procurement stage while the adjudication tracking system will involve a records management functionality retrofit. The latter is of particular importance for two reasons. First, we will be working closely with the municipal judiciary to establish an "evidentiary acceptable" body of contextual information to be bound to the electronic record. Second, because of the smaller nature of the adjudication tracking system, it will be the first system operating with the proposed automated records management functionality.
We have chosen the contextual-information-binding RDR record encapsulation approach as the primary means by which electronic records will be created. The application will, on the basis of a client-negotiated list of electronic record-generating transactions, gather the required contextual information from a variety of locations (e.g., operating system, application/platform interface, specifically coded system "traps"), reformat this information into a standardized data structure (initial discussions have focused on the use of a comma-delimited ASCII text file) and thus create an electronic record.
Fortunately, the reality of the situation in Philadelphia is that much of the agreed upon minimal set of additional contextual information necessary to accurately document an electronic transaction is naturally occurring in most applications. The only unique aspect of this approach is the realization that this information must be gathered at the time of an electronic transaction and subsequently bound and preserved with the electronic information content. An internal, independent software module will use the contextual information to automate subsequent records management functions (i.e., monitoring security and inalterability of as well as access to the electronic record, automating retention/disposition and delivering copies of the official electronic record if required for litigation discovery requests). It is anticipated that the software code for this records management oversight system will be reproduced in each system (re)design/procurement.
This oversight module embodies the inherent behaviors that would be built into an object-oriented design approach (e.g., create, dispose, move offline, retain, retrieve, report), but unlike typical OOD, the code that enables these functions is not contained within the record itself (the electronic record contains the instructions for these activities governed by the oversight module, in the form of the embedded additional contextual information contained within the record).
There are risks associated with this project, but given the prototype nature of these efforts, both the project staff and the Records Commissioner feel that these demonstrations will provide valuable data that will either validate or refute the RDR approach. One of these risks is the potential difficulty of incorporating contextual metadata into the myriad of applications capable of generating electronic records, as opposed to adding them to the more specific transactional electronic record-generating systems (this extension of the RDR application will be tested in Phase III). Another danger is that the needs of individual client agencies may require system modifications that could hamper the development of a city-wide records management application. Finally, the judicially untried nature of the body of contextual metadata may cause subsequent reformatting/augmentation of the extant body of electronic records generated by these two prototype applications. Nonetheless, these efforts will provide valuable information and insight, both locally to the Records Department, the Mayor's Office of Information Services and the city, and nationally and internationally to the larger records management community regarding the efficacy of this approach.


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Fishing for Piranhas
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Rob & Lauren are two professional photographers with a passion for travel and adventure. On this blog they post their journeys, articles on photography and travel, and whatever amazing stuff they discover!
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to receive regular updates on our campaigns for access to justice and consumer protection.
October 26, 2016 - The Chamber of Litigation
August 22, 2016 - Comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Forced Arbitration
March 4, 2016
- Forced Arbitration Letter to the Department of Education
Tens of thousands of people die each year from preventable medical errors. But rather than reform the medical system to prevent needless deaths and injuries, the health care and insurance industries, as well as the Chamber of Commerce are lobbying to limit the rights of injured patients to seek full recovery in the courts.
They claim that their brand of "tort reform" will bring down costs and improve medical care. But the opposite is true. Ignoring patient safety and restricting patients' fundamental legal rights will only further burden the health care system. Additional injuries caused by malpractice add to the nation's mounting health care costs. Meanwhile, the wrongdoers are let off the hook because patients can no longer hold them accountable. If we, as individuals, are likely be held responsible for bad acts that harm others, medical providers should be held to the same or even higher standards.
Policymakers should focus on protecting patients and reducing medical errors, not limiting patients' rights.
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Why Does The Recording Industry Complain When It's Often Its Own Worst Enemy?
from the make-stuff-available dept
I am a frustrated music listener, who is tired of hearing the music industry weep of low sales.I'm guessing the answer has to do with the fact that the major labels likely have "sold off" the regional rights to third parties in these parts of the world. But it seems like they really should be doing something to get those services available globally. It's pretty ridiculous that it's so limited already.
I've been living in the Middle East for the past 5 years, specifically Dubai, and apparently we are not worthy of buying music online as all the legitimate online music stores (iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc...) are not available in this region.
I don't understand how the music industry claims that it's suffering, and yet they forbid paying customers such as myself from buying their content. This region is not lucky enough to be part of the online music community, and I would like to know why. I always hear the answer that "the rights are not available", but the record labels are the rights owners, they control the switch! I hate to pirate music, but I don't have any other choice.
Update: Worth pointing out: apparently iTunes did recently open in UAE, though its unclear how complete it is or why it took so long to open there. Update 2.... And, no. Turns out, despite the confusing article, the "store" in question is only for physical Apple products (iPhones/iPads). iTunes software is available but no music downloads.


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Carrie Prejean is engaged.
The embattled beauty queen, who was dethroned from the Miss California title last year, became engaged over the weekend to St. Louis Rams quarterback Kyle Boller, Carrie's mother, Francine Coppola, told Access Hollywood on Monday.
According to Francine, Carrie, 22, described the proposal as similar to a scene out of 2004's romance film "The Notebook," which starred Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
Kyle, 28, presented his bride to be with a 5 carat diamond ring.
The couple celebrated their engagement at a Super Bowl party with family and friends in Solana Beach, in Carrie's native San Diego, Calif. Kyle is also from the West Coast, having grown up in Southern California.
Carrie is "very excited," her mom told Access.
The two have not yet set a date for their nuptials.
Carrie reportedly previously dated Michael Phelps, while Kyle was once linked to Tara Reid.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: California Beauty Queen Carrie Prejean
PLAY IT NOW: Carrie Prejean's Mom On Larry King: 'He Must Feel Like A Little Wimp'
PLAY IT NOW: Access Extended: Carrie Prejean Responds To Billy
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Carrie Prejean - Engagements - Celebrities - Couples - Miss California


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Car Review
2013 Cadillac SRX: New Car Review
Pros: Long list of standard features; advanced CUE infotainment; superb engine and transmission
Cons: High beltline means tight visibility; back seats are cramped
What's New: Standard CUE infotainment; updated exterior styling details; available driver assistance technology; active noise cancellation
In our review of the last model year SRX, we praised the 308-horsepower V6 that is now the sole engine offered in this 4500-pound luxury crossover vehicle. Paired with a standard six-speed automatic transmission, the 3.6-liter V6 made the SRX a pleasure to drive. The 2013 Cadillac SRX builds on the improvements by including Cadillac's advanced CUE system and host of other changes, from updated exterior styling details to new driver assistance technology.
CUE, Cadillac's new entertainment and information interface, is modeled after popular mobile devices like the iPad. Users can input commands by voice, using controls on the steering wheel or by pressing buttons on CUE's large color touchscreen in the center stack. Cadillac introduced CUE on its new XTS flagship sedan, and now the technology is making its way to other models in the automaker's lineup.
The 2013 SRX is available in four different trim levels: Base, Luxury, Performance and Premium. The base model comes well equipped with the aforementioned CUE system, dual-zone climate control, an eight-way adjustable driver's seat, Bluetooth and an iPod hookup for the eight-speaker Bose stereo. Luxury models come with premium features including heated front seats and steering wheel, parking sensors, automatic wipers, keyless ignition and a power-assisted liftgate. The Performance model adds 20-inch wheels, adaptive xenon headlamps and a navigation system. The top-end Premium adds another zone to the climate-control system plus ventilated front seats, heated rear seats and new driver assistance features like lane departure warning and forward collision alert.
Comfort & Utility
Fit and finish inside the SRX is quite good, as has become the standard for Cadillac. And there's plenty of technology, especially with the addition of CUE as standard equipment. Materials are soft to the touch pretty much anywhere the hand can fall.
Legroom is ample in both front and back, and headroom is decent as well, unless you opt for the panoramic sunroof. It is a nice addition and provides a great view of the outdoors, but the pocket needed to hide that expanse of glass cuts into rear headroom noticeably. Six-footers will find their head touching the headliner, and even those who are shorter may feel cramped.
Speaking of cramped, the high beltline that gives the SRX its aggressive exterior look leaves little room for windows. The effect is that the interior feels slightly claustrophobic, and visibility is compromised, too.
Cadillac vehicles have become synonymous with impressive interior technology, and it all typically works extremely well. But the CUE system really takes technology in the SRX to a new level. CUE was designed with not just a single user in mind, but rather a range of users, from those that prefer simple, basic controls to "super users" that take advantage of every possible function. It's that flexibility that makes the system work exceptionally well for most drivers.
The optional rear entertainment system now includes a Blu-Ray player that displays video on a pair of 8-inch flip-up screens integrated into the front seatbacks. Also included is a pair of wireless headphones and gaming-style remote controls.
Performance & Fuel Economy
The 3.6-liter engine, which makes 308 hp and 265 lb-ft of torque, is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is available. Although Cadillac uses the same engine in its CTS sedan, the heavier and less aerodynamic XTS is not as fuel efficient. It's EPA-rated at 17 mpg city and 24 mpg highway. Still, despite its weight, the SRX feels agile with the 3.6-liter V6.
The SRX comes standard with ABS, traction control, stability control, front and side airbags, and OnStar's immediate response system. In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety testing, the SRX received a Good rating in all areas and five stars in all of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's tests except rollover, for which it received four stars.
New for 2013, the SRX can be equipped with driver assistance technologies like lane departure warning, forward collision warning and adaptive cruise control. Another newly available feature, Cadillac's safety alert seat, provides the driver with warnings without alarming others in the vehicle.
Blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and a backup camera are included on all but the base model.
Driving Impressions
The SRX seems to be the nimblest and sportiest offering in its class. Steering is responsive yet light enough for easy in-town driving. The transmission does a great job of keeping the engine in its optimal power range. When a downshift is needed, the transmission is happy to oblige, even in automatic mode. If you'd prefer to take control, there is a manual mode that lets you select the gears yourself. There's also a Sport mode that provides a more lively driving style while letting the automatic transmission do the shifting.
Other Cars to Consider
Acura RDX - Starting at $34,320 and topping out at just under $40,000, the Acura is less expensive than the SRX. But we prefer the driving characteristics and refined interior of the Cadillac.
Audi Q5 - The Audi's price is nearly the same with the SRX. But at each trim level, the SRX offers more for the money. The Q5's interior finish is hard to beat, but the Cadillac packs more advanced technology.
Lexus RX 350 - The vehicle that invented the class and continues to lead it makes a strong case. But with the sweet V6 and the innovative CUE system, we believe the 2013 Cadillac SRX may now have what it takes to dethrone the Lexus.
AutoTrader Recommends
If you're looking for a sporty crossover, we recommend the Performance model. It includes navigation and is eligible for a long list of extras, from the optional driver assistance package to the rear entertainment system, a must for family road trips. Our next choice is the Luxury model. One step down from the Performance trim, it includes helpful features like a backup camera and front and rear parking sensors. Also, its power liftgate and memory seats are must-haves on a luxury crossover like the SRX.


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Oilers try to get playoff quest back on track in LA
The Edmonton Oilers knew that their season-high winning streak wasn't going to last forever. The playoff hopefuls will try to rebound on Saturday afternoon as they visit the Los Angeles Kings.
The Oilers potted 25 goals over five consecutive wins, including an impressive 8-2 win at Calgary on Wednesday. Their winning streak also included a shutout win at home over Vancouver, but the Canucks got some revenge on Thursday with their own 4-0 victory over Edmonton.
Nikolai Khabibulin gave up all four goals on 28 shots for the Oilers, who scored all four of their goals last weekend versus the Canucks in the first 7:53 of the game to set a club record.
Taylor Hall had three of those goals and had logged 15 points over Edmonton's previous six games before failing to log a point on Thursday despite four shots.
"We just didn't seem to bring the energy to match their intensity," Oilers coach Ralph Krueger admitted. "They came very hard and heavy. They were extremely strong along the boards early in the game."
The loss did drop the Oilers out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference and they now sit in a tie for ninth in the standings and three points back of the final playoff spot.
Edmonton captain Shawn Horcoff knows that his club can't worry too much about failing to extend its win streak.
"You're going to lose games," said Horcoff. "You're not going to win 17 in a row to finish the season, right? We'll put it behind us. We know we have better here and we have another bigger challenge coming up ahead of us now in less than 48 hours here."
The Kings have six more points than the Oilers and are in the middle of the playoff race. The defending Stanley Cup champions are currently fifth overall in the West, one point ahead of Minnesota and one behind San Jose.
Los Angeles is 4-1-1 over its last six and is coming off Thursday's 3-0 win over Minnesota. Justin Williams scored twice to extend his goal-scoring streak to a career-high five straight games, while Jeff Carter also lit the lamp.
"When you see the puck go into the net, you feel more confident," Williams said. "We knew that they played last night and we wanted to jump on them early."
Jonathan Bernier posted 23 saves to notch his first shutout of the season and sixth of his career. The backup to reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick has gone 9-0-0 in his 10 starts this season with a 1.50 goals against average and .938 save percentage.
Defenseman Robyn Regehr, who the Kings acquired from the Sabres earlier this week, posted an assist in his Los Angeles debut as well as six hits as the Kings moved to 13-4-1 at home on the year.
The Kings have won three of their last four at home versus the Oilers and have compiled an 11-1-6 mark in the past 18 meetings overall.


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Part of the Monday morning routine for coaches across the country is preparing a review of officiating to send to the conference office.
Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild said Monday he was in the "process" of forwarding a such report to the Mountain West Conference.
Asked during his weekly press conference if he felt any better about some calls after viewing the tape himself, Fairchild said "worse."
Coaches know their constraints about public criticism of officiating in every sport.
"I feel bad for the kids because all you want is a fair outcome for the kids," he said.
As for the plays in question, Fairchild said at his press conference "the list is as long as your notepad."
A two-point conversion and a late onside kick by CSU recovered by San Diego State are known question marks.
While nearly every coach has some quibble about a call here or there, no one in the Mountain West rightfully can expect the benefit of a call in a game against San Diego State.
The Aztecs were clearly robbed of a win on a non-call against Missouri. Then BYU drove for a go-ahead score after replays showed a runner's knee hit the ground after the ball popped loose.
If not for the BYU call, the Aztecs would be putting a perfect league record on the line against No. 3 TCU this week. Instead of "receiving votes," an unbeaten team would be ranked and Brady Hoke a lock for national, and not just MWC, coach of the year.
No one ever said football was fair.


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By Ula Ilnytzky
Associated Press
A New York City artist has lassoed a small public park, creating a whimsical landscape of bright red, yellow and blue enclosures out of recycled lobster rope for visitors to explore.
Madison Square Park, the city's "museum without walls" opposite the landmark Flatiron Building in Manhattan, is the site of the latest monumental installation by Orly Genger, a Brooklyn artist known for her rope creations.
Using miles of the thick and rigid rope, Genger uses a "crochet" stitch to give it a braided look, then paints, twists and stacks it before wrestling it into intriguing and continuous shapes. In one area of the 6.2-acre park, a red undulating wall spills out on the grass. In another, the rope creates a blue, hedge-like feature. Elsewhere, tall waves of yellow form a pleasing space that cascades at one end like spilled water — or paint.
The rope looks a bit like chainmail; some of it winds around the blossoming trees.
"I wanted the installation to interact not only with the public but with the elements that are already there" in the park, said Genger. "I wanted to create spaces where people could feel they could go and be held."
Debbie Landau, president of the Madison Square Park Conservancy, said Genger "takes the domestic art of crocheting to a masculine level," noting that Genger uses only her hands to create the shapes.
"When you look at the rope you could think they're nautical knots but it's repurposed lobster rope," Landau said. "It's scratchy. It's hard. You have to use muscle to tame it. She takes what we think of as traditional knitting to a very different realm of wrestling an unforgiving material."
And wrestle she does.
The labor-intensive installation required 1.4 million feet of rope — nearly 20 lengths of Manhattan — weighing 100,000 pounds. It took 9,000 hours of labor and 3,000 gallons of paint to transform the dull rope into a vibrant material.
The rope is extremely coarse. The petite artist said she does not wear gloves because she likes "to work very directly with the material."
It comes from a New England foundation that recycles nautical rope, which is unusable after a year, so it doesn't damage the environment, Landau said.
The 34-year-old Genger starts off by laying out the rope on the ground and then with the help of a handful of interns knots it into lengths of 100 to 200 feet and widths of about 2-feet. Any lingering fishy smell dissipates by then, Landau said.
The result is part craft, part sculpture — a creation that is simultaneously sturdy and soft in appearance. "Red, Yellow and Blue" is Genger's largest installation to date.
"I love how the installation wraps around the trees. I'm always in favor of public art," said Georgette Gogniat, a costume maker in Manhattan. "I love how the installation wraps around the trees. I'm always in favor of public art."
The site-specific installation was commissioned by Mad. Sq. Art, a free contemporary art program of the park conservancy. It's the first time that one of its commissioned artworks will tour outside the park.
In the past, Mad. Sq. Art has featured other acclaimed artists including William Wegman and Jaume Plensa.
"The marvel of the work that we do in the park is watching the public discovering it," said Landau, adding that it took two weeks to install the work that is reinforced with rods that are invisible on the outside.
"I consider installation in the grand fishbowl of Madison Square Park as an artist in residency in full view of the public," she said.
Genger "created a vertical painting in the park," she added. "It's for the people. It's meant to be touched and used and sat on. The interactivity with the public, that is what she wants."
In October, the installation travels to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum near Boston.


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One thing that characterized Afghanistan under Taliban rule before 2001 was their treatment of women and girls. From a society of total repression, new expressions of education, culture and human rights have slowly evolved. As you might suspect, Taliban groups in both Afghanistan and Pakistan are not pleased with that development.
On Tuesday, Malala Yusufzai, a 14-year-old education rights activist, was shot and seriously injured on her way home from school in the Swat Valley region of northwest Pakistan. The New York Times, using local news sources, reported on her injuries
"Pakistan's Express Tribune reported that doctors at a hospital in Mingora, the region's main city, said that Malala was "out of danger" because the bullet that "struck her skull and came out on the other side and hit her shoulder" had not damaged her brain. The newspaper added that the girl was later moved to Peshawar in a Pakistani Army helicopter.
"But The News, a Pakistani daily, reported late Tuesday that a bullet is still lodged in her head and arrangements were being made by the government to transport Malala abroad for emergency surgery that could not be performed at the military hospital in Peshawar. The newspaper Dawn also reported that surgeons at the military facility said "she immediately needs a sophisticated surgical procedure, which is not possible in the country" to save her life."
The Taliban is unrepentant. According to Al Jazeera,
"The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has since claimed responsibility for the attack.
"Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told the AFP news agency that the groupcarried out the attack after repeatedly warning Malala to stop speaking out against them.
"She is a Western-minded girl. She always speaks against us. We will target anyone who speaks against the Taliban," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. "We warned her several times to stop speaking against the Taliban and to stop supporting Western NGOs, and to come to the path of Islam."
One of the challenges facing the U.S. withdrawal of troops is how to provide security for those courageous activists for women's and girl's rights and advancement. In a recent study, "Afghan Women Speak," David Cortright and Kristen Wall at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies propose that
"Demilitarization and negotiation of a peace agreement should be coupled with the deployment of an interim peacekeeping force under the auspices of the United Nations to provide transitional security protection for civilians."
Something along those lines must be created, or we will be reading more stories of advocates being attacked.
Duane Shank is Senior Policy Adviser for Sojourners.
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"Young Pakistani Activist for Girls' Education Shot by Taliban"